It seems Factor 5's financial problems has led to even more trouble after the developer shut down last month. Former Factor 5 employees are now suing the Lair developer for fraudulent behavior in order to get out of paying their debts, Gamasutra reports.

Excited to try out Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy for the Xbox 360? You'll be happy to know that Vivendi Games has confirmed that a demo for the video game will be available for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM) in the U.S. soon. To find out the exact date, start sneaking your way to the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

Still enjoying Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords on Xbox Live? Well the developers sure don't want you to drop your controllers. D3Publisher has just announced that the game will have a new expansion pack that includes new professions, spells, quests, and more. Gamers also get a chance to name the expansion pack. Details in the full article.

Fans of BioWare's Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Mass Effect will be pleased to know that the contents of the Limited Collectors Edition have been announced. Gamers who decide to order it will be getting a copy of the video game, a Galactic Codex: Essentials book, a Mass Effect art book, and a second DVD with exclusive videos about Mass Effect (Art of Mass Effect, Interactive Storytelling of Mass Effect).

While the additional content is pretty sweet, most players would probably be interested in what the game itself has to offer. Players will be placed in the shoes of Commander Shepard, the first human Specter. As a sworn defender of galactic peace, you are on a mission to stop the armies of Saren, an agent who has betrayed your cause. However, you soon begin to realize that a far greater threat is on the horizon, one that could push all forms of life to extinction.

Mass Effect is slated to be released on November 20 this year in the U.S. with a European launch following on the 23rd of the same month.

Over at the NeoGAF forums, Blimblim has posted five new screenshots from BioWare's upcoming Xbox 360 title Mass Effect (six, actually, but you've already seen the Quarian chick in our earlier post). Check 'em out.

In this third-person RPG, players take on the role of Commander Shepard, who must lead a squad of freedom fighters in the fight against a legendary agent gone rogue. The game is set 200 years into the future, with gamers struggling to bring peace to a vast galactic community land threatened by the encroaching armies of the aforementioned rogue agent, whose face actually reminds us of Hordak.

While there's been some confusion on when Mass Effect will hit stores (is it Q1 or Q2?), what we do know is that it'll be coming out this year, and frankly, we just can't wait.

Want some new nooz on how Real Time World's Crackdown is shaping up? You might want to pay attention, not only is the creator of Grand Theft Auto on the project, but word has it you can pick up an invite to the Halo 3 beta by picking up specially marked copies of the game as well. Here's a snippet from a recently conducted interview:

Q: Will there be a punishment for a player committing repeated criminal acts against innocents?

A: Collateral damage is acceptable up to a point, but beyond that the Agent will be warned to minimize civilian casualties. If players persistently ignore warnings then an APB goes out to the local police force, the Peacekeepers, to take down the rogue Agent. The higher the Agent’s skill the greater the onslaught he’ll have to endure for his sins. Taking flight to the rooftops can be advisable at times like this.

The gangs actually perform in a similar way – kill too many of them and you piss them off, kill a boss and you really piss them off which results in hit squads that track you down and, if successfully dispatched, become a great source of skill development.

Q: Was there any difficulty implementing the multiplayer in an open world game?

A: Definitely! Everything in the solo game is pushed to the limit. We have an environment drawn to the horizon and heavily populated with characters, vehicles and various other objects that can all be influenced by a powerful physics engine. Duplicating the entire solo experience for the co-op game by making sure nothing is left out has been our greatest challenge. In addition, the programming team begged us to keep the players together at all times. However, we wanted the core goal of player freedom to extend to the co-op game, so players can go anywhere and do anything anytime. The programming team also insisted that we shouldn’t include vehicles that travel at well over 200mph in a fully streaming environment, let alone a co-op one, but we did it anyway! The list goes on, and we’re delighted that we pushed the programming team so hard that they delivered the seemingly impossible.

Q: Will there be new content and things to do in the coop mode, or will it be the same as the single-player game?

A: It’s exactly the same content, but it’s often been said that it’s twice the game!

Q: Many people have labeled Crackdown a "GTA wannabe". How do you feel about this kind of statement, especially when you were involved with the original GTA?

A: Well, in so far as it’s what Dave Jones always wanted GTA to be, I guess that’s true! It’s a shame that so many action games set in open urban environments have been attempting to offer nothing more than a GTA style experience. It means that a game like Crackdown comes along and people immediately assume that it functions in the same way. The Crackdown team really enjoys the GTA games and, as you stated, many of them have been involved in their development. So, we know we’re offering a very different experience.

It has been a month since Phantasy Star Universe was released for the Xbox 360, the PC, and not to mention current-gen PS2. Regardless of your chosen platform, we suggest to stop the banters now, be them friendly or otherwise, as we all just want to have a good time.

Anyway as we have said, the game was just released the past month and today, we got word that a number of downloadable contents are already up for fans to enjoy (dozens more are soon to follow). Most of the additions were done to areas and missions. Needless to say though, the two automatically entail new drops, items and materials which then can be used to make new weapons.

First of all, System Defense is a new mission to be carried near the confinement system in West Kugu Desert. Apparently, there's been an outbreak of vicious creatures and the Alliance Military needs reinforcements. Likewise, the mission Mine Defense involves an outbreak of creatures and players' objective are to defend the mine.

• Moatoob: Access Granted! - Due to increased guerrilla fighting between rogue groups on Moatoob, GUARDIAN forces have had limited access to the planet. With the escalating SEED crisis currently affecting more and more of the Moatoob wildlife, rogue groups have reached a cease fire and are now requesting aid. Flyer routes to Moatoob have been re-secured for GUARDIAN missions and will be available on November 17.
• New Guardian Missions - Since the SEED attacks, the native life of all three planets has grown increasingly aggressive and Moatoob is not the only planet in need of GUARDIAN assistance. Parum and Neudaiz are also requesting additional support in a variety of new missions. All GUARDIANS are expected to launch an offensive on the incoming enemy hordes as soon as possible.
• Valley of Carnage - Recently, the vicious Vanda have been forming packs and causing great damage around the Galenigare Canyon. Defeat the Vanda leader!
• Desert Terror - In the West Kugu Desert, the vicious Dimmagolus has become even more ferocious due to the SEED and is terrorizing a nearby energy plant.
• Parum and Neudaiz - Not to be left out with the addition of Moatoob, both Parum and Neudaiz have new missions for GUARDIANS. On Parum, new reports have come in of a very large Koltova spotted beyond the Lakeshore area. All GUARDIAN parties should exercise extreme caution if this beast is encountered.
• On Neudaiz, an area of Sacred Ground is in jeopardy! All GUARDIANS are requested to assist in clearing a dangerous RELIC site. This dangerous mission will take a strong party with excellent teamwork. We advise that only the strongest of GUARDIANS attempt this challenge.

As the wait for further news on Two World's release date, you gotta remember that being a mercenary, honor isn't necessarily part of your vocabulary. Being a merc takes smarts, guts, and most of all, stealth.

Speaking of stealth, we'll be talking about one of the aspects to this game we're sure the sicker minds out there will be sure to love: traps.

Two Worlds will be implementing a comprehensive traps system, and while of the traps we've seen in RPG's and MMO's alike are built more as a support tool, Two World's brand of mischief is a more stand-alone package. This will allow any wannabe rogue out there the option of killing their enemies with a well-placed bear trap, as easily as a warrior with a Broadsword, or archer with a long bow would.

With regards to this, we've also enclosed videos of some of the traps players can expect to find (or step on) in-game. From what we've seen, they look like they belong in some old tomb the next time some Lara Croft or Indiana Jones character comes-a-raidin'. Well, enough of the bad reference jokes. Enjoy the vids!

Download: [Two Worlds trap videos]

Bethesda Softworks has recently announced their plans to publish Rogue Warrior. The game is a tactical first-person shooter based on the book series by Richard Marcinko. This of course serves as Bethesda's return to the FPS genre.

The game is set to have versions for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3. Developers claim that Rogue Warrior is a story-driven shooter that will provide gamers with team-based tactical combat. They’re proud that the contiguous levels will be using Unreal 3 streaming technology. Bethesda says that the game’s stages will feature a "freeform battlefield," wherein players will have the freedom to choose how to complete a given objective.

They say that this freeform battlefield should allow for allowing for creativity and surprises, instead of heavily scripted events and tightly contained spaces traditionally used in this genre. The say that the AI system will empower the NPC’s to react realistically, see and hear others, and respond as a team. In short the smartest bots known to man. Again, this is what the devs say.

As far as multiplayer is concerned, they announced that there will be 10 gameplay modes and a system whereby maps are created using tiles that are selected by each team. The tiling system will allow users to experience over 200 maps in both day and nighttime settings. The campaign features solo and on-the-fly cooperative play for up to four players, where anyone can join or leave an existing campaign game at any time without having to go to menus or save progress.

We’ll update you if we get more word about Rogue Warrior. The game is scheduled to hit shelves by fall of 2007.

More info on the games back story after the Jump.

Set 200 years in the future in an epic universe, Mass Effect places gamers in a vast galactic community in danger of being conquered by a legendary agent gone rogue. A spectacular new vision from legendary developers BioWare, Mass Effect challenges players to lead a squad of freedom fighters as they struggle against threatening armies to restore peace in the land.

Mass Effect is the first in a trilogy of games with an overarching story. As the first human Specter – sworn defenders of galactic peace – your mission is to halt the advancing armies of a legendary agent gone rogue. But as you lead your elite team across hostile alien worlds, you will discover the true threat is far greater than anyone imagined.