Stop what you’re doing and download the Vanquish demo NOW! Oh you’re still at work or at school, understandable. Well you have something to be excited about on this Tuesday as the Vanquish demo is now available across Xbox Live.

Players will play as Sam in his pimped out ARS suit (this thing is SICK!) as he battles his way through the landing bay of the Providence Space Colony. The controls may initially take some getting used to but once you become fluent with Sams abilities the experience is ridiculous.

Vanquish will become available October 19 in the US and October 22 in the UK.

REACH is upon us and Microsoft definitely wants you to know about it as they have just released an awesome new HALO REACH live action trailer entitled; Remember Reach . Mark your calendars, September 14th the fight begins.

Tomb Raider fans please understand that this latest Lara Croft adventure is unlike any previous Tomb Raider title that you’ve played. Featuring a more top-down gameplay view, Crystal Dynamic has without a doubt re-imagined the universe of Lara Croft for the better.

At the heart of Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light is a robust cooperative play mode that is simply over-the-top fun. You will immediately see classic title influences from games like Baldur’s Gate and Gauntlet as you dive more into the game. Playing the game in single-player is a rush, however, playing the game in co-op will probably offer you some of the most fun you’ve had all year, it’s that good. Live co-op support will be coming soon – unfortunately we’ll have to wait for online co-op, regardless you will have a blast. Plus, when it is comes out later this year, the first DLC pack will be available for the first 30 days for free, exclusively on Xbox 360.

For only 1200 Microsoft points you can download this game right now.

Warner Bros. Interactive is bringing Mortal Kombat back with their most brutal installment of this landmark fighting game to date. Mortal Kombat is being developed by the newly re-named NetherRealm Studios, led by Mortal Kombat creator and creative director Ed Boon.

Now on display at GamesCom, Mortal Kombat is schedule to release in 2011. Below are a couple of new images from the game.

Imagine a game saturated with a cyber-punk Blade Runner style universe with influential gameplay touches of Metal Gear and Mass Effect and you might get an idea of what Square Enix has in store for us from their highly anticipated DeusEx: Human Revolution title which releases sometime in 2011.

Square Enix has recently released their all-new GamesCom gameplay trailer of the game which does not disappoint.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition and the Call of Duty: Black Ops Hardened Edition, are expected to be this year’s hottest collector’s items. Call of Duty: Black Ops launches on 9th November, giving gamers the latest classified surveillance technology – the RC-XD – as part of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition.

For the Prestige Edition, Treyarch and Activision created an entirely original remote controlled surveillance vehicle inspired by the RC-XD from Black Ops Multiplayer. With a range of up to 200 feet, the RC-XD Surveillance Vehicle has a fully-functioning remote camera that transmits both TFT colour video and audio to its operator.

The Prestige Edition is inclusive of the Hardened Edition, which includes a custom Black Ops limited edition medal, exclusive Black Ops Avatar outfit, as well as four playable co-operative maps.

2K Games has recently released their demo of the highly anticipated MAFIA II title and without sounding too decisive, MAFIA II might just be the next Red Dead Redemption only this time imaging being thrown into a Mario Puzo mafia universe where sporting tommy guns, molotov cocktails and some hip cool rides are common place. 2K Czech has definitely done their homework in bringing to life the late 1940’s and early 1950’s mafioso flavor. The dialogue is superb, the backdrop to New York City or should I say ‘The Empire State’ certainly entices the player to joyride around town reaping havok. The sheer size of the map in the final game will be inviting for you explorers who like to cover your bases by discovering all the side stories and missions in traditional 2K sandbox style.

In the demo you play as ex-World War II Vet Vito Scaletta, son of Sicilian immigrant – who receives a phone call from his friend Joe Barbaro who explains that you need to high tale it to meet him. Without immediately running to the garage and choosing my wheels in order to meet up with Joe, exploring our surroundings was first on the list. Despite the rather weird camera angle which will often get too close to the character leaving you a bit blind to objects in front of you, walking around the house and being able to pop the fridge and grab a drink or sandwich, turn the faucet on or off even check out the latest skin calendar added a real life feel to environment.

Heading outside really opens your eyes to the open world ambition of MAFIA II. Pedestians walk about their way in realistic form and the ocean lake which Vito’s home in located near looks amazing as the sun sets over the water with the backdrop of Empire State in the shadow. Once Vito hits the garage the demo gives you the option of choosing your ride and there are quite a few cars to choose from, however, don’t be like me and choose the best looking car as the different cars all handle quite differently.

Speeding over to Joe’s location and you start to see the heavy 2K sandbox influences taking form. As with other 2K titles a map hud appears with an indicator to follow the red line to your location and also some cool touches like the speedometer indicator is also apart of the hud. Arriving at Joe’s location and again you are given just a taste of what’s in store from the games hollywood style story telling and voice acting dialogue.

Just as a side interest, I hope after the game is completed users are given the option of playing back each chapter as they are tied together giving you a full-length movie experience. 2K we hope you’re listening. Moving on, you and your buddy Joe along with another well-dressed Sicilian are going after some fat schmuck near a warehouse and this is where the action begins.

With the ability to sprint, take cover and duck Vito and his partners go into action. With some gun turrent action added to the mix, your buddy Joe begins telling you to stop shooting the turrent because it’s too loud. Joe is a funny guy! Well done one-liners are always welcome. If there was a concern it would be the lack of blindfiring. Was I hitting the wrong buttons hoping for Vito to blindfire, maybe, but he never did. Regardless, blindfiring would be a nice addition. The controls did feel a bit restricting moving from cover to cover as well. Once in cover you are essentially stuck until pressing the ‘X’ or ‘A’ button again in order to come out of covering depending on your console of choice.

As with most 2K Games, setting new graphical benchmarks has never been at the top of the list and MAFIA II is no exception. 2K has supremely displayed paramount gameplay experiences with their GTA series and this years Game Of The Year Nominee Red Dead Redemption, so don’t make the mistake of judging MAFIA II based solely on it’s graphics alone. The finger has to be pointed at the gameplay and hopefully 2K can deliver on their tradition.

MAFIA II is scheduled for launch August 24 in the US and August 27 in all other PAL territories.

According to CVG, Mercury Steam boss David Cox as made the call to Microsoft for assistance in helping his team overcome the Xbox 360’s DVD storage limitations for the upcoming Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow.

With the PS3 version of the game placed comfortably on one Blu-ray disc, the 360 version of the game will need to be placed on two DVD discs.

Cox stated:  “Microsoft actually sent their tech guys to the studio to see the game and look at [how we're] compressing it, but they said: ‘Okay, it’s good. You’re doing all you can.’

“I think it’s something Microsoft are going to experience more and more – that they need to help developers overcome the storage problem.”

In addition Cox added: “I mean, each console has it’s own issues [360's smaller disc capacity and PS3's slower loading times], but you have to work around them.”

Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow has been noted to be over 24 hours in length, however, it has been mentioned that the gameplay will be where the majority of your time is spent, not cut-scenes.

As we draw closer to the inevitable next-gen consoles of tomorrow it will be interesting to see how Microsoft remedies this ever-increasing problem which many developers today are running into with the Xbox 360.