Bad Company 2 Vietnam, Echochrome II hit PSN

Gamers have a multitude of adventures to embark upon this week on the PlayStation Network ranging from shooting foes in the face in Bad Company 2’s Vietnam expansion, to taking a trip through time via SNK Playmore’s NeoGeo Station.

Leading the charge this week is the Vietnam expansion ($15) for DICE’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The multiplayer pack will allow players of the contemporary military shooter to take a trip back in time to the Vietnam War, which raged from the mid-1960s to early 1970s. It will consist of four maps, including the rice fields of the Phu Bai Valley and the napalm-kissed wasteland of Hill 137. The Vietnam expansion will also pack in a number of period-specific weapons, including the Navy SEAL XM22 machine gun. The war rages on this week on the PSN.

The expansion will also feature all-new dialogue based on actual Vietnam War radio chatter, as well as eight radio channels with nearly 50 tracks. The selection of songs will range from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” to Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.”

Also out now is Echochrome II ($15). Like its predecessor, Echochrome II is visually minimalist and heavily influenced by the mind-bending works of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. However, the new installment adds an additional layer of gameplay by incorporating the PlayStation Move, the PlayStation 3’s motion-sensing system. Players will use the PlayStation Move controller like a flashlight, casting shadows on a wall behind an obstacle course. The shadows will create bridges that players can traverse to navigate onscreen mazes.

Echochrome II will have 100 levels, each of which can be played in a different mode. In Escort mode, players will navigate the maze by creating a shadow path. In Echo mode, the objective is to collect translucent shadow characters to pass a level. Finally, in Paint mode, the goal is to “paint” a certain percentage of the maze by having characters of a particular color cross a corresponding section.

Those looking to the past for their excitement can download the NeoGeo Station today. The download space has 10 $9 NeoGeo titles for players to choose from. They include Fatal Fury, Alpha Mission II, The King of Fighters ’94, Samurai Shodown, Baseball Stars Professional, Magician Lord, Metal Slug, League Bowling, Super Sidekicks, and Art of Fighting. Each title has been updated with contemporary features like online versus and cooperative play. Additionally, Fatal Fury ($7) and Metal Slug ($7) are available for the PSP via the portable’s download hub.

Gamers looking to play a virtualized version of a classic board game can download Risk: Factions ($10) today. The title is based on Hasbro’s game and tasks players with dominating the world. Specifically, Factions twists the normal game’s elements by allowing players to wage war with five factions, each with unique attributes. Another board game turned digital ware out this week is Blokus ($5). The game has players attempting to thwart the advancement of their competitors by placing blocks on a board. The title sports offline and online multiplayer, as well as four game variations.

Also out now is a high-definition rerelease of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones ($15). Released on the PlayStation 2 in 2005, the game tasks players with mastering both the Prince and the Dark Prince. The title has been updated with HD visuals and is also playable in 3D, provided users have a 3D-enabled television.

The last two PS3 titles available today download now are Eat Them! ($10) and Top Darts ($10). The former is a cell-shaded adventure where players build a creature and then unleash it upon a city, and the latter is a virtual collection of various darts games with support for up to eight players.

Sony added two full retail games to its download hub today. Massive Action Game (MAG) ($30) and Borderlands ($30), two warmly received titles, can now be downloaded directly to a user’s hard drive. As a caveat, both downloads do not included previously released downloadable content released for each game. MAG lights up the PSN this week as a full-game download.

Fans of Telltale Games’ Strong Bad episodic series can now download the full five-episode season of Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People. Episodes are not available for individual purchase. Rather, gamers must purchase the $15 season pass to download each installment.

The holiday season is often full of friends, family, and general revelry, but Isaac Clarke is looking to change things up a bit. A demo for Dead Space 2 is now available to download. The sampler gives players a first look and feel into the frightening world of the haunting sequel.

Also available is a demo for the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2. Built on the Mass Effect 3 engine, BioWare’s sci-fi action-role-playing game is due to debut on Sony’s console on January 18, a first for the previously Xbox 360 and PC-only series.

One PSOne Classic arrived on the virtual marketplace this week, Front Mission 3 ($6). Developed by Square, the strategy role-playing game was originally released in 2000. In it, players are cast as Kazuki Takemura, a test pilot, and can early on choose between two distinct storylines.

Music gamers have multiple options this week. New content is now available for Def Jam Rapstar, Rock Band 3, DJ Hero 2, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Def Jam Rapstar added songs from DJ Khaled, Eve, and The Runners; Rock Band 3 welcomes 11 new songs from artists like Bad Company, Linea 77, Skizoo, and others. DJ Hero 2 welcomes the Linkin Park Mix Pack ($8), which bundles three new remixed Linkin Park tunes. Lastly, Warriors of Rock added a KISS-Mas track pack, which comes with three Kiss tunes.

A full list of the week’s deals and new PlayStation Store content, including themes, wallpapers, demos, discounts, and add-on content, is available on the PlayStation Blog.