There is no denying that there is a shortage of quality RTS games in the gaming scene. Particularly ones that deal with something other than aliens in space. Company of Heroes is one such series that breaks that tradition, opting for historic tanks and a World War II setting rather than the typical sci-fi fair. The latest from Relic, Company of Heroes 2 is shaping up to be quite a solid game. Fortunately, we have all had the opportunity to play for it a bit, because the game has been in a free open beta. The best part about the beta is that your stats for multiplayer will carry over to the full version of the game.

The Stronghold series has been around now on PCs for over 15 years, with the RTS garnering millions of sales over its lifetime. Honestly, it's surprising there aren't more games out there that are similar. While the series started out set in medieval England, the Crusader branch took things to the deserts of the Middle East. Now that series is getting a new game on a brand new 3D engine and being self published by Firefly Studios. In an AirStream trailer across from the LA convention center we went eyes on with the new game. Stronghold Crusader 2 is still early in development but it's already shaping up to have many of the core gameplay elements that made the original so popular. While the game will have a campaign, which will serve as both a tutorial and a series of challenges, the meat and potatoes of Stronghold is the game's skirmish mode. It's here that Firefly has put a lot of attention and added the ability to co-op with a friend.

Many of us have been waiting very patiently for Company of Heroes 2. The original Company of Heroes was a smashing success, and a very well received military RTS. Well, good news to those of us who want to get a leg up on the competition. Relic has sent Company of Heroes 2 into the open beta phase in order to get ready for the imminent release date of June 25th. The beta will last until June 18th, and it is available to all Steam members. To find it, simply take a look at your game library, where it should appear to download.

343 Studios will be putting out a massive weapon update to Halo 4 very soon. As a part of an ongoing effort to balance the game and ensure fair play and longevity, the team at 343 will be changing something about virtually every weapon in the arsenal. The patch will roll out for the Xbox 360 on June 3. Perhaps the biggest change will be made to the Battle Rifle, which will see an increase and damage, and the capability of killing a player in four bursts. Conversely, the rate of fire has been decreased for the gun, and the reticle range for auto-aim has been decreased. For a complete list of the weapons tweaks that will come as a part of the update, take a look below.

A sort-of-new release in the classic arcade realm, Metal Slug X is a remake of Metal Slug 2 that has been reworked for iPhone, Android and iPad devices. The game, which marks the fourth mobile Metal Slug release, features tweaked controls for the touch screen as well as altered enemy positions and maps, making it a much different experience than the game it's based on. It's also just one letter away from Metal Slug XX, which is totally not confusing at all.

Larian Studios are a talented group of individuals who are best known for their Divinity series of games here in the West. Their creative and ambitious staff draws upon decades of RPG's, table top, strategy, and other games. They have a very intriguing game on their hands at the moment titled Divinity: Dragon Commander. At it's core, Dragon Commander is both a turn-based and real-time strategy game. It also integrates FPS mechanics, branching narratives, and even at times dating-sim elements. In theory, it sounds like a Frankenstein mashup of genres. In practice, the elements actually fit together quite nicely, and the delivery is fantastic and presented in an interesting yet tidy package.

Killing large amounts of evil, totalitarian penguins is back! Like we covered late last year, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken will be arriving onto PlayStation Vita early next week.