Twisted Pixel’s The Gunstringer is a very important game. Its importance has nothing to do with cultural relevance or some revolutionary game mechanic, but because it has the potential to change the way many gamers see motion control based gaming. It will be the first downloadable game for the Kinect and its success could very well lead to an explosion of small-scale titles for the platform that give the platform credibility with core gamers who have yet to embrace it, for want of “substantial” software. As it turns out, The Gunstringer is exactly what the Kinect needs – an accessible and undeniably fun game that shows that the Kinect can be used to make games that challenge players, as well as amuse them.

Storytelling, not gameplay, is what set the original Portal apart from other puzzle games. Yes, the portal gun is a versatile mechanic and is the center of the game, but the game’s humor, particularly the ever-present electronic frenemy GLaADOS, was the undeniable stars of the game. Portal 2, looking to expand the series in every sense of the word, is raising the bar by adding new characters to support the rapidly expanding world. Valve’s screening of the game at PAX gave us a first look at two of those new characters.

Getting my hands on the infamous Duke Nukem Forever, a game that started development during the last millennium, was a tough experience to interpret. Part of me felt like it was necessary to revere the game simply because it existed. Part of me wants to trash it because no game should ever take that long. So it is with all these thoughts in my mind that I approached the game. Looking back on it now, Duke Nukem Forever is kind of like the McDonalds of video games – fun to play, but you might feel bad about yourself afterwards. What I mean is this; Duke Nukem Forever works very hard to recreate the feeling of the original Duke Nukem games, and in that capacity it is absolutely a success.

I haven’t played the first Darkness game so I can’t say whether it was good or bad, but either way it wasn’t a bank-breaking success and thus, I was somewhat perplexed by the fact that 2K opted to do a sequel. My confusion turned to dismay when I heard that the game was being taken away from its original developer, Starbreeze Studios, and given to Digital Extremes – a studio whose biggest lead developer credit is the aptly named Xbox shooter Pariah.

At PAX 2011 I had the opportunity to play Orcs Must Die, a new action/tower defense game coming to PC and Xbox Live from Robot Entertainment. How can I describe Orcs Must Die? Well, honestly the title says it all. Players take the role of a warrior who has been charged with making sure that no orcs make it through any of the “rift portals” in their world, a glowing portal that would allow them to travel to the land of humans. Luckily, the rifts are encased in fortresses, which means that, in addition to taking them on in hand-to-hand combat, players can build traps to stem the tide of ravaging orcs.

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge has gotten a bad rap. Being an action-RPG with a Resident Evil 4-esque over-the-shoulder camera, the game was type-cast as a medieval Gears of War clone based on early screenshots. Developer InXile knows about the rep, and they aren’t happy about. “Players {here at PAX} start playing as E’lara and immediately start using the reticule, says Bethesda senior producer Darren Chukitus. It’s not that kind of game, there’s a lot more fast-paced hack-n-slashing, rapid-shooting action going on.” And rightfully so, Hunted is a lot of things, but a Gears of War clone, it is not.

Despite the fact that Microsoft has sold upwards of 10 million Kinects since launch, I have been very cynical of the platform. Aside from Dance Central, there haven’t been any show-stopping games, and even DC suffers from limited playability. Add to that the fact that you need to have a fairly sizeable living room to use Kinect properly, and there are a lot of reasons to steer clear.

But just like that, I’ve changed my mind. Today I renounce my skepticism. Today, I played Child of Eden.