Weekly video game releases: 'Borderlands' expansions, 'Lead and Gold,' 'Torchlight'

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Among upcoming video game releases: Borderlands repackages two all-action expansion packs for mass-market retail, Lead and Gold brings a distinct Old West America feel to frantic team-based online multiplayer, and underground cult hit Torchlight reveals itself to the European market.

Borderlands: Double Game Add-On Pack (360, Win PC)
Release date: North America, April 6. Europe, April 9.
Though these extra missions for October 2009's surprise hit Borderlands have been available via download for some months, they're now making the transition to shop shelves. The main game (available separately) is a futuristic take on wild-west fortune hunting that takes place on a half-colonized alien planet full of hostile beasts and bandits. Contained here are the first two batches of post-release content: The Zombie Island of Dr Ned, where the player looks for a cure amongst hordes of humorous horror movie homages, and Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, which is all about fending off waves of baddies, preferably in the company of friends. The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is currently available via the 360, PS3, and PC
Price: $19.99 / €19.99

Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West (Win PC)
Release: April 8
Old America is experiencing a thematic video games revival of late - Red Dead Revolver and Gun did so a few years ago, but more recently Fallen Earth's online roleplayer, Borderlands' loot-hunting, and Red Steel 2's collision of US shanty towns with Shogun-era Japan all mined that rich vein of history. Lead and Gold takes that and throws online team-based action into the mix, and with some clever benefits for players that stick together, the game has found favor when previewed by larger gaming websites such as Giant Bomb, Destructoid, and IGN. Plus it's cheap, so what's to lose? Gather a posse and set forth.
Price: €14.99 / $15, via the Steam Network

Torchlight (Windows PC)
Release date: Europe, April 9. North America, released January 2010.
Torchlight was an underground hit late in 2009, going against recent trends by remaining a single player-only fantasy action game. Released digitally, it was favorably and rightfully compared to the genre-defining Diablo of 1996, retaining key personnel who worked on that game. Players wander dungeons near the town of Torchlight as a warrior, ranger or wizard to fight the corrupting power of a mysterious buried mineral and the beings it has enslaved. It featured in a good number of video game journalists' "Best of 2009" lists so is worth a look at the very least.
Price: €19.99

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (PS3, Win PC)
Release date: North America, April 13. Europe, April 16.
Six months after the Xbox 360's exclusivity period runs out, Grand Theft Auto IV's two big extra mission packs arrive on the PlayStation 3 and Windows PCs. Just like the disc-based Xbox 360 version, though the game takes place within the same fictional Liberty City, a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV is not required, even though both episodes cross over with GTAIV's plotline. Two more sides of life in the crime-ridden metropolis are explored: rough and ready biker gangs in The Lost and The Damned, and nightclub glitz and glamour in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Price: €39.99 / $39.99 (PS3), €24.99 / $29.99 (Win PC)

Splinter Cell: Conviction (360, Win PC)
Release date: North America, April 13. Europe, April 16.
Previous games in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series have emphasized the importance of stealth in a successful covert operative's infiltrations. Conviction has brought in a couple of new gameplay innovations that make a guns-blazing action approach feasible, should the player so desire. Players can now see where enemies think their character is, and sneak behind them. There is also a co-operative mode allowing two players to sneak and destroy. Microsoft is evidently banking on the series' pulling power by releasing a special Conviction console bundle, as this is the series' first outing on the 360.
Price: €59.99 / $59.99 (360), €49.99 / $59.99 (PC)
European Limited Collector's Edition: €89.99 (360), €64.99 (PC)
North American Collector's Edition: $79.99 (360), $69.99 (Win PC)

Final Fight: Double Impact (360, PS3)
Release date: April 14, Xbox Live Arcade. April 15, PlayStation Network Store.
One of the seminal arcade fighting games, Final Fight, has seen plenty of cross-pollination with other titles since its debut in 1989 and later on Nintendo's SNES (aka Famicom) console in 1990 and the SEGA CD in 1993. Now, its martial arts heroes Cody and Guy no longer have to content themselves with ongoing appearances in the Street Fighter franchise, joining ex-wrestler and mayor of Metro City, Mike Haggar, as they battle for control of the streets once again. Having already been released on the Wii's Virtual Console store, Final Fight comes to 360 and PlayStation 3, with the addition of graphical tweaks and an online multiplayer, packaged together with arcade and SNES classic Magic Sword.
Price: 800 MS Points - €9.30/$9.99 (360), $9.99/~€9.99 (PS3)