Matt Hazard is one of those countless Duke Nukem clones that’s recently spawned up, but unlike most other, the Matt Hazard games take it lighthearted, and most of all, make fun of the games industry. While the retail version of Matt Hazard, called Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, somewhat disappointed and didn’t live up to the hype, the Xbox Live Arcade version, Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond, is, above all, an excellent homage to the side scrolling shooters of the 80s.

The story of Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond goes as this: Matt Hazard, the video game character, goes back in time and revisits the games he was in earlier, in the 80s, in order to prevent a evil corporation to take over the establishment and delete him as a character. As far as story goes, the game at least has something interesting going for itself, and is certainly not shy of acting self-aware. Read the rest of the review

In the days of eight and sixteen bit gaming humor was quite often employed in video games. Titles like Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Clayfighter took well constructed gameplay and added comic twists. While many modern titles add in the occasional joke or humorous easter egg, it’s rare nowadays that a game comes out with a deliberately comical bent.

One of these very games has just gone gold. Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is a tongue-in cheek shooter that has a fictional video game action star Matt Hazard returning to action to battle an enemy who seeks to go into his past and stop him before his illustrious career can begin. The hilarious title will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC beginning March 3rd.