Gamer Track

NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT

2009-09-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Slightly Mad Studios

Publisher : Electronic Arts

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : GT / Street Racing

Release Date : September 15 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo / AMD Phenom II Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 256 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7800 Series
ATI : Radeon X 1800 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 6 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Need for Speed: Shift is a racing game that tries to do a lot of things, and the good news is that it does most of them well. The racing, the car and track selections, the vehicle customization and damage modeling, the career mode, the online play, the opponent AI--all of these things are good, but none of them are great. Like a simulation game, Shift encourages you to brake early for corners, punishes you for straying too far from the racing line, and, at least by default, presents you with a steering setup that's extremely sensitive. But, like an arcade racer, Shift rewards you for sliding around corners, for "trading paint" with opponents, and even for forcing those same opponents into a spin or off the track. It's an awkward middle ground that you might never feel comfortable with. The Career mode amounts to little more than 150-plus of these events, set up as themed competitions between cars of certain classes or from certain countries and then arranged into a tier system that matches the one used for cars. You start out as a tier 1 driver with a tier 1 car, and as you progress you move into tiers 2 through 4 before unlocking the anticlimactic 10-race World Tour, which marks the pinnacle of your career. Getting involved in a big crash or straying too far from the track toward the end of an event can be disastrous, and feeling the need to restart a 10-lap endurance race because an overzealous opponent forced you into a tire wall is no fun. However, if the race still has plenty of laps left to run, you shouldn't be too quick to give up. Online options include a Driver Duel tournament mode, in which a series of head-to-head races pit you and an opponent against each other in randomly selected identical cars, and ranked and unranked races for up to eight players. The variables that you can play around with when setting up an online race are the same as those that you get in the single-player Quick Race mode. Once you're with a group of players in a lobby, you have plenty of time to see what the next race is going to be and to choose a car either from your own Career mode garage or from a selection of stock vehicles.

In addition to races, this jack-of-all-trades game incorporates drift events into both its Career and online modes. Only 11 of the cars that appear in the game can be used for drifting, and finding one that you feel comfortable with is even more difficult than finding one for racing. These cars are automatically tuned to slide so easily that pressing down on the accelerator even a fraction more than you absolutely need to can send your car straight into a donut. With practice it's certainly possible to perform some satisfying drifts around corners, and because the events aren't timed, you can win them by employing some cheap tactics and just swinging from side to side on the straights. Another of Shift's features that doesn't realize its full potential is car customization. There are around 55 cars to collect in Shift, though you never have enough spots in your garage for even half of that number. These cars can be painted, you can apply a handful of different racing liveries to them, and some of the performance upgrades you can purchase for them include cool-looking bodykits, but the custom livery designer is awful. Vinyls at your disposal include the usual assortment of primitive shapes, logos, flames, and tribal designs, as well as plenty of creative groups that you unlock as your career progresses--including badges that show off some of your accomplishments. On some tracks, those same corners can be made even trickier by opponents who make a mess of them in front of you, because they kick up great-looking clouds of sand and dust in the process that partially obscure your vision. Shopping for cars should be fun in a game like Shift, but it's actually a bit of a chore because the models take a second or two to appear as you scroll through the list, and for some reason you don't get to move the camera around them yourself. You also don't get control of the camera when you come to put new bodykits on your cars, so you have to wait for them to do a full rotation before you can check out both the new front and rear wings. Shift's audio fares better on the track than it does off it. Some of the cars' engine noises are a real treat, and they change as you upgrade your cars with new exhausts, turbo systems, and the like. The sequences of sound effects and radio chatter that play while you're navigating menus are bizarre, though, and anytime you think they're going to transition into something resembling a tune, you're wrong. Shift is neither an arcade racer nor a simulation; it's stuck somewhere between the two, and while there's plenty of good racing to be had here, it's unlikely to completely satisfy fans of either.

GAME REVIEW :-

8/10

Need For Speed: Shift Trailer :-

TROPICO

2009-09-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : PopTop Software

Publisher : Gathering Of Developers

Engine : S3D

Genre : Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : April 23 , 2001

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 98 / Windows 2000

CPU : AMD Athlon Classic K7 / Intel Pentium II Processor

Memory (RAM) : 32 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 7.0 Compliant Card with 4 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 2 MX Series
ATI : Radeon 7500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 820 MB

GAME FEATURES :-

Tropico is just another city-building simulation that's reminiscent of many others before it. But the political wrapper that PopTop has built around the core of the game is sophisticated enough to appeal to all types of strategy game players. The game also has enough heart, soul, humor, and humanity to make it unique. Most games of Tropico start with a few people scratching out a living on a small Caribbean island. You step in as their new presidente, with the background of your choice to give you a set of game-twisting traits. For instance, if you come from a moneyed background, you'll have an advantage in industry. Armed with your distinctive set of traits and your new bank account, you drop buildings onto the island: housing, farms, cattle ranches, churches, medical clinics, pubs, police stations, bauxite mines, fishing wharves, and cigar factories. Later on, there are power plants, casinos, cathedrals, and TV stations. And there are always the little landscaping touches, such as flower beds, trees, fountains, and the occasional statue to remind everyone who's in charge. You might be the presidente, but there are a hundred or more folks who drive the action on the island. For instance, to make money from rum, you just drop a sugar farm and a rum distillery. Your construction crews show up and erect the actual structures. Then immigrants or citizens are hired as farmers and factory workers. The farmers plant sugar cane, which grows over the course of the year and is eventually harvested. Teamsters pick up the sugar and carry it to the distillery, where the factory workers convert it into rum. Then the teamsters carry it to the docks, where the dockworkers load it onto freighters. Only then do you finally get paid. When amenities aren't available, they're unhappy and less likely to support you. Different people have different priorities. Some people are concerned with crime, others with liberty. Some just want a nice house or a high-paying job. If they get upset enough, they'll vote against you in elections, publicly protest, flee to join the rebels, or maybe even take part in an uprising against your palace. In Tropico, money ultimately takes a backseat to people.

Tropico also has a broad range of appeal, thanks in part to its various difficulty levels, which range from a sandbox mode to sadistic realism. You can select different victory conditions for different styles of games. Tropico can also be played at any number of speeds, and you can interact completely with the game while it's paused. Casual players can crank down the political and economic factors and just doodle around with impunity, dropping buildings and watching the island grow. Although the game's random-scenario generator has a lot of flexibility, the eight scenarios that ship with Tropico are particularly disappointing for their lack of interesting scripting. Also, since there's no included scenario or map editor, Tropico's longevity relies exclusively on its random scenarios. However, the random scenarios would have been more satisfying had they given a better sense of accomplishment after playing. As it is, you get a verbal briefing of your performance and a high score on a list. There's no record of what sort of scenario it was, who your dictator was, or how your people felt about you when it was all over. All the information available in Tropico about your economy, your citizens, and your society as a whole is a welcome change from games that insist on running things under the hood. The thorough documentation leaves very few questions unanswered. The political wrapper that PopTop has built around the core of the game is sophisticated enough to appeal to all types of strategy game players.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Tropico Trailer :-

TRAINZ

2009-09-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Auran

Publisher : Strategy First

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Simulation

Release Date : February 10 , 2002

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon T-Bird B-models / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 128 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compliant Card with 16 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 2 MX Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 500 MB

GAME FEATURES :-

Trainz is a modular system that ships with three components: My Collection, Surveyor, and Driver. These modules let you examine your collected engines and rolling stock (railroad cars), create railroad layouts, and drive trains across them. Trainz developer Auran (the Australian developer responsible for the great 1997 real-time strategy game Dark Reign) plans to release expansion modules that will let you simulate complex switching and dispatching operations or handle the financial end of running your railroad. Auran also plans to release various locomotive and rolling stock packs to add to your collection. You can already download a number of free engines and structures created by either Auran or fans using 3D modeling programs, one of which is included with Trainz. You can sort them by country of origin or railroad company, as well as view real-world background information on each engine or car. For rolling stock, you'll get boxcars, refrigerator cars, hoppers, a variety of passenger cars, and more. Engines include the F7 and SD40-2 diesels of North America, the Class 340 of Spain's Renfe line, and Sweden's Rc4 electric, among others. Sadly, you don't get any steam engines, which will surely disappoint the countless rail fans who love the "golden age of steam." First, you'll assemble your train by simply dragging and dropping engines and cars from a list to a little window at the bottom of the screen in the order you like. Then you choose the weather (cloudy, rainy, snowy, and so on) and how often it can change. You can also set the time of day and choose a time compression factor, if any. You can also decide whether or not trains can derail. Then you choose starting positions for your trains from a number of preset locations on the game's three sample layouts set in North America, Britain, and Australia. All the layouts are interesting, but it would have been better if the game had included more.

Navigating the layouts is fairly trouble-free thanks to a track map and easily changed track switches. Coupling and uncoupling cars is a simple point-and-click affair, but since the game doesn't offer any scenarios, you'll have to rely wholly on your imagination in planning your operations. You can watch the action from multiple camera views, including one inside the engine cab. The camera is very easy to zoom and pan, though it's unfortunate that you can't position it anywhere you want--you have to rely on preset layout-specific positions or follow the train directly. It would have been nice to get a truly free bird's-eye view. Trainz's graphics beautifully bring the layouts to life. The engines are nicely detailed, with working headlights and exhaust billowing in the breeze, though not all of the cab interiors properly match the exteriors. The trackside scenery is also impressive, with varied buildings, working track signals, and moving automobiles. Laying track is equally simple, though you're currently limited to standard gauge track. Between that and the lack of steam engines, there's presently no way to create, say, a classic Colorado or Maine narrow-gauge line out of the box. You're also currently limited to textures and objects geared toward layouts set in Australia, Britain, and North America. That's really a fairly minor quibble, considering Trainz's many great strengths. By letting you so easily create so much, Trainz is one of those programs you can return to again and again. Since it's currently more a construction program than a simulator or game, imagination is required, but that's a good thing. If you're already an ardent model railroader or rail fan, you owe it to yourself to give Trainz a try.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Trainz Trailer :-

MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2004: A CENTURY OF FLIGHT

2009-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Microsoft Game Studios

Publisher : Microsoft Game Studios

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Flight Simulation

Release Date : July 29 , 2003

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon T-Bird B-models / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 128 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compliant Card with 16 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 3 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight commemorates double anniversary by offering more planes, better graphics, and more options than ever before right out of the box, but the game will likely reach its full potential only if it receives great support from its player community. It's easier to access game options, and each option is actually explained by the game. There's also an excellent interactive flight school hosted by aviation veteran Rod Machado that serves as a surprisingly deep training tool. There is enough written material included about the planes, the history of flight, and flying tips to fill an encyclopedia. As such, Flight Simulator 2004 represents one of the rare instances in which online documentation is wholly superior to a printed manual. The documentation includes articles that are supplemented with Web-page-style hyperlinks, which lead to more detailed information about a particular topic. Some even whisk you directly into the cockpit so you can actually re-create the particular flight discussed in the article. If you plan to fly any of the vintage aircraft, be sure to invest in some good controller peripherals, specifically rudder pedals or a joystick with a twist handle. It's impossible to take off and land in taildraggers like the Piper J3 Cub and Curtiss Jenny without a lot of dancing on the rudders. And once they're airborne, ponderous antiques like the Vickers Vimy biplane can barely turn unless you stomp on the pedals. Rudder controls also are a must for flying the two helicopters modeled in the game, which include the familiar Bell JetRanger and the new Robison R22 Beta. Aside from the historical aircraft, Flight Simulator 2004's big news this time around is its weather effects. You can set up in-flight weather any way you like or go for the ultimate in realism by having the game automatically download real-world weather reports from the Jeppesen database every 15 minutes. Even if you don't choose to use the real-world weather option, the game can dynamically change its weather conditions so that a flight that begins in clear blue skies might end up in pure instrument conditions as you try to feel your way down to the runway in a violent thunderstorm. The addition of true 3D clouds that drift through the sky and merge into one another as weather conditions change adds a realistic touch to the game that static screenshots simply can't convey.

The game's interactive virtual cockpits are a great new feature, since the ability to control most switches, knobs, and dials with the mouse when the 3D cockpit is enabled adds some much-needed functionality to that view. Unfortunately, the textures used in the virtual cockpits are low resolution and very ugly--hopefully this is something that inventive computer artists among the Flight Simulator fan community will address. Almost a thousand new airports have been added to the game's world database, providing more than 24,000 places to land ranging from quaint grass strips to bustling international airports complete with signage. The game also features an improved air traffic control (ATC) that works well for the most part. At controlled airports, ground control provides taxi clearances and instructions, and it is possible to follow the taxiway signs to your destination or turn on a handy overlay that visually displays your assigned route. Another new feature in the game is the use of modeled Garmin GPS products--these can be helpful when interacting with ATC and planning approaches. They aren't easy for beginners to grasp, because they use the same buttons and knobs as their real-world counterparts, but a training video is included, and once you get the hang of it, the GPS becomes an indispensable tool for finding your way around Flight Simulator's vast world. The core flight model and terrain graphics engine remain more or less untouched, and on the whole, the new game seems very similar to its predecessor. The new game's multiplayer is still rudimentary and allows only for basic formation flights and air races, though you can't expect much more from a noncombat sim. You could say that Flight Simulator 2004 is still a straightforward simulation, but if you have even a passing interest in flying, you'll definitely get your money's worth from it.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century Of Flight Trailer :-

GTR FIA RACING

2009-09-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : SimBin

Publisher : 10tacle, Atari And THQ

Engine : Customized ISI Engine

Genre : GT / Street Racing

Release Date : May 3 , 2005

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor / AMD Athlon XP 1800+

Memory (RAM) : 384 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 64 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce FX 5500 Series
ATI : Radeon X600 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

GTR keys on the FIA GT Championship, a European-based series featuring high-end, high-level sports cars adapted for racing conditions. One of the many nifty perks of this approach is the inherent variety. The game sports nearly 20 unique drivable racecars, including a wide assortment of Porsches, Vipers, Ferraris, and Lotuses. Some are considerably faster than others, and that's why both the real-life series and its fully licensed digital peer offer different classes. Players that select "arcade" from the main menu are presented with a stripped-down and simplified version of the game that abolishes nuisances, such as garage modifications, qualification runs, race lengths, and other event parameter decisions. Arcade mode is further subcategorized into four distinct classes, each of which delivers a slightly more authentic experience than the one before it. The racing is a bit faster and far more forgiving than you'll find in the game's semipro and simulation modes, though even at its most simplistic, arcade still manages to showcase 10tacle's glorious, road-clawing physics model. 10tacle does, however, enforce an engine limiter throughout arcade mode that keeps you from running away from the field. The only way to rid yourself of that limiter is to leave the arcade appetizer behind and begin sampling GTR's meat and potatoes. Rough pavement, wet-weather handling, braking, accelerating--it's all infused with so much intricate physics that most drivers will have a tough time even coming to grips. Indeed, the GTR physics model is so good that many may feel they need to experience the actual tactile sensations of g-forces just to be successful. This can't happen of course, so the best approach is a smooth, unerring driving style, along with total and complete concentration, particularly during the first few opening laps when your tires are cold. The game's multiplayer mode permits up to 56 drivers to compete via LAN or Internet, theoretically anyway. In practice, we found stuttering and other frame rate problems when a dozen or more cars were on the track simultaneously, particularly when grouped together.

If you create an accident or merely come to a stop anywhere on an oval (or a road course, for that matter), you can clearly see a gaggle of confused competitors slow to a crawl or stop right along with you, waiting patiently for you to extricate yourself, even though there's plenty of room to squeeze by. On a more positive note, oval racing in the Semi-Pro or Simulation levels with driver aids off can deliver some addictive bumper-to-bumper action. GTR audio is far from pretty. And in a game that professes to be "the most realistic racing simulation ever," it's a very good thing. Road noise is particularly extraordinary, barking and rumbling and effectively translating the struggle of rubber as it fights to hold your car to the track. Tire scrub is deadly authentic--varying from moment to moment and always keeping you informed. Engine notes and gearshifts are both exclusive to the type of car you're currently driving, and they're utterly convincing. Downshifts in particular have a wonderfully grating, mechanical sound, especially in some of the more esoteric vehicles. In a graphical sense, the game delivers a mix of goodies and is generally not a quantum leap forward from other recent top-level sims. That's not necessarily a condemnation, because other recent top-level sims have been pretty darn credible, but one of GTR's most conspicuous troubles is its hunger for computing horsepower. Watching day turn into night and night turn into day is an equally striking event, particularly as 10tacle has effectively captured all the associated nuances. One moment you're heading west facing the gorgeous orangey hues of a setting sun, and the next you're driving into a considerably darker eastern sky. The subtle variations along the way are simply beautiful. Drivers who appreciate racing's inherent violence will enjoy the game's approach to breakable cars. GTR cars shed parts, and those parts then bounce about the track and react with other automobiles. This is a rarity in racing games, where detached hunks of car generally lose their physical properties or harmlessly disappear. Granted, those parts break off along predetermined seams, but that's a petty complaint. Otherwise, crashes produce enough view-obscuring thick, black smoke and bright orange flames to be truly frightening. Despite its blemishes, GTR is the breath of fresh air this genre so badly needed.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

GTR FIA Racing Trailer :-

NEED FOR SPEED: PORSCHE UNLEASHED

2009-09-16T10:06:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : EA Canada

Publisher : Electronic Arts

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Racing

Release Date : March 28 , 2000

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 95 / Windows 98

CPU : AMD Athlon Classic K75 / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 32 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 7.0 Compliant Card with 4 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 2 MX Series
ATI : Radeon 7500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 150 MB

GAME FEATURES :-

Porsche Unleashed features automobiles exclusively from one manufacturer. The game has a more detailed, more realistic driving and physics model than its predecessors, though the game's realism is scalable. Porsche Unleashed looks good enough to do justice to its prestigious German sponsor. The game includes many dozens of different Porsche models from the manufacturer's 50-year product line, and each one bears the unmistakable curvature of a Porsche. The 3D car models are highly detailed: The cars all have working turn signals, brake lights, and headlights, and when you look at them in the garage, you can even check the engine under the hood, pop the trunk, or view the car's interior. The cars shine in the sunlight and reflect street lamps at nighttime, and they can also get noticeably damaged. You can clearly see their independent suspension at work as they corner, thanks to the game's realistic four-point physics model, and you can even see their drivers turning the wheel and shifting gears. You can drive the cars from a 3D cockpit view, from which you get a great sense of speed, but the cockpit view's limited visibility and slower frame rate - as well as the muffled engine noise - make the cutaway first-person view preferable, though you can also select from two external perspectives. The various courses in Porsche Unleashed look even better than the cars do. Porsche Unleashed is the first Need for Speed since the original to feature extended open-road courses in addition to closed-circuit tracks. The lush natural scenery and subtle lighting effects give you a good sense of where you're driving, whether high up in the mountains at morning or down low by the docks at night. Some tracks offer alternate routes to take, and all of them have plenty of peripheral detail that you'll only start to notice after you've already raced along that stretch of road a half-dozen times. Put it all together, and Porsche Unleashed looks fabulous. The car detail and the great sense of speed you get from behind the wheel, in addition to the quaint backwater European courses and even the game's stylish front-end menus make Porsche Unleashed very classy, much like its namesake.

You'll get to drive the very first Porsches all the way up through its fastest contemporary designs in Porsche Unleashed's evolution mode. The evolution mode begins in 1950 and lets you compete in a series of tournaments to earn cash. Each tournament takes place some years after the previous one, so you can use your earnings to buy new Porsche models as they became available. The evolution mode can be played as a serious simulation: You can tweak your cars' shocks for ride height, stiffness, and travel, just as you can adjust downforce, brake balance, and tire pressure, all to suit the road conditions. Porsche Unleashed is easy to play with automatic transmission in beginner mode, but expert mode can be a real challenge, as even the best Porsche is liable to slide out of control off a sharp corner unless you're ready to brake and downshift around each bend. If you just want to get behind the wheel of the fastest car Porsche has ever made, then you'll prefer the innovative factory-driver mode, in which you assume the role of a test-driver for the manufacturer. You'll get assignments from various Porsche personalities, including an executive, the chief tester, and even a rival test-driver, and you'll need to complete each of these to advance to the next. There are around three-dozen missions in all, and they range from standard test-driver challenges that test your cornering and acceleration, to more unusual scenarios in which you need to deliver your vehicle for shipment quickly and without damaging it, to rally races, and more. Porsche Unleashed lets you run a quick race against up to seven opponents, and it also includes a knockout mode that's an endurance match in which the last car around the track is eliminated each lap, until one car wins. The quick-race mode lets you choose from the cars that you've made available in the evolution mode in addition to a few select stock models, which means that you'll need to spend a lot of time racing through the ages before you'll have a wide selection of cars. Porsche Unleashed also includes a history of Porsche that has photographs and even some video advertisements of many of its famous cars. Porsche Unleashed is a beautiful, comprehensive, and highly enjoyable racing sim that's suitable for just about any driving enthusiast. It makes no false claims about the limits of its extensive features, so although it'll give you a chance to experience what it's like to drive all the different types of Porsches from over the years, it won't let you race those cars against their competition from other exotic-automobile manufacturers.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed Trailer :-

MAX PAYNE 2: THE FALL OF MAX PAYNE

2009-09-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Remedy Entertainment, 3D Realms And Rockstar Vienna

Publisher : Rockstar Games

Engine : MAX-FX 2.0

Genre : Modern Shooter

Release Date : October 14 , 2003

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 98 / Windows 2000

CPU : AMD Athlon XP 1500+ / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compliant Card with 64 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 3 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.3 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Two years after the events of the first game, Max Payne is an NYPD detective. While investigating a series of murders by a group of contract killers called the Cleaners, Max encounters Mona Sax, who was assumed dead at the end of the previous game. Wanted for the murder of Senator Gates and, despite Max's protests, Mona is arrested and taken to the police station. While at the station, Max overhears his new partner, Valerie Winterson, talking on the phone about Mona. Suddenly, the station is attacked by the Cleaners, who are looking for Mona. Before they reach her, Mona breaks out of her cell and vanishes into the night. After Max meets her again at her residence, where they fight off the Cleaners who followed Max to her place, they begin hunting down the people responsible for the attack. Their search leads them to a construction site, where Max and Mona defend themselves against the Cleaners. After their foes flee, Detective Winterson arrives and holds Mona at gunpoint. Mona claims that Winterson is there to kill her while Winterson claims that she is simply trying to arrest a fleeing fugitive. After several moments of consideration, Max shoots Winterson, allowing Mona to escape. Before she dies, Winterson shoots Max, leading to his hospitalization. After Max leaves the hospital, he begins looking for answers. When Max is kidnapped by Vladimir Lem, head of the Russian Mafia, he learns that the Cleaners work for Lem, who uses them to eliminate the competition to his businesses. Max then learns that Lem is part of the secretive Inner Circle, led by Senator Alfred Woden, who had ensured that the charges against Max were dropped at the end of the previous game. Lem plans to kill Woden and gain control of the Inner Circle. Max also learns that Mona is a hired gun for Woden, with orders to kill Lem and Max. After Lem reveals that Detective Winterson was his mistress, he shoots Max, and leaves him for dead in a burning building. Mona rescues Max, and together they go to Woden's mansion to save him from Lem. At the mansion, Mona knocks Max to the ground in an attempt to follow her orders to kill him, but discovers that her feelings for him keep her from doing so. Lem shoots Mona after realizing that she will not kill Max. Woden then appears in a wheelchair, and lunges at Lem; Woden is killed during the ensuing struggle. Max and Lem then begin to fight, until Lem triggers a bomb that he planted in the mansion. After they both drop to the floor below, Max pursues Lem through the mansion. Max faces Lem in a firefight, and eventually destabilizes the platform below Lem, causing it to fall to the floor below and killing Lem. Max returns to Mona's side as the police arrive, and she dies in his arms. If the game is completed at its highest difficulty level, Mona survives.

The souped-up bullet time of Max Payne 2 enables you to take on much larger groups of foes than you could in the first game. The body count here is very high, particularly in some of the later sequences which have Max taking on small armies by himself or, sometimes, with a helping hand or two. One of the touted new features of Max Payne 2 is that Max can sometimes fight alongside other characters. This works as expected. The supporting characters follow Max's lead and lend a helping hand, though their assistance isn't all that valuable. Max's arsenal of weapons hasn't changed much from the first game. He largely uses the same types of pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, and shotguns that he used extensively in the past. The main addition here is the MP5 submachine gun, a mainstay in any shooter with real-world weapons. An AK-47 and a Dragunov sniper rifle are also available, but, by and large, the weapons in Max Payne 2 are just what you'd expect if you played the first game. Max now has the ability to use any of his weapons as a bludgeon, though this is a throwaway feature that's useless and lousy-looking. Two higher difficulty settings are available, which become unlocked after you finish the game at the previous difficulty setting. The highest setting limits the number of times you can save in a level, as an added challenge. Also, once you've finished the game, you can go back and replay any of the individual levels that compose the storyline. The first game's "New York minute" mode is back, but now it's just a simple time trial. You no longer lose if you aren't fast enough in a level, though, implicitly, you're trying to get through as quickly as possible. A new mode, called "dead man walking," has been added, and, in it, you're trapped in any number of the game's more spread-out environments as enemies start spawning in. It's a question of how long you can last until they finally gun you down, and it can be quite fun. Since Max Payne 2 is, nevertheless, a short, single-player-only game, perhaps it's little wonder that the developers have been very encouraging of the game's mod community. It's the razor-sharp, photorealistic texture maps, the excellent special effects and animation, and the incredibly detailed environments that are the stars. The bullet time effects look great too. Bullet time now causes the game world to go into a sepia tone, and you can still make out individual bullets or shotgun pellets whizzing through the air when time's slowed down. There's plenty of blood during the firefights and plenty of debris from background objects that are struck. All in all, Max Payne 2 looks simply outstanding. Max Payne 2 is just a remarkable production, and what it lacks in length or volume it more than makes up for in quality and density.

GAME REVIEW :-

9/10

Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne Trailer :-

CIVILIZATION IV

2009-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Firaxis Games

Publisher : 2K Games & Aspyr

Engine : Gamebryo

Genre : Historic Turn-Based Strategy

Release Date : October 25 , 2005

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon 2500+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 64 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 4 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.7 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The series gives you plenty of ways to do this, such as conquering your neighbors, researching advanced technology, or, in Civilization III (and IV), creating the most cultured society on the planet. It's this great variety that helps give Civilization IV the same alarmingly addictive quality its predecessors carried. And thanks to its many improvements, major and minor, and its greater emphasis on strategy over bean-counting, Civilization IV isn't just as good as Civilization has ever been...it's better. Your political leader has two special traits that will influence his or her reign, though all the game's traits are new, such as "organized," which cuts down on maintenance costs, or "expansive," which generates bonus health in cities and helps hasten growth and expansion. And Civilization IV fundamentally offers the same goals, but in a much more evolved, more strategic, and ultimately more rewarding manner. And each of these goals comes with many more options, which should open the game up to players with busy schedules...even if it may still seem overwhelming to beginners. You can attempt to influence your neighbors to make war or peace with other neighbors, and you can even fence everyone out of your backyard using the game's new "open borders" system. In previous games, neighboring nations could send their city-building settlers and their soldiers wandering across your nation, free to declare war on your vulnerable home cities and worker civilians unless you complained strenuously. In Civilization IV, the new border system means that no units from any other country can enter yours unless you have agreed to open borders with that particular country...or unless you're at war with that particular country. This is a godsend for defensive players who prefer to hang back to develop an economic, scientific, or cultural infrastructure without fear of ambush. The new great people system is an interesting and useful addition that will probably be especially appreciated by experts. Great people can be expended in exchange for a number of powerful abilities. In response to fan requests to adjust the pace of the game, developer Firaxis has added three speeds: the surprisingly fast normal speed, the even-faster quick speed, and the slower-paced epic speed. While epic speed seems better suited to purists who prefer to take their time, the quick and the normal speed are conducive to much faster play. In fact, in quick speed it can actually take as little as an hour or two to take over the world. And even normal speed moves at a brisk pace.

Multiplayer also seems to work quite well, and thanks to the game's faster pace, it seems much, much more realistic to actually finish multiplayer games, especially on the "quick" speed setting. And as you might expect from any good turn-based game, Civilization IV also supports play-by-e-mail and hotseat multiplayer, along with LAN and Internet play. The game even ships with additional custom scenarios and three fan-made modifications that offer new play modes. The game ships with a playable tutorial narrated by Sid Meier himself, but the tutorial only covers about half the game's key concepts. In addition, the late game can still end up being rather messy, as you have dozens of worker units across your sprawling empire working on various improvements, even though you'll only want to focus on a few different major developments. The most intriguing aspect of Civilization IV's audio is the narration you'll hear at the beginning of every new game and each time you research a new technology--narration that's provided by none other than Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame. Nimoy's scholarly delivery of his lines adds a touch of class to the game, though you may grow too familiar with them over time, since the same lines are repeated for the same techs. And despite the lengthy rendered animation that introduces the game the first time it's loaded, Mr. Nimoy's dulcet voice is unfortunately squandered at the beginning of each new game session, as his profound "In the beginning..." speech accompanies a disappointing series of concept art sketches. This intro is an homage to the first Civilization, but considering the animated opening sequence, an equally impressive animated sequence, or at least a cleaner-looking presentation of those images seems like it should've been used here. Beginners will find Civilization IV to be a complex strategy game with something of a learning curve, but with worthwhile rewards waiting for them once they start figuring things out. Experts will find Civilization IV to be the proverbial better mousetrap: adjusted, tweaked, and sometimes completely changed. But it's still a Civilization game, and with Civilization IV, the series is even more engaging and addictive than ever.

GAME REVIEW :-

9.5/10

Civilization IV Trailer :-

HEARTS OF IRON III

2009-09-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Paradox Interactive

Publisher : Paradox Interactive

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Historic Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : August 11 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 3500+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 128 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X850 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 2 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Hearts of Iron III remains a serious real-time strategy game that is as intricate as the design of a Persian rug. Like its cousins Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron III isn't a game that you will figure out, let alone master, in a couple of hours. The basic structure of the game is stock standard when it comes to Paradox's grand strategy lineup. The design blends the first two releases in the Hearts of Iron series with the 3D map and revamped interface of 2007's Europa Universalis III. So even though you get to look at a newfangled world map with 3D soldiers, tanks, ships, and planes moving about, the core of the game is still centered on taking control of a nation during the WWII era. Matches can be played solo or multiplayer over a LAN or the Net if you've got a lot of patience for the time it can take to finish such an undertaking. There are seven default starting dates that stretch from the nervous peace of 1936 to the beginning of the end in 1944. This lets you run through the whole 12-plus years of global insanity or pick your spot and replay history from such key moments as the German invasion of Poland or the aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Success is achieved by outlasting foes and accumulating the most victory points by the time the clock runs out and the war era comes to a close. Nations are fully stocked with leaders, including cabinet ministers and generals, all with their own skills and personalities. Laws are passed and national priorities are set that can mirror history or send things off on wild tangents. Some 15,000 provinces are ready for you to micromanage, with their traits being modeled right down to such natural resources as food and oil, as well as economic builders, such as factories, that contribute to industrial capacity. Armies, navies, and air forces are built from the ground up, then sent into battle at your command. Technology is researched to build better military hardware and improve economic production at home. Spies steal information from rivals and indulge in sabotage. Even weather fronts now roll across the continents, affecting military moves and economic production. Going into battle has been streamlined the most. Military matters are now sensibly structured via layers of headquarters. This enables you to take control of field-level HQs and direct battles manually or move up steps and give orders for specific battle theaters that direct all troops under this command to do your bidding. For example, in the early stages of the war in 1939 and early 1940, you can order Rommel's HQ to take Paris. This essentially mobilizes the entire Western front into action because all of the units under his command will then start pushing forward. No muss, no fuss.

You can take direct control of army groups when necessary, of course, although the artificial intelligence seems to do a superb job of smartly carrying out your directives. The only oddity here has to do with battle casualties; they sometimes seem impossibly low, with two people dying in a showdown among 20,000 infantry. There is also more back-and-forth with your underlings. When you issue an order, the HQ in question immediately kicks back a request for units it thinks are needed to accomplish the task, allowing you to tailor production accordingly. Tech research and production are similar, providing feedback to your efforts via bonuses that accrue the more you specialize. If you research and then crank out a lot of armor, you soon find that everything speeds up as your men gain greater experience and expertise. Only tech and production remain daunting because the menu screens for each are so loaded with numbers that you soon feel like a junior accountant at tax time. Yet even with this problem, you get the feeling that this is what Hearts of Iron was supposed to be all along. Now, you're actually in control of the game, not a slave to it. As a result, it's tough to stop playing because it's so easy to experiment with different approaches and muck up history. It's a blast to run through campaigns simply to see the many fascinating ways that they diverge from what happened in real life. One game might stick to the script with the single exception of the Netherlands signing on with the UK in 1938 to present a more united front against Hitler. Yet, the next might see something wacky, like Argentina battling the US in Central America, the French holding along the Maginot Line, or Switzerland joining the Allies and going on the offensive. Because Hearts of Iron III isn't a twitch arcade game, this generally means that you just wind up scrolling the map too far and end up in Canada instead of the UK. But it's still frustrating. Slowdowns are accentuated when playing with 3D troop models, forcing you to switch to wargame counters for a smoother experience. Again, this isn't a big deal because the game has a strong wargame vibe anyways, though it still underlines the need for a patch. Another niggling issue is front and center when you start up the game. The tuition text is strewn with typos and translation errors, which makes it hard to sit through the otherwise amusing walk-through of the game's features by Hitler. Reduced micromanagement and streamlined automation make Hearts of Iron III an absorbing game of grand strategy.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Hearts Of Iron III Trailer :-

WOLFENSTEIN

2009-09-16T09:55:00.002-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios And Endrant Studios

Publisher : Activision

Engine : id Tech 4 ( Heavily Modified )

Genre : Historic First-Person Shooter

Release Date : August 18 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 3400+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 256 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X850 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

It is the year 1943 in the fictional town of Isenstadt. The Second World War is at its height. While Allied forces have stalled the expansion of Hitler's Third Reich, the Nazi war machine still has its boot on the throat of mainland Europe. Enter Heinrich Himmler's feared SS and its plan to master an occult force known as the Black Sun. With this mysterious power source at its disposal, no army on Earth could stand in the Reich's path. No army but the man who had single-handedly shut down Colonel Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse's Übersoldat program and thwarted the resurrection of ancient superhuman King Heinrich I, that is. Once again, the world requires the particular talents of special agent B.J. Blazkowicz. During an operation on Nazi battleship, B.J. obtains a powerful medallion that allows him to "shift" to another subdimension, that dimension is called the "Veil", or Black Sun dimnesion. This dimension has no shadows, and is bathed in an eerie greenish-blue glow. Some objects like special magic doors that are present in the Veil are absent in the normal world, and using the medallion enables B.J. to walk through these doors. Later the medallion gets more power, like slowing time, shield that stops all incoming bullets, and megadamage that multiplies the offensive capabilities of B.J.'s weapons. This medallion is the only key to win the fight with Nazi's Black Sun creations. With the help of local resistance and soviet scientists, B.J. fights through Isenstadt, hunting for General Zetta, the SS paranormal devision member who is in charge of the operation. Upon killing him, however, B.J. is forced to fight his old nemesis, Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse in order to put an end to Nazi Black Sun operation. The game culminates with B.J. defeating Hans Grosse, Strasse's second-in-command, who uses Veil powers similar to B.J.'s and a heavy armor complete with two chainguns. Even though the Black Sun operation is aborted, Wilhelm Strasse manages to escape.

You will quickly grow fond of the Tesla gun, which fires electric streams in various directions at once, and the Leichenfaust 44, which is a heavy weapon that instantly vaporizes standard enemies. As you explore Isenstadt and complete missions, you'll earn money and find bags of coins. You can then spend these spoils on upgrades for your weapons, such as diminished recoil or greater damage. While some weapons are better in certain circumstances than others, there's really no weak banana in this bunch. These long, noisy battles make a big impression, yet a number of small flaws eventually add up to make impressions of their own. Wolfenstein displays a noticeable lack of refinement that manifests itself in a number of ways. The levels are highly varied; you'll trudge through sewers and battle aboard a colossal zeppelin, but the color palette and general artistic vision remain consistent throughout. The visual effect upon entering The Veil is slick; it's as if the real world is being peeled away to reveal the hidden dimension beneath. Wolfenstein's class-based online multiplayer was wholly inspired by its predecessor's terrific multiplayer modes. There are three modes total: Team Deathmatch, Objective, and Stopwatch. Objective and Stopwatch modes provide the core online entertainment, assigning the resistance team to a series of objectives that the Axis team must thwart. The main difference between these two modes is that in Stopwatch, players take turns on each team to see which can earn the fastest completion times. Regardless of which mode you choose, you'll play as a soldier, a medic, or an ever-helpful engineer. Each class also gets a Veil power of its own, though these don't mirror the campaign's Veil powers. Soldiers perform an explosive Veil strike, medics possess an area-of-effect heal, and engineers can run really fast. Wolfenstein proves that even as first-person shooters progress, there is still plenty of room for traditional shooting unhindered by modern frills. Big bosses, crazy weapons, and exciting scripted firefights are the focal point of this nutty tale. It's also an ample one if you take on all the side missions and scour environments for intelligence, hidden tomes, and secret money stashes. Yet while it's pleasingly old-fashioned, the unimpressive AI, aging technology, and general lack of refinement make this sequel feel like a missed opportunity.

GAME REVIEW :-

7.5/10

Wolfenstein Trailer :-

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

2009-09-16T09:55:00.001-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Rocksteady Studios

Publisher : Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Engine : Unreal Engine 3.5 with PhysX

Genre : Fantasy Action Adventure

Release Date : September 15 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ / Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 512 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7900 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 9 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The Joker attacks Gotham City's Mayor's office, but is foiled by Batman, who escorts him for incarceration at Arkham Asylum. The same night, a mysterious fire at Gotham City's Blackgate Prison has caused several hundred prisoners to be temporarily relocated to Arkham, many of whom were among the Joker's most recent crew. As Batman escorts the guards taking the Joker inside, the asylum's security is overridden by Harley Quinn and the Joker is able to escape and take control of the facility, enlisting the Blackgate prisoners in addition to other rogue characters imprisoned at the asylum. Batman quickly realizes that this has been part of Joker's plan including the Blackgate fire, having double-crossed a security guard to help him escape. The Joker threatens to blow up bombs scattered around Gotham City should anyone attempt to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone; however, Batman is able to rely on Commissioner Gordon and other loyal guards, after Batman is able to free them, to help secure prisoners he has defeated, and Oracle is able to guide him through the Asylum over the radio. Batman is able to gain access to an adjunct of the Batcave he had set up years ago on the island, and is able to use his sleuthing skills to learn of Joker's plan. It is eventually revealed that the Joker is seeking a chemical called Titan that is produced in the asylum, which is based on the same chemical that Bane uses to become super-powerful, though the Titan formula is much more potent. Not only does the Joker plan to use it on the various Blackgate inmates to create an unstoppable army, he plans to dump the waste product into Gotham's water supply, which could have disastrous effects on the city. This also has the side effect of causing Poison Ivy's plants to mutate and take over the island. Batman, after defeating several of his archenemies, is able to return to the Batcave to create an antidote to Titan, and uses it to destroy the mutated plant life and put a stop to Joker's army. With all of his henchmen defeated, the Joker invites Batman to his "party", where Batman sees Joker holding and manipulating Scarface and sitting upon a throne of mannequins. Joker then reveals that he has recaptured Gordon and attempts to shoot Gordon with a Titan-filled dart. Batman jumps in front of it, taking the injection himself. With Batman attempting to resist the change, Joker feels defeated. He shoots himself with the Titan gun and becomes a massive monster. Joker proudly displays himself to news choppers before Batman defeats him in a final battle. As he transforms back to normal and is taken back to his cell, the staff regains control of the asylum. Batman then hears that Two-Face is robbing the Second National Bank of Gotham. Batman summons the Batwing, and flies away towards Gotham. Following the credits a box stamped with the word Titan is seen floating in the water, upon which a hand rises from the water and grabs the box.

The combat in Arkham Asylum never gets overly complicated, though the number of moves and attacks at your disposal increases quite dramatically as you progress through the Story mode, earn experience points, and subsequently spend those points on acquiring new combo moves and gadgets. Throws, takedowns, and even batarang attacks can be incorporated into your combos this way, but you never need to press more than two buttons simultaneously, and the timing of your moves doesn't have to be particularly precise. Fighting against mobs of up to a dozen enemies or so is a blast, and while they're not smart enough to all just jump on you at once, they're not stupid either. Given half a chance, thugs will pull pipes from walls to attack you with, pick up boxes to throw at you, and recover weapons from fallen colleagues. One character that you definitely want to listen to carefully is Edward Nigma, also known as Riddler. That's because there are no fewer than 240 "riddles" for you to solve on Arkham Island, and doing so not only earns you a good number of experience points but is also the only way to unlock character bios, character trophies, and Challenge mode maps. The riddles come in a number of different flavors, many of which don't involve riddles at all, and the one thing that they all have in common is that they're rewarding to solve. The best of the proper riddles are those that lead you to photograph question marks painted around the island, which doesn't sound very interesting until you realize that these question marks can only be seen using detective vision from very specific locations. That's because these elusive punctuation marks are painted in two parts at different locations that are often quite far apart, so the solution requires you to find both parts and then figure out where to take the photo from so that they line up perfectly. It's clever and compelling stuff, though it does encourage you to spend more time than you'd probably like in detective vision mode.

More significant unlockable content comes in the form of eight challenge maps, which come in regular and extreme difficulties for a total of 16. The maps are based on areas that you visit in the Story mode, and the challenges are split 50/50 between purely combat-oriented sequences and stealth-based "Predator" gameplay. In the former, you're pitted against four increasingly tough waves of enemies and score points for performing combos, avoiding taking damage, executing ring outs, and using a variety of different moves. In the latter, you're dropped into a level where every enemy has a gun and your goal is to take them all down as quickly as possible. The twist is that to earn a respectable position on the online leaderboards in the Challenge mode, you also have to earn medals, and in order to do that, you have to deal with some of your enemies in very specific ways. Regardless of whether you're getting sucked into the Story mode or competing for high scores in the Challenge mode, Batman: Arkham Asylum does an outstanding job of letting you be Batman. Everything about this game--the impressive visuals, stirring soundtrack, superb voice acting, fiendish puzzles, hard-hitting combat--feels like it has been lovingly crafted by a development team that's both knowledgeable and passionate about the source material. Miss out on this one and the joke's on you and you don't need to be a fan of Batman to enjoy this excellent third-person action game.

GAME REVIEW :-

9/10

Batman: Arkham Asylum Trailer :-

SECTION 8

2009-09-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : TimeGate Studios

Publisher : SouthPeak Interactive

Engine : Unreal Engine 3

Genre : Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter

Release Date : September 4 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 4000+ / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 512 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 8600 Series
ATI : Radeon HD 2900 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 6 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The name "Section 8" derives from an old United States military discharge regulation for reason of being mentally unfit for service, and also refers to the 8th Armored Infantry in the game. Section 8 takes place in the future after the human race has discovered interstellar travel and has colonized across the galaxy. At the time of the game, a group called the ARM of Orion, has begun to 'disconnect' the outermost frontier planets from the main governing body, taking them over while keeping their presence hidden from the government. As space travel is slow, it often takes weeks to communicate with or travel to a frontier world, affording the ARM with enough time to seize worlds and build their base of power, ultimately preparing an ambush for the government forces that will eventually respond. The government then discovers the ARM of Orion, and sends in the 8th Armored Infantry, including Alex Corde (the player), on a mission to investigate, and presumably fight, the ARM invasion. The story surrounding your feats is entirely forgettable, but the levels themselves are generally well designed, offering a fun alternative to the online warfare. The maps in the campaign are the same as in the online mode, but they're structured differently, and their vast size mimics a real-life siege as you slowly gain ground, complete objectives, and push the enemy further and further back. Whereas the multiplayer versions of these maps are completely open as soon as matches begin, the single-player offerings have walled-off areas that open only once you reach certain checkpoints. The only match type in Section 8 is called Conquest. Here, two teams strive to earn victory points by killing other players, capturing control points, and completing dynamic combat missions (DCM). There is no way to choose just team deathmatch or a capture-the-flag variant, but the different objective types are all rolled into this mode, making for an ever-changing, unpredictable experience. To capture a control point, you have to find either a neutral or enemy-owned computer and hack it by tapping a button. Once it's in your possession, you earn the accompanying turrets and other defensive structures, making it difficult for the other team to steal them back. Every few minutes, teams earn points for the number of control stations they possess, and victory is awarded to the team that reaches the designated number of victory points first.

There are six different mission types that can be initiated, and these diverse objectives add a lot of excitement to the matches. You have only a limited amount of time to complete these, so it makes for frantic action as you try to beat the clock while your opponents attempt to halt your progress. Not only do you get more victory points for successfully passing these missions, but you earn other bonuses that make victory easier to achieve. There are six guns and seven gadgets to choose from, though you can carry only two of each at a time. It's not easy to switch your gear midbattle, so you'll have to choose your loadout wisely depending on which objectives you want to go after during your life. The guns are entirely standard, and include the requisite fast-shooting automatics, a slow but powerful shotgun, and an ultraprecise sniper rifle. They each excel in specific circumstances, so you can't rely on just one gun throughout. The missile launcher, for instance, has such unpredictable splash damage that it's virtually worthless against another human, but it can destroy a turret with just a few blasts. The gadgets are just as diverse, including a wrench that can repair structures and heal fellow soldiers, remote-controlled mines, and a knife that gives you a melee attack. As you complete objectives, you earn money, with which you can purchase turrets and vehicles. The turrets are especially helpful, letting you set up minigun-wielding or rocket-spewing units to defend your control points while you go off to complete a dynamic combat mission. The vehicles, on the other hand, are quite lame. You can summon either a mech or a tank, but both are extremely disappointing. The tank is just as ineffective, getting stuck on every divot and pebble along these rocky roads. It's a shame the vehicles are so utterly pointless because the battles could have used a dose of variety. With only six different weapon types, battles can unfold in only so many ways, and the worthless vehicles don't add any much-needed spice. With a few more weapon types and vehicles that actually worked, Section 8 could have been a lot more exciting. As it is, this is a satisfying take on the genre that makes up in fun what it lacks in innovation.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Section 8 Trailer :-

TIMESHIFT

2009-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Saber Interactive

Publisher : Sierra Entertainment

Engine : Saber3D Engine , Havok 4.5 For The Physics

Genre : Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter

Release Date : October 30 , 2007

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 3800+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7600 Series
ATI : Radeon X1650 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Scientists from the near future have begun work on creating a viable time machine. The project results in the creation of two devices, the Alpha Suit, a less advanced prototype jump suit, and the Beta Suit, a more advanced, so-called military grade model with features the Alpha Suit lacks such as combat-related timeshifting abilities and an integrated artificial intelligence to prevent the creation of temporal paradoxes. The director of the project, Dr. Aiden Krone, takes the Alpha Suit and travels into the past. Once there he alters the timeline, placing himself as the ruler of the Krone Magistrate that controls a dystopic world. The protagonist, a fellow scientist whose name is never spoken (never mentioned in the game or manual), then takes the Beta Suit and follows Dr. Krone back to the year 1939 (in an alternate timestream) to a place called Alpha District. He then proceeds to assist the Occupant Rebellion against Dr. Krone. He is confronted eventually by Krone in giant war-machine which nearly destroys the Occupant Rebellion, but succeeds in destroying it. As an incapacitated Krone emerges from the wreckage, the protagonist walks up to him and kills him. He is thanked by the Occupant commander and returns to the beginning of the game to save his girlfriend who had been killed by the explosion Krone had caused. He shuts down the bomb and walks up to his girlfriend, who begins to wake up and reaches out to him but does not know who he is. As he begins to remove his mask the AI in the suit cries out the alert that a paradox is imminent, and transports him away. If you're feeling like humiliating him before you kill him, you can steal his weapon, restart time, and watch as he wonders where the heck it went, and then make him dead with a barrage of bullets. It's even possible to regenerate health by seeking cover and pausing time. You can't rewind time and prevent your own death, but if you're quick you can reverse it and unstick a grenade from yourself. You only have a limited amount of time you can manipulate before the suit's energy runs out, but it regenerates quickly. The game promises all sorts of other "exciting" uses for altering the flow of time, but it never really capitalizes on the potential of the mechanic. There are a few scenarios where you ride around on an ATV and some others where you man a turret on an airship, but most of the time you'll be moving from checkpoint to checkpoint on foot, taking out wave after wave of unintelligent foes. It's good, then, that the gunplay is entertaining. This is mostly due to the game's powerful weapons that are so much fun to shoot.

There are other cool weapons too, like the automatic gun that looks like it shoots bullets, but these bullets cause the target to burst into flames when they hit, and then the dude screams like a little girl as he fries. Even the basic machine gun is powerful and useful all the way through the game. There's always plenty of ammo to be found, so you never have to be conservative with your bullets. You can hide, watch their dot on the radar get closer, and then shoot them as soon as they come around the corner. There are a few instances where you'll have no choice but to seek shelter behind destructible cover, but those situations are rare, and there's usually someplace safe you can scramble to once you've been flushed out. TimeShift offers a full-featured multiplayer component. A modified version of the single-player game's time-shifting ability is found here, too. You can slow, pause, or rewind time by throwing one of three different chrono grenades. Everyone within the blast radius of an explosion is affected. It's a neat idea, but one that people seem all too keen to rely on--they just throw them like crazy when they see another person. You can play ranked and unranked matches in a wide variety of game types. There's deathmatch and team deathmatch, one-on-one, capture the flag, and a few unique modes. King of time has you try to gain control of the time sphere, which makes the person who holds it impervious to time effects, allowing them to rack up kills with ease. Another is called meltdown madness. This is a team mode where you try to prevent the other team's machine from counting down by throwing chrono grenades at it. You can also create your own fun by using the multiplayer modifiers. The rain effects in the first level are good, too, though they feel overdone, as if the developer were showing off how hard it had worked on making the game look better. The quality of the rest of the game's visuals depend on what system you're using to play the game. An interesting time-shifting mechanic and fun-to-shoot weapons can't make up for the rest of TimeShift's run-of-the-mill first-person shooter gameplay.

GAME REVIEW :-

6.5/10

TimeShift Trailer :-

THE CLUB

2009-08-03T07:04:00.002-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Bizarre Creations

Publisher : Sega And Tectoy

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Modern Third-Person Shooter

Release Date : February 19 , 2008

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 3200+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X800 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 2.2 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The Club is an old-school shooter. It emphasises single-player action over multiplayer competition and encourages near-endless replaying to beat that elusive high score, but while it's good enough to keep you coming back, it is far from perfect. The game's premise is a simple one. The eponymous Club is a powerful collection of super-rich, morally bankrupt individuals who have decided to run their own personal worldwide blood sport à la Running Man. Eight contestants are forced to compete against one another in various locations. You play as any one of them and must try to win the most events in each locale. There are six characters available at the start, plus a seventh unlocked after four tournaments and another after you beat them all. While these characters have distinct looks, they play only slightly differently; some can take more punishment and others move slightly faster. Points are awarded for kills, with distribution based on the accuracy of your shooting, the toughness of the enemy in question, and the weapons being used by both you and your mark. To spice things up a bit, every kill causes your score multiplier to tick up by one, but if you wait too long between kills, this multiplier starts to fade away. You also get bonus points for style: shooting someone as you roll to dodge fire or as you burst through doors, or shooting from long range. You can also boost your multiplier--and refresh the timer--by shooting wall-mounted skulls, which are placed in various locations around the level. There are five event types, and each location features up to seven different events. Three event types involve more-traditional running, while two are static. The simplest of these is sprint, in which you need to get from one end of a set course to another while scoring as many points as possible. The static modes--survivor and siege--force you to stay in a set area as enemies pour in from all angles, and the goal is simply to survive until the timer runs out. The only difference between survivor and siege is that in siege you find yourself in an exposed position where enemies try to pick you off from range, while in survivor you will end up fighting in much closer quarters. The levels, with names such as Gondola in 60 Seconds, Diagnosis Girder, and The Crate Escape, are varied, despite the fact that courses in each zone often share elements. The tournament locations are fairly varied visually and include such environments as a ruined steel mill, a decaying cruise liner, and an abandoned English manor that doubles as a home for the criminally insane. Despite the significant superficial differences, the environments are just combinations of rooms and corridors with few open spaces, and they demand no real variations in play style.

The Venice siege level features the most impressive piece of destructible environment in the game--assuming you have the accuracy to shoot a rocket out of the air--and the Manor House survivor level is likely to give even the most hardened shooter fan something of an adrenaline kick. There are 15 weapons available, including two pistols, shotguns, machine guns, a sniper rifle, a rocket launcher, and a minigun. Regardless of what is to hand, you are likely to find yourself using the machine guns wherever you can and feeling frustrated when none are available; their power and rate of fire make them unbeatable when it comes to racking up headshots. Melee combat is an option if you're backed into a tight corner, but it simply involves lashing out at random with the butt of your weapon. This is particularly odd considering the game's emphasis on killing with style and the fact that a number of the characters have useful melee weapons slung about their person--one has an ice axe, another a machete, and a third a truncheon. The levels feel too large, the weapons feel unbalanced, and the frustration of being able to shoot someone repeatedly in the face and see that person walk away as you collapse is unspeakable. The return of four-player split-screen offline play is welcome, but again, the game itself means even this touch fails to fulfill its potential. The audio quality is inconsistent, however. Your enemies will shout at you and at each other, and these shouts vary with locale--the various English accents from the Manor House zone are a highlight--but the weapon fire sounds universally poor and lifeless. As a whole, The Club's single-player content just about works as an old-fashioned shooter that isn't shy about its old-school roots, but it suffers from a lack of variation in its level, weapon, and character design. It's still good enough to keep you coming back to try to beat that last high score in a manner that may not be familiar to anyone under the age of about 25, and for that the game deserves praise despite its multiplayer shortcomings.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

The Club Trailer :-

SUPREME COMMANDER

2009-08-03T07:04:00.001-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Gas Powered Games

Publisher : THQ

Engine : MOHO

Genre : Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : February 20 , 2007

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 3200+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7600 Series
ATI : Radeon X850 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Supreme Commander is set in the distant future, and humanity has split into three competing factions. The United Earth Federation represents order and empire, the cybernetic Cybran fight for independence, while the alien-enlightened Aeon seek to liberate the universe. The single-player campaign is divided into three smaller campaigns, letting you battle from the perspective of each of the factions. Unlike those in most other RTS games, where all three campaigns would usually be tied together in a linear fashion to tell a bigger story, the campaigns in Supreme Commander all stand alone. Each faction fights for what it believes in, and hence, no side is really "evil." It's a nice touch, because that mentality captures the essence of war. This also means that you need to be wary of enemy attempts to slip around your defensive points. But that's the nature of war. The entire sense of scale is exciting because you can finally experiment with tactics. Meanwhile, real-world concepts such as reconnaissance become even more important. Thankfully, Supreme Commander makes such tasks easy with the ability to queue up commands for all sorts of units. Scout planes can be ordered to patrol the periphery of the maps, engineers can be given build commands to keep them busy for a long time, and armies can be sent on a zigzag path deep into enemy territory, all with a few clicks. Often during the campaign, you'll achieve a set of objectives only to watch the map then double in size, and then double again after you've achieved the next set of objectives. Each time the map grows, it unlocks more room to maneuver and more strategy. Size translates into open-ended depth in this game. You might find a weak spot in the defenses and send bombers through it, then target antiaircraft positions to open the way for further air assaults. If you're building nuclear missiles, you might build artillery positions to take out any strategic missile defenses, and once those are out, unleash nuclear missiles. There are three "tech levels" that feature different units, buildings, and vehicles, and at the lowest level you'll have basic units such as light and medium tanks, fighter interceptors, submarines, and bombers. At higher levels, you'll gain access to naval destroyers that can sprout legs and walk on land, siege assault bots, ballistic-missile submarines, and much more. In Supreme Commander, there is only energy and mass. Both are critical to building a strong economy to churn out hundreds of units. While energy can be obtained through various generators and power plants, mass is restricted to a handful of points on the map where you can build mass extractors that mine the planet's core. The geographic distribution of these mass-extraction points will result in desperate battles to capture and hold large amounts of territory. The game can often come down to an artillery duel, as both sides attempt to knock out the other through the application of sheer firepower. However, that's what experimental units are for. Experimental units are hugely expensive and time consuming to build, but they're potential game changers.

The single-player campaign and the skirmish modes serve as a lengthy tutorial to the concepts of the game, and you'll really have to apply all the lessons and tactics that you learn to compete in multiplayer, which is fun, brutal, and dynamic. Supreme Commander's gameplay lends itself well to the multiplayer realm because it's so wide open. For every move that you can come up with, the enemy can develop a counter. At the highest detail levels, Supreme Commander is incredible to look at. Seeing dozens, if not hundreds, of air, land, and naval units battling onscreen is amazing, and large battles are littered with smoke trailers, particle effects, and explosions. Meanwhile, watching a nuclear detonation slowly expand, with the shock wave destroying everything in its path and setting off a chain reaction, is bliss. Supreme Commander's audio seems a bit muted, though that's probably because you're always watching the action from a considerable distance. The units make all the futuristic whirs and machine noises that you'd expect, though the highlight of the game's audio is the martial music that changes tempo whenever something dramatic happens onscreen. Supreme Commander is one of the most impressive real-time strategy games in recent years. This is a game that dares to be big, and it succeeds because it understands what strategy is about. Strategy is more than overwhelming the other side with sheer numbers. Strategy is about maneuvering, it's about applying the right weapon at the right place at the right time, and it's about rewarding creative thinking, and that's what Supreme Commander does.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Supreme Commander Trailer :-

STILL LIFE

2009-08-03T07:02:00.001-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Microids

Publisher : MC 2 And The Adventure Company

Engine : Virtools

Genre : Adventure

Release Date : May 4 , 2005

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon Classic K75 / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compatible Video Card with Memory 64 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce FX 5500 Series
ATI : Radeon 9500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.2 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

FBI Special Agent Victoria McPherson is investigating a series of brutal murders in 2004 Chicago. While visiting her father for Christmas she discovers an old notebook that belonged to her grandfather, private investigator Gustav McPherson. Victoria is surprised to learn that Gus had been involved with investigating a very similar series of murders in 1920s Prague. The player alternates between these two characters as they work to hunt down what seems to be the same serial killer more than 70 years apart. In both cases the murderer targets sex trade workers: street prostitutes in Prague, and employees of an exclusive Chicago massage parlor and S&M club called the Red Lantern. The killer or killers are disguised in a dark cloak, top hat, and silver mask. Gus eventually identifies the man responsible for the Prague murders, but the killer escapes justice and relocates to America. Near the end of the game Victoria discovers that similar murders occurred in 1931 Chicago and later in 1956 Los Angeles. The identity of the 2004 Chicago killer is never revealed. Victoria encounters him several times, but never sees behind his mask. She does not believe he is the same person as the Prague killer, but rather a younger person who has been influenced by the Prague killer in some way. At the climax of the game Victoria manages to shoot the Chicago killer, but the body falls into the Chicago river. As the game ends, the Chicago police are still dredging the river for the killer's body. Victoria plans to travel to Los Angeles to learn more about the 1956 killings. The mysterious serial killer's identity will apparently be revealed in the sequel. Still Life revolves around the brutal, serial murders of prostitutes in two different cities during different eras. The game cuts back and forth between the two stories, treating the murders in both eras with the same grim professionalism of a forensic procedural like CSI, though with less flash and thicker atmosphere. The biting cold of Chicago in the winter is nearly palpable, and it is reinforced by the sagging structures of abandoned buildings and empty municipal offices.

All of the dialogue is spoken, usually with detectable traces of Canadian mannerisms. It's not too bad during the parts of the story set in Chicago, but when you're chatting up Turkish beat cops who sound like they grew up in Ottawa, it's distracting and breaks the mood. But, aside from the occasionally mismatched accents and some odd inflections, the voice acting is competent. Nice background music further complements the game's mood, and it ranges from a jarringly schizophrenic industrial theme to a more low-key noir vibe. The puzzles are usually spelled out pretty clearly, cutting out some of the frustration brought on by the deliberate vagueness that passes for challenge in so many adventure games. This isn't to say there won't be times in Still Life where you'll find yourself wandering around three or four rooms, unsure of what it is you're not seeing, but a dash of perseverance is all you need to solve even the game's most challenging puzzles. It's a pretty brief experience that doesn't lend itself to multiple plays. Adventure game fans will be more willing to forgive the game's technical shortcomings than anyone else, but it's hard to believe that anyone who is still devoted to this style of gaming will find a lot in Still Life that they haven't experienced already.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Still Life Trailer :-

SEGA RALLY REVO

2009-08-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : SEGA Racing Studio

Publisher : Sega

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Rally / Offroad Racing

Release Date : October 9 , 2007

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 3800+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7800 Series
ATI : Radeon X1800 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The technology behind Sega Rally Revo is undeniably impressive and the driving is a good bit of arcade fun, but the game's staying power is highly questionable. When you get on a track, you'll know that this is pure arcade driving. Cars are incapable of going off track, with invisible barriers causing vehicles to bounce off everything from trees to minor shrubs. Tight, accurate, frequent powerslides are the name of the game, no matter what surface you might be driving on. And there is a wide variety of surfaces on display. From mud-bogged jungles to sandy beaches to the icy, snowy mountains, you'll encounter all manner of terrain as you drive. As drivers race around the track, they're digging up the dirt and snow and whatever else, creating big tears in the track that will actually affect your car's handling when you drive through them. This is where the game's one element of strategy comes into play. These treads are often created over the ideal driving lines. It's arguably more important to just get to know the tracks and make precise turns than it is to pay a whole lot of attention to where the torn up track is, especially if you choose the off-road setup prior to a race; the other option, "road," gives you higher speed on flat surfaces, but is ultimately less useful overall. Getting to know the tracks probably won't take you too long, as there are only 23 of them spread across five different environments, and several of those are reverse versions of existing tracks. The challenge isn't all reliant on your skill, at least not in the offline game. The computer opponents in Sega Rally Revo are a tough lot, almost irritatingly so. The main issue with the game's artificial intelligence is that it's severely rigid. AI drivers stubbornly refuse to move off their racing lines, even when you're banging into them at high speeds. And yet, on the flipside, they have no issue bopping into you and knocking you into a corner the second you try to pass them. The second they do, they move right back onto their natural line and stay put. The AI also has a tendency to just decide when it wants to win, often blazing by you at crazy speeds not long before the end of a race. Once you get good at cornering, you can start taking the AI to task, but small screw-ups usually amount to you getting hosed for the rest of the race.

Apart from the dynamic track deformation, Revo really does feel just like old-school Sega Rally, and that's both a blessing and a curse. Fans of the older games are likely to get giddy the second they start powersliding like a nutjob around crazy turns. By the same token, with so many advances in the racing genre over the last couple of years, Revo can't help but feel a bit like old hat at this point. Sega Rally Revo offers a few different modes of play. Apart from the standard quick race mode, there is a time trial mode where you can try to beat the best leaderboard times from around the world. The cool thing about this mode is that after any race, you have the option to upload your ghost car data to the online server, and in turn, you can download any players' ghost data to race against while you try to beat their time. The main mode is the championship mode. There are three championship tiers, each tied to the three car classes in the game. You start out with the premier league, which consists of standard rally rides like the Subaru WRX STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, then move on to the modified league, with cars like the VW Golf GTI and Grande Punto Rally, then finally hit the masters league, and drive rally classics such as the Lancia Super Delta HF Integrale and Lancia Stratos. Each league has several unlockable cars as well, many of which are often much faster than the default rides. With there being such a limited number of tracks, you end up repeating a lot of them again and again as you progress through each championship, though with the differences in speed between car classes, each step upward often results in a somewhat different-feeling race. There is multiplayer. Two players can play head-to-head in split-screen play, and up to six can race online. The online options aren't terribly deep, with just the basic ranked and player matches available. However, when creating player matches, the host can design a custom championship of sorts, laying out an order of up to six different tracks to play through in a row. In both versions of the game, the online mode performed pretty well, with only minor bouts of lag that caused opponent cars to skip around the track a bit. Graphically, Sega Rally Revo is extremely impressive, thanks in no small part to that dynamic track deformation feature. Dirty or clean, the car models look incredible. Though there aren't a ton of cars in the game, each featured model is gorgeously detailed.

GAME REVIEW :-

7.5/10

Sega Rally Revo Trailer :-

RISE OF ARGONAUTS

2009-08-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Liquid Entertainment

Publisher : Codemasters

Engine : Unreal Engine 3

Genre : Action Role-Playing And Third-Person Shooter

Release Date : December 16 , 2008

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 5000+ / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7900 Series
ATI : Radeon X1900 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

In Rise of the Argonauts, the player assumes the role of the protagonist Jason, a Greek king. Jason's wife, Alceme, is assassinated and Jason avenges her by killing the assassin. He sealed her body in the temple where they were supposed to marry. After that, Jason discovers that the only way to bring back his wife is to obtain the golden fleece. Traveling to Delphi, Jason learns from the Oracle that the only way for the road to the fleece be revealed is to find the three descendants of three of his patron gods: Hermes, Ares and Athena. The descendant of Hermes is based on Saria, Athena's on Kythra, whereas Ares' is located at Mycanae. After convincing all of them to join the Argonauts, Jason travels to the Oracle again and leanrs that the fleece is at Tartarus. When Jason travels back to Iolcus to revive Alceme he confronts Pelias, his uncle who is a traitor. During the course of the game, Jason will face Blacktongues who are behind Alceme's assassination, Ionians, mythical beasts and other characters but he will not be alone. Four more argonauts join you along the way and one witch who was a former Blacktongue but now wants to destroy them. The high point of Rise of the Argonauts is undoubtedly the combat; Jason is skilled in the use of swords, spears, and maces, and he carries one of each as well as a shield at all times. The controls are uncomplicated and responsive, and it's good that they're the same no matter which weapon you're wielding, because you're encouraged to switch between them on the fly. None of the enemies are particularly intelligent, but they're varied enough that you need to employ different weapons and strategies to get the better of them. Adding the HUD makes it much easier to know when Jason's health is low, though it's not always important because, in keeping with his mythological status, he's a tough guy to keep down. When your health drops to zero you don't die; rather, you enter a "state of grace" in which the screen blurs and you have 10 seconds or so to avoid taking any more damage before you regenerate around half of your health. You'll die if you sustain a single hit during that time, but there are very few enemies who can keep up as you frantically run and roll around.

There are a number of ways in which you become a more formidable fighter as the story progresses. You'll be joined by a handful of allies who will fight alongside you two at a time, you'll be able to add more powerful weapons and armor to your arsenal, and you'll learn new abilities by gaining favor with the gods Ares, Apollo, Athena, and Hermes. Each of the four gods has a skill tree composed of around 25 different "aspects" arranged into tiers so that more powerful ones become available only late in the game. The aspects vary a great deal and include both passive abilities and god powers that must be triggered manually in combat. Passive abilities include things like regenerating health anytime you kill an enemy, doing more damage to shields, and making your allies more powerful. God powers, which are fun but rarely needed outside of the most challenging difficulty mode, include temporary effects such as increased damage, explosions, and the ability to turn enemies into stone. Settling a dispute among two traders is unlikely to impress in the same way that lopping off the heads of 25 enemies is, for example. The second way to curry favor with a god is by selecting dialogue choices that are clearly labeled as being appreciated by them. This can make the act of choosing dialogue a mechanical one if you care more about pleasing a specific god than you do about your interaction with whomever you're talking to, but the conversations feel so unnatural anyway that this is as good a way as any to get through them quickly. It's unfortunate that so much of your time in Rise of the Argonauts is spent in conversation, because much of the dialogue is poorly written and the voice acting is even worse. It's conceivable that one is the victim of the other, but certainly neither deserves any credit for keeping the story compelling. Jason spends too much time talking and not nearly enough time fighting in this Greek mythology-inspired action-Role Playing Game. With a greater emphasis on combat and fewer technical shortcomings, Rise of the Argonauts could have been easy to recommend. As it is, though, this is a great story poorly told.

GAME REVIEW :-

6/10

Rise Of Argonauts Trailer :-

POSTAL 2

2009-08-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Running With Scissors

Publisher : Whiptail Interactive

Engine : Unreal Engine 2.0

Genre : Modern First-Person Shooter

Release Date : April 14 , 2003

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 98 / Windows 2000

CPU : AMD Athlon Classic K75 / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 128 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 8.1 Compatible Video Card with Memory 32 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 2 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.2 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The player takes on the role of 'The Postal Dude' (all evidence given in-game indicates that the character's full legal name actually is "The Postal Dude, Jr.": his father's tombstone reads "T. Dude Sr."; characters constantly call him "Mr. The Dude" and a package for him is addressed to "P. Dude"), a tall thin man with a goatee sunglasses, a blue alien t-shirt, and a long black leather coat. The Postal Dude also wears a Happy Smiley pin on his right lapel and a cross pin on his left one. 'The Postal Dude' lives in a trailer park with his nagging wife (only identified in the credits as 'Postal Dude's Bitch') in the town of Paradise , Arizona (there was, in fact, a real-life Arizona mining town called Paradise, which failed in the early 20th century, but there's no indication in the game of any intentional connection). The game levels are split into days of the week starting Monday and finishing Friday. At the beginning of each day, Dude is given several tasks to accomplish, such as 'Get milk', 'Confess sins', and other seemingly mundane tasks. The purpose of the game is to finish all of the tasks throughout the week, and the player can accomplish these tasks in any way he wishes, be it as civilly or as chaotically as possible (it is possible, if occasionally difficult, to complete most tasks without engaging in battle, or, at least, killing other people). The daily tasks can be accomplished in any order, and the game includes one task that is only activated on a certain day if Dude performs a certain action. Dude must put up with being flipped the bird mugged, attacked by protesters, put upon by an obnoxious convenience store owner/terrorist and his patrons who cut before Dude in the "money-line", plus a marching band a murderous toy mascot named Krotchy, the police and SWAT team, the ATF and the National Guard, a religious cult, savage butchers, psycho Taliban terrorists and Gary Coleman among many other things.

Postal 2's gameplay never manages to do any better than the game's clever initial concept, either. Though you can explore the rest of the city between missions, there isn't much reason to do so. The entire single-player game can be finished in about 10 hours. Once you've finished that you'll probably be done with the game. Unlike Grand Theft Auto III, Postal 2 has no cars to drive, though decorative cars are scattered around the city and create fairly large explosions when destroyed, much like the exploding barrels found in other first-person shooters. Postal 2 supports a locational damage system, but it's spotty at best. A bullet to the head rarely appears to do more damage than a shot to the leg. Your computer-controlled enemies don't exhibit much grace under fire--they'll generally shoot at you from a fixed position or run right for you, though they'll occasionally flee in terror. The insides of buildings feature lots of empty space, little decoration, simple geometry, and ugly, repetitive textures. Against the trend set by other recent games, the gore in Postal 2 is surprisingly subdued. You can decapitate people, but, for better or worse, there's nothing that compares to Soldier of Fortune 2's level of graphic gore. Postal 2 strings together a bunch of violent novelties without ever constructing a compelling game for them to support.

GAME REVIEW :-

5/10

Postal 2 Trailer :-

DARK HORIZON

2009-08-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Quazar Studio

Publisher : Paradox Interactive

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Futuristic Jet Sim

Release Date : October 13 , 2008

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon 3000+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 64 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce FX 5700 Series
ATI : Radeon X1600 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 2.5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Dark Horizon is an improvement on its Tarr Chronicles predecessor, but that isn't saying much. The setting is still the far future, and the galaxy is still under assault by a matter-corrupting black cloud of something or other called the Mirk. Things aren't looking good for the survival of humanity, so you must help hold off this galactic scourge by signing on as a fighter pilot for the Mirk-influenced race of Guardians protecting the Vattar Ama'Dan space fortress. This tortured tale plays out in 20-plus solo missions (there are no multiplayer or skirmish modes of play). You fly a spaceship from either a cockpit view or a trailing-camera angle and use mouse and keyboard controls to blow up every Mirk-infected alien stupid enough to cross your path. Both the in-game dialogue and the in-game encyclopedia available in your cabin between missions are peppered with unexplained concepts, such as the "psychomatrix," the "anti-being," and Mirk "spawn," which are just about impossible to follow. Your character never speaks, making the game even more distant and enigmatic. During dogfights, the story is developed solely through inscrutable conversations between your wingmen. The only thing that keeps your head from spinning is the fine work of the voice actors, who somehow manage to spout this gobbledygook without cracking up. Every mission is loaded up with nonstop dogfights, so you whirl, twirl, and shoot through incessant waves of enemy assaults. It's all guaranteed to numb your brain in short order, as well as turn your mouse wrist into a throbbing mass of gristle because of the constant spinning and turning needed to stay on the tail of bad guys. For starters, mission objectives are often mysterious to the point of being unfathomable. While sorties always give you some kind of basic purpose at the outset, like checking out a scanner signal, wiping out a flight of enemy fighters, or targeting shield generators on a capital ship, they tend to become drawn-out, multipart affairs, and you'll eventually need to rely on those impossible-to-understand wingmen to tell you what's next. You can get three or four objectives deep into a mission and then suddenly realize you don't have a clue what to do because your buddies are either making no sense whatsoever or have clammed up completely. Expect to restart a few times every time this happens, until you finally clue in to what you need to do. The automated save system exacerbates this whole problem too, because it stores your progress only every half-dozen or so dogfights, which leaves you frequently stuck replaying lengthy swaths of the game.

Combat itself is more than a bit screwy. There are some interesting concepts here at least, in that you can configure your ship with different armor and weapon loadouts before missions, as well as switch between three different battle modes during dogfights. Being able to change from the neutral, jack of all trades default ship setting to the offense-first Corter mode to the defensive Shadow cloak isn't all that useful when all you're ever doing is engaging in arcadey battles. About the only benefit you see here is from the odd use of Shadow mode to duck out of intense battles and hide until your shields recharge. Everything seems to be backlit, which obscures fairly well detailed ships and sufficiently bombastic explosions behind walls of shadows. So unless you want to tweak the gamma settings in Windows (which seems to do little but wash everything out anyway), you're stuck with a gloomy game that makes it almost impossible to see where enemy ships are. Collisions are tough to avoid during dogfights, because it's all too easy to spin around and plow into an enemy you're shadowing. These fender-benders do a lot of damage on the default difficulty setting, too, so you have to avoid them at all costs. This forces you to choose between wading into the demolition-derby dogfighting at full speed and sitting back to lob missiles from long range. If you pick the former, chances are good that you'll get blown up real good, real fast. If you pick the latter, you'll increase the odds of survival but risk falling asleep from sheer boredom. Dark Horizon is an undeniably subpar effort, although so few space dogfighting games are made for the PC today that it might still appear passable to anyone seeking to relive the Wing Commander/X-Wing/TIE Fighter era. But don't be fooled. Even with so few choices available in this genre today, this isn't a good game.

GAME REVIEW :-

4.5/10

Dark Horizon Trailer :-

DARK SECTOR

2009-08-03T06:47:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Digital Extremes And Noviy Disk

Publisher : D3 Publisher Of America , Aspyr Media And Noviy Disk

Engine : Evolution Engine ( Prorietary )

Genre : Sci-Fi Shooter , Horror And Action

Release Date : March 24 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 3200+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 6.5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Dark Sector is a stylish action game in which you assume the role of Hayden Tenno, an elite black-ops agent with an infection that mutates his right hand into a lethal glaive. The boomerang-like glaive is an incredibly versatile weapon and, in conjunction with a decent selection of firearms, serviceable cover mechanics, and intelligent enemies, it keeps the single-player game entertaining from start to finish. The story is a mess, and sadly there's no online support for multiplayer in the PC version, but come here looking for 10 to 12 hours of satisfying combat and you won't be disappointed. The single-player game starts off promisingly with a moody black-and-white prologue mission set some 20 years before the events of the other nine levels. Getting comfortable with the controls used for gunplay and for getting in and out of cover should take you no time at all, and it won't take you long to realize that the enemies you're facing are smart enough to employ a lot of the same tactics that you do in the interest of self-preservation. The story gets underway with a bang as well--a few bangs, actually--but as you progress through the game, the story rarely feels like it's moving along with you. Characters come and go without giving you any reason to care about them, you travel between locations killing everything that moves without really knowing why, and new abilities are frequently added to your formidable arsenal without explanation. Dark Sector's lack of good storytelling shouldn't hamper your enjoyment of the game too much because cutscenes are infrequent and brief. Nonetheless, it's unfortunate that a protagonist as fun to play as Hayden doesn't have a great narrative to back him up. The skills with conventional firearms that you learn in the prologue mission stay with you for the entire game, but even as increasingly powerful weapons become available to you, you'll find that you spend far less time using them. That's because throwing the glaive that grows from his right hand early on is a more elegant, powerful, and satisfying way to dispatch foes than any gun.

The glaive isn't just an awesomely powerful weapon; it's a veritable Swiss Army knife that can be used to unlock doors, open ammo crates, and pick up items that would otherwise be out of reach. The uses for Dark Sector's answer to Link's boomerang don't end there, though, because with a little help from the elements your glaive can be used to light torches, create columns of ice, and even put out fires. By hitting specific items scattered throughout the world, it's possible to imbue your glaive with electricity, ice, or fire for a short time, at which point using it to kill enemies becomes more satisfying than ever. But that's rarely the reason why you're afforded access to an element; more often than not, the elements are needed to overcome environmental obstacles or to solve simplistic puzzles. Money can be used to buy new weapons on the black market, which is conveniently located under every manhole you come across. It's important to buy and upgrade both a pistol and either a rifle or shotgun at some point, because weapons that you pick up from slain enemies function only for a short time before they're automatically disabled. There are several boss battles in Dark Sector, and all of them are very different. Variety comes courtesy not only of bosses that differ wildly in shape and size, but also of the weapons and abilities that you'll need to defeat them. None of the bosses are overly challenging if you take your time with them because, with only a few exceptions, their attacks just aren't powerful enough to kill you with a single blow. It's a little jarring in such a realistic-looking world that your glaive frequently travels through walls on its way back to you, but then this is a game that really tests your ability to suspend disbelief at every opportunity, given the nature of its puzzles and the lack of storyline. The game's audio is also worthy of note, thanks to an original score that does a great job of letting you know when danger is present or past. Likewise, some really satisfying sound effects make the weapons feel powerful, the environments feel creepy and abandoned, and some of the enemies far more intimidating than they deserve.

There are only two multiplayer modes, but both of them will afford you the opportunity to play as Hayden at some point, complete with all of the skills that he has at the end of the single-player game. Both of the multiplayer games, titled Epidemic and Infection, were originally designed for only 10 players on consoles but now support up to 32 on five maps that are no longer big enough. Epidemic pits two teams, each led by a Hayden, against one another in a battle to see which team can kill the other's leader first. Infection challenges one player, as Hayden, to kill as many of the other players as possible before they manage to bring him down. When you're not playing as Hayden, you assume the role of a garden-variety soldier armed only with a firearm, explosives, and the ability to move in and out of cover. One Hayden versus everybody else might not sound like a fair fight, but when used in conjunction with shield and stealth abilities, Hayden's glaive-and-firearm combo gives him a significant edge over the competition. A straight-up deathmatch option in which everyone has Hayden's abilities would probably be chaotic, but this seems like a missed opportunity regardless, as does the vehicle that you commandeer for a time in the single-player game but which is nowhere to be found in multiplayer. The PC version of Dark Sector should have been an opportunity for the underappreciated multiplayer modes from the console games to finally find an audience, but as it stands this is an inferior game that's fun only for as long as it takes you to reach and defeat the final boss in the single-player mode. This third-person action game lacks the compelling storyline that it alludes to early on, but offers plenty of enjoyable combat nonetheless.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Dark Sector Trailer :-

ALONE IN THE DARK

2009-08-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Eden Games And Hydravision Entertainment

Publisher : Atari

Engine : Twilight 2

Genre : Survival Horror And Action Adventure

Release Date : June 23 , 2008

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ / Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7800 Series
ATI : Radeon X1650 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8.5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The game begins with Edward, the protagonist, being taken to the roof of the building he is in to be killed. The guard is killed by an unseen force, allowing Edward to escape. He soon discovers that he has amnesia. As he wanders the building looking for a way out, he witnesses several people being killed or possessed by "demonic" forces. During his search for an exit, he meets Sarah Flores, an art dealer (city planner in the Wii version). Together, they make their way to the parking garage, where they find Theophile Paddington, an old man who claims to know what’s going on. He says that the chaos in the building was caused by a stone that, until recently, was held by Edward. It had been taken from Edward by a man named Crowley, who released its power. Theophile has the stone now, and finally states that in order to end the chaos, Edward must follow the “Path of Light,” before it is too late. The three of them take a car from the garage and head out into the city, finding it in the same kind of chaos as the building they just left. They crash the car in Central Park. There, Theophile claims that he lacks the strength to continue. He hands the stone over to Edward and asks him and Sarah to meet him at the museum, then kills himself. On the way to the museum, Edward finds out that his last name is Carnby. He tells his name to a doctor that he meets who tends to his wounds. As the doctor checks Edward’s medical history, he informs Edward that the only Edward Carnby in his records disappeared in 1938. At the museum, the ghost of Theophile explains more about the stone. It contained Lucifer after he was cast out of heaven, until Crowley released him. Lucifer now wants to use the stone to bring about the end of the world. Theophile tells Edward that there is a secret in Central Park that will allow Edward to stop Lucifer. As Edward makes his way back to Central Park, Sarah remains at the museum, e-mailing excerpts from Theophile’s diary that she believes will help Edward. Once at Central Park, Edward meets Hermes, who holds a stone similar to the one that Edward has. Edward and Hermes return to the museum to find Crowley holding Sarah at gunpoint, demanding Edward’s stone. Edward shoots Crowley in the head, then Hermes opens a cavern in the museum that leads to Lucifer’s gateway to reality. Hermes combines his stone with Edward’s then tells Edward that Lucifer will soon be reincarnated. As Lucifer begins to take Edward’s body, Sarah grabs the stone to prevent Edward from being possessed. At this point, the player is presented a choice to shoot Sarah to prevent her from being possessed, or do nothing. If the player chooses to shoot Sarah, Edward becomes possessed by Lucifer. Otherwise, Edward and Sarah say goodbye as Sarah is taken over.

The game allows you only as many items as you can fit in your belt and jacket pockets; and, in a move that visually subverts the convention of the vast yet unseen inventory, you literally open up your jacket and look down to see what you've got. While it's never quite groundbreaking, this subversion does appear in myriad ways throughout the game, and creates the feeling that there is something novel about Alone in the Dark. You've got a slow-burning Molotov cocktail perfect for blowing up the hive that your spidery foe is returning to. Tape a box of bullets to the bottle, chuck it at a cluster of enemies, and shoot it midair to unleash a decidedly nasty explosion. The explosive power of a plastic bottle filled with flammable liquid is obvious, but what if you wrap it in double-sided tape, stuff a bandage in it, light it, and stick it to an enemy. There are multifarious possible item combinations, and while you'll generally stick to a select few for killing enemies (flaming bullets, midair explodables, spray-can flamethrower), the game makes you flesh out your repertoire by demanding specific actions to solve certain puzzles. The few non-combat-related puzzles are clustered early and late in the game. Some of these creative platforming sequences are part of larger, dramatic set pieces, such as your escape from a burning, collapsing building. It's generally pretty clear what path you need to take, but figuring out the necessary actions and carrying them out is still entertaining. Puzzles in which you set fire to things are particularly fun, because the fire looks gorgeous and spreads realistically while the textures on the burning wood change accordingly. Maneuvering issues become particularly frustrating when you are trying to hop into a car. Actually driving cars is less neat, since the things handle like motorboats and will sometimes launch into the air when driving over the smallest curb. They do take damage, but they do so in such an unpredictable way that sometimes your car won't react much to bouncing off multiple trees, but the next impact will cause the hood, doors, and entire roof structure to explode off the car like a Mythbusters experiment, leaving you with a bizarro convertible. In addition to the vast and varied Central Park, you'll also adventure through a number of well-detailed indoor environments. These are all well done, and are at their best when integrated with one of the many dramatic set pieces throughout the game. During these events the camera will often pull out to a wider angle, giving you a greater sense of scope and harking back to the fixed-camera roots of previous Alone in the Dark games. There are definitely some missteps here as well, and the dynamic lighting can sometimes turn an immersive environment into a something's-not-quite-right environment. Alone in the Dark is an ambitious game that features a lot of cool gameplay and bucks a lot of gaming conventions. Unfortunately, the technical execution does not match this ambition, and the resulting roughness will prove too high a cost of entry for many gamers. Still, if you are craving a game that tries new things with a reasonable degree of success, you'll definitely be able to get some enjoyment out of Alone in the Dark.

GAME REVIEW :-

6.5/10

Alone In The Dark Trailer :-

4x4 EVO 2

2009-08-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Terminal Reality

Publisher : Gathering Of Developers

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Rally / Off-Road Racing

Release Date : October 30 , 2001

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 98 / Windows 2000

CPU : AMD Athlon Classic K75 / Intel Pentium III Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 8.0 Compatible Video Card with Memory 32 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 2 MX Series
ATI : Radeon 7200 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.5

GAME FEATURES :-

4x4 EVO 2 features a healthy selection of game modes and a greater emphasis on the single-player experience than its predecessor. First, there's time attack mode, where you try to set record laps. Then, there's the obligatory quick race, which lets you jump right into the action without any fuss (other than awkward, ugly menus). You can choose from 30 courses, and you can race at midday or dusk and drive under clear conditions or various levels of fog and rain. After each race, you can watch replays with a VCR-style control panel. Surprisingly, there aren't any difficulty levels or options, and the default settings might be pretty tough for racing novices. You can race between one and 20 laps against up to seven computer-controlled opponents or compete online via a somewhat convoluted and buggy server browser. 4x4 Evolution's ability to let you race against those with console versions of the game is gone in the sequel. The manual touts a two-player versus mode, though this was inaccessible, despite having the required two controllers installed. If you play against the computer, prepare for both excitement and frustration. To find those shortcuts, you can play in the free roam mode, where there's no pressure and no competition. You just drive to your heart's content, enjoying the scenery or smashing into it as you see fit. As with the quick race mode, free roam lets you choose any course, the time of day, and the weather conditions. Of course, you can't do death-defying, acrobatic stunts in a 4x4 EVO 2, so once the novelty of the environments wears off, the free roam mode can get pretty dull in a hurry. The quick race, time attack, and free roam modes let you choose vehicles from three classes, beginning with stock vehicles and progressing to ones heavily modified for off-road racing. All three classes feature real-world trucks and SUVs from GMC, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Lexus, Toyota, Dodge, Jeep, Nissan, and Infiniti. The game boasts 120 models in all, including variants of the Dodge Durango, Mitsubishi Montero, Nissan Xterra, Toyota Tacoma, and other well-known models. In practical game terms, many of the different models perform quite similarly, so while the game technically has 120 vehicles, in practice it feels like far fewer. With money that you win in various racing series, you can purchase new vehicles, as well as licensed parts from Goodridge, K&N, IPF, Rancho, and others. These range from high-performance air filters and snorkels for river fording to things as mundane as a sun visor.

4x4 EVO 2's audio has its faults, too. The soundtrack falls prey to the music malady suffered by so many racing games these days: acute techno disorder. Monotonous, disposable electronic beats hammer away at you from the moment you start up the game. Some of the tunes are just forgettable, while some are so in-your-face bad that you'll be blissfully thankful you can mute the music. The sound effects fare much better. The engines sound convincingly throaty, and the sounds of jouncing suspension and slipping tires draw you into the action. The physics in 4x4 EVO 2 are relaxed from reality, making a compromise between an arcade racer and a realistic sim, with the emphasis on the former. You'll get a great sense of speed as you hurtle down hills in the fog, with your truck rocking every which way as you bang over the rough terrain. Unfortunately, the game's physics are beset with frustrating oddities that can really detract from your enjoyment of the game. Trucks seem to stick to each other as if they had giant Velcro sheets glued to their sides. If you barely touch another truck, you'll slow dramatically. When you're roaring around a track and trying to dodge vicious competitors, it can be extremely hard to guess in an instant what that upcoming something-or-other in the road might do to you. Driving off a mountain or landing on top of a truck after leaping off a sand dune should at least put a dent in your vehicle. The force feedback setup options only allow you to change the raw force and spring strength, so if you want to fine-tune the feedback, you'll need to exit the program and handle it through your controller software. Either way, the force feedback effects are strong but only give you a generic sense of riding over rough terrain instead of a better read on any subtle forces acting on your truck. 4x4 EVO 2 features a single handling slider that lets you easily select more of either one. No matter how you tweak your truck, though, this is not a subtle game--you can pretty much mash the accelerator to the floor most of the race, and that will serve you well enough. If you can put up with some frustrating inconsistencies and technical problems, 4x4 EVO 2 offers some thrilling off-road racing.

GAME REVIEW :-

8/10

4x4 Evo 2 Trailer :-

EAST INDIA COMPANY

2009-08-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Nitro Games

Publisher : Paradox Interactive

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Real Time Strategy

Release Date : July 28 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon XP 2100+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 512 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 128 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce FX 5800 Series
ATI : Radeon X800 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

East India Company gives players the chance to lead their own maritime mercantile empire in the 17th century trade wars that European powers fought in Africa and India. You'll plan trade routes, make war and peace with your European rivals, capture ports, and manage ships and crews. If you're really adventurous, you can even take charge of your fleets in real time 3D battles on the high seas. While that's more than enough quality content for many gamers, there are some shortcuts and missing features that keep East India Company from being all that it ought to have been. There are a number of limited campaign options here, but I wanted to enjoy all the game had to offer, so I opted for the grand campaign, which begins in 1600 and runs through the whole time period represented in the game. With a bit of cash and the smallest merchant fleet around, you'll set off to trade in the commodities of Africa and India, always following the golden rule, "buy low, sell high." Your home port in Europe has goods to sell to the natives, so first you'll stock up on tools and steel. Pick the one city you'd like a particular fleet to trade in and they'll sail off, buy up that port's main trade item, whatever else they can fit in the hold (and the budget) and then head home to sell it off and stock up on whatever goods are most in demand abroad. Ships have a limited range, so they'll need to stop in at friendly ports along the way, and can use these stopovers to buy and sell at better prices than are sometimes found in the cities at either end of the trade route. In the grand campaign, however, your stockholders will require you to move thousands of tons of individual commodities, so you begin to care less about price and more about moving product in a way that's safe and doesn't require a lot of extra work. So while automatic routes might seem less profitable than micromanaged routes, the game tends to push you towards these "set it and forget it" type routes. Throw in the five-ship limit in each fleet and you'll soon discover that diversifying is something you can't really afford until you've got enough cash to create self-contained trade fleets that can operate on their own.

There's no political maneuvering in Europe, no colonial frictions in Africa, and no exploiting the locals in India. As far as the game is concerned, the world is made up solely of ports and profits. While that may be an accurate commentary on the philosophical outlook of these companies, it seems a bit superficial in terms of the overall simulation and doesn't allow for the full range of influences that these companies historically had. The port upgrades are limited to garrisons, warehouses and shipyards, so there's no real sense of creating industry or additional profit potential within the empire you're creating. In fact, owning more ports seems to be a bigger drain on your economy than anything, which makes it particularly troubling to win the game by conquering the entire subcontinent. And while the game opens up new ship types to you throughout the course of play, there's no sense of technological or practical progress. There are options for all the requisite sea battle elements -- line formations, shot types, sail state, etc. and players can even dump their precious cargo to pick up a bit of speed if they're trying to flee. The trading model is straightforward and the presentation makes it easy to manage all the details of the empire. Then again, managing all the details is pretty easy when there aren't that many to begin with. There's no sense of interaction with the world outside of your balance sheet, which is a disservice to the subject matter. The tactical battles are enjoyable but also seem a bit too streamlined. Players who are interested in the concept or the period will definitely find a worthwhile game here but the appeal wears thin long before it should have.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

East India Company Trailer :-

WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR II

2009-08-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Relic Entertainment

Publisher : THQ

Engine : Essence Engine 2.0

Genre : Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : February 18 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1.5 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 256 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7600 Series
ATI : Radeon X1800 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 5.5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is a fun and fascinating game with a bit of an identity crisis. In one corner you have an explosively intense multiplayer real-time strategy experience, brimming with savagely satisfying competition. In the other, you have an odd and somewhat enjoyable single-player campaign that plays more like an action role-playing game than an Real-Time Strategy. You won't be building a base or churning out units, but rather maneuvering your few commander-led squads around the map and beating up the beasties that stand between you and your mission objectives. Your goals may entail capturing a particular structure, recovering a stolen object, or even defeating an end-level boss. The game isn't going to dissuade you from that approach; the elements of a role-playing game are all accounted for. You will level up your squads and earn new abilities and bonuses, collect items and loot on the battlefield, and spend time between battles equipping your commanders with the various armor sets and weapons that you earn. Dawn of War II's single-player campaign isn't really strategic at all, but you will make tactical decisions that move beyond simple mouse clicking. In a mechanic pulled from the developer's own Company of Heroes, some squads can lay down suppressive fire, which slows your targets and hinders them from a quick escape. Units can be garrisoned or take cover behind certain objects, a mechanic easy to implement thanks to a slick interface and simple but effective visual feedback. However, the most important facet of a successful battle is your familiarity with each commander's unique abilities. Whether it is one's rally cry or another's jump-pack-powered stomp, effective use of skills is not only your key to victory, but also a visual and sonic delight. Seeing a dreadnought squash a ripper swarm, or a lictor alpha yank a powerless assault marine with its lethal flesh hooks, is enjoyably violent and makes battles fun to watch. Dawn of War II provides no co-op matchmaking option, so you'll need to know the Windows Live ID of your prospective companion to explore that possibility. Also bear in mind that though the game's host will reap the persistent experience and loot rewards, the guest will leave everything behind when returning to his or her own campaign. It's fun to play with a friend, though. You split command duties with your partner, so the moment-to-moment gameplay requires less micromanagement but gives you more leeway to play around with tactical options.

Dawn of War II's multiplayer component couldn't be more different from its single-player campaign. It's also more strategic, as is obvious from the moment you enter the multiplayer menus. You have four races to choose from: Space Marines, Orks, Eldar, and Tyranid. Once you've selected a race, you choose from one of three commanders, each with a particular role to play in battle. A Tyranid ravener alpha can dig tunnels, granting your units quick travel when you most need it; an Eldar warlock will embolden the front lines with its powerful spells. Not only does each race come with its own strengths and weaknesses, but your choice of commander will further determine the appropriate play style. You'll still queue up your units at a home structure, but resource gathering is inextricably tied to the action, given that you must capture control nodes scattered around the map to generate power and requisition. Actually, you might say that there are three resources: to activate certain global powers, you must fill a gauge by slaying enemy units. Eldar enthusiasts may want to off the enemy with a few fire prisms before attempting capture. Throw in equippable skills and items for your commander and squads, and you've got a recipe for intense action spread across the entire map. Indeed, Dawn of War II's multiplayer matches are insanely fun even when you're on the losing side because you're constantly engaged with every facet of gameplay at any given moment. Explosions, warp blasts, and other special effects not only look great, but also sound absolutely phenomenal. A barrage of intense battle sounds will burst from your speakers, but individual touches such as the way Orks call out "dakka dakka dakka" as they fire their weapons emerge with clarity. Assisted by a cinematic orchestral soundtrack that swells with drama without overreaching, the sound design provides a constant stream of audio feedback that puts you in the thick of the action without crossing the lines of good taste. Extraordinary online play makes it easy to overlook this strategy sequel's less-impressive single-player campaign.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War II Trailer :-