New and Old PC Games

Preview: The Sims 3 Showtime

2012-01-18T17:11:00.003+01:00

Become a superstar!

The Sims 3 Showtime follows up on an expansion for the first Sims series: The Sims Superstar. We are promised a new social feature, so that you can share everything you do in the game, at once while you’re still playing.

Venture into a new world and live the dream as singers, acrobats, magicians and DJs. Using the all-new SimPort feature, send your Sim into a friend's game to perform in their world, book gigs in your friends' town, go on tour and be reviewed. You can also build custom stages for your Sims to perform on and use them for your own show later.

We are also promised new traits and lifetime wishes, so the players have more tools to tell their story. A new achievement system has also been confirmed and you can earn points that you later can post to your walls of facebook, twitter or any other social posting device. The Sims 3 Showtime is set for release in early March.

UK RELEASE: 09-March-2012 | NORDIC RELEASE: 08-March-2012 | US RELEASE: 06-March-2012

Review: International Volleyball 2009

2012-01-17T23:25:00.001+01:00

Some fun in volleyball games

Before International Volleyball i had my doubts again. The third time testing a sports game for a sport that doesn’t had many games. One failed (Handball Simulator 2010), one was surprisingly good (Rugby Challenge 2011). This one? It’s in the middle of those two.

Serve's up!: You can serve in three different ways in IV2009.

Again, I thought this would be a game with a lot of controller trouble, but it really isn’t. If you enter training mode as soon as you start the game, you will learn that volleyball on the computer is really easy. It’s basically four or five buttons you use a lot. Then you have your own choice what kind of shot or serve you are going to use and it really doesn’t matter if you hit the right buttons, as long as you hit one of them. The game is surprisingly fun and good for some time, but gets boring when playing long matches. Volleyball isn’t the ultimate sport to make a PC game from.

Not again: I didn't even know Luxembourg had a volleyball team.

Got this one: I got all the time in the world, piece of cake to catch this one.

That being said it simulates volleyball the way it should be done. You sometimes feel that you play volleyball for real and even if the graphics doesn’t match on the pitch, the game got some cool animations. The replay feature where you see the point ball from the net is also brilliant. The audio isn’t really so good, but I heard the crowd shouting for their national teams several times. Credits for bringing that in the game. This game surprised me a lot and is a lot of fun, but not for too long.

Failed blocking: If you don't stand right in front of the shot, you're not going to block it!

Gamescore

International Volleyball 2009 (2009)

Graphics: The graphics hasn’t been in the creators mind for one second and everything looks pretty boring. Some fine animations now and then, but it isn’t enough to bring the score upstairs. 2/10

Audio: There isn’t really much sound present, but you’ll have the basic volleyball sounds you’re problaby so familiar with. The audience was unusually loud sometimes and this made this game a lot better. Nothing is worse than playing in front of an audience that just sits there and shuts up. 4/10

Gameplay: A very fun game indeed. Full of surprises these “not so famous” sport games. Well, it’s fun for one or two matches, but then things start to get to familiar to what you just watched. No licenses of real volleyball players and every player are named from “Number One” and further. Would have been funnier if they at least used real fake names. 5/10

Controls: As mentioned, the controllers looks tricky at first eye, just like Rugby Challenge. After some practice and the gaining of skills, you will manage to get some points. Maybe not win some matches, because the game is pretty hard, even on easy. You steer all the players on your team as if they were just one and this works very well! 8/10

Overall Score: International Volleyball 2009 isn’t a big game and maybe I’m giving it some sympathy votes, but the game was actually pretty fun for a while. As this one being the only volleyball game I know of (except for blubby volley), it’s get the first place on volleyball games list hall of fame! 5/10

Review: Helldorado

2012-01-17T20:04:00.002+01:00

A wild west where no one survives

Helldorado brings the game further away from the old Desperados series, but the game shoots itself in the foot a lot of times. It can be fun at times, but to many bugs and errors destroys the good game feeling.

3rd person: There is even a third person cam added to Helldorado, but it could have worked better.

This is a classic western story, where you will play both cowboys and girls with cowboy hats. It’s a strategic tactial game, like Commandos, so sneaking is more important in this game than just flying around having a blast at everyone. You can do this also, but it wouldn’t do you good, unless you want your characters killed freely. Every character also got a special skill they can use. For example John Cooper is a typical muscle man who can lift enemies after he’s killed them and is always fast with his six shooter, Hawkeye is an Indian who can make war cry to trick the enemies and shoots with a bow and arrow, while Kate O’Hara is a woman who can seduce enemies and poison them with her perfume.

Ready,set,go!: Situations like these are always 50:50.

Help from the woods: Indians and cowboys live in peace in Helldorado.

The difficulty in this game is something else, when it is out of this world. Helldorado can be so hard and tricky at times, that you just give up and want to quit the game. The easiest difficulty seemed hard so I’d rather not think about what this is like on medium or hard. The game’s story are good at times, but a lot of details is let out, so you don’t really understand why different things are happening now and then. Graphics and audio for this game are pretty mediocre for a 2009 game and not really what i would have expected, but it have its glance moments sometimes.

Better graphics: Not all the particles are ugly.

Gamescore

Helldorado (2009)

Graphics: Looks very cartoon like when zooming out and a little better when seen close up or in third person. The game is anyways outdated and out of standards for a 2009 game. 4/10

Audio: I wish the game characters would have told us a little bit more, instead of just: Okay! Roger that boss! Sure can do!, when clicking where they have to go or run. The music is not so god either. 4/10

Gameplay: Are fun when you manage to pull missions off, but this happens only after a giant amounts of tries. The game is clearly too hard and would have benefitted from being a little bit easier. When it comes to the story, it is an okay western adventure story, but the lack of details around missions and why we really are doing things at all are a problem. Should have known a little bit more about what’s really going on here. 4/10

Controls: This is maybe the game's ace. Works well in best commandos style, where you can sneak up on enemies and have many opportunities to lay them to the ground. The game is usually played with mouse, with some keyboard features. 8/10

Overall Score: Helldorado can be a great game sometimes, when it’s not too hard or the missons are random. Desperados was a good game and i would thought that Helldorado would be to. Western fans will find this amusing either way, but if you’re not into the wild west from before, this could clearly be walked past. 5/10

Newsflash: Max Payne 3: Release date postponed until June

2012-01-17T16:52:00.001+01:00

The Third game in the Max Payne series was supposed to come in 2009, but have had been postponed several times. The Rockstar owner Take-Two say in a press release today, that the game will be released June 1. in Europe, while the Americans will have it the 29. May. Take two director Strauss Zelnick also says that the extra couple of months will give the game something more and that the game will be better that way. We will sure be waiting.

Review: FIFA Manager 12

2012-01-17T00:09:00.003+01:00

Still little brother

Every year it’s the same. Football Manager and FIFA Manager are released and FM surely gets the most of the voters. It’s not so weird, because FIFA Manager seemed to have stood still since the game saw the broad of daylight. This year’s version is a long ride of soccer boredom. Last i checked, soccer was far from boring so something must have gone wrong in the process.

Real players: FIFA are using their licenses to the maximum.

The game are presented in a not so bad way. In reality, when starting this up, it’s gives you a good feeling. EA have always had great licensed music in their games and FIFA Manager 12 got it to. The menus also looks pretty good, so the first impression of the game is totally good. The problems comes when you start up a new league and understand that everything is at is was before in this series. You’ll have a bunch of leagues to choose from, the most of them fully licensed, so here is the homework lesson done, as in the FIFA Manager games before.

Typical Rooney: Okay goal, but when are the graphics getting an update?

When in-game and trying to search for players, setting up tactics and basically doing anything at all, the old problems comes back. The game has a lot of functions, but the problem is to find everything and it should be easier in a game like this to do such. This is where Football Manager is in a whole other level, so FIFA Manager should really learn from them, if they are hoping to improve their game in the future at all. We already been talking about the sound. The music is great, but the commentary duo seemed to have been removed during matches. Maybe for the best, i always simulated anyways, didn’t used to hear a lot from them. If the game was in the graphic department of FIFA 12 it would have scored a lot higher, but EA seems to use the same graphics for their manager game as they did the first time. Maybe a time for an update now?

A comment please?: You don't have to be a scientist to answer the questions before a game.

Gamescore

FIFA Manager 2012 (2011)

Graphics: Yeah, the graphics. Seems like it’s still the FIFA 2007 graphics. I got no clue why? It shouldn’t be too hard to bring the new FIFA 12 engine in the game? The game would have grown on that. 4/10

Audio: Great music in Electronic Arts games, they should have some credits for that. With the commentary being gone and no match feeling whatsoever, just turn off sounds instead. But keep on the music! 6/10

Gameplay: Can be great now and then, but the whole game build up is just wrong in comparison to the manager king. The licenses are in their place, that’s a good start, but if FIFA Manager is going to be the same game every year, with only updated squads and players, then it will never knock FM of their high throne. Some new menus during the matches this year, but this actually makes the game worse. Something new and fresh is needed badly here! 2/10

Controls: It’s not hard to click on something, but it’s when you’re don’t know what you are clicking on. That is the biggest problem in this “manager adventure”. It’s still fun to set up you’re whole damn family, but this game is not the sims, so what’s the point? Many roads, but no one leads to Rome. 3/10

Overall Score: I now start to understand that EA have enough with one soccer game and with FIFA 12 everything is brilliant done. You cannot say the same thing about FIFA Manager 12, as it’s almost the same game we have seen since it first got out. It’s got some other things that FM don’t have, but it lacks a lot of things that FM have. I don’t see any reason to try this game, except maybe for the licenses. If that is a reason to get a game. 3/10

Preview: Tombraider 2012

2012-01-16T20:56:00.004+01:00

The start of the story

The next Tombraider is upcoming this year, but the date has not been set up till this day. The story will take place before the other games in the series and we will met a different Lara Croft, 21 years, who is more unsure of who she is.

The game rumors also to have a new survival instinct, that Lara can use to solve puzzles. It will highlight useful items for use if the player is stuck in solving a puzzle. However, Lara can only do this while standing still. Some elements of the world crumble when Lara stands on them for too long. When the player jumps to grab a ledge, Lara will no longer magnetize to the nearest ledge like in previous instalments. The player will also be able to change direction mid-air. Puzzles will be more complex than previous titles, it will use elements of fire, water, wind, and friction. Helping hands and UI will be kept to a minimum, except for indications of burnable objects, health items, and during quick time events.

Tombraider 2012 will be released for PC during the latest summer or autumn of 2012 and is being developed by Crystal dynamics. Square Enix will release the game. After viewing some of the Tombraider trailers, i have to say that the game looks fantastic already.

Review: Mafia – The City Of Lost Heaven

2012-01-15T23:41:00.003+01:00

One epic story, from start to finish

Mafia 2 have already been reviewed on this site and now the time has come for the prequel. It’s actually been ten years since Mafia saw the daylight, but it’s clearly not a game that was typical for that time. Never before had we seen such cinematics and dialogues as in Lost Heaven. The game was fantastic ten years ago and is even better now, if that is possible, with the thoughts of what kind of games we have around the world today.

Light it up: Smokin' mafia-style.

The listener: You're whole story is being told to a detective named Norman.

The story of Mafia starts very similar with the one in Mafia 2. You’re character is an average Joe, who is up to no crime, before he against his will, have to join some criminals to keep his life. You play as Tommy Angelo, a cab driver in the streets of Lost Heaven, a big town similar to New York. One night working graveyard and relaxing in your cab, something that’s changes your life happens quickly. Two gangsters have been in a pretty bad fight with some rivals and is heading you’re way. They badly need a ride and one of theme is hurt. They’re names are Paulie and Sam. These two are going to be your closest friends the next couple of years, as you spend the years from 1930 and down to the late 40’s, working for the well-known Salieri family. A family that has traditions in the districts and who is run by the mob boss Don Salieri.

Many of the stories and missions in Mafia are truly epic and it’s almost impossible to not like what you see. The missions are always long and is presented in a way never seen in a video game before. The presentation of the missions in Lost Heaven are actually much better than in the sequel. The actor job in this game was also amazingly done. Many of the characters that have their voices used in Mafia are well known actors from other Mafia movies, so the game feels real the whole time. The graphic was maybe the best of all games, when it came out in 2002 and it was a lot of machines that had trouble running the game, and i bet there still are.

What are they planning now?: The mission briefing room is being well used.

In cold blood: Sam takes another role at the end of the game.

If you take the gaming sequences in Mafia, you'll have yourself a brilliant Gangster movie, from the top class movie list. There is enough game sequences in this game to make a pretty long movie and you will keep watching intros, outros and epilogues over and over again, because they just are so damned fantastic. I cannot on the top of my head, bring up a game that have set deeper tracks than this one. It’s pretty weird if you get bored when playing this, because the game has always so much to say, and a lot of that comes from the great movie sequences that pops up from time to time. When you play, you will be waiting for these over and over again and i could really wish you didn’t have to play at all! Even if the game is fantastic there also, especially for the time being.

Buying booze: Problems occur, of course.

Stay down!: Now is a great time to pay the Salieri family a visit.

If you in some way haven’t heard about this or didn’t try it at the time, you should definitely do now. It’s a story full of surprises and twists, as well as a sad ending I didn’t like, but this doesn’t bring the game down at all. It just reflects the hard Mafia life of the 1930’s and 40’s. When finished with this you should also give the sequel a try, as it is at the same level. 2K Games is the new Gangster game expert. A Mafia game maker like Martin Scorese in the movie world. The only complaint is that i wish this game would never end, as a fantastic story like these don’t grow on trees.

The Don himself: Tommy finds out that he shouldn't cross the Don. In the end, he have to pay for it.

Gamescore

Mafia - The City Of Lost Heaven (2002)

Graphics: When this got out ten years ago, it was the best of the best, for those who managed to run the game. Rumors had it that many had to run the game on low specs, but now in 2012, this game can be run at a high detailed level. Of course, details wasn’t so good then as it is now, but the facial details of important people, as well as the graphics on the cars in the game, was fantastic. The action packed sequences between play is also amazing, but seen on with eyes of today, details in environment are a little short. 7/10

Audio: Maybe the best game voiceovers that has been done ever! Fantastic from the first to the last word. This game scores high over what is normal for a PC game. It even scores high for a movie. 10/10

Gameplay: The game is great, what so ever! The missions are varied and will keep you occupied long enough to think that you find yourself in a big American town at the beginning of the 1930’s. There are twenty missions in total and I wouldn’t mind if there were a hundred of them. The first thing you think when completing the last mission in Mafia is: I have to play this again as quick as i can! And of course you should then. It’s one of the best game stories ever! 10/10

Controls: Here’s what the game scores lowest on and the only possible thing the game could have been better at when it came out. The controllers doesn’t always work so good. Problems in getting in to cover can be tricky and you just feel awful when you die at the same mission the 20^th time, because you had a hard time aiming. This goes in the “forget this” book anyways, because the problems aren’t major enough to drag this game down. The story is to good! 8/10

Overall Score: Would have been a clear 10/10 if this was ten years ago. It almost is now actually. You have to turn a lot of things upside down to find a so amazing story as you find in this game. The replay value is also amazing, with all the in-game movie sequences being the most fantastic things, alongside with the actor work and audio work. Because graphics starts to get a little bit outdated (not much) and the controllers can be tricky, this receives a 9/10

Review: FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4

2012-01-15T17:33:00.003+01:00

Strange laps on the Speedway field

The FIM Speedway series now have a long history. The history is maybe not so positive and the latest installment in the series does not hold up.

Got to hold on: It's not hard to crash in this game, trust me!

The positive things first. The game has licenses for real speedway stadiums and also a lot of real drivers, from all around the world. When starting this up, it doesn’t look so all bad, in the in-game menus. You actually have a lot of opportunities and you can click yourself in to training to start racing a little. The first race was a disaster. The controllers didn’t pay any attention to what i did, so i entered the setting from simulation mode to arcade. It helped a lot.

Licenses: The real drivers are in FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4.

If it helped, it still wasn’t good enough. And when you race in a game like this, it doesn’t take you long before you get bored. The career mode has a little bit more to it. You can shop and buy things when you not are on the race field, but otherwise, the game doesn’t add anything big to show here. The controllers feels weird and the motion that shows up on the screen doesn’t look natural. No, i don’t suspect a high score for this game!

Glory: The first victory, who also became the last.

Gamescore

FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4 (2011)

Graphics: The speedway bikes you ride on have gotten quite some job, and also the riders. It’s also not that bad if you look around the stadiums. The motions in this game is a whole another thing and everything seems to look like it’s made of plastic, when it’s not standing still. 5/10

Audio: Could have added a commentary to a game like this, but it’s not done. The music in the menus are boring and the sounds at the stadiums to give you good feeling are miles away. 2/10

Gameplay: Not enough modes, not enough fun to keep playing on and also to hard. No problem in playing this for an hour or so, but after that, you will never touch this again!. 2/10

Controls: Weird controls. The bike doesn’t always go where you tells it to go, but it gets a little better if you switch from “simulation mode” to “arcade mode”. The controllers are pretty good set up for the keyboard though. 3/10

Overall Score: The game actually looked better, when i saw a video of it, rather than testing it myself. The biggest problem in this game, that destroys the good feeling for once and for all, is the gameplay and the controllers. They are both weird, so if you want to keep playing this on, you got to be a hardcore speedway fan! 3/10

MMZXRUXZKB6R

Review: SFG Soccer

2012-01-14T22:20:00.003+01:00

Simple, funny soccer

From StirFryGames comes SFG Soccer. A different soccer mini-game that can be a lot of fun. It is usually, but it would have been even better with a little more modes.

Crazy kick: It's going to take something really special to get a bicycle kick right, like this.

The regulars: When scoring, you have to celebrate of course.

SFG Soccer is marketed as a funny soccer game. It is, so absolutely and you can have hours of fun playing the game. The career mode is the most anticipating one, where you start of with a basic team who has no skills at all, and play them to victory. You start in the lowest division of totally four divisions, and play your way up the leage. The matches is arcade for sure and things happens quickly. It’s not really a beautiful game, but it sure is fun! You can also edit all the teams in the league, if you wish. Then you can play with real teams and players, from the real soccer world.

Good reading: You got to love statistics.

Sideline-cam: From here, you have full control!

Gamescore

SFG Soccer (2009)

Graphics: Not so good. Everything looks like something from the late 90’s, but then again, it’s not the point in this game to have good graphics. 2/10

Audio: Not really a lot of sound in this game, but the who is there, is bad. 1/10

Gameplay: A good feeling soccer game who sure is fun! You have four leagues to travel up and down from and a lot of teams to meet. 64 actually. There is also statistics for everything that happens on the pitch, so it will keep you occupied. 8/10

Controls: Pretty okay controller setup, but the players doesn’t always do as they are told. Especially when the ball is in the air. It’s not easy to hit an bicycle kick, so when you do, it feels great. 7/10

Overall Score: SFG Soccer is just trying to be a funny game that can knock out a couple of hours from you. It’s doing more than that. There is no problem in playing this game for a while, I think, and I sure feels great when you move up division with your team, that to get to know on the road. Should clearly be given a try. A free demo can be downloaded at the makers homesite.6/10

Review: NCIS - The Game

2012-01-14T19:59:00.002+01:00

Mediocre detective skills

Ubi soft releases a new detective game and the expectations are not so high, with the toughs of their latest installments in the CSI series. NCIS is actually a better game, in all areas.

The evidence says you're lying!: Leroy Gibbs doesn't let you out of the interrogation room until you have told the truth.

More please: During interviews, you have to act quickly to get the information you need.

NCIS The Game is made on the tv series with the same name. I have to admit that I haven’t watched the show a lot, but i see a clear resemblance to all the characters who are in the game, so the graphics are pretty well made. The likeliness to the show is pretty difficult to judge by me, so I’m going to concentrate on just the game for now. There is four episodes in this game and every episode takes around an hour/ an hour and a half, so it’s a pretty short game. Could have been a couple of episodes more, because you don’t feel that the game is over when you see the credits rolling over the screen.

Try that again: If he's lying, we will find out!

Stretch out: You can even touch dead bodies in this game.

When the game starts, you soon feel that you will have more opportunities, when it comes to forensic work, than in the CSI games. You basically go around and take pictures of the crime scene and take it back to the lab so it can be investigated further. Every character has they’re own thing to do and in the starts it feels like there is a lot. When playing through half of the game, this process is starting to get very boring. It’s the same all over again and I feel like it should have been more opportunities, when it comes to the labwork and the processing of the crime scenes. In the audio department, there has been a solid job. Solid acting on both the stars in the series and other civilians and murderers in the game. Some of the four stories are good, but it’s likely you catch the killer before the game does. But in the end, the game is a whole lot better than CSI.

Whole lot of action!: Not really. But it's nice that the game is trying to be Die Hard.

Free phonecalls?: I hope they don't pay for calling each other. You will see a cellphone every five minutes in NCIS.

Gamescore

NCIS - The Game (2011)

Graphics: Great facial expressions at times and the levels you are wandering around on looks pretty much great. The negative thing is that they seemed to have used the same motion a lot of times the characters moves around in cut scenes. This happens often, so it pulls down the character. 7/10

Audio: Great voice acting. Even the characters that doesn’t say much got it right in this game . 9/10

Gameplay: Seems great in the start, when you think that the game has so many opportunities. As the game progresses you’ll soon understand that it doesn’t, and you will get bored quickly. Also, more episodes wouldn’t hurt, as the game is completed in a little over four hours. 3/10

Controls: You can move around wherever you are, with a simple mouse click. This should have been so simple, but i’ve noticed several times that the characters walks another way than i tell them to. Also, when taking fingerprints, it’s very hard to be done with the motion. You can sit in a couple of minutes pulling your mouse, because you didn’t get off a little piece of tape. This is frustrating. 5/10

Overall Score: NCIS The Game seems like a funny game when you’re starting your first mission. After a while it’s gets very boring and if you have played Ubi Softs latest detective games, CSI, you then know that the games is all about doing the same things over and over again. It little more variation would have been nice. But it’s not a bad game. It looks good and the acting are sometimes excellent, so it’s worth a little look. 5/10

Review: Rugby Challenge 2011

2012-01-13T22:16:00.001+01:00

The next great sports game!

From earlier experience i am no longer that person who jumps highest, when someone makes a sports game no one has tried before, thanks to the Handball simulator. I’ve should have done that this time, because Rugby Challenge really qualifies as a fantastic game and simulator of the Rugby Union. Let’s hope the series is going to continue in the future.

Three points!: Why walk when you can jump to glory?

Not everyone knows really what rugby is and i am one of those people, but even so, this game was a extreme pleasure playing. I have seen some Rugby matches in my life, but haven’t really paid enough attention to what’s really going on the pitch. Now I know! Rugby isn’t just about kicking and punching people to the ground, running straight forward and hoping for the best or a brainless form of a sports game. I now understand that this is an intelligent and tactical type of game, very similar to soccer.

Still big brother: England is one lenght better than Scotland in this game.

So good: The opportunity to just hug each other is there.

There is no problem if you don’t understand, because the makers of the game, from New Zealand of course (The biggest rugby nation), have made tutorial videos with rules and everything else you need to know. They have also made a pretty big tutorial to learn the game buttons and how you play. After this tutorial i went straight out in the game and had an extreme good time.

Beginner?: Learn rugby on 1-2-3!

Get away!: Sometimes, it's better just to kick the ball!

The gameplay is very good and the games you play feel very, very real. The graphic in this game is also one of the best I’ve seen in a sports game lately. Those of you who follow rugby closely, will definitely recognize the players who are in the game. The game has a lot of licensed club teams, but not so many national teams. The two of the world’s best team are anyways licensed (Australia and New Zealand), so that’s pretty good I guess. There is also a bunch of stadiums to choose from, but not all licensed here either. You can play exhibition matches, practice, World cup or play any of the in-game leagues. Those are by the way ITM Cup (New Zealand), Super Rugby (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), Aviva Premiership (England), Top 14 (France) and Pro 12 (Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy). This game clearly did take me by surprise, because i had no expectations for this to be good at all. It was a gladly new meeting!

Only just: The touchdowns never looks the same.

Bend it like Beckham: Just what it's all about

Gamescore

Jonah Lomu’s Rugby Challenge 2011 (2011)

Graphics: Looked good from the moment i saw it. Great player models, great look-alike rating and great motion when the players are barking into each other, because that happens of course too. The stadiums in the game are also wonderful, when looking on them, for real! 9/10

Audio: It was a surprise to me that the commentaries were so good, because they are actually on level with FIFA. Not exactly, but right behind. A long way ahead of PES if i could compare to soccer games commantaries. The sound on the pitch is also good and you will get the rugby feeling any time. 8/10

Gameplay: Here, i got tired after a bit. The game is extreme fun the first hour, but so on, it slowly starts to die. It’s maybe because i don’t watch rugby a lot? After a while, i just feel like the matches are all like and i am starting to get points the same ways it did the match before. Anyways, it helps with a little break, then you can play again, so it feels fantastic. 7/10

Controls: The first time I layed my eyes on the control setup, it wasn’t happy. There is a lot of things to think of in this game and you have a lot of buttons to push. Even so, the makers have edited this pretty good in the game and the buttons you have to push during special locations, comes up under the match. After a match or two, you will get the hang of it and then it’s time to become the ultimate rugby champion. 8/10

Overall Score: One of the best sports games this year, no doubt! Came from out of nowhere and raised my rugby interest to the maximum. I’m clearly going to start to watch a lot of rugby from now on. One of the game’s strongest card’s is the graphic sequences, who is really beautiful sometimes. They also give us a lot of creative celebrations after a touchdown. This game is a must if you’re into rugby and if you’re not, you are going to be after you tried this game. 8/10

Review: Flight Control HD

2012-01-13T14:48:00.002+01:00

Aircraft mini-game fun

Fun little mini-game i came over. In Flight control take control of the tower and give commands when the flights are going in for landing. You can squeeze a little fun out of it!

Good round: When it get's you going, the game can make you occupied for a long time.

Move away: The planes with blue marks can't be controlled.

This is a really simple click and drag type of game, where you have to choose where several flights are going in for landing on your on air station. When the flights are coming in from the different parts of the screen you have to watch out so they don’t crash in each other. There are several types of planes and the all move in different speeds. There are also helicopters, who are extreme slow. The game is good at what it is and is absolutely worth a try, but remember that it’s a mini-game, so you will not get the big game sequences.

Stress-factor: The game freaks you out every time you loose control!

Gamescore

Flight Control HD (2009 - 2011)

Graphics: Hard to set up against others, but i think it look good for this kind of game, without being outstanding. Nice colors on the maps. 4/10

Audio: The only sound in this game is click! when you choose settings before a flight and crash! when you don’t manage the planes well enough. Could at least made some more sounds and music in the game. 1/10

Gameplay: Great for a short time. The game doesn’t really offer anything except what i wrote earlier, but is fun for a short time of play. Then you can pick up where you left later, as you unlock more maps the more you play. 7/10

Controls: No problems with the controls, as the only thing you choose is where the flights are going to go before they land. 9/10

Overall Score: This game was a fun little experience, even though it sounded a bit boring when I first heard about it. It’s fun to choose where flights are going to land and then to control their route to the landing pitch. An okay game that can be worth trying out. 6/10

Review: Worms Crazy Golf

2012-01-12T21:25:00.003+01:00

Not so Crazy Golf

The Latest installment for Worms is Warms Crazy Golf. It looked actually pretty fun on the videos and on the preview pictures, but the reality is a different one.

Do you have to stand there?: This happen's more than one time.

You learn the basics in this game pretty fast and you can easily become a top golfer, in worm a edition of course. The game’s career mode is pretty big actually and you’ll have 18 holes to play on, in four different worlds. You start with a basic golfer and play your way up the rank, so you can buy new balls, golf clubs and so on. In between holes, you something get the opportunity to take part in something that is called skill shot challenge. The point here is for example to kill as many sheep as possible (yes the weapons from original Worms walk around on the boards) It works well to get a break from the other maps, but it isn’t too much to brag about.

Ooops: If not timed correctly, this it what happens!

The game’s modes are many, but so boring if you play it more than fifteen minutes. It’s fun to have the animals from past Worms in the game, but they shouldn’t make as many frustrating situations as they make. If standing right by a sheep, you actually have to use three shots to kill the sheep, before you can proceed on through the map. Then you most likely would have used up your chances to make a par, so you will not go through to the next map. Par is needed to proceed further in the game. The graphics and sound is classic Worms and was good one time. It sometimes feel like time have stood still and i personally would have liked to see an upgrade here.

At least: If not interrupted by any crazy animals, a possible scenario is under par.

Gamescore

Worms Crazy Golf (2011)

Graphics: The typical Worms graphics in good old 2D style. It really isn’t that bad, but far from good. Looks older than it really is. 5/10

Audio: You can still hear a kamikaze here and there and that’s fun. Also good background music and clearly on the Britannia level, where you certainly are in England. 8/10

Gameplay: Starts good when you have a lot to stumble through. After a while you understand that the game only got one lane and that lane is basic golfing. Would have been a lot more fun if the maps was more unlike each other. More stuff could also been added, the things you get for victories and coins feels just like game adds. 3/10

Controls: It’s easy to golf in Worms Crazy Golf, that’s one thing for sure. Something’s are pretty difficult to manage though, for example spinning the ball with the mouse. In addition are the shots sometimes hard to place and you will end up shooting a total different place, when you tried to hit another spot. 6/10

Overall Score: Worms Crazy Golf is fun for a while and it’s good to see that the worms still got it. They only got it for sometime though. You will be ripping your hair out of your head when you hit a sheep the third time you try to shoot past it. This happened to me a lot! So it was pretty frustrating. It’s worth a try for the multiplayer fun maybe, but clearly not for the single player. It would be a short fun before you get bored. 5/10

Review: Wolfenstein

2012-01-12T17:34:00.001+01:00

A Sci-Fi FPS set in world war two

In 2009 Wolfenstein came out in a part of the new series. It had then been eight years since the last encounters with B. J. Blazkowicz. In this game reality switches places with fantasy, when entering world war two in the Wolfenstein world.

I'll do it: B. J. Blazkowicz is back doing what he likes best.

If I have understood the game correctly, events in this game take part before Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Agent B. J. Blazkowicz, your playable character in the game, as well as in every Wolfenstein game, gets sent out on a mission to take out Nazi-scalps and to find out what’s going on in the fictive German town of Isenstadt. Rumors have gone out that the Germans have gotten something in they're hands that can end the world forever. It’s time to make these pigs grill like they deserve and you’re first mission starts when entering from the train into town.

The more the merrier: It's funnier working with others.

The game is graphic/audio-wise very good, but the story can be complicated at times, so be sure to follow the game closely. The Germans have taken control of an amulet, that can make them travel through another dimension, who make them look like monster-like creatures when seen in this world. You self will be in control of this amulet, when found and you can use it to travel through hidden doors and such. You will also have the ability to move super quick or enter slow-motion mode. Slow-motion mode is pretty cool and you will need it when running over bridges who falls or when getting out of different traps that is made for you. It can also be used to dodging bullets. These things with the portals is a pretty unusual thing to see in a world war two game, but Wolfenstein really makes it work. When playing this game it feels like something really special.

Unstoppable: That's how you feel when seperating German body parts all day.

Wolfenstein is a pretty unusual game and if you played the series before, you know what you get. There is of course some negative things. The story is creative and very alive, but even so, sometimes it just doesn’t feel like you’re really in this world. Many of the voice acting performances is pretty boring and the best part is maybe where the Germans are screaming scheize!, when shot in the head. The game is also a very very bloody game and there is no problem in separating body parts when a soldier has been taken down. This isn’t a negative thing, but i now understand the high age limit on this game. This will feel like fun for a while, but don’t get your expectations up to high, because the game doesn’t have the flow all the way.

Bang-Boom: B. J. has a thing for explosions.

Gamescore

Wolfenstein (2009)

Graphics: The graphics has gotten a lift since the last game, but even thought the characters and the details are many, the game looks a little gray everywhere. I understand that the game was made that way and that there is a point when it’s dark in dark places. Great graphics when entering the other dimensions though. 8/10

Audio: Pretty poor acting job on most of the characters, except B. J. himself, he sounds the most real. Great sounds on guns and such though, a lot of explosion potential. 7/10

Gameplay: The game starts out with an interesting set up, but it feels like something more could have been baked in the story, as it gets boring when you play enough. The backround of story is great, but is really more interesting when you hear about it. It is not so extreme when played through. . 5/10

Controls: Can be difficult, as there is no special cover system in this game. If you manage to do it, there is no problem taking out enemies at close range, but you must expect to see the screen go a little red. Basic keyboard/mouse on the controls and it works okay. 8/10

Overall Score: Wolfenstein starts off with an interesting story to tell us. As the game progresses the story gets less and less important and soon you will find yourself flying around shooting at everything, without really remembering what you were supposed to do and why you should have done it. The game is worth trying out if you haven’t played it, but it’s no must. A game closer too good, than average, thanks to the start of the game. 7/10

History of Games: The story about soccer games

2012-01-11T23:06:00.001+01:00

FIFA is the king

The others are a hillside away…

It’s pretty much known to everyone now, that FIFA soccer once again is back on the top when It comes to soccer games. With that in mind, it wasn’t many years ago some other soccergame makers from Japan tried and made it really good. Pro Evolution Soccer was the game. Other games have also tried to bring FIFA down from the top list, but no one has made it. Which one were they again? It’s not going to be a look far back, as we stay as close to the years of the new millennium as possible.

Four great ones: Four of the greatest soccer games in modern times.

Pro Evolution Soccer series

Pro evolution Soccer (PES) is the first soccer game of these on today’s list. Konami was the head behind the game. When it came out in November 1994, it was named International Superstar Soccer. The game featured 26 national teams, all of which based on their real-life counterparts as of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The game went from being a pc game to become console only, before in 2003, when ISS 3 came out. Then it was back on computers. The game had now been known for it’s highly real football physics and was step ahead of FIFA at this time. It was something different about scoring in ISS.

The same year Pro Evolution Soccer 3 was released for PC. The series was also from the beginning a PS2 game. During the next years PES took over the throne from FIFA and during the PES5 and PES6 period, when the game was at its best. PES6 is still my favorite soccer games of all time. The downhill started when they changed game engine and suddenly nothing felt like the old ISS or PES.

The 2008 version of the game was a disaster. The managed to turn the tides the other way around again, but it took a couple of years. When PES 2012 was released last year, we could maybe feel a little of the old Pro Evo, but it’s still not the same. The games speciality has always been gameplay and users doesn’t seem to care that the license for real players didn't where in the game. Lately this has gotten much better, with booth UEFA Champions League and Europa League mode, but it’s never been a problem thanks to patchers and editors. The room between FIFA and PES have maybe not been bigger, so it will be interesting to see what Konami digs up in front of next years release.

Top 3 best PES Games:

1. Pro Evolution Soccer 6

2. Pro Evolution Soccer 5

3. International Superstar Soccer 3

Actua Soccer Series

Actua Soccer came out in 1995 and was made by the British studios Gremlin Interactive. This was their first game to be made in complete 3D and it got som fans from all around the world. It released from 95’ to 99’ and in the meantime they also made the official Euro 96’ soccer game.

The game was loved by many and mostly because of the big number of teams in the game (Actua Soccer 3), aswell as the possibility to edit a lot yourself. Gameplay wise the game wasn’t so bad either and at the time present it was one of the best soccer games out there. Sadly we saw no more to it after Actua Soccer 3, when Gremlin Interactive went defunct and bought up by Infogrames, who also developed UEFA Striker.

Top 3 best Actua Soccer Games:

1. Actua Soccer 3

2. Actua Soccer

3. Actua Soccer 2

FIFA Series

It was the year 1993 when Electronic Arts finally made their decision to make a soccer game. FIFA International Soccer, or FIFA 94’, if you prefer. The game was praised for its gameplay at the time being. So EA didn’t stop there.

The years went on and EA produced there games, but I think they must have noticed that the competitors, that came one their back, was on to them. So in FIFA 1998: The road to World cup, everything changed. This was the best football game the world had seen, with great graphics, great gameplay and pretty much everything else. Even the music in this game was fantastic. FIFA did also get their licenses about this time and it looked like it would take knockout on the other soccer games.

The years went on and FIFA did still manage to serve games over the expectations of people around the wide world. Around 2002-2003, something that wasn’t in their plan, happened. Pro Evolution Soccer came over and was no side by side with the big soccer giant. A couple of years later, they lost the race to PES 5 and 6’s fantastic gameplay and ball physics.

When Konami then decided to change style completely it was easy for FIFA to take over the throne as the world’s best football game once again. Since FIFA 10, no one has been even close to the series and i think no one ever will be. FIFA is the world’s best football game and this year they really made the topping for the cake, with FIFA 12. They have the licenses, the graphics, the best commentary and no also the gameplay. No one can really take the match against FIFA, except Pro Evo Soccer, since the other games that is being mentioned here is gone. Looking forward to the future games from the EA developers.

Top 3 best FIFA games:

1. FIFA 12

2. FIFA 11

3. FIFA : Road To World Cup 98’

World League Soccer Series (UEFA Champions League 98-02)

WLS was made possible by another British studio, Silicon Dreams. It wasn’t before Silicon Dreams was under Eidos possession that they started to make football games.

The games served some good moments when it got out in 1998 and finished in the years of 2000, but never become nothing much more than extra games in the stores. It was their other series, the official game for the UEFA Champions League, that got most of the eyes.

The game was very good graphic wise and with the licenses of all the UCL teams, it got pretty big. They continued to produce until the 2002 season, after teaming up with Take Two Interactive instead of Eidos. The license then went over in the hands of EA sports, who saw that they might could have a competitor. No one ever heard anything about soccer games from Silicon Dreams again after this.

Top 3 best WLS(UCL) games

1. UEFA Champions League 99-00

2. World League Soccer 98’

3. UEFA Champions League 98-99

Review: Dead Block

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000+01:00

A rocking zombie apocalypse

What do you get when you combine a construction worker, a boy scout and a police woman, rock’n’roll and meat eating zombies? A mediocre game, which could have been much more.

Jack Foster: Construction worker who is good with the hammer. Also good to get blood on himself.

We notice already in the intro that this game is trying to be a black comedy. It works well in the introduction to the levels, but aside from that, this game is not funny, but instead frustrating at times. The problem in this game is that it’s either too easy or too hard.

You play as three different characters throughout the game and every one of them has their own special skills. You start off slow as we find our first hero, Jack Foster, trapped in a building and with zombies all over. The basic tactic of this game when entering a new room is: trap all doors and windows and start smashing up everything you see, to find useful things to use against the living dead. You can give them meat or turn on the jukebox to take them out easier. If you get in a fight with a zombie, the health bar soon starts to go down, so avoid this. If you get in a fight with twenty zombies, run!

Guitar Hero: This concert was sold out...

The Kid: Mike Bacon is one of the other playable characters. He shouldn't have been.

What you need to find in most levels is an amplifier and a guitar so you can play rock’n’roll for the zombies in the end. The zombies are allergic to rock music and will die if they hear it. This ending scene features a cool little guitar hero mini game, where you actually play the guitar. That was maybe the most interesting thing in the whole game. It gets repetitive and boring when you will do the same things again and again. You can also set up traps for the zombies, but this is just fun until you have done all the things. Someone will maybe find some fun in this game, but the most will have problems with the repetation of things to do.

What now, Mikey?: That's a part of being in a zombie game.

Gamescore

Dead Block (2011)

Graphics: Good graphics and details on the main characters, but on the rest of the crew(zombies), it’s pretty straight forward. The details could also have been much better on objects. 6/10

Audio: You know what you go in to when entering the main menus. Good old rock’n’roll music starts to play and keeps on going till the end of the game. The main voice during the intro videos does his job in the start, but gets repetitive also. 6/10

Gameplay: Starts great with puzzles where you have to block windows, doors and set up traps to live on. This gets boring after a couple of levels. When not doing this it’s not much you can do, except for playing the guitar at the end of levels. Could have been much better with more opportunities to choose from. 3/10

Controls: Works great from what i have experienced. Move the character with your keyboard and point, right or left click to smash things up. The guitar mini-games are played with the keyboard and is pretty simple compared to guitar hero. 8/10

Overall Score: Dead Block is a funny game at times and that’s when it is at its best. Setting traps, blocking doors and playing the guitar is fun for a while, but something more should have been added here. It’s far away from the worst I’ve played of zombie games and my advice is to try it out. Too much of the same when getting far in the game, destroys the gaming experience.6/10

Review: Handball Simulator 2010

2012-01-10T18:34:00.002+01:00

A Sad handball "simulator"

I’ve always wondered why there hasn’t been many handball games out there. Always thought: Why doesn’t anyone make one? A Couple of years ago, someone did that, but it didn’t go well.

That's better: Occasionally it is possible to controll the players.

When Starting Handball Simulator up, you soon understand that it didn’t take many months to make this game. This is a game that was made for the European tournament and therefore only 16 national teams in the game, and no licenses so all player names are made up. Starting up a match and before i know it, the players on my team starts shooting from the midfield. Didn’t press any buttons so I guessed he wanted to shoot himself. Okay, guessed that was a glitch. My keeper saves the next shot and he finds out that he can shoot also, from his own goal area! This happened again and again, so it was pretty frustrating to play the match through. Against all odds, i won that game.

So Hard: This is a penalty. You play by watching. Eveything goes by itself.

When the players let you in control and don’t try to do things by themself, the game is even worse. It’s doesn’t look like the makers of the game know handball rules either. It’s no problem to stand in the penalty area to block shots. You can even put your whole team in there and the game goes on. Let’s face it, this game is a joke. The graphics is poor, no commentary, bad music, a control system that lives it own life and bad animations. It’s going to be pretty difficult to mention some good things about this game, so if you manage that you are good! But good luck…

Handball action: At least the 5 meters line is at the right place.

Gamescore

Handball Simulator 2010 (2010)

Graphics: Well, it looks like FIFA 97. FIFA is good now, so if we wait 15 years this will maybe be to? 2/10

Audio: No commentary during matches and generally poor sounds under the matches. Heard one good song during the pause menu though. 1/10

Gameplay: Doesn’t feel like handball, doesn’t look like handball. Credits to those who can start this up a second time. 1/10

Controls: You don’t have to press anything for the game pretty much lives it own life. When you try to interact it pretty much looks bad and ruins everything anyway. 1/10

Overall Score: Oh, yes my first handball game, i thought. Knew it was to good to be true. This game is not to good to be true, because it’s to bad to be true. What also is true is that this is my first 1 pointer. Go and play real handball instead of playing this, it will look better no matter how bad you think you are. 1/10

Review: Deluxe Ski Jump 3

2012-01-10T13:18:00.003+01:00

Fly away in DSJ3

From Finnish developer Mediamond and Jussi Koskela comes the Deluxe Ski Jump series. While the fourth game in the series is released, we take a look back in time, in Deluxe Ski Jump 3.

Perfect upwind: Lucky with the wind conditions, doesn't happen everytime!

Someone up there?: It's actually some meters up there...

The game is very small at 3 megabytes and doesn’t take long time to download from the games homesite of Mediamond. Then soon you’re ready to start jumping. The games physics is pretty amazing for such a small game and it will keep you occupied a long time. When jumping you can really feel like you’re in the game and it shows that games like RTL Skijumping (reviewed earlier on this site) who is bigger and has more marketing potential, really isn’t that good.

The best gets points: When competing against good jumpers, it can be really tricky to finish in a high position.

You will have a lot more fun in this game i think. You have the opportunity to jump long world cups in a lot of hills and you can choose to jump as a lot of jumpers, as many as you wish actually. You can also add real jumpers in the game, as the game has no limit for how many jumpers you can make. The graphics and sounds isn’t really something to comment on, as it is pretty bad, but in this game it doesn’t matter as much when the gameplay is so good.

Perfect Telemark!: Yeaah, i'm guessing a 20x3.

Gamescore

Deluxe Ski Jump 3 (2004) (Version 1.7.0 released in 2008)

Graphics: Not the game’s strongest card, as it’s pretty boring. The first game in 3D in the Deluxe Ski Jump series is anyways a lot better than the graphics from DSJ2. 2/10

Audio: The game’s audio is almost no existing so it’s better to just turn it off. What’s there is pretty poor. 1/10

Gameplay: Very fun indeed. You can sit a long time playing this game, because it gets you addicted. When entering real jumper names and playing world cups, this game is the ace of skijumping games. 8/10

Controls: Difficult for beginners, but as you get the drive of it, you will get better. Soon you will be setting a Telemark landing after 300 meters. The mouse is what you use in this game and I couldn’t have been done much better. Almost perfect. . 9/10

Overall Score: Difficult to set this game up against others in the graphics and audio department, but if we do it will get a pretty bad rating. If you look at the gameplay and controls, it’s great. You shouldn’t play this game if graphics is so important for you and if you must have great sounds to set the mood. If you are a skijumping fan and don’t mind taking your time to add real skijumpers in the game, this is the game for you. I promise, you will get addicted! 7/10

Review: Beijing 2008

2012-01-09T13:48:00.002+01:00

No control in the Olympics

Beijing 2008 is an surprisingly good game graphic-wise, but otherwise it fails big, at least on PC. If you can play this game with a controller: DO IT! The keyboard doesn’t do it for this game.

Against all odds: You will have the bookmakers against you in this game.

Gold: Deutchland, Deutchland, über alles....

Let’s take the positive things first. You will have several of the Olympic events to play with and this is very fun if you play with friends. You could always play alone, but the career mod is too difficult and also gets boring after one season or less. The graphics is also pretty amazing for an 2008 game, when we are in the year of 2012. The sound: Not so much! This is SEGA again, on it’s worst. Japanese arcade gaming sounds again. Takes away the whole spirit of the Olympics, so for god’s sake turn the volume down and put on some music instead.

Now we're talkin': 25 meters Rapid pistol. Maybe the game's best event, it's actually a lot of fun.

British bulldog: Didn't help you this time mate?

If you manage to play this game with a keyboard, and i bet you won’t, there is quite some fun to be part of. Some of the events work great. 25 meters rapid shooting, 1500 meters marathon and some of the gymnastic events. If you take the 100 to 400 meters running, hurdles, discuss throwing, swimming, judo, weightlifting and pretty much the rest of the events, then this game is made for the analog stick. There is no such way to press a keyboard so quick as they think you will and you will end up making a fool out of yourself when finishing 30 seconds behind the winner in 100 meters etc. The game can be fun as a party game, if everybody is drunk and don’t understand what’s happening anyways.

Tricky: Javeling throw. Tricky with crazy keyboard setup.

Gymnastics: One of the events that i actually do better in the game than in real life.

Gamescore

Beijing 2008 (2008)

Graphics: Good good. The graphics in this game is really stunning, four years after. SEGA knows their ways around good looks. 8/10

Audio: Oh,no. Here we go again. One thing they don’t know how to do properly, is the sound. There is even a commentary that has two lines during the whole event you’re playing. If he didn’t say anything before the finish line, i wouldn’t know that he was there. And then there’s the music. It really takes away the Olympics feeling. Turn it off! 2/10

Gameplay: It’s a shame that some of the events works so perfect and others are a complete disaster. The positive is that they who work, can be quite fun for some time. 4/10

Controls: Complete chaos to play this on a keyboard. Have tried it on Xbox and it’s much better there. But as this is a PC review it will score low. Every button you have to press is shown in xbox mode, so it makes things even more difficult as if it wasn’t that from the start. 2/10

Overall Score: It starts as a great game when you see the opening of the events. Everything looks stunning andsometimes you get the good feelings. Soon there is the poor audio and when you try to press the buttons at the right time, it just won’t work. I really want to like this game, but there are just too many problems. Stay clear of it, that’s my advice. 3/10

Review: Jurassic Park – The Game

2012-01-09T03:37:00.001+01:00

A Cinematic cat & mouse story

Telltale games is back with their latest invention: A game that follows up on the Jurassic Park story known from the theaters. This game is almost in the same class as Heavy Rain and the game is trying to sell a story where you choose the difference between life and death. It almost get’s up to the top.

Mr. T: Don't worry, you will see at least one dinosaur througout the game.

As i said, this is a so called cinematic game, where the whole game plays out as a movie. YOU get to choose which way to run, crawl, jump or whatever it is with just a simple click or pressing the keyboard. It works pretty well, but the game is maybe a little bit too easy when you progress through the story. You will find yourself bored at times, because there is nothing you can do except watch the game and wait for the next moment to interact.

Who's there?: What could possible be in the bushes? Got no idea...

My Park: Dr. Gerry Harding, one of the main characters. It's your job to keep him alive, remember that.

The story is “a whole other story”. This can very well be one of the greatest action stories of last year, with interesting characters, great setting and overwhelming situations. You play various characters throughout the game and get to play on the good side and the bad side. The game can really set off an adrenaline rush at times and if you want to, you can get some pretty bad “death scenes” as it is many ways to get killed by some dinos. Without saying to much about the story in case of spoilers, it starts of as a regular day in the park at Isla nebular, where one of your characters, Gerry Harding, have his daughter on “be with your father at work” day. As you might have guessed by now, things start to go wrong, and soon you must be careful where you step. It doesn’t help that a Spanish thief is in on the island as well and is trying to get things done in her way. The game adds more characters to play with as the story progresses and this is maybe the game’s strongest card. Some of the characters will be remembered a long time.

Gamescore

Jurassic Park – The Game (2011)

Graphics: Some people have made complaints about the graphic, but it’s been Telltale Games style to drive in the cartoon graphic lane. The characters look real without being too much of a beauty model, but they could have gotten more details in the environment . 7/10

Audio: Various performances from the actors, from the top notch to the lamest acting I’ve ever heard. When it’s working it’s working pretty good and ditto otherwise. 7/10

Gameplay: Where Jurassic Park is on it’s best. The story is fun and entertaining and you will always want to know more about what’s going to happen. At the end you will be bored, but this can be fixed if you take a number of breaks during play. A lot of interesting characters in this game, where you’re running from dinosaurs every ten minutes. 8/10

Controls: Here we get to see something new. When playing the game, you will choose different locations and characters just like a DVD movie. Looks great and works great, but it really doesn’t add anything special. Can be a lot of constantly pressing the same buttons over and over again, this pushes the score down. Otherwise the controls work great, i drove through it with mouse and keyboard. 8/10

Overall Score: It’s dangerous ground when trying to make a game out of a movie and very dangerous when it’s done so many years after Jurassic Park was on the big screen. Thankfully the story has been properly done and you don’t feel like this is something they made just so we can play with dinosaurs. The biggest problem is the variation in gameplay and you will soon understand that every situation is played the same way, with crazy button clicking so that no one could eat you. Anyways, the total gaming experience is that this should be tried and if possible for you, played through the ending. 7/10

Preview: Mass Effect 3

2012-01-08T03:53:00.000+01:00

The galactic war’s last chapter

About two months to the release of the last game in the trilogy of Mass Effect. A game that has been fantastic from the start and also looks amazing in the ending part. This time the story takes place in a familiar place: the earth!

You’re mission in the last Mass Effect will be to defend the earth, as the reapers comes to take over. You’re still in command of commander Shepard and you can still import you’re character from the first two games. You will encounter you’re last chief Cerberus, that invested in you in the last game and this time he is willing to kill you.

The first pictures from ME3.

Reports has it that the cover system has been re-designed in front of this game, to get more action from the fights and shootouts. We also is promised a new weapon named omniblade and it will be fun to see what kind of kills you can get with this one. I suspect bloody ones!

Clearly we got visit from someone who likes to destroy things!

The game will, if you choose to import your own story from earlier games, be different for everyone. Characters you killed or lost during Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2, will or will not play a big role in Mass Effect 3, depending on your earlier choices. But that’s what so awesome about this game, the ability to play god and take control over the whole story.

One big thing is angry.

The first videos of Mass Effect 3 took me back a couple of years to a movie that was pretty big in the cinemas: War of the Worlds (2005). The Steven Spielberg directed movie where martitians enter the earth in big tripods buried in the earth. It looks like these tripods are on the way to the earth as we speak, as you can see in the trailer, and I bet that the reapers are driving them! Looking forward for this epic trilogy’s ending in march. The date is the 6.

Review: Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault

2012-01-06T23:09:00.000+01:00

Still a world war two classic

Almost ten years have passed since Medal of Honor: AA saw the light for the first time and it’s amazing how good this game are so long time after the first release. The graphics and sound are maybe a little outdated but the gameplay and story makes up for it, that’s something that never grows old.

Long range: Oh yes, people used snipers back then also.

This game was a blockbuster when it came out in 2002 and it still is. Some out the audio work are still good and the dialogue stands pretty high up to today’s standards. Medal of Honor: AA is of course a FPS game. The story starts in Algerie, where you try to get in behind enemy lines. Something goes wrong in the process and you have to shoot your way through. More visits include Trondheim of Norway (Stealth mission), Normandy of France (Landing at Omaha Beach), the German forrest and a big German Castle.

Back at Omaha: Ten years have passed since the last time i think. Looks the same.

The best fifteen minutes in this game is still the landing at Omaha Beach, as seen in the movie Saving Private Ryan. This level was so extreme ten years ago and it still is. The scene at the beach will go down in games history as one of the greatest moments. It happens now and then that i stop for a moment and thinks: Wow, i now feel that this game isn’t new. It doesn’t happen often enough to quit though. Basically it isn’t so weird, because if the gaming industry would have stood still in ten years, we would have missed out on a lot of other great games.

Hey you: Sorry, but based on that uniform you're wearing, you have to die.

You got mail!: I'm glad no one mailed me a letter like this.

I think Allied Assault really made FPS shooters what they are today. Often in newer and modern games like Call of Duty, we see scenes like the one at the Beach. Scenes that basically could have been taken out of a very good war movie. When Medal of Honor brings back the good feeling from the past, it doesn’t matter that it sometimes look like a cartoon movie. Great to see you again!

The first part of the Allied invasion.

Gamescore

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002)

Graphics: Was beautiful ten years ago I guess. Not so beautiful now, but seen much worse. To the final judgment, i don’t think it holds up today. 4/10

Audio: Some good dialogue, especially in briefings and at the start of missions. Otherwise pretty standard back then and pretty poor today. 4/10

Gameplay: This is where MOHAA never gets old. The gameplay is still as good as before and you don’t think over that you actually are playing a washed out game. 9/10

Controls: Set up as a basically FPS game when you’re starting up a new game. Worked well then, works well now. 9/10

Overall Score: Everyone has once played Medal of Honor and it’s a big event to witness. The story is well written and the missions feels natural at the same time. The graphic/details may have seen better days, because this doesn’t do it in 2012. The sound is also pretty boring if you compare to nowadays titles. Still, this is one of the best wargames ever made. 7/10

Review: DiRT3

2012-01-06T03:35:00.002+01:00

A smooth rally experience

DiRT has become a name that we all know means quality. Without really playing much of the latest games from Codemasters, i know that they have been in a pretty high class. Starting this up the first time, it’s not hard to look that the game is trying to sell itself in a young and modern setting. High-Tech menus and so on, maybe a little bit too much? Anyways it’s not the menus this game is about, it’s the driving.

So Cold: The winter in Norway is no problem in DiRT3.

I got money: Drifting at det docks in Monaco. Life couldn't be better.

After a couple of races there is no doubt. DiRT3 is a fantastic game on the tracks. You notice what surface you’re driving on and it’s sometimes a little bit too real. The graphics is also top notch here, as expected from a title like this. They also managed to get a lot of licensed drivers in the game, or at least a couple of the real rally drivers.

Hmm...Block?: Something tells me i've heard that name before...

Favorite cam: The in-car cam sure gets the job done!

DiRT does now also let the player compete in different modes. There is drifting, a new gymkhana mode and capture the flag. Flashbacks are also back in DiRT 3( A mode that make you travel back in time if you crash your car or drive out, but it can only be used five times and it costs you reputation points) This is mostly used in the story mode. The main thing here is drive like hell and you get money, experience, new cars and other bonuses.

The Kenya countryside: There's not much to see but sand.

Gamescore

DiRT3 (2011)

Graphics: DiRT doesn’t disappoint. Great quality on the vehicles is a must, and the most cars look amazing. Credits also for not making the backdrops ugly and it’s awesome to drive when it rains and snow, when it’s as beautiful as this. 9/10

Audio: Did their job! Motors sounds real and when driving in a hole with water, you’ll hear it . 9/10

Gameplay: The ultimate driving experience when it comes to rally. If this game had more modes, it could take over for a lot of other driving games. But it’s a rally game and it’s best if it stays that way. This part of the game is also very good done, but I can get a little tiring in the end. 8/10

Controls: Works good to play this with a keyboard. You should change a couple of buttons though, didn’t find the brake before it was too late. Alternatively you can turn on auto braking, so the cars brake their self when you’re going to fast in a turn. 8/10

Overall Score: Well, no surprise that this is a good game. If you played DiRT before you know what you get and it’s a must to have it for you. If you didn’t play DiRT before? Its about time! Can well be the best racing (rally) game out there. 9/10

Review: Virtua Tennis 4

2012-01-05T20:08:00.000+01:00

Back in business

It took a good four years before the Virtua Tennis series continued, if we look away from the Virtua Tennis 2009 game. The game is still the ace of Tennis games and it doesn’t take long time before we start to recognize the same old. Not much new has been added, but there is something to take a look at.

You know who this is: Close up views of the players are amazing. Roger Federer it is.

When starting a career mode with your tennis player, you start from scratch with an inexperienced player. The map is no longer more and has been replaced with something that looks like a game board. In good old Virtua tennis style you build your players skills and experience in mini games such as taking penalty shots with a football, breaking plates, running around and catching eggs and shooting balloons. After a year or two in the game (About couple of hours) this gets a little boring and then theres nothing much to do except playing exhibition matches or matches online.

Penalty shootout: One of the mini games that are new in Virtua Tennis 4. Play tennis with footballs.

Game: The player models keeps coming to you in a fantastic way.

If you take a look at the tennis matches, it is clearly the best tennis game out there (Not many competitors though) The matches runs well and the game progresses naturally. It also has a lot of stars and the graphics look amazing at close range, Roger Federer actually looks a lot more like him in this game than in real life. The sound is horrible as usual and I feels like were back to the 90’s with the typical Japanese arcade game sounds and music, but at the end, it’s absolutely worth a couple of hours of gaming.

Double it up: If you find it hard by yourself, let the CPU assist you.

Gamescore

Virtua Tennis 4 (2011)

Graphics: One of the greatest graphical sport games I guess. Close up of the players makes you think you’re actually at a tennis game. 9/10

Audio: The good things first. The game sounds like a tennis game when you play matches. The music in this game: Awful! Turn off the music, the game is actually a lot better then!. 3/10

Gameplay: Tennis is tennis, one match is never like the other, but very similar. Fun for a while of course. Gets boring after one or two seasons in career mode. 7/10

Controls: Just like last year’s tennis game, pretty good. One problem can be that players don’t always react the way you want them to, but this does not happen often. 8/10

Overall Score: Virtua Tennis doesn’t disappoint me, it was what I expected. It would have been fun to see the game grow a little until the next one, as it feels pretty much as the same game as the last years. Several problems with the games save game function have been reported and SEGA newly dropped a patch for the game. The graphics is the most positive thing in the game and the gameplay is also fun for a while. It’s worth a try. 6/10

Review: Angry Birds RIO

2012-01-05T03:52:00.001+01:00

Welcome to Rio

What do you do when everybody’s favorite birds gets kidnapped and sent to Rio? You go after them of course! Angry Birds Rio keeps on from the big success of Angry Birds. The game has gotten a bit easier, but the level design has got a bit better. The latest version are out on the market, but the latest 15 levels have still not been added for download, so we have to wait to see if the Angry birds get free. Hard to compare this to other games, but it’s clearly the most fun one!

More levels: Angry Birds RIO featuring different levels in comparison to the first one.

Help is on the way: Other animals also try to help to catch those damn monkeys.

Birds on a plane: The last level in RIO. The kidnappers are close to getting away.

Gamescore

Angry Birds RIO (2011-2012)

Graphics: Straight forward 2D graphics, but better details on the levels this time. Good details also on the angriest birds on this planet. 7/10

Audio: Great birds sounds no and then, but turn your sound off and put on some music instead. 5/10

Gameplay: Weird how fun it is to sit an shoot some birds at some monkeys for some time, then take a break for 5 minutes and realize it was to fun to leave out on. 8/10

Controls: You don’t need a keyboard for this game and the mouse controls on the PC works excellent. 10/10

Overall Score: Angry Birds was a fun game and I have to say that I never really got tired of it. RIO gives the Angry Birds game a new soul and hours awaits this fun and simple point and click game. Looking forward for more Bird fun in the future. 7/10