The10k.com Game/Product Reviews

Game Review: UFC 2009 Undisputed (Xbox 360)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:13:27 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Fighting
ESRB Rating: Teen

UFC is brutal. Fights routinely have men beating on each other so hard that in many situations I’m surprised they can stand after a fight. The amount of punishment that these guys take is just astronomical, and crowds seem to love it. If you’ve seen a UFC match you’d know that not only does the crowd love the brutality but the fights themselves fuel the bloodlust. UFC fights are quick and brutal brawls unlike any other sport. For a long time though game developers have had a hard time bringing the UFC to consoles. However with the same team behind Smackdown vs Raw making UFC 2009 Undisputed the future looked bright for this frequently under developed franchise. Even though the franchise has taken a big leap forward in presentation and control the game still fails to capture the electricity surrounding UFC fights and makes it seem more mechanical than it should be.

Let me first say that I’m sort of a UFC newbie. For this review I did lots of research and watched a few fights to understand what I was getting into. For me UFC 2009 Undisputed’s training mode was my trial by fire to learn some of the intricacies of the sport. For many other people I’m sure this will be the case too. What’s nice about Undisputed’s training mode is it does teach you how to play the game but it doesn’t teach you what various things mean. The game throws out terms like Clinch and Takedown without a word edgewise about what these terms mean. For someone who doesn’t know much about UFC this mode will be useful to learn the game’s control scheme but not what everything means.

Undisputed’s control scheme is deep, I mean really deep. The reversals, clinchs, takedowns, controls on and off the ground all come together to make a system that will take the average person more than a few fights to really understand. However this isn’t a minus against Undisputed, rather it’s a good thing that the game is so rewarding for those who go about learning how it works. I can see some getting frustrated though due to Undisputed’s high learning curve and that you have to have knowledge of the sport to really know what you’re doing.

The main meat of Undisputed though are its fights. One of the main things developers failed at with the UFC was making fights seem fluid, quick, and exciting. Unfortunately for Undisputed these errors are still present. While Undisputed has an incredibly deep combat system it doesn’t play out very fluidly. Rather than quick movements in the ring most will feel that the fighters move like robots. The game is very mechanical looking and can’t get past the nature of its complex fighting system. This mechanical nature of Undisputed also hurts the excitement during fights. While UFC fights have many moments where fighters will escape or initiate grapples UFC manages to make these things seem dull. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the announcers or the crowd but something made the fight seems like a tame affair. The final thing that hurts Undisputed are the quiet load screens before and after fights. Where as Smackdown vs Raw has entrances for their fighters that will get you pumped Undisputed is quiet on startup and fighters simply appear in the octagon. Something needs to be done about this because it saps the excitement right out of a fight.

UFC 2009 Undisputed does do a good job of including some fun modes for the player. Most people will spend time playing in the Career mode where you create your own fighter and take him through the UFC. In this mode not only will you fight other players but you train your player through a Calendar, set up events with emails, earn endorsements with Cred, and even spar for upcoming matches. All these things are well done and expedite things rather than make it seem like your micromanaging your fighter. Unlike in other games where the sim aspect drag down the career Undisputed’s career mode is just the right balance of sim and fighting. The other mode that will take up the most of a player’s time is the classic fights mode. Here you can relive classic UFC bouts. If you meet certain win conditions you even get a reel showing you highlights from the famous bout. This classic fights mode is great because it helps fill in the star studded history of the UFC.

While Undisputed has some problems with it’s bouts it’s a respectable game that does a pretty good job of bringing the UFC to home consoles. For those who want to spend the time the fighting system is highly rewarding and the online play means you’ll never run out of people to fight against. However for those just looking to have some exciting UFC fun you may want to wait till next year. Maybe the developers will figure out a way to iron out the lack of excitement permeating fights.

Overall: 7.3/10

Game Review: Boom Blox (Nintendo Wii)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:16:38 +0000

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: EA
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Steven Spielburg is someone who has been traditionally associated with movies but he’s partnered up with EA to bring three games to the Wii. The first game to come from this relationship is Boom Blox. Boom Blox is a simple concept game that is all about knocking things down and making a mess. You use the Wii remote in place of an actual ball and ‘throw’ it at various blocks and towers in Boom Blox. The basic concept is sound and fun and due to the robust multiplayer, level creation, and interesting single player Boom Blox represents a triple threat for the Wii that no gamer should be without.

One of the best things about Boom Blox is that the controls are simple and intuitive. On the Wii remote you only use two buttons in total! You use the Trigger button to move the camera and the A button to throw a ball at your selected tower. These controls work great and come close to matching Wii Sports in ease of use for anyone. No matter what age it will only take moments for anyone to understand how Boom Blox works. To compliment these great controls there is a respectable physics engine built in Boom Blox. The physics of a falling tower or exploding blocks work just the way you’d expect and this coupled with tight controls makes Boom Blox feel close to one to one control in a Wii game. There’s also a large amount of finesse involved with throwing the ball. Whether you hurl the remote with all your might or simply toss underhanded the game always makes the ball move at a comparable speed in game.

The first mode I spent time with was the single player. In the Single Player there are three things that will take up the majority of your time. The first one is an Adventure mode where you follow thinly veiled stories about Blox who are on quest throughout the kingdom. There are four situations that you can play through and they all represent different and interesting challenges but the main meat of single player lays in the puzzle style mode. Here you can play puzzles created by the developers to test your skill. You can earn various medals depending on how many balls you use and as you play you gradually unlock pieces for the creation mode. The creation mode is the final piece of single player and is integral to the longevity of Boom Blox. There is a burgeoning community surrounding Boom Blox and some of the content being made is fantastic. With the creation mode you can sink as little or much time as you want and still extend Boom Blox for hours.

The multiplayer though is where Boom Blox really shines. EA and Spielburg knew that eventually single player would end so they included a bevy of minigames and cooperative play for two to four players. Here you’ll find levels that mirror some concepts of the single player but operate with more people and this makes the game exponentially more fun. I can’t say how easy and fun it is to simply bring together a group of people and play Boom Blox. The controls are simple and the games are simple to play yet even with this simplicity the games maintain a maniac pace that anyone can get behind and easily become addicted to.

Boom Blox is a perfect concept game for the Wii, it’s deceptively simple, plays well, and is just fun. Unless for some reason you don’t like knocking down gigantic block towers I can’t recommend Boom Blox enough. Not only will you enjoy the game but even your non gamer friends can play the game and enjoy it. With a sequel to this game just around the corner you can probably even find this game for dirt cheap. Now’s the time, go Boom some Blox!

Overall: 8.8/10

Game Review: Marble Blast Mobile (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:10:40 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: Garagegames
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: 4+

My first experience with Marble Blast was on XBLA. When I first got my Xbox 360 I was obsessed with marble maze games and Marble Blast Ultra on the Xbox 360 perfectly fit the bill. Looking back I can say the game didn’t do anything particularly special or different but it did control well and had interesting levels. Marble Blast Mobile follows Marble Blast Ultra as a game that has expansive levels and power ups that make collecting the various gems in each level fun. However in this mobile rendition of Marble Blast an inconsistent frame rate and controls that are not as responsive as they should be mar an experience that I was genuinely excited about.

Marble Blast Mobile includes 20 levels with 10 multiplayer levels. As you play the single player levels you can unlock later levels but the levels are available from the beginning for you to look at in the main menu. As well there are 16 Marbles available for you to play as when you start the game but they all control exactly the same. While I like that the game forces you to unlock more levels I would have enjoyed unlocking new marbles as well. Because the levels are fairly varied I think it would have been interesting if you unlocked marbles modeled after each world or if you could ‘race’ against a competing marble to unlock it.

Aside from simply completing worlds and moving on to the next one you can also participate in time trials to earn medals or compete against other players in head to head matches. The time trials were frustrating, I was never able to earn even a bronze medal on any of the stages. This was as a result of the controls that Marble Blast Mobile employs. To control your marble you tilt the iPhone to move and by using two onscreen arrows situated on the left and right sides of the screen you rotate the camera to turn quickly. These controls work well but it seemed to me that it took way too much tilting to get the marble moving and to continue to move. Also when you began moving quickly the game’s frame rate would drop making quick movements next to impossible. In Marble Blast Mobile you have two mutually exclusive options: move quickly or move accurately.

To compound this issue in Marble Blast Mobile the worlds that you explore are multitiered and complicated. This makes collected the gems in each level increasingly frustrating because of the controls. There are on screen arrows that try and direct you in the appropriate direction but because the levels are so tiered you will mostly wander around levels trying to find gems by pure luck. It doesn’t help that the camera is set squarely behind the ball as well so seeing things directly in front of you can be next to impossible.

Marble Blast Mobile was a large disappointment for me. The original game I played, Marble Blast Ultra, for the Xbox 360 was a game that contained interesting level design, a good control system, and multiple items to allow you to creatively traverse levels. In Marble Blast Mobile the interesting levels, sounds, and power ups are included but the controls, camera, and frame rate drop sap the fun right out of this game. Maybe in the future a patch could be included to make the game have a steadier frame rate, like in Katamari Damacy, but as it stands Marble Blast Mobile isn’t worth the introductory price of $5. If the developers can fix the problems present in Marble Blast Mobile I would happily pay a few extra dollars for a more finished product.

Overall: 4/10

Game Review: Anytime Pool (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:04:35 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA
Genre: Sports
ESRB Rating: 4+

Anytime Pool is a new pool simulator from EA games. The game is a simple Pool game with very little frills or style of it’s own. The game stays true to it’s source material and doesn’t strive to be anything more than a game about playing pool. As a result Anytime Pool comes off as a lifeless game with little new to offer to the genre and with controls that don’t perform well. Anytime Pool should drop off your radar in hopes that another better pool game will jump up and take its place.

Anytime Pool is a game that has very little outside of its source material. You won’t find any character creation, deep storyline, or engrossing play system. You’re simply dropped into a menu system that offers you various styles of playing pool. These styles include Single Player, Two Player, Quick Game, and Social Game. Two Player is a single iPhone affair and allows two people to play a game of pool anytime without the need for a second system. Social Game is the only one of these options that intrigued me and made me excited for it’s uses outside of Anytime Pool. Social Game allows you to play on the internet, through Facebook, against other players. This aspect of the game worked well and I’d like to think that other games in the future will incorporate this neat mode.

Finally we come to the Single Player portion of Anytime Pool. In this mode you can choose from a few different game types. These include Practice, World Tour, and Challenge. Challenge is a mode where you are given various situations that you must conquer under certain restraints. As the game goes on these challenges get pretty hard. In the World Tour mode you participate in ladder play slowly working your way from a local pool hall all the way up to the world championships. This World Tour mode is where the meat of the single player experience lays and it does last for a decent amount of time. However after extended play multiple issues with the control scheme in Anytime Pool limit the enjoyment of the game.

For one thing the controls in Anytime Pool simply make use of the screen as an on screen controller. This results in the display in Anytime Pool becoming cluttered and it makes it difficult sometimes to line up shots. In addition to this the controls for moving around the ball are horrendous, It feels like the rotation is set on a grid and unless you baby the on screen slider bar you can never get exactly the shot you want. If the developers could have at least included some sort of tilt to rotate I think they could have all together dropped this awful rotation tool. In addition Anytime Pool does not allow you to have a birds eye view of the table. Your perspective on the cue ball never changes and because of this view from behind the ball it’s next to impossible to perform bank shots. This severely limits the amount of ways you can go about taking a shot.

Anytime Pool does have multiple options for ways to play. It includes three difficulty settings and three types of pool from the UK and US, but even with these things to do Anytime Pool can’t rise above its poor control execution. If you’re a fan of pool for $5 I think you can do a lot worse in the app store but with EA putting out so many iPhone hits such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Trivial Pursuit I can’t help but feel this game got brushed aside due to it being a no name franchise. In the future EA may be able to fix the game via updates but until then I’d recommend saving your money for a more interesting and better controlling Pool game on the iPhone.

Overall: 5/10

Game Review: American Idol (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:58:35 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA
Genre: Music
ESRB Rating: 4+

I really can’t believe that people still follow American Idol. After the initial season where Simon cut down wannabes and Paula brought on iffy cases I thought everyone understood the show’s formula and had moved on. Much to my chagrin the show is still on the air and once a year little girls seem to go crazy for the newest hunk on American Idol. Now you can experience all the action of the show in the American Idol game for iPhone. American Idol is a game that combines an accelerometer DDR system with some tapping on the screen as you try and rise above your humble upbringing to be the next American Idol.

The main meat of this game comes with the season mode that starts you out standing in line waiting to audition. You fill out your application, choose a genre of songs you are interested in, and meet other contestants. Right from the get go American Idol introduces the player to a new kind of annoyance, the fans of American Idol. You meet others in the line that are lamely acted by real life actors. I feel sorry for these guys not only for their poor acting ability but for some of the lines and bad singing they were involved in. If you’re like me you’ll want to skip the bland dialogue that seems to drag on forever and the tone-deaf singing of every new contestant you encounter.

Blessedly, after you get through the line for American Idol you get to play some songs for the judges. You choose a song to play and are thrown into a mode that has you tilting the iPhone to match up a star on screen with musical notes. Then when large stars come up instead of music notes you tap the appropriate places on the screen to hit the notes. After each song you are ranked by how well you did and three meters are filled depending on how you did: style, fame, and talent. This is how the game measures your progress through American Idol.

What surprised me is that the controls for the actual singing in the game weren’t horrendous. The sliding on the star feels just tight enough to give the player full control and the songs are never unfair in the amount they expect you to tilt and control the iPhone. One of the things that limits the difficulty of this mode is that the star you tilt is so large it hits most notes as long as you’re within a short distance of it. There isn’t any precision to the gameplay. Unfortunately for American Idol the game doesn’t have variable difficulty and whomever they got to sing these songs obviously was tone deaf. It’s painful listening to the singers in this game whether you’re a male or female character. At the very least the songs are cropped versions and don’t go on for very long.

American Idol is a game that plays off the rabid fan base of the show with the same name. The game does a descent job of sending you through a season of American Idol but seeing how the game is awful to listen too, not very entertaining to play, and simplistic you won’t find much to like in this $9.99 game. Avoid this game and send a message to the developers, we don’t want more American Idol like this.

Overall: 3.3/10

Game Review: Need for Speed Undercover (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:54:53 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA
Genre: Racing
ESRB Rating: 4+

Need for speed is a franchise that has been dead to me for the better part of a decade. After playing the greatness that was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit all other street raced versions of Need for Speed fell flat. None of the franchise reboots seemed to deserve the Need for Speed name. Now comes Need for Speed Undercover for the iPhone and though I went in with reservations I can honestly say that Need for Speed Undercover brings the franchise roaring back. The game is fast, controls well, and aside for some poor live action sequences really sells the street racing vibe.

Let's start out with what I found astonishing about Need for Speed Undercover, the controls. I haven't had a lot of experience with iPhone racing controls but with this game I can say that the controls are very well done. The developers limited the amount you actually touch the screen in favor of the accelerometer. Your car continuously accelerates and you can touch the screen with one finger to brake. If you swipe upwards you nitro forward and if you swipe downwards you perform a speedbreaker, which is like bullet time. That’s the extent of the controls but because you control by tilting I never got frustrated with my fingers being in way of the action or onscreen virtual joysticks. I did need a few test runs before the tilting came naturally but in the end the tilting worked great. Regrettably some of the abilities in the game like speedbreaker are unnecessary. I never found this power to be all that great and along with drifting it makes up two unnecessary aspects to the game. Though they're not needed they still don't detract from Need for Speed's overall feel.

The other thing that floored me about Need for Speed Undercover was the sense of speed and graphical prowess. This game looks great and feels fast. The combination of the camera angle slightly below the car and buildings flying by will convince you your iPhone should fly away with how fast it’s going. Unfortunately for Need for Speed Undercover the presentation of the game is awful. For one thing the soundtrack in the game, while not terrible, is very grating. The songs chosen don’t sound great out of the phone’s speaker or headphones and I turned it off rather than listen to it in game. The other thing is the game’s live action acting sequences. While they feel vintage Need for Speed they have no business in the game. They awkward to watch and I skipped them after I got the jist in the first video. You’re an undercover cop who is driving and attempting to take down a smuggling ring. Great, now let’s move on.

Outside of racing there are different things to occupy yourself with in Need for Speed. You can upgrade and buy new cars as well as look at your tops scores via the game’s leaderboard. There is no online functionality so you won’t be playing multiplayer but the main game will keep you playing for about five hours. It spreads across three areas with eight missions each that range from simple races to takedowns and racing to escape the police. Overall the game changes up the gameplay frequently and as a result the game keeps moving without repeating itself too often.

On the whole Need for Speed Undercover is another great iPhone offering from EA. With other such titles as Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Tetris, and Trivial Pursuit it seems that EA really has a knack for making great full console quality games for the little platform. Iphone owner’s should be thankful too because it’s not everyday that such a big company puts such a good foot forward on a fledgling platform. At $9.99 I can heartily recommend Need for Speed Undercover to most any racing fan with an iPhone. The game is fast, pretty, and full of customization and game types. While the lack of multiplayer and the inclusion of the cheesy story sequences does hold the game back it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run to get this game.

Overall: 8.3/10

Game Review: Velvet Assassin (Xbox 360)

tdacrash@yahoo.com (Robert ) — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:02:07 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: SouthPeak Games
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature

The real story of Violette Summer is a fascinating one. During World War II, she served as a special agent trying to complete missions for a British secret service. Unfortunately, her time of service was cut short, but that didn’t stop Southpeak Games from trying to make a game out of her campaign, Velvet Assassin. It’s a splendid idea, and if it played in a similar way to Splinter Cell or even Metal Gear Solid, it would really be getting somewhere. Unfortunately, it’s so damn limited and difficult that it’s not only lacking the longevity to keep you involved, but also the fun.

As you go through the game, you’ll have to rely on your stealth to survive. Summer is highly experienced in using stealth to her advantage, hiding in bushes and behind walls so she can sneak up on one Nazi guard at a time, putting them out of their misery with a knife before they even notice what’s up. Direct encounters where they see you indicate that you’ve already lost the battle. You’re best off just restarting from the previous point of the game, because the sound of an alarm or a group of guards indicate that you aren’t going to come out of the fight alive.

That leads to one of two gigantic problems with the game. First off, despite Southpeak’s attempts to make the game a whole one linear stealth affair where you’ll easily see what your next objective is, they’re not always successful. A guard could see you out of the blue, even without the benefit of a flashlight or even if you’re hiding out of their plain view. That’s unfair enough as it is, but there’s also another factor – the placement of checkpoints. Velvet Assassin is absolutely relentless when it comes to checkpoint spots, as you’ll have to reach them in one piece or else start all the way back at where the last one was. If there was one after each guard, that would’ve worked much better. Instead, it’s a frustrating affair. Chances are most players won’t even make it past the second or third level without throwing their controller into a wall.

That’s too bad, because some of the gameplay has potential here. Had the stealth worked better, there’s a real placeholder for the sneaky combat and getting a jump on specific guards. But again, frustration rears its ugly head. You can only progress so far without acquiring a certain key from a guard, and it’s useless trying to get a hold of their firearms. In fact, you can’t even strip the guards of anything more than their pistols, meaning that the only way to get the heavy firepower is by raiding a locker.

Some things about Velvet Assassin don’t make sense anyway. The whole game is told in a flashback perspective, as Violette is lying on a bed healing from wounds. That would make sense if a. you didn’t die so often (that would kill the point of a flashback to begin with), b. you didn’t remember every specific detail (like the explosive barrels that are in soldiers’ bedrooms – yeah, novel place to keep ‘em!) and c. the morphine trips. You’ll find morphine needles strewn across the game, which you can use to speed yourself up and get some quick kills. While this is probably the most satisfactory part of Velvet Assassin, we can’t imagine how someone could clearly remember morphine-induced death trips. If it was us, we’d rather forget about ‘em, personally.

Velvet Assassin does have a good presentation, although not great. There are occasional fuzzy parts in the visuals that take away from the realism, and the camera perspective isn’t the greatest at times. There are also some schnazzy outfits within the game, although changing into them doesn’t make sense. Sure, some guards may fall for a soldier’s uniform, but it proves itself useless when a guard hears you sneaking up on him with rubbery boots or a “stretchy” dress. Forget it. The sound is probably the most authentic part, with lots of German dialogue and dramatic music overtones throughout. It actually changes tone when you close in for a kill, an important factor in a game such as this.

Still, forget it. We spent hours trying to perfect the system that Velvet Assassin introduced and found little fun out of it. Those who prefer a challenge that’s stealth induced may see something of merit here, but for everyone else, this is pretty much nothing more than an exercise in futility. We understand Violette had to kill members of a corrupt army. But did she really need to go and kill the entertainment, too?

In a nutshell: Velvet Assassin’s extremely high difficulty level and lack of fun make this a killer title that’s hard to recommend to anyone.

Overall: 4/10

Game Review: Outrun Online Arcade (Xbox 360)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:36:55 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Racing
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Outrun is a classic gaming franchise. Just talk to any gamer who played games during the 90’s and you’ll see the mention of Outrun bring a glossy glint of nostalgia to their eyes. When Outrun was first released the game used new technology to simulate massive speed and made getting to the checkered flag much more exciting. The only goal was to drive as fast as possible and get your girlfriend to the end of the course without running out of time. The formula was simplistic but addicting. Fast-forward to 2009 and we find Outrun alive and well on XBLA. Sega, rather than reinventing the franchise, has wisely chosen to stick with what’s worked for almost 20 years. In Outrun Online Arcade you’ll be speeding and drifting along scenic vistas trying to get to the end of a race. Not only that but some new modes have been included to make sure the game doesn’t get stale for long time fans. On the whole this reboot of Outrun has faired very well: it looks great, controls well, and adds just enough new things to make the game feel new. If you’re looking for some nostalgia or just looking for a great arcade racer you’ll find it in Outrun.

I’ve already stated that Outrun’s soul has stayed intact from the past games. You’ll still be racing against the clock in this game. What stops the game from feeling stale is that there are a certain number of stages you must complete before reaching the finish line. In Outrun Online Arcade you race to the end of a section and then at the end of each section you see a fork in the road: turn left and the game gets easier, turn right and the game gets harder. It’s a simple mechanic but makes it so you can choose your own path. From these paths there are five different end areas. Throughout, you’re still simply trying to beat the clock.

To expand on Outrun’s formula a few modes have been added to the mix. The first one, and the most interesting one, is Heart Attack mode. In this mode you race along just like in the normal game but this time the girlfriend in your passenger seat is much more involved. Instead of simply trying to beat the clock you also have to follow your girlfriend’s instructions on what tricks to perform as you drive. This makes the game very hectic and it takes a lot of skill to be able to drive effectively and make the girlfriend in the passenger seat happy. There is also a Time Trial mode that’s been added that allows you to race against a ghost car to improve you’re time. The final mode that’s been added is the 15 course mode. This is a test of the true Outrun champ. In this mode you drive threw all 15 courses in Outrun trying to reach the end. It’s incredibly hard but satisfying to complete.

New to Outrun is the Online play modes. You can race against other players but sadly the online mode isn’t nearly as entertaining as it should be. There are no problems connecting to other players but the way Multiplayer is set up has you racing against others but really you’re still attempting to beat the clock except now you have other humans to grind your car with. I would have loved to see a mode where you played Hot Potato with the girlfriend in your car. As each car scores more hearts the girlfriend could hop from one car to another depending on who had the high score. Then the first one to cross the finish line with the girlfriend in his passenger seat would win, just a thought though.

Overall Outrun Online Arcade is an entertaining arcade game that can definitely hold your attention for a long time. Getting good at drifting is a fine art and the licensed cars and throwback music gives the game a great vibe. If you’ve ever been a fan of Outrun in the past know that the game stays true to its roots. The soul has not left this franchise. If however you’re new to Outrun know that it’s still as approachable as ever. You’ll have fun just racing by at high speeds. Now if only they fixed the multiplayer…

Overall: 8.1/10

Game Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:22:19 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Golf
ESRB Rating: 4+

Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the iPhone is by far the largest game or app I’ve every downloaded for my iPhone. At 160mb my Edge service laughed at me when I tried to download the game. Luckily Tiger Woods PGA Tour isn’t large just for the sake of size, it’s a large game because its full of content, has high quality graphics, and continues the dominance of Tiger Wood games in the golf simulator game market. This game feels like a full retail release in the Tiger Woods franchise. With the addition of a new control scheme that works beautifully on the iPhone, massive amounts of content, and great graphics Tiger Woods PGA Tour stands at the top of the heap as the premiere golf title on the App store.

The new control scheme in Tiger Woods PGA Tour is what really sets it apart from other games. In another golf game, Let’s Golf, you tap the screen three times to set up and complete a shot. In Tiger Woods PGA Tour things are a little different. Instead of tapping you are given a track where you touch the ball, pull back for the appropriate amount of power, and then push up to direct the ball in the desired direction. After the ball is in the air you can also swipe on the screen to give the ball some spin in the direction you want the ball to roll. This control scheme gives a large amount of control to the player and feels unlike any other golf game in the app store. It took a little while for me to get used to and comfortable with the controls but after the initial growing pains I found the track to be a great way of controlling golf swings.

Not only does Tiger Woods PGA Tour have the control scheme of a great golf game but it also has all the things you would expect from a console release of a golf simulation game. It has a bird’s eye view of the course that allows you to more accurately aim the ball, there is an entire bag of clubs for you to choose from on every hole, and there are even wind factors and putting grids. All of these things add up to make Tiger Woods PGA Tour feel like a true golf game.

Aside from all the different touches added by the developer there are two main modes for you to play in. There is a PGA mode and a Quick Game Mode. Before you begin either mode you create a character through the adequate development tool included in the game. It allows you to chose the color of your players skin and the clothes your golfer wears. After that you choose whether you want to play through a course in a single game, Quick Game mode, or if you want to play through the PGA tour. Along with these two modes you also earn money by playing well, not necessarily getting first, to buy new equipment for your character. You can upgrade your character in various realms such as power, power boost, drive control, impact, approach, putting, recovery, and spin.

Really the only two missteps in this entire package is the lack of any coherent tutorial and the lack of multiplayer. I found that most of my learning about Tiger Woods PGA Tour involved the loading screens, which are full of helpful hints. The other odd thing was the lack of multiplayer. I’m really surprised that some sort of play over Wi-Fi was not included in the game, maybe in future editions. Besides these two complaints Tiger Woods PGA Tour is great. It has seven famous courses, with 120 holes of golf. It’s fun to play and at $10 you truly are getting what feels like a full console release. If you’re a golf fan don’t hesitate to pick this one up, it won’t disappoint.

Overall: 8.3/10

Game Review: Trivial Pursuit (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:23:20 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA
Genre: Board Game
ESRB Rating: 4+

Trivial Pursuit for the iPhone is a port of the popular board game bearing the same name. In this rendition of Trivial Pursuit EA has chosen to not only port over the main board game but also to add new modes and multiple ways of playing with other people. If you were a fan of Trivial Pursuit in the past this version on the iPhone will satisfy your craving for Trivia. The game is well put together, colorful, and above all fun to play. For $5 you can do a lot worse in the App Store.

The first mode that I tried out in Trivial Pursuit was the original mode where you play a traditional game of Trivial Pursuit. In it you can play by yourself or assign up to three computers to play against. These computers have adjustable difficulty, but even the easy computer can put up a decent fight. When you enter the game you start out by shaking the iPhone or swiping with your finger to roll the dice and then you move around the board. When your turn is over the computer gets a chance to play but if you want you can skip over their turn. It’s fantastic that EA felt you didn’t have to watch the computers play. That is one of my main complaints in other board games turned video game. Watching the computer play was always my pet peeve. Fortunately EA sidestepped this amateur mistake and Trivial Pursuit is better for it.

The new mode added to Trivial Pursuit is the Pursuit mode. In this mode you are competing to see how quickly you can race to the other end of a specially designed board. You answer rapid fire questions and the more accurate you are the more spaces you can move. Also the fewer questions you answer the better your score. Pursuit mode is an abbreviated take on the original and is great for a quick pick up game. There are multiple levels that you can play and each one gives you a goal of how many turns you should finish it in for a certain medal.

The final two modes available in Trivial Pursuit is Wi-Fi play and Pass ‘N Play mode. Each of these modes allows you to play with up to three other people. In the Wi-Fi mode each person uses their own iPhone or Ipod Touch to control their player. On the flip side if not everyone has an Ipod Touch or iPhone you can play Pass ‘N Play mode where you pass around one device so everyone can play. It’s nice that EA considered that not everyone might have a device to play and included Pass ‘N Play. Both of these multiplayer modes work well and are a great addition to an already stellar game.

There are two more things that I’d like to mention about Trivial Pursuit. The first is that the game has a save feature that I think should be emulated by other games. If you’re interrupted by a phone call or text message the game saves your progress in one of four save slots and allows you to pick up where you left off. Trivial Pursuit is constantly saving so I never lost one of my turns due to someone trying to get a hold of me when I was playing a game. Developers should take note also that the graphics and menus in this game are bright, colorful, and fit the theme of Trivial Pursuit. Trivial Pursuit is one of the first board game ports to the iPhone that doesn’t feel like a quick cash in. The game feels like time and effort was put in to make sure the game ran smoothly, didn’t have any game defeating bugs, and was an all around joy to play.

Trivial Pursuit is not only the definitive version of the classic board game on the iPhone, it’s also a great game in it’s own right. Single player moves quickly and isn’t dragged down by poor design choices, multiplayer is a breeze to setup and play, and finally the game has thousands of questions so that you won’t see a repeat. If anything I hope that EA updates the game with new questions every once and a while to keep the game fresh. Maybe they can even add in game add on packs like they have for the board game. If you have any doubts about buying this game, put them to rest. This game is great.

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: Age of Curling (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:11:39 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: Blackish
Genre: Sports
ESRB Rating: 4+

Curling is a sport that never really caught on in the US. The sport involves pushing a circular metal object, called a ‘rock’, across ice. The goal is to get the rock closest to the center as you can and also try and knock other opponents’ rocks out of the way. To me it seemed like a frozen version of shuffleboard that you see on cruise lines. In addition to simply pushing rocks towards the target you also have someone who can ‘sweep’. This reduces the friction in front of the incoming rock and allows it to move farther. Sweeping acts as an adjustment item that allows you to fix shots that might not have been perfect. Age of Curling touts itself as the definitive game for curling fans. It has multiple locales to play in, multiple modes, and is faithful to the rules set forward by the sport. This is a straight up no nonsense game that is all about it’s stated sport.

For someone who wasn’t familiar with Curling at all I quickly came to understand the idea behind the game. This was a result of the excellent tutorial that the game has. It will tell you the basics of throwing a rock and then how to score or remove other player’s rocks. After completing the tutorial I tried out a few of the game’s modes and they were exactly what they were advertised as, curling. The game features various places for you to play such as a castle or an ice pond. You can play against another person or a computer. There are also various options to tweak how many rocks each player gets and how long a game goes on for. If you’re a fan of Curling this game will definitively satisfy your itch for a game based on the sport. There’s even some news from the Sport displayed on the opening page of the game. I haven’t seen Curling in any other Sports app on the iPhone so this may be a worthwhile thing for Curling fans.

Aside from the basic modes mentioned earlier there isn’t much else to be said about Age of Curling the game is very basic and doesn’t include anything to do other than playing a game of Curling. The graphics though are pretty impressive for the iPhone. While the game is very limited in what it can work with the graphics do a good job of making things clear and easy to see in game. The controls are also tight and allow for good control over throwing the rock. Without a doubt some effort was put into making this game play well.

For me I didn’t find much enjoyment in Age of Curling past learning how the game was played. The game didn’t suck me in and make me want to play against all my friends. This may be my American bias but I definitely found Curling to be a snooze. Curling just isn’t an exciting sport like Football (American or European) or Basketball. Curling is a game of finesse, patience, and planning. That’s probably why it never caught on here. For anyone out there who feels they need to be able to play Curling on the go I can recommend Age of Curling, it does what it’s meant to do well. For the rest of us Yanks I’d recommend staying far away. Maybe we can go pick up some other game, like a shooter.

Overall: 6.5/10

Game Review: Beer Pong BPong 2009 (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:00:43 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: Publisher X
Genre: Sports
ESRB Rating: 12+

Beer Pong is one of the games of choice for college kids across the nation to at the same time compete to embarrass their friends and get drunk. What more can someone ask for from a game? To capitalize on this game developers have decided that it would be a good idea to make a game based on getting drunk except without the getting drunk. In Beer Pong BPong 2009 the object of the game is to win a game of beer pong. Depending on how long the game goes on the camera starts to sway to signify you getting drunk in the game but overall the game falls flat because of uninteresting and random gameplay mechanics and the obvious lack of getting drunk.

The two options available to you when you want to play a game of Beer Pong is the single player mode where you can choose to play against a computer and also choose the amount of cups in the game. And the other option allows you to play multiplayer on a phone with one on one or two on two. In both modes you are throwing a ping-pong ball at cups of beer on the opposite side of a table. To do this you grip the ping pong ball by touching it on the iPhone’s screen and then flicking upwards with varying speeds to either throw the ball up high or bounce it into an opponents cup. No matter how long I tried though it seemed I made shots based on luck rather than strategy or skill.

In the background of the game you have a bar and a table where the cups are stacked. In the sound department there isn’t much, not even background music, but on some attempts your character will spout off one-liners that quickly repeat. I think I heard about ten separate lines of dialogue before things started to go on repeat. It wouldn’t have killed anyone to make sure the game at least had some music to go along with the game. The graphics aren’t a bad show of the iPhone’s capabilities. The 3D modeling is pretty good though all we really have to go on is the cups and the table that you play on.

Now simple gameplay is not something that is bad in and of itself. Just look at Punch Out or Super Mario Brothers. Those games were incredibly simplistic but they worked based on the style and the characters in this game. For Punch Out each character was unique and had different strategies you had to defeat. In Mario each level held different obstacles that you must survive to get to the end. I would have liked to see some of these things incorporated into Beer Pong BPong 2009. At least have a tiered system where you play against progressively different or harder computers. You could even have two computers shooting at the same time. Maybe a team of computers trying bank shots. Something to change up the monotony of the game would have gone a long way to making this title better.

Beer Pong BPong 2009 is a $2 game in the App Store. That’s not a lot of money, but unless you’re dead set on getting a Beer Pong game I can’t recommend Beer Pong BPong 2009. The game is lifeless and simplistic. There are many other games on the App Store that are worth your time and money. Maybe in the future a Beer Pong game will come out that models Punch Out or at least has some sense of style but for now I’ll avoid this game and other titles like it.

Overall: 3/10

Game Review: Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition (Playstation 3)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:37:56 +0000

Platform: Playstation 3
Publisher: EA
Genre: Strategy
ESRB Rating: Teen

My last console RTS experience was on the N64 when I played Starcraft. We all know how that game turned out and since, I’ve been soured towards console RTS games. The main problem with Starcraft for the N64 were the horrid controls. Fast-forward to 2009 and we have Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition, the complete edition of Red Alert 3. Even given about ten years console RTS games can’t seem to get a control scheme down that works as well as a mouse and keyboard. Coming into this review I had hoped that Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 would allow the use of a mouse and keyboard being that I use these on my Playstation 3 regularly. However, EA opted not to include this control scheme and a great RTS game has once again been marred by sub par controls and another famous franchise falls to the console control scheme.

For one thing at least EA tried something different. Instead of making you do multiple button combinations to do even a simple task many of the buttons on the Playstation 3’s controller act as hot keys that allow you to quickly move units around the map. By and large this works well. The new addition comes in the form of the Command menu. This menu is a pop up menu that you bring up using the R2 button. It’s a clock face that can includes up to twelve options in it. It changes depending on what units or building you have selected. On the whole it works really well, however it still feels clunky compared to the mouse and keyboard. It takes too long in many places to deselect units in the menu, then select the appropriate option, and finally execute it. While the command menu was a great idea it doesn’t surpass what should have been, mouse and keyboard controls.

Moving past my problems with the game’s controls there are multiple things that make this game unique. The first thing is the tongue in cheek humor present throughout the game. Instead of CGI characters there are multiple live action situations with famous celebrities playing the part of generals on the Soviet, Allied, and Rising Sun factions. The game firmly relies on humor to move these portions along and it’s great fun as the game doesn’t take itself too seriously. It also makes for one of the funniest tutorials I’ve every played. It involves a tank from each faction teaching you how to play the game. I won’t spoil it but trust me, this is a tutorial you want to play.

Being that this is one of the third or fourth rereleases of Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 the changes made to the game are important to note. On the Xbox 360 the game was nearly unplayable due to frame rate drops when the action became heated and that problem has been largely fixed in this game. EA even went about making some changes to the visual style that helps the game look better by today’s standards. However the game is starting to show its age and doesn’t look quite as good as it did a year ago. Also included in the package are a multitude of extras packed into the Blu-ray. Most of them are interesting side notes: some mini shows, and even a portion on the girls of Red Alert 3. The extra material fits in well with the humor of the game and has some moments that are truly informative as well as entertaining.

For me one of the best parts of Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 was the ability to play with a friend cooperatively. Usually you have a computer controlled ally who does a good job of supporting you but it’s great fun to include a friend in the fray. It makes it so you almost have a two on one battle. Just make sure your friend goes through the training because otherwise they’ll have no idea what’s going on. Once you finish the three main campaigns you can even hop online and play against others. This gives the game some legs but the main campaign will take you a while to complete even on easy.

Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Ultimate Edition is a great throwback to the classic RTS games of the 90’s. The game has gotten significant upgrades in the way it plays and the mechanics behind the game. But the live action actors have made the transition from the 90’s and their inclusion is something not to be missed. While the controls could have been better, why is there no mouse and keyboard, it doesn’t break the game. It merely takes a lot of getting used to and once you memorize the menus you’ll be able to play quickly with the new command wheel. As the ultimate edition I was hoping that everything would click and this would fill the much-needed gap of RTS games on the PS3. While it’s not ultimate in the sense of the word it’s still a great game and if you haven’t played it on another console it would be worth your while to give it a spin.

Overall: 7.9/10

Game Review: Karmastar (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:15:08 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: Majesco Entertainment
Genre: Game
ESRB Rating: 12+

Karmastar is a weird game. The gameplay behind the game reminds me of a trading card game like Magic the Gathering but the premise is more original. A game in Karmastar takes place over eight turns that follow your character from childhood to old age. Every two turns you transition from one life stage to another. With each turn you choose to attack another player or increase one of your attributes. You also get wild cards that allow you to perform special abilities during your turn. To win a game you must score the highest number of points out of the three players in the game. You earn points by raising attributes, battling, or reaching specific achievements in each game.

What makes Karmastar unique, aside from its premise and gameplay, is that it has a great sense of humor. In the game, when you increase an attribute a brief picture is shown of what activity your character did to gain that attribute. For instance, during old age when you choose to increase the mind attribute you might get “Finger-painting” or “Geriatric Footprint”. Throughout the game you will encounter these strange activities that level up your character’s abilities but most of them seem to have an air of silliness. What’s also nice is that you won’t see the same activities every time you play. There is a large amount of activities that your character can perform so it makes the game feel new and different each time you play.

I like the fact that the game goes over the course of eight turns, these eight turns take about ten minutes to complete so Karmastar is perfectly suited for a quick game when you’re waiting in line or looking to burn a little time. It’s also works very symmetrically with the stages of life that your character goes through in the game with each stage represented by two turns.

Karmastar is filled in with multiple modes that you can compete in. There is a local play and Wi-Fi play but mostly you’ll end up playing against the computer. The computer is smart and plays the game well but I would have liked to see some sort of basic goal structure in the game. There are achievements that you can compete for but a small ‘story’ in single player mode would have helped round out the gameplay experience. I also think that it would be nice if the characters that you play with onscreen aged as the gameplay went on. I was really surprised that with a game about aging that your onscreen characters look the same throughout each stage of life.

Getting back to Karmastar’s gameplay the structure of earning points is a classic game mechanic but could have gotten old rather quickly. However with the addition of in game achievements like, “upgraded each ability once” or “shark” you can earn additional points by playing a match in a specific way. This drew me into the game because I tried multiple different ways of playing the game and found that Karmastar lends itself well to multiple ways of playing the game and that’s a sign of a deep experience. The wild card system also works well as it adds spice to gameplay that would have gotten boring without them.

For me Karmastar was a breath of fresh air. It’s decidedly different from anything else that I’ve played on the Iphone. The tone set by the aging gameplay and humor makes Karmastar stand out. It’s not something that uses the Iphones’s various features, like the accelerometer, but it does work exceedingly well as an on the go game. For $5USD you get a polished game that stays fresh over multiple games and lends itself well to a multitude of play styles. If you’re in the mood for something offbeat get Karmastar, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall: 8/10

Game Review: Scrabble (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:08:57 +0000

Platform: iPhone
Publisher: EA
Genre: Board Game
ESRB Rating: 4+

How much do you love the game of Scrabble? Is it the game you play weekly with friends and you have multiple dictionaries to look up those contentious words? Do you find yourself shaking your hands as if you were holding letters, thinking about the best word? Then if you own an iPhone this is THE game for you. However, if you have only a passing taste for Scrabble you may find this rendition slightly abrasive and difficult for the average person. The music is a little grating and the computers are insanely smart. For me, as only a casual Scrabble fan, if that, I found that the game was only fun in short bursts.

For starters this game is only Scrabble. There aren’t any modes that change the basic layout of the game. No matter what mode you play you will always be laying letters on the board to make words. Really the only change that you can make to the gameplay is to change the dictionary type that you use. While most of the time simple mini games are distracting to the main game it would have been nice to see some sort of change to the basic Scrabble gameplay. As it stands the only thing that you do is play Scrabble, but I guess that’s apparent by the title.

Even though the game doesn’t include lots of different Scrabbleesque mini games it does include multiple ways to play a game. As I mentioned earlier I couldn’t play the game for more than a few minutes but the developers took this into account by having a very nice auto save feature that worked perfectly every time I shut the game or went to pickup a phone call. There is also a multiplayer over Wi-Fi feature and most interestingly a Facebook connect feature. I think the Facebook connect feature is great in that it allows you to play and then continue games on Facebook. I think this is a great feature and allows you to play games in other places than just on the phone. It expands where and when you can play Scrabble.

Getting into the gameplay of Scrabble, when you start a game you get 4 Best word items that show you the best word you can make with your pieces. This was great but I found myself using these items quite frequently because I felt that the computer was way too overpowered. I know that Scrabble is a game that tests your mental might against others but no matter what I did, best word included, I never seemed to one up the computer. It seems like you’d need a doctorate in English vocabulary to outsmart this thing. Other than the best word option you can also do some other things in the game. For instance you can shake to shuffle your word pieces or press the shake button. There’s also a statistics section that allows you to keep track of your best word, best game, and other various statistics.

So on the whole Scrabble for the iPhone is a faithful remake of the classic board game. However, with a game as social as Scrabble the board game loses a lot of its charm by being played as a single player game and if you have friends around why not just play on a real board? With Scrabble retailing at $5 I can’t whole-heartedly recommend it. While the production values are high I never felt that the game had $5 worth of content. Search your inner Scrabble nerd, how much do you want to practice Scrabble on the go? If not at all, then you know what to do.

Overall: 6/10

Game Review: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:33:18 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Genre: Action/Crime
ESRB Rating: Mature

I never thought I’d be doing things like this on the DS. I’ve made Molotov cocktails by using gasoline at a gas station, stolen cars, rampaged across the city in a fire truck, and just generally been awful. Rockstar surprised many when it announced Grand Theft Auto for the Nintendo DS. Many speculated the game was going to be a flop because the system didn’t handle third person 3D action well, however they forgot that Grand Theft Auto started out as a third person isometric view more akin with Sim City than Syphon Filter. But Rockstar pulls of this game beautifully on the DS. The game is wonderful to look at, with a cel shaded style that conveys a sense of filth and quality. It controls well using the stylus to do more intricate actions in the game. Even the radio stations and extras from the big brother games on home consoles make the trip to the DS. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a game that core gamers can really sink their teeth into for a long and fulfilling DS adventure.

The great thing about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is that it is chock full of things to do. You can participate in races, make drug deals, steal cars, or just run around the city looking for things to kill or explore. Not only is the gameplay varied but it takes place in a huge city that has multiple areas and people filling in the streets. There are even random side missions that you can do for the “common man”. One includes taking a would be porn star to his next shoot in a limo while he ‘talks’ with some young ladies in the back. As you drive through town the car wiggles back and forth while you try and drive. You even hear moans. This is the kind of game that you don’t listen to on full volume while on a subway car.

Which brings up the adult humor in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. This game is clearly aimed at adults and has many many dirty jokes and curse words. Everything about the game screams an M rating and it thoroughly deserves it. However, because the game was destined for the M rating Rockstar has taken every opportunity to make the game dark and richly enjoyable for the average adult.

What is a major departure from past GTA games is that this GTA does not have an analog controller. In the past GTA made great use of the analog stick and it made driving vehicles and moving around the city a joy. While it was a large concern that this swiss army knife of video gaming was not able to be utilized on the DS, Rockstar has made some very smart game play decisions to make this game purr. For one thing driving could have been a disaster with the D-pad. Having to correct with the slightest of D-Pad presses would have essentially ruined the game, however in this game you use the D-pad but there is an ‘autocorrect’ that puts on a straight path and it really helps lessen any headache that would have been caused by the D-pad. The other thing that could have been ruined in the game was a bad lock on or shooting mechanism. Rockstar has done their best with the lock on for guns but struck a cord with throwing specific weapons. For instance the Molotov cocktail, you see the icon on the bottom DS screen and click on it with the stylus. Then you pull back and aim and are able to get an analog stick type of attack. It works great.

Not only did Rockstar use the touch screen for ‘throwing’ items but they also used it to get you involved in gameplay. It would have been awful if when you went to sabotage a car you simply watched the character from above hit the car with a crowbar. Instead Rockstar has included a mini game where you beat up the car with various tools on thfrom the car’s controls are awful, because you sabotaged it. In another instance you fill up your own Molotov cocktails at the gas station using a mini game on the bottom screen of the DS to fill up bottles with gasoline and push in a towel. You even hijack cars by participating in a game on the bottom screen. Rockstar did a great job getting the player involved in the game by utilizing the DS’s bottom screen for doing very delicate, or not so delicate in the case of the car, actions.

The final way that the DS’s touch screen is used is for the in game menus. For instance, with the GPS you can set a path by opening it and selecting the appropriate icon. Then it maps the shortest ‘legal’ distance to the location. You can also read emails and interact with drug dealers and your apartments. These abilities make the game really come alive and it stops the game from getting bogged down in button presses on the top screen or excessive menus. Most of the time you will be playing with the DS’s face buttons but when the touch screen comes up you can almost guarantee it’s going to do something useful and intuitive.

Excuse me if I’m gushing about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It really came out of nowhere for me. I’m not a huge fan of the GTA series but Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is really a stellar example of what can be done on the DS. I feel no other developer has really understood the balance of the DS like Rockstar has in this game. It’s difficult to balance the touch screen and buttons but Rockstar makes it look easy. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is also strangely addicting because by and large you can finish a mission in just a couple of minutes. This means you can hop in and hop out of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for some quick sessions and you can even replay your favorite past missions. This is great on the go gaming. If you’re old enough to play the game and own a DS I can’t stress enough how much Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is worth your money. It’s mature, funny, well designed, and lengthy to boot. You really won’t find any other game like it on the DS.e bottom touch screen. Then when you have to drive the car back to the garage you stole it

Overall: 9.4/10

Game Review: Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (PlayStation 3)

nrobbins@the10k.com (Nathan "drunknmunky" Robbins) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:51:28 +0000

Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Flight/Action
ESRB Rating: Teen

When you think of the flight/action genre of "Next-Gen" consoles, the only names that come to my mind are Blazing Angels and Ace Combat 6. Although Blazing Angels was produced and developed by the same studio as H.A.W.X was, Tom Clancy's latest edition to his brilliant collection of games resembles more of Ace Combat 6 than anything else. Even though it resembles Ace Combat 6, it is not just another version of the same game slapped into a box. Ubisoft has taken something that worked in one game, and introduced enough visual stimulation, variety in the missions and gameplay, as well as a good enough storyline to be a truly unique game in it's own. Can H.A.W.X be the "Top Gun" while maintaining that "Clancy" feel while dominating the skies above us, or will it simply crash and burn straight into the bargain bin at your local game store?

Using Geo-Eye, a 100 Million dollar Earth Observational Satellite which takes Hi-Res photos from 423 miles in the sky, Ubisoft was able to re-create real world cities and locations. When you fly through the clouds at Mach 2, you suddenly feel as if you are flying above Washington, D.C. or Tokyo Harbor. No more look-a-likes or pathetic attempts to replicate locations, for Ubisoft has taken the real locations and put them in the game for your gaming pleasure. Unfortunately, the imagery doesn't look as nice when your flying under the radar grazing the tops of trees. I guess you can't have everything, huh?

If you want a selection of planes, H.A.W.X is the right game for you. With over double the amount of planes of Ace Combat 6, Unisoft gives you an arsenal of planes that any Air Force would be jealous of. Incorporating a "leveling" system where as you advance throughout the story and your career you unlock the new planes as well as special weapon packages. Your selection of planes are varied for each mission, just like your special weapon packages. Each plane, no matter if it is designed for dog fighting or a bombing mission, can be modded with your special weapon packages to accommodate your next mission. When using your weapons, press the "Y" button to select your targets.

The game takes you on a ride of emotions with its plot being twisted an turned just like your plane slicing through the clouds. You start off as David Crenshaw, and you have just been promoted to squadron leader of the High Altitude Warfare eXperimental squadron (H.A.W.X) . Just like certain games such as Army of Two or even the reality of our own future, the world David Crenshaw lives in revolves around the growing use and influence of private military corporations (PMC). Just like every other soldier, David is looking to make some extra cash. A PMC called Artemis Global Security recruits David and his Squadron to become their elite fighter squadron. Completing missions that are typical of flying games such as perimeter watch, escort, and bombing missions, you help Artemis secure contracts to become the world's premier PMC. As you can imagine, securing contracts with so many different governments, there is bound to be a conflict of interest at one point or another. Artemis is a business, and they do act like one. I don't want to spoil it all with details, so you are going to have to pick up the game to see what happens in this intriguing storyline. You probably won't jump up and down for joy or cry yourself to sleep, but the dialogue and storyline do keep you there wanting more.

Maneuvering your "Iron Eagle" is fairly similar to Ace Combat 6, with the left stick acting as your yoke, the LB and RB as your yaw, LT and RT as brake/accelerate, and the face buttons controlling your weapon. The D-pad switches between your weapons, or gives orders to your wingmen (attack or defend). Pressing the select button switches your radar view between close-up and full battlefield. However, H.A.W.X brings a new mechanic to the skies, with the “Assist Off” mode. Double tapping the RT will switch the camera from the enhanced reality system (ERS) cockpit view, to a third-person, "behind the plane perspective. Since it allows players to see themselves and what they are going after at the same time, it is supposed to make aerial combat easier. Unfortunately for me, I found it complicating this to the point of returning back to the ERS. If you are like me and you like to complete your missions in the easiest way possible, keeping the ERS on will dramatically improve your chances in my opinion. Turning it off will allow you to have full control of your plane, which in my case is either a very good thing or a very bad thing. The ERS also warns you of possible threats to the health of you and your plane. When approaching a target or being locked on by an enemy Mig on your six, the ERS allows you to enter a "Gate" mode. When prompted, press the "X" button to bring up a series of gates which will give you the best route to either escape your un-timely demise or take out whatever obstacle is in your way. Even though these gates have a timer on them to help prepare you for your perfect maneuver, flying through these gates can take up a lot of time as well as take you of course from your original flight plan. While there are several missions that cannot be completed without using the ERS gates, most other times throughout the game, it is much faster and easier to simply enter into your own evasive maneuvers. When playing the campaign, you will come to missions that require you to use these "ERS Gates" to successfully complete your missions. Other than the required use, I personally found it quite useful to just forget that you even have the option to use them. I was able to escape while being targeted and fired upon just as easily and fast as taking out ground objectives.

H.A.W.X. doesn't offer a plethora of game modes online, but what it does offer can truly be a lot of fun. One can play through all of the single player missions in on-line co-op mode, with up to four players in each mission. The game allows for drop-in/drop-out, and even offers the option of allowing players to play whatever mission the host wants to play. So, if you haven't had a chance or just plain lack the skill to get to level 9, you can still play it with the host if he or she has already completed it themselves. Each player in a co-op is also allowed to set his or her own level of difficulty, so one doesn’t have to worry about entering a room that is above their skill level. The game keeps track of how many enemies each player has killed, and has a running leader board on the screen during the missions. There is also the option to play team deathmatch, either ranked or unranked, all the while earning experience. Being able to earn experience in all kinds of game modes helps us, the gamers, to be able to unlock more planes and special weapons to complete the missions on hand or battle it out over live.

Some people might call H.A.W.X a copycat of Ace Combat 6. Some may even say it doesn't hold up to the "Tom Clancy" level we expect from his games. There might even be some people who say do not waste your time and money giving it a chance. Well, people are entitled to their own opinions. However, I do not agree with them. Granted, this isn't a "Game of the Year", but it is definitely one game worth giving a chance if you are interested in trying it out. So take a seat in the cockpit, relax, and see what a "Next-Gen" flight/action game should be. I promise you won't be disapointed.

Overall: 7.5/10

Game Review: NASCAR Kart Racing (Nintendo Wii)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:37:46 +0000

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: EA
Genre: Racing/Sports
ESRB Rating: Everyone

I won’t lie to you, the reader, I went into this review for NASCAR Kart Racing with every intention of bashing the game and ridiculing it on it’s every fault. At first I thought my fears were justified, but as I played the game I started to see that some effort was put into making it. Yes, it’s a shameless me-to Mario Kart game but not an awful one. You can certainly do worse than NASCAR Kart Racing. The game isn’t good looking, the gameplay has been done before (with some minor exceptions), and the characters along with in game sound effects and music are worse than nails on a chalkboard. However, the gameplay is solid, which is more than you can ask for from most licensed games. Considering how awful licensed gaming can be I appreciate that some effort was put into NASCAR Kart Racing. It’s not going to light the world on fire but it also won’t make you want to jump off a cliff.

To start with the gameplay modes present in this game are very simple. You have Quick Race, Championship, Special Events, and Player Info. The Special Events offer things like Time Trials while the Championship is like Mario Kart’s cup racing. In Championship mode you’ll race against other drivers to win the right to play as them and unlock bonus tracks. Along with being able to unlock drivers and bonus tracks you also unlock Trophies as you go through the game. These Trophies can be for winning an event or grinding up against other cars for a certain amount of time. In all these modes you encounter at least 12 Tracks, 12 Championships, and about 24 Drivers. The Drivers are split into two categories, NASCAR drivers and outsiders. The outsider drivers are based on age-old stereotypes but stand out because of the blandness of the stock NASCAR racers.

When you enter a race, NASCAR Kart Racing starts showing more similarities to Mario Kart, but also differentiates itself a bit. For one thing the items in the game are all Mario Kart items. For instance there is the Free Pass that makes you invincible and shoots you to the front of the pack knocking opponents out of the way, sound like a Bullet Bill to anyone? There’s also four ways to control, the wheel, nunchuck remote combo, classic controller, and GameCube controller lifted from Mario Kart. On the whole it’s nice that the developers left in all these control methods though the motion controls with the wheel are actually very solid and work well even without the wheel. It’s interesting because the developers took the Mario Kart motion controls and turned them down a bit so they’re easier to use and made them better!

Finally, we come to what makes NASCAR Kart Racing different from Mario Kart. The main difference between this game and Mario Kart are the racing mechanics. Sure there are boost pads and power sliding, but there’s also grinding, being ‘in the zone’, and slingshoting. Grinding is when you run into another player’s car, this along with power sliding allow you to fill up your boost meter. You can also partner up with a computer or second player so when you are racing next to that player you get ‘in the zone’ and earn boost. Once you earn enough to boost you can use it you drag your partner with you and you can each boost back and forth performing a slingshot maneuver. This maneuver is crucial to winning races. EA did a nice job with the partner mechanic and you can even drag in a friend to race together which makes being in the zone all the more entertaining. Sadly though I would have liked to see it be more powerful, it’s not powerful because the rubber band physics from Mario Kart are in this game too. No matter how well you race the computers are always close enough to catch up if you make a mistake.

NASCAR Kart Racers includes some very annoying sounds and graphical glitches. For instance, none of the drivers have voices; all they do is make hick sounds with grunts that can barely be considered voices. Their voices reminded me of Timmy from Southpark. If this wasn’t enough none of the music is particularly good and it just attempts fill empty feeling that the game has when you race. You see the game doesn’t feel like it moves very fast and the graphics bleed together. There’s also some trash talk before each race but anyone over five will skip right past it. On the whole the presentation of this game could have done with a complete overhaul. The tracks are unimaginative and shortcuts are painfully obvious.

Not only does NASCAR Kart Racing need a presentation overhaul but it also needs to expand outwards in the replayability department. Yes the game has splitscreen multiplayer but in today’s game market it’s pretty sad that a game doesn’t include some online play. I know that not many people would play the game but it still stands to reason that you should include some kind of online functionality. This quibbles all aside NASCAR Kart Racing was never expected to be a classic and it does an adequate job as a racer. The presentation and replayability are definitely not this game’s strong suite but the core racing works the way it should and can hold your attention for at least thirty minutes at a time. It’s not the second coming of Mario Kart, it’s not even a comparable game, but it is fun albeit in small doses.

Overall: 5.8/10

Game Review: Stormrise (Xbox 360)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Strategy
ESRB Rating: Mature

Stormrise is an example of a game that has a great concept with new ideas that doesn’t come together and falls on its own sword. Stormrise is a new RTS developed by Sega and Creative Assembly. In the game man created a system that controlled nature but due to ‘The Event’ the system went haywire and started to create fire storms throughout the world. As a result one branch of humanity, the Echelon, went into cryogenic hiding while another, the Guerillas, stayed in the environment and evolved to fit into this new world. The opening cinematic really does a good job of selling the game but after that the story falls apart and becomes completely incoherent. Not only does the story fall apart but so does the gameplay in Stormrise.

Stormrise’s first great idea is the Whip select system. Your units are represented as icons on the outermost portion of the screen. It’s as simple as pointing with the right analog stick towards a given icon to select a group of units, or at least it would be if the game worked properly. The Whip select system is truly what makes Stormrise unique but is also the game’s Achilles heel. You see, as the game gets more hectic you get anywhere between five or thirty little icons on the outermost portion of the screen. Good luck picking the unit you want. The Whip select system does let you fly across the battlefield like other high profile RTS games but the ability to be selective is nearly nonexistent. To make matters worse, once you select a unit you have to take the time to point them to their new location. This wouldn’t be bad except for Stormrise’s other Achilles heel, it’s tiered levels.

The development team of Stormrise thought that making tiered levels would make the game have multiple levels and more interesting to play in. The theory is sound but because of the Whip select system you can rarely select the unit you want and when you want to travel up you have to be careful that you’re in range of the area you want to travel too and then you must actually move the cursor until it points upward with a yellow arrow. After this is done you can send your units to the selected position. The entire system feels so cumbersome that I couldn’t help but get frustrated with even the most basic of tasks.

These two control issues wouldn’t be so bad if the game was slow. However in Stormrise you are required to make quick movements and decisions but with the Whip select system you can rarely find the right unit and even if you do you’ll spend precious moments trying to move your units to the appropriate locations. What’s strange is that if the developers would have given you the ability to group non specialized, ie not mechs, together you could move one massive force at a time rather than having to deselect and reselect another group over and over to move even thirty soldiers across the map.

The final nail in Stormrise’s proverbial coffin is it’s awful unit AI and overall glitchiness. On more than one occasion my units got stuck in basic, not even tiered, pathfinding situations and I had to move them step by step where I wanted. On top of this I would find that Snipers would run halfway across the map to engage an enemy rather than using their bloody sniper rifle! I mean what’s the point of specialized units if they’re all going to run up to the enemy and try and shoot them at point blank range? None of this makes any sense at all.

Stormrise had enormous potential however the game was too simplified. I know that it’s difficult to make a game about micromanaging work on a console but it’s definitely not going to work if you make a game’s control scheme ultra simplified. Stormrise uses only a few buttons and when push comes to shove and the game’s action kicks in the controls are woefully inadequate to control the in game action. That being said if Sega can take what didn’t work in Stormrise and tweak it for a better experience I’ll be first in line to give it another chance. Sega took a big risk with this game and though everything didn’t work out great it still should be respected for trying something new. Hopefully the ideas behind Stormrise aren’t dead, we’ll hope for better from them in the future.

Overall: 4.2/10

Game Review: WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (Playstation 3)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Platform: Playstation 3
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Sports/Wrestling
ESRB Rating: Teen

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is a fan service game. It takes an idea that has so far seemed a fantasy and made it a reality. THQ has taken 38 past wrestling superstars and slammed them all into one package. You’ll be able to play as Hulk Hogan, Andrei the Giant, the Ultimate Fighter, and many more. The idea behind the game is sound however some odd choices with the game’s controls, a deficiency in entertaining online multiplayer, and the lack of legs beyond the two modes in this game tarnish a game that is all about celebrating the star studded past of wrestling.

For starters there are a few modes you can play in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania. You can play a quick play game in Exhibition, you can create a wrestler in the Create mode, or you can try out the history modes. The main meat of this game involves the history modes. In these modes you will be able to rewrite, redefine, and relive classic moments in Wrestlemania history. In the Relive portion of the game you reenact the famous moments, in the rewrite you change the outcome of a match, and in redefine you can change certain aspects of a match to make it more to your liking. In each of these matches you have certain objectives that you must complete to pass the match and move on.

Aside from what I’ve dubbed the history mode the other modes in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania are relatively light. There is a mode called Legend Killer that makes up the rest of the Single Player mode. In it you play in a ladder survival game with a character of your creation. You play against eight foes in a row until you rise to the top of the ladder. Unfortunately you can’t save mid ladder and you only receive a small portion of your health back as you climb. To make matters even more difficult the final Legend Killer has you play 38 wrestlers in a row. That’s a lot of wrestling!

The aspect I most enjoyed about WWE Legends of Wrestlemania was not the actual gameplay, it was the videos that lead up to each match. Before each match there is a very nice montage of actual footage showing you scenes from the fight you are about to fight in. For someone who hasn’t really watched a lot of wrestling this really put each match into context and made the upcoming fight more meaningful and exciting. Without these videos the matches would have been painfully out of context and boring. The nice thing is that a movie theater was included so after you play a match you can rewatch the associate movie whenever you’d like.

Earlier I touched on the controls that run WWE Legends of Wrestlemania. Unlike its wrestling counterpart Smackdown vs Raw 2009, WWE Legends of Wrestlemania’s controls are laughably simple. The controls in Smackdown use a variety of button combinations to create a very deep and enjoyable experience. However in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania you solely use the face buttons when fighting. This makes matches very simple and run together very quickly. To top this off there’s also a large amount of quicktime events and button mashing. This makes WWE Legends of Wrestlemania feel very basic and simplistic. There isn’t any skill required to finish a quicktime event or mash buttons.

There is a nice Character creator mode here in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania but for those who have played Smackdown it will feel very similar. That’s because it’s nearly identical to the other game. This isn’t a bad thing because the mode in Smackdown was very well done and full of options however in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania it almost feels like it was put in simply to take up space. Now I know you need to make a character to play in the Legends Killer ladder but I would have liked to see more matches in the relive and rewrite portions of the game rather than have this mode included. Still though WWE Legends of Wrestlemania’s character creator is still fun and it’s easy to make a freaky looking character.

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is not a terrible game. It’s easily approachable for the casual fan but those looking for a deeper experience will feel short changed. The famous matches are great fun but the challenge of defeating them isn’t there. With a little bit more time spent on the controls I think that this game could have come out a lot better for the involved wrestling fan. However for someone who is just looking for a simplistic and good time WWE Legends of Wrestlemania will bring a smile to their face though it may make the more loyal fan frown in frustration.

Overall: 6/10

Product Review: Official Rock Band M.I.C. (Mad Catz)

barfern@bellsouth.net (Chris "Superman" Reed) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:29:39 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Manufacturer: Mad Catz
MSRP: $49.99 (USD)

Playing Rock Band/Rock Band 2 is a definitely a blast, but if you are the singer you have to decide how to deal with the controller. After you turn on the Xbox 360 controller, put on the headphones, plug in the microphone, the only question left is...where do you put the controller? It would have been a neat idea if Harmonix would have thought of a controller holster that would clip to your belt. I thought this issue might get resolved in the second game, but it did not. So when I saw Mad Catz has their own microphone with a built in controller nicknamed “M.I.C.” microphone with integrated controller, I wanted to check it out. At $49.99 Mad Catz promises studio-like response and a great working microphone without the need of the controller. Did Mad Catz deliver as promised with The M.I.C. for the Xbox 360? Let's see how the M.I.C. holds up to our tests and abuse.

Mad Catz does a great job with the packaging. The M.I.C. can be seen inside the box before opening and it looks great. You have to be able to catch the consumers attention somehow, and the packaging is a good start. The M.I.C. felt sturdy and well made. It also is slimmer and fits the hand better than other microphones. The M.I.C. has a long USB cable and the guide, D-Pad, Back, Start, lock button, and A, B, X, Y buttons. All of the buttons are laid out going down the front of the M.I.C., Mad Catz even added extra padded rubber that makes it easier to fit the mic in a regular microphone stand. It looks like a professional microphone and has just the right amount of weight.

The instructions come on a small fold out sheet in English and several other languages. While it has all the information written on the sheet, it’s very hard to read due to the small print. It’s important to read that certain buttons pressed together are used for the navigation and other functions during the game. Overall though the M.I.C. gave me a good first impression and looked worth the price.

The M.I.C. can be used for Rock Band or Rock Band 2. Just remember it is also has a built-in controller. Once plugged into the USB hug and the power is on, it will go to the first controller by default. If you want it to be used as the second, then plug or turn on the guitar or drums first and so on until you get it to the desired controller. I first tried it alone and went through the challenges in the game for vocals. I found that the M.I.C. is extremely sensitive and responsive. I had no trouble picking challenges or songs and all the controls and buttons work well. You can also use the lock slider to avoid any accidental hitting of buttons and causing the game to stop which is a nice feature.

I then wanted to try playing guitar while singing just to see how that works with the same player. Again the M.I.C. worked great. It fit my mike stand without any hassles and picked up my voice perfectly. We then tried it in a group setting and again it worked great and felt like a real microphone. It’s not that the Rock Band microphone isn’t real, but Mad Catz’s microphone felt more like a studio microphone. No issues and with the buttons right on the top of the microphone. You can either do the claps or cowbells by hitting the A button or tapping the microphone on the top. I prefer the tapping method since the button is a bit tricky on harder settings. Once again it worked flawlessly and really stands out. This would be ideal for parties or Rock Band nights at your local night club or bar. Around here we are seeing more of these events and it’s a growing trend.

As stated previously, the Mad Catz M.I.C. is a nice accessory and for a third party product, it out performs the actual microphone that comes with either version of Rock Band. It has a solid feel and several great features. If playing locally or alone, I would grab this one in a heartbeat, but when playing with friends on Xbox live, I would use the other microphone. I can’t wait for Mad Catz to release the new model, but for now this is certainly best suited for local or single play.

This is just one of the many great Rock Band accessories that Mad Catz offers. We have had a chance to review some of the other products here at The10k.com, but to learn more or purchase these items go to: http://www.madcatz.com/

Overall: 8.8/10

Game Review: Arctic Shuffle (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:22:08 +0000

Platform: Iphone
Publisher: zinc Roe Inc.
Genre: Games
ESRB Rating: 9+

Arctic Shuffle is a game made by zinc Roe Inc. In the game you shoot penguins across levels, attempt to avoid obstacles, and try and land the little penguin on a designated target. In each level you have five penguins to use and you fire the penguins by putting your finger on them and them pulling back like with a slingshot. When you do this an arrow comes up that changes length depending on how far you pull back. In the game there are active obstacles like enemies but also potholes and trees that block your path. As a result you must shoot your penguins around these blockades and utilize the environment to get the penguin on the target.

On the whole Arctic Shuffle is a game that works well for what it is. It is an arcade style game that has a puzzle element involved. You can play levels in multiple different ways but sometimes unless you get timing and distance just right you won’t succeed. This is Arctic Shuffle’s downfall. While the game is fun sometimes the amount of precision needed to finish certain levels is near mind-blowing. This is partly due to the size of the area where you can pull back penguins, in that it’s too small, but also because I felt that you were “supposed” to be able to finish each level with only one penguin. However you are given five penguins per level and they stay on the field so you can use their carcasses to bump other penguins and get to the goal another way. On some later levels you need all five penguins but by that point I still only tried to use one.

With the entirety of Arctic Shuffle I feel like more could have done. For instance, the game feels very much like pinball to me and as I progressed in the game I yearned for something more than just flinging penguins across a level. Maybe a “bump” using the accelerometer would help change up the way the game plays. Also I would have liked more level progression on the whole. I took too long for the game to do different things. I know that there are 72 levels in the game but the first twenty or so didn’t hold my attention much. I would pop in for a quick level, realize that I could do it if I shot the penguin just right and then I would move on. The other thing that bothered me is that the penguins felt like they slid for just a little too long. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I felt the penguins should have stopped sooner and that they slid for one, maybe one and half, seconds too long. Finally the developer could have utilized the penguin theme more. As it stands they’re simply a skin for a ball.

All this being said Arctic Shuffle is definitely a fun game and fits into what I picture a lot of iPhone games being. It’s a quick distraction that doesn’t cost much and rewards a little play here and there. Maybe I’m more used to long involved games on a console so Arctic Shuffle felt a little plebian. However the game is only $3 and there is a lite version so you can try the game before you buy. So if you go in educated on what you’re going to get then you’ll be very happy. On top of all this the game’s music, the single song, is worth the price of admission. It vaguely reminded me of Mega Man on the NES and brought a smile to my face.

Overall: 6.9/10

Game Review: Madworld (Wii)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:05:47 +0000

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, or in Madworld’s case the cat is an enemy and the skinning involves the chainsaw attached to your arm and the implements of death surrounding you in each level. Madworld is all about being over the top. The game is full of hyper-violence, cursing, and gruesome deaths. If you’re faint of heart stay far away from Madworld as decapitations, disembowelments, and dismemberments are the norm. Madworld is a great addition to the Wii’s mature gaming library. There’s nothing like it on the system, not only because of the violence, but also because of the stunning black and white stylized graphics and smart controls implemented in the game. While Madworld will definitely stir up controversy the game stands on it’s own legs as a great game that will weather past the unkind words that it will stir up with concerned parents.

So first things first, the story of Madworld. In Madworld you play as Jack, and Ex-Marine that is dropped into a game show called Deathwatch. Deathwatch has taken over Jefferson Island and released a virus that would kill anyone who won’t kill someone for the vaccine. Your job is to get to the bottom of why Deathwatch is doing what it’s doing and also find out who is running Deathwatch so you can take them down. Jack has a grudge against the guys running Deathwatch and will do anything to get a chance to kill them. On the surface Madworld’s story seems like it’s just an excuse to do violent things but as you move through the game you’ll find that the story is told well and very fleshed out. It should be considering it’s penned by one of the people that wrote for the Final Fantasy series.

The gameplay is a little different than what I was expecting. In my mind I pictured this game like the Devil May Cry series, however it’s much more like Streets of Rage. Madworld is a beat-em up that works based on a 30-minute time limit and a points engine. The environments are full of signposts, barrels, spikes, and meat grinders; that you use to kill our enemies. As you kill enemies you rack up points that unlock more weapons, challenges, and eventually the boss battles. Madworld rewards you for killing enemies in the most sadistic way possible. The better you are at killing the faster you rack up points and unlock boss battles. On the whole the system works really well and changes things up at just the right moment to keep Madworld from becoming stale. The game also encourages that you explore the levels because the more you explore the more implements of death you’ll find to earn parts faster. While it may sound odd these levels have multiple tiers and things for you to do and going back and playing levels you’ll always find something you didn’t know you could do. This offers great replay value and rewards you when you go back into the levels and it takes you half the amount of time it did the first time for you to reach the boss battle.

Not only is the level design and gameplay top notch but the sound surrounding Madworld is some of the best on the Wii. For one thing Platinum games enlisted the voice acting talents of Greg Proops, from “Whose line is it anyway”, and John Dimaggio, who voiced Bender on Futurama. These guys do a fantastic job. They’re funny and there is enough commentator dialogue recorded that not a lot of the jokes repeat. In addition to great announcing there is also an original hip-hop soundtrack recorded for the game. I wasn’t a huge fan of many of the songs but it provides an appropriate background for Madworld. I’d recommended turning down the music though and listening to the announcers personally.

To round out Madworld’s package there are the controls. Madworld uses smart Wii control to utilize the controller for waggle and precise gestures. You punch and grab enemies with the A button, hit B to use your chainsaw and can center the camera with the C button. When you grab an enemy or pull out your chainsaw a quick motion with the Wii remote will toss or cut your enemies in the appropriate direction. The only time that waggle is used is when you are grabbed by enemies and it always finishes with a gesture with either the Wii remote or the nunchuck. What really surprised me was how accurate the gestures were in Madworld. I never missed a gesture because of the Wii controller, only my own mess-ups. The only dark spot in Madworld’s control scheme is the lock on mode and camera. The C button is used to center the camera and is the only way to move it. The game takes full control of the camera and sometimes it doesn’t give you a good view of your surroundings. To compound this problem you have a lock on also assigned to the C button that you have to press and hold to lock onto an enemy. However this lock on is only useful in Boss battles when you’re fighting one enemy at a time.

Sadly, Madworld doesn’t last forever. The game is over in about five to seven hours and only has four areas with three boss battles each. The game does offer a hard mode and some limited multiplayer challenges but once you finish the game you can only replay through the main mode again. While I would have loved for more extras I feel that Madworld has a very rounded out package and isn’t hurt too much by a lack of high replay value. For me the game is close to perfect just as it is. If you’re looking for an intelligent, fun, and adult Wii game you’ve come to the right place. Go out and buy Madworld, you can thank me later.

Overall: 8.7/10

Product Review: Rock Band Portable Drums Kit (Mad Catz)

barfern@bellsouth.net (Rodney "RODSMACK" Fernandez) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:58:57 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Manufacturer: Mad Catz
MSRP: $39.99 (USD)

A portable drum set doesn't sound like the most sensible idea, until you realize that everyone plays Rock Band and you're tired of hauling your drum set around. This one is kind of a 'no brainer", make something people love portable. The challenge here is making it respond well and be an acceptable substitute for the first party packaged drum set. We've all been burned by "portable" devices, accessories, and periphreals before, but yet we all still love the idea. Let's find out if Mad Catz's Portable Drum Kit for Rock Band/Rock Band 2 will make the grade and finally be a functioning and acceptable substitute for the first party packaged drum set.

The first thing you notice is the package. The package proves just how portable this drum set really is. If that doesn't sell you on "portable", how about 2 peice drum sticks? You virtually need little to no space to store, carry, display, or use this drum set. This is good because I am running out of space in my office for plastic instruments. This is a great idea and purchase for the younger gamer that maybe lives alone with very little "extra" living space. This drum set is ideal for college students, traveling business men, and all types of other gamers that like to bring the Rock Band party with them. The Rock Band Portable Drum Kit by Mad Catz passes the "portable" test, now let's see how it responds to a beating.

My first question with this portable drum set is, can it take a beating? I'm not trying to be funny, but when I play Rock Band/Rock Band 2 I hit the drum pads pretty hard. I even wonder sometimes if my full sized first party drum set can take the beating I'm dishing out. I don't want it to just take the beating, I want it to "respond" to the beating. This was a problem for the first party instrument manufacturers, and yet a third party manufacturer has managed to pull it off. I played this portable drum set as hard as I play my full sized set, and it responded to every touch of the stick. These drum pads are designed to withstand over 1 million strikes according to Mad Catz. The bass/kick drum pedal responded just as well, but as you would imagine is hard to keep still. There was not alot of options for Mad Catz and the bass/kick drum pedal. The bass/kick drum pedal is solid and sturdy, but without a bar to rest on like the full sized set it is prone to move around during those bass/kick drum heavy songs. I think I was more concerned about the table I was playing on, rather than the drum set or bass pedal. This portable drum set can take a beating for sure. You may lose some of the immersion or illusion by playing on a table, but hit the pads a little harder and you wont notice a thing. The fact that it's portable doesn't take away from the experience at all, if anything it makes it more accessible.

My second question with this portable drum set is, how hard is it to set up/tear down? Portable or not portable, if it takes too long to set up/tear down, then it defeats it's purpose. I am happy to say that the set up was minimal and took very little time and/or effort. This is what you want from a accessory like this, to be able to "plug and play" with instant gratification. Once again Mad Catz has managed to deliver in that sense with the Rock Band Portable Drum Kit. The drum pads are basically the tops of the full sized set, which are plugged into a square controller. All of the pads and bass/kick drum pedal plug into the square controller, and the controller plugs into yoour Xbox 360. All of the cords were more than long enough to play in an average to large living room, thus making it very easy to re-create the full sized drum set. The whole process took no more than a few minutes to fully set up and then start rocking out. On a perosnal note, I completely prefer the colored designs on the portable pads versus the colored rings on the full sized set. This is a personal preference, not my professional opinion.

Is $39.99 a good price for another drum set? It definitely is, especially if it's portable. This drum set is worth every cent of it's $39.99 price tag, even if you don't plan on using it as a portable drum set. The Rock Band Poratble Drum Kit by Mad Catz will function just fine as your main drum set that you play on. The fact that it's so portable just increases it's value in my opinion. There is the slight draw back of not having a mounted bass/kick drum pedal, but it's acceptable and expected from a portable unit. There are plenty of options to remedy the bass/kick drum issue. Let's be honest with ourselves. Even the mounted bass/kick drum pedal slides around and is not perfect. This drum set delivers on all accounts. This drum set is not only portable, but it can withstand a full sized drum set beating. .

The Rock Band Portable Drum Kit by Mad Catz is light weight, portable, cost effective, and works on virtually any flat surface. This is without a doubt a successful portable accessory, and it also delivers on functionality. It would make sense for us all to make this drum set our main drum set, but then what would you do with your Rock Band Custom Kick Drumhead - Elephant? Mounting these drums (this is not recommended by the manufacturer) makes for endless possibilities of making a replica Rock Band drum set. A great buy for those of you who do LAN parties/Local Multiplayer Rock Band competitions, and easy enough to travel from spot to spot. This is a must buy for bars that are doing Rock Band karoke, instead of traditional karoke. It doesn't matter if you're a broke college student or a traveling Rock Band DJ/Karoke Host, this is one drum set that everyone should own. Thankfully it's at a price that everyone can afford. Once again Mad Catz proves why they are the leaders in third party add ons, accessories, and periphreals.

Overall: 8/10

Product Review: Rock Band Fender Precision Bass Replica (Mad Catz)

barfern@bellsouth.net (Rodney "RODSMACK" Fernandez) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:30:43 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Manufacturer: Mad Catz
MSRP: $69.99 (USD)

I'm always excited to review gaming accessories, but this is one product I have been waiting to review. There are quite a few things that make this instrument stand out from the packaged instruments. Musicians that play Rock Band have found the only instrument/controller they are ever going to need. It would have been nice to have it wireless, but that is a small price in exchange for the split/dual strum bar. Did I mention that this instrument is compatible with the original Rock Band game? What more do you want from a third party instrument? Did I mention that it is a 84% replica of a Fender Precision Bass Guitar? I myself have owned and played a Fender Precision Bass Guitar, and I assure you this is an exact replica.

The packaging for this product is flashy enough to grab a consumer's eye, but does the product inside hold up as well? Let's find out. The Fender Precision Bass Replica definitely looks more like a real instrument than any other plastic instrument offered, first or third party. Everything from the tuning keys to the wider guitar strap helps you feel more like a real life rock star. The Start and Back buttons are mapped to the silver knob that is where the real Fender Precision Bass Guitar's vloume knob is. The "effects" are mapped to the other silver knob (the real life Tone knob), and the whammy bar is mapped to the last black knob. All of this layout works well to represent a real life Fender Precision Bass Guitar except the whammy bar, which was uncomfortable to reach and use during play.

The feature that I was the most excited about was the split strum bar. This is a feature I have been waiting to tryout ever since I first heard about this product. This would be the "make or break" feature for this product in my opinion. Real life bass players and anyone who plays Rock Band with their fingers will love the split strum bar. Those of you who like to strum with your wrist may like the "split" a bit less, but will still love the response and tension of this strum bar. This strum bar has way better response and tension than the first party packaged instruments. The strum bar on those first party instruments have always been one of my complaints, and Mad Catz has definitely fixed that problem. This premium-quality strum bar is said to last over 2.5 million cycles. They have even provided support for your thumb for you "pickers" and "pluckers", which is located above the strum bar and at the edge of the pick board. The D-Pad and thumb rest are both black to help blend in with the pick board, and to not be as much of an eye sore.

There is a small switch on the backside of the instrument to toggle between Rock Band and Rock Band 2. This great Fender Precision Bass Replica also doubles as a normal Rock Band guitar. This instrument has all of the normal features like the whammy bar, solo buttons, and the ability to play right or left handed. The Xbox 360 guide button is the only thing that stands out, or looks out of place on this replica. The fret buttons felt comfortable and depressed with ease. Turning the whammy knob was the only thing difficult to do while playing a song, but after a while I noticed I wasn't "missing" the knob as much. The whammy knob/bar is located in an unfamiliar place, which leads to missed notes. It's not something that will ruin your experience, but it will take some geting used to. The cord on the instrument is a decent length (10.8 feet), and is placed exactely where it's real life counter part's cord is placed. To be quite honest, this has officially become my instrument of choice for playing Rock Band or Rock Band 2.

Is $69.99 a little pricey for a USB/plastic instrument? Maybe, but this instrument is well worth that price. The Fender Precision Bass Replica may be perfect for the bass, but it also is a great second guitar for your Rock Band parties. This is accessory is a must have for anyone who throws Rock Band parties, or has alot of friends that come over and play. This instrument looks, feels, and plays every bit as well as packaged first party instruments. Solid construction and responsive controls make this a worthy purchase. You're only problem now is where to store all of your plastic instruments, but don't worry Mad Catz has a solutuion for that too.

I have only two complaints with this instrument/controller (the whammy knob and the fact that it's wired), and neither out weigh the positive features it offers. The split strum bar is a great addition, and should be considered being added by the first party manufacturers. The strum bar's tension and response were also a nice standard that others should follow. I know it's hard to sell people on another instrument for their collection, especially if it's wired, but this one is well worth having in your collection. Have I mentioned that I like this guitar more than the one bundled with the game? Did I mention it's compatible with Rock Band and Rock Band 2? Did I mention it has a split strum bar for two finger bass playing action?!? Well worth it's price and a great addition to your Rock Band/Rock Band 2 game, the Fender Precision Bass Replica earns it's praise from this gamer/musician.

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Puzzle/Card Games
ESRB Rating: Everyone

New kinds of games are rare, if not non-existent, these days. All the respective game genres have been well established since the original Playstation and haven’t really changed much in the last ten years. However, the rise of hybrid games has added some much needed variety to the video games. One of the more popular hybrid games has been Puzzle Quest. In the game the developers crossed a Bejeweled match three game and an RPG quest. The gameplay worked well and offered a new and enjoyable change from the usual. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel but with lots of personality and by combining gameplay types, a la Puzzle Quest, it seems fresh and fun.

In Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure you play as Henry Hatsworth, an old treasure hunter who goes spelunking and finds a golden hat. This hat is part of a suit worn by a man simply named The Gentleman. He used his suit to rule peacefully and seal away a chaotic world known as the Puzzle Realm. When Hatsworth puts on the hat he gains access to and simultaneously releases the Puzzle Realm and it’s creatures. From then on Hatsworth displays typical 2D action platforming on the top screen and a puzzle on the bottom screen. You can switch between these two games simply by pressing the X button. When switching from the action to puzzle the action even stops allowing you to focus on the puzzle at hand. What results from this odd setup is a game that has the Treasure hunting of Wario, the moves of Mega Man X, and the puzzle gameplay of Tetris attack (aka Panel de Pon). This seemingly odd mixture works well and is held together by the game’s style.

The game takes place around the time of the 1920’s. Monocles and plaid hats are in fashion along with English accents and Tea Time. Yet even though it seems like the 1920’s there are still massive robots and energy guns. It’s an odd combination but the humor and bright characters fill the game world. One of the things that Hatsworth has in spades is interesting characters. There’s a wife who uses her Husband as machine guns and attacks you from the top of a wedding cake. There’s also a pirate who looks like Fabio who attacks you with pelvic thrusts and musical notes. The characters are bizarre but are full of humor and wit. When you battle them they are well done as well because their battles span not only the action on the top screen but in many instances the action falls to the bottom screen as well. For example, when battling the Fabio look alike if you don’t hit his music notes on the top screen they get stuck in your puzzle and cause you trouble when trying to match pieces.

I may be getting ahead of myself talking about boss battles. The action in Hatsworth takes place on both screens and overall the combination of puzzle and action works well but there are some rough edges I wish had gotten worked out. The first thing is the action on the top screen. It’s a little boring sometimes. The enemies on the top screen are varied throughout the game and every other level seems to introduce a new enemy but they only thing the game has you do is kill enemies and then move them out of the puzzle on the bottom of the screen. This mechanic works but it can get repetitive throughout long play sessions. What’s also annoying is that the enemies on the top screen love to gang up on you. In the early going of the game there usually aren’t enough enemies to matter but as the game goes on there are too many enemies to keep track of. You have to upgrade Hatsworth to get anywhere in the game. It doesn’t help things that checkpoints only occur once you clear a room. As a result you may get to the end of a room and enter one of the typical arena battles and die. Then you have to do a whole room over again which can take fifteen minutes. This could simply have been fixed if a checkpoint occurred before these, ‘kill everyone to move on’ battles. Finally if you get hit by an enemy be prepared to get hit a second time. I found that most enemies can hit you twice before you can escape from them. In most games you’re given one to two seconds to escape but in Hatsworth that time is cut in half. It makes the game frustrating in many places, it’s also disheartening that upgrading Hatsworth doesn’t make as much of a difference as you might like.

In contrast with the fairly straightforward action on the DS’ top screen on the bottom screen the puzzling is responsive and quick. Enemies turn into different blocks so the gameplay changes as the game goes on and you’re not regulated to the same gameplay throughout the game. With the bottom screen you earn energy that powers Hatsworth’s gun, heals him, gives him special abilities, and also lets him earn extra lives. All this is nice but sometimes I felt like I leaned on this second game play type as a crutch to support the difficult main gameplay. The music that’s on the bottom screen is great too. It’s a cross between classy piano tunes and metal. It even reminds me of the soundtrack in Jet Grind Radio. To top all this off it’s available online for free. Download it if you want to give it a whirl, it’s definitely worth it.

Even with it’s rough edges I enjoyed Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. I did find the game frustratingly difficult and it’s refusal to slow down in giving you more and more to deal with to an almost impossible degree also didn’t help. However the game is still fun and makes up for these failing with its glowing personality, replayability through secret paths, and an unlockable Gentleman difficulty. I would have like to see some changes to make the game a little more manageable but for a first outing Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is an encouraging first game. As Hatsworth would say, ‘Good Show!’

Overall: 8.0/10

Game Review: Sway (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:36:18 +0000

Platform: Iphone
Publisher: Illusion Labs
Genre: Action/Adventure
ESRB Rating: 4+

New game platforms and ways of gaming are always exciting for the new kinds of games that they bring to the table. But sometimes a game can meld what was great about old games and mold it to fit a new game platform. Sway is that kind of game. It combines a new control scheme that only the Iphone can offer coupled with old school challenge that will have even veteran gamers sweating. Even the story is old school minimalistic. You start out the game as Lizzie the lizard. Her friend the wizard blew apart their kingdom and it’s up to her to save her friends. Sound like saving the familiar princess? To save the proverbial princess you will swing through environments that have been broken apart, just like in the story.

To play Sway you hold the Iphone horizontally and place two thumbs on either bottom corner of the screen. Each thumb represents one of the arms of the characters in the game. The right thumb represents the right arm and the left thumb the left. You must have one thumb on the screen at a time to make sure that an arm is still holding onto the level. If you release both thumbs you will fall to your doom. Pretty simple on the whole. What makes Sway interesting is that to move you rock your thumb back and forth in a U shaped pattern on the touch screen. This makes your chosen character “sway” back and forth and allows you to move through the level. Originally this method of controlling Lizzie and her friends was difficult but as I got used to playing and got more characters I was able to find a character that matched my play style and I became much more comfortable with the control scheme.

The controls make navigating the game’s beautiful, colorful, and creative environments a snap. And what a beautiful game Sway is. The environments are colorful and not static feeling at all. The game’s levels oddly even remind me of some of Sonic’s earlier levels like Green Hills Zone. In addition the game’s music is easy on the ears and I found myself humming the game’s main tune for long periods after I played the game.

What’s sad is that Sway isn’t very long if you simply want to finish it. The game has only 14 levels and seven characters to unlock. There isn’t even a penalty for death, other than starting you back at a checkpoint. So if you’re stubborn enough, like me, you can power through most levels even if it takes thirty minutes. But while completing the game won’t take you very long getting medals on every world will. There are coins that you can collect in each world and to get a gold medal you have to collect all the coins and finish the level in a set amount of time. Theses medals will challenge every gamer muscle you have as they involve that you creatively get through levels as well as use precision and building up momentum. So while the game doesn’t have a lot of meat for simply finishing it, completing it will take you a long time.

Sway is a great example of what Iphone gaming can be. It has an old school feel with a control scheme that can only be accomplished on the Iphone. For only $4 the game lasts for five to six hours and stays entertaining and challenging throughout. I highly recommend that you give Sway a shot so we can get more levels and that the developer continues to take more chances in it’s game development. I would love to see more games like Sway or even an entirely different game that makes as much great use of the all the Iphone’s varied capabilities as Sway does.

Overall: 8.3/10

Game Review: Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:06:32 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: D3 Publishers of America
Genre: Puzzles and Cards
ESRB Rating: E 10+

The original Puzzle Quest is one of my favorite games for the DS. I picked it up on it’s first day of release and remember spending many happy gaming hours plowing through the main quest, capturing creatures, and taking down Lord Bane. The original Puzzle Quest took place in a medieval setting but this new Puzzle Quest decided to change locales. In this version of Puzzle Quest you’ll be exploring Space rather than a medieval countryside. The game has also changed styles as well. You gain ship parts rather than spells and play on a hexagonal board rather than a large square one. You’ll still match mines, this game’s skulls, and collect intel, experience; the core Puzzle Quest experience is still here. However, the game doesn’t feel nearly as exciting as it did the first time which is a result of long load times, a seemingly empty universe, and a battle system that is boring compared to the original.

The first issue with Puzzle Quest: Galactrix are the long load times. When I played the original Puzzle Quest on the DS I felt that it was the definitive version and that it was made for the DS. When I play Puzzle Quest: Galactrix I feel that the game was ported down from XBLA. Every time you do anything in the game like traveling from universe to universe you are hit with a five second load time. This doesn’t seem like a long time when you’re waiting for the bus when it takes a grand total of three load screens to get to one battle you’ll quickly get annoyed by the load times. I think that it would have been better if Puzzle Quest: Galactrix had been simplified rather than maintain these awful load times. Going along with these load times though is a large universe for you to explore. To get from one place to another you first have to hack the Leapgates that connect each galaxy. This requires matching a certain number of colored gems, in a certain order, in a certain amount of time. Initially this mini game is quite fun but it gets tiresome after a while because you have to do it every time you want to travel to a new star system. Alongside Leapgate hacking there is mining. Mining provides you with different materials that you can use to make new ships, items, and also sell at the marketplace to make money.

What’s strange about Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is that the game offers lots of customization, quests, and items to collect; but the game feels empty. It may have been the space theme or the drab music but each galaxy in Puzzle Quest: Galactrix fails to make you feel like you are a part of a busy galaxy. To add to this there are interface issues with the touch screen on the Nintendo DS. It would seem that piloting through menus should be a breeze when you merely have to tap on a location to fly there but in Puzzle Quest: Galactrix something was lost in translation. You can’t simply tap a menu icon, you have to tap it and hope that the game reads your tap correctly. One out of every three times I tried to choose a menu option it would register the tap on another portion of the screen. I thought that it might be my DS but I tried it in another DS and the game was the same way. It’s pretty sad when a developer can’t get touch screen menus correct.

But all these things could have been overlooked if battles were fun, let’s face it what most of us enjoyed in the first Puzzle Quest were the battles. The computers cheated like crazy but the game had a certain luck factor where you could clear the entire board and broken moves were the name of the game. This game type gave Puzzle Quest a certain charm that has been entirely lost in this game. The game is very well balanced and the computer tends not to cheat as much in this game. While that might sound like a good thing to most people out there, it lessens the excitement value of playing Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. It doesn’t feel like you’re participating in a crazy battle but rather that you’re playing a quiet game of chess. And just like that game of chess this game requires lots of strategy. Even the most basic battle will give you trouble in this game if you aren’t properly equipped.

In total Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is less than the sum of its parts. It has a large galaxy to explore but it feels empty and load times hamper the experiences. The battle system has been largely refined but the game feels less hectic and less fun. The types of puzzles in regards to mining and Leapgate hacking are done well but they confuse the issue of whether this game is about battling or exploring. It seemed to me that mining and Leapgate hacking took up more time than battling, which is a shame. I was really looking forwards to Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and I did have some fun with the game but it didn’t live up to its predecessor, not by a light year.

Overall: 6.5/10 [As a note to DSi Owners, the larger screen makes a HUGE difference for the sensitivity and accuracy of the touch screen]

Game Review: Dapple (iPhone)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:51:34 +0000

Platform: Iphone
Publisher: Streaming Colour Studios
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB Rating: 4+

If it seems like the App Store is full of Puzzle games for the Iphone and Ipod Touch it’s because puzzle games work so well on the platform. Puzzle games usually aren’t about quick movements and precision of input is not usually a huge factor because of this. With so many puzzle titles out there to choose from a puzzle game has to do something particularly well to be noticed by the Iphone and Ipod Touch gaming community. One can only hope that Dapple does just that. Dapple is a game where you have a paintbrush that changes the colors of paint splotches on the game board. Your goal is to match four or more of these to clear out the paint. To add to the mix, the color of your brush changes each time you move. Dapple’s base game mechanics is deceptively simple but has multiple layers to it and is one of the best puzzle games yet available for the Iphone and Ipod Touch.

To start with Dapple is a game with bright graphics and a great soundtrack. The colors of the paint splotches are bright and easily distinguishable from one another. In addition each one is a definitive shape. This becomes important in Dapple’s colorblind mode. It’s not every day that a developer takes the time to include a mode for those who are colorblind and it’s great that they thought to include this group. Because Dapple is a game focused on colors its great that the developers thought of a way to make sure those usually turned off by color based puzzle games could participate too. What’s also great about Dapple is it’s soundtrack. With most Iphone and Ipod Touch games I’d rather turn off the music but Dapple has a couple of songs that it cycles through as you play and all of them are wonderful. The songs could almost be used in a Zen soundtrack and work as an effective background in Dapple.

But back to the gameplay in Dapple, not only are you going to be mixing paint colors to make matches, you’ll also be trying to clear brown on the board. As you get to higher levels certain tiles become trapped in brown goo that stops them from being able to change colors, and thus be cleared. To clear a brown tile you have to change the tiles around it to the same color so you can match it out. To help with this there are also items that you can match with board clearing effects. These two items are the Diamond and the Rain Drop. The diamond clears all the tiles on the board with the same color and the Rain Drop destroys the gems immediately surrounding it. These two items help clear out the brown tiles. These items are also useful for performing combos and board clearing effects but by and large I found that this happened more by luck than my own skill.

When I first started playing Dapple I had a hard time with the color-mixing mechanic. There is a quick reference guide that you can pull up at any time you’re playing but as time went on I found that it was unnecessary and that I was getting better at matching the colors. You can also tap a tile and get a preview for what color it’s going to change to. Dapple is the kind of game that is easy to pick up, but hard to master. It’s the essence of a great puzzler. In addition to the classic mode where the game just gets harder and harder there is also a two-player mode where you pass the game between two people and a timed mode to test your reflexes. Dapple is a great game and at a $5 price point it’s a highly recommended game. If you’re looking for a quality puzzle game look no further than Dapple. It will quickly become the most played game on your Iphone or Ipod Touch.

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: Skate 2 (PlayStation 3)

nrobbins@the10k.com (The DCD) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 03:47:49 +0000

Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: Activision
Genre: Skateboarding/Sports
ESRB Rating: Teen

Of course there was going to be a Skate 2. C’mon, Captain Obvious, figure it out. The first one not only sold relatively well, but also put the Tony Hawk franchise so far in its place that a new edition didn’t even come out last year. So Black Box Studios, before their shutdown due to recession, cranked out a good sequel for us, chock full of more skateboarding goodness, online and off. It has its fair share of problems, but none of them are enough to knock you off the board.

In the game, you’re a skateboarder that’s been out of the scene for a while, and you’re just being reintroduced to the basics. It’s not much of a backstory, but it sets up the framework to get the hang of the game’s controls. You don’t really press any of the face buttons to execute tricks here. Instead, like the first game, you utilize the right analog stick on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions to control your tricks. You control your movement with the left analog stick, so you can cruise, grind to a halt and turn with ease. The right stick, however, requires more precision. To perform kickflips and other moves, you have to follow a joystick procedure, like the fighting moves in the Street Fighter series. Don’t worry, though. After a few rounds within the city, you’ll get a hang of them. The controls are intuitive and very easy to learn.

It’s mastering them that’s the trick, and Skate 2’s main campaign takes you through various challenges to work your stuff. As you progress through the open world, you’ll find ample opportunities to show off what you can do to the locals. The AI-driven skateboarders aren’t the smartest in the world (they constantly trick, even if it’s into a brick wall), but they are admirers of your stuff. You’ll also avoid pesky pedestrians that litter all over the place (damn, people, learn to use a trash can) and traffic that can put an end to your ride right away. Fortunately, crashing is just as much fun as skateboarding, thanks to the addition of Thrasher’s Hall of Meat. Grind enough off and you’ll soon be earning kudos for your damage. It’s almost like you want to hurt yourself. Damn, I didn’t expect to be turning emo anytime soon…

As for presentation, it’s just as good as the original, if not a little better. Skateboarding through a living, breathing city is nice, and the music is fine tuned to fit the skateboarding motif. You’ll find a varied soundtrack here, and if it’s not your speed, substitute it with your own tunes. The sound effects are good, but we could’ve done without all of the skateboarder lingo. Cool, we know you’re a dude, but you don’t have to keep re-emphasizing you’re a dude. That’s like asking for proof from the pastor of his godhood AFTER he’s married you to your wife.

Along with an offline campaign, you also have various challenges available through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. You can set up trick points, “own” particular spots throughout the city, and take on others. Furthermore, you can also skate through online co-op with a fellow shredder, if you feel like tearing up the streets.

The only downside to Skate 2 is the ability to get off your board. It’s vital in certain points of the game, such as when you need to set up a dumpster or remove a gate to get past it. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but you’d think that Black Box would’ve done something with the game’s controls in this mode. Walking around feels as sluggish as walking around in molasses – and you’re on city streets here, people.

Nevertheless, Skate 2 is a worthwhile sequel. It’s not too much changed from the original, and not all the changes make sense, but overall you’ll find this to be more fun and not so much a grind – even though it physically has grinds. Talk about your metaphors. Dude!

In a Nutshell: There are problems, but overall Skate 2 is definitely worth shredding with.

Overall: 8/10

Game Review: Major League Baseball 2K9 (Xbox 360)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Take 2 Interactive/2K Sports
Genre: Sports/Baseball
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Baseball season is finally here, and although some teams are doing better than others (the Yankees can’t even win a game in their new stadium – how’s that for irony?), it’s always great to see an old ball game play out through nine innings. With that, we have two new Major League Baseball games to choose from. There’s MLB 09: The Show, Sony’s latest offering for the PlayStation 3, and it’s a masterpiece. Everything that should be balanced in the game is, from the gameplay to the visuals to the presentation. Then there’s 2K Sports’ Major League Baseball 2K9, the company’s main exclusive sports title. It’s not as good as Sony’s, due to a few lackluster issues, but those looking for a good ball game will have one on their hands, if they can overlook a couple of items.

These couple of items are small bugs. Granted, the game was overflowing with them upon its initial release a month ago, but a few updates have since fixed those. There are a couple of minor things, however, such as the inability to pick up a fly ball in the outfield if it’s all the way back by the fence or the ridiculous amount of home runs you can rack up in a game with an even-less-than-average team. (When did the Cubs become good again? Anyone?) These problems aside, however, Major League Baseball 2K9 still clicks.

The gameplay is intuitive and fun. The game’s controls work primarily with analog stick actions. You can pull off different pitches using a Street Fighter-esque control twisting system, and the execution system is pretty slick, with a highlighted circle changing color for accuracy. Batting is simple, using the stick to control back and forward swinging or pressing a button to simply bunt. Then there’s fielding. Aside from a few ball retrieval issues, you’ll have no problem flinging the ball to home plate to stop a play or trying to get the double play in as little time as possible.

Visually, Major League Baseball 2K9 isn’t as sharp as MLB 09 The Show, but it still holds up. Players are nicely represented here, with nice touches in detail and animation. The fields look just like the real thing, right down to Boston’s Green Monster. The game runs very smoothly, with no lag and a nice TV-style presentation. As for audio, you’ve got Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips calling a good game, along with some decent music selections, great crowd noise and authentic baseball-esque effects that do the trick.

A lot of the features that were in MLB 2K8 are back again, but we’re not complaining. Franchise makes a return, letting you control a ball club as they shoot for the Pennant. It’s deep and involving, and certainly more fun than the tiresome MLB Front Office Manager. Single exhibition games are also available, along with playoff and home run derby modes. Multiplayer matches, tournaments and season modes are available through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, and are lots of fun for baseball enthusiasts. There could’ve been a little more variety and maybe some mini-games, but overall there’s enough for fans to enjoy.

Like I said, if I really had to pick between the two, MLB 09 The Show would take the trophy for me. But that doesn’t mean MLB 2K9 is lackluster. It could use a little ironing out, along with a few touch-ups, but overall it plays a fine game of baseball. Pick it up and get ready to play ball!

In a nutshell: It’s got nothing on Sony’s game this year, but MLB 2K9 is still a solid baseball offering for all concerned.

Overall: 8.0/10

Game Review: X-Blades (Xbox 360)

tdacrash@yahoo.com (Josh "Crash" Sharp) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:30:07 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: SouthPeak
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Grab your gun blades and throw on a g-string, it's time to battle the dark forces. Ayumi, a half naked treasure hunter, fights her way through an abandoned temple and ruins encountering many different types of vicious creatures, in hopes of vanquishing the dark force she let loose on a once peaceful world. Your quest will present you with two types of battles. You'll either be taking on a barage of different enemies coming at you from every direction, which can become very repetitive after awhile. Or, a boss fight that will test your skill but mostly your endurance. Trust me when I say this, you will find yourself repeating previous stages to stock up on souls to regenerate your health just to make it through these boss battles.

To destroy your enemies, you will use three different attacks. Hack and slash away with your blades, your guns for long range attacks and magic spells. Certain enemies are immune to particular elemental magic spells and even some to the steel of your blades. So, you will have to learn which enemies are more or less susceptible to certain attacks. Just use common sense and you'll be just fine; fire against ice, light vs dark, etc. As you slay your enemies, you will collect souls which can be used to purchase new and more powerful spells and skills. Once again, you will be finding yourself revisiting previous stages to stock up on souls just to be able to purchase more powerful spells and skills. After clearing a stage, you can also uncover artifacts by smashing old vases and statues that will upgrade your skills as well.

The overall graphics and detail of each stage of X-Blades is quite impressive however, very much the same as you progress from stage to stage. There is also a lack of these stages as you end up revisiting the same ones, just with different lighting (Day time to evening). So, expect much of the same as far as your surroundings go.

As far as the story goes, it's nothing memorable that will keep you wondering what will happen next to your heroine. Girl unleashes darkness upon a peaceful world, girl fights her way through the dark forces, girl rectifies her mistake and peace is restored.

If your a fan of the hack and slash genre, X-Blades will be a great pick up for you. Simple story with some nice looking graphics, tons of video game baddies to slice through and lots of button mashing. However, I recommend this title as a rent if your looking for a good game to blow through in a single weekend for some extra gamerscore.

Overall: 5.5/10

Game Review: Phantasy Star Portable (PSP)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Platform: PSP
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Role Playing
ESRB Rating: Teen

My first experience with the Phantasy Star series was when it was released on the Gamecube as Phantasy Star Online. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a network adapter so I was relegated to playing offline with a friend. As we all know that game was meant to be played online but by playing with a friend I still got to experience many of the later areas of the title. Fast forward to Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP. In lue of an online mode the focus in Phantasy Star Portable is squarely set on a single player experience that still maintains the battle and class system of the previous Phantasy Star Online titles. While the battle and class systems still work well the story and motivation in Phantasy Star Online doesn’t seem like it’s all there without a world to explore with other players. Phantasy Star Portable makes a valiant effort to create a game that you’ll want to play alone but I still felt like the game should have an online world component aside from local Wi-Fi play.

To begin with Phantasy Star Portable plays great. It’s clear that this game isn’t watered down from its console counterparts and it even implements key features like the game’s ‘palette’ to allow players to quickly switch between weapons as well as items. Not only is there a great control scheme but also the amount of items, weapons, and class types to explore is truly staggering. Even after playing for hours on end I still found more and more items and weapons for my character to carry. It’s great that there are so many items to carry but the gameplay within Phantasy Star Portable struggled to keep my attention.

The way Phantasy Star Portable works is that you select your party, select a mission, land on a world and kill everything while collecting keys. On the whole this is the extent of what Phantasy Star Portable does and while it works the constant grinding to up your characters stats as well as the repeated Free Missions really wore on me after a while. Without the added bonus of being able to go ‘online’ with my character as in past games I didn’t feel there was any reason to push my character to the next level. To make up for this lack of online play the developers did try and implement a story in Phantasy Star Portable. The idea is that an evil race called the SEED was banished in a great war and they have somehow reemerged to terrorize the galaxy again. Inside this plot there are multiple plots surrounding your sidekicks and other characters but most felt either too overdone or too underdone. Not only that but the characters talk your ear off, after a while I simply wanted to skip all the text and inane dialogue that was being thrown my way.

Aside from the basic grinding gameplay and story there isn’t much else to hold your attention in Phantasy Star Portable. Unless you have multiple friends who own this game and you can quest with them you’ll find little to hold you over past the game’s main quest. It’s a real shame that there was no way to continue Phantasy Star’s online world as it’s what really holds these games together. I respect the developers for attempting to graft Phantasy Star’s gameplay over to a single player game but it doesn’t work nearly as well as it could. If the game was a little less repetitious and less focused on grinding at least it would have moved quicker and been more interesting. At least the game looks pretty and is short on load times. But if that’s all I can say positively about this game then we’re in trouble.

If you’re a die-hard Phantasy Star fan then you can’t go wrong with this game. Phantasy Star has been successfully transferred over the PSP with all it’s shortcomings and positives. If you’re new to the franchise this may be a good stepping off point, as it’s hard to play Phantasy Star online on other systems with limited capabilities. But if you’re like me and simply looking for a good third person adventure game on your PSP I would suggest you look elsewhere.

Overall: 6.5/10

Game Review: Mercenaries 2 (PlayStation 3)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:21:47 +0000

Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: EA
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Rating: Teen

You have to love it when a game leans heavily on the words “guilty pleasure”. There’s nothing like having the power of a warrior at your fingertips without any of the consequences. That’s been the case with several over-the-top action games, and that continues to be the case with Mercenaries 2: World In Flames, Pandemic’s follow-up to its hit LucasArts game for Xbox and PlayStation 2.

This time around, the Mercenaries have a personal vendetta on their hands. They put their trust into a Venezuelan gun for hire shooting for the front office. When he turns on them and tries to kill them out of the deal, they escape and begin to put together a plan based on revenge. This includes gunning down members of his army, taking over vehicles, trashing weapons facilities and teaming up with high-dollar organizations to get more power to take him down once and for all. “No one shoots her in the ass and gets away with it!”

Like the first Mercenaries game, World In Flames takes place in an open-world environment. Although you have pre-set missions and the means to reach places in a hurry (using the assistance of a helicopter pilot and various vehicles), you can go wherever you want and raise a ruckus with machine guns and other weapons of choice. As you get deeper into the game, you’ll gain access to bigger resources, including a wily pilot that wants nothing more than to drop a gigantic explosion on terrorist forces. Hey, the effects of such an attack are actually fun to watch, so we don’t mind.

As you proceed with bringing down Solano (the Venezuelan scumbag in question), you’ll gain access to these better resources and become a better mercenary. Of course, since you work on a job-for-hire basis, you can change your loyalty if you feel the company you’re working for isn’t doing it for you. This freedom of choice is nice to have, but it isn’t without consequences.

Mercenaries’ jump to the next-generation platforms isn’t exactly flawless. There are a number of bugs present throughout the game, including several glitches and frame skips that are questionable in the heat of battle. Overall, though, it’s a decent looking engine, with lots of explosions to endure, neat lighting effects and plenty of open territory to do your damage in. The sound is great, too, with lots of running dialogue, decent music cuts and enough damaging war effects to rumble your speakers.

As for the story, ehh, could be better. It’s your basic vendetta tale, without any real twists and turns to keep you fully involved. But at least it’s fun, so you’ll have a good time chipping away at Solano’s empire. We just wish there was a little more challenge in taking down his men. Some of these guys are mindless idiots, driving right up to you even while you’re shooting at them from point blank range. We’re talking bullets going through the window and they’re still driving up. “Eh, they won’t hurt us, right?” WRONG, BUCKO!

There could be more variety to the missions, but at least it’s fun to blow stuff up. There’s nothing more satisfying than watching an entire building come down in a matter of seconds after dropping a few explosives inside. The same goes for vulnerable gas tankers, which explode in a pretty ball of flame with enough impact. Our favorite part of the game, though, is the tug of war you have with tank drivers. There’s a minor struggle with them, but soon you defeat them and then take over their vehicle to deliver some personal damage. Sweet.

Best of all, you can work with a friend in the game’s online co-op mode. Teaming up with a fellow merc to dish out twice the damage is awesome, especially when you’re working with someone that knows what they’re doing. If you don’t, well, at least you can pick up the slack and take out some of the frustration on them.

Yeah, the glitches get in the way. Yeah, the AI sucks. Yeah, the story could’ve used more involvement. But then you have the guilty pleasure factor working for you and all is well. Mercenaries 2 is a mindless ball of fun, a game where you can jump in, thrash a town, and then walk right back out feeling a sense of gleeful pride. Besides, any game that uses a sing-along such as “Oh No You Didn’t” can’t be taken seriously. It just can’t.

NOTE: A new Total Payback pack is now available for the game, adding new characters and cross-region support for co-op. We believe that Obama also makes his debut in the game, so you can really put that “Yes We Can” slogan to physical use. Bring it, you sissy Venezuelan soldiers!

Despite a few bothersome bugs and lacking AI, you’ll love to leave this World in Flames with the Mercenaries.

Overall: 7.5/10

Game Review: Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection (Xbox 360)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:14:23 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

Sega is one of those few game companies out there that continuously pays tribute to its past game franchises. House of the Dead just got a new entry for the Wii, Sonic is continuously revisited whether we want it or not, Golden Axe just got an unnecessary (but still moderately enjoyable) mature-rated revamp, and several Genesis classics are coming back to XBLA and PSN sometime over the year. In the middle of all this, Sega once again pays heavy tribute to its 16-bit days with Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, its latest compilation of unforgettable classics. You’ll find 40 16-bit endeavors to enjoy here, along with a few bonus goodies that’ll have you yelling “SEGA!” in no time flat.

The collection itself couldn’t be more diverse. There’s literally something for everyone here, no matter what you enjoy. Beat em up fan? The entire Golden Axe trilogy (including the never-released Golden Axe III) are here, along with all three Streets of Rage games (yes, including the lame third one). Platforming geek? The Sonic the Hedgehog games are well worth your time. RPG nut? There’s the Phantasy Star saga in its entirety, even though you need to do a little work to unlock the first one. Kids’ gamer? Flicky and Alex Kidd might be enjoyable, even if it’s only for a little while. There’s other gems here as well, including Shinobi III, the unappreciated Dynamite Headdy, and the bullet-riddled Super Thunder Blade.

All of these games have been loyally reemulated to take advantage of a new 720p visual format. Now, just because the games have officially gone high-def doesn’t mean they don’t look like their Genesis counterparts. In fact, they look just as crisp as they did back in the day, even though the equipment you’re playing them on may have been upgraded to higher standards. The menu system is easy to navigate, with buttons easily taking you through menu options, history and other bonus goodies. The interviews look conveniently aged, but that’s fine, as you’ll probably just watch them once and move on anyway. The music is as good as you remember, whether you’re blaring Shinobi III’s “Inner Darkside” or jamming to Sonic 2’s opening theme all over again.

But how do they play? Remarkably well. Most of these games are a lot of fun to play, just like you used to remember. If you never played Genesis games, you’ll never find a better introduction to the system than you will here. There are also a slew of unlockables to discover throughout the game. Along with interview clips, you can also earn Achievements and Trophies by doing simple little tasks, like defeating the first boss in Sonic 2 with two players or talking to a fellow dolphin in the first Ecco the Dolphin game. Really, they’re that easy. There are also arcade and Master System games here, including Golden Axe Warrior, Zaxxon, Congo Bongo (!) and Space Harrier, complete with “snap-back” joystick control. (That’s where you automatically go back to the center of the screen after letting go.)

All this for $30. Thirty bucks? That’s a hell of a deal! You’re getting a compilation of Sega favorites for less than $1 apiece. Considering you can’t even find the original Phantasy Star games anymore without paying an arm and a leg, that’s a great bargain. However, the collection isn’t quite perfect. Alex Kidd? Really? There’s nothing wrong with Miracle World, but Enchanted Castle is a weak adventure. We also could’ve done without a few others here, and could’ve easily replaced them with quality favorites that are sorely missing. Hello? Toe Jam and Earl? Gunstar Heroes? NO GUNSTAR?! What the fuh?! Also, why no Outrun or After Burner? Aren’t they just as classic as Space Harrier?

Never mind that small complaint. At the end of the day, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is a well-done compilation that will have you playing for hours on end. It leaves hope that a sequel will follow with even more obscure games and bonus goodies. For now, though, revel in the 16-bit past. Genesis still does.

It’s not the “Ultimate” Genesis Collection like we wanted, but when it comes to a collection that evokes joyful 16-bit memories, Genesis does.

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: Moon (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:12:13 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Mastiff
Genre: Action, Adventure
ESRB Rating: Teen

Moon is Renegade Kid’s follow up to it’s 2007 game Dementium: The Ward. Moon has been highly anticipated because it’s a technical marvel on the DS and it represents a rare breed of game as well, the FPS. For some reason the FPS has never been very popular on the DS. When Metroid Prime Hunters released it proved that touch controls could work but not many companies have taken up the torch and decided to further explore how the DS could do a deeper FPS. Now Renegade Kid has decided to bridge this gap on the Nintendo DS and Moon is their second attempt on the DS. Dementium: The Ward had some nitpicks that kept it from greatness and it seems that Renegade Kid has ironed them out and attempted to polish Moon to a spacey shine. On the whole Moon is a fantastic title, there are some minor gripes with variety and length but neither of these things keeps Moon from being a title that every DS owner should try.

For one thing Moon has a cookie cutter story. You land on the moon, something happens and it’s your job to find out what it was and how it got there. Eventually aliens become involved and you have to fight them. While the base story in Moon doesn’t sound very interesting Renegade Kid did something different with the game structure. Rather than giving the player an entirely open world to travel in they sectioned Moon up into 20 or so missions. By doing this they were able to provide story in between missions and it helped fill in. Also in each stage there are kiosks that you can find and examine to read logs and various other source material that helps round out the game’s story. At first I wasn’t intrigued but I continued to read the kiosks and the story really picked up at the end. It’s the kind of story that will have everyone cheering for the main hero.

Besides these kiosks there are three alien artifacts hidden in each mission. If you collect them you unlock secret VR missions. I didn’t find them worth the extra effor though. They’re a cross between training levels and survival battles. I found that after completing the game I had no use for them because they didn’t offer any further information on the game or it’s story. That’s a problem with Moon, once you finish the main game there isn’t much left to do other than go back and play through the game on a harder difficulty.

So while Moon has a fairly interesting story and well-paced episodic gameplay it does suffer from a lack of diversity. Once you play through the opening couple of missions you’ll find that the rest of the game plays in the exact same manner. You are introduced to a new area where you are given the world map. The map shows waypoints that you must get to and once you arrive you fight a boss. Along the way there are side paths where you can explore the level further for health and ammo upgrades but these side paths are clearly marked on the map. In addition you can use RAD, also known as a Remote Access Droid, to explore the air ducts in the level and open doors. You also get to travel from place to place in a dune buggy but you’re limited from running from point A to point B. This is a serious problem in Moon. Because you are placed on a very linear path throughout the game I found that I never got to do much exploring and I felt that the game was over simplified.

Renegade Kid did change some things when coming from Dementium. In Dementium you were limited to how many times you saved and your ammunition was also finite. Both these things withstanding enemies respawned infinitely. Moon contains the exact opposite extreme, enemies don’t respawn, ammo is plentiful, and you are allowed to save as often as you want. This left me with almost no reason to die. When I was just outside a boss chamber I could easily back track to the last save point because no enemies would respawn. I could go and get fully healed and then come back to defeat the boss. The basic setup of Moon encourages you not to die. It left me feeling like I wasn’t being challenged by the main game enough. Aside from these minor quibbles with the gameplay Moon kept my attention and I had a great time. I just felt that the game could use a more creative touch. Allow me to explore and give me more to do and I’d be one happy gamer.

As I mentioned earlier Moon is a technical masterpiece. The game runs at a crisp 60 frames a second and the game never slows down. It’s also a beautiful game with lots of environmental detail. Finally, the game controls wonderfully and almost attains the coveted mouse and keyboard feel that PC FPS games adore. I did feel that the game could have used some more in game music but since it took place on the moon I can understand why Renegade Kid choose to keep the background music to a minimum. So overall Moon is a great FPS on the Nintendo DS. The developer also left it open to a sequel so maybe they’ll fix up a few more things with this game and give us another fabulous game. One can hope the wait isn’t going to be too long.

Overall: 8/10

Game Review: House of the Dead: OVERKILL (Nintendo Wii)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Rating: Mature

I wanted to like House of the Dead 4 when it hit arcades a year or so ago, but found myself holding back my joy because it just felt like it was dragging on a bit. The series needed a revamping of some sort, to give it a new edge. Fortunately, the folks at Headstrong Games were listening, and now we have House of the Dead Overkill for our gore-busting pleasure. It’s a crazy game, and we mean that in a good way.

Rather than taking the hokey sci-fi/horror approach that previous games in the series followed, Overkill goes for a more tongue-in-cheek approach, along the lines of the Planet Terror/Death Proof films. You control a young special agent G, alongside a curse-heavy cop named Washington, as they chase after a madman who’s reanimating the dead into near-unstoppable zombies. Joining the two of them is a vengeful stripper with a pair of big guns all her own. Oh, and sidearms, too. (Laugh out loud here.) It’s cheesy overall, but we’ll take this new approach over “end of the world” style of storytelling any day we can get it.

Despite the change in format, the gameplay remains the same. You’re still moving through stage after stage, shooting at the zombies before they can lunge and do damage to you. You’ve got a wide assortment of firepower available, and new weapons become unlocked as you play further into the game. You gain access to a shop to buy things, and you can also unlock additional power-ups once you play through a second time. The game also opens up harder challenges the second time around, so you’re not just stuck playing the same game over and over again. There’s also accessible items to shoot at throughout each stage, including a slo-mo feature that makes headshots an absolute joy to watch.

The presentation is one of the best we’ve seen yet for the Wii. Like we said, it follows a Grindhouse-like technique, with grainy film footage, a filtering effect that plays throughout each stage, and a crapload of cursing from Washington. Seriously, the guy drops the F-bomb like 500 times throughout the game. We love it. There’s a terrific collection of tunes too, including a track lovingly called “Suffer Like G Did”, for fans of the original games. The animation is nice, although there are occasional framerate and clipping issues when the action gets too hot and heavy. We accept it though, since it could be considered part of the game’s cheesy lexicon.

Best of all, you can either go through the game double-fisting your Wii remotes or working alongside a friend to stop the undead. There are multiple stages here, along with plenty of competition to keep you two going. It’s just a shame there’s not some kind of online leaderboard scoring system or extra downloadable stages. Perhaps a sequel would hit the spot. It clearly deserves it.

House of the Dead Overkill isn’t a typical entry in the series, and thank God. For the longest time it’s been following the same path, and it’s about time it went a completely new route and rejuvenated everything. Now it’s fun to kill zombies again, and we can’t wait to see the Overkill-ing continue. Move aside, motherf***ers, and buy this game.

In a nutshell: It’s a fun game, motherf***er!

Overall: 9.0/10

Game Review: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (Xbox 360)

nrobbins@the10k.com (The DCD) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Activision
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Rating: Mature 17+

The creepy little girl from the original F.E.A.R. had a twisted childhood, and now she’s paranormally taking it out on everyone she can, bloodletting them and unleashing a few unholy freaks in the process. As a soldier who somehow survives her wrath long enough to keep running, you’re the lead character in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Monolith’s long-awaited sequel. The wait was certainly worth it, even though the game’s multiplayer doesn’t really do as much as the single player component.

Like I said, Alma is back. You’re working your way through a research facility, not only fighting off what she’s throwing at you but fighting a shadowy government group that wants nothing more than to make you a memory. You’re not going down without a fight however, and along with all the weapons you pick up and a few health vials, you also gain access to documents that tell a little more about the back story, along with a mechanized robot that proves useful for eliminating other robots and shredding enemy agents to nothing but gushy piles of bloody goop.

F.E.A.R. 2 works on the same basics as the original, as far as controls go. You still aim and shoot with the trigger buttons, switch weapons and move around with the other control set-ups, and use occasional slo-mo. Slo-mo is a beautiful thing, as you stop nearly everything going around you so you can move in and shower someone’s skull with as many bullets as they’ll take before they explode. It’s also satisfying to watch a soldier get reduced to a puddle with one simple blast of your shotgun. It worked in the first game and it still works here. Its use is limited, however, so heed warning. There are also occasional button-mashing sequences, in case an enemy gets too close for their own good and you need to pound them off before they finish you.

With presentation, Monolith has outdone itself. It’s created a huge, creepy, crawly world, turned inside out by a sudden nuclear explosion (which is literally a blast to watch). You’ll get freaked out by constant flashbacks, with Alma taunting you and strange images of her childhood being ripped apart by an unspeakable force. The graphics look terrific throughout this game, although things tend to chug every once in a while if too much is happening – like in the mech suit, for example. The sound is equally impressive, with lots of creepy noises and pumped-up music to get you more into the atmospheric changes taking place throughout. Some of it isn’t as spooky as the other parts, but overall you feel a little bit on edge as you try to avoid Alma’s hideous wrath. (Oh, yeah, it’s hideous. Think Cindy Brady on PMS. Times a billion.)

Still, there are shortcomings. For one, the game ends too soon, although you can play it on a higher difficulty if you’re up for a challenge. Also, the multiplayer comes up short. What could’ve been a cool opportunity to take advantage of full-fledged mech combat (like Virtual On, but, again, times a billion) and slo-mo is instead run of the mill stuff, lacking in any extra perks. That’s okay, though. You’ll probably be spending more time running through the more exciting single player stuff anyway. It just would’ve been nice to have something for back up once all is said and done with it.

If you liked F.E.A.R. at all or you’re into first-person shooters with just a little something different to it, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin should be on your pick-up list. It may not have the lasting multiplayer of other games (cough hack Killzone 2 cough hack) but it’s still got enough to make you wish you had worn an extra pair of Depends that day. And hey, here’s a game that’ll legitimately scare you, instead of one made as a legitimate product. (Yeah, like Rock Revolution’s legitimate.)

Man, Alma just entered her terrible teens. Ain’t life a bitch? Yeah, the multiplayer’s weak, but the strong action and awesome presentation make this a game worth fearing again.

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: MLB Front Office Manager (Xbox 360)

nrobbins@the10k.com (The DCD) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Take Two Interactive/2K Sports
Genre: Sports/Baseball
ESRB Rating: E

Apparently, someone out there in game land thought it was a good idea to make simulation a focus in sports. It’s fine when you’re running a game of Madden NFL 09 in Franchise mode and trying to guide your team to the Super Bowl, but to make a whole game out of it? That’s like taking the fun math puzzles out of a math book and leaving the lectures, hoping that someone picks up on the lesson without actually showing the way. NFL Head Coach 09 was a decent exercise in how to run an NFL franchise, but it’s practically unwanted now, selling for a meager $10 at your local Wal-Mart or any other given store. Sadly, MLB Front Office Manager deserves a worse fate, because it’s even more boring.

The name says it all. You’re the front office manager of your own Major League Baseball team, guiding them through decisions and then watching them go through as they play through the season. But, really, watching is all you do here. There are literally hundreds of menus you have to go through as you make your decisions, pointing out prospects here and managing team decisions there. It’s like literally going through a Facebook program, but without the benefit of friends as you manage all your worthless clubs. It’s really no fun, and I’m surprised my playtime lasted as long as it did.

The presentation is acceptable, if you call sitting through text menus and sitting back watching a game in progress acceptable. The engine is done featuring real-time players and stats, and those who eat up this kind of information will want to grab a spoon and dig in. But that’s really all it is – nothing impressive, nothing over the top, just the kind of drab get-up that 2K Sports expects hardcore MLB players to shell out for. And they will, damn it.

But probably the most frustrating thing of all is that there’s no guidance. You’re thrown smack dab into the middle of the proceedings without a clue, as if you were the team janitor, suddenly thrust into upper management because the board couldn’t afford to appoint anyone else. It’d be fine if you had someone helping you with your decisions or, hey, goals to follow, but instead, you’re stuck with the drab day-to-day stuff, checking emails, making decisions on players, watching minor leagues play daily games, and then going back to it all over again. It’s like waiting for the payoff in a big action movie, only it never comes, and you find yourself discouraged and looking for the reason you were watching in the first damn place.

Unless you’re one of those people who abundantly like to punish themselves in games or thinks that controlling an MLB team without the excitement of steroids (can’t believe I said that) is fulfilling, MLB Front Office Manager might be for you. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and leave it on the shelf, and then snag MLB 2K9 or MLB ’09: The Show instead. You can thank us later, when you have all that free time between home runs.

To sum it up: Send MLB Front Office Manager to the showers and get a real baseball game instead.

Overall: 3/10

Product Review: Crystal Glasses -Personal Media Viewers (MyVu)

Turian209@gmail.com (Tommy "Tommy24lv" Freeman) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:52:21 +0000

At the Consumer Electronic Show, there was a line of glasses products called Myvu. These aren’t just ordinary glasses; the Myvu Glasses have mirco-displays inside of them to display the picture from a tv, console, iPod, or other video device on the lenses of the glasses right in front of your eyes. The audio is also provided by built in ear buds. I ordered a pair of Myvu Glasses, and have now had a chance to try them out. I chose the “Crystal” model shown above on the right, with gold tinted lenses and a slim design.

My first impression when I saw them at CES was that they look as if they might be uncomfortable. I finally got them and hooked them up to my Xbox 360 I was amazed at how good the mirco-displays looked! The color was just as good if not better than my tv. I put the headsets on and started to play some Halo 3. The sound coming out of the ear buds was crystal clear and was also just as good if not better than the sound coming out of my tv.

I played for about 2 hrs with them on and had no unwanted side effects like getting a headache or my eyes hurting. I loved all 2 hrs of playing Halo 3 with them, so I had to try them on Call of Duty: World At War and I had the same great experience. The color was sharp and there was no delay in either video or sound. The sound on that game was definitely better with the glasses on then my tv, if not just for the fact that I could have it as loud as I wanted and not wake anyone in my house up since it was 12 o’clock at night.

The next day I had my wife try them on her game and she loved them as well. She said that the nosepiece fit well and agreed that they were comfortable. She also said that the picture looked great and was pleased with the color on the display.

The battery life is only 4 hours but I did find out that you could get more batteries for longer play. All the testing I did with theses was crazy. I tried them in the dark, outside, and with the lights on just to see if anything changed. The only thing that I noticed was that they did work a little better in the dark than in the light.

The glasses are great for travel because it’s certainly easier to take the glasses than a tv. You can get an AC adapter for your console, plug it into your car, then game on the go. It’s really great for the kids on road trips.

These are a great buy at only $299.95. The small, sleek portable design makes them great for anyone on the go and the quality makes them equally viable as part of or dare I say, even a replacement for your home entertainment.

For more information and ordering, visit www.MyVu.com

Game Review: Afro Samurai (Xbox 360)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:06:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Namco Bandai Games America
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature

Afro Samurai for the Xbox 360 is not unlike an abstract painting. The game is open to interpretation but still incomprehensible, visually stunning, and hard to control; alright maybe not that last part. I really had hoped that the typical developer mindset was not going to apply to Afro Samurai. In most cases developers take a license and butcher the story badly just to focus on the presentation above everything else. I wish I could say that this was acceptable because Afro Samurai’s gameplay was fun but then I would have to lose more honor than this blemish of a game causes to the beloved Afro Samurai franchise.

Let’s start with the one thing that Afro Samurai really got right, the presentation. The graphics, sound, and style exuded from Afro Samurai are really second to none. The hip hop beats laid down from start to finish give the game a heartbeat that helps keep it moving and the characters of Afro Samurai are definitely unique. What really shines though is the game’s graphics. In stills or in motion Afro Samurai looks great, the character models are detailed and move cleanly and the levels look great from afar and up close. I can say with absolute clarity that in some cases I even thought that I was watching a cartoon instead of a game. Afro Samurai is just that good looking. Now, with that out of the way we can talk about what makes Afro Samurai disgraceful.

In any Anime the story is one of the most important aspects of the series. The story will cause you to grow attached to characters and genuinely care what happens to them. I can’t comment on Afro Samurai’s anime story, seeing that I haven’t watched the series, but if it’s anything like this game I want to stay far away. Almost nothing is explained about Afro himself or the characters around. Not only that but the story that is presented here makes absolutely no sense. Scenes are a random mash up of past and present cutscenes as well as absolutely indiscernible dialogue. For instance, I was fighting a Sword Master for the Number two headband and at the end of the battle I killed one of the children from the village, from out of nowhere! No children were in the battle but at the end I magically killed one of the children I had just saved. What the heck? This is just one example of seemingly random story telling.

The story isn’t the only thing that is completely terrible, the gameplay in Afro Samurai will drive you nuts. Like with most action games these days Afro Samurai chooses to ditch the traditional meters and instead gives on screen cues for when various powers are available. In other games a character may glow or make sound cues but in this game Afro has a small pendant on the end of his sword that flashes whenever his power is available. I measured the pendant on my HDTV and it made up four pixels, that’s tiny! Not only are the cues given in Afro Samurai poorly designed but they’re never fully explained. Afro Samurai is the first action game in a long time where I had to paw through the manual to find out what the heck everything meant. I know that part of any game can be the discovery of your abilities but when I’m four levels into the game and “helpful hints” are still appearing we have a problem.

Controls and gameplay are the least of Afro Samurai’s problems though. The camera must have been designed by someone who wanted you to look solely at Afro because it almost always hides enemies unless you take direct control. On top of this when you enter Focus mode it even stops you in places from seeing the visual cues that let you know you can use the move. On top of this camera Afro Samurai abounds with graphical glitches, enemy AI issues, an annoying and useless compass, and unclear level design. Not even Samuel L. Jackson can save this game with his voice acting as Afro’s Herald.

Afro Samurai had a lot of promise. The anime that this game follows has been lauded by many as top notch with great animation and storytelling, unfortunately Afro Samurai the game skipped that second step and chose to focus solely on the a look and style. As a result this game ends up being a showcase of graphics and how not to design games. While the game is playable and beautiful there isn’t any substance to hold your attention. Maybe the hardcore fans of Afro Samurai will find something to love here but for the rest of us who are uninitiated we can find far more entertaining games to sink our teeth into.

Overall: 5.5/10

Product Review: ClearChat PC Wireless Headset (Logitech)

barfern@bellsouth.net (Rodney "RODSMACK" Fernandez) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 21:57:13 +0000

Platform: PC/Mac
Manufacturer: Logitech
MSRP: $99.99 (USD)

Logitech was nice enough to send me their ClearChat PC Wireless headset to review, so I figured I would give it a fair shot (even though I've been let down by wireless equipment before). First off I will start by saying that the headset I already own and replacing is a Logitech headset. I have used Logitech headsets and other products for many years with very little complaints. Let's see if this wireless headset holds up to my boastful claims.

If you are looking for a cheap headset to talk to your e-friends with, this is not the model for you (MSRP: $99.99 USD). If you are looking for a high quality wireless headset, this is definitely the model for you. The first thing that you'll notice is the sleek ergonomic design, which not only looks nice, but it is completely comfortable after hours of use. We even recorded a lengthy podcast episode that spanned 2-3 hours, and yet I was still completely comforatble. The padding on the earphones withstands hours of use before they become even slightly uncomforatble. Even though I mentioned before that I am replacing my old Logitech headset with this one, the ClearChat PC Wireless is a much more comfortable fit (especially during prolonged use). My only problem with the design is that the microphone is placed on the left hand side. This is not so much a flaw in design, but more of a personal preference. The microphone's placement in no way hinders this product, but is simply something I will have to get used to. With all of the positive features of this product, it's kind of hard to focus on microphone placement. I also like the fact that it's a well padded headset. Even the band that goes across the top of your head is padded. All of this adding to the comfort of your 3 hour movie, music session, web-call, game session, or podcast recording. The headset is adjustable for you big heads like me, and overall, it has a light weight, comfortable feel to it. You'll be hard pressed to find a more comfortable wireless headset in this price range.

I was also amazed by the battery life for this headset. After one charge (chraging took a couple of hours), the headset lasted somewhere between 3-5 hours of actually use. This was more than suffecient for my uses, as I would imagine it would be for most peoples applications. Of course there are indicators for low battery. When the battery has less than 15 minutes of life left, the headset status light turns red and the wireless adapter status light blinks rapidly. Also, to prevent battery drain, the headset will automatically turn off if it does not detect the wireless adapter after 30 minutes. A nice feature if I may say so myself.

The controls for the ClearChat PC Wireless headset are pretty user friendly and in good locations. For starters, there is two different ways to mute the microphone. One way to mute the microphone is to push the microphone mute button located on the outside of the right earphone. A simple push of this button turns on the red light located at the tip of the boom microphone, clearly making the user aware that the microphone is muted. An alternate method of muting the microphone (which I personally liked) is to simply rotate the boom microphone to it's upright position. The red light indicator will not turn on during this mute method. Both muting methods are simple enough to use for any user, and certain users such as gamers, podcasters, students, etc. will find the alternate muting method quite functional. This headset was definitley designed well with user friendly controls in mind.

Set up was very simple and pretty much "plug and play" so to speak. Little to no effort is required to set up this headset. Simply turn on your charged ClearChat PC Wireless headset, plug in your wireless adapter (it is suggested to use the wireless adapter stand) to an open USB port, and that's it. Once your wireless adapter is plugged in the status light will blink green, and it will turn solid green once it has made a successfull wireless connection to the headset. The same will happen for the status light on your headset until the wireless connection is established. I was very pleased about how easily I was able to get set up. Within minutes I was recording a podcast, without being chained to my desk by wires. I new feeling for me, one that I'm growing to like more and more by the second. Being optimized for both PC and Mac use makes this headset that much more appealing.

The many uses and applications that this headset offers makes it well worth it's price. I have only mentioned a few applications in this article, and those alone justify it's price. Did I mention comfort? After podcasting and gaming for many years, and headset after headset, this headset is definitely comfortable. It's light weight, well padded, and produces quality sound. It truly is form meets function. If you're looking for a quality wireless PC/Mac headset, I highly suggest buying a ClearChat PC Wireless from Logitech. A quality product from a name you can trust.

Overall: 8/10

Game Review: Big Bang Mini (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:24:47 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Southpeak Interactive
Genre: Shooter
ESRB Rating: Everyone

How do you classify Big Bang Mini? It’s a game that has hardcore and casual gamer stylings. It’s got beautiful graphics and seems easy at first but only the really dedicated will see the game threw to the end. I tend to classify Big Bang Mini as fantastic, magical, and challenging. In Big Bang Mini you control a ship on the bottom screen of the DS. You grab it with the stylus and dodge incoming enemy projectiles. When you aren’t dodging enemy shots then you can make a flicking motion towards the top screen of the DS to shoot fireworks at your enemies located on the top screen. But be careful, if your shots don’t hit an enemy then the shrapnel from your fireworks will rain down on you and make it that much harder to dodge your enemies weapons. Once you finish a level you also get to try your hand at a bonus stage. In these stages your job is to try and uncover and fly threw numbered orbs that make a pattern in the stars on the top screen. Once you finish a bonus stage fireworks shoot up into the top screen and show what object you were making. These stages aren’t entirely necessary but they’re fun and pretty. So how do you describe Big Bang Mini, for most people you can just call this a Shmup, or Shoot ‘em up.

What makes this game special though is not it’s game mechanics. Shooting into the top screen of the DS and moving a ship in the bottom screen has all been done before. However never before has a game like this been done with so much style and with such great care taken to make sure all the game mechanics and controls work perfectly. What Big Bang Mini has above any other shooter on the DS is the originality of its level design. In Big Bang Mini you play through multiple worlds, all of them themed with a different area. You will play in a level reminiscent of Paris, Hong Kong, and even original levels like Luxor [a Tron like world]. All these levels not only look and sound, we’ll get back to sound later, great but they all introduce new ways of playing the game. For instance, in Luxor you gain the ability to shoot homing missiles and also to draw a line that reflects shots back at your opponents. But that’s not all, while you get to change scenery, weapons, and music you also get to change the way bonus stages are played.

Big Bang Mini would have become very boring very quickly if the bonus stages had simply gotten harder as the game went on. Instead, with each new world the way you beat the Bonus stage changes. In Paris you have to dodge falling Leaves to get to all the numbered orbs. In the ice world you have to tap the orbs out of ice they are frozen in. Each world changes what you are used to in the game and that keeps it fresh the longer the game goes on. The game is made up of 9 worlds that have one boss in each and a final boss. In addition to this Arcade mode there is also a Relax, Challenge, Mission, and Alarm clock mode. All of these modes unlock as you move on in the game and add extra legs to a game that takes about five hours to complete the arcade mode.

What amazed me about Big Bang Mini aside from the ever-changing worlds and gameplay was the sense of discovery and destruction that I encountered. The change in worlds and styles allowed the game to feel like you were discovering it anew with each new world and it made me feel like the developers spent a majority of their time making sure this was the case. It also caused destructive feelings because no matter how hard the game got I always came back to it. There was never a point where I threw the game down in frustration due to difficulty. The game is very fair and never makes you feel cheated. In a shooter this is necessary and Big Bang Mini does this with the best of them. Big Bang Mini completely surprised me when it came out. I played the demo on the US Nintendo Channel and loved the game. When it came out at $20 I couldn’t say no. It’s a creative, challenged, and beautiful shooter for the DS that anyone can enjoy. You don’t have to be a shooter fan to appreciate this game. If you’re still unsure I suggest trying the demo. Pick this game up while you can, it’s the first DS gem of 2009.

Overall: 9/10

Game Review: Lord of the Rings Conquest (Xbox 360)

nrobbins@the10k.com (The DCD) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Teen

The Lord of the Rings saga wrapped up well over five years ago, although we’ve known that Guillermo Del Toro will be stepping in to direct The Hobbit and another movie for release over the next couple of years. Maybe that’s why Electronic Arts thinks that the Lord of the Rings franchise is still worth milking, even if it’s to the point that the idea of Conquest isn’t original. Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is nothing more than a modified version of the Star Wars Battlefront games, but with elves and dwarves taking the place of Stormtroopers and Jedis. Of course, that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as both franchises were worked on by Pandemic Studios.

So, like Battlefront, you have missions to complete. There are two campaigns available. One lets you tackle the side of good, stopping the land of Mordor from falling into the evil grip of Sauron. The other flipsides the affair, letting you control the dark being and his evil army as they vanquish the realm of anything even resembling justification. The third is straight out multiplayer through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and the battles get pretty hectic.

There are four classes in all throughout Conquest – mage, scout, warrior and archer. As expected, each one has certain attributes that come in handy over the course of battle. Mage kicks ass with magic, archer has better accuracy taking out enemies from a distance, and so on. Over the course of the game, you’ll also control various recognizable characters throughout the journey, including Aragorn and Gandalf. They kick as much ass as the normal characters, as to be expected. What, you expected Gandalf to be a frickin’ weakling? The guy yelled “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” to a fire demon, for chrissakes.

Anyway, for the most part, the game works, because it’s short-spurt combat. There are certain objectives to complete throughout each mission, but they’re clearly drawn out on the map and easy to navigate to. Getting there, though, is the trick. That’s because, on single player, the AI is so cranked up that it’s ridiculous. Even if you’re playing as a Treebeast, so many enemies pop up and do damage to you that you’re soon cut down, George Washington style. There are other quirks too. For instance, the scout can too easily defeat opponents over the other classes. All he has to do is turn invisible (an easy ability), sneak up behind an enemy, and stab them through a Quick Time Event. As the Foo Fighters say, “Done, done and I’m onto the next one.” This is especially cheap in multiplayer.

Otherwise, the game is fun, with locales and battles straight from the movies and a strict attention to detail. The characters look nice, the battlefields are nicely drawn and the action never really slows down to the level of annoyance, even if you’re mounting a gigantic elephant and bringing it crashing down to the ground. It’s great how Pandemic put some personality into the character attacks, such as Aragorn using warrior ghosts to strike back at certain enemies. That’s just plain cool. The audio is good, too, with orchestrations from the film and nice narration from Hugo Weaving. Yes, the guy from the Matrix movies who played Smith. He was in the Lord of the Rings films too. Look and you’ll spot him.

As for multiplayer, that’s probably where you’ll have the most fun – unless you run into a bout with everyone playing a scout. Avoid those sessions like the plague. Otherwise, the game plays good and there is fun to be had here, even if you have to overcome a few hurdles to get there. If you can’t find the Battlefront games (part 2 is backwards compatible with the 360) or you’re seeking a decent battle game for your game system, track down Conquest and get ready for battle. We mean it. This is no stinkin’ “my precious” coddlefest. This is Hobbit season.

It’s hardly “my precious”, but at least Conquest is moderately enjoyable.

Overall: 7/10

Game Review: WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 (PlayStation 3)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:11:42 +0000

Platform: PlayStation 3
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Sports/Wrestling
ESRB Rating: Teen

World Wrestling Entertainment has gotten the art of wrasslin’ (yes, that’s the “technical” name) down to a science, nailing it year in and year out with a roster of superstars that included the likes of Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Now THQ is back with its latest addition to the long-running video game franchise, WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009. While it doesn’t do anything significantly different over the previous year’s game, it’s sure to be a hit for fans of wrasslin’ (again, technical) games.

The roster includes a who’s who of current and classic WWE superstars, including Triple H, John Cena, Chris Jericho and others. If for some reason one of your favorite male (and female – whoo hoo!) superstars didn’t make the cut, the game once again comes with a custom wrestler editor. This gives you the ability to create your own favorite characters and make them a total wrasslin’ fanatic. Finally, we can put Rodney and Crash in the ring and see who dominates. (Our money’s on Rodney, personally. The only lifting Crash does involves lunchmeats.)

Along with an assortment of wrestling modes and types (including the flame-loaded Inferno Mode, new to this year’s version), there are also Career and Road To Wrestlemania modes to choose from. Career is exactly what it says. You create a wrestler from scratch and lead them down the road to championships, including the coveted WWE title. The road, however, is far from easy. You’ll run across a number of other wrestlers and even the ruthless Mr. McMahon himself, the owner of the WWE. Cross him and you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with a number of handicap and other crippling matches. Of course, some people like punishment.

Then there’s Road To Wrestlemania. In this mode, you select from one of six pre-written WWE storylines, each with their own specific superstar. You follow them in the weeks leading up to the biggest wrestling event of the year, either set to make history or fall into the gap of defeat. The choice is yours, but obviously you want to take the winning side. No matter which mode you choose, you’ll find plenty of wrasslin’ to suit your needs, although the storylines could be a little better as far as their shock values go. We can see some swerves coming from a mile away.

Visually, there’s not much new in Smackdown. Yes, the wrestlers look great, even though they’re shinier than we would’ve liked. (Seriously, chests shouldn’t gleam as much as they do here – it’s almost like headlights are installed within the skin.) The WWE divas, however, look all right to us. The crowds get into the action, even though some members do the exact same actions, as if they’re twins. There are occasional clipping problems and awkward character movements, but otherwise the motion-capture has been done significantly well. Overall, it’s a good-looking game, but nothing leaps and bounds over previous games.

Then there’s the sound, and here’s where we ran into a little disappointment. The play-by-play announcing could be better, as it tends to repeat from time to time. The sound effects are also weak, as most of the powerful hits end up being muted as opponents plow into the mat. The intro music is right on the money, and some of the wrestler voices are as well. It’s great that THQ got the support of more than just a few random faces from the WWE roster. Pretty much everyone is here, save for a few WWE legends. Ahh, well, they’re too busy making book deals and pleasing fans to participate in a recording booth anyway.

As far as controls go, WWE Smackdown gets the job done. You’ll perform power moves, counters, grapples, submission moves and other techniques with very little problem. There’s also a fun multiplayer component here, with local people teaming up with you in tag-team action to deliver two-player moves. Sadly, the online multiplayer could be better. We ran into a few lag-filled sessions trying to keep up with everyone else. Hopefully, THQ will iron out the kinks before the real Wrestlemania manages to eclipse the excitement.

Along with a Create a Wrestler mode (and, again, let’s bring up the fact that Crash CANNOT wrestle), there’s also the ability to create your own finishing move. There’s a bunch of techniques you can unlock over the course of the single-player campaigns, which broadens the possibilities of taking someone out with a three-count. This is a definitely cool addition we can’t get enough of.

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 is a nice entry for the series. It’s problematic in areas and slowly showing its age, but when it comes to slamming men into other men (meh) or women into other women (whoo hoo!), we’re in for the count. Let’s just hope that THQ bumps up something next year to keep interest going in this series. After all, even the best WWE storylines had to come to an end. (Except for the ones involving the dimwit Santino, mind you.)

Overall: 7.9/10

Game Reviews: WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (Xbox 360)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Sports/Wrestling
ESRB Rating: Teen

Overall: 7.9/10

Game Review: Ninjatown (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:44:35 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Southpeak Interactive
Genre: Strategy
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Ninjatown is a game that took me by surprise. The outside of the box has a bright and colorful art style with “ninjas” on the front cover. But these aren’t the type of ninjas you’ve grown used to. They look more like babies wrapped up in protective coversuits than the masters of stealth and assassination from Ninja Gaiden 2 or Shinobi. If you look past the cute characters and bright colors though you’ll find a phenomenal tower defense styled game that plays as smooth as it looks. In the game you play as Ol Master Ninja who is defending Ninjatown from the attacks of Mr. Demon. You float above the map in a hot air balloon giving directions and trying to save the Ninjatown’s cookie recipe. While the story sounds childish there is plenty of adult humor here to keep even the most jaded gamer happy. For instance, one of your units is the Business Ninja who is described as being hopped up on caffeine and attacks his enemies with his tie and cell phone. The cuteness and challenge of it all should make almost any gamer smile.

While I call this game a Tower Defense variant it’s a little different from what you may be used to. Enemies still follow a set path and you must lay down “towers” to defend against them but in this game you build huts that house ninjas. Each hut has a different attribute and holds two ninjas of that attribute. The ninjas wander away from the house and engage the enemy as soon as they move into the viewable area. This could have turned out badly with ninjas being spread out all over the map and not making a effective defense but the AI controlling them is incredibly smart and never seems to do anything stupid to make you lose a level. Aside from making these huts you can also call your ninjas back to rest, set up a waypoint, or upgrade a hut to make the ninjas from it more powerful.

But you won’t only be building huts with ninjas in them. You can also build Modifier buildings. Some of them include the Training Dojo that makes all surrounding huts have more attack power or the Green Tea Factory that will make all the ninjas around it move faster because of the caffeine in the tea. These buildings become imperative as the game goes on since you can’t always upgrade huts and it’s more cost effective to simply build a modifier building. You can also lay down traps that you earn at the end of each level or use a special Ol Master Ninja power. You earn these by defeating enemies and collecting happiness to fill up Ol Master Ninja’s cane. These powers range from a magnifying glass for targeting one enemy, a wind to blow enemies backwards, or the hickory cane attack where you tap as many enemies as possible and Ol Master Ninja comes down from his balloon and knocks them out!

What makes Ninjatown special aside from its cuteness and well designed gameplay is it’s learning and difficulty curve. The game has a very smooth learning curve giving you a new item to use in almost every level and I never felt the difficulty curve ramped up on any specific mission. The game slowly gets you into Tower Defense and teaches you to play as the game goes on. For each new hut you get a new enemy that attacks and later levels will definitely test your strategic mindset. It just doesn’t seem like the game ever becomes unfair in its difficulty. Every mistake is a result of your planning and not cheapness on the part of the developers. Just as an aside the game also has a well designed multiplayer as well.

Ninjatown was a real surprise to me. It is well designed, funny, and challenging. If you enjoy Tower Defense style gameplay and aren’t stuck up about cuteness in a game I can’t recommend Ninjatown enough. It’s a great game with lots to do and lots to explore. If you persevere you may even be able to take down Mr. Demon once and for all and take back Ninjatown’s secret cookie recipe! So go Ol Master Ninja and swing your cane to victory!

Overall: 8.5/10

Game Review: Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (Nintendo DS)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:30:25 +0000

Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action/Adventure
ESRB Rating: Everyone

I had high hopes for Prince of Persia: The Fallen King. My interest in the game was piqued after I played the demo for the game through my DS download station in my Wii. While the game felt rough around the edges I chalked this up to the fact that it was a demo and probably represented an unfinished product. My time with the demo though got me excited to play threw the final game. Sadly though, the demo was actually better than the full retail release of this game. If you want to play this game I’d suggest you play the demo and then imagine a better game because truly this game is better played in small doses.

Similar to the new console Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King has you as the prince partnering up with another character to try and save the kingdom from being corrupted by an ancient evil force that was recently reawakened. Unlike the console version though the Prince seems very childlike and stupid and comes across as the kind of hero you love to hate. This is very different from the console Prince of Persia where the main character is stoic. Traveling with the Prince in this game is a Magus, a mage, named Zal. While the Prince represents the physical spectrum of play Zal is the magical element in the game. The Prince is the one who traverses the environment and Zal is used to attack corrupted enemies and solve puzzles. With just the touch of any button on the DS, excluding start, you stop controlling the Prince and switch over to Zal. While this partner system works well it can’t overcome the subpar touch screen controls used to control the Prince.

Ubisoft decided to forgo normal button controls and instead map the Prince’s movements solely to the stylus. Initially this control works out great. You point the Prince where to go like in Legend of Zelda and double tap to make him jump or do more complicated actions. You can even grip walls and slide down them like in the console Prince of Persia. As the puzzles and traps become more complicated though the controls show their weakness. They are simply not as tight as traditional tactile buttons. In a multitude of situations I was killed due to the imprecision of touch controls. If that wasn’t enough the collision detection is spotty at best. There were multiple times when I would make a jump and expect to hang onto the wall and instead fall to my death. Then on my next try I was able to grab onto the wall. The detection is not just limited to grabs though but also attacking enemies. More often than not when I went to hit an enemy I would miss them the first time no matter how close I was to them and they would get a free hit on me.

On top of all this the level design in Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is subpar. The levels are fairly linear with only a small amount of extras to collect in each level. You can find “treasures” and coins that you use to pay doors to open. But aside from that once you complete a level there is no incentive to go back and play them again. There isn’t really any incentive to explore in the first place since all the extras you collect don’t really matter and have minimal impact on the gameplay. At the very least the developers tried not to waste the top screen on the DS. There is a handy map of each level on the top screen but it only tracks your progress in a stage and does not show a full level map. It’s more of a general gist of where you are in the level. All of this is also marred by tremendous slowdown in game. This was not an isolated instance and in most levels I would get to a point where the game was nearly unplayable due to slowdown.

While Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is an adequate game it never gets past the faults that are so glaringly present. Overall the game feels unpolished. It probably could have benefitted from some extra development time. But with the big console Prince of Persia being released Ubisoft probably thought that the game would sell better if released alongside its console counterpart. Due to rushing this game out the door we are left with a game that is merely a footnote in the Prince of Persia history, one that will all too soon be forgotten as a misstep in an otherwise stellar franchise.

Overall: 5.5/10

Game Review: Castlevania Judgement (Nintendo Wii)

barfern@bellsouth.net (The DCD) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:01:31 +0000

Platform: Nintendo Wii
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Fighting
ESRB Rating: Teen

One of these days, Konami should sit down and write a book. They should call it “How To Muck Up a Popular Game Franchise In a Few Easy Steps”. They’ve done this before a few years ago, with the release of the abysmally awful C: The Contra Adventure and Contra: Legacy of War for the Sony PlayStation. You’d think they would’ve stopped there, especially after redeeming the series with the PS2 efforts. But no, Koji Igarashi and company has now sunken Castlevania to new depths with the equally bad Castlevania Judgment for Wii. I only hope that the development team learns its lesson quickly with the upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 Castlevania effort, or we’re in for a long, painful winter.

Castlevania Judgment’s concept in itself sounds bad. Here’s a series that’s known for being an ace when it comes to side-scrolling action, and throwing in role-playing elements isn’t a bad idea. However, this game is…wait for it…a fighting game. Yes, you get to play as a Belmont sibling, Maria, Alucard and other characters as they duke it out in traditional fighting style in a number of arenas, all resembling “classic” Castlevania locales. I figure with some intuition and a few ideas behind the gameplay, this concept maybe – and I definitely say maybe – had a chance of working. In its released form, however, it doesn’t.

The problem is the gameplay flat-out sucks. Igarashi and company fail to grasp the idea of 3-D fighting, making it clumsy and hard to grasp. Most of the time, you’re wailing away at an opponent by flicking your Wii remote like mad, although half the time you’re not able to strike them with accuracy. That leaves you hitting air while your opponent attacks from behind. There are super attacks available, along with projectiles, but most of them don’t prove effective either because you can’t properly hit your opponent. So while you’re beating up the oxygen, the opponent is beating the oxygen out of you. And there’s nothing more humiliating than being taken out by the skeleton that, at one point, only had throwing bones for a defense tactic. Perhaps revenge is sweet.

What’s even worse are the graphics. This game looks like a second-gen PS2 effort at best, and that is BEING VERY GENEROUS. The character animation looks broken, especially on Dracula. It’s almost as if he’s suffering from a serious case of diarrhea and can barely stand. The backdrops look okay, but considering that the camera is so problematic, you can’t even look at them half the time. It’s like you’re stuck in a spin cycle in a washing machine, barely able to keep hold of your sanity. The special attacks look all right, but they’ve been done better in other quality fighting games.

What Konami DOES get right is the music. It’s pure Castlevania, with classic hymns taken from older games and a few new tunes for good measure. It’s a wonderfully done soundtrack, occasionally tarnished by the sub-standard sound effects. You’re better off just turning them off entirely (if that’s possible) and enduring the Castlevania tunes. Or, better yet, picking up a Symphony of the Night soundtrack and listening to it instead. It’s definitely cheaper in price.

Castlevania Judgment does have a few options available, and, oddly enough, also offers online play through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. That means you can log on and take on others, although there are a couple of factors you need to consider for that. First of all, setting up a match takes quite a while, to the point that you actually wonder why you’re getting online for a fight in the first place. Secondly, there’s barely anyone in there. We sat around for one session and maybe had two fights in one hour, both of which weren’t worth our time. You think the fighting’s broken with just one player? Try two. It’s like watching infants trying to hurl baby bottles at each other – although that would probably be more entertaining. (And, no, we don’t believe in baby torture. Leave the hate letters in Crash’s mailbox, thanks.)

You can also unlock new items in Castle mode. You roam from room to room, collecting items and defeating enemies throughout your journey. This shows a slight resemblance to classic Castlevania games of yore, but the broken controls remind you (painfully) that you’re stuck in the here and now. It’s a bright glimmer on an otherwise dull suit of armor.

Seriously, with the superior Order of Ecclesia available and several other games to choose from for the Virtual Console service (Super Castlevania IV is a MUST), there’s simply no reason to subject yourself to Castlevania Judgment. It’s a painful exercise in futility and frustration, and that’s just at first when you realize what Konami’s done to the franchise. Again, we beg of them to get back on track – and quickly – before they find themselves in a dilemma. What’s next, taking Frogger and putting him in a series of kids’ games? Oh, crap, they already did that too. It never ends!

Overall: 2/10

Game Review: Prince of Persia (Xbox 360)

josephsujka@gmail.com (Joseph "penguinsforlife" Sujka) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action/Adventure
ESRB Rating: Teen

I’m not going to lie. I hated Prince of Persia when I first started playing it. The fact that there were no unlockable abilities, the game could be played in any order, you essentially don’t die, and you had to collect hundreds of spheres of lights; annoyed me to no end. The fact is that Prince of Persia initially reminded me of an unimaginative collect a thon more at home in the early days of the N64 or Playstation. Then something strange happened. The game clicked with me about 50% of the way through. The dialogue between the Prince and Elika became full of sexual innuendo and interesting story tidbits, traveling through the worlds became a breeze, combat started to come more naturally, and even collecting the light orbs didn’t seem like a chore. Prince of Persia was a game that I had to work at before I received any returns. It truly is a game where you get what you put in. If you put in enough you’ll find a game that rises above being a simple action game to something that feels more like the telling of a grand fairy tale that you’re lucky to be a part of.

Lets start with what bothered me the most about Prince of Persia when I first began playing it, the fact that all the abilities were unlocked and the game could be played in any order. Now, one of the most enjoyable aspects of games, like Zelda or Metroid, is unlocking new abilities to traverse environments. However in Prince of Persia you are given a specific set of skills and are expected to use it throughout the game. At first I didn’t like this but as the game went on I found that I became an expert in the Prince’s abilities and was able to do some mind-boggling things because I had only a set number of tools that I had to master. After I got over this initial issue I thought that the game being played in any order was another major problem. Unfortunately this was never solved as soundly as with the abilities issue. Prince of Persia does allow you to visit any area but you must unlock magical platforms to complete the worlds. I never did get over the fact that there was no structure but it does lend Prince of Persia an exploration and freedom that many adventure games lack.

Next I decided to tackle why I didn’t like the controls in Prince of Persia. What bothered me the most was that the controls had a delay. You had to put commands a few moments ahead of time for them to be properly executed. Once I realized this fact I played Prince of Persia more like a fighting game, inputting complex combos and watching the results. This brief delay in controls makes it so you have to plan what you’re going to do next but also allows you an extra second to input a different command if you mess up. Prince of Persia is very forgiving while platforming or fighting and will allow you to erase a command by frantically pressing a different button on the controller. In the end the control delay was something that I praise rather than fault Prince of Persia for. In today’s games we tend to enjoy instant gratification and responsiveness from controls but Prince of Persia rewards a bit more thinking than your average adventure game.

Finally we come to my last complaint, the dreaded light orbs of Prince of Persia. In Prince of Persia the Prince and Elika are cleaning the world of corruption brought about by an evil god Ahriman who is attempting to escape his ethereal prison. As you clean each area light orbs appear and you collect them to unlock new magical platforms in each area so you can progress further in the game. What perturbed me the most was that the light orbs were not on the way to the next location but rather were scattered around the level on the path that I had just came from. As a result I had to backtrack from whence I came to collect most of the light orbs. Originally I thought this to be bad game design but I quickly realized that because the game is made so you can travel anywhere relatively freely the light orbs being scattered this way made a lot of sense because in your travels you will most likely back track through a world and then you can collect the light orbs. After this I relaxed and just traveled around the game world collecting orbs where I could.

Even though Prince of Persia charmed me in the end there were still some things that I did not enjoy. For one thing there are four main bosses that you play at least five times each throughout the game. After a while I got tired of playing the same boss battle with different variations in the formula and was ready for a change up in the gameplay. Unluckily for me I never really got that change in game play, that’s something for a sequel I guess, or maybe the DLC that was recently released on the XBL and PSN marketplaces. I didn’t get a chance to review ‘Epilogue’, the DLC for Prince of Persia.

My caveat with the bosses aside there is a lot to love about Prince of Persia. If you go in expecting to have to play the first half of the game before you truly understand then you’ll be a lot better off. For those who make it past the first half you’ll find a cinematic, graphically gorgeous, and fun action adventure game that is one of the best so far in the console generation. It just takes a little work to understand why it was made the way it was.

Overall: 9/10