Game: Majesty 2
Publisher/Developer: Paradox Interactive / Ino-Co
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Verdict: A slightly too passive RTS that is very nearly great
Pros: It’s the most different RTS that we’ve seen in ages.
Cons: The lack of more active gameplay and dodgy voice acting puts a dampener on things.

Being Scottish I have a certain amount of love for Sean Connery, also known as Edinburgh’s favorite milkman. He defined James Bond, fathered Indiana Jones, and has very few equals as far as well-known Scots go. There is, however, someone who loves Sean a little more than is healthy and that is the person who directed the voice-acting on Majestic 2.

We will get into that properly in a minute, but first I’d like to take a look at the main features of the game . The RTS genre is almost as well-populated as the FPS genre, especially on the PC, and it takes something exceptional to really make an RTS stand out from the pack. Majesty 2 spends most of its time teetering on the edge of greatness.

The game lives in a fantasy world ruled by a succession of increasingly pompous monarchs that have systematically removed all evil from the land, purely for the sake of their own pride. The most recent king, who has grown bored of the peace and longs for the glory of his ancestors, decides that it would be a good idea to get the royal sorcerers to conjure up the most evil demon they can think of so that he can defeat it and feel like the big man. This tragically and obviously backfires when the demon consumes the whole realm with its own brand of evil.

Here is where you come in. As the last surviving heir to the throne, only you (surprise!) have the power to vanquish the demon and save the realm from utter destruction. There is only one way to accomplish this task: round up a band of heroes and systematically rid the land of the demon’s evil minions. After all, every demon has to have minions, right?

Majesty 2 uses a fairly simple, yet elegant, method of battlefield control. Try to wrap your brain around this: there is no real battle. The game follows more of a Settlers-style approach to establishing a settlement and protecting it. This is actually a very passive game, as all you really do is build structures and find the most efficient ways to manage your resources. The gameplay is supplemented by building a marketplace that manages your income which can be augmented by building more trading posts.

Your fighting force is made up of four types of heroes who can be accessed once you build their individual guilds. Each hero adds special abilities to your team and each is best used to tackle different types of problems. Warriors are your standard fighters, proving very useful for destroying enemy structures and monsters. Rangers are exceptional at killing beasts and exploring the map. Thieves allow you to extort money when you’re running low and have access to poisoned weapons. Clerics heal your other heroes and smite down the undead with their righteous fury. Righteous fury rocks, apparently, when you’re a man of faith.

Having built your economy, guilds, and recruited some heroes, the next task is to assign them duties. You do this by flagging targets as something to either explore, attack, defend, or fear. You place a monetary value on said flag and then wait for your heroes to get around to doing it. Essentially, it’s like eBay for the medieval set. This is both an interesting and unique concept, but in practice it tends to be a bit tedious. The system relies on your heroes being smart and taking the jobs that are assigned; sadly, they they are pretty damned lethargic about it. Many of the levels are spent waiting for your troops to destroy a building. Instead of focusing on the the target, your men are busy getting distracted by any skeletons or bear that crosses their path.  Simply put, it is like watching the Knights of the ADHD Table.

Not to complain too much, but Majesty 2 doesn’t require a huge amount of actual playing. Once you’ve built your settlement and placed your flags, you just sit back and watch you little guys do their thing. This can be entertaining, but may not meet the needs you might have for hyper-control and micromanagement. When you think on it, is why many folks get an RTS game to begin with, so your mileage my vary. Perhaps a setting that would allow you to get more detail oriented approach would have been called for here.

Now, let’s get back to that Sean Connery impersonator. Majesty 2 has a decent sense of humor, sprinkling the laughter liberally throughout the game. Much of this is done within the adviser narrations, with every word spoken like a slightly soused Sean Connery. As funny as it is to begin with, it does begin to grate on the nerves. When you couple that irritation with the fairly passive gameplay, it kind of spoils all the nice ideas that the game displays. Drunken Sean Connery isn’t helping Majesty 2 make its mark.

I became addicted to the Settlers, which shows that passive gameplay can really entertain. Unfortunately, Majesty 2 is just a little TOO passive for my taste. The attempts at having a bit of a laugh just feel too forced to really save it from being more than average. Majesty 2 is more like the bad court jester than the kingly experience it wants to be. My recommendation? Buy if you don’t mind watching the game play itself. Otherwise, maybe something a bit more active will serve your needs.

Game: Demon’s Souls
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Atlus, USA
Platform: PS3
Price: $59.99, or $69.99 for Deluxe Editon
Pros: Gorgeous, addictive, depth of play
Cons: Scale of difficulty is pitched high

Part one of this review can be found here.

By now, you’ve seen the videos, the screenshots and the buzz surrounding Atlus’ latest PS3 game, Demon’s Souls.

You’ve heard about the really amazingly cool deluxe edition and pre-order bonus artbook and CD that has me itching to purchase it, even though I have the reviewer version of the game.

You’ve heard about how brutally difficult it can be. You may even have heard about how it’s really not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. I’m here to tell you that it’s both.

I also want you to bend your mind around this: if you’ve played and enjoyed Donkey Kong, Frogger, Super Mario Brothers or any of the dozen other old school platformers out there, you’ll dig Demon’s Souls. I’m sure you’re wondering if I’m talking about the same Demon’s Souls that you might have been anticipating. It is definitely not a platforming game. It’s an action RPG with decidedly old school learning curve, with no hand holding and no support system for being a n00b. Demon’s Souls is incredibly unforgiving, and the one hit kills aren’t koopa-cute, but this is your daddy’s old-school gaming.

Let me explain. Demon’s Souls is, first and foremost, an incredibly beautiful, well-produced, fantastic game for the PS3. The stunning vistas, dark corridors and clever sound cues all go a long way to keeping me coming back for more. Personally, I don’t like the precision of the old school platforming genre. I’m not a huge fan of endless grinding, either. So, why am I still finding myself drawn to this interesting amalgamation of the two?

First up, it’s gorgeous. I’m a sucker for eye candy and this game is the pinnacle of visual greatness. The environments are lush, from the stunning vista atop the Boletarian castle walkway, to the immense fire breathing dragon demon that flies above you, burning everything in its path, to the deep dark dank caves of Stonefang Tunnel, there’s nothing I’ve seen that compares to this game’s stunning beauty. The animation of enemy and the player’s own avatar is second to none, and supports gameplay at every turn with extras like slowing down and dodge-rolling slower due to carrying too many weapons.

Second of all, it’s addictive. The enemies are in the same place each time, though they may act differently or take a different path to attempt to kill you. The urge to play through *just one more time* after each death is strong. Yes, death happens. A lot. But that’s part of the draw, and gives this game its legs: not only am I dead, but I have to get back to my spot of death to be able to collect the souls I dropped there when I died. Brilliant and addictive.

Third, and this took me a while to get to, is the compelling storyline. Yes, I said storyline. The story told to me by the Monumental was moving, deep, and intelligent. I long for that kind of emotional experience in games, and this really took me by surprise. The motivation as a role-played character became, for me, that much deeper. No spoilers here, but if you’re getting frustrated with the intensity and/or repetitive nature of the learning curve, stick with it. It gets more and more worth it. The concepts of nexus as world-hub, archstones as portals, and the various nexus denizens (from the world-weary knight to the grumpy blacksmith) do please my story-needs, and make a lot of the die, start at the beginning, die just as you reach the point you need to, rinse and repeat a bit more easy to swallow.

Finally, the online multiplayer holds great promise. I can’t say that I got to play *with* anyone, due to server constraints and timezones, but I certainly saw a lot of folks playing alongside me. While running through each lovingly crafted world, ghostly and luminous shadows of other players can be seen, dashing along the path you trod, talking to the NPCs in the Nexus and the like. The bloodstains show where other adventurers have died and allow you to replay their grisly end, making them entertaining AND informative.

I’m not going to dissemble and tell you that this game will be something you like from start to finish. In my month with the game I have gone from rapt joy to fierce, razor-sharp hatred to a grudging acceptance of my own failings as a gamer in my attempt to understand this game. As such, here are some gameplay tips, garnered from a long career in the world of the Nexus, boletaria and the other worlds of Demon’s Souls:

1. Souls = money. It is often worth running ALL THE WAY back to the start of the level, activating the archstone key, and talking to the Lady in Black to level up. Please do this. A lot. Higher level characters just do better, period.
2. If you’re having trouble with your initial character choice, consider switching to the Royalty class. You’ll get a ring that replentishes your magic powers over time, so you really only need to guard your health.
3. GUARD YOUR HEALTH. Do not run in and expect to take much damage. Even the least of foes can get in a good shot and kill. Kill. Kill. You. Learn how to guard, dodge, roll, jump backward, and switch from ranged magic and weapons to melee and back. Don’t be afraid to use your health herbs early and often. You can buy more with the souls. See point #1 above.
4. You will spend most of your time dead. Let it be. This is how you are supposed to be playing the game, mostly.
5. Get help when you can. I believe that I would have progressed farther if I had someone to play through some of the levels with.
6. DO NOT TRY TO KILL THE BIG DRAGONS. That is all. They will not die. You will.

I hope this review (part one here), has inspired you to get this game. I think this is the kind of game that shows off the PS3’s abilities to great effect, and will raise your own skills to a higher level, should you stick with it. I am a better player now, because of my trials and tribulations in Demon’s Souls. Games that I had given up on before at the “I’m stuck” point have opened up to me as being much easier now that I have a few more skillz under my belt. Thanks, Atlus!

As MMOs are such huge beasts that really can’t be accurately reviewed in a short amount of time, like a ‘traditional’ game, this will be part one of several features detailing the gradual progression of this epic MMO and Jen’s journey through it.

Game: Aion Online
Publisher/Developer: NCsoft / Aion Development Team
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG)
Verdict: Finally a new MMORPG with the potential for true greatness
Pros: Welcoming to new players, without dumbing things down too much.
Cons: Server queues to join are currently rather long at peak times.

Must. Not. Stop. Playing.

These four words sum up how many avid MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) gamers feel with their MMORPG of choice. I’ve certainly been there before, twice in fact. Back around the start of this century, I was hooked on Everquest 1. The game was quite a harsh, unforgiving lover. It was easy to get killed and a simple death resulted in losing all of your equipment and a huge chunk of experience, which could quite easily take hours to regain. The fact that it felt so important to gain this ever crucial experience and to never die, is what made it all the more addictive in reality. In retrospect, it would have made many MMO players of today cry with its harshly punishing nature. My other great addiction was the MMO behemoth: World of Warcraft. The opposite of Everquest 1, I loved it because it was so simple to level up quickly and I could gain so much, so easily.

As you can see, it might not have been the most sensible move for me to delve into the world of a new MMO, but when I was offered the chance to play Aion, the latest MMORPG from NCSoft, I couldn’t resist. Wow was I glad that I made that decision. Sure, my social life is now in even more tatters than it was previously, but I can certainly feel that spark of love that I once felt with the aforementioned MMOs. That’s not to say that Aion isn’t flawed, but…well, you’ll see.

There’s a large part of me that simply wants to dispense with a ‘proper’ review and simply say go give Aion a try. MMOs are very personal experiences. For the large multitudes of people who love World of Warcraft or Everquest, there’s an equal number of people who hate them. I wasn’t keen on Eve Online when I played it, nor Lineage 2, but they are still hugely popular. If ever there is a genre that is ridiculously subjective, it is MMOs. Throw in the fact that every game is only one patch away from being hugely different than it was previously, and the concept of a review becomes quite redundant about five minutes after finishing the draft. So think of this as not quite a review, more a guide of my personal experiences within the first fifteen levels of Aion Online.

Upon loading up Aion, I immediately had a good feeling about it. It’s shallow, but it looked pretty and the character modeling of the classes looked like a nice cross between realistic and cartoony. Characters were not so realistic that it was boring and drab, while also not appearing childish in its portrayal. I had a choice of two races to pick from: Elyos and Asmodians. The good and the evil, simply put, although it is a little more complicated than that. Once you choose a race, you learn that you can’t play as the opposing race on the same server. I went for Elyos because I like playing the ‘nicer’ side of things and being a goody two shoes, plus Elyos just looked ‘nicer.’ Next came the much harder decision, choosing a character class. It’s a big choice and I would always recommend trying out all the available classes before settling on the one as your main character to focus your efforts on. I started out with the simplest looking choice for the newbie: the warrior.

The class system is pretty nice overall. You start out with four choices: scout, mage, warrior or priest. This is pretty much the basic set of classes that you would expect to see in any classic RPG. Once you hit level 9, things open up further with the ability to specialize. Specializations break down into skills such as a scout becoming an assassin or ranger, or a warrior becoming a templar or gladiator. All the class types should be quite familiar to experienced MMO players, including a healer class (cleric), the all out magic caster (sorcerer), the pet class (spiritmaster), tank (templar and gladiator) and of course the damage dealers: assassin and ranger. This system manages to be both familiar yet different, all at the same time. It proved to be a perfect combination to ensure that I wasn’t out of my comfort zone, while not feeling too predictable and stale either.

I found the first nine levels prior to specializing to be tremendous fun. There was a great buzz of excitement that, dare I say, reminded me of the first few days of World of Warcraft. It felt like everyone knew that this was something special. People were talking excitedly in the general chat channel, discussing where to go next, how to solve quests, and an increasingly rare thing in MMOs: teaming up, just because it was fun! The quests available were fairly typical fodder, the usual ‘kill so-and-so number of beasts’ or ‘deliver a random egg to random citizen A,’ but the stories around why this was required had a little more originality to them. Some back stories missed the target a bit, but others were interesting enough that I did take the time to read them, rather than just the ‘go to position B to pick up Quest C’ portion.

Leveling seemed a little slower than the likes of World of Warcraft, but this isn’t a bad thing at all. On the other hand, it was nowhere near as slow as Everquest or Dark Ages of Camelot, but rather, slow enough that it felt satisfying to gain a level. The simplicity of World of Warcraft’s leveling system removed the satisfaction for me, so it was nice that Aion forced you to put a little more effort into the leveling mechanics. Having said that, it didn’t feel like a grind either. It was perfectly pitched. The questing system itself was geared towards me following a certain path: the path to the next city and class specialization, but don’t fret, there were also plenty of side quests at my disposal.

Once I hit level 9, I gained my wings and got to explore a huge sprawling city based in the air, known as Sanctum. It was huge and surprisingly complex, but I was pleased to see that my PC managed to survive it without too much of a hit in terms of graphical lag. Hooray for a game engine that can scale well, even on relatively modest PCs. Oh and did I mention the flying? It’s a small feature so far (though I’ve heard it becomes much more useful later on), but how damn cool is it to be able to tap a button and take off into the air? It’s a pity that you can’t do it anywhere you want, as unfortunately you are restricted as to where you can use it.

I spent much of my time in Sanctum, exploring the surroundings and figuring out the crafting system. There are plenty of different crafts to learn such as alchemy and tailoring. Each of these craft skills can also boost your experience, making it worthwhile to master them beyond the obvious benefits of being able to create your own equipment or items. Once I’d sated my urge to make random bits of armor out of even more random pieces of dead creatures, I moved onto the next main zone: Verteron.

Verteron is full of quests, in fact, I would go as far as to say that it’s absolutely stuffed full with them. Complimenting the high quest count are plenty of enemies to grind your way through, if that’s how you prefer to level-up. There were numerous great quests that kept me both busy and suitably entertained, while also giving me the opportunity to give my wings a proper try. So far, I’m about halfway through Verteron and I’ve managed to vanquish many bandits, worgs (quite violent wolf type creatures) and kobolds and er…. crabs. Needless to say, but I’m still hooked. I’ve heard that there are plenty of PvP and instances awaiting me in the later levels and that’s without even considering the fact I want to try out some more classes.

For now though, I implore you to give Aion a try. Is it a World of Warcraft killer? It’s too early to say for certain, but let’s not forget that World of Warcraft has a four year head start. However, it is the first MMORPG that I’ve played that seems to have the potential to be Warcraft’s equal. Be sure to stay tuned to GamesAreEvil.com for more tales of Aion, coming soon.

Game: Pangya Golf: Season 4
Publisher/Developer: Ntreev Soft
Genre: Sports MMO
Verdict: A unique take on the sport of golf that challenges your preconceived notions
Pros: Infinitely customizable characters allow users to express themselves creatively
Cons: Steep difficulty curve and unrealistic scenarios

When you think of the game of golf as a whole, what comes to mind? Is it Tiger Woods, or fat stuffy old men, running around in a field, smacking rocks with sticks? For those that think of the great Tiger Woods, you might want to stop reading right now, because you have at least a small base of knowledge about the sport. On the other hand, if you envisioned stuffy old men, then you are probably a casual observer at best, and hence, Pangya Golf is the perfect game for you.

You know all those pesky rules? Forget about them. After all, they just get in the way of the fun… Not a fan of golf’s irritable and snooty demeanor? Well, you are in luck, because not only does Pangya throw that attitude to the breeze, it then promptly crumples it up into a ball and shoves it up your ass. If there were a way to describe the game in only two words, it would be, “Fuck it!”

Virtually everything that could possibly be misconstrued as boring about the game of golf has been retooled with a flare that would make even the cast of Queer Eye quiver in their pumps, while simultaneously worrying for their jobs. Rest assured, this is not your father’s golf game. It is actually closer in comparison to the early days of the sport at St. Andrews. Pretty much anything goes in this war of attrition for fairway supremacy. Just be sure you don’t forget to bring a backpack, because you are going to need a way to transport your ass, once it gets handed to you.

At its core, Pangya Golf is an online golf game that challenges everything from your concentration and reaction time, to all of your preconceived notions about the sport. The founders of the legendary St. Andrews Links would have been rocked to their core just looking at the character creation and selection screen, which consists primarily of females. To make matters worse, the available avatars are not your typical everyday dainty tea and crumpet ladies either. A good frame of reference might be traditional Japanese manga such as Sailor Moon. Then, remove about three quarters of their clothing, color their hair some kind of outlandish color and give them a heavy estrogen injection, topped off with a heaping helping of pedo-stalker appeal. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, I am sure all of the cartoon models are over the age of eighteen, (nudge nudge, wink wink) but it will make you wonder if you should ask for the girl’s age, or just offer her candy from the comfort of your custom painted all-black van with matching tinted windows.

Fortunately, if you don’t appreciate your online self-approximation looking like he or she is fresh off the set of “A Shot at Syphilis with Tila Tequila,” there is a deep closet of immensely customizable wardrobes. All of the different options and tweaks that can be applied to each character will make your inner Versace feel like you have died and gone to heaven. Just be sure not to have too much fun in the closet tinkering around with your character, because eventually you will have to come out and face your internet adversaries.

To say that the online competition is challenging would be equivalent to saying that Hitler had anger management issues; No matter what perspective you look at it from, it is the understatement of the century. Do not expect to step out onto the links and instantly become Arnold Palmer. In fact, it would probably be less detrimental to your mental health if you prepared for matches by trying to recall the time you first realized that your grandparents still have sex. Now take that violent emotional response and replay in your mind for every shot you take, this way every shot that you are able to complete without vomiting in disgust can actually be viewed as a mood enhancement. It is truly not for the faint of heart, but if you are willing to put forth the time necessary to succeed, you will improve dramatically.

As matches are completed you will begin to acquire a form of Pangya funnymoney called Peng. Players can use this digital dinero to follow in the footsteps of their favorite over-entitled professional athletes by selfishly enhancing their own stats, modifying their physical appearance, or purchasing more top of the line equipment. Any of these changes will normally result in performance enhancement on the part of your avatar, but that comes at the cost of having to dodge questions from the press about your recent breast implants, lying to a grand jury about when and where Jose Canseco injected you, or deciding what to do when you have all of the toys in the world but no one to love you. Sometimes it is rough living the life of an electronic alter-ego.

Once disbelief has been suspended enough to view any of these absurdly ridiculous scenarios as plausible, it should come as no shock that the courses available are far from your garden variety country club. That is not to say that they are bad by any stretch of the imagination, but rather, mind-jarringly diverse to the point of ridiculousness. Harsh frozen tundra? Check. Vibrant blossoming jungle? Affirmative. Stifling Egyptian ruins? Yes sirreee. Scorching Volcano interiors? You bet your sweet ass. The only thing that is missing is the creepy, molest-a-stash sporting, Italian guy from the earlier mentioned black van, wearing red overalls and riding a turtle ingesting dinosaur. Sure, some holes feel like they could have been designed by Jack Nicklaus on a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper bender, but when there are fourteen different courses available, you will be far too busy enjoying yourself to worry about temporary setbacks.

No matter how much you could piss and moan about Pangya Golf, the single biggest redeeming factor is the title’s gigantic sticker price of absolutely nothing. In this age of being thoughtlessly victimized by sixty dollar console releases like teenagers in the front row of an R. Kelly concert, the game’s publisher, Ntreev, is taking the rare stance against violating our wallets. Better yet, if players so choose, they have the ability to purchase in-game funds using real cash, which can result in alleviating many of the frustrations associated with leveling up manually. This may seem unfair to some, but just remember, those are the people that are footing the bill for your cheapskate ass!

All kidding aside, once you get past the harsh learning curve, Pangya Golf is an intensely rewarding experience. The character creation tool set provides an enticement factor that will keep you coming back for more. A large selection of different courses and tee settings are very much icing on the cake, providing months, if not years, of replayability. If you are looking for the complete online golf experience, look no further.

Game: Heroes Over Europe
Publisher/Developer: Ubisoft / Transmission Games
Genre: Flight Simulation
Verdict: One of the most average games ever created
Pros: Authentic styling and artwork, respectful of its subject matter, some good ideas, solid graphics
Cons: Baffling design decisions, poor execution of ideas, repetitive missions and gameplay, unforgiving

Heroes Over Europe is not a bad game, exactly – it’s just not a very good one.  It commits one of the greatest gaming sins around: it’s instantly forgettable.  Neither good enough to recommend itself, nor bad enough to sear itself into the memory, it occupies the middle ground of mediocrity.  It’s fifty percent of average, three stars of normal.  It’s like playing beige.

One of Newton’s laws of motion states that, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  Perhaps Transmission Games are huge fans of Newton’s work, as they have liberally applied this policy to every in-game feature.  For every good idea in it, there’s an equally baffling one to not only negate it, but drag the game back down into obscurity.  Take the “Ace Kill” feature, for example – by tracking an enemy plane for a few seconds, you can build a gauge around your targeting reticule.  When the gauge is over half full, you can trigger slow-mo, and target key points on the enemy plane for a one-hit kill.  Sounds great, right?  Well, it isn’t.  Simply put, it’s as useful as a chocolate teapot.  Tracking planes to build the Ace Kill gauge is so fiddly (especially on the harder difficulties) that it’s actually quicker just to use guns, especially because you can’t shoot and build the gauge – just one or the other.  As a result, a far more useful feature is the red “bead” that shows you how far to aim ahead of moving planes, allowing you to gun them down without too much fuss.  The only exception is when playing on harder difficulties, as the enemy fighters are more adept in their aerial combat, and are also tougher – so if you get a chance for an Ace Kill, you should take it.

Objective markers are another source of invective.  A flashing red and yellow marker denotes your primary objective, while hollow yellow markers form a doctor’s waiting room worth of targets to be dispatched.  If you have a single objective, then most of the time this is fine, and holding down RB will cleverly switch the camera to show your plane relative to the objective.  However, having a single objective is rarer than a bacon sandwich in a synagogue – multiple objectives are constant throughout.  Here, Heroes Over Europe hamstrings you again: you aren’t free to cycle between objectives to highlight the one you want.  You are given the markers in a preordained manner – which is unfortunate, given that the omniscient god of objective marking can’t prioritize properly.  This means that the markers are often a confusing distraction, leaving you to hunt out the correct objectives manually, while free-wheeling through the sky like a drunken base-jumper with an inner ear infection.

So what does the game do right?  The controls.  On the “arcade” setting, they are easy to master, forgiving, and I hardly ever crashed into the ground. Though that sounds like a back-handed compliment, but given my flying skills, it’s really not.  Graphics aren’t too badly textured, even up close (although towns in particular look very blocky), and the planes are well modeled and authentic.  The voice work is pretty good too, although the word “mate” was used more times than during a ride through the London East End in a black cab.  British people do use it, but not at the end of every single sentence, mate.

The start menus and artwork are also fine, and tie in well with the authentic black and white WW2 footage used to introduce every mission.  It lends weight to the serious subject matter, and perfectly captures the public information and propaganda feel of the wireless broadcasts and poster campaigns of the time.  The debate of whether games based on real conflicts are exploitative often comes up when reviewing such titles – Heroes Over Europe never feels cheap or unworthy.  It successfully manages to walk a fine line between the tone of the jaunty Biggles novels of the 1930s and the overwhelming darkness and tragedy of a war the Allies were losing until America stepped in.

The combat is unfussy and allows you to engage in some epic dogfights, recreating famous chapters and decisive battles from the war.  There are fourteen missions in total, and these are broken down into four sub-sections, with each of these giving you a role as a distinct pilot or crew.  Escorting a vast fleet of bombers towards Berlin is something to be savored – Jerry doesn’t like it up ‘im.  There is a suitably grand mix of locales, too – you will be involved in everything from desperate attempts to save London during the Blitz to hammering the Hun’s ground forces in the Battle of the Bulge.

The simple approach starts to grate, however.  The repetitive missions drag on ad infinitum, to the point where you just want to start doing something different.  To make matters worse, endless new “surprise” objectives pop up just when you think you’ve won the day.  Constantly moving the goalposts made me feel like Heroes Over Europe was padding out the game in a very cheap fashion.  This leads me on to another huge failing: checkpoints.  They are ridiculously sparse in places, and controller-smashingly infuriating on the harder difficulties.  You can shoot wave after wave of German bombers out of the sky, only for one solitary plane to make it through, bomb a target, make you fail your mission, and wipe all your progress from the last fifteen minutes.  This is compounded by the truly gobsmacked bewilderment I suffered when I realized checkpoints don’t save your progress for later – if you don’t complete the mission in one sitting, you have to start from scratch next time you fire up the game.  WHY?  Some missions will take you well in excess of half an hour (more like an hour on the harder settings), so what is gained by punishing anyone other than the hardcore gamer?  It makes mission completion a feat of endurance gaming, rather than a fun exercise in what is so nearly quite a good game.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh in my criticisms.  Perhaps Transmission Games are making a satirical statement about the blandness of many games – indeed, it is a testament to Heroes Over Europe that it manages so successfully to remain a halfway house of the humdrum while simultaneously being utterly grueling to play.

My advice?  Buy a copy of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, if you need a WW2 flight sim.  It’s not perfect, but it’s better than this.  As far as playing this again, I’d sooner paint over my eyeballs in a neutral color and shout quotes from Dambusters at my telly.  At least it would make for a good anecdote.  I could hesitantly recommend this for rental, but purchase it at your peril.  This is less Heroes Over Europe, more Snow Camouflage on a White Background.

Game: NHL 10
Publisher/Developer: EA Sports/EA Canada
Genre: Sports
Verdict: EA improves on its already fantastic NHL series
Pros: Excellent puck physics, board play and fighting improve on last year’s solid core
Cons: New modes are fairly unimaginative.

NHL09 was the most critically acclaimed sports game of 2008, so NHL10 has some big skates to fill.  The question is if the game will live up to the extremely high bar that was set by its predecessors, or will it shoot for the five-hole, and just attempt to squeak by?  Either way, you can bet that NHL 10 will bring a lot to the table for the first hockey title of this decade.

Even compared to last year, puck movement feels incredibly fluid and realistic. The puck bounces around off skates and sticks in a far smoother fashion then even past versions. It is much easier to “get in the way” of the puck.  This gives it a less sticky feeling and greatly encourages a strong passing game. Passing around a defender is much harder, which really forces you to set up plays. While previous hockey games amounted to little more then lots of hitting and shooting, NHL 10 pushes more for puck control and actual strategy.

This is further assisted by the vast improvements in other strategic aspects of the game. Play along the board is meaningful for the first time in recent memory. A player with the puck can trap it against the boards, either by choice or because an opponent pinned them there. In this stance the player can move the puck back and forth between his skates and then pass it along the boards to a friendly player, all before an opposing player uses their stick to knock it free.

Fighting is also vastly improved. Instead of mere button mashing, the player uses the analog sticks to aim, charge, and thrust, all while trying to knock some teeth out. The way a fight starts is also unique because instead of pushing one button to start a fight, you push a button that causes you to face-wash your opponent, spin them around, or otherwise challenge them to a fight. This also means that for the first time, AI opponents can effectively challenge you to a fight.  However, ultimately you can choose whether or not to drop your gloves. Just be sure to be careful if you keep whacking at the puck after the whistle or give an extra bump after the play. The opposing team’s biggest brute will come looking for revenge.

The improved take on player contact isn’t without its problems, however. If you and your opponent simply take turns bumping each other (checking while standing next to each other), you are likely to both be called for 2:00 roughing penalties. While a cool twist, the refs have a tendency to call you both for roughing if your opponent comes after you and you simply try and run away. This is all the more frustrating in the Be a Pro mode.

NHL 10 also has some scaling issues.  I am sure EA has a contract that says every seat in the arena must be filled with screaming fans, but the fact that even an AHL game is sold out makes the big games seem less important. To overcome this, every simulated fan is given a rally towel in the playoffs and is inclined to join in various chants. Still, they would feel bigger if the regular season or AHL games had their crowds toned down a bit.

While the on-ice game is vastly improved over last years, the traditional game mode remains largely unchanged. “New” modes amount to nothing more then smaller chunks of other modes. For example, you can play a shootout or start a best of seven series for the Stanley cup. The three major modes, Be a GM (Dynasty), Be a Pro, and Season, feature minor improvements, but are mostly unchanged. Playing a Season lets you take control of one or more teams and play a full season worth of hockey. Overall this is fun, but unremarkable.

The Be a Pro mode is also largely unchanged.  Mostly this is because it was so good in last year’s game and no further upgrades were needed. In this mode you choose to take over control of a single existing player or create your own from scratch. If you create your own player, you can decide to either choose a team to join or enter the draft. The draft, which is a new addition this year, is a very exciting experience. You start off with a chance to prove yourself in the prospects game, then teams take turns picking their first round choices. Being a big Red Wing fan myself, I was a little unnerved when the Toronto Maple Leafs selected me and quickly inked me for an in-game eternity of three seasons, but I went with it anyway. Then, after four good games at the NHL level, I was promptly demoted to the third line of their AHL team and forced began my quest to work my way up through the ranks.

The starting stats for a new player are notably weaker then new players in last year’s game. This can be overcome in part by the new equipment element that EA has introduced. On top of the standard equipment you start off with, you can now unlock “better” helmets, sticks, skates, and gloves that have “boost” slots. Boosts are additional unlockables that provide a +1, +3 or +5 stat point boost to a specific player stat. Equipment can have anywhere from one to three available slots. As part of EA’s new (and kind of insulting) marketing scheme, you also have the option to purchase equipment and boosts instead of unlocking them. This is an interesting concept, but it could use some more polishing. My biggest complaint is that the unlocked equipment looks like it would fit in better in a BMX or skate boarding game. The boost slots provided by my bright yellow helmet almost aren’t worth the horrible clash with the blue Maple Leafs uniform. In a game that has become so realistic, the new equipment really kills the atmosphere.

My biggest problem with the Be a Pro mode is that it makes me play too much. I know, that sounds really strange, but hear me out. No matter what line I am on, the coach always sends me out to take the draw, as long as my stamina bar is mostly full. If I’m on the third line, that means the game starts off with our worst line facing the opposing team’s best line. This is comically pointed out by the announcers, who comment on the coach’s foolish decision to put you out on the ice. In effect, it trivializes the important occasion when you are promoted up or demoted down a line.

Be a GM mode has undergone the biggest overhaul. Unfortunately, this mode is more for people who like statistics and economics, rather than NHL fans. I was greatly dismayed when I took over my precious Red Wings and was faced with a huge amount of pressure attempting to push me to trade away my players. Indeed, the game seems to encourage wheeling and dealing, as opposed to keeping a solid block of players. Ironically, if you do well and win the cup, your players will demand more money and you have to trade them to stay under the salary cap. This is a great mode if you like scouting in the European leagues, inking deals and creating an Empire. I, on the other hand, am going to stick to the Be a Pro mode.

I would be remiss to forget to mention that the online play is a blast. You can either join an online league or just play ranked or social matches. I think I also saw “shootout” in the menu somewhere too, but I refuse to play a mode that will take you longer to connect than actually play. Online games are fast paced, include a lot more reckless play, and are a lot of fun. At one point I personally went three games without scoring a single goal, but still found myself thoroughly amused.

To sum it up, NHL 10 is still the best hockey experience available today. That said, if you aren’t a big hockey fan and already own NHL 09, you may not find enough value in it to warrant an upgrade. Still, there is enough polished content to offer a better experience to fans of the game. I highly recommend it, especially for the opportunity to bust Sidney Crosby’s nose open. Which I did. With a high stick to the face. It was worth every second of that five minute major…

Game: WET
Publisher / Developer: Bethesda / Artificial Mind and Movement
Genre: Action
Verdict: Average shooter that goes for style over substance
Pros: Awesomely stylish, the action feels excellent to begin with…
Cons: Unfortunately that feeling doesn’t last as the game becomes repetitive pretty quickly

It must be really hard trying to create a unique and innovative 3rd person shooter these days. With so many games out in the genre, from titles like Gears of War to Stranglehold and all points in-between, you have to think that virtually every innovative idea has already been used, so creating something that stands out from the crowd becomes very difficult indeed. Some developers don’t try to create something that dissimilar from the rest, instead choosing to try and perfect the formula and make an unmissable game. Others try something a little different, trying to grab your attention with some kind of hook or gimmick. Then there are games like WET, who try to stand out from the crowd by a strong visual and presentational style. Stand out it certainly does, but does it do enough to hold your attention after reeling you in? Read on to find out more.

WET places you into the acrobatic shoes of Rubi Malone, a heroine for hire who is more than happy getting her hands dirty while carrying out her work. And by dirty, I of course mean covered with blood. Whether it’s a hail of gunfire or the swish of a sword, Rubi is exceptionally comfortable when it comes to mowing down hordes of bad guys. Using a variety of guns, such as shotguns and sub-machine guns, as well as her trusty sword Rubi will leave countless enemies lying in bloodied heaps at her feet. The inclusion of the sword gives the game a nice twist compared to virtually every other 3rd person shooter, as it gives you the option to get up close and personal if you wish. Most killing will be done at a distance but there will always be times when you get close to an enemy, intentionally or otherwise, and a quick slice of your sword will restore your personal space bubble and ensure everyone else thinks twice about getting that close to you.

As well as dumping bad guys in your way as you progress through the levels, every now and then you’ll come to an arena section. These sections force you to kill swarm after swarm of enemy cannon fodder until you destroy the various spawn points in the area. There will be multipliers to collect which are vital not only for boosting your score, but the higher your multiplier the faster your health will regenerate. Performing quick stylish kills will ensure your multiplier stays high while keeping your health nicely topped up.

To make sure you don’t get overwhelmed by enemy numbers you have a few moves at your disposal which should help swing the odds back in your favor. Jumping and sliding, two fairly simple and innocuous moves become lethal weapons when used by Rubi. When either jumping or sliding, shooting your weapons automatically slows down time, allowing you to take better aim at your enemies. In addition, you can use your dual weapons (which Rubi always carries) to target more than one enemy at once. Rubi will lock on to one poor sap while you take aim at another. As you can string these moves together it’s entirely possible to jump headlong into a room, take out two or three bad guys before instantly transitioning into a full length knee slide which lets you take out two or three more. It’s cool and instantly gratifying and makes you feel like an awesome killing machine.

Rubi’s tricks don’t stop there either. Instead of climbing down a ladder like any normal person, Rubi will slide down them head first, allowing her to target and shoot anyone unfortunate enough to be standing near the base of the ladder. Rubi can also swing around poles and slide down zip lines, and as you progress through the game you’ll get the chance to upgrade her skills, possibly unlocking the option to shoot while swinging or sliding. The chance to upgrade comes at the end of each level and after every arena battle, and you’ll find some skills are locked until you progress further into the story, or until you find yourself some extra weapons. My personal favorite upgrade is the ability to perform an upwards sword slash while doing a knee slide. Shooting two guys in the face while sliding then finishing off a third with a sword wielding uppercut just feels cool.

One thing that WET really has going for it is style. Presented in a B-movie grindhouse style with a grainy film filter, you can see the film influences running right through the game, especially Tarantino-style films such as Kill Bill. Rubi herself reminds me of The Bride from the aforementioned Kill Bill, with her acrobatics, gun play and sword abilities. There is also a Matrix Reloaded style highway scene where Rubi leaps athletically from vehicle to vehicle while dodging gunfire and destroying enemies. Between chapters and missions you’ll be treated to cinema style advertisements, further driving home the movie connections. The game unashamedly wants to look like a film and that’s no bad thing in my eyes, as it creates a nice feel to the game as a result.

Another nod towards the medium of movies comes in the form of Rubi’s rage mode. These sections start with Rubi taking a large splash of blood to her face, causing her to go ape and get medieval on people’s asses. The screen turns to a very Sin City like state where everything goes red, white and black, and Rubi gets very pissed. Rubi’s multiplier builds very quickly here as you’re encouraged to kill everything as quickly as possible to keep it that way. These sections also feel very much like another nod in the direction of Kill Bill, as it’s quite reminiscent of the Crazy 88 fight sequence in the first film, only everything here goes red instead of black and white. It’s just a shame Gogo isn’t here with her scary metal ball on a chain, as that would be an awesome boss fight.

The story in the game, for what it’s worth, is pretty average stuff. You start off being employed to go on a fairly routine mission, only to find yourself double-crossed before setting off on a path of righteous vengeance. To be honest, the story in games like this is never too much of a concern for me. As long as I can follow it and it’s not too convoluted then I’m happy. After all, the story is really in place just to explain why I’m travelling to these different locations and killing these various people. I’m not after a story of Shakespearean quality here, just something that doesn’t get in the way of all the violence and bloodshed, and WET delivers on that count. It’s probably not something you’ll remember a couple of months down the line, but it’s also not why you’d play the game, so we’re not really complaining here.

So, it’s all been good so far, so I’m sure you’re waiting for the bad news. Unfortunately, while the gun play is stylish and can feel very cool to start with, after a while you find yourself wanting more variety. While the gameplay is broken up now and then by sequences such as the motorway section mentioned earlier, the rest of the game follows the pattern of simply moving through the levels killing everything in your way. A few more sequences like the motorway would have gone a long way to making everything seem that little bit less samey.

Another problem lies with the moves of Rubi herself. Her ability to slow down time by diving through the air and sliding on the ground are so useful that you find yourself using them constantly. Unlike something like Max Payne where the amount of bullet time you have is limited and has to be recharged, there is nothing stopping Rubi from constantly going from diving to sliding to diving to sliding. If they’d implemented a system like Max Payne’s where it was limited, you’d have to pick your spots more which would mean making those perfect dive-slide combos even more satisfying. As it stands, the coolness you feel the first time you slaughter everyone with a slow-mo combination starts to fade away pretty quickly when it becomes the standard way of doing things.

The graphics are also nothing to write home about. There’s nothing particularly bad about them, but now that the consoles have been out for a while, and games like Gears of War 2 and Uncharted 2 are blowing us away with their graphical glory, it’s always a shame when a game comes out that doesn’t come anywhere near them. The presentation is excellent and the game is full of style, it’s just a shame the in-game graphics and animation couldn’t match them.

Sonically the game is fine. There are a couple of recognizable voices in Eliza Dushku and Malcolm McDowell, and they both perform their vocal duties with no problems. The game is obviously aimed at adult gamers, not just from the death and violence in the game, but from the language used as well. If you go five minutes without hearing the F-bomb being dropped then you’re probably going through the game too slowly. The soundtrack is also good without being outstanding, fitting in with the action nicely.

WET feels like something of a missed opportunity to me. The game does a lot right, from the grindhouse movie feel, to the Tarantino film references, to the over-the-top action. What the game does, it does very well. The problem comes about simply because the scope of the game is too narrow and doesn’t offer enough variety to stop the cool killing techniques from becoming old pretty quickly. That’s not to say that WET is a bad game, because it’s not, but if it’s something you fancy just make sure you’re aware of what you’re getting. If you like your games over-the-top, filled with stylish slow motion action, then WET may well fit the bill. Just be aware of its limitations before you part with your hard earned cash.

Back in the day I never really played that many online multiplayer games. Actually for the most part, I still don’t. In a rare exception to the rule, one game that I did play on occasion was Tribes Online. Section 8 immediately brought back all the fun memories that I had of that game, and then squashed them FLAT. I guess it’s hard to make a game stand out from a crowd when you look like every other shooter out there.

The first thing that will be painfully easy to notice is that this game is geared heavily towards multiplayer. There IS a single player campaign, but I seriously had to look for it in order to play. My first mistake with this game was jumping to the online multiplayer by default. I thought that there would be at least some sort of tutorial to ease me into the fray, but no such luck there. Needless to say, I was dropped before I could even figure out what I was doing. Once this occurred, I was bounced back to the title screen and finally found the single player mode. In all honesty, single player is really only there for the purpose of being a guided tutorial.

You play the roll of Corde; a soldier in the elite (and crazy) squad known as “Section 8.” They are usually the first team to go in behind enemy lines or stare-down the opposition, before the rest of the backup comes in. Basically they are all considered to be not only crazy ones, but pretty much considered expendable too. You are dropped in from about 50K feet, screaming towards the ground, without the assistance of a parachute. It’s done with a lot of flash and rumble, but really after about the third drop, it’s all the same. The voices in your ear say you have the ability to “see the battlefield” as you plummet to the dirt, but really, you only see tiny units and then your fist hitting the ground.

The single player campaign consists of about 3 missions all done in several sections. I was able to burn through it in about 3 hours time, but as you already know well, this is not why most people are going to buy this game. In defense of those missions, I was able to get a grasp on the controls, calling in supply drops, and generally moving around the area. The game has your typical FPS controls, with the added bonus of jump jets. Tapping the left bumper will activate your jets and propel you into the air for a short time. It’s handy for getting to higher ground, or for avoiding short bursts of enemy fire.

Now let’s get to the “meat and potatoes” of this game so to speak: The Multiplayer. The multiplayer aspect of this game is pretty easy to jump into once you have the hang of the controls. I realized after playing a few matches that it actually DOES give you a sort of mini hurried tutorial. The down side of that it is attempting to teach you in the middle of a fire fight, so you don’t really live long enough to get all the necessary info from it. Pretty much everything about this game you have seen before. The landscapes are quite large but mostly barren of anything interesting to look at or play with. When you spawn, you have the option of joining up with your squad or “Free Spawn.” This pretty much just boils down to either spawning with your team or spawning where ever you like and braving it by yourself. Each having it’s own advantages and disadvantages.

One good thing that Section 8 does well is mixing in some elements of different types of multiplayer games, to try to keep you from getting bored with the typical death match. During a game you may have to either stop a convoy or help it reach a certain destination, not to mention an alternate gametype where you can either retrieve or protect information. Being on the winning side of each of these will net you a points boost towards your goal. You can also set up supply drops, request air support, or even munitions drop, all of which can help your team attain victory. It does a pretty good job of breaking up the monotony of spawn, kill, die, repeat, that is featured prominently in games of deathmatch.

Things are not all sunbeams and teddy bears here though. Several glaring issues with this game will stand out to ANY veteran of an online multiplayer game, the first being that you move very very slow. Walking feels like you are actually crawling… on your belly… in tar. There is the option to “run” by clicking the left stick, but oddly enough, that actually takes a few seconds to charge up. Once you are running, however, you switch to a third person perspective and do move at a pretty good pace. The downside is that you can’t stop on a dime, (I guess that’s realistic) and you lose the ability to shoot while in motion. Not the greatest thing in a game that centers around shooting… a lot.

Which brings me to the next problem: the shields are painfully overpowered. Each soldier’s shield function wears down with damage and recharges over time, much like you have seen before. However it takes well over one clip (400+ bullets) to deplete the shield, then another several shots to down the opponent. That’s way too much when you have 32 players all gunning to get points. Matches can take forever and a day to complete.

For as derivative as it tends to feel, the game does have its moments. When you actually have everyone in a smaller area, while trying to knock out or save the convoy, things can get pretty heated. Several of the set pieces do look pretty nice and a large majority of the sound design is solid. Unfortunately, in the days of games like Halo 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Gears of War, you have to make your game stand out with SOMETHING. You can’t just take a piece here and a piece there from all of the big multiplayer shooters and expect it to sell. Section 8, in it’s defense, is not a “bad” game per-say, it just doesn’t do anything well enough to stand out in an already crowded market.

Game: Halo 3: ODST
Publisher/Developer: Microsoft / Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Verdict: Outstanding package that is a value proposition to gamers.
Pros: Interesting approach to storytelling that Bungie has never tried before.
Cons: 5-6 hours is a short campaign for a sixty dollar product.

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers: while they might not be the most intimidating or imposingly named branch of the United Nations Space Command, their name reeks of subtlety and skill. If Master Chief was the designated military ass-kicker, these were the men sneaking around in the background facilitating his madness. They are intensely trained, calm under pressure, and some of the best that the military has to offer, short of calling in the direct support of series mainstay, Sergeant Johnson.

While the past installments in the Halo series revolve around such joyful activities as destroying orbital space stations to furthering the semi-confusing man-on-microcomputer love fest between Cortana and Master Chief, ODST focuses on the softer side of the equation. This new game from Bungie focuses on something that has never been a factor in any prior Halo title: atmospheric subtlety. To some hardcore fans this may sound slightly blasphemous, given the series’ history of in-your-face action, but not only does this core mechanic work, it thrives.

You play the part of the Rookie, a noticeably mute member of the elite force of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. After dropping onto the planet of New Mombasa, you find yourself completely alone and shrouded within the darkness of night. During the course of infiltrating the planet, the drop pods have all been pushed off course, leaving them scattered across the planet. Your goal is to make your way around the expansive hub world of New Mombasa, collecting clues as to the whereabouts of the rest of your squad.

Think of the game as a hybrid of the Halo action that we all adore fused with the immersive storytelling of a good detective mystery. Players can choose how to make their way around the hub, either by embracing the darkness, using it to sneak past inattentive Covenant troops, or running in, guns ablaze, taking out everything in sight. Though many may feel inclined to choose the latter,  the game itself emphatically reminds players that they are NOT the Master Chief. This is a clue.

Running speed, jumping height and even melee combat are all severely decreased from what players are familiar with. Most noticeable is the shield system, one that invokes the system from the first Halo game. Each player has a stamina bar, which also acts as a heath meter. As you are hit and take enemy fire, your shields will initially absorb the blow, but once the shields have faded, the damage is inflicted directly on your stamina. Shields will recharge if given enough time out of the line of fire, but stamina can only be increased by finding health packs scattered throughout the city.

To some, this new heath system may feel like a step backwards, but it goes a long way towards enforcing that the player is human, not a mechanically enhanced phenom, while also injecting a new level of tension into the combat. Cover will become very critical to your success in the game, so make sure you know where it is at all times. For this reason, the stealthy approach to traversing the city is far more preferable under most scenarios. This core gameplay mechanic  again reminds you that you are not the Last Action Hero. This is also a clue.

Aiding in the process of creeping across the landscape is a technology that is exclusive to the ODST’s: the Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance, or VISR for short. VISR is a replacement for the traditional Halo heads-up display. The VISR has many new and different features, including an interactive three dimensional layout of the city, a compass for locating waypoints that can be set from the city map, and an alternate viewing mode that can be used to locate different enemies, collectibles and clues strewn about the environment. Using the alternate viewing mode is a dual-edged sword: though it may be very helpful in locating enemies, it has a tendency to invert the colors of the environment, making it unusable in the light. Plus, when it is activated, the VISR will shine brightly. This will tip off enemies to your location, a clue that it should be used sparingly.

As you make your way through the checkpoints and discover the clues to the storyline that are scattered across the city, there are many different enemies that will attempt to impede your progress. It IS an FPS, after all. If you manage to use the VISR effectively, most of these firefights can be evaded before they even start. Using information that is provided by the Superintendent, an artificial intelligence that controls everything that goes on in the city, you will attempt to rebuild the story of what happened in the six hours that you spent unconscious in your pod, while the rest of the squad attempted to reunite and rain down hell on those Covenant bastards.

Once you have discovered a clue that has been left behind by your squad, it will activate a memory sequence of sorts that places the player in the boots of one of the other ODSTs. From these four alternate perspectives, the story will be rebuilt from the ground up, shedding light on what has occurred over the last quarter of a day.

Upon entering one of these flashback sequences, all semblance of subtlety goes out the window, in favor of a good old-fashioned Halo firefight. Bungie’s famous mantra of “thirty seconds of fun” is repeated to perfection, showing once again why they are some of the best in the business. Completing each breakaway mission will result in more of the back story being revealed. Not to spoil anything, but let’s just say that there is enough variety to keep players coming back for a long time. If you worry that this new, subtler Halo will put you to sleep, these sequences are here to tell ya: HELLZ NAH! Again, with the clues.

If there is one thing that makes ODST stand out from the other installments in the series, it is certainly the mood and tone in which the story is told. While you are in the shoes of the Rookie, there is a feeling like you are in the middle of a 1960’s detective flick. This is further embraced through the stellar musical compositions of the legendary Marty O’Donnell. A smooth and almost smoky jazz sax makes you feel like you could turn any corner and see someone leaning against a street lamp wearing a full length trench coat and smoking a cigarette, while he waits to meet his (preferably sexy and red-dress-wearing) informant. Contrast that with the very explosive action of the back story segments and you have a combination that on paper seems like a stretch, but is executed here to perfection.

For all of the great things that the game achieves, it is far from perfect. First of all,  there are some pretty significant plot holes that lack any explanation whatsoever, easily noticed if you are paying  close enough attention. Even the trailer gives this inconsistency away — the first clue that you come across is a half destroyed helmet with the name Buck written on it, which is then discarded as garbage after the flashback mission. However, later chronologically in the story line, Buck is shown wearing the same helmet, only in perfect condition. How is that even feasible, considering that a ruined helmet implies that Alas, Poor Buck  may be dead to begin with?

The frustrations continue when trying to explore the hub city. For a game that prides itself on being open to the user to try new things, there are painfully obvious attempts to funnel the player in single direction. Even as the story tries to justify locked doors with the Superintendent trying to lead you towards your next objective, it seems contrived. Bungie took what could have been a really new concept in the Halo universe and gimped it in order to make things operate properly within the constraints of their game engine, which is a disappointment to say the least. This is something that should certainly be explored more, just probably without the constraints of a controlled storyline.

Another snagging point is the length of the overall campaign. On normal difficulty it can take anywhere between five and six hours to complete. Though this is extremely brief for a full release of a game, this is a clue that you need to do more than just blaze through the game; there are plenty of collectibles to make replaying the game and further exploration of New Mombasa well worth your while. Lastly, any graphical glitches or AI peculiarities that were present in Halo 3 also make themselves very apparent in the prequel as well, but this is to be expected when a game is based off of the same core engine.

Fortunately for us, there is a lot more to ODST than just a simple player campaign. Firefight is the newest addition to the Halo multiplayer suite of awesomeness. Think of this as Gears of War 2’s Horde mode in the Halo universe. Wave after wave of Covenant opposition is thrown your way, which up to four players attempt to survive as long as possible. As the difficulty increases, the skulls featured in Halo 3 make a return appearance, to ratchet up the difficulty even more. Just remember one thing, no matter how chaotic things get, treat your ammo and health packs like gold; they never re-spawn as fast as you would like.

The last piece of the puzzle is the second disc that is the complete Halo 3 multiplayer experience. Every single multiplayer map that Bungie has ever released for Halo 3 is contained on this disc. Feel free to give that tired and overused Halo 3 disc a break and take this one for a few spins – odds are you’ll like what you see.

While any one component of this package may not be worth the full sixty dollar price tag, together they make a very handsome value proposition for gamers. There is no doubt that this is not only the pinnacle of Bungie’s storytelling abilities, but it delivers on bringing the best of the single and multiplayer worlds together in a unified space. Expansive environments, tremendous detail, and a true feeling of community make this a game that no Xbox 360 owner should be without.

Game: Colin McRae DiRT2
Publisher/Developer: Codemasters
Genre: Racing
Verdict: Fantastic racing game that is both arcade like in nature and challenging.
Pros: So much to do with so many races to complete.
Cons:Not as pure a rally sim as some fans might want.

I first played the original DiRT game in September 2007, a month that rally fans will instantly recognize as the time that Colin McRae, one of the real greats of the rallying world, unfortunately died in a helicopter accident. It felt rather sad playing the game, knowing that this true great whose name and image was so strongly connected to the title, was no longer with us. At the time I did slightly selfishly ponder whether that meant no more Colin McRae racing games, a selfish thought really considering the severity of the situation, but I have no doubt others asked the same question. Of course, I figured the series would continue, just without his name and memory connected to it. So I was pleased to see that DiRT2 retains its ties to this truly distinct rally driver. Even better, it’s a real tribute to him, thanks in part to it being an excellent racing game.

It has to be said that DiRT2 is a racing game first and foremost, not a rally driving sim. Think of it as somewhere in between the realism of Forza Motorsport and the outlandish arcade nature featured in the Need for Speed Underground and Burnout series. If you want a realistic sim and turn your nose up at anything less, this really isn’t for you. However, if you want a step up from the simplistic nature of an arcade racer, this is a fantastic step for you because it requires more precision, without needing hundreds of hours invested to become proficient.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that handling is much improved from the original DiRT. Although it wasn’t hugely flawed to begin with, it did at times feel like all the cars were too light and collision detection felt slightly off kilter. In the case of DiRT2, the cars feel suitably heavy and they all have a unique feel that will require you to adjust your racing style accordingly. It does take a little bit of practice at first, but this isn’t due to awkward handling, but rather simply semi-realistic handling. Much like in reality, you can’t expect to drive round a hairpin corner at 100mph and not hit the barriers at a high rate of speed. Having said that, in keeping with the middle ground that DiRT2 has established, the handling is not so ridiculously precise that you will tear your hair out with frustration. I found within 30 minutes of starting the game I could drift round a corner in great style, and as time went on, the drifts got increasingly more impressive. The braking felt well pitched with the need to plan ahead if a corner arises, but again not so much that it hampered the experience.

DiRT2 adjusts the difficulty levels perfectly, right down to the ability to modify it on a race to race basis. This means that you are not constricted to the one difficulty level throughout your career. However, accurate driving is much more essential in higher difficulty levels, because the AI is much, much better at driving. It was a nice touch that the handling  felt very similar, regardless of difficulty level, rather than having to relearn the game simply because I bumped the difficulty up. All I knew is that I just had to be better than the other guy. Sounds easy eh? Not at all! On the hardcore difficulty for example, the player has to be ridiculously good to beat the AI, which proves to provide a considerable challenge. Fortunately, with such a wide range of difficulties at your disposal, you need never actually play the hardest difficulty levels, unless you absolutely want to. The only thing that the difficulty truly influences is the money you earn in each race.

In the case of DiRT2, money and experience points really do make the world go round. Working on a leveling based experience tree, different racing events will unlock depending on what level you are. You gain experience regardless of what position you finish in a race, although obviously winning is the much better option than languishing in 8th place. Career mode is based out of a tour bus, in a style that feels a little like an MTV themed sports game. Once you get used to it, it works well as essentially a prettier version of simply having menus. There are nine different areas around the world to unlock, which then have a large number of races to a country. All in all, there are around 100 racing events to compete in, which means that there is always plenty to do!

Pleasantly, there are a number of different racing modes, so you won’t get bored any time soon. Besides the typical rallying events, with some very professional sounding instructions relayed by your co-driver, there are also more frivolous modes such as Gatecrasher and Last Man Standing. Gatecrasher felt a little like an event out of the Project Gotham series, where your aim is to drive through all the gates ahead of you to ensure that you don’t run out of time, while still finishing the race. Last Man Standing is a mode that many arcade racer fans will be familiar. Here, your goal is to stay at the front of the pack, with the last driver in the pack being knocked out every 20 seconds. It was refreshing to see a nice variety of modes. A small part of me did admittedly long for the older days of Colin McRae 2.0 on the PS1 which offered pure rallying fun, but sticking to the one game mode would have become boring quickly. There is also the return of the flashback, or rewind mode, that was seen in GRID. This enables the player to simply press a button and ‘rewind’ the action if they have just messed up a crucial turn for example. Sure it may not be realistic, but purists can always avoid using the feature.

At times it felt like the tracks available were reused a little too often, a common flaw with even the best racing games, but this was forgiveable because the variety of handling, always kept things interesting. No matter how many times I raced the same track, it would feel slightly different. It was particularly nice to see the AI opponents act aggressively at times, going as far as deliberately nudging me off my course. It was a pity to see that despite being able to turn vehicle damage on, with the exclusion of an increased chance of totalling the car, I never found a noticeable difference in handling, even when the game was stating that I’d received significant vehicle damage. It may have just been my amazing driving skills, (okay, maybe my good fortune…) but it really didn’t seem to make any difference. Though it did not impair your ability to drive, the visible damage to vehicles was impressive and by the end of a race, one’s car could be left looking like a mangled mess of metal. This is a true testament to the stunning visuals that are noticeable throughout the game. Locations such as China looked especially beautiful, along with Utah and its sweeping canyons of desolation and emptiness, that were almost foreboding. Codemasters have truly pushed themselves to the limits of the EGO game engine, by improving upon the already stellar graphical detail featured in both GRID and the original DiRT.

DiRT2 really is a complete package of racing goodness. It combines arcade racing with a hint of simulation, which ensures that it is the perfect middle ground in the world of racing games. It is perfectly pitched at those who love arcade racers but want to take a step up to a slightly more realistic experience. The wealth of events available is astonishing, and there is always plenty to do. Trust me, this is not a game that you can complete over a weekend. The online multiplayer functions also help increase longevity, further proving that DiRT2 strongly deserves its place in your games collection. Most importantly, DiRT2 is a truly fitting tribute to the great man, Colin McRae.