[Please Note: This is a pre-launch review based on European retail units, some system features may change or vary depending on your region]

Last year I called the Playstation Vita “the best device I’ve ever held in my hands” after just three hours of play time. Now that I own a Vita not only do I stand by that statement, I actually believe it more now than I did then.  Of course when it comes to gaming devices software will always take precedence over hardware but until our game reviews start rolling out next week I thought I’d give a quick review of the WFi unit which will be hitting European and American stores on February 22^nd.

A Look At The Vita's Bubbly Main Menu

On the surface the Playstation Vita is an absolutely gorgeous piece of technology. The 5” OLED multi-touch display is beautiful; the compact d-pad is the best I’ve felt in years and the dual analog sticks have the potential to revolutionize portable gaming like the Nintendo DS did back in 2004.

In term of controls, the Vita has the full suite of buttons found on the PSP in addition to a rear touch panel, six-axis motion sensors and both front and rear facing cameras. The face buttons are surprisingly small and are raised further than the inputs found on the Playstation 3’s Dualshock or the PSP. The L & R buttons aren’t analog but their curved shape feels great beneath your index fingers. On the down side, nether one of the Vita’s cameras are great especially in low light situations. They’re good enough to allow for some pretty sweet in-game features but if you were hoping to capture Kodak moments you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Games and Applications Reveal The Great Potential Of The Vita's Cameras

They say ‘Seeing Is Believing’ and with the Vita that really is the case. Once you power on the device its hard not to gawk at the stunning 960 x 544 display. This coupled with the system’s impressive specs and outstanding graphical capabilities make the Vita a joy to behold. Launch titles such as Uncharted: Golden Abyss look comparable to some PS3 games and things will only improve once developers familiarize themselves with the hardware and learn how to maximize it.

As you probably know by now, Sony has ditched their XMB interface for the Vita in favour of a new icon-based menu. Each of the system’s games and applications are presented in the form of badges which can be rearranged across up to 10 vertically scrolling pages.

From any one of those 10 pages you can swipe the screen to the right to view any of the apps which are currently running in the background and from there you can either ‘continue’ them or ‘close’ by peeling down the top right corner of their display image. Tapping the home button while on the Home Menu displays your background applications in bookmark form for even quicker access.

Limited Web Browser or Uncharted? Hard Decisions Need To Be Made!

It’s worth noting that the entire Home Menu is touch based and does not support regular controls. I found this to be slightly frustrating when using my Vita on the train whilst wearing gloves but navigating with your finger does feel natural and allows you to speedily zip from one app to the next.

Out of the box there are a handful of apps pre-installed on the Vita which are pretty basic but help the system feel connected to the outside world. Below is a quick rundown of each of these applications:

The Playstation Vita Is Now The Best Way To View and Sync Trophies

“Trophies” lets you view and sync both your PS3 and Vita trophies in a beautifully presented app which almost puts the PS3 to shame.

“Friends” allows you to view which games your PSN buddies are currently playing and compare trophies with them in a matter of seconds rather than minutes (take notes PS3!). At the moment PS3 users can’t see your Vita trophies or games but I’m hopeful that this will change once the system is officially released.

“Party” lets you create group of up to 8 friends so you can finally cross-game chat on a Playstation device!

“Photos” lets you view your photo library, take new photos or record video using the Vita’s ok-ish cameras.

“Welcome Park” is an interactive tutorial which shows off the Vita’s hardware and rewards you trophies for not sucking!

“Maps” lets you view where you are in the world in case you forget. This is probably only useful if you own the 3G Vita but not a smartphone.

 “Connect Manager” is a brilliant tool which allows you to transfer data to and from your Vita via a PS3, PC or Mac.

We Support The PS Vita, But The Vita's Web Browser Doesn't Support Us

“Web Browser” lacks both HTML 5 and Flash support.

“Remote Play” is back allowing you remotely log in to your PS3 from from anywhere in the world using your Vita. It’s a great concept but unfortunately most PS3 games and app’s don’t support Remote Play. Retail games can’t be played remotely either and of the 200+ PSN games I tested only Peggle and the PixelJunk games worked.

“Music/Video Player”  Thanks to Content Manager, transferring music and video content to your Vita is an extremely quick and simple process. I don’t think I’ll ever use the Vita as my MP3 player and the lack of AVI/DivX support renders the Video Player completely useless for me. I guess Sony didn’t get the memo that MP4’s are dead.

“Group Messaging” is a pretty standard messaging app that lets you converse with your Party or compose/respond to PSN messages.

Interact With Other Vita Owners Who Live Close By With "Near"

 “Near” is the Vita’s most interesting app and lets you see what games Vita owners around you are playing. It also lets you view and accept challenges from near-by players and share your feeling on each game so you can discover what titles are currently popular amongst your peers.

And finally, “Playstation Store” allows you to check out the latest PSN releases and download games and apps directly to your system.

Additional apps such as Netflix, Twitter, Skype and Music Unlimited will be available to download once the system has been released and I’m hopeful that YouTube, Facebook and some neat photo apps will follow.

Display Your Downloaded Vita Games With Pride

At the moment almost 300 downloadable PSP games and Playstation Minis are currently playable on the Vita and Sony promises that more titles will be made available “In the coming weeks” (click here for more info).  I would have loved if PSone and PSN games were also supported but currently neither one of them are. I spent a few minutes playing God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta on both the PS Vita and the PSPgo and as expected the game looked remarkably better on the PSPgo’s smaller display but felt better on the Vita.

As much as I’ve enjoyed my time with the Vita, it still has many flaws which prevent it from being a device that I’ll take to work with me on a daily basis. The main reason for this is the sheer size of the device.  Unless you own a pair of Hammer Pants the Vita probably won’t fit in any of your pockets but even if it could you’d refrain from doing so out of fear of damaging the raised analog sticks. Therefore carrying around the Vita requires both a bag and a protective case with is hardly ideal for any portable product.

Another issue is the system’s battery life which gives you roughly 4 hours of game time with max brightness and WiFi turned on. Thankfully the system charges relatively quickly when connected to a power supply and the ability to charge via USB makes it easy to keep your battery juiced up once you’re indoors. Finally, the lack of internal storage is a bummer and forces users to invest in Sony’s proprietary (and slightly overpriced) memory cards. A courtesy 4GB card should have been included with all Vita’s, especially since it would have encouraged users to start shopping on the Playstation Store.

The Vita Just Isn't The Same Without One Of These.

While the issues above may seem like a deal breaker you’ll quickly find that none them really matter when you’re scaling gorgeous environments as Nathan Drake or speeding down the futuristic streets of Wipeout 2048. Maybe I’m in the minority but I’ll gladly sacrifice a bit of battery life and portability to have amazing console-like experiences on the London Underground.

Simply put, if  you love your PS3 or you’re looking for handheld device that celebrates hardcore gaming the Playstation Vita is an essential purchase. Sony went all out to ensure that Playstation Vita would live up to the initial promise of the PSP and it looks like they’ve finally succeeded.

In Amalur you are thrust into a world full of diverse populations, political turmoil, factions disputes, and everything in between. Rather than playing through an environment that feels like it is catering itself to you as the “hero,” you enter into an already rich universe. R.A. Salvatore has done an exceptional job creating the world, and you can tell how much work must have gone into it.

Overall, you begin the game as a dead person. You are able to customize your race, appearance, etc and then suddenly come back to life. After getting through the tutorial, you discover that you were the test subject for something called the “Well of Souls” and it has thus resurrected you. Upon this resurrection, it turns out that you are now a blank slate, as opposed to the rest of the denizens of this world that are strictly governed by the notions of fate.

There are characters in the game called “fateweavers” that are essentially accurate fortune tellers. In the world of Amalur, fate and destiny guide everything. It is a law, like gravity, that is basically always held true. However, once you discover you are not bound to a stable destiny, and can instead forge your own path, things start to get tricky.

The game takes a lot of interesting turns, and it is very enjoyable to experience. The dialogue and voice acting are all top notch, but the character animations during dialogue is very bland and boring. Nothing but the mouths move on the characters, and after seeing what other franchises are doing in this department nowadays, it is a bit disappointing to see purely emotionless characters on-screen. With that being said, it is an incredibly engrossing tale full of tons of hours of main quest content, epic battles, side quests, and even fully developed factions. Amalur’s story rivals anything on any other medium today.

"Some areas will have you amazed at how lifelike, yet still colorful the environment seems

The game also sports another big name: Todd McFarlane. As the art director, he has created some truly fantastic visuals. Each area has a very specific style and feel, and the flashiness of the combat is top notch. Given how much action can be onscreen, I am truly amazed that my PC never stuttered once. The visuals are quite the sight to behold, especially if you use some of the flashier weapons and spells like I chose to!

All is not perfect in this department though, as some of the textures could be a bit sharper. Some areas will have you amazed at how lifelike, yet still colorful the environment seems, but then you will notice a blurry or unfinished looking texture. This is compounded by the fact that my version on PC suffered from some pretty bad pop-in most of the time. One of the great things about giant open-world RPGs is getting to see the huge world spread out before you. You get that effect here for sure, but as you are running you will see entire bushes, or details suddenly appear in front of you. Maybe this will not be as big of an issue on console, but I had all the settings maxed out during my play time.

Moving on to the most important topic: gameplay. In case you didn’t know, the game designer from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion signed on for this game, which is incredible. The best way that I can describe the gameplay, combat, etc. in this game is for you to picture yourself playing a third person action RPG like Fable, but add in the fast and frantic combat of a game like God of War. Combat is incredibly satisfying and extremely exhilarating. Stringing together combos, parrying attacks, dodge rolls, flinging spells, and so much more. The best part is that no matter what type of character you play (warrior, mage, rogue, or some combination of the three) combat is equally intense. Mages in Amalur don’t have to be squishy, and rogues don’t have to sneak ALL of the time to be effective. As the player, you decide what type of character you play.

The game encourages you to mix and match your play style, rewarding you with different destinies and ability enhancements if you do so. Leveling up is based off of a generic experience system, but once you level up, you have three different facets to consider. First, you choose to increase your non-combat skills. These include things like lockpicking, detecting hidden objects, persuasion, mercantile, blacksmithing, etc. Once you increase one of those stats by one point, you move on to the abilities screen. Here you have three points per level and three different branching trees: Sorcery, Might, and Finesse (pertaining to the mage, warrior and rogue archetypes respectively.) Once you visit this screen, you are then taken to the destinies screen. Depending on how many points you have invested into the different trees, you unlock destiny cards that grant passive bonuses to different archetypes.

For example, if I have invested 40 points in the sorcery tree, I will unlock a few different sorcery destinies to choose from that might offer bonuses to mana regeneration, or elemental resistances. Furthermore, if I had 20 in sorcery and 20 in might, I could open up some combination categories to mix and match more effectively. You can pick and choose what destiny to equip at will in your menu, so you are definitely encouraged to experiment. And, if you are unhappy with skill choices down the road, since you have no fate and choose your own path, you can reallocate all your stat points for a simple fee!

Following on the heels of these great features, is the music. Each area has a specific theme that plays as you are adventuring, then it will begin to get more intense as a battle occurs, towns have a different feel, as well as dungeons. Every NPC is fully voiced and each enemy has all of its own unique sounds. This is definitely a game worth cranking your speakers for, to really get immersed in the environment.

"There is little else on the market that offers the depth and enjoyment that Amalur offers.

Overall this is one of the best action RPGs of this or any generation. It blends the action of God of War, with the intricate world and RPG nature of Elder Scrolls into one seamless package. This is not to say the game is not unique, as it truly is. There is little else on the market that offers the depth and enjoyment that Amalur offers. If you like some action in your RPGs or a little bit of RP in your action, you should definitely do yourself a favor and check this one out. It deserves to be in talks for Game of the Year come December, don’t forget about this one!

The game launches on February 7^th, 2012 in North America for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC! Let us know what you think about it in our comments below!

Though the idea of the game is simple, Dungeon Defenders is a tough game if you’re planning on playing alone. It’s clear that Trendy Entertainment wanted to encourage co-operative play, because not only do you stand more chance of beating the game with friends, but you’ll also have a more enjoyable experience that way. If you do plan on playing alone, then there’s no way possible to get through some of the levels without playing on easy first, upgrading your equipment and then playing again on a more difficult level. Even on the easiest level you will be offered and extreme challenge if you are going in alone.

Each of the four character types comes with a set of unique abilities, which again means that playing with more people is necessary if you really want to experience the game how it should be. The Apprentice is perhaps the most popular choice, which is essentially the “Mage” class if you will. Apprentices are able to set up tower defenses to deal ranged attacks.

The Squire (Warrior) is good a constructing static blockades and can even act as a shield themselves. Not to mention they inflict a decent amount of damage with their melee attacks. The Huntress (Rouge) as you probably guessed is great with ranged attacks and is able to set up gatling guns and traps. The Monk (Priest) is a support class that can heal other players as well as lay out auras which turn enemies against each other.

Using all these special abilities requires Mana, which is looted from dead enemies and chests. You can upgrade your defenses for around 100 Mana. Between each round you have a Build Phase, which allows you to prepare for the next wave (bringing back memories of Gears of War Horde). Though you can build during waves you are a lot slower, and it’s just not productive to be setting up when you’re supposed to be aggressively eliminating the threats. A successful team will have planned ahead appropriately, and used every resource available to all the characters abilities. When you’re in Build Phase you are presented with indications of where enemies will be coming from, this allows you to place your towers, blockades and traps at the most strategic points. Eventually you can even purchase pets to assist you in battle and buff your stats.

Dungeon Defenders is a game that you will easily get addicted to if you play it the right way. The ability to bank points, Mana and resources to level up things like weapons, armour and specialties will have you micro managing your various stats whenever possible. You can use all your banked materials for use with other character classes should you fancy switching to a new character type later.

There is hours of fun to be had advancing through the different levels with an organized team. Also multi-player isn’t limited to just online only, if you happen to have 2-4 friends over you can still enjoy the experience provided you have enough controllers. I don’t play many arcade titles personally, but Dungeon Defenders is by far one of the most fun games I have played on the PSN store.

In each level you will have Soldiers sent out to clear the field from various threats, and workers are sent to clear up the mess and bring back any food and resources they can. Food that you bring home will allow you to spawn even more troops and further build up your defense force. For those moments when things get more frantic, you have your Bombers which work by touch targeting; along with your Spitters that move along the lines spitting out ant goo.

Levels are presented as a number of different waves, that get progressively difficult. I wouldn’t say Anthill is overly challenging, as it does seem like it’s more of a game for casuals; but it is easy to get hooked. I found myself getting more and more determined to run through each stage. At the end of a stage you can spend stars that you’ve earned on upgrades for each of your ant types, if you really want to you can also use real money to pay for extra stars.

Anthill has a really inviting top down art style, and the music score fits the overall feel of the game perfectly. The jungle like sound effects make it feel very authentic and when I played I couldn’t help but think about the similarities between this game and the previous ant based movies I mentioned before.

Overall I would say that Anthill is a very fun but short lived experience. It’s one of those mobile games that you can’t help but get addicted to initially, but after a while the fun wares off and you’ll likely be looking for a replacement. Also note that developer Image & Form released an update that adds Infinity mode which is essentially a survival mode that can go on for as long as your endurance lasts. It’s an added bonus that brings even more to the games value. For the current price of £0.69 in the UK and $0.99 in the US you cannot go wrong with Anthill.

Story is never the selling point of any fighting game. Story expectations should be low for any and every fighting game. What I do tend to admire is the attempt, and Cartoon Network PTE XL does make an attempt at explaining why these characters and worlds are clashing. The overall execution isn’t well done but I did like what they were trying to do by having a character like Ben Tennyson enter the world of Chowder and seeing different characters react to each other. One of my criticisms about the story mode is that most of the dialogue in the game isn’t voice acted. Though the characters may drop one liners here and there, it would of been great to have the voice actors read some of the dialogue.

When it comes to these types of games, I usually have a complaint regarding a character that was left from the game. I don’t really have that complaint here. The list of playable characters spans from great 90′s characters that I once loved like Dexter and The Powerpuff Girls, down to some present characters that I have never seen in my life like Captain K’nuckles from some show called ‘The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. This game has Captain F’ing Planet, that alone makes up for the 5 seconds of disappointment I had when I saw no Ed, Edd, or Eddy in the game.

Cartoon Network PTE XL’s gameplay is where the game really aspires to be like Super Smash Bros. The control inputs for the moves are identical to the latest Smash Bros. game. You have your one button melee combos and your character specific special moves based on the position of the thumbstick. Health works in the same way as Smash Bros., if you take damage over 100% you are likely of being knocked out of the level. And like in Smash Bros., you have assist that you can snatch before your opponent that can help you inflict critical damage. CN:PTE XL does have the right mindset of using the Smash Bros. formula of gameplay, but CN:PTE XL doesn’t offer that robust and rich type of competitive play that Smash Bros. does. Not to mention some of the controls felt a bit sluggish when I played, I felt like some of my moves weren’t coming out when I wanted them too. This became quite apparent when I was falling off the stage and I would use my UP special but would fall off anyways. The gameplay works fine enough to have a few matches with friends but just isn’t as engaging as Smash Bros.

The two categories where Cartoon Network PTE XL might have had Smash Bros beat are online and graphics. Unfortunately, CN: PTE XL doesn’t have any type of online play which is a huge bummer considering I played this on the Xbox 360 and I don’t have friends that would waste gas to come over and play this. So Smash Bros. wins that one. In terms of graphics, CN: PTE XL wont be winning any VGA trophies for best graphics but it is a well enough looking game. Not better looking than Smash Bros. though, and that’s in SD.

Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL takes so much of the Smash Bros. formula that it is impossible not to compare them, and when you do CN: PTE XL ends up looking like a red-headed stepchild. I do think there is fun to be had with this game if all of the rules apply. First you have to have a deep affection for most of the characters in this game, and when I say deep, I mean DEEP! Secondly, you can’t be playing Skyrim or Call of Duty currently, those games are way better and deserve your time. And third, don’t own a Wii. If you already have Brawl then just replay that game.

The story from this game is one of the most involved and revealing in the history of the franchise, and answers just as many questions as it raises by the end. Want to see some more insight into the relationship Zelda and Link share? Check. Want to see a bit more background for his famous green tunic? Check. Want to see the history of the Master Sword itself fleshed out more? Check as well. By the end of the game, you will have plenty of other questions you might not have even considered before playing, but such is the charm of a series as long and involved as this.

The game starts out with Link enrolled in Skyloft’s Knight Academy. The day of the ceremony is rapidly approaching, and Link needs to get ready. Without revealing too much, Zelda ends up in distress and needs our hero clad in green to rescue her. This in and of itself, is the same basic template we have seen time and again, but things quickly change and become a lot more interesting. This may very well be the best video game story Nintendo has ever created, and even without voice acting, the characters are more emotional than you could have ever imagined.

"Not only will you want to keep playing to see what the next genius puzzle or enemy you face might be, but you will keep playing to see what happens next.

By the end of the game, emotions will be running high. There were multiple cutscenes that pulled at my heart strings, and I honestly felt a real connection to the characters, Link included. Facial expressions convey their emotions without being too cartoony, the dialogue is written extremely well, and all of the characters have memorable personalities. This was the first time that I found myself playing a Zelda game, and actually feeling invested in what was going on. Usually the story in a Zelda game can lean toward the predictable, but this time there are plenty of twists to keep you coming back for more. Not only will you want to keep playing to see what the next genius puzzle or enemy you face might be, but you will keep playing to see what happens next.

The innovation doesn’t stop there though, because the graphical presentation is beautiful. It is a great blend between the simpler visuals seen in Wind Waker, and the more mature visuals of Twilight Princess. This style fits the tone and theme of the game perfectly, and really is fantastic. At first glance, it seems a bit dated, and it is in a lot of ways, but the more you play the more you love it. By the end of the game, there will be plenty of moments you can look back and really be impressed. Since the cutscenes are done with written dialogue, you can choose to not advance a conservation and literally sit there and take in the sights. This is obviously not an intended mechanic…but I highly recommend it, especially during some of the final moments. One of the other great things about this new art style, is that when certain portions of the environment and the game get far away in the background, they look like an impressionistic painting. This effect works great, and adds a lot to the game.

All is not perfect however, especially with the graphics. The bottom line is that it is time for us to see an HD Zelda. The majority of the visuals have plenty of jagged lines when looked at closely, the textures are a little muddled when compared to other games with a similar style on other platforms, and there will be plenty of moments that you will be left wishing this game was in HD. All of the environments and characters would be so much more detailed if that were the case…but they are not. Since that isn’t the case, what we have to work with on the Wii in Standard definition is great, but not perfect. There is plenty left to be desired, unfortunately.

Now, getting back to the almost flawless: the gameplay. This title marks a revolution for the series specifically, but also for video games in general. Twilight Princess was a comparably fantastic game, but it was not developed from the ground up as a Wii title. This time we have a Zelda game in our midst that has been in development for half a decade as a Wii game. Nintendo has done an amazing job of making it feel like a truly interactive experience that integrates Wii Motion Plus controls perfectly, without feeling gimmicky or forced.

Nintendo has utilized the Wii Motion Plus in such a way, that we finally have a Zelda game with accurate 1:1 sword controls. In plain English: Link moves his arm and sword to mirror how you move your arm and Wiimote. Want to give a nice thrust to stab an enemy in a tiny spot? Thrust your Wiimote forward like your fencing. Need a good horizontal swipe to chop a Deku Baba mouth in half? Give your Wiimote a nice sideways swipe! Combat is filled to the brim with these split second decisions, and it never gets stale. You will have to maneuver your way around the armor, shields and blocking of almost all of the enemies in the game, and it is that much more engaging and challenging because of it.

These excellent controls don’t stop with just the sword, (although they are by far at their best there) as they carry over into every item in the game. Hold your Wiimote carefully as you stalk insects with the bug catching net, masterfully aim your bow and line up the perfect shot, crack your wrist to crack your whip, the list goes on and on. All of this means that instead of button mashing, or swatting loads of enemies all over the place, each and every situation and encounter is much more intimate and exact. The improved controls allow for a much more engaging experience than any other game in the series.

Among these changes to the fundamental way you play the game, there are a slew of other additions as well. Link now has the ability to engage in a complete upgrade system using collected treasures, and these upgrades encompasses virtually every item in the game. This is especially important for shields as different elements affect different types in different ways, and every shield has it’s own durability meter.  A similar system with insects and potions is in place as well, in addition to a whole litany of new potions. Also, as has been shown since the very beginning, Link now has a stamina meter that governs most every action in the game. Going hand-in-hand with that meter, Link has also gained the ability to sprint for short durations. Now adventuring includes the improved and more specific controls of each item, but also the management of a resource other than just your hearts.

The Wii Motion Plus, as a technology, does have it’s limitations however. The gyroscopes and accelerometers are not perfect, and this is apparent throughout the entire game. Thankfully you can easily center the cursor at any time while playing, which does solve a lot of the problems, although with an added annoyance. Additionally: the motion sensor itself tends to be a bit too sensitive at times. For example: if you want to thrust quickly, and you move your arm back in preparation for the thrust, if you did it at a slight angle instead of rearing straight back, you might trigger a horizontal slash. Furthermore, given our innate tendency to rev up any slash before we do it, when sliding your arm to the left in order to prepare to slash over to the right, you might trigger a left slash by accident. Ultimately, this boils down to me giving you this one tip: take your time when attacking, and be as deliberate and involved as possible. Wrist waggling will usually not get the job done here, so get your entire arm behind each attack in order to increase Wiimote accuracy.

One of the main things that really sticks out for this game as opposed to other entries (without ruining too much) is the structure of the game itself. All other Zelda games (for the most part) are characterized by the characters, dungeons, weapons, etc. but also by whatever overworld there is in the game. Whether it be the various incarnations of Hyrule Field, Termina Field, the vast oceans of Wind Waker, or what have you: players love to explore the world. Skyward Sword takes a wholly different approach, and offers a unique take on the Zelda formula.

"Real talk: this might be the best compilation of dungeons in a single game, ever.

Rather than have a large overworld connecting multiple different areas of the game, Nintendo instead has a quasi overworld that is sort of explorable, where the main hub city of Skyloft is located. Then there are the different areas you can reach from here, and each of those areas in and of themselves are very detailed and explorable. What this means for the format of the game, is that you are constantly going deeper into environment. Each environment is just as lengthy and full of puzzles (sometimes even more so) than the dungeon you are trying to get to. This has two effects for me. First, it makes the dungeons themselves more memorable since the experiences tend to be more focused and intriguing, while still remaining as brilliant as ever. Real talk: this might be the best compilation of dungeons in a single game, ever. Many of the boss fights rank among the very best as well. The second thing this does for me, however, is make me miss having a single unified overworld. I would have rather explored various different connected areas, rather than exploring the same few areas more deeply each time. This is not a bad thing per se, just an evolution that still needs a little bit of fine tuning.

Moving on to the sounds of Skyward Sword, all I can say is: “Wow.” The soundtrack ranks among the best in the history of the franchise. The music for each area is distinctive and beautiful, but not overly repetitive or annoying. Every area of the game is just as easily identified by its music, as it is by the actual environment. Link has a musical instrument in this game as well, and each song you play becomes a cutscene-worthy event in and of itself. As you play, you will hear familiar tunes in a new light as this is the first orchestrated game in the series’ history, and it shows. They could not have done a much better job with the musical score of the game, which is impressive given the high bar for the franchise that has been set by it’s predecessors.

Overall, you would be doing yourself harm as a gamer if you did not play this game as soon as possible. It easily ranks among the very best this generation has seen, among the very best of the storied franchise, and at the very top of my list of Wii games. Skyward Sword finally brings fully implemented motion controls to a massively grand adventure, and is so much better because of it. This game was built from the ground up with the Wii in mind, and it shows. Skyward Sword alone has some of the best moments in the history of the Zelda franchise (an amazing engrossing story and cutscenes) along with the very worst (extremely annoying fetch quests that seem to unnecessarily pad the game’s length.)

The bottom line is this: if you like games, you should play this. The sum of its parts, and all things considered as a whole, make this a beautiful masterpiece. True Zelda fans will notice a huge amount of fan service with explanations for things you did not realize were mysteries, and nods toward past games in the franchise. This is the defining game for the Wii, and is the ultimate culmination of Nintendo’s original vision for the console: a revolution.

With the announcement of this title, the promotional tagline of Bigger, Badder, Better indicated that there would be a new look and feel to both the product and the way one would experience gameplay. This quote is only partially true primarily because there are still issues that need to be addressed moving forward. The newly hyped Predator technology was meant to revolutionize the sport by adding 25 new dynamic camera angles to change the perspective and excitement of the action in the ring.

While this feature works in some circumstances, it doesn’t happen often enough to receive a noteworthy mention. Tag Matches fail to offer the same intriguing viewpoints as single one-on-one encounters and many times completing aerial maneuvers doesn’t quite change the depth of field quite exactly as advertised.  Gameplay itself feels eerily similar to past games in the Smackdown series, with only minor tweaks and animations that pop up every now and then. It’s also worth noting that player reaction times vary and holds can easily be broken in both conventional and unconventional fashions. Overall, the system carries an objective love it or leave it type of feel.

In all fairness, the one aspect that shows great promise is the creation of the Comeback moment. Often times you may find yourself taking a fierce beating from your rival and have the ability to mount an impressive comeback. For the most part, this can happen randomly at any given moment during your match. When the action is setoff, your wrestler will conduct a series of signature moves that ultimately culminate into a finisher and pinfall attempt.

Part of the challenge in successfully completing these attacks relies heavily on your timing and rhythm as it relates to pressing the right button prompts when instructed to.  These tasks require skill to master but are highly rewarding when executed correctly. My only suggestion to improve this feature would be to add a comeback gauge that can help you monitor your progress more efficiently and get the jump on your competition.

From a presentation standpoint, WWE 12 is indeed one of the best representations of the sport in the history of the series. The roster is vastly improved and as complete as you would expect. The show intros and PPV pyros are of a professional quality never once seen in the Smackdown series. However with all that said, the graphics remain the weakest part of the package. Models appear the same in comparison to last year’s game and wrestler entrances are often hit or miss.

For example, Alberto Del Rio’s entrance is single handedly one of the worst due to the horrendous voicework of Ricardo Rodriquez and the poorly modeled car that Del Rio drives on stage. With games like Madden and NBA 2k12 constantly stepping up, it’s vital that THQ exhaust all efforts to get the broadcast quality as close to the real thing as possible. Once you get past the graphics, the centerpiece of WWE 12 revolves around 3 key features: An improved Universe Mode, Road To WrestleMania, and Custom creations mode.

"If THQ’s goal is to make a sports game, then they have to do it right or don’t do it at all.

Universe Mode 2.0 is the return of last year’s engaging and addictive GM type mode. In addition to deciding the roster for each show, you now have the ability to defend titles to your heart’s content on any given night. Rivalries and partnerships are customizable and integrated with the Story designer mode to generate unpredictable events from one show to another. Once you begin a show, every match is performed on an endless cycle until you decide to quit the match your in. THQ also managed to add a few surprises within the mode that allow you to unlock superstars, attires, arenas, and titles as you progress through an entire year of wrestling.

While this all sounds great on the surface, there are a few drawbacks that keep this feature from being perfect. For starters when you are given the ability to create a show, the matches themselves can only be edited one at a time. What this means is that if you don’t enjoy all the matches pre booked on the card then you’ll have to play each match through individually, quitting in-between to set them up accordingly.

In earlier games, you were granted access to edit an entire card once then play through it. Deciding to leave a computer generated card as is sometimes results in questionable matches, misguided feuds, and a high level of repetitive bouts from one week to the next. I can understand the decision to place the gamer in an environment full of surprises, but I feel you also should be able to gain more out of the experiences you create as well. Hopefully, these issues can be sorted out in time for next year’s game.

Two other noticeable flaws with the mode have to do with the ability to edit the roster. Gone in this game is the ability to make certain superstars inactive altogether. As a result, legends like Vader or Legion Of Doom show up and get themselves involved in the title picture. Having the ability to turn off certain wrestlers would at least give the player a deeper sense of control of his of her WWE universe.

Also being that this is becoming more of a sports game, it would be ideal if perhaps contracts and injury timetables were implemented.  I recall suffering a career ending injury with Cm Punk at a PPV only to appear healthy and ready for action on RAW the next night. If THQ’s goal is to make a sports game, then they have to do it right or don’t do it at all. Additions like these would not only strengthen the mode, but would create an even higher replayability factor the next time around.

This year’s Road To WrestleMania Mode is a bold new direction that bridges the gap from one storyline to the next and focuses on Shameus, HHH, and a Created Superstar. The decision to have a Villain, Outsider, and Hero storyline is a genius concept that I would urge THQ to stick with moving forward. However at the same time, I would also hope that they would give more consideration to matches that occur outside the ring. No doubt about it, the backstage and ramp brawls are among the worse in the series. While you’re able to throw your opponent into some nearby objects, the scope feels severely limited then due to the claustrophobic camera angles.

Often the end goal is to beat your adversary brutally until a button prompt appears and provides a scripted action. While I can appreciate that this also offers a bit of unpredictability to the formula, it happens all too often and begins to cheapen the overall experience. There aren’t any real variations in location either and these matches become all too predictable and boring after the first couple of rounds. Also annoying is the objective popup that constantly appears on the screen during each fight. In the Smackdown series, objectives were usually stated before the match right at the loading screen. I would suggest that the creative team fixes this issue so as not to distract the gamer while playing.

The story modes within Road To WrestleMania are compelling and a landmark of just why the WWE is the king of Male Soap Operas. As details are important, I noticed there being a flaw in regards to the WWE title appearing in the Smackdown story while the World Heavyweight Title appeared on the RAW Story. For a hardcore fan such as myself, this was a bit annoying but a casual fan won’t find fault in it.

Despite the issues mentioned above, there are various twists and turns that keep you playing until the end. The only suggestion I would love to see moving forward would be the idea to explore some elements of choice from the main superstar. These conventions were toyed around with in the past and I think bringing them back may actually give people an incentive to play through a story again to see a different result. I was a little disappointed that Randy Orton wasn’t the star of the Outsider story over HHH, but the narrative centered around The Game just feels right. Kudos goes to THQ for working with WWE to craft some memorable storylines.

Both Creation and Online modes remain intact this year with few enhancements. Online Royal Rumble and Exhibition modes return to the forefront with better options that let you know how stable a person’s Internet connection is before playing him or her. In addition to creating and sharing stories and entrance videos, you can now design your own arena to coincide with your own PPV event. The customization is extremely detailed with options ranging from choosing wrestling mat colors to creating logos to be included on those mats. Whether you’re a fan of Degeneration-X of the NWO, you can now create rings based off both factions.

When it comes to superstar threads, you can still customize attire colors but that’s about it. Given that this mode has had a few editions, one can help but think how THQ can take things further. Several sports games have started to allow gamers to take pictures of themselves for upload and creation of themselves in various titles. Taking this path of action would allow the team to maintain authenticity and invoke a deeper connection between the audience and the game itself.

WWE 12 is an engaging wrestling simulation that comes close to hitting the mark but isn’t quite there yet. While it can be argued that this is the best in the series, the truth is from a presentation standpoint it shines brightly in some areas but fails to impress in others.It’s no doubt that this series is destined to be the best and I’m confident that with some fixes it can get there next year. The amount of scripted gameplay elements in Road To WrestleMania are very annoying and the lack of control in WWE Universe mode is equally bothersome. Still, if you’re a fan of the genre then picking up this title is absolutely a no brainer.

Grand Theft Auto comparisons are inevitable with almost every sandbox game but as far as GTA clones go, the Saints Row games have always been the biggest offenders. For better and for worse, Saints Row: The Third feels like a PS2-era Rockstar game but on a much grander scale. I genuinely get the sense that the folks at Volition spent many moons conjuring up the craziest things they could think of then continually pushed themselves to make to it even crazier! Thankfully the humor isn’t as juvenile as it was in Saints Rows 2 and the game’s more risqué moments seem like they were included to entertain, not to spark controversy.

"One of the most entertaining games released this year!

Underneath all the shenanigans lies a surprising good story which keeps the game grounded amidst all of the madness. After claiming the town of Stilwater for themselves The Saints’ popularity has grown immensely, catapulting them from a petty street gang to a group of criminal celebrities. Unfortunately their success has also made them a prime target for rival gangs and it’s not long before things spiral out of control. After attempting to rob a bank owned by The Syndicate, The Saints quickly end up in a turf war spearheaded by Syndicate leader Phillipe Loren and luchador wrestler Killbane. Not ones to fold under pressure and motivated by the death of one of their key members, The Saints vow to take down The Syndicate once and for all.

Saints Row: The Third retains the same mission structure that has been established for over a decade now. You select a mission from a menu, drive to a specified location, complete your assigned task and repeat for several hours until the end credits roll. Thankfully the missions themselves offer a vast variety of challenges which prevent the game from feeling repetitive. Saints Row’s sub-serious tone has allowed Volition to create some off-the-wall missions which would feel entirely out of place in a game like Grand Theft Auto IV. This ensures that there is never a dull moment whether you’re taking over enemy bases, rescuing hoes from freighters or running in to oncoming traffic (and using a Burnout-style after touch system) to damage yourself for insurance money.

As-per  tradition, you are once again forced to create your own character who will act as the leader of The Saints. The character creation tools are pretty extensive allowing you to customize virtually everything including your gender, skin color, appearance, voice, taunts and even genitalia size. Once you’ve created your ideal protagonist you’ll always have the opportunity to start over by visiting a plastic surgeon so if you ever feel the urge to become a big breasted, purple zombie lady there’s nothing holding you back! The game also features a selection of upgrades for your character, weapons and crew with new abilities becoming available as you progress and climb the ranks.

The core shooting mechanics work well although they feel a little dated by today’s standards. The absence of a cover system and poor enemy AI can often makes kills feel unrewarding even when you successfully take down a brute armed with a minigun. Graphically the game looks ok but the numerous glitches found through-out the campaign often took me out of the experience. It’s not uncommon for an open world game such as this to be riddled with bugs but Saints Row’s lack of polish sticks out like a sore thumb.

Those who like to play with others will be pleased to hear that The Third’s entire campaign can be played online with a co-op partner. It feels a little disjointed as the game never acknowledges the fact that there are two of you and as far as I could tell the difficulty doesn’t scale but it’s a neat addition regardless. The game also features a Gears of War style Horde (or “Whored”) mode which supports up to two players via Online, LAN or Split screen. What makes The Third’s Whored mode unique is the fact that each wave is different than the one which precedes it. Each wave features its own unique set of weapons and enemies but the limited number of maps and selectable characters means you’ll quickly lose interest in this underdeveloped mode.

Saints Row: The Third is not exactly a GTA-killer and it has more than a fair share of issues but it is still one of the most entertaining games released so far this year. Now that the groundwork has been laid I’m eager to see where the series goes from here. THQ has already stated that Saints Row 4 will be “wilder” but If Volition are able to iron out most of the kinks as well, the GTA series might really have a worthy competitor.

"It’s an epic fantasy role-playing experience that lets you unravel hundreds of novel worthy mysteries and adventures, all at your own pace.

If ever there was a game that could take me out of my own body for hours on end to live a completely different reality, Skyrim would be it. From the first time I saw the announcement that a new Elder Scrolls game was coming, I was excited. However deep down I was in doubt that Bethesda could top themselves. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was the very first game I played when I bought into the next gen hype, and even that game managed to consume me for months. So I was concerned that Skyrim would come and go like every other game, because perhaps the appeal just wouldn’t be there anymore after spending hundreds of hours in Oblivion. I was secretly hoping that Bethesda would somehow leave me rotting in my own stupidity for ever doubting them, and boy am I rotting away!

So for those of you wondering what Skyrim is, and why you should own it. It’s an epic fantasy role-playing experience that lets you unravel hundreds of novel worthy mysteries and adventures, all at your own pace. It is very difficult to sum up the extent of this game in a thousand or so words, as it has so many layers of depth, so I will do my best to touch on what Bethesda has done to make this one of the most genre defining titles in the history of gaming.

The very first time your character is addressed you will be presented with the Character creation menu, which has been simplified compared to the previous game. You may select your race which all have their own special abilities and skill bonuses. You can then tweak the look of your character with all the standard facial feature options and finalize it by punching in the perfect name for your adventurer.

Another area that Bethesda has thankfully simplified is leveling up. Though it has kept the traditional Elder Scrolls logic of only leveling up skills as you use them, it is much easier to manage this time around. In Elder Scrolls you do not earn experience points by completing quests, instead there are eighteen skills which govern every action you make in the game. The more you use a skill the more it levels up, the more you level up your skills the higher your overall level goes. A bar will indicate your progression to the next level, and once it fills you can then chose to spend a point on your Magicka, Health or Stamina. You also unlock one point to spend on a perk relating to any of the skills; of course it will make sense to spend perks on the skills you use the most, which then in turn defines your own character class.

This is one of the many genius processes which make the Skyrim experience personal to the player. Other games will have you simply chose a character class, but Skyrim gives you the freedom to decide yourself the type of character you want to be; be it a Mage that is also skilled with one-armed weapons, or a sneaky duel-wielding assassin who is also skilled at conjuring zombies, the possibilities are endless.

Whilst combat is a lot more complex this time around, it is also more streamlined than it was in Oblivion. This time you can equip an item to each hand individually, unless of course it’s a two-handed weapon. This means you can either have a mix of weapon and spell, weapon and shield, dual-weapons or dual-spells. This is all too much choice and you may wish to go back and forth between a sword and shield and a sword and spell. Well Bethesda has thankfully made this an easy process by implementing a favorite system which allows you to favorite weapons, armor and spells in the main menu. Once you select your favorite items it’s as easy as pressing up on the d-pad to bring up a list of your favorite items, allowing you to switch your set-up on the fly. Not only that but you can also assign two of your favorite items to the left and right d-pad button, so that once you press the button the weapon will change to the desired item automatically.

"There is nothing better than sneaking up behind your foe and watching your character backstab them in slow motion

To use your chosen items you press either L1 or R1 to use them respectively, if you have a sword then the longer you hold down the button the more powerful your swing will be. Powerful swings will drain stamina, so you may want to have some stamina potions handy if your character lacks in that department. Spells of course consume Magicka, so it’s a good idea increase your Magicka when leveling up if you plan to rely on restoration spells to increase health. The difficulty level in Skyrim is much more intense compared to the previous game. If you leave yourself exposed to a huge blow from a foe then you will literally feel yourself on the brink of death. If you are outnumbered then your every move must be calculated. Thankfully this time around there is a selection of characters for you to gain the loyalty of, which you can then ask to come along as you explore.

Another wonderful addition is the slow motion executions, which Bethesda has borrowed from one of their other popular titles Fallout 3. If you’re a stealth based character you will love this addition as there is nothing better than sneaking up behind your foe and watching your character sink their blade into the target in glorious slow motion.

Although Skyrim is an open-world full of mystery, there is a main plot line to follow should you want to. Dragons were once a long lost myth in Skyrim, however they have now re-emerged and in all the chaos you discover that you are gifted by being of the Dragonborn. With your new discovery you will set out on an adventure to discover the origins of your gift and what made the Dragons return.

You have the freedom of taking this quest at your own pace, but you’ll always feel like this open plot line is affecting everyday livelihood in Skyrim. Dragons will swoop down and attack cities, farms and villages at random, uniting everyone as they come together in an attempt to slay the beast. Indeed you could very well be engrossed in a battle with some bandits, when out of nowhere you feel the ground shake (the pad vibrates) and then a Dragon swoops over you all breathing fire upon you, and then in that moment your former opponents become allies, as you all scramble to take down the threat residing thirty feet in the air. Even animals (including sheep) will come along trying to get a piece of the Dragon, which I found pretty hilarious. Once you do manage to finish off the Dragon you will resume your former battle with the bandies, or if you are in a town the town-folk will gather around the Dragon’s remains, shocked at what they have witnessed.

"Residents are aware of all recent incidents, many times they’ll recognize you for your various accomplishments throughout the land.

After a Dragon dies you will also absorb their soul being that you are Dragonborn. When this happens you gain the ability to learn one of the many Dragon shouts, which can be utilized in battle. To fully learn a Dragon shout you must learn the words, which you will find written in many of the forgotten caves scattered all across Skyrim, giving you all the more reason to explore and discover. Dragon shouts come in all forms, there are ones that stagger your opponent when used, once that allow you to dash yards ahead at incredible speed, and I have even heard there are onces that allow you to manipulate the weather. To activate a Dragon shout you can select it in the Magic menu and then press R2 to use it, however a cool-down is required before you can use it again.

No matter where you go in Skryim, it is full of life. Residents are aware of all recent incidents, many times they’ll recognize you for your various accomplishments throughout the land. Couriers will run after you delivering anything from invitations to death threats, assassins will come after you, and guards will hunt you down to collect your bounty should you break the law. Wild animals reside throughout the land and will attack on sight; deers, goats and rabbits walk the lands, running away as you get too close. And my favorite is the addition of Giants, which lead their Mammoths across the land. Giants are not hostile unless you provoke them or attack their Mammoths, and that makes them an amazing sight to come across as you explore the region. Sometimes a Dragon will attack you and you will get the chance to fight alongside a Giant, but try you’re hardest not to get in their way because all it takes is one blow from a Giant to kill you.

To add to the fantasy of day-to-day livelihood you can now partake in various craft based work, all at your own will. You can go mining, hunting for animal pelt or hide, and extract ingredients from plants. Mined ores can be smelted into ingots which allow you to become a blacksmith and craft armor and weapons, or simply improve the ones you already have. Animal pelts and hide allow you to craft leather which can also be used to create leather armor or weapons. Ingredients can be used for Alchemy, which allows you to craft potions or poisons. It doesn’t end there either; you can also enchant items, chop wood and cook meals. All this is up to you, you are never forced to do any of it; but if you wish to get everything you can out of the experience then crafting is definitely something to look into as you can sell anything you craft.

By now you’re probably thinking that no game can be this perfect, and though I honestly believe that Skyrim is the perfect game, there are unfortunately some flaws to report. For one there are sometimes extreme framerate issues on the Playstation 3 version, which can be irritating given the fact the game requires you to install the very first time you play. Also I have heard others speak of various A.I bugs that see quest based NPC’s doing silly things whilst you’re required to follow them. When you do consider how much of an ambitious game Skyrim is, it’s no wonder why these hiccups exist. Bethesda has recently announced that a huge patch is coming for all versions, so hopefully these small issues can be fixed.

I have written of the addiction, the character creation, skills, quests, A.I and crafting; but I have still not even scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. So far I’ve had fifty hours of non-stop enjoyment and I doubt I’m even a quarter of the way through the main quest. Don’t get me wrong, Skyrim isn’t for everyone, and not everyone shares the same appeal for fantasy. But speaking completely from my own perspective, I have to say that this is the definitive game of this generation in gaming. If we see anything that tops Skyrim anytime soon, then I guarantee it won’t be on a console.

Like many Call of Duty players, the campaign for this particular series is sort of what we play when our buddies aren’t online for some multiplayer action. I never particularly enjoyed the narrative of the Modern Warfare series, but did always enjoy playing through these crazy ‘Michael Bay’ style action sequences. If you have been following the series closely, Modern Warfare 3 starts off literally moments after the sequel. Price and Soap have survived their close encounter with Lt. General Shepherd, and the hunt is still on for Makarov. Modern Warfare 3 realizes World War 3 with full on battles in New York, London, and Paris. Featuring set pieces so grand they make the previous games look like strolls through the park.

The campaign’s biggest letdowns is the lack of cooperative play. Games are always better with friends, Infinity Ward of all people should know this. Despite the lack of coop, I started my campaign on Veteran difficulty and it wasn’t as difficult as the previous games. I always found the Veteran difficulty in this series to be way too hard, and unfair with the infinite enemy respawns. Veteran in Modern Warfare 3 does it right by offering the player a challenge but not one that will have you pulling your hair out in frustration. I can easily say that this is my personal favorite Call of Duty campaign since the original Modern Warfare.

Making its return are the cooperative Spec Ops Missions that were introduced in Modern Warfare 2. There are over a dozen of new missions which you and another friend can run through, earning stars based on your overall performance in that mission. Some of the missions are directly from the campaign and others give you a different perspective of a campaign mission. New to the series is Spec Ops Survival which is well….Survival Mode. The mode consists of you and a friend fighting off wave after wave of enemies. For each kill you gain cash that can be spent at different stations around the map to buy ammo, new weapons, equipment, and killstreak rewards. The overall Spec Ops mode features its own separate ranking system that will unlock weapons, missions, and killstreaks as you rank up. The Spec Ops Survival mode is a fun new addition to the series but the mode is limited to just two players, four players would have been better.

Last but not least is the addictive Multiplayer options. Now surely players are going to spend the majority of their time here and I can see why. I swore off Call of Duty but fell into the pre-release hype and have already clocked in more hours online in Modern Warfare 3 than I did with Black Ops, and I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it. But when I think of the multiplayer in the critical sense there is just so much that bugs me personally. How about the fact that not much has drastically changed to move the series forward. Even small stuff like the the HUD display and the voice that announces the gametype and winner of the match are exactly the same. There’s nothing wrong with familiarity, but when everything seems the same after 4 years it’s time to upgrade just a little.

This is not to say Modern Warfare doesn’t make a few adjustments to its multiplayer options. For one it added a new, fun mode called Kill Confirmed. The mode is essentially Team Deathmatch but after each kill you have to go up to your kill and pick up his dog tags in order for your team to get the point. Players on the opposing team can deny the kill by picking up their fallen comrades tags before you do. I didn’t play any objective based games in Modern Warfare before with the exception of Domination, but Kill Confirmed is not something I play often. Team Defender is another new mode with the objective being to grab a flag and hold it for as long as possible. This mode is also pretty cool but not one I see myself playing that often.

The gameplay itself is basically the same, as it really should be. I always found the fast pace action of Modern Warfare more fun than most first person shooters out there. Some of the changes in gameplay come in the different ways that the killstreaks are presented. Killstreaks are now broken down into three different categories; Assault, Support, and Specialist. The assault package offers killstreaks rewards that will kill the other team, support is for players who like to use UAV’s and help out their team with care packages, and specialist is a package that earns you more perks instead of killstreak rewards. Another slight change is that you now level up each of your guns. Using a particular gun will earn you a special perk for that gun, unlocks attachments, and earns you new camo colors. The new changes are that significant to make the game any better but it doesn’t ruin what already works.

The biggest gripe I had with Modern Warfare 3 is the lack of growth that the entire Call of Duty series has had since the original Modern Warfare. Despite going back to WW2 in ‘World At War’ and to Vietnam in ‘Black Ops’, the formula for this series has stayed the same. That’s not to say that the formula doesn’t work anymore. Modern Warfare 3 showcases some great moments during the campaign, even with that old engine. The series is just in need of a serious tune up.

Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t change much of anything. A few slight changes here and there but none that will significantly ruin the game for you if you love it or make it better if you already hate it. I tried to fight Modern Warfare 3 off, and I’m glad I gave in. Even though it’s offering the same experience since 2007, it’s offering an experience that no one else is. Purchasing Modern Warfare 3 justifies itself, especially after you see how many hours you clocked in online.

The first and most prominently billed game on this collection is Lemmings, which was originally released on the PSN in 2008. This updated version of the PC/Amiga classic features roughly 40 new levels, HD visuals and of course Playstation Trophies. Unlike the PSN release, this version of Lemmings supports Playstation Move functionality although you can still opt to play with a Dualshock if you prefer. The premise remains the same, your job is to guide a swarm of rodents from one place to another by assigning them individual tasks and giving them the materials needed to safely reach the end zone. Those without any nostalgic links to the series may not fully appreciate this straight-forward yet challenging puzzler but if you enjoyed Lemmings back in the day, chances are you’ll still like it today. On the down side I found the Move controls to be a little too sensitive for a game which often requires precision perfect cursor placements,making this one of the growing number of Move games which work better with a regular controller.

Next up is echochrome ii which is thematically very similar to Lemmings. Here you guide a silhouetted figure for point A to B by shining a flashlight on to a group of strategically placed shapes and creating shadows for him to walk across. After suffering though a painfully slow tutorial segment things quickly become challenging, forcing you to figurative bend your mind as the title of this compilation suggests. Should you require an additional challenge there are two other game modes which enhance the difficulty by changing the completion conditions but if you’re really that smart you’ll probably be too busy curing cancer or something. There’s no denying that the levels in echochrome ii are extremely creative and intricately designed, the problem is the game just isn’t very fun. I also found myself wondering why this game requires a Move controller as your flashlight functions could easily be replicated with an analog stick.

Rounding out this mind bending extravaganza is Tumble. Unlike the other two games on this disc, Tumble feels like it was designed from the ground up to take advantage of the Move controller. This is also the only game on this compilation to feature stereoscopic 3D and multiplayer support, so if you have a 3D TV and a friend beside you then this should be your go-to title. Your main objective in Tumble is to stack a pile of blocks (and other similarly shaped objects) on top of one another in an attempt to create a makeshift tower that clocks in at a predetermined height. Tumble also features destruction challenges for those who like to blow s*** up and let’s be honest, who doesn’t? The controllers aren’t perfect and Boom Blox on the Wii has already cornered the market for block based, motion controlled puzzle games but Tumble is still a cool title that you should probably check out if you haven’t already.

…And  that is Move Mind Benders in a nut-shell. Sure all these games are at least one year old and none of them are particularly exciting but if you crave a Move game that was designed for you and not your little sister then this is one of your best options.

"It has restored my faith that there can be great things to come from the Move technology

Medieval Moves comes from developer Zindagi Games, the makers of Sports Champions. The game sees you taking control of a child prince named Edmund. Eventually Edmund is to rule his kingdom; however an evil antagonist known as Morgrimm attacks the kingdom, turning everyone (including Edmund) into Skeletons and stealing the precious Gatestone. It is now Deaddmund’s responsibility to set out on an adventure to defeat Morgrimm and regain the Gatestone. Simple enough considering this is a game meant for all ages.

Story related cut-scenes are done in a fun comic-book art-style which is a nice touch given the target audience, my only problem is that they run on a little too long for my liking. When I play a Move game I would rather get straight to the action rather than stand there watching the TV patiently with the controller in hand.

I never played Sports Champions, but I can tell from watching others that Zindagi made use of some of the mechanics in Medieval Moves. Medieval Moves features a mix of swordplay and archery, as well as being able to throw stuff here and there. Thus I assume anyone who played similar modes in Sports Champions will feel at home with Medieval Moves core game-play.

"They do try and mix things up a little so you’re not just swinging with a dead arm

Swinging the Move controller left to right will allow you to swing your sword, as the Move can sense how much force you put in, you actually have to do it with some effort to pull off the right results. Archery is even more fun, to pull it off you simply put up your Move stick as if taking an arrow from your back, and then aim, once you’re ready to fire you simply press the trigger. Stars can be thrown with a flick of the wrist, milk can be drank to restore health by tipping the controller towards your mouth, and dynamite can be ignited by simulating the action of lighting your Move stick alight before throwing it (no, don’t actually throw it). So as you can tell there are some pretty creative ways to use the controller here; and they do try and mix things up a little so you’re not just swinging with a dead arm, but it does get old after about three levels.

Some may hate the fact that Medieval Moves is another on-rails title. I do agree with the criticism of on-rail games somewhat, as there is nothing better than being in control of the character you are forced to spend your whole experience with. However While there are Move titles that suit the navigation style of play, Medieval Moves is not one of them. Part of this is due to the fact you have the option to use two Move sticks, which cancels out any chance at having navigation.

Overall Medieval Moves is a fun box of tricks that will amuse you for at least a half hour at a time. It’s definitely one of the better Move titles I’ve played, which doesn’t say much to be honest. But it has restored my faith that there can be great things to come from the Move technology. Whilst I would mostly recommend this to the younger audience, I do encourage a quick waggle for the older audience too.

Normally when a mediocre game is released on the 3DS publishers can attempt to justify its existence with a sympathetic “but this time its 3D!” but unfortunately Captain America doesn’t have this luxury. You see, the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions already featured stereoscopic 3D support and they looked a damn sight better than this game does. It also doesn’t help that the HD games were actually pretty good, making this portable version seem even more lacklustre by comparison.

Captain America 3DS also attempts to replicate the Arkham Asylum inspired combat system found in the earlier games but as you’ve probably already guessed, it fails miserably. After experiencing Arkham City’s silky smooth and fluid fighting mechanics, Captain America 3DS feels like a shoddily produced counterfeit. For a majority of the game you’ll simply spam the attack button and press X whenever the symbol appears on screen to counter an incoming attack. Once you’ve defeated the last on-screen enemy the Captain will attempt to wow you with a flashy finisher but again poor execution reigns supreme.

Cap’s all-important shield can be used as a projectile which can target multiple objects or to deflect incoming bullets. Aiming your shield or adjusting the trajectory of deflected bullets with the 3DS’ touch screen feels good although it has one fatal flaw. As it’s almost impossible to interact with the touch screen while keeping the device still, using your shield almost always breaks the 3D effects. For that reason I found myself playing in 2D, which is pretty of ironic since I completed the PS3 game and watched the movie exclusively in 3D.

The game shares the same boring plot as the movie but with all the interesting ‘character development’ parts removed. Red Skull wants to take over the world with an army of super soliders, Captain America who is a super soldier himself doesn’t want Red Skull to take over the world with an army of super soldiers so being the super soldier that he is, he embarks on a one man mission save humanity. Truth be told, unless you’re a huge Captain America fan you probably won’t care why you’re slowly running around punching roomfuls of dudes to death (or um, unconsciousness), you’ll just get on with it hoping there’ll be a rewarding pay off at the end. Spoilers: there isn’t.

But like I said, Captain America 3DS isn’t a bad game. I didn’t hate it, it didn’t frustrate me and let’s be honest, if you plan on buying this then you probably already know what to expect. It just feels like the same movie licenced game that you’ve played dozens of times before. If this was a $5 iPhone release I’d probably tell you to go for it, but there is nothing about this game that even attempts to justify its $40 price tag.

The game follows the story of a separate fellowship of adventurers, an elf lore-master, human ranger and dwarf champion. While Frodo and company travel to Mt. Doom in order to destroy the One Ring, this fellowship is leading the charge in the North to prevent Agandaur (Sauron’s chief lieutenant) from taking over the Northern realms of Middle-Earth. Besides this explanation, the story takes a backseat for the rest of the game, for the most part. The game starts out with a Gandalf impersonation, and then you are placed in the Prancing Pony tavern at Bree, speaking with Aragorn a couple days before Frodo and friends stop by on their quest.

On your journey in the North, you will have the opportunity to pick up a few side quests, talk to some of the NPCs, and do some other interesting stuff. A lot of the characters do have quite a lot to say, and some are even interesting to talk to, but there is little motivation to do so. This problem is compounded by the fact that you know next to nothing about the main characters of the game. In fact, there is not even a character bio summary on the character selection screen. Problems with the story aside, the rest of this game is pretty fantastic.

Which brings me to the graphics: wow. They did a fantastic job of creating a visual delight here. The character models are fantastic, the animations are great, and the environments are stunning. A lot of games are pretty bland in the environment, you might catch some blurry textures on the walls or floors, or some muddled environment backgrounds, but not this time. Snowblind did a great job of capturing the mythos of the series, while also raising the bar for action RPGs in general.

Another thing to note: this is the first M rated LOTR game. Combat is full of bloody gore, and deaths are complete with decapitations and dismemberment if timed correctly. But, even the visuals are not absolutely perfect. You will run into quite a few glitches with enemies stuck in walls, frozen entirely while standing there, or having corpses randomly appearing and disappearing at times. Another one of the biggest glitches of the game happens only during dialogue. When talking with NPCs, I noticed the elemental outline of my weapon, while my character was not actually holding the weapon.

Another unfortunate thing about the dialogue is that the player characters seem like they have the least amount of emotion out of all the characters in the game. NPCs have a bit of emotion, but their faces never really have a whole lot of expression in them, save for the giant eagles and the dragon, they are pretty emotive fellas (and a bit creepy too…)

Additionally, it is unfortunate how much the armor lacks variety in some ways. Let me clarify however: there are a lot of armor types, and the model shown in game will change based on which character is equipping it, but during certain periods of the game, you will “upgrade” armor, but it will not actually change what it looks like on your character. The weapons on the other hand, do not have this issue. There are all types of one and two handed weapons, staves, shields, etc.

Now to the best part of this game: the gameplay. Battles on  face may seem to get a bit repetitive, but anyone that likes dungeon crawlers, loot crazy experiences or action RPGs in general, will find a lot to love here. There are just soooo many items to collect, and armor and weapons to customize your character with, it is pretty astounding. The combat is incredibly fluid and easy to get into, the dodge roll is incredibly functional, mixing in blocks with combos is great, each of the three characters is balanced very well, and the leveling system works great. Generally combat consists of you using your light and heavy attacks to string together combos (along with a nifty critical hit/Hero Mode feature that allows some spectacular finishing blows that result in slo-mo and dismemberment at times) along with your special abilities. These special abilities expend your power (mana/magic) meter as you use them. The game is very generous with dosing out plenty of potions to regenerate health and power, so you will probably not ever die a whole lot. This is not to say the game is overly easy, just that the normal difficulty is not super difficult. Even still: the balancing is great throughout, creating an extremely fun yet still partially challenging experience.

The Ranger can specialize with 2-handed weapons or as a dual wielding fighter, or as a mostly ranged fighter, and even mix in some stealth into the equation. The options are very deep, and the other two characters share this feature. The lore master can develop a bubble that protects the party, heals them, and even explodes to cause big amounts of damage. The dwarf champion is a great tanker, can deal heavy damage, maintain the attention of enemies, and regenerate health. They all function great together, and are definitely best when all controlled by three real people. While the AI is passable, it does not compensate for actual humans playing with you. This game is, without a doubt, designed to be played with two other people, and when doing so, it is incredibly fun.

The game has a really great loot system, that randomly generates and distributes an equal amount of loot to all party members (AI or not) and usually provides the character with something useful for them specifically. So, when defeating an enemy, the loot dropped is different for each character, this is the same for broken containers, and even treasure chests. While traveling through areas you will find tons of loot, that allows you to slowly upgrade weapons and equipment over time. Along the way through a given area, you will come across chances to visit a shop, and even teleport back to a major town in order to buy and sell items, repair items, and drop off/pick up sidequests.

The entire dungeon crawling experience is broken up as well of course, with moments where you man a giant crossbow turret and shoot at waves of enemies. Near the end of the game these moments start to seem too frequent, however, and do a get a bit frustrating. One awesome addition though, is that you can call on a giant eagle to come in at any time in an open area, swoop down, and attack an enemy.One of my biggest pet peeves with the game, however, is how the armor stat in the game is never actually explained. Of course, it probably decreases damage a bit, but it never really explains how the arbitrary numbers translate into actual damage prevention.

The music in the game is appropriate in most parts, and is pretty solid throughout, but it feels a bit like a lost opportunity since fans of the movies will not really recognize any of the tracks here at all. It is unfortunate none of the music was used from the films, but they did do a fine job of creating a good score none the less. Voice acting is done very well, as Nolan North is the Ranger (so what did you expect?) and the rest of the cast hold their own, although I do wish that Aragorn sounded more like the actor from the movie, since the rest do a pretty good impression of their movie counterparts. A couple minor issues hold back the audio quality as well though, as some of the dialogue does not match up with their mouths, and there were quite a few moments where the music would get incredibly quiet, or cut out from time to time, which was unfortunate.

The game is supposed to be supported with DLC in the coming months, which would be great, as I am getting to my only really huge “complaint” that is not something nit picky: the map/content. While my first playthrough clocked in at around 20 hours or so, it felt like the game had a lot left under the hood. The story never really went anywhere other than what I explained in the first couple paragraphs, and the overworld map teases you too much. Once you set out, you are treated to this massive map of all of Middle-Earth, marking key points like Rivendell, Moria, Mirkwood, Helms Deep, Mini Tirith, Mordor, etc. The problem with this? Only the areas in the northwest region are visitable…Maybe this means they will include a lot of DLC, or maybe they were just going for a complete map, but if the latter is the case, I feel like they should have delineated between the locations you will be visiting, from the ones that are just there for show. It is pretty disappointing to see the credits roll when you think you still have 2/3 left of the game to explore.

The game allows you to start a second playthrough after defeating the final boss, and continue with your current level (note: I say current level instead of current character, because your experience/level can be applied to any character on your next playthrough, so if you finished game 1 as a level 21 ranger, you can start game 2 as a level 21 champion.) The game also has two challenge levels, that consist of tons of waves of enemies, but the rewards are not as awesome as they could have been.

Overall, this is definitely the best Lord of the Rings game I have ever played, it gave me hours of enjoyment, and was a really amazing and fun time. The game never really gets boring, even though you are mostly just fighting hordes of enemies. The cooperative multiplayer aspectis fantastic and the game is balanced very well. While it may lack some content from an avid RPGer’s standpoint, it is by no means a game you should pass on. This game releases November 1^st, 2011 for PS3, 360 and PC, and you should do yourself a favor and take a chance on it!

"Those who have played the previous Uncharted games will be pleased to hear that Uncharted 3’s story is a lot more grounded in reality

Once again protagonist Nathan Drake is on a mission to unravel an age-old secret that has stumped fellow explorers for centuries. After figuring out that his renowned ancestor Sir Francis Drake hid a secret from the world during a voyage 400 years ago, Nate and his mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan embark on a journey to discover what exactly Sir Francis was hiding. As per usual things don’t go according to plan and the wise-cracking fortune hunter quickly finds himself in the thick of a much more sinister plot. Those who have played the previous Uncharted games will be pleased to hear that Uncharted 3’s story is a lot more grounded in reality. Sure no man could engage in a fire fight against 1,000’s of hired thugs are emerge victorious but if Drake died during the opening scene it wouldn’t make for a very good game would it! Zombies, Yetis and rejects from James Cameron’s Avatar are nowhere to be seen. The villain this time around isn’t a stereotypical Russian guys with scars, its middle-aged British woman Katherine Marlowe who proves to be the series most believable antagonist yet.

As expected the delightful Elena Fisher and feisty Chloe Frazer return to assist Drake on his quest, as does newcomer Charlie Cutter who formerly worked for Marlowe. The interaction between characters is one of the finest things about Uncharted 3. Once again the writers and voice actors have done a remarkable job making both the friendship and the rivalries feel genuine. Every single cutscene in the game is a joy to behold thanks to Drake’s witty and charismatic nature. During the 15 hour campaign I must have laughed out loud at least a dozen times and the amusing in-game banter often made me chuckle too. Nolan North (the actor who plays Nathan Drake) is naturally a captivating speaker and his persona and influence really shines through his digital counterpart.

One of the few complaints that Uncharted 2 received was due to Sully’s limited appearance. Good ol’ Vic took a back seat during Drake’s second adventure to make room for the Drake/Elena/Chloe love triangle but Sully fans will be pleased to hear that Drake’s closest friend has a prominent role in Uncharted 3. Not only does Naughty Dog shows the origins of the duo’s unbreakable friendship, they also demonstrate just how far Drake is willing to go for his buddy in one of the most beautifully crafted and emotionally charged scenes I’ve ever witnessed in a videogame.

The game opens with a bar room brawl which gives players a chance to familiarize themselves with the games new hand-to-hand combat system. Drake is now a lot more capable with his hands and during gunfights you’ll often find yourself alternating between bullets and blows. Naughty Dog has also introduced a few on-foot chase sequences which almost put LA Noire to shame. Brief stealth sections are still present but they are no longer mandatory, allowing you to throw caution to the wind and go in all guns blazing. Drake’s Deception is also a lot more puzzle heavy than it’s predecessors but this time around the puzzles are less elaborate and more logical. They aren’t spaced out as eloquently as they were in Uncharted 2 but the reasoning for that makes sense from a story prospective.

When you’re not shooting or puzzle solving, chances are you’ll be climbing and boy does Nate have a lot of things to climb! Whether you’re scaling an ancient ruin or a escaping through the roof of a burning Chateau, climbing feels fantastic and serves as the catalyst for some truly enthralling moments.  Uncharted 3 is jam-packed with an array of extraordinary sequences that make the infamous train level from Among Thieves seem like an uneventful stroll in the park with Elena. Most game developers would feel privileged to provide one “holy shit!” moment but here Naughty Dog has given us plenty. You’ve probably already seen a few of these sequences during trailers and gameplay demos but nothing compares to experiencing them for yourself.

"Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception isn’t the reason why I play games, it’s the reason why I LOVE games

With all these multiplatform games that appear on the Playstation 3 it’s easy to forget just capable Sony’s console is but with Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog has proved that the PS3 still has several years of viability ahead of it. Graphically the game is stunning, both character models are environments are incredibly detailed and the game runs smoothly even when it feels like the world is crumbling beneath your feet. Uncharted 3 also has stereoscopic 3D support and I can honestly say that it is the best looking 3D game currently available on consoles. This is one of the few titles that actually benefit from being in 3D so if you have a capable TV you should definitely check it out.

As amazing as Uncharted 3 is, like everything in life it isn’t perfect. I felt that one or two of the gunfights overstayed their welcome and the story contained a few too many moments where the bad guy held a gun to Nate’s head without pulling the trigger. The biggest problem I have with the game is the fact that you still have to press a button to pick up ammo! During heated gun battles you’ll frequently find yourself accidently replacing your current weapon while scouring for ammo. Since there’s never a reason why you wouldn’t want to pick up ammo I really wish all ammo pick ups were done automatically. Regardless of these issues I still think Uncharted 3 is a masterpiece. The jaw-dropping cinematic gameplay works in tandem with the gorgeous visuals, phenomenal voice acting and emotionally engaging story, all of which cumulates to form a priceless artefact that can be yours for only $60. Is it the best game of the year? I certainly think so but does such an arbitrary term matter in the end? Absolutely not! Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is not the reason why I play games, it’s the reason why I love games. Now if you’ll excuse me I have more treasure pieces to hunt….

Normally I’d end the review here but surprise surprise…. Uncharted 3 also has a fully featured multiplayer component. I bet you didn’t know that (!). Seriously though the competitive multiplayer modes aren’t my cup of tea but I still appreciate the amount of work that Naughty Dog has put in to making it. This isn’t your typical tacked-on multiplayer experience, it features a wide variety of modes, several expansive maps, customizable characters and weapon loadouts, a rewarding perks system, a host of community features and there are plans for at least 7 additional maps packs within the games life cycle. If you’d prefer an online mode that is more akin to the single player game then I’d encourage you to check out the brilliant co-operative modes which can also be played locally via split screen. There are two different co-op modes for you to choose from, Co-Op Arena and Co-Op Adventure. Arena features nine maps and has both Survival (Horde) and Gold Rush (Capture the Flag) gameplay variants while Adventure challenges you and a friend or two to complete story-based missions loosely based on the single player campaign. I don’t think I’ll be participating in many death matches now that I’m done with the review but I’m confident that the Co-Op modes will keep me playing for many months.

And there you have it. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception not only lives up to the hype, it exceed it. But as I mentioned at the start of the review… you probably already knew that!

If you are reading this, you probably are relatively familiar with the storylines of the DBZ series. This game covers the entire lineage of the series, starting with Bardock’s fight on planet Vegeta (depicted in one of the many movies) to the Saiyan saga and beyond, finishing up after the Buu saga, along with multiple DBZ movies and some scenarios from GT as well, but it does not include anything from Dragon Ball.

The game has quite a bit of content though, so there is a lot of stuff to do. You have the regular story mode, which was explained above. The game also has a great Hero Mode, which allows you to create your very own Saiyan (only a male though) and take him into an alternate reality. In this alternate reality, you train with a bunch of characters from the DBZ universe, do some light customization of abilities, and fight a lot of very repetitive fights.

The game also has a very basic online mode, you can do ranked, unranked and tournament-style matches. As you play, you can unlock lots of different titles that are assigned to your name upon going into a fight. One great feature is being able to play with your created character online. However, if you pick your created character that isn’t very powerful yet, then you are probably going to lose, but that is to be expected.

The presentation of the game is fantastic. The story mode has full anime cutscenes of some of the most influential parts of the series (Vegeta turning into a Great Ape in the Saiyan saga, or Goku turning Super Saiyan for the first time, for example) and it really does a great job. This is also complimented by the great ingame cutscenes, which really does a great job of recreating the series, accompanied by the fantastic visual presentation.

This brings me to the graphics, and I really only have good things to say here. The stylized graphics are fantastic and really look like the anime is coming to life in a video game. Some of the other games have a pretty good attempt at this, but none as great as this. The beam effects look amazing, the explosions of fists crashing into guts and faces looks beautiful and the environment is highly interactive. If you are on the ground, and shoot a beam at an enemy across from you, also on the ground, the ground crumbles and creates a giant crater where it makes contact. The crater stays there the rest of the fight, which is a nice touch, but it really ends up not mattering at all, because of how the actual game works.

The gameplay is pretty much terrible. Instead of actually attacking and putting together combos, like an actual fighting game, this has none of those elements. Character movement is easy enough, you control with the left stick. This is pretty much the only functioning part of the gameplay. If you want to initiate a melee combo, punch them three times, and then this is where the game fails. The attacker is presented with choosing either square or triangle, and then the defender does the same. If they choose the same button, then the defender counters. If not, then a combo is initiated. This logic is applied to a large majority of the combat, and means that most fights are decided by games of chance. Instead of timing when you counter, block, or attack really, the game puts a big part of those into the hands of chance.

One other positive thing is how the game manages your spirit meters, there is a bit of strategy involved in when you expend some of your energy, as that some energy can also be used for defensive moves, you have to manage it some. But, this also brings me to one of the other big complaints. Instead of having to actually aim and time your specials, if you simply activate it then it will hit your opponent. However, you have three options on the receiving end. Depending on how much energy you have, you can block it (lowers a portion of the damage) you can evade it (there is a timed button sequence, if you fail you take more damage than you would have) or you can try and intercept/return it (you get into a beam struggle/fist fight to see who can tap triangle the fastest.)

This is pretty cool and all, but it was so much more engaging if you actually had to block it in past games, or actually teleport and/or dodge out of the way, or manually shoot your own beam to initiate the beam struggle. Instead, the large majority of fights are scripted events, leaving the game feeling like a relatively cool animated cutscene. This is really frustrating, because if this game had the gameplay of say, Budokai Tenkaichi 3, or even one of the other current gen DBZ games, then this game would be so much better. Instead, most of the gameplay is borderline broken, and the entire experience suffers because of it.

The music is pretty good, although it gets very repetitive. Especially because the menu pretty much plays the same song on a loop, and sometimes even in the battles you will hear extremely repetitive music. The voice acting sounds fine (except for what happened to kid Gohan’s voice?? and why does Freiza’s voice change in between each sentence??)  but the lips usually do not sync up to the voices at all. The sound effects are fine, but overall it just feels like there is a lot to be desired here.

Overall, this is probably going to be entertaining enough for you if you have always dreamed of making your own Saiyan, and if you are a huge fan of the series, or if you like slightly-interactive cutscenes of a story you have heard a billion times. The gameplay is terrible, and it pretty much makes the game worth passing on. It might be fun to see the storyline through one more time, but besides that, there is not a lot of long lasting appeal to be had here. The game is available for the 360 and PS3, so let us know what you think below!

There seems to be a bit of confusion on what exactly inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood is, therefore I would like to take this opportunity to clear up a few things. For starters, Festival of Blood is not DLC for inFAMOUS 2 but rather a standalone PSN title which does not require a disc to run. Prior knowledge of the series also isn’t needed so if this is your first time running around New Marias as Cole you won’t feel lost or out of place. Finally, the events in Festival of Blood aren’t cannon and for that reason none of your previous save data will carry over. Festival of Blood is merely the fictional ramblings of Zeke as he attempts to charm a piece of eyecandy out of a bar and in to his car.

The game starts with Zeke recounting a tale in which Cole is kidnapped and used as a catalyst to bring a once beautiful and extremely powerful Vampiress back to life. Once Cole unwillingly relieves Bloody Mary from her eternal slumber she expresses her gratitude by sinking her teeth in to his neck and infecting him with virus that will effectively make him her puppet once the sun rises. Its then up to Cole to spend the remainder of the night trying to figure out a way to destroy Mary before daylight creeps in and his soul is lost forever.

Although most of the abilities that Cole previously earned are initially taken away from him, being bitten has made way for a whole new set of powers which fit the games’ Halloween vibe. The most prevalent new aspect of the game is Cole’s ability to transform in to a swarm of bats and soar above rooftops for a short period of time. Doing so draws from Cole’s blood meter which can be instantly replenished by sacrificing innocent bystanders. Cole also possesses a Batman-like “Vampire Vision” which allows him to uncover hidden secrets and point out demons that are cunningly disguised as members of the public.

Cole can eventually regain most of his old abilities thanks to a streamlined upgrade system which rewards you with enhancements every time you hit a combat milestone. Slay 10 vampires, earn a new ability. Slay 25, earn another one, Slay 50… and well, you get the picture. The combat and traversal mechanics remain relatively untouched from inFAMOUS 2 so if you’ve already confronted The Beast from New Marias you’ll be able to jump in and enjoy straight away.

Completing the main story will take anything from 3-5 hours depending on whether or not choose to seek out trophies and upgrades. As there is no moral system in place or blast shards to collect there is not much incentive to re-play the game or fiendishly explore the city which reduces Festival of Blood’s replay value even further. User Generated missions are back so you can theoretically play this game for months but you’ll probably hate yourself for it. Festival also has Playstation Move support (for real this time!) but Stereoscopic 3D is still a no-no. I’m not sure why anyone would want to play an inFAMOUS game with a glowing wand but I’m not one to judge.

I’m well aware that Festival Of Blood is a stripped down version of inFAMOUS 2 but for some reason I enjoyed it much more. It’s probably due to the fact that Cole hardly speaks and stupid characters like Nix aren’t present. Think of this as merely a PSN title rather than “the new inFAMOUS game” and chances are you’ll love it. It’s not very long, or deep but at 10 bucks its hard to refuse.

As with previous games in the series, your main objective in Mercury Hg is to guide your liquidized ball from point A to point B by tilting the surface that it’s situated on. Additional points are awarded based on your speed, how much atoms you collect and the size of your blob upon level completion. If a piece of your blob falls off the environment you’ll reduce in size and become much less mobile making it harder for you to navingate. Some levels require you to spray paint your blob a certain colour to activate specific panels and at times you’ll even have to split yourself in half and combine two different colours together in order to progress. Other hazards include magnets, retractors and conveyor belts all of which are strategically placed to ramp up the challenge.

Hg’s main mode (titled Discovery) features roughly 60 levels divided up in to five uneven groups. Beyond that there’s a perplexing challenge mode, rule-bending bonus levels, incorporated leaderboards, downloadable ghost data options and the ability to add your own music which the environment will dynamically react to. Importing music is highly recommended as the funky techno music which comes as standard can sometime prove to be distracting. The main differentiator between Mercury Hg and 2007’s Mercury Meltdown Revolution is Hg’s crisp high-definition visuals. In comparison, Hg looks absolutely fantastic and thanks to the superior analog sticks found on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 the game controls better than ever too!

Given the sheer wealth of content that Mercury Hg offers it’s almost mind-blowing that Ignition are only charging £3.40/400 Microsoft Points for the full game. The level select screen makes it apparent that at least two DLC packs are currently in the works but even as is, Mercury Hg is one hell of a bargain. Although some may find the game to be a little too challenging, I was presently surprised with the quality of this seemingly unintimidating release. Hg is fun, challenging, lengthy, vibrant and costs less than a decent kebab. Buy it now!

"Speaking objectively it’s hard to recommend a game which can be completed in just over 3 hours

For the core Xbox audience, Once Upon A Monster will be viewed as a short and repetitive mini-game collection which has eaten away from what could have been Psychonauts 2 development time.  Speaking objectively it’s hard to recommend a game which can be easily completed in just over 3 hours, even if it is designed for kids. It’s clear that Double Fine spent a lot of effort making Once Upon A Monster look and feel as authentic to the license as possible but from a gameplay standpoint the final product has suffered because of it. The lack of difficulty options means that almost any capable adult could breeze through the entire story, earning all stars and bonus content in a single sitting which doesn’t make playing alone very compelling.

So… now that we’ve established that Once Upon A Monster should only be played by or with kids, let’s talk about the actual game. As you’ve probably gathered by now this is a licensed mini-game collection which utilizes the Xbox 360′s Kinect peripheral. The game is divided up in to six chapters, each of which are structured like short stories. Although the characters, settings and tasks vary from the chapter to chapter, the core “helping out a Monster in need” theme is present throughout. The story is packed full of fantastic in-game cutscenes that both adults and kids will appreciate, assuming they know who Grover and Oscar The Grouch are. The mini-games themselves are fairly diverse and are simple enough for most kids to instantly understand. Challenges include; picking out an outfit for a monster to wear during his birthday party, flapping your arms to fly to the top of a very tall tree, throwing balls of junk in to trash cans of  corresponding color and much more. Once you complete a challenge you’ll be ranked on a 5 stars scale but as I alluded to earlier, earning all five stars isn’t too difficult.

For a majority of the game you’ll be following the footsteps of Elmo and Cookie Monster with other monsters (including ones designed by Double Fine) making cameos throughout. The developers did a fantastic job with the the character models which helped to maintain a sense of immersion. On the down side, several key characters are missing from this adventure as the likes of Bert, Ernie, Count and even Big Bird are nowhere to be seen. Another problem which became increasingly annoying is that characters often repeat the same phrases and tutorial information. Unless you have the memory of a goldfish you won’t forget that you have to jump over logs as you approach them but Elmo still feels the need to remind you every 10 seconds.

As with many Kinect games the controls in Once Upon A Monster aren’t perfect but what they lack in accuracy they much up for in accessibility. The game is also very forgiving allowing you to make a number of mistakes without being penalised too harshly. Hardcore gamers who are looking to justify their Kinect purchase should seek elsewhere for validation, even if they are fans of Sesame Street and/or Double Fine. But for gaming parents who are interested in sharing their favorite pastime with their child(ren), Once Upon A Monster is the perfect place to start.

"Playing RAGE for the first time is a shock to the system

id Software is well known for pushing the gaming standards ahead of their time. They have games like Wolfenstein 3D in their portfolio of works, so naturally much was expected from RAGE upon its first appearance. Using their own id Tech 5 engine, RAGE is certainly one of the better looking games on the market, it’s just a shame that some of RAGE’s issues let it down.

One of the things I wasn’t too thrilled about was the lack of a caring story. The game begins with your character crash landing into the world ruined by an asteroid. As you continue to play you’ll discover that your character has some highly desired attributes. It’s not the lack of originality that gets me; it’s more the fact that the game lacks the ability to make you care for the story at all.

Even with the lack of gripping story developments, RAGE is still a beast of a game. Playing RAGE for the first time is a shock to the system; it’s clear that id Software worked hard to craft one of the better looking games this generation. Every boulder, rock and item looks hand crafted; showing just how much attention to detail was given for RAGE.

The thing that lets RAGE’s visual appeal down slightly is the amount of texture pop ins whenever motion is applied to the setting. It’s no good having those mouth watering textures if their blurred for a good ten seconds on approach. Although these pop-ins can be very annoying it just goes to show how far id Software were willing to go to push the limits of these machines.

After you experience the first couple hours of RAGE it’s clear to see that its priorities lie in being a fantastic shooter. Though RAGE gives you a huge stomping ground to play in, a lot of the bigger areas are only there for you to be able to drive around in your buggy. The main structure for missions will see you traveling to a specific location and shooting your way to your goal, and that is where the majority of the fun lies in RAGE.

You’ll get to visit multiple settlements with many different character designs, but unfortunately many of the characters you encounter lack any real depth, making it extremely hard to care for the quests you’ll be given. There is a lot to keep you busy, and in a way that makes up for the lack of depth as you’ll definitely have fun trying to complete the numerous goals and objectives; It’s just that in this type of game I would like to actually give a damn about what I’m being sent out to accomplish.

Along with the multiple races you can compete in with a range of different vehicles, another thing to keep you busy is collecting schematics that enable you to create both weapon mods and useful tools that help you get the most out of exploration. With the right components you are able to construct special ammunition or useful items on the fly. The ability to use different types of ammunition in each firearm definitely gives combat a feel of personalization, and it’s as easy as holding down R2 and using the analog sticks to change both your gun and your ammunition type. It’s definitely worth gathering as many schematics as you can, because RAGE is no easy feat and as you get to the later stages in the game you’ll be forced to use more complex tactics to take down those nasties.

"If you manage to play through the game without getting the crap scared out of you, then you clearly have balls of steel.

Enemy design is something I really love about the game. The way enemies look and move makes you even more determined to take them out, and the A.I is bloody incredible. If you manage to play through the game without getting the crap scared out of you by enemies jumping at you from nowhere, then you clearly have balls of steel. Waves of enemies will literally rush you unless you tactfully pick them off. It’s possible to use stealth if you’re in a more confined space, and often this will mean the difference between life and death. To fully get the edge in combat you must use everything in your arsenal, whether it’s grenades or my favorite…the Wingstick, which is a boomerang like item you can throw at your foes – I suggest aiming for the head. The variety of enemies in the game will push you to stay alert as they all attack in different forms, and taking on multiple varieties of enemy at once can cause ultimate chaos.

About an hour into the game you’ll be rewarded with your very own buggy, and through competing in a majority of races you’ll be able to kit it out with mini guns and explosives. The driving portion isn’t exactly one of my favorite points about RAGE, but it’s great to have it there as it adds an extra layer of fun to the experience. You can even take the thrill of wasteland racing online and compete in ‘arcadish’ type challenges that will allow you to unlock a variety of unique add-ons for your vehicle.

The online fun doesn’t stop there, as there are also some Co-op challenges for you and a friend to take part in. These are all separate from the single-player story arch, but taking down enemies in an attempt to secure the high score over your companion is always a satisfying experience. Ultimately though, don’t expect any lasting appeal in the online portion of RAGE.

It’s hard to really put an accurate score on RAGE. On one hand it’s incredible to experience this world that id Software have dedicated so much of their time to and there’s no denying that RAGE will offer you hours of thrilling encounters. It’s an experience that’s really hard to find on consoles, very rarely do you get that feeling of the uncanny out of a game that’s not exactly sold as a horror experience. Weapon sounds are also one of the satisfying aspects of the game, gun shots are loud and when mixed with the kickback they give you an empowering feel.

On the other hand there are some annoying gripes to be had with RAGE, such as the lack of an autosave feature. For a game that I would consider to be a shooter first, I would have expected autosave to be a no-brainer, but instead you’re forced to manually save after every hard boiled challenge, and if you’re the type to forget then being spawned way back when after a death will dis-encourage you completely. Overall I would say that RAGE is definitely a game I would recommend, because it’s more than worth your time, it just irks me to know that id wasn’t that far off from crafting one of the most definitive games this generation.

"offers three dynamic set pieces that are varied slightly apart from Dead Rising 2.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a faithful recreation of all the events of the Fortune City Outbreak through the eyes of wisecracking photojournalist Frank West. After the cancellation of his television show and the loss of millions, Frank finds himself at the lowest part of his life. He ultimately decides to participate in the dangerous Terror Is Reality Game Show to massacre zombies and regain fame and fortune. Shortly after the contest, a zombie outbreak occurs and Frank finds himself in the middle of a controversy he aims to solve. Overall, the gameplay in Off The Record offers three dynamic set pieces that are varied slightly apart from Dead Rising 2.

First and Foremost, bringing back Frank West also reestablishes the element of using photography as a tool to progress through the game. Players are rewarded with Prestige Points (PP) for taking photographs of different areas of interest throughout Fortune City. Important areas are clearly indicated by the black and white camera icons that are strategically placed in certain spaces. You can also use the camera to capture the essence of certain situations in their entirety. Photos are graded on a scale of how much Horror, Drama, Erotica, and Brutality are in them. Maxing out all these areas within a snapshot will also earn you extra PP and help you to level up quicker.

Secondly, Off The Record offers some new additions to the settings, enemies, and combo weapons. Among the most noticeable of the bunch is Fortune City’s newest theme park, Uranus Zone. Scaled to perfection and full of deadly rides and attractions, the sci-fi themed amusement park becomes a tool for both discovery and decimation. The idea of using certain rides as zombie-killing mechanisms is fun, but all too short. It would be great to see more of these ideas played around with in future installments of the title. As for the new psychopaths and weapon choices, most are unique to Frank’s badass persona and thus succeed in giving the feel of this being a new game.

Lastly, Off The Record boasts an impressive new feature called Sandbox Mode. This is a free reign roaming mode that allows you to enjoy the full gameplay experience of Dead Rising without having to worry about side missions and time limits. Cooperative play is encouraged as one player can request to join your game at anytime. In addition to taking photos to earn PP, you are also given the opportunity to compete in timed challenges throughout various sections of Fortune City.

"Offers some new additions to the settings, enemies, and combo weapons. 

Challenges can include anything from killing a certain amount of zombies in a particular time frame to safely navigating from one checkpoint to another. The reward for the completion of a challenge is performance based allowing you to receive either a bronze, silver, or gold medal and bragging rights among a robust online leaderboard.

The only flaw that I would point out about this feature is the lack of character choices in general. When playing cooperatively, the other player can only be Chuck and given the amount of cast members in the campaign this seems incomplete. If you decide to play this mode first, you can level up your character and enter story mode with some combat skills already unlocked. Overall, this feature is one that fans have been requesting for quite a while and I’m glad they managed to make it a part of this package.

Off The Record’s story mode greatly differentiates from that of Dead Rising 2. While Motocross sensation Chuck Greene’s quest to investigate the conspiracy stemmed from his desire to clear his name, Frank’s only aim is to reclaim his celebrity status and help others out in the process. When you also add the fact that Chuck had an infected daughter who was dependent upon him to succeed, one can’t help but feel that the lack of emotional pull in this game’s story pales in comparison.

Giving certain characters a deeper sense of importance and meaning always gains a powerful emotional response from the audience. While Off The Record may lack a little of this, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this game is still fun to play. Chances are if you’re a fan of Frank West then story won’t matter to you quite as much as it would to someone else.

Dead Rising 2: Off The Record is a superb zombie slashing experience from beginning to end. If for any reason you didn’t get to play the original Dead Rising 2, then picking up this title at it’s reduced price of $39.99 should be a no brainer. The story remains cheesy, but fun while the Sandbox mode alone will have you playing for hours on end.

The game begins with Claire Redfield infiltrating a super secret Umbrella Corporation base in search of her brother, Chris Redfield. While doing so, she ends up getting captured. However, while captured, there is a T-virus outbreak and zombies begin to run loose. Thus, she is released by a guy that doesn’t really care about life anymore since he is probably going to die, and the hunt for your brother continues.

The story of the game is fine for the most part, you definitely meet some interesting (and also some very annoying) characters along the way. The cutscenes are done relatively well given it is an update of a remake of a Dreamcast game. The voice acting is decent, but not exactly impressive and can definitely get on your nerves at times.  Overall, however, I would have to say the story is probably the one undeniably strong part of this otherwise dated game. I also really dig the atmosphere that Capcom puts you in: you really feel like you are fighting for your life. Encounters are rough, and a lot of the time it might actually be worth it to just run away and live to fight another day. Get used to that, this game is no walk in the park.

The next topic of discussion is the graphical quality of the game. I never played this back on the Dreamcast, or even on the PS2 when they re-released it the first time, but I know how to work Youtube and was able to do a bit of comparison. To my eye, most of the visuals in this version have not seen much of a facelift. The background environments look great, but the character models are still pretty bad and it seems like it is missing a few animations for every action.

Another point of contention is the menu/inventory system. I understand keeping things old-school for the die hard fans, and I am sure they truly enjoy the same menus, but they really do look like they are pulled straight from a Genesis game. It is also pretty difficult to navigate, given the sparse directions and explanation of controls and game mechanics.

Which goes directly into my next point, attempting to play the game. I have decided not to use the term “gameplay” as that implies a concrete idea of navigating the game like a normal person. I do not think this game has that feature. Granted: I have only played Resident Evil 4 & 5, but I think that makes this review all the more honest. I have no nostalgic link to this or any other game in this series before the GameCube classic (RE: 4) so I will be honest: I found this game very difficult to play and enjoy.

For me, the notion of pressing forward on the stick to walk, and then having to stop and press either left or right to pivot your character is horrendous. Especially in a survival horror game where running and self-preservation are your primary strategies. There is a nifty 180-turn feature which is nice, but that is about it in means of navigation. The shooting controls also take quite a while to get used to. One button readies your weapon for aiming, another button can lock onto targets, another can switch between targets, and another shoots. You very well could end up cycling through four buttons rapidly just to shoot a gun. This is not even considering if you are not locking onto a target and are trying to “aim” which then includes the analog stick. Awesome.

Also, this bears repeating: the game is hard. Most of the difficulty is due to legitimately challenging design choices (limited ammo, tough situations, tricky puzzles, etc) but sometimes it is simply due to the fact that the game is, and definitely feels, dated. For example: saving at a typewriter is a trademark of the series, this is fine. But when a game of this difficulty has them spread out so sparingly and then limits you with the amount of ink you can use to save, it seems like the difficulty is artificially increased. This game is definitely not for the faint of heart, and you really have to be in the mood for a challenge in order to try and enjoy it. Also: the camera is not very good. You do not really have any control over it, as the angle will change simply based on your location in the room. This presents several situations where you may not be able to see your enemies, which can be very frustrating.

As far as sound is concerned, I have already expressed my opinions on the spotty voice acting. Zombies make the expected groans and guns make the expected bangs. The sound really does excel in the one truly strong point I mentioned before: atmosphere. In fact, the selective absence of sound is used to great effect. Zombies will definitely surprise you at times, and it makes for some exciting gameplay moments.

Overall, the value of this game should have been determined prior to you reading this review. If you loved the game back in the day and really want to play it again with some spruced up visuals, you probably have already downloaded it. If you never played it and/or never really liked old-school Resident Evil, then I highly doubt this game will make you a believer. The game is available for PSN and XBLA for $20 and 1600 MS Points, respectively. If you have your own opinions on the game, let us know in the comments below!

"Features real MLB players and teams but the overall feel of the game is “arcadey”.

Based on the title alone, you should know this is not a serious baseball game. It does feature real MLB players and teams but the overall feel of the game is “arcadey”. There are no team management options, no season mode; There are turbo pitches and turbo battings. It’s basically ‘The Bigs’ with Nicktoons characters substituting in for all the unknown players in the sport. So if you’re playing as the New York Yankees, you keep A.Rod and Jeter in the rotation but switch out Russell Martin for the best fry cook in Bikini Bottom.

There are a good mix of Nicktoons characters in the game. Some you might know and love, and others will have you googling their name just to know who the hell they are and what show they’re from. For the most part, the characters in the game are a good representation of classic and present Nicktoons characters, until you see pictures of Mr. Krabs, Rocko (Rocko’s Modern Life), the Rugrats babies, Arnold (Hey Arnold!) and more in the loading screen. I know this game is geared towards kids but I would have enjoyed seeing those characters again. But my point can basically be viewed as a “old man yells at cloud” moment.

In the first few moments of the game, I found myself having more fun than I probably should have. After more than a few hours, that fun started to fade as the concept of Nicktoons characters in a baseball game became less exciting. Immediately I found the game to be too simple, even on the harder difficulties. I would basically strikeout ever batter I faced, and even found myself bunting during my at bats just so that the innings would play out faster. Not much fun in beating the CPU by 20-something points.

Like the difficulty, the overall game is easy to play. When you are pitching, you choose a pitch and try to fill the bar in that will determine the speed of the ball. With each strike and strikeout, your turbo meter begins to fill. The turbo meter will allow you to throw an even faster pitch or hit the ball out of the park for a homerun. Batting is simple enough; you can choose to make a contact hit or a power hit. The game is even kind enough to let you know if the pitch is out of the batting zone. One of the most confusing things in baseball games is choosing with on base runner is running where. Nicktoons MLB simplifies that as well, allowing you to control every on base runner with any of the given face buttons.

"Despite the “better with Kinect” logo on the boxart, I found the Kinect controls dreadful.

Despite the “better with Kinect” logo on the boxart, I found the Kinect controls dreadful. With Kinect controls, Nicktoons MLB gives you control of your pitches and swings, and that’s about it. I guess that’s good that I didn’t have to fake run. I often found myself swinging my hand as a pitcher would with the results being nothing. My at bats with Kinect were similar, I would swing as one would and I would miss the pitch for a strike. Even going through the menus with Kinect felt long winded and tiring.

Thinking back on my time with Nicktoons MLB, I think I enjoyed the easy achievements more than I did the game. In all seriousness, Nicktoons MLB offers a short burst of fun but just isn’t consistent. There is hardly enough content here to justify a full price purchase. It has only been a week and I have already done everything I could with the game. Though I did find it fun at times, it’s less fun than playing Gears 3 at the time.

Young Simba expounds upon a wide range of intimate content, shining light on a mature mindset beyond his years.  ‘Never Told’ continues No I.D.’s string of excellent compositions as Cole takes an alternate route in examining every young man’s rite of passage, passed down from a father to a son, in the form of infidelity.  Recalling being pulled over after inking his deal to Roc Nation, the album seeps into ‘Sideline Story’, a jazzy ditty that offers a sincere perspective of the game of life from the bench. Hip-hop welcomes Missy Elliott back with open arms as her soulful vocals unite with Cole’s uncharismatic serenades on the superb duet, ‘Nobody’s Perfect.’  Album closer ‘Breakdown’ yanks at the heart strings as “Light-skinned” Jermaine sheds alligator-tough skin in bearing all regarding his absentee father and his mother’s bout with drug addiction.

It’s not all serious, of course.  Trey Songz adds very little to the island workings of ‘Can’t Get Enough,’ which serves as a record that could make noise on Billboard charts and a fine nod to Jay-Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’ single.  The much-ballyhooed collaboration ‘Mr. Nice Watch’ with label boss Jay-Z incorporates the “dubstep” movement for a tempered number of braggadocio, which fails to live up to billing with a subliminal-laden showing from Jay-Z and corny, commercial rhymes from Cole.  Overall, Cole World sees Young Simba embark on his journey to be the king, conveying his story from unsigned to Roc Nation signee, with the bowels of the ‘Ville, coursing through his veins. 4.5 spins (out of 5)

Jumping back in to Resident Evil 4 after all these years will initially test your patience. The advent of games such as Gear Of War almost makes RE4 feel antiquated, particularly in the controls department. When playing on the PS3; holding L1/R1 readies your knife/firearm (respectively) and with either button held down you can then aim with the left stick (yes, the left stick!) or slice/fire with the square button. Your character’s inability to walk while aiming is sure to stifle those who have not yet played Resident Evil 4 (or RE5 for that matter) but with perseverance you’ll eventually reach that “Eureka” moment where the controls start to feel natural. It’s clear that the limited controls were designed to intensify the experience and fact that your character moves painfully slow only amplifies the tension. I hate to sound like an apologist for what could easily be perceived as “bad game design” but the truth is, if Resident Evil 4 controlled like Gears Of War it would essentially break the game.

I won’t waste time delving deep in to the game’s story because let’s face it, if you haven’t played Resident Evil 4 by now you probably don’t care about the aftermath of the Raccoon City outbreak. To briefly summarize the plot – you play as Leon Kennedy, a U.S. Secret Service agent who is tasked with finding the President’s kidnapped daughter. His investigation takes him to a remote town in Europe where all of the locals have seemingly been infected with a zombie-like virus. Unfortunately for Leon, almost everyone in town wants him dead and it’s not long until he discovers that something far more sinister is at play.

Resident Evil 4 was the first game in the series to utilize an over-the-shoulder camera and at the time it seemed almost revolutionary. RE4 was also uncharacteristically generous with ammo and health packs (First Aid Sprays/Herbs) which in turn made this the most user-friendly Resident Evil title to-date. The game also contained rudimentary RPG elements courtesy of a travelling merchant who allowed you to sell loot, buy new items/weapons and upgrade your existing arsenal. Although the game is completely linear, you’ll often have to revisit areas once you’ve obtained an item which grants you access to a previously inaccessible area. The easy to use map system insures you’ll never get lost and thankfully backtracking is kept to a minimum.  Many gamers have criticized the game’s inventory system, which requires you to rotate your items until they fit neatly in to your grid-based suitcase, but I personally like dig it!

Without spoiling the game for those who clearly reside under a humongous rock, you’ll often have to engage in bodyguard duties which may or may not involve forcing a young lady to hide inside of a large garbage disposal unit. I’ve never been a fan of escort missions but Resident Evil 4 has made the art of escorting meaningful by making you feel like a concerned big brother rather than a hired gun. Exciting boss battles and uninspiring rotation puzzles both help to break up the games pace, and collectables give you further insight to the games story just as long as you don’t mind reading a few paragraphs. Once you’ve decapitated your way through the game’s 20 hour campaign there is still plenty to see and do thanks to the inclusion of bonus missions, new game plus features and the highly addictive Mercenary mode.

Graphically, Resident Evil 4 HD looks stunning! After a few hours with the PSN release I tried going back and revisiting the Gamecube game and was shocked as how ugly it looks in comparison. The HD version suffers infrequent frame rate dips and some questionable textures but for the most part Capcom has done an excellent job. The game also features some great voice acting although the dialog can occasionally be a little too cheesy.

While Resident Evil 4 hasn’t managed to retain the same spark that it had six years ago, It is still a fantastic game that everyone should experience. The controls aren’t perfect, but the game’s incredible atmosphere and enjoyable campaign will keep you hooked right up until the end. The absence of Playstation Move support is disappointing since pointer controls did wonders for the Wii version, but as it stands Resident Evil 4 HD is a divine work of art!