If you ever wondered what would happen if Shenmue and a bad GTA clone spent an unholy night together and produced an ugly Satan spawn of a child, look no further than Yakuza 3. Like Shenmue, Yakuza 3 features a potentially great storyline but is bogged down by inconsequential divergences which keep you away from the root of the story for far too long. If you thought driving a forklift in Shenmue was bad, try spending  a hour searching through a small city for dog food with no sense of direction while engaging in random battles against petty crooks every 30 seconds who for various pathetic reason want to see to beat the life out of you, it truly is depressing.  The lack of an English voice track doesn’t help matters either, while the Japanese voice actor do a great job portraying character feelings and emotions the English subtitles that accompanies it is atrociously written and wouldn’t look out of place in a fifth graders scrap book. I know Yakuza 3 was originally released early last year in Japan but even by 2008 standards this game looks bad! Especially when compared to titles like GTA IV. The characters look stiff and lack any realistic qualities, in-game objects look extremely low-res and the game is plagued with invisible barriers, awful hit detection, pop-up’s and frequent loading or pauses.

Even simple thinks like walking around in the downtown area is a frustrating affair. You’ll be constantly bombarded with on-screen speech bubbles which I guess are supposed to represent banter from the city folks but in reality it just looks stupid, especially as the lack of sound in the seemingly busy streets makes the city feel dead anyway. The frustration doesn’t end there, more times than not you’ll unnaturally bump in to wandering pedestrians which causes the Dualshock 3 to produce the weirdest jolt I think I’ve ever felt. When a development team can’t even get your controller to vibrate probably you know something is seriously wrong. As I just mentioned the “busy streets”  are eerily quiet but what you ‘do’ hear is much more disturbing than what you don’t. This may seem like a petty complaint but the sound of your characters footsteps as he strolls around is completely unrealistic and it seriously bothers me. Why does a man with flat shoes walking on concrete sound like a female in high heels on wooden floorboards? Why are all these random speech bubbles all over the place? Why is my controller punishing my palms whenever some idiot walks in to me? Why am I constantly being mugged or threatened, causing me to engage in repetitive fights? Wait, why am I running around town looking for Dog Food in the first place? Why doesn’t this stupid dog just eat this burger that I always keep in my pocket? Why does this game even exist!

Ok, now that I’m venting let me switch gears and briefly talk about the game less objectively. Yakuza 3 is a sandbox adventure game with brawling and RPG elements thrown it. If you’ve yet to experience the first two games Yakuza 3 does an excellent job bringing players up to speed with two quiet lengthy videos which go in to great detail explaining the story thus far. As I eluded to earlier here you play as Kazuma Kiryu, a former Yakuza who has left his life of crime behind him in order to run a small orphanage. As an orphan himself Kazuma has an affinity for grief stricken kids which explains his drastic career change. An Orphanage Management Sim would make for a pretty boring game so as expected Kazuma’s past quickly catches up with him and before you know it he’s back re-living the life he thought he left behind. The story is told through either stunning CGI cutscenes or in-game conversations which will have you tapping the X button for minutes on end. The CGI cutscenes are far too short and they often stop mid-way through and force you to read and skip through in-game dialog. The transitions between the CGI and in-game cutscences tends to be awkward and the graphical disparity between to two is very apparent.

The entire game takes place in both Kamurocho, a fictional version of Tokyo’s red-light district, and Ryukyugai which is where Kaz attempted to start up his new life. Both locales are thematically engaging and for the most part are well designed. Sega has drawn a lot of inspiration from real life stores and locations which help to make the Japanese experience feel authentic. Kazuma’s beach side orphanage looks absolutely stunning and given the opportunity I would actually pack up and move over there myself. Unfortunately the original Xbox calibre graphics don’t do the locations any justice and most in-door areas look completely generic which is a shame. There are plenty to see and do in these towns though with potentially 100+ hours worth of minigames for players to get lost in.

I generally enjoyed the brawling aspect of the Yakuza 3, as long as it wasn’t against some random guy who claims I gave him a dirty look. When he’s not intensely chopping onions or playing the children disputes Kazuma is one bad ass motherf*cker. Like all good Yukuza’s Kaz is more than able to hold his own in a fight, especially when there’s a baseball bat or sofa lying around that he can hit somebody upside the head with. The fighting system may not be deep, or realistic but there’s something liberating about it that appeals to me. Grabbing a guy from behind and kicking him in the back of his head so hard that he actually flips over backwards never gets old. Neither does picking up an item, whether it be a bike or broken bottle, and performing a flashy finishing move with it as the camera shifts to slow-motion. Kaz can also purchase items and use them mid-fight but these weapons all have a limited uses so choose them wisely. Through-out the game you will be earning XP which you can then use to upgrade his abilities, If you thought Kaz was vicious at the start of the game just wait until he’s able to perform a double finishing blow, you’re enemies won’t know what hit them! Unfortunately these fighting sequences are few and far between and you’ll spend the majority of the game on silly tangents and pressing the X button to skip mountains of poorly written text. The main story is good and in the end has a  satisfying conclusion but all the game’s staggering pace is impossible to forgive.

As it stands Yakuza 3 is almost the exact definition of “Wasted Potential”. Yes it does pick up at around the 6/7 hour mark but by that point you’re almost half way  through the game. Being sandwiched between some huge PS3 titles only adds insult to injury. If you want an Adventure game buy Heavy Rain, if you want a brawler get God Of War 3 and if you’re looking for an RPG there a small indy title called Final Fantasy XIII currently on store shelves, maybe you’ve heard of it. Sega’s marketing, or lack thereof, suggests that they knew Kazuma’s third outing wasn’t going to do well and I assume the only reason they released this game in the first place was to appease fans and put an end to their petitioning. The lack of effort to include an English voice track speaks volumes, but judging by the rudiment quality of the dialog maybe it’s for the best that we don’t have to hear the characters speak that filth. Unless you’re already heavily invested in the Yakuza games I suggest you think long and hard before placing your money on the counter and taking this game home. While the game does contain several fun and quirky moments the bad parts are so soul crushingly bad that you may not stick around for long enough to see what Yakuza 3 really has to offer.

The App Store installment of SF IV uses on-screens controls which you tap to activate, on the left is the joystick and opposite it are four face buttons which represent Punch (P), Kick (K), Special (SP) and Focus (F). The virtual joystick works well for simple tasks such as jumping, crouching and blocking but more complex moves such as Dragon Punches are far too difficult to pull off on a consistent bases due to the absence of tactile feedback. To compensate, Capcom has included a SP Assist options which when enabled allows players to perform special moves simply by tapping the SP button. For example, pressing the SP button on its own makes Ryu throw fireballs, but if you hold forward while pressing SP he will perform a Dragon Punch instead. Although some may criticize this scheme for being too simplistic it does work exceptionally well and makes for a more fluid experience. Street Fighter IV specific additions such as Focus Attacks and Ultras are still present and mastering these functions will eventually expose a tremendous amount of depth in the initially simple fighting system.

As you can tell from the screenshots this game looks absolutely beautiful. Capcom has directly taken character models and assets from the console versions but have slightly downgraded the visual to match the iPhone’s capabilities. Music and sound effect have also been borrowed and sound as excellent ever making the game look and sound completely authentic. On the downside the character roster has been downscaled immensely with only 8 fighters making the cut, namely Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, Guile, Dhalsim, M.Bision and Abel. M.Bision reprises his role as a final boss which fortunately means ex-boss Seth is nowhere to be seen! 8 stages from the console games have also made the jump but unfortunately some of the backgrounds look washed out and blurry. Seeing the detailed character models fight in front of what is akin to a stretched JPEG image can be incredibly jarring but thankfully the frantic speed of the game means you’ll hardly eve notice.

In terms of modes Street Fighter IV is no slouch. As well as the standard Arcade mode (know here as Tournament) there is a Free-Sparring mode for quick single matching against the CPU, a Training Room which provides your standard practice affair and a Dojo where you’ll be presented with dozens of challenges designed to familiarize you with the controls. Bluetooth Multi-Player is also an option and runs completely lag-free, just make sure that a mutual agreement to not spam to SP button is in place unless you want a real fight between you and your opponent to break out. The music and sound effects in the game are both fantastic, As I eluded to earlier the music does an excellent job setting the tone of the game and anyone who holds nostalgia for titles such as Street Fighter II will be particularly happy with the results.

Overall the iPhone version of Street Fighter IV is a fantastic re-imagining of one of this generations best titles. While it lacks several features and components from the original game the low price point of $9.99 (£5.99) and neat additions such as Dojo and the ability to save replays makes this a must buy for any iPhone/iPod Touch owner who enjoys fighting game. While tournament level Street Fighter players may scoff at the simplistic nature of this title the rest of us will simply enjoy it for what it is. Now if anyone needs me I’ll be in a bathroom stall beating the shit out of that stupid Abel guy for the umpteenth time.

upon slotting God of War III into your Playstation 3 and proceeding to start the game, you will be blown away to the furthest degree. The opening half an hour of the game is full of nothing but fast frantic action, with killer presentation. Your jaw will literally drop as you begin Kratos’s journey exactly from the point you left off in God of War II. After the first half an hour, the platforming elements begin to kick in, bringing the pace of the game down a notch. This is what we have come expect from a God of War game how ever, so it is nothing that will be off putting. Basically you’ll go from fast frantic action, to platforming, to puzzling gameplay. Which is not a bad mix of elements at all, especially considering the way Sony Santa Monica have crafted it.

With a game on this scale there are many things to cover, so I will start with the gameplay. The game is structured in the exact same way you would imagine God of War to be, only it has been taken a step further in every aspect. Kratos still possesses his blades, and he can still use magic which has either been given to him or which he has earned for himself. Of course it would be no fun if they gave you the same magic and weapons you obtained in the last game, so you should expect to acquire some new toys to play with this time around. As Kratos continues to slay bosses throughout the game he will gain new weapons or magic, which are essential to utilize to plow your way through the quest. There are also one or two items I have come across, that can not be used until you complete the game. Making a second play through worth the while. As usual you can obtain red orbs along the way, which can be used to level up your weapons. Leveling up your weapons will open up new combos and techniques for each item, as well as make them even more powerful. Kratos is also still in possession of the Blade of Olympus, which is the very sword he obtained in the second game. You can not wield this at any given time however, you must first fill up Kratos’s rage gauge just like in the previous game. Once unleashing Krato’s rage, you are virtually unstoppable, pulling off deadly combos with the blade of Olympus.

There are many other useful gifts that have been carried over from the previous game, such as the Icarus Wings. The wings will come in handy for much of the platforming portions of the game. Do not be fooled by the fact that the game has platforming however. These sections of the game are also very advanced and fun to play. It is not just a case of running and jumping until you reach your destination. There are various sequences within this game, much of them take you by surprise as you play. You constantly have to be on the alert, because the pace is constantly changing. This makes for a very thrilling experience, as you never know what to expect. The only downside to some players may be that a few of the puzzles in the game may seem very off putting. There are a couple of them that look very complicated when you first come across them, but after attempting to crack them you will realize that it is mostly just common sense that gets you through them.

It is indeed wonderful to experience just how dynamic this game is. Multiple events can trigger as you are playing, and there are even fighting sequences where the level is consistently moving right before your eyes. Much like the fight on Gaia in the early stages of the game, it is a magnificent sight to see Gaia moving while you are on her fighting away demons that threaten both you and her. The presentation seen in God of War III is just difficult to put in words, and needs to be seen first hand for you to gain an understanding of just how technically advanced this game is.

Graphically the game looks superb, definitely one of the better looking games this generation. Kratos himself is well crafted to the point you feel as though you can reach out and touch him. One thing that will have you in utter awe is how Kratos becomes splattered in blood as he slays his enemies. There are also a wide variety of foes in God of War III, and all of them are well designed. Not only that, but the textures which make up the environment look completely legit. If you thought Uncharted 2 had jaw dropping visuals, then you are in for a treat playing this game.

If you played the E3 demo of God of War III, then chances are you have been greatly mislead. Upon playing the demo right after playing God of War II, God of War III felt a whole lot slower. Playing the final version however is completely different. The game feels as fluent as you would expect it to be, I have not experienced any major frame rate issues at all. The only gripe I have is that sometimes when you reach a save point, and you are required to press R1 to commence saving the game. This can be unresponsive, and may require you to press it multiple times. This only happens rarely, and its not too much of an inconvenience. Another annoyance is that sometimes after leaving the pause menu, it can take a good couple of seconds before the game resumes. This is only really an issue because you use the pause menu to level up your weapons and view combos.

Just like in the previous games, God of War III features a variety of drum melodies that sound like they come straight from Greece. The score in God of War III fits the game perfectly, and switches with the pace of the game itself. A very interesting puzzle in the game sees you recreate the main theme music from the game, in a fashion that Guitar Hero or Rockband fans will enjoy. Seeing this specific puzzle made me chuckle and wonder what the developers had been playing in the office that day.

For those who enjoy a dynamic action adventure, with a reasonable story. God of War III is the game you should be picking up this week. It is a violence filled frenzy that will truly test you, if you are up for the challenge. Playing this game on easy mode will not do it any justice, so players should at least go for the normal difficulty to get the best out of the whole experience. If you are looking for a game that will blow you away, without too much emphasis on story related cut scenes, God of War III is that. The game may suffer from lack of story related thrills, being that the story is far from complex. However God of War III makes up for that with the game play itself. Rather than sitting there and watching a great action sequence, why not interact with it? That is an anxiety which I hear from many gamers out there, and God of War III is a fully interactive experience. Most of the cut scenes you will see are all real-time, very rarely will you see a pre-rendered cg scene. This ensures that you are never taken away from the experience, and you will always feel 100% involved.

From gory violence, to intense platforming elements, to some of the best boss battles seen in a game for months. God of War III is everything a fan of the series could ask for. As for those who have yet to play a God of War game, this game is the reason you should start playing the series. For anyone to miss out on this experience is a crying shame, and I speak nothing but the truth.

The story of Mega Man 10 is simple and direct. Mega Man’s sister Roll gets a virus called Roboenza, and while Dr. Light and Mega Man tend to Roll, the illness spreads throughout the world. At first it seems that Roboenza is only making robots sick, but in typical Mega Man fashion, robots start to go wild. Dr. Wily then shows up talking about how he was attacked by infected robots and he needs help building some kind of medicine machine to cure the robots. Dr. Light and Mega Man eventually agree to work with Dr. Wily and Mega Man’s brother Proto Man shows up to offer his help as well.

As far as additions and gameplay is concerned, this is just like any other Mega Man. There are a few things I would to point out. One being, that like its Mega Man X counterpart, players are now able to switch weapons in game via trigger buttons without going to the start menu. This turns out to be a very useful option when playing some of the later castle stages. Speaking of stages, this seems to be the most pit filled Mega Man game every. Might wanna call this one Pit Fall 10. All Mega Man games have spikes and pits, but this time its seems like the developers decided to test a man’s will with the way some of these pits are set up. It will take patience, self control, and knowledge of your surroundings to complete some levels in this game. Anyway, there is no need to worry too much about it. Once you get the Rush Jet to ride across some of the stage, its smooth sailing from there.

If you are not a dedicated and patient Mega Man player, there is now an easy mode for you to choose from. Easy mode decreases the amount of enemies that you face in a stage, adds red floating platforms in pits that you normally might have died at, and it also decreases the different number of attacks that each boss has. Hard mode will be available once you complete the game. The numbers of enemies are increased, the stages have slight structural differences to give you more places to die, and the bosses have new attacks that will shred you to pieces in seconds. Other modes include the return of Time Attack mode that has a worldwide ranking system, and the addition of Challenge mode. Challenge mode offers 88 small, but sometimes crazy difficult task for you to complete. This is a great add-on that increases the game’s re-playability.

The biggest addition in MM10 is the option to play the whole game as Proto Man at the start of the game. Proto Man differs from Mega Man in a couple of ways. The first is his ability to power up his Mega Buster. Mega Man lost that technique for some unexplainable reason and Proto Man has picked it up. Proto Man also has a shield that he uses whenever he jumps that is able to deflect many enemy attacks. What I consider the most important difference between the brother’s is Proto Man’s ability to slide. It’s such a simple feature, but when it comes to dodging the bosses attacks, he has the clear advantage over Mega Man. The only thing better about Mega Man is that he is tougher than his brother. Proto Man loses any where between 2 to 5 more life points than Mega Man whenever he is damaged.

Overall, Mega Man 10 is a worthy sequel in the series, but the nostalgia people got from Mega Man 9 is gone. Also, Mega Man 9 is the better game in general. The lackluster weapons and unparalleled stage design take away from the aura of this being a classic game in the legacy of Mega Man. Another thing that I would like to note is that the music in Mega Man 10 is below average. It does not have the usual instant catchy tune vibe that Mega Man games are recognized for. The music in Mega Man 9 is head and shoulders above this latest edition. With that being said, this is a solid release from Capcom. If you have the tiniest desire to play this game you should do so. It’s easily worth ten bucks. Even if you have to play on Easy mode, there are enough challenges to keep you busy and interested. Just don’t play Normal and Hard mode without any resolve. You may find yourself throwing the controller on the floor just like they did back in the NES days.

Campaign Mode:
Bad Company 2 picks up immediately after the events from the previous game. A highly decorated United States Special Ops Unit tackles the nearly impossible task of stopping a Russian terrorist organization from global domination. The player assumes the control of Preston Marlowe, a private squad member with a determination to win the war at all costs. Your crew consists of three more men to round out the final squad of four. Privates Terrance Sweetwater and George Haggard provide the comic relief factor, while Sergeant Samuel Redford (Sarge) maintains his serious tone as the dignified leader. The best way to define this story dynamic is as a buddy action flick in the same vein as Lethal Weapon. The inclusion of action, suspense, and humor is well paced and defined by the amount of balance that it brings to the game as a whole. The idea of taking on this approach to tell a story suits the game really well in showcasing the harsh depiction of war but never once taking the subject matter too seriously.

Another bonus that makes this an exceptional title is how each character is multi-dimensional in their own unique way. Haggard is presented as a wisecracking jokester with a fascination for explosions and football, but always makes remarks as if his next battle could be his last. By that same token, Sarge is reminiscent of an annoyed Danny Glover in the sense that his retirement plans are always postponed everytime an enemy threat goes down. One of my personal favorite characters in the game is Ghost Rider, a hippie pilot that plays a pivotal side role in the story. DICE’s decision to add a diverse cast with varied emotions easily identifies a sense of humanity that any person can relate to. The campaign itself takes place over several exotic South American locations and does an exceptional job of shifting combat scenarios throughout. Unlike Modern Warfare 2, this game has a relatively lengthy campaign mode. The total experience divides each mission into designated periods leaving some parts shorter or longer then others. Overall it will take a total of 8-10 hours to playthrough the game depending upon which difficulty setting you select from the beginning.

When it comes to gameplay, Bad Company 2 has a few hits and misses. The combat scheme is virtually flawless with an added flair of precision when it comes to using guns and knives. The response time is emphasized well by how fast you can take down your targets. Just like in Modern Warfare 2, you have the option of firing from your hip or up close, instantly making any shooter fan comfortable. One of the biggest improvements in the game is the implementation of a deeper destruction system, appropriately titled Destruction 2.0. By using this mechanism you can demolish almost everything to your hearts content including houses and tanks. The enemy A.I. noticeably sparks at any given time depending upon the obstacles you’re placed in. Just like any first person shooter game you have to take a strategical approach to combat to ensure survival.

There are also many collectible weapons to find throughout the game that better your chances in each encounter.   However, when it comes to controlling tanks, bikes, or helicopters the experience may invoke a little frustration on the gamers’ part. The heavily flawed camera system easily makes driving become a chore at times. It’s worth noting that you can alter between both a first person and third person view, but each has its own glaring problems. The first-person view often shows the wheel of the vehicle rotating without the player’s hands, a tactic used previously in the Half-Life games. The third-person view is slightly better but even while making sharp turns you’re bound to have issues matching up the camera with the directional path your driving. Minor gripes aside, graphically the game looks and feels a lot like Modern Warfare 2 in many ways. The level of detail in the characters and environments is appealing enough to keep your attention most of the time. I’m fully confident that addressing the camera issues in future iterations can clearly make this the game to beat for many years to come.

Multiplayer Modes:
Bad Company 2’s online multiplayer experience offers a tamer approach then most multiplayer packages. There are only 3 definitive game modes to explore: Rush, Conquest, and Squad Deathmatch. Rush separates groups of players into 12 man teams that win by successfully defending the M-COM systems you disable throughout the single player story mode. Conquest is the same premise but with the exception being that you have to capture as many as the other teams flags as possible. If you have a hard time choosing between which mode to play there is a Rush or Conquest mode option that randomly drops you in the next available game. Squad Deathmatch is self exclamatory in the sense that the first team to tally 50 kills wins.

The main reason why the online offers a high replayability factor lies in the four classes you can choose from: Assault, Engineer, Recon, and Medic. Each class offers it’s own unique set of weapons and specialized attacks that are unlocked as you rank up. In addition to modifying weapons, you also are able to gain access to using tanks against your adversaries. This makes for some intense battle sequences that will challenge how you approach your enemies. There are also 8 huge maps to explore as you get deeper into the mode. The one drawback I see with the multiplayer experience is the lack of modes available to the gamer. While the main focus of this game is to emphasize and promote team play, it wouldn’t hurt to at least offer a Free-For-All-Mode. That way each individual would be forced to fend for himself, thus elevating one’s level of play. Even more interesting would be if you could potentially turn on your teammates adding to the drama and suspense that the campaign has already mastered.

Final Verdict:
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is an action packed title with an extremely high fun factor. With a solid campaign and competitive multiplayer arena, DICE has positioned themselves above the Modern Warfare 2 hype and delivered a truly enjoyable experience. As standard business practice dictates, it’s expected that healthy competition often ends up benefitting the consumer more then anyone else. With this release, Bad Company 2 is the stronger of the two games with a promise to only get better with sequels. It’s only unfortunate that you won’t get to see Infinity Ward respond by releasing Modern Warfare 3. That idea, pretty much like the villain form Bad Company 2, is dead on arrival.

While DeVaughn’s niche lie in his penchant for love melodies, The Love & War Masterpeace additionally sees him tackle subject matter of a political and social nature comparable to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?. “Black & Blue” touches on a dark side of affection; a volatile love in which he pens a letter to a female companion, consistently a victim of domestic abuse. He colorfully paints the intricate details from late night 911 calls to a constant constant fear of her life. Wale joins his DMV brethren for a groovy, uplifting number dedicated to the ladies on “The Greatness”. Even his foreboding lead single “Bulletproof” sees the soulful crooner touching on the world’s misfortunes on all fronts, both “here, overseas and across the waters” before giving way to an aggressive Ludacris, who delivers another show-stealing feature from his vast catalog.

For a project over an hour in length, feature-laden tracks are few and far between yet stand out nonetheless. The epic “Nobody Wins a War” sees DeVaughn accompanied by a bevy of neo-soul cornerstones like Jill Scott, Bilal, Anthony Hamilton and Dwele as well as relative newcomers like Algebra Blessett and Chrisette Michele for an optimistic reflection of the violence occurring worldwide. DeVaughn remains political as he enlists Dr. Cornel West to guide the album while Damien Marley arrives to wax apocalyptic visions with Raheem over the Issac Hayes-sampled “Revelations 2010?. G.O.O.D. Music’s Malik Yusef supplies spoken word pieces to open and close the ethereal ballad “Fragile” as Raheem’s supple vocals glide over the rising soundscape, echoing a request for complete trust and the most “fragile” part of a woman’s being: her heart.

Of course, Raheem DeVaughn stays true to his craft, supplying beautiful love compositions for behind closed doors. “Mr. Right” and “My Wife” are nearly companion pieces; the former, an expression of DeVaughn’s desire to practice monogamy while the latter sees him recounting past experiences before taking the ultimate step in his commitment to his partner for life. Masterpeace also features no shortage of sincere babymakers including the steamy sessions of “Bedroom” in addition to the oral sex innuendos of “Microphone” without becoming excessively raunchy. Reminiscent of Quincy Jones’ “Secret Garden”, Raheem DeVaughn reaches the climax of a lovemaking session on the stellar “Garden Of Love” and even manages to playfully compare and contrast the difference in intimate lovemaking and female one-on-one action with her favorite toy (“B.O.B.”).

An infusion of the blueprints of his predecessors combined with his own trademark sound and style have led Raheem DeVaughn to unimaginable heights on his latest opus. Outside of a few somewhat lengthy interludes and a choice questionable track (“The Greatness”), The Love & War Masterpeace is nearly flawlessly in its execution. Borrowing heavily from the template set by Marvin Gaye with What’s Going On?, the self-proclaimed “R&B Hippie Neo-Soul Rockstar” contributes a masterpiece of his own to the genre, securing his place with one comprised of both sincere love and socio-political awareness. This is his Baduizm, his Urban Hang Suite, his Words & Sounds Vol. 1, his Voodoo; unfortunately, it is this once-in-a-lifetime listening experience that will be nearly impossible for him to match for the remainder of his career.

5 spins (out of 5)

If like me you’ve been sleeping on this title in the past let me fill you in on a few details. Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing is (surprise, surprise) a racing game starring Sonic, his annoying friends and a bunch of random characters from the Sega universe including AiAi, Alex Kid, Beat, B.D. Joe, Amigo, Billy Hatcher, Ulala, Akia Yuka (who shares a ride with fellow Virtua Fighter Jacky Bryant), Ryo of Shenmue fame and more. As you can probably tell the line-up is pretty disappointed with  classic franchises like Street Of Rage, Golden Axe, Comix Zone, Phantasy Star, Altered Beast and Toe Jam & Earl all being ignored. Instead of tearing the track up as the Golden Axe dwarf riding a fire-breathing Dragon you’ll have to put up with Big The Cat, Shadow The Hedgehog and other characters who should have never made it pass the concept art phase.

The single player offering in All-Stars Racing is incredibly generous with 6 Grand Prix cups to race through, a handful of Missions to complete and a in-depth Time Trail system in which you can compete against yourself, staff ghost or even other online players. The Grand Prix mode is surprisingly more fun than it has any right to be. The cars handle brilliantly, the courses are generally action-packed and  most the weapons you collect are excellent. Although most of the weapons are proxies for items already available in Mario Kart, Sega has added a few unique weaponry to their arsenal which are among the best in the game. Rockets, KO Gloves, Speed Shoes, Rainbows and Mines are variants of Red Shells, Green Shells, Mushrooms, Bloopers and Bananas respectively but there are also Giant Rocket which travel down the track and can be denoted at your leisure, Confusion Stars which flip your opponents screen upside down and Speed Horns which emit a loud blast damaging all near by racers. Each selectable character also has their own All-Star move which is usually awarded to players who fall behind the pack. These moves are designed to help trailing players catch up to the action and are great morale boosters when playing against casual gamers. Graphically the game is very appealing with a heavy emphases on bright colours through-out. The track designs are generally good but the repeated themes quickly become tiresome. Once you’ve seen one Casino themed Sonic level you’ve pretty much seen them all.

If the thought of playing alone doesn’t appeal  to you there is an array of split screen multiplayer modes for you and up to three buddies to enjoy.  Single Race mode (as the name suggests) has you and your friend(s) competing in single race events, Battle mode places you in confined arenas in a fight to the death, Capture The Chao is a variant of capture the flag, King Of The Hill once again places you in to arenas but this time to capture bases and my personal favourite Knockout continually eliminates the player in last position every 15 seconds until there’s only one racer remaining. If you don’t have any friends beside you and would like to race-off against players across the globe prepare to be disappointed. Online matches only offer Single Races which can only be accessed by trolling through the prehistoric lobby system. Once the single race is over all players are then booted back to the lobby where the process repeats.

Additional characters, courses and music can be purchased via the in-game store and Sega has stated that the game will support DLC which should give the title plenty of longevity. Factor in the robust split screen modes and lengthy single player options and what you have is the best mascot themed racer ever to grace a non-Nintendo platform. The races are frantic, the cars handle sublimely, the graphics are great and there is plenty to see and do. Put simply, if you want Mario Kart on your Xbox 360 or PS3 you need to buy this game. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve enjoyed a console game with the word “Sonic” in the title but Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is an excellent game which finally puts Sonic’s speed to good use. The lacklustre character roster, barebones online component and repetitive level design prevents Sonic from the number 1 spot away from Mario but Sumo Digital and Sega deserve a to be congratulated for obtaining a very close and admirable 2nd place.

The main location in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is the small town called, T-Bone junction, which has really long highways going through it. Those highways will serve as your route for the DLC. There’s only one teleporter in the entire DLC, so you’ll have to drive through these long roads to get to your destination. Exiting the game and reloading it will get you there faster. Although that sucks, Gearbox has added three new vehicles to get through these long stretches of concrete. One vehicle serves as a monster truck with lock on rockets, the Lancer will seat all four players, and the Racer is fast as hell. There are new enemies for you to mow down, some of which contain that level of humor Borderlands is known for; example, a midget in wrestling attire. New loot is also included, I’ve noticed a few really good shields but as for the guns, there were just so many to begin with that I can’t even tell if the gun is new or not. But you’ll definitely be getting higher damage inducing weapons and a chance to level up your character to level 61, that will take you a while.

The storyline in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is not really that engaging, the characters on the other hand are. Throughout the main quest line you’ll encounter new characters like Athena, who disguises recordings to you with a penis enlargement ad. That’s Borderlands for you. Other great characters include Shank, who is a suspiciously gay character, and good ole’ Scooter. Getting through the main quest took me about five hours but that was because I would dose off to different places. Even then, there’s plenty more side quest to do and more to explore.

This is not only the largest piece of DLC for Borderlands, it’s also the best. There’s plenty of content in this $10 dollar priced DLC, that will ensure you have a fun time getting back to Borderlands. If you have the game already then buy this right now.

The multiple endings attainable in Heavy Rain makes a direct sequel almost impossible to pull of, for any extension in the Heavy Rain universe to work it would almost certainly have to be a prequel. We already know the Origami Killer was also active a year prior to events in Heavy Rain so a prequel featuring a whole new cast of characters would definitely be a plausible solution. It may lack the huge twists found in the first game since we now know who the Origami Killer is but I trust that David Cage and the Quantic Dream team could once again produce something truly spectacular if they were committed to making a Heavy Rain 2.

For the DLC route, QD decided release episodes placing us back in to the shoes of each of the main characters (excluding Ethan, at least for now) and provide us with a brief glimpse at what their lives were like before we met them in the main game. First up to get the flashback treatment is the sexy Madison Paige. Unsurprisingly we find our heroine on the hunt to find the Origami Killer. Her search leads her to the home of retired Taxidermist Leland White who in his spare time likes to stuff more than just dead animals. Shortly after breaking in to his house and discovering his secret puppet stash Leland returns home and it’s up to you to get Madison the hell out of there before she becomes his latest victim. It’s at this point where the episode falls apart and the intriguing premise is completely wasted. Character movement was one of the biggest problems with Heavy Rain, it was robotic and imprecise but every other aspect in the game more than made up for it. Here, the story is extraneous and you’re forced to use the clunky controls in an attempt to be stealthy which put simply, doesn’t work. Sneaking around a house, hiding from a deranged killer is naturally a tense and nerving experience but the controls constantly made me feel unequipped to handle the situation.

David Cage recently said that each episode of Heavy Rain Chronicles will last roughly one hour but in the case of The Taxidermist I have to assume what he meant was it took his team an hour to MAKE. I managed to start up the DLC and make it to end in under 10 minutes which was significantly less time than it took to download and install. Once completed you’re then challenged to play through the last two minutes of it over and over again until you experience all five different endings, however the results are always the same. Either Madison dies or she escapes, the former doesn’t make sense continuity-wise and whether she does the latter by climbing out of a window or sneaking out of the front door is ultimately irrelevant especially since this episode is self-contained and has no bearing on the main story.

Had The Taxidermist done something to enhance the main story or even shed some more light on Madison as a character it might have been worth a purchase, however as it stands this episode is completely pointless and with very little redeeming qualities. The premise is fantastic and the disturbing imagery is a welcomed edition to the game but the part where you’re actually playing it just isn’t fun. If the upcoming episodes follows this route of  awkward side-plots Quantic Dreams may as well quit now and do something more constructive with their time. Given that the main game features upwards of 40 chapters it’s almost insulting that Quantic Dream is expecting us to pay $5 for an extra 10 minutes of gameplay. Even the Heavy Rain demo was courteous enough to provide us with a more longer experience.

Level 5 have been known to produce some fine RPG’s, such as Rouge Galaxy and Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. They have managed to maintain a close relationship with Sony Computer Entertainment, and White Knight Chronicles is one of many exclusive gems that they plan on delivering to Playstation 3 gamers. As we are all in anticipation of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII, Level 5 have given us White Knight Chronicles International to occupy ourselves with. So how does the game stand up as a JRPG? For what it is the game is very solid, it just suffers from a true lack of identity.

White Knight Chronicles takes place in the kingdom of Balandor; where an evil organization by the name of Magi take it upon themselves to kidnap the lovely princess, killing the king in the process. While attempting to save the princess, your main character Leonard discovers some ancient armor. By proving himself worthy Leonard manages to utilize this suit of armor in battle. Contrary to the fact that Leonard becomes worthy of using the armor, it is agreed that he will take his team on a quest to save the princess and bring calm to the kingdom. It is a very straight forward plot, and in a lot of ways it is unoriginal. The whole concept of gaining the White Knight armor kind of reminded me of Blue Dragon, where you could utilize the powers of the dragons. So you may see the whole plot in White Knight Chronicles as yawn worthy, but it is exciting enough to keep you playing.

The game itself starts off with a character creation feature, in which you will be forced to adjust the look of your own personal avatar. The character creation elements aren’t very advance at all, and if you are a male you may be bothered with how feminine your character will turn out, no matter how hard you try to make him look more manly. What may annoy you even further is the fact that once you finish creating your character, you will quickly find out that they are not even meant to have a leading role in the games story. Your character is designed to play the background, and is generally just another body to carry along in your mission. Your avatar will be seen in the background of all the cut scenes looking out of place. Whats more, is your avatar is a mute and never once participates in any conversation. Your character (which I called Hydro) only really gets to shine when you play the game online, as you will use him as your online character to complete many of the side quests. Aside from that, don’t expect your created character to be involved directly with the storyline, as this story is all about Leonard. Nevertheless it is somewhat cool to see a Japanese RPG have some form of character customization.

Perhaps one of White Knight Chronicles finer points, is the fact that you can embark on a number of side quests online with a friend. No RPG is complete without a number of side quests to take part in, when you just want to level up or explore. The fact that White Knight Chronicles allows you to do this with a friend, is a very welcoming factor. This can make the game feel almost like an MMO, as you can take up to two friends and work like a guild. Just remember that you will not be able to use the power of the White Knight whilst playing online, due to the fact only Leonard can unlock this power.

The combat system in White Knight Chronicles can seem very complex at first, but once you get to grips with it, it is actually very fun to use. White Knight plays like an action RPG as it has a very free flowing style of combat. However it is really more of a turn based RPG, in the sense that you have to wait for a certain period of time before you can attack. The fun part about the combat is that you can put your own personal spin on what actions everyone in your party performs by creating your own combos. Combos allow you to string together certain attacks that you have unlocked. They perform much like the tactics system in Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins. Setting combos determine what actions members of your party will perform when you are not actually controlling them yourself. You are likely to use Leonard himself through the majority of the time, due to his ability to transform into the White Knight. Though the game does allow you to control any of the other characters in your party, which can be refreshing if you chose to build them all up differently.

Once Leonard gains enough action chips in battle, he can then transform into the White Knight himself. The White Knight can easily take out any foe in the game, mainly due to his size and power. The catch is that once you use up all of the White Knight’s MP, you will revert back into Leonard’s normal form. Though the game is far too easy for this to even become a problem. Very rarely in White Knight Chronicles will you be faced with a challenge in combat. Which can be frustrating to know, as White Knight Chronicles does feature some very well crafted enemies. It’s also so fun setting up different combo’s and changing your parties equipment, but in the end it all just seems worthless as you’ll be mowing down enemies with your eyes closed.

As for preparing for combat, the game features all the aspects of an RPG that you would expect. Such as purchasing new weapons, armor and items. Every time you level up you will gain more points, which allow you to unlock new techniques that you can add to your move sets or combos. Another unique concept you will find in the game, is the ability to build your own towns. Building up these towns will allow you to uncover more rare and powerful items that will help you in your quest. The downside is that maintaining these towns can be very costly. Meaning that if you wish to go all out with it, you will have to go on quest after quest after quest, just so you will be able to afford the numerous upgrades for your town.

Visually the game is very nice to look at. White Knight Chronicles manages to maintain very realistic looking textures, whilst still carrying that JRPG anime essence. The game has many vibrant colors, and will look fantastic at a high resolution. Many of the creatures you will come across in the world are well crafted and unique, and they make exploring the world that much more intriguing.

The voice acting in the game is what you would usually expect from a JRPG with an English dub. The translation process is a very delicate matter when it comes to these games, and it can either come out really well or really bad. In fact the voice over may be what makes the story in White Knight Chronicles somewhat bland. This is not the fault of Level 5, it’s just the simple fact that the true essence of a story can be lost in translation, which is perhaps what happened here.

To summarize, White Knight Chronicles is a very solid JRPG. I have enjoyed every moment of what I have played thus far, and look forward to playing more. The game will last you up to 40 hours, perhaps more if you decide to indulge in many of the side quests. Although the game lacks any outstanding features that gives the experience it’s own identity, it is still very much worth playing if you want to sink your teeth into an RPG that will occupy you for some time. Because of it’s timing, White Knight Chronicles can be considered the perfect supplement to your gaming diet while you wait for Final Fantasy XIII. If you play White Knight Chronicles and accept the game for what it is, you will be more than satisfied. However if you are looking to be blown away by the experience then you may end up disappointed. With that being said, I would only recommend this game to someone who enjoys playing a JRPG that will hold you from beginning to end with little complaint. With a White Knight Chronicles sequel already announced, you can see clearly by playing this game that Level 5 introduced this edition to tell a tale that is likely to blossom along the way.

The Holy:

Dante’s Inferno is a third person action-adventure game inspired by the epic poem, The Divine Comedy. The story structure behind this infamous piece of literature contains three chapters that follow the hero’s exploits as he travels to Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The player assumes the role of Dante, an arrogant veteran soldier during the Third Crusades, who journeys to the depths of hell to free the soul of his beloved soulmate Beatrice. Throughout exploring the 9 circles of Hell, Dante is humbled by the effects of his earlier sins in life and is forced to complete rigorous tests to survive. The primary weapon in your arsenal is a Death Scythe that becomes available after having defeated Death himself. This weapon essentially allows you to pull off devastating combos and evasive maneuvers when surrounded by enemies. A secondary weapon of choice is the Holy Cross, which emits strong bursts of light designed to fry your adversaries after several hits. As you emerge victorious in certain boss battles, you are rewarded with magical abilities. Your character starts off with 4 slots designated for magic that become upgradable over time. This addition is vital because the use of magic adds further dynamic to the combat mechanism. There are also several fountains found throughout the game that allow you to restore health and magic once they have become depleted. The idea of coupling magic with traditional combos and QuickTime reaction events in big boss battles is one of the main reasons why the combat mechanics are enjoyable. After seeing how the fighting aesthetics are expressed, one can’t help but make the God Of War comparisons. However, the difference lies in the graceful nature that one has over the other. Kratos makes killing an art form that Dante can only hope to achieve someday.

One of the strongest aspects of the game comes in your decision to choose the fate of sinners you meet along the way. Notable sinners like Pontius Pilate make appearances and are well defined by the sins they committed in their previous lifetimes. When you approach a condemned soul you are presented with the option of punishing or absolving them at your own discretion. When choosing to free them of their sins you have to participate in a timed mini-game where you tap the buttons on your controller to capture sins as they move through a cross. Likewise, choosing to punish them becomes more favorable as a brutal execution scene is portrayed. Regardless of which option you choose you still collect souls that can be used to purchase upgraded abilities. Eventually you’ll reach Level 7, giving you the power to max out either the Holy or Unholy Path and become unstoppable in every battle. While this concept takes time to materialize, there is no further emphasis on the consequences of your actions. Games today have touched upon the importance of choice, which is a standard this title fails to exploit in full detail.

The Unholy:

Dante’s Inferno is the first in a series of games with the primary iteration being set in hell. For that theory alone, the depiction of Hell is rather disturbing and not necessarily in a good way. The level designs start out impressive but gradually dip in quality over time. When traveling through each circle of hell there are distinct areas that capture the personality of the atmosphere. For example, Gluttony is best demonstrated by showing a region that resembles the inside of a stomach. Likewise, each group of enemies that you fight are designated to that particular area they are associated with until you reach the end of the game. The puzzles can be frustrating firsthand, but gradually become easier over time.Even the boss battles fail to stay consistent throughout the game. While facing both Cleopatra and Mark Antony during the Lust Level is fun, the same can’t be said for later stages. It would have been better off to end each level with a boss battle to signify that you are entering the next stage of Hell. Another annoying aspect of the game is the repetitiveness of enemy encounters. You’ll always be in a situation where you’ll be cornered and without knowing the proper maneuvers you run the risk of taking serious damage. After a while the combat stops being fun and starts being somewhat of a chore, a feat no game should ever strive to be.

When it comes to length, the campaign logs in at only 5-6 hours depending upon the difficulty setting you choose. This alone is an insult as the actual time spent fighting is quite shorter. A great deal of the time you’ll be watching cinematic videos which tell the story as you’re playing. This starts out as a great concept but quickly becomes overkill by the time you reach the climax of the plot. Once you beat the game you’ll have the option of playing through a second time with the upgraded abilities already intact. For achievement whores this will allow you to finish collecting all the unlockables that you might have missed out on the first go around. Other then that, your time would be better spent waiting for the definitive experience God Of War 3 will bring. Lastly, upon beating the game you’ll also unlock the Gates Of Hell mode. This is a stage where you’re placed in a battle area and face off against 50 waves of enemies. This isn’t anywhere as fun as the Horde mode in Gears Of War 2 unless you enjoy the combat system in the actual game. There is the promise of multiplayer DLC titled The Trials Of St. Lucia scheduled to drop sometime in the spring. However my guess is that by the time this happens this game will be long forgotten among the flurry of games that will become available in March and April respectively.

Final Judgment:
Dante’s Inferno is a lackluster action-adventure game that tries to make it’s name by copying all the aspects that made God Of War a rewarding experience. While the story content brings about the delicate subject matter of morality to the table, the flawed method of execution keeps it from standing out on it’s own merits. Perhaps the most painful thing about this game is that given the source material you would think the studio would be able to craft a memorable experience for years to come. Instead the reality is that playing this game is the equivalent of being stuck in Hell for all eternity. If you absolutely have to try it out I recommend that you rent a copy instead of buying one. Otherwise, your money is better spent either waiting for God Of War 3 or for this game to reach bargain bin status. Then and only then would Dante’s Inferno be a guilty pleasure worth trying out.

Before I get to the online aspect of the game I’d like to congratulate Sega for including an enthralling single player mode on a game which primarily focuses on it’s multiplayer proponent. The story, which slightly alters depending on which race you choose to play as, is certainly intriguing and does a great job keeping players hooked right up until the very end. The story see’s mankind attempting to rebuild their civilization after a giant war known as the Giant Break reduced most of their world to nothingness some 200-years ago. You take on the role of a young Hunter and it’s up to you and your party to rid of the world of  monstrous creatures who roam the wilderness threatening your existence.

There are three different races for you to choose from at the start of the game and they each have their own set of attributes. Humans are generally well-rounded and serve as the go-to choice for casual gamers, CAST’s are highly powered androids but lack certain abilities such a magic and finally Newmans are a mysterious race whose regaining abilities makes them perfect for more advanced players. Each race also has different class types and you can freely customize the aesthetics and gender of any of them.

The weapon based combat system is incredibly deep with a staggering 350 weapons crammed in to the tiny DS cartridge, If you like looting you‘ll love what Sega has to offer here. As with any RPG, players will gain experience, level up and expand their arsenal through-out the game. Phantasy Stat Zero also has a healthy mix of amour and items to keep players satisfied and some of the more elaborate battles can be pretty epic for a DS game. As fun as playing alone can be it does present problems which are alleviated in multiplayer. The most frustrating of which is your party members dim-witted AI, you’ll frequently have to monitor and baby-sit them as they’ll often do more harm than good. The camera system is also problematic which can make protecting your party members a little difficult but it never gets bad enough to hinder your progress.

Like the all recent Phantasy Star game the main draw of Zero is it’s multiplayer mode. Multiplayer consists of both online and local wireless co-op modes where you and up to 3 friends (or random strangers) can discover the truth behind the Giant Break together. Phantasy Star Zero boasts one of the best online modes on the DS to date, putting some of Nintendo‘s own efforts to shame. There’s no voice chat support but players can communicate via a PictoChat-esque messaging system which allows players to draw or write messages on the fly and share them with party members.

Graphically Phantasy Star Zero is certainly bright and colourful but the 3D polygons look almost like they’ve been ripped from a PSone launch title that hasn’t aged well. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the DS’s limited horsepower it can be a little jarring to those who have already played beauties such as Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP or even the Zelda games on the DS. Getting to the end of the game is a lengthy progress and along the way you’ll unfortunately encounter some repetitive quests, I would have liked to have seen more mission variety and less fights against bosses that I’ve already beaten!

Other than those few qualms Phantasy Star Zero is a great game which fans of the series and RPG-lovers in general will enjoy. If you have the means to play with others I’d definitely recommend it over playing alone but even if you do decide to play through solo you’re still in for a treat. There’s no shortage of great RPG’s on the DS but if you want one that you can experience along with others it truly doesn’t get any better than this.

In this interactive thriller you alternately play as four different characters who are all on the on a hunt to track down The Origami Killer, a serial murderer who leaves origami figures in the hands of his victims. Whether your characters ultimately fail or succeed on their mission entirely depends on the choices that you make and your skills as a player. At several points in the game one (or all) of the main characters can die and once they’re gone, they’re gone! There’s no game over screen here, if your ineptitude causes a character to meet his or her demise the game simply continues without them. The branching story which contains several different outcomes makes Heavy Rain a rather difficult game to review but it’s likely that once you reach the end you’ll want to restart the journey all over again just to see what changes may occur if you do certain things differently.

The first character you play as is Ethan Mars. He’s a successful architect who is blessed with a stunning house, a beautiful wife and two excitable boys. A string of very unfortunately circumstances see’s Ethan losing everything, now he’s on an almost suicidal mission to reclaim the one thing he has to live for. The second playable character you encounter is Scott Shelby, a Private Detective who has been hired by the family of one of the Origami Killer’s victims. FBI Profiler Norman Jayden is also on the hunt for the killer and he has a pair of futuristic Mission Impossible-esque shades to assist him. Rounding out the cast is sexy Photo Journalist Madison Page, after coming across an injured Ethan outside her motel room she offers her assistance and in-turn unintentionally becomes wrapped up in the whole mess.

Since by far the best aspect of Heavy Rain is it’s griping narrative I’m not going to delve too deep in to it during this review. The story is truly something you should experience for yourself, all you need is to know is Quantic Dream have revolutionized the art of story telling in a videogame medium and Heavy Rain will remain to be a benchmark title for several years to come. The fantastic looking characters and their expressive facial animations also help to immerse you in to the game. With the slight exception of Ethan (who sounds a little too calm during his whole ordeal, even though his actions reveal nothing short of desperation) the voice actors associated with Heavy Rain done a remarkable job bringing the characters to life and making them feel authentic. Witnessing how each characters separate, but very similar, lives intertwine is a joy, and it is particularly interesting to see how their completely different paths will ultimately lead them down the same road.

Gameplay in Heavy Rain features a mixture of exploration, puzzle solving and Quick Time Events. Norman has his own method of investigating thanks to those fancy shades of his but the rest of the characters are forced to search for objects and clues  the old fashion way. The puzzle segments rarely feel like actual puzzles which prevents unrealistic or “gamey” aspects from rearing their heads. Quantic Dream wisely chose to make puzzles feels organic to the game world so instead of pushing blocks to retrieve keys you’re faced with much more realistic dilemmas such as ensuring you remove your finger prints from every object that you’ve touched to avoid being arrested.

The final and most exuberant gameplay element appear in the form of Quick Time Event’s. Most the game’s action intensive scenes such as fight sequences are conducting by participating in QTE’s, which in laymen’s terms means performing actions on the controller as the appropriate icon appears on screen. QTE actions vary from pressing/holding/tapping buttons or rotating the right analog stick in a specific direction. Occasionally the game will ask you to hold down an awkward series of buttons as if you’re playing finger Twister with your controller, these instances greatly represent the challenge that you’re character is faced with at that particular moment. The importance of successfully completing a QTE’s is amplified by the fact that any of your characters can actually die.  Unlike games like God Of War or even Indigo Prophecy failing a QTE doesn’t simply result in you replaying the same sequence until you get it right, instead it could have drastic consequences that could completely alter story. Thankfully it’s not as cut and dry as “missed button press = death” but Heavy Rain’s intense moments will keep you on the edge of your seat like no other game has done before.

As with every good story-based game Heavy Rain constantly gives you a choice between multiple actions and dialog options. Available dialog is also presented in the form of icons with different face buttons mapped to different responses.  You always have a limited time to make each decision and the on-screen icons will even flash franticly to mirror your character state of mind when tough choices have to me made. This can often screw with your own thought process, forcing you to make snap decisions before thinking about the consequences. This is story telling at it’s finest, Director David Cage and his team at Quantic Dream have successfully raised the bar when it comes to videogame narratives.  I plan to play through Heavy Rain several more times and I’m genuinely excited to find out where every single branching path in the game will take me.

No game is perfect though, and as much as I adore Heavy Rain it does have it’s share of problem. Controlling your characters movements can sometimes be a right pain. Characters move like tanks and you constantly have to hold down the R2 button to steer them. It’s far to easy to bump into or get stuck behind in-game objects and simple tasks such as walking up a flight of stairs can be far more difficult then it should be. The movement controls combined with the awkward camera system can also make it hard to interact with some objects. You often have to be standing in a very specific place for the ‘interact’ prompt to appear on-screen and the clunky controls can sometimes make that very frustrating. The game also suffers from pretty bad screen tearing and the graphical disparity between the main characters and the background NPC’s is almost night and day. Likewise several in-game objects and elements such as fire look atrocious and can sometimes completely take you out of the experience. These short-coming are merely slight blemishes on an otherwise flawless work of art and the fact that I am still giving Heavy Rain my utmost recommendation should be a testament to the quality of the rest of the game.

Heavy Rain is truly one of the most thrilling and immersive games I have ever played. It managed to grip me and draw me inside it’s gloomy, rain-drenched world in a way that no other form of entertainment ever has. I experienced several different emotions during my 12-hour play-through ranging from happiness, to stress, to horror but I can honestly say I enjoyed every second of it. Heavy Rain has signified just how far the game industry has come and I can’t wait to see what Quantic Dream has in store for us in the future. Until then I plan on playing Heavy Rain over again, and again, and again. Phenomenal.

As in previous games the campaign mode in Aliens vs Predator is broken up into three different sections, you have one campaign for the Marines, one for the Aliens and one for the Predator. In the Marine campaign you play as well a Marine who finds himself left behind after he is knocked out while under attack from the Predator mothership. Once you come around you then head out to try and find your missing squad members. While looking for your squad you discover that the Weyland-Yutani corporation have been studying the Xenomorphs aka Aliens and do not want anyone to know what they have been up too. If you have watched any of the Alien movies you pretty much have already heard the Marine story. It consists of shoot, go somewhere and shoot some more.

The Predator campaign was for me a little more interesting, you begin as a young hunter who is sent out to try and find the bodies of three fallen brothers, while on that mission you uncover some details that change your plans and you end up having to erase all evidence that you, the Predator species was ever on the planet. This campaign was easily the most enjoyable for me as it had a semi decent story and allowed me to live the life of a ruthless killing machine a few hours. I also enjoyed the element of stealth this campaign had to offer. There was nothing more satisfying that sneaking up behind a random grunt and ripping his head off.

Now that just leaves the Alien campaign, If you are looking for a bit of back story on the Aliens or something to help you understand them, you will not find it here. You begin by bursting out of a human who is part of a science project the Weyland-Yutani corporation have been conducting. You then hear a call from the Matriarch, who is the Queen Alien which prompts you to escape the facility and free her. Once you have completed that task there is really not much in the way of a story. For the rest of the campaign you receive orders from the Queen to either kill a bunch of marines or harvest humans. I found these orders more of a chore than a fun filled chest bursting experience. I don’t know if the folks at Rebellion could have done it any differently but if you are not a fan of the Aliens you should play the other two campaigns first then run through this for the achievements or trophies.

In total the three campaigns in Aliens vs Predator should last you around 10-12 hours but this could be longer if you are the type of gamer who likes to hunt around the levels for all the collectables.

Its the multiplayer which I think will bring the most longevity to the game. Rebellion have included seven different game modes including the standard modes like Capture The Flag, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Mixed Species Deathmatch. There are also a few much more franchise specific game modes including Predator Hunt, which really reminded me of the very first Predator movie, you know the one where Arnie and his squad are in the jungle with a Predator hunting them? Yes well this game mode is just like that minus the mud. Then there is Infestation which is pretty similar to Predator Hunt but with a slight twist. Instead of controlling a Predator, one player controls an Alien and when that player kills another player they join the Alien ranks, think of it as Aliens vs Predator’s tag your it game mode. Rebellion have also joined the co-op party by including a brand new Survivor mode which puts you and three buddies into a small arena and throws wave after wave of Alien at you. I know it sounds just like Horde mode in Gears of War but take it from me its a much more frantic and fast paced experience. At times I found myself shooting all over the place simply because there was so much action going on.

Multiplayer in Aliens vs Predator should hold your attention for at least a few months, maybe even more. It all depends on how much a fan of the franchise you are. There are more than enough modes available to suit whatever type of player you are. My only slight gripe with this aspect of the game would be the matchmaking. Sometimes I had to wait around 5 or 10 minutes just to get a room full of people. I don’t know if it was my Internet playing up or a lack of people online but I hope SEGA find a way to speed the process up soon or it could kill the online multiplayer, at least on consoles.

Aliens vs Predator is a little bit hit and miss in the audio and visual departments. Sure the game does look good in places and all the main characters are detailed and true to their movie counterparts but if you compare the overall look to some of the competition around, areas of the game begin to look a little dated. I also found some of the locations you visit rather drab and a few of the textures seemed to be on the low resolution side of the scale. The lighting on the Marine campaigns levels could have also benefited from a little extra attention. Some of the areas were so dark that I often found myself either missing things or bumping into small containers and stuff. The flashlight on the Marine Assault Rifle really never helped that much, I think I could have got more light from a candle than I did from the torch on that gun. At some stages in the game things got so bad for me that I was forced to increase the brightness from the options menu just so I could see what I was doing. As for the sound, well all the stuff you are familiar with is in there, everything from the trademarked Alien screams right down to the sound of the Predator swapping his visual aids. I really got the feeling the folks at Rebellion put alot of time into trying to make the game sound as authentic to the franchise as possible. I just wish they did the same with the other areas of the game.

If you are a fan of the Aliens vs Predator games on PC, you really cannot go wrong with this but for those of you who never experienced those games I suggest you either rent the game first or wait until the it hits the discount shelves.

The story follows The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, a pie lover who terrorizes Bakersburg by stealing their pies. One day he comes across a magical pie which bends time and allows you to create clones of yourself. Creating clones and collecting pies is your destination to completing and reaching the end of the game. Not the best story ever but the presentation of it is unique and excellent. The game is presented in the way of an old silent-film style. The graphics are pretty good for an arcade game and the film grain effect and scratches make much more appealing and compliments the style that the game is going for. The music consist of piano themes that also adds to the 1920’s silent-film vibe. This is a great representation of how a story should clash with all the other elements of the game like the music and the visuals.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom are easy enough to pick up and play but the puzzles are sure to frustrate you and boggle your mind. Each stage consist of grabbing all the pies in that stage by means of jumping, gliding, and cloning yourself. You can clone yourself doing whatever for a small amount a time, and will that recording loop itself over and over. Each stage allows you to clone yourself a limited number of times which can prove to be difficult.There are some many different ways to complete a stage that it makes it a bit more confusing by not giving you only one way of completing a stage but that’s how puzzle games work. I found myself frustrated and ready to give up after 15 minutes in one stage and after finally completing it, I just felt drained and didn’t want to continue.There are several story stages in the game and some challenge levels which gives you a time limit and a clone limit. The P.B. Winterbottom experience wont last too long but there is room for replayability.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom was a unique experience and a frustrating one at the same time. If you’re a puzzle game genius then this will be a no-brainer, go ahead and buy this. If you’re not, then try the demo, the presentation alone might skew you towards a purchase. The set price for the game is 800 Microsoft points or ten dollars, so the entry isn’t steep or overpriced. Now run along and eat some pie.

Bleach as gone from fighter to Tactical RPG. A questionable move that is hard to agree with. If reviews were based on initial disappointments, I’d give this game a 0 out of 10 and move on quicker than Sega could say “Wait, here’s your money back”, however it wouldn’t be fair for me to condemn Bleach: The 3rd Phantom solely based on my love for it’s predecessors and my irrational fear of change. It’s only right that I judge each on it’s own merits and hey, if Sega has no problems pretending the first two games didn’t exist then why can’t I?

The game’s story is predominately told through still image cutscenes, dated FMV’s and an array of text which bookmark each battle. I guess anyone picking up a DS RPG should expect to be bombarded with mountains of text but the least Sega could have done is make sure that the story is interesting. Although not terrible, the story is plagued with predictable twists and uninspired dialog which, to make matters worse, is usually delivered by blandly portrayed characters. At the beginning of the game you have the have to chose between two protagonists to take on the main character role, either Fujimaru Kudo or his twin sister Matsuri. Thankfully the twins are much more than just pallet swaps and whichever character you chose will significantly alter the storyline, particularly nearing the end. The game is jam packed with characters from the show so expect a lot of fan service if you’re already will vested in the Bleach universe. Your tolerance for the story will also vary greatly depending on you’re appreciation for the Bleach anime series. On one hand its an original story that was actually written by the series creator but on the other hand it’s drawn-out, unsurprising and ultimately very boring.

As with most RPG’s whether the game lives or dies depends entirely on its Battle System. Anyone familiar with game’s like Final Fantasy Tactics should have no problems jumping in to 3rd Phantom and getting the hang of it’s core concept. As you’ve probably gathered by now your job as a player is to position your characters appropriately around small isometric battlefields pitting them against various enemy types. What sets 3rd Phantom apart from most other Tactical RPG’s is the ability to  attack diagonally instead of just four directions which brings some much needed flavor to the game. Once you’ve selected an attack the game transitions to a 2D side-on prospective where you watch your character dish out some deadly moves in a form very reminiscent of the first two games, only this time you’re not directly in control of your character’s movements and your opponent doesn’t instantly fight back.

The rather speedy levelling system and lack of punishment for the deaths of your party members does make Bleach a little on the easy side however there is plenty to do once the game is finished that will truly separate the men from the boys. While the story may not keep you coming back for more the engaging battle system should be enough to entice you to see yourself through to the end. Admittedly I’m not a huge fan of turn based RPG’s but I actually found myself enjoying most of the battles I fought once I got passed all the talking. Graphically 3rd Phantom is easy on the eyes but does very little to push the capabilities of the DS and the music contains a mixture of both pertinent themes which fit the tone of the game and some cheesy J-Pop that only the nerdiest of Japanophiles could enjoy.

With a title like 3rd Phantom is inevitable that many fans of the first 2 games will be disappointed by this entry in the series, especially if they were expecting more of the same. 3rd Phantom is a complete departure for the series and while it’s not the best RPG on the DS by a long shot it’s hard to ignore the amount of effort Sega put forth in an attempt to rejuvenate the franchise. If you’re a fan of tactical RPG’s you could certainly do worse, and with dozen of hours worth of gameplay Bleach: The 3rd Phantom definitely offers a lot of value but whether you’ll feel compelled to stick around until the end is questionable. One thing 3rd Phantom definitely isn’t lacking in is potential, I’d love to see this battle system return in a future Bleach title. With a more compelling story and improved dialog Sega could have a yet another hit under their belt, here’s to hoping that Bleach’s 4th DS title will elevate the series rather than drag it even further downhill.

Lost In Nightmares takes place as Chris Redfield and his partner, Jill Valentine, investigate Ozwell E. Spencer’s hideaway. An old mysterious mansion, how typical and boring. Your stay at this mansion consist of finding passwords to move on to some type of prison place. There are zombies, but they’re dead on the floor. once you figure out where you’re headed, you are split up in some type of sewer place in which you must find pieces of a puzzle and a level in order to crush an enemy under a spiked floor. Yup, a cat and mouse type of deal, and if you’re wondering why I just don’t shoot the damn thing is because you have no guns. Once that is complete, you encounter Wesker and get beat by him. It took me about an hour and a half to complete this chapter on normal, so it’s not long.

As much as I liked Resident Evil 5, this reintroduction to it wasn’t good. Lost In Nightmares was a drag and dull. Along with this DLC comes two new characters for the Mercenaries multiplayer mode. With a price point of 400 MS Point ($5) it isn’t completely the worst deal. Only the biggest Resident Evil enthusiast should buy this, or else wait for the Gold Edition of the game.

PopCap has recently become the premier developer for casual games. Once known for shamelessly cloning already established titles (but making a few changes to keep their legal team stress free) PopCap has done a complete 180 and they are now a dominant force in the social game market, selling 50 million copies of Bejewelled all the while inflicting some of the world’s most addictive games upon an unsuspecting public, first with Peggle and now with Plants vs. Zombies. PopCap’s games may not be incredibly original but their forte is to take something that’s already good but make it a million times better, so much so that the original version instantly becomes redundant. PvZ is in keeping with this theme and since it’s inception on the PC last year it has become the definitive tower defense game on the market. Now that PvZ has fully flourished on the PC it has shed it’s seeds on to the iPhone.

For those unfamiliar with Plants, Zombies or Tower Defense games; Plants grow from soil and survive off of rain and sunshine, Zombies are the living dead who tend to wonder around looking for brains to eat and Tower Defense games are pieces of interactive entertainment which has players defending their turf, fighting off hordes of incoming enemies. Combine all three, throw in some cute ‘n colourful graphics and that’s pretty much Plants vs. Zombies in a nut shell. On the left side  of the screen is your house, on the right is a mob of incoming Zombies, in between the two is a lawn which serves as a grid based battlefield for the impending chaos. It’s your job to line up specially equipped Plants across the lawn to prevent any Zombie from entering that house of yours. If a single Zombie makes it through your front door your entire family is subjected to hours of torture before being brutally mauled to death… or at least I assume that’s what happens, the game just gives you a blanket “The Zombies Ate Your Brains” message.

Back to the Plants, there are dozens to chose from but initially you’ll start off with a basic Pea-Shooter. Sunlight falls from the sky in the form of glowing pellets and collecting each of them gives you 25 points, points can then used to buy additional resources to protect your beloved home. As daunting as having dozens of Plants at your disposal may seem the game actually handles your arsenal extremely well. One additional Plant becomes available after completing most levels but regardless of how vast your library of Plants becomes you’ll only have the choice of 6 of them per level. A few Zombies drop  coins once killed which in turn can be used to buy yet more artillery.

The plants themselves range from the aforementioned Pea-Shooter to Sunflowers, to spike shooting Cacti and then there are plants which are the equivalent to land mines, proximity mines, defense walls and path clearers. The Sunflowers are critical to success as they periodically produce Sunlight eliminating frustration as you wait for them to drop from the sky. Night time levels introduce additional hazards as Sunlight is no longer available, forcing you to rely on Plants which generate light and as the levels progress zombies become smarter and harder to kill. While regular zombies die fairly easily eventually you’ll encounter zombies who defend themselves, become frantic when provoked, are extremely fast,  vault over your defenses or even travel in vehicles. Be warned, Plants vs. Zombies is no walk in the park. The game does get menacingly difficult and without giving away any spoilers the final level removes the biggest advantage that  the Plants have over the undead.

As the screenshots indicate PvZ contains PopCap’s usual top-notch presentation. The graphics are crisp and vibrant, the controls are easy and responsive  and the music is sublime. My only gripe with the game is the absence of modes such as the Puzzle, Survival and Zen Garden modes which were all available on the PC version. However since the App store adaptation is a fraction of the price at £1.79 ($3) I or anybody else have no right to complain. Hopefully the missing features will be added later on via DLC but as it stands Plants vs. Zombie is  one of the best value prospects available on the App Store. If you own a iPhone or iPod Touch, or live in the future with money to waste and own a iPad, download this game right now. You will not regret it.

The story of BioShock 2 takes place ten years after the original game. You take on the role of a prototype Big Daddy, commonly referred to as, Subject Delta; you are also the first Big Daddy to be bonded with a Little Sister. It just so happens that the Little Sister is Elanor Lamb, the daughter of Sofia Lamb who is the antagonist of BioShock 2. Your Little Sister is taken from you while you’re left for dead, and after waking up your only task is to get her back. That is the story of BioShock 2 in simple terms, but there is way more to it as you progress and find audio diaries. You will learn the origins behind some of the things that make up Rapture, and although Sofia Lamb is no Andrew Ryan, BioShock 2 still has some good characters to follow the story. You’ll get the most out of the story if you played the first game, but first timers could get through it with a few minor confusions. BioShock 2 delivers a good story that is easier to digest but it doesn’t top the first.

Playing as a Big Daddy in BioShock 2 has its advantages on the gameplay. For starters, you can now duel-wield a plasmid and a gun, which eliminates having to switch back and forward between plasmids and guns. Not many new plasmids are introduced in BioShock 2, you pretty much only need and use the basic ones like the electric, fire, and freeze plasmids. Luckily you can upgrade the plasmids, making every plasmid much better to use; turn a simple fireball into a flamethrower out of the palm of your hand. The same goes for the weapons in the game. You get a shotgun, machine gun, rocket launcher, and a new gun called the Rivet Gun, and a couple more. If you’re lucky enough to find the hidden weapon upgrade stations in the levels, then you can turn do more damage and eventually add lightning striking shots and other special things. Being a Bid Daddy also comes with the infamous Drill. You can drill your enemies and leap towards them with a melee hit so long as you have fuel for it. I didn’t find myself using the drill after the initial try in the earlier stages of the game, mainly because it’s not as great as you would expect.

The game does take place in stage like form, so there is no going back to explore, once you leave the main area you can never go back. There are also segments of the game which have you out in the water life of Rapture, but they feel too linear and there is no sense of real exploration to them. Gathering ADAM, to buy plasmids, comes in a form of adopting a Little Sister by killing her Big Daddy. Once you become her Big Daddy, you can take her to certain dead enemy bodies in which she begins to suck the ADAM out via a needle. While the gathering, you must protect yourself and the Little Sister from Splicers which show up to take the ADAM. these gatherings are optional so you’re not forced into taking part in this, but it’ll help if you want to make progress. Once a gathering is complete you can choose whether you want to rescue the Little Sister or harvest her. These choices and a few other moral choices in the game will determine the ending of the game.

BioShock 2 introduces a first for Bioshock with the addition of multiplayer. You can choose between several different Splicers as who you want to play as, although it makes no difference. You have an apartment in which you can make minor customizations to your character, check the leaderboards, switch between weapons, and listen to audio diaries from the Splicers in the multiplayer; which give some added info on the history of your character. you can find the common game types online like deathmatch, team deathmatch, and team survival. but you can also find Capture the Flag and Oddball but with both having a BioShock 2 twist to them. I found all the game types enjoyable and the overall multiplayer was great, definitely not something that was just slapped on for the added value. There are a bunch of unlockables in the multiplayer so there is incentive to keep playing but I question the long lasting appeal of the multiplayer compared to other shooters out now.

In terms of sound and graphics, BioShock 2 is great. The game looks way better than the original, but that’s expected. you can choose to make the game run at 60fps in the options menu, but if you do then you’re open to screen tearing issues and frame rate problems.The sound in BioShock is one I particularly enjoy due to the sounds of the 1960’s type of music. It’s appropriate when it needs to be and when the lights are out and you’re roaming in the dark, the score kicks in for that part. The voice acting is pretty good, I have nothing more to say or anything negative on it. Just know that no one delivers like Armin Shimerman did for Andrew Ryan.

2K Games made the improvements it needed to make in the first game with BioShock 2, but it lacks the depth the story had in the first game. The return to Rapture might of lost some of its nostalgia for some but you must return. Not doing so will only make you miss out on a great sequel. BioShock 2 solidifies that the name BioShock isn’t just a one hit wonder, it is now a great series of games that I hope continues on.

I don’t need to touch on the storyline of Mass Effect 2, because I am sure you do not wish to know spoilers. The most I will say is that the game has certified it’s position as one of the most engrossing video games ever. There have been a number of PC games to do what Mass Effect has done already, so to those gamers this is nothing new. However, Bioware bringing this caliber of game to a console, and pulling it off so well, means that they should be hailed as one of the elite developers. So let me give you the short run through of the games story.

You start off back in the Normandy (whether you import your Mass Effect character or not), but you quickly run into trouble. Your ship then needs to be evacuated. Long story short, Shepard looses his team, then hooks up with a new organization to take on a new threat (the collecters), whom you find out have ties to the Reapers. You must then build up your squad, to ensure you are fully equipped to take on the new problem head on. I know everyone was eager to see how their decisions in the first game would effect Mass Effect 2, but they hardly make up too much in the games storyline. You may feel disappointed with the lack of things relating to the first games decisions, as there aren’t a significant amount. However there is enough references to your choices there to make you think “Oh yeah, I made this happen”, or “Oh yes I remember this character from the first game”. The amount of new faces you will bring on your squad may also make you a little skeptical. At the moment I have only come across two people from the first game that I was able to bring back on my squad to fight, but this is forgivable seeing as how the new squad members are all very interesting people.

Visually the game is stunning, with only a few minor hiccups. Compared to the first game, Mass Effect 2 takes a huge leap forward, even if they had to sacrifice the convenience of having the game on one disc. Yes the game is on two discs, but it is highly forgivable and just looking at the amount of detail in the game, it becomes reasonable to see why. The game is definitely one of the most beautiful things to look at in the Xbox 360’s library all together, and the facial detail on the characters makes everyone seem unique. Even the aliens that are meant to all look the same, have differences in their facial appearance which can be picked out, and the fact that there are thousands of NPC’s in the game makes that even more amazing.

When it comes to combat, a lot has changed since the first game. Mass Effect 2 is definitely more action packed, and less like an rpg (as far as the combat). There is no more choosing your equipment from the start menu, that has been scrapped, and perhaps for the best. Now you just choose your guns and spray away. Of course your equipment can still be upgraded, but this is done back on the ship before you head off for combat. Meaning there’s less messing about in the start menu once you venture out on a mission. When it comes to armor, you only have one standard costume. Don’t panic though, the costume is fully customizable and supports add ons to help you perform better in combat. You can change the color of your armor, and attach add ons such as medi gel attachments. If you feel like mixing things up, then Bioware will provide us with different set’s of armor, via DLC. So far I have the Dragon Age blood armor, which looks amazing. The only upset is not being able to remove the helmet.

As for the action itself, it is more head on this time around. There is less messing around with menus, and more attacking. You still have your special attacks related to your class, and you can even map your favorite one to either the Y button or the left and right bumpers on the controller (Xbox 360). Overall though, the fun is in gunning down the enemy, and aiming for the head. The soldier class in the last game was kind of boring to play with, but this time around I can see how it would be the most enjoyable class to use. The team AI has improved a great deal also, you can send them into a covered position and they will do their job. Of course you can also order them to use one of their own special powers, to help break down enemy forces. Cover is a must in this game, and Bioware did a great job of implementing useful cover positions in the level designs. I must say though, the cover system can get annoying. When you press the A button to get into cover, sometimes it takes a while to respond, causing you press it again, which makes you snap out of cover instantly. This can be a factor that leads to your death, very often. Another fact which may annoy some, is the fact that you now have to use ammo for your weapons. This change isn’t much explained in the game, but it works in the favor of making a more action packed experience. Ammo is not hard to come by, so it shouldn’t cause a problem for anyone.

The sound in Mass Effect 2 is very authentic. In usual Bioware fashion, there is tons of dialog. Which means theres a whole lot of voice acting (with no Nolan North in sight). Fortunately the voice acting is superb, there are even celebrities lending their voice to the game. I’m not sure how much Bioware spent on the voice acting, but it must have been a huge part of the budget. There are so many different characters, and the ones you speak to have tons of dialog. The best part is, everyone sounds different.

There is not much more I can say about Mass Effect 2, besides telling you how much of a fool you are for not buying the game. The game is a near flawless experience, full of engrossing drama, and non stop gun blasting action. In my opinion, this is the best the Xbox 360 has to offer to date, therefore there should not be an Xbox 360 owner without this game (including the first one). Even if you didn’t play the first game, there is no reason for you not to play this one. Bioware has designed the game to be friendly to new people, but to also reward the people who played the first game. The game is also very lengthy this time, if you choose it to be. Currently I am 18 hours in, and I still have a lot of side quests to do. If I wanted to I could of course pursue the main missions and race to the end, but with this game you want to soak in the experience as much as you can on the first play through. Though be prepared to play the game through a couple times, just so you can see how different decisions pan out in the story.

To summarize, Mass Effect 2 represents what next generation gaming is about. Mass Effect 2 defines video gaming, and it is evidence enough of why the industry has surpassed Hollywood. Mass Effect 2 is one of the most engaging experiences in video game entertainment, one that should not be missed out on.

An opener exuding Rae’s trademark charm, “Are You Here” exhibits an intimacy not seen on records in today’s music scene. The rising and falling tempo molds perfectly with the songbird’s silky vocals as her heart calls out to her late husband in remembrance of their tragically, short-lived time spent together. The Sea coolly advances into the lead single “I’d Do It All Again”, a soaring yet heartbreaking record that was penned a few months before her husband’s untimely passing. It beautifully chronicles the definition of marriage: a lifetime commitment to the vows one takes in front of God as well as practicing the art of loving and forgiving. The jazzy sounds of “Feels Like The First Time” are amplified by tinkling piano keys that echo a dreamy Corinne, recalling the innocence of falling in love; simpler times like late night phone calls into the wee hours of the night or the first kiss shared between two aspiring lovers.

The closest example of an R&B record, “Closer” sees Rae pursuing an epic love (one almost mythical) while “Love’s On Its Way” features the artist patiently wandering through endless thoughts of aspiring love behind an eerie, nearly nonexistent backdrop that beats from within the darkest recesses of her soul. The final two records, “Diving For Hearts” and “The Sea”, bring this opus to a fitting close as “Diving” finds Rae metaphorically diving to the darkest depths of her emotions, in search of her gentle yet still beating heart. Corinne Bailey Rae comes full circle at the close of the album as she willingly cedes herself to “The Sea”, due for a thorough cleansing as the grief is washed away. Closure is found in a fitting goodbye to the love of her life.

The simplest approach of critiquing this record would be a likening of it to her adventurous debut (the closest instance of such comparison being “Paris Nights/New York), but this work stems from an artist at their most emotional peak; unwilling to conform and dealing with their loss. The Sea is a therapeutic piece of self-expression as Corinne Bailey Rae echoes a sea of emotions over lush soundscapes, which unpredictably shift from titanic heights of happiness to unimaginable depths of heart-shaking grief. Yet her heart whispers to her to press onward. Like Picasso at the peak of his abilities, Mrs. Bailey Rae produces another enchanting mural of the power that everlasting love can have over one, stroke by delicate stroke.

4.5 out of 5 spins

Edited by Kingsley “Young Kingz” Osei

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars is the latest installment in the “Capcom Vs” series. Only this time instead of squaring off against Marvel or SNK, Ryu and Co. are in conflict with a bunch of Japanese characters you’ve probably never seen or heard of before. Tatsunoko is a very popular anime company in Japan but in the west you’d be hard pressed to find a person who‘s even heard of the brand, let alone recognize anyone from it. However all the Otaku’s and old school anime fans out there will be pleased to know the Tatsunoko line-up includes characters from the likes of Gatchaman, Tekkaman Blade and Karas. The Capcom line up will likely be far more appealing to the domestic audience as it features well known names such as Ryu & Chun-Li of Street Fighter fame, Megaman, Viewtiful Joe and Dead Rising’s very own Frank West who appears as an unlockable character. Unfortunately no characters from key franchises like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry or Ace Attorney are present in the game but hey that what sequels are for, right?

Keeping in tone with the “vs.” series Capcom opted to use a 2 on 2 fighting mechanic for TvC. You can select any two characters from both the Capcom or Tatsunoko universe or if you’d like to be an asshole and completely grief your opponent you can substitute your choice of two characters for one huge robot (from either Lost Planet or Golden Warrior Gold Lightan) who completely breaks all the rules of the game and instantly makes you a moral loser no matter what the outcome of the fight may be. If you decide to play fair and chose two normal characters each of them will have their own independent life bars and you can change between them at any time during a match. Like in Marvel vs. Capcom you can also have your partner jump on screen, deliver a blow, and then jump back out which can lead to some impressive looking tag team combos.

On the surface TvC may seem like super simplistic, especially if playing with the Wii remote held sideways which allows you to pull of special moves with a single button press. However hook up a classic controller or fight stick (which is being released by MadCatz alongside the game for $80) and it won’t be long before you discoverer hidden depth in the fighting system. Within a matter of hours you’ll find yourself chaining together Super Moves, dishing out lethal combos and performing well timed dashes to get the upper hand on your opponent. Trying out new characters for the first time can admittedly feel a little daunting but finding the right combination of fighters to suit your play style is vital if you wish completely dominate.

In terms of game modes Capcom has everything you’d expect, and then some. There’s an Arcade mode, a Versus mode, Time Trail, Survival, Practice and new to the western version of the game is the inclusion of an Online Versus mode. Online play works exceeding well with very little (if any) lag, while the Wii’s Friend Code system makes it difficult to arrange match-up’s with your real life buddies, finding a match against a random internet stranger is seamless. Hopefully TvC will be able to retain a strong online community because as far as online fighters go, this is currently the best the Wii has on offer.

Graphically TvC isn’t anything groundbreaking but the over the top Japanese quirkiness is truly appreciated. The characters are well drawn with a heavy anime influence and some of the fighting arenas are pretty creative while others feels a little empty. My biggest gripe with the graphics aren’t technically the game’s fault but more to do with the fact that the game is on the Wii. After growing accustomed to the sharpness of  Street Fighter II HD Remix and the sheer gorgeousness of Street Fighter IV on the PS3/360, TvC looks particularly blurry and low-res. The Super Moves look visually impressive as the screen goes dark and the camera zooms in (similar to the Ultra Moves in SF IV), however the Super Moves gauge fills up so quick;y and Super Moves are so easy to pull off that you’ll soon become tired of seeing them.

If you’ve been waiting for a Wii-based experience on par with some of Capcom’s classic fighting games then TvC is definitely the game for you. Residing somewhere between the methodical nature of Street Fighter IV and the bat-shit craziness of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, TvC is a fun fighting game which should satisfy anyone who knows how to pull off a drag-on punch. While the character selection leaves plenty to be desired and the graphics aren’t too impressive, none of that really matters once you’ve found the perfect pair of fighters and proceed to kick ass both on and offline. This is by far the best fighting game on the Wii (not including the Virtual Console releases) so do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today, I’d hate to see another awesome Wii title fail miserably at retail.

The story of Dark Void, ironically, takes place in the year 1938. I was not aware jet packs and robots were around in the 30’s but I digress. As World War II is on the verge of starting, aliens and their robot minions (The Watchers) are planning their own takeover. Not over a country but over humanity. Consequently, our hero, Will A. Grey and his former main squeeze, Ava, have crash landed their plane somewhere in The Bermuda Triangle, which eventually leads them into this place known as The Void. Equipped with the great Nikola Tesla’s jet-pack, you must now stop The Watchers, help survivors in the Void, and find Ava. Dark Void juggles a couple of plots, and the main one suffers because of it. The on and off romance subplot seems straight out of Uncharted 2, but this game has been in development for quite sometime, so maybe it’s just a mere coincidence. Plus, the characters aren’t intriguing enough for you to care about them nor even like them. The main campaign will take about seven hours to complete, and there’s absolutely no incentive to replay it again. If you need a story that moves you, then this won’t due.

G is for gameplay but in Dark Void, G is for generic. That’s only during the third-person shooter portions, which oddly enough I enjoyed more than anything. The first episode of Dark Void focuses mainly on the third-person shooter aspects of the game, which includes all the typical moves like melee and a cover system. All works the same and works good but why play this when you can play a more engaging third-person shooter. Once you finally obtain the jet pack, you can enter vertical cover which allows you to shoot enemies below or above certain platforms and comes in handy a few times. The Watchers can be killed with six of the different weapons available ranging from an assault rifle to a variation of The Watchers weaponry. Each gun can be upgraded twice but none are better or worse than the other. No gun, no problem. Melee attacks in Dark Void are cheap; the toughest enemy takes three melee attacks to die and the puny enemies take only one hit.

With that being said, lets get to the crème de la crème of Dark Void’s gameplay. The jet pack is what made you skeptical about this game and it’s the main highlight of this game. At any time during gameplay, you can choose to hoover or take off and fly. Hoovering in the air and shooting down on the enemy proves to be a great technique and fun at times. It comes to good use for tactical reasons like getting a better shot or flanking a turret gunner but there are very few moments in which tactics come into play. Dark Void also has a Star Wars vibe with aerial combat aspects of the game. During these aerial moments the controls change, from a third-person shooter to a flying game like Crimson Skies, which was developed by the core team at Airtight Games. The controls can be confusing for quite sometime but eventually you’ll get the hang of it. While up in the air you can also jump into ally ships or choose to hijack enemy UFO’s. None are proven to be stronger than the other but I found myself really tired of the jet pack so I would jump in a ship just because.

There are two key elements to the sound in Dark Void that make the game bearable. The first is you have Nolan North providing the voice of the lead character, Will. If you’re not familiar with Nolan North, he’s the voice of Drake in Uncharted. His delivery in this game is great but it might be a better idea if you don’t use the voice of Drake to voice a character so similar to Drake. Nolan North pretty much plays the same character here, although Drake’s lines are way better than Will’s. The second key element is the great score by Battlestar Galactica composer, Bear McCreary. I’ve never watched the show before but hs work in this game is pretty good for his first score in a videogame. The music compliments and fits the mood. I probably wouldn’t of noticed it much but due to a glitch that turned all the audio down with the exception of the score, I did.

In terms of graphics, Dark Void gets by with neither bad nor impressive graphics. Cutscenes are pretty well animated; Dark Void doesn’t try to go for the photo realistic look. You can also find blurry textures and the occasional texture pop-ins. The main gripe comes from a technical standpoint in which the frame rate drops during big battles, its not significant but it’s there and you’ll notice.

The wait for Dark Void was long and now that it’s here, it truly is a disappointment. There is very little fun to be had in this game. There’s this nostalgia in videogames for jet packs and chainsaws and honestly they hardly ever fulfill anything. Jet packs are the new chainsaws. Dark Void does not merit a $60 dollar purchase, although I’m certain it won’t stay at that price for long.

Despite being a side scrolling shooting this time around Matt Hazard: Blood Bath And Beyond is essentially a sequel to Eat Lead. A sequel that dismisses all the parts that didn’t quiet work but retains all the elements which had great potential, namely the premise and great sense of humour. Anyone who grew up playing shooters like Contra will feel right at home with Blood Bath And Beyond. The tried and tested “run from one end of the screen to the other while shooting everything in sight” formulae is still in affect but Vicious Cycle has modernized the game just enough to keep it from feeling a clone of a classic series. The shooting mechanics are spot on with the ability to either run and gun or aim in a specific direction while standing stationary. You also have the ability to shoot in to the backgrounds, melee enemies who come all up in your grill and throw grenades which can bounce off of walls for strategic placement or explode on impact. There are also several gun types you can pick up along the way including a Shotgun, Machine Gun and Rocket Launcher, each of which have limited ammo but are way more powerful than your default weapon. Once you’ve killed enough enemies to fill up the orange bar below your health meter you can activate Hazard Time which temporarily increases your speed and fire power.

The story centres around Matt revisiting levels previous games to take down the evil Marathon MegaCorp who was captured the 8 bit version of himself. Each level you visit have humorous concepts and just like in Eat Lead, Blood Bath And Beyond parodies several already established games, movies and sub-culture, only this time playing through them isn’t a pain. As with most games of this type there is a Co-Op option so you and a buddy (who will be playing as Matt’s trusty sidekick Dexter Dare) can play through the entire campaign together. Unfortunately online Co-Op isn’t an option which is a huge bummer, instead players will have to settle for an online leaderboard. Graphically the game looks very similar to Bionic Commando Rearmed but Blood Bath is far less punishing than Capcom’s offering. For starters as I mentioned earlier Matt has a health meter and he very rarely dies from a single hit. Also the game offers three difficulty options, the lowest of which gives you unlimited continues while the hardest setting, titled Fuck This Shit, offers none.

It’s extremely hard for me to continue praising Blood Bath And Beyond without acknowledging the massive elephant in the room who answers to the name Shadow Complex. While it’s not entirely fair for me to judge one game based on the quality of another, being that they are both of the same genre and at the same price point comparisons are inevitable. Shadow Complex was an incredible game that out-ranks Blood Bath And Beyond in every single aspect, the fact that D3 Publisher saw fit to release their game for the same price as Chair’s masterpiece is almost insulting. With that said, I understand that both developers were chasing entirely different philosophies. Shadow Complex was a solo, immersive experience in the vein of Metroid or Castlevania while Blood Bath And Beyond has more of Contra vibe with is entirely fine as it serves a completely different audience. If you only own a PS3 this whole situation is a non-issue for you but 360 owners who have already played through Shadow Complex may feel a little short change after dropping 1200 Microsoft Points on Matt‘s Sophomore adventure.

Put simply Matt Hazard Blood Bath And Beyond is a great title which fans of games like Contra would love. The hilarious writing, witty one-liners, over the top gore, great gameplay mechanics and fun co-op component makes it well worth playing. In a post Shadow Complex world the $15 asking  price is a little steep but given that titles like Rogue Warrior exists and have to nerve to ask for 4 times the amount of money it’s up to you whether you see the glass as half empty or half full. I would also like to take time out to commend both D3 Publisher and Vicious Cycle for sticking with Matt Hazard and making significant revisions rather than letting the franchise die. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of Mr. Hazard,  a $10 sequel would be greatly appreciated.

The story in Bayonetta could only have come from the mind of a person like Hideki Kamiya. You are Bayonetta, an Umbra Witch who has spent about 500 years sitting trapped at the bottom of a lake after a battle on a cliff face sends her plummeting to the depths. Being out of action for so long has, as you would expect, brought on about of amnesia. All she can remember is that her enemies are the Lumen Sages aka Angels and, for an unknown reason, must die at all costs. As she travels through the 16 or so chapters trying to find the truth about herself she battles tons of enemies and bosses in various areas including dream worlds, old made up European cites, and a busy highway. The action is broken up with several cutscenes and conversations with a host of characters, some of these characters include Jeanne, another Umbra Witch, who knows the real identity of Bayonetta and what happened to her. Rodin, the owner of a club called Gates of Hell and your local neighborhood gun dealer. Enzo, a highly annoying informant who has more than a brief similarity to everybody’s favorite mini made man Joe Pesci and then there’s the journalist Luka, I began to find this guy really annoying. His entire role in the game is to pester Bayonetta about things she had done in the past including, supposedly killing his parents.

My experience with the story of Bayonetta was, how can I say it, confusing at best. I don’t know if it was the translation from Japanese to English, but I never seemed to get involved in the story as much as I though I would. The only thing that I remember from the main story was the reference Sonic at the start of the game. Everything else was just all over the place and the still motion/film reel cut-scenes really never helped. But like, other games of this genre the story is not the end of the world, the action and combat can make the difference up.

The gameplay in Bayonetta is what really stands out. Think too yourself, what if Devil May Cry went to a club, got drunk, and took tons of drugs. That’s where the action in Bayonetta begins. Everything is so fast paced and frantic, I sometimes found it difficult to keep track of where my character was on screen. Combine that with a combo list as long as both of your arms and you have a game that will test even the most skilled gamer. Platinum Games have also added something unique to the game that helps it stand out from the crowd, that thing is the ability to strap weapons to your legs. I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal but take it from me it is. This addition totally changes the way you play the game by adding more ways to attack or even defend. You also have the ability to customize the weapon slots on your arms and legs, individually, with any weapons you collect through the game. But I found this area lacking a feature I thought would have been obvious to the developer. That feature is that you can only have one set of weapons on both of your arms and one set on both of your legs. I would have liked to have had the ability to map weapons to each individual limb but I guess we can’t have everything.

Another feature I would like to mention is Bayonetta’s “Witch Time”. It sounds similar to the good old bullet time and infact it is pretty similar in someways but the way you enable it is totally different. Gone, are the options to turn it on willy nilly ,instead you have to use a little piece of skill to get it going. The way you do this is to hit the right trigger at the very last moment of an enemy attack. I know this sounds pretty easy to do in theory but with the fast paced, frantic action going on at times, I found it difficult to even see the perfect moment to evade. However once you get into Witch Time everything slows down (yes i know you already knew that) but this becomes really useful when fighting some of the quicker bosses and at times where there are tons of enemies attacking you at once. Later in the game the skill of getting into Witch Time becomes really important, as you often get faced off with two or three really quick enemies.

Later on in the game you unlock the ability to transform into animals. The animal forms range from a super quick panther with a crazy jump distance, to a crow that lets you fly for a short time. These animals become a big part of the gameplay later in the chapters because they are required for certain puzzles and help you get to areas that you could not get to before. I also found the Panther to be a big help while in battles because it allows you to evade attacks quickly and move to a better position on the battlefield for using health or doing a special attack.

Speaking of special attacks, those come in the form of Weave Attacks and as the name suggests, they use Bayonetta’s hair to form giant fists or heels. The way you enable the Weave Attack is pretty simple, all you have to do is hit a combination of punch and kick, for example if you hit punch, kick, punch you will notice Bayonetta’s hair begin to sparkle with purple. This lets you know that she is ready to perform a Weave Attack then all you have to do is hit punch and you will unleash a giant fist into the face of your enemy. There are a vast amount of Weave Attacks and they change depending on which weapon setup you have equipped. The best and easiest combo of weapons and Weave Attacks has to be the Katana on your hands with the pistols on your legs, this combo lets you perform a sweeping Katana swipe with the button combination I used in my example.

If all that stuff still isn’t enough moves for you, Platinum Games have also included two additional move sets. These sets are called Torture Attacks and Climax Attacks which as you can guess either involve torturing your enemies or finishing them off once and for all aka taking them to Climax. All you have to do to enable these attacks is build up your magic meter by attacking enemies and evading enemy attacks, if you get hit by an enemy your meter will go back down so try not to get hit much. Once you have your meter full you will see an on screen prompt telling you to press two buttons to unleash the attack. These attacks are like the finishers in Mortal Kombat, once you perform one there’s more than a good chance that the enemy will be no more. However, that’s not always the case as some of the larger enemies have so much health it sometimes takes a couple of these to finish them off. The Climax attacks are much the same as the Torture Attacks but are on a much bigger scale and only seem to be enabled for the larger enemies and bosses in the game.

Graphically Bayonetta is a real looker, the character detail is really top class even the way Bayonetta’s hair moves and transforms is really something to marvel at. The environments are also really well detailed and have a certain historical value to them that makes you believe that the places you visit could exist in the real world, that’s excluding the crazy dream worlds and stuff. I also found the lighting and other visual effects added an extra layer to the game that you may not see in other titles. Things like flowers blowing around in the wind to the details in animations and particle effects really add to the visual fidelity.

The camera in this particular genre of game has always comes in for some criticism and in Bayonetta its much the same story, overall Platinum Games have done a good job. The camera manages to keep up with all the action but every so ofter you find it gets stuck in position and sometimes it becomes hard to see who you are fighting. But fear not there is an option to reset the camera with a click of the right analogue stick which should fix any camera related problems you encounter. Now I know frame rate plays a big part in this particular genre of game and I am happy to report that during my gaming sessions with Bayonetta I never encountered any significant problems with slowdown or anything of that nature, the frame rate stayed pretty solid throughout the entire game but I did however notice some slight screen tearing during fast paced scenes but its really nothing to get in a big fuss over, its nowhere near as bad as Darksiders on Xbox 360.

As for the sound, its as you would expect it to be. The backing score is full of the typical Japanese pop music found in these type of games, which Im not a big fans of but it seems to fit into the mood of the game very well. The Vocal work was also really good, I think the decision to make Bayonetta speak the Queens English was a smart move, I don’t know if it would have worked as well if she spoke with an American accent but Iam glad they went for the English accent . There is one thing I would like to point out about the sound effects in Bayonetta particulary the vocals, that point is be careful where you play this game because at times it can sound like you are watching some sort of Lesbian porn movie, yes I know everyone loves a lesbian but I felt the amount of moans and groans got a little over the top at times, I even had a small incident while watching a cut-scene where someone walked into my room thinking I was actually watching a porn movie, which i never do. Honest.

Overall Bayonetta is a fantastic action game that takes what Hideki Kamiya created with Devil May Cry to a faster, sexier and more action packed level. The combat system is probably one of the best in any action game to date, its deep enough for the pro players to get exited about and simple enough for noobs to pick up and play. Replayability is also quite high as there are tons of things to collect and buy. The only downsides I can see with the game are the story and the amount of cut-scenes in the game but don’t let that put you off as you can always skip those and head right back into the action.

“Ace” Attorney may seem like a misleading title because from the start of the game you’re placed in the shoes of a rookie defence lawyer, Phoenix Wright. Unfortunate circumstances leads to you running your own struggling law firm where you take on cases and represent clients who have been falsely accused of murder. It’s up to you to not only prove their innocence but to successfully convict the true culprit in the process. You do so by gaining information form other characters (such as the locals, people close to the victim, witnesses & law enforcement), looking for evidence in various locations and ultimately throwing down in the courtroom against rival prosecutors and fraudulent testifiers.

Cases tend to start off with you first accepting to represent a client and then visiting the crime scene or other relevant locations. There are usually more than one location available at a time so although the story is very linear you at least have the option to do things in your own order. There is usually a character in each location who you can talk to and gain information from, after which you can scan the background like a Point-and-Click adventure to look for any clues that may be present. Some characters may be hesitant or down right unwilling to talk to you, in these instances you’ll have to find a way to help them before they agree to help you. Once you have all the evidence and information you need it’s off to the courtroom where you’ll experience the true essence and the most entertaining part of the game.

While in court you’ll discover whether or not you’re truly cut out to be a lawyer. Your main objective is to look for contradictions in the defendants testimonies and expose their filthy lies! After you listen to their testimony you can press them on each part of it to make them elaborate further or present evidence that you’ve collected to prove that they’re lying. In the DS game you have the option to yell “Objective” in the mic to present evidence but as the Wii lacks a speaker this option is not available. Instead you can shove the Wii remote forward fiercely which is a neat addition but pointless considering it’s easier to simply push a button.  Once you’ve pointed out a contradiction the defendant will revise their testimony but continue to expose them and the truth will eventually come out leading you further in your investigation.

Once your day in court is over it’s back to investigating where the process repeats. Although you’re practically doing the same things throughout the entire game the quirky characters that you meet and the excellent writing keep things from feeling repetitive. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a genuinely funny game and although it deals with some grim subject matters you’ll often smile and giggle like a school girl when reading some of the dialog. PW:AA is also blessed with having truly exceptional music that is worth listening to even independent of the game. While each of the four cases in the game are completely unrelated there is an overarching thread throughout which involves solving the murder of your mentor Mia Fay. Her little sister Maya will be by your side for to majority of the game to provide you with some much needed assistance.

As excellent as the core game may be I have to condemn Capcom for being extremely lazy regarding this Wii Ware port. Rather than update the game’s visuals for the big screen Capcom simply retained the resolution of a single DS screen and added a scrolling border to fill out the edges. Although the game looked pretty decent on the DS as you could imagine seeing it blown up on a TV doesn’t do it any favors. Likewise hearing Mr. Wight yell out “Objection” has always been a staple of the franchise however on the Wii his iconic yelling has been confined to the Wii Remote Speaker where it sounds muffled and uninspired.

Making it to the end of the final case will take players at least a dozen hours which is great value for a $10 Wii Ware title. An additional case is available to download for an extra 2 bucks but unfortunately I could not gain access to it in my build of the game. Despite Capcom’s sheer laziness on porting this game to the Wii there’s no getting over the fact that this is still a fantastic game with an excellent story and a tonne of charm. If you own a DS or iPhone you may want to skip this version and buy it on one of those platforms as this type is game is far more suited to a handheld device. However if you only own a Wii and have yet to play an Ace Attorney game this is definitely a MUST buy.

Salem and Rios are your typical duo of mercenaries. They’re cocky, wise-cracking douche bags who care about finishing their mission and getting paid. Some might not like these protagonist, but I did. The reason being is they’re like a couple of buddies or brothers who just crack jokes on each other. Their relationship seems real to me. Sadly, the story in the 40th Day does nothing to bring out much of this great duo’s chemistry nor does it make the campaign story the least bit interesting. The game begins with Salem and Rios in Shanghai for a mission to do something and then all of a sudden, Shanghai goes to hell with skyscrapers tumbling down and civilians being killed or held prisoner. As I write this now, I’m not too sure what the hell happened in the story, but the first four out of six chapters don’t have any sort of story telling. The story starts and ends in the last two chapters of the game, making The 40th Day less about story and more about big action sequences.

The main focus of Army of Two is the co-op. No matter what way you choose to play this game, you’ll always have your right hand man there for backup. Play with a buddy online, next to you, or play with the AI controlled partner (which isn’t as bad as one would expect.) Sure, playing with a friend would be better, but I played it with the AI and it would do what I wanted. Sometimes though it wouldn’t go where I would want it to. The 40th Day improves some of the co-op features by making them available at any time, but doesn’t add much besides a mock surrender, which allows your partner to flank the enemy. A new HUD GPS system is also available and it allows you to mark enemies and serves as a road map, but this option means nothing when it has a time limit. Another problem I found that doesn’t necessarily belong to the gameplay but holds you from the gameplay is the positioning of some of the checkpoints. Some of the checkpoints are saved before a cutscene, so if you die or a civilian is killed or anything, you’ll have to watch the cutscene every time since the game does not allow you to skip over them. I found this very frustrating at times seeing as how all I want to do is get back to the action.

When it comes to action sequences, The 40th Day delivers. The action in each chapter is very well paced and each chapter has a great action set piece like map taking place in a Zoo, which allows you to take cover over an elephant. Seriously. The shooting mechanics are easy to learn and the wide range of weaponry is there to buy and unlock. The weapon you use is much more satisfying knowing that you customized it to your liking. With numerous additions to each gun, your weapon will be unique. Making money in the game is simple. Either kill enemies, take it from their supply crates, rescue civilians. By becoming a Shanghai civilians savior, you will gain good morality or you can gain bad morality by killing them or not rescuing them. A morality set piece is also a part of each chapter asking you if you should kill this person or let them live, things of that nature.

The cover system in The 40th Day is a little over complicated than it should be. Pushing ‘A’ while running towards something will get you into cover, but if you’re right in front of what you want to take cover on you must duck and push up on the left stick. If you want to turn from side to side while taking cover the camera will pan over your left or right shoulder, then you must click in and out of that, which like I said over complicates things. I hate to compare games in my reviews, but The 40th Day would of been great if it would of just copied the cover system of a certain game that features locust.

As for graphics, the 40th Day was built using the Unreal Engine 3. Like the majority of games using that engine, the game looks good. The levels are polished, the characters are detailed, and the in-game visuals are overall pretty good. The only time the game doesn’t look that good is during the brief cutscenes of a skyscraper being destroyed and collapsing, but not many of those happen for too long. I have to give it to the level designers though. They did a great job in designing each chapter based on the location and the madness that surrounds that area. I was a little disappointed that the Unreal Engine physics weren’t used to their full capabilities. The game allows you to shoot enemies through a table via bullet penetration, yet the table doesn’t break or chip. All that is left is a black bullet hole.

I’m not too keen on sound, but a game that features no audio options is ridiculous. There is no way to lower the music volume and no way to turn up the voice acting volume. Even worse the game has no subtitles. Not everyone plays with subtitles, but in this game they’re needed since there are no audio settings are available. Maybe with subs I can have a better understanding of the story or actually be able to hear some of Salem and Rios’ jokes. With that being said, the sound itself is OK, but audio options would of been great.

Pick a friend and take the partnership online against other teams with The 40th Day. Compete in four modes which are, Co-Op Deathmatch, Warzone, Control, and the pre-order exclusive, Extraction. The multiplayer in 40th Day might be something you try just to see what it’s like, but you won’t stay for long. That might be due to some of the lag issues I found during my stay online, although I’m sure a patch might be on the way.

Army of Two: The 40th Day made some of the improvements it needed to, but it remains just an average game. However, that doesn’t mean its bad because believe me, I found myself having fun even though I was playing alone. Simply put, if you’re looking for an action game with lots of shooting that offers co-op and nothing more, then this is your game. If you have a good friend who you constantly play with, then Army of Two: The 40th Day would be a great, fun game for the both of you.

Concept:
Divinity II: Ego Draconis is billed as being the sequel to Divine Divinity, a computer role-playing game that was created back in 2002 by Belgian developer Larian Studios. The story takes place in Rivellon, a world populated by both humans and creatures unaware of the impending war that is before them. You assume the role of a nameless Dragon Slayer who is focused on taking down dragons to preserve society’s order. However throughout your journey, you also have the ability to become a Dragon, which instantly puts your foes at a disadvantage. After taking part in the dragon slayer ritual, you’ll have the option of choosing from 1 of 3 significant disciplines that will aid you in combat. They are as follows:

Ranger- Path Of Archery
Warrior- Path Of Sword
Alberic- Path Of Magic

It’s worth noting that there will be instances where some of these skills can be combined but it requires that you practice strategy to get the most impact from your attacks. The one good aspect of combat is that you can switch weapons virtually on the fly by pressing any of the corresponding buttons on the controller For example, if you choose the path of the warrior you’ll be able to use your sword by pressing X then switch to using your arrows by pressing A. You also have the option of Leveling Up your character by adding points to their specified abilities as stated below:

Vitality- General Health and Fitness
Spirit- Mental Power and Aptness
Strength- Physical Prowess and Athleticism
Dexterity- Agility and Reflexes
Intelligence- Cognitive Competence and Resistance to Attacks

Among the strongest skillsets you can acquire is the ability to mindread. This is significant because it allows you to have the upperhand in conversations, rewarding you with both cheaper prices from vendors and unveiling passwords to acquire more riches or unlockables. The same could be said about lockpicking techniques, which are also gained by properly allocating your Experience points to the right abilities only earned through combat. The campaign of the game clocks at about 60 hrs total should you decide to participate in the many sidequests that are offered. While these tasks are extremely repetitive in nature, any fan who truly wants to attain any or all of the insanely deep skillsets available will more then likely progress through the game for that very reason.

Execution:
Since Divinity II: Ego Draconis was a game created primarily for the PC gamer, its seems like the decision to release an Xbox 360 version came as a complete and underwhelming afterthought.  The graphics remain choppy and washed out easily putting it on par with launch titles from the previous generation of consoles. There are noticeable lag times, which occur all too often while your character is moving throughout the world. Even more frustrating is the game’s high tendency to crash, which usually happens at pivotal points in the campaign. This also exposes a flawed save system which forces the player to start from the beginning of a task rather then picking up from where they left off. For example, after your epic first encounter with the main antagonist of the game, Damien, you are then sent forth on a mission to gain enough power to beat him. Common sense would dictate that if this is a crucial point in the game and Autosave is automatically enabled then you should be able to start over from this point on. However, once your character dies you are forced with the task of playing from the previous savepoint to reach that sequence again. Equally annoying is the fact that you can’t skip over cutscenes, which pretty much becomes the equivalent of pulling teeth.

Divinity II also claims to have an intuitive morality system that rewards players with new experiences. This fact isn’t clearly displayed though because most of the conversations you engage in lead to the same result 9 times out of 10. The lack of range creates boredom and therefore isn’t enough to keep a gamer interested for very long. Customizing your character is extremely limited in scope meaning you can only choose hairstyles, facial appearance, voice, demeanor, and gender. The fact that you can’t change the race of your character is pretty insulting given that it’s suggested that in this setting there is diversity but it only applies to the differences between the humans and the creatures.

As I mentioned before the enemy A.I. is extremely unforgiving and warrants that you take the necessary precautions to win battles. There are jumping evasive maneuvers to avoid hits instead of dedicated cover system. The only problem is that your character is extremely weak throughout most of game and isn’t given quite as much incentives to gain power. For Example, after defeating the Arben Ghost inhibiting your soul you are given his sword to add to your arsenal of weapons. Immediately after receiving it, your lead commander takes it leaving you with the same lackluster weapons that you began the game with. This is a harsh slap in the face later once you face off against an array of enemies that are far more powerful and advanced then you.

By the same token, when you take on the form of the Dragon you are virtually unstoppable. The only problem is that this privilege is only gained through certain parts of the story and therefore most of your time is spent in human form. Beyond the surface, the main gimmick of this title is the ability to play as a Dragon. Therefore, it would only make sense to emphasize and push those boundaries further. Given that there is no multiplayer support in this game, there could have easily been a versus mode for Dragon fights between players over Xbox live or PC. It might not have been much but it definitely could have been a better alternative to playing a cliché story mode corrupted only by its own limitations.

Final Verdict:
Divinity II: Ego Draconis is a forgettable RPG that lacks dimensionality and only exists to capitalize on the genre. While the RPG elements of leveling up and the ability to play as a dragon may be fun for gamers, the limit you have to go through to achieve these goals hardly seems worth it at all. If you enjoy playing fantasy RPG’s I would strongly urge that you play Dragon Age: Origins instead. In the issue of fairness, I’m sure the PC version performs better given that it was originally manufactured to be played on a top tier computer. However as it stands now, playing this game is divinely atrocious so much so that I’m sure somewhere in the world Peter Jackson is shaking his head in disappointment.

It is easy to see why so many people would compare this game to God of War or Dante’s Inferno up front without even knowing much about the game. The themes do seem kind of similar, in the sense that they are all related to religious and godly views. However, Darksiders is a very different kind of game to what you might be expecting. Sure it’s full of demon slaying action, but that is far from the meat of the gameplay. Do not put this game down as another action adventure experience similar to the likes of God of War and Dante’s Inferno, because Darksiders has a strong balance between action and platforming styles of gameplay.

The games plot focuses on a premature apocalypse occurring, leaving War (one of the four horsemen) with the task of figuring out what happened, and where the rest of the horsemen are. Whilst heaven and hell are at war, your objective as one of the four horsemen is to try and bring some kind of truce between them. Sound interesting? Well although it is an interesting theme; the set up is poor, as the opening stages of the game are very confusing. One reason for this may be that Vigil wanted to ease the gamer into the combat aspects of the game, thus the first few levels focus mostly on the fighting aspects of the game.

At first the fighting system will seem way too simple; with one button allowing you to slaughter the enemy with War’s sword, and one button allowing you to jump, then another button performs a finisher once the enemy is stunned. Eventually you unlock more abilities, which give you more ways to deal with enemies, making the combat feel as though it evolves as you progress through the game. Though you still can’t put the fact aside that the game genuinely does feel like a button masher, however playing on the higher difficulties will help with this, as you will then have to pace and plan out your attacks in a more strategic way. Dealing with the bigger enemies is where you generally have more difficulty, but once you figure out the right pattern of striking him a few times and jumping out of the way of his offense, it all becomes simple. Interacting with the environmental damage can also work to your favor, as you are able to pick up and throw around cars, lampposts, and various other environmental elements you may find laying around.

The fact that Vigil paced this game out so perfectly, is actually what halts the game from feeling like a complete button masher, which I must say was a very brilliant thing to do. If Darksiders had too much combat it would indeed become very tiresome. Which is why you will actually feel happy that the game gives you a break from slaying demons, and moves onto some elements of platforming and puzzle solving. The transition from one style of play to the other does wonders for your brain stimulation. In truth the game is well paced, however during the transitioning stages the game may begin to feel very slow moving, which is why perhaps the game will take you up to 20 hours or so to complete.

Though the puzzle elements are not too difficult to deal with in the first few hours of the game, they can take a while to deal with. This can make the game slightly off putting at times, but Vigil does it’s best to throw a couple demons in there from time to time, which makes you happy to be able to slay something again.

There are many different toys that you receive throughout the game to play with, the problem is that you only really need to use them in the following moments of when you first discovered them. Sure you can use them whenever you may feel like, but it only actually feels necessary to use them when the game has presented you with a puzzle requiring that item. A saving grace is that eradicating your enemies doesn’t just ease your stress, it scores you souls in the game, which can be used to unlock new weapon abilities.

Darksiders has excellent sound, which caught me completely off guard. The game sounded amazing when hooked up to my budget sound system, and even whilst playing through just my TV speakers, I could hear the sound of each aggressive thud of of War’s feet slamming to the ground. Darksiders will definitely satisfy those who play close attention to sounds in every game.

Although the visual presentation of Darksiders is very impressive, it is far from what you may imagine after seeing all the CG. When you first get to play the game after seeing the opening CG scene, you may be a little underwhelmed. After a couple hours of playing however, you begin to fall for the scenery. You will begin to adapt to the games style, making it look stunning in it’s own right. Sadly though, the Xbox 360 version of the game suffered from a lot of screen tear, but the good news is that I hear there is a patch coming to fix the issue. Exploration is also something that can be rewarding in Darksiders, whether you receive a couple more souls, a health boost, or some nice weapon enhancements. The environments are very small in scale at times when you have a set puzzle, but there is still plenty of room to back track and find hidden chests and such.

Overall Darksiders is an experience that deserves your attention. It may be underwhelming during the first few hours of gameplay, but this is merely because Vigil is getting you used to the various aspects of the gameplay that make up what Darksiders is. Many of the greater gems that make the game exciting are introduced hours into the story, which keeps the game fresh. It is unfair to compare Darksiders to any other game, as it stands on it’s own. Even if you were to compare Darksiders to other games, Dante’s Inferno and God Of War are far from appropriate comparisons. I would say Legacy of Kain, or even Zelda are more worthy comparisons. If it’s a simple hack and slash or an action adventure that you are seeking, then Darksiders is not that. Instead suits those seeking a fulfilling adventure, full of refreshing gameplay elements that have been missing from many games this generation. With January being so crowded Darksiders does not deserve to be dismissed so early.

For your enjoyment we have also decided to include the opening 10 minutes of the game, so you can read the review and then watch the game in action.
Shout outs to James G for recording the footage.

Rather than trying slapping the Simpsons brand on a shitty platformer or creating a brainless spin-off (Simpsons Skateboarding anybody?) for their videogame debut Komani placed Homer and family in a side scrolling Beat ‘Em Up ala Final Fight. Sure in the TV show The Simpsons would never go around Springfield punching residents in the face but for an arcade game released in the early 90’s that was perfectly acceptable. Many have clamoured for a re-release of The Simpsons: The Arcade Game but  the change of licence from Konami to EA make such an event highly unlikely. For now us gamers will have to settle for the next best thing, The Simpsons Arcade for the iPhone.

The Simpson Arcade purposely mimmicks the arcade game that we all know and love but EA has cunningly tweaked a few things here and there to keep Konami lawyers off their backs, hell even the first few moments of both games are earily identical. While casually strolling down the street Homer accidentally bumps in to Waylon Smithers, upon doing so Smithers gets knocked out cold and a donut from his pocket flies up in air, naturally catching Homer’s attention. Unbeknown to Homer buried deep within the donut lies a USB Drive containing top-secret plans to rob Springfield’s resources. Before Homer could even get a taste of his new found donut Mayor Qwimby snatches it away from him and a chase ensues prompting Homer to take out the masterminds behind the plans and their seemingly endless stream of goons to reclaim “his” donut.  From here on it’s the usual “stroll to the right, beat up everyone in sight” affair that we’re all used to but with a few Simpsons related twists to keep fans happy.

Unlike the original arcade game which let you take control of any family member, here you’re only able to play as a super pissed off Homer. Homer may be a bit of a coward on TV but here he can punch, body slam, shoulder barge and belly flop the ground to floor enemies. Along the way you’ll pick up items such as taser guns, mallets, baseball bats and exploding barrels or collect icons which brings a family member on screen to provide some much needed assistance. Each family member has different abilities but ae all extremely helpful in one way or another. Bart is able to hop on Homey’s shoulders and use his slingshot to shoot powerful projectiles, Lisa uses her skipping rope to administer an earth shaking attack that stuns all on-screen enemies and Marge whacks Homer on the head with a vacuum cleaner turning him to a punching maniac which you control by titling the iPhone.

Like most action games on the iPhone The Simpsons Arcade uses an on-screen control system. A virtual analog stick is placed on the button left of the screen and opposite it are two virtual buttons for attacking and jumping. The controls work as well as expected but the placement of your fingers can sometimes obstruct the action. Making it to the end of the game will take roughly an hour with six stages to plough through each lasting roughly 10 minutes.  For £2.99 ($4.99) The Simpsons Arcades gives you a decent account of bang for your buck but it’s slightly disappointing that there’s not much else to do once the end credits roll.

As I mentioned earlier there are a few things which separates this game from the likes of Street Of Rage, however most of which will only matter to serious fans of the show.  Regular cast members such as Kent Brockman and Chief Wiggum make brief appearance for boss battles and the wimpier characters such as Flanders and Millhouse will flee as you approach living behind extra lives for you to collect. Extra lives can also be obtained by completing mini games which appear at the end of each level. By now you should already know if The Simpsons Arcade is the game for you. If you like the occasional Beat ‘Em Up and know what Duff Beer is you should not hesitate to download this from the app store. While its far from the Mecca of Simpsons based videogames it’s a nice little romp that will keep you entertained for at least an hour or so. It’s a shame that the TV show can no longer manage to do the same for 22 minutes.

As grim as that all may sound Blue Toad is surprisingly up-beat and family friendly. Imagine a Professor Layton game set in the Buzz universe, Blue Toad Murder Files is almost exactly that. Upon starting the game you’ll choose which member of the Blue Toad Agency you want to play as, however none of the characters look particularly appealing and the story doesn’t alter in any way no matter who you choose. Once you’ve chosen your desired protagonist you’ll see yourself arrive in Little Riddle, a peaceful town located in an the English country side. It’s here at this very moment that you’ll discover whether or not this game is for you. See, the enjoyment you’ll find in Blue Toad varies drastically depending on your affinity towards British humour. If that sort of thing is not you’re cup of tea (so to speak) you’re likely to find yourself becoming annoyed with a most of the characters in Little Riddle and a majority of the comedic moments will either go completely over your head or fall flat. It’s for that reason why I’d strongly encourage everyone to check out our quick look before throwing down £6.29 to purchase the first episode or £9.99 for a bundle containing episodes 1 and 2

If you’re the kind of guy who enjoys a good ol’ Monty Python whilst indulging in extracurricular activities  you’ll no doubt have heaps of fun solving some truly mind boggling puzzles in between listening to hilarious banter from the Little Riddle town folk. Each of the first two episodes contain 12 puzzles which will last you roughly 45 minutes, unfortunately neither of them offer any replay value unless you decide to conduct another play-through to earn any missed trophies. If the pricing and structure for Blue Toad Murder Files remains the same for the four upcoming episodes you can expect to pay upwards of £30 on a 4 to 5 hour experience, making a trip to Little Riddle rather expensive.

The range of available puzzles in the first two episodes are impressive. You’ll be exercising your mind trying to figure out everything for maths problems to logic puzzles and at times you’ll even have to decipher cryptic messages  or listen to witness accounts to piece together events. Years of developing Buzz titles have obviously taught Relentless Software a thing or two about how to make answering tricky questions actually fun.  On the surface, the biggest (and probably only) advantage that Blue Toad Murder Files has over the Professor Layton games is the ability to play alongside up to three your friends. Unfortunately the multiplayer feels extremely half baked requiring you to pass the controller over to your fellow man after each puzzle. Again the story doesn’t change to accommodate for the additional players and the more humans you introduce in to the mix, the longer you’ll have to wait for the controller to return to your hands. Still, watching your friends struggle to solve the simplest of puzzles is always entertaining and since your individual scores are tallied up at the end of the game you have every incentive to mislead them in order to secure your place at the top.

Blue Toad Murder Files is a entertaining romp and a solid first attempt for Relentless Software as they attempt to branch out of their comfort zone. Some characters may be overly annoying and the story isn’t particularly interesting but there is enough charm and brain-bending challenge here to please any Limey-Loving, Professor Layton fan. Hopefully the quality and execution of the writing will improve during episodes 3 through 6 because as flawed as the first 2 episodes may be they have at least intrigued  me enough to stick around and find out.

The Element Of Freedom

J Records/MBK

Producers: Alicia Keys, Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, Jeff Bhasker, Swizz Beatz, Noah “40″ Shebib

Since the dawn of her career, Alicia Keys has been a critically acclaimed musician as well as a philanthropist and media darling, contributing to non-profit organizations around the globe as well as co-founding her own, Keep A Child Alive. With a musical career that includes twelve Grammy wins and over 30 million records sold worldwide, Keys appeared to have everything she could dream of… everything that is but love. 2009 saw reports of a rumored relationship with divorcee Swizz Beatz blanketed by rumors that she was the cause of his divorce from singer Mashonda. With The Element Of Freedom, Alicia Keys seeks to finally address her new found freedom and at the same time, exhale.

A brief spoken word guides listeners into the delicate “Love Is Blind”, a standout which finds the singer expressing her thoughts on negativity hanging over her head through a voice that almost does not sound as if its her own. She defiantly addresses doubters and naysayers who feel the need to express their opinions on circumstances surrounding the origins of her personal relationship with producer Swizz Beatz. Soft piano keys dramatically compliment the songstress’ supple vocals on initial single “Doesn’t Mean Anything”, an mature number where she recounts all the material items she’s amassed and how worthless they are without that special someone to share her joy with. The previous record impeccably transitions into Keys’ second single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart”, an inspirational ballad dedicated to those who have experienced shattered love and using a trip down memory lane to fuel her to finally let go.

The songbird promptly reverts to her bread and butter, heavily relying on the piano on “Wait Til You See My Smile” and “That’s How Strong My Love Is”, the latter seeing Keys reverberate vocals similar to a vintage Mariah Carey. The midway point of The Element Of Freedom includes the only collaboration(s) on the project. The only “official” collaboration comes in the form of “Put It In a Love Song” where she unites with fellow diva Beyonce on a track that reeks of Mrs. Carter’s “Single Ladies” and would have been better served on her next project instead. The uncredited cameo on Freedom comes courtesy of Drake, who administers background vocals to “UnThinkable (I’m Ready)”. An aura of vulnerability encases Alicia on “UnThinkable” as Drake’s in-house producer Noah “40″ Shebib merges her succulent yearning with the trademark aesthetic created on So Far Gone to craft a painfully beautiful and lovestruck record that may prove to be the benchmark for tracks concocted prior to and for the duration of her career.

Alicia Keys continues to exercise her newfound freedom, stepping outside of her boundary box to provide the 80’s inspired “This Bed”, crying out for her love to join her for a passionate rendevaous beneath the covers. The album comes to a perfect conclusion as “Distance & Time” tackles the idea of long distance relationships before concluding with the sequel to her collaboration single with Jay-Z, “Empire State Of Mind”. Part II is more elegance than flash in comparison to its predecessor and while sans Jay-Z, Alicia Keys pays homage to the city that groomed her and undoubtably proves that she is the biggest reason why the original became a #1 record.

With The Element Of Freedom, Alicia Keys provides yet another great record to install in her small (yet growing) catalogue as she continues to slowly grow and expand before the public’s very eyes. While there are a few misfires (“Put It In a Love Song” comes to mind), these flaws are rendered null and void due to the excellence of songs like “UnThinkable” and “Like The Sea”. With Freedom, Alicia Keys takes listeners on a lush journey, one that showcases her consistency as well as a foundation of strength, vulnerability and ultimately, hope.

4 spins (out of 5)

As with every iPhone port the biggest challenge, and key factor to the game’s success is determined by how well the controls translate to the touch screen. Playing a Pac-Man game with anything less than perfect controls could be detrimental to the experience but luckily Namco has provided multiple control schemes to insure players have the precision they need. “Control Type 1” places two d-pads at the bottom of the screen, players have the choice to use whichever d-pad they desire or even use them both in tandem for quicker reflexes. “Control Type 2” replaces the d-pads with left/right control keys and places a rectangle bar in-between them which functions as a down key. To move up players simply have to tap anywhere above the control portion of the screen, it may sound funky but in practice it works well enough. “Control Type 3” introduces thumb swipe controls where you slide your thumb in the direction you want Pac to move and “Control Type 4” is for finger swipes in-case you lost both your thumbs in a freak kitchen accident. Were it not for the dual d-pad option I would have had a hard time with Pac-Man CE, the swipe controls don’t work well enough and Control Type 2 can become cumbersome when the action speeds up and the game becomes more intense. After a few minutes getting to grips with the D-Pad Controls I was navigating Pac through mazes almost as smoothly as I could with the 360 controller.

For those unfamiliar with the Championship Edition or even the 1980’s Pac-Man, welcome to life. In the original arcade game players had to guide Pac through a maze gobbling up Pac-Dots and the avoiding four ghosts who seek to steal his soul. If a ghost touches Pac he loses a life, once all lives are lost the game ends. Ghosts can only defeated by collecting Power Pellets which were located in the four corners on the screen. Once a Power Pellet is obtain Pac-Man has a brief window to eat the ghosts as they turn neon blue and attempt to flee his wrath. Eating a ghost will send them back to their home located in the centre of the screen where they’ll reside for a few moments before re-joining the game. Once all Dots and Pellets are collected players move on to the next level where the maze and rules stay the same but the ghosts receive an incremental speed boost. Unfortunately for Pac he could never win,  the game only ends when the ghosts tear his life away from him.| As with many arcade games your goal was not to “beat” the game but to rack up the highest score and reign on top of the leaderboards.

For Pac-Man Championship Edition the basic rules and premise are the same but instead of having to clear the maze wholesome players are required to clear up Dots and Pellets on one side of the screen which will cause a new series of Dots to appear on the other.  This process will continue until either Pac dies or  your 5 minute timer reaches zero. As the timer counts down the ghosts increase in speed and the placement of the Dots will become more complex, however a skilled player should be able to keep Pac on-the-move collecting a continuous stream of Dots and Pellets for the entire 5 minute interval. Unlike the old games Pac can finally win and doing will unlock new mazes each with varying degrees of difficulty. Completely new to iPhone version of Pac-Man CE are the Challenge and Mission modes however access to most of the Missions and any Challenges requires the purchase of an additional expansion pack. I’m sure Namco would argue that they’re giving players “choice” and not forcing them to pay for content they may not want but the notion of paying extra money for a game that I just paid for just doesn‘t sit right with me.

I’m sure no one was expecting the iPhone version of Pac-Man Championship Edition to be as good as the 360 version but it damn sure comes close and for a fraction of the price too.  With Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Pac-Man Remix already on the app store Pac-Man CE may appear to be just another mindless cash-in but this Championship Edition arguably the best version of Pac-Man since the original arcade game. The new timed mechanic is perfect for portable gaming and the Mission Mode is ideal for quick 2 minute sessions whilst waiting for the bus. If playing Pac-Man on the go is something you can see yourself doing it really gets no better than this.

Concept:
Madden NFL Arcade is an arcade stylized version of Madden but with the sole emphasis on playing football without the rules and guidelines associated with the sport. The game comes complete with all 32 NFL teams and operates as a 5-on-5-player experience similar to that of the NFL Street franchise. From the minute you take to the field you only have 4-5 downs and 60 yards to score a touchdown. You can score anywhere from 6 to 48 points to emerge victorious over your opponent. There are no special teams animations in the game and you are instead given a choice to go for the two point conversion or have the 1 point kick automatically added to your score. To add to the challenge of gameplay each player is given the ability to use up to 13 gamechangers, which can greatly determine your effectiveness in each down. For example using the Molasses gamechanger can allow you to slow down your plays for accurate passes, while the Turbo gamechanger can do the exact opposite. When it comes to running plays you only have four options to choose from which are run, short pass, middle pass, and long pass. The A.I. Difficulty settings remain the same as the options in Madden NFL 10, making fans feel right at home. The simplified control system is meant to make this a pick up and play type of game that anyone can enjoy. There are also Leaderboards for those who decide to play online and check their ranking among others.

Execution:
Madden NFL Arcade has several flaws that keep it from being a game worthy of the Madden brand. The graphics are on par with games from the previous generation of consoles with character models that look all too similar and lack fluidity while moving. While the gamechangers add fun to the game, there is no way of knowing when or if you will receive one. It would be helpful to have a system in place that would allow you to build up gamechangers based upon how well you execute on each individual play. There also are no roster updates, which can easily frustrate diehard fans if an important player is traded to another team. There are no season, franchise, or tournament modes, which only diminish the chances of this game ever having a high replayability value. Among all these nagging issues, the most insulting thing about this game is its $15 price point. It’s no secret that one of the biggest criticisms about Madden 10 was EA Sports focus on using microtransactions to unlock other gameplay features. As a consumer you have the ability to buy whatever game or add-on you like, but for a Madden game the expectations should be higher. Being that there is no competition from other NFL sports games, EA Sports should strive to deliver a full package from day one. Had Arcade been included as part of the Madden 10 package then the missing features wouldn’t have been such a big deal.

Final Verdict:
Madden NFL Arcade is a fun, but forgettable title that’s lack of features easily make it one of the worst packages to buy. While the simple ability to pick up and play is appealing, it’s hard to justify paying $15 bucks for this when you could purchase any of the more creative independent games on Xbox live instead. If your one of the few who hasn’t bought a football game and are thinking about purchasing this, I would highly suggest you pick up Madden NFL 10. Otherwise playing Madden NFL Arcade would make you an easy target to tackle on any and every given Sunday.

It seems like a recipe for success,  have one of the world’s best developers (Rockstar) hook up with one of the world’s best music producers (Timbaland) to make a music creation tool ala MTV Music Generator. As a music producer myself and a avid gamer I look up to both Rockstar and Timbaland , so as you can imagine I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Beaterator for the iPhone since the day it was announced. Unfortunately not only does Beaterator fail to live up to my expectations, it only fails to live up to the clout of the big names associated with it.  A clunky interface, lack of direction and poor quality samples all work in tandem to produce a worthless experience that doesn’t even justify it’s lower than expected asking price (£3/$5).

From the moment you  start up Beaterator and see the blank 10×8 grid staring at you you’ll instantly feel daunted. Rather than ease you in gently and “teach” you the fine art of crafting banging beats, Rockstar opted to use the Fuck You approach and force users to figure out what to do on their own. Navigating through the menu’s you’ll find a Help option which contains text that will prove vital to get you going. Understandably the last thing gamers would want to do after purchasing a brand new game is read lengthy instructions but since music production is such a complex and technical art-form I guess it‘s only natural.

Once you’ve read up on everything Beaterator has to offer, it’s time to craft your very own Timbo quality beats right? Well, no not exactly. Tapping on an empty portion of the grid open up a loop menu where you can select some of the most muffled, low-quality samples you’ll ever hear in your life. The amount of pre-made loops available is impressive, altogether there are over 1000 loops to choose from including pianos, hi-hats, kicks, strings, synths, sound effects etc. all composed by either the folks at R* or Timbaland himself. Unfortunately the inability to significantly customize any of these loops renders a majority of them useless as you’ll never feel like you can make them your own. Once you’ve found a sample you that like and doesn’t sound like it was recorded straight from pirate radio station with a rusty cassette tape (which is easier said that done) you can add it to a channel on your grid, now have fun repeating this mundane process until you have every instrument you need.

Even with it’s 1000+ library, finding a decent sample for anything other than drums is surprisingly hard. Almost everything you’ll preview will either be low quality, edited horribly or sound completely wack. If you are lucky enough to find something that doesn’t suck good luck finding another sample to compliment it, and since you can’t preview other samples while your unfinished beat is playing it’s extremely difficult to tell what will or won’t work for you without selecting it first. If the sample you’ve selected doesn’t completely gel with what you already have simply fumble through the lengthy deletion process and search again. You can slightly modify each sample by adjusting the Reverb and Pan but for the most part they just serve to make an already bad sample sound even worse.

I’m not going to waste either of our time going further in-depth on this disaster, by now I’m sure you’ve figured out that a music creation tool which requires you to stitch pre-made loops together but doesn’t even bother to make sure that most of it’s loops are actually good isn’t worth your money. It seems not even the developers or Timbo himself were able to get to grips with this cluster-fuck as 17 out of the 18 creations which come pre-installed as templates are atrocious. Rockstar might as well have outsourced development for this to a XNA developer and used  Nitty instead of Timbo, that’s the only way I think they could have screwed things up even more.