Hmm, note to Mr Ecko - if you're gonna make a grafitti based game at least let the player design some grafitti! I thought the whole idea of tagging was about leaving your mark, not someone elses?

Shadow of the Colossus
Verdict: Bold, beautiful and breathtaking
Platform: PS2.
Rating: 5/5
To use the second album analogy, Shadow of the Colossus has been under similar pressure to deliver as the spiritual sequel to Ico - one of the greatest games ever made (just re-released for £20 and the sole reason our house invested in a PS2).
The story, written with an emotional resonance rarely seen in games, pits you as a young man on a quest to bring his love back to life. Equipped with nothing but a magic sword, a bow and loyal horse you are sent on a journey through a cursed land to slay 16 colossi in return for this wish.
Think Jack and the Beanstalk and you’re half way there. Each colossus is an ambiguous mythical giant made of flesh and rock. Each one is unique and imbued with a personality of its own and each one is a puzzle, a huge lumbering, sprinting, swimming or flying Rubik’s Cube that you have to figure out how to mount, climb and slay - the killing blow almost always leaving an indecisive pang of guilt.
Of course, none of this would be possible without Agro the horse - she is a friend, a companion and an individual with a mind of her own. Her animation, control and AI exudes character and realism and (in parallel to Ico’s main characters) the subtle exchanges between the boy and his horse show a tender relationship that will be put to the ultimate test.
Much of the game is also spent exploring the vast lands in search for each beast, your magic sword lighting the way when held aloft in sunlight, taking you on enchanting rides through deserts, dense forests, ruined cities and majestic caves. It’s this contrast to the action that underpins the game throughout - the interplay between light and shadow - tranquil exploration and intense platforming and in contrast to the earth shaking presence of the Colossi the game is full of subtle touches that can easily be missed - here is a lesson in juxtaposition and minimalism used to spectacular effect.
The occasionally unwieldy camera, throw away HUD and mild pop-up hold the game back from perfection so to give it 5 stars may be at odds but the rest is so overwhelming and original that you have to forgive it. It pushes the ageing PS2 to it’s limit creating a ground breaking graphical and cinematic masterpiece. It also reminded me of why I love gaming.
I wonder what the musical equivalent would be?

It's one thing to slag off a game you disliked in an amusing way, it's another to try and do justice to a game you've fallen in love with (but not in a gay way - Paul). Shadow of the Colossus review incoming this Friday. Words - don't fail me now...

James Bond: From Russia With Love
Verdict: Desperate corporate spying
Platform: Xbox, PS2.
Rating: 2½/5
EA’s latest in a long line of average Bond games attempts to break from the shadow of Rare’s highly regarded (and never bettered) Golden Eye by shifting the game into the 3rd person. A move that as well as allowing them to use Sean Connery’s expensively licenced likeness allows them to introduce new features to the franchise - a possible bid to leave the creative rut they’ve been stuck in.
It’s endemic and accepted in the industry to copy in-vogue ideas from other games - bullet time, cell shading, rag doll physics...whatever’s new and used but From Russia with Love takes the biscuit. It’s bursting at the seams with borrowed features and although this isn’t a bad thing, none of the things included are quite as good as their original counterparts. Still, it’s the most diverse Bond from them yet.
EA likes to make its games easy - I know this from experience through my work as a games tester on 007: Nightfire. Their focus groups called for the game to be dumbed down on many occasions (once to the cry that they don’t understand doors - so make them flash! I kid you not...). In this case though it’s the gunplay that feels too dumbed down - an over reliance on auto lock-ons that remove any need for skill (they may as well remove the shoot button). The ‘Bond Focus’ mode however cynically reintroduces aiming as a ‘feature’. Congrats to EA for renaming aiming as a new innovation.
What ultimately lets it down though is one of the most important aspects of any 3rd person game - the camera. It just takes far too much work - I’m supposed to be a spy not a camera man! So much of your time is spent struggling with it, keeping it focused on the action - every corner you turn you have to force it to follow you, just to see where you’re going. Coupled with a bizarre momentum on it and the games’ graphic engine creaking, groaning and slowing down nearly every time you move it - you’re looking at a head ache inducing adventure.
Not very suave indeed.

Shadow the Hedgehog
Verdict: Sonic has nothing to fear
Platform: Xbox, PS2, GC.
Rating: 1/5
While i’m all for cute animals wielding large weapons this controversial introduction of guns to the Sonic universe is both out of place and poorly executed.
I’m not going to bother arguing whether or not guns should have been introduced to a franchise usually regarded in the same light as a Disney series - it’s an utterly transparent attempt to use a well known brand and ‘angst’ it up in a bid to appeal to a different demographic. A decision seemingly made by accountants rather than designers.
I wouldn’t have any problems with the ‘tude, the nu-metal soundtrack, the guns and the ‘smoke 20 a day’ voice of Shadow if it had even come close to the quality of previous 3D Sonic games (and that’s not asking much either).
For a game supposedly centred around gun play it’s one of its weakest aspects. I’d optimistically hoped for a watered down version of Devil May Cry’s mechanics mixed with Sonic’s platforming and level design. What I got was a game that had neither. The guns feel like they were a last minute addition with weak implementation and little contribution to the gameplay. The level design feels like ‘Sonic by numbers’ painted by someone who can’t count.
The Sonic name is synonymous with speed and grace. Shadow however plays more like a drunk rodent running on ice whilst the in-game camera fails miserably to do anything remotely useful and the graphic engine splutters and shakes on the rare occasion it gets up to speed - the framerate dropping faster than my will to continue playing.
As well as guns Shadow introduces the ability to choose your own route through the game based on a ‘light/dark/indifferent’ allegiance (shoot the aliens, shoot the robots or shoot the humans). What this boils down to however is a mess of objectives and simplistic game play - everyone is out to get you so who do you shoot? Who cares? Without consequences of any weight there is no moral dilemma or desire to make any of these choices.
I made the moral decision to eject the game from the console and my memory.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (18)
Verdict: Kung-fu without the Konfucius
Platform: Xbox, PS2.
Rating: 2½/5
Harking back to the golden age of the arcade i’d happily pile in the silvers to play generic side scrolling beat-em-up number 5 - the joy not being the ropey animation and poor collision detection but the thrill of playing with a friend - co-operating in a street brawl or fantasy hack-em-up and surviving together against the odds by the skin of your pixel teeth.
If you died you either stood by, egging your friend on or inserted some more coins till the credits ding’d and you magically reincarnated. Even though we’d played dozens of poorly made identi-kit games before, we kept on pouring in the money - it was about shared experiences and free form multiplayer gaming. And the graphics were better than my home console’s.
Fast-forward to the future (the year is 2006, hover boards, moon colonies and Tri-D TV are prevalent) and i’m sat in the living room playing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks in Ko-op mode and nothing has changed. Sure, i’m taller and have more money in my pocket (only because the game was free) but i’m still button mashing my way through endless droves of look-a-like baddies (there’s a definite need for a ‘Queer eye for the bad guy’ makeover show) whilst putting up with a dodgy camera, frustrating platforming, average graphics, bland level design and Mortal Kombat’s very own flavour of action movie kung-fu cheese (great on pizza by the way).
The difference is 15 or so years and things should have moved on since then. Fair enough it’s successfully incorporated moves from the 2D fighter into a 3D space and created a combo juggling system that allows both players to play tennis with the enemy but it’s essentially the same game i’ve played many times before. Except with over-long cut-scenes, a (bizarrely) shared health bar and too many letter k’s.
Play it with a friend whilst pretending you’re in an arcade surrounded by old machines and the stench of stale fags. Wait, that sounds like my mate's living room.

Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (16+)
Verdict: Jack of all trades master of one
Platform: Xbox, PS2, GC, PC.
Rating: 3/5
When a games’ marketing campaign is fixed solely on it having no loading screens you know something’s wrong. Taking Grand Theft Auto as their cue they’ve tried to mimic it’s city sized level design and create a seamless (no loading screens!) giant skate park where you can go anywhere you want, pulling tricks and combos off it’s generous architecture. What they haven’t mimicked however is GTA’s ability to create the illusion of a living breathing city. In this case you’re presented with a very thin veneer - a large skate park designed to look like a city but without any of the life and character. It’s cold and drab and the loading screens have been
replaced by glitchy tunnel sections between areas, allowing the level to stream in - a thinly disguised alternative that further erodes any suspension of disbelief. This is what so many games get wrong when copying GTA - it’s not just size that matters.
They’ve also gone for content over quality this time, eschewing the purity of the original games and creating a bloated package of mediocre game design and me-too content but none of it managing to really supplement the core of the game that remains almost the same since the start of the series - the skating.
It’s here where the game still shines through though - the skating is as good as ever with plentiful tricks new and old to keep the pro-skater contented and fans of the series occupied for hours as they attempt more and more ambitious combos.
Here’s the crux - if you’re a fan, despite the half-hearted GTA copying and content spamming you’ll enjoy this game and appreciate the subtle changes and additions to the skating. If you’ve never played before you’d be advised to seek out an earlier version - it expects you to know what you’re doing, to be able to jump headlong in without a second thought - weak tutorials,
twitchy controls and difficulty spikes barring the way to the uninitiated.
Kudos for them including Prefuse 73 and Dead Kennedys on the same soundtrack though.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (16+)
Verdict: Back to it’s roots, almost.
Platform: Xbox, PS2, PC.
Rating: 3½/5
The third in this series of Prince of Persia, The Two Thrones continues in the same tradition, offering you hours of platforming and acrobatic spectacle with high production values and flamboyant moves. You’ll be swinging, backflipping, wall running...it’s an acrobatic dream and as usual is animated wonderfully as you leap and spin around the ancient city of Babylon. And If your leap leads to your death then you can merely rewind time and try it again.
It is here where the game is strongest, the true heart of the series back after a misguided sequel, ditching the gothic undertones and emulating the original Sands of Time to a mostly successful degree. It does seem to lack some of the grandeur and beauty of it’s predecessor’s levels though and the platforming never really challenges, obvious hints leading the way - it’s dumbing down undermining the key component of the game.
That and an irritating camera, poorly spaced checkpoints and an out of place chariot driving section further ensure it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
The combat is a possible improvement on the original however, where it felt intrusive and repetitive but it’s extensive combos and slo-mo kills still feel like it’s mimicking other games (Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry...) and not quite pulling it off. Once again it feels unnecessary though it does sit better with the platforming this time round. Thankfully the inclusion of stealthy speed kills helps cut down on time spent fighting by giving you the opportunity to take down multiple enemies in a sequence of well timed button presses that later on require super-human accuracy.
The introduction of the Dark Prince creates a new feel to the combat and platforming with a chain-whip style weapon (Castlevania, God of War) and improved abilities but the sense of urgency he instills due to his energy constantly running out doesn’t sit well with the rest of the game. Luckily pots and vases full of energy imbued sand are littered around in true video game cliche.
Throughout the game a sultry female voice narrates, telling the story as you play alongside monologues from the prince himself. It’s a nice touch that gives weight to the action and helps keep things interesting. The dark prince also adds to the mix, introducing a scizophrenic duality to the proceedings, ironically mimicking the game itself - a game of two halves.

Brothers in arms: Earned in blood (16+)
Verdict: Deep, strategic and bloody
Platform: Xbox, PS2, PC.
Rating: 4/5
There’s a reason Brothers in Arms has the subtitle ‘Earned in Blood’. Besides distinguishing it as a sequel instead of a number 2, it sums up the underlying tone within the game. Brothers in Arms is a bloody, violent, sometimes shocking game and it’s all the better for it. I’ve never been a fan of World War II shooters - I prefer bigger guns and fictional enemy’s, but this one has opened my eyes.
The game is a story being told by an American soldier in a series of flashbacks broken into chapters that chart his shaky arrival by parachute in France and subsequent mission to survive behind enemy. The advantages of hindsight allow for some nice directorial flourishes, mixing up gameplay with filmic edits and emotional gravitas.
On first glance it is a standard first-person shooter - yet another World War II cash-in but within minutes of playing you discover a whole different kettle of tactical fish. Rather than being a bloodless cardboard cut-out shooting gallery (like the Medal of Honour series) it introduces squad tactical control, the Situational Awareness View and a story with depth and realism - every bullet hurts.
What this amounts to in-game is the ability to command your squad in real time and plan your attack utilising an overhead camera that, whilst pausing the action, allows you to survey the rustic battlefield from various viewpoints. This mode gives you the freedom to carefully plot your moves almost as if playing a game of chess but the awkward camera controls and occasional interference from scenery can unfortunately spoil it.
Back in the action you have three types of command to issue to your squad - move, suppress and charge, allowing you to attempt to out-flank the enemy whilst they keep them occupied. It may be a basic sounding repertoire but it’s effective nonetheless and allows you to quickly get into a strategic rhythm of plan, suppress, flank and attack. The constant repetition of this however may be one of the game’s weak points but the variety in level design should ensure it doesn’t get boring.
As a sequel it doesn’t seem to bring much new to the series, a multiplayer mode here, a skirmish mode there but what it does do is attempt to tell another well crafted (true) story whilst producing more of the same tactical first-person action from the original game.
The whole package is polished with solid, familiar controls, decent online support, strong level design (centralising on great close quarters combat) and engaging, brain exercising combat.
I recommend this game if only on the grounds of it treating the subject with respect, honesty and attempting to do something different in a genre choked with clones.

Star Wars Battlefront 2
Verdict: More fun than the prequels
Platform: PS2, Xbox, PC.
Rating: 4/5
You can be Yoda.
That’s the review done, go out and buy this game. No seriously, that’s all you need to know.
Oh and you can be Darth Vader too. Satisfied?
I’ve got to say more?
Battlefront 2 is primarily a multiplayer online game in which large battles take place between two armies. You get to play as an assortment of Storm Troopers, Clone Troopers, Rebels, Droids and Jedi, each with their own weapon types, abilities and play styles. You also get a plethora of vehicles and ships at your disposal ranging from Scoutwalkers to Spider Droids.
Being a sequel it brings many new features, most notably the inclusion of a solid single player mode telling the story of ‘Revenge of the Sith’ from the eyes of a clone trooper. It’s a polished and well made campaign with varied and easy to comprehend objectives and actually feels like a real game as opposed to something that was just tacked on.
Space combat has been introduced and allows you to get behind the controls of all your favourite ships, taking part in massive dog fights and facing down the likes of Star Destroyers. The flight controls however are twitchy, the lack of a cockpit view disappointing and it lacks the grace of the PC classic ‘X-Wing’ but it’s fiery chaos is fun nonetheless.
The inclusion of Jedi’s as playable characters is something that was desperately missing from the previous game and is a joyous addition as cartwheeling round the battlefield as Yoda, maniacally swinging a Light Sabre and using force powers is non-stop fun.
Also the much needed inclusion of a first person view has allowed for a far more immersive and accurate game. For the casual gamer though the 3rd person view is fine with a well implemented lock on system and auto aim. It’s also the closest you can get to playing with your Star Wars figures.
Did I mention you can be Yoda?

Shin Megami Tensei - Lucifer’s Call
Verdict: The apocalypse never looked so good
Platform: PS2
Rating: 4/5
Lucifer’s Call is the latest in a long line of Shin Megami Tensei (True Goddess Metempsychosis!?) games dating back to the Super Nintendo. Set in Tokyo, the entire population of the world is annihilated by a global catastrophe called the Conception and (paradoxically) the fate of the entire world lies on your shoulders as it’s saviour or destroyer.
This is a Japanese RPG (Role Playing Game for those not in the know) of the most comprehensive kind. Played in a very similar style to the grandiose Final Fantasy series, it’s a turn-based fighting, random battle encounters and standard levelling up affair but what sets it apart from being just another clone is a number of things. The levelling up system has the extra element of ‘Magatama’, symbiotes that can be consumed (physically through the eye!) and imbue the player with powers. You can switch between these, keeping powers you’ve learnt and gaining new ones, giving you greater flexibility. The random battle encounters, a standard (gripe) in this genre, can be too frequent and make certain sections gratingly long but they’ve included an auto attack feature to counter this. The main crux of the battle system is the ability to persuade the demons you fight to join your party and also fuse them with others to create different, more powerful ones (as well as them evolving on their own). It’s this that is the real meat of the game, giving it a Pokémon style ‘gotta catch em all’ edge as there are over 100 different demons to get. You can also choose between dark and light paths (always an issue of contention in our house), giving an extra sense of freedom (and maturity) to an often linear genre. But the first thing you’ll really notice about this game is the stunning anime styled graphics and animation that create a rich and imaginative world of comic book detail and character design. This stylisation can work against it though, alienating some players not accustomed to such eastern eccentricity.
On the whole, it treads familiar ground with some novel touches, deep gameplay and an artistic verve bereft of many western titles. What’s not to like?

Bomberman DS
Verdict: Multiplayer mayhem
Platform: Nintendo DS
Rating: 3½/5
I still hold Super Bomberman 2 on the SNES as one of my favourite games of all time so it was with great anticipation that I took up this review, intrigued as to how it had survived the translation to such a peculiar (but genius) console. I can safely say that it has retained all that made it great.
Still regarded as one of the best multiplayer games, up there with Super Mario Kart, Goldeneye and Halo 2, Bomberman is a legend in getting groups of friends to crowd round and shout at a TV. Combining simple but addictive strategy and action in a format that anyone can pick up, Bomberman’s pinnacle was on the 16 player Sega Saturn version. The DS iteration is just like all the other ones (if it aint broke don’t fix it) but has a few new tricks up it’s sleeve. The dual screens are used to double the size of the playing field with tunnels allowing players to traverse between them. The touch screen allows you to flick bombs at opponents as revenge for knocking you out and the microphone can give you control over various functions depending on gametype. The real crowning glory is the possibility of 8 player games from one game cart, playable over the DS’ Wifi connection. It really highlights the potential for Nintendo’s handheld curio and wirless gaming on the whole. The fact that you only need one cart to spread such joy is worthy of a knighthood.
There are tonnes of options to tweak, gametypes, powerups - too many to mention and certainly enough to keep you entertained/confused. The voice activated options however, whilst being amusing, are inherently flawed. The two game types allow you to either drop bombs or activate shields with your voice which means that any sound can trigger them - including opponents trying to make you drop your own bombs. Laughing doesn’t help either.
As well as being a multiplayer game it comes with a singleplayer puzzle mode but, as with previous Bomberman games, it feels more like a tutorial for multiplayer than a fully fledged game. Which is why I’d only recommend this if you have a bunch of friends with DS’. If you do, then your luck’s in!