Looking ahead to 2008

With the surprising 2007 behind us this year should hold some tasty new treats and plenty of revisits to franchises, for better or for worse.
Amongst the Fifa Streets there are some long awaited sequels on the way - Fable 2 attempts to introduce emotional ties through man's best friend, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin controversially replaces cute characters with gritty visuals and GTA IV attempts to reinvent the genre it created.
Each console has exclusives to tempt gamers to its cause - with Final Fantasy XIII (PS3), Ninja Gaiden 2 (360) and No More Heroes (Wii), the choice is difficult but multiplatform titles like Fallout 3 and Devil May Cry 4 help ease the pain.
Those awaiting the recently announced Street Fighter IV can take respite in the hand drawn HD reworking of Super Street Fighter II while Soul Calibur IV will be back with exaggerated cleavers and cleavage.
I've still to play recent delights like The Orange Box due to the Christmas glut and with so many great games still to come i'm starting to panic! Sheesh, it's a hard life as a reviewer, especially with this five on the way -

Too Human - Xbox 360
Melding Geometry Wars style twin stick controls with a full blown multiplayer RPG, this sci-fi take on Norse mythology might just be the best thing for friends since Gauntlet.

Halo Wars - Xbox 360
Real time strategy games have had a checkered history on consoles yet this attempts to trump all previous attempts with intuitive controls. Prequel to Master Chief's trilogy, this is Halo as it was originally envisioned.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Nintendo Wii
Nintendo's chaotic 4 player beat em up comes with online play and a whole host of guest characters - now those Sega vs Nintendo playground arguments can finally be settled as Sonic faces off against Mario.

Metal Gear Solid 4 - PS3
With an aging and disillusioned Snake up against an army of nano augmented soldiers it looks like his last stand might be his best. Stealth action to the power of ten.

Alan Wake - Xbox 360
The makers of Max Payne deliver the long awaited, gorgeous looking, psychological thriller about a horror novelist with insomnia trapped in a nightmarish town of his imagination. Just don't look under the bed.

2007 in review

My 2nd year on this column has no doubt been the most eventful - 2007 has seen the rapid acceptance of gaming in the mainstream via Nintendo's phenomenal success as the casual gamer’s gateway while the undoubtably geekish Halo 3 smashed the first weekend takings of any Hollywood film this year. Times are indeed changing.
Once again the 360 has been my console of choice with a steady supply of quality titles like Crackdown and Forza 2, backed up by strong online support. If only the Deadly Ring of Death wasn’t such a blight on its facade.
The Wii has surprised with its success yet hasn't received the games it deserves. Recent titles like Super Mario Galaxy are indeed painting a brighter future while the same goes for the PS3, just without the stellar sales. A £300, feature reduced version and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has certainly helped though.
The DS has been a trusty companion over the year with the likes of Pokémon Pearl while my PSP has remained covered in dust, awaiting the arrival of Loco Roco's spiritual successor.
Stinker of the year goes to the hideous Hour of Victory for being everything Call of Duty 4 thankfully isn't. On that note here's my top five (selected to complement fellow reviewer Paul Drury's top five)...

Call of Duty 4 - Multiplatform
Paul actually reviewed this but the hours i've put into CoD4's multiplayer are significant. The single player is short but oh so sweet while multiplayer introduces an addictive system that unlocks new features the more you play it. As a raw and gritty companion to Halo 3’s cartoon violence it has its very own online niche.

Final Fantasy XII - PS2
I never had the 100 odd spare hours to see the game to fruition but what I saw of Square Enix’s last adventure was enough to appreciate the reinvention of the turn based wheel and be in awe of the PS2 being pushed to its limits in an epic swan song for its final years.

Halo 3 - Xbox 360
Despite not quite matching up to it’s multimillion dollar overhype, Halo 3 delivered a feature rich package that refined a much love series to perfection through a polished campaign and a peerless multiplayer service. New maps and the Forge community will keep it alive well beyond you finishing the fight.

Bioshock - Xbox 360
Another 360 game, another FPS most people thought, yet Bioshock was like no other. Eschewing FPS clichés for an alternate history, Bioshock recreated the art deco of the 1930’s and twisted it into a neon nightmare with a disturbing story and sumptuous art direction.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - DS
I haven’t reviewed Phantom Hourglass yet but i’ve been playing it regularly and it’s proven to be an absolute delight. Utilising the DS’ touchscreen controls to perfection, it's a wonderful game full of charm and seafaring adventure, continuing the tradition of Zelda with some neat gameplay twists.

Mass Effect

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: Stars and wars.
Rating: 4/5
Conversation has never been considered a skill of the stereotypical slack jawed, square eyed gamer. With our Grandparents adopting gaming through the likes of Brain Training, that mistaken cultural perception is thankfully on the way out. For those that still need convincing, perhaps Super Deluxe Conversation Simulator can help, otherwise known as Mass Effect.
Created by Bioware, the highly respected developers who made one of the only decent Star Wars games (Knights of the Old Republic), Mass Effect is a similarly epic Sci-fi, telling the Solar System spanning tale of civilisation’s stand against an ancient robotic nemesis.
With a state of the art spaceship and the fate of the solar system on your shoulders, you can travel galaxies as you choose, investigating leads, battling robotic monsters and talking your way into or out of situations.
Trading the light sabres and space cowboys of Star Wars for a cleaner aesthetic and emphasis on guns, Mass Effect still treads similar territory as George Lucas’ modern mythology while borrowing from 3rd person shooters like Ghost Recon.
With squad based gunplay and cover based mechanics, Mass Effect differs through its use of under the bonnet RPG elements. As well as levelling up through experience and upgrading skills, action can be paused at any time to issue Biotic and Tech commands (otherwise known as Jedi powers).
Touting a much hyped conversation system, Mass Effect allows you to talk (almost as much as shoot) with a convincing degree of flexibility. Although it can rest a little too much on friendly/neutral/aggressive branches, the freedom to choose if you’re a Luke or Anakin provides satisfyingly different results.
As engrossing, epic Sci-fi goes, Mass Effect ticks all the right boxes at creating a living, breathing universe through sublime art direction. Unfortunately it’s ultimately let down by a graphics engine that struggles to keep up with the action, some frustratingly placed restart points and combat that doesn’t quite work as well as it should. Still, there’s plenty to talk about.

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (18)

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3, PC.
Verdict: More bark than bite.
Rating: 3½/5
The standard genus hero of videogaming’s short and accelerating history has been that of the unflinching beefcake of justice. You know the type - chiselled jaw, gruff voice and bullet proof skin with the ability to drop cliched catchphrases at the exact hour of cheese o’ clock. Admittedly some shooters have played the anti-hero card but they usually involve leather attire and nu-metal. Kane and Lynch’s over stated direction flys in the face of all that by introducing two ‘heros’ who are anything but.
Meet escaped convicts Kane and Lynch, one a mercenary heading for the chair for mass murder, the other a medicated psychopath prone to seeing pig faces. Freed by The 7, an elite mercenary group who want their stolen money back from Kane, Lynch is thrown in as his unpredictable watchdog and together they must fight to get the cash, save Kane’s family and avoid being killed by The 7, or most likely - each other.
Playing much like Io’s previous Freedom Fighters, Kane and Lynch mixes basic squad based mechanics with daring heists and the unpredictable nature of Kane who can flip at any moment and kill a room full of hostages at the whiff of bacon.
The story is initially executed with considerable flair as Kane and Lynch argue their way through the tourette filled missions, but regrettably becomes hum drum as quickly as their banter begins to tire.
Multiplayer avoids the me-too crowd with Fragile Alliance which pits you and online friends as a group of robbers after some cash. With loot separated evenly between the fellow criminals, it’s possible to turn on your friends at any point, kill them and take their stash. It’s admirable in it’s intentions but games can quickly turn into an unsatisfying scrap.
Unfortunately the high production values and obvious effort that has been poured into the single player script are dashed against the rocks of accolade by the element most essential to get right - gameplay. With clunky, counter-intuitive controls and a glitchy cover system, Kane and Lynch is reduced to mediocrity in one foul swipe. Perhaps Kane should have got the chair after all.

Virtua Fighter 5

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3.
Verdict: The king of fighters.
Rating: 4½/5
As the very first 3D beat-em-up, the original Virtua Fighter was a blocky mesh of simple polygons that held gamers entranced with it’s primary colours, innovative gameplay and promises of what the future held. Fast forward almost 15 years and the latest iteration of this refined and polished series arrives, surpassing 93’s teenage visions, promising unparalleled gameplay and future arthritis.
Originally released on the PS3 a year ago, the 360 version has been a long time coming but the wait has been well worth it - based on the Version C arcade revision, it surpasses the PS3’s version with important gameplay tweaks, improved graphics and the killer addition of online play.
Regarded by many as the best 3D fighter, Virtua Fighter’s combat system is held highly and with good reason.
From simple button mashing to ‘sit down with a manual and revise em’ combos, VF5 allows beginners an easy entry into its hardcore fold, while the experts dip their resin covered virtual fists into the broken glass of high level play and showboat their skills online.
Those unfortunate souls without Xbox Live (hurry up Paul) or friends can take solace in the play modes on offer - alongside the traditional Arcade mode lies the addictive and balanced Quest mode where you tour virtual arcades, enter tournaments and unlock clothing and items for your fighter as you rank up the leaderboards.
Different arcades represent differing levels of difficulty and unlike the Arcade mode’s steadying increase in difficulty (to rock hard) it’s easy for the beginner (or expert) to settle into a Quest mode arcade and fight a continual queue of like-skilled opponents.
Online play may be the jewel in the 360’s crown but it’s also where the game is weakest - restricting you to single matches against strangers with the inability to switch characters when playing with friends, VF5’s offering is frugal at best but thankfully lag free.
Alongside the deep and satisfying gameplay, gorgeous graphics and wide variety of martial artists and moves, any gripes quickly fade away in a flurry of fists.
I’m 3rd Dan, come fight me.

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Too big for it's portable boots.
Rating: 3/5
Since the dawning of George Lucas' empire in '77 there have been over 40 videogames with the iconic logo emblazoned on their box art. Mostly they've been rubbish, apart from the odd diamond like The Knights of the Old Republic. After seeing how popular a home made Star Wars mod of Battlefield 1942 had become, Lucas Arts created the Battlefront series. The mixture of epic multiplayer gameplay, vehicular combat and the Star Wars license was a no brainer which saw it become one of the most successful Star Wars games made.
Renegade Squadron sees the traditional template of base capturing and Storm Trooper blasting married with online multiplayer (a first for the series on the PSP) and a new narrative to carry its single player.
Based around the secret group of galactic misfits organised by Han Solo to use guerilla tactics against the Empire, Renegade Squadron weaves its tale around the films with animated illustrations, filling in the gaps between episodes and creating behind-the-scenes tales.
Gameplay remains the same as ever with no dramatic changes other than removing soldier classes in favour of user customisation. Essentially allowing you to pick and choose your weapon sets, Renegade Squadron allows players to create their own style of soldier, restricted only by a credit system that prevents you from becoming a walking armoury.
As well as the rote base capturing, missions are spiced up with varying tasks like destroying generators or protecting friendly characters but they all essentially boil down to the same thing while space combat missions are a twitchy disappointment.
The eternal curse of the PSP's single stick layout detracts from the game immensely, providing an auto lock-on substitute to a second stick. It's an unsatisfying solution that removes most of the skill from the shooter template and makes multiplayer a tedious game of circling opponents while waiting to see who dies first.
To its credit though, production levels are high, customisation options varied and the all too rare inclusion of 16 player online multiplayer is the jewel in its crown - but then that was the whole point of Battlefront in the first place.

Sega Rally

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3 and PC.
Verdict: Pure, filthy racing.
Rating: 4/5
As iconic to some as Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega Rally has always been regarded as one of Sega’s sweet spots - the hardware was cutting edge, the gameplay was sublime and the arcades still had some life left in them. Cut to today - the arcade is left for dead, Sega self imploded in the console race and the synonymous Sonic has fallen from gaming grace.
Thankfully, the latest Sega Rally is a shining beacon to past glories on current hardware. Like the Outrun remake of recent years, it shows that despite the arcade’s demise, Sega still know how to make pure arcade games that pack plenty of no-frills punch.
Stripped of the usual feature rich make-up of modern racers, Sega Rally is racing at it’s purist - pick a tournament, pick a car and off you go. Shaved of the weight deemed essential these days it’s a refreshing experience, further enhanced through its gameplay.
Initially, handling can feel exaggerated and twitchy, especially when coming straight from a session on the tighter PGR4. Once it clicks though you’ll be powerdrifting through troughs of mud at impossible angles and preposterous speeds with wide grinned glee. Online multiplayer proves a hilarious abuse of physics and gloriously rendered mud.
Travelling a variety of beautiful landscapes (safari, alpine, jungle etc), each adds its own particular nuance to driving as the differing terrains react uniquely under the wheels of the car. With deformable tracks where each wheel cuts grooves into the mud, each lap plays out differently while mud sticks to the car adding weight, removed all too briefly by pools of water before the next muddy bend.
It’s this added depth to the experience that sets Sega Rally apart from other racers. With a recent glut of exceptional racers like PGR4 and Colin McRae: DiRT, it finds it’s voice through this feature and its accessible arcade simplicity. That said, it’s this brevity of features and distinctly old school approach that could turn some against it.
Now all I need is to install it in an arcade cabinet and the cycle is complete.

Sonic Rush Adventure

For Nintendo DS
Super Sonic.
It's been sad to see Sonic's demise over the years after such a bright start - ever since going 3D he's never been the same but thankfully the limitations of handheld gaming have kept his 2D spirit alive and Sonic Rush Adventure is one such game.
Using the DS' dual screens, Sega have upped the experience by creating huge levels that sprawl over both of them. With expanded screen space, Sonic hurtles through corkscrews, plunges into the sea and flies over the heads of enemies at the blink of an eye.
The adventure tag in the title refers to the over arching story of Sonic and Tails crash landing on a small island. Working with the plucky animals that live there, they must investigate other islands, find raw materials for ship building and create successively bigger craft to eventually return home.
Moving between islands depends on your ship of choice and each has its own unique mini game – be it the speed run of the jet bike or the cannon firing fun of the sail boat.
There is a mildly frustrating requirement to retread levels for more supplies and the cut scenes are cringe worthy but the huge fast paced levels feature multiple paths for repeat runs and thankfully don't fall into the old elemental clichés of many a platformer. Welcome back Sonic.
8/10

Jam Sessions

Platform: Nintendo DS
Verdict: Stylus rock.
Rating: 3½/5
As one of those people that always meant to take up the guitar but never quite got round to it, gaming's handy ability to simplify musicianship and make it fun without the frustration of learning has always eased the self-disappointment. While titles like Samba de Amigo, Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero helped me recreate the joys of performing with far less skill, Jam Sessions is in an even nicher niche of gaming as it swings back away from being a game, pitched as a virtual instrument for the travelling guitarist and aspiring musician in all of us.
Using the touch screen to strum, your stylus works as a plectrum, playing chords on the virtual guitar by holding the d-pad in a particular direction. With a chord mapped to each direction and a press of the left shoulder button to superimpose a new chord 'palette', you have 16 editable chords to play. Allowing you to record your riffs, the microphone can also be enabled for some added warbling - the only downside being the inability to multi-track (and become subject to tuneless singing).
Sound quality is surprisingly decent although best advised through some headphones or an amp that goes up to 11 (obviously), the touch screen allows for some fairly subtle and expressive twangs of the 'string' and it comes with some comprehensive effects and fine-tuning options.
There are also songs to play along to if you're looking for something more akin to a game but without a reward system or scoring to chart your progress, it's a relatively muted affair, aimed more at homing your skills and teaching new styles.
The twitchy diagonals on the DS Lite's d-pad can make for some frustrating moments but overall it's a fairly satisfying experience which despite being a fairly bare bones package, serves its purpose as an audio sketch-book for musicians admirably and as a musical toy for those seeking something unique and fun to add to their collection. Rock on.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Platform: Xbox 360. 800 MS points.
Verdict: Fight with your brain, not your fists.
Rating: 4½/5
Capcom have really outdone themselves this time – obviously pitching to get into the Guiness book of records for silliest video game title, this latest Puzzle Fighter iteration takes things to the extreme. Thankfully it’s a tongue in cheek, self-mocking nod to the 90’s and the million versions spawned of Street Fighter II.
While not strictly a new game, SPFIITHDR (to abbreviate) is a greatest hits, combining the latest arcade version with the last Dreamcast release, tarting it up with crisp HD visuals, redrawn character animations (by Udon Comics) and online play. Gameplay remains the same as it always has with varying modes offering different twists on the core mechanics.
For those not familiar with the addictive puzzler, on surface it’s an unlikely coupling of Columns and Street Fighter II but delve a little deeper and you’ll find a perfect mix of puzzling and competitive action. Based around the traditional concept of matching colours, randomly generated gems fall from the top of the screen allowing you to rotate them and decide where they land. Matching groups of colours together shatters them, preventing your screen from filling up towards crystal death.
Designed as a 2 player game (either against AI or a human opponent), Puzzle Fighter’s emphasis on competitive gameplay creates new twists on the genre. Shattering groups of gems sends Counter gems onto the opponents screen and the larger the group, the more gems get sent (complemented by animated attacks from your character). Counter gems don’t become smashable for five turns so they cause a whole lot of grief to whoever is on the receiving end of them.
Obviously building large groups of gems can be risky as they fill your screen, so perfect timing, quick thinking and a daredevil nature is essential to reap the rewards of the satisfying risk/reward gameplay and submit your opponent to another Shinkuu Hadouken laced defeat.
For the princely sum of £6.80 you can’t go wrong, unless you prefer games with punchier titles of course.

Halo 3

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: 3 is the magic number.
Rating: 5/5
When Bungie first came up with the idea for an Apple Mac based Sci-fi strategy game they could never have predicted it would become a media phenomenon, a record breaker and a console FPS. Years down the line, after the original Halo defined console FPS' and Halo 2 defined online console gaming, Halo 3 has arrived to define the 360's future and tie up the story of intergalactic warfare, alien religion and one green suited man's legendary heroics.
After the abrupt and unsatisfying cliff-hanger of Halo 2, the sequel picks up almost immediately. Master Chief has returned to find Earth over run by the Covenant (alien races united under religion) who are unearthing the Ark, an ancient alien installation in the middle of the African desert. The Elites have disbanded from the misguided Covenant and sided with humanity to stop the activation of the Halo rings which will wipe out all life in the universe. With Cortana the AI missing and the threat of the Flood (a deadly parasitic species) the odds aren't looking good.
Taking its cue from criticisms of Halo 2's Campaign, Bungie have tried to recreate the feeling of their original classic – huge open battlefields, a single character narrative (no more playing as the Arbiter) and a more satisfying and coherent story thankfully address them with great success.
With cutting edge HDR lighting, physics reactive water, improved AI, an emphasis on the Brute's pack mentality and some incredible sound design the most immediate enhancements, the controller layout has also changed to assign the X button to new 'Equipment' items.
Equipment are rare items scattered across the maps and add new depth and strategy to the combat. The Bubble Shield, Power Drain, Trip Mine and Grav Lift all seek to encourage even more improvisational gameplay without disrupting the careful balancing of Halo's fine tuned weapon sets.
As well as Equipment, new weapons and vehicles have been added - Spike Grenades are strategical genius, the Brute Choppers are brutal, the Spartan Laser is devastating and the welcome return of the Assault Rifle as a start weapon sees Halo 2's emphasis on dual wielding thankfully reduced. The final inclusion of a flame-thrower and the ability to rip turrets out of their fittings and carry them from the hip like Arnie in Terminator 2 are also more than welcome as is the comical Gravity Hammer.
While all these additions and enhancements are welcome in the campaign, their true test of worth is discovered in the peerless multiplayer. Halo 2 set the standard, Halo 3 picks up the baton running. After the successful Beta and the data mining that was undertaken, Bungie have delivered another rock solid matchmaking system full of superb multi level maps, inventive game types and teenage smack talk - thankfully it's now easier to mute those poor losers.
As well as the Campaign (which allows for 4 player co-op play online and competitive scoring) and traditional multiplayer, there are two new modes to Halo – Forge and Theatre.
Forge is a unique variant of custom games that allows anyone to edit a multiplayer map mid game, in real time and create new game variants for sharing. With Halo 3's already massive community in it's infancy, it'll soon blossom into a hub of creativity where new game types can be uploaded to Bungie.net, downloaded by others, tweaked and evolved into perfection.
Theatre mode allows you to watch previous sessions, changing camera angles, slowing time, recording clips (to send to friends) and saving screenshots. Beyond that, controls are fairly limited it's but still an excellent feature to showboat your skills, create machinima and find out how exactly those players got the drop on you.
While gameplay may not be as revolutionary as hype implied (and as a 3rd iteration in a series, such a divergence wouldn't be welcome), it's such a finely tuned, polished and perfected experience with a raft of unique and excellent features, that it's an FPS at the top of it's game and will still be played in years to come. Legendary indeed.

Bioshock

Platform: Xbox 360, also PC.
Verdict: Art Deco horror.
Rating: 4½/5
Every once in a while a game will come along and take your breath away – be it the enchanting Ico with its minimalist design or the brutal Gears of War with its destroyed beauty. Both games excel beyond mere aesthetics but they’re always the first thing you notice about a game. Bioshock is one of the most stunning games yet and thankfully its qualities also extend far beyond eye candy.
Set in the underwater city of Rapture, a 1930’s vision of utopia, Bioshock tells the tale of a lone survivor of a plane crash seeking refuge amidst a city gone to ruin. Guided over short wave radio through the sumptuous Art Deco nightmare by the uncannily persuasive Atlas, you’re a fish out of water in a world gone insane. Signs of a civil uprising are apparent and the hedonism that fuelled the city has spiralled out of control as its inhabitants found themselves hooked on genetic upgrades that lead to madness.
Playing much like the unsurpassed Deus Ex, Bioshock is an FPS with an RPG edge. Mixing 30’s aesthetics with sci-fi technology and genetic modification, it gives you plenty of tools to fight with. Your eventual arsenal of modified guns is backed up by Plasmids, the DNA scramblers that re-programme your genetic structure and grant you abilities like telekinesis and lightning attacks - but will they send you mad?
The inhabitants of Rapture are a dangerous bunch but none more so than the lumbering Big Daddies that moan like blue whales as they escort the Little Sisters – GM girls sent out into the city to harvest corpses for rare genetic material. This unlikely pair are central to Rapture and its story and provide the game’s moral crux and subsequent ramifications – to harvest or rescue the sub-human sisters.
With shades of Metropolis, 1984 and Atlas Shrugged, Bioshock is a horrific dystopian vision with one of gaming’s most triumphant narratives (and twists), buoyed by stunning Art Deco aesthetics, fantastic voice acting and carried by solid and occasionally innovative gameplay.
Now would you kindly play this game…

Alien Syndrome

Platform: Wii, also PSP.
Verdict: Warrior needs food.
Rating: 2½/5
While building a new life in a new city, there’s nothing like playing a 4-player game on your own to make you miss old friends. Thankfully the 360’s online services help bridge that gap - as the makers of the rather imminent Halo 3 are well aware of, playing a game with friends is almost always better than on your own. Alien Syndrome may not have the online components of this year’s pre-destined hit but it does at least have 4-player co-op too. Beyond that though, it’s bragging rights rapidly diminish.
Remaking their popular 1987 shooter, Sega have attempted to update its simple old school formula by increasing the amount of players that commit alien genocide and by adding stat crunching RPG style elements. Playing more like a dungeon crawler than a frenetic shooter, Alien Syndrome has you blasting your way through an alien filled space ship of repetitious design while upgrading your abilities as you progress.
Updating the twee graphics of yester-year to a 3D vision of the generically gritty industrial future, Alien Syndrome is an ugly, dated looking game that suffers from being a port of a PSP title and is disappointing considering the Wii’s more than capable abilities.
Elsewhere, Sega have tried to justify it’s presence on the Wii by introducing motion controls for melee combat and special moves. While not unwieldy, button presses would more than suffice, making the controls feel unnecessary. What does work well however are the twin stick style controls – using the left stick to move and the Wiimote to point and aim is an intuitive setup and in the right game (like Geometry Wars: Galaxies) could work wonders.
After reading this my friends will probably be thankful we live miles apart because although some fun can be gleaned from this uninspired shooter it’s time that’ll be better spent playing online Gauntlet through rose-tinted spectacles, or Halo 3.

Space Giraffe

Platform: Xbox 360. 400 MS points.
Verdict: Psychedelic Marmite.
Rating: 4/5
Few games rarely generate such divisive opinions yet Jeff Minter’s latest animal inspired opus has exploded the gaming community alight with vitriol and praise in almost equal measures. With its distinctive visual style, sense of humour and dance music, Space giraffe has much to please or offend the gamer.
Taking the classic Tempest 2K (Minter’s popular remake) as its starting point, Space Giraffe is a psychedelic shooter concerned more with synchronised audio/visuals and complex gameplay strategies than actually shooting.
Placing you in control of the titular Space Giraffe, an auto-firing abstracted shape that can move left and right along a floating neon web, you have to destroy enemies floating up towards you. Shooting them is the obvious solution, yet use of the Power Zone, Jump Pods and Bulling technique will net you a far greater score and that’s what dangles in front of Space Giraffe like a virtual carrot made of psychedelic gold.
Points may not mean prizes but they certainly go a long way in giving you an incentive and you can even attempt to topple Minter’s own high score off the leader board. To do so, certain techniques (that notably stray from the Tempest formula) are necessary - charging up the Power Zone allows you to ram enemies off the web when they reach the top. Shooting enemies or using Jump Pods charges the Power Zone so a careful risk/reward balance has to be struck in order to reap the benefits of point heavy Bulling.
Online leader boards, a constant (and in my case damning) assessment of your progress by the game and the continual hypnotic mix of pulsating visuals and synchronised music (including your own custom soundtracks) all serve to egg you on to that next multiplier bonus and brain melting moment of gaming zen as you enter the zone.
Such glory comes at a price though as Space Giraffe is no simple shooter to pick up and play. The tutorial could be more clear cut in its instructions and the ‘trippy’ visuals can get in the way of gameplay but despite its niche shooter status and love it or hate it stylisation, its budget price and sheer exuberance means it should at least be given a chance to puke its addled charms out of your TV.

Blue Dragon

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: Deep but dated adventure.
Rating: 3½/5
Cracking the Japanese games market has so far been difficult for Microsoft’s console division - with the 360 faring little better in the land of the rising sun than the original and far uglier Xbox, all hope is pinned on the Japanese love of RPGs and releases such as Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey and Eternal Sonata.
Blue Dragon tells the epic, 3 disc long tale of Shu, Kluke and Jiro, on a mission to save the world from evil. Advised to swallow glowing blue orbs (just say no kids!), the hapless trio find their shadows transformed into mighty creatures that fight on their behalf.
Full of turn based battles, levelling-up and light hearted adventuring, Blue Dragon is as traditional as it gets and with a team made up of Japan’s RPG glitterati it’s hardly surprising. Notable Final Fantasy stalwarts Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu accompany Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball Z fame) for an RPG dream team line up, bringing iconic design, music and character art with them.
Beside the traditional gameplay, Blue Dragon attempts to be unique through its distinct CG style graphics and subtle variations on genre mechanics. Shadows are key to these variations and are the gameplay and visual hook to differentiate it from its peers.
Assigned classes such as Black Mage or Assassin, they can swap and change to different ones, learn class specific abilities then change back, cannily retaining the newly gained powers and allowing you to design a team of your own choosing.
Random battles are also thankfully missing, allowing you to pick and choose what you fight but beyond that little is new.
On paper Blue Dragon ticks the right boxes and with such a stellar line up it’s easy to see why so much was expected of it but at its heart lies a game so traditional it’s beyond cliche and, as solid as it is, has been far superseded by its peers - in both Japan and the West.

King of Fighters XI

Platform: PS2.
Verdict: Fighting the 2D fight.
Rating: 4/5
Despite technological advancements and Sony's PS1 era attempt to remove them from existence, 2D games still continue to eke out an existence on home consoles. Of the few modern 2D games released, you can hedge a safe bet that they're beat-em-ups or shoot-em-ups, those bastions of 90's arcade gaming and home to pixel perfect gaming.
King of Fighters XI is the latest in a long line of the revered 2D fighting series and as top contender for Street Fighter's crown has an obsessive fan base while being well known for its trademark looks and hardcore combat.
KOF XI takes the traditional gameplay and kicks fresh life into it with new characters, mechanics and moves. The 3 on 3 battles have been changed from their staid relay nature by introducing a dynamic tag-team option - reminiscent of the Marvel Vs Capcom games, it allows you to swap between players when you want and if executed correctly, a mid-combo swap can lead to devastating results.
You can also cancel special moves into super moves now (like recent Street Fighter titles) and the Dream Cancel ability has been added, which lets your lead character string together an apocalyptic series of attacks. Any worries of imbalance can be laid to rest as a mastery of timing, practice and patience is required to achieve such seamless fighting skills – take note button bashers.
With a roster of about 47 characters, KOFXI has all of the fan favourites and includes cameos from other SNK games such as the cult classic Garou: Mark of the Wolves and of course Fatal Fury.
There are a few other features like the punishing challenge mode and training options but as always, nothing compares to a bout between friends and that's where KOFXI excels as the tag-team system allows for plenty of frantic, split second improvisation while the satisfaction of pulling off complicated combos is great for post game gloating, if you're so inclined.

Bomberman Live

For Xbox 360
Verdict: It's the bomb.
800 MS Points
Rating: 4½/5
The Bomberman name has for years been synonymous with madcap multiplayer action - with over 60 iterations of the franchise it's no surprise to see it turn up on Xbox Live Arcade and despite the recent dirge that was Bomberman Act Zero, it seems to have finally found its true home.
Bomberman is legendary in getting groups of friends to crowd round and shout at a TV and the 360 allows you to do this online with your long distance mates as well.
Combining simple but addictive strategy and action in a format that anyone can pick up, the Bomberman formula has rarely changed over the years - particularly so this time round as it goes back to it's 16 bit roots for a simplified re-introduction to the series.
Transposing HD 3D visuals onto the iconic 2D action, Bomberman Live offers a multitude of levels and game types to keep the action interesting while customisation options allow you to create your own game rules and design your own unique Bomberman so at least you look good blowing up.
The usual single player puzzle levels from previous outings have been ditched, streamlining it as a purely multiplayer game with the defining feature of course being online play. Supporting up to eight player games online you can duke it out with strangers and friends while Live Camera support means you get to see snapshots of your opponents pained expressions upon their demise.
The only disappointment is the lack of 16 player support like the classic Sega Saturn version but it's a bargain for the price and eight players still proves more than enough for frenetic and fun action.
For the truly competitive out there, world tournaments and leader boards exist to prove your skill with Acme style explosives but like all great multiplayer games, they're no match against four friends sat hollering round the telly and thankfully that's one feature that'll never be removed.

Sim City

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Verdict: The most fun you’ll have with taxes.
Rating: 4/5
Back in the day I used to play the original Sim City for hours, attempting to create a pixelated urban nirvana (and probably listening to Nevermind at the same time too) but I never managed to attain the perfect balance or design for a happy city. The natural disasters or input from a younger sister never helped either. Sim City on the DS has thankfully given me a second chance to create utopia - this time Alphaville shall flourish!
Based on later versions of the series, Sim City is the first and last game from EA’s Japanese studio. Porting a PC game to a small screened handheld can’t be an easy task but they’ve done it successfully, injecting their own style and charm along the way while using the DS’ features in a logical and intuitive way.
As mayor you’re tasked with building a city from scratch, turning empty countryside into a teeming megalopolis. It won’t happen overnight though as your city starts out from nothing but the careful juggling of your budget and balance of residential, commercial and industrial zones should hopefully lead rise to a flourishing high-rise paradise.
There are however many pitfalls along the way, where disregard for crime rates, pollution and transport can stultify your city’s growth, not to mention the UFO attacks, earthquakes and great fires (possibly caused by an under funding of the fire department to afford that seaport expansion). Thankfully, help is on hand with a friendly guide offering advice at any stage (or just looking on in despair in my case).
Touch screen controls are perfect for this kind of game and Sim City sits at ease on the DS. The only downside is the size of the screen (compared to a PC monitor) and the need for a steady hand when plotting out sections of road and land (but that may just be my awful drawing skills).
Coincidentally, taking a test to determine my guide allocated me a ramshackle robot - that’s just one step away from a belching computer, film fans.

Hour of Victory

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: War is fugly.
Rating: 1/5
It’s a little expected bugbear that Hi-Def visuals can actually make a game look worse by accentuating problems that standard TVs might mask over with their relative fuzziness. In the case of Hour of Victory, no cheap TV can save it from itself – this has to be one of the ugliest games I’ve played in a long time and that unfortunately has nothing to do the nature of war.
Blatantly and understandably attempting to mimic the fine Call of Duty series, Hour of Victory is yet another WWII game but at least it attempts to add to the formula by allowing you to play through each level as a commando, ranger or covert operative. Each soldier has different weapons and different abilities - the gunner has extra resilience and can move objects out of his path, the sniper has a deadly long range weapon and uses a grappling hook to reach high ground while the covert op has stealth on his side and can pick locks.
On paper this increases the replay value of the game and allows the player to choose a preferred style of combat. In reality it boils down to annoyingly constricted and unbalanced level design with frequent and intrusive messages informing you you’re the wrong person for the job. The different abilities rarely add anything to the gameplay with awkward stealth sections shoehorned in and shakily animated lock picking sequences opening up pointless new areas to explore.
Alongside the poorly realised diversity, Hour of Victory’s other problems are plain to see – ropey frame rates, jerky animation, useless AI and glitch ridden, painfully generic and derivative gameplay all help dig its shallow grave of mediocrity into a plague pit of a mess. The graphics are just the final nail in the coffin with its bland, sterile art direction, placeholder textures and plastecene sheens all contributing towards your Hi-Def TV going on strike until you apologise with flowers.
Luckily my TV has no such delusions of grandeur but for those with cash, this is one of the few 360 games that displays in 1080p – why you’d want it to is beyond reason though.

Transformers The Game

Platform: Xbox 360 (and every other viable console).
Verdict: Lacking far more than an All Spark.
Rating: 2/5
With the shiver of a youth long lost and the memory of the excellent 2005 game to go by, there was a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe this would be a film-to-game title that would live up to the hype. Funny thing optimism, it makes disappointment so much harder to take – the game of the movie of the cartoon of the toy is an on-screen haemorrhage and a fine example of the industry at its lowest.
Allowing you to play through the film’s story from the perspectives of both the Autobots and Decepticons, Transformers The Game is a generic button-bashing crawl to protect or destroy the world, one stilted attack at a time. Employing the basic structure of ‘go here’ and ‘destroy that’, Transformers has you battling countless dumb drones and haphazardly travelling between locales in transformable vehicle form.
Featuring some beautifully rendered robots the game is a joy to look at in stills but the crippling frame rate, glitchy action and shameful pop-up mean it’s far from what it aims to be while vehicle handling is atrociously twitchy and sound bites repeat ad infinitum, driving home the message that this game was far from ready to be released. Such is the curse of the film adaptation – it has to be released in sync with the film, regardless of finished state.
Interspersing the levels with updating mission objectives, Transformers attempts to thinly disguise the void of depth that is all too apparent but the poorly allocated time limits and lack of decent checkpoints means you’ll often end up repeating the same repetitive section over again.
Playing more like a graphically updated Godzilla or King of the Monsters game, the excellent Transformers licence and re-imagined mech design is wasted on a shallow, poorly made title that foolishly ignores all the great work Melbourne House did in crafting the only decent Transformers game two years ago.
To this day I still regret giving away my Transformers collection but I’ll never regret getting rid of this.

SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 2

Platform: PSP.
Verdict: A workable shooter with online strength
Rating: 3½/5
Eternally cursed by PS2 ports in dire need of a second analogue stick, it’s unfair that the PSP hasn’t had a decent run of games that work to its strengths. The original, lengthily titled SOCOM for the PSP was successful due to its online capabilities (an area the PSP is surprisingly weak in) and its reasonable attempt to make up for the loss of a stick.
Bravo 2 takes the baton and runs a similar course with an enhanced single player campaign, tweaked controls and extra online features to warrant its existence – if it aint broke, don’t fix it. As a stripped down version of its bigger brother on the PS2, Bravo 2 continues the tradition of covert Navy SEALs infiltrating risky places to rescue civilians, gain intel on naughty goings-on (as they’re officially known) and generally stop the bad guys from being bad by persuading them with your gun.
Fighting in a squad of two, each mission challenges you and your gun toting AI chum with a wide variety of tasks and allows you to issue orders to him in a satisfying and accessible manner. Levels are sprawling yet linear and populated with willing cannon fodder for your auto-aim to make short, unsatisfying work of.
Online is where it naturally excels, providing a unique and solid experience on the PSP, making up for the distinct lack of other games doing the same. Programmed AI never compares to that of an obsessive American teen either so staying alive is a much greater and interesting challenge.
Naturally, the down side to all that’s good about SOCOM is the control scheme – without that 2nd stick, sacrifices have been made. The use of a lock-on button removes the satisfaction of aiming yourself (unless in sniper mode) and having to manually switch into free view mode to look around means navigation can be clumsy and movement stilted. Thankfully it doesn’t ruin the game but it certainly impacts on what would have been a far greater experience with that extra stick.
Headset support is also provided for online play but only use it if you can stand high-pitched smack talk.

The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2

Platform: PS2.
Verdict: Minimum Success, too.
Rating: 2/5
If there was one mistake made by many in the tumultuous 3D revolution of the late 90’s, it was the idea that 3 dimensions automatically dictated success. Countless series' turned to it merely because they could and in doing so destroyed what made them strong. Street Fighter failed at it with the EX series and here we are 10 years later with SNK trying to do the very same thing with The King of Fighters.
As Street Fighter’s closest rival, King of Fighters is traditionally a polished and popular beat-em-up with its own unique characters, niche controls and exact timing. What Maximum Impact 2 does is disregard all the core gameplay mechanics that made the series great and replace them with a substandard Tekken-a-like setup, slapdash production and poor localisation.
Despite its move to 3D, Maximum Impact 2 still plays like a 2D fighter but with a side stepping button to prove that the extra dimension isn’t just cosmetic. In addition there’s a parry button for easy counter attacks (a far cry from Street Fighter 3’s precise parry system) and an emphasis on chained combos, which rely on a robotic input of button presses to a potentially devastating, imbalanced and visually explosive degree.
Combat no longer feels precise and measured – replaced instead with a loose, unsatisfying system that has traded pixel perfect mechanics for a visual makeover that’s dated at best. With the likes of Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur to compete against, Maximum Impact can’t best them graphically and stands no chance in the ring compared to their refined and deep combat, which begs the question – why?
Fans of the series will be put out at the extreme changes to gameplay (choosing to play its excellent 2D counterpart KoF XI, released on the same day) and new players will find little of merit to choose it over its superior peers. Maximum Impact 2 plays like it’s a decade old and only the most obsessive fans will find something to glean from this release and that probably boils down to seeing Mai Shiranui’s exaggerated physical assets in three dimensions – revolutionary!

Pokémon Pearl/Diamond

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Verdict: Repetition at its finest.
Rating: 4/5
After reducing my eyes to shrivelled raisins playing the original Pokémon for the length of a 12 hour coach journey to Prague (note to self – fly) and too many hours spent post-college in front of the cartoon theorising about them (self-replicating organic robots anyone?), Nintendo's phenomenally successful and surreal series has always had a special place in my heart.
After the disappointing diversions of Ranger and Dungeon, the series has finally gone back to its roots and Pokéfans will know exactly what to expect – a sweet and colourful adventure through Pokémon infested lands, filling your Pokédex with data and while attempting to become the best trainer in the land.
The region of Sinnoh is a new yet familiar land that feels like home despite its clever and subtle move to 3D. With over 100 new Pokémon to seek out there's plenty for the Pokéfan to do yet Diamond/Pearl doesn't just rest on this statistic to offer reason for its existence.
The latest in the series puts the DS' dual screens to good use with the lower one used for touch screen battle controls and the Pokétech – a handy gadget that runs different applications with a retro LCD screen and Gameboy style graphics.
Alongside the Pokétech, there are plenty of other nods back to its roots with 8-bit sound effects and the timeless adherence to the series' gameplay and presentation, despite its technological advancements.
As a natural extension of Pokémon's favoured and heavily strategic Vs battles, the DS' WiFi capabilities naturally mean battling and trading with your friends is a whole lot easier and also allows you to play with friends around the world online.
Unfortunately online battling is restricted to just between friends which means you can't compete on a global scale, yet – thankfully Pokémon Battle Revolution on the Wii is going to introduce world ranking matches.
Pearl/Diamond treads familiar ground, for good and bad, yet it does it with such charm and a self-referential wink that it'll keep the Pokéfans happy for hours to come, which is all you could really ask for - thank goodness for the DS' backlit screen.

Shadowrun

Platform: Xbox 360, also PC.
Verdict: A shadow of its potential.
Rating: 3½/5
To brave the fervour of fans is something every developer and filmmaker must deal with when adapting a franchise with cult status. Many ignore set-in-stone rules (hello Judge Dredd the movie), others embrace every nuance with great love (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic). Shadowrun is a game that manages to sit between the two – taking a much loved RPG and turning it into a squad based shooter was never going to sit well with fans yet at its heart lies much of the series' stylistic trademarks.
Unfortunately launched during Halo 3's ever-so-slightly-popular multiplayer beta, Shadowrun is an FPS with many similarities, specifically designed as an online multiplayer game. Based loosely round the framework of Counter Strike and mimicking Halo's party system, Shadowrun adds different race types, ancient magic and futuristic technology to the mix.
Impacting the traditional gun based gameplay of the genre, magic and technology expand the players strategic options and combat repertoire. No longer limited to guns n' grenades, the player can teleport through objects, summon demons, glide from rooftops, see through walls and even bring the dead back to life. As the tag line states, the rules of combat have indeed changed and every ability has a role to play, creating a varied and balanced playing field ripe for quick witted improvisation and tactics.
While the core game is a solid and occasionally inspired shooter, where it falls down is its lack of content. Sold at full price, Shadowrun is offering what many games include as an added extra. Combined with having only two game types on offer and a relatively limited number of maps, Shadowrun lacks the variety and customisability an online only title should include by default. To shun a splitscreen mode is the final nail in the coffin for many and a bizarre omission from a game that shines so much in certain areas.
A logical continuation of the franchise's roots would have been something more akin to the original Deus Ex – a deep and innovative RPG shooter (with added multiplayer), not this fun but frugal title, which is why the fans are baying for blood.

Forza Motorsport 2

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: Almost too real.
Rating: 4½/5
Despite my age, I’ve only owned a car for a few months - years of playing Mario kart and Burnout have obviously kept my skills at their peak but I’ve found dropping banana skins on the motorway or turbo boosting on the wrong side of the road are against the highway code so Forza Motorsport 2 has arrived for some timely lessons in the art of driving (properly).
Admittedly Forza isn’t about following strict codes of conduct on the road (barring gentleman’s rules obviously) but it is touted as a highly accurate racing simulator, replete with complex telemetry read outs and road tested by professional racers. Cars in Forza react as if they would in the real world – if breaking is an alien concept to you in a racing game then get ready for a world of pain and exquisitely rendered car damage.
Unlike Sony’s tired Gran Turismo series – if you crash your car it’ll perform worse so careful driving is key to winning, even if the scratch marks do look lovely in Hi-Def.
If you’re finding it difficult to get your car round the corner and away from those apparently magnetic walls, then handy breaking lines can appear on the track, informing you where and when to SLOW DOWN! Failing that a visit to the garage may be in order where you can tune, tweak and upgrade every conceivable part of your vehicle to make it fit your driving style, or just move a lot faster.
Despite its hardcore depth, Forza 2 triumphs in making it accessible and simple to understand for novices. Intuitive design and pick up and play races coax the beginner in, while changeable difficulty levels and powerful cars later on satisfy the avid racer who loves to pour over telemetry information after every race.
To top it all of there’s an in depth decal designer for the creatives out there (pink lightning bolts are the way to go people!), online racing, Forza TV (where you can watch live races by gamers round the world), a website auction house for cars and a photo mode to flaunt your skills and upload to the internet.
All it needs is the kitchen sink and a stamp of approval from the DSA.

Metal Slug Anthology

Platform: PS2, £14.99.
Verdict: Tanks for the memories.
Rating: 4½/ 5
In this age of 3D, bump mapped, shadered and bloomed graphics, it’s always refreshing to settle down with an old-school 2D pixel pushing game. There’s something about the art direction - the fact that the designers have to squeeze so much character out of what basically amounts to a collection of different coloured squares is testament to why the pixel art scene is flourishing. The Metal Slug series is one of the last champions of 2D although even it has recently and unsuccessfully succumbed to the glamour of 3D. Starting out on the legendary NeoGeo it has blazed a trail as an over-the-top, run and gun two player shooter with a distinct cartoon style, wildly imaginative design and of course its trademark humour and the titular Metal Slugs - Super Deformed tanks, gun laden vehicles and armed animals. This anthology brings together all the arcade classics into one home console delight, notably including the reworked Metal Slug X and the previously unreleased Metal Slug 6. It’s not a comprehensive list as versions such as the NeoGeo pocket or Gameboy Advance games are missing but with seven games of raw, explosive fun included it’s an absolute bargain for nostalgia heads and shoot-em-up fans new to the genre. The series could easily be accused of being repetitive, with each iteration recycling old sprites and adding little new to the core gameplay but playing with a friend is an essential and entertaining part of its draw and Metal Slug 6’s score multiplyer system and weapon switching mechanic seeks to rectify the repetition and is enough to justify the purchase alone. Thankfully the PS2 version of this anthology doesn’t suffer the awful loading problems that mired the PSP, which means it’s nigh on perfect for the price, If you like shooting zombies from atop a thawed out wooly mammoth with mounted cannons that is.

Mario Strikers: Charged Football

Platform: Wii
Verdict: Football but not as you know it.
Rating: 3½/5
After years of rescuing Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser and various other nefarious villains, it feels slightly wrong to start shoulder barging her into electrical fences but in the case of Mario Strikers: Charged Football, attack is definitely the best means of defence (and you're more than likely to be on the receiving end of her studded pink pumps anyway).
Taking football as its starting point and adding a dash of Americanised shoulder pad aggression then chucking most of the rules out of the window, Charged Football is a surreal and explosive take on the (allegedly) beautiful game that plays more like a cute version of the classic Speedball than Beckham's favourite past time.
With an emphasis on aggressive gameplay and oodles of special moves, football as you know it has been transformed into a scrappy but entertaining romp in the Mushroom Kingdom, filled with familiar faces from Mario's history and packed with multiplayer fun.
Alongside the traditional football staples of pass, shoot, tackle etc, Mario Strikers adds new strategic elements such as power-ups and pass charging. Power-ups allow you to drop bananas, become a giant or fire out shells (with obvious benefits) and pass charging makes the ball more accurate and powerful with every successive pass between your players.
If you find yourself on the losing end (or just want to increase your lead) Megastrikes are available which, if the shoot button is held long enough, allow you to fire a volley of successive balls at the opponents goal. Success is determined by a golf style power meter and can land you with five goals at once but for those worried about balance, it is easy enough to prevent but entertaining to do.
As a single player game, Mario Strikers feels slightly lacking but remains fun nonetheless. At its heart it's a multiplayer game and that's where it excels - as the first online game for the Wii it showcases a robust and intuitive service and provides hours of slapstick entertainment between friends round the TV or online.
Now that's what I call beautiful.

Smash Court Tennis 3

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Needs strawberries n' cream.
Rating: 3/5
With the football season over it's soon to be tennis' time to take over the TV screens of those too lethargic to make it out into the summer sun and what perfect timing for Smash Court Tennis 3 to arrive and provide the tennis enthusiast the canny ability to leave the house and still indulge in some racket based entertainment (apart from playing it for real that is).
Snapping at the heels of the PSP's recent re-introduction to Sega's revered Virtua Tennis series, Smash Court has a lot of work cut out for it to be able to justify its existence in delivering its own top spin on the same game.
Where it immediately differs most is how it controls – each face button is relegated to varying return types – slice and spin etc. So far so similar yet the timing of button presses differs from Virtua Tennis' real time reaction - in a similar way to Rockstar's Table Tennis, as soon as the opponent hits the ball you can tap a button and your player will return it when it becomes near enough. Precise timing is no longer required to just return the ball, instead it's used for accuracy and power - with the timing of each button press and release defining decent returns.
While this is an interesting attempt at a different approach, it backfires by making it feel less immediate, tactile and fun.
Elsewhere, Smash Court 3 seeks to out do Virtua Tennis by offering an overwhelming wealth of features. Alongside Arcade and Exhibition modes, Pro Tour allows you to create, customise and build your own player into a tennis super star. With masses of stats, a tour calendar to plan your season, Smash Court offers a comprehensive and polished career mode yet still treads familiar ground.
For those with shorter attention spans there's Ad Hoc multiplayer between PSPs and some quirky mini games such as Pac Man Tennis but they don't make up for the fact that although Smash Court tries really hard to impress, it just lacks that special ingredient where it matters most – on the court.

Full Auto 2: Battle Lines

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Mardy Max.
Rating: 2½/5
Everyone knows that the future is a barren wasteland where oil is more precious than life and catwalks are filled with leather, spikes and loin cloths. Tina Turner may not need another hero but Full Auto 2: Battle Lines demands you to be one, for better or for worse.
As heroic deeds go however it'll certainly take a concerted effort from the Homer as the road to victory is a particularly disheartening odyssey – the ridiculous quest to overthrow a weather computer by driving like a drunk is a painful and glitchy road to hell.
The expensive licensed soundtrack may delight some but unfortunately belies the quality of the game as Battle Lines comes across as an unfinished symphony of destruction that at least heavy metal fans will glean some joy from.
With a variety of play modes to choose from and only ad hoc multiplayer (yet another PSP game to sadly shun WiFi), Full Auto 2 is a generic and predictable package that ticks the usual boxes but adds little new and as the pint sized brother to the PS3 game, it's lacking the one thing that made it interesting – the ability to rewind time and correct your mistakes.
Anyone who's crashed their car for real will know what the benefit of hindsight brings and with the ability to crash, rewind and avoid that nasty collision, Full Auto 2 on the PS3 allowed the player to be courageous and experimental, safe in the knowledge that an unsuccessful manoeuvre could easily be corrected. The explosions looked nice too.
Without the hook of rewinding time, Full Auto 2 is reduced to an average game of driving erratically and shooting wildly. With the PSP's limitations and some sloppy programming, the choppy frame rate and twitchy controls mean it's functional at best and barely a joy to play.
Those with a penchant for road based destruction would be best advised to plump for Burnout because even though Full Auto 2 is packed with weapons and destructible set piece environments, it still can't match the visceral quality of its nitrous peer. There's also the next Wipeout on the way where the future is decidedly cooler.

Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta

For Xbox 360.
Verdict: King of the hill.
After an initial glitch that kept eager gamers round the world waiting an extra day, Thursday 17th May allowed access to beta code of one of 2007’s most anticipated titles - Halo 3.
With the full game due for release in September, the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta is a three week long peak into the future, in the final part of Bungie’s acclaimed trilogy (downloadable from the menu of supercop game Crackdown).
Allowing access to three varied multiplayer maps and a mixture of social and ranked game types, the beta is a slice of the unfinished game going through testing and gameplay tweaks that the public are now contributing towards completing.
While not giving anything away about the story of clashing cultures and ancient alien technology, the beta has allowed us to see how Halo’s gameplay has evolved and what modern technology has done for the series.
With sharp new textures, physics reactive water and some incredible sound design the most immediate enhancements, the controller layout has changed to assign the X button to new ‘Equipment’ items.
Equipment are rare items scattered across the maps that add new depth and strategy to Halo. The Bubble Shield, Power Drain, Trip Mine and Grav Lift all seek to encourage even more improvisational gameplay without disrupting the careful balancing of Halo’s legendary weapon sets.
As well as Equipment, new weapons have been added - Spike Grenades are strategical genius, the Brute Spikers are ferocious, the Spartan Laser is devastating and the welcome return of the Assault Rifle as a start weapon sees Halo 2’s emphasis on dual wielding thankfully reduced.
Along with significant and welcome changes to weapon balancing, changes have been made to Halo 2’s still unbeaten party system which allows for friends to group in large teams and take on the world while ad hoc teams of strangers can form after games and disliked maps can be vetoed by vote.
Halo 3 also allows you to save your battles as editable movies, giving Machinima directors unprecedented flexibility and friends the ability to send bragging clips of their victories to each other.
For those 360 owners without Crackdown - you’ve got two weeks left to taste the future.

Pokémon Ranger

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Verdict: Gotta circle ‘em all.
Rating: 3/5
The Pokémon franchise has been with us since 1995 and over those years, in accordance with the ‘milk it’ directive, has spawned sequels, spin-offs and merchandise on a scale that almost matches George Lucas’ own ego funding empire of Yoda duvet covers.
Pokémon Ranger is the latest spin-off for the Nintendo DS that takes the world of cute monsters and gives it a new gameplay hook.
Removing the strategic turn-based combat that lies at the heart of the series, Ranger replaces it with a new touch screen centric method of capturing Pokémon that involves drawing multiple circles round them.
The key here is that you’re not playing as a trainer any more, you’re a Ranger which is the equivalent to the Pokémon RSPCA (or RSPCP).
Obviously, making pocket monsters fight each other isn’t going to sit well ethically so your new adventure sees you helping them rather than harming them.
Upon confronting a distressed Pokémon, the screen switches into capture mode allowing you to draw circles around it with your ‘Styler’ a gizmo that if used correctly can create an emotional connection with the creature and calm it down.
With a number of linked circles required, Pokémon attempt to disrupt your hard work by attacking the circle and resetting it. Each type of Pokémon behaves in a different way so the skill lies in watching and waiting before you frantically scribble round it with the stylus.
Friendly Pokémon can help out too with abilities such as trapping the aggressive Pokémon in a handy bubble of water but unfortunately this is as deep as things get - frenzied scribling and one off special traps.
The actual adventure sees you graduate quickly from helping the public to foiling the plans of the nefarious Go-Rock Squad who are intent on using a new Super Styler for their own dastardly deeds but like the Styler action, it never quite engages enough for you to want to see the end.
Hopefully we’ll see the end of light weight spin-offs for a while as the true sequels ‘Diamond’ and ‘Pearl’ are on their way - are you ready Pokéfans?

Spectrobes

Platform: Nintendo DS
Verdict: Gotta bore em all.
Rating: 3/5
Spectrobes is every parent’s worst nightmare. It’s not one of those mythical murder simulators that’ll turn your kids into slavish brainwashed killers but a new game with the obligatory addition to the ever expanding roster of wallet sapping, Manga styled Saturday morning cartoons. You know the ones - they make little sense and usually send the most resilient into an epileptic fit.
Despite the cynical cash cow Spectrobes is obviously meant to be, the game that will spawn a thousand merchandising opportunities has a lot going for it. Taking its cues from the Pokemon stable, it’s all about collecting monsters, rearing them and making them fight (kinda like bear baiting for ethically minded kids).
Spectrobes’ twist on this successful formula is that the creatures begin life as fossils that once located and excavated can be awakened by the dulcet tones of your voice.
Reared in incubators on a nutritious diet of similarly excavated minerals, the baby Spectrobes can become battle ready adults and even evolve (sorry creationists) into new wondrous forms of walking A-bombs.
Split between adventuring across sprawling dual screen landscapes to save the universe and the more sedentary aspects of archeology and creature breeding, Spectrobes attempts to use the DS’ unique features in a number of ways.
Excavating fossils requires the careful use of the touch screen as you scrape away the rock face with your stylus and in a lovely (but pointless) touch, blow away dust with your own breath (using the DS’ microphone).
Unfortunately, once you’ve awakened and reared an exciting collection of creatures, the actual combat makes it all rather pointless.
Trading Pokemon’s deep and strategic turn-based combat for a butchered real-time approximation, Spectrobes delivers a weak alternative with cumbersome controls and a bizarre impression of line dancing on ice.
Along with the stop/start trudge of random fossil searching and a forgettable story, no amount of unique touches can save it from the death knell of boredom - not what you need on a Saturday morning.