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.

The God of War 2

Platform: PS2.
Verdict: It rocks.
Rating: 4/5
When our ancestors were granted with opposable thumbs, not only did it allow them to emerge as a dominant species and a master of tools, it allowed for the future creation of the iconic joypad and the subsequent need for blister covering thumb plasters.
The God of War series seems solely based around the punishment of your unsuspecting thumbs, requiring them to tap buttons like an uzi with infinite ammo and the latest instalment is a trip to Hades for them in more way than one.
Continuing the story of Kratos, God of War 2 sees him stripped of his powers and embark on a quest from the dead to slay the god Zeus with the aid of the mighty titans.
With his trademark chain weapons, Kratos rips and sunders his mythological enemies with claret spilling ferocity and a brutish disregard for life amongst exotic and fantastical locations.
Easily earning its age rating, God of War revels in its on screen carnage but aptly so - war is sick and brutal so its god must surely lead by example.
Kratos easily lives up to his title, slaying his way through Greek mythologies finest and GoW2 provides updated combos, new attacks and new weapons to create deeper combat and bring more variety to the admittedly repetitive action of its predecessor.
As well as the wanton carnage and thumb burning button combos, GoW2 is laced with puzzles. Giving you time to rest and a chance to flex some cranial muscles instead, GoW2’s puzzles are often satisfying and simple to work out.
Unfortunately some can be so subtle that the answer can be staring you right in the eye when your progress has halted in frustration.
Boss fights can slow progression too with some unfair difficulty spikes but each generally just requires learning attack patterns and keeping calm amidst a flurry of button presses and curses at the screen.
Like an Epic Metal record cover come to life, God of War 2 is loud, brash and a graphical swan song for the aging PS2.
It’s also what thumbs were made for.