n+

Platform: Xbox 360 Live Arcade
Verdict: A touch of zen
Rating: 4/5
Ninjas, they get a tough deal in life. When most action heroes just wade through bad guys with an arsenal of guns, ninjas have to traverse complex, insurpassable terrain utilising inhuman feats of acrobatic derring-do. When they finally get to fight it's often lonesome ninja with sword vs giant robotic squirrel with lasers for eyes and a heart of doom. If I was a ninja i'd go on strike.
n+ features one such super assassin, tasked with merely surviving a series of over 300 rooms where death lies waiting like a snickering kid. Each room has an exit and a switch to open it, getting to them alive is your goal. In your way lies a multitude of robots, mines and death defying leaps, and you don't have a sword.
Fusing old school 2D platforming with modern rag doll physics and momentum based gameplay, n+ is a wonderful minimalist game that orders you to master the art of jumping and seat-of-the-pants acrobatics, or pay with your comedic ragdoll death.
Using momentum, n+ allows your ninja to pull off spectacular jumps with careful timing. With wall jumping, improvised platforming and a touch of panicked luck, n+ at your best is a graceful ballet between homing rockets, death lasers and a twisting ninja. At your worst it's an exercise in frustration that thanks to polished programming, is always your fault.
Littering each room is a series of yellow dots that increase your time limit (disguised as an ever decreasing health bar). It's not imperative to collect them all before finding the exit but the collect-em-up nature of score chasing can often turn the simplest level into the most difficult - a choose your own difficulty level if you will.
Oddly addictive yet simplistic, n+ is a polished experience with expansive features like online multiplayer, a map editor, the all important leader board and saved replays (for when you pull off that seamless, super human run).
Initially debuting on the PC and darling of the indie scen, n+ proves how worthwhile Xbox Live Arcade is by bringing such gems to the masses. A ninja achievement indeed.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (15)

Platform: Wii
Verdict: Zombies? Guns? Great!
Rating: 3½/5
Despite feeling rather undead due to a mutation of the common cold, the chance to play Umbrella Chronicles lit my eyes up, not unlike the post-midnight zombies in Dead Rising. If only it could induce similarly increased vigor too, just without the thirst for flesh.
For years the Resident Evil series has been king of the survival horror genre, sticking rigidly to its fixed camera take on 3rd person action and odd puzzles (stick the unicorn medal into the police station fountain?). Until Res Evil 4 redefined the series, the only real striations from routine were the weak Resident Evil: Survivor games which were compatible with a light gun for first person shooting hijinks. Umbrella Chronicles stems from this branch, stripping it down to a House of the Dead style on-rails shooter and pumping it full of lovely Res Evil 4 graphics.
Using the Wiimote as a gun, controls are basically point and shoot. Simple and effective. RE:UC also allows you to switch weapons, throw grenades, pick up items and slash like a nutter with your boot knife (waggle away!), all of which can be done with just the Wiimote. For those wanting a little more flexibility the nunchuk can be attached to spread the load or they can be slotted into the Wii Zapper for a chunkier experience.
Aptly titled, Umbrella Chronicles revisits previous games in the series (with some disappointing omissions like most of Res Evil 2), allowing you to relive the creeping horror and boss fights with the satisfaction that you'll never run out of ammo this time.
The pacing is great and the series lends itself well to the on-rails genre (you shoot zombies, course it would) but it's let down by being all too brief and the fact that apart from waggle features, it really does nothing new.
As a polished game that allows you and a friend to shoot waves of zombies, giant scorpions and mutated monkeys, it's an absolute blast, re-tread or otherwise, and it's certainly nice to see a game on the Wii for a maturer audience.
Now if only the pharmacy sold blue herbs.

Flatout: Head On

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Needs driving lessons.
Rating: 3½/5
Another week, another racer, and where PGR4 varied massively from Burnout Paradise, Flatout: Head On has plenty in common with Criterion's nitrous addict. For starters it centres heavily on crashing, particularly into fellow drivers or for the sole purpose of firing your writhing body through the windscreen for mini-game giggles - obviously no one has heard of seatbelts.
Ostensibly the fourth title in the series, Head On is its first appearance on the PSP, Sony's hand-held machine that often finds ill suited games burdened upon its shoulder buttons. Thankfully racers typically excel on it due to their basic controls (accelerate, left, right... who uses brake?) and its lavish display, perfect for framing the wide screen action.
With comparable nitro based action, exaggerated crash debris and a painful rock soundtrack, Flatout may sound like Burnout but in practice is more reminiscent of the PS1 classics Demolition/Destruction Derby, and is all the more better for it considering the absence of any sequels.
With an emphasis on banger racing, modded rust buckets with wheels, chaotic arena death-matches (Burnout has to get itself some of those) and crazy stunt games (bowling?), Head On ticks all the right, fun shaped boxes. Graphics are satisfyingly chunky, the game generally exudes a decent level of polish and the act of literally destroying the opponent is always welcome. At least it should be.
One thing holds it back - controls. The PSP isn't at issue here though, (unless you want to complain about the hand cramps the analogue nub can induce), the problem lies with the fact that the vehicles handle like a bull in a china shop - hard to control and always smashing into things. The destructible environment may be meant to be crashed through but the sluggish turning and general speed of races remains off putting to all but the determined gamer.
Which is a shame really because things do improve - the extensive career mode allows you to upgrade your car and buy shinier looking vehicles, which goes some way to addressing the handling issues. It would seem that instant gratification has been sacrificed for sense of progression, which is arguable good or bad either way. Cue another pun about my driving...

Burnout Paradise

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3
Verdict: A brave new Burnout
Rating: 4½/5
Always one to champion gaming's ability to let you do things that in real life would see you hospitalised, incarcerated or dead, the Burnout series has featured highly on my list of greats. The high octane, crash fetishising gameplay is second to none (and thankfully nothing to do with J G Ballard), and puts chills into anyone I give a lift to after they've seen me play it (fear not, my aging Nissan Sunny doesn't have nitro).
After four iterations it's easy for a series to tire - just look at other yearly updated EA games like Need for Speed. Criterion were obviously aware of this and have worked to a bold new vision to reimagine Burnout while keeping it essentially the same. And what is this vision you ask? Paradise City.
Burnout Paradise drops you into a massive sandbox city where you can drive where you want (think GTA without the legwork or gun crime). No longer choosing between static tracks in a menu, you haphazardly determine the route yourself - from the traffic lights where you choose to initiate a race to the finishing line, the city lays naked to your improvised navigation.
Different car classes seek to replicate iterations in the series - from the speed based, burnout chaining of Burnout 2 to the aggressive, insanely fun takedowns of Burnout 4, there's something for every individual fan.
Graphics and mechanics are stunning as always, with spectacular emphasis on slow motion crash physics whenever something as trivial as a wall gets in the way.
The other feature Paradise wears proudly on its sleeve is online play. With a few presses of the D-Pad your friends can seamlessly drop into your game and meet up for impromptu races while Live Cam support spices things up with takedown snapshots of their mug, or worse.
With such progress comes disappointments though - the lack of quick restarts are divisive in their omission and the necessary reliance on improvised navigation means too much time can be spent with one eye on the mini-map instead of the road. Extended play soon sees you adapt though and in the face of how plain awesome the rest of the game is, they're minor grumbles. Much like the criticisms of my driving.

Project Gotham Racing 4

Platform: Xbox 360
Verdict: Rocket racer
Rating: 4½/5
Undoubtably the crown in the 360's launch lineup, Project Gotham Racing 3 was a sharp wake up to the world of Hi Def gaming. Featuring visuals that veered close to photo realism, its high-speed gameplay was also top notch yet as a sequel it disappointed many hardcore fans with its flawed balance.
After Sega Rally's over the top power drifting and mud splattering insanity, PGR4 initially feels too reserved with its tight controls and sterilised aesthetics. Perseverance however proves most rewarding.
Completely revising the handling model for the exotic bunch of cars on offer, Bizarre Creations has finally tweaked the series to perfection. Awarding speedy or technical driving, the new Kudos system helps broaden the games appeal to players of differing tastes while the handling models are at once forgiving for beginners, yet sufficiently deep enough for pro players to find rewarding.
Visuals have been further stepped up, creating a jaw dropping game that looks even better when the new weather effects kick in. The game's attention to detail is second to none too – from real cities accurately recreated to the colour of the speedometer in a Lotus' cockpit view, PGR4 is a sight to behold. Replays and a photo mode help cement how good the game really looks when your eyes aren't fixed on the vanishing point.
PGR4 also takes a large step outside its comfort zone by including motorbikes for the first time. Potentially game breaking, it was a brave move that has generally paid off, as they open up new areas of Kudos to explore. Handling does take some getting used to while riding a motorbike online is brave thing considering the ease at which an opponent can send you tumbling with a gentle shove of his car.
As well as reams of evolutions, gameplay modes and online components, PGR4 also includes the wondrous neon rage of Geometry Wars Waves as an arcade machine in your garage. The inevitable PGR5 will no doubt include the kitchen sink.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Platform: Nintendo DS
Verdict: Duller yet delightful
Rating: 4½/5
Considering how bright, colourful and cute the original Advance Wars was on the GBA, it's a wonder that its European release was delayed due to an imminent war in Kuwait. These days, media coverage beams combat 'highlights' into the comfort of your potato zone and 'realistic' games use the current war as their politically insensitive scenario. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin certainly won't blip on the politically correct radar because this time war is nothing to be laughed at.
Like last week's Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars is a take on the age old game of taking turns to outmaneuver your opponent with superior tactical nous. Instead of wizards (or Chess pieces) you're controlling an army of tanks, battleships and helicopters, each with its own rock, paper, scissors style weakness and strength.
Set in a post apocalyptic world where a devastating meteor storm has wiped out most life and blotted out the sun with clouds of ash, Days of Ruin is Advance Wars with an ironically anti war conscience, initially tasking you with protecting survivors from Mad Max style gangs. A strange parasitic flower and a shadowy military group help take it into characteristically quirkier realms yet it still lacks a little soul, despite all the soul searching.
After the over complicated AW: Dual Strike, Days of Ruin sees Advance Wars stripped down and speeded up as new units and omissions (hello motorbikes, goodbye pipe runners) return balance to gameplay while streamlined controls and an intuitive touch screen input allow you to play as quick as you can think.
The over powered CO powers have thankfully been toned down, granting the game a subtler edge to its combat and notably, units can level up for the duration of a battle increasing depth on the battlefield.
While the revamped visuals may not be to everyone's liking (grey's and browns are so last year), what matters most to players is the gameplay and that has been honed to perfection. The final inclusion of online play (with voice chat between friends and map sharing) is a very sweet cherry on top. It's just a shame some its effervescent charm has succumbed to emo grumblings.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Wizard Chess
Rating: 4/5
While I may suck at board games (curse you dice and your random ways!), I tend to fair better with videogames. Funnily enough, stick a board game onto a computer and i'm usually a whizz, although admittedly these tend to be board games that stem from that geekier pursuit of tabletop fantasy gaming, and before that Chess of course.
Final Fantasy Tactics is one such game, (landing on the PSP after brief forays on the PS1 and GBA) and draws from a long history of turn based strategy games like Front Mission and Advance Wars, albeit with more depth and more wizards.
Looking great on the PSP's screen and suiting long, ponderous train journeys, it feels like its finally come home. With a mix of pixel based sprites and isometric 3D it exudes charm and cute character (despite a heady tale of politics, war and betrayal) and is accompanied by gorgeous animated sequences to propel the story forward at times when a little extra drama is required.
Gameplay remains the same with slow paced, tactical battles as you and your opponent take turns to move your squad of soldiers, archers and mages. Stat heavy mechanics decide things like how much damage your characters give or take while job points are earned through engaging in combat.
These job points allow your characters to grow in any direction you choose, such as becoming a gladiator or assassin. The number of job types is massive and each brings its own strength and weakness, allowing you to tailor make a squad to your own tastes, providing masses of depth and replayability.
At times the combination of tall buildings and an isometric viewpoint can obscure your view but map controls help ensure it never becomes too detrimental to gameplay.
The difficulty curve is also a little too steep - a firm grasp of the game's customisation options are required close to the start, meaning new players can be caught unawares. When characters die on the battlefield they remain dead off it too, so pay heed to the brutality of (an admittedly cute) war.
Monopoly leaves scars too.