Eye of Judgement

Platform: PS3
Verdict: Eye candy
Rating: 3½/5
Those ignorant enough to that think gaming is still the preserve of the geek need look no further than the DS and Wii's success at Christmas - our once niche hobby is now becoming the mainstream replacement for DVD and music sales. Worry not fellow gamers, Eye of Judgement is a relic from the past, come to abuse new technologies while spitting on casual gaming with the +2 sneer of a basilisk's caustic saliva.
Essentially a card game in the vein of the all-consuming nerdfest Magic: The Gathering, Eye of Judgement uses the PS3's updated eye toy technology to create a mixed reality game where your cards come alive on the screen.
Split into a 3x3 grid, the playing board sits under the gaze of the eye (toy) while you take turns with your opponent to place a warrior card, cast spells and compete to be the first with five cards in play (or be last man standing). When you place a card on the board, the camera reads it and transforms it on-screen into an animated version.
With each move reliant on mana (which regenerates slowly every turn), cards can't just be placed down at any time – big nasty monsters cost a lot to use. Once down, a card is locked to its location and may only be rotated (to face a different adversary) and used once per turn when the mana allows it. Starting off slowly, each game eventually becomes a tense tussle for space on the board with the constant threat of a big hitter being played by your opponent.
Provided you're playing in good light the technology works well, with speedy computation and a charming mix of virtual and reality. The 3x3 board is a regrettably small area in terms of strategy but elemental based mechanics, spells and different attack ranges manage to keep things deep enough to be satisfying.
Online play is also included for those without geek minded mates but ultimately highlights how unnecessary the physical nature of the cards really is. Eye of Judgement is a fun idea, executed well but stands more as a tech demo than a necessary evolution of gaming.

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.