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.