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.

Mutant Storm Empire

Platform: Xbox 360 Live Arcade, 800MS Points.
Verdict: Squelchy, shooty stuff.
Rating: 4/5
When all attention is turned towards the stars in search of new and wondrous, imagined forms of life, there lies plenty of undiscovered ickyness in the depths of our oceans. Things you could only dream of flit by in the darkened abyss, nightmarish in their composure, sickening in their alien nature and possibly closer to us genetically than any creationist would ever admit. Such globular, squelchy, tentacled spawn is also what makes Mutant Storm Empire so great.
Sequel to Mutant Storm Reloaded, Empire scurries across familiar ground using the ever so popular twin stick controls to shoot independently of movement. The same organic monstrosities are there, this time accompanied by some mechanical beasts and the same frenetic action is present, this time made all the more tense by gameplay changes.
To warrant the sequel’s existence beyond feeding the mouths of hungry programmers, Pom Pom Games have evolved Mutant Storm by cross breeding it with some classic shooters. Removing the all powerful smart bomb (replaced by a super directional attack), Empire also introduces colour based combo chaining (think Ikaruga) and replaces the abstracted series of rooms with a coherent, seamlessly loading world (like Smash TV).
Fusing these ideas from other shooters into one neon soaked gloopy hue, Empire manages to redefine itself with a new play style, initially unsettling Reloaded veterans yet inspiring new challenges and techniques.
Colour based combos up the difficulty for score chasers while the lack of a smart bomb removes an easy get out clause for the novice - things may sound tougher but a multiple lives system that replenishes at the end of each area eases the pressure somewhat, creating a chaotic shooter that can be blasted through with little grace or played like an artiste with pin point accuracy and a thirst for the razor’s edge and topping the online leaderboard.
Full of aquatic character, Empire has some of the best audio design this side of an amplified petri dish and is made all the better by the inclusion of an online co-op mode, which is just what you need when the going gets a little too squishy.

Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action

Platform: Xbox 360.
Ostensibly the 360’s mimic of the PS2’s Buzz! Hollywood, Scene it? comes with four wireless big button pads for that ‘i’m on telly in a real quiz show’ feeling.
Featuring 1800 questions, Scene it? is rammed full of trivia to challenge the film buffs out there and keeps track of which ones have been asked to keep things fresh on repeated playthroughs.
Game types range from innovative Pictionary style questions to plain dull ‘guess the order of release dates’ for films you’ve never heard of.
At this point it becomes clear that Scene it? isn’t an ideal family game as many questions go over the heads of the young or casual film watcher although memory based quizzes using film footage help level the playing field.
7/10

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Sequel to the lovely Wind Waker on the Gamecube, Phantom Hourglass continues with the cartoonish style and sea faring adventures.
Showing how things should really be done, Nintendo have bestowed Phantom Hourglass with sublime controls and the perfect example of how to use the DS’ features without making anything feel forced or unnecessary (ok, so being required to shout at the DS may not be desirable when you’re gaming on the go).
With perfect, touch screen controls and charming presentation it’s a synch to lose yourself in the princess rescuing adventure. Puzzles may be too easy for some but it’s an adventure aimed at the younger generation with the added bonus of reduced frustration for those of us with adventure in our hearts.
9/10

Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3 and PC.
Going head to head with shooters like Halo 3 would leave many games trembling in the dust but CoD4 merely shakes the mud from its boots and soldiers on, bringing it’s own brand of chaotic realism to the mix.
As the suffix suggests, CoD4 is set in the present day, with a close to the bone fictional story of terrorists and nuclear bombs.
Ditching the bolt action guns of WWII for state of the art weaponry, CoD4’s action is refined yet retains the chaos of previous iterations.
Undoubtably one of the best looking games around, the battlefields are awash with smoke and bloodied inevitability with the FPS action claustrophobic and tense.
The tale may be a relatively brief affair and the endlessly respawning enemies a blot on gameplay but the addictive, RPG laced online modes more than make up for it.
9/10

Super Mario Galaxy

Nintendo Wii
After the disappointment (for some) of Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxies is Nintendo’s long awaited true sequel to the ridiculously good and rightly revered Super Mario 64.
Topping perfection is an unenviable task and while Galaxies doesn’t have the jaw dropping switch from 2D to 3D that Mario 64 revelled in, it certainly attempts feats of the same magnitude.
Set in space, in and around tiny planets and wildly imaginative worlds, Galaxies takes the notion of up and down and throws it into a blender with some dysfunctional laws of gravity. The result is a game full of mind bending, upside down platforming and pure reaction based gaming that shows the world Nintendo can still make proper games and that Mario is undoubtably still king of the Mushroom kingdom castle.
10/10