NBA 2K7 (PS3)

One of the benefits to the PlayStation 3 hitting toward the end of the year is that sports game developers have time to tweak the game that went out on the 360 just a few weeks prior. In some cases, that time is spent simply integrating the PS3's SIXAXIS controller functionality, but Visual Concepts and poppa company 2K Sports managed to make a few minute tweaks to the game to help make it an overall stronger experience, if mostly in the visuals department.

NBA 2K7 has been a solid basketball sim for years now, and the inclusion of PlayStation Network support has only helped strengthen this. The online play works in much the same was as it has for years now, with the addition of finally offering a persistent login and buddies list. 30-person full season leagues, exhibition, tournaments and one-on-one games are all here, and all of a particular player's habits and trends are tracked by their VIP, their online/offline profile. Post-game surveys let you flag asshole players for others in the future, which is a nice little touch. Unlike the sometimes stuttery play of EA's titles, the 2K servers seem far more adept at handling big games, too.

Nearly everything you can play online, you can play offline, including setting up some Practice matches (useful if you want to learn how to shoot the new free-throws, but more on those in a second), playing a single game, and then tucking into the game's more meaty modes like a full season and even The Association, the game's multi-season career mode that lets you handle all parts of a team's progress drilling down from hiring/firing coaches, staff and players right to playing every single game yourself if you'd like. Deeper than your standard franchise mode, you actually have the onus of creating practice times for players, maintain progressive fatigue, work out trades (even three-way ones if you can get them to work, though I never did), and geek out on all the stats generated by the computer and your play time.

If The Association is the game's simulation mode, 24/7 is its more arcade, street ball component. The thing is, this wasn't nearly as well fleshed-out as the more natural fit of the simulations. Being a fan of arcade basketball games over sims most of the time (mostly due to animations and ball physics), it was a little insulting to watch what must've been French mime clones of NBA players ham-fisted into a "story" of being an up-and-comer noticed by Shaq and taken to a legends tournament. Though the NBA players will rarely talk, it's probably a blessing given how stilted and cringe-worthy the dialogue is. Still the core game is indeed a modest take on street ball, and it's better than most of the NBA Street contenders out there (which probably says more for the competition than it does about 24/7's gameplay).

Though there are some holes in the AI from time to time, you'll often find plenty of pressure from teams, and even some nice replication of particular squads that love to push the game in a given direction. You'll feel like you're fighting against a tide of momentum, which is something I frankly didn't expect to get since it's so nuanced a lot of the time, but perhaps that speaks to the game's sense of immersion. That's broken a few times during things like loose ball scrambles, but you'll notice some smart double-teaming, and great coverage and rotations.


The game's newest feature -- and really the only one that properly takes advantage of the PS3's SIXAXIS controller -- is the free-throw mechanic. You essentially grip the controller in the center, and then pitch back over your head then push forward with a little roll. It basically feels like you're really shooting the shot once you get it down, but you still feel like a tool doing it until you really figure the whole mechanic out, and that'll take a while given that nearly every player has different shot timings. I didn't even know until about halfway through my time with the game that you could turn back on the old right analog stick shooting method until I stumbled onto it while bravely navigating the game's crap menus. Whoops. Once you get it down, the shots do feel a little more natural than just flicking a stick, but only barely.

Throughout the core game's basketball roots, though, there's a level of presentation here that's quickly approaching broadcast level events. It's not all there, mainly due to the odd clipping error (though that has been improved nicely over last year, along with far, far better cloth physics on the uniforms), and there are still the incredibly annoying invisible walls that block progress while still allowing animations to play out, but these are starting to fade into what is a far more impressive display of momentum and power.

Drop-stepping into the paint has actual oomph now, and watching players' hands actually track with the ball, their heads making moves to look (or even head fake) where they're going and just the combination of solid physics and inertia actually being translated fairly well is fantastic stuff. Unfortunately, if you want to run the game in "true HD", the 1080p overhead on all those physics will cost you in the framerate department. Otherwise, the game runs at a fairly respectable (if not entirely smooth) framerate.

There are some issues with the player models too. Some of them are indeed at the point where you can recognize them just by face, but those are the star players, and all the other minor players are nowhere near as detailed. It's understandable given how much time probably went into modeling them, but the gulp of detail between the two types is a little frightening. Seeing sweat roll down a player's skin, however, is not. It's awesome, and if next-gen has proven one thing, it's that sports games can do really good sweat. Okay, on second thought that is a little scary.

The audio is a little more solid, though that's only because it's so minimal to begin with. The crowd generally isn't too into things, and the commentary from Kenny Smith and Kevin Harlan gets repetitious after, well, a single freakin' game for some comments. It's not that bad, though hearing the same pre-game commentary is annoying. Luckily the chatter from the players is what takes the fore here, and it's done quite well. Calling for picks, shouting out the situation, calling plays (on-the-fly formations and plays can be done with a press of the d-pad directions) and the like are all quite nicely done.

Oddly enough the soundtrack is mostly flicked off, perhaps because Visual Concepts wanted to allow some songs to crop up as you played more of the game (or at least you'd have the option), and to be honest, I'm not that much of a hip-hop fan to begin with, so I didn't mind, but turning the songs on means delving into the sea of menus that 2K cooked up, and that's just painful.

Luckily, few other parts of NBA 2K7 are painful. The street ball section may be a little more half-baked than the rest of the game, but extensive career options, great online play, and a downright solid game of basketball help VC and 2K Sports deliver the best roundball sim on the PS3.

Madden NFL 07 (PS3)

Graphics & Sound:
A console launch without Madden is like a glitzy party without Paris Hilton – it just doesn’t happen. Madden NFL 07 is a complete port of the 360 version, so if you already have the game you’re not missing much. However, if this is your first jump into the next-generation of Madden, you’re in for a treat.

Being one of the first really high-profile games to hit both the PS3 and 360, there are bound to be visual comparisons. Except for a few small tweaks, the PS3 version looks identical to the 360. If this is your first time with a next-gen Madden, get ready. The player models are highly detailed and feature loads of smooth animations. Stadiums are huge and filled with fans – not the blurry masses seen in previous installments, but fans that actually look like people.

One of the more surprising aspects of Madden NFL 07 is the lack of the man himself. An unknown announcer handles commentary with John handling a few comments in the “Ask Madden” feature. Although the move will probably upset some of the Madden die-hards, the “nameless commentator” actually sounds better and is a step up. It still doesn’t match the banter heard in the 2K games, but it is still good.
Gameplay:
Superstar mode is at the core of Madden 07. Playing as a newly drafted rookie, you deal with the ups-and-downs of a career in the NFL. Fundamentally, the mode plays the same as in other versions, though the focus has shifted towards your NFL career rather than worrying about ancillary issues like movie roles. Progress through your career is depicted as a meter that measures where you are in your career; the better your on-field performance, the closer you get to the Hall of Fame. There are no set objectives for advancing your career, but you obviously want to stick with your position’s strengths. If you’re a running back, you obviously want to rack up miles of yardage.

You’ll also have to build up an image with your team by completing team-building exercises. How well received you are by your team is tied in with your role on the team. As you play through games, your performance is gauged based on your role. The better you perform, the more chances you have to improve your skills as well as influence the performance of the players around you. Influence works both ways; if you have a bad game, there’s a chance the players around you will too.

Madden 07 brings back most of the features found in the current-gen (or, I guess that would be last-generation versions), but they have been scaled back. Franchise retains all of the core aspects and does away with some of the added features like Owner mode. It’s nothing flashy, but works well enough.

The online modes haven’t changed much either. You can still connect in head-to-head games and chat in lobbies, but what has changed is the new online Franchise game. As you’re playing through your Franchise, you can choose to have a live player drop-in and replace your A.I. opponent. Drop-in Franchise games are not the most streamlined and there are a number of glitches that hinder the experience, but it shows potential.

Training mini-games is another feature that doesn’t live up to its potential. As you play through Superstar mode, you will perform training exercises focused towards your position, as well as some general routines like the 40-yard dash. Not only are the instructions not very clear, but they aren’t as fun as the mini-games found in previous versions of the game.

Difficulty:
Madden NFL 07 retains the same pacing and feel as previous games. Except for learning the new features and controls, expect to have the same trials and tribulations you’ve had with previous installments. One of the more noticeable aspects was that few games seemed to have that “cheap edge” found in so many sports games. The game still has its fair share of blown calls, though the frequency of absurdly flagrant miss-calls is low and I never reached the point where I was wishing harm to the good folks at Tiburon or their families.

Most of the noticeable difficulties reside with small features that either don’t work exactly right or decisions that, in hindsight, probably weren’t for the best. One of the more notable bad calls involves Superstar mode. While playing in games, the camera is pulled in on your position, making it harder to see the entire field. When playing as a player in the middle of the line, the camera doesn’t cause too many problems, but when you get towards the edge of the field, it gets tricky.

As a bit of a side-note, a more expansive instruction manual, or at least better in-game instructions, would be helpful. By this point in the series' run, most players know how to play, but a clearer explanation of added features would be helpful.

Game Mechanics:
Madden NFL 07 introduces yet another function for the over-worked right analog stick. When controlling one of your backs, you can use the stick to juke, spin, and pull off all kinds of crazy moves while running. Depending your what type of back you are, you can either truck through guys or spin around like Reggie Bush. Like the Quarterback’s Vision Cone, the Highlight Stick is optional, but it adds to your game if you learn to use it properly.

The new lead-blocking feature, Run to Daylight, has also augmented the running game. After the snap, you can try and open up some breathing room for your back by taking control of his blocker. Of all of the features introduced over the years, lead blocking is one of the tougher to learn since it requires quickly switching between your blocker and runner in order to use effectively. But, like the Highlight Stick, if you can learn how to use it your game goes up.

Madden 07 uses the Sixaxis for several features. While on defense, you can use it to jump the snap by pushing forward or motion the controller around to try and land a few hits. On offense, you can fake the snap or pull off the Highlight moves. Truthfully, the functions don’t use the motion controls all that well and feel like they were bolted on at the last minute. They work if you choose to use them, but it is easier to stick with the normal functions.

If you already have the 360 version of Madden NFL 07, there is little reason to pick up the PS3 version since both are identical. Even if you already own the PS2 version, the PS3 version doesn’t offer much of an improvement aside from the visuals. But, if you don’t find yourself falling in either category, this is your best bet.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox360)

Oblivion is another RPG in the long running Elder Scrolls series. Morrowind, which was the last installment in this series, was out for the original Xbox and got mixed feelings from many console gamers. Although the game was extremely long in its’ single-player campaign; many felt it was not very novice friendly and it often required too much time for you to really enjoy it. This was a very important step for Bethesda, as they took everything they learned from Morrowind and made those extra adjustments for Oblivion.

Oblivion is an extremely long game, but more important than its length is its content. An overwhelming amount of quests, guilds, and other exploration points have been put into Oblivion; giving this game one of the longest single player experiences to date. When you think about it, the game’s massiveness is overwhelming at first but it caters for the casual players very nicely, and can even provide a great experience for those that have either never played RPG’s before nor never liked them.

The basic concepts of an RPG are still here; you pick a character from a big variety, you assign a class for him and you go on with your life in the world of Oblivion. The major three classes that you can focus on are between a typical Warrior that uses sword fighting, a Sneaky warrior which let’s you use sneak tactics like hiding in shadows and even becoming invisible, or a typical Magician using magic and spells. The great thing about Oblivion is that you can be a mixture of all three. You can create your own class and choose what skills you want to focus on. By using your major skills, your character will be able to level up and become a more effective warrior with higher powers.

Then there is the exploration part of an RPG. You are in the empire of Cyrodiil and there are many cities for you to explore. In these cities you can visit people’s homes, the city castles, the markets and different shops and much, much more. Talking to people will lead you to quests and finding treasures based on rumors they have heard. You are provided with a map in which you can travel from one major city to another by a click of a button; or if you feel like exploring the world, you can simply take a horse and ride around the huge and beautiful landscape.

Combat in the new Elder Scrolls game is excellently done. It resembles Condemned: Criminal Origins, as you have a block button and a strike button. It is this basic melee type system that you will be using most of the time. Of course while you are fighting you can use your spells and destructive skills at the same time. You also have the option of using a Bow and Arrow to kill people in stealth from a distance. The combat system of Oblivion is a great way to keep the non-RPG crowd interested; it makes the game seem like a great action FPS at times.

The only small downfall of Oblivion in the gameplay field is the feeling of redundancy from time to time. Destroying Oblivion gates and other tasks will have you feeling like you are just doing that same thing over and over; for example, the Arena quests can get extremely repetitive as you will be doing the same thing 30 times in a row. Still, it is very easy to overlook this since you know there’s a reward at the end of it all.

The controls are smooth and only take a minute to get used to. The default sensitivity is good and the mapping is good for the most part. The trigger buttons are designated for block and attack. The shoulder buttons act as your magic attacks. The B button will bring up your inventory/map/player level/spells/potions select screen. I did find it a bit odd that the developers set the Y button as the jump button but again, no biggie. Horse riding parts controlled with ease as well and controlling this game was an overall pleasant experience.

The graphics in Oblivion are breath-taking. The interiors are amazing in this game. The outside landscapes are huge and overwhelming at first sight. This game has amazing HDR lighting effects and the weather mixed with night and day cycles are life-like.

The cities, outside landscapes, and weather effects all look incredible and when wandering in the Imperial City you will be astounded by the huge castles and statues, likewise the road pavements and building bricks all look great. Oblivion looks definitely does a good job in reproducing a fantasy Middle-Ages universe. The world keeps all the dead bodies where they were killed, all the items you dropped, and other things you left behind as your very own footprint on the world of Oblivion.

I was extremely impressed with the use of bump-mapping in the game’s engine. Your weapons look extremely good due to the bumps and carvings you can see in first person. Your armor and other clothing looks incredible as well, as does the effect it gives to exhibit the wrinkles on a character’s face. Each character looks different and has different facial features, while the animations and physics are also all top notch, that said, your character’s animations in third-person can look somewhat clunky.

All textures are high-resolution, at least at close distances. The 360 does struggle with this game from time to time, and there are occasional FPS spikes, usually in the outside areas, and the draw distance can sometimes make the far view look a little too much on the blurry side. But overall, this game definitely provides an extremely good graphical experience.

Oblivion delivers awesome sounds along with everything that revolves around their audio department. The voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard and most characters carry depth in their speech while the professional actors that provide voices for the main characters bring a sense of realism to the plot-line. There are hundreds of different characters in-game and they all have different personalities when it comes to their dialect.

The soundtrack is simply beautiful. The songs provide a very heroic, emotional, and epic feel to the adventure. They are also memorable and will recall some nice memories upon hearing them again in the future. Everywhere you go a soundtrack will follow and it really helps with the game immersion. The only thing I noticed is that the soundtrack isn’t as extensive as some of the other features of the game, so you will hear the same song more or less often, but again this was not a bother for me personally.

The weapons and the sounds characters make are all realistic and crisp and everything you do makes a sound while the Oblivion world makes its own sounds as well. The ambience is excellent and this game really does shine when everything is working together.

Final Word

Well another killer app I guess. Oblivion’s highest achievement is that it really does what most developers only promise. They took all the Elder Scrolls’ games and learned exactly what had to be done. In the end when it was all said and done, out came a game that caters to the RPG hardcore crowd with the games longevity, and yet it provides an interesting and great experience for the non-RPG playing crowd.

There are a few things that keep this game from being perfect. For me it was mostly the more often than I’d like to see loading screens and “loading area…” screens. Most of it will be noticed in the outside areas where combined with an occasional FPS drop, it can make the experience somewhat lukewarm.

But I won’t let that take away from the overall grand experience this game provides. I can definitely see myself coming back to this game every week or two for another year or so. I keep discovering something new every time I play and that feeling of not seeing the whole thing is killing me.

Should you try this game? You owe it to yourself.
Should you buy this game? You won’t be disappointed, I can promise that.

Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox360)

I have been to Las Vegas on one occasion and it was such an experience that I will never forget it as long as I walk this earth. The lights, the money, the strange people; it all adds up to an environment unlike any other place on earth. So it would only be normal for the setting that is Las Vegas to show up in videogames all over the world. The town has made some small guest appearances in past games but it has yet to be the sole location for a game. Well scratch that off your list, as the people behind the infamous Rainbow Six series are taking on Las Vegas in full force. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas is the most recent edition of the Rainbow Six series that has lead a long life starting off on the PC some ten years ago. The fine folks over at Ubisoft decided it was time to revisit the famous series and add some new features as well. These new features, along with the classic Rainbow Six single-player add up to one hell of a game. I haven’t even mentioned the multiplayer yet and I am already raving about how awesome this game is! Read on to find out why this game stacks up to even the best of best games out there on the Xbox 360, and why gamers will look to Rainbow Six Vegas as the standard for realistic first-person shooters in the next-generation of videogames.

The first thing you need to do before booting up your copy of R6 Vegas is to forget ever first-person shooter you have played in the past, including Halo. Unless you have played a Rainbow Six title before then you need to understand that Vegas falls into the category of realistic shooter, meaning one to two shots and your dead, simple as that. For some gamers this may be a turnoff but to many others (me included) it is what makes this game so fun, the suspense of dying at any moment makes you play in a totally different style than ever before. Once you start up the single-player campaign mode (in two different levels of difficulty) you will begin your mission as a Rainbow Six operative (the Rainbow’s are an elite group of anti-terrorist soldiers). Funny thing is the developers decided to start you off not in Las Vegas, but in the slums of Mexico. This choice may seem weird at first but it was smart because it gets you used to the controls and acts as a training level without seeming anything like one.
I don’t want to go too much into the storyline as it will spoil it for many people playing the game for the first time but I will say that you travel from Mexico to Las Vegas, to the Nevada Dam, to a secret Research Lab. The majority of the game takes place in Las Vegas and consists of either street or casino levels. Some of the casinos are amazingly lavish with expensive gold and diamond chandeliers, while others are still being constructed. My personal favorite level was the wannabe stratosphere (all of the casinos are replicas of real ones but with fake names) that towers high above the terror ridden Las Vegas strip. The game includes a decently long campaign mode that will take you 10-15 hours on “normal” mode and a good 20+ hours on “realistic” difficulty. The cool thing about the campaign mode was after beating it once I wanted to instantly go back in and play it again on the “realistic” setting.
The controls in Rainbow Six Vegas are your basic first-person shooter controls with a little next-generation spice thrown in for good measure. You control the movement of your character with the left analog stick and look around with the right one, one trigger fires and another moves you to cover. Speaking of the cover system, this is something all new that has never been part of a Rainbow Six game before now. Using the left trigger you can quickly move to cover (think Gears of War) and either hide to reload/heal or peak out to snipe off the terrorists. Perfecting the cover system is, like in Gears of War, key to survival in the Rainbow Six universe. While it is not as important as it is in Gears it will make completing the game much easier. The four face buttons do things like reload, toss grenades, open doors, etc.
If you want to get fancy you can, for the first time in a R6 game, repel or “fast rope” over the sides of buildings and through windows. This tactic can become very effective for busting in on some unsuspecting terrorists as you hang upside down from the side of a casino. Using the d-pad you can control your teammates and order them to do things such as open doors, clear rooms, and move to a certain position. One of the coolest features of this is to direct your teammates to a closed door, then use your snake camera to scope out the bad guys, press select on each of them to mark them for target, then send your guys in (either shooting or tossing grenades) to take them out in the order you choose them to die. There are many other small quirks such as a massive amount of sub-machine guns, assault rifles, gadgets, explosives, and other tools at your disposal to kill off the multitude of terrorists inserted throughout the game. Basically the controls for Rainbow Six Vegas do exactly what they need to and improve on any version of the series before this one. The loading screens are tossed out and are replaced with helicopter rides where you receive your mission briefing.

Once you complete the single player campaign a couple of times you are ready to jump online with Rainbow Six Vegas’ massive multiplayer portion. Before shooting one bullet online you need to go buy a Vision camera for the Xbox 360 from Microsoft. Using this camera and the face scanning software built into R6 Vegas you can literally put yourself into the action, well your head at least. Being one of the only games to use the Vision camera, Vegas did it right the first time. The virtual me actually resembled me and people that have met me in person recognized me when we were playing together. You take a photo from the front then one from the side and the software creates a virtual soldier out of the photos. The best online character I saw was one created around Jack Bauer’s mug, done with photos off the internet and a balloon for shape.
OK this is just a gimmick but a cool one at that. Now that you have your soldier created it is time to jump online and R6 Vegas has plenty of modes to keep you busy. Included are multiple solo and team based matches with around ten multiplayer maps. There is also a co-op story mode and a very addicting/difficult co-op terrorist hunt mode. The campaign is not up to snuff with the online co-op of Gears of War but it does stand on its own two feet as one of the better ones found out there. First introduced in the classic GRAW this game also features the same level system that advances your character from private to general using a points system. These points are obtained by: winning matches, beating co-op levels, and getting kills during online play. Vegas has also included the ability for clan play without changing your Xbox Live gamertag, because you can easily add your clans initials to the beginning of your gamertag right in the multiplayer menu. There are also online rankings, achievements, and other gimmicks to keep you playing online for months to come. Rainbow Six Vegas has one of the most expansive and all-including multiplayer modes that we have seen in a long while. This mode is what puts this game above Gears of War gameplay wise in my mind, something I never thought I would say so soon after the game’s release.
Graphically Rainbow Six Vegas is a mixed bag of great and just decent stuff. The character models and guns are a treat to look at but some of the face recreations are just plain ugly. Explosions and fire will remind you every time that this is a next-gen title and belongs on our beloved Xbox 360. The level design will make you forget these small mishaps very quickly as each one of the casinos is unique. Animations, such as rappelling or hanging upside down on a building look really good and don’t really get as repetitive as I would have thought. Draw distance in a town like Las Vegas is important and the game got it right; seeing the Bellagio fountains as you rappel down the side of a casino from miles away is something you need to see to believe. I might as well compare it to Gears of War and can take care of it really quickly; it doesn’t match up in terms of graphics. The textures look nowhere near as polished or detailed and the same amount of work was not put into the look of Vegas as it was in the gameplay department. That being said Rainbow Six Vegas still looks fairly good and if it wasn’t for Gears of War it would probably be the best looking game on the system. Everything also scales down a bit for online play that is understandable to keep out the lag. The audio portion of Vegas is a little bit better and reminds me of GRAW a lot. All of the sound effects and music are in place and it really hits a home run when using a 5.1 surround sound system.
Rainbow Six Vegas has been one of the best experiences I have had on my Xbox 360 in a long time and I feel that I will keep playing this game for some time to come. The single player campaign consists of old features and new features that add up to one hell of a time. Using the Vision Camera adds an element that has not been found in many games today and is definitely something that I have been looking forward to. Some good graphics and a complete sound system round out the beautiful title. There is only one game that is overall better out there right now and that is Gears of War. This game comes really close in many ways to surpassing that greatness and to some gamers surely will over time. If you have not figured it out by now I am currently obsessed with this game and can only give you one recommendation concerning Rainbow Six Vegas; go buy it now.

World of Warcraft: the Burning Crusade (PC)

Reaching that level 60 mark and saddling your epic mount with pride isn’t enough anymore, Blizzard have raised the stakes with new lands, foes and more loot than you’ll know what to do with. The Burning Crusade has only just begun.

Having already slogged my virtual guts out to reach the pinnacle of my warlock character (at least in level terms) I threw myself into the public test realms to get a taste of what the new era had in stock. Of course there wasn’t much other than the world map now letting you select between Azeroth and Outland.

Sure you could get a glimpse at the zones but that’s all you had, never-the-less I bolted for the Eastern Plaguelands. Storming north, a once tree felled road was now clear and the new territory of the Blood Elves was almost in reach. A portal vortex lay in wait, but, my curiosities ended there in an anxious sigh as a warning message was more than happy to reject my entry.

So now with the expansion fully installed and the latest patch slapped in I headed for the Dark Portal, located in the lovely demon infested Blasted Lands. It was weird witnessing no hordes of elite demons guarding the place, so I charged straight through and into Blizzards latest creation.

Appearing on the other side was …interesting. At first I was too focused on the gargantuan portal on Outlands side compared to the one I had stepped through. It’s freakin’ huge! Then came the time to see what these lands would hold for us adventurers, whom must be level 58+ to even gain access to Outland. This can be worked around should a Warlock perform a summons but most won’t simply because they’re too busy, like the rest, grabbing what isn’t nailed down.

Hellfire Peninsula is the first zone everyone is greeted with, it’s a barren shattered landscape, the very ground looks angry as fire spits up randomly in all directions. Outland is very different from Azeroth, it has spinning debris and feels as if it could crack and splinter off at any moment. The Burning Legion, hordes of demons continuously assaulting the joint Alliance and Horde defence force of the Dark Portal.

Fortunately there are plenty of NPCs to deal with the incursions or players would be overrun in seconds. A giant Pitlord commands the waves of demonic forces crashing against the stairs, a very apt illustration of what lies in wait soon enough.

The problem with MMORPG games is that inevitably a lot of quests will feel very similar, go here and collect there, go here and activate this and one of those and then go here and kill the big guy and bring me his key etc. It would be impossible for Blizzard to make every quest unique, but they have already added a little extra here and there. One great little quest was a bombing run from the skies, while your character rides an armoured gryphon you drop bombs devastating enemies below. Not the most challenging but it was a nice little break from the norm, and a great way to seduce players to flying mounts – crafty Blizzard.

The quests work exactly how they’ve always worked and you feel right at home as soon as you get your first few going. One thing I immediately noticed was the rate at which better gear drops now, within the first two hours I had picked up some good items and replaced some of the old junk. Green level items are more frequent and their stats show a general change in direction.

Instead of usually just focusing on core attributes, a lot more has been added for critical strike percentages and general damage ratings. The loot is far more varied which makes a special find really special as it becomes harder to track down specific gear from either the zones or the Auction House.

Ah yes the player economy, how has the expansion moulded this new era of entrepreneur? With new enemies have come lots of new gear and new resource materials. Understandably prices have been ranged from “merciful” to “a King’s ransom”, it will take some time before the market place settles down and everyone mediates more agreeable prices for drops.

At level 60 I had a pittance in gold, just over 200, now having reached half way through level 64 I have a considerably more comfortable purse of 620. This has culminated through vendor and auction house sales or quest rewards. I have made no attempt to utilize my enchant profession. For earning the golden bucks, Outland is a very lucrative prospect.

This surge of players in Outland all bursting through the portal has had some negative impacts too. Certain areas of monsters that need slaying for quests are over-killed; many an occasion has arose where I am waiting around for ages with others for the monsters to respawn. It can get insanely worse if you need to kill a boss, while some are polite enough to group with others so they can all claim the kill it’s still a major frustration. Also some of the drop rates for quest items like 'Timber Wolf Tails' or something is incredibly low and when matched with being over hunted, a lot of players vent there fury verbally through the channels.

Of course an expansion this size will need tweaking, a MMORPG is never finished in the tweak department and Blizzard has a good track record for usually setting things right.

One such “swing and a miss” affair at the moment is the Looking For Group tool which was hailed in the beginning as some mystical force ready to smite the arduous task of forming a group. Sadly it’s not really used and players tend to use the general chat channel for their “LFG” needs, many are chanting for the old ways to be reinstated, for many the new group tool is nothing but a useless button on the UI.

Weekends see the most player traffic; all of Warcraft is truly alive during these peek 48 hours. Also tragically alive and living unscrupulously is the dreaded “loot lag”, an instrument of shear terror it can give any player a bad time. Although it seems to have been improving recently, having ones loot suspended in time is damn annoying. Given the breadth of the game and the number of gamers, this is simply an obstacle to live with some days.

But enough server side nit-picks, lets get back to this fantastic content. Jewelcrafting has caught the eye and curiosity of the community, exactly what does it involve and how useful is the new bling? This new profession is setup much like the others; you have various trainers who can teach you new abilities dependant on your skill at that profession. Pre-TBC, they had already placed in a number of NPCs about major cities to cater for the new crafting skill.

Jewels once made can be socketed into equipment that have socketable slots on them, these then come in a variety of different colours. The colours affect what kind of stats can be positively altered; this means you’ll need to plan what you want carefully. At the moment the profession isn’t as main stream as the others which have been well established since the beginning. Many players for now may very well just ignore socketable items until a few more months have past and the community learns its ins and outs better.

More PVP orientated challenges are now about the place, they usually involve just a capturing of a few towers. Don’t overlook these though, and even if you don’t like attacking other players you’d best thank your PVP nutcase counterparts. The reason these actually have a tangible value, other than bragging rights and some neat gear, is because they can bestow bonuses for the two factions. For example the towers in Terokkar Forest, if dominated by one side, activates a buff for the corresponding players giving 5% additional experience points in the zone, and an increase in attack power too.

The new Arena PVP ladder system is another juicy way for anyone looking to get stuck in and get some prizes. Players can form up teams when in the arena and duke it out, winning teams can then be awarded some loot for their troubles. It’s certainly a new twist; previously a battlefield would be the only “arena” venue for an all out player fest. Of course they’d then be simply playing as Horde vs. the Alliance.

Blizzard has certainly done a fantastic job so far in my travels through Outland, they’ve added some new original areas that feel completely unique from the many that already exist in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.

Of course there is even more to explore in Outland but that curiosity can only be satisfied with a flying mount at level 70. I can assure you I’m busting my virtual hump to clamber and scrape my way to the new sweet achievement perk. Controlling a flying mount is said to be just like you would swim in WoW, so you have complete freedom of movement when in the air. Fantastic because players can literally fly directly where they want to go and you might just happen to discover some secrets along the way.

Dungeons, or instances as they’re typically called, are another area Blizzard has mixed up with new heroic modes of difficulty available. Now this new setting can only be unlocked once you have gained sufficient reputation with a faction, so for example Coilfang Reservoir can be set to heroic but only if you have bought the special key, and you’ll need to be revered with the Cenarion Expedition for that.

If you want that lovely loot then players really will have to work to earn that right, it really gives a sense of achievement. Flying mounts are but the first taste of reaching the top (no pun intended), certain areas of dungeons can only be reached if you’ve got a winged friend too.

So what impact has the new races had on the game? Well for one it has the given the community a chance to explore two classes that have previously been exclusive to either Horde of Alliance; Shaman and Paladin.

Blood Elves

The new Horde race is fantastic, a beautiful looking elf race who are completely obsessed with mana and the power it grants. Their pursuit of the arcane and their majesty are reflected in their architecture, red and golden laced towers stretch high into the skies with a hint of nature.

You’ll be seeing a number of Blood Elf Paladins running about the place now that for the first time the Horde can use this class. The Blood Elves are noticeably different from their Night Elf counterparts. For one they possess racial abilities to siphon off opponents mana, in fact I’ve not known another where racial abilities are used so much.

Their starting lands are gentle and easy just like the other low level newbie zones; it’s tragic in away because rising to around level 20 is the death knell for exploring in their territories. Quests dry up and you have to move on, then it’s marching through familiar grounds and quest lines again. Still it’s refreshing and nice to see while it lasts the first time through.

The new Silvermoon City, the Blood Elf capitol, is a very large metropolis and is completely “dark” and selfish in a seductive manner. Blizzard should be eternally proud of their art departments, its fantastic work though the actual layout could come into question. Its design can be rather annoying running through without a mount, especially if you realised you’ve taken a wrong turn. Otherwise the visual experience along with the great new musical scores composed with the zones is a damn treat.

Draenai

A weird blue hoofed race that embrace the light and have decided to join the Alliance. They are the most alien looking of all the species of Azeroth and with good reason; they crashed landed while fleeing the Burning Legion from their home world. They’re like kind and caring “little giants” I guess, it’s hard to describe them but they look completely fresh in their designs.

Seeing as how they crashed landed in their huge ship, they’re technologically advanced and so have very sleek building designs. Large crystal shards litter their home zones; everything about them looks peaceful and especially white or blue.

I decided to try out a Shaman Draenai, this was both my first time picking the class and race. The Alliance can finally master the elements and I was rather enjoying my time as a totem wielding gentle hoof man-beast. Yes despite all the new enemies in the farthest reaches of Warcraft, Blizzard can still amaze us with original work.

I still can’t decide which I like better, the peace loving Draenai or the mana seductive Blood Elves. I guess I’m leaning more toward the darker path, I just can’t say no to evil looking red and gold towers.

The shear scope of the World of Warcraft makes it near impossible to remark about everything, and although I feel this game should have nothing but compliments flying out the wazzo there’s simply not enough time. The experience constantly shifts; mostly you’ll be astounded and glad to be having a wonderful online time with friends and/or just by yourself. Yes they’ll be some days when not everything pans well *cough* loot lag *cough* but overall WoW is still growing with a huge membership of over 8 million players.

Blizzard has the chemistry right, but it wouldn’t be fair to just lay all the success on the developers. The community itself makes Warcraft truly special, there are a few bad apples but the mass majority are there and they are, for the most part, invaluable in making the World of Warcraft everything it is today.

Only time will tell if The Burning Crusade is a real meaty and exciting adventure just like the original. Everything I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing so far is telling me TBC leaves no regrets in the mind.
If you’re thinking of jumping in to the WoW universe, or already have then make sure you get yourself a copy of this goodie packed expansion. It’s teeming with new loot, better opportunities to stick it to your fellow players and has even richer music to fit the mood. I’d like to wrap up now with a well balanced, logical and mentally stimulating repetition of two resounding words. Get it! Get it! Get it! Get it!

Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 Review (Xbox 360)

Domination. That’s all there is to say about what kind of control Konami has had over the soccer game world in the past years. Their Pro Evolution / Winning Eleven franchises never had the big-time support like EA - whether through FIFA licensing or marketing - but always seemed to excel in the area of gameplay. And gameplay is really what sports games are about, especially in a sport that is heavy on technique like soccer.

EA definitely closed the gap between the two franchises with their recent FIFA titles. FIFA 07 for both the Xbox and Xbox 360 were solid titles that came a long way from EA’s 06 offerings. The fact that Konami has been absent from the next-gen (and basically from making a fresh title) for a few seasons hasn’t helped much either, but we knew the soccer juggernaut was going to emerge onto the Xbox pitch sooner or later.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 is Konami’s first Xbox 360 soccer romp, but it’s hardly a brand-spankin’-new title made exclusively to win over the hearts of the Microsoft faithful. In fact, it seems as though this title is a port-over from the PS2 version (make a note: NOT the PS3 version) with better graphics (not surprising) but less features (surprising).

Having an Xbox 360 game based off of a previous-gen game is no big surprise, but we were kind of hoping for a completely fresh title that works with the powers and capabilities of the Xbox 360. Nevertheless, this is the greatest soccer franchise in the universe, which means that even juiced-up previous-gen code could be worth its weight in gold.

So let’s get right into the gameplay of Pro Evolution Soccer 2007. For those that aren’t familiar with the series in the past, the WE/PES titles were always known for an almost organic feel on the pitch. Instead of feeling like the player that you control is the only player out there, the A.I. programming and general knowledge of the sport by Konami’s dev team gives a sensation of a finely-tuned machine working together. It’s almost hard to put into words how the series has played, but “like playing the real thing” has come out of more gamers’ mouths about WE/PES than any other sports franchise we can remember.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 has a very similar feel than its predecessors (we don’t doubt it’s the same engine albeit overhauled) but with a more advanced offensive arsenal available to gamers. The control set is highly evolved in Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 and can be difficult to master. But rest assured that you can continue to play in a basic manner and still do well if the fundamentals are all in place.

The basic art of dribbling can get pretty intricate in Pro Evolution Soccer 2007. Fast and slow dribbling can now be easily controlled by the user, with the ability to stop the ball on a dime if necessary. It’s entirely possibly to create “space” between each touch as well with a few handy taps on the D-pad. Even the amount of time in between each ball touch can be extended. One other very nice inclusion is the ability to instantly face the opposition’s goal with a simple pull of the right trigger while receiving a pass. This queues up an animation that mimics the pro players that accept passes with their backs to the goal, stop the pill, and then turn for a quick blast.

Passing is a bit more like its predecessors in Pro Evolution Soccer 2007, as is the cross/shoot system. Long, short, and through passes are all accomplished with different face buttons. Valuable one-two combos are handled with simple shoulder button modifiers. You can also initiate a give-and-go with an A.I. unit by laying on the right trigger immediately after making a one-two or similar pass to your teammate. Crosses can come along the ground, lob-style, or in a normal fashion. Crosses aren’t available unless you’re deep in your opponent’s zone, unless of course an early cross is initiated, which can take place anywhere from midfield on in. The X button will bring up and build the power gauge which moves at a pretty good rate. The more the gauge is filled, the more likely the ball will be out of control and over the crossbar. A first-time shot can be achieved if X is pressed right before a pass is completed. The first-timer can really catch the defense and goalie off guard, as it’s the closest thing soccer has to the one-timer in hockey. The chip shot is a craft maneuver too, and can be mastered with some practice. The chip can be performed in two trajectories as well, with the lower of the two creating more rebound opportunities.

A healthy dossier of trick plays and special skills are available in every match, including fake kicks, jukes, and step-overs. One of these moves known as Matthews Trick requires a player to have a certain dribbling attribute score before it can be completed, but the others are free-game for anybody with the dexterity to pull them off. Some are basic right stick flips or combos, but some of the kick cancels involving the shoulder buttons and the feints can be a bit tough to do at game speed.

The game’s engine is exquisite, as in WE games of old. The more complete control set allows advanced players to get a bit fancier, while still retaining the core aspects that have made this engine so successful over the years. It definitely won’t feel like a soccer “revolution” at your fingertips, but the evolution that its moniker suggests definitely holds some truth.

Matches come at you in a simple quick style, league-style, a franchise mode, and via online play. Quickies have basic setup options, including teams, lineups, and formations. Speaking of teams, Konami has put out the effort to acquire some decent licenses here, but it’s pretty bare bones if you are looking for a true World Cup experience. There are good teams here for sure (and a nice attribute comparison system), and familiar faces, but expect a lot of scab teams and players to crop up. The Master League is essentially the franchise of Pro Evolution Soccer 2007, with actions revolving heavily around player development. The trade/transfer system is also a large part of this mode. The regular league of Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 cuts out the trading and progression bit for more football action, while the cup cuts out more football action for more overall excitement; a fair trade-off we guess. You won’t find much love in the online area either, as there are no leagues to be had. As is the case with many of EA’s sports games, Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 online consists of either ranked or unranked matches in a one-on-one style. We figured online leagues were a given, but alas, we were sorely mistaken. Back to FIFA 07 on the Big Black Box for us.

Unfortunately, you won’t see many ways to edit a player other than in the area of stats. It will be difficult to customize any team or player to your liking, so get used to what is pretty much thrown on the table. This means that it will be VERY difficult to emulate a player or a certain pro scenario in Pro Evolution Soccer 2007. Most games with no or partial licensing like to make player editing a priority as they know gamers will put the time in to “make their own” if the game is good enough. This was definitely the case with older WE/PES titles, but not this time around.

All of the work that EA has put into Sports Lab and what not is finally paying off for the developer, which unfortunately widens the gap between Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 and FIFA 07. Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 isn’t a bad looking game, but in HD resolutions, there just isn’t enough detail and realism in the players. They transition nicely from move to move but don’t look too natural throughout the entire string. You won’t catch any fancy post-production techniques in Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 either, nor will you see independent textile physics, or crazy fan animations. Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 still looks like a solid football game due to all of Konami’s years of practice, but visuals programmed for previous-gen power uprated for 1080 resolutions aren’t exactly mind-blowing at this stage in the 360’s development.

It’s a bit easier to get away with previous-gen sound on next-gen systems. Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 is a perfect example of this, as most of what you’ll hear sounds fresh. The call from the announcer’s box is about as good as you’ll find in a sports game, and the crowd chants, cheers, and jeers are entertaining to say the least. There’s not real soundtrack to speak of (pluses here for EA), but you will have to deal with some interesting music throughout hold screens and whatnot.

Although perhaps not the complete soccer experience Xbox 360 gamers had hoped for, Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 still holds its own with a gameplay engine that just won’t quit. The fifty dollar price tag gives allows us to give Konami some leeway on some of the missing content, but to be one-upped by the PS2 version is a tough pill to swallow.

EA still has a bit of work to do on its next-gen soccer franchise (the previous gen version of FIFA 07 is super-solid), but not much in order to really separate itself from Pro Evolution Soccer 2007. With that said, Konami has created yet another title that gets by on its fantastic gameplay engine, but does little to create a new fan base through features or truly next-gen gameplay. But for once the cleat is now on the other foot.

Crackdown Review (Xbox 360)

With the Grand Theft Auto franchise so situated as the poster-child for open world games, it’s hard for anything with even a twist to get some playtime in the sandbox. Take Realtime Worlds’ Crackdown for example. It was a little talked about title until another title - Halo 3 - was planned to be beta’d with it.

A well-received Xbox Live Marketplace demo has the attention firmly back where it should be: on the do-nearly-anything-your-little-heart-desires construction of Crackdown. After all, Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is spearheaded by the original mastermind behind the Grand Theft Auto IP, thus this futuristic action title (in a style that won’t exactly sit well with everyone) deserves at least a thorough survey, if for nothing else but to compare it to the current apex of the free-roaming action genre, San Andreas.

Unless you’ve been locked in a basement for the last five years, sans Xbox or PS2, you’ll already know what the free-roaming action genre is all about. To call Crackdown a futuristic Grand theft Auto is an easy out, as not only are the genres the same, but they also share Dave Jones as a common denominator. But being able to attempt in Crackdown nearly anything you can conjure up is about where the comparisons between both SKU’s should stop.


Let’s get right to the visual style of Crackdown, as it’s the first thing that will jump out and hit you as the character creation screen appears. The character skins appear like menaces from the future, but at the same time have a tribal sense that says something about the cyclical nature of humanity and the general art direction of Crackdown. For instance, Crackdown is next-gen through and through, but its cell-shaded persona gives it an old-school, Silver Age comic book feel that’s undeniable.

You’ll also notice that the weaponry is modern, but not overly so, and the vehicles draw heavy inspiration from the near-past, as opposed to being all-powerful like K.I.T.T., the Batmobile (even though the Agency supercar kinda’ looks like one), or something that Bond would drive. Even the audio - which is fairly breathtaking in the effects department - has classic undertones highlighting tracks, foley stunts, and dialog that could easily be construed as “futuristic”.

The homogenization of old and new in Crackdown surely isn’t an accident, and, while the color palette, funky tribal leads, and Perfect Dark-esque visual cues are an acquired taste, they are all executed with aplomb. Same goes for the general gist of the gameplay, and how you choose to spend your time while Crackdown is in the tray.

The control schema of Crackdown is about as simple as it gets - again, harkening back to a time when video games were about simple fun instead of solving math problems or remembering long strings of button combos. You’ll move and fire with the sticks and triggers and drive with the sticks and triggers - just as one would expect. Actions like swapping weapons or picking up objects (with damn near everything being able to be tossed offensively) are simple button commands (as they should be). Other than the clunky D-pad and shoulder button scope/zoom system, the controls are easy to facilitate and control your agent perfectly.

Since this land is your land, Crackdown’s M.O. is more about how you choose to spend your time, but as with all open-element titles, there’s a story and an ending in the Campaign mode. The futuristic isles of (the fictitious) Pacific City have been claimed by warring, well-organized gangs. The Agency’s (good guys) solution for said gang activity consists of modified “superagents” that can not only leap tall building in a single bound, but can also regenerate indefinitely.

It’s up to you and your player-character to capture Supply Points (weapon/ammo replenishment points and a means to shortcut around the city), slowly evolve into a true fighting force through attribute upgrades, and jack up the crime bosses and their minions in dramatic, comic book-like fashion. The co-op version means that you have a partner-in-crime in all of this, but the same goals are present, only with double the firepower to accomplish them.

Moving the Crackdown story along and keeping informed of objectives is handled in a few different ways. There are snazzy stills displayed in comic layout form with voiceover, more standard in-game graphics cut-scenes (briefings), and a detailed gang dossier available from the Start menu. The gang dossier is the most informative of the story telling methods, as it provides excellent support material, and a means to understand the hierarchy of power in each gang.

The story and escalation of gang warfare and activity is solid, but Crackdown is just too fun of a romp to stay on the road to completion. You won’t just be on your own when looking to deviate from the game’s main objectives either. You can attempt to win any one of a number of Crackdown’s crazy achievements for example, like tossing an object for distance, or piling up cars and blowing them up in order to cause the most carnage in a set amount of time. You can also partake in sanctioned rooftop races (on foot) or road races in any number of vehicles too, which are meant to boost the abilities of your agent in a timelier fashion.

Tracking down agility orbs (located in increasingly tougher to reach spots) or “stunt rings” for doing wild vehicle aerials are also a perfect combination of fun and powering up. Fully leveling up your agent in the areas of agility, driving, explosives, strength, and weapons will be one of the first side jobs in which you partake (as the sense of being superhuman compliments the gang skill and verticality of Pacific City well), but this certainly isn’t necessary with such nonlinear game design.

The abovementioned odd jobs of Crackdown are a mere splash in the bucket when you come to realize the sheer scope of Pacific City. In terms of non-sanctioned activities in Crackdown, the sky is literally the limit since the world is vertical as well as horizontal. The last few GTA games shared Crackdown’s verticality as well, but Realtime’s sci-fi bent on the player character means that you won’t have to hoof it or take an airplane to the high spots, nor will you need to parachute down after stratospheric sights are seen.

As if you needed more motivation to rank-up your superagent, flying through the air with the greatest of ease when agility is maxed is sheer gaming nirvana. You’ll hold your breath as leaps of faith are made- maybe even rising out of the seat a little bit as if to add a few inches of lift to your bulky peace-keeper. And you’ll want to land every jump the first time - not because you usually end up armor-deep in a gang shootout, but for the thrill alone (not so very different from Prince of Persia’s aerials). Said freestyle rush is also amplified in Crackdown with the proper leveling up of the strength skill. More strength means the ability to pick up heavy objects like cars and use them as deadly weapons. Cars can also be piled up for Rampage activities that can borderline on insane. Just search YouTube if you need more proof than TXB’s current video stockpile.

Although technically sound, Crackdown does have a few areas that could have been handled a bit better. Even though we love the gang dialog and its directional programming, why can the baddies seemingly look through solid objects and rat us out? It seems as though the A.I. detection system is a bit off, as we constantly felt like there was “nowhere to run to baby…nowhere to hide”. Some may find this inconsequential - you are a superman among boys when ranked up - but there are opportunities to play Crackdown more stealthily that, at times, the enemy A.I. doesn’t seem to luxuriously afford.

It’s also pretty tough to pan one of the most complete and original aural offering in a game in some time, but the 100 or so musical tracks get a bit lost. The team was surely in a tight spot, as this “futuristic setting” should hardly contain any recognizable songs, but it would have been great to somehow attach the user a bit more to the tunes. Instead, it feels at times like you are listening to audition tapes for trance and South American-inspired artists over and over again. And then there’s the Havok physics engine that feel out of date in such a forward-thinking affair. Crackdown surely is over-the-top, but the comedic FlatOut effect really doesn’t fit well in a game that appears so seriously-crafted to embody futuristic gang/police warfare.

But for every slight slip-up or apparent wrong in Crackdown, there’s a laundry list of perfection and general right that makes this title nearly impossible to put down - like some sort of digital crack. Technically, Crackdown is solid, which is saying A LOT as open ended worlds are the antithesis of the “on rails” adventures cluttering up game store bargain bins. The sound effects are mind-blowing at times, thus making massive explosions methodically created by the user worth all of the setup time. Same goes for explosions and particle effects which actually seem fitting for each kaboom - no matter how big or small. The level design is devilish but fair, and the A.I. of both innocents and baddies is overall pretty believable. The mixture of auto and manual aim with rewards for being a do-it-yourselfer is the way it ought to be in action games. And the sheer number of NPC’s alone in a given city block alone deserves merit.

It would be simple to continue here glowing over the radical things that can be attempted and accomplished in Crackdown, but it’s really best to pick it up for yourself and get, er, crackin’. You won’t be sorry.

Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3)

This is a true technical marvel of a PS3 title, a game that defines what 'next-gen' should stand for. And it's all thanks to the arcade work of Sega's AM-2 division that we have this picture-perfect PS3 conversion to talk about. But enough gushing (for now); on with the fighting talk!

To begin with, in single-player you'll spend most of your time/credits in Quest Mode. There was a Quest Mode in VF4: Evo, of course, but this time around the format is completely different. From a city map (which sort of looks like, and may actually represent, Tokyo), you can access virtual Sega arcades such as Club Sega and Sega World, wherein AI-controlled players can be challenged just as you would suggest a (virtual) fight to a real-life Tokyo youth. Each player you meet has a tag comment, such as AndySwat's excellent "Not in the face!" quip. (Most of the comments were submitted to Sega from hardcore Japanese VF players, which explains some of the bizarreness.)

Players are generally grouped in arcades according to their skill levels and you can enter arcades in any order, so there are always plenty of fighters in waiting. There are even tournaments that begin from time to time while you're in Quest Mode, and you can choose to enter these competitions (in which case you'll lose your current winning streak) or continue with your own arcade play.

Unfortunately, this seems to be Sega's roundabout way of saying, "Why do you need online play?" Although the AI here is excellent and the format caters particularly well to Sega fans, Quest Mode is no substitute for proper human competition and we can't help but wish there was at least some sort of PlayStation Network feature in VF5. There isn't, though but we're still going to gush.

Happily for any VF virgins out there (yes, both of you), Virtua Fighter 5 is slightly more forgiving than its immediate predecessors. You quickly work through Arcade Mode, for example, to reach mighty 10th Dan opponents (Kyu and Dan rankings are VF's way of telling you how tough a fighter is, and what skill level he/she is at) and still be in with at least a chance of earning a victory. It depends largely on knowing your own character's strengths and playing to them, but imaginative use of standard and combo moves - because opponents at higher levels will see your attacks coming and quickly move to block them - can defeat a rival, no matter what level you're each playing at.

In Arcade Mode, Versus Mode and Quest Mode, you can take your fighter into an arena and find that there's an incentive of some sort (other than personal pride) to ensure that you give 100 percent - whether it's an orb for your orb ring, a new costume or accessory, money to spend in VF5's item shop, or a rank up (you begin at 10 Kyu and go through to 1 Kyu, before attempting to progress from 1st Dan to 10th Dan). So in that sense, there are no meaningless fights in Virtua Fighter 5. And because it is your character, complete with personal fight data and an individually assembled wardrobe, there's a great sense of personal involvement.

The AI of opponents in Virtua Fighter 5 is, as we've established, commensurate with their skill level. But there are no stupids on this disc. Pai Chan instinctively knows that her kicks are more effective than her punches, for instance, and her AI-controlled self will rely on them just as much as you will.

The Offensive Move System also adds something for human-controlled and CPU characters, enabling you to segue defensive moves such as evasions and blocks into counters. In fact, movement in 3D has never been more important (or more successfully implemented, with a quick double-tap of up/down now resulting in a lightning quick dodge) in the series as it is here in VF5, and as a result it's the small and light characters such as Shun and Kage who appear to have gained the greatest advantage. Although the redesign of characters such as Jeffry (who has become even bigger and scarier in VF5) also shifts the balance of power slightly.

Technical improvements have a bearing on how VF5 plays, as well. Character animation is smoother and more finely captured than ever before, while collision detection between character models is perfect, which combined gives the impression that Virtua Fighter 5 is paced slightly slower than VF4. We were a little surprised by this at first, but after a few hours of play, it began to feel perfectly natural and somehow more mature and well balanced than VF4.

The two new fighters here add some variation to the game's line-up (which totals 17 playable characters, with Dural also appearing in Dojo Mode). El Blaze is a Mexican wrestler who looks like an extra from Nacho Libre, but fights like a middleweight boxer. And Eileen, who is as agile and quick as a chimp, is appropriately a Chinese mistress of Monkey Kung-Fu. Design-wise both of these characters fit in well with Akira, Sarah, Jacky and rest of the VF old school, while they also bring unique fighting styles to the mix.

Level design, although not as significant as it is in Dead or Alive 4, where environments are destructible and ostensibly boundary-less, is still excellent. There are no cardboard backdrops or stretched photograph horizons: VF5 is 3D to its core. There are priests sweeping the ground while you fight in the Kyoto-based Shrine stage, and locals have gathered on the Great Wall of China just to see you knock Shun off it. No matter where you go in VF5, its locations have been developed to make you say "wow". That's the one non-word we kept repeating while playing Virtua Fighter 5 on PS3.

We could grumble about the lack of online play, but offline versus will suffice so long as our friends love the game as much as we do. We could complain that the SixAxis doesn't do Virtua Fighter 5 true justice, but then we bought Sega's awesome High Grade Virtua Sticks. And we could whine about the ten-second loading times that occur between fights, even though we've installed 2.35GB of Virtua Fighter 5 game data to our PS3's hard disk, but... oh, what's the point? As an intelligent and masterful 3D beat 'em up experience, this is as pure as it gets.

BattleStations: Midway (Xbox360)

Battlestations: Midway is an intriguing and unique blend of strategy and action that challenges gamers with both directing the strategic course of a series of sea-based battles while simultaneously participating in the conflicts.

Battlestations! Battlestations!

Appropriately enough, the game starts off with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The first few missions serve as rudimentary introductions to airplane and boat controls, but the action soon begins to shift from commanding individual vehicles to directing entire naval battle groups. Over the course of the game, players will take direct control of over 60 different vehicles, from fighter jets and dive bombers to aircraft carriers and submarines.

This makes for a fairly entertaining, if chaotic, gameplay experience as you bounce between first-person action-gaming and the broader tactical map. Smart players will spend a lot of time checking the tactical map and issuing orders, and as the battles become increasingly complex, players will need to spend more time here. This tactical battle-planning element is actually much more rewarding and entertaining than the action-oriented gameplay.

You Sunk My Battleship!

Despite the numerous things you must do and keep track of, the game suffers from a lack of intensity. During World War 2, the stakes in the South Pacific were extremely high for both the United States and Japan, and the individual battles -- many of which are recreated here -- were epic, winner-take-all affairs. Battlestations fails to recreate this sense of importance and gravitas.

The tactical map, for example, should be a manic blur of radio chatter and pop-up screens that convey information. Instead, it's a fairly static affair with some icons moving around it.

Muted sound effects are another part of the problem, but perhaps the biggest shortcoming is the sluggish, basic nature of the fast-twitch action. In short, stepping into the cockpit of a dive-bomber or Destroyer-class vessel just isn't that much fun.

Dead Rising (Xbox360)

Trading in horror's usual dank alleys and noir lighting for an infested shopping mall, Dead Rising's arsenal of ad hoc weaponry is its most valuable asset.

Between the remade movies and "survival horror" video games, zombies are by now too familiar to be scarier than expired milk. If Dead Rising is any indication, though, there's still plenty of fun to be had at their expense.

Dead Men Tell No Tales

Willamette is covertly quarantined by the military, and ambitious photojournalist Frank West gets himself air-dropped onto the huge local shopping mall to grab the scoop. From that point on, the clock is ticking: you've got 72 hours to take the best photos of your career, get to the bottom of what happened, and escape in one uninfected piece.

You're not alone in this shopping mecca: swarms of undead infest every corner, and survivors range from cowering nitwits to armed psychos. Some need your help, others consider you fair game, and any could know more than they let on. "Case Files" develop over time, dropping odd pieces of a greater whole, and a buddy in the security center occasionally alerts you to "scoop" opportunities: people barricaded in a storefront, a competing photographer, a gunfight. You can prioritize as you see fit, but most of the narrative elements feel tacked on, providing only arbitrary excuses to send you scampering from one end of the mall to the other, with dimwitted AI and some inexplicable dark spots providing the biggest challenges.

Call of Duty 3 (Xbox360)

It's hard to deny the appeal of a World War II game. You have the historical backdrop with all of its massive battles; Nazis, the ideal evildoers whom you can kill with reckless abandon, are your enemy; and, being a world war, there're plenty of diverse locations to see. With such a convincing trifecta, It's no wonder we have so many of them and why they sell so well.

Now we have Call of Duty 3, the latest World War II game from Activision to grace us with its Nazi-smashing goodness.

Germans To The East!

Call of Duty 2 was a cinematic flash grenade to the senses and was one of the best releases titles on the Xbox 360 last year, so does Call of Duty 3 really have to improve much on this formula? The answer is while the game polishes many of the minor problems that nagged its predecessor as well as expand on what it did so well, COD3 also comes with a few new problems of its own.

As though World War II games weren't already like watching a war movie, COD3 takes it up a notch and focuses distinctly on France right after D-day during the 6 brutal weeks that led to the liberation of Paris. You'll bounce between American, British, Canadian, and Polish troops, but your progress is all tied to overarching goals -- freeing the "frenchies". Call of Duty 2 was noted for not tying together a very coherent story, but COD3 definitely shows an improvement with the concentration of this important location and period during the war. Even the loading screens, masked by custcenes of strategic and historic overviews of the war effort, help make COD3 an expressive and top-notch affair.

Move! Move! Move!

The same can be said, really, for almost every element of Call of Duty 3's presentation. The graphics are still to-notch, especially with the many light sources, particle effects, and increased number of characters onscreen, all while maintaining a smooth framerate. Sound is bombastic and powerful, as any World War II game should be, and if you have surround sound, this is one game that will really take full advantage of it. Voice-acting, too, is convincing and generally very well done, though some of the lines heard during combat are repeated almost ad nauseum. The only other distraction to such an immersive environment is the apparent lack of lip-synching to much of what is said during cutscenes and in gameplay. It's obviously not a serious offense, but when you see detailed explosions going off and thick, volumetric smoke wrapping around you, it's hard to suddenly see your comrades speaking to you with puppet-mouths. Overall though, the production values are noticeably high.

Speaking of your comrades, they're an able bunch of fellows who get the job done, but they almost seem too willing at times to let you take on the whole of Germany's armed forces by yourself. Which is tough, since they all seem to have catlike reflexes and a sniper's ability to hit you from 500 yards away, even if they're manning a machine gun turret. This isn't bitterness talking from being killed too many times by trigger-happy Nazis, but rather a forewarning that you'd better know when to hide behind some cover from time to time.

Ridge Racer 7 (PS3)

It just wouldn't be a Sony console launch without a new Ridge Racer game, and although the latest installment in the popular racing series doesn't quite set the world on fire, it proves that the number 7 is pretty lucky after all.

Racing S(t)imulation

The name of the game in Ridge Racer 7 is drifting, and you won't get very far if you resist, since getting around hairpin turns and right-angle corners demands that you let up on the gas long enough for your back end to swing out in a display of raw power and abused rubber. It's also important because drifting fills your nitrous tanks which you can inject into your fuel line one, two, or three tanks at a time.

This latest installment also features some new elements that will keep things interesting for series vets. Slipstreaming, for instance, lets you hide behind an unsuspecting rival and use them to slingshot away out in a surge of acceleration that would otherwise be impossible. There's also a pseudo-RPG quality in the car purchasing and modification system. Machines can only be bought after establishing a relationship with the manufacturer, which requires you to win an introductory race.

The cars you drive, and the variety of tuning and cosmetic parts you have equipped on them, earn you points with the different parts companies, even if they don't always seem to have a big impact on performance.

You Against the World

Also, unlike most of the competition, Ridge Racer 7's online races are surprisingly smooth, even with a full field of fourteen sharing the pavement. You won't see cars jumping all over the track in an irritating display of Internet lag and shoddy network programming, and every race you place in earns you credits to spend in the single player game. A team battle mode injects some unique mechanics to boot, like a shared nitrous tank, and the demand that you race with your partners as much as possible.

Shiny New Paint Job

You could certainly complain about the fact that most of the tracks on hand are ported directly from Ridge Racer 6, but the cascading waterfalls and towering office buildings never looked this nice, even on the Xbox 360. Engine sounds drone without much interactivity, there's no damage modeling at all, and collision physics sometimes make it seem as if you're driving bumper cars, but the ultimate effect is like playing with absurdly fast matchbox cars, and it's a lot of fun.

The Ridge Racer series has always seemed to provide games more suited to the casual arcade crowd than serious racing devotees, and despite its jump in graphics quality and new twists, this latest installment isn't likely to convert many to its streamlined feel. As long as realism isn't tops on your list of demands, Ridge Racer 7 is a great first foray into the next generation of racing.

Fight Night Round 3 (PS3)

A year after appearing on the Xbox 360 as a launch window title, EA Sports' marquee boxing title slams on to the PlayStation 3 with authority.

Though it sports an extra coat of next-gen polish, it's essentially the exact same game you remember from last year. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as Fight Night Round 3 is easily one of the top boxing games ever released.

Shot To 'da Kidney

As in the other console versions, the best way to play Fight Night Round 3 is to dodge, block, and throw punches using the PS3 analog sticks; tap the stick up to throw a jab, circle it around to swing an uppercut, and so on. It's a remarkably immersive system, but in an odd twist, the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis controller suffers slightly in this style of play. The Sixaxis analog sticks have a slightly looser, smoother feel, which works well for many first- and third-person shooters, but for Fight Night, I prefer a slightly stiffer feel. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

The only other gameplay change worth noting is the new "Get in the Ring" mode, which plants you in a first-person perspective. Though the core gameplay remains the same, Get in the Ring offers a much more immersive presentation. It's more chaotic and visceral. You'll begin to rely more heavily on quick jabs in order to "feel out" your opponent's distance from you in preparation for a haymaker or combo. Another key change is that your fighter will gradually lose his vision and hearing after taking big punches, making dodging and blocking even more tactically important. Get in the Ring is the single biggest argument for buying the PS3 version of Fight Night Round 3, and though it's not necessarily revolutionary, it's an excellent step for the boxing genre as a whole.

TKO?

Fight Night Round 3's audio and video presentation will please, but not floor, PS3 early adopters. As a whole, this PS3 port looks ever-so-slightly more appealing than last year's Xbox 360 version. Tiny physical details, like beads of sparkling sweat on the fighters' foreheads and chest, look absolutely sensational, though we noticed that the 3D crowds in the backgrounds look more pixelated than they did in the Xbox 360 version. The visual experience is also hampered by an occasional frame rate stutter, though these brief, rare lapses usually only occur during especially busy replay videos. Otherwise, the game is a great demonstrator of the processing power of next-gen consoles like the PS3. Very little has changed about the sound design, though several of the voice-overs have been slightly adjusted (the referee sounds somewhat different as he counts down towards a KO).

Sting Like a PS3

Aside from that, there's not much to differentiate the PS3 version of Fight Night Round 3 from its Xbox 360 predecessor. If you've got to choose between one version or the other, it's hard to go wrong, though the PS3's Get in the Ring mode is a tempting bonus. Otherwise, it's pretty much a draw.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Xbox360)

If Sam Fisher did have hair, it would be turning grey by now. Since debuting in 2001, Splinter Cell has proven itself a game that can hang with the best of the big boys in spandex. Relying more on its action and story than cut-scenes, Double Agent proves that with a little fine-tuning you can make one of the best games for the Xbox 360. The game happens to have some of the best multiplayer around, too.

The fun of Double Agent comes from knowing and using your surroundings, since avoiding capture is the highest priority in every mission. Double Agent starts out with Sam Fisher going on a simple mission to defuse a bomb with a rookie agent. Things don’t go as planned, however, and Sam finds himself on the brink of a breakdown. To help ease the pain, Sam is put undercover within a terrorist organization preparing to detonate nuclear weapons in the United States.

Your goal is to find out as much as possible about JBA (John Brown’s Army), which is the terrorist group, and try to actually fit in with them, all while performing reconnaissance missions for the NSA. This is when things get interesting. There is a "trust meter" in Double Agent. If you do a botched job for either side, you will lose all trust and ultimately fail the game. Getting caught in restricted areas of JBA's headquarters and killing people you aren’t supposed to kill affects your trust with both the NSA and JBA. Apparently, Ubisoft loves acronyms as much as we do.

Although the idea of letting the player decide what he wants to do is a novel one, the trust meter really doesn’t play that big a role overall. Even though you could easily fail the game for breaking the simplest of rules, it is quite easy to avoid catastrophe. The missions are broken up into three basic categories: Primary objectives, which are required to complete the mission, secondary objectives, which gain you more trust with a certain group, and alternative or profile objectives, which basically act as a way to identify the JBA’s highest members.

The secondary and alternative objectives never really do anything to advance the plot. What they do grant you is a small gain in trust. Not completing these periphery missions has no effect on the core game. Still, doing some of them will net you star-objective points, which can unlock new gadgets after each mission. The primary objectives are where the whole point of the trust meter comes into play. Some primary objectives have you choosing to gain trust for the JBA or NSA. Whichever side you choose, you lose a substantial amount of trust with the other. Although you may lose nearly half of your trust for one side, it is never enough to actually fail the game. You could easily make it back by doing some secondary and alternate tasks throughout the game. The amount of forgiveness within this gameplay system is a bit disappointing.

It’s moments like these that make the game worth playing, though: hanging onto the ledge of a high-rise in Shanghai while trying to hide in shadow from strapped enemies and a hovering helicopter. Double Agent is also very accessible for newcomers to the stealth genre. The game prompts you when you need to use certain devices. If you are high on a ledge, it will give you the option to rappel down.

Whatever the situation, there is always a surprising method to dispose of your enemies. Of course, since Sam Fisher works for the NSA, killing should be kept to a minimum. That’s when you whip out his sticky shockers and zap enemies to sleep. Although killing them is much easier (and often causes you to fail some secondary objectives), it does attract a lot of attention, which is why using your non-lethal weapons, or just avoiding everyone all-together, is still the best choice.

The biggest improvements in the Splinter Cell series are the visuals and the overall presentation. The amount of detail in some of the levels is astonishing, and Sam Fisher looks almost real. The locations are a breath of fresh air, as well, and some levels, such as Shanghai, fully capture the power of which the Xbox 360 is capable. While a few characters and locations lack flair and intensity, Double Agent on the 360 is a complete visual step above its predecessors. But even with the graphical power to show off the true power of the game, both Xbox versions looks very similar, with the 360 version looking slightly better in minor details and overall polish.

The multiplayer and co-op have also been revamped to allow a much more evenly paced experience. The premise is the same as the multiplayer from Pandora Tomorrow, in that the team of spies must try to locate and activate a set of markers while the heavily armed mercenaries must try to stop them. To make things more interesting, the matches are now 3-on-3, resulting in a faster, more intense online portion. Co-op is definitely a cool addition, as players can now engage in special acrobatic maneuvers and even double-team a mercenary. The Xbox version, however, feels somewhat superior to its next gen brethren in the co-op aspects, as it includes more levels and gadgets. The multiplayer is one of the highlights in Double Agent, and future games in the series shouldn’t tinker too much with this formula. The online play finally feels fair for novice and hardcore players alike.

Splinter Cell Double Agent is a solid game with an excellent multiplayer component. Fans of a gripping storyline which includes intense action and “stealthy stealth” will no doubt enjoy this game.

Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

January 1,2007 - It seems odd that the developer of the lovable Ratchet and Clank series would create the first must have PS3 FPS. But here we are, and there sits Resistance: Fall of Man, the only must have title in the PS3 launch library.

Resistance is set in some sort of alternate reality where World War II is interrupted by a rapidly advancing alien horde called the Chimera. The Chimera cover Western Europe swiftly in an attempt to infect the entire human population with a virus that turns humans into alien slaves. Yet there is one man, an American soldier by the name of Nathan Hale, who seems impervious to the Chimera’s attempts at conversion. The insect creatures that infect the humans attack Hale’s squad early on, yet he is the only one to survive. He awakens with his fallen squad mates surrounding him, and sets out on a mission to find out how to stop the Chimera from taking over the countryside.
Resistance’s controls are the same as most other first-person shooters out there today. Aside from the grenade button (which happens to be the O Button) and a weapon selection system similar to Gears of War, not much is different. The one big exception to the control scheme is the Sixaxis motion sensing ability. When a certain breed of Chimera attacks Hale, you must violently shake the controller to break free. While this effect is not used often, it is still a nice highlight of how the controller can be used to draw the user further into gameplay. The health system also has some nice subtle changes from the norm. Unlike most other games today, resistance does not allow you to fully recharge your health by ducking under cover. Instead, your health bar has been divided into four sectors. When one sector has been fully depleted, the next sector will begin to diminish. However, each individual health sector can be refilled by ducking for cover. The sectioned off health meter takes a bit more thought and caution to manage than the usual method.

The biggest draw of Resistance is not the story or the Sixaxis control, but the enemy AI. The Chimera are a smart group of alien fiends. They usually attack in big groups, and they attack with a variety of tactics. More often than not, groups of Chimera will attempt to flank you, and they use cover to their advantage quite well. Some types of Chimera will attempt to bum rush you, others will fall back and attack from a distance, and they always make use of turret guns. This wide variety of tactics will keep you on your toes for sure.

Another huge draw for Resistance is the large multiplayer matches. Up to 40 players can compete online in a wide variety of match types. From deathmatch and capture the flag, to meltdown (similar to Conquest in Battlefield 2) and conversion (a deathmatch hybrid), Resistance has it all. Multiplayer games can be set up in any way you desire. Want snipers only? No problem. Want unlimited ammo? You can have that too. While the variety of options and the ability to change every ounce of your online experience is nice, the option for unlimited ammo just seems silly. The ability to give 40 players unlimited grenades and grenade launchers is extremely hectic. Luckily the online arenas are large enough that you probably won’t have to worry about pesky spawn campers. So, while the unlimited ammo thing seems a bit dumb, the game does a decent job of balancing it out so it does not ruin the experience for newbies.

Given that this is the first iteration of PS3 games, we were not exactly sure what to expect from Resistance in the graphics department. With the Xbox 360 beginning to churn out some stellar looking games (i.e. Gears of War, Mass Effect, etc) it was interesting to see how Resistance stacked up. Even though the PS3 is one year behind, Resistance holds up fairly well against some of the 360’s best looking games. The lighting is good, the character models are great, and the guns look stellar. However, the real visual treats are the cut scenes. The cut scenes use the in-game engine, and really showcase the PS3’s potential. The expressions on the face of the main character and the look in his eyes speak volumes about the character. The only real downside to the graphics is the environments, which can be a little bland at times, and the color scheme is really muted and flat. Also, when you get too close to some doors and objects, the graphics can get a little muddy.
The only other big downfall for Resistance is the sound. While it is not bad by any means, it just is not memorable. The guns sound good, and the explosions are nice, but the sounds will not stick with you. The musical score is the same way. The music is good, and it picks up in the appropriate places, but once you shut of your PS3 you won’t remember what it sounds like. Even the menacing sounds of the Chimera are not memorable. The only truly memorable audio is the voice acting, but occupies a very small portion of the game. In fact, the only real bit of voice acting you get is from the female British narrator, but at least it’s memorable.

If you are one of the few people out there that actually bought a PS3 to play, you should probably pick up Resistance. While the game really does not do a whole lot to innovate, it is a very solid FPS with an interesting story and an immense online aspect. Even with its flaws, Resistance is arguably the best PS3 launch title.

Need for Speed Carbon

The last few Need for Speed titles have turned out to be really solid street racing games. It started with the two Need For Speed Underground games which let you tune up any number of Import cars and tear around some random city at night. Last year the series brought the police back into the equation with Most Wanted, a game where you did your best to make trouble and become the most notorious racer in the city of Rockport. This year, EA brings us Need For Speed Carbon, which takes some of the best elements of Most Wanted, expends upon some, and downplays others.

Need For Speed Carbon’s story picks up right where Most Wanted left off. You play as the same faceless racer as before. The game starts off with a flashback, setting up the events that led to you leaving town and taking part in the events of the previous games. The story is told through the same sort of Live Action mixed with CG that Most Wanted made famous, or infamous depending on how you look at it. This time around though, there are quite a few more of those types of cutscenes. The story itself is something that feels right at home in a typical Hollywood car flick. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it serves to move the game along, and after a while, you dismiss the over-the-top nature of the story and just get into the whole world that NFS Carbon presents to you.

The majority of your time will be spent in the game’s career mode. You’ll begin by choosing a starter car, from one of three classes. There are Muscle Cars, Exotics, and Tuners. Each car class has its own properties. Muscle Cars are great for acceleration, but they don’t corner so well. Tuners might not have the greatest acceleration or top sped, but they tend to be very maneuverable. Exotics are sharp acceleration and handling, but it’s their top speed that set them apart. Once you chosen a car, the game introduce you to one of the new concepts in Carbon, that being team racing. Many races will let you take a wingman in with you. There are three classes for wingmen. Blockers can be commanded to take out an opponent either in front or behind you. Drafters will let you pull up behind them and sit in their slipstream for a while, giving you a boost of speed from the clean air. Finally, there are scouts. These guys point out shortcuts in the game world. They have bright neon trails behind their cars to make following them easier, this works well in the early going, but as the cars get faster, following a scout gets to be more difficult. Having a wingman helping you out seems like a good idea, they’re handy to have, but sometimes you’ll wish that they would just hang back instead of driving so aggressively.

Whereas in Most Wanted you were encouraged to cause as much havoc with the police as possible, Carbon almost discourages you from it. You can free-roam through the Palmont City if you like, and you might want to do this if you want to get a few of the special unlocks that can only be attained by winning street challenges. For the most part though, you can move from event to event through the game’s world map, and avoid the copy almost entirely. If the cops do come after you during a race and you get caught, you can actually retry the race without penalty. You’ll only need to deal with the police after you win the race, that’s when the chase will begin in earnest.

The game features a lot of the race types that you’ve come to expect from the series. There are lap based circuit races, point-to-point sprint races, speed based speedtrap races, and checkpoint races. Making their return from Need For Speed Underground 2 are the drift races. These will take place on either closed circuits or winding mountain roads. The object of these types of races is to score as many points as possible by sliding your car around corners. The car handling changes for these races. The cars feel very slippery, much as they did in NFS Underground 2’s drifts. It’s a shame that EA couldn’t have used the regular car handling for these races, since it works very well on its own and didn’t need a completely different handling mechanic. New to Carbon are the Canyon Duels. These are two round races where you first must try to stay with your opponent as he leads you down the long winding mountain roads. The second round has you leading your opponent, trying to put as much distance between you and them as possible. The biggest problem with these races is that they can be quite frustrating. Many of the corners in these races are on sheer cliffs, and it’s very easy to take a corner too fast or too wide and flying right off of the road, instantly ending your run. You can also lose by falling too far behind your opponent. If you fail on the second round of the canyon duel, you’ll have to go back and start over from the first round. There may be a few ways to lose, but if you manage to get ahead of your opponent in the first round and stay ahead of them for ten seconds, you’ll automatically win the duel and not have to do the second race. Canyon duels are hard at first, but there’s a real feeling of satisfaction when you complete one.

Car customization has been a part of the Need For Speed series for the last few years now. NFS Carbon doesn’t stray too far from the mold, letting you tinker with your cars looks and performance in numerous ways. This year they have added a parts molding system which they refer to as Autosculpt. In essence you can start with a base design for a particular part, like a bumper, wheel, or spoiler, and use a set of sliders to adjust the parts looks. It’s somewhat similar to the Gameface system that the Tiger Woods series has used for the last few years. There are also a host of bolt-on aftermarket parts that you can purchase for your car, so if you don’t want to take the time to fiddle with sliders to make a part look just the way you want it, you can simply buy one pre-built. NFS Carbon has a little something for everyone that way.

Aside from the career mode there are a number of single player challenge series that you can choose to take on at any time. There is also a pretty good multiplayer mode for the Xbox 360 and PC versions. The online mode will let you compete in the various single player race types, and also has a few online specific modes, like Pursuit Knockout, where the last place finisher on a particular lap turns into a cop and has to chase down the other racers. Online performance was decent, for the most part; the races didn’t seem to suffer from too much lag. As always with online play, your results may vary.

When it comes to the game’s presentation, it’s very good for the most part. The game looks the best on the Xbox 360, with lots of cool lighting, weather and reflection effects. The past-gen consoles hold their own, though the PS2 is definitely showing its age with muddy textures and jagged edges here and there. The environments that you’ll drive through look quite good, and look like they might be based on LA. If you played Most Wanted extensively, you might recognize a few objects that were recycled from that game. The audio is also very good, with great engine and collision effects. It’s here where you’ll notice the most recycling. All of the police chatter is lifted straight from Most Wanted. If you didn’t play the last game, this won’t be too big of a deal. Those of you that played Most Wanted extensively might get tired of hearing the same police chatter again. The musical presentation is, in a word, odd. There is a decent selection of licensed music here, and unlike a lot of EA games, it isn’t limited to one genre. What’s odd is that the game doesn’t make use of it very often; instead it plays its own dramatic style music whenever it can. On the whole though, the audio is good, but a bit too much recycling and over-used interactive music hurts it a bit.

Need For Speed Carbon is a solid racing game. It might have a few rough edges and frustrating spots, but overall it’s a fun game. With a nice single player career mode and a good multiplayer mode on the Xbox 360 and PC, NFS Carbon has enough to keep you going for a long time.