Awesome news

Good news, everyone - you'll be seeing some current-generation game reviews on this blog in the near future.

The reason? I got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas!

Yep, I'm the proud owner of the Wii and two games besides Wii Sports (I could tell you which ones they are, but that would ruin the surprise that would come when I review them :)

It's nice to finally be on (or at least near) the cutting edge of current video gaming at long last. I'm looking forward to renting some games I don't have too so I can see all that this thing can do.

So anyways, expect (more) current game reviews in the near future, readers.

The game so good, it held up its own review

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Release Date: 2005
System: XBox (also available for the Playstation 2)
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) for Mild Language and Violence
Publisher: LucasArts Entertainment Company

First off, an apology to my readers for having not updated in months.

Now I bring you the reason for that lack of updating, the game that's been taking up all of my (very limited) free time lately - "Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction." Yes, it's a game so good that it actually delayed its own review. It's just that much fun.

"Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction" takes place in the near future, in North Korea. A mad dictator, General Choi Song, recently took over North Korea in a coup in which he killed his father.

Now Song has been caught trying to sell nuclear weapons to terrorists, and the rest of the world has decided to finally smack Song down for it, in the form of an Allied Nations (sort of like the real-world United Nations) task force. Its mission: bring down Song and his 51 closest allies, known as the "Deck of 52," who all have nice, fat bounties on their heads. General Song is the Ace of Spades in that deck, and his value is a cool $100 million. You play a mercenary - a soldier of fortune for who $100 million is too good a payday to pass up.

In this game, you can play as one of three mercenaries, each with their own strengths and weaknesses: Christopher Jacobs (an American who's slow, but can take more punishment than the others), Jennifer Mui (a Hong Kong-born Brit who's quite the stealthy type but gets hurt easier than anyone else) or Mattias Nilsson (a psychotic Swede who's a fast runner and loves blowing stuff up, but is about as innocuous as a strobe light in a darkroom). Depending on the merc you choose, the game might require some slightly different tactics. Most often, though, the only difference is in the characters' color commentary throughout the game, so my advice is to just pick the personality you like most.

The core of the game consists of contracts - missions that you take from the various players involved in the North Korean invasion. There's several sides you can take contracts from - the A.N., the CIA-backed South Korean military, the Chinese military, and even the Russian Mafia. These missions have a wide variety of objectives attached to them, from blowing up crucial buildings or targets to rescuing troops stuck behind enemy lines. Complete these contracts, and you get some nice money, along with some other benefits - like intelligence on where to find some of the Deck of 52.

Of course, the Deck of 52 is your main objective. You tackle these guys in ascending suit order throughout the game, from the clubs (state-sponsored criminals and the like) to the spades (Song's elite special forces), and each of the number cards and face cards can provide intelligence on where to find the biggest, highest-value foe - the Ace - in each suit. You have the option of either capturing Deck of 52 members or killing them - killing them is easier, but you get less money for your trouble than you would by capturing them.

Another factor to consider throughout the game is that you have to be careful about maintaining your reputation among these players - kill too many South Korean troops, for example, and the SK military will shoot you on sight. Of course, there's always ways to get back into the good graces of a side you've pissed off, whether it's killing enemy troops or even offering a hefty bribe (hey, money talks).

Mechanically speaking, the game works a lot like a military-themed version of "Grand Theft Auto III," but it comes off as much more polished. You get much the same perspective as "GTA III", and can even hijack vehicles, from cars to armored personnel carriers to helicopters. You also get a nice assortment of weapons to play with, from hand-carried assault rifles, sniper rifles and anti-aircraft missiles to massive tank-mounted cannons and wire-guided missiles.

And if all that bang-bang wasn't enough, you have the option of calling in fire support - everything from a laser-guided bomb to carpet bombing a whole area back into the Stone Age. Activating these fire support options is very easy - involving pointing a hand-held laser at a target, planting a smoke beacon or locking onto a target from satellite coordinates - and is often essential to completing missions.

What makes all this firepower even more fun to play with is the fact that just about every building and vehicle in the game is destructible, often going up (or crumbling to the ground) in spectacular fashion once they've taken too much damage. There's many moments in this game that will get action game fans' blood pumping in excitement, like raining artillery fire down on a cluster of buildings or hijacking a tank and running roughshod over everything in sight. Simple, easy-to-understand controls and the many options available to you keep the action fresh throughout the entire game.

The game does have a few minor flaws. One of the more major ones is that the physics engine is a little wonky when it comes to some vehicles. For example, very often, if you try to run over a small but indestructible obstruction - like a pile of sandbags - in an Armored Personnel Carrier, you end up with your APC sticking its front end 60 degrees into the air, making maneuvering quite tricky until you get out of there and costing precious time in combat situations.

"Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction" has to be one of the most purely fun action games released in recent years. Every action game fan should check this one out.

Score: 9.5 out of 10 (Good plot, lots of weapons and vehicles to play with, and great fun to be had throughout the entire game)

Nothing like a good ol' game of Cowboys and...VAMPIRES?!

Darkwatch

Release Date: 2005
System: XBox (also available for Playstation 2)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language and Sexual Themes
Publisher: Capcom

Yes, you read that right - cowboys and vampires.

It's a weird combination, I know - but in "Darkwatch," it happens to work quite well.

"Darkwatch" is set in the Wild West era, and puts you into the role of Jericho Cross, train robber and general criminal. As the game begins, Cross is set to make "the big score" - a train robbery that'll net him a ton of cash.

But c'mon - this is the beginning of a horror/action game, and true to form, things don't go quite according to plan. Turns out the train Jericho hit belongs to the Darkwatch - a society of lawmen dedicated to fighting supernatural evil. And it also turns out that the Darkwatch is transporting one hell of a bad guy - Lazarus, an eight-foot tall, pissed off vampire lord.

Guess what happens next? Yep - in raiding the train, Jericho releases Lazarus, who then turns the outlaw into a vampire and raises the dead for miles around to wreak havoc on the Wild West. Now, Jericho has to join up with the Darkwatch in an effort to stop Lazarus from continuing his bloodbath.

"Darkwatch" is a first-person shooter, which when combined with its Wild West setting makes for a really interesting game. The combination may seem limiting at first due to the low-tech time period, but it actually ends up being very engaging. The weapons you do get - which include a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and even a rocket launcher (don't ask me how - apparently the Darkwatch were geniuses at making low-tech versions of high-tech bang-bang) - are all varied enough that they demand a different approach to the game depending on which ones you favor. Plus, they never seem to limit the fun of the action despite most of the weapons being inherently lower-tech than the weapons most FPS fans are used to.

Speaking of action, this game has a lot of it. Lazarus mobilizes all sorts of undead monstrosities to keep you from stopping him, from the standard animated skeletons to Banshees (floating women that "scream" balls of energy at you) to Vipers (big hulking guys that can teleport away, have a massive punch and generally ruin your day). These enemies all demand a different approach to dealing with them, in things from which weapons you used on them to the tactics you use against them, which makes for a lot of variety in the action.

"Darkwatch" also has a "Good vs. Evil" element to it. During the course of the game, Jericho will run into situations where he has to make a choice, usually between saving someone's life or drinking their blood to increase his own power. Depending on which choices you make for him, Jericho will gain supernatural powers - either good powers (which include making bullets more powerful or hurling lightning at enemies) or evil powers (like making melee attacks more powerful and sucking souls from all enemies within reach). These choices will also affect the final outcome of the game. The powers are nice to have when the going gets tough, and while the "Good vs. Evil" conflict isn't quite as polished as some other games, it adds another dimension to the game.

The only real complaint about "Darkwatch" is that it's a little repetitive. The vast majority of the game's levels involve much the same thing - shoot at undead, reload, repeat. There are some horse-riding missions that provide a little variety, but the game mostly follows the pattern laid out above, which will likely leave some gamers wanting more in the way of variety.

Still, "Darkwatch" will make for a good time for most FPS fans. Saddle up and check it out.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 (Lack of variety hurt its score, but the game at its core is a very neat idea that's fairly well-executed)

"My night started when I stabbed a guy to death in a bathroom. Things went downhill from there."

Indigo Prophecy

Release Date: 2005
System: Playstation 2 (Also available for the XBox and Windows)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol and Violence
Publisher: Atari

When I saw the first previews of “Indigo Prophecy” on G4, it looked to me like another horror game, so I was expecting much of the same things I’d come to expect from “Resident Evil” and other games in terms of controls and such.

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the finished product. “Indigo Prophecy” is indeed a horror game, but it’s far different than most of the other games in the genre.

The game begins in a wonderfully horrific fashion that immediately grabs the player’s interest. You’re introduced to the poor schmuck you’ll be following for most of the game – Lucas Kane, an average Joe who’s been seized by some kind of trance courtesy of an occult ritual performed by a creepy cloaked man. Under the control of the creepy man, Kane stabs an unsuspecting man to death in a public restroom.

Shaking off the effects of the trance after killing the man, Lucas is determined to find out who made him do such a thing, and the police are determined to find Kane and bring him to justice. The more Kane investigates, however, the more he finds out that this is not just a random killing – it’s just the surface of a shady plot that could mean the end of the world.

What makes the game so interesting is that the player controls both Kane and the police following him – Inspector Carla Valenti and her partner Tyler Martin. What’s more, many of your actions in one part of the game will have some effect later on in the game. For example, if Kane leaves sources of evidence behind at the murder scene, the cops can use those to track Kane down later.

The control scheme is probably one of the most interesting ever devised for a game like this. While most of the game involves walking around and investigating things in much the same manner as “Resident Evil,” the action controls are completely different. Whenever an action sequence begins – whether it’s running from an enemy or trying to “read” a person’s mental state as you interrogate them – the player taps the analog sticks in a certain sequence (similar to the old home game “Simon”) or presses the shoulder buttons in rhythm as fast as possible. Failure could mean simply missing a clue or missing a life or death jump. It’s not quite as interactive as other horror games’ controls, but it works well for “Indigo Prophecy.”

The game also has a good interrogation system that gives you a choice of several different questions to ask people in your investigations. Given that the game is as much a detective story in the vein of movies like “Se7en” as it is a horror game, this feature is a logical one that cranks up the interactivity.

The game really shines in the story department. Few other games have the ability to draw players in like this on the strength of their story alone. “Indigo Prophecy” is the somewhat Lovecraftian story of an average person caught up in events that are beyond his understanding, which heightens the drama. Being able to control both the police and the Kane also changes things up a lot and keeps the game from becoming boring.

Something that aids this engaging story is the characters the player controls. All three of them have their own personalities and their own backgrounds, all of which factor into the game at some point and help make the player sympathize with all of them. From the conversations with Lucas’ priest brother to Tyler’s wisecracking attitude, all of these details help the player grow closer to the characters.

The game does have a few flaws, however. The biggest one is that the story seems to falter over the last 20 percent or so of the game, losing a measure of quality just as it’s ending. Not much else can be said without spoiling it, but suffice it to say that the story could have been wrapped up better.

Another thing that might turn some off people is the relative lack of interactivity and action in the game. The game’s unique control scheme means that much of the action gamers have come to expect from “Resident Evil” and “Fatal Frame” isn’t really here. The control scheme works for the game that “Indigo Prophecy” is, but it’s not for everyone.

A final complaint is that the game is far too short. It’s a fun ride most of the way through, but most players will be left hungering for more, especially since the game sucks the player in so much that you’ll be playing it non-stop.

If you’re looking for a different kind of horror/thriller game with a decent story, check out “Indigo Prophecy.”

Score: 7.5 out of 10 (if it were longer and had a better ending it would be an undisputed masterpiece, but as it is it's still a good title worthy of playing)

"I can kill you with my brain"

Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Release Date: 2004
System: XBox (also available on the Playstation 2)
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Strong Language, Blood and Gore and Intense Violence
Publisher: Midway Home Entertainment

On the surface, Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy seems like just another shooter - run-and-gun action and a bunch of enemies to destroy. If you take the time to look beneath the surface, however, you'll discover what this game truly is - an awesome action title that rises above others in the genre due to some cool powers and a game design that actually encourages their usage.

The game puts you into the combat boots of Nick Scryer, a soldier who has been assigned to infiltrate The Movement - a dangerous, Brotherhood of Evil Mutants-esque group that thinks people with psychic powers should rule over the rest of the world.

As the game begins, Scryer's cover has been blown, and his own psychic powers are re-awakening. Using both his military training and his re-discovered psychic powers, Scryer must stop the fanatical plans of The Movement and its leader, The General.

On its surface, Psi Ops looks like a typical third-person shooter - Scryer has to blast his way through large groups of enemy soldiers, using several different kinds of guns to do the job. Several bosses, all of them over-the-top (like a big fat guy that can throw an oil tanker with his mind and an old Russian guy with his eyes sewn shut) help liven up the action and provide a challenge to defeat.

Where Psi Ops breaks the mold is in the "cool shit" department. Nick Scryer can use several different psychic powers that he gains throughout the game, including telekinesis (moving things with your mind), mind control (taking over an enemy's mind so you can make him fight for you or anything else) and Beavis's dream power, pyrokinesis (setting things on fire with your mind). Of course, you can't just use these willy-nilly; Scryer has a psi gauge that needs to be replenished through either items or the Mind Drain power (which lets you leech psi energy from an enemy's brain; a dead brain provides a little while a live brain nets you a lot of power and extremely messy results in the form of gore and gray matter scattered all over the place).

What makes these psi powers so awesome is that they're not just gimmicks; they're incredibly useful features that are essential to completing the game. Whether it's using telekinesis to move a slab of metal that you have to "surf" on to cross a pit or mind-controlling a guard to open a door for you, you will need all of your psi powers at some point throughout the game. Even without those situations, though, the powers are such a blast to use that you'll never get bored with them. Throwing hapless enemies into a deep pit with telekinesis, mind-controlling a guard and having him ambush his own guys - there's no shortage of ways to have fun with the powers you're given. The game's ragdoll physics engine only adds to the fun of tossing enemy troopers around.

This game does have a couple weaknesses. Psi Ops is a lot of fun to play throughout, but somehow it feels a little too short. It's fun while it lasts, but you find yourself wishing for more by the time you defeat the final boss. The game's ending only adds to this feeling.

If you're up for a fun shooter with some cool powers to play around with, check out Psi Ops.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 (would rate an 8.5, but the game's shortness and unsatisfactory ending conspire to bring its score down)

Best. Star Wars Game. Ever.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Release Date: 2003
System: XBox
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) for Violence
Publisher: LucasArts

I have to admit to being pretty ambivalent about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic when I first tried it out. I mean, c'mon - a Star Wars RPG? It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and it threw me off enough that I avoided the game for a while. After hearing rave reviews about it, however, I decided to give it a try. In the end, I was more than happy that I gave it a shot.

Simply put, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the best Star Wars game ever made, capturing the Star Wars feel better than any other game before it or since.

KOTOR takes place 4,000 years before the events of the first Star Wars movie, in an era of intergalactic war. Darth Malak and Darth Revan, former heroes of the Old Republic and current Sith Lords, have plunged the galaxy into war, laying waste to the Republic.

As the game begins, you (in the role of your choice: either a soldier, scout or scoundrel, and either male or female) are aboard the Endar Spire, a Republic ship that's under attack from Sith forces. It turns out the Sith are looking for a Jedi Knight named Bastilla Shan, who is in command of the Spire on its current mission.

As the ship falls apart around you, you're forced to escape, crash-landing on a decaying city-world named Taris, along with a Republic soldier named Carth Onasi. Upon hearing news that Bastilla has also crash-landed on Taris, you set out to find Bastilla and escape the planet.

However, Bastilla's rescue is just the beginning, as her rescue propels your character on an exciting adventure across the galaxy on a mission that will either stop the Sith forces in their tracks - or lead them to their ultimate victory and plunge the galaxy into darkness.

There are so many good things about this game that this review could go on forever gushing about them. For starters, the game's plot is awesome. The story of a small group of people that end up changing the fate of the galaxy is quite familiar to anyone who's ever seen Star Wars, and yet there's so many original elements in the plot that it never feels rehashed or boring. The game's plot also has a huge twist about midway through the game that serves to heighten the drama.

Another great element along those lines is the game's Light Side/Dark Side system. How your character responds to questions and chooses to act in certain situations will influence whether he follows the Light Side or the Dark Side of the Force. Your choices will also influence the game's ending.

A wonderful cast of characters that join you throughout the game only adds to the game's fun. From Carth Onasi the troubled soldier to model Jedi Knight Bastilla to a psychotic droid named HK-47, all of the characters have their own story to tell, and are a lot of fun to interact with.

The game's engine is also worth mentioning. It's based off of the D20 system used in the pen and paper RPGs Star Wars Roleplaying Game and Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. You can create your character using the system (as well as a handy guide) at the beginning of the game, giving him stats as appropriate, which will affect game play. For instance, a character with a high Dexterity score will usually be pretty good with a blaster, while characters with high Charisma might be better served by talking their way out of things. The class you choose at the beginning (soldier, scout or scoundrel) will also likely affect how you create your character.

The engine uses the relevant stats along with a degree of randomness to determine success or failure in various objectives, from blasting an enemy to convincing someone to let you into a restricted area to defeating a door lock. It may sound a bit complicated, but it all boils down to a very simple thing: the higher your bonuses (in the relevant skill or attribute), the better chance you'll have of succeeding. You get better at your attributes and skills as you level up as well, just like a usual RPG, except you can choose where those improvements go. Other options that can be gained or purchased (called "feats") can do everything from making your lightsaber swings more powerful to making you nearly unstoppable at computer hacking. It's a good system that works very well for the game.

The combat system is extremely well-done. It's technically turn-based, but the combat proceeds so smoothly that you may not notice at first. The combat system incorporates the randomness/bonus format of the overall engine, and include the ability to use combat feats to give you an advantage. And yes, you get to use a lightsaber in this game, along with all sorts of other cool weapons.

Perhaps the greatest thing about this game is that it captures the Star Wars feel better than any other game before it. It's tough to describe, but somehow, it feels more like an interactive movie than a game - in all the right ways. Even as you control the protagonist of the adventure, it feels like you're watching a Star Wars movie unfold before your eyes. The game's music only enhances this, fitting the game's many moods perfectly. The voice acting also helps immensely, never seeming cheesy or forced and always seeming to convey emotions very effectively. No other Star Wars video game has ever felt like this before, and it's a big part of what makes KOTOR the best Star Wars game ever made.

The game does have a few flaws, though they're not enough to kill the game. First of all, the game's upgrade system - which lets you upgrade certain weapons and armor to make them more powerful or give them other qualities - is far too limited. Too few items can be upgraded (though all lightsabers can). The system is quite useful for the weapons that can be altered, but more items should have been available for upgrading.

Secondly, there's an upper limit on how far your characters can advance - only up to Level 20. Granted, that point is usually only hit by the time you get to the final area, at least in my experience, but it would have been nice not to have the limit.

Despite these minor flaws, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a must-have for any Star Wars or RPG fan. If you haven't played this game yet, try it out. You will not regret it.

Score: 9.5 out of 10 (translates the Star Wars feel more faithfully than any other game before it, and gives the player a massively fun ride in the process)

The Transformers movie is coming next week, so in honor of giant robots blasting the crap out of each other...

MechAssault

Release Date: 2002
System: X-Box
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

I'll admit it: I have a weakness for giant robots. I loved the Transformers, I loved Gundam Wing and I loved Evangelion.

I've also been a fan of the Battletech series for many years. So naturally, when I bought an X-Box, MechAssault - based on the long-running Battletech franchise - was my first rental.

What I discovered blew me away. MechAssault is a damn fun ride that is guaranteed to keep your hands glued to the controller while it lasts.

In MechAssault, you play the pilot of a Battlemech - a 40-foot tall walking tank bristling with powerful weaponry that has become the primary weapon of war in the 31st century, which is when the game takes place. The pilot you control is a member of Wolf's Dragoons, one of the most highly respected and famous mercenary units in known space.

As the game begins, Wolf's Dragoons lands on the planet Helios as part of a contract, with the player acting as part of the first wave of a strike force. Things go bad quickly, however, when a group of hi-tech religious zealot terrorists known as the Word of Blake attack the Dragoons' ship as they land. With the Dragoons in bad shape from the ambush, it's up to the player to fend off the Word of Blake, clear the way for the Dragoon attack force and discover what the Blakists are up to on Helios.

Fortunately, you've got a LOT of firepower behind you on your missions. You can choose from a number of deadly mech designs to carry out your tasks with, from small and nimble designs to lumbering behemoths with the power to flatten an entire city. Whatever your playing style, you'll find a mech design to suit your tastes. You'll start off with a limited selection of mechs at first, but as the game progresses more mechs will become available.

Mounted on these war machines are weapons that every action game fan will wet their pants over. From standard machine guns and lasers to cannons and railguns that can knock an enemy mech on its ass, there are plenty of toys to play with in MechAssault.

The action in MechAssault is typical run-and-gun fare. Most missions revolve around destroying various objectives, typically guarded by huge waves of tanks and helicopters backed up by the Word of Blake's own mechs. Despite its simplicity, however, the action in MechAssault never seems to get too boring. The sheer number of mech designs, each with its own combination of weapons, armor and speed, ensures there's no shortage of different ways to cause mayhem. Further, your missions' different objectives combined with the slow accumulation of new mech designs throughout the game mean that it's virtually impossible to breeze through the game with one design. It's a well-done setup that encourages you to experiment with different designs and experience the full variety of options available.

Another aspect of gameplay that adds some strategy is heat buildup. Firing your mechs' weapons will cause varying amounts of heat to build up. Heat up too much and you'll find yourself unable to fire until you let the heat go down. Not only does this add some strategy to the game by forcing you to manage heat, it also keeps you from winning the game just by going through every level with the trigger held down.

The only real fault the game has is a lack of variety in the mech designs in terms of their appearance. Quite a few mech designs are simply variants of another design, with the same appearance but a different weapons loadout. While the variety of weapons is more important than appearance, it would have been nice to have a little more variety of things to look at.

Other than that, MechAssault is a great game that's a guaranteed good time for anyone that plays it. Try it out and have a blast.

Score: 8.5 out of 10 (Doesn't really offer anything new, but does an excellent and fun job with what it does offer)

A long, long time ago, some time after the mediocre Episode I...

Star Wars Starfighter: Special Edition

Release Date: 2001
System: X-Box
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Publisher: LucasArts

Let's face it: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was easily the worst of all the Star Wars movies. And some of the games that came out of it weren't all that great either.

Star Wars Starfighter: Special Edition could have been one of the non-mediocre games based on Episode I, but because of one major flaw, it only manages to break the "average" barrier.

Starfighter takes place shortly before the Battle of Naboo, the climatic battle of Episode I. The game follows the course of three characters: a Naboo pilot named Rhys Dallows, a mercenary named Vana Sage, and a creepy-looking pirate named Nym. All three find themselves on the Trade Federation's hit list due to their discovery of the federation's impending unlawful invasion of Naboo. When their paths cross due to these discoveries, and the resulting threats on their lives, the mismatched trio find themselves working together to stop the Trade Federation in their tracks.

The player controls three fighters throughout the course of the game: an N-1 Naboo Starfighter piloted by Dallows, Vana Sage's tri-winged fighter Guardian Mantis and Nym's bomber Havoc. Each fighter carries a different selection of weapons, which helps keep the action from getting too repetitive since the player must take different approaches to the missions depending on which ship he's flying. Each of these fighters can also be flown from one of two perspectives - a first-person view or a third-person view.

Speaking of action, this game has a lot of it. Every mission in this game - which take place both in space and closer to the planets' surfaces - has several objectives that need to be completed, from defending Queen Amidala's starship to taking out a certain target, and the Trade Federation scrambles SWARMS of enemies to thwart you at every turn. Players will never get bored in this game, as there's always another wave of enemies on the horizon and blowing them up never seems to get boring. Fortunately, there's plenty of variety in the enemies, from Trade Federation AAT tanks to the new droid starfighters. The mission objectives themselves also help to keep the boredom factor low - while a good number of them revolve around blowing up certain targets, there's enough objectives that break from that pattern to keep the game from ever getting too repetitive. The game also boasts a number of bonus missions that can be earned by completing bonus objectives in enough regular missions, which works well in extending the game's playability.

Starfighter could have been a true hit were it not for a couple flaws that conspire to lower its score. The first of these flaws is a sense of sameness in the way the three player-controlled ships handle. I didn't notice much in the way of difference in how the ships felt while I was flying them in terms of maneuverability or other such aspects. The game could have been better served by, for example, making the Havoc more sluggish than the other ships or something similar.

Something else that could use some work is the game's targeting system. To lock onto the target you want, you either have to cycle through all the enemies in the area (which can take an unacceptably long time in an emergency), or else point your ship in the general direction of where you think the enemy is and hope it locks on - which can be kind of annoying when your target is a dinky fighter on the other side of the frickin' star system. The game's zoom feature can help with this, but it's also one more thing to keep track of while you're under fire. Some kind of radar system or waypoint indicators for crucial targets would also have been nice, since the targeting system means you may have to frantically cycle through targets just to lock onto the one you need to destroy to complete the mission.

The game's most major flaw, however, is the one that detracts from the game's fun enough to lower its score dramatically: your ship shudders violently every time it's hit by enemy fire, and it shudders badly enough that it's virtually impossible to aim accurately or even feel like you're flying in a straight line when you're under fire. My theory is that the game designers got confused and thought they were creating a Star TREK game rather than a Star WARS game at some time during its creation; that's only explanation I can think of for such a mechanic making its way into this game. Yeah, you're supposed to feel it when your ship is hit in games like this, but when you can't even shoot back due to the shuddering, and when enemies CONSTANTLY manage to hit you after the first hit (as indeed they do in this game), and when you sometimes have up to half a dozen enemies shooting at you at once (another thing that tends to happen in this game), that's when the game takes a flying leap from "challenging" into "incredibly frustrating."

Star Wars Starfighter: Special Edition has a lot of fun aspects that make it enjoyable to play, but that one ill-considered game mechanic does an unfortunate job of canceling out some of that fun. Check it out, but definitely rent before buying.

Score: 6.0 out of 10 (Lots of fun action that doesn't get boring, but the frustrating ship shuddering mechanic is bad enough to potentially provoke some controller-throwing among players, and the targeting system needs some work to function more smoothly)

Review delay/double feature notice

Just wanted to let my readers know that my next review will be a bit late. I had a work week last week that kicked my ass, and I spent most of the weekend recovering.

On the upside, this week will be a double-feature of sorts, with two game reviews instead of one. I'm shooting for a Sunday publishing date for that.

Kicking things off with a clash of the titans and the gods

God of War II

Release Date: 2007
System: Playstation 2
ESRB Rating: M (Mature) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language and Sexual Themes
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA)

Alright, tell me seriously - who wasn't impressed by 2005's God of War?

It's doubtful anyone could find an action game fan that wasn't completely floored by that title - the fast and furious (and gory!) action, the depth of the "mini-game kills" (like ramming the Hydra's head through a pike), the music worthy of an epic Hollywood movie, the story of a man vengeful enough to try to kill a GOD.

So it follows that a sequel to such a game would be a tough thing to pull off - how can you possibly improve on a game like that?

Well, SCEA managed to do it - God of War II surpasses its epic predecessor in terms of storyline and gameplay depth, but leaves the core of the experience unchanged in its excellence.

God of War II once again puts the player into the blood-stained boots of Kratos, the eternally pissed off Spartan warrior who got his vengeance in the first game by killing Ares, the Greek god of war, and taking his place on Mount Olympus.

As the game begins, Kratos finds himself on the outs with the other Gods of Olympus, who are getting a bit miffed at Kratos's bloodlust. Zeus, the leader of the gods, decides to tell Kratos just how much the other gods don't want him around - by impaling him through the chest with a huge frickin' sword. Yeesh, you help the Spartans pillage and burn a few cities and the other gods get all uppity!

Fortunately for Kratos, he's had a friend for some time that he doesn't know about - Gaia, the Titan of the Earth (who, it's revealed, is the unseen narrator of the God of War games). In Kratos, Gaia sees a chance for the Titans to avenge the loss they suffered in their war against the gods. Healing Kratos's mortal wounds, she tells the warrior of a way for him to survive - if he can find the three Sisters of Fate, he can go back in time to the point where Zeus killed him and take his vengeance on Zeus. And so Kratos, with the Titans on his side, sets out to find the Sisters and bring the gods to their knees.

Fans of the first God of War will be pleased to know that the basics of the gameplay have not changed from the last game - Kratos still has his trusty twin Blades of Athena, which he can still use to tear through the many forces opposing him. And he still has plenty of magic for when things get rough. And yes, there are still those impressive mini-game style kills that let you slaughter baddies in all sorts of gory fun ways.

However, while the basics may not have changed, God of War II has plenty of things that make it a large improvement over the first game. For one thing, there are MANY more boss fights than in the first game. Kratos gets to fight everything from Icarus to a giant, living statue. Of course, these boss fights also mean more opportunities for spectacular mini-game kills - some of which are so amazingly acrobatic you might get motion sickness. Fortunately, there's still plenty to do in between these boss fights, with massive hordes of enemies trying to stop Kratos at every turn.

Players will also find a few more weapons to play with this time around. In addition to the Blades of Athena, Kratos can now find and wield a war hammer and a spear, and all of these weapons can be powered up using red orbs just like in the first game. Kratos also gets a chance to wield some new magic this time through. As if that weren't enough, Kratos can obtain several relics that let him do things like temporarily stop time.

Just as in the first game, the hack-and-slash gameplay in God of War II is loads of fun, being simple to pick up and play while still having a tremendous amount of depth due to the many moves you can pull off with Kratos's weapons. The various relics help add to this depth, especially the Golden Fleece, which allows you to absorb and redirect enemy attacks.

The game's plot is another strong point of the game, though for somewhat different reasons than the first game's. God of War II's plot is just as much of an epic revenge tale as the first game's, but God of War II's plot progresses in a somewhat different direction. Unfortunately I can't reveal more without spoiling the plot, but I will say this: Kratos gets scary as the game progresses.

The only thing really wrong with the game is a lack of newness in the magic system. Two of the game's four spells are identical to spells in the first game. While there are two new spells to play with, the other two spells, unchanged in nearly every way except for their names, feel like something of a missed opportunity.

With the release of the Playstation 3, God of War II may be one of the last great games to come out for the Playstation 2. If this turns out to be the case, it's an awesome way to end a game system's run. Take your PS2 for one last blockbuster spin with God of War II.

Score: 9.5 out of 10 (Manages to keep the tried and true feel of the first God of War while still making nearly everything about it feel fresh and worth playing again, and manages to avoid ever feeling repetitive)

A word about reviews

Thought I'd share how the review scale is going to work, since rating numbers can sometimes be misleading.

The basic scale is going to be on a scale of 0-10. Seems simple, I know, but I feel the need to emphasize something about it.

Basically, this scale isn't going to work like school grading systems - a 5 out of 10 isn't a failing grade; it means the game is merely average. By that same token, 7/10 means the game is pretty good - not the best, certainly, but worth a try.

Here's the complete scale:

10 - Perfection or close to it
9 - In the top 10 of its genre (or maybe top 20 for large or glutted genres)
8 - Excellent
7 - Good
6 - Above average - fix some flaws and it'd be a hit
5 - Average. Meh.
4 - Below average
3 - Wait to buy until it hits the $5 bargain bin
2 - Did they seriously expect anyone to buy this crap?
1 - The pinnacle of suck
0 - Were they even TRYING?!

Hi everybody!

Hey, everyone.

Right now, if you're looking at this, you're probably wondering who the heck I am and what's going to be on this blog, so I figured I'd lay it all out for you here as my introductory post.

I'm a 25-year-old (in a few days) journalism graduate living in mid-Michigan. I like writing; it's something I'm good at and always have been. But what I love writing most is something that I've not been able to do for over two years now: video game reviews. Heck, the whole reason I got into journalism was to join the ranks of video game critics like those at Gamepro and Electronic Gaming Monthly. I actually had a job like that for two years, reviewing video games for my college's campus newspaper, but I've been graduated for two years now, and haven't had much success finding a forum to keep reviewing on.

Fortunately, with the existence of blogs, it's easier to get your writing out there now. So basically, I'm taking advantage of that fact and hoping to use this blog as a kind of springboard to launch my video game critic career.

I'm a lifelong video gamer - started off with Duck Hunt when I was about 5 years old and have kept up with the times since then. I love these games, not only for the fun factor, but also because they can tell very interesting stories. Many of my all-time favorite games - the Metal Gear Solid and Fatal Frame series among them - attained that place in my heart as much because of their incredible stories as because of their gameplay and graphics.

Most of these reviews will be on Playstation 2 and XBox-generation games because, quite frankly, I'm way too poor to afford any of the next-gen systems. As a result, most of these games I will review have been out for some time now. If I'm fortunate enough to play any game on the next-gen systems to the extent that I feel comfortable reviewing it, I'll post the review ASAP.

This blog officially launches on Monday, June 11. The first review: God of War II.

Hope to see you then!