Game: Hydro Thunder Hurricane

Developer: Vector Unit

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Available on: Xbox Live Arcade

Hydro Thunder, released back in 1999 in arcades and on the SEGA Dreamcast, is a title probably many of you haven’t played or even heard of for that matter. For those of you who do know of it, well, you will know that  it was pretty good powerboat arcade racer. Admittedly, this isn’t a “genre” packed full of quality titles (or many titles at all) but, hey, the point is it was a good game. Fast forward to the present day and we finally have a “sequel”. The game is called Hydro Thunder Hurricane and it is being released exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade as part of Microsoft’s “Summer of Arcade” promotion. Almost 11 years on from the original does this “sequel” manage to storm its way to the top or does it get lost in a hurricane? Read on for the full review.

This really is an actual course in the game!

A few seconds after loading up Hydro Thunder Hurricane and hearing the “announcer” shout out the title, you are made aware of the games arcade roots. Other than the aforementioned “announcer”, you also have the “cheesy” music and the easy to navigate menus, something which is almost an unofficial trademark of arcade based titles. The arcade style also crosses over to the visuals, both during actual gameplay and outside it. For the most part, the game uses bright colours (mostly primary ones) to create a welcoming, arcade feel. The in-game visuals are impressive for an XBLA title, the water in particular looks great.  The boats themselves are nicely modelled but their textures could of done with some extra work. You can read the text or see the graphics on them fine in the selection menu but in-game they look rather blurred. Apart from that though, everything else has a clean, crisp look to it. Even the courses look great, each one having its own distinct personality thanks to some great visual touches. On some courses there is so much going on (planes flying by, explosions or police boats “chasing” you) yet it doesn’t seem to effect the gameplay at all, everything moves along without even a hint of slowdown.

At first glance Hydro Thunder Hurricane doesn’t seem to offer much in terms of gameplay but once you start playing the game, you realise that is not the case. The main “goal” in the game is to earn credits so you can unlock more content. The catch is though, credits are only earned if you finish in the top three. At first this can only be done on the novice level due to the boats at your disposal but once you earn enough credits to unlock the pro and expert boats the game opens up big time. Using the pro and expert boats not only earns you more credits for a top three finish but events become a lot harder too, especially the expert ones.

The Red Hazard, the beast of Hydro Thunder Hurricane

In single player, credits are earned through four different events called race, gauntlet, ring master and championship. Race mode is pretty much self explanatory but there is also a certain amount of hidden depth attached to them. Learning the subtleties of a particular boat (how to handle it) or course is usually the key to winning races using the pro and expert boats. You also have the boost (mapped to the A button) and jump (mapped to the X button) mechanics, which might seem quite simplistic at first but it’s all about using  them at the right time. The jump mechanic is something that comes in very handy during the gauntlet events. Here you have to race to the finish line within a certain time whilst avoiding exploding barrels littered in the water. Sounds easy, it’s not though!

The third event, ring master, is the most dastardly of all though. You will curse it but you will keep coming back for more. In this event you have to race through rings and get to the finish line within a certain time. Manoeuvre through successive rings and you earn boost which will help you in your cause. However, if you miss one (or several) then you lose the boost and get seconds added on to your overall time. The challenge provided here is not only in trying to get through all the rings but the course itself, even more so than usual. The water in Hydro Thunder Hurricane moves with a certain amount of unpredictability as standard, it definitely doesn’t want to make things easy for you! When you add some massive waves to that unpredictability it makes manoeuvring through the rings rather challenging. Missing a bunch of rings thanks to a wave you didn’t see coming until the last second is mighty frustrating but, as mentioned earlier, you will be back for more.

Calm down, there's enough boost for everyone!

Finally, we have championship which basically consists of all three of the previously mentioned events in novice, pro or expert. No…really, that is the championship mode in a nutshell. It might not sound like much but there is a lot of content on offer in Hydro Thunder Hurricane. The single player mode alone could keep you going for a while as you try and struggle to get golds in every single event or (more likely) get a top three finish using an expert level boat. The game also supports leaderboards, so as you splash your way through events you can see how your friends are doing and try to beat their times. Let’s face it, no matter what the game, it’s always nice to get one over on your friends. Speaking of friends, Hydro Thunder Hurricane also has a multiplayer mode (offline and online). It consists of two events, race (you know what to expect there) and rubber ducky. Yes, that’s right…..rubber ducky. Basically, it’s Hydro Thunder Hurricane’s take on PGR’s Mini vs Enzo team based multiplayer game. Each team has one person driving a rubber duck (yes, a rubber duck) whilst everyone else drives a fast boat. The goal is to protect your duck, slam the other teams duck and be the first team to get your duck across the finish line. It’s totally as crazy it sounds and a barrel of fun if played with the right set of people.

Following a critically acclaimed title such as LIMBO as the second game in Microsoft’s “Summer of Arcade” promotion was never going to be easy but Hydro Thunder Hurricane manages to do that pretty well. The games difficulty (the jump from novice to pro is quite big) and eight courses might be a turn off for some but for the rest it is a throwback to the quality arcade gaming of yesteryear. What we have here is a highly enjoyable powerboat arcade racer with lots of quality content to offer for its 1200 MS points price tag. A must for fans of the original and (if they can handle the jump in difficulty) a great entry point for newcomers.

Game: Transformers: War for Cybertron

Developer: High Moon Studios

Publisher: Activision

Available on: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC and Nintendo DS

Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Games based on big franchises don’t particularly have a great reputation in the games industry with the exception of a few standout titles (Batman: Arkham Asylum). For a long time High Moon Studios promised us that the latest foray into the Transformers franchise would yield good results with developer diaries and such but does it have the touch or is it heading for the scrap pile?

STORY: Transformers: War for Cybertron is set a millennia before the G1 (generation one) cartoon series where the robotic life forms landed on Earth. As such the game takes place during the Cybertronian civil war and as usual Megatron is on a quest for domination. The story is being touted as official Canon by Hasbro and as a result fills in some of the blanks that were missing from the original cartoon. These include Starscreams defection from the Autobots and the reason the Tranformers fled their home planet, Cybertron.

In keeping with all things Transformers the main story revolves around the acquisition of a new type of unstable energy called dark energon, which of course Megatron must have. Apparently, there is a backstory related to the energy source but it is never explained or even touched upon.

Overall justice is done to the 26 year old story even if at times it does poke a few holes in the original G1 plotline. This will bring a smile to the face of avid Transformers fans as the personality of all the characters remains true to their original counterparts for the most part.

A prime problem.

GRAPHICS: Produced using the Unreal Engine 3, Transformers: War for Cybertron is far from ugly but doesn’t stand tall amongst the prettier looking games of this generation either. Texture pop-up is an ever present problem when loading a new level and the frame rate can drop from time to time.

The best aspect of the game graphically would have to be the Transformers themselves, which is a good thing really as well…..it’s a Transformers game. The fact that High Moon Studios have managed to re-imagine these iconic figures while still making them instantly recognisable brings a smile to my face (unlike a certain set of movies I won’t mention). Little touches like moveable pistons and such on your chosen Transformer while you’re in robot mode make the characters come to life.

Sadly though the environments do lack a little variety which isn’t to say High Moon Studios haven’t done a good job in recreating Cybertron but at the end of the day it’s CYBERTRON! So expect a lot of metal architecture accompanied by a lot of purple and red hues.

SOUND: The music in Transformers: War for Cybertron is completely forgettable and you will be hard pressed to find anything of interest in the soundtrack department. That being said Peter Cullen does reprise his role as Optimus Prime and this is all a true Transformers fan should really need. Sadly he doesn’t also voice Iron Hide (he did in the original series) which is a little disappointing. That being said the rest of the voice actors do provide a decent showing for the rest of the cast and while some will miss Frank Welker’s raspy take on Megatron, voice actors like Sam Riegal (Starscream) and Chris Nolan  (Brawl) do decent jobs. The game is also littered with references from the 1986 animated movie which is sure to put a smile on any Transformer fans face.

GAMEPLAY: The campaign in Transformers: War for Cybertron is split into two parts (Decepticon and Autobot). The first laying the ground work for the story, while the second focuses on the war itself. I’m glad to say that there is no level track back over the course of these two campaigns (ala Devil May Cry 4) and you won’t find yourself trekking through a slightly re-tweaked level again as a different character when switching allegiances. You will however be tackling the five levels in each campaign in groups of three, which means the whole story can be played cooperatively with other human players. Upon starting each level you’re given the choice of three Transformers specific to that level. Although the choice might seem like a novelty it is not intended to be as all Transformers in the game are split into classes. This class theme is one that spreads across all the modes present in the game but more on that later. The four classes available are, scout, scientist, soldier and leader, each comes with their own “perk” and “sub perk”, which boils down to a special ability (or abilities) unique to that class. The problem is that these abilities aren’t very useful in solo play in that they seldom require use. Whilst this isn’t a major problem it is a little disappointing. At its core though, Transformers: War for Cybertron is very good and while it doesn’t do anything

KABLAAAAAAAAM!

extraordinary and even chooses to negate some of the more recent gameplay mechanics available in most modern day  3^rd person shooters (read: cover system), it survives on strong fundamentals and this is what keeps it fun. The shooting is solid, the weapons are fun to use and the set pieces, whilst not vast in number, are varied enough to keep you entertained. Add to this the ability to transform into an assortment of vehicles and you can have yourself a fun time. Most levels have at least one section designed for the vehicular mode of your on-screen counterpart but it is never a necessity. This is a little disheartening considering the most fun parts of the game take place when you are forced to take to the skies as one of the jet orientated Transformers.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is not without its faults though and the prime suspect is team A.I. If you choose to go it alone your “squad” can appear as if they are on the lowest tier of the stupidity ladder. Consistently losing their way, bumping into obstacles, having complete disregard for their own safety…..you name it and it’s in there. It’s slightly puzzling as the enemy A.I doesn’t seem to exhibit any of the same symptoms but this is where co-op comes in to cover up the cracks.

Co-op comes in two flavours, normal and competitive. In competitive co-op you can take on your pals as you fight your way through the main campaign(s) earning points for kills and the completion of objectives, whilst standard co-op does what it says on the tin. These modes definitely make the campaign that much more fun but it is escalation mode and competitive multiplayer where you will be spending most your time.

Escalation is a “horde” esque mode that might at first glance seem like a copy and paste from Gears of War 2 but it does add its own little twist to the formula in the form of purchasable upgrades. With the currency you earn from blasting all offending robots to high heavens you can buy upgrades between and during rounds via armour, health, ammo and weapon dispensing “vending” machines between or during rounds. The fun comes from balancing your “needs” and your wants as obviously making sure your whole team is stocked up on ammo is more important than purchasing a new gun. All players are afforded their own bank balance but once you advance to the more difficult waves its vital you help purchase equipment for your less fortunate team mates. Your currency also enables you to unlock extra sections of the map allowing you to use the environment to your advantage. All this gives Escalation a strategic element instead of just terminating consistent waves of enemies.

All hail Megatron.

The competitive multiplayer’s draw comes from the class system mentioned earlier which is more akin to something like Team Fortress 2 than Modern Warfare but does posses some elements from both. It is becoming increasingly more popular to have an XP component to your multiplayer and Transformers: War for Cybertron is no different. In typical fashion getting kills and completing multiplayer objectives gives you XP that unlocks abilities and enables you to upgrade your weapons. Couple this with the ability to transform into tank, car or plane and the very different strengths and weaknesses of each class and you can have yourself a very competent multiplayer experience.

LONGEVITY: Transformers: War for Cybertron’s campaign will probably last your average gamer around 10 hours if you bang it on hard but all in all the games difficulty level is quite easy. If you manage to get into the competitive multiplayer though as with any game you’re going to be playing the game for some time as you can spend quite awhile capping the level of each of your classes if you choose to.

VERDICT: Considering the lack of decent games associated with the Transformers franchise not much was expected of Transformers: War for Cybertron at GodisaGeek.com. It comes as a surprise then that High Moon Studios have managed to put together a decent game that remains fun despite its flaws. This game will surely put a smile on all Transformer fans faces and provide a fun playthrough for everyone else.

Still need to scrap some Decepta-creeps? Then pick up the game here. UK Link | US Link

Game: Crackdown 2

Developer: Ruffian Games

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Available on: Xbox 360 Only

Orbs! Orbs!  Orrrrbbbbbssss…OORRRRRBBBBBSSSS!  Ahem, sorry about that. The original Crackdown was released with little or no fanfare, overshadowed by the fact that it included a beta for Halo 3. However, thanks in no small part to that Halo factor, the game enjoyed becoming one of the fabled “cult classics”. Despite many flaws and plenty of the open world nastiness  that you always get with games of that size, the high praise is fairly justifiable.

Few games can boast the amount of fun you have in a Crackdown session, and now with members of the previous development team, rebuilding Pacific City from the ground up for the sequel and upping the ante with 4 player drop in/drop out co-operative gameplay plus new multiplayer modes, it’s safe to say that most people are hoping Crackdown 2 can live up to its predecessors  standards. Does it manage to do exactly that? Read on for the full review.

STORY: Pacific City is teetering on the abyss of ruin, set many years after the first game took place (and later in the story this, and the agent from the first game are actually referred to) the Agency is struggling with just the one gang this time, namely Cell. Much like the first game the fight is very much being taken to the streets and chaos is everywhere. The twist in Crackdown 2 is that some kind of virus has taken hold of Pacific City and at nightfall, the “Freaks” come out to play.

Three agents are always better than one!

Battling Cell and the Freaks all at the same time, you are attempting to create an antidote of sorts, the Freaks don’t like UV light and you are creating a weapon (Project Sunburst) to destroy them once and for all. You need to infiltrate the freak lairs and detonate these project sunburts bombs, though in truth, much like the first game, the story is wafer thin. A nice opening cut-scene sets the game up fairly well, but the rest of the narrative is done by the agency handler from the previous game. He seems to have gotten more talkative though in the years that have passed and frankly at times he won’t shut up!

GRAPHICS: On first look it can actually seems like the visuals were worse than the first game, but as you grow accustomed to them, you realise they really aren’t that bad. Sure, there are better looking open world games out there (Read Dead Redemption, as reviewed here) but on the whole, it’s an okay looking game that holds up most of the time in extremely over the top explosive situations. You probably will encounter some slow-down as the game gets more hectic, but honestly, when you get that slow-down, the amount of explosions and the volume of things happening…well…I can’t say “it’s acceptable” but honestly, you probably won’t mind it.

Everything looks like it should, which is to say, everything looks like it did in the first Crackdown, but with a more deteriorated look to it. Pacific Island is near identical to the first game, but with the below ground level freak lairs added to it. Don’t expect mind blowing visuals, this game isn’t about that, and more often than not you’ll be looking at fairly average looking textures. The game also feels very dark and drab, something the first game didn’t suffer from.

SOUND: Crackdown was a hugely under-rated game sound wise, the general ambience of Pacific City was phenomenal, it truly was a living, breathing city. Crackdown 2 continues with the excellent audio, once again the city is alive as you leap and bound around it. The other agency henchmen will rib you, the Cell gang members will abuse you, the residents of the city will…well, abuse you as well actually. The freaks will vomit acid behind you, truly this is a game that benefits from a nice surround sound setup!

The "freaks", you will be seeing alot of them!

GAMEPLAY: Crackdown is a fine name for the game, since collecting orbs is like taking crack…..addictive as hell! The original game had me buy it three times before I finally found that last agility orb, 2 years later. If you’ve played Crackdown then really, the gameplay doesn’t diverge much from that blueprint at all. You are a super-powered agent running around with a multitude of guns, grenades and vehicles all used to rain the pain down on your enemy. Skills for kills is the motto here, whatever skill you use, you are rewarded with points for that skill. Strength, agility, explosions, vehicles and guns are the order of the day again.

You level up in much the same way as the first game, 5 levels of ability then you can take that 5 to it’s max (though there is no real bonus for doing so other than an achievement) and it may be just me, but I felt like I levelled up much quicker than in the first game. I put this down to the feaks though as standing in a massive crowd (and they really are huge in number at times) and punching them for “strength” is a quick way to advance your skills. Likewise, throwing grenades or shooting rockets from a distance into a crowd of freaks is a quick way to get “explosives” XP and mowing them down in a vehicle (something that feels very reminiscent of Dead Rising) will get you “vehicle” XP.

On the subject of vehicles, the handling is a bit better but in truth some of the vehicles (Cell ones especially) are just appalling to drive. Also, they don’t level up the way they did in the first game. In this title as you level up your vehicle skills, new vehicles are unlocked for you, and you can request them to be dropped (via helicopter no less!) to use. Each vehicle has a certain skill but only the one. The same can be said of the guns levelling up, as you do so, more guns unlock for you to use and boy, you will need them later on.

Lessons have been learned from the previous game though and indeed from the stellar PS3 title “inFAMOUS”. You won’t end up tearing your hair out trying to find orbs this time around as the ability to “ping” your location has been “borrowed” from the aforementioned inFAMOUS. This doesn’t feel a cop out though as you’ll only use it when you really need it and in truth, getting to the highest agility level really isn’t very difficult. As you hit the max levels of each skill this time around a new ability is unlocked, for example, agility gives you a wing suit and strength gives you a ground pound.  This does add something to the game, giving you a tactical edge as the game gets harder.

Looks like someone has been eating his spinach!

Where the gameplay falls down though is plain and simple lack of variety. Side missions consist of closing freak breaches and doing all the things you did in the first game (orb hunting, stunt rings, rooftop races, street races) but with added types for for the new abilities (wing suit courses for example) but honestly, you may well get an overwhelming feeling of “been there, done that” whilst playing Crackdown 2. In the main story missions the variety is even worse.  Initially there are two types, firstly you take over a stronghold which consists of killing a set number of enemies. Secondly there are project sunburst sites (usually in reasonably close vicinities to the stronghold locations) which you clear out and sit on a sensor to activate it. You do three of these sunburst sites which unlocks an underground section whereby you have to protect the sunburst beacon which after a set time, will detonate. You repeat these tasks to progress the story, and there are 9 underground lairs…and frankly, by the end you will be fed up of doing so.

Co-operative online gameplay changes everything though, even the mundane becomes fun. That’s not to say you can’t play the game on your own, but it’s certainly more fun with friends. As per usually with an Xbox 360 title, I’d advise against playing with random LIVE users though, unless you want a frustrating time because you’ve just received a rocket up the jacksy for the ninth time whilst trying to progress the story.  However, all you griefers out there will adore being the annoying one that spams rocket lauchers all the time. The few deathmatch variants on offer probably won’t keep anyone interested for very long and most people will probably revert back to co-op with friends fairly quickly.

There are even special “Xbox LIVE” orbs you can only collect when playing online with a friend. On the subject of orbs, the usual agility and hidden ones are still here, but new to the series are “Renegade Orbs”. Quite frankly, the creator of these has a special place in hell reserved for them. These orbs…they run away from you!  There are agility and driving variants and when you spot them, they run away from you! Some of them are just plain evil to catch up with, especially early in the game.

LONGEVITY: Hunting the orbs and doing everything the games has to offer will probably take upwards of 15 hours, which seems a little short compared to the first title, but that’s the price to pay for having a “ping” to find everything. Plenty of orbs and collectible audio files litter the game though, and you’ll almost certainly get your moneys worth out of Crackdown 2.

Orbs, must have more ORBS!

Achievement wise, the game isn’t nearly as inventive as the first game, most of the achievements in Crackdown 2 you’ll get just from playing the game naturally. There are a few funky ones (4 player death bus through a stunt ring) but mostly they feel serviceable.

The meat of the game will almost certainly be found in playing with friends and just messing around, but how long that will hold your interest for is going to be a matter of personal opinion. Also, there are at least two DLC packs to come made obvious because there are avatar awards for playing them.

VERDICT: Crackdown 2 is great fun, however, it suffers massively from being too similar to the first game. Perhaps this is a little harsh, but a wing suit, freaks (zombies really) and moving all the orbs around are really all the sequel amounts to in terms of gameplay changes.  It’s still massive amounts of fun with friends but the game is bogged down with repetition.

Yet again, the story is a massive let down. Personally, I’m not sure it’s acceptable to just paper over that crack and say “it’s not about the story” because a servicable story could be in here and you could still have the raucous fun after everything is tied up, but even the gang dossiers are gone in favour of collectible audio files. In all honestly, the story is unacceptably light. At times it feels as though too much fan-service is being paid as well, with the agency handler becoming, frankly, irritating after a few hours.

If you haven’t played the first game then this is probably the time to jump in (with the caveats previously mentioned; terrible story, incredibly repetitive gameplay) but to veteran Crackdown players, whilst the game is still enormous fun, if you don’t go into it expecting a gameplay revolution, perhaps a gentle suggestion is in order – try the demo before you jump back into Pacific City.

Game: Football Genius: The Ultimate Quiz

Developer: I-Imagine Interactive

Publisher: RTL Sports

Available On: Xbox Live Arcade

With the World Cup in full effect, the world has gone rather football crazy. Despite lacklustre performances from some of the big teams (okay okay…..England) people the world over are getting the beers in, throwing another shrimp on the barbie (BBQ, not the childs toy!) and any number of other stereotypical pastimes enjoyed during the football.

Games wise though, after 2010 FIFA World Cup was released (and reviewed by God is a Geek) there’s not been much to shout about. Football Genius The Ultimate Quiz aim to fills that gap with a game that feels as though it was designed to be played pre-match, at half time and after the actual football is over.

As a quiz game it seems to follow a similar mould to other games like “Buzz” or “Scene It?” in that it has a shorter version of the quiz (half time) and the standard full version (full time) but neither outstay their welcome. Both modes have the same sections, for example; simple question and answer sections, guess the player/team (a pixelated image that slowly reveals itself), a section where there is a football rotating with faces on it, a name appears and you “buzz in” when you think the picture matches the name. There are more than just those few though of course, in one you’ll get a picture of a team and have specific questions asked about that picture. One disappointing factor was in the pixelated guess person round whereby the question was “Who is this lady married to?” which, in this reviewers humble opinion, has absolutely nothing to do with the sport whatsoever, but maybe I’m just old fashioned!

You can play the game solo to just get a high score or unlock achievements, but up to 4 people can play locally and you can take the game online and play over Xbox LIVE. Sadly though, smaller titles such as these are just not supported by the community and I found it near impossible to get a game online. Both Avatar’s and Xbox LIVE Vision Camera are supported so you can see who you are playing if you do manage to get a game though.

The questions are varied and there were no repeats visible, though there were a few flaws like a picture used for one round was then an answer to a question in the next round. Upon loading the game you are told that the questions are set to reflect your region settings, but that can be changed in the options. It’s a nice touch though, to feel that the game is asking me questions I might know, though some of the questions pose a threat to people who aren’t quite a “football genius”.

The presentation to the game is rather nicely done, colourful and all the images used for questions and answers seem very crisp and clear. It would appear you can also use the “Scene It?” buzzer controllers if you so wish, though they were not tested in this review.

The audio is rather “functional” in that it does nothing spectacular. You can choose a buzzer sound, including the (perhaps) dreaded Vuvuzela and there are little pieces of music that sound slightly low budget and more than a little cheesy.

Football Genius The Ultimate Quiz does what it says on the tin, it is a well designed, well presented quiz game for football fans. It’s nothing spectacular but given the genre it’s fair to say that there isn’t much more that could really be done with it and despite feeling as though it’s aimed at a certain demographic, the game is a fun experience with friends, especially given the aforementioned World Cup that is taking place.

There are 3,500 questions but that isn’t as many as you think if you play the game a lot and how quickly rounds pass by, but it should be plenty for someone with a casual interest in playing the game. Personally, I think of myself as reasonably knowledgable of the sport therefore I had few problems getting most questions right, but there are a few tricky ones and it’s fair to say you need to know your football if you are to invest in this title.

Priced at 400 Microsoft points there’s absolutely no reason not to give this title a go if you are after a quiz game (with relatively easy achievements…..never understimate the draw of achievements!) about football to enjoy at your leisure. The only drawback aside from the audio is that the game itself is fairly quick to blast through and like with any other quiz game, repeated play sessions will eventually end up with repeated questions.

Game: Split/Second: Velocity

Developer: Black Rock Studios

Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios

Available on: PS3, Xbox 360 and PC (reviewed on Xbox 360)

Towards the back end of last year we had a glut of “AAA” racers in the form of Dirt 2, Need For Speed: Shift and Forza 3, all three games were released within a few weeks of each other making it hard for budget gamers to make a choice. This year the racing pile up has come early with the PS3/PSP exclusive ModNation Racer clashing with the cross platform titles, Blur and Split/Second Velocity. All three racers have been released over the past few weeks offering up another tough choice for fans of the racing genre.

The first time I laid eyes on Split/Second was at the Eurogamer Expo 2009, the hype surrounding the game was non-existent making the few consoles set-up to play the game empty most of the time. The first play through at the Expo was surprisingly good, the game had a familiar Burnout feel but with unique adrenaline filled gameplay never seen before in a racer. Split/Second’s over the top environmental explosions, short cut mechanics and unique heads up display put the game firmly on my radar. Whilst the demo was fun and left a good impression, I had doubts about the final product and wondered how it would turn out. Well the wait is over, hit the jump and check out the full review.

Mayhem, a natural occurrence in Split/Second.

GAMEPLAY: Split/Second is not your standard racer, it does not take place on a standard race track and certainly does not play by “the rules”. Split/Second is a TV show, race tracks are huge outdoor TV sets and everything (including your car) is rigged to blow.

Split/Second is an adrenaline filled, fast paced racer that prefers audacious slides around corners rather than cautious breaking. The truly unique gameplay comes from the power-plays which are dotted around the tracks. These power-plays vary from a crumbling building to exploding cars, with the level two power-plays changing the track routes completely with over the top seismic events. Drivers can trigger power-plays at various points through out races with each track containing a couple of level 2 plays. Players earn fill up their power-play meter by sliding around corners, drafting behind opponents and avoiding opponents power-plays. Power earnt fills a meter which has a total of 3 slots and is nicely placed under the bumper of the car to ensure eyes are always on the road.

Split/Second is not a racer that can be won with driving skill alone, power-plays must be timed well, short-cuts should be navigated and opponents “moves” should be anticipated. Knowledge tends to be power, knowing which power-play is coming up is key to success, there’s no point wasting power on just one exploding car when the next corner holds a bigger explosion to take down a greater number of opponents.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself?!

There are a total of 6 game modes for players to burst through, the standard race mode is the bread and butter of any race game. Elimination, similar to the race mode, with cars in last place periodically blowing up until only 1 remains. Air Strike and Air Revenge pit car against helicopter with missiles raining down on the track, players just need to avoid explosions in Air Strike whilst they will need to build up the power bar in Air Revenge to deflect missiles back at the helicopter. Detonator events are an improved version of the classic “time attack” mode, players will need to get the best lap time possible whilst avoiding almost every power-play possible. Survival rounds pits players against trucks dropping a confetti of explosive barrels with an emphasis on overtaking multiple trucks. There are no bad modes but best mode has to be the detonator, driving through multiple explosions one after the other is exhilarating and a good way to learn some of the tracks.

The main feature is the Season mode which has a total of 12 episodes with each episode containing a preview clip before and after to push things along. Each episode has 6 events, there are 4 standard events with a variety of modes, 1 bonus event and the all important Elite race where players must place in the top 3 to progress to the next show.

Helicopter vs Car, that's unfair....or is it?!

The AI opponents are all named with distinctive names such as Vixen, names pop up above cars during a race and are displayed on the season leader board. The naming process does well to create an identity for opponents whilst creating a good sense of rivalry through out the season. Unfortunately, naming is where it ends, with no faces to match or biographies to give a better sense of character to opponents. Player progression is dealt with by awarding credits for placing well in races which in-turn unlocks new cars, cars are constantly being unlocked and with each one better than its predecessor early models are hardly revisited. There is no ability to customise or improve cars but earnt achievements will show up as decals all over the players car.

GRAPHICS: If I could describe the graphics in one word it would be “Burnout“, the graphical style is very much similar to that of the boost filled EA racer. There are no official cars featured in the game, instead every car just looks like a vibrant concept model of various vehicles in the real world. The lighting effects are used well throughout the game bouncing off car rooftops with day and night modes giving a different feel. The decals add a nice touch showing off some of the achievements earned so far in the game, the race number displayed on cars during online play is determined by rank with players starting at 99 with a goal to reach 1. It’s unfortunate that decals can not be customised and placed on the cars by players, a change of colour is all players can do to make each car their own.

Don't stop and admire the explosion! DRIVE!

SOUND: The audio in Split/Second is good, sometimes going unnoticed, but never out of place. The cars sound like “proper” cars, every rev of an engine or slide around the corner sounds as “real” as you would want it to. Power-plays sound fantastic, the explosive sounds really make it feel the walls around you are crumbling down.

LONGEVITY: This is where Split/Second stumbles a little, with the season mode only spanning 12 episodes and no second season insight, the game can be over in around 8-15 hours of gameplay. Adding to the longevity problems is the fact that there are only 11 unique race tracks which makes the back end of the season feel somewhat recycled. This all leaves little hunger to replay the game but don’t lose hope, the online mode whilst short on features is present and works pretty well, the match-ups tend to be competitive with matchmaking based on player rank.

VERDICT: Split/Second can be compared to other racers but there is nothing truly like it, the power plays are fantastic, the racing is solid and the concept is unique. This is a game for players of all skill and even doubters of the genre. The game can be a little short but online adds some much needed longevity. Whatever you do make sure you play this game, rent or buy, you will not be disappointed.

Game: Alan Wake

Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Available on: Xbox 360 only

It has taken a while for Alan Wake to get to us (six years to be exact) and, it would be fair to say, there have been many changes to the game during that period. The original concept hinted at a “free-roaming” action game, that is no longer the case. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as six years on Alan Wake still threatens to be a hugely engrossing game coupled with an interesting story. Did the genre change help Alan Wake or will we be having nightmares about this game for years to come? Read on for the full review.

Bright Falls is a magical place, equipped with haunted lake.

STORY: The story revolves around the games titular character (surprise surprise), Alan Wake. Alan is an established thriller genre novelist who at the beginning of the story has been experiencing a severe case of writers block. To remedy this Alan and his wife set off to a remote idyllic town by the name of Bright Falls in an attempt to get his creative juices flowing again. After “greeting” the eerie locals and acquiring the key to “your” cabin, that so happens to be resting upon a haunted lake, Alan and his wife eventually settle in for the evening. The whole settling in thing doesn’t last for long though and after a rather freaky sequence (which I won’t reveal here for spoilers sake), Alan’s wife falls into (yes, you guessed it) the haunted lake. After jumping in after her the writer wakes up in his car in the middle of the open road unaware of what has happened. Let me tell you, the long and quite bizarre sequence of events that follow wouldn’t look out of place in a Stephen King novel/film. With a week missing from his life Alan sets out to save his wife whilst battling the “Taken”, the crazed inhabitants of Bright falls possessed by a “dark presence”, and solving the mysteries of the strange town.

The entire story is narrated by Mr Wake himself which is by no means a fresh approach to delivering a story, but it works for the most part. Come across something note worthy and Alan will comment about it in-game.  What is interesting about the game is the TV show like delivery of its story. Each chapter of the game is split up into episodes and generally ends on a cliff hanger that gives the player incentive to play on. The feeling of being part of a series in the vein of Heroes or Lost is unmistakable and a nice touch.

The other way the developers gets across the story is through the collection of manuscripts to a book Alan Wake doesn’t remember writing. These are scattered throughout the game and have a habit of coming true. More often than not these manuscripts reveal extra details about parts of the story Alan hasn’t directly experienced himself.

As intended the story is probably the main element of Alan Wake that will keep most players interested. Whilst cliché in places it’s actually very well put together using tried and tested storytelling techniques. The episodic delivery only serves to heighten the experience while leaving the story open for DLC.

A day in the life of Alan Wake.

GRAPHICS: Graphically Alan Wake is a bit of a mixed bag. The first thing that should be praised is the lighting in the game. As you would expect of a game that is all about the contrasts between light and dark, the lighting is pretty damn good. It is probably the defining attribute that keeps the game looking “good” compared to the majority of modern day games as the character models are nothing to write home about. It is also not uncommon to come across the odd ugly texture while strolling around in the daylight.

Fortunately though, the bulk of the game takes place in the night where the lighting is able to mask some of the low resolution textures. Bright Falls itself is a beautifully crafted place teaming with beautiful landscapes and breathtaking vistas just begging to explored, it’s just a shame that is not entirely possible.

SOUND: Petri Alanko’s score feels right at home in Alan Wake’s universe never outplaying its part and providing just enough to compliment the strange happenings in Bright Falls.

Matthew Porretta does a decent job of narrating the story in his role as Mr Wake himself which is a good thing because our hero sure does like to talk…..A LOT! The remaining characters are also voiced expertly with special mention going to the inclusion of James McCaffrey, a name Max Payne fans should be familiar with.

GAMEPLAY: Alan Wake could be described as a third person action game masquerading as a survival horror. Whilst there are horror elements (the dark presence) you’ll be spending most of your time getting from one point to another and occasionally getting hacked down by crazed “pedestrians” masked in shadow (The Taken). These “pedestrians” serve as the bulk of the enemies in the game along with a couple of clichés thrown in here and there for good measure. It’s Alan’s job to get through the darkness armed with nothing but the light and a few weapons. Luckily for him the bad guys don’t seem to like light very much and this means he can use it as a weapon or a “safe haven”. Although the Taken seem to appear as if from out of nowhere to taunt you on your travels, Alan can take refuge under most sources of light. More often than not though this takes the form of a lamp post hooked up to a generator that you need to kick start via timely mashing on the ‘A’ button to coincide with the on-screen prompt.

Stay in the light Alan.

This brings us on to the games combat and on the whole it is simplistic but very well executed. Alan’s main resource for fighting off the Taken is his trusty flashlight which he conveniently manages to lose from time to time. The general idea is to blast off the blanket of shadow that is protecting the Taken before you can actually harm them. You can boost the light from your flashlight using the left trigger but this quickly burns through the limited battery life of the appliance. There are extra batteries to be had scattered around each level but the idea is to choose your battles carefully and conserve battery life. The flashlight also serves as your aiming reticule when you’re using one of the three firearms in the game. Naturally after burning away the Taken’s protection you want to put a few holes in them. For this you have access to a revolver, shotgun and hunting rifle at varying points in the game. Due to the nature of the system you’re often juggling between flashlight and firearm as you try to fend off multiple axe wielding psychopaths at once. This becomes more of a challenge on the harder difficulty levels as it takes longer to remove the darkness protecting the Taken resulting in a dead flashlight more often than not. Luckily, Alan has a few other weapons at his disposal in the form of flashbangs and flares which destroy all Taken around you or keep them at bay, in that order.

Alan Wake is not all flashlights and axe wielding maniacs but you might want to get used to it because this is what you’ll be doing for the majority of the game. There is the odd car section that feels distinctly pointless and makes you wonder why the developers bothered as you drive down a linear path only to be forced to get out and walk to collect manuscript pages. The highlight for me would have to be the Twilight Zone inspired TV show, Night Springs. I quite literally sat down and watched the show on the TV’s placed around Bright Falls for the five or so minutes each episode lasted, the randomness of the show made it genuinely entertaining watch. Watching TV inside a game always sounds so silly (hey, blame GTA) but it works for pushing along some of the narrative. The problem with this though is it more often takes away from the tension of a particular scene. The fact that you can pretty much read the more jumpy moments in the game before they happen due to the manuscripts makes it kind of hard to feel frightened at any point in the game. The TV shows are accompanied by a radio show which lets you know what is going on in Bright Falls while you’re out fighting for your life, nothing too major but still interesting nonetheless.

Sports coat and hoody, J Allard would be proud.

LONGEVITY: The game is fairly short coming in at around 6 hours if you are planning to steam roller you way through without watching/listening to the TV or radio shows scattered around Bright Falls. The game tries to give you incentive to replay it by only allowing you to collect some of the manuscript pages in NIGHTMARE (hard) mode. Sadly, these pages don’t really add much to the story and aren’t really worth the replay (trust me I’ve tried). This means Alan Wake doesn’t really have any replay value unless you really love collecting thermoses. All is not bad though as you can expect a fair bit of DLC to come out for Alan Wake because let’s face it, it’s perfectly structured for it.

VERDICT: It was quite apparent the direction Remedy Entertainment chose to take with Alan Wake. The game is chock full of pop culture/movie references to the point it almost feels like the game is mocking itself at times. The emphasis is most definitely on its story and it manages to tell a decent one at times, while bringing some nice gameplay mechanics to the table. Wake’s journey is not without it’s troubles but those willing to look past them will be rewarded with an atmospheric adventure laced with some great set pieces and solid gameplay.

Alan Wake’s nightmare sound like your cup of tea? then pick up your copy here. UK Link | US Link

Game: Green Day: Rock Band

Developer : Harmonix

Published by : MTV Games/EA Games

Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

Less is more is definitely not an adage that can be associated with music games nowadays.  Gamers have been saturated to near breaking point with the genre, some developers releasing multiple titles in the same financial year on all manner of gaming formats.   Cupboards full of plastic instruments are already groaning in anticipation of yet another music game but The Beatles : Rock Band and Guitar Hero Metallica proved that if the band is good enough and the interest is there, the game will find it’s niche.  Green Day have been going a while now but it could be argued that Harmonix’s choice to make a game based solely on them after The Beatles is perhaps an intruiging one.  Is this a worthy addition to the music gamers already bursting at the brim collection, or is it one to skip? Read on for the full review.

GRAPHICS : Anyone familiar with previous Rock Band games will feel right at home here, especially if you’ve played The Beatles game. The user interface is pretty much a carbon copy of The Beatles one only with the style of Green Day, circa American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown.

Previously in Rock Band games, careful care and attention has been paid to the strumming of a guitar (even chord shapes) it’s noticable at points in this game that Billy Joe’s fretting arm isn’t actually moving, though the strumming arm is pretty spot on as usual.  Also, it’d be nice if they started putting straps on the guitars, so they weren’t floating in mid air unassisted!

SOUND: As always, the music is the star of any Rock Band title and this one is no exception.  Master tracks are the norm nowadays, but it’s still nice to see every track is from the original master-tapes, no live tracks or covers to be seen.  The crowd will roar behind you if you have a 5.1 (or better) setup and having them join in with anthemic choruses when you are performing well, even now, just doesn’t get old.   The songs sound as fresh today as they did when you first heard them.

GAMEPLAY: As mentioned, the user interface is carbon copy from The Beatles game, and also included is the new (ish) harmonies for the gamer who fancies themselves a singer.  As usual, up to four people can play as a band (Green Day are a three piece with Billy Joe singing and playing guitar, but singing, guitar, bass and drums makes up the four inputs as usual) with the highways in exactly the same way as you’d expect to find them.  At this point I think it’s fair to go ahead and assume that anyone with a passing interest in this title has played or seen a previous Rock Band title and talk about the songs included, and how the game itself plays out.

The songs included are a mixed bag, the full albums of Dookie and American Idiot (arguably the bands most commercially succesful work) are included, with a heavy portion of their most recent album 21st Century Breakdown for good measure.  Sadly, there really isn’t very much else included, a few tracks from Warning (including the title track, as middle-of-the-road as the band have ever gotten) and a few tracks from Insomniac (Brain Stew/Jaded, Geek Stink Breath) and finally a few from Nimrod (Good Riddance, Nice Guys Finish Last, Hitchin’ a Ride).  There is absolutely no pre-Dookie material on here.  The remainder of 21st Century Breakdown is available as DLC from the normal Rock Band 1/2 store and whilst you can’t blame them for not including them, perhaps a one-time use code would have been a nice touch to download those packs, especially when one of the in-game unlockable challenge is to play that album in it’s entirety.

The biggest problem with this game is that Green Day as a band, well…..they just aren’t a very historically interesting band.  Apologies for continuous comparisons here, but The Beatles: Rock Band was full of history, full of archive photographs, information and video footage.  Unlocking photographs in this game isn’t so interesting since some of them are lifted straight from their album sleeves (those are the things that we used to look through before iTunes came along kids!) or are generic press-shots.  Worst still there are three gig locations to play and thusly, three outifts that the band play in.  It’s hard not get a bit bored with the same visuals for that long.

Aside from a nice looking intro, there are none of the wonderfully crafted movies to watch between “stages” that we saw introduced in The Beatles and frankly, the gigs are structured in a strange way, as though they knew they had a limited amount of songs and they didn’t want you to just play them in album order.  You’ll probably start a career and end up just giving up and jumping into quick-play to choose the songs you want to play.  Bizarrely you can’t even play the 4-5 song gigs in their entirety from the get go in career mode, yet if you go to quick-play you can play full albums that way!

What I’m trying to say in a round about kind of way here is that there are probably far more worthy bands to make a game about (Manic Street Preachers, even Oasis have a more interesting history!), and this is coming from someone who personally really likes Green Day.

Difficulty wise, it’s hard to say but the vocals seem much easier than any other music game to date (I play expert vocals/bass/guitar and medium drums) and pretty easy to gold star even on expert.  Some of the rythmn sections of the guitar parts are far trickier than they are in real life, the bass sections are fun to play though as are the drums.  Whatever your poison, aside from vocals there is a reasonable challenge here, and an enjoyable one at that.

Sadly all of the songs with any adult language are censored as well, as with previous games.  In this modern age it’s absolutely ridiculous to think that there is no way the “real” versions of these songs can’t be on the disc with the use of parental settings.  It’s absolutely nonsensical that “When masturbation’s lost its fun” is ok but “you’re fucking lonely” isn’t!  Apparently “whore” and “piss” is okay too, but “shit” isn’t. Seriously, it’s admittedly too much to ask for two version of the game to be released, but if parental settings were actually worth having and worked properly, then surely both versions could be there.  Given the band in question here, given how much censorship has to happen (Dookie, where there is a song called F.O.D. which stands for….well, Google it) it just feels ridiculous.

LONGEVITY: If you love Green Day, if they are you favourite band then this will keep you going for a long time.  There is no word as to any DLC for the game, but Green Day have been featured as DLC in Rock Band games prior, so there’s plenty of reason to assume that those missing Nimrod/Insomniac album tracks may well turn up in the future.  If you love Dookie and American Idiot, this offers you a new way to listen to the albums, playing along all the way.

VERDICT: So what we have here is a standard Rock Band game, with Green Day in it.  If you love Green Day then you’ve probably already purchased it, if you don’t like them then this will not change your mind.  If you have a passing interest in the band but love Rock Band…..well…..there we get to the difficult spot.  The game showcases all over the bands biggest hits, but misses out on some of the lesser known classics and fan favourites, it brings nothing new to the genre in terms of gameplay and if you are looking for a band specific game, it’d be easier to recommend The Beatles one as that caters for almost everyone, whereas getting your mum, or grandma to play this one might be a bit trickier.

That said, if you are interested in this game then you probably like Green Day, so on that basis alone it’s hard not to reccomend it.  Just be wary, this game is nothing more than a reskinned The Beatles: Rock Band, only without nearly as much love poured into it.  Simply put, this is a Rock Band game with only Green Day songs and skins, if you want that, you should buy this game, but it does nothing more than that, though in truth, why should it?

Now Harmonix, about that Manic Street Preachers: Rock Band you plan to unveil to GodisaGeek exclusively…..right…..right?!

Game: UFC Undisputed 2010

Developer: Yuke’s

Publisher: THQ

Available on: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

UFC Undisputed 2009 was rather well received, perhaps too well received? How do you build on something that there were very few complaints about in the first place? With EA looking to muscle in on the MMA market, Yuke’s/THQ cannot afford to rest on their laurels. With UFC Undisputed 2010, could they somehow move forward and provide gamers with an even better gaming experience than their 2009 effort? Read on for the full review.

GRAPHICS: You’ll feel every impact on your fighter, the blood and sweat might even make some people feel a little nauseus when watching extreme slow motion replays. Make no mistake about it, this game is a joy to behold, realistic fighters, muscle tone, blood and punches that will make onlookers wince.

He only wanted to give him a hug

The fighter models are very detailed and the stars look like they should. As with all games that contain the option to create a character, they are only as good as the time the user spends on them, but you should be able to come up with something decent to fight with should you choose that route.

GAMEPLAY: There is a hugely detailed tutorial in the game that you may well end up playing twice, just to be absolutely sure you fully grasp the mechanics involved. The face buttons control fists and feet (punches and kicks) which are modified by either moving the left stick, or holding the left trigger or bumper to change attack height. Although this already sounds complicated, that is actually the easy part!  The right stick is probably best described as a “grapple” control as you use it initiate said move but you also use it to activate moves whilst on the floor; wrestling with your opponent or countering him, depending on the situation. Again, you’ll want to be sure you have played the tutorial and understand what you are doing!  Rather than risking getting bogged down talking about the controls, potential newcomers to the game need to understand that this game has a complex fighting system and you will need to invest time to get the most rewarding experience from it. Button mashers need not apply.

New to the 2010 edition is the “sway”, giving you you a new way of dodging opponents would-be attacks. You can also switch stances in 2010, giving you the southpaw option on the fly. More fighting styles have been included too, giving even more levels of realism and showing that this is more than just an annual update.

A large development focus has clearly gone into the online as well this time around, with the online gym mode which is akin to clan support. You and friends can create a gym and play together, fight and even train together.  However, the online modes come with a slight “buyer beware”, if you don’t purchase the game new you will not be able to play the game online without purchasing “access”. This is done via a 400 Microsoft points purchase of a small file that unlocks online play. As long as you are buying new you have nothing to worry about though as the game will come with a single user code that does the same thing.

I guess he wasn't happy about the attempted hug!

One of the biggest criticisms of the first game was the training (more menu’s and loading than actual training) but this has been given a fairly large overhaul for the 2010 edition. They developers have clearly listened to the complaints from the first game and have taken the time to remedy things that made the game difficult to get on with. The ridiculous method of saving from the first game (it took ages) is gone and you can manually save, it’s as simple as the click of a button. Increasing your fighters stats is still done in a similar way as the original though, you are given a set number of weeks to prepare for a fight and you can choose to increase certain aspects, spar or just rest up for the big fight.

Sadly, at the time of writing it seemed difficult to get many online games, whether down to lack of players or network issues (there was even a message regarding Xbox LIVE issues displayed on the ticker) but when actually getting into matches they seemed exactly as you’d wish for, lag free and very very tense.

Offline though, there are a lot of modes including the obvious draw of the fully fledged career mode. This time around there is even an attempt at a story, once you’ve created a fighter (you can create up to 40!) you will get a cut-scene introducing your coach setting up the idea of you being a newcomer. As you progress you’ll see more of these kind of scenes, even getting to take part in interviews! It’s little touches like this that really do make it feel like a fully authentic experience, though sometimes you may feel like they are a little silly in places. You can also play ladder tournaments, exhibition matches and even event cards from the real world UFC.

Looks like a hug is totally off the agenda now

SOUND: Everything is geared toward creating an accurate representation of the sport, authenticity is key. Kicks/punches sound nice and meaty (the crowd react accordingly) and the commentary is well done, giving you up to date reports on the fights. With a nice sound setup you’ll feel as though you are there in the octagon, fighting for that all important win.

LONGEVITY: As with most sports titles, the game will last as long as you want it to. There is no doubt that if this game is succesful then a 2011 title will be released sometime next year. With a healthy online section you can be playing this for quite some time, and downloadable event cards (assuming they keep up with them) will keep you coming back for more as well. If you have a gang of friends who love the sport, going online regularly, then the online gym will keep you busy for as long as you are interested too.

VERDICT: Sequels are never easy and sports sequels are even harder, sometimes they are little more than an updated roster, but UFC Undisputed 2010 is a genuine attempt at bettering its predecessor, something which it achieves with gusto. Healthy online modes and an improved roster of fighters, styles and modes, improved in every area that mattered. If you are a UFC fan or just loved the previous game then purchasing UFC Undisputed 2010 should be a no brainer.

There is one major problem though…..how the hell do they improve on this for next year?!

Game: Read Dead Redemption

Developer: Rockstar San Diego

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Available on: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

It’s fairly difficult not to get caught up in the hype surrounding a new release from Rockstar. They are a developer with a reputation for exceptional titles including the pretty much universally loved (amongst gamers anyway) Grand Theft Auto series. Taking a break from that series we find Rockstar going back to 2004 and reviving their take on a spaghetti western for the high definition era.

The cars may be gone in favour of horses, but the prostitutes are still there! Is this yet another notch on Rockstar’s bedpost of great games, or should they stick to Grand Theft Auto? Read on for the full review.

STORY: From the opening cut-scene it’s very clear that Rockstar haven’t lost their knack for storytelling. You’ll immediately be interested in the world they are creating, the characters they are introducing and it won’t be long before you are knee deep in more pies than any one man should have to handle. John Marston is a likeable rogue who has a colourful past but has changed his ways, however, he has been forced back into a life involving guns to save his wife and child.

"One day, horsey, this will be all yours"

One thing that stands out very quickly is the voice acting. It is absolutely top notch and you will actually be interested in what the characters have to say, and how relationships develop. The story sees you meeting all manner of people from the stereotypical western characters to the downright bizarre folks that will have you laughing out loud, such is the ludicrous manner of the circumstances John Marston finds himself in.

GRAPHICS: Open world games often suffer visually because of their scope, however, Red Dead Redemption is one of the best looking examples of an open world game to date.  The vista’s are wonderful and if you can see it, you can go there. Special mention needs to be made for facial animations as well, coupled with the voice acting, the characters and the story, this all makes for a rather spellbinding experience. The horses look incredible, their leg muscles contracting as they gallop across the land. Whilst it’s not as graphically mind-blowing as a game like Uncharted 2, this really is a special looking game.

SOUND: Riding a horse on an open plain never sounded so powerful. Realistic gunshots, tumbleweeds blowing through silent ghost-towns, buzzards in the sky waiting on their next victim, to be honest it’s rather difficult to find anything to complain about in the sound department. As mentioned, the voice work is some of the best that I’ve personally ever heard in a game, truly exceptional.

John Marston on a stage coach, admiring the view.

GAMEPLAY: If you’ve ever played Grand Theft Auto IV then you should be fairly at home with what is required of you. Based on a modified engine of that game there isn’t a huge amount of difference control wise, even down to having the same cover system as GTA IV. Thankfully though, the horses don’t control in the same way as cars. You start on a horse at a slow pace, and tapping the A (Xbox 360) or X (PS3) gradually increases the speed the horse runs at. However, don’t think you can hammer the button, as if you over-stress the horse, it will buck you off leaving you looking rather foolish in front of the local floozies. The best new addition though is in how you get to and from missions. The conversations still remain, but you can hold the A/X button and the horse will “posse up” to the other riders (auto-ride), allowing you to enjoy the scenery and conversation without worry.  The more you use your horse, the more you become attached to it. Not only that, its stamina, strength, and speed will improve, so it’s worth finding a horse you like and sticking to it. Your trusty steed is never too far away, all you need to do is hit up on the d-pad, you’ll whistle and your horse will gallop straight to your location.

Gunplay feels good, though the reticule is a tiny white dot which some users may have issues with, depending on their home cinema setups, but for the most part it’s very satisfying to take down a gang of bandits. You have a “dead eye” meter which is basically a western version of bullet time, going into sepia tones and giving a real Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid feel to proceedings.

The missions are varied enough that you won’t get bored and as usual there are plenty of mini-games to get lost in, my personal favourite being Liars Dice. You can get different clothing which effects things too, for example, certain suits allow you to cheat at poker! The usual shops, gunsmiths and pretty much everything you’d expect in a Rockstar game are all present here and you can even upgrade some skills as you progress.

Taming wild horses, the hobby of a real man

You’ll go from herding cattle to a full on assault on a bandit hideout and everywhere in-between.  It really does help add to the feeling of the world being real when you are en-route to a story based mission and encounter a woman being chased by a letcherous old drunk that needs rescuing, or a stranger who wants to challenge you to a duel or a bird shooting contest.  This world is alive, and it won’t stop being alive just because John Marston is riding his horse to the next mission.

Dueling is another mechanic to enjoy, simple in its nature, you accept a duel and stand opposite one another, tumbleweeds blowing between you adding to the atmosphere, draw…aim…hope you win. The mechanics are a bit hit and miss, but still quite fun nonetheless.

The maps are huge and there’s a lot to do in Red Dead Redemption, so thankfully after you’ve discovered a location you can fast travel there for free via your campsite (it also allows you to save anywhere) or pay a small fee and travel in style via stagecoach.

There are some negatives though. Having a run button (whilst a concious development decision) is a little archaic and you might feel (as I did) that a toggle would have been a better option, or it could have been reversed and “always run” was the default and holding a button to walk would have been preferable? I found myself walking a very small amount of the time, almost always holding the run button.

Sadly, the game does suffer from the usual glitches/bugs that “plague” most open world games. You can expect to see horses flying, doing loop-de-loops with carriages still attached. I personally encountered two or three counts of extreme slowdown which made the game almost unplayable, all within my first 10 hours of playtime. You could (and perhaps should) be annoyed about this, but the amount of content on show really helps ease any frustration caused.

Old Western law enforcement at its best

Multiplayer wise, there are some nice options, free-roam especially, whereby you posse up with friends and take on yellow bellied “cowards” around the world! Standard deathmatch and capture the flag (gold) modes are present too, as is a shootout mode. Truth be told though, you’ll probably grow bored of the standard-fare of multiplayer options quickly and will resort to the free-roam mode with your friends (remember to set the game to private unless you want random users playing deathmatch in your free-roam mode), taking on hideouts or just seeing how long you can evade the law with the highest bounty. The game also has some co-op downloadable content coming soon, which will be available in June for the correct price…nothing!

LONGEVITY: Presuming you don’t ignore all the side-quests the game will probably take you between 20 and 30 hours to finish to a satisfactory degree. There really is an enormous amount of content though and completionists will probably take even longer. The multiplayer is hugely fun with friends and it’s safe to imagine that the game will receive a fair share of downloadable content in the future. Make no mistake, there is huge value for money here and don’t expect to finish it quickly.

VERDICT: People often say that Rockstar make adult games, but any game that replenishes your health for having sex with a hooker in the back seat of your car doesn’t really tick the “adult game” box for me. Sure, it’s adult content, but it’s aimed at teenagers. Red Dead Redemption achieves the same level of storytelling and creates the same huge world for the gamer, but it conducts itself in a far more adult manner almost all of the time, the game feels classy from start to finish.

It’s pretty hard to knock the game for much, especially when some of the negative feelings are more related to personal preferences and even despite some really odd glitches this is a title that contains a wonderful single player story and a multiplayer that is an awful lot of fun amongst friends. On that basis Red Dead Redemption is an absolute must own title.

Interested in Red Dead Redemption? You should be! Click the relevant link to purchase this wonderful game. UK Link | US Link

Game: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher: Ubisoft

Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP and PC (reviewed on Xbox 360)

The Prince of Persia series has been around for many years now and it has given us some highly enjoyable titles. The first game was released back in 1989 and was great, but the best addition to the series didn’t hit store shelves until November 2003. That game was the Ubisoft developed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. This “reimagining” managed to blend together key elements such as platforming, puzzles and combat to near perfection. The games that followed (Warrior Within and Two Thrones) were good but they failed to capture the magic that was so evident in The Sands of Time. A  recent “reboot” in 2008 (Prince of Persia) tried to take the series in a different direction and even that was good, but still couldn’t manage to reach the heights of The Sands of Time.

Putting the “reboot” on hold, Ubisoft decided to turn their attentions back to the original trilogy. That is where Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands comes in, this new title hopes to capture the magic of The Sands of Time and provide gamers with the quintessential Prince of Persia gameplay experience. So, does The Forgotten Sands manage to climb to new heights or does it end up falling into a pit of spikes? Read on for the full review.

STORY: Not exactly sure when, but The Forgotten Sands is set sometime between the events of The Sands of Time and Warrior Within. The Prince is visiting his brother, Malik, and turns up to find the Royal Palace under attack, with the troops struggling to hold back the enemy. Realising that the Royal Palace is about to fall, Malik attempts to release the Army of King Solomon to help him and his troops against the enemy. Things do not go plan though and, without ruining anything, it is up to the Prince to step up to the plate and save the day.

Sand Skeletons vs The Prince!

Sounds familiar doesn’t it?! The story is very similar to a couple of the previous games in the series and, whilst that isn’t a bad thing as such, it would have been nice to have a slightly more original tale. How many games will it take before these people realise that releasing things is a bad thing, don’t do it! The story also takes a decent stab at the whole “bridging the gap” thing, but it doesn’t really fully explain how the Prince came to be so “angry” in the Warrior Within.

GRAPHICS: Graphically, the game isn’t that great. Now that doesn’t mean it is the worst looking game ever (not by a long shot) but you would be forgiven for expecting much better from the talented folks over at Ubisoft Montreal. When you come off the back of games like God of War III, it is quite underwhelming. It has a weird sort of look, half realistic and half cartoon-like. The recent “reboot” actually looks a lot better, the art style is far superior.

For the most part the games runs quite smoothly, but when a high number enemies barrage the screen there is some noticeable slowdown. To be honest though, gameplay sections with a high number of enemies only really show up during the latter half of the game so the slowdown shouldn’t really hinder your overall enjoyment of the game too much.

No time for a sit down, Mr Prince!

SOUND: The voice acting in The Forgotten Sands is really well done and, more importantly, believable. It helps that Ubisoft managed to get Yuri Lowenthal back to do the voice of the Prince, his performance is the highlight, but all the other characters are expertly voiced too. The sound effects are decent enough and the background music does well to add an epic, middle eastern atmospheric to proceedings.

GAMEPLAY: The Forgotten Sands starts off pretty slowly (first 30 mins or so), but after that it just gets better and better. The combination of platforming and puzzle solving (slightly more of the former) is just fantastic, a joy to experience and really well implemented. The feeling when you nail a tricky looking section is just great and, trust me, there are quite a few of them! Pretty much all of them are fair though, you never really feel “cheated” which a testament to how well designed the game is.

The gameplay pretty much follows the blueprint The Sands of Time left behind, but with some new additions. For instance, the platforming and puzzles now also take into consideration elements such as water. I don’t want to spoil things for you lovely folks so I won’t say exactly how they are blended into the gameplay, but needless to say they are well thought out and, more importantly, highly enjoyable.

The Prince's new best friend, Water.

The combat, whilst not spectacular, is also pretty good. I wouldn’t go into the game expecting something on par with God of War III or Bayonetta, it’s quite simplistic compared to those games but still fun. I’m repeating myself here, but the basic combat is not too dissimilar to The Sands of Time. You have your normal attacks, aerial attacks and so on, but Ubisoft have also introduced a system which allows you to “purchase” (you don’t actually go to a shop and buy them) and upgrade certain elemental based abilities. You upgrade these abilities by using “XP” which is gained from fallen enemies. The inclusion of these abilities is a nice touch, but is kind of negated by the fact that you don’t really need to use them. During my playthrough, I only really used one of them and that was on the odd rare occasion. This is not a huge complaint by any means, but something worth mentioning anyway.

When you do actually get into combat situations the enemies you come across won’t give you a huge amount of trouble. Only when attacked by different types of enemies at the the same time will you have to actually think about what you’re doing, everything else is just a walk in the park. If the gameplay was combat heavy then this would be a bit of an issue, but in The Forgotten Sands the pendulum swings heavily in the favour of the platforming and puzzles whilst the combat takes a back seat.

Spider-Prince! Well, sort of.

LONGEVITY: The Forgotten Sands isn’t that long and should take you around 8 or 9 hours to complete on the normal difficulty setting. A second playthrough isn’t a huge incentive unless you want to get all the achievements or trophies. The game does include a challenge mode which has two game types (enemy tides and time trial), but I can’t see anyone spending more than an hour or two playing those.

VERDICT: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands falls ever so slightly short of the high standards set by the wonderful The Sands of Time, but that doesn’t stop it from being a highly enjoyable game. The combination of platforming and puzzle solving is just fantastic, truly a joy to experience. If a little more polish was applied to the visuals and combat, it could have been something special.  Still, it’s a must for fans of the original trilogy.

Interested in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands? Click the relevant link to purchase. UK Link | US Link