Preview: Skate

The skateboarding genre has only had one major player over the years, the Tony Hawk’s series, and it has become pretty repetitive and in need of an injection of new and fresh ideas. In comes EA’s brand new game, aptly titled skate, the demo of which is now available on Live Marketplace.

The demo is timed for 30 minutes and starts off by giving you a tutorial on how to play You will need to do this in order to get to grips with the, as it is by no means easy game to handle for first time players. The controls are shown on the loading screen and give you a basic idea of what to expect when you jump on your board. The left stick controls your body, right stick controls the board. Speeding up is not automatic, and you will need to press either the A or X button when you slow down.

As you will learn in the tutorial, tricking will require a lot more effort than the usual one button presses. An ollie, for example, requires you to push the right stick down and then straight up - a lot like how you would ollie using a real skateboard. Grab tricks are controlled using the left and right shoulder buttons and can be tweaked using the right stick.

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All this seems very confusing in writing, but once you actually get your hands on the pad and start playing around, you will see that, as with real skateboarding, practice makes perfect.

After the tutorial is complete, you will be given a few challenges, one notable challenge requires you to perform three objectives in the time given, and is being recorded by a fellow skater. This shows off the fantastic video mode, dubbed skate.reel.

Skate.reel allows you to record or photograph segments of your skating, and either upload them to the Skate website, or save them to your hard-drive (this mode was not available in the demo). The video editor has a few cool options. It allows you to watch the last 30 seconds worth of skating you did, and you can cut various parts of the video, and clip them together to show your best runs. You can also change camera angles, video speed and add various effects.

The uploading feature is a bit temperamental in the demo, as it is very hard to even log on to the Skate website and access your videos, but this should all be sorted for the full release.

The game is very nice to look at, and has taken a sort of drab look with regards to the colours and tone, suiting the game a great deal. The character models look very detailed, as does the surroundings. No more of the eccentric rails and bowls you find in Tony Hawk’s, everything in Skate is very basic, as you would find in the real world.


The camera may not be what you’re used to, as it follows you behind your skateboard, but makes it feel more realistic and as if you are riding the skateboard, instead of just controlling the character.

Audio wise, the world seems quiet, but you will hear the usual skateboarding sounds, such as boards flipping, dropping and rolling, not just from your character, but other skaters around you, which makes the game feel more involving. The music is also suited to the skateboarding scene, with your usual hip-hop, rap and rock. If these don’t tickle your fancy, then you can play your own music through the 360 dashboard instead.

A problem we did have was when the player bailed. The bail would take at least 3 seconds to end, and during which, the character falls rather rigidly, as opposed to how a real person would fall. This by no means makes this game something to avoid, but it might be a little off putting to watch, especially coming from how well done the actual skateboarding plays.

In summary, this is definitely worth a look. It provides gamers with an alternative to the leader, Tony Hawk’s, and turns the genre on its head with the controls, which will definitely seem daunting on first approach, but after a few tries, you will see the results that can be produced by persevering

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Preview: Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Testing out a game is a tedious yet highly essential part of development, but what better way is there than to utilise the huge user-base of Xbox Live and employ the eager players act as free testers? And we’re not complaining either, as it means we get to play a game months before its release.

Bungie did it with Halo 3 and that was met with huge applause, and now Infinity Ward have done the same with Call of Duty 4, albeit a bit harder to get access to than just buying a copy of Crackdown.

Yet, for those lucky enough, including us, to have played the Call of Duty 4 Beta, we have to say that the game is certainly shaping up to be as good as, if not better than Call of Duty 2.

Everyone knows that you can only base a game on World War II for so long, so Infinity Ward have taken the step to set the game somewhere in the present day, or not too distant future, and is aptly titled “Modern Warfare”.

Hit the jump to read on.


The Beta starts you off with the usual loading screen and has you selecting what type of multiplayer mode you want to play. There are three modes included from the get-go; Free For All, Team Deathmatch and Team Tactical. As you rank up and Level Six, you will also unlock the mode Team Objective.

The ranking of your player is a nice inclusion into the game and plays a fundamental part of progression in the multiplayer. It not only allows you to show off to your friends in the lobby with a high ranking, but is essential to unlock more weapons, attachments, perks and game modes. The Beta however, has a limit of Level 11, preventing you from unlocking more modes such as Prestige and Clan Tag.

The weapons available to choose vary from the AK47 to the pump-action shotgun, and it’s a nice change to play with compared to the customary WWII Thompson and Trench Gun. In total, the Beta gives you access to an arsenal off twenty weapons, including the usual grenade variations. As mentioned previously, the more you rank up, the more weapons are unlocked. You will also have access to weapon attachments, such as silencers and scopes which can be put on a variety of the firearms.

A useful addition is the ‘Create a Class’ option, unlocked after reaching Level 4, which allows you to group different weapons to suit your tactics or the map you are playing on. The game gives you five custom slots, as well as the bog standard groups seen in Call of Duty 2, for those that want to jump straight into the action without spending time customizing.


Perks, a feature playing a big role in this game, allows players to upgrade their soldier. Basically, the perks are abilities allowing you to further customize your playing style. The perks come in three categories, each one containing various skills, such as Juggernaut (which increases health) and Dead Silence (which makes your footsteps quieter).

The game also rewards you for how well you play during matches. Modifiers, based on a killing streak, unlock useful items for you to use to your advantage. For example, get a 5-Kill Streak and you get to use an air-strike on a position of your choosing, or get a 7-Kill Streak and call in for helicopter support - all of which are accessible by pressing right on the D-Pad. This brings a whole new aspect of tactical play for when the usual guns do not help.

There are also Challenges, which are as the name suggests, specific objectives to do, and are like in-game achievements. Examples include getting a set number of headshots with a specific weapon. Achieving these objectives also unlocks various attachments and upgrades for you to use.

One feature that Call of Duty 2 did not include was the leaderboard option. Players spent countless hours battling away, and had nothing to show for it. But now in Call of Duty 4, the game incorporates a fully-fledged leaderboard system, allowing you to compare your statistics to that of your friends as well as the world.


The Beta lets you play three levels; Overgrown, Crash and Vacant. Each level requires a different approach and are suited to different game types, and it’s only a matter of time before we learn the maps inside out and start favoring some over others. This brings us to a feature most likely taken from Halo 3 - the ‘veto map’ option. This allows you vote against the map selected in the lobby, a total of 3 vetoes are required to change the map.

Graphically the game looks lovely. Bear in mind this is only the multiplayer game, and usually the multiplayer graphics are somewhat diminished compared to those of the single player game, so judging by what we have played the single player game should be a sight to behold. Explosions and gunfire roar around the battlefield, and makes each match very atmospheric. The presentation is gritty and washed out, in a good way, as it makes the whole thing look and feel much more realistic.

The environment is also totally revamped compared to the previous games. A good level to look at is the ‘Overgrown’ map, which shows off the setting, and allows you to use features such as foliage and grass to your advantage. The buildings are also more realistic, for example if you have an enemy camping behind a wall, all you need to do is take a machine gun or something of equal power, and shoot through it, yes you can actually shoot through the walls.

All in all, this game is shaping up to be something special, it takes into account the fast-paced action of Call of Duty 2 and brings with it a new element of gameplay and strategy, which we can use depending on how we want to play.

Keep an eye out for this, as it looks like it might give Halo 3 a run for its money.

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Preview: Colin McRae DiRT

The Demo for Colin McRae DiRT hit Marketplace last week, and if you were one of those eager to try out the game, you would have been as frustrated as everyone else, as for some reason the download speed was atrocious, to the extent that my download took just under 24 hours to download. After seeing the screenshots for this game, and not having played a proper rally game since Rallisport Challange 2 on the Xbox, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this.

The Demo lets you play on three different race modes, Crossover, Hill Climb, and C.O.R.R. (Championship Off-Road Racing). Each mode has its own specific rally car, Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec C, Mitsubishi Evo IX and a 650hpV8 buggy.

The presentation of the game is truly something else. The menus are definitely the best of any 360 game yet, and the loading screen before the start of a race shows your statistics, in a fly-through scope, such statistics include race miles, podium finishes, restarts, longest air, and loads more to stop you from getting bored the race. The only thing I could complain about is the voiceover, who tries to excite you, but instead annoys to such an extent that I had to turn the volume down.

After getting over how cool the menus are, the first thing to do is pick a car and then jump into a rally suit and get out on the track. If you've ever played a rally game before, then you know what to expect, one hell of a ride. For those of you used to the Gran Turismo's or Forza Motorsport's, this game will feel totally different. The cars are meant for thrashing around an off-road circuit, throwing your car around a tight corner and scraping the barriers and trees is all part and parcel of the rally experience, and flying off the edge of a cliff would be great, if only the game didn't respawn your car after going out of the boundary.

The graphics look very nice, cars look very real, and are extremely detailed. Dust, mud and grass fly all over the place under the speed of your car, and after a few seconds of off-roading, your car won't look dirtier than, well, something dirty. The damage to the cars is probably the best of any racer on the platform to date. Hitting a tree a bit too hard will cause you to carry on driving in a wrangled mess, hitting a tree with speed at an angle will most probably send your wheels flying in all directions and render you incapable of carrying on. Further detail includes smashed windows, wing mirrors and even falling doors. Also of note is the different views you can use, the standard behind the car, fullscreen and bonnet view are included, but with the addition of not one, but two in-car views, which give PGR3 a run for its money.

The sound department is pretty good, not on level with Forza 2's, but still good. Engine sounds can be a bit quiet if using the outer views, but using the in-car view you will hear flying gravel and stones falling behind you and the grass underneath your tires shred away. The lack of a co-driver is a bit disappointing, but it is a Demo, so some things might be better left for the full game. Can't wait to hear the navigation's and cautions of my counterpart, just hope he doesn't have the same voice as the menu voiceover!

Only complaints I have over this Demo is the framerate, which isn't stable at all, but not enough to rule out a purchase, as I'm told that this is an early build and the framerate has been sorted out a bit. And the annoying voiceover man (which I hope can be turned off). Anyhow, the game is out on June 15th, a week after the hardcore Forza 2, check back in a few weeks time to see who takes the podium.

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Preview: Halo 3

Remember that first day, when the Beta was due to be released, and anticipation was over the edge amongst all 360 owners? Well that day, where the Beta seemed to be nowhere in sight for Crackdown owners has come and gone, and everyone has forgotten about it as gamers are knee-deep in the Beta, trying to clock in as much hours as possible before the deadline on June 10.

As soon as you load up the Beta, you're greeted with a blank loading screen and a message, 'Love, Bungie', how nice of them. After the loading has finished, the music starts off, a remix of both Halo and Halo 2 theme tunes, and it gets you psyched for the game. I know it did me.

The game itself feels very much like Halo 2 multiplayer, and as soon as you start playing you'd probably think that you're playing the same game. The visuals look very nice, but the style is overall very familiar. The characters are the same and the levels are similar. The weapons do have a variety and there are a few new toys to play with, such as the Spartan laser and the Turret, making you feel like a real bad-ass as you trudge across the level, with a huge weapon weighing you down.

The new items included in Halo 3 are the ones worth mentioning, all accessible using the X button, and include the Bubble Shield, Trip Mine, Grav Lift and Power Drainer, all add variety to the battles, and if used properly can help a lot.

The multiplayer game modes also offer varying gameplay. The usual Slayer, Team Slayer and Capture the Flag all return, along with a few refreshing modes such as Oddball and Crazy King.

The matchmaking process is better than that of Halo 2, and with the use of Xbox Live, it works almost seamlessly. If a map is chosen that you prefer not to play, there is a new Veto option, and like any good democratic process, the more Veto's the map gets the less chance it has of being chosen. And if you join a group of players who you take a liking to, you can stick with them for the duration of their matches using the new Party Up mode.

Overall the game may seem overall the same as Halo 2, but remember that this is only a Beta, with a few select levels, so there is a whole lot more Bungie might have in the final game. And as Bungie have said before the single player campaign will be a complete overhaul.

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Preview: Forza Motorsport 2

The demo for this highly anticipated racer finally hit on Thursday morning and after an agonising wait for the download to complete, I finally got to sample this game. The demo weighs in at just under 700MB and comes fully loaded with 24 cars spanning three race classes - C, A and R2. However, there is only one track, Mugello, and is played as an 3 lap exhibition mode against seven other CPU players.

The cars are pretty cool and the varied handling on each car is pretty noticeable. The sense of speed as you change from a Class C car such as the Nissan 350Z to a Class A car such as the Ferrari F430, is truly amazing, and for the ultimate racing feel, I'd recommend using the bonnet view. There are four camera views in total, however, one slight disappointment is that there is no proper in-car view as seen in Test Drive Unlimited and PGR3.

After selecting your car, you are given the option to turn off assists such as ABS, Traction Control and Stability Management. Turning all the assists off offers the ultimate simulation, but is also very difficult to control if you aren't used to it. I found the best combination was to turn off Traction and Stability but leave ABS on as it prevents the brakes from locking on hard corners.

Graphically the game looks very nice and plays smoothly, as expected seeing as it's 60fps, but there is the odd slowdown, like when there is a large pile-up crash, but nothing major. Also, right before starting the game, edges on the cars are noticeably jaggy, because of the lack of anti-aliasing, but that doesn't really matter when racing. The background scenery is a little bare around the track, and the sky actually looks real! Truly jaw-dropping.

The damage on the cars is also impressive. Most cars get damaged properly, such as loosing bumpers, spoilers and even window breakages, but some such as the Ferrari F430 only have paint damage and can be dented.

The sound in the game is top-notch, each car sounds different and playing through surround-sound, the cars revving around you sounds amazing, but can drown out the sound of your own car, but that can be fixed by changing the audio levels from the sound menu. The races lack music, but you can still play your custom tracks through the dashboard if you like.

Overall, the demo is pretty good and is a good stop gap until the game hits in a months time. I might have to shell out for the Official Wireless Steering Wheel, as I hear the game is much more fun using it. Either way, I can't wait for the full game!

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Review: Boom Boom Rocket

Downloaded this today and played it for quite a bit. It costs 800 MSPoints and comes with ten songs, all are remixes of classical songs, from 1812 Overture to Ride of the Valkyries.

There are five different modes; standard, endurance and freestyle and visualiser, as well as a local multiplayer.

The game has you ignite fireworks in time with the music using each of the face buttons (or directional buttons if you prefer that), while the camera pans around a large cityscape. Once you reach a x4 multiplier, you can activate a 'Bonus Run' which illuminates the city and gives a more dazzling firework display for the duration of the bonus time.

Visually the game looks pretty, with the different colours, but starts to look a bit bland after a while. You can unlock different firework types, which are different shapes, but nothing majorly impressive. If you're playing on easy mode, the slowness of the rhythm allows you to actually complete a level, but offers no real enjoyment. Only when you start playing medium/hard or endurance mode does the game open up a bit, as the rhythm increases and the firework display you come out with looks a lot nicer.

The inclusion of the visualiser is pretty cool, allowing you to play music from your portable device/computer/CD and the game automates the fireworks display while you pan around the city and watch.

Two rhythm action games in as many weeks may have been a bad idea, as Guitar Hero II has spoilt me, and is obviously the superior game. But its good to have this for when I don't want to ache my hands with the guitar.

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Worst box arts of the 21st century

I can understand that games of old may have hideous box art, as computers and graphics software wasn't as advanced as it is today, so publishers can be let off with producing some ugly box arts. But in this day and age, with graphics looking as good as they are, and every man and his dog knows how to use Photoshop, publishers and developers have no excuse for releasing games with art that looks like it was made by a five year old in Paint.

Below is the ten worst box arts of the 21st century, and please do add your own ones if you come across them.

American Chopper | Playstation 2
Who is going to want to buy a game with two grown men on the front, looking like they just came back from doing something I'd rather not mention.

Animal Soccer World | Playstation 2
This one is wrong on so many levels. Firstly the art is so basic and bland. Secondly, if you look at what the animals are doing, like the hippo on the right and the pig and bear at the bottom, then I'm sure no parent is going to buy this for their kids.

Little Britain | Playstation 2
No-one was going to buy this game in the first place, and from whats on the cover, I don't think any retailer would want to stock it if they were given the choice.

NCAA 2003 | Gamecube
Now what the hell is going on with this guy?! Is he supposed to be deformed or have they used some wierd effect in Photoshop to make him look like that?

Pure Pinball | Xbox
Would you have thought this was a pinball game? Looks more like a paintballing game to me. I'm sure you won't see any of those ladies in the actual game.


Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam | Nintendo Wii
Is Tony just angry, or is he constipated? Or maybe both?


Super Bust-a-Move | Playstation 2
This is just so wrong. Painting on a babies forehead, and giving it gum to chew, as well as those hideous glasses. I'm sure the NSPCC would have a field day with this.


Pony Friends | Nintendo DS
I just wish the DS had graphics like this! Then all those little girls won't be running back to the shop exchanging it for Nintendogs.

Snood 2: On Vacation | Nintendo DS
A combination of both Clipart and MS Paint here. Why would you want your game looking so basic?

Karnaaj Rally | Gameboy Advance
The all time favourite! I think he's trying to run out of the box after realising how stupid he looks there.

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PS3 in the house

Got my unit today, along with a few games, movies and a remote. I decided to get only the exclusive games for the system, as the rest of the games being released are either sport games, which I don't have any interest in, or have already been released on the 360 and have been played to death (Fight Night, Tony Hawks, Godfather).

In total I grabbed 5 games; Formula 1, Motorstorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, Ridge Racer 7 and Virtua Fighter 5. I also had one BluRay ready to watch which was ordered last week and is one of my favs, Lord of War. As all the retailers are eager to get as many customers as possible, retail chain Gamestation (where I bought it from) were giving away a free copy of X-men 3 on BluRay, but I was left with a voucher to claim it sometime next week as they hadn't received the shipment of the freebie. And as mentioned earlier, a BluRay remote.

The console itself is very big, you wouldn't think it was from looking at the pictures and magazines, but in the flesh it really is a beast. But for some reason, the size and weight of the machine made it feel really luxurious, maybe even enough to warrant the hefty price tag. And obviously, when paying £425 for a console, you wouldn't want it to feel like a cheap bit of plastic now, would you?

The machine comes supplied with a wireless controller, charging cable, ethernet cable, plug and a composite cable. Seriously, all this talk about beyond high definition and True HD, and they supply you with the worst connection possible? How much more would it have cost them to include a dual composite-component cable like the 360? At the amount they're producing it would probably be in the pennies, but then again they want you to shell out extra for the additional cables, both official component and HDMI cables sell for £17.99 each. That's Sony for you.

Thinking ahead of the game, I ordered a cheap, but supposedly good quality HDMI cable from eBay for under a tenner last week, and it was ready and waiting for the PS3. Connecting it to the console didn't work, and went about the appropriate steps to change input. For reference, you need to connect the console via composite to your TV first, scroll to Settings, and then Display Settings. From there scroll up to HDMI and click X. You then need to change the input on your TV to HDMI and it should work fine from there.

However, it didn't work for me. Have tried everything to get HDMI working but it seems that the cheap-ass cable I bought turned out to be non-functioning. Now I have to make sure that it is the cable that's faulty and not the console itself! In the meantime, my trusty PS2 component cable works fine with the PS3.

Upon first switching on the console, you're greeted with the standard settings you usually see on a new computer/console; language, time, date etc. After this is done you're transferred to the XMB, which is the systems main interface allowing you to access the various areas of the console (Settings, Movies, Music, Games) and is styled the same as the PSP interface. You'd expect a next-gen console (well now its current-gen), to be all glitzy and glamorous, and show off the Hi-Def visuals from the get go, but Sony have opted for the very minimalist approach here.

Firstly I connected to my wireless network. WiFi works seamlessly with the console, exactly the same as the PSP. I then downloaded the new patch which was released today (1.6) which now allows you to download games/demos in the background instead of being stuck at the download screen for the duration. This was perfect, so I headed over to the Playstation Store and downloaded Gran Turismo HD and then carried on exploring the rest of the system.

The Playstation Store seemed a bit annoying to navigate. You can either use the analog sticks as you would a mouse, or use the D-pad to move straight to the clickable options, but then you get stuck reading information for the download, and seems impossible to get out of. The loading time of the Store was a bit slow as well, but that could be because we're not meant to be accessing it until midnight.

The controller was a bit light, and feels very cheap, much like the Nintendo Wii nunchuk, and its probably because there are no rumble electronics inside. After using the 360 pad for over a year, it feels like going a step back with the PS3 controller. The motion sensing, of what I sampled in Motorstorm, is very gimmicky and is certainly no replacement for rumble. It might as well not be there because it adds nothing to the gameplay (which, using the traditional control methods is an absolute blast to play!). The USB charging cable provided is a bit short, and isn't very practical if you want to use the controller whilst charging it.

So far, from what I've sampled the console seems alright, it ain't bad and it ain't great. Sony need to pull their socks up and get a few good exclusive games, improve the controller (ADD RUMBLE!) and make the whole interface work seamlessly, instead of making it user unfriendly, as was what I experienced.

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MetaReview: Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)

Its been an age since the hedgehog appeared in a decent game. But it seems that old rivals Sega and Nintendo have formed a great partnership and came up with the best Sonic game since the Dreamcast.

It may not be as great as the classic Sonic games, but it certainly does shine in its innovative controls, thanks to the Wiimote. But it seems that reviewers aren't quite on the same level when it comes to how good the game is, with some review scores hitting up in the 80's, while some are down in the 50's. What we can be sure of though, is that this game outshines the the terrible releases on the 360 and PS3.

Eurogamer (80/100) "This is a game about Going Fast and Jumping, and, at last, its designers have realised that that's exactly what we want to do with Sonic. The Going Fast is brilliant, the Jumping is fantastic, and we have big smiles on our faces. Sonic is back."

Gamespot (76/100) "Sonic and the Secret Rings delivers an excellent sense of speed and plenty of depth, and what's just as impressive is that it makes Sonic fun again."

1UP (75/100) "Although Sega deserves praise for Secret Rings' innovative single-player adventure, the less said about the four-player party mode, the better. It's another low-budget "Mario Party" rip-off that stretches out a few weak gameplay concepts into multiple multiplayer contests."

IGN (69/100) "Sonic and the Secret Rings offers moments of greatness where I find myself caught up in the intensity of the experience and, oppositely, moments where I want to pull my hair out or throw the Wii remote down because of imprecise control or insulting design choices."

Final Word: Recommended

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MetaReview: Crackdown (360)

With there being a large stop-gap between San Andreas, and the next-gen GTA on the PS3 and 360, developers have the perfect chance to try and make their mark on the 'sandbox' genre. We saw last year, with Saints Row, what kind of play a next-gen GTA could do, but with all of GTA's traits that Saints Row copied, and those few of its own that it added, it still couldn't capture the feel of GTA.

Here in comes Crackdown. A sandbox game of great proportions. You, as a genetically enhanced super-cop, have to rid Pacific City of the gang infestation that has taken over. And you can use any means you see fit. You can increase the development of your agent by completing various tasks, such as collecting agility orbs to increase your agility. Or fly-kicking gang-members to increase your strength. Everything you do affects your stats, and the higher your stats, the more powerful you get.

Don't forget that it comes with a Halo 3 Beta download as well! What more could you want?!

1UP (90/100) "If Crackdown were nothing more than a GTA-ish game with the fat trimmed away and some insane physical abilities, hell, that'd be something to be thrilled about. That it represents the best, if not the first, online multiplayer sandbox game on a console is just gravy."

Eurogamer (90/100) "Being so excellent that you obliterate the single-player in a weekend is not enough to stop it being my favourite Xbox 360 game of recent times."

IGN (80/100) "The smart blend of collecting orbs in a wildly vertical setting while constantly feeling the reward of powering up creates an unbeatable sensation of addictive fun. You'll have a blast, even if for a short while."

Gamespot (78/100) "Crackdown creates an exciting open world and gives you a lot of interesting abilities, but there isn't enough main-game content to truly take advantage of the game's strengths."

Final Word: Essential

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MetaReview: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

Almost 3 months since its American release and almost year since its Japanese release, this sequel to one of the longest running franchises hits European stores this week.

I myself am not too keen on all the turn-based battles and have avoided all iterations of the franchise, but from what reviewers have been giving this game, it looks like this is one of the best Final Fantasy releases ever. Maybe I'll have to dip in and give this a try to see what all the fuss is about.

Eurogamer (100/100) "It's not hard to see us looking back in five years time and seeing FFXII as a pivotal, changing moment in how RPGs are designed; a game which drew on the experience of Final Fantasy's branches into tactical strategy and massively multiplayer, as well as on the more mature storytelling of other mediums, and folded it back into the number series, to wonderful result."

1UP (95/100) "From beginning to end, this is the most complex Final Fantasy game yet, and it's just as evident in its plot as in its mechanics."

IGN (95/100) "A fantastic RPG. It blows all of its PS2 competition this year right out of the water and is among the all time elite role-players ever made for the system. "Kingdom Hearts," "Devil Summoner," "Xenosaga III," "Tales of the Abyss"... none of them are on the same level as Square Enix's bold and riveting move in a new direction."

Gamespot (90/100) "There's still a disconnect between what happens during gameplay and what happens during cutscenes, but by integrating the combat and exploration, Final Fantasy has come one step closer to being more immersive than before."

Final Word: Essential

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MetaReview: God Hand (PS2)

The last release from the renowned Clover Studios, comes in the form of a God Hand, a tongue-in-cheek action game. You play as Jean, whose hand was chopped off by a mercenary. He comes across the legendary 'God Hand', which attaches to his arm and gives him super-powers, which helps him inflict massive damage onto his enemies using this new found strength.

1UP (80/100) "Yes, other brawlers may perfectly replicate the real-life trajectory of a fist making its way to a face. But God Hand takes you back to those days when you were a little kid in Chuck E. Cheese's. And that's far more satisfying -- and impressive."

Eurogamer (80/100) "It's really, really good gaming, assuming you don't let the game push you around like a playful big brother with little a superiority complex. God Hand just wants to have fun. And so do we."

GameSpot (80/100) "God Hand's pure focus on ridiculous martial arts brawls makes this simple action game fun and challenging. Bonus points for the wild sense of humor and surf rock soundtrack."

IGN (30/100) "God Hand quickly becomes a boring, annoying and frustrating game."

Final Word: Recommended

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MetaReview: Okami (PS2)

With the PAL release of Okami having just passed last Friday, this is probably going to be one of the last true gems of the console. It's a shame that the developers, Clover Studios, have disbanded, as the quality of their games have truly been commendable.

With the likes of the many Viewtiful Joe iterations, and their final game God Hand, the studio showed us that differentiation can be rewarding for both the developers and the players. Okami has recieved critical acclaim across the board, with the game being touted akin to Zelda.

Eurogamer (100/100) "Right from the start it conjures an atmosphere of being something special, but to keep that level of quality up consistently over 60 hours ensures that this will be a game that will be talked about for years to come...A work of art, you might say."

IGN (91/100) "a game that any self-respecting PlayStation 2 owner should pick up simply because you've never played anything like it before."

Gamespot (90/100) "Okami's stunning good looks give it the appearance of a cross between a cartoon and a traditional Japanese ink-and-watercolor painting, and perhaps best of all, the game keeps going and going for much longer than most other games like it."

NTSC-UK (80/100) "Okami is gorgeous but it is also an epic game that sucks you in so completely that hours pass unnoticed as you roam the massive landscape. [JPN Import]"

Final Word: Essential

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King Kong (2005) HD-DVD Review

Universal Studios Home Video / 2005 / 187 Minutes

Movie
This came bundled with the first batch of Xbox 360 HD-DVD players, for buyers to sample. The movie itself is pretty average, seeing an ambitious director, Carl Denham, embark on a journey to capture ‘exotic’ scenes, accompanied by his small crew and a vaudeville actress, Ann Darrow. Their ship crashes into mythical Skull Island, where they are met with natives, giant insects, dinosaurs, and Kong, a giant ape who falls in love with Ann. The crew, or what is left of them then attempt to capture Kong in their bid to find fame and wealth.

Video
The King Kong comes in a 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p/VC-1 transfer, and is the quality is truly flawless. Compared to the DVD version, the difference is very noticeable. Foliage and stubble is clearly distinguishable, where before it would all be a blur, each strand of hair is now clearly separated. What is mostly impressive is the CGI scenes. Kong himself looks amazing and the clarity is truly remarkable.

Audio
The Audio is also as impressive, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, although you may feel slightly disappointed that there was no inclusion of other Dolby TrueHD track. Nonetheless, the roars of the dinosaurs and Kong are enough to get anyone’s heart racing. The final Empire State Building scene is very immersive, with the sounds of planes ringing around the room, and from this it shows why the movie won an Oscar for Best Sound.

Extras
The one thing King Kong lacks is the extra content. Aside from the ‘U-Control’, a small icon that sits in the bottom right of the screen, alerting you when extra content is available for that specific scene. Extras here include mainly production diaries, and annoyingly are only available through the U-Control menus.

Overall, this movie is great to watch just to see the quality of the presentation, and is a perfect demonstration of what HD-DVD can offer.

Movie: 3/5
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 1/5
Overall: 4/5

Highly Recommended

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Evolution of the Controller

Control pads are arguably, the most important components of any console platform, as it is the primary input which connects the player with their on screen character. A control pad can form the basis of whether or not players are attached to the system, and if implemented badly (as with the original Xbox controller), can bring wanton criticism to the console. The control pad has changed the way players interact, starting of as a very simple input device consisting of a couple of buttons, and either a paddle or joystick, and then with later systems the introduction of the d-pad. As games grew in size, and required more interaction by the player, more buttons were needed, and in came Nintendo with the introduction of the shoulder buttons for the SNES.

Once the gaming scene moved onto 3D with the N64 and Playstation, players were required to navigate around an extra dimension, so they had to introduce another radical change to the inputs, by the introduction of an analog stick, which was seen as the next step in gaming control. Sony took it one step further and added two analog sticks to their Playstation controllers, allowing players to control their character with one stick, and the camera with the other. The dual analog stick is now customary with most console hardware.

There aren't that many new ways to change the controllers these days, other than adding new buttons or making them wireless (as has been seen with all next generation consoles), however it is once again Nintendo who are trying to evolve the players experience by adding a motion sensing capability with the Nintendo Wii. Using a remote and a nunchuk, players are able to input movement instead of pressing buttons.

Pictures below show the many different incarnations of various controllers over the years. There are some missing, but I have included the main ones which are necessary to see its evolution process.

Magnavox Odyssey

Atari 2600 (Joystick)

Atari 2600 (Paddle)

Colecovision

Atari 5200


Vectrex


NES

Sega Master System

Atari 7800


NES (Max Controller)

NEC TurboGrafx 16


Sega Genesis/Mega Drive