Episode 121
On this weeks episode of Gamesweasel we review Dead Space Extraction for the Wii and Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising, plus you get the chance to win 2 copies of The Halo Encyclopaedia. On the blogs this week we have a Bomberman Ultra review for the Playstation 3, a review of Ninja Captains for the Wii, a guide to the best PS3 party games and a Nintendo DS Christmas buyers guide.

• Dead Space Extraction review
• Win The Halo Encyclopaedia
• Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising review
• Tim Curry interview

Buy
To get hold of any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising Amazon and Dead Space Extraction Amazon pages.

Offers
This episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you with GoDaddy and offers you fantastic discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following November 2009 GoDaddy codes to save you money – ‘WEASEL7′ gets you 10% off domain name purchases ‘WEASEL8′ gets you 20% off orders over $57 or £35 and ‘WEASEL9′ gets you 30% off .COM domains. For a limited time only ‘WEASEL20H’ gets you 20% off web hosting and ‘WEASELSSL’ gets you 12.99 SSL certificates. Some restrictions may apply, watch the GoDaddy coupon codes video and read the GoDaddy website for more details.

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We are also brought to you with CCS.com, you can use the CCS coupon code ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30.

Win
There are 2 copies of The Halo Encyclopaedia up for grabs, if you’d like to win then see our competitions page by 16 November 2009.

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Screenshots

YouTube Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising review

Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising was a revelation back in the day. Sure it was for hardcore gamers on the PC and it didn’t let you off lightly. You’d spend ages crawling on your belly through a wood then get shot in the head. Luckily you had quick save so you could take some of that frustration away. On the consoles of course you get checkpoints which I’ll come to in a second.

In this game the fictional island of Skira is being contested by the Russians and Chinese and you, as an American Fire Team leader, are helping out the Russians. Similar to the last game this is no Call of Duty. Enemy and friendly movement isn’t scripted but left to AI which makes gameplay very different every time you play it but can also lead to frustration when your team mates stand in the open to get fired at or enemies don’t seem to respond when shot at.

There are 12 long campaign missions to fight through and you can also play them co-op with up to three friends for a more realistic experience. There are also some shorter missions to play through in co-op which should extend gameplay further.

Play the game on normal mode and the HUD tells you where enemies roughly are in relation to you and waypoints suggest the best way to go. Of course you can play in hardcore mode where everything is turned off and you’re left to fend for yourself and make your own tactical decisions.

Checkpoints aren’t very well spread out though. You’d expect one after each objective but that’s sometimes not the case and you get sent back a long way if you die from a sudden shot to the head.

Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising isn’t to everyone’s taste, especially not console gamers. The game would probably get a higher score if I was reviewing it on the PC but I think console gamers may get frustrated too soon. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising gets a very good 7 out of 10.

Get Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising now
New: Buy Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch our godaddy discount coupon video for more details, use the CCS coupon for November 2009 ‘AFGAME15′ for 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ for free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Call of Duty , Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising developer interview, Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising review

Tags: Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Codemasters, first person shooter

YouTube Dead Space Extraction review

Dead Space was one of my surprise favourite games last year so I’ve been looking forward to Dead Space Extraction on the Wii – a prequel which charts where all the horror on the cracked planet and in the mining vessel the Ishimura began.

It’s an on-rails FPS but before you think this is just like Time Crisis or House of the Dead, let me explain to you why it’s very much not. Extraction has a much more considered approach in that there are times where you don’t shoot anything whilst the atmosphere builds as you’re taken for a ride through the eyes of a number of survivors in different chapters. You crawl up ladders, shuffle across service hatches and even make leaps of faith through zero gravity. The mining equipment from the first game is in use again as you hack limbs off the monsters and you’ve also got access to pistols and pulse rifles. You can also slow down enemies and the world around you at times using stasis and fetch weapons, ammo and items using a sort of sci-fi tractor beam type thing.

There are 10 chapters to play through and as you go, you unlock new challenge mode levels and comic books to watch complete with sound effects and voice acting. It may be short but it really is a new gaming experience for me and something I couldn’t put down until I finished the story mode. There are also choices of paths to take from time to time which may encourage playing through the story again and you can play the game in co-op mode and shoot the Xenomorphs with a friend.

The game’s got the best graphics I’ve seen on the Wii and although the action slows down occasionally when there’s lots on screen, it certainly doesn’t wreck the game. Another small complaint is the crosshair. Info about your guns and a Gears of War-style quick reload system are incorporated into it and as a result it’s rather large, sometimes obscuring what you’re actually trying to shoot. Still, it means there’s no HUD on the screen which all adds to the atmosphere.

If you want a game that really sucks you into the action and gives you the creeps at times, give this a go. You’ll definitely enjoy it.

Dead Space Extraction gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

Get Dead Space Extraction now
New: Buy Dead Space Extraction from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Dead Space Extraction – free rental trial from Gamefly.com

Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch the GoDaddy coupons video for more details, use the CCS coupon ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: House of the Dead, Time Crisis, Youtube Dead Space Extraction review

Tags: Dead Space Extraction, Dead Space, Extraction, Wii, on rails, shooter, Dead Space: Extraction, horror, EA

I just want to thank Hudson Software for making me feel old. I can’t believe it’s already been 18 years since I played the original European Bomberman game back when it was still called Dyna Blaster. The premise was, and still is quite simple. You and a whole host of human or CPU controlled enemies are trapped in an arena; only one of you will survive. Step in the bombs that act as both your defence and offence in one of the most loved multiplayer games of all time. If you’ve not played any Bomberman game before then all you need to know is that your goal is to blow up your opponents by dropping bombs and hoping the resulting 4 directional explosion burns them to a crisp. The problem obviously is that whilst you’re trying to eliminate up to 7 other people they are trying to eliminate you at the same time; with each player able to carry a good few bombs at once you can easily see over 20 bombs on screen at once and avoiding the blast area takes good positioning and quick reflexes.

I will just mention that the majority of the Bomberman games have featured a single player story campaign as well as the full on battle mode mentioned above; the thing is that most people weren’t really too impressed with these story campaigns and so the last few games have seen it removed completely. Bomberman Ultra for PS3 is no different; there is only battle mode for either offline or online play. Similarly like Bomberman Live on 360 and Bomberman Blast on WiiWare; Bomberman Ultra is a download only title available on the PSN for just a few dollars. So nearly 20 years later there must be something a little bit different to make this version of Bomberman stand out from the crowd of its hefty back catalogue. Indeed one cool new feature is the ability to unlock costumes and create your own cool looking Bomberman avatar; it’s not quite as cool as using Mii’s like Wii game but it’s a nice touch.

Gameplay is pretty much as you’d expect from a Bomberman title; this is a fun and frantic bomb blasting battle with a whole host of pickups which can help or hinder your game. As you destroy the arena blocks, special items such as; Extra bombs to drop and Flame Boosters will appear. These have obvious and useful uses but why stop there when you can travel faster with roller skates and throw bombs with a power glove. With stacks of other items you can develop your own strategy which makes playing random people online even more interesting because their game style might be radically different to yours. One addition I am not too keen on are the Bomb Shelters; these huge view obstructing towers will protect anyone from a bomb blast; my problem is that they obscure too much of the battlefield and attract campers. Depending on the game settings chosen at the start; things like sudden death and the ability to take part after your death via the sidelines can spice things up when the timer is running close to the end and a number of people are still battling away.

Of course there is much more I could mention including the different game modes and different arena’s but the most important thing for me was the online multiplayer for up to 8 people. Sadly the part of the game I was most looking forward to is also the most disappointing. Now offline multiplayer is always a hoot for 4 mates and you’d think online with 8 players should double the fun right? Well yes in theory it should. The problem I found was that hardly anyone else seems to be playing online; if you’re lucky enough to find someone hosting a match it tends to never actually get enough players to start and the host gets bored of waiting and kicks everyone off. You could try hosting your own game but don’t be surprised if you only get a handful of random people to actually play with you, instead you’ll need to convince people on your friends list to buy the game if you really want to have fun with online play.

Bomberman Ultra is an extensive battle experience which delivers solid gameplay but doesn’t really push the boat out. Even though it runs in a super smooth 720p you could be mistaken for thinking this was a 32bit era title; it doesn’t feel like Hudson have really pushed themselves to make a next gen Bomberman quite yet.

Overall then a typical Bomberman game which should fit happily on most PS3 owners game library; if you don’t go expecting anything other than a fun retro Bomberman battle experience you probably won’t be disappointed. A well-deserved but must try harder next time score of; 6 out of 10.

Get Bomberman Ultra now
New: Buy Bomberman Ultra from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Bomberman Ultra – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our December 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details, using the December 2009 CCS coupon code valid for December 2009 ‘AFGAME15′ gets you 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30, use our December 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Boom Blox Bash Party Review, Bomberman Blast

Tags: Bomberman Ultra, Bomberman, PS3, PSN

Episode 120
This week on Gamesweasel we play Halo 3 ODST and FIFA 10, tell you the news about Assassins Creed 2, InFamous 2 and The Wii Cyberbike, plus you get the chance to win 3 copies of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the Wii and DS. This week we look at a new Wii puzzle game in our Magnetis review, find out more about an educational game for the Wii called Learning with the PooYoos Episode One, we solve the problem of using a Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band and a look at some digimon online games for the Nintendo DS.

• Assassins Creed 3 rumour
• InFamous 2
• Wii bike
• Halo 3 ODST review
• Win Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the Wii and DS
• FIFA 10 review
• Red Steel 2 review

Buy
To buy any of the games reviewed in this episode you can buy from the FIFA 10 Amazon and Halo 3 ODST Amazon pages.

Offers
This episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you with GoDaddy and offers you great discounts on hosting and domain names. Use the following November 2009 GoDaddy coupons to save you money – WEASEL7 gets you 10% off domain name purchases, WEASEL8 gets you 20% off orders over $57 or £35 and WEASEL9 gets you 30% off .COM domains. For a limited time only WEASEL20H gets you 20% off web hosting and WEASELSSL gets you 12.99 SSL certificates. Some restrictions may apply, watch the GoDaddy coupon video and read the GoDaddy web site for more details.

Gamesweasel is also brought to you with Squarespace, use our November 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

We are also brought to you in association with CCS.com, use the CCS coupon ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ to get free shipping on orders over $30.

Win
For your chance of winning one of 3 copies of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the Wii and DS head over to our competitions page by 9 November 2009.

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Screenshots

YouTube FIFA 10 review

Once again it’s time for another EA Sports game with a new number on the end. This time it’s the turn of FIFA. When you first look at the game it doesn’t look much different but you’ll soon realise that they’ve ironed out all the things that made 09 great to make this version excellent.

First of all there’s the 360’ movement, meaning you’re no longer running at 45 degree angles. This makes for a more realistic movement of the players and coupled with the improved ball physics, some truly interesting and freakish goals that are sure to make you shout out or hold your head in your hands.

Manager Mode is the main season mode where you play through a number of seasons and make transfer and squad decisions. Be a Pro mode is back where you play as an individual and now you can make your own Virtual Pro. Using EA’s Game Face technology which is currently broken as I review the game due to high demand, you can put your face right into the game and level them up RPG style in custom games and even in the arena.

Following on from the Adidas Live Season comes Live Season 2.0 where you can download the latest games your club’s played and try to replicate or re-write history. It’s a shame you have to pay for this after a 5 game demo but hardcore fans will find it worth the extra spend. There’s also a set piece creator where you can modify and save set pieces for use in games. Again, only the hardcore will probably go this deep into the game but it’s a nice touch.

As ever, presentation is slick with some great player likenesses and some good ad-libbing from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. I usually say not to bother getting the new version of an EA Sports game if you’re enjoying last year’s, but once again, FIFA’s come up trumps. Over to you Pro Evo. FIFA 10 gets 9 out of 10, if you know what I mean.

Get FIFA 10 now
New: Buy FIFA 10 from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent FIFA 10 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our November 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our godaddy discount coupon video for more details, using the November 2009 CCS coupon code valid for November 2009 ‘AFGAME15′ gets you 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon ‘WEASEL’ for 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Fifa 09 review, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 review, FIFA 10 review

Tags: FIFA 10, FIFA, football, soccer, FIFA Soccer 10, EA Sports, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, PC