YouTube Motorstorm Arctic Edge review

I’ve never really been into the Motorstorm games which is odd as I much prefer fantasy racing over the more technical simulation games of say Gran Turismo or Project Gotham. I guess it’s because I’d just rather be playing an FPS or something. However, on the PSP it feels different and worthwhile because I don’t necessarily have to be sitting at home while I’m playing it. Motorstorm Arctic Edge takes the high-octane racing to some rocky, snowy mountains and once again you get to race bikes, snowmobiles, quads, trucks and cars over the terrain. Of course, your choice of vehicle means you have to choose your path carefully. You can take to the high ground and thin tracks on a bike or trudge through the deep snow in a truck and barge everyone out of the way in the process.

Festival mode has over 100 races for you to compete in. Some are just first past the post races, others give you bonus points for staying in the lead for a set amount of time or have you go through a series of checkpoints and try to finish with the most time on the clock as it constantly ticks down. The action’s fast and you can now cool down your boost meter by going over water and snow to prevent you from blowing up if you keep it activated for too long. There are only 8 vehicles on the track at once to keep things moving at a fast pace and the game is definitely easier than its console cousins.

The soundtrack is also great with the likes of Pendulum, Prodigy and Queens of the Stone Age providing some tunes you’ll definitely know and maybe like as much as I do. And once you’ve had your fill of the single player mode you can take the game online and play in Wreckreation mode where you can do time trials against developer ghost data or data you’ve downloaded and experiment with tracks and vehicles in free play.

Despite not being as pretty as the console versions, this is definitely my favourite Motorstorm game as the game style fits the PSP perfectly. It gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Pure review, Project Gotham review, Motorstorm Arctic Edge review

Tags: Motorstorm Arctic Edge, racing, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, PSP, Motorstorm, PS2, Arctic Edge, Sony, driving

YouTube Up review

I had my first experience of 3D cinema the other day when I watched Up. Once my eyes had adjusted I was initially impressed but then I sort of got used to it. It’s the same with videogames. Next-gen machines come out and everyone goes ‘whooo’ but then the bar has to constantly be raised in order to impress. It’s a pity then that not only does Up have average graphics, but it’s also a very average platform game that’s of little interest to me.

You mainly play the game as Carl and Russell as you move round the 3D platform levels attached to your floating house. Similar to the Lego games, you can play with a friend and must work together to get round the environment. For example, Russell can shimmy along ledges and use Kevin the bird to reach new heights, while Carl can use his cane to climb up ledges and keep wasps and spiders away with the screeching of his faulty hearing aid. In single player mode you hit a button so switch between them which sometimes works and can sometimes be frustrating when the AI takes over and moves characters precisely where you don’t want them.

Most of the time you’re just platforming and collecting coins and artefacts as you go. Combat is extremely limited to swinging your cane at things or picking up items to use against the inhabitants of the forest. Occasionally you also get a boss fight but the action throughout is all rather slow and cumbersome. What do you expect from controlling a geriatric and a boy scout?

To break things up a bit you can also take to the skies and literally dogfight with the talking dogs. For some reason this is also the first thing you do in the game which is odd as it’s set in a scene right near the end of the movie.

Young children may enjoy playing as the characters from the film but this doesn’t offer anything for the older gamer. It’s an average platform game so it gets an average score of 5 out of 10.

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Related: G Force review, Wii Christmas party games, Youtube Up review

Tags: Up, Up, disney, pixar, THQ, platformer, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, DS, Mac OS X, Windows, Single player, 2 player, co-op, multiplayer, Youtube Up review

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.

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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

YouTube Guitar Hero 5 review

So Guitar Hero 5 is available in the shops and the good news is this doesn’t feel like just some more songs to jam along to slightly repackaged. It is in fact quite a leap forward for the game both in terms of graphical style and the way the game plays.

First of all let’s cover the track list. There are 85 songs on this and as usual, some you’ll know, some you won’t, depending on your musical taste. Queen, Muse, Nirvana and Garbage all appear amongst others and you can even unlock guest characters such as Shirley Manson, Santana and Kurt Kobain and then add them to your customised band line-up.

It’s also never been easier to get into a game. Party Play mode lets anyone just drop in or out of a song at any difficulty without interrupting the song which really adds to the accessibility of the game.

The on-screen graphics have also been streamlined. Gone are the big meters which crowd the screen. They are now incorporated into the fret display and the whole look of the band and venues looks a lot more authentic. They’ve copied the grainy look of Rock Band and the character animation and lip synching is really a sight to behold. Another great touch is the ability to play Guitar Hero 5 as your Xbox 360 avatar. You look a little out of place as you’re a lot shorter than everyone else but you can also customise a completely new character to look like you in the character creation mode.

It’s also great that you can play any song from the off in quick play mode and in career, you unlock new venues and songs even though you haven’t played all the songs in the previous category. You can also get more stars by fulfilling criteria mid-song like finger tapping all the tap sections of whammying the sustain notes.

Apart from there not being enough modern tracks for my liking, Guitar Hero 5 really is the ultimate band experience so far. Neversoft have really pushed things forward this time around and it’s tricky to say how they’d better this.

Guitar Hero 5 gets and almost perfect 9 out of 10.

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Related: play Guitar Hero 5 as your Xbox 360 avatar, Using a Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band, Youtube Guitar Hero 5 review

Tags: Guitar Hero 5, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 5 review

YouTube GI Joe The Rise of Cobra review

Anyone old enough to remember the G.I. Joe cartoon and toys? Well if you do, you may or may not be excited about the new movie. This is the game of the movie of the cartoon and as you’d expect it’s actually a load of watered-down rubbish so I’ll be quick.

As you can see, the game almost plays like Commando or Contra in that you just run into the screen and shoot everything in front of you. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game played like Gears of War but it actually plays a bit like the 80s game Commando which of course is unacceptable. You can play alone or co-op and if you’re playing single player you can swap between characters mid-level, however, they skate around the environment like the 3rd person mode in Fallout 3 and the cover system isn’t worth using at all. So, you just end up strafing all over the place and shooting stuff. And if you do have to backtrack, the camera doesn’t move so you run blindly into the edge of the screen.

Character models are shoddy, environments are boring and the whole game feels like something you should download from the Xbox Live Arcade. If you want some good run and gun action instead, pick up Gears of War 2 – it should be pretty cheap now. G.I. Joe gets an awful 2 out of 10.

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Related: Gears of War 2, Bionic Commando review, GI Joe The Rise of Cobra review

Tags: GI Joe The Rise of Cobra, GI Joe, Rise of Cobra, G.I.Joe

YouTube G-Force review

We all know that most movie licenses are very bad but Disney’s G-Force actually bucks the trend and delivers a satisfying action adventure with high production values and tight controls. In the game you play as Darwin, one of the G-Force team, as you try to put a stop to electrical appliances that have come alive thanks to a virus.

In a change from the swine flu stories in the news at the moment, this time a virus is making irons, microwaves, toasters, shavers and headphones come alive and start attacking humans. Of course it’s far-fetched but these appliances provide suitably-sized opponents for your little guinea pig to fight with. Darwin has a plasma gun which can be upgraded, a quick-fire blaster rifle and a saber whip for melee combat. You’ll also have to employ some strategy with some of the appliances as some of them only show their weak spots at certain times or need to be destroyed in some other cunning way.

You also have the help of your housefly friend Mooch who you can control to squeeze through grates and slow down time to make it past fans and lasers to open doors and hack security for you. It’s really fun flying around the rooms and finding a way to get Darwin further into his mission.

Of course, the game’s very linear as you’d expect from a title like this and unfortunately there’s not too much variety in the game. Apart from a couple of levels when you’re in your hamster ball vehicle, all the environments look very samey and drab and most of your enemies can be killed by moving and shooting until they explode. Still, in short doses this game is great fun to play with high production values and responsive controls.

The game also comes with 3D glasses and you can switch this mode on in the options. To be honest though, I wouldn’t bother. The game doesn’t look much more 3D than it does in normal mode, everything looks washed out and it gave me a headache. Disney G-Force gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Lego Indiana Jones review, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian review, Youtube G-Force review

Tags: G-Force, GForce, g force, Darwin, Disney, guinea pig, hamster, Mooch, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PSP, iPhone OS, G-Force review