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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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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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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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

YouTube Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince review

I haven’t seen the movie yet but braved reviewing the game on the Wii nonetheless even though it of course contains spoilers. I won’t go into the plot of the game or the movie here but it’s safe to say the game features lots of running about Hogwarts as you uncover another mysterious plot that always comes back to Voldermort.

Being on the Wii, you use the nunchuck to move Potter round the environment, but then use the remote in what boils down to three games throughout the main game to either pilot your broomstick in games of Quidditch, mix potions, or cast spells around the castle and when duelling opponents. Unfortunately, apart from running around the castle to trigger the next cutscene, that’s all you really do. Anything else just seems like a lengthy tutorial, even hours into the game.

Let’s start with Quidditch. Basically the game goes on around you as you concentrate on catching the snitch. The action’s on rails here as you follow the snitch and point the Wii remote at the screen to steer Harry through stars that keep you on target to catch it. Keep hitting the stars and you win the game.

Potion making is probably the most fun but not once you’ve done it 20 times. Here you press A on the remote to pick up a potion then you tilt it to pour it into a cauldron. You also shake the remote and nunchuck to heat the pot and can also stir the mixture all using gestures. This works really and translates what you do with your remote almost exactly on screen.

Finally, there are the duels which you’d hope you would be able to employ some strategy in. Unfortunately, all you really have to do is get as close as possible to your opponent and blast them repeatedly as fast as you can until you beat them.

Unfortunately, that’s all there really is to the game. The likenesses and voices are good but the frame rate struggles most of the time and cutscenes (of which there are many) appear a bit rushed. If you’re a Harry Potter freak there’s something here for you. For everyone else, it’s just very, very average, like a Muggle. Harry Potter gets 5 out of 10.

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YouTube Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings review

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3 years ago I saw a rather good looking Indiana Jones game which had some dynamic fighting using their new Euphoria engine. So far, that game hasn’t surfaced and what we get instead is this latest adventure on the Wii, Staff of Kings. This time Indy is looking for the Staff of Moses and once again has to fight thugs, Nazis and mystical forces along the way.

Being on the Wii, LucasArts have decided to eek out every last bit of motion control. You use the remote and nunchuck to punch with your left and right fist, and by holding down the B button and swinging the remote, you can unleash your whip to disarm enemies, pull them closer for a handy headbutt or swing around the environment. You even get to use it as a joystick as you fly a plane and as a light gun during shooting sections.

Although it’s quite novel using the controls in this way to fight at first, it soon gets a bit frustrating. You can’t always pull off the moves you mean to do, not that that matters because your enemies mostly wait around for you to hit them or dodge their attacks. The fighting is fun though as you pick up objects and smash them into tables, fish tanks etc and does feel quite meaty as Indy’s punch-ups often look in the movies.

Unfortunately the game’s also very glitchy and feels rushed and unfinished. Tutorial sections and cut-scenes can’t be skipped so if you happen to die during them ,you have to sit through long sequences before you can try again. Although the Indy sound-alike is very good, audio skips and jumps as the game loads new areas, and even animations jump and skip as you fight and move around.

There’s also a co-op multiplayer mode in there if you fancy it as Indy and his Sean Connery Dad run about together but to be honest, this is pretty throw away too.

It’s a shame I enjoyed the old graphic adventure Fate of Atlantis and the PS2 game Emperor’s Tomb more than this one. It may be better on the PSP and PS2 thanks to a less convoluted control system but if you want a tomb-raiding action adventure, get the recent Tomb Raider instead. Staff of Kings gets an average 5 out of 10.

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