Christmas is an interesting time for most – it’s pretty-much the one point in the year when everyone insists on big family get-togethers, regardless of how well the family actually gets on. You might be the sort of person who literally yearns for Christmas so you can catch up with all your close family members, or you might be the type for whom the Christmas holiday is more or an ordeal, looked on with the kind of enthusiasm most reserve for visits to the dentist, or filling in a tax return. Whether you embrace the Festive period with the enthusiasm of Tiny Tim however, or feel that actually Scrooge had it spot on before the meddling ghosts showed up, one thing that’s always welcome when you’re ‘confined to quarters’ with all available family members, is some kind of family entertainment.

Now in the ‘olden days’ (back when telephones had wires attaching them to walls, and you could count the number of television channels on the fingers of one hand), family fun would generally have been limited to board games, card games and charades (note to younger readers – ask your parents about the last one).

Now though, with a spot of planning, and some careful purchase of pre-Christmas shopping, your versatile PS3 can actually provide you with myriad ways to amuse the family, be they young or old, and thus assure a stress-free Christmas for all. What follows is Gamesweasel’s recommendations for a fun-filled PlayStation 3 Christmas – get your PS3 Christmas deals in now, before they all sell out.

• Buy a Playstation 3 120 GB from Amazon – $299.99
• Buy a Playstation 3 250 GB from Amazon – $349.99

Singstar

Suitable for: Family members of all ages

Once upon a time karaoke was something that people did in bars. Then in 2004 Sony came up with the idea of Singstar and suddenly those who were too nervous or too self-conscious to belt out their favourite pop hits in front of strangers could do so in the comfort of their own home. With the two Singstar microphones, and loads of Singstar titles now on the market, there’s something to suit just about everyone’s taste (well, except perhaps those who only really like opera music – but I’m sure Singstar: Opera is just around the corner).

Singstar started on the PS2, and is still going strong on the older platform, but next-gen PS3 owners benefit from a few extra tracks on each new release that PS2 owners miss out on. Should you be really into your Singstar, then it’s worth noting that the backwards compatibility of the PS3 also means that owners of the new console can still use the older Singstar games too.

The list of Singstar titles now available is literally too numerous to list all of them here, but particularly recommended would be the most recent release, Singstar: Take That, a compendium of the most popular hits from the well-known boy band; Singstar: Motown, also recently released, and featuring a range of tracks which will keep mum, dad and probably the grandparents happy too; Singstar: Queen, featuring, as the title suggests, the well-known hits of Queen; Singstar: ABBA, one for the ladies; Singstar: Boy Bands vs Girl Bands, something to keep the kids happy when they get bored with Take That; Singstar: Singalong with Disney, something to keep the younger kids amused (and all those ‘big kids’ who’ve watched too many Disney movies); and last but not least, Singstar: Anthems, which contains a selection of those songs that for one reason or another, everybody knows! With so many different styles of music available to keep everyone happy Singstar is one of the top PS3 games for Christmas 2009.

• Buy Singstar Bundle including 2 microphones from Amazon – $56.99
• Buy Singstar ABBA from Amazon – $39.82
• Buy Singstar Pop from Amazon – $17.25
• Buy Singstar Pop 2 from Amazon – $28.89
• Buy Singstar Queen from Amazon – $36.99
• Buy Singstar Singalong with Disney from Amazon – $26.99
• Buy Singstar 80’s from Amazon – $29.82
• Buy Singstar 90’s from Amazon – $26.50

EyePet

Suitable for: Keeping the younger kids quiet while the older relatives are busy

I remember when I was at school, at one point all the kids went crazy for a ‘Virtual Pet’ called a Tamagotchi. Technology back then was fairly limited (at least when it came to toys) so this was simply a small egg-shaped piece of plastic with a monochrome LCD screen, on which a tiny ‘pet’ could be encouraged to grow, and it was the job of the pet’s owner to feed it and play with it via a very basic series of commands. It was ridiculously primitive, but everyone loved it. Quite what kids back then would make of the EyePet is anybody’s guess. Taking the same concept – of a ‘virtual pet’ – and then transforming it into something so far from the original idea as to be practically unrecognisable, Sony offers today’s kids something quite special.

Using the PS3’s EyeToy camera, the EyePet shows you a live image of your room, on TV, then inserts the pet into the room, where you can interact with it. It jumps around the floor, climbs onto your shoulder, lets you pet it, feed it and play with it, and kids are going to absolutely love it.

It worth pointing out that the EyePet isn’t perfect – it’s a little tricky to start with, getting used to trying to touch something that only exists on the TV screen, and the interaction is sometimes a little iffy as you find yourself putting your hand through your pet, but on the whole it’s extremely well-realised, and even adults will find themselves sucked into thinking of the little fellow as real as he bounces around on the screen, responding to ‘almost’ your every move.

EyePet is a reminder that long before Nintendo released a controller that you have to wave around, PlayStation owners were enjoying motion-sensitive, controller-free gameplay through the innovations of the EyeToy camera.

• Buy EyePet – game only from Amazon – $39.99
• Buy EyePet Bundle including camera from Amazon – $56.99
• Buy Playstation 3 Eye from Amazon – $29.99

Buzz!

Suitable for: Family members of all ages

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As they’d done with karaoke, Sony took the concept of gameshows and brought in into people’s homes. Under the beady eye of sharp-tongued virtual host ‘Buzz’ (voiced by Jason Donovan) between two and eight players compete in a variety of different rounds to show whose knowledge is best. The basic game usually comes with four buzzers, so those with big families might need to shell out for an extra set to play with up to eight, but it’s worth it when the whole family is clustered round the TV, buzzer in hand, trying to out-Buzz everyone else.

Again a Playstation game which started on PS2, Buzz really came into its own on Playstation 3 where the addition of wireless buzzers and better graphics and sound made things that much more fun. Most recently, Buzz! Quiz World was released for the Playstation 3, but also available is Buzz! Quiz TV and Buzz! Brain Of The UK. In addition to the quiz options there are a variety of games available aimed at younger gamers who perhaps aren’t quite coordinated enough yet to manage a proper controller. Buzz! Junior Monster Rumble was popular on PS2, and should now be available for download for PS3 from the PlayStation Store.

• Buy Buzz! Quiz World – game only from Amazon – $36.99
• Buy Buzz! Quiz World bundle with 4 wireless buzzers from Amazon – $59.99
• Buy Buzz! Quiz TV bundle with 4 wireless buzzers from Amazon – $59.99
• Read and watch our Buzz! Quiz TV review

Guitar Hero, Band Hero and Rock Band

Suitable for: All but the youngest family members, and those with zero coordination

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Always wanted to be in a rock band but haven’t got any musical talent? Well now you can be, with your PS3. A game series that started on PS2, Guitar Hero kicked things off with its unique ‘guitar controller’ which allowed musically untalented music fans everywhere to ‘rock out’ in the style of their favourite guitar heroes (hence the name) and then Rock Band took things to the next level by adding more instruments and a vocalist to the mix – cue many drunken post-pub ‘band sessions’ for those who could afford all the kit.

The concept is simple: you hold the dedicated controller, and use the fret buttons (or the drums in the case of the drum kit) to create the notes as they race towards you on the screen. Hit the buttons at the correct time and the tune continues, hit them at the wrong time, and that part of the track, be it lead guitar, bass guitar or drums, stops until the next note appears. A virtual crowd cheers or boos your efforts on the screen, and good performances are rewarded with new tracks to tackle and other bonuses while lousy performances earn you insults and leave you with your ‘Rock God’ reputation in tatters.

An idea that started with the awesome Guitar Hero, ‘Band Hero’ is the most recent release for the PS3, and one with a rocking track list which should offer something for most family members to try.

The Beatles: Rock Band, meanwhile, is a must-have for those fans of the Fab Four with the cash to afford the complete kit, and family get-togethers are probably one of the only times when you’re going to have enough people available for an entire band. If you can’t quite stretch to the newest games, then it’s well worth taking a look at some of the older Guitar Hero titles which are still available (Guitar Hero 5 has not been out long and for more tracks it’s worth checking out Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero World Tour). Even if your cash can’t stretch to enough instruments for an entire band, it’s well worth just trying a version of the game with the guitar only, as strumming along to your favourite rock tracks is great fun, and can be almost as much fun to watch – get your uncoordinated uncle to have a go at it on after lunch on Boxing Day and you’ll see what I mean.

• Buy Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock from Amazon – $39.99
• Buy Guitar Hero World Tour from Amazon – $39.92
• Buy Guitar Hero 5 from Amazon – $56.99
• Buy Guitar Hero Aerosmith from Amazon – $15.99
• Buy Band Hero from Amazon – $59.99
• Buy Rock Band from Amazon – $17.95
• Buy Rock Band 2 from Amazon – $99.00
• Buy Beatles Rock Band from Amazon – $49.96
• Read and watch our reviews of Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero 3 Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero Aerosmith
• Read and watch our reviews of Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and Beatles Rock Band
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Tekken and Soul Calibur have always been my fighting games of choice. I even liked Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter in the past so go figure what that says about me. Anyway, Tekken 6 has hit the next-gen systems so does it deliver all that you’d expect?

Well, if you want a fighting game which you can pick up and play but also master if you put the effort in with a massive roster of characters to play as then I guess that’s a yes. If you want a fantastic campaign mode to play through as well then forget it because it’s rather bad.

In the story mode you play as a character called Lars who’s so tough he can punch people from the other side of a wall. You break into a corporation and then rescue a girl called Alisa who’s actually a robot. It’s more confusing than an episode of Lost and unfortunately the Tekken controls don’t translate to a run around and hit things mechanic. Combat feels clunky in this mode and it’s just no fun – however you may feel compelled to trudge through it as it’s the quickest way to earn currency for tarting up your characters and for unlocking new characters and locations.

The main modes you’ll be playing are the online and offline modes. Online modes can pair you up with anyone in the world for a quick scrap online and offline modes comprise of arcade mode, ghost battles, time trials, survival and my favourite, team battle. You can play these against the CPU or against a friend in the same room.

When it comes to looks, the pre-rendered animations are gorgeous as you’d expect but the graphics don’t quite beat those of the recent Soul Calibur. They’ve also been clever by keeping the Japanese voices in the campaign mode and using subtitles to stop things sounding silly.

When it comes to characters there are all the ones you’d expect plus new ones in there, including a massive dragon-type thing called Azazel. This thing is massive and it’s really tough to see what’s going on when you fight it as it almost fills the whole screen!

I’ve been playing Tekken 6 on the Xbox 360 and I can’t help thinking it will play better on the PS3 simply because the controller’s d-pad is better. If you have both machines, get it for the PS3. Tekken 6 gets a very good 7 out of 10.

Get Tekken 6 now
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Related: Street Fighter review, Soul Calibur review, Youtube Tekken 6 review

Tags: Tekken 6, Tekken, Namco, Bandai, Xbox 360, PS3, Playstation 3

Buy Bioshock 2 now
New: Buy Bioshock 2 from Amazon.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for December 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch our GoDaddy promo codes video for more details, using the December 2009 CCS coupon code valid for November ‘AFGAME15′ gets you 15% off orders over $75 and ‘AFGAMEFS’ will get you free shipping on orders over $30, use the Squarespace coupon code valid for December 2009 ‘WEASEL’ at checkout to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Bioshock review, Top 5 games of 2009

Tags: Bioshock 2, trailer

Buy a Playstation 3 now
New: Buy a Playstation 3 from Amazon.com
Offers: Use our Godaddy coupon codes for December 2009 to save money on hosting and web domains – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details, use the CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75, use our December 2009 Square Space coupon code ‘WEASEL’ at the checkout to get 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: Netflix on the Xbox 360, Sky TV on the Xbox 360

Tags: Playstation 3, movies on demand, release date

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.

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

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

Buy an Xbox 360 now
New: Buy an Xbox 360 from Amazon.com
Offers: Visit the Gamesweasel offers page for November 2009 Godaddy discount codes – watch our GoDaddy coupon code video for more details, using the November 2009 CCS coupon code valid for [CCSDATE] ‘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: iPlayer for the PS3, Xbox 360 Netflix access

Tags: Sky, TV, Xbox 360, PS3, Playstation 3

Last year’s Pro Evo was a big disappointment, so much so that I didn’t play it once after I finished reviewing it. FIFA was my footy game of choice last year so what can Pro Evo do this time to win my affections once again?

The first thing you’ll notice before you get into the actual game is the way the stats are displayed. Gone is the graphical representation and numbers up to 100 are back. So far, at least for me, so good. Presentation, at least in terms of player looks has taken a big leap too. Liverpool’s my team and players such as Gerrard, Torres and even Kuyt and Carragher look great. They look less ‘waxy’ than the FIFA games and far more photo-realistic. Player animations are a bit hit and miss though. Standard running and walking still looks a bit awkward but some of the animations when players poke out a toe to score a goal or fall over to get a cross in are sublime.

Like FIFA, Pro Evo also has full 360’ movement but the game still feels a lot more like an arcade game and therefore it’s easier to try to follow a set strategy for getting balls into the penalty area and score. It’s also worth upping the difficulty because I’ve been banging goals in against the AI left right and centre.

The Champions League is back and this time it’s a lot slicker and you can also take part in that, and the new Europa League in the Master League mode. You also have the ability to play as an individual but to be honest this feels like a blatant copy of what FIFA introduced a couple of years back (and since then of course, EA have expanded on it with Game Face and the like).

Commentary’s still a sore point and not much better than last year, and some of the chants from the fans are once again non-authentic and off-putting.

If you’re a fan of one of the licensed teams it won’t really bother you that the game’s not fully licensed, however, if you support a team that’s not in there you can always edit your own teams if you’ve got enough time in the edit mode.

Sorry Konami but despite a good effort, FIFA 10 is still very much in the lead. If you want a footy game where it’s easier to score that feels more immediate, I would definitely recommend this over last year’s effort. PES 2010 gets a very good 7 out of 10.

Get Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 now
New: Buy Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our Gamesweasel Godaddy coupon code to save money on web domains and hosting – watch our GoDaddy discount code video for more details, use the CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75, using the November 2009 Squarespace discount code ‘WEASEL’ at checkout will get you 12% off the lifetime of your account.

Related: FIFA 10, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 lineup, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 review

Tags: Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, PES 2010, PES 10, FIFA 10

The original Uncharted took me by surprise as I’d never heard of it when I put it in my PS3 and absolutely loved it from the moment I started playing. It goes without saying I’ve been looking forward to this sequel and a couple of years on it’s bigger and better than the last game.

This time, Nathan Drake’s on the search for Marco Polo’s treasure. Of course this leads him on a journey around the world with a few twists and turns in the storyline and of course some very different locales to visit. There are jungles, underground caverns, cities and snowy mountains to explore and the gameplay’s very much a mix of platforming and third-person shooting.

Climbing and jumping is somewhere in between Tomb Raider and InFamous. Nathan won’t usually jump into oblivion even if you try to tell him to and he can now hang and shoot at the same time and use riot shields to walk towards enemies and stay in cover. There’s also a new stealthy way to play which you’re shown how to use when you break into a museum. You can choose to take people out from behind without alerting anyone and can even get into fisticuffs and have a good face to face scrap.

There are also some fantastic set-pieces in the game too. Fighting a gunship, battling on top of a train and jumping from jeep to jeep during a car chase all spring to mind and the set-pieces and action blend seamlessly into each other to create something akin to taking part in your very own action movie. The story’s also well told and the voice acting and camera direction isn’t quite up to the standards of the Metal Gear games but they’re pretty close.

And once you complete the game you can go back into the chapters and try to find all the hidden treasure and play the game with tweaks you can buy including infinite ammo, one shot kills etc. There’s also multiplayer in there for good measure so the game should keep on giving for a bit even after you’ve finished the 10 hour story mode.

The game’s not perfect – there was a moment during the final boss fight when it glitched on me and there are some frustrating ‘instant death’ moments and difficulty spikes. Still, if you want to be taken on adventure that’s far more fun than any Indiana Jones movie, you need this game. Uncharted 2 gets 9 out of 10.

Get Uncharted 2 Among Thieves now
New: Buy Uncharted 2 Among Thieves from Amazon.com
Rental: Rent Uncharted 2 Among Thieves – free rental trial from Gamefly.com
Offers: Use our November 2009 Godaddy coupons to save money on hosting and web domains – watch the GoDaddy discounts video for more details, use the CSS free shipping coupon code ‘AFGAMEFS’ for orders over $30 and ‘AFGAME15′ to get 15% off orders over $75, use the Squarespace coupon code ‘WEASEL’ to get 12% off for the lifetime of your account.

Related: Uncharted Drakes Fortune review, Uncharted 2 wins best of E3, Youtube Uncharted 2 Among Thieves review

Tags: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves, Uncharted 2, Among Thieves, Playstation 3, Uncharted, Uncharted 2 Among Thieves review

Buy Modern Warfare 2 now
New: Buy Modern Warfare 2 from Amazon.com
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Related: Modern Warfare 2 release date, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare review

Tags: Modern Warfare 2, single player, petition, Infinity Ward

I have to confess that I missed out on the original game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, owing to taking a short career break, so the character of Nathan Drake, a charismatic fortune hunter, was new to me, and I didn’t know quite what to expect from the title. What I found was a game which is so immersive, so polished, so addictive and so beautifully programmed that it is very possibly that most sought after of all things: the perfect videogame.

I don’t mean that it’s going to be the best videogame that you EVER play, for if that were the case, well… you’d never ever need to play another game, and there are so many different categories and genres of videogames these days, and such a diverse gaming audience, that there are bound to be those who would prefer to play, for example, a flight sim, or perhaps a racing game. But what Uncharted 2 does, is to promise its audience a specific gaming experience, and then deliver on everything that it promises, with literally ZERO flaws – hence: it’s perfect.

For those who, like me, didn’t play the first Uncharted, this game has a lot in common with Tomb Raider, in that you’re touring the world, exploring ancient civilisations to hunt for clues to ancient priceless artefacts – in this case the ultimate quest is for a mystical gem which promises its possessor no less than world domination. Now I’ve always been a massive (some might say obsessive) fan of Tomb Raider, ever since the first game in the series back on the original PlayStation. I tell you that so that when I say that Uncharted 2 is, for me, the game that Tomb Raider could only ever hope to be, you’ll hopefully realise that I’m not just spitting out empty hyperbole, I’m speaking as someone that quite literally worships the escapades of Miss Croft.

From the moment that Uncharted 2 begins, with you in the role of the rugged hero Nathan Drake, finding yourself hanging from a derailed train which is itself hanging off a cliff on a snowy mountainside, you’re drawn inextricably into an incredibly immersive adventure that I personally found almost impossible to stop playing. In fact if it hadn’t been for the fact of having to feed my recently arrived baby daughter, plus the occasional need to sleep and eat, then I very probably wouldn’t have stopped playing this game till I finished it.

Everything about the game screams obsessive attention to detail – the lavish environments rival anything I’ve ever seen in a videogame title, up to and including the awesome sprawling cityscapes of Grand Theft Auto IV, in fact the GTA IV backdrops looking like a child’s drawings compared to the beautifully created environments in this game. The script – unusually – appears to have actually been written by professional script writers who feel that the narrative (consisting of both seamless cut-sequences and ‘in game’ dialogue) should be entertaining for its own sake, rather than used simply to string the various game sequences together, and the ‘acting’ of the characters, both in terms of voice-acting and physical animation, is of a standard which would put most ‘live’ big-screen Hollywood movie actors to shame. The extremely cinematic feel of the whole thing is further enhanced by genuinely brilliant camerawork which serves the dual purpose of creating appropriate drama and atmosphere, whilst also giving you clues as to what you should be thinking about doing next.

On the subject of what you should be doing next – I remember that I used to complain a long time ago in reviews about games being too ‘linear’. These days though I think I’ve just spent too long wandering the massive digital worlds that videogames can now offer us because when it comes to ‘massive sandbox’-type games, I almost shudder at the thought of trekking for hours through mammoth environments trying to figure out what I need to be doing. Thinking back, I guess I just got too excited about the expanding videogame horizons back then, because now, for me, videogames aren’t necessarily about being ‘free to roam’, they’re about being able to experience a particular adventure, be it driving a race car, fighting off marauding aliens or – as in this case – exploring ancient tombs. So for me, the linearity of Uncharted 2 is set just about right, and I actually like the fact that the action, the puzzles and storyline combine to push me along a specific path. Don’t get me wrong – you still have freedom to roam to a point, and you still need to figure out how to get through the game yourself, but you don’t ever seem to find yourself wandering around aimlessly searching for that one particular hidden switch which gets you to the next stage, the way you do in some lesser action-adventures. This is despite that fact that here, unlike in most other games of this type, the way you climb things, or solve puzzles, doesn’t rely solely on clearly labelled ledges and paths – instead the almost photo-realistic environment is just ‘there’ all around you, and clever lighting and use of the camera gives you hints as to what path to take. And should you get really stuck, the game seems to realise this, and offers you hints, each of which is slightly more pointed than the last to ensure you eventually get where you’re going.

Of course, in a game like this the hero is important, and our hero Nathan Drake has the athleticism of Lara Croft (if not the ‘assets’!) and the wit of James Bond, along with a lot of Bond’s marksmanship skills too. As a result, the levels offer a heady mixture of exploration, puzzle solving and gun battling in more-or-less equal measure, each aspect of which, surprisingly, works extremely well. I was surprised at this, because although I was expecting the adventure side of things to work well, I’ve found in the past that gunplay in third-person games of this type doesn’t always work so well, usually because the control system has been designed around the platform-adventure aspect of the game which doesn’t always lend itself that well to gunfights. In Uncharted 2 however, it all flows together exactly right – one minute you’re clambering around in an ancient temple trying to find the hidden puzzles, the next you’re battling heavily-armed soldiers in all-out warfare, and it all plays… just perfectly.

For those who live their lives online, Uncharted 2 also offers an online multiplayer option, or rather: multiple options. Several different game types exist, including a variety of team deathmatch modes, and also some cooperative adventure modes that allow three players at a time to tackle various levels from the main game. Refreshingly though, the developers don’t have you just playing through exactly the same levels as in story mode, instead they’ve been tweaked and changed with different puzzles inserted and small differences made to the layout which mean that while they might initially look similar, in reality your multiplayer experiences will be completely different to your solo ones.

All the multiplayer modes that I’ve sampled worked extremely well – the team deathmatch modes (limited to five players on five) reminded me a lot of Gears Of War, only actually more fun as you don’t have to rely quite so much on taking cover as you do in that Xbox 360 game. For me though, the three-player online cooperative puzzle maps were far and away the most fun, and – thanks to the variety of ways that you can complete each level and the fact that playing with different teams of people means that everyone tackles them differently – for me these offer endless replay value.

So it’s fair to say that I liked this game, yes? Now sometimes, when you review a game and you want to give it a REALLY good score, you worry that other people who read your review are going to disagree with you, and might feel that the reviewer is being overgenerous. In this case though, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is, for me, THE best game I have played so far this year on any console. I’d even go so far as to say that I think it’s actually the best game I have EVER played on any gaming format… ever, and I’ve played a lot of games over the years! I’ve finished the story mode once, and I’m playing through it all over again already, and I fully expect to be playing through it many more times over the coming months. That’s when I’m not teaming up online for some cooperative adventuring, obviously. Quite simply: this game is perfect. Everything about it is done exactly right, and if developer Naughty Dog isn’t already working on a sequel to it then I will be moving heaven and earth to see that they do. Not because I’ll ever get tired of playing this one you understand, but at some point I’m worried that I might actually wear the game disc out. And as for the score – do you really need to ask? I’m giving it the almost unheard of, once in a blue moon, absolutely spot on ‘Perfect’ 10 out of 10. If you play this game and you fail to find it absolutely, earth-shatteringly, ground-breakingly awesome, then I would say you should sell your PS3 and give up on videogames forever, because in the opinion of this reviewer… there’s something wrong with you. If you don’t have a PS3 on the other hand – this is your reason to buy one.

Get Uncharted 2 Among Thieves now
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Related: Uncharted Drakes Fortune review, Uncharted 2 release date

Tags: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Playstation 3, Uncharted II, Uncharted, Among Thieves, PS3

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.

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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

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.

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Related: Boom Blox Bash Party Review, Bomberman Blast

Tags: Bomberman Ultra, Bomberman, PS3, PSN

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

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Related: InFamous, David Sullivan Twitter page

Tags: InFamous, David Sullivan, Primer, In Famous, InFamous II, PS3

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Related: Assassins Creed review, Assassins Creed 2 release date

Tags: Assassins Creed 3, Assassins Creed 2, World War II

If you don’t like The Beatles you won’t enjoy this latest iteration of Rock Band. However, if you’re a massive fan or even know a little about them and think they’re pretty cool, you’re going to have a blast playing this.

Chronicling their rise to fame from playing in Liverpool’s Cavern Club right through to playing on the rooftop of Apple Corps, this game provides a magical mystery tour of the Fab Four’s career with some beautifully crafted visuals and of course most of the classics you know and love.

Playing the game is standard Rock Band apart from the 3-part vocal harmonies you can attempt with two other friends. You also don’t have to repeat playing songs to move onto the next chapter in the story mode. Between each chapter you’re also treated to some fantastic visuals as the scene is set for your next batch of songs to play through.

My favourite songs to play were the Abbey Road recordings, not necessarily for the songs but for the dreamy music videos that accompany them. Play through I Am The Walrus and Yellow Submarine and John, Paul, George and Ringo are transported from the studio into their Sgt Pepper uniforms and into some rather trippy sequences. They’re so good they actually distract you from looking at the fret board which can result in mistakes in the song.

And as a reward for getting five stars for each song you get bonus photos you can look at and little video extras. You can unlock more by then completing the challenge modes.

I play Rock Band on hard mode and usually fail the later songs as they’re quite a challenge. I never failed once with The Beatles Rock Band and that’s partially down to the fact that they never really hammered their instruments enough to make their fingers bleed. If you’re looking for a challenge, look elsewhere. If you want a lovingly created game that creates nostalgia in you, even if you weren’t around at the time, get this. You won’t be disappointed. It gets 9 out of 10.

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Related: Rock Band 2 review, Using a Wii Guitar Hero controller with Rock Band, Youtube The Beatles Rock Band review

Tags: The Beatles Rock Band, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Rock Band, The Beatles, Rock Band, The Beatles Rock Band review

Heavy Weapon, downloadable for the PS3 on the PlayStation Network, harks back to an era when gameplay was king. That’s not to say that it doesn’t look good – in fact it most resembles a deluxe-model late 90s arcade machine for visuals and sound – it’s just that the focus is very definitely on the gameplay.

The concept is extremely simple: you’re the commander of a meaty modern tank, with devastating firepower and one clear mission: to obliterate the enemy. You do this by driving through each horizontally-scrolling 2D level, taking on wave after wave of enemy aircraft (and, in later levels, the odd ground vehicle) and blasting them to smithereens. To simplify things further, the landscape of each level is constantly moving and your tank automatically keeps up with it, so you basically only have to worry about moving the vehicle left and right within confines of the screen via the left analogue stick, while you fire in any direction you like by pushing the appropriate way on the right stick.

At first this might take a little getting used to, as those whose coordination isn’t too good may well need to get used to moving the tank in one direction while directing fire in another, but as – aside from one other button which we’ll come to in a minute – the two sticks are the only controls you really have to worry about, movement and shooting should eventually be mastered by all but the most ham-fisted of gamers.

From the off, aircraft of all shapes and sizes fly across the screen above you and lob bombs, bullets, missiles and a variety of more exotic ordnance your way, and your task is simple: avoid all the enemy fire and blow them all out of the sky. It sounds straightforward, and it is. Every so often a friendly supply chopper motors into the field of battle and (if you can manage to avoid shooting it down in the chaos of battle) drops you some kind of handy power-up, like a speed boost, or a shield increase, or – most dramatically – a nuke.

The nuke is where the only other control button comes in – once you’ve got a nuke onboard, tapping R2 triggers an almighty (and very satisfying) explosion which wipes out any enemy aircraft or vehicles on the screen – for those old-school gamers out there, it’s basically a ‘smart bomb’ – which then provides you with a second or so of respite if everything is getting a little too hectic.

At the end of each level, you’re faced with a massive end-of-level boss, who, in the tradition of all 2D shoot-’em-ups, is packing seriously scary firepower and takes repeated hammering with your weapons to destroy. These bosses range from massive tanks through awesome airships to a slightly bizarre massive wrecking-ball-type contraption and a decidedly unusual robotic gorilla.

Successfully beat the boss, and before the next level begins you get the chance to upgrade your tank with various weapon enhancements, including homing missiles, rotating ‘shield’ orbs, lasers and a device that fires massive bolts of electricity at the bad guys.

And that, quite simply, is the game. It’s one of the easiest games to just pick up and play that I’ve encountered in a long time, but also one of the most addictive. Its real attraction lies in its simplicity; no complicated plotlines, no massive control combinations to learn, just level after level of ever-more-insanely-manic action, as new and ever-more-dangerous enemy aircraft appear thick and fast.

If you only like your games cerebrally-challenging and the kind of thing that you have to devote entire afternoons to because the gameplay is so complex, then this might not be your cup of tea. But if, however, you like the idea of a game that tests your reflexes to breaking point on the first level, and then proceeds to make each successive level more adrenaline-packed than the last, to the point that a lot of the time there’s often so much going on onscreen that you’ll have trouble taking it all in, then this is the game for you. It’s not a game you’re likely to be devoting months and months of solid gaming to, but at the bargain price of just six quid to download, it IS a game that you will go back to, time and time again, for a couple of hours of cathartic, madcap, no-complex-thought-required, highly enjoyable shoot-’em-up action.

If, like me, you’ve been into videogames from the very start, back before TV stars talked about them and long before it was actually considered ‘cool’ to like videogames, then the gameplay here will be familiar to you. If you’re a younger gamer, and hence missed out on what many nostalgically refer to as ‘the good old days of gaming’, then have a go at this and you’ll get some idea of the sort of games your mum or dad grew up with, and perhaps understand what the older generation are on about when they talk about how ‘once upon a time it was the gameplay that really mattered’. For me, Heavy Weapon will be a firm fixture on my PS3’s hard-drive for a long time to come, and that’s why I’m giving it an Almost Perfect 9 out of 10. Quite simply: miss this one, and you’re missing out.

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Related: R-Type Command review, Rez HD review

Tags: Heavy Weapon, PS3, Playstation 3, sideways shooter, PSN

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

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Related: official Final Fantasy XIII web site, Final Fantasy XIII PS3 and Xbox 360 versions compared

Tags: Final Fantasy, trailer, Xbox 360, PS3

Where once you could pretty-much categorise any videogame under one of a handful of different types (such as the eight or so featured on Gameswipe), these days as the power of the machines, and the imagination of the game developer grows exponentially, we see game genres mix and meld, and whole new genres seemingly emerge on an almost weekly basis. One genre which has been around since almost the inception of the games console though, and which doesn’t seem to have changed a whole heck of a lot since it began, is the beat-’em-up.

The first beat-’em-up I can remember playing on a console (or ‘home computer’, as they used to be called) was ‘WOTEF’, or ‘Way Of The Exploding Fist’, which featured two small chaps in simplistic martial arts gear who could use but a handful of martial arts moves on one another. It was basic, and not much to look at, but still I was hooked. Of course, if you really wanted to play a PROPER beat-’em-up, then the place to be was the arcades, where a few big names were just starting out and the power of the dedicated graphics boards made for better graphics, sound and animation.

Now though, you’ve got to wonder why anyone ever goes to arcades (if indeed anyone still does) because we can have arcade-quality games in our own home, and that’s exactly what King Of Fighters XII is: an arcade-quality 2D beat-’em-up on your home console. Yes, if your every waking moment is taken up with thoughts of which button combination you need to master in order to perform that flying roundhouse kick, or overhead fireball attack, then this is the game for you. In terms of visuals, it proffers graphics exactly like you might expect a late-90s arcade cabinet to offer, with all the action taking place in one two-dimensional playing area, while the tried and tested ‘parallax scrolling’ technique is used on the backgrounds to give an illusion of depth.

There are 22 colourful characters on offer, each with their own range of different attacks, throws, special moves and ‘super special’ moves to master, and they get to duke it out across six different backdrops.

Control is simplicity itself to pick up – use the d-pad or analogue stick for directional control and the triangle, square, circle and X buttons for Heavy Punch, Light Punch, Heavy Kick and Light Kick – but a struggle to master, as each character has different moves and attacks specific to them, some of which require various lengthy sequences of pad and button combinations to pull them off. Combat consists of three-on-three ‘winner stays on’-style matches, where if you beat the first opponent, then your character gets a small energy boost and then stays in the arena to tackle the next guy. You can either compete against the CPU-controlled opponents, or go to head-to-head with a friend. And that, pretty-much, is all you really need to know.

For, unlike something like Resident Evil or Grand Theft Auto, there is not a huge amount to explain about this game – it’s about one thing: arcade-style, gratuitous one-on-one beat-’em-up action. Whereas some games try to draw you in with complex storylines and multiple twists and turns, with King Of Fighters XII, what you see is what you get.

So if you like colourful, detailed, zany characters, each with their own different skills set, bashing the hell out of one another, then you’ll like this. If not, then you won’t, simple as that. Where the longevity comes into it is with the special moves – with this game it’s not just about finishing the single-player (that can be done in about 20 minutes), no, you’ll find that hardcore gamers will spend hours trying to master the special moves. Why? Because they’re there. So like DS owners might find enjoyment in solving every clue in the latest Professor Layton adventure, hardcore KOF fans will get the same satisfaction in pulling off all the special moves for every character in this. Sound a little strange? Well if I tell you that back when I used to work on videogame magazines, I remember one memorable press lunch where the PR guy who’d taken us out, himself a confirmed Street Fighter addict, spent literally two whole hours discussing with two writers from GamesTM magazine the merits of just one particular Street Fighter special move, then maybe then you’ll understand just how seriously some beat-’em-up fans take their games.

For those ‘dedicated’ individuals (I resist the urge to say ‘sad’, because when you really think about it, it’s no more obsessive than your average football fan spending hours in the pub dissecting a particular tackle or goal attempt) this kind of game represents hour upon hour of top entertainment. For more normal… okay, let me rephrase that: for ‘less fanatical’ gamers, what you’ve basically got is a game which will be great fun to pick up and play with a mate for a few hours every so often, but which doesn’t really have the depth to keep you playing it for long periods – it’s more a ‘post pub’ activity that you’ll dust off every so often when you’ve got company. As a result, while it’s well recommended to the legions of King Of Fighters and Street Fighter 2D beat-’em-up fans out there, for your more casual gamer, I’d have to give it a fairly solid ‘good’ 6 out of 10.

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Related: Street Fighter, Professor Layton

Tags: The King Of Fighters XII, King Of Fighters, Gameswipe, Charlie Brooker, beat em up, Way Of The Exploding Fist, Xbox 360, Playstation 3

As soon as you load up WET you know exactly what you’re getting in terms of style. If you’ve seen Kill Bill, Grindhouse or any other exploitation movie, the style is instantly obvious. The game even has a flashy film grain effect over it throughout which you can thankfully turn off in the menu so it doesn’t give you a headache.

You play as Rubi Malone, a fixer who solves people’s problems. The pre-title action begins with you retrieving a heart in an ice box which is for some London geezer’s father. The afore-mentioned geezer then goes missing so you’re hired by “Mr New Heart” to go and find him. Of course, things aren’t that simple and you’re double-crossed, which leads to lots of shooting and stabbing people with your sword.

Bethesda make a big deal about you being able to shoot doing acrobatics and if you’re jumping, sliding or running up walls when you shoot, the game slows down so you can target more than one bad guy at a time. As you gain XP you can then buy more upgrades that let you shoot whilst hanging off ledges and swinging off poles too.

There are moments where you move through the levels and also arenas where you must destroy ‘spawn doors’ and collect multipliers whilst killing everyone in sight.

And to mix things up a bit there’s even a couple of sections on the highways as you jump from car to car and shoot enemies who are shooting back at you.

My problem is that I’ve just been spoiled by the intensely satisfying combat of the new Batman Arkham Asylum game. In comparison the combat here feels really clunky. It all goes a bit Max Payne as you jump around in slow-motion but for some reason the combat is rarely satisfying. Even slicing and dicing people at close range just doesn’t seem to feel like it ‘connects’. Even the platforming sections don’t seem to go that smoothly when you consider Rubi is a lithe young lady who should be able to string together her moves a bit more seamlessly.

Presentation, however, will please fans of pulp movie genres. There’s a great soundtrack, good voice acting and some genuinely well scripted moments. It’s a pity the gameplay doesn’t live up to more recent 3rd-person action adventures. WET gets an average 5 out of 10.

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Related: Madworld review, Batman Arkham Asylum, WET review

Tags: WET, Bethesda Softworks, W.E.T., Xbox 360, PS3

Just because a game’s for kids doesn’t mean it has to be hurriedly put together. Luckily, it seems that quite a bit of care and attention has gone into making Mini Ninjas which means kids are going to have a fair amount of fun with it. In the game, the land has been ravaged by violent storms and the leader of the town has sent his best ninjas one by one off to solve the problem. The problem is, they never came back so it’s up to Hiro, the youngest of the ninjas, to find his buddies and stop the terrible storms and the samurais from burning down the villages.

Combat’s a simple case of hitting, blocking and stunning enemies if they choose to block you. You also have Kuju magic available which can be used to find secret shrines or fight enemies with fireballs or tornadoes. You can even possess the little animals around the land to sneak past samurais or even attack them. Hiro also has a big white hat which can be used to guard against arrows or as a boat. It’s all very cute and colourful and running about the land feels very fresh if you know what I mean.

There’s also a fair amount of platform gaming as Hiro shimmies along ledges and balances on beams.

Once you find your fellow ninjas you can then hot-swap them into the battle and use their abilities. There’s a big chap with a hammer called Tofu or something and a little girl with a flute amongst others.

My problem with this game is, even though it’s for kids, it just feels a bit shallow and easy. Combat is rarely difficult unless you’re later in the game and haven’t levelled up enough so there’s no real sense of danger throughout the game. You sort of go through the motions albeit very slick ones with tight controls and smooth graphics.

It would also have been nice to have some extra 2 player game modes in there for more family fun. Still, it’s a good game and even though there’s swordplay, no-one dies. All the enemies you fight turn into frogs, rabbits and foxes etc when defeated. Mini Ninjas gets a good 6 out of 10.

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Related: Ninja Blade review, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword review, Youtube Mini Ninjas review

Tags: Mini Ninjas, Mini Ninja, Eidos, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, Mini Ninjas review

So after a disappointing delay, Batman: Arkham Asylum has finally sneaked onto the shelves so listen up to find out if it’s any good.

The game begins with Batman bringing the Joker into Arkham Asylum and then he conveniently and easily escapes further into Arkham Island to cause mayhem as he formulates a toxin to turn normal goons into super soldiers. So Brucey baby swoops from ledge and kicks and punches people in the face to put a stop to it.

Combat is a simple matter of punch and counter buttons being pressed at the right time. Build up a big combo and you can do super moves that take out more than one bad guy at a time. If you want to be stealthy, you can swoop between high perches and glide down for a quick kill or even string up bad guys in style.

Batman also has all the gadgets of his utility belt at hand. These include exploding gel for getting through walls, remote control batarangs, grappling hooks and little gizmos for hacking into security.

As well as all the usual suspects you’d expect from the Batman universe, also expect lots of riddles from Edward Nigma to pop up in most rooms. When in detective mode which is used for counting guards and following trails, you can also scan areas relating to his clues. Succeed and you get more XP which can be used to upgrade Batman’s armour and weapons.

The thing that makes this a cut above other games of this genre is simply the fact that the Batman universe is recreated so well here. It’s dark, moody and gothic and certainly more akin to the comics as opposed to the TV series or any of the movies. Even the Scarecrow makes an appearance more than once as he induces you into a state of fear with some of his lovely poison gas. It’s creepy to say the least.

The game’s not massively long at around 7 hours but once you’ve finished the game, you can go back and try to solve all those riddles, or play the Challenge Mode which will extend play further.

I was hoping this would be everything it was hyped up to be and fortunately it is. My only gripe is I wish there was more to do once it was finished. So far, for replayability, Resident Evil 5 still gets my award. Still, with free DLC on its way, things are looking good! Batman: Arkham Asylum gets an almost perfect 9 out of 10.

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Tags: Arkham Asylum, batman, DLC, free, downloadable content, Xbox 360, PS3

Okay so I know Tomb Raider Underworld has been out for a year now but I was never fortunate enough to get a copy – until now. So if you haven’t played the game yet, is it worth it? Watch and learn. Underworld follows on where Legend left off and begins with Lara escaping from her burning mansion. Even her friend Zip is trying to kill her and we don’t know why. Flashback a while and we see Lara diving for treasure in warm oceans and finding out some interesting facts about Thor’s hammer. From there she travels around the world climbing lots of cliffs, raiding lots of tombs and jumping about and shooting.

I really enjoyed Legend, so how does this compare? From what I remember, this one is less about combat and more about climbing and puzzling so in a way it goes back to the roots of Tomb Raider. Lara looks in fine form and even gets dirty and wet as she rolls about in the mud. Teenage boys never had it so good. I’ve of course played Infamous since Underworld came out and it’s fair to say Lara’s not as sticky in this game. She quite often falls when you’d expect her to grab onto a ledge and can also get stuck on things. The camera can also often point you where you don’t want to look and you end up making leaps of faith – sometimes to your doom.

Combat’s changed a bit too. It’s still a case of moving and shooting but you can now target more than one enemy at a time and throw sticky grenades. There’s also an adrenaline gauge that fills up when you shoot enemies. Click the R stick and time slows down, allowing you to kill your enemies in clichéd Matrix-style glory. It’s odd that you can’t pick up an enemy’s weapon though. When they die, it seems there gun disappears. Odd to say the least.

The story’s fun as always and things do look very nice indeed. Environments are rich and detailed but there are some clipping issues, texture pop-up and odd shadows now and again. There’s also a handy hint system and a map if you get hopelessly lost and can’t figure out some of the physics-based puzzles. Underworld is fun but it’s not the leap in gameplay I was hoping for. Tomb Raider Underworld gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Tags: Tomb Raider Underworld, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, Underworld, Xbox 360, PS3, PC

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And now, at a time when videogames, and videogamers, are firmly out of the closet, and better graphics, bigger titles, clever marketing and some neat peripherals from Sony and Nintendo have managed to make gaming ‘cool’, the latest title in the Wolfenstein series has arrived, called simply ‘Wolfenstein’.

Of course, we now live at a time when the FPS genre is such a popular one that to stand out in the marketplace you have to have something pretty special. There’s not a first-person shooter out there which isn’t going to find itself being compared to Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and to a lesser extent, the not-quite-as-good-as-we’d-hoped-it-would-be-but-still-downright-awesome Call Of Duty 5. And with Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 fast approaching, there are no doubt many people who are wondering whether it’s worth shelling out the readies for Wolfenstein, or whether the cash would be better off stashed in the bank (or under a bed – probably safer these days) until November to await the latest COD instalment.

So… to buy or not buy, that is the question. And should you just pick this game up and play it for half an hour, you’d be forgiven for thinking that saving your cash might well be the answer. For what the game basically plays like is a Call Of Duty clone, albeit one with less weaponry choices and – it has to be said – less ‘grittiness’ than we’ve come to expect from our wartime FPS titles. That’s not to say that the game looks bad – far from it – but it just looks a lot more like… well, more like a videogame basically, rather than the ‘interactive movie’ kind of thing that COD offers. I apologise now for the number of times I may refer to Call Of Duty by the way – I’ll try and tone it down from now on.

No, graphically Wolfenstein does look very nice, with crisp, detailed graphics and some nice meaty weapons with loud, authentic gunfire noise and a healthy recoil – which as any FPS fan knows, is important in this kind of game where shooting stuff is basically the main gameplay mechanic. And it’s not just guns that you have in your arsenal either. Deserving of a special mention are the hand grenades: you can almost FEEL the concussion wave coming out of the screen as the grenade goes off, while the blast wave throws bodies (or bits of bodies) and Havok-rendered objects all over the place – when one of these bad boys goes off next to you, you really do know about it!

So as far as in-game visuals go – no problems, and while the cut-scenes that introduce the story and connect the various missions together, as already mentioned, might lack the slick realism of COD, but they do serve to move the plot along nicely, and as you get further into the narrative you soon realise that ‘realism’ is not the name of the game here anyway.

You see, while you may start off playing what appears to be a standard WWII FPS, it gradually morphs into something else. As our hero, one ‘BJ ‘Blazkowicz’, American special agent extraordinaire, soon discoveres, the bad guys in this game (played in typically efficient style by some rather enthusiastic Nazi-types) have got more than a few tricks up their sleeves. Perhaps sensing that in the normal scheme of things old Adolf’s plans for world domination weren’t exactly going to work out, these chaps have started working on a plan to try and turn the tide of World War II in their favour, and they intend to do this through the use of some ancient technology they have unearthed which makes use of some very special crystals with, for want of a better phrase, ‘mystical properties’. This technology apparently used to belong to an ancient race called the Thule, and as you progress through the game you learn more about the Thule, more about the crystals, and – most importantly – more about what the Nazis have been doing with them.

Of course, it goes without saying that young BJ soon gets his hands on one of the Thule medallions, and with it he can enter a sort of shadowy ‘side-universe’ called the ‘Veil’. Nothing at all to do with curtains, the Veil actually allows BJ to tap into a mysterious power source which rather conveniently seems to be linked to the local water supply, and with this, he can – with the right crystal upgrades – perform such feats as slowing time, stopping bullets, passing through solid matter… and other handy stuff like that.

The medallion, and the crystals that grant the user the various powers, are gathered by BJ over time as he passes through the game, and with each new ability he gains, so – more often than not – the bad guys reveal a new trick they’ve been keeping up their sleeve, usually in the form of some new amped-up super soldier. This might be a heavily-armoured dreadnought of a guy with some kind of crystal-powered energy weapon, or a super-fast mutant-ninja chap with razor-sharp claws. Add into the mix a series of progressively more powerful, exponentially more outlandish ‘end of level-type’ bosses, and what you have here is a game which, while it starts off as a reasonably above-average, but fairly standard fare WWII First-Person Shooter, gradually morphs into the kind of cross-genre offspring you might get if Call Of Duty mated with Resident Evil.

By the time you get about halfway through the game, you’ll be tackling ‘normal’ Nazis and their super-powered brethren with aplomb, switching between the Veil dimension and the ordinary one with ease, and swapping from meaty, satisfying WWII machineguns to futuristic, crystal-powered energy weapons almost without thinking. And it has to be said: the more you play through, the better the game gets. I fully expect that any gamers who don’t put at least six to eight hours into this game initially will dismiss it as merely ‘average’, which is a shame as they’re missing out on something rather special. Set in a city which you can explore more or less at will, unlocking new areas with each mission, the game employs a Grand Theft Auto-style mission select system, so that at any one time you’ve usually got at least two different missions to choose from, and often more than two. You can choose which order you tackle the missions in, or simply spend some time exploring the map for hidden secrets and lurking Nazi enemies, which makes the game seem a lot less linear than some first-person shooters. You can even, should you so wish, replay completed missions mid-game, which is handy if you want to unearth all the hidden secrets like the enemy intel and the Nazi gold which can be traded in at the local black market stores to get upgrades for your weapons and your crystal-based powers.

So that, in a nutshell (albeit a fairly large one) is the single-player game. But of course, no FPS would be complete these days without an online multiplayer mode, and Wolfenstein is no exception. Offering only three character classes – Medic, Engineer and Soldier – with just three different game modes – Team Death Match, Objective and Stopwatch, and with a maximum of only six players per team, I would have to say that the multiplayer in Wolfenstein isn’t quite up to the standard of that in Call Of Duty, but that’s not to say it’s bad. The opportunity to utilise some of the different ‘Veil’ powers in the multiplayer, once you’ve racked up enough cash to unlock them, does give it a unique selling point over COD, and as the maps are generally quite small, the action is fairly fast and furious, but somehow the gameplay doesn’t quite match up to COD 4 or 5 for either the scale of the battles, or the sheer addictiveness.

Maybe it’s because whenever I played online, the only character class who really seemed any fun was the Soldier one, because the size of the levels, and the type of game modes on offer, didn’t really lend themselves to any kind of complex tactics, instead everyone just seemed to spend their time grabbing the biggest guns possible and running around blasting anything that moved! I have spent many, many nights staying up till who-knows-when in the morning because I kept telling myself I’d have ‘just one more’ Call Of Duty deathmatch game, and I just didn’t find the same compulsion to do that with Wolfenstein’s multiplayer. The single-player Campaign mode though, well that’s another story – on several occasions while working on this review I completely lost track of time tackling ‘just one more mission’ on the single-player campaign game.

And that, basically, sums up Wolfenstein from my point of view – if, like several of my friends, you live ONLY for online gaming, buy a title solely on the strength of its deathmatch mode, and will probably never even look at the single-player game, then I would have to say that you will be better off waiting for Modern Warfare 2. If, however, like me, you like a more than half-decent online gaming experience, but what you really live for is immersing yourself in a creative narrative and tackling the solo challenge of a really awesome single-player FPS, then you’re certainly going to get your money’s worth out of Wolfenstein. It’s a shame that there’s no two-player co-op option for story mode, but I guess you can’t have everything. Overall though, I’d rate Wolfenstein as an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Tags: Wolfenstein, FPS, Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Another year sees another roll-out of all EA’s sports franchises such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Madden NFL 10 is no different. Here we see a couple of new gameplay innovations along with the ones which worked from previous years.

First of all, let me say that the game’s presentation is fantastic. It really feels like you’re watching a football game on a Sunday and the player models and graphics make for a really great game atmosphere. It’s a shame the commentary doesn’t shape up so well but to be honest you can choose to ignore that, much like a member of your family trying to turf you off the console because they want to watch a rerun of friends.

I also like the fact there’s no calendar system in Franchise mode. Some of you will miss the opportunity to train your players between games but all I want to do is play the game so for me, this works.

When on the gridiron play’s also been slowed down a bit so it’s now a bit simpler to see a defender charging towards you and make a pass or dive out of the way in time. There’s also the new Pro-Tak system at play which basically means multiple players can now go in to take down a player and you get even more realistic action on the field.

SuperStar mode is also back so you can create a player and play through a whole career with your big muscle man.

If you’re new to Madden games you’re also going to have to look for the holographic training section in the game. Last year you had to play through it at the start, now it’s hidden in the menus. It is there though so if you’re not sure of the rules or how to play, check it out and get with the programme dude.

Online play has also been refined. There’s an online franchise mode and online co-op and everything’s been sped up to make sure your opponents don’t spend ages browsing through their plays before finally snapping the ball.

Once again, as I always say with EA’s sports games, the game’s good but I’d only buy this over last year’s Madden NFL 09 game if you really, really like American Football games.

Madden NFL 10 gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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I know Project Origin’s been out for a while now but I never got round to playing it and things are quiet in the summer months so here goes my review.

Set just before the end of the first game, this tale of terror and gunplay begins in an office block as you try to extract Professor Aristide from an apartment. During your mission the massive explosion is seen which wipes out the crew in the first game and you’re then involved in experiments, flashbacks, lots of slow-mo shooting action and of course Alma pops up now and again to scare the living daylights out of you.

People have complained that this game’s more of the same, but that’s no bad thing. The action is slick, controls are tight, the frame rate is consistently high and the graphics are fantastic. The weird hallucinations you experience are once again suitably scary and there’s some shock moments in there that are guaranteed to make you jump if you have the sound turned up.

The game’s also not as repetitive as the first game. You may spend the first couple of levels wandering around an office block and a hospital but you also get to walk around the charred remains of the city and explore an underground scientific bunker. You’ll be using the slow-mo mode to pick off your targets once again, as not using it usually results in death. The enemy AI is super clever and the action’s thick and fast if you decide not to slow the pace down with the touch of a button.

They’ve also put a new cover system into the game where you can slide or topple over furniture to hide behind. Unfortunately, you won’t actually use it much as it’s far more efficient to just shoot your enemies in the face than try to tip over a plant pot.

If you like strong, story-driven FPSs then this is definitely worth checking out. There’s also a token multiplayer mode thrown in there for good measure but single player is definitely where it’s at. F.E.A.R. 2 gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Bound in Blood is a prequel to Call of Juarez and this time the wrong reverend introduces us to two brothers, Ray and Thomas McCall. The game begins with a stand-off between them over a woman and then flashes back to an adventure where they soon leave the Confederate Army and go on their own quest in Mexico whilst of course shooting everyone around them.

Think of the game as a bit like Call of Duty, in that it features a strong storyline and plenty of set pieces where the aim of the game is to shoot everyone shooting back at you. Of course being set during the civil war is a neat touch and there’s great rapport between the two brothers regardless of which one you choose to play as. One of them is a bit of a brute who can take more damage and despatch of enemies better at close range, the other is better at distance attacks and has a handy lasso for reaching higher ground.

As you kill enemies you also build up concentration points. When your meter is full you can then slow down time to target enemies all at once and unleash a flurry of gunfire. You only have a minute to do this though which works well as it means you don’t save it all up for later.

You’ll also face outlaws which you’ll have to duel. It’s a good idea but can sometimes be annoying when you only have one shot to either do or die. Another annoying aspect of the game is a pause of about 5 seconds every time a checkpoint’s reached while the game saves. Environments, light and particle effects look fantastic as do animations. It’s a shame the faces of friends and enemies aren’t quite up to scratch but the majority of the time, things look pretty convincing.

There’s also an expanded multiplayer game over the first one with added game modes and more player types to run and gun with. If you’re itching for more FPS action before Modern Warfare 2 comes out, this could just be the thing to keep you going. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Not only is this one of the cheapest ways to enjoy Blu Ray movies but Sony have announced both access to a greater library of downloadable movies but also an update in the firmware which gives you access to hundreds of hours of stuttering Holby City repeats courtesy of the BBC iPlayer. You’ll won’t have long to wait either, the PS3 Slim release date is 7th of September 2009.

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The gameplay essentially revolves around two princesses. Each team has a princess, complete with traditional medieval castle, and the basic goal is to capture the enemy’s princess whilst safeguarding your own. To do this, you have five different character classes at your beck and call – the Worker, the Warrior, the Ranger, the Mage and the Priest, each of whom has basic powers, and also the potential for an ‘upgraded’ persona, which we’ll get to in a bit.

Every character class is fairly self-explanatory and anyone who’s played any kind of RPG will know what to expect, but to summarise: the Worker can collect materials and build things, the Warrior is armoured and good at close combat, the Ranger is an expert at ranged combat but weak close up, the Mage can blast the bad guys with fiery spells and the Priest essentially acts as a field medic, with the ability to heal other units.

Rather than choosing your character type before you spawn, you start off each time in the castle as an ordinary fellow, or ‘avatar’, with no skills, and can then choose what you want to be. Once you’ve picked your character type, you’re not stuck with him though. Changing characters is simplicity itself – want to become a Warrior? Pick up a warrior helmet and ‘voila’, you transform into a sword-wielding grunt. Change your mind and fancy a bit of bow-and-arrow action? Just grab the Robin Hood-style headgear of the Ranger and your little bloke throws away his sword and becomes an archer instead.

You can swap hats as many times as you like, and there is no limit to them – inside your castle five different machines churn out the hats as and when they are needed, so there’s always new headgear available. This means that if you find that the character you’ve got doesn’t have a skill you need – you’re a Warrior for example, and you find that to cross a gap you need a Worker to build a bridge – you simply get a new hat, get the job done, then swap back again.

This ‘hat swap’ system (which is basically the same concept as the hat machines in Lego Star Wars) is simple and intuitive, and guarantees that the action never slows down. But of course, it still doesn’t explain the title of the game, does it? That’s because we haven’t yet mentioned the cake.

See these princesses, even though their little subjects are spending their time (and their lives) trying to defend their ruler from the enemy, are not satisfied with just being kept safe. No, they want to be safe, and happy. And happiness for these girls comes in the form of cake. Yes, there you are, with the enemy literally at the gates, fighting to defend your little kingdom, and the lady in charge suddenly starts demanding to be fed – royalty, eh?

However, rather than being just a distraction, the greedy female’s needs are actually a key gameplay point. You see should the enemy manage to break into your castle and capture the princess, they then have to carry her back to their own castle. And the heavier she is, the slower they move, giving your forces time to rescue her. So the idea is – feed your princess as much cake as possible – slices can be found just lying around on the ground in this world – and she starts to fatten up, getting bigger and bigger until the enemy can hardly lift her, much less carry her. The key to success then, is to make sure you always have a ‘fat princess’ – hence the title.

This means that although the emphasis here is very much on action, you do need to employ a fair amount of strategy too. If all your little men just grab weapons and race off to battle the enemy, then there will be no-one to feed the princess, and – just as importantly – to gather materials for the castle. This is another important aspect of the gameplay, as you need to chop down trees for wood, and mine rocks for ore in order to build things. Your castle doors get damaged? You need wood to repair it. And then there are the hat machines – each of them can be upgraded at a specific cost of wood and ore, after which the character type gets a new costume, and some new powers: the Worker gets a bomb, the Warrior a much bigger blade, the Ranger a rifle rather than a bow-and-arrow, the Mage the ability to freeze characters, and the Priest gets a ‘Dark Priest’ alter-ego, who can drain life from enemy characters. And once a character has been upgraded, if you’re wearing the right hat then you can switch between the two abilities at will.

The materials that you gather can be used for other things to – the Worker can build ladders and little springboards to open up shortcuts or provide access to the enemy castle in ways other than through the front gate, and if you really set your mind to it, and collect loads of wood, you can build a catapult which will fling your warriors into the battle far faster than having them trek all the way across the map.

As you might now be coming to realise – battling the enemy is just one aspect of this game. Which brings us to the obvious question… is it any good? Well yes, although it may not be to everyone’s taste. Essentially, this game is designed to be played online, and that’s when it’s at its best. An offline mode is on offer, but the trouble is that the AI of the characters in this mode isn’t really good enough for it to be half as much fun as the online game.

Because the whole game is designed around working as a team, the AI is essential – you can’t attack the enemy castle single-handed or you’ll simply find yourself getting slaughtered, and it’s here that the offline game lets you down. I found that my little AI guys, although they were great at gathering resources and defending my castle, were rubbish when it came to backing me up in an assault. A simple (one option) command system allows you to get a small group of guys to follow you, but I found that this simply didn’t work very well – my little blokes kept falling off cliffs, or wandering off to fight random bad guys, with the result that I’d start at my base with a big armed party, but get to the enemy castle solo, resulting in me getting killed, having to respawn back in my castle on the other side of the map and start all over again. And this happened to me time and time again.

Online though, it’s a different story – playing with teams of up to 16 players on each side, the game becomes far more engaging, as you work with your human companions and try and outwit the others. Ultimately, what happens is that someone – always someone with a headset, this definitely being a game in which voice communication is a bonus – ends up taking charge, and ordering the other players to bring specific character classes into the field. If the teams are evenly matched these the games can still drag on for absolutely ages, but it’s still far more fun than playing on your own offline.

Currently there are four game modes on offer: Rescue the Princess and Snatch ‘n Grab are both ‘capture the flag’ variations involving the princesses. Team Deathmatch has no royalty in play and it’s basically a case of kill the other team or be killed. And then there’s Invasion, where you need to capture and occupy the ‘outposts’ (cute little forts) which are spread around the map to make the enemy’s point-counter drop to zero quicker than yours does.

While these modes are fun, it has to be said that after a while they do get a little ‘samey’. I’m optimistic that as time goes on new game modes will be added to the list via downloadable (and preferably free) updates, because when you look at something like Call Of Duty which has something like four times the number of online game types to choose from, a basic four does seem a little rubbish.

That said, this is still a very fun little game. The characters are extremely polished and very cute, the gameplay is extremely easy to pick up (which is lucky, as there is no tutorial mode, just several pages of onscreen instructions) and the pace of the game is frantic, never slowing down for a minute. The development team are clearly all obsessive TV fans too, because by tapping left and right on the controller d-pad you can make your little guys ‘taunt’ the enemy, and a lot of these taunts seem to be quotes from popular TV shows – I noticed lines from Battlestar Galactica and Dexter to name just two.

As it stands, at the price-point that this is currently set at, it’s hard to complain, and it will doubtless provide many, many people with considerable hours worth of frantic online play. To really offer total value for money and proper longevity though, we need to see more game modes added to the current list… are you listening Sony?

With that in mind, Fat Princess gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Lego Indiana Jones review, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga review

Tags: Fat Princess, Fat, Princess, PS3, Playstation 3, Sony, PSN

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