YouTube Grand Slam Tennis review

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Wimbledon’s just about wrapped up here in the UK and as a result there have been a couple of tennis games out recently. One is Virtua Tennis 2009 which I reviewed a fortnight ago, the other is EA’s Grand Slam Tennis which is the first game to use Nintendo’s new Wii Motion Plus controller. Unfortunately Nintendo haven’t sent me one so I’ll have to review the game based on the standard remote and nunchuck. As with previous tennis games on the Wii, if you play with just the remote, the game controls the player so you can concentrate on your swing. Hitting early, on time or a bit late changes the direction of your shot, whilst pressing A or B whilst taking your shot will either do a lob or a drop shot. You can also move to the net or the baseline by tapping up or down on the d-pad.

As you’d expect, you don’t always pull off what you intend when you swing your racket but nevertheless the game is great fun to play thanks to some great presentation.

Play Grand Slam mode and you compete in exhibition matches and all the big tournaments on varying surfaces. As you beat star players you also gain their attributes and slowly increase the stats of your player. And the star players are varied and all drawn in a unique cartoon style which works much better than Virtua Tennis. Andy Murray, Nadal and Federer are there along with the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova, but also older greats like Natratilova, Pete Sampras, Pat Cash and even John McEnroe. Sharipova’s grunting is even in there along with McEnroe’s outbursts which blare through the remote’s speaker if he drops a particularly bad shot.

A word of warning, the AI players are incredibly good, even on easy, and this game really comes into its own when you play with a friend in the same room or online. Matches can get really tense and there’s enough shot variety to send opponents all over the court before you finally win a point. Online is also very smooth and you can play singles and doubles in ranked or unranked matches. Throw in a calorie counter, some party games and of course the WMP support which I read makes the game even better, and you have probably the best tennis game of the year.

Grand Slam Tennis gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Related: Wii Motion Plus controller, Virtua Tennis 2009, Grand Slam Tennis review

Tags: Grand Slam Tennis, Wimbledon, sports, tennis, Wii, Wii Motion Plus

YouTube EA Sports Active review

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Nintendo’s Wii Fit along with its Balance Board was a very popular piece of software, aiming to be a gym in a box complete with a personal trainer and calendar which would keep track of your targets and hopefully motivate you to stay fit at home. To be honest, my balance board is now gathering dust so now it’s time to see if EA Sports Active can get me jumping up and down in front of my TV again.

In the box you get the software, a leg strap which you use to holster your nunchuck during some exercises and a piece of smelly elastic which you tie to two handles to use for resistance exercises. It’s also compatible with the Wii Balance Board to add some extra features into some of the exercises.

When you load up the game you give it your usual stats and then you’re away. You can get straight into separate exercises which tone muscle groups and help with cardio, or you can access the calendar which gives you a 30 day routine which varies day to day to keep you motivated and keep you trim.

Where Wii Fit had some exercises and yoga and lots of mini games that got you fit whilst you had fun, EA Sports Active takes things a little more seriously. Basically, it makes you do the sort of exercises you’d do in an aerobics class and the personal trainer does a good job of keeping you motivated and also gives you advice as it keeps track of what the nunchuck strapped to you leg is doing (which, incidentally, can slide down your thigh if you’re wearing loose-fitting clothing, best to wear short shorts and strap it round your skin). You jog and walk around a running track to warm up and cool down, then do squats, lunges, bicep curls, rowing, boxing, tennis etc to work you upper and lower body.

I prefer this to Wii Fit, however, the game is slightly unbalanced. The resistance band is too stretchy and won’t really work your arms unless you’re very weak, however the lower body and leg workouts are absolute killers. My bottom hurt for two days after first trying the game out!

However, no pain, no gain, as they say. If you’re serious about toning some muscles alone or with a friend if you buy an extra leg band and resistance band, this is probably the best way to go, We’ll see what Wii Fit Plus has to offer in a few months.

EA Sports Active gets a very good 7 out of 10.

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Tags: EA Sports Active, sports, Wii, Wii Motion Plus, resistance band, personal trainer, workout, routine, EA Sports Active review

YouTube Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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YouTube Ghostbusters videogame review

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I was a massive Ghostbusters fan as a kid and still have a soft spot for it, so I was looking forward to playing the new Ghostbusters game complete with the official likenesses, voices and music from the film that’s dear to a lot of people’s hearts. The good news is that if you’re a fan, you can’t help but be swept along with their latest adventure with a huge smile on your face every time you laugh out loud at a joke and of course fire a proton stream or trap a ghost. The bad news is, this is more of an interactive experience rather than a proper game which leaves me stuggling to score it.

At the start of the game, a big ghostly explosion engulfs Manhattan originating from the Gozer exhibit at the museum. This lets loose all sorts of nasties so you as a rookie and the four Ghostbusters go and investigate and explore hotels, museums, sewers, office bl ocks and even a parallel universe to ‘bust’ everything.

Playing this game really is the closest you will ever get to being in the movie. You get to trap and destroy old favourites like Slimer, Stay Puft and the Grey Lady from the library, the music is identical, the jokes are actually laugh out loud funny and even your proton pack rattles as you run about. It really does a fantastic job at recreating the 1984 classic whilst keeping things fresh with a new story and some additions to your proton pack. Of course you get to trap ghosts using your proton stream but you can also fire shock blasts, boson darts, slime and blast things with a meson collider. Button combos can be a bit tricky using the d-pad to select the right weapon for the right ghost but it’s something you get used to fairly quickly.

The reason I say it’s not a gamer’s game is the fact that it’s very linear and you feel like you’re being led through the game by the other principal characters. If you’re a fan you won’t mind this and may overlook the fact that combat is actually rudimentary as you just shoot and stay on the move and there’s no real way to avoid taking damage apart from using a dodge button that’s not all that effective. You also have to use your PKE meter regularly to play ‘hit or cold’ to find ghosts and artefacts. Bizarrely, the game switches into an unnecessary first-person mode as you view information through your paragoggles and it feels restrictive at times.

There are also a few glitches in there. I had to restart a checkpoint at one point because the Ghostbusters didn’t move the story along after a boss fight and just stood there, and one of the cut-scenes had the dialogue out of sync with the picture. The frame rate is also very disappointing and even slows down occasionally when there’s not that much happening on screen.

If this game didn’t have the official Ghostbusters licence behind it, it would be a rather short, disappointing action adventure but because it’s so superbly crafted for the fans, if you’re a fan, you’ll absolutely love it and play through most of the game grinning from ear to ear. I’m a massive fan so I give Ghostbusters an excellent 8 out of 10.

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YouTube Virtua Tennis 2009 review

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Virtua Tennis is back and if you’re expecting anything truly brand new with this 2009 rendition you’re going to be a bit disappointed I’m afraid. Yes we know that Virtua Tennis as an almost perfect arcade tennis game which is very easy to pick up and play but also possible to master if you play it enough, letting you beat all in your path. However, for me, the series hasn’t moved on enough since VT3 to be worthy of a purchase - that is unless you haven’t bought the last one, then maybe it’s worth a look.

The first thing you’re invited to do is make a player with some improved editing tools to change the facial features, body type and play style of your player. Then you’re presented with the globe that’s all too familiar where you can scroll to tournaments, rest at home or play mini games that improve your skills.

If you’re already a good VT player, unfortunately the tournament mode is going to bore you beyond belief as you smash your way through easy opponents until you eventually reach the star players such as Nedal, Federer, Sharapova and Murray. But then it just seems like they hit back everything you throw at them because of course, the console knows exactly where you’re hitting the ball when you play it. Also, the player models look good when not making expressions, but then look like they’ve been made by Skynet or something when they pull robotic celebration faces. Graphically, it’s a shame things haven’t moved on in 2 years when you see the level of detail games such as UFC have gone to.

Strangely, the mini games can actually be more fun than playing tennis. There are games where you have to sink pirate ships, games where you earn combos for smashing coloured bricks out of a wall and a pool game to play. There’s also a weird game where you have to run over piles of money whilst avoiding large tennis balls which doesn’t work so well. It’s a pity loading times slow things down between these short rounds too.

The most fun you’ll have with VT as always is multiplayer. You can play singles, doubles and of course take it online but do be warned, players who are already practised cab take their maxed out custom character online and will spank you into the middle of next week.

Oh, and it’s also not a good idea to have the charisma-deficient Tim Henman to tell you what to do. Let’s be honest, he was never that good in the first place.

This game’s still fun but you get the feeling Sega should mix things up more next time. Virtua Tennis 2009 gets a good 6 out of 10.

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Tags: Virtua Tennis 2009, Virtua Tennis, sports, 2009, Xbox360, Wii, PS3, Nedal, Federer, Sharapova, Murray, Henman, tennis, Sega, Virtua Tennis 2009 review

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After such a long wait we can finally look forward to the upcoming blockbuster movie and accompanying video game releases of Harry Potter’s 6th adventure; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Electronic Art’s have spent many months and worked very hard to make this the best Harry Potter video game to date and promise to keep as close to the storyline of the film whilst making the game fun and interactive for the player.

This time around Harry Potter faces his darkest and most terrifying battles yet and will need all of his magic skills and cunning to defeat the evils brought on by Lord Voldemort. You will need to help Harry, Ron and Hermione protect Hogwarts once again in the sprawling and detailed game which is jam packed full of exciting things to do which include;

• Competing in the exciting Quidditch Cup
• Learning new magic duelling skills and taking them into battle
• Creating exciting magic potions
• Taking part in cool and stealthy night time adventures in Hogwarts while everyone is asleep
• Exploring brand new magical areas outside of Hogwarts such as The Burrow and Horcrux cave

No matter what system you own you can look forward to Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince because it’s coming out for Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, PS3, DS and Mobile phones. The Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince release date for North American fans is June 30th and the release date for Harry Potter 6 in the Europe is just 3 days later on 3rd July.

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