If you’ve been following my reviews of the wonderful point and click adventures; Tales of Monkey Island Episode One and Tales of Monkey Island Episode Two so far then you no doubt have been dying to read this Tales of Monkey Island Episode Three Review right? Welcome to the third instalment of Telltale’s new adventure in the Monkey Island franchise. This time our hero Guybrush Threepwood is starring in the ‘Lair of the Leviathan’. Please be aware of spoilers of Episode Two coming up shortly. As previously mentioned Tales of Monkey Island is a brand new spinoff of the classic Amiga and PC games released in the early 1990’s. This 5 part adventure from Telltale (the developers of Sam and Max as well as Strongbad’s Cool Game) is a fresh take on the series but does feature input from many of the original developers. Best of all you can enjoy Tales of Monkey Island on both PC or Wiiware.

As you may remember, Episode Two ended with Guybrush on the trail of the Sea Manatee and the Giant Voodoo Sucking Sponge. As usual Guybrush didn’t exactly know what was in store for him because soon enough; his crew, his ship as well as himself are all swallowed and therefore trapped inside the belly of said Sea Manatee. Without wishing to spoil the four or five hours of playtime to be had here I can say that in this adventure you’ll bump into the Voodoo lady’s old flame Coronado De Cava who was previously on the trail of La Esponja Grande. After years stuck inside a Manatee you’ll understand that he’s not quite as sane as he once was.
If you’ve enjoyed the first two episodes then of course you’ll love to see how the story is progressing.

Just as with the first two episodes both the graphics and voice acting are a treat and as crazy and imaginative as usual. The whole series so far is a treat for point and click fans everywhere and I’m really engrossed in this series and can’t wait until Episode 4 is ready. Another 8 out of 10.

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Related: Tales of Monkey Island Episode One, Tales of Monkey Island Episode Two

Tags: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3, Lair of the Leviathan, Chapter 3, Tales of Monkey Island, Episode 3, Telltale, Wii, PC, Monkey Island, Guybrush, Point and Click

YouTube Guitar Hero 5 review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

YouTube Mini Ninjas review

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

The Wii Internet Channel is now free of charge. Once upon a time you could get it for free when it first appeared on the Nintendo Wii, but if you missed out and didn’t want to pay for it you can get it now, put away that Nintendo Points Card and save those pennies. If you’ve recently paid for the Wii Internet Channel then Nintendo are offering a free Wiiware game download instead.

Buy a Nintendo Points Card
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Related: Wii Opera Browser Update, Free Nintendo Wii Points

Tags: Wii Internet Channel, Wii, internet channel, free

YouTube Madden NFL 10 review

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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Related: Madden NFL 09, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Youtube Madden NFL 10 review

Tags: Madden NFL 10, EA, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, Madden, NFL, Youtube Madden NFL 10 review

YouTube GI Joe The Rise of Cobra review

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

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

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

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

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