Popped along to a Sega event where they were showing off some of their new Wii titles – being Sega Superstars Tennis, House of the Dead 2 and Sega Bass Fishing. Of course, all of them use the remote and some make you feel a bit silly. Samba De Amigo is the monkey with maracas game. Had a quick go whilst trying to remain as cool as you can at a games event.

Sega Superstars Tennis looked cool with loads of Sega characters playing what is in effect Virtua Tennis. U-La-La, Alex Kidd, Sonic, Dr Eggman, NiGHTS etc all play against each other. They all have their own special powers and can play in themed areas such as Virtua Cop (Virtua Squad in this game because it’s banned in Germany). House of the Dead (again renamed because of the Germans), OutRun and others were there. I wanted to see the dead dudes from Altered Beast in there, “Rise from you graves”.

Sega Bass Fishing made you use the Nunchuck and Wiimote like an actual rod but I had trouble catching the Bass-tards.

A couple of weeks ago I got an exclusive playtest of Tomb Raider Underworld and got to speak to some of the team behind the game. Since then it’s been embargoed but now I can give you all the juicy info. So let me tell you what I saw.

Running on an Xbox 360 with a very decent framerate, the game opened with a usual shot of Lara’s behind looking over a temple as clouds swept across the sky with dismal rain falling from the skies. So weather effects are a new feature and even clouds cast shadows across the sky. Lara can even get muddy as she rolls over the ground and the rain slowly washes it off. Some people alone in their bedrooms may like to roll around a lot! – just for fun.

She then spots black panthers fighting enemy guards. This again is new AI similar to what we’ve seen in Bioshock, where AI characters will fight each other and you, creating a more dynamic world. She then bounced about targeting two panthers at once, so there’s a new dual targeting system in there too.

Next was the problem of getting high enough to climb about. Luckily, Lara can now pick up weapons such as big sticks and insert them into holes to make new vertical paths to ascend those dizzy heights she loves falling from so often.

Throughout, Lara looks more fluid than before and that’s because for the first time they motion-captured a gymnast. Would have liked to have had that job. They have also concentrated on her facial features more, showing off anger when she fights and even the odd smirk. Something’s funny, she just won’t tell us what it is.

We were then treated to a puzzle where Lara had to smash a stone floor, and luckily, there was a big stone block on a pillar above. Thanks to a new physics system, Lara could send out a grapple hook past the object, then move round to use the wire to push the block off the ledge and smash the floor. Again, we’ve seen it in other games but never through the eyes of Miss Croft.

Finally, after solving another puzzle Lara had to make it through a timed section on a motorbike with very fat wheels. Apparently there’s also something very cool about this which we haven’t been told about so expect another update when I get it.

More Tomb Raider Underworld screenshots

It’s time to look at Far Cry 2 out on next-gen consoles and PC. I loved the first game on the PC, not so much on the 360. Now it moves from the desert island jungle to the plains of Africa. Hopefully, Ubisoft will bring us a game with even more open-ended gameplay where you could choose how to reach your mission objectives on the open island.

This time it’s developed by Ubisoft Montreal using a brand new engine and not Crytek whose engine was also very good and used on the recent PC title Crysis.

They’re aiming for a very open-ended game here with a narrative which plays out according to what you do, similar to Western RPGs. This time there’s also no special abilities like being able to rip someone apart like a knife through the proverbial butter. This time it’s all about guns, wits and I guess a little bit of luck. They’re also aiming to make the game incredibly immersive. No more map screens, when you want to survey the current square Km you’re in out of the 100 square km in the game, you actually hold a map out in front of you. Same goes for getting into vehicles, healing yourself or patting out burning clothes. All is done through your own eyes to keep you firmly inside the main character’s big meaty head.

This is a proper sandbox world. You can even set fire to long grass which will be harder to do if it’s just finished raining, destroy buildings, ride vehicles and get other NPCs they’re calling ‘buddies’ on your side. To help you complete your objectives they can cause distractions and set up road blocks. Whether they’ll let you use them as a human shield is yet to be seen – spoilsports!

Even though it seems to be losing its Sci-fi roots, it does sound like lots of fun being given the freedom to go nuts in the African plains. You can get your hands on it later in the year.

So far Sony’s had a couple of big hitters recently on its big black box, namely Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted. Lots of PS3 owners were hoping by now that Media Molecule’s Little Big Planet would already be playable but alas it’s delayed until Autumn 2008. However, at the recent CES event we got to see more of the game and get a better understanding of how it all works.

In essence the game’s a community modding and platforming game where you can design your own stages for up to four people to complete co-operatively. These characters are all very cute and you can add all sorts of hats, clothes and accessories to them to make them look cute – and weird, which will please lots of people I know.

You just have to make your way from the start to the finish but the limit on how you do that is set by your own imagination. Skateboards, tanks, footballs, bricks, fruit, spinning wheels, you name it and it’s there, or it can be made and plonked into the crazy world.

It’s also possible to die in the game, and at CES they showed some of the little critters jumping over hot colas and sometimes into it. They then go flying off the screen a comedic way. Norman Wisdom eat your heart out.

In order to post levels on line you’re going to need to complete them first to prove they can be done, and as you play through the levels already in the game, you earn something they’re calling Fluff which lets you buy new objects and gear. Users can also rate levels you post online and then your levels will be famous for all to see. And if you like playing through a level or find it frustrating, you can even emote and make faces by using the d-pad for angry, happy, sad etc. Who said you can’t just turn on a smile?

It all sounds great and should be a big hit for Sony as the nights begin to draw in again.

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Time to look at something that’s already out on the PC and soon it’s coming to the PS3. It’s Unreal Tournament 3! Previous Unreal Tournaments didn’t make it to consoles properly as consoles have never been powerful enough to cope with the extreme level of detail in the graphics, which high end PCs would run without breaking stride. This has all changed and with the power of the PS3 Midway are promising lots and lots of lovely stuff to please your eyes and your reaction times.

Of course there’s online battles to take part in with other human players but also an offline mode where they say, the AI is unparalleled. Add to this some of the regular futuristic weapons and vehicles along with some new ones and we should have a great console FPS on our hands.

Old favourites include the shock rifle and the very up close and personal shock cannon. Over 24 weapons and vehicles have been given a facelift Janice Dickinson would be jealous of for maximum killing potential.

Also, instead of the offline mode just being arena battles, they’ve included a single player campaign so you’ve even got a story to play through. Online modes include, deathmatch and team deathmatch, capture the flag and an all-new warfare mode.

And if you don’t like what they’ve provided, you can mod your own levels and game types and download more online.

Hopefully it’s gonna be good, it’s out end of Feb and I’ll review it then.

Preview time and it’s time to let you know about a game FPS fans may have been looking forward to out in March. It’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Now, Vegas can be a dangerous place. You can walk out of there a hell of a lot poorer than you went in and in Ubisoft’s world, you can also get a bullet in the head. Once again a team of crack commandos will be sent in to fight amongst the roulette and poker tables when the chips are down.

The last game sold over 16 million units worldwide and in this one they’re promising an intense solo campaign which uses tactical play as well as just showing people the business end of your rifle, and they say they will break new ground in co-op and adversarial online modes.

They also promise 11 new weapons, more challenging AI and more Vegas. Cool, I wonder if Elvis can marry you and a hostage you find in the chapel and then, like Britney, you can get it annulled 24 hours later.

We’ll see if there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when I review the game in a few weeks.