Halo Reach - 8.5/10

Bungie's farewell to the Halo universe (though certainly not Microsoft's), Reach feels like a bit more of a return to form for the franchise. After the rather bland Halo 3 and the completely underwhelming ODST, it's nice for Bungie to go out on a high note - not as high as Halo 2, but still, a good game.

The game almost feels somewhat stripped down. No duel wielding, crazy new vehicles or enemies. The objects from Halo 3, that I never felt really worked well, have been replaced with armour abilities. Some are tweaks of the familiar (active camo, bubble shields), and some are completely new (jet pack and armour lock). You also now pick your armour ability and starting weapons in the multiplayer loadout, giving a feel of different classes - a welcome addition. Overall, the system seems more balanced and useful.

You can see Bungie's affection for the franchise in the care that was put into the single player campaign. Though there is no character as memorable as some of the best characters of old, you do feel yourself being drawn into the story that never feels overburdened in the 15 to 20 hour campaign. Visually, the game looks even crisper and better, runs well, and still feels very much like a Halo game. I still found the multiplayer rather dull, but the addition of new game types like invasion, a much more robust forge mode, and a greatly improved firefight mode (much more fun than horde mode from GoW) really help the game along. Even the Halo gaming community seems more mature - likely a result of the uber-twerps migrating to Call of Duty.

Fans of the franchise can't go wrong here and even those, like myself, that have found the Halo gloss wearing some time ago may be surprised.

Immersion: 3
Interface: 5
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero - 8.5/10

Dead Rising 2 is set to be released at the end of the month. Instead of releasing a free demo a 400 mp (~$5.00) prequel game was release (which, by the way, you can still play the demo of which for free like any other Xbox Arcade game). The prequel introduces you to Chuck Green and his daughter Katie. One the run from the zombie outbreak they find themselves in a small town outside Las Vegas when Chuck's truck ends up getting stolen. Moreover, Katie has been bitten and injections every 12 hours of a drug called Zombrex is the only thinking keeping her from turning. Chuck must now find more of the drug, and find a way out of the town before the military arrive to take Katie away.

If you played the first game at all, you will find that the formula has not be changed that much. As before, the clock is always ticking and tasks must be completed within a fixed period of time, but, as before, experience carries between play-throughs so you will find next time Chuck will be tougher (and yourself more experienced) to face the challenges the game provides. You will also find a variety of characters to interact with from survivors to be rescued to psychos that stand in your way. The game also maintains its RPG elements from the original Dead Rising.

What has changed has more to do with the presentation and the interface. The graphics have been improved and the zombie appearance and behaviour more varied. You will also find the survivor AI to be more helpful in that they actually will go where you tell them to. Controls are tighter and less cumbersome but are still, thankfully, challenging. Shooting and aiming is accomplished by left and right triggers now as in most shooters and you can now move and shoot at the same time.

As a bit of a fan of the first game, despite it's problems, I am very pleased to see the core gameplay has not changed and that many of the things that were frustrating before surround AI and controls has been dealt with. Case Zero itself was a heck of a lot of fun. I single play-through will take you about an hour and half, but you will likely find yourself going through it at least three or four times - will worth the $5.00 price tag. I also like the father/daughter aspect to the story line. It got me invested and really wanting to make sure the little girl remained safe.

If I were to have one complaint, it would be the ease at which I was able to get through this. Although Dead Rising may have been frustrating, I did appreciate the challenge it provided. Now, the ease of Case Zero could simply be a product of the length of the game not lending itself to developing a decent difficulty curve from intro tutorial to final boss (and the final boss is a bit tough). We will just have to see in Dead Rising 2.

Immersion: 4
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 8.5/10

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game - 8.5/10

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that such a refreshing film could be tied in with such a refreshing game, but surprised I was. Instead of the usual movie tie-in, Scott Pilgrim went with a 16 bit, side scrolling, beat-em-up whose humour and feel is right in keeping with the movie. And you certainly can't beat the price of 800 Microsoft Points (about $10.00).

Though don't think that the style of presentation gave Ubisoft Montreal an opportunity to cheap out on what they were presenting. On the contrary, each sprite is lovingly rendered and levels and combat well designed. Layered beneath the fighting is a light RPG model where you can buy improvements for your characters as they level up, as well as unlock new moves and combinations. This is results in a game that is light hearted, but at the same time challenging and a hoot to play.

And if the single player is a hoot, wait until you try the four-player local coop. I played this with my kids and it was an absolute scream. Really, the only thing that is keeping this game from being almost perfect is the lack of an on-line multiplayer feature. What's up with that?

In short, if you enjoyed the movie and enjoy video games (actually, I can't see how someone who enjoys video games can't enjoy this movie), then the game should be right up your alley.

Immersion: 4
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 8.5/10

Deadly Premonition - 7.0/10

This is one of those games that is so difficult to attach a rating to. I'll stick with my 7.0, but I should add, I have a tremendous amount of affection for this game.

First off, there are certainly things wrong with it. The graphics are at early PS2 levels, the controls are awkward and clunky, and the enemies don't vary much and are repetitive. The game is guilty of some things that I usually hate in games. It has an over dependence on cut scenes to tell the story and it uses them a lot. Another thing it uses a lot are quick time events, something I normally hate.

So why do I like this game. Well you are guaranteed that you haven't played anything quite like this. It is quirky, disturbing, and irrational in a way that only the Japanese seem to be able to pull of in their games. You play federal agent Francis York Morgan investigating a bizarre, ritualistic murder, in a sleepy northwestern town. The town is populated by an exceedingly strange collection of citizens from the zombie like grave digger, to a convenience store owner who looks like he walked off the set of Grease - from the harlot gas station attendant to the roaming old lady who talks to her pot. In fact, the environment is so much like David Lynch's Twin Peaks that it's hard to imagine that it wasn't at least partially inspired by the television series.

And Agent Morgan (but everyone calls him York) isn't quite right either. He spends the entire game talking to his invisible companion, Zack - mostly about 80's movies and punk rock. The missions usually involve you driving from location to location (the driving can get tedious), and either interviewing citizens for clues, or fighting zombie like spirits which suddenly start rising out of the ground. The thing is, I actually became invested in the story and characters of this strange little town, as well as the story of York and Zack - indeed, much more so than in a typical, bigger budget, game. In the end, I wanted to know what was happening here and how it was going to play out. In fact, the ghost shooting was a disappointing diversion from getting more cut scenes telling the story.

If you are the type of person to be put off by quirky story telling, poor graphics, and uneven game-play, then I would have to recommend giving this a pass, but if you can get past that, you may find a lot here that is refreshingly different.

Immersion: 4
Interface: 2
Game Play: 3
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 7.0/10

Red Dead Redemption - 9.5/10

Okay, calling it Grand Theft Horse isn't entirely inaccurate, but is that really a bad thing? My answer would be, no.

You play John Marston, a simple rancher with a mysterious past just trying to eek out a living in what's left of the old West during the early part of the 20th century. For reasons to be revealed, you are compelled to help federal marshals hunt down an elusive criminal that you have had some dealings with. This is a very classic western tale set in a classic western environment, and Rockstar does its utmost to make the player feel like you feel like you've just walked into a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. And guess what, they succeeded.

Like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption is a sprawling sandbox game giving you a large world in which to explore. Though not as teaming with detail and life as Liberty City, the south-west US and norther Mexico are still rendered with stunning fidelity. Weather and atmospheric effects are second only to Far Cry 2 from a couple of years ago. Yes, this is a game where you will stop to admire the sunsets.

The missions give you a lot do: from capturing banditos to herding cattle to playing poker. Though perhaps not quite as diverse as GTA4, the missions in the single player do start to grind a bit towards the end, and the characters don't shine quite like they do in GTA either. That said, it's still a rich and rewarding ride.

It's in the multiplayer that this game really shines. I don't think the multiplayer in GTA ever worked as well as it could have, but RDR makes up for that. The multiplayer experience starts in a 16 player Free Roam. From there you can posse up and participate in a variety of multiplayer activities: attacking NPC gang hideouts, working through coop missions, are participating in the usual fair of player versus player type games in both free for all and team modes. It's the shear variety that makes this work. Bored with PVP, then do a gang hideout or coop mission. Tired of that, maybe go hunting in Free Roam either for wild game or other players. The Free Roam also acts as a lobby of sorts, allowing players to feel each other out before deciding to play together. When you form posses, you can carry that posse with you as a team into the other multiplayer modes. It works exceedingly well.

All and all, Red Dead Redemption is the full package that everyone should check out. Easily, it is one of the best games of 2010.

Immersion: 4
Interface: 4
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 5
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - 8.5/10

Okay, let's see. Single player worse than the original, multi-player better. Since almost everyone who buys this game will do so for the multi-player, can I go home now? Hmm, guess not.

Alright then, let's start with the good. First off, I'm not a big multi-player guy, but the Battlefield games definitely are up there as an exception. I like the objective based games, huge detailed maps, and class based combat. Like the first Bad Company, the game place you in squads and most of the game times are objective based. What's more, the game rewards you for accomplishing those objectives. For example, the player that spends his time capturing and defending flags will gain far more experience then the one sniping from the rooftops collecting kills. For me, this is very satisfying, especially when you find players that realize that the classes provided in the game actually complement each other and sticking with, and helping, your squad mates improves the experience overall. This creates a player community that actually, more or less, supports each other in game as opposed to simply running around trying to humiliate as many people as you can (I'm looking at you CoD).

But all this was in the first game too, what's the improvements? Well everything you got in Bad Company you get more of in BC2. The destructible environments play even more into game play, with many buildings being completely capable of being raised to the ground, stirring of clouds of swirling dust obscuring the battlefield. There are more, and better balanced, weapons and gadgets, as well as vehicle variety. The maps are more detailed and much bigger, the perfect playground for great battles.

Now for the bad, this single player. I enjoyed the simple characters and story of the first game, but here it seems they felt they need to amp it up. The result in a nonsensical, loosely connected, sequence of missions which is presented in such a confusing fog of attempted story telling and find it hard that anyone can make sense of it. Hey, if just giving you an excuse to go shoot Russians and blow up the next objective is good enough for you, that's fine, but it seems very little thought went into the campaign here, either in story or in level design.

But like I said, you're likely here for the multi-player and when it comes to fun modern combat, this game is second to none.

Immersion: 3
Interface: 5
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Left 4 Dead 2: 9.0/10

This game took quite a bit of heat, coming out a mere year after the first Left 4 Dead, and this from a developer known for it's long production cycles. Perhaps the complaints are justified, but once you get the product in your machine, one can't deny how fun this game is.

Valve did not change the overall formula of the game. Once again, four survivors in a zombie apocalypse must work together through various campaigns in order to reach the rescue vehicle on at the end. As before, on-line co-op is what this game is all about with emphasis on the co-op. Players who don't work with their teammates are destined to be punished cruelly, either by opposing players in the case of versus, or by the AI director, that sadistic bit of coding that decides how enemies, weapons and gear will spawn. If anything, this games demands even more of its players with new special infected specifically designed to try and split players up. Valve definitely watched how players played the first game and designed this game to combat their tactics. For example, once again alarms and loud machinery will generate what Valve calls crescendo events where waves of infected rush the players, but instead of the normal digging in that players did to survive these events before, many of them can only be stopped by travelling to another location - evil indeed.

But the survivors are better armed now too. The variety of guns has about tripled. Also added are powerful melee weapons (who doesn't enjoy conking zombies with a frying pan?). The amount of gear is also increased from speed inducing adrenalin, defibrillator kits for bringing back dead teammates, to incendiary and explosive ammunition. The thing is, the number of inventory slots has not changed. Carry a melee weapon, then no pistols. Carry special ammo, then no med pack. No one can carry it all, so once again team work is what is emphasized.

The environments are better detailed now and there is more variety to the campaigns than before. Instead of everything being at night, the time of day changes as does the weather. Indeed, the storm effects become a factor in the game in more than one campaign. The campaigns link together better now too, with each beginning where the previous one ended. Some might miss the four survivors from L4D1, but the four new ones should get them over it pretty quick. Once again, the characters are unique, well written and voiced, and enjoyable to listen to. As in the first game, dialogue is generated differently each time through. The variability in play-throughs not only extends to placement of enemies and gear, but some maps even change pathways through them now. The new game type, scavenge, is also a lot of fun.

Overall, L4D2 doesn't feel like a replacement to L4D1 but rather a complement to it. Although both follow the same essential formula, there is enough differences between the two that I suspect the community of players will more bouncing back and forth between them rather than leave L4D1 on the shelf. If I have any knock against this franchise, it would be that it is already feeling a bit old. I for one do not wish for a L4D3 and, I hope, there are no immediately plans to develop one. Despite that, if Valve continues to support the community that has developed around these two games, this is a franchise that will have people still playing it years from now.

Story: 4
Interface: 5
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Reconsidering Story Part of Rating

I'm realizing that "story" is not the right word for what I am trying to rate in my reviews. As described in the post of my rating system, I'm trying to measure the degree of investment I have in the world that the game creates. Story can certainly be a big part of this, as can characterization, but so does the overall atmosphere, mode and setting. How much do these environmental factors, outside of game-play, cause me to want to continue to progress through the game? Do I want to see what's coming up next, not because it is going to be a fun challenge, but because I just want to see where the environment of the game is going?

What's got me rethinking this category is my currently playing of Left 4 Dead 2 (yes, I know, I'm rather late to this party). Valve uses such an unconventional way of telling the story of these characters that it's hard to say it is even a story, but the mood, characterization and general atmosphere of the game is just about perfect. There is a deep sense of immersion and an investment in the world that is created.

I know what I'm rating, but I'm having trouble searching for a single word to categorize it: environment, world, atmosphere? - they all seem lacking.

Bioshock 2 - 8.5/10

I've gotta admit, I was a bit nervous about Bioshock 2. I loved the original, but when I had heard that it was being handed over to a new developer and that, gasp, on-line multiplayer was going to be added to the mix - well, I feared the worst. It turns out my fears were unfounded, mostly.

Bioshock 2 returns to rapture about 10 years after the original. This time, you play a big daddy, those lumbering brutes from the first game that protected the little sisters. However, your little sister was stolen from you and you were left for dead. Now you've returned with the mission to retrieve her.

Of course, there is more to it than that. Once again you are thrust into the middle of the power struggles in the crumbling underwater city of Rapture. This time the chief antagonist is one Sofia Lamb. Like Andrew Ryan from the first game, Lamb's ideology is absolute in her quest to make Rapture a utopia. However, where Ryan believed in the strength of the individual unfettered by the constraints of government and religion, Lamb believes in the power of the collective - the family.

The story unfolds using the same mechanisms as the first game. There are very few cut scenes (with the ones you have being first person). The narrative unfolds through your interaction with other characters and your discovery of audio diaries left scattered about - again, just like the first game. The world of Rapture feels the same. Graphically, it may have been stepped up a bit, but Rapture is still that damp, moldy, art deco hell that it always was. The atmosphere is once again perfect, intense, creepy, but not overpoweringly so.

Game play is, well - this is becoming a familiar refrain - just like the first game. Indeed, that would be my chief knock of the game. It almost seems like the developers were afraid to change too much and pretty much followed the same formula. Okay, you can now go two fisted with plasma powers in your left hand and weapons in your right, but really, is this much of a change? You could always switch from plasmas to weapons so fast that giving you both at the same time barely changes game play at all. The plasma powers have been more tweaked than rewritten. The new weapons and ammo types all work well and are very satisfying to use.

What is different is the way in which you harvest adam, the gene altering substance that gives you your powers. Before you wrestled with a big daddy and then took your adam from the little sister it was protecting. Now you have the option to adopte said little sister and cart her around looking for dead bodies - "angles" - for her to harvest. While she's sucking out the adam, it is your job to protect her from the horde of splicers (the adam junkies that populate Rapture) that will be coming. This new element is fun, especially with powers and weapons having a more trap options than before. Also new are the big sisters. These are former little sisters that have been genetically modified by Lamb and are out to stop you. They pop up once per level and generally make the big daddies look like wusses. The big sisters are fast and powerful, and fun to fight.

The campaign feels shorter than the first. I would guess it took me about 20 hours of playing, though I'm a complete scrounge and other could likely finish in about a dozen hours. Although brief, the pacing feels about right. If it were much longer, I think the familiarity of it would begin to drag it down. There is also multiplayer - the usual fair of capture the flag, territories, and the like, with a Rapture twist of course. This kind of thing doesn't really float my boat so I didn't give it a whirl. I can't see it dragging too many people away from Halo or Modern Warfare.

Overall, if you like the first you will likely enjoy this one too, though the overall familiarity and shorter campaign makes it feel more like large expansion pack as opposed to a stand alone game.

Story: 4
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Mass Effect 2 - 9.0/10

The much anticipate sequel to Bioware's mega hit, it's tough not to be caught up in the hype. That said, this is certainly a solid game and, overall, an improvement over its predecessor.

Let's start with the improvements. The combat is much more shooter based. Gone is the RPG model of needing to develop your ability with a weapon in order to use it effectively. Now, the bullets go where you point the cursor. The controls have been tightened and the experience more visceral. Indeed, the combat is so much like Gears of War (right down to the conveniently placed cover) as to be a bit unnerving. However, layered on top of the combat are the still present tech and biotic powers, including the ability to call up a radial menu that pauses the game and allows the user to give individual commands to squad mates, and you have a tactically more complex experience than a typical shooter.

The leveling system and powers have been refined, some would say simplified, from Mass Effect 1. There are fewer options when it comes to abilities, but the abilities you do have are amped up and combine together more effectively. Mixing and matching squad mates is more flexible and gamers that can learn to combine and coordinate their squad's abilities can lay devastating pain upon their enemies.

Bioware continues to develop their ability to create deep characters and stories. Both voice work and character animation are second to none. The dialog scenes, always a big part of every Bioware game, are far more dynamic than before. Much more like participating in a movie drama. Once again, relationships become a big component of the game. Indeed, the story consequences of your relationships with your squad are more dramatic than in Mass Effect 1. Also fun is your ability to import your Mass Effect 1 characters, which effect the starting conditions of the universe in which you play. This is a feature that Bioware promises to expand upon even more in ME3.

Now for the bad. Gone is the mako and driving around generic planet environments to search for resources and side missions, but that has been replaced with slowly scanning the planet from orbit, which is even more dull. Once you find a side mission, they are much more various than in ME1 as well as being better integrated into the story, but the actual process of finding these missions is boring as hell. In addition, the resource gathering is essential to upgrading your ship and equipment, something you're going to want to do to get the most out of this game.

This game is also easier than before, with a sense of trying to appeal to a wider audience. The game is more shooter now than RPG and there is a general sense of the game being dumbed down a bit.

That all said, none of this is a deal breaker. The story does suffer somewhat from being that middle child of a trilogy, bridging opening and climax, but overall its exciting, engaging, and stands well on its own. The challenge can still be found by cranking up the difficulty. There's certainly nothing here that doesn't leave me eagerly awaiting ME3.

Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 9.0/10

Dragon Age: Origins - 9.5/10

Another gift under the tree this year, Origins comes from BioWare, the same folks that gave us Knights of the Old Republic (best Star Wars game ever!) and Mass Effect. However, instead of being set in space, this time we've got ourselves a good old Sword and Sorcery piece. With it's deep malleable story and extensive dialogue trees, Origins is instantly recognizable as a BioWare game, but for those that are familiar with the previous titles there are a number of notable difference.

First off, gone are the good/evil meters judging every one of your decisions. That doesn't mean your decisions don't have consequences. One the contrary, your companions still react to what you do, as does the story. In fact, the permutations as to where the story goes is more extensive then in any of BioWare's predecessors. The game not only has multiple endings, but multiple beginnings and middles, and someone who wants to see them all is going to be kept busy indeed.

Second is the depth of the game play. Origins is a tougher game than Mass Effect, sometimes a bit intimidatingly so. The learning curve at the start is a somewhat steep, but ultimately this game becomes more rewarding for it as you continually discover more abilities and tactics, even during repeated playthroughs. One of my knocks on Mass Effect was how easy it got, even on the highest difficulty level, once you got into the second act of the game. With Origins, I found myself turning it down to "casual" on my first playthrough. On hard, this game is sure to challenge any RPG veteran out there.

Bioware has also put in full, and solid, voice acting for all of their extensive dialogue trees. With far less repetitive side missions than in the previous games, Origins becomes much more engaging. With a deep and engaging story, and intriguing and well voiced characters, Dragon Age Origins is easily one of the best RPGs out there, a must for any fan of the genre and likely a good idea for those that aren't too.

My only knock, what's with the blood? I mean, it's almost comical how much blood gets sprayed around in this game (very Monty Pythonish), and they carry the blood splattered characters right into the dialogue scenes where one can't help but giggle as one blood smeared character calmly talks to another. Oh well, I suppose it is visually distinctive.

Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

9.5/10

Battlefield: Bad Company - 8.5/10

Although released about a year-and-a-half ago, Bad Company was a game that slipped under my radar. That changed due to the amount of fun I was having with Battlefield: 1943 and the fact that my son found it for $15, causing it to be a stocking stuffer this Christmas.

On the surface, Bad Company can get lost in the glut of all the other war based shooters, but there are a number of things that separate it from the pack, the biggest being the strength of its multiplayer. Twenty-four players on huge maps, great weapon variety, and wonderful vehicle fun. Bad Company sets the standard for destructible environments. Besides just looking really good, destruction is incorporated well into gameplay without overwhelming it. Some folks might feel only two game types - conquest (territories) & gold rush (siege) - but I would rather play these objective based games, polished and balanced to a tee, than endless varieties of slayer, populated by trash talking thirteen year-olds.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the single player experience. The plot is a simple one: the four team B-company fall upon a trail that appears to be leading them to a fortune in gold bullion - think of the film Three Kings without the political or moral overtones. In an age where every game is determined to be as epic and convoluted as possible, playing Bad Company was surprisingly refreshing. Instead of a silly plot, you get very well constructed levels and well paced gaming. Refreshing indeed.

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

8.5/10

Assassin's Creed 2 - 9.5/10

This is a game I had asked for Christmas, but I couldn't wait any longer, and my son and I rented it to give it a go. The first Assassin's Creed received somewhat mixed reviews, but I for one greatly enjoyed it. Ubisoft Montreal was promising many improvements in the hype leading up to the sequel, which left me a bit concerned. I worried that the immersive world and unique game play that I loved would get lost in an attempt to reach a wider audience.

It turns out my worries were unfounded. Assassin's Creed 2 improves upon the original in every way without sacrificing in the least what made the original a great game. The core game, and story, is left intact, but is now surrounded by a much greater variety, not only in the missions, but in the game play too.

The core fighting mechanics are still the same where timing is at the essence of performing combinations and counter attacks, but they entered in a great many more moves, sneak attacks, and a whole armoury of weaponry. Being able to blend into the crowd is handled much more naturally without using a walk-real-slow button, and guards will no longer chase you simply for running to get to where you want to go. In addition, instead of improvements in weapon and armour being parcelled out, you can earn (or steal) money in the game and visit shops to get what you need.

The game play elements change up frequently with mission structure being modelled more after something like Grand Theft Auto. In addition there are tombs and catacombs to explore, taking full advantage of Assassin Creed's movement engine, with acrobatics that are reminiscent of Tomb Raider or Prince of Persia. The game even has DaVinci Code like moments with hidden glyphs and ancient puzzles to solve, and a simple sim game where you make improvements to your villa to help you earn more cash.

As much as I've enjoyed playing Grand Theft Auto IV the last little while, I think I like this one better. The game play is just as fun, the variety almost the same (the edge going to GTA), but for me what puts Assassin's Creed over the top is the detail and immersive feel of its world set in 15th century Italy. GTA has wonderful characters but it's dark, satiricaly, mood (although often hysterical) doesn't pull me in in the same way as Assassin's Creed's compelling, clever, story and historical detail.

Anyway, the game got returned today, unfinished, and I'm going to discipline myself to wait until Christmas to get to the end. Some things are worth savoring.

Story: 5
Interface: 5
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Brütal Legend - 8/10

After the brilliant Psychonauts, I had very high hopes for Tim Schafer's next outing, the recently released Brütal Legend. It's not like it's a bad game (I played the whole thing through, afterall, and plan on trying to complete it on the brutal difficulty setting), but after everything that was in Psychonauts, this one felt a little shallow.

You can still see it's a Schafer game. It's got his humour and quirky characters all over it. It also does the same thing as Psychonauts by disguising itself as one thing but delivering something else - I'm not sure how clever that is from the marketing perspective. Psychonauts appears a generic platformer that was actually a witting and engaging game. Brütal Legend disguises itself as a fairly mindless hack-and-slash that suddenly morphs itself into a real-time strategy game.

It's going to be interesting how this gets received. Fans attracted to a heavy metal themed hack-and-slash staring Jack Black may react rather negatively when they find themselves having to construct and organize siege weapons to attack the enemy stronghold. By the same token, RTS fans will likely be put off by the games shallow exterior, and depth of the RTS mode certainly doesn't compare to the more popular games out there in the genre anyway. There is a multiplayer mode that is just one-on-one RTS battles. I really can't see who will be playing this on-line a few months from now ... hard core Jack Black fans?

For myself, I'm not a hard core RTSer (the last RTS I played right through was StarCraft years ago) but I did enjoy the battles in this game. I certainly enjoyed it more than grinding through the repetitive side missions this game provides. That said, I know there isn't enough there to keep me interested for too long.

But perhaps I'm getting too down on it. It's fun, funny, and original - more than can be said for most games. The characters are well voiced and animated - even Ozzy Osborne as the "Guardian of Metal" whom you get to buy your upgrades from. The heavy metal themed world and creature design are certainly inspired, and there is enough depth in the RTS battles to keep me engaged without being overwhelmed. Overall, a fun time.

Story: 4
Interface: 3
Game Play: 3
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.0/10

Shadow of the Colossus - 9.5/10

Shadow of the Colossus is easily one of my favourite games of all time. First of all, in my opinion, it is the most, drop dead, gorgeous game I have ever seen, and that includes high pixel count games of the 360 and PS3. I'm talking about more than resolution here. I'm talking about composition, texture, and colour. There is nothing that compares. Just the way the camera moves is stunning. It doesn't just simply hold the avatar in the center, but lets it drift left-right, up-down, and in-out as if somehow it knows what would compose a great shot. When I first saw video of the game play, I found it hard to believe I wasn't watching a humanly constructed cut scene. It's absolutely astounding to me as to how this was pulled off.

Of course, I wouldn't love the game just because it's beautiful. The game play is truly unique too. The game is one, big, pastoral world that you ride through facing barely an enemy. There is no level grinding or items to collect, but there are sixteen colossi hiding out there that you can locate with a magic sword that you happen to have stolen (the lead character is very much morally grey). Yes, that is all there is to the game, sixteen boss fights, but before you dismiss it as being too simplistic, just give it a try. The fights are epic, varied, and challenging. Each boss is its only little puzzle to solve. By the time I got to the end, I was still hungry for more, something I don't get from most games.

Story - 5
Interface - 4
Game Play - 4
Challenge - 5
Fun - 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Psychonauts - 9.0/10

I'm not sure you can find a game more original than Tim Schafer's Psychonauts. On the surface a kid friend adventure-platformer, it doesn't take long before you realize this is a darkly funny, high concept little game that can be devilishly challenging at times.

Let me set the scene. You play Raz, a ten year old who breaks into a summer camp for psychically gifted children that is, in reality, a military training facility for the next generation of super soldiers - the psychonauts. The majority of levels in this game take place in the psychic landscape that represent particular characters' minds, and considering that many of the characters are bat-s**t crazy, some of these levels are bizarre to say the least.

For example, in one level you enter the mind of a paranoid milkman whose true personality has been pushed back thanks to the efforts of the game's villain. Here a quiet suburban neighbourhood is twisted into a gravity defying pretzel where every hint that may lead you to the true milkman is guarded by barely disguised government agents whose superiors are a troup of girl scouts (cookies - milk - get it?).

In another level, a giant mutated fish is being controlled by another villain. Here the fish's mind is an urban metropolis populated (quite amusingly) by fish - Fishopolis. Raz becomes a giant, Godzilla like, interloper that must thrash his way through the city to confront the similarly sized villain in a building destroying show down. How the hell can that not be fun?

And it keeps going like this. I don't want to give too much away but the game truly blows me away when the minds of Raz and the chief villain mix together and the two must team up to defeat their own perceptions of their fathers. Man, Freud would have a field day!

Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.0/10

Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal - 9.5/10

When playing this game most recently, I was amazed at how many elements from it have made their way into modern games. Destructible cover - check, crazy gravity ala Mario Galaxy - check, skill point awards ala XBox360/PS3 - check.

I think Ratchet & Clank suffers a bit from looking so kid friendly that it isn't taken seriously by the more hardcore crowd, but the game is tight, fast, fun, and demanding - certainly more so than most of today's M-Rated shooters. The characters are memorable and funny, the voice acting solid as well as the animations. In addition, the game play, quite frankly, kicks ass. If you enjoy blowing the hell out of stuff, you really can't go wrong here.

Besides, how can you no enjoy a game that lets you turn your enemies into flaming ducks (yes, ducks on fire) that lay bouncing egg grenades? You heard me right!

Story: 4
Interface: 5
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Resident Evil 4 - 8.5/10

This game also came out for the Wii a year or so ago, and it is that version that I played most recently. I'm not a huge fan of the survival-horror genre (previous Resident Evil games left me a bit flat), but RE4 does separate itself in a number of ways.

It integrates the traditional clunky controls and limited inventory of a survival-horror game with a more fast paced shooter, and it works really well. You still can't run and shoot at the same time (which takes some getting used to) but that just adds to the tension - flight or fight, make a decision.

The level design is also varied with a variety of different game elements that combine together very well. If I have one gripe with the game, it's its overuse of quick-time elements during boss fights. I find these get very tedious, very fast. What I find particularly frustrating are bosses that can only be beaten by a particular, and obscure, pattern of button presses, usually requiring split second timing. In fact, one particular boss fight ended my experience with this game about 80% through. I just don't have anywhere near the patience for it.

What also separates RE4 is its quirky sense of humour. From the nonsensical merchants who appear out of nowhere to buy and sell stuff, to the hysterically atrocious dialogue, this game has its share of laughs.

Story: 4
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 3
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Grand Theft Auto 4 - 9.5/10

I'm a late comer to the GTA series. Despite the enormous popularity of GTA3 - San Andreas and Vice City, I didn't bring them into the house because I thought my kids were too young to be playing these games. With GTA4 I found out what I was missing.

The sandbox genre was basically defined with the GTA3 games, and the newest installment shows why Rockstar is still king of this mountain. First off, the world of Liberty City is huge! So huge the game provides you with a road map, including the subway routes and you actually will likely use the thing. We've seen huge sandbox worlds before, but never packed with the level of detail that we have here.

Second, story and character are fantastic. Great voice acting and character animation combine with a strong script to create characters and scenes that are memorable. When you care about the characters, you care about what happens to them, and this game makes you care.

Third, I love the dark, satirical, mood of the game. One major component of this is the radio, television and Internet media that are created just for the game (yes, you can watch TV and serf the Web in the game if you like). The radio programs and ads are particularly biting, and often drop dead hysterical. The abundant, and interconnected, media also serves to add to the depth of the world, making the whole experience more immersive. For example, you'll see a billboard for a play, later hear a commercial for the play, then, while listening to the news, hear an interview with one of the performers in the play. This all happens seamlessly and naturally.

But the best part of GTA 4 is the gameplay. Cover based combat seems all the rage in shooters right now, and I think GTA4 provides the best working model for it yet, creating a fast and exciting shooting experience. But beyond that, GTA4 provides so many different elements that listing them all would be a chore. There's the obvious gun fights and car chases, but it also varies from bowling, to racing, to dating, to just going drinking with your buddies (but then whistle for a cab to take you home). For goodness sakes, the game provides you a button to flip from high to low beams on your headlights. As far as variety in the missions (including the optional ones) little beats this game.

The downloadable content is even worth talking about. The Lost and Damned expansion gives about an additional 10 to 15 hours of game play that is of as high quality as the original, creating a story that weaves in and out of the story and characters of the original. And out today is the second expansion, The Balad of Gay Tony, which also looks amazing.

GTA4 provides a package that can't be beat and is easily one of my favourite games that I've played in the last year.

Story: 4
Interface: 5
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Battlefield 1943 - 8.5/10

The first plus on the side of this game is that it is only 1200 Microsoft points (about $17) on Xbox Arcade. For that you get a well balanced WWII, multi-player, shooter. The game is set in the Pacific. You play either the US or Japan in a battle to control the islands. There are only three maps, but the maps are huge and sprawling. Although there is only one game type (well two, if you count the dog-fight game) the gameplay is varied giving you lots to do while trying to take control of several strategic points on the map.

The variety is accomplished in a number of ways. There are three classes that play differently, a number of drivable vehicles(jeeps, tanks, boats, and fighter planes), anti-aircraft guns, machine gun nests, and the ability to control bombing runs. There are up to a dozen people on a side, giving players the opportunity to support their team's efforts in a variety of different ways depending upon their own style and preferences. Gameplay is fast and fairly quick to pick up with no need to memorize "power spots" on the maps as the only weapons you get are the ones provided with your class (which you are free to change mid game). There are no hidden power weapons.

Graphics are adequate and the sound design is great (the sound of fighters screaming overhead will make you duck in your living room). This certainly doesn't have all the game play in a full-priced game, but what it does provide is slick and fun.

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 3
Fun: 5

Overall: 8.5/10

Red Faction: Guerrilla - 8.5/10

Red Faction is a third person, sandbox, shooter where you play Alec Mason, a miner in the future who joins his brother on Mars. Things go bad pretty quick as Mars is run by corrupt conglomerates (are there any other kind) and the military who descend upon the brothers suspecting them of being in the Free Mars rebel group. Well, needless to say the brother gets killed and Alec is left with the motivation necessary to take it to the Mars overlords.

The hook of Red Faction is that it lets you run amoke with the ability to completely flatten almost every structure in the game and, quite frankly, that turns out to be a hell of a lot of fun. The down side is that the price of having fully destructable environments is that those same environments are pretty drab and uninspired. There's nothing of that feeling of being sucked in and wowed by the world that you get from a game like Farcry 2 or Grand Theft Auto IV (review pending). Similarly, the story and characters also lack any spark of life that might actually make you care about them.

That all said, the gameplay is a hoot. Besides blowing stuff up but good (you are provided with a heady arsenal of goodies for this), the combat is fast paced, varied, and satisfying. As is typical of a sandbox game, you are provided with numerous missions that you get to choose from and there is enough variety and challenge in those missions to keep the game fun right through to the end. Because of my lack of investment in the story, getting to that end is less satisfying than it otherwise would be, but the ride is a fun one.

The surprise for me in this game was its multiplayer, something I normally am not that attracted to, but here ended up eating a significant amount of my time. There is a great collection of different game types, taking full advantage of the destructable environments, and there is a wonderfull variety in the maps, ranging from close and personal to large and sprawling. Besides the sheer variety of weapons, things are spiced up even further with backpacks that bestow abilities upon the wearer: jetpacks, cloaking, damage boost, speed, etc. The end result is a face paced, multiplayer, package in which I find a heck of a lot more play value than games like Gears of War or Halo.

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Mass Effect: 8.5/10

A fun RPG from Bioware - the folks that brought us the brilliant Knights of the Old Republic. I'm not a big RPG fan but the real-time, cover based, combat makes this one an exception. You play space soldier John (or Jane) Shepard out to save the galaxy from a new, alien, threat. The universe of the game is deep and populated by a variety of well defined species, several of which you have fighting with you in your rag-tag band. There's plenty of options for classes and abilities as you level up, but none of them are too overwhelming. These abilities are fairly well balanced giving no clear "best" way to play the game.

You will also find an abundance of different weapons, armour and upgrades. The shear volume of these upgrades seems initially overwhelming until you realize that most of it is crap and will never be used - something that is a bit annoying. In fact, once you realize what the good weapons and armour are - allowing you to sell the rest making tons of cash - the game become incredibly easy as you and your squad mow down your less well equipped enemy. Even on the insane setting, the difficulty curve is a bit backwards with the first quarter of the game being the hardest, and the rest being a cake walk.

The story itself is reasonably compelling and well told with solid voice acting and character animation. Though skippable, the dialogue scenes can get a bit long. You do have some ability to steer the story in different directions through your actions, so be careful what you skip. Overall, a solid, fun, game that should get me picking up Mass Effect 2.

Story: 5
Interface: 3
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Fable 2: 8.0/10

The thing I like the most about Fable 2 is it doesn't take itself seriously at all. There's some story about some guy building some big evil tower for some reason - but who cares? This is a great big world for you to run around and be an idiot it. Impress the townsfolk by dressing like an chicken and farting, or perhaps become a demon dominatrix with a harem of spouses (either gender works) and spend your time scaring little children. It's all up to you.

If you're looking for something with balanced, tactical, gameplay, then look elsewhere. The game provides you with so many potions and resurrection phials, and the weapons and abilities are so over the top, that the thing is ridiculously easy. So much so that after three play throughs, I've yet to die once. I recall giving up on the first Fable because the combat mechanics were so cumbersome, but this "fix" really seems to over compensate as there is no challenge to this game at all. I also don't like how you seem to warp from one area to another. For me this removes any feeling of immersion in a world. This left me caring little for the story and even less for the characters (other than my dog, of course).

But perhaps I'm nick-picking. It's hard to dis a game that gives you achievements for getting people drunk and sleeping with multiple partners.

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 3
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.0/10

Assassin's Creed: 8.0/10

Receiving mixed reviews, I can certainly see how this game is not for everyone, but I loved it. It's not perfect. The unskippable dialogue scenes can be insufferably long, but I actually found the story engrossing. You play Desmond, a citizen of the near future who is prisoner of an unknown group. They place Desmond into a device that allows the user to search through his genetic memories to the time of the Crusades where an ancestor of Desmond's was an assassin in the Holy Land. The concept works amazingly well with two parallel, but somehow connected, story threads - one in the past and one in the future.

The game itself is gorgeous, with the ancient cities of Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus being stunningly realized and populated. The character animation and mechanics of moving around is so well done that simply stalking the streets and scaling buildings is a delight. The quests that you are sent on do get a bit repetitive, but I was more than willing to put up with that and will be there to pick up Assassin's Creed 2 when it comes out.

Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 3
Challenge: 3
Fun: 3

Overall: 8.0/10

Dead Rising: 7.5/10

My relationship with this game is definitely a love/hate one. It's like that girl friend that you know is no good for you but you can't help thinking about her. On the one hand I love the open game play and the simple concept - survive 72 hours in a zombie invested mall. The clock is always ticking in the game (5 minutes of real time is 1 hour of game time) and what you do during that time is up to you. You can rescue other survivors, investigate the origins of the zombie outbreak, practice your photography, or simply run amok. The thing is, with time always pressing, there is no way to do it all. You have to decide how you play the game. Capcom also made the great decision to provide a huge variety of weapons laying around. Almost everything that can be picked up can be used as a weapon, from machine guns to two-by-fours, from chainsaws to mannequins. That element of the game is a blast.

But then there's the bad. The AI of the other survivors is atrocious, often hysterically so, as it's not unusual to find them stuck in a running animation against a wall or each other with the only way of dislodging them is to rough them up a bit. The voice overs during gameplay are equally bad. Only two voice are used for every, non story, character - one male, one female - and they cycle through the same half dozen or so phrases. My kids and I have a running joke of yelling "Fraaank!", or "this can't be happening" because of this game. The unbelievably bad voice-overs are in stark contrast to the largely solid voice work and animations in the cut scenes. It almost seems like the two were made by different companies. The bosses are similarly more annoying than challenging, as are the final legs of the game. The game also has a crazy difficulty curve as you struggle to learn that many of the weapons are largely useless with no logical reason why (hitting someone with a mannequin does more damage then shooting them). Then, once you've found the right weapons (baseball bats and mini-chainsaws) they rest of the game is insanely easy.

Curiously, these deficiencies somehow add up to something fun, like a b-grade horror movie that has no right to be as entertaining as it is. If I believed that this was intentional on the part of Capcom, then I would have high hopes for Dead Rising 2, but I suspect the strange convergence was more a fortunate accident. After all, the best b-movies are the once where the director thought he was making art.

Story: 3
Interface: 2
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 7.5/10

Left 4 Dead: 9.0/10

Ah, another zombie game, but this is certainly a different animal than Dead Rising. While Dead Rising charmed me with it's quirky annoyances, Left 4 Dead is polished and perfectly balanced. Left 4 Dead is an on-line co-op game where you play one of four survivors stranded in the zombie apocalypse. You have one purpose, to get you and your friends to the rescue vehicle waiting at the end of one of four playable campaigns. Against you is wave upon wave of fast moving zombies that want nothing more than to bring you down. Oh, and did I mention, you get to play as the zombies too. By creating special zombies (or infected, as the game likes to call them) that have the ability to instantly ensnare survivors, the game forces the players to work together and cover each other's back. The loan wolf is easy pickings here.

More over, the items and enemies spawn differently each time, which is controlled by what Valve calls the "AI Director". The game actually monitors how the players are doing. Is your team really hurting? Well, maybe the director will through a med-pack your way (then again, perhaps not). Are you guys doing really well? An extra horde or two should slow you down. The variability extends right down to AI dialogue and individualized music soundtracks for each player. The amazing thing is that the game still feels polished and scripted each time you play.

If Valve is known for anything, it's for play testing the hell out of their games, and it shows. The weapons are incredible balanced with no weapon outshining the others. This extends to the four playable infected types. Despite their various abilities, forcing you to play them very differently, none is better to play than the others. In fact, their abilities complement each other well and players that play the infected like a team can devastate their opponents.

Story: 4
Interface: 5
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 5
Fun: 4

9.0/10

The Orange Box: 10/10

The Orange Box is clearly one of the best values you'll ever get out of a video game. When Valve released Episode 2 of Half Life 2 it not only packaged it with re-releases of Half Life 2 and Half Life 2 Episode 1 (yes, the titles are confusing), it also included two brand new games: Team Fortress 2 and, the star of the show, Portal. Portal alone is worth the price of the package, but let's start with the Half Life games.

If you are at all a shooter fan, but somehow have not played Half Life game, then the Orange Box is a must. Brilliantly paced, Half Life sets the standard for story telling through this medium. The story is not told through fun stopping cut scenes, but through live interactions with the environment and characters. These characters are wonderfully realized and voice acted. In fact, the character of Alyx, who accompanies you through much of the games, is, in my opinion, the best realized AI character out there. As great as the story telling is, it never gets in the way of the fun. The strider battle at the end of episode 2 is particularly intense and a blast.

Then there's Portal, the shooter unlike any you have ever played. Describing Portal just doesn't work. You have to play it. At first it may seem a bit confusing, but the game eases you into the central concept gently before you are pushed into a world of clever puzzles, and the driest wit you will find anywhere. It is often laugh out loud funny, though to say this is some kind of comedy game is dead wrong. Portal is easily one of my favourite games of all time and I quickly downloaded the expanded version, Portal - Still Alive, from XBox Live.

Finally there's Team Fortress 2, a co-op, on-line combat game. This game certainly has its fans but I really don't have much to say on it as I've never played it. I didn't think I would like the on-line gaming, but given the fun I've been having with Left 4 Dead, perhaps I should reconsider that.

Story: 5
Interface: 5
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 5
Fun: 5

Overall: 10/10

Crackdown: 8.5/10

The premise of Crackdown is a simple one. You're a genetically alter supercop in a city overrun by gangs. Your job is to clean them up in the best way you see fit, and if a few civilians get in the way, well that's the price of justice, Right? As you level up through the game your power reach superhuman proportions with you eventually leaping across rooftops and picking up and throwing cars at your enemies. Your weapons scale up to the point where you can snipe people you can't even see and rain pyrotechnic carnage upon anyone unfortunate enough to be in your way. That said, it's not like the game's a cake walk as the enemies are numerous and powerful enough to keep you challenged.

The city you play in is huge with everything open to you right from the beginning. You can literally drive right up to the final boss' digs and take him on at the beginning if you like, though good luck with that! The game has no load screens. All elements are loaded on the fly as you approach an area. It works incredibly well, making the game non-stop action and difficult to put down. The game play is completely over the top but is varied enough for it not to get dull. Great mindless fun!

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 8.5/10

Gears of War 2: 8.5/10

My three brothers are big into Gears and I've spent a respectable amount of time the past few months playing with them on-line, but I'm quickly growing bored of the thing. It's not like it's a bad game - far from it. Gears is a solid shooter. The cover based mechanics work very well, the graphics are great and, at times, stunning. The characters are memorable, with good voice work and entertaining dialogue, and there's a respectable variety in the multi-player. Although the story itself is pretty much nonsensical, there's enough variety in the campaign mode to keep you going. There's just not enough substance there to hold me for that long. I've played through the campaign three times, once in co-op, so I'm done with that. The tactics in the multi-player just seem like the same thing over and over, race for the power weapons and master the shotgun. We'll, that's not enough to keep me going indefinitely. Overall, though, it's still one of the better games to come out of last fall. I'll still be there to pick up Gears 3 when it comes out.

Story: 3
Interface: 4
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Far Cry 2: 8.5/10

Far Cry 2 is an open world, first person, shooter in which you play a mercenary in an unnamed African country. Your mission is to kill the notorious arms dealer, the Jackel. Unfortunately, you muff up the job by nearly dying of malaria and the Jackel escapes not long after the opening credits are over. You then spend most of the rest of the game leasing your skills to whomever will pay and finding other mercenary buddies who are willing to lend you a hand on your various missions. There is some attempt at trying to weave these missions into the story of the Jackel, but it is a weak one. In fact, the Jackel plays a very small roll in most of what you spend your time doing. As far as the story goes, the thing's rather aimless.

That said, the world you are put in is massive and beautifully realized. The environmental effects are the best I've ever scene. I've actually stopped what I've been doing to admire a sun set, or to watch a tree burn (eirily beautiful at night). In fact, the explosions and fire take on a life of their own. Shoot a propane tank and it doesn't just explode, it shoots a jet of fire out of the bullet whole, spinning crazily. The weather effects are also wonderful. The wind will pick up suddenly whipping the trees into a frenzy, cloud cover changes, storms roll in. It really is an accomplishment.

Although the quests can get repetative, and it's annoying that almost everyone shoots at you on sight, it's still a lot of fun. There's a large variety of weapons and you can arm yourself based upon your play style, quiet and stalking, or running in guns blazing. Although the story telling is rather scattered, I like the whole "heart of darkness" mood of the game. The various characters are well animated and the voice work is excellent. There's also multi-player (sadly no co-op which would have been awesome) and an amazingly powerful map editor if you are into that kind of thing (I'm not). Overall, the game is immersive and a lot of fun, though at times glitchy (something I'm not used to from Ubisoft Montreal). A particularly painful bug corrupts saved game files which can be very frustrating. The bug caught me a couple of times before I came up with a saving regime that worked around it. Maybe there's a patch now, but there wasn't one during the time I was playing.

Story: 4
Interface: 3
Game Play: 4
Challenge: 4
Fun: 4

Overall: 8.5/10

Halo 3: 8.0/10

Halo 3 is really my youngest son's, and I'm not a huge fan of it. I mean, it's fun and all (the vehicular mahem can be particularly enjoyable), but I found the story pretty tired by this point and the game play pretty standard. It's a solidly built game, but I get bored pretty easily. I can say my son and his on-line buddies make extensive use of the map forging abilities and have a lot of fun with it, it's just not my cup of tea.

Story: 3
Interface: 5
Game Play: 3
Challenge: 4
Fun: 3

Overall: 8.0/10

Bioshock: 9.5/10

Bioshock plays like a combination of Half Life 2 and Resident Evil 4. The story telling is reminisent of Half Life, not relying on cut scenes but instead allowing the story to evolve as you explore your environment. The gameplay is like Resident Evil minus the annoying quick-time events, ridiculous boss fights, and laughable dialogue. What reminds me most of Resident Evil are the vending machines scattered throughout the game from which you buy ammo, health, upgrades, and the like. They, of course, make no sense, but the game covers that with a quirkly sense of humour that reminds me of the merchants from Resident Evil.

Enough with the game comparisions. Bioshock is set in 1960. Your a sole survivor from a plane crash who finds refuge in the massive, under water, city of Rapture, rendered in moldy, art deco, glory. You soon realize that things ain't quite right in Rapture as the citizens are, for the most part, genetically altered lunatics lead by the cities founder, Andrew Ryan, who wanted to build a capitalist utopia free from the annoyances of government regulation and morality. The game is varied and well paced. The weapons are interesting and fun to use, especially the genetic enhancing "plasmids" that allow you to gain all kinds of nifty powers like telekenicis and the ability to shoot wasps from your hands - what fun! The mood is dark and creepy, but not overpoweringly so. The developers never forget that, above all, video games are supposed to be fun.

Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5

Overall: 9.5/10

Rating System

While on a rather dull bus ride, I started thinking about what are the things that I enjoy and value in a video game. I wanted the items to be as specific as possible, something I could definitely attach a number to. I was able to take the items on my list and put them into five broad categories.

Story: When considering my story rating I consider two things: investment and immersion. Investment is simply how long the story held my interest - was it right to the end or did it get to a point where I didn't care about the characters anymore. Immersion is how much was sucked into the world that was created.

Interface: When considering my interface rating I considered both menu interfaces and in play controls.

Game Play: Two things considered here: variety and longevity. Variety measures how often the game play is changed up. Longevity is just how long it held me interest without me getting board. This is simply a function of hours of enjoyable game play the game provides.

Challenge: Challenge includes both the mechanical challenge (hand-eye coordination) of performing the moves required, and the mental challenge of figuring out what to do. This is not just tougher being better. Bad ratings will come from a game that is too frustrating as well as a game that is to easy. Wrapped into this the learning curve associated with the game. Whether it builds your skills at an appropriate pace.

Fun: Simply put, does the game put a smile on my face.

I will give a game a rating in each of the five categories. For the overall score out of 10 - the base score is 7.5 which will be added or subtracted from based upon the following.

• 1 rating: -2 from score
• 2 rating: -1 from score
• 0 rating: zero adjustment to score
• 4 rating: +0.25 to score
• 5 rating: +0.5 from score

I'll round down to the nearest half a point. Negative scores will just be 0.0.

Starting New

I started a blog called Mike's World some time ago that was a sort of free flowing thing, but noticed, of late, that most of the posts have had to do with video games. I thought I would start a second one devoted solely to games and stop posting this stuff at Mike's World. Hopefully, that will be a little cleaner.

I only review games that I have at least attempted to play all the way through. As such, these reviews will tend towards games I like. I'm not playing games I don't enjoy.

There already a bunch of reviews at Mike's World. So I'll start by copying those over to here.