Halo Wars and Peter Jackson's Halo Project

Halo Wars Coming Soon To Your XBox 360

Big news announced yesterday at the Microsoft X06 event held in Barcelona Spain. Although nothing was mentioned of Halo 3 (the guys at bungie said there wouldn't be), there were two very large announcements. Have you ever thought of playing a real time strategy Halo game? Well, you soon will be able to in Halo Wars, a RTS being co-developed by Bungie and Ensemble. For those of you who don't know, Ensemble are the creators of the Age of Empires series and have achieved quite a bit of success in the RTS field for PC gaming. Halo Wars however, will be exclusively for the XBox 360 and has been designed and built that way from the ground up. Imagine controlling a bunch of Warthogs and Scorpion tanks against the Covenant! Too cool! The story is set during the time when the UNSC first encounters Covenant forces and it should be a fierce battle judging by the game's trailer.

Halo Wars Trailer

In other breaking news, and even MORE surprising in my opinion, a new Halo game is being developed by famous director Peter Jackson! Yes, good 'ol PJ himself, the man who brought us the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong has started his own game development company along with screenwriter and wife Fran Walsh called Wingnut Interactive. They have teamed up with Bungie and have begun work on "a new chapter in the Halo universe" which as of yet remains untitled. Will it be a sequel, prequel, or something totally different? As usual, microsoft is keeping it under wraps for the time being. Bungie has only said "it will be a blend of gameplay and storytelling quite unlike anything the games industry has ever seen before". I can't wait to find out more info. I'll post it here as it is revealed. So, ADD THIS BLOG TO YOUR FAVORITES!


Peter Moore and Peter Jackson at X06 Barcelona

Peter Moore and the Sony Grudge

Peter Moore, British soccer fan and fearless XBox 360 Team Capain

To say Peter Moore has a grudge against Sony would be an understatement. Recruiting him was a smart move on Microsoft's part. Why you ask? Because, he was the head of Sega when a little thing called the PS2 came along and kicked their ass, putting them out of the console game market. Ouch! T'was a shame my laddies! Now Peter Moore is licking his chops for Sony, and now he has the immense monetary backing of Microsoft behind him. I'm sure they had a little party at Microsoft, or at least a joyous impromptu meeting, when Sony announced their $600 price point. And the lack of a substantial hardware release, rumored at only 400,000 units for the U.S., has Peter smiling like the devilish presskateer that he is. Yes, he is a presskateer, hyping up everyone for things like Halo 2, to Grand Theft Auto 4, to XBox live. Just look at how cool he is.


Why can't I be this hard?

How can he generate such hype? Is it his outlaw looks? That clever up to no good smirk? I don't know, but he's definitely a character. Maybe it's because he's from Liverpool Endgland, and that's where the Beatles come from.


Not Peter Moore. This is Lee Van Cleef.


Not Lee Van Cleef. This is Peter Moore.

All I know for sure is that he is hellbent on the destruction of Sony. And he might not even need any help. Sony has stepped up to the plate with a somewhat cocky attitude with outrageous quotes like "The next huge leap in technology doesn't come until we launch." Many gamers are insulted at the $600 price tag and potential $60-$100 a game threat. Not only is Sony competeing with Microsoft, but Apple has been owning them in the portable media department, a niche previously dominated by Sony and its different incarnations of the Walkman. Sony's attemps to de-throne the iPod have all failed. In the realm of video games however, Kaz Hirai, head of Playstation America, says that Sony is "the leadership company" of the video game market and that they will set the bar of what a next-gen entertainment should be. Eventhough the success of the PS2 has made Sony the current leader of the market, industry insiders are wondering if Sony will "pull a Sega", and that would be Peter Moore's ultimate Revenge! To give you an idea of what Sony is up against, Microsoft has a cash reserve of $38 billion to promote the XBox, where as Sony on the other hand only has $6 billion. Besides loosing money manufacturing PS3 units, they will loose almost $2 billion on the PS3 by March.


The PS3. It will cost you $600 to buy one. But, Sony will let you touch one for only $50.

Now Microsoft is saying things like "Instead of paying $600 for a PS3, everyone should go out and buy a XBox 360 AND a Wii." Industry execs are saying that if the PS3 fails, then it may be Bye Bye Sony. Gamers want a PS3, but most can't afford them. And even if they could, they probably won't be able to get one this year with such a limited release. Meanwhile, Peter Moore is hyping up of Gears of War and anticipating the release of Halo 3, harnessing its power, and preparing to give the PS3 a Halo Hadokken!


Conjuring up the energy of a Halo 3 Hadokken!

Tokyo Game Show: Let Me Touch Your Wii Wii!

Nintendo doesn't typically even show at the Tokyo Game Show, for whatever reason I don't know, but some third-party releases were on display last week at the show(about a baker's dozen).



Now, Japan is infamous for it's love of the "cute". You know, squeaky little big-headed creatures with baby-like proportions and hugely separated dots for eyes above a sliver of a mouth? Yeah, you know what I mean...
If you go there you'll see it everywhere: On your menu, on your vending machine drink, and it's definitely in their games. In their culture it even goes as far as a prefered behavioural trait for Japanese girls. They try their hardest to emulate the "cute".



I'm not a huge fan of the "cute". It never really bothered me though. For awhile I actually kind of enjoyed it (up until about the year 2000. Now, the U.S. has been flooded with Japanese "cute" stuff (at least L.A. has been) and I'm so sick of it. I really don't wan't to see the "cute" when I play my next-gen systems either. But, Nintendo, the video game company definitely most representative of the Japanese culture, has brought forth the "cute" once again. And it is in full force on the Wii. With that said said, lets look at some of the games shown last week at TGS. (images courtesey of ign.com)

Oh, and one more thing...If I see another advertisement with OLD PEOPLE playing a Wii, I'm going to PUKE! Give me a break Nintendo!

Bomberman Land - Looks very uh, well...cute. Seems to be more like a Mario Party-type game rather than your traditional Bomberman game. If I was five, or a Japanese schoolgirl, I would like it. Considering I'm neither, I don't care how fun it is, I wouldn't be able to get into it.





Sonic and the Secret Rings - Out of all the Sonic games coming out for the next-gen systems, I think this one captures the look and feel of Sonic the most. Now here is a title in which the Wii's cartoony graphics help it's look. The levels look like 3D versions of The Green Hill Zone, and The Marble Zone. The whole concept of a 3D Sonic game has always been a little off for me. I've felt that way ever since I played Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. Also, highly rendered Sonic environments don't look right. Such as, Sonic the Hedghog on the 360. But, a proper-looking Sonic game might be fun with the Wii's motion controller. I've watched someone play the demo version and it looked fun, but the controller movents weren't translating smoothly into the game. The poor tracking made the animations look jumpy. The same problem I've seen with other Wii titles. Hopefully they'll fix that.





Kororinpu - A marble rolling game. Looks fun.....NOT! Maybe it's for the "Old People" we see in the Wii ads. I just feel there's better ways to spend my day. Now, REAL marbles rock on the other hand. Just not in a game.



Heroes - A new action game by Grasshopper, the guys who brought us Killer 7. It shares a similar animated look, which isn't bad, but the characters and voice acting in the trailer were ridiculous. Ridiculous as in BAD. I'm not feeling it. Here's a link to the trailer: Heroes Trailer

Samurai Warriors Wave - A game where you fight hordes of samurai by using the Wii controller to slash with your sword. This could be fun, but like most Wii titles, the graphics character models look sub-par. I know when Nintendo designed the Wii, graphics weren't the focus. And I know it's supposed to be about the gameplay experience. But, wouldn't the experience be a little better if the graphics were a little better? The answer is YES! I'd still like to try out this game.





Elebits - The full title of this game is actually "Elebits: Return of the Cute", just kidding. In this game you search everywhere for the little Elebits, mischievous creatures who are the source of all the world's power (having said that, the Elebits in my computer must be EXTRA mischievous!). You use the Wii controller to push and pull objects in the environment to search and capture the elebits. It sounds fun, but it's not my style. I can imagine a lot of girls gigling and playing this. I'd personally rather blow up the elebits, especially if they were SPACE PIRATES! Where's my Metroid Prime 3!!!



Super Swing Golf - Oh come on! The characters! They look ridiculous! This can only be fun if you're a cosplayer or a perv! Or better yet, a cosplaying perv! Gimme a break!






Fishing Master - Ugh.....If I want to play an N64 game, I'll play an N64 game! Oh wait, i get it. It's for the "Old People"....



Oh yeah, and there will be a Harvest Moon Heroes for all of you Harvest Moon fans (yawn....)

Well, lets not forget the Wii is releasing Zelda: Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3. They just weren't shown because they are produced by Nintendo and like I said before, Nintendo wasn't at the show. Overall, judging from what I've seen over the past few months, the Wii's releases seem to be cartoony, cutesy, and N64-looking which I do not like. Not everything, but most of what I've seen. The Wii Sports games look terrible. Come on! Their body parts aren't even connected! How nice of Nintendo to include their Wii testing demos for us to play with the system.





The only thing next-gen about the system is the controller. It seems evident to me that we can't really compare the Wii to the other systems coming out. It's sort of its own entity. It's own thing. It seems Nintendo opted for a new gaming experience, perhaps inspired by the DS. Anyway, I don't know. I'll have to play some Wii games myself. I'm not getting it at launch though. Inject some testosterone into it. PLEASE!

Tokyo Game Show: PS3 Games Shown

Many are still skeptical regarding the release and potential success of the PS3. From a technical standpoint, it is the most powerful, and the system is from Sony who is the current leader in the video game market. But, when the topic of price enters the discussion, many become weary and even somewhat offended as a gamer. Rumoured at a retail cost of $600 for the full version of the system has many crying treason. The PS3 has a lot of proving to do and that may be hard due to the fact that a mere 400,000 units will be released here in America in November.

There are some definite stand outs in the small line-up of games shown at this weeks Tokyo Game Show, so let's take a look at a few of them. (Images courtesy of ign.com)

Genji 2: Days of the Blade - The next-gen follow up to the PS2 title Genji by Game Republic Studio, tells a story of evil and honor in feudal Japan. Looks quite impressive. New additions are more playable characters, new gameplay elements, and more diverse game levels.



Lair - An insanely great-looking game in which you ride dragons and battle dragons while wearing a cool-looking suit of armor. I definitely want to play this one and I am really looking forward to it. Look at the gameplay footage below. Amazing.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma - By Rockstar, the guys who brought you the original Ninja Gaiden on the XBox. Though not actually a "sequel", Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a total revamped full version of their original Ninja Gaiden game for the XBox. Everything involving graphics and controls will be upgraded and new moves and weapons will be added to the game. Not only will you be able to play as everyone's favorite ninja Ryu Hayabusa, but you will also be able to play through the game as Racheal and see the storyline through her eyes. I've seen the game in action, and to tell you the truth, it didn't look any better than the Xbox version. In fact, I prefer the way the Xbox version looked better. I'll have to see the game when it's done. Maybe it will improve.



Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War - By Omega Force Team, the same development team responsible for the Dynasty Warriors series. The difference? It's medieval knights instead of samurai! Can you say COOL?!

Eye Of Judgement: Conquerors Of Nine Fields - Um, is it just me, or do the Japanese love long ridiculous game titles? Maybe it's just me. Anyway, this as an amazing game that incorporates the use of the newly redesigned Eyetoy video camera accessory. Players hold a playing card within the camera's field of vision and a monster is seemingly brought to life in glorious 3D for on the monitor screen. It looks amazing. Put two or more monsters next to eachother and motion for them to attack and they proceed to breath fire and growl. This looks like something out of the future. If I had this when I was 12, it would have blown my mind! I still find it pretty awesome and I want it. Haha!

Afrika - One of the titles that has been reinforced by Sony's management for some reason is Afrika. It's about, well...we don't really know what it's about and the execs aren't saying for some reason, but it looks absolutely BORING! I'd entertain you with a screenshot, but I'm assuming you've all seen a picture of a hippo or a zebra before. So far, that's about all that has been shown. Oh yeah, and lions and dry grass. You get the idea.

Vitua Fighter 5 - The Virtua Fighter series is huge in Japan. Here, not so much. If you've ever played a Virtua Fighter game you'll know why. Ok that's a bit harsh, but really, it's not that great. I'm sure Japanese fans are excited about this one.

Resistance: Fall Of Man - An awesome looking game by Insomnic Games about an alternate reality taking place at the time of WWII. Imagine that WWII never happened because we were invaded by aliens? Sound cool? Well, it is! Sort of Halo meets Medal of Honor and Call of Duty 2. Very cool game. I was at Insomniac studios in July and they were hard at work on it. It's slated to be a release title with the PS3 in November. Hopefully they will finish.

Warhawk - This is based on the original PS1 game. However, this time around, you can pilot aircraft, ground vehicles, and also participate in battles as infantry. It makes use of the PS3 motion controller (Nintendo Rip-off) to control the plane. The game looks pretty good and might be fun if done correctly. I'll give it a shot.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - If you haven't seen the video of this game, go look for it and watch it(IGN has good clips) because, disappointing is an understatement. It looks TERRIBLE! It's super slow and the animations are garbage. It looks like a beginning 3D animation student made the game. When the laser sword hits the enemy, there is no contact! It's so bad. I seriously hope for their sake they fix it, or else I predict a lot of 4.0 ratings on Gamefly for it.

Some other games shown were a much hyped slasher action title called Heavenly Sword (looks boring), Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII VS. (which won't be done for four more years probably), and some Japanese release-only titles (hopefully), Railfan , a train simulator, a few girlfriend game simulators (loosers!) and a couple games regarding Mahjong (ugh...) . Armored Core 4 and Assasin's Creed will be coming soon, and lets not forget our old friend Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Snake! You are my IDOL!

2006 Tokyo Game Show Update: XBox 360

The Xbox 360 has had a bit of a slow start, with some great-looking, yet not so entertaining list of titles, that is with the exception of a few (Call Of Duty 2, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth....) but their next wave of titles is promising to be a lot stronger. Here are some of the new games Microsoft had on display at the Tokyo Game Show this week and a couple pics of a few of them. I recommend going to your favorite video game site and downloading the new video clips for these games. Most are quite amazing. It is evident that the next-gen is upon us with some of these titles: (images courtesy of IGN.com)

Gears of War - Microsoft has been pushing this title as their next Halo until Halo 3 comes out. I don't think it could ever live up to Halo 3's hype, but the game looks darn good! I have to admit, I'm impressed! (FYI I'm one of the hardest people in the world to impress....I hate everything....I'm not joking) The gameplay footage looks awesome and the overall design is sort of like Halo, but a lot darker. The game is also a 3rd person shooter but plays like a FPS. It's sort of like a Resident Evil 4 control scheme. I'm looking forward to playing it.

Half-Life 2 - Spectacular. Very cool FPS that looks quite stunning. Can't wait to try it. You need to watch video of this game to appreciate it.

Lost Planet - Very awesome. Third person shooter with great graphics and design style. Fight aliens and giant monsters on a hostile frozen planet. Looks promising.

Project Sylpheed - A very Macross/Robotech-looking arcade-style shooter. Shooter as in, you pilot a spaceship shooter. Looks fun.

The Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II - If any of you haven't played the first installment (LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth) you should rent it or buy it right now. It's totally a blast to play, especially if you are a fan of Warcraft and Starcraft-type strategy games. It was a pleasant surprise.

There were also some titles announced that I was surprised to find out that they would be released on the XBox 360. I had originally assumed they would be PS3 exclusive games. It looks like Microsoft will be stealing some of Sony's fire by releasing Armored Core 4 and Assasin's Creed on the 360.

Assasin's Creed - In case you haven't heard about or seen Assasin's Creed, Take a look at the pics below. That's actual gameplay footage (or so they say). You play an assasin that must sneak around through populated areas and kill your target, then escape without being caught. Non-player characters will either try to help you, or hinder you depending on your actions.

Armored Core 4 - Nothing has really beed said about this game. We're all assuming it's going to be a typical Armored Core game but better looking. Hopefully they will improve on the gameplay and missions though. The series needs a makeover badly. Still looking forward to playing it though.

Gundam Mobile Ops: The One Year War - If this game plays anything like the PS3 Gundam game that's coming out, then it's going to hurt. The PS3 Gundam, well let's put it this way, it's complete drudgery. I think the world is tired of sluggish mech fighting. I'll choose Armored Core over Gundam any day. The mechs look way better also.

Blue Dragon - This is the first RPG title by Mistwalker studios. The new studio formed by Square-Enix's Hironobu Sakaguchi. Character design is done by one of my favorite artists, Akira Toriyama. The game is about a young boy who goes on an adventure with his two friends and a blue dragon. It looks very kiddy, but might be good.

Lost Odyssey - The second RPG title by Mistwalker studios. The footage I have seen of this game kicks A**. It has a dark medieval yet futuristic look and is graphically very impressive. The action cut scenes and the gameplay are seamless and well animated, making it an RPG worth playing. The turn-based battles are worth playing just to see all of the animations take place. Very cool.

Viva Pinata - This is a very weird game coming out where you tend to a farm full of living pinata animals. Yes, pinata animals, like the kind you hit with a wooden stick on your birthday. I don't know who dreamt this one up, but they should talk you the guy who invented Katamari Damacy and they should get married. I'll pass on this one.

And let's not forget about Call of Duty 3. If it's anywhere near as good as Call of Duty 2, then I'll take it. The original Call of Duty on the PS2 was not very good in my opinion. However, it seems they re-vamped the series for the next-gen systems and they became totally different games.

So, these were the games that caught my eye for the 360's showing at the Tokyo Game Show this week. Next post, the PS3.

Confirmed Wii Games List

Check out this direct link to wii.com to see the confirmed release list of Wii games.

http://wii.nintendo.com/games_list.html

I hate to say, I'm only interested in playing about 4 of those titles.

Ninja Gaiden 3 Coming to PS3

Team Rockstar, the same team who brought us Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black fro the Xbox, has begun development on Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3. Though not actually a "sequel", Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a total revamped full version of their original Ninja Gaiden game for the XBox. Everything involving graphics and controls will be upgraded and new moves and weapons will be added to the game. Not only will you be able to play as everyone's favorite ninja Ryu Hayabusa, but you will also be able to play through the game as Racheal and see the storyline through her eyes. No release date has been set as the game is only 25% into the development phase.

Japanese PS3 Launch Release Titles

Here are the Japanese PS3 game titles that will be available at launch on November 11th, care of Famitsu Magazine.

Mahjong Fight Club -Konami
Genji 2 - SCEJ
Gundam: Target in Sight - Bandai Namco
Ridge Racer 7 - Bandai Namco
Sega Golf Club - Sega

Revised Top Ten

I felt it was time for a revision of my top ten after playing the amazingly awesome game by Sony called Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2. I think this game is brilliant and I have been waiting for something this good for a long time. I will post a review of this game very soon. But for now, here is my new top 10 game list of all time in random order.

1. Chrono Trigger - SNES
2. Herzog Zwei - Genesis
3. Metroid Prime - Gamecube
4. Shadow of the Colossus -PS2
5. Castlevania IV - SNES
6. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes - Gamecube
7. Mega Man - NES
8. Ghouls and Ghosts -Genesis
9. Metroid -NES
10. Halo 1 & 2 -XBOX

Zelda: Twilight Princess: Bad Controls?

After watching some actual gameplay footage on IGN.com, My cousin and I were pretty underwhelmed at how Twilight Princess was looking when being controlled by the Wii-mote controller. Link looked all screwed up and stiff and the player really seemed to have trouble controlling him. It's like the controls weren't translating into the moves and animation properly.

You can take a look for yourself here if you watch the "Bow and Arrow" clip: http://media.wii.ign.com/media/748/748589/vids_1.html

Then I read this short impression by reviewer Geoff Keighley on Gamefly:

" The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the highest profile release, even though I was kind of underwhelmed by the complicated control scheme at E3 (Rumor has it that Nintendo has changed the controls in response to the negative feedback). "

Seems like we are not the only ones noticing this. The problem could be that the game was originally made for the Gamecube and then later tranlasted over into the Wii's development kit. On the other hand, Metriod Prime 3 looks just fine as far as animation and controls go. I plan to play both the Gamecube Zelda and the Wii version, so we'll see how it goes. The Gamecube version better be spectacular considering they've been working on it for about 5 years. I remember seeing it at the San Diege Comic Con 4 years ago!

Metroid Prime NOT to be a Nintendo Wii Launch title

In case you haven't heard, Nintendo has announced that they are not releasing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption as a launch title as previously stated. Prime 3 is scheduled to come out sometime next year, much to my personal dismay. I was very bummed to hear this, since I am a HUGE Metroid fan and have been waiting to play a new Metroid game for a long time. I was pleasanlty surprised to find out that Nintendo was planning to release it as a launch title and couldn't believe that they were releasing a new Zelda AND Metroid game at launch. Unfortunately, 'tis not true my friends! To tell you the honest truth, the reason why I was going to buy a Wii was to play Metroid. Now that there won't be a Metroid 'till next year, I won't be getting a Wii 'till next year!

Nintendo Wii US Release date

The US release date for the Nintendo Wii was revealed today as well as its retail price. The Wii will be available in the US November 19th for only $249.99. It will ship with 1 Wii-remote controller, 1 Wii Nunchuk controller, and 5 different Wii sports games which be be included on one disc. 30 software titles are promised to be released by December 31st. On the Nintendo official site they are saying that original Nintendo game titles are going to be priced at $49.99. Although, in their Japanese press conference yesterday, they listed Zelda: Twilight Princess at 6500 Yen, which comes close to $65.00 here in the US. We'll see what the price will be when it releases as a launch title along with the Wii.

The Wii will be fully backwards compatible with all Gamecube games and Gamecube controllers. But, it looks like it will only be released in the color white, with additional colors most likely being released at a later time in the same manner as the DS or Gameboy Advance.

For the full article, head over to nintendo.com

Nintendo Wii Japanese Press conference

Nintendo announced the following details at their press conference in Japan today. For the moment we can only speculate on the US release details until the US press conference, which is supposedly happening tomorrow. A reporter at the New York Times prematurely listed pricing data and November release date information ealier today. These figures are highly in doubt and now believed to be incorrect. The article has since been pulled from the web. Here are the Japanese figures courtesy of the Gameworld Network:

-Virtual Console will accept purchases via credit card, or via prepaid cards purchased in-stores.

-30 Nintendo games and 30 Genesis and Turbografix games will be out before the end of the year. 10 new Virtual Console games will be released every month from then on.

-Virtual Console game pricing has now been officially confirmed. Iwata says the price of each game will start at 500 Yen ($5.00), with SNES games going for 800 Yen ($8.00), and N64 games costing 1000 Yen ($10.00).

-Press release lists Wii contents: Console, Wii remote with strap, Nunchuck attachment, AC adaptor, A/V cable, console stand, sensor bar, sensor bar stand, and two AA batteries.

-Official release date in Japan is December 2nd. Price is 25000 Yen (approximately US$212)
Which means it will probably cost $250 here as has been speculated.

-Cost of the accessories sold separately: Wii remote: 3,800 Yen (US$32), Classic controller: 1,800 Yen (US$15), Nunchuck attachment: 1,800 Yen (US$15).

-16 games will be available on launch day from 10 different publishers. Cost of the games will be as reported earlier, 4,800 to 6,800 Yen. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be a full price game at 6,800 Yen (about $65.00).

I knew they wouldn't be ready to release the Wii in September or October as some were speculating. I wonder if it will even release here in December. Sites like IGN and Gamasutra are reporting that the Wii will release in November in the US as well, however I don't know if that will be possible considering its December Japanese release date.

If the virtual console game prices are close to as listed here then that would be good. $5.00 for an old NES game is fine and $8.00 for a SNES game is definitely fair. Let's hope they re-release games people like. (Contra and Bionic Commando anyone?) I'm not surprised about the regular game pricing. $65 for Zelda: Twilight Princess seems logical. Still, I think $50 is too much for a game. I like paying $20. I remember saving forever to pay $50 for a NES game when I was younger.

Star Wars: Rouge Leader: Rougue Squadron II Game Review

Another old Review I did for consolegameworld.com. This time for Star Wars: Rougue Leader: Rougue Squadron II. I rated it an 80% out of 100%. When I look back on the past few Star Wars games, I would have to say that they are pretty boring and lacking compared to todays standards. A couple of years ago, they were pretty good, but Lucasarts is going to have to get a lot better to compete with the awesome openended games coming out lately.

“Red Five standing by!”

LucasArts truly captures the feel of being in a Star Wars movie with Star Wars: Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2. If you’re a fan of the Star Wars franchise, then you will definitely want to check this title out. Rogue Leader is the latest installment of the classic X-Wing series of flight simulator shooters released several years ago initially on the PC. For those who have been following the series, you’ll know that these are generally great games and very fun to play if Star Wars is your cup of tea.

From the minute you turn your system on, you are propelled into the Star Wars universe. The menu screen is presented with a moving video backdrop of actual selected clips from the classic Star Wars trilogy, while a fanfare of familiar theme music is played as you make your selection. Rogue Leader’s format is mission-based around a flight simulator style action shooter. You proceed through the game mission by mission engaging the enemies of the Empire over familiar terrain from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. As you complete missions, more ships are unlocked for your use. On certain missions, more than one ship is available for flight, however, you learn from experience that certain ships are much better suited to handle certain missions. With the X-Wing being the most versatile overall, you will find yourself gravitating toward it most of the time. On the other hand, it is very pleasing to get behind the controls of the Millennium Falcon and the Naboo Fighter.

Your progress is saved via different passcodes which are given to you upon completion of a mission. There are also many passcodes that enable you to unlock certain features and bonuses of the game. One of them is being able to play as Darth Vader and make use of the classic TIE, his TIE Advanced, or even Boba Fett’s Slave-1, a very slow machine. You are able to re-enact the classic torpedo-run mission to destroy the Death Star, but rather than attacking it, you are defending it as Vader and chasing down rebel pilots. Quite exciting to say the least!

Of course this game has the classic Training Mission to help you get accustomed to the controls, and surprisingly, the Training Mission is actually fun. Who wouldn’t want to blow up a herd of Banthas and bomb some Womprats while piloting a T-16 Skyhopper? The game controls are done very well and the ships are a blast to pilot. You are able to switch from cockpit to rear-view and also are given a radar system and targeting computer. The targeting computer is a very cool apparatus enabling you to see enemies which are otherwise concealed by deep-space nebulas and the like. Rogue Squadron missions are usually fun to play and quite intense, however, there are a few that are just a bore and a little irritating. The first couple missions are fairly easy, whereas the later missions in the game, most notably the last, can be very difficult even if you are an experienced gamer. The bonus missions are great. Two of them will have you playing the role of Vader, and the other two will have you in the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo featuring actual audio from the movies.

The sound in the game is superb. From the laser blasts and ship noises, down to the excellent voice acting. I was very surprised to find out that the voice of Vader and Luke in the game were actually voice actors and not James Earl Jones and Mark Hamill. The famous Rebel wingman Wedge Antilles even sounds like Wedge. They did an excellent job on the audio overall. As you play the game you will be giving out a lot of orders. You ARE the Rogue Leader remember? By use of your controller D-pad you send out your commands which are displayed on-screen and you issue orders upon the request of your wingmates and other Rebel forces. While playing the game you realize that your men need much direction. Actually, at times you feel like they are complete idiots. I don’t mind giving an order once, or maybe twice, but every couple minutes? Come on guys, when we’re getting bombarded by TIE fighters, attack the TIE fighters! At times you feel like you are doing the entire mission on your own and are single-handedly saving the universe.

At the end of each mission you are presented with end-of-mission statistics and scoring showing your overall performance and whether you complete the mission or are awarded a medal for your skills. These are somewhat helpful in seeing what you need to get better at to progress to the next level. The medals are used to unlock bonus missions. Luckily, you are able to repeat the mission as many times as you like to earn the best medal possible. I would have to say that the biggest setback of the game is its missions with several parts, each of which are usually considerably difficult. If it were possible to save your progress after each mission segment, some being as long and as difficult as a mission themselves, it would be an incredible help and I would rate this great game a little higher. Having to repeat an entire mission consisting of several 10-15 minute segments with an already badly damaged ship can seam a little unfair and ridiculous at times.

Now, I don’t necessarily like cheating on a game until I’ve beaten it without aid the first time around, but for this game I would have to recommend finding a passcode listing and getting all the cheat codes for it. They are available in videogame magazines and on websites. The fun factor of this game greatly increases after you input the codes and access all of the game options. You will have complete fighter access (on levels that allow it) and also be able to fly a cadillac, that’s right, a cadillac through space.

Overall, this is a fun and challenging game with beautiful sound and graphics. It’s a nice addition to a collection and a recommended play for those who are flight simulation shooter fans. There are some really cool stages and fun options to explore when unlocked. Being able to interact with the Star Wars universe is always a blast and Lucas Arts does a great job with this game as a whole.

Reviewed by Brian Ill.

Medal Of Honor: Frontline Game Review

I decided to re-post a couple old reviews I did from consolegameworld.com. They base their grades on a 100% scale. I gave the game an 85% Which would be a 4 out of 5 stars or an 8.5 out of 10. Here's the first:

Medal Of Honor: Frontline

One thing that is noticeable in games these days is the realism that can be achieved with the ground- breaking graphics, animation, and sound. This is certainly evident in Electronic Arts’ Medal of Honor: Frontline. You play the role of an American G.I. named Jimmy Patterson and are immediately thrust into a fierce opening combat sequence putting you on the beach, on D-Day, fighting for your life against overwhelming German forces. With the game’s first person perspective gameplay, the level of realism is very potent and I have to say that the first time I played this game I was shocked, confused, and scared. I guess this is what soldiers might have actually felt landing on the beach on D-Day, seeing their friends and fellow soldiers shot and blown into the air by enemy fire. It’s all here in this game. The sounds, the atmosphere, it is even quite disturbing at times. The rumble feature on the controller makes the feeling even more realistic. This game is very much an experience.

Your goal in this game is to play though its numerous and sometimes lengthy missions. These assignments range between all out war, troop support, and a lot of sneaking around. Many missions have you fighting alongside a couple of computer controlled soldiers who actually are quite capable fighters. I would have to say that the solo missions, especially those which enable you to utilize a sniper rifle, are the most engaging and entertaining. This game really drew me in and I became very absorbed while playing it. I really felt like I was on those missions and would try everything possible to stay alive and complete my assignment. Upon completion of a level, you are awarded a medal if you successfully achieve your objectives and do so at a high level. This requires accurate shooting, a close to full health meter, and a high number of enemies eliminated. These criteria are displayed on a stat-screen after each mission and gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded accordingly.

As you progress though different missions, certain weapons are made available for use. You will learn that certain weapons are better than others depending on the situation and in general.The sniper rifle is by far the best weapon of the game. You will be able to use a couple different versions of this weapon as the game progresses. I became very proficient with this weapon and I would advise that you do the same if you want to get far in this game. The ability to look at enemies through the rifle’s scope makes hitting targets much easier. It takes practice to get good at using the rifle though, but when you have it down, you will do well in this game. Other weapons such as grenades are very useful when you need to get out of a tough situation, which becomes frequent in the game’s later levels. I recommend using rifles and pistols, especially those which can be equipped with a silencer. The other weapons in the game, with the exception of the shotgun, tend to be very inaccurate and require frequent reloading. The machine guns are the worst. At times I found myself shooting directly at an adversary at point-blank range and missing. The controls are somewhat customizable and work well for this game. I became so used to them it’s difficult for me to play other first-person games without the same control system. I’m still a fan of using the right and left shoulder buttons for strafing and you are able to do so in this game. Hold down the Z button and you’re looking through your sniper rifle scope. You can then move the control stick or zoom in and out with the control pad to position your crosshairs.

Overall I liked the control very much. The gameplay of this game is very immersive, even more so if you turn down the game’s not so inspiring soundtrack so you can hear the great sound effects for added realism. The music is OK, but I couldn’t stand the high pitched singing going on while accessing the menu screen. In general, I think it’s better to turn the music down when you play games of this nature so you can hear if there’s a bad guy sneaking up on you from around the corner. The voice acting is great. The graphics on the other hand could have been better. I’ve played both the PS2 and GameCube versions of Frontline and I was hoping that the GameCube graphics would be a little better because they generally are. However, I was somewhat disappointed regarding the graphics of the game. They’re good, but there are many other games out there that far surpass them. The 3D level and background modeling looks a bit thin and is transparent and overly polygonal at times. The people and characters look very good on the other hand, and the animation is very good as well.

I really liked seeing so many of the different German uniforms represented in the many different terrains of the game. Enemy soldiers react differently depending on how and where their bodies are shot. Shoot a guy in the foot, he hops; in the leg, he hurts bad; in the head, well, you get the idea.

The biggest problem with this game, and also the main contributing factor as to why I did not give this game a higher mark, is its bug problem. This game is full of bugs! I don’t know who did the testing for this title, but they weren’t thorough enough. I’m an aggressive player. If there are bugs in a game, I tend to find them or cause them by my manner of playing. Unfortunately, bugs tend to happen in the middle of a difficult mission, causing you to replay it from the beginning which can be frustrating. The main problem seems to be with solidity of objects. This game is especially weak in that department. I could write a small section regarding the bugs in this game, however, I’ll briefly indulge you here. In one mission, I had infiltrated a German U-boat base and was on an upper level deck firing down at enemies on the lower level surrounding a submarine in an enclosed pool. As I was shooting down at them, I was leaning against a handrail on the walkway and shooting over it. Due to a bug, I somehow passed through the rail and fell into the submarine docking pool which there was no way out of. While in the pool I could walk though the submarine as if it were transparent and the enemy soldiers could continue shooting at me. As there was no way out of the somewhat deep pool, I had to reset the game. In another instance, I was running across a street in a side-stepping strafing manner throwing hand grenades at a tank. There were hedges running along the sides of the street which were part of the background and were to serve as impassable barriers on either side of the street. Due to a bug, I somehow became stuck in one of these hedges. I defeated the tank, but alas, could not defeat the hedge. I became a permanent part of it. I tried everything to escape it, but it held me tight like a newborn babe. Anyway, you get the idea. If it wasn’t occurrences like this, it was one of my allies running straight into a wall until a tank repeatedly shot him to death.

An added bonus to the game is the multiplayer feature which enables up to four players the chance to duke it out WWII-style. Many multiple terrains and environments such as factories and buildings are selectable, as well as various weapon sets featuring different groups of weapons for play. This mode is pretty cool, though it can be difficult at times to see when the screen is split into four sections for the four player vs. mode. Also, all players must be somewhat equal in ability to ensure a worthy challenge.

The most positive aspect of this game is it’s replay value. I love playing missions over and over. The game becomes more fun as you progress and get better at shooting. It’s also great knowing where enemies will be hiding so you can take them out quick and easy. The ability to replay all past missions is great. The difficulty of this game is close to perfect. You will have to be quite proficient with the GameCube controller, or at least learn to be, to be good at this game though. Also, this game is very violent. There is no blood, but some people are very disturbed when they see me shoot a sleeping Nazi in the head with my sniper rifle. Remember, the game looks very real, but we all know it’s just a game.

I really like the concept behind the Medal of Honor series and many, as well as myself, are looking forward to the new upcoming fall 2003 release titled Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. In this next adventure, the player will find himself fighting Japanese forces in the dark jungles of the south pacific and Pearl Harbor. Hopefully, Electronic Arts will have their bugs exterminated by then and will improve on their graphics a bit. Overall, I really like Medal of Honor: Frontline and I would recommend buying this game and showing it to your war veteran fathers, or military friends. They will get a kick out of it.

Reviewed by Brian Ill.