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50 Cent: Bulletproof
187 Ride Or Die
187 Ride Or Die
Alias
All-Star Baseball 2003
American McGee's Scrapland
Americas Army - Rise of A Soldier [German Version]
Amped 2
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Career mode is divided into four parts: high score, media, sponsor and pro ride. High score challenges the player to pile on as many tricks as possible. Media requires the player to execute tricks at certain points where a photographer is waiting. Sponsor mode focuses on a particular group of tricks. For instance, one sponsor may favour grinds over airs, so players better make sure to grind everything in site to win the sponsor's gear. This mode is also the least forgiving since it's the only one where mistakes detract from the overall score. Finally pro ride has the player follow and out-trick one of 17 professional riders in a follow-the-leader manner. Multiplayer mode allows up to four players to participate in a round-robin tournament with numerous selectable conditions. Graphically the game isn't as sharp as EA's SSX Tricky, nor are the physics and pace as extreme. That isn't to say the game looks bad. The real-life locations of Stratton, Brighton, Altibahn and more look great. The soundtrack features more than 50 songs in a wide array of genres including electronica, hip-hop, rap, punk, ska and reggae. Players can also opt to use their own soundtrack off the Xbox hard drive, so they can snowboard to Journey and Air Supply as nature intended. —Raymond M Padilla And1: Streetball
Area 51
ATV Quad Power Racing 2
The game incorporates a wide array of well-rendered racers, vehicles, and locations. The various racing courses are elaborate and nicely detailed. You can knock competitors out of your way by administering a solid kick while passing—not exactly sportsmanlike behaviour, but gratifyingly reminiscent of the classic Road Rash. For tricksters and stunt-riders, the freestyle arenas offer a candy store of possibilities. But the standout feature is the physics model behind the game. The overall handling and responsiveness of the vehicles is surprisingly realistic—even the controller vibration is more convincingly incorporated than in other racing games. Some finesse is required to pull off even the simpler tricks, and as with the real thing, it's easy to lose control of these powerful machines. —Maile Bohlmann Amazon.com ATV Quad Power Racing 2
The game incorporates a wide array of well-rendered racers, vehicles, and locations. The various racing courses are elaborate and nicely detailed. You can knock competitors out of your way by administering a solid kick while passing—not exactly sportsmanlike behaviour, but gratifyingly reminiscent of the classic Road Rash. For tricksters and stunt-riders, the freestyle arenas offer a candy store of possibilities. But the standout feature is the physics model behind the game. The overall handling and responsiveness of the vehicles is surprisingly realistic—even the controller vibration is more convincingly incorporated than in other racing games. Some finesse is required to pull off even the simpler tricks, and as with the real thing, it's easy to lose control of these powerful machines. —Maile Bohlmann Amazon.com Azurik: Rise of Perathia
To be sure, this is a strange game with an offbeat storyline that pits the young warrior Azurik against an enemy who, through a massive battle, has shattered the elements that power the world into tiny gems. Azurik must quest for these gems; fighting evil creatures with his massive two bladed axe-staff and solving puzzles to achieve his objective and restore the world. The gems represent earth, air, fire and water the game's massive and generally well-designed levels follow that theme as well. The graphics are up to the task and often impress. Specifically the monsters and the game's sense of scale, rooms and some of the boss monsters are enormous. The special effects are good, particularly the weapon effects, but this is also the first Xbox game to feature some minor graphics glitches that indicate the game wasn't as polished as you'd expect from the company that also brought you the console. The real problems with Azurik involve the unresponsive controls, which suffer from a tiny but noticeable amount of lag. Azurik looks cool while swinging his weapon, but you'll never feel in complete control. Since combat is 90% of this game, poor combat control is a serious flaw. Also the controls aren't customizable at all. You'd think with the hard drive space they could easily offer this option but instead you're stuck with the default controls: A for jab, B for a sweep attack and Y for jump. The trigger is used for special magical attacks involving the gems you'll pick up. But despite it’s minor flaws Azurik is a pretty satisfying RPG console experience. —Jamie Sopoloder Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes The Neighborhood
Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home (NoInst)
Bad Boys 2
Battle Engine Aquila
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder
Black
Blade II
Action-adventure gamers know the deal before the game even starts: strafe with bullets, special attack, punch and kick, complete missions. That's all well and good. This game earns its 15 rating with a particularly gross attack—a stab to the top of the head that seems to be Blade's specialty. (There are also plenty of swear words.) With a smidge of gore and an uninspired plot, Blade 2 is a game for fans only. —Jennifer Buckendorff Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
Blinx
Blood Wake [MM]
Jump straight in and grab yourself a speedboat loaded full of weapons and embark on a variety of death matches. Pit your wits against the AI opponents or throw down the gauntlet with a bunch of fellow gamers. Chose from a variety of weather conditions, sit back and enjoy the ride. Or enter the story mode and begin your voyage of discovery and revenge. Set out to impress your new boss by bobbing around varied missions tearing up the shoreline and blowing your enemies out of the water. Progress through the missions and prepare for some tough opposition as you fight the Jade Kingdom and battle to turn the tide. Due to the hefty power of the Xbox, the game looks fantastic and handles even better. This game is fast and furious and packs a punch. Prepare for some gun-toting action and leave your enemies drowning in your bloody wake. —Rob Holliday BMX XXX
Bomberman: Act Zero
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
The plot in The Sleeping Dragon revolves around yet another ancient threat to the world, this time related to the mysterious (and real) Voynich Manuscript, which may or may not contain the secret to eternal life. Needless to say it's up to the game's hero George Stobbart and his long-term associate Nico to stop the bad guys from prevailing, and this they do by solving a long stream of logic puzzles ranging from getting into a locked room armed with only a press card to waking up an unconscious Australian before he falls off the side of a cliff. Even though the game is not controlled with the mouse the interface is extremely easy to use, with four main context-sensitive buttons used in conjunction with your inventory. It won't be to everyone's taste—those with a taste for arcade action may get bored quite quickly—but it all works well and has excellent graphics. It's a real game to watch this winter. —David Jenkins Brothers in Arms: Road To Hill 30
Brute Force
As part of an elite fighting force know as Brute Force, you begin as the sole member Tex, progress through the levels and unlock three more characters Brutus, Flint and Hawk, each with their own unique ability. From rage, stealth and sniper to all-out guns blazing, the choice is yours—put all this together and you have an unstoppable crack unit. Once you have all four unlocked, the additional element of strategy is introduced, and the beauty of this strategy is that it is simple and quick to grasp. The commands although basic keep up the pace of the game so you can quickly switch from one character to the next without numerous button combinations. The fact that all the members of Brute Force are clones and that there is an inexhaustible supply of each member, means once your team have been wiped out you can carry on from where you left off, rather than restarting each level. Brute Force is not another Halo, nor should it be. With 18 single-player missions, numerous multi-player options and downloadable content from Xbox Live, it's one of the best titles on the Xbox. —Robert Holliday Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Burnout
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
If you ever wanted to be a high-octane speed freak then this is the game for you. Prepare yourself for a complete white knuckle ride. Burnout 2 is the second instalment from Acclaim and unlike most movies the sequel is far superior to the original. Acclaim have taken the first game and tweaked it to perfection. The end result: the best arcade racing game you have ever seen to date.After a simple driving test you open the championship mode. The aim, which hasn't changed from the original, is to race three other cars in a series of circuits, avoiding all forms of road traffic. Notch up winning gold medals and unlock the next level; get gold in each race and not only unlock more tracks, but also the chance to race for another car in a pursuit race. Test your skills, beat the car and add it to your collection. Burnout 2 is brimming with new tracks and challenges. One addition is the crash mode, which lets you cause mayhem and destruction at various road junctions. Cause as much carnage as possible and unlock even more junctions. Watch your mayhem and destruction in glorious replays again and again. Open the multi-player games and the pursuit mode alone will keep you racing for months. Be the cop and try to run your fellow gamer off the road before he escapes the long arm of the law. Race through the streets and highways improving your lap times, and you have the added bonus of seeing just how good you are on Xbox live. Are you the best in the world or just a Sunday driver? Throw down the gauntlet and see if you have what it takes. Burnout 2 is a prime example of simplicity at its best; Acclaim have concentrated on pure gameplay and this game has it in abundance. A complete masterpiece of great arcade action, all rendered in glorious crisp graphics and presented in Dolby 5.1, Burnout 2 is a high-octane, heart-stopping, intense driving experience. —Robert Holliday Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout: Revenge
A new revenge meter tracks exactly how much damage you cause as you play skittles with traffic and try to cause as big a pile-up as possible—an activity that is encouraged even further in the new Traffic Attack mode. The actual revenge of the title though comes into play when you prang a specific rival one too many times and they start to take a personal interest in seeing your car go up in flames. Although it doesn’t seem as if the graphics have changed all that much since the last game the level design has certainly become more inventive with huge multi-layer track layouts reminiscent of arcade classic Rave Racer—tearing along an overpass to fall vertically down three levels straight onto an opponent’s bonnets is pretty special. Although surviving any of the game’s crashes would be impossible in real-life it has become slightly more realistic in other areas with more car deformation than before and real cities, including Detroit, Rome and Tokyo. Whether the appallingly annoying DJ from the last game is still in it though remains to be seen…—Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Call of Duty, Pt.2: The Big Red One
Rather confusingly this has nothing to do with the subtitle-less Call of Duty 2 on PC and Xbox 360. Whereas that game has the usual mix of three different nationalities of soldier to control, Big Red One has you playing the same soldier throughout the whole game. You do get to do quite a bit of sight seeing though with missions in North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. The Big Red One of the title is the nickname of a famous American infantry division and by sticking with them throughout the whole game you do get a much better sense of camaraderie than previous Call of Duty games. Unfortunately it also means that the game seems perilously close to the already excellent Brothers in Arms, except without the strategy bits. No war game ever seems to do its action quite like Call of Duty though and the set pieces here tread that difficult line between cinematic bombast and harrowing realism perfectly. Big Red One won’t have the same impact on the gaming world as the first Call of Duty games, but it nevertheless looks like having a very good chance of being a better game. —Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Capcom Classic Collection
Capcom Fighting Jam
Capcom vs SNK 2 EO
The game offers a remarkable assortment of fighters, fighting styles, and variety of play. Forty characters—each with their own special powers, attacks, timing issues, personalities and sound bites—get magnified three-fold by three separate "-isms" that alter their powers and three "grooves" that mix them up yet again. There's a lot to learn and it ensures that playing a foe of equal skill is never dull because you can never be sure what character he's going to pick and how that character will fight. The graphics are generally decent, though some of these fighters look like they haven't been spiffed up for today's console systems. The older Street Fighter guys look just plain bad next to newly added characters from the SNK stable. But the animation is smooth, the backgrounds have been significantly redone and feature new, often startling animations and the special effects are just plain awesome. The audio is pretty much the same old themes that Capcom has been using for the better part of a decade now. It's all good, because those sound effects are part of the reason fans keep buying the same game over and over again. The Xbox version is playable over Xbox Live (sold separately), which is a big advantage—everyone knows that these games, born of arcade coin-ops, are meant to be played competitively. The ability to start up a relatively lag free game at a moment's notice and trade trash talk with other gamers around the world is just priceless and a welcome addition to the series. If you are, or have ever been, a Street Fighter 2-D fight fan, then Capcom vs SNK 2 EO over Xbox Live is a joy not to be missed. —Andrew S. Bub Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums
Championship Manager 5 [MM]
Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver
Each scene has a number of stunts that you can choose to perform in the course of the mission, along with a single 'required' stunt at the end. Complete the last stunt and you've successfully finished the mission regardless of whether you manage any of the other stunts; you can then go back over the mission as many times as you want to attempt the optional stunts. The more you complete, the more points you get, and the more new movies, scenes and modes you unlock. This is a cross between Crazy Taxi and extreme sports sims such as SSX Tricky and is actually a good fun, action packed game in its own right. The fact that you can go back and do the level again as much as you want to explore the mission to unlock multiplayer modes and get more items adds to the replayability and stops any frustration that you might get from "failing" repeatedly. Graphically it looks great: only the sound lets it down with weak effects, but despite this, Chase is an entertaining and fast-paced ride. —Harry Trent Chronicles of Riddick, The: Escape from Butcher Bay
The game is actually a prequel to the film Pitch Black, which means that Riddick is still a highly unpleasant serial killer and there’s none of the naff, sub-Dune style mumbo jumbo from the newer movie. The only problem with this is that pretty much the whole game is set in an extremely murky and often rather monotonous looking prison. Monotonous in the most attractive way possible though, as this is certainly the most graphically impressive Xbox game yet seen. The use of light and shade is superb and the models for the all the characters and monsters are some of the best ever seen in a video game. Perhaps the biggest surprise though is that the now ubiquitous stealth sections are actually the best bit, with Riddick’s showpiece ability to see in the dark implemented extremely well. This more than makes up for the odd dull sub-quest, and the relative lack of gunplay, and adds further variety to what is easily one of the Xbox’s best games yet. —David Jenkins Chronicles Of Riddick, The: Escape From Butcher Bay
Circus Maximus: Chariot Wars / Game
Close Combat: First To Fight
Club Football: Arsenal 2005
Club Football: Liverpool
The principles, whichever team-branded version you opt for, are inherently the same. You take the club you've picked through a domestic season, with the clear intention of filling up some of the empty spaces in the trophy cabinet. In doing this, you can use the game's player generator to put yourself into the midst of this team, and then it's down to action. And the action is good. Backed by strong in-game graphics, Club Football offers an enjoyable rendition of the beautiful game, which endears itself to a healthy, long term challenge. There are a couple of quibbles that temper things a little. The fluidity of the gameplay, for instance, is sometimes hampered by an over-insistence on a good animation instead of a quick pass for example, and there are other mild issues that slightly break up the flow of things. Yet considering the healthy state of the competition, with both FIFA 2004 and Pro Evolution Soccer 3 putting in strong performances, it's to the credit of Club Football that it does enough to make it well worth considering. As it stands, it's not the best title of its ilk on the market, but it's a good, promising debut. —Simon Brew Club Football: Rangers 2005
Cold War
Colin McRae Rally 3
As you'd expect from a top-flight rally sim, everything about the vehicles can be customised and tinkering under the bonnet between stages really produces a difference. If you're a really bad driver you can also see the difference, as tearing the bonnet, side panels or windows out mid-stage reveals an astonishing level of detail within the car. Engine parts move, suspension arms judder and Mr McRae himself bounces around the car's cockpit in full 3-D—the level of detail is amazing. With a variety of gameplay modes ranging from races over individual stages to a simulated three-season tour of duty as McRae himself, there's plenty of bang for your buck here—and believe us, by the time you've cannoned off the scenery for the umpteenth time you'll know what bangs are all about. Thankfully, Codemasters have resisted the temptation to fill Colin McRae 3 with discordant music tracks, relegating the score to intro and menu screens and leaving the in-game sound to codriver commentary and a multitude of engine sounds—a pleasant change in an age where licensed soundtracks are king. Perhaps the strongest element of CM3, though, is in the gameplay. The car-handling is spot on and in wild weather (snow, rain, fog and more) guiding a speeding Ford Focus around sharp bends is a real art. The Xbox has a wide range of good games and a handful of true AAA titles; Colin McRae 3 falls into the latter category as a real must-have. Chris Russell Commandos 2
From the word go this game is hard. Very hard. Rarely does it cut you any slack; one wrong move and it's game over. Initially this can be very irritating, but persevere and Commandos 2 is a real gem. The game's designers have thought of just about everything when it comes to running, crawling, tip-toeing and creeping past the enemy—there are around 100 very short tutorial missions designed to introduce the control system and the various vehicle, weapon and stealth techniques available to the player, and these alone will take a couple of hours to play through; skipping them is a really bad idea if you want the best from this title. In addition to wandering around on foot, a wide variety of vehicles can be commandeered and driven around (usually badly). Tanks can be used as offensive weapons, and boats are available for water-based missions. All of this Nazi-busting malarkey is brought to you by a squad of combatants including six commandos, each with their own special ability, a female member of the French Resistance, a dog and a rat (!), which makes for interesting gaming indeed. Its relatively slow pace will put many folks off, but stick with it you'll find that and Commandos 2 is one of the best RTS games to hit consoles to date. —Chris Russell Commandos: Strike Force
Conflict Vietnam
Manufacturer: Eidos Genre: action-games Conflict: Desert Storm II
Of course, replicating dangerously jingoistic American movies is exactly what Conflict: Desert Storm II is all about and there's a ton of new hardware in this sequel to get even the most steadfast pacifist reaching for the Arnie one-liners. You've got new phosphor grenades, a laser designator to call in helicopters and jet planes and, best of all, the chance to jump in a jeep and spray bad guys with heavy machine gun fire. As well as adding new features Conflict: Desert Storm II also fixes problems with the original game, in particular the often highly erratic frame rate, which is a lot smoother than before. The co-op mode is also back and better than ever, especially as you can now pick any level from the single-player mode to play through at any time. —David Jenkins Conflict: Global Storm
Conflict: Global Storm
Constantine
Counter Strike: Best of Classics
Counter Terrorism Special Forces: Fire For Effect
Crash
Crash 'n' Burn
Crash 'n' Burn
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath Of Cortex
Crash Twinsanity
Crash Twinsanity
Cricket 2005
Crimson Skies [MM]
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Dance UK - XBOX - PAL
Dancing Stage Unleashed 2
Dancing Stage Unleashed 3
Featuring Tracks by: Girls Aloud Chemical Brothers Sugababes Fatboy Slim Jamiroquai Attomic Kitten Busted And More..... Game only - requires Xbox dance mat to play Dark Angel: James Cameron's Dark Angel
Dark Summit
Dead Or Alive 3
There are eight modes of play in DOA3, including Story mode, Team Battle, Tag Battle and Sparring mode. The latter mode is customisable and is a nice way for new players to learn how to play the game, while Story mode lets you take one of the 16 available characters through a series of matches, culminating in a fight against the über -powerful Omega. Once you defeat Omega, a short movie specific to your charaue is laughable) but the end-movies are pretty cool and it's fun playing through the game as each of the characters. The real meat of the game, though, is its combat, and DOA3 delivers in spades. Each character has specific attacks—such as Zack's Devil Elbow or Bass Armstrong's Stun Gun Chop—and once you get the moves down, the entire affair can unfold like a carefully choreographed ballet with combatants blocking blows, counter attacking and landing devastating punch-and-kick combos. Adding to the game's appeal are the massive and detailed multi-level arenas (which were introduced in DOA2), where a precise kick or punch can send a combatant plummeting through the air down to the arena's next level. It's obvious that DOA3 was designed to be a showcase for the Xbox's graphical prowess and it shows—the game's graphics are awesome. The character models look amazing and feature highly detailed clothing and accessories, and the animations are extremely smooth. The environments are also outstanding, and feature lots of little touches such as fluttering leaves, snow-covered ground that can be torn up during the course of a fight, great-looking water and superb background structures. So while DOA3 doesn't rewrite the rules of the fighting genre, its great graphics and intense fighting—especially in multiplayer—make for an enjoyable gaming experience. —William Harms Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball
DoA: XBV finds Zach, the flamboyant winner of the DoA3 tournament, buying a tropical island after hitting it big in Vegas. He sends out invitations claiming that the next DoA tournament is to be held on his island. Surprise, surprise: there is no fighting tournament, Zach only invited the female fighters, and the stage is set for... well, for a bunch of scantily clad girls frolicking on a beach. You begin the game by choosing a girl to play as. Each game is broken up into a two week vacation, and each day is divided into morning, daytime and evening. You spend each segment of the day playing volleyball, gambling in the casino, shopping for swimsuits and accessories, lounging around the island, or trying to befriend the other girls on the island. It's probably not fair to classify DoA:XBV as a volleyball game. Sure, you'll spend a bit of time playing volleyball, but the gameplay is so basic that there are literally only two buttons: one to pass to your teammate and another to send the ball to the opposing side of the net. It's probably more accurate to label DoA:XBV as an unusual "relationship" game, with volleyball just one of several ways to earn money to spend on gifts for girls. Well-wooed girls will partner up with you for volleyball matches, or allow themselves to be convinced to try on slinkier and more exotic swimwear. What the game lacks in depth, volleyball gameplay or features it makes up for in eye candy. If nothing else, Xtreme Beach Volleyball is a great display of the raw graphical power of the Xbox. It is not a volleyball game. It is an incredibly pretty collection of small but moderately amusing mini-games, played by buxom cartoon babes. Fans of Lara Croft, rejoice: the next generation is here. —Jon Grover Dead to Rights
Deadman's Hand
Def Jam Fight For NY
Defender
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
Destroy All Humans
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Doom 3: Limited Collector's Edition (Steelbook)
Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
DRIV3R
Now finally Driver 3 (or DRIV3R as it insists on calling itself) is here, and although it's not the disaster that the last game was it's still a considerable disappointment. As you would expect from developers Reflections, who also did Stuntman and the original Destruction Derby, the car handling and physics are excellent—perhaps some of the best ever seen. However, the artificial intelligence of your opponent drivers is almost laughably poor and the incredibly detailed graphics, which look so good in the screenshots, come at the expensive of some disappointingly short draw distances, with buildings and backgrounds suddenly popping up as if out of nowhere. The game itself is now very much influenced by Grand Theft Auto and you can get out of your car and hijack other vehicles. DRIV3R is still predominantly mission-based, though, and unfortunately the difficulty curve is still as frustratingly uneven as ever with some missions seemingly almost superhumanly hard. If you're a fan of the series then DRIV3R probably won't disappoint too much, but newcomers to the series may find this has rather more problems than you'd expect from such a heavily hyped title.—David Jenkins DRIV3R
Now finally Driver 3 (or DRIV3R as it insists on calling itself) is here, and although it's not the disaster that the last game was it's still a considerable disappointment. As you would expect from developers Reflections, who also did Stuntman and the original Destruction Derby, the car handling and physics are excellent—perhaps some of the best ever seen. However, the artificial intelligence of your opponent drivers is almost laughably poor and the incredibly detailed graphics, which look so good in the screenshots, come at the expensive of some disappointingly short draw distances, with buildings and backgrounds suddenly popping up as if out of nowhere. The game itself is now very much influenced by Grand Theft Auto and you can get out of your car and hijack other vehicles. DRIV3R is still predominantly mission-based, though, and unfortunately the difficulty curve is still as frustratingly uneven as ever with some missions seemingly almost superhumanly hard. If you're a fan of the series then DRIV3R probably won't disappoint too much, but newcomers to the series may find this has rather more problems than you'd expect from such a heavily hyped title.—David Jenkins Driver: Parallel Lines
Dukes of Hazzard, The: Return of the General Lee
EA Boxing 2002: Knockout Kings 2002
Also surprisingly absent this time around is the ability to throw body punches. While some boxers have this punch in their repertoire as a body combination, the best you can do with others is slug away to the head with a multitude of hooks, jabs, straight punches, low blows or an illegal backhand. And slug away you must if you expect to hold your own against stiffer competition, finesse options being limited. Where Knockout Kings 2002 on the Xbox truly shines is in its graphics, thanks to the combination of boxers' well-sculpted physiques and EA Sports' face-mapping technology. The eye-catching detail of the various arenas and rings further enhances the realism, right down to the excitable fans in the seats and the blood flying from fighters' mouths. Satisfying smacks of gloves to the face and thuds of bodies hitting the deck can also be heard in abundance. —Larry White EA Boxing 2004: Fight Night 2004
EA Boxing: Fight Night Round 2
Eragon
Fable
As you embark on your adventure as a young, callow youth, you`ll learn that something makes you different to all the others. You have a force of will. During your adventures, you`ll grow up, grow stronger, grow more powerful and eventually grow old. But how you grow is down to you. Use your sword a great deal and your muscles will build. Use ruthless cunning and refuse to care about others and you`ll become evil. Use your force of will and you`ll become wizard-like and wise. Your character changes according to the way you play. The mystical world of Albion is immense. There are hidden ruins, huge towns, caverns and mountains and hundreds of characters, all growing and interacting, all with their own artificial intelligence. Even the ones who aren`t human. There is the option to ally with many of these characters, to learn what they know, to help or hinder them, to heal them or hack them to pulp. You face tasks big and small, perilous and rewarding. And with every step, you decide where you`ll go next, what you`ll face, who you`ll talk to and, of course, who will feel the force of your will or the edge of your sword. The game features innovative control and unparallel freedom. You don`t have to sit thro Fahrenheit
The term "interactive movie" is justly associated with misguided attempts at combining games and film. Fahrenheit’s cinematic leanings, however, incorporate the elements that make movies different (characters, tension and plot) with well thought-out game mechanics, and the result is uniquely thrilling. The lowdown: Making decisions against a rapidly dwindling timer, your character wakes up having just committed a bizarre ritual murder of which he has no memory. You must switch between playing the fugitive and the cops on his trail, your conflicting jobs are to help the anti-hero escape and conversely to help put him behind bars. But what mysterious force drove him to kill in the first place? Most exciting moment: Frequent interludes of rapid button pressing simulate physical exertion as your character escapes a looming threat you can see catching up with you. Your heart will be palpitating. Your nerves will be frayed. Since you ask: The introduction and brief tutorial from the game’s "writer/director" David Cage, is actually the head of the title’s French development team, Quantic Dream, animated as a videogame character. The bottom line: Utterly superb movie-style thriller with genuine frights and a superbly tense climax. Nick Gillett Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Family Guy
TV’s (or at least DVD’s) most outrageous cartoon family get their own video game that not only looks just like the show but is just as funny and offensive. The lowdown: Being cancelled may have been the best thing that’s ever happened to Family Guy, because ever since it was brought back it’s been more popular than ever – why it’s even got its own video game now. As with most licensed games it’s not exactly breaking down any gameplay paradigms, but at least it’s got some quality gags to fall back on. You can control one of three characters: Brain the dog (whose levels are all stealth based), Peter the dad (whose missions are basically scrolling beat ‘em-ups) and baby Stewie. There’s also a lot of very short mini-games, but none of it really adds up to being more than an interactive background for the game’s jokes. For most Family Guy fans that’s going to be fine though. Most exciting moment: As you might expect the best bits of the game involve Stewie, the family’s psychotic baby. They’re basically platform levels with Stewie jumping, gliding and shooting his way to world domination. He’s also got a mind control ray for taking over adults and there’s some fun on-the-rails shooting sections and into-the-screen chases. Since you ask: The game’s script is written by series creator Seth McFarlane, who also provides voiceovers along with series regulars Mila Kunis, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Patrick Warburton and Adam West. There’s even a bunch of regular guest stars including Wallace Shawn, Charles Durning, and Adam Corolla. The bottom line: Good for Family Guy fans, not so good for everyone else.-HARRISON DENT Far Cry Instincts
Far Cry Instincts: Evolution
FIFA 2002: 2002 FIFA World Cup
Owners of the full-fat 2002 game will want to think very seriously before paying out for this "special" release, but for those who've not come across the franchise before, or those looking for a break from Pro Evolution Soccer, this game has entertainment by the sack load. Graphically it looks the business and the pre-match build-ups are eye candy to please any jaded palette. In-game, too, the player graphics are nicely detailed and there are some wonderful individual animations covering all manner of complex looking moves, swerves and dives. In fact, the only thing that really lets the side down is the speed of the game during more hectic midfield moments, when the frame rate stutters appallingly—a little poor for a game that's been through so many development revisions. Control is nice and simple and it's a breeze to pick this title up and start booting the pigskin around the park within a couple of minutes, though mastering the finer points of ball control and the elusive "lob in" will take a good deal longer. 2002 FIFA World Cup really does have a lot going for it. It's not as technical as the ISS games, and it doesn't have the scope or gameplay modes of FIFA 2002, but it does have atmosphere in abundance. If you're a newcomer to the franchise or you've missed the last couple of major releases then it's certainly worth a look. —Chris Russell FIFA 2003: FIFA Football 2003
EA have done their homework. The 10th year of FIFA doesn't just see the player names updated and few tweaks here and there—it's more of a mini revolution. There are two new modes of play, simulation and arcade play—one for the more tactical player who likes the fancy approach to play and the other for those more frenetic matches. As usual, vast numbers of teams and players are included (still no Oxford Utd, though—Oxford Ed); all the big name players are instantly recognisable, Edgar Davids being one fantastic example. The tons of extra features include a new European tournament and loads of DVD clips. —Laurent S Hall FIFA 2004 - UEFA Euro 2004 Portugal
FIFA 2004: Total Club Manager
FIFA 2005 - UEFA Champions League 2004-2005
FIFA 2006 - World Cup Germany 2006
The official game of the 2006 World Cup has all the stadiums, players and kits of the real thing, but the biggest surprise is that it actually improves upon the usual FIFA gameplay too. So if England does not win in real life, you can at least make sure they do in the virtual world. The lowdown: . In previous years, FIFA Word Cup games have meant little more than a cut down version of the existing FIFA game, however this version features not just the 32 teams from the finals but the chance to play as any of the other 95 countries from the qualifying rounds. There’s even the option to replay historic World Cups – although only a handful of older players are included. In terms of gameplay things have been noticeably speeded up and there’s even an alternative control system that exactly mimics rival Pro Evolution Soccer. PES fans will still be suspicious but this really is the best FIFA yet. Most exciting moment: Reliving the glory of 1966 with the current England team and then going on to do the same thing in this year’s Cup as well! Since you ask: Many of the England team, including Wayne Rooney, claim to be video games fans and many have mentioned playing the FIFA games between real matches. The bottom line: A genuine improvement on FIFA 06 with the usual top notch EA presentation. Harrison Dent FIFA Street
FIFA Street 2
Fight Club
Fila World Tour Tennis
Final Fight Streetwise
Fireblade
FlatOut
FlatOut 2
Ford Racing 2
Formula 1: F1 Career Challenge
Forza MotorSport
Forza Motorsport is the first fully customizable driving simulator for Xbox.
Freedom Fighters
Full Spectrum Warrior
In order to rectify this, Full Spectrum Warrior tasks you with control of a four-man squad of soldiers who are normally armed with nothing more than a machine gun and grenades. The first thing to realise is that you don't directly control any of the soldiers and are therefore not responsible for aiming or shooting, or even moving. Instead the game plays more like a real-time strategy, where you must indicate where to move and who to shoot at and let your grunts get on with the actual business of aiming. This makes for a uniquely engrossing experience and you do genuinely feel you're being taught something about real-world tactics. The incredibly realistic graphics also help to completely immerse you in the game—whether they’ll make you more or less likely to eye up those TA ads is debatable, once you realise what a hard life soldiers really have. —David Jenkins Full Spectrum Warrior : Ten Hammers
Galleon
As is often the case with massively delayed games like this the final product has been rather overtaken by events and its graphics and design are clearly rooted back in the nineties when it was first conceived. The main gimmick with the game is that you do not so much control the lead character as the camera following him – pointing him in the right direction and letting the game do the rest. This works up until a point, with the various acrobatics this enables being fairly entertaining, but it's often rather unwieldy and makes it sometimes difficult to predict what reactions your button presses are actually going to yield. It also makes combat extremely irritating and dull and the seemingly endless training sequences do nothing but convince you the game is far more complex and difficult to play than it really is. When one adds the seriously dated looking graphics to the mix, which are further encumbered by some distinctly unappealing art design, you've got a game that is rather difficult to recommend next to the ostensibly similar, and far superior, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Ninja Gaiden. —David Jenkins Ghost Recon Island Thunder
Gladiator - Sword of Vengeance [CIB]
Godfather, The
Although lots of missions from and inspired by the movie are promised you actually play a completely new character and control them over a period of ten years, between 1945 and 1955. During this time you get to take part in all manner of mobster type activities including managing protection rackets, assassination missions and full blown gang wars against the five different mob families in the game. Despite all the big name stars lending their voices and faces to the game it’s actually New York that seems to be the main star with a highly impressive, if somewhat sparsely populated, virtual city. The graphics are excellent, although it remains to be seen just how much variety there is to the missions, considering the game can’t really go to some of the more surreal excess of Grand Theft Auto. So even if this isn’t quite an offer you can’t refuse, it’s at least looking like one to be taken very seriously. —Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Grabbed by the Ghoulies
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Considering how massively popular the last two GTA games were Rockstar could’ve knocked out any old rubbish as their last GTA game this generation, but despite Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas not being a full sequel (it still uses essentially the same graphics engine as GTA III) it has more new features and ideas than the majority of official follow-ups.For a start San Andreas itself is not a city but a whole fictional county, containing the San Francisco-esque San Fierro, the Las Vegas style Las Venturra and the Los Angeles inspired Los Santos. You can drive anywhere else you like in the countryside, between making the game four to six times the size of Vice City. You can also now start up your own gang in the game, recruiting members and claiming territory—you can even build and operate your own casino once you get the necessary moolah. You can’t just sit around and wait for the money to roll in, though—eat too much junk food and your character will grow fat and have to work out at a gym, as well as keep an eye on a new stamina meter. The list of other additions and refinements are almost endless; above and beyond the usual claims of an improved aiming system for weapons you can now swim, ride bicycles, get your hair cut, take part in random break-ins and robberies... pretty much anything you were ever told not to do as a kid (except the getting a haircut bit). —David Jenkins Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Great Escape, The
GUN
It’s Grand Theft Auto in the Wild West as you take on every varmint in the state, battle cattle rustlers, outlaws, evil business men and figure out the conspiracy behind who your real father was. Simply put, this is an ultra violent tale of the old frontier. The lowdown: Swap the cars for horses, San Andreas for the big country and a Uzi for a good old six shooter and suddenly GTA becomes GUN. It’s not quite that exact a copy though: the story missions are much more important here, with the side quests proving to be fairly short lived, and there's relatively little reward available for exploring the game world. The actual business of gun fighting and horse riding looks and feels great, with accurate, intuitive controls and surprisingly violent showdowns. Grand Theft Auto is a better game and Red Dead Revolver is a better Western, but this is still a decent effort at navigating a path between the two.Most exciting moment: Failing to take care of business in a horseback gunfight, then using your dead mount for cover! Since you ask: Developers Neversoft are the same studio behind the Tony Hawk’s games – as you might have guessed from the familiar looking combo messages. The bottom line: Doesn’t quite reach its full potential but a fun cowboy simulator all the same. Harrison Dent Gun Metal
Gun Valkyrie
Half-Life 2
As with the first game you play resourceful scientist Gordon Freeman as he attempts to fight back against an alien invasion from another dimension. In the years that have passed since the first game the world governments have become ever more despotic in the face of the threat and Gordon once again finds himself fighting both human and alien foes. Even more so than the original, what sets Half-Life 2 apart from the rest is its incredible technology—the preview code we've seen so far displays stunningly realistic graphics, amazing real world physics and highly adaptive AI. In combining all three elements, the game offers an almost infinite variety. One minute you find yourself being hunted down by Special Forces, using furniture to block doorways and throwing grenades to dislodge container crates and squish unsuspecting bad guys, the next you'll be stalking zombies through an abandoned village or fighting giant War of the Worlds styled tripods with the resistance movement and using a tractor beam gun to capture chunks of masonry and fling it at your enemies. Half-Life 2 allows all this and more and could very well turn out to be the first game to actually exceed its hype, never mind just live up to it. Here's hoping.—David Jenkins This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Halo 2
Widely regarded as the best first-person shoot-'em-up ever made for a home console, Halo 2 follows in its forebear's footsteps with a perfect blend of single and multiplayer action. The former offers far more variety than the first game as the battle is brought to Earth and the incredible advances in the game's AI, as well as just its graphics, become immediately obvious. There are now a lot more friendly troops to help you out and the evil Covenant invaders have become even more organised and intelligent. In the all-important multiplayer mode, the most significant change is that you can now play the game online on Xbox Live against anyone in the world. This is the feature fans have been clamouring for and it's supplemented by new gameplay features such as the ability to steal vehicles, man fixed gun emplacements and play as the bad guys. If you don't yet own an Xbox, Halo 2 is all the reason you need to change that.—David Jenkins Halo [MM]
The story revolves around the conflict between humans and an alien race known as the Covenant. The aliens have discovered a powerful artefact—on the ring-shaped planet called Halo—that will shift the balance of power and it's up to the player to stop them. In addition to several first-person shooter levels there are numerous opportunities to engage in vehicular combat. Both the enemy and ally artificial intelligence are extremely impressive. Enemies will use the terrain and layout to put you in tight spots. Allies will know when to cover and aid you. For instance, if you hop into a jeep an ally will know to jump in and man the turret on the back of it. Graphics are exquisitely detailed, but only move at 30 frames per second rather than 60. The sound effects and voice-acting are superb. The level design is among the best ever; most of the game is engaging and challenging without being frustrating. There's also high replay value thanks to the built-in single-player, cooperative, and death match modes. Much like the outstanding GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64, Halo raises the bar for console first-person shooters. It will be the title that all console action games are measured against for years to come.—Raymond M Padilla Halo, Pt.2: Limited Edition (Steelbook)
Widely regarded as the best first-person shoot-'em-up ever made for a home console, Halo 2 follows in its forebear's footsteps with a perfect blend of single and multiplayer action. The former offers far more variety than the first game as the battle is brought to Earth and the incredible advances in the game's AI, as well as just its graphics, become immediately obvious. There are now a lot more friendly troops to help you out and the evil Covenant invaders have become even more organised and intelligent. In the all-important multiplayer mode, the most significant change is that you can now play the game online on Xbox Live against anyone in the world. This is the feature fans have been clamouring for and it's supplemented by new gameplay features such as the ability to steal vehicles, man fixed gun emplacements and play as the bad guys. If you don't yet own an Xbox, Halo 2 is all the reason you need to change that.—Harrison Dent Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all playable (and they look like the actors from the film too) and each has their own special abilities, strengths and weakness. These can be augmented by collecting and using Collector's and Creature Cards as well, almost like a proper role-playing game. Perhaps the games greatest draw though, other than much improved graphics, is the co-operative mode which allows you to play all the way through the game with up to two friends joining in. There’ll be no arguments over who gets to be Harry either as everyone has to work together with the most powerful spells only being possible by everyone combining their powers. The spell casting itself works in a different way than before with the analogue controllers being used to move your wand around on screen—you can even feel it shake as the rumble pack of your controller kicks in. Harry haters still won’t enjoy this on principle, and to be honest it’s neither the most original or difficult game ever made, but for fans of the films and books it looks absolutely wizard. — Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
It's also more straightforward than you'd think. Much thought has clearly gone into providing a gentle learning curve, and picking up the basics of the game is supremely easy. It's helped, of course, by having familiar faces from the Harry Potter world all along the way, guiding you through what you need to know. The ultimate aim is to walk away with the prize of the game's title, but first there's the small matter of the Hogwart's tournament to win. You align yourself with one of the four houses, and seek to win that before you can move on to the international stages. And that promptly gets you into the heart of the action. The gameplay, as you'd expect, is frantic and exciting, and while it's not going to keep the older gamer occupied for too long, its target audience is clearly going to be in its element. To keep things going that bit longer, you can earn Quidditch cards as you progress. These are rewards given to you along the way, and can unlock fresh elements of the game. With plenty to collect, it's an added feature that helps prolong the game's lifespan. Quidditch World Cup is a game with obvious appeal to the many legions of Harry Potter fans. Fortunately for parents the world over, thanks to entertaining gameplay and its faithfulness to the source material, it's not going to disappoint them. —Simon Brew Headhunter: Redemption
Hello Kitty Roller Rescue
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
What limits the game's potential though is the continual stream of frustrations. The enemy's artificial intelligence, for instance, is sometimes very sadly lacking, and there are occasions when the pace drops to snail-like speed, without always generating sufficient tension to carry the player through. That said, when it hits top gear Hitman 2 can be tense, atmospheric and enjoyable. Graphically it's very polished, and those who enjoy games that reward solid thinking more than an itchy trigger finger will certainly find something to enjoy. But while undoubtedly a step forward from its predecessor, it's an ambitious game that still falls short of what could have been. Put simply, it's good, it's challenging, but it still leaves quite a lot of room for improvement. —Jon Foster Hitman: Contracts
There are a couple of drawbacks: the game is a little shorter than might be expected, and it is more of an evolution from previous adventures than a independent sequel. But these are minor niggles, especially when you consider that this is the best game to date in the Hitman franchise. It's going to be interesting to see how creators Io Interactive develop the series, but for now they've given us a healthy dose of what's gone before, and made it a little better. —Simon Brew House Of The Dead III
Incredible Hulk, The: Ultimate Destruction
IndyCar Series
International Superstar Soccer 2
James Bond 007: Nightfire
Games companies are weird. This release comes in the same year as the 40th anniversary of James Bond, as well as Die Another Day, the 20th film to feature the loveable old womanising drunk. So what do EA, proud bearers of the 007 games license, do? They make a game based on an amalgamation of all the Bond movies, with their own "original" story line, then go and stick Pierce Brosnan's face and a bunch of clips from Die Another Day in it. Whaaaat? Bizarre marketing decisions aside, this could finally be the game to come out from behind the shadow of the seminal N64 classic GoldenEye. Which means, of course, that this is a stealthy first-person shooter (with a few car-racing levels thrown in for good measure) bolted onto a cracking multi-player mode. Following on from GoldenEye is a bit like being asked to make Citizen Kane 2, but EA have sensibly gone back to the spirit of the original and NightFire is much more strategic than their last attempt, the rather shallow Agent Under Fire. Once again you can learn a pathological hatred of security cameras as you use an even wider array of Q gadgetry to kill people without them even noticing. The multi-player mode is also good, with meatier weapons than last time, including a particularly fun remote-control missile launcher. People are always crooning about nobody doing it better than Bond, but in the gaming world that's not always been true; with this game, though, it looks like he's taken the ejector seat straight to the top of the first-person shooter pile. —David Jenkins James Bond Agent Under Fire
But it soon becomes clear that this is no sophisticated vintage Bond homage. It's merely a fleetingly entertaining blast that just happens to feature some British spy dude. That isn't to say that there aren't enjoyable elements here. There are a couple of Crazy-Taxi-influenced levels that work well, as well as some mildly diverting "on-rails" shooter stages. At heart, though, like the N64 masterpiece GoldenEye, this is a first-person shooter, and one that suffers badly in comparison. The game features some clever gadgets, as well as frequent set pieces in the form of "Bond moves" that will delight the casual fan. But more experienced players will find the lack of depth here distressing. The real problem is the "intelligence" of the enemies. These are the dumbest bad guys you'll ever encounter in a video game. Coupled with the unerring accuracy of your auto aim, you could complete much of the game blindfolded. Consequently, it's difficult to feel much satisfaction, even upon saving the world. The developers have at least made an effort by providing different styles of play and a decent multiplayer mode, but 007: Agent Under Fire is (at best) an adequate game in a genre full of great alternatives. Be careful with your next Bond license, Mr. EA—it may be your last. —Steve Colton James Bond... GoldenEye: Rogue Agent [CIB]
James Bond: 007: Everything or Nothing
In terms of gameplay though Everything or Nothing is far less extravagant. In contrast to previous Bond games it's viewed from a third-person perspective and looks and plays not unlike a more action-packed version of Splinter Cell. There are problems with the entirely manual camera system though—particularly the lock-on for the aiming system, which is frustratingly random in choosing which bad guy you target. The vehicle sections, which use the same graphics engine as Need for Speed Underground, are less obstreperous and offer some of the most genuinely enjoyable moments as you hurtle in pursuit of bad guys riding heavily armed cars, motorbikes and helicopters. Additionally, both on foot and when driving, the game gives you the chance to trigger "Bond moments" when you find shortcuts or dispatch bad guys in particularly imaginative ways. Everything or Nothing is perhaps the ultimate example of style over substance in video games, but there's just enough of the latter to ensure that everyone but the most pernickety of gamers will find something to enjoy. —David Jenkins James Bond: From Russia With Love
James Cameron's Dark Angel
Juiced
Juiced is, like the other games mentioned, a street racer and has the same obsession with customising your car with both performance mods and after-market cosmetic alterations (all of which are based on real products). 7.5 trillion combinations are apparently possible, although you'll have to trust THQ's maths on that as its doubtful they've counted them personally. What is truly unique about Juiced though is your ability to recruit and organise a team of your own racers. Special crew races are possible and you can control your team members in-race, in a similar manner to the B-spec mode in Gran Turismo 4. The show-off trick challenges are also a neat addition and a welcome alternative to the standard races. Although it has some interesting features there are still some notable problems with Juiced, particularly in terms of the handling which is disappointingly simplistic and an uncomfortable halfway house between the likes of Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer. The artificial intelligence of rival drivers is also weak and outside of the more exotic game modes the game treads very similar ground to its rivals. As long as you're not expecting anything too original though this is still a very competent racer. — Harrison Dent King Kong (Peter Jackson's): The Official Game of the Movie
Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes
Kung Fu Chaos
From the opening sequence, Microsoft's crazy martial arts caper Kung Fu Chaos is full of all the best clichés from the kung fu films of the 70s, even down to the music, with Lalo Schifrin's theme from Enter the Dragon drawing you into a crazy kung fu caper.Lights, camera, action: become immortalised as the greatest kung fu master in Chinese cinema. Choose one of six masters, each with a unique fighting style. Learn to become one with the button combos, impress the director and you can be a star in the best kung fu action movie of all time. With all it's influences this game is a fresh and welcome change to the more serious fighting games around. It's the Jackie Chan of fighting games, with the emphasis on fun and comedy as well as some great fighting action. The game will keep you busy for days as you unlock new characters and explore new areas. Practise in rehearsal mode and get your punches, blocks and taunts fine-tuned and ready to be unleashed. Play the single player mode and unlock new scenes to perform, do a good job and avoid taking part of a straight-to-video flop. As you would expect in a member of the fighting genre, the game comes to life as a multi-player game. Punch, kick, throw; use all you have learnt to be the best fighter in this free-for-all action extravaganza. Grab three friends, check the gate, roll the cameras and become part of the mayhem that is Kung Fu Chaos. —Robert Holliday. LA Rush
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2
Although it's the first Legacy of Kain title on the Xbox it's hard to not recommend that you just play Soul Reaver 2 on a mate's PS2 instead. If you really can't do without a bit of 3-D Xbox vampire fun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer looks a much better bet. — David Jenkins Legacy of Kain: Defiance [CIB]
Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Despite these technological changes though the game has exactly the same goal as before: to help Larry the loser get intimate with a lady, or preferably ladies. He does this through a series of increasingly bizarre mini-games, including the recurring conversation game in which your ability to select a series of dialogue choices, by controlling a sperm as it moves from left to right across a window at the bottom of the screen, determines the quality of your chat up lines. Other mini-games involve mixing drinks, drinking drinks and dancing—competence in which will make it increasingly likely that the various women in the game will want to "be" with you. Since the gameplay is almost as simplistic as the humour this is clearly not going to be a game for everyone but if you fancy something a bit different it certainly makes a change from yet another shoot ‘em-up—especially if you're attracted by the fact that the European version of the game features extra rudeness not seen in the censored American version. — David Jenkins Links 2004
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Lotus Challenge
Magic the Gathering: Battlegrounds
Marc Eckos Getting Up Ltd.Ed
Mark Ecko'S Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Matrix, The: Path of Neo
Max Payne
Max Payne's wife and baby daughter were slain by junkies hopped up on a dangerous new synthetic drug. For three years, Max has worked undercover to find the source of these drugs and then, just when he's almost got it figured out, somebody ices his superior and pins the murder on him. Now, it's payback time as Max faces off against the Mob, the police and much, much worse. Max Payne has jumped from the computer screen to the TV screen, and there's going to be hell to pay.Max Payne uses extremely realistic graphics to showcase a gritty film-noir inspired New York City. Payne stalks subways, tenements, nightclubs and even government installations as he takes his vengeance out on a horde of gun-toting bad guys. Taking a page from the visual style of famed director John Woo, as well as The Matrix, Max Payne lets the player launch into a slow motion mode generally known as "Bullet Time", which makes dodging enemy fire and dishing out your own return fire a breeze, all while leaping side to side. While this looks extremely cool to do, it also evens the odds and can only be used for limited amounts of time, making it a strategic as well as aesthetic option. And speaking of aesthetics, the game is packed with exciting moments, weapons and locations, even if the enemies get a little redundant after a while. The level design ranges from inspired (a multi-level parking garage) to humdrum (a warehouse) and several levels actually take places in the twisted wonderland of the hero's warped psyche. The introduction scenes are painted photos presented graphic novel style, which is a stylistic choice that pays dividends, even if the writing is hilariously bad and the voice acting is, if possible, even worse.—James Sunderland Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
In truth, the formula hasn't moved on much for the franchise, but then it does work spectacularly well. The game's various missions are varied, and they demand elements of stealth, action and a bit of sabotage along the way. And they're not afraid to pull the proverbial rug from underneath to keep you on your toes. As ever, the multimedia elements border on spectacular. The musical scores of Medal of Honor games are rarely given the credit they deserve, but their contribution really can't be understated. The cinematic visuals, however, do tend to hog the headlines, and it's easy to see why. As you fight to complete a mission with explosions going off all around you there's little time to notice them. A couple of mild criticisms, then. There isn't much scope to deviate from the set path through the game, which is very tightly scripted. Not a bad thing, but not something that will appeal to everyone. Plus it would be nice to see a few more risks taken with the Medal of Honor formula. These mild grumbles aside, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is simply a very good video game. It's tense, gripping and desperately addictive. And when you ultimately see the end game sequence, you really will be thirsting for more. —Simon Brew Medal of Honour: European Assault
Memorick The Apprentice Knight
Men of valor - XBOX - PAL
Men of Valor: The Vietnam War
Mercedes-Benz World Racing
Mercenaries
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance
In essence, Substance is kind of like one of those special edition, director's cut DVDs you get for films, in that it's the same old movie but with so much cool stuff layered on top it seems totally new. There's also a similarly scattershot approach to the new features, but the most obviously appealing are the chance to play through both missions as Solid Snake (or a bunch of others including Pliskin and the cyborg ninja) instead of the anaemic Raiden. Then there's a mountain of over 100 VR missions and five brand new mini-episodes for Snake to try his luck at. Any additional extras, and the answer to whether Snake really does get to do a Tony Hawk, remain secret until the final version is complete, but it's impossible to imagine that if you're a Metal Gear fan you won't enjoy this. For Xbox owners there’s the extra kudos that your version will be out before the PS2's—and there are rumours of exclusive features that the Xbox’s hard drive alone makes possible... —David Jenkins Metal Slug 3 [CIB]
Miami Vice
Microsoft Xbox (XBC)
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition Remix
Midtown Madness 3
With single and multi-player modes, a huge number of unlockable vehicles and more laughs per square inch then a clown sucking helium through a straw, Midtown Madness is a joy to play. This is car racing at its lunatic, comic-book best. Based on the streets of Washington DC and Paris, MM3 offers a fairly standard selection of one-player modes including checkpoint racing, first to the finish line challenges and a leisurely cruise mode for Sunday drivers who can't be doing with speeds over 55 mph. For the third release in the MM series, Microsoft have added an undercover mode in an effort to give lone players a running goal to aim for—whether it's busting the mafia as an undercover investigator or playing bodyguard and minder for a famous racing driver. In reality the story modes are paper thin and the plotline (such as it is) is best ignored in favour of completing the missions themselves. Where MM3 really shines is in it's online play modes where owners can take their favourite motors onto Xbox Live and tear up the tarmac against players from around the world. Anyone playing "Capture the Rabbit" will no doubt find themselves giggling with glee as they smash the bonnet from a really swish looking sportscar with a well-timed sideswipe—this is top stuff and comes close to ousting MotoGP 2 from its position as best racing game on the XBox. It's not all good news though. Car physics really are cartoony and collisions can get very "interesting"—ever seen a Mini Cooper tip a bus over by slamming into the side of it? Also, the single-player mode can start to get repetitive after a while, so online play is a godsend. All in all, if it's good old-fashioned racing fun you're after, with more than a dose of humour thrown in, Midtown Madness 3 is a must-have. —Chris Russell Midway Arcade Treasures
Of these games Williams' are the oldest and most revered, with titles such as Defender, Robotron 2084 and Joust coming from the golden age of arcade games and guided by the hand of coin-op genius Eugene Jarvis. These games, along with lesser titles and follow-ups such as Defender II, Joust 2, Smash TV, Blaster, Sinistar and Splat!, mark Williams as the most gifted of American coin-op developers and all of the games are presented here exactly as they used to be—with 20-year-old graphics but timeless gameplay. Bally's Spy Hunter, Rampage and Root Beer Tapper came a few years later and are still entertaining today, although Satan's Hollow is pretty much the only stinker in the whole package. Then there's the "newest" titles from Atari such as multi-player classic Gauntlet plus Paperboy, Marble Madness, Roadblasters, Rampart, 720º, Super Sprint, Toobin', Klax and Vindicators. The only disappointment of this collection is that although some of these games have video clip interviews and the odd scanned in promotional image the actual presentation and menu systems are very cheaply done. This doesn't take away from the classic beauty of the games themselves though. This compilation a must for collectors and anyone else interested in a time when gameplay really was more important than graphics. —David Jenkins Midway Arcade Treasures 2
Midway Arcade Treasures 3
Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
Minority Report - Everybody Runs
Mission Impossible: Operation Surma
Mojo
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
This instalment features a 3-D battle system that still manages to maintain a 2-D feel. For example, pushing up on your controller makes you sidestep your opponent's attacks yet it also allows you to jump in the air by tapping up direction. A revamped fighting system offers up three different fighting styles for each fighter (one includes a weapon technique). The multiple styles provide countless variations of attacks for any given fighter. Different combinations of punches and kicks allow can be combined for very lengthy and powerful chain attacks similar to the Mortal Kombat of old. Fatalities are also back and are rich in graphic representation. New fighters join the cast of old favourites such as Sonya, Kano, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Scorpion, Johnny Cage, Jax, Cyrax, Kung Lao, Kitana, Quan Chi, Reptile, and Shang Tsung. The lavish environments surround your fighters with animated backgrounds and rich skylines. On some levels there are even breakable objects and hazards that you can interact with, such as pools of acid—the perfect landing place for a thrown opponent. In addition to regular modes of gameplay (arcade, versus, etc.), there is an option called Konquest mode. This mode allows you to learn more about fighting styles, read up on each character's personal history, and gain "Koins". The koins can then be spent in the "Krypt" allowing you to unlock a host of new characters, costumes, and early concept drawings. The additional content offered with this title is plentiful and yet it manages to also fit in special movies of "The Making of Deadly Alliance" and "The History of Mortal Kombat". Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance successfully reinvents the series by offering up a unique mix of improved graphics and stylised gameplay without compromising any of the features that made the MK series popular over the years. —Carlos Rodela Mortal Kombat: Deception
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Moto GP Ultimate Racing Technology 2
Moto GP: Ultimate Racing Technology [MM]
MTV Celebrity Deathmatch
Myst III: Exile
NARC
NBA Inside Drive 2003
NBA Jam 2004
NBA Live 2002
NBA Live 2005
NBA Street 2
NBA Street 2 is the best basketball game yet. Although it's an official NBA product, the fact that it is playground-based liberates this from the confines of fan reverence. Instead, especially in the "Be a Legend" option, it has a great sense of humour about itself. The boss of each city, once defeated, can be added to the player's roster—and although they are caricatures, they're fondly and funnily done. Among the best are Stretch (a dunker from Harlem), Dime (a female ball-stealer who resembles the singer Pink) and Osmosis (an Oakland version of "It" player Yao Ming).Parents couldn't find a more kid or teen-friendly game. There's no adult language, and the colourful commentary is fantastic. It's much improved from the original game's repetitive "MJ, go on with yo bad self" patter. Bobbito Garcia, a real-life streetball announcer, should get a "nice work" bonus. For that matter, so should the ambience-noise guys, who included, for example, a single cellphone ring in the background. Those not inclined to love sports games should trust in NBA Street 2—it's visually brilliant, witty and addictive. True basketball fans should get this game immediately, if not sooner. They'll best appreciate that all the old-time players have their moment in the sun; for example, 5,000 points unlocks Dr J, and a billboard between sets advertises Bill Russell and other pioneers. Classic hip-hop from artists such as MC Lyte rounds out the impressive package. —Jennifer Buckendorff New Legends
NFL 2003: Madden 2003
NFL 2004: Madden NFL '04
NFL 2006: Madden NFL '06
NFL 2007: Madden NFL '07
NFL Fever 2003
NFL Fever 2004 / Game
NFL: ESPN 2k5
NFS: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2
NFS: Need For Speed: Underground
NHL 2K3 (!C) (!M)
Like most of Sega's recent sports releases, NHL 2K3 hangs its hat on stellar gameplay and sweet graphics. Little, if anything, is overlooked: players move and react much like their real-life counterparts—goalies are especially acrobatic; the puck seamlessly glides, flips and bounces around the rink and off the posts and goalie's pads; players can be pinned to the boards during a scramble for the puck; missed shots are covered up by a diving goalie or slapped in off ensuing rebounds; arenas are painstakingly re-created and feature music and sounds specific to each. Off the ice, there's plenty of strategy and options to tinker with. NHL 2K3 boasts over 30 sliders to alter effects ranging from ice friction to referee collisions. And, of course, there's the franchise mode that allows up to 250 years of dynasty building. —Larry White NHL 2K4
NHL 06
NHL 2002
NHL 2004
Night Caster 2 Equinox
NightCaster
The name of the game is fighting endless hordes of monsters and gaining new magical spells. There are four schools of magic: water, fire, light and darkness and you can choose to specialise in a particular school. Magic affects the various creatures differently however, so you need to learn by trial and error which attacks are the most effective. Throughout the game, you unlock more powerful magic as you complete quests, and your character actually ages as the game progresses. By the end of the game, you are an old—and very powerful—wizard. This game is good, but it has some flaws. NightCaster has the ability to switch between first and third-person views, but you automatically switch back to third person when you enter a fight, rendering a first player perspective useless. Also, while the game's talking tutorial is helpful, the voice sounds like TV Psychic Miss Cleo. Lastly, the monster design is lacking... the monsters look like cute little potato bugs and those snap-together plastic toys toddlers love. What's truly scary about NightCaster is how cuddly evil can be. The bottom line: NightCaster is a fun third-person action-RPG romp, perfect for a quick fix for hack 'n' slash cravings. —Bryan Karsh Amazon.com Ninja Gaiden {CIB}
Obscure
Oddworld : Munch's Oddysee
First things first though, indulge yourself with the "Game Speak" not essential but highly amusing all the same. Once mastered you'll begin the game with the original star Abe. As you enter the first cavern you'll be aided by great in-game instructions, so it won't take long to unravel the first few simple levels. Once you've got to grips with the controls you can start to hunt down those lazy Mudokons. Soon the action cuts to Munch, after receiving some minor surgery from his captors he is now equipped with sonar. This new headgear becomes the tool in which he makes his escape, aided by his new friends the Fuzzles. Now he's set to escape the lair of his captors, not forgetting to rescue those cute Fuzzles along the way. After some intense game play the two heroes meet up and become one devastating force working together to find the last batch of Gabbit's eggs. You will need your wits about you to solve puzzles in this dual action adventure. Munch is a joy to watch and play. Complete with laughs gags and outstanding graphics this is one of the most innovative games you are likely to find. So jump in and immerse yourself in this fun-filled Oddysee.—Rob Holliday Oddworld Stranger's Wrath
Operation Flashpoint Elite
Otogi 2
Otogi: Myth of Demons
Outlaw Golf
Outlaw Golf 2
Outlaw Volleyball
OutRun 2
Although there were various sub par spin-offs a true sequel has never appeared until now, and indeed looked like it might never appear at all as fashions moved on and realism seemed to become almost more important the fun when it came to driving games. That has simply served to make OutRun 2 and its uncomplicated driving style, full of powerslides and unlikely road conditions, all the more welcome. The coin-op has been out for a year or so now and technically little concrete information is know about the console version, however since the technology behind the coin-op was based on Xbox hardware a perfect conversion is practically guaranteed. What's also promised though is a series of features unique to the home version, including a brand new mission mode with over 100 missions, a choice of eight Ferrari cars, a time attack and "heart attack" mode and full Xbox Live play for up to eight people at a time. Throw in remixed versions of those classic arcade tunes (and some brand new music as well) and you've got the ultimate arcade racer for new and old fans alike. —David Jenkins Panzer Dragoon Orta
While its core gameplay is the very definition of old school, Panzer Dragon: Orta is much more than a shooter on rails. The dragon that Orta rides can shift into three forms: light, medium, and heavy. Success depends on a player's ability to quickly shift between forms in order to take advantage of each form's particular abilities. The medium form is most useful in the most situations. The light form is fast and manoeuvrable, ideal for quickly shooting down swarms of projectiles or attaining a favourable tactical position. The heavy form presents a slow, big target, but sports the most damaging weapons in the game. The shapeshifing aspect adds depth to the game, especially considering that each form can be upgraded with powerups and enables a unique special ability. Clever shifting strategy and a sharpshooter's eye earn a player much more than victory and powerups. Skilled players are rewarded with extras such as passages of Panzer Dragoon fiction, concept sketches, additional playable characters, extra missions, and even the original Panzer Dragoon game from 1995. The goodies celebrate the rich history of the Panzer Dragoon series, and fill in the background of the game's unfolding story. Disappointingly, the genuinely interesting story is told through subtitles instead of spoken English. Subtitles would be fine for slow sections or non-interactive cutscenes, but Orta's text is displayed during pitched battles. The frantic pace and constant action demand the player's full attention; it's difficult to spare the time to read text when you're desperately gunning down 20 incoming missiles while dodging around a cliff wall and trying to draw a bead on a flying battleship's weak point. In other words: the game is so good, you shouldn't be forced to take your eyes off the action for even a second. Challenging, rewarding, and beautiful, Panzer Dragoon: Orta stands with Halo as one of the "must-have" Xbox games. —Mike Fehlauer Pariah
PGA 2003: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003
PGA 2004: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
PGA 2007: Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07
Tiger Woods returns and in better form than his recent Ryder Cup letdown, with a whole host of refinements and additions (and the odd subtraction) to the winning PGA Tour formula. The lowdown: The problem with updating a golf game every year is that, unlike most other sports, nothing much changes in terms of players or courses. Despite that, this update tries its best with new courses, new golfers, an expanded online mode and an even better create-a-golfer mode. The only downside to all this is that the main "Rivals" single player mode from last year’s game has gone, replaced with the inferior "Team Tour" mode. It doesn’t affect the selection of other modes though, including new options "Elimination" and "OneBall" and the four player "Bloodsome and Greensome". It may not reinvent the wheel but it does at least add some very welcome decoration to it - and thankfully not in the style of most golf clothing. Most exciting moment: The best bit about PGA Tour is still its simple and accessible controls. There are two main controls, the first uses the left analogue stick to swing and set the power and the right aims where you hit the ball. The alternative control places the hook and slice on the right stick, if that’s how you prefer it. Since you ask: The Xbox 360 version of the game became infamous as the first game to allow you to unlock the extra features by paying money via micro-transactions on Xbox Live Marketplace. You can, however, still unlock them the honest way on all the different versions. The bottom line: A minor update to the world’s favourite golf game. -HARRISON DENT Pirates of the Caribbean
Playboy: The Mansion
Pool Shark 2
Powerdrome
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was critically acclaimed but commercially underperformed; this sequel has a chance to right that wrong early on with a noticeably darker and more violent adventure. The Prince is being hunted by an "immortal incarnation of Fate", who's peeved with him for mucking about with the space-time continuum in the last game and aims to make sure he won't be doing it again. Although the Prince has a number of new acrobatic moves (including the rather Errol Flynn-esque ability to shimmy down tapestries) and time attacks (such as a new fast forward move that allows him to buzz through a cluster of enemies as nothing more than a blur of light) the most important new feature in the game is a completely new combat system. Using the analogue controllers to full effect, it's now possible to incorporate your weapons, enemies and environment into a seemingly endless stream of combos as you leap behind and around bad guys, steal their weapons and turn a normal wall run into a lunging slash attack. If this game was only as good as the last one it'd still be amazing but the genuine improvements already seen should see the Prince take his rightful place as king of the action platformers. —David Jenkins Pro Beach Soccer
Pro Cast Sports Fishing
Pro Evolution Soccer 5
Everything fans could hope for is here: officially licensed leagues from Italy, Spain and Holland line up alongside a replica of the Premiership, as well as the French and German championships. In all, that amounts to 136 club sides and 57 national teams. Plus there's a more detailed Master League, domestic European competitions, and a comprehensive Edit Mode. The lowdown: The definitive footie series returns to defend its crown, and how it sparkles when held up to the light. Pro Evolution 5's gameplay has been enhanced to provide a more lifelike version of the beautiful game: players utilise their upper bodies more in the challenge, have more tricks at their disposal, and can now curl shots with pinpoint accuracy. This is total football. Most exciting moment: Scoring a virtual replica of Roberto Carlos' legendary free-kick against France — the one with the unbelievable swerve— and then dancing around the living room like a lunatic. Since you ask: Thierry Henry has been playing Pro Evolution games since the first title appeared ten years ago. The great man clearly has great taste. The bottom line: Another trophy for the Pro Evo cabinet. Jonti Davies Pro Tennis WTA Tour
Project Gotham Racing
Bizarre Creations, the developer of Metropolis Street Racer for Dreamcast, makes its Xbox debut with a sequel of sorts. Project Gotham Racing is very similar to its predecessor, except with refined gameplay mechanics and vastly improved graphics. The focus of this racer is unique and centred on the "kudos" system. Players are rewarded bonus points for sustaining slides, riding on two wheels, catching air, clean driving, and passing other drivers. Chaining any of these actions together results in high-scoring combinations. So in addition to trying to finish the race first, the player must worry about style and technique to succeed in this game. The kudos system is fun and definitely makes this game stand out from the competition.Another highlight of the game is its detailed graphics. The more than 200 circuits based on London, Tokyo, San Francisco, and New York are extremely authentic. Those familiar with the areas are sure to do a double take at the numerous courses. The game's cars are also beautifully rendered and feature impressive reflection and lighting effects. Gameplay is quite diverse with quick race, arcade race, kudos challenge, time attack, and multiplayer modes. Kudos challenge alone features nine different types of gameplay that ranges from races, time trials, and obstacle courses. The only significant drawback with this game is its difficulty. Most players will find that two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through, the game becomes exceedingly difficult to the point where it's more frustrating than fun. Despite this problem, it still provides dozens of hours of entertainment for most and a challenging time for the hard core. All players will find that Project Gotham Racing is a truly distinct and beautiful racer. —Raymond M Padilla Project Gotham Racing 2
Fast circuits and faster cars combine with deep, challenging gameplay to make Microsoft's Project Gotham Racing II one of the most exciting Xbox experiences to date. With over 100 different types of vehicle, including SUVs, compact cars and even Porsches and Ferraris, PGR creates an experience that is both engaging and exciting. It has the spirit of "just one more go" like little else.In offline mode, players compete for Kudos points, taking part in time trials, road races and a variety of high-speed challenges that allow them to unlock new cars and circuits from the many on offer. These unlocked treats can then be played single player or taken online and raced with competitors over the Xbox Live system. It's almost bewildering to race around the tight streets of Italy in a Mini Cooper then take over the wheel of some ludicrously overpowered American muscle car and attempt to keep it in a straight line as the power to the back wheels constantly forces it to fishtail out of control. Full credit must go to programmers Bizarre Creations for not only furnishing the game with a broad range of vehicles but also making each one feel so very different—changing car classes can be quite a challenge. With locations around the world (Australia, Russia, Spain and even Edinburgh featuring strongly), the graphical look of the game is lush and a real treat for the eyes. Birds soar lazily over the racetracks, there's no popup to speak of and in Yokohama even the big wheel in the distant fairground is fully animated—though at the speed this games moves along it's unlikely you'll have time to check it out. Take PGR2 online and the fun really begins—there's simply nothing like blasting through the tyre smoke of a multi-car pile-up and taunting the opposition as you roar into the distance. Pages could be written about how engaging, absorbing, deep and exciting this game is but it's enough to say it's destined to be a massive hit. It's a must for petrol-heads everywhere. —Chris Russell Project Zero
ProStroke Golf : World Tour 2007
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
Punisher, The
Puyo Pop Fever
R: Racing
RalliSport Challenge
There are several modes of play, with the predominant role belonging to Career mode. This consists of a series of mini tournaments where you acquire points for position, time, top speed and damage. Reaching points thresholds unlocks more tournaments and more cars. These tournaments usually consist of several timed stages, or in the case of rally cross, a series of races against three computer controlled opponents. They span different terrains and climates, so one minute you'll be trying to minimise skids around the ice-rink circuits, the next you'll be power sliding round gravel hairpins on a hill climb. Each of the tracks can be practiced in a single race mode and there is also multiplayer support. The car setup available is limited. You can adjust brake balance, gear ratios, tyres, steering and suspension, but only in the most basic sense—such as front, medium, back; or long, medium, short. The cars also handle very forgivingly and damage isn't accrued from one stage to the next, so there's no managing of repairs. Rallisport Challenge looks gorgeous, is heaps of fun to play and has good longevity. If you are looking for a rally car simulation then this will leave you disappointed, but if you're after some high octane racing and fancy thrashing around in an Audi or Subaru, then pick up a copy now. —Jason Weston RalliSport Challenge 2
Rallisport Challenge 2 is one of the most comprehensive multi-player Xbox titles. Four payers can race on one system; with more consoles and monitors, up to 16 players can engage in link-up races; and furthermore, the game is designed for multi-player competition on Microsoft's Xbox Live network. Crucially, this impressive set of options is built on a solid foundation: cars handle perfectly as they speed through gorgeous environments. With real cars, and tracks set in every corner of the globe, Rallisport Challenge 2 is quite a treat for petrolheads. —Jonti Davies Red Card
Yet whilst this could easily turn out to be short-lived fun, Midway have injected Red Card with a few extra goodies to ensure a longer play life. The World Conquest mode, for instance, allows you to take control of a national side and quite literally beat off the best of the world, while cup tournaments and the simply essential multiplayer mode further enhance the entertainment. Throw in extra teamss to unlock and there’s a fair challenge packed onto the disc. So don’t be fooled by the seemingly over-the-top approach of the game. In the arcade football genre, it easily beats Sega’s tepid Virtua Striker series, and it also gives more mainstream titles a real run for their money. In short, it is a really quite surprising, and irresistible, hybrid of sporting and fighting games. —Simon Brew Red Dead Revolver
The controls are just complex enough to allow depth, without becoming fiddly, and allow you to use cover appropriately, and fight hand to hand and with a huge range of different weapons. The best bit though is the bullet time-esque "Dead Eye" mode which allows you to select multiple targets in slow motion and then switch back to normal time and blast everyone away instantly, just like Clint Eastwood. With sections on horseback, a number of missions (perhaps too many) where you control a side character instead of the eponymous Red, and tons of references to classic movie moments this has just about everything you could ask for from a cowboy shooter. —David Jenkins Red Ninja: End of Honor
Reign of Fire
In the Human element of the game you have to drive around the game areas completing various mission objectives while shooting at the hordes of ancient beasts. You start with just a machine gun hitched to the back of a jeep to fight the flaming brutes, and as the game progresses you pick up lots of new and pretty looking weapons to add to your arsenal. In Dragon mode you get to swoop around spitting fire balls and terrorising the poor humans; it really is great fun—you can even pick up vehicles and throw them around. Reign of Fire offers two different control methods: a simple mode and a more advanced aiming setup in which you use the right analogue stick to aim with; it's hard to start with but very effective once you're used to it. Overall, Reign of Fire is a fun and polished title which makes you think what a great film the movie could have been. —Laurent S Hall Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War
Roadkill
Robot Wars - Extreme Destruction
Robots
Rocky Legends
Rogue Trooper
Rugby 2005
Rugby 2005 (!M)
Rugby Challenge 2006
With the Six Nations more popular than ever there’s never been a greater demand for a decent rugby sim and this game is good enough to satisfy almost all comers. With a full range of both international and national teams this has everything a rugger fan could ask for. The lowdown: Rugby is not the easiest of sports to simulate for a video game but this is undoubtedly the best effort yet. It plays hard and fast with the rules sometimes (which is to say it ignores them if it will unduly affect the flow of play) but as an arcade style sports game it all works perfectly in context. Although occasionally unresponsive the controls cope well with the complexities of the game and the tutorials are great at helping you no matter whether you’re more unfamiliar with rugby or video games. There are also mountains of tournaments and cups, as well as some wholly original concepts like the Superstar mode - where only one player on each team can score points. Most exciting moment: Winning a virtual Grand Slam in the Six Nations cup with the country of your choice. Since you ask: Developers Swordfish Studios also produced the excellent World Championship Rugby for Acclaim, as well as the classic John Lomu Rugby for Codemasters. The bottom line: It’s not the Pro Evolution Soccer of rugby but it comes close. HARRISON DENT Samurai Warriors
Second Sight
Sensible Soccer 2006
Serious Sam 2
Shadow the Hedgehog
Shattered Union
Sid Meier's Pirates
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Irritatingly though the original PS one title remains the best of the series with the last two PS2 titles being little more than hi-res rehashes. The Room manages to shake things up a bit though, ditching the radio and flashlight gimmicks and adding twice the normal amount of side characters and a more involved fighting system. There's also a number of completely invincible bad guys and a new Resident Evil style limited slot inventory system. The room in question, as you're no doubt wondering, is in fact the toilet. Playing yet another everyman character you wake up from a rather disturbing dream to find out that you're locked inside your flat and the only way out is through a gateway to hell next to the privy. Which almost sounds like a BlackAdder joke, but is unlikely to have you laughing after your first trip. Within your flat the game uses a first person view, with the series' more traditional third person viewpoint taking over when you go through the portal. A series of weird lens filters and excellent (i.e. very unpleasant) sound lends a real otherworldly feel to proceedings, so that when things do choose to go bump in the night at you, you end up being very scared indeed. —David Jenkins Silent Scope Complete
Silent Scope Complete
Sims, The
Many would have assumed that The Sims could never work on a console, but one look at this version will easily prove them wrong. In fact, with the temptation to fall back on a mountain of confusing mouse-operated icons and online patches removed, this could well be the definitive version. For starters, the graphics now look much better than before, being in full 3-D instead of just isometric 2-D. This not only looks better but also allows you to zoom in and out on the action and feels a lot less sterile than the original. Things are still as customisable as ever too, especially via the Create-A-Sim option. Perhaps the biggest change to how the game plays on a console is in the new level-based missions. The PC original had no real goal; you just designed a family and let them get on with it, interfering with their virtual life as much or as little as you wanted. The console version adds some goals and rewards to the gameplay, which should help to attract the more attention-deficient console owners. There's even a rather odd two-player mode, which, even if it seems a little pointless, is yet more proof that EA are really trying to make this a proper worthwhile console experience and not just the cheap cash-in many would've expected. —David Jenkins Slam Tennis
Soldier of Fortune II
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
The main crux of the game is obviously the single-player campaign and this time it revolves around biological weapons and the former Soviet Union. This of course gives you plenty of chances to experience snow, deserts and Eastern European cities. While Solider of Fortune 2 has plenty to offer in both the single and multiplayer arenas, one of its greatest strengths is its random map-generating option. Here it takes the same mission each time, but applies it to a randomly generated map with randomly generated bad guys. As you can imagine this makes for endless gameplay that will forever keep you on your toes. With a truck load of weapons ranging from a simple knife to handguns to rocket launchers, those of you who like their weapons won't be disappointed. Better still is the ability to carry more than one type of the same weapon. Okay, so it's a bit implausible as to how you can carry everything, but hey when you have this many weapons, who cares? Taking advantage of their work with Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, the graphics and sound that Ravensoft, the games developers, have managed to create are very impressive; with large, open, expansive scenery mixed in with close-quartered cities everything has a great atmospheric quality to it. This is a great game, that builds not only what Solider of Fortune achieved, but also on the developments that have been made in the industry by both Ravensoft and other developers. - Jason Denwood Sonic Heroes
Sonic Heroes is basically the action segments from Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 stripped of all the insanely dull pseudo RPG elements but unfortunately still containing far too much storyline and the largest and least interesting host of secondary characters ever seen in gaming. Sonic Heroes also inherits many of the older titles' camera and control problems, although here they are now occasional rather than constant irritations. All this may seem as if it's painting a rather poor picture of the game, but despite all its problems Sonic Heroes is actually a lot of fun. Its main gimmick is that you actually control three characters at a time, with each one having a special ability of either speed, flight or the ability to smash through blocks. Thankfully this doesn't overcomplicate the controls and instead adds a modicum of depth to the otherwise non-stop running-'n'-jumping action. You still occasionally get the feeling that the game is trying too hard to fit a round peg in a square hole, but on balance more of it works than doesn't, and it's certainly the best Sonic title since the Mega Drive era. —David Jenkins Sonic Heroes
Sonic Mega Collection
Soul Calibur II
SoulCalibur's brilliance is not due to any particularly innovative features—it could legitimately be described as simply Tekken with weapons. It's just that it does everything with more panache and imagination than the rest. Instead of awkward, staccato moves, SoulCalibur offers gloriously flowing, instinctive combos that often leaves you gasping at your own character's athleticism. Of course beat-'em-ups aren't known for their innovation and SoulCalibur II doesn't really deviate too far from its original premise of 16th century men and women hitting each other with a variety of swords, sticks and other meleé weapons. The whole tactical nature of the battles has been altered, though, to create a deeper game with blocks and counters now far more important and the glorious new animation system able to adapt each move depending on the direction and speed you're moving in. One point of true innovation in the original game was its unusually complex and rewarding single-player mode and this has been expanded for the sequel as you compete under a variety of different conditions to earn money and buy new weapons, costumes and extras. —David Jenkins Spartan: Total Warrior
Spy Hunter
Spy Hunter 2
Spy vs. Spy
SRS: Street Racing Syndicate
SSX 3
SSX On Tour
SSX Tricky
Tricky removes two characters from the previous game and adds five new ones. It adds two new race locations to the already beefed-up World Circuit (Garibaldi and Alaska). The developers also added features to the older tracks, effectively making them new again. Tricky improves the graphics a bit and refines the controls. The game even tweaks the basic gameplay by letting you upgrade your boarder's stats in races, but also forcing you to attempt and master the showoff mode. And EA improved the challenge by evening out the learning curve. SSX tended to be a cakewalk until the later races in each set, but this time your rivals get more intense and aggressive depending upon the lap you're taking. As in the first game, personality is everything. This is true not only in terms of voice acting, but also in how you treat opponents. The game has a few basic attitudes. If you block and attack characters too much, they'll remember and actively seek you out. If you help one or two of them, they'll become your allies, warning you of danger or fending off attackers. The changes are deep enough to change quite a bit, and they'll delight even fans who are tired of, or who mastered, the first game on the PS2. Maybe that's the most impressive über-trick of them all. —Bob Andrews Star Trek: Shattered Universe
Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Battlefront
As such the game features first or third person shoot-'em-up gameplay over 15 different environments from both the classic trilogy and the not-so classic trilogy. Unfortunately you can't mix and match the different eras, so each of the two sets of opposing factions have to stick to their own levels. Although the game has a much stronger single player mode than its PC based inspiration, the heart of the game is still the multiplayer mode that allows for up to 16 players online playing as more than 20 different soldier types, which sadly doesn't include Ewoks or Gungans (although the former are at least in the Endor levels as non-player characters). There are more than 30 different authentic Star Wars weapons to use (although not, as far as is known, lightsabers) and 30 different vehicles to pilot, including Scout Walkers, X-wings and speeder bikes. Despite its obvious steals from the Battlefield series Star Wars: Battlefront is shaping up to be a more than worthy title on its own, with excellent graphics, plenty of variety and, most important of all, the chance to essentially "play" Star Wars, except with virtual characters instead of action figures.—David Jenkins This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Star Wars: Battlefront II
Of course in Battlefield 1942 "various vehicles" meant jeeps and tanks, in Battlefront II it means X-wings, TIE Fighters, AT-ATs and, for the first time, Episode III vehicles like the BARC speeder, Jedi Starfighter II and V-wing. The biggest change to the game, apart from the new vehicles, is space battles with several of the levels taking part aboard giant space cruisers which you can exit in starfighters, have a dogfight in deep space around and then pilot back to for a bit more on foot combat. Levels include the Blockade Runner from the beginning of A New Hope, the space battle above Coruscant and Utapau and Mustafa from Episode III. Another long awaited addition is playable Jedi, although you can only be one for a short time so as to not unbalance the gameplay. Although the emphasis is on online play the single player mode has been beefed up with better artificial intelligence and a proper story linking all the missions. "Star Wars fans, like this, they will", as Yoda would say (if he was real and wrote game previews instead of being a Jedi Master). — Harrison Dent This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game. Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter [MM]
This Xbox version of the sequel serves more as an extra set of missions than a full-blown follow-up, but there are some new features and the gameplay feels a lot smoother. The finest of these new additions are the Force weapons; when playing as the Starfighter itself, you're able to utilise the Force to unleash mass devastation on your foes. The 15 missions alternate between control of this craft and a more robust ship well stocked with missiles; despite being based around a basic protect-and-shoot premise, the missions are nicely varied in style. The controls are baffling at first but you'll soon be pulling off some outrageous manoeuvres as you hunt down the enemy ships while issuing commands to your comrades. The graphics in these dogfights are fantastic, especially when using the zoom option, but larger ships tend to explode in a less than convincing fashion. The lack of recognisable characters, bar an appearance from Mace Windu and a Yoda voiceover, does detract, as does the lack of the classic Star Wars ships (the game is based indirectly on Episode 2). This is partially made up for by an unlockable Tie Fighter along with some new missions and some truly bizarre bonus material. While being a bit too similar to the previous game to warrant buying both, Jedi Starfighter is a very accomplished title that only suffers slightly from its repetitive nature.—Jonathan Winter Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Obi-Wan
Obi-Wan chronicles the adventures of young Obi-Wan Kenobi across five acts as he battles the evil Trade Federation, the Black Heth crime organisation, and other assorted baddies. The story is nothing new, and it's hampered a bit by the Episode I setting, which simply isn't as compelling as the setting of the classic Star Wars stories. Since you play as Obi-Wan, the primary weapon in your arsenal is the lightsaber. Using a third-person view, you use the left thumbstick to control Obi-Wan and the right thumbstick to control the lightsaber. In principle this sounds fantastic, but in practice it's a little difficult to master as camera angles can change whilst you are in the middle of a battle. Graphically, Obi-Wan is OK, but not brilliant. It fails to take full advantage of the Xbox's fancy graphics hardware, and the environments are empty and plain, although the shadows and light effects are worth mentioning. The worse thing in the game is probably the voice acting (Obi-Wan sounds like Mike Myers doing a bad Scottish accent), and the all-too-frequent cinematic cut scenes look like they were slapped together in five minutes. There are some tiny diamonds in the rough, such as the ability to use Force powers to throw objects at enemies or pull weapons out of their hands which makes fighting multiple enemies a lot easier. A feature sure to please fans of the dramatic saber fights in Episode I is the multiplayer Jedi Battles mode. This mode lets you and a buddy engage in fierce Jedi duels, using characters from the movie and game. Unfortunately, these few nice touches aren't enough to make this a classic game.—Jason Winter Star Wars: Republic Commando
Surprisingly things seem to be turning out rather well with some decent graphics and an easy to use, if slightly perfunctory, squad control interface. The game also takes much inspiration from the GameCube’s Metroid Prime with an excellent helmet view that does a lot to immerse you in the game and convince you that you really are the sci-fi version of Andy McNab. Perhaps the only problem evident at this stage is that the battles are noticeably smaller scale than the ones from the movie with rarely more than half a dozen enemies attacking at any one time, rather than the hundreds seen in the film. An online multiplayer mode should help to shore things up somewhat, although the artificial intelligence of the bad guys is good enough to ensure you can still have plenty of fun on your own. —David Jenkins Starsky & Hutch
State of Emergency
Stolen
Street Fighter Anniversary
Sudeki
Suffering, The: Ties that Bind
Super Monkey Ball Deluxe
SWAT: Global Strike Team
Syberia 2
The first game won its fans largely because of its well scripted storyline, which managed to make you forget the oddness of its premise and really invest in the cast of genuinely believable and engaging characters. The quality of writing is undiminished in this sequel, but the story itself is beginning to feel unnecessarily strung out with the constant stream of snowy wastelands leaving you wishing for more verdant surroundings. The puzzles are also a bit of a step down from before, with the welcome attempt to add a greater variety of tasks and difficulty levels leading to an uncomfortable mix of traditional LucasArts-style conundrums and more trial-and-error Myst-style affairs. Despite these misgivings Syberia II is still enjoyable, with superb production values—particularly in the excellent cut scenes. Those who have never played the original, however, should certainly start there as this slightly disappointing sequel is really one for those that want to continue the series' journey to its logical end. —David Jenkins Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus
In the world of Tao Feng the Pacific Northwest is called New China. Two rival factions, with six members each, fight to gain two mystical tablets that grant awesome power. On the side of the Pale Lotus we have 90-year-old Master Sage, attractive Jade Dragon, a hothead appropriately named Fiery Phoenix, cat-like Fierce Tiger, level-headed cop-by-day Divine Fist, and the enigmatic and metallic Iron Monk. The bad guys, called the Black Mantis, are: Wulong Goth—looking crazy in a praying mantis costume, the mystical Fatalist, the alluring Divinity, the scary Geist, and a hulking brute named Exile. Each fighter has his own fighting style, powers, and core strategy, and the game design is such that you have to relearn the game with each new fighter. The slower pace of the fighting in Tao Feng might put off genre fans looking for something more frantic. The controls are simple and include a few innovations. For example: pushing back on the game pad blocks, but too much blocking might result in losing the use of your limbs. The rest of the buttons are two basic punches, two kicks, all modified by the direction you press and the use of the shoulder buttons and jumping attacks. You can even taunt your foe, which, like hitting them, charges your Chi bar. Chi can be unleashed in a devastating attack with the white button, and this attack is also modified by how you use the direction pad. The result is a fluid game of blocking, striking, and stringing combos, and occasionally taking advantage of your Chi powers to take out your opponent. There's a Quest mode that challenges you to beat the other faction one at a time for pieces of the mystical tablet. Survival mode has you trying to beat as many opponents as possible with a single health bar. Versus mode lets you stage a battle in any arena you like and for multiple players there's a tournament mode. The game looks great and features arenas filled with hazards and breakable objects. The only problem with the game is that some animation bugs didn't get squashed before the game shipped—when executing attacks characters sometimes instantly jerk into a new stance. Fortunately the underlying gameplay is strong enough that a player can forgive such faults, and concentrate on the gory action instead. —Bob Andrews Taz Wanted
Tecmo Classic Arcade
Tenchu: Return from Darkness
Tennis Masters Series 2003
Terminator 3: Redemption
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
Test Drive: Overdrive
Tetris Worlds
Tetris Worlds Online
Thing, The
TOCA Race Driver
TOCA Race Driver 2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon [MM]
Tom Clancy's... Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's... Ghost Recon 2
Tom Clancy's... Ghost Recon 2
Tom Clancy's... Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
Mexico City has been overrun by terrorists and only the Ghost Recon team can restore order – through the use of extreme violence. You command not just your three team mates but a high-tech array of weapons, armoured vehicles and aircraft. The lowdown: Although it still plays very similarly to the last Ghost Recon game, this is easily the most impressive of the series so far. The graphics, particularly on the Xbox 360, are extraordinary with a whole city sprawling out in front of you at a previously unimaginable level of detail. Unlike some squad based shooters the controls are simple and intuitive, allowing you to take part in the action and order about soldiers and vehicles at the same time with the minimum of fuss. The questionable artificial intelligence of your allies is the only serious flaw, but the ability to explore the city and plan your attack from any angle usually overcomes this problem. Most exciting moment: Calling in a helicopter gunship as you and your men are pinned down by a dozen terrorists, snipers and tanks. Since you ask: The game is set in 2013 and all of the high-tech weaponry is based on equipment the U.S. expects to have in operation by then – even the Metal Gear Solid style flying recon drones. The bottom line: Incredible graphics and one of the best squad based shooters ever. Harrison Dent Tom Clancy's... Rainbow Six 3
A standard mission will start you off with a situational briefing and overview of your objectives. After the briefing you'll pick your team of up to eight operatives in as many as three different fire teams, and then outfit them with a wide variety of realistic weaponry. You can choose to map out a mission plan for you and your AI-driven team mates, or you can just drop into the mission and figure things out on the fly. Raven Shield allows for cooperative and competitive online play, but unfortunately there's no mechanism that allows you to play cooperatively with friends through missions in a linear order with the storyline intact. This missing feature aside, cooperative play is still a great feature, and a refreshing break from standard death match play. There are several significant improvements in Raven Shield, most notably the use of the Unreal graphics engine. It's vastly superior to previous games and provides crisp, clean graphics that are beautiful enough to help suspend disbelief—a feat that's typically more difficult for games with modern settings. New controls in Raven Shield such as incremental door-opening and fluid movement controls allow for much stealthier (and thus more fun) movement around the map. Rainbow Six: Raven Shield should appeal to anyone who favours realism in games and is tired of fast-paced but mind-numbing first person shooters. —Jon Grover Tom Clancy's... Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow
The most obvious new feature is the new single player campaign with ten new missions, many in new locations in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. These missions also include improved artificial intelligence for the bad guys (including the ability to call for back-up and use hostages as human shields) and there's a new split-screen co-operative mode that allows you to team up with a friend and two computer team mates. Perhaps the most important additions though are in the online multiplayer mode, where Black Arrow will be one of the first games to utilise new Xbox Live 3.0 features such as user-created tournaments, instant messaging and clan statistics. Add in two new objective-based game modes, in the form of "capture the point" and "capture the flag", as well as new private team lobbies that see a return of sorts for the original Rainbow Six pre-mission planning interface, and you've got more new features than you find in most full-blown sequels. Which is far more than can be said for most similarly priced PC mission discs. —David Jenkins Tom Clancy's... Rainbow Six: Lockdown
Tom Clancy's... Rainbow Six: Lockdown
Tom Clancy's... Splinter Cell
As Sam Fisher, you are out to save the world from international terrorism. In doing this, stealth is of paramount importance. Splinter Cell makes terrific use of light and shadows in this regard. If Sam Fisher stays in the dark, he is less likely to be seen; but, equipped with night vision goggles, you are not hindered by the lighting effects. It's a clever system that creates some memorable scenes and adds to the sensation of being undercover. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a supremely balanced game. The initial training received is just long enough, gameplay is perfectly weighted between stealth and action, and the blend of different objectives in missions ensures that the experience never becomes a chore. More than being merely balanced, though, Splinter Cell excels in all areas. This is as compelling a spy game as you'll ever play. —Jonti Davies Tom Clancy's... Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
At first glance Pandora Tomorrow looks pretty much identical to its predecessor—which is to say it's one of the most graphically impressive video games ever made, with a particularly nice line in atmospheric lighting and insanely detailed environments. It's true that in straight gameplay terms things haven't changed very much, although there has been a concerted effort to make things less linear this time around—which was one of the main complaints levelled against the first game. Now though, there are multiple solutions to almost every situation you find yourself in, and this isn't limited merely to a simple choice between wading in guns blazing or sitting in a corner for 10 minutes being stealthly. There are also a few new moves and gadgets to play with but probably the most important new feature for Pandora Tomorrow is the multi-player mode. This is no simplistic death-match mode but instead pits spies (using the single-player game's standard third-person viewpoint) against mercenaries (using a more traditional first-person view) where the completely different abilities and weapons of each team makes for some highly engaging and inventive action. This immediately stops Pandora Tomorrow from being yet another mission disc sequel and alone justifies the price of admission. —David Jenkins Tom Clancy's... Splinter Cell: Stealth Action Redefined
Tomb Raider: Legend
Lara Croft is finally back in the first game to do her legacy justice since the days of the original PlayStation. With updated graphics and gameplay, and a whole new suite of moves and equipment this is the sequel fans have always demanded. The lowdown: After the disappointment of Angel of Darkness, the Tomb Raider series has gone back to basics with a new developer and even a new Lara. Combat is back to being only around a third of the game with everything else centred on platform jumping and puzzle solving. To help this, there’s a canny new movement system that allows Lara to jump onto and grab objects at an angle, so there’s none of the awkward grid based movement of the earlier games. This is also the first Tomb Raider to have a proper physics engine, with lots of the puzzles revolving around movement and the use of Lara’s natty new magnetic grappling hook. The graphics are also excellent, and with input from the original creator this is a long awaited return to form. Most exciting moment: The realisation that this is actually a proper update of the original game, as Lara leaps around cliffs like a mountain goat, with graphics and controls that aren’t still stuck in 1996. Since you ask: The new voice of Lara is provided by Keeley Hawes, who also plays Zoe Reynolds in BBC TV show Spooks. The bottom line: Lara Croft is back in the first decent new Tomb Raider game for a long time. Harrison Dent Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Tony Hawk's Project 8
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Top Spin
Torino 2006 Winter Olympics
Total Club Manager 2005
Total Overdose
Tron 2.0 Killer App
True Crime: New York City
True Crime: Streets of LA
True Crime: Streets of LA
Turok Evolution
Thus, the game's action returns to the Lost Lands, albeit with smarter visuals and some excellent, moody audio effects. The gameplay itself, while primarily action based, does reward occasional stealth, although more fun will be gleamed from the broadened arsenal of hardware and choosing when to use them. There's a lot to explore, and the enemy AI puts up a far harder fight than the game's predecessors, all of which count as sizeable marks in the plus column. Turok: Evolution is no classic, though. Its levels are frequently a little too sprawling, and despite the generally enjoyable gameplay, a little more urgency wouldn't have gone amiss. That said, it's a title that's going to reward expectant fans of the franchise, and while it's not cutting edge stuff, Turok: Evolution does offer good value for money, and a challenging, lasting single player mode, with an equally enjoyable multi-player segment bolted on. Bottom line: it's a flawed game, but still an entertaining one. And thanks to a generous smattering of levels, tight controls and a sizeable game world, there's enough on the disc to keep the player immersed for some time. —Simon Brew Unreal Championship
Gameplay follows the same style that hardened gamers will recognise, however Epic Games has done a lot to improve the game for the Xbox. New levels, new game types—all fully customisable—and special moves designed specifically for the Xbox give plenty of options to play with. Players now have a number of choices available to them; single player, tutorial, instant action and Live play. The Live option, is of course the main crux of this game and connecting to the Xbox servers brings a host of other players to challenge and an endless supply of unpredictable gameplay ahead of you. If you have time to notice the graphics of this game, then you obviously aren't getting into enough fights. That said, the Unreal Championship world is very impressive with the Xbox ably coping with numerous players and heavy action on the screen at the same time. Likewise the sound, with its almost perfect 3-D soundscape of stray fire, pick-ups and taunts will make you feel you are right in the thick of the action. Like Halo, this is a benchmark game for the Xbox. In that it has the same sense of actually giving the gamer what they want. If you need to fill 30 minutes of frag-tastic mindless mayhem then is the game for you. —Jason Denwood Unreal Championship 2 (!M)
Unreal II: the Awakening
Urban Chaos
Urbz, The: Sims in the City
V Rally 3
The latest in Sega's highly successful series of off-road racing games embodies the best and the worst aspects of the racing genre: it's great fun and unlike some racing games it's possible to smash huge chunks off your motor and give it a, shall we say, structural re-design. On the downside it's hard, very hard, to master. The learning curve is almost vertical and it takes a good couple of hours' practice to get to the point where you can keep the car on the road for any length of time. Get past this initial sticking point, however, and V-Rally is excellent fun. Graphically it's gorgeous—low sun blocks the view of the horizon in winter weather and the snow courses look so real it's tempting to get out of the car and construct a quick snowman. Sound too adds to the flavour with fully realistic engine sounds and a codriver who gets almost sarcastic when a mistimed bend results in an unfortunate meeting with the scenery. Race modes include an arcade driving section and an excellent career mode which allows the competitive player to tackle the 20 top class vehicles on offer. Overall, V-Rally 3 is a very worthwhile purchase; once the initial shock of the difficulty wears off there's real depth and excitement here. —Chris Russell Van Helsing
The game is very similar to action adventures such as Devil May Cry and Castlevania. Indeed the movie itself seems to borrow deeply from the latter, with its mix of vampires, werewolves and just about everything else that goes bump in the night—not to mention a heady mix of gas-powered weapons and props. The game is more accessible than Konami's classic though and features 14 levels of undemanding but fun entertainment with your various weapons and the Batman-like grappling hook offering plenty of variety even when the bad guys start to get a little samey. In fact the only real disappointment with the game, if you assume it was always going to be a fairly simplistic action title, is the graphics; although far from substandard, they certainly don't live up to the incredible effects actually seen in the movie. The voice cast, including Hugh Jackman, all provide their talents for the soundtrack though, which does help considerably. If you liked the movie then this game can be recommended fairly easily but if you didn't, or you've never seen it, there is still much worse you can buy for the same money. But then again there's also a lot better. —David Jenkins Vexx
Playing as Vexx, you collect Wraith hearts. By gathering their energy, you power up the central hub that in turn opens doors to different worlds—from ice-encrusted wastelands and lush forests to hilly deserts and underwater oases. The graphics and music in each new world and in the many miniworlds hidden within are often breathtaking. At times, you easily become distracted, taking a break from world-saving responsibility to hop into a pool for a swim or perch on top of some pole just to get a good look around. The controls are fairly straightforward, although occasionally a near-impossible move sequence is needed to propel Vexx up to the next wobbling platform. The puzzles that lead to each heart can be challenging, if not downright frustrating, but there are enough available that you can always go and play somewhere else. There are 81 hearts scattered throughout the game, but only 60 are required to fight Dark Yabu. The creatures in each world are easy to slaughter and only a nuisance if they attack at the wrong time or en masse. Those seeking more of a challenge can hop onto the sundial in each level and twist it from day to night. This not only produces cool graphical and musical effects, but brings out a meaner breed of creepy-crawly. The only real defect is the third-person camera, which at times simply refuses to cooperate—but this is more than made up for with the thrill of fighting a sumo wrestler about 15 times your size, complete with his jiggling rolls of fat and deep-throated chortle. Nothing beats smacking him in the butt until he looms up on his tippy toes and falls over. —D.J. Morel Vietcong Purple Haze
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [CIB]
Warriors, The
Wings Of War
Without Warning
World Championship Pool 2004
Worms 3D
Worms Forts: Under Siege
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions
Wrestlemania 21
WWF: WWE Raw 2 Ruthless Aggression
X-Men 2: Wolverine's Revenge
While comics are having a bit of renaissance in films lately, with several decent versions of four-colour heroes making it to the big screen, the only half-decent superhero game is still Spider-Man. Wolverine's Revenge should change all that with what promises to be a genuinely worthwhile game in its own right. Tying in only loosely to the new X-men movie, this is basically a Wolverine simulator which traces his life from his first appearance as Weapon X in 1968 to a series of deadly battles in the modern day against the likes of Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth. As you'd expect, the emphasis of the action in the game is on 3-D combat and this works extremely well, with various combos to unlock and the ability to fight multiple bad guys at once. More interesting though is the way you can use Wolvie's animal senses to follow scent particles in the air, hear distant sounds and track an enemy's heat signature. This aspect of the game works incredibly well and allows you to play the game as either an all-out actioner or a more tactical, stealth-based affair. It's unusual to see a comic character portrayed so accurately in a game, with all their powers intact, but Wolverine's Revenge really pulls it off and combines it with some great gameplay and cool graphics. —David Jenkins X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
XIII
The gameplay itself takes the form of a first-person action-adventure, and a thumping good one at that. There's nothing particularly original about mixing in action, puzzle solving, exploration and stealth, but rarely has it all hung together as well as it does here. Put simply, XIII is a delight to play, with well-thought-through levels, generally fine enemy AI and, when the tempo is racked up, plenty of guns a-blazing and a healthy dose of tension to boot. On the visual side, we've seen cel-shading as graphical style in games before, more often than that leading to some bland visuals once the novelty has worn off. Not so here. The level of thought and care that has gone into the look and feel of XIII is there for all to see, and for it to be married up to such a compulsively addictive game is just the icing on a really rather delicious cake. Should you buy it? Most certainly, you should. If you don't, then the next time you lament the lack of care and adventure in your collection of games, then you really will have brought it all upon yourself. —Simon Brew Yager
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Killian
Collection Total:
10750 Items
10750 Items
Last Updated:
Jul 28, 2017
Jul 28, 2017
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