UFC Undisputed 2010

UFC Undisputed 2010 Review
Source By GameSpot

Inside the octagon, there really wasn't a lot wrong with UFC 2009 Undisputed, which makes it all the more impressive that the combat in UFC 2010 Undisputed is so much better. New features and improvements aren't confined to the cage, and check out UFC 2010 Undisputed's online mode locked, either. When you're not busy punching, pummeling, or posturing, you can create a custom fighter who's no longer restricted by styles, play through a far less clunky (though still problematic) Career mode, and shop for trading cards and unlockables using points earned in all-new modes. Some of the new features have come with problems, but despite some drawbacks, UFC 2010 Undisputed is definitely a bigger and better game than its predecessor. Its fighting system is deep, but it's also accessible enough that you don't need to be a fan of mixed martial arts to enjoy it.




Regardless of whether or not you played last year's game, you'd do well to check out UFC 2010's Tutorial mode before jumping into the octagon to do battle with one of the 100-plus (as opposed to last year's 41) UFC fighters. The mostly intuitive controls are largely unchanged: Your limbs are still mapped to the four face buttons, shoulder buttons are still used for blocking and modifying attacks, and the right analog stick still has a number of different uses, depending on whether you're fighting stand-up, in a clinch, or on the ground. There are several new techniques and strategies for you to master this year, though, and while none of them are complicated, you're better off learning about them in the impressively thorough tutorial than in a fight when one of them is used against you.

Depending on your play style, the most significant change during fights is that the octagon itself now comes into play. When you get your opponent in a clinch and force him up against one of the cage walls, it becomes harder for him to defend himself as you gain more leverage for attacks. The walls can also come into play during takedown attempts and while wrestling on the ground, which makes this a much more realistic representation of the UFC than its predecessor. The new sway system is similarly game changing because you can evade attacks simply by leaning in one of four directions. Performed by holding down a trigger button and tapping the left analog stick that's usually reserved for movement, sways make it easier for you to stand your ground without having to resort to blocks while an opponent is on the offensive. It's a risky tactic, but the payoff for a perfectly timed sway is that you get to launch a powerful counterattack as you return to your original stance.

Risk-versus-reward mechanics also have an impact on the mat, where the ground-and-pound strategy that proved so effective last year has been made a little more challenging to use. You can still take an opponent to the ground and transition between different positions in an attempt to get a full mount, but you need to "posture up" before you can land really powerful blows, and when you do that, it becomes easier for your opponent to escape. Furthermore, it's now easier for the guy with his back on the floor to neutralize the guy on top by grabbing hold of his head and--if it seems like the best available option--waiting for the referee to stand both fighters up again. Alternatively, regardless of whether or not you're on top, you can try to submit your opponent.

After initiating one of the numerous different submissions with a quick click of the right analog stick, both players then rotate the stick as quickly as possible in an attempt to end the submission favorably. This inelegant system (referred to in-game as "the shine") works in much the same way that it did last year, except that as the guy being submitted, you now have to watch for your opponent transitioning from one submission hold to another. If that happens, you need to shine in the opposite direction. If you fail to do so, you're treated to an extreme close-up of the improved fighter likenesses and animation as the camera zooms in--getting closer and closer as the submission looks increasingly likely to end the fight. The improved visuals and camera work make the ground game more compelling and even a little easier to understand than it was last year, but if you prefer strikes to submissions, there's a good chance you'll still do your best to avoid it.

The UFC 2010 roster has plenty of fighters to choose from to suit every play style. There's no easy way to figure out which fighters specialize in which fighting styles. This is unfortunate if you don't follow the sport, but the vast majority of these guys are such well-rounded mixed martial artists that you can still fight effectively even if your chosen fighter's style is nothing like your own. One way to avoid any of this confusion, of course, is to create your own character from scratch, either as a finished fighter that's ready to go toe-to-toe with the pros or as a work-in-progress that you subsequently build up in the lengthy Career mode. Either way, it can be a time-consuming process because while your choices for variables like stance, voice, celebration, and nickname are limited, the options get much more granular when you start using sliding bars to tweak the appearance of your fighter's facial features and such. When it comes to your created fighter's stats, you get two distinct pools of points to spend. One pool can be spent on a combination of strength, speed, and cardio attributes; the other pool can be distributed between no fewer than 16 offensive and defensive skills. These skills determine your fighter's strengths and weaknesses because, for example, if you want to put a lot of points into making sure that his punches and kicks are lethal, you might have fewer points to spend on things like submissions and takedowns.

Unlike their counterparts in last year's game, UFC 2010 fighters aren't limited to using one grappling style along with one striking style. If you're creating a finished fighter, you choose from one of nine "technique templates" (Japanese MMA or Boxing, for example) and then have the option to customize your repertoire by trading in the moves that you don't want for points and then spending those points on moves that you do want. It's a great system because it lets you create fighters that specialize in your favorite moves--even if those moves span a number of very different disciplines. Career mode takes a similar approach, except that you don't even get to choose a technique when creating your character; you start out as something of a jack-of-all-trades and then earn skill points and new moves by taking part in training activities between fights.

Last year's Career mode was bogged down with unwieldy menus to the point that you spent more time navigating them than you did inside the octagon. Thankfully, that's not the case this year, but while the Career mode is much-improved and introduces some good features, it still has its fair share of problems. One neat change is that rather than being thrust into the UFC from day one, you now get to take part in up to five amateur fights (these are a great opportunity to experiment with the four difficulty settings) before turning pro and competing in the World Fighting Alliance. The WFA fighters aren't nearly as formidable as the guys in the UFC, so beating them and getting invited to join the UFC is just a formality. The important thing at this early stage of your career is that you use the weeks between fights wisely; otherwise you're liable to get destroyed in your first Ultimate Fight Night undercard. Sadly, while it's more important than ever and has been improved somewhat, training in UFC 2010 still isn't much fun. Strength, speed, and cardio training are still entirely menu driven; the most effective way to spar is to employ cheap tactics, and visiting camps to learn new moves is more often frustrating than it is fun. You need to devote a lot of time to training in Career mode this year because even as a young fighter, any stats and skills that you don't invest points in on a regular basis start to deteriorate.


On paper, the new skill-deterioration system sounds like a great idea. After all, it makes sense that you'd lose skills you neglect to work on over time. The problem is simply that this idea hasn't been implemented or explained anywhere particularly well. To avoid letting your skills deteriorate, you must regularly spend at least one point on each and every one of them, at least until you reach the deterioration-proof ratings of 30, 50, and 70 that they'll never drop below. Exacerbating this issue is the fact that you can only earn skill points in sparring sessions, which leave a lot to be desired.

After a sparring session, skill points are awarded by using simple math that amounts to little more than subtracting the number of times you were hit from the number of times that your hits landed, rather than how effective you were as a fighter. Your sparring partner has no desire to be used as a punching bag, so if you try to fight the way you would normally, you might find that the number of points you earn isn't even close to the 16 that you need to invest one in each skill. The auto-sparring option forgoes the 90 seconds that you spend in the octagon if you choose to spar manually, but it awards you such a small number of skill points that it's not a good option. Your best bet, sadly, is to employ cheap tactics that make it very easy for you to land blows while being on the receiving end of very few. Use a simple takedown to get your partner on the floor, spam punches while he struggles, earn points for those punches and for his failed attempts to get back to his feet, and then repeat this sequence when he inevitably succeeds. It's not challenging and definitely not fun, but it's extremely effective.

Visits to other camps that you make when you want to add a new move to your arsenal are much more challenging, or at least some of them are. Depending on the type of move that you want to learn, you might be required to do something as simple as landing a number of two-hit combos or something as challenging as forcing a partner to submit multiple times in a short amount of time. Your progress carries over multiple sessions, so it's possible to spend two or three training weeks learning a move if you don't manage it in one. Just make sure you remember what you were learning and at which of the 27 camps you were learning it because there's no easy way to return when you're ready for your next lesson.

When you're not training or competing, it's generally because you're in need of rest, which--like just about everything else in Career mode--takes a full week. This includes media-related activities like making fight predictions and sparring in front of the press. The need to balance your conditioning with your fatigue level and to keep them as close to 100 and zero, respectively, on the week of your fight is a constant and realistic concern. Other stats to keep an eye on in Career mode include your popularity (as influenced by media activities, post-fight interviews, and the like), which has an impact on sponsorship deals, and your cred. Cred goes up after every fight (depending on the result and on which sponsor logos you adorn your shorts with) and unlocks gym upgrades and new sparring partners. These make your training more effective and raise the level caps on your physical attributes and skills. Despite the aforementioned problems, it's certainly easy to get sucked into UFC 2010's 12-year Career mode. You always feel like you're progressing, and while the weeks in between fights aren't much fun, the fights themselves are still great, and it's always very satisfying to win because you feel like your hard work has paid off.

Outside of Career mode, there are plenty of other, less time-consuming modes for both solo and multiplayer sessions. Title mode challenges you to defeat between eight and 12 opponents to claim the title belt in your chosen weight class. The unlockable Title Defense mode pits you against 12 opponents in five-round championship fights that you must win back-to-back without ever losing. Event mode lets you create and play through your own multifight events or download lineups for upcoming UFC events and play through them. Tournament mode supports custom knockout competitions for up to 16 players on one console. None of these modes do anything that's remarkable, but all are good ways to enjoy the great mixed martial arts combat.

If you're a fan of the UFC, you're sure to get a kick out of the other single-player mode as well. Ultimate Fights affords you an opportunity to relive or rewrite history in a number of classic fights (15 on the Xbox 360, 20 on the PlayStation 3) that date as far back as 2005's UFC 51. There are nine challenges to complete for each fighter, which include a good combination of easy (perform three successful takedowns) and reasonably difficult (win by rear naked choke in first round) objectives. Successful completion of these challenges provides one of a few different ways that you can earn credits to spend on additional customization options for your fighters, and it also unlocks highlight videos of the fights in question, which look great on the PS3 but are poorly compressed on the Xbox 360. Incidentally, the PS3 version also includes five full-length, high-definition UFC fights on the disc.

UFC 2010's online offering is sadly much the same as it was last year. More often than not, ranked and unranked exhibition matches suffer from noticeable lag, the quick-match option doesn't reliably connect you with opponents, and there's no support for tournaments, spectators, or any of the other neat options that you might hope to find in a modern fighting game. Other than the aforementioned option to download event cards, the only additions to this year's online offering are a medal system that recognizes and keeps a record of your online accomplishments and an online fight camp system that--outside of team leaderboards--does very little that's worthwhile. One of the more interesting features of online camps should be the training sessions where you pair up with another team member, but in practice, they're just pointless and frustrating. You don't always get credit for completing the very specific exercises that your presented with, playing as the trainer involves a lot of standing around and letting yourself get hit in the hope that you can gain a meaningless trainer level online, and even if you succeed as the trainee, your only reward is a miniscule amount of cred that's unlikely to have any impact on your fighter in Career mode.

Clearly, UFC 2010 Undisputed is a game with its fair share of problems. You shouldn't let that put you off, though, because this is also a game that brilliantly re-creates the mixed martial arts combat that has made the UFC so popular and that boasts a roster of more than 100 great-looking contemporary fighters (as well as three bonus classic fighters on the PS3). Last year's problems have mostly been addressed, new problems have been introduced, and the end result is a game that--much like its predecessor 12 months ago--is difficult to fault inside the octagon but falls short of expectations between fights.

Add Link To UFC Undisputed 2010 From Amazon.com

         

Pokemon multiplying on Wii, DS

Source: GameSpot

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver haven't even fallen out of the NPD Group's top 10 monthly sales chart yet, but Nintendo has already lined up their successors. The company today announced that Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version will arrive on the Nintendo DS in North America and Europe in spring of 2011. Additionally, European Poke-maniacs unwilling to wait that long will be able to tide themselves over with PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure starting July 9.

Beyond a new storyline and monsters to catch, details on what gamers can expect from Pokemon Black and White remain slim. However, Nintendo has previously said that the game will be a "groundbreaking evolution of all aspects," though it will presumably maintain its traditional adventuring and battle mechanics. As for the dual name, Nintendo traditionally releases near-identical editions of the same Pokemon game under slightly different monikers, encouraging players to exchange captured monsters between versions.

Details are much easier to come by on PokePark, which launched in Japan last December. The game revolves around Pikachu, who must save the PokePark after its Sky Prism is destroyed. The gameplay will be based around searching the park to pick up the Prism pieces with the help of key Pokemon. There will also be mini-games at many of the attractions, including races, strength tests, and obstacle courses.

For more on Pikachu's Adventure, check out GameSpot's Import Friendly coverage of the Japanese edition of the game, starting at the 7:48 mark of the video below.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Review:
Source By GameSpot

It may be easy to take one look at Super Mario Galaxy 2, see the same gravity-altering traps and spherical worlds from its predecessor, and dismiss this as a by-the-numbers sequel to the superb original. But by assuming you know what to expect from Mario's latest adventure, you would be doing yourself and this game a great disservice. This is not only the new standard against which every 3D platformer must now be judged, but it also seamlessly integrates so many elements from Mario's 2D roots that it stands toe-to-toe with even its genre-defining progenitors. Every aspect of this game is absolutely bursting with joy. The vibrant artistic design immediately welcomes you into this colorful world, and the catchy soundtrack deftly mixes classic tunes with new compositions to provide the perfect backdrop for you goomba-stomping, star-snatching fun. But it's the expertly designed levels that will keep you coming back, even after you've seen everything this game has to offer, just to experience it one more time. This is an instant classic that belongs alongside the best games Nintendo has ever created.

Things are once again rotten in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser has taken Princess Peach prisoner for the umpteenth time, forcing Mario to momentarily put his plumbing gig on hold to rescue his fair lady. The best thing that can be said about the story is that it mostly stays in the background. A few lighthearted exchanges between Mario and his foes precede major battles, but there is only a brief break in the action before you get back to flinging fireballs and cracking shells. In fact, Galaxy 2 is much more streamlined than its predecessor. The elaborate hub world that has appeared in each of Mario's previous 3D adventures has been scrapped and replaced by an easy-to-navigate map that lets you hop right into the next level. Galaxy 2 has less downtime than the original, ensuring you're always engaged and entertained.

And you'll be happy to jump right into the action because Galaxy 2 is a long and often challenging adventure. There are lots of different activities to take part in, but everything comes with the same prize: a shining star. It takes 70 of these celestial bodies to make it to the end of the game, but there are many more hidden throughout the universe waiting to be discovered. No matter what you're doing in Galaxy 2, everything feels just right, thanks to the ultraprecise controls. It's a breeze leaping between walls, performing deadly butt-stomps, or jumping across lava-filled pits. There is an unabashed joy in movement that makes even running around the colorful worlds and taking in the uplifting atmosphere feel special. The camera does an admirable job of framing the action, giving you a clear view even when you're dancing on the ceiling in a reverse-gravity room or leaping between floating meteors in space. There are a few times where the angle is less than ideal, making it difficult to line up an exact jump, but for the most part, the camera performs its duty with flying colors.

The wealth of different objectives in Galaxy 2 is mind boggling. Just about every star introduces at least one new mechanic, generating a truly stunning degree of variety. Whether you're grabbing onto the talons of a powerful bird, competing in score-based challenges for a monkey that's wearing sunglasses, or slamming into enemies while ice skating, you're constantly presented with a new activity. Even though many of these situations only appear once or twice during the course of the game, they're all fully fleshed out and incredibly fun. It's really interesting how varied objectives can be even within the same level. The first time you enter a level, you may have to zip down a sand slide at breakneck speed, dodging cactuses and nabbing coins all the while. But when you enter the level again to try for a different star, you may have to navigate an underground obstacle course from a side-scrolling perspective. Because your goals are constantly changing and always at a high level, Galaxy 2 never gets stale or predictable.

If the huge variety of goals doesn't sound like a big enough change, there are also power-ups that further mix things up. One of the few weak spots in the original Galaxy was a lack of interesting power-ups to play around with, but that has been rectified here. The most notable addition is Yoshi, the lovable dinosaur with the prehensile tongue. Once on this green fellow's back, you can point at enemies or objects with the remote and swallow them whole. You can snatch up a spiny and then shoot it like a projectile, inhale a pepper to receive a massive speed boost, or chow down a bulb to light up hidden pathways. There's also a power-up that lets Mario roll around like a Goron from the Zelda series, a special suit that gives you the ability to create clouds in midair, and a drill for digging through soft dirt. All of these power-ups build on their most basic functions as you get deeper into the game, forcing you to look beyond your preconceptions to use them in unique ways.

Although most of the game is in 3D, letting you explore the environments with few restrictions, there are also 2D sections that are just as entertaining to run through. These stages are exceptionally well designed, going much further than the standard running and jumping for which Mario is known. In certain cases, gravity is your biggest opponent. Rooms will change their gravitational pull at a moment's notice, turning the walls or even the ceiling into your temporary floor. At other times, you'll be running along without a care in the world when you'll come across a pool of water floating above your head. These brief forays into swimming give you a chance to avoid cheep-cheeps and slow-moving urchins before you exit once more onto dry ground. Levels freely shift between the two perspectives. You'll be floating lazily around as bee Mario and then all of a sudden you'll be in a 2D world, swinging on vines and nabbing coins without an extra dimension to distract you. These 2D levels are a great changes of pace from the free-roaming action and are as inventive and fun as every other section of this game.

While attempting to nab every star within these stages you should also keep an eye out for hidden comet coins. These special tokens summon a comet that gives you a new challenge to experience. Sometimes, you need to sprint through a world as fast as possible, running at top speed and performing long jumps so you can shave off precious seconds. Other times, you must collect purple coins or defeat a boss without taking any damage. The comet challenges are the most difficult goals in the game, but it's a blast to sink your teeth into these levels to try to overcome their punishing traps. In one stage, you create clones of Mario with every step you take and you lose health if you touch one of the clones. Trying to coordinate your movements so you can still make it to the end without running into your clones can be difficult, but when you finally outsmart yourself and nab that star, it's extremely rewarding. Most of Galaxy 2 starts out relatively easy for platforming veterans, but there are plenty of stars that will push you to your limits, and these prove to be the most satisfying to earn.

Many of the levels end in boss fights, which are just as varied and exciting as the other aspects of the game. One of the early battles has you take on a slithering dragon that floats above a craterous moon. It flies dangerously overhead, showing off its colossal might, before it dives toward the surface and borrows underground. That's your chance to attack its glowing red pustules, but it's not easy. Dragons don't like to be punched, and it floods the screen with a wall of fire to keep you from poking its weak spot. Every boss requires a different strategy to overcome, and it's a real treat figuring out what needs to be done and then going in for the kill. The Bowser battles are particularly impressive. He is absolutely gigantic in this game, and striking him down is immensely satisfying. There is nothing quite like bringing down a treacherous foe who has been hounding you, and Galaxy 2 does a fine job of making its bosses big and imposing enough to ensure they are rewarding to conquer.

The incredible action is tied together beautifully by the visuals and music. This is a gorgeous-looking game. The levels may be home to snapping piranha plants and explosive bullet bills, but they are eminently welcoming. The attention to detail is outstanding. From the puffs of smoke billowing from the chilly rabbit's snow-covered cabin to Mario's graceful spin when performing a triple lutz, every aspect of this game looks incredible. But the music is even more impressive. Using a great combination of classics and new material, all of the music fits the action perfectly. The older songs have been remixed, and what's most interesting is how they sound even better than they did before. For instance, the haunting theme from Bowser's levels that first appeared in Super Mario 64 now has a choir singing the higher sections, and it adds an eerie note that will send shivers down your spine. Galaxy 2 is a game you do not even have to touch the controller to enjoy. The sights and sounds are so enthralling that you can just sit back, relax, and take in everything.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is simply an outstanding game. It never rests on its laurels for a second, constantly presenting new objectives and mechanics to push you to never before seen places. Even the two-player mode offers new abilities and delights, making it even more fun to play with a friend by your side. Everything is so well designed and so entertaining that it's easy to get sucked into this world for hours. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is so phenomenal that it's difficult to imagine where Mario could possibly go in the future. But that's hardly your concern now. Mario proves that he is still the king of fun.

Add Link From Amazon.com

Fable 3 PC launch confirmed

Source: GameSpot

Fable III is still due for release in time for Christmas 2010 and will be coming to the PC, Microsoft confirmed today. The publisher also announced that the Lionhead-developed role-playing game will ship in both limited-edition and standard flavours, with the former containing playing cards and a guild coin, as well as bonus in-game content.


The in-game extras will include a new quest to unlock a legendary weapon, an exclusive location, a unique outfit, and a new breed of dog, the Boxer. The standard edition on the Xbox 360 will retail for £49.99 in the UK, $59.99 stateside, and €64.99 in the Eurozone. The Windows equivalent will cost £39.99/$49.99/€54.99.

The limited edition (pictured above) will retail for £59.99/$79.99/€84.99 and will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360. The in-game items that come with this deluxe version will be available for those playing on the PC platform as well, though it is not yet clear if this will be through premium downloadable content or offered for free.

Fable III, which was confirmed at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, is the latest entry in a franchise that has been tied up with the Xbox since 2001, when the first game in the series was shown off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo under the name Project Ego. Fable II was the first to appear on Microsoft's current console but failed to make an appearance on the PC, despite the success of the first game in the franchise on that platform.

UFC 2010 Undisputed's online mode locked

Last week, Electronic Arts made the controversial announcement that all its sports games will require a one-time code to unlock their online modes. The practice, which effectively adds $10 to the price of used games, begins next month with the launch of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. During an earnings call yesterday, French publisher Ubisoft said it would likely adopt a similar policy to reap revenue from used game sales, which currently do not benefit publishers directly.

Now a third publisher has revealed it, too, will begin shipping games that come with locked online modes. Following reports on sports game site Pasta Padre, GameSpot has confirmed that THQ's UFC 2010 Undisputed will require a similar one-time code to play on Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

According to the description on the back of the manual, the 12-digit code--which is completely free with new versions of the game--is needed to create or join an online training camp and to participate in any of that camp's functions. These include training, sparring, and competing online with other camps' members. The code will also be needed to unlock online exhibition mode, as well as achievements and trophies that require group participation.

Though THQ had not responded to GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time, Web blog Destructoid is reporting the company has offered the following statement: "The main enhancement of UFC Undisputed 2010's premium online content is the new 'Fight Camp Mode' in which players can assemble ranks of up to 40 people and train together. This is a significant value-add to the game as players can continually improve their skills by training with their friends and bringing teams of MMA specialists together."

The statement continues, "This multiplayer content for UFC 2010 Undisputed will be available via a one-time code included with the game at purchase. Codes for accessing the content will be available for second-time buyers for an additional $5." It promised more details soon on the game's community Web site.

In February, THQ announced that Brock Lesnar would be the cover athlete for UFC 2010 Undisputed, the follow-up to last year's 3.5 million-unit hit. The game will feature more than 100 other fighters from the mixed martial arts league, as well as commentary from Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. THQ has also introduced a new sway and posture system to enhance a player's ability to defend and deliver coups-de-grace attacks, as well as incorporated new moves from the sambo, karate, and Greco-Roman wrestling disciplines.

Source By GameSpot

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption Review
Source: GameSpot

As you ride the train west from the northern city of Blackwater, you have no idea what's waiting for you in the frontier town of Armadillo at the end of Red Dead Redemption's intro sequence. Conversations between other passengers clue you in to the state of the nation, and a quick look out of the window tells you that the territories are as untamed as they are beautiful. But it's not until you step off the train in the well-worn boots of protagonist John Marston and have to sidestep a drunk staggering out of the saloon that you realize how alive the world feels, and how much fun you're going to have exploring it. Similarities with recent Grand Theft Auto games are immediately apparent in the controls and the HUD, though both have been improved in subtle but important ways. Those basics, in conjunction with excellent gameplay, a great story, and a sizable multiplayer suite make Red Dead Redemption something very special.

When you arrive in Armadillo for the first time, you're a small fish in an extremely large pond. None of the townsfolk have ever heard of John Marston, and they're too busy believably going about their business to pay you much attention unless you bump into them. The gameworld stretches for miles in every direction beyond the confines of the modest town, and if it weren't for a number of mandatory missions that deftly familiarize you with the controls and gameplay mechanics early on, the prospect of venturing out into the wilderness could be daunting. Marston is a deeply flawed but very likable protagonist, and therefore it doesn't take long for him to start making friends in the New Austin territory. One of them, a ranch owner whom you meet early in the game, gives you both a place to stay (which doubles as a place to save your progress) and a horse to call your own, and it's at this point that you're more or less free to do as you please. Marston's lengthy and occasionally surprising story is linear for the most part, but it's told through missions that don't always need to be completed in a specific order, and you're free to ignore them for a time if you'd rather just explore the giant Wild West sandbox you're playing in.

Whether you're galloping between locations where there are missions available or just trotting around aimlessly, Red Dead Redemption's world is a far easier one to get sidetracked in than most. That's because in addition to the dozens of excellent and varied story missions, there are countless optional undertakings to enjoy--most of which offer some tangible reward in the form of money, weapons, or reputation. While you're in town, you might choose to gamble at card and dice tables or tear a wanted poster from the wall and do some bounty hunting, for example. And when you're in the middle of nowhere, opportunities for gunfights and the like have a habit of presenting themselves or even forcing themselves upon you. Random strangers in need of help can show up at any time, and while it's a little jarring to find two or three strangers in the same predicament back-to-back, most of their requests are varied and fun for the short time that they take to complete. You might be called upon to retrieve a stolen wagon, to collect herbs, or even to rescue someone being hanged from a tree. There's no penalty for ignoring strangers, but when you help them you collect a small reward and become a little more famous in the process.

Fame is interesting in Red Dead Redemption, because it's measured alongside but independently of your honor. Regardless of whether you're doing good deeds or bad, becoming increasingly famous is inevitable as you progress through the game. How people react when they recognize you is determined by your honor, though, which can be positive or negative. If you spend your time acting dishonorably, townsfolk might be terrified of you, but if you're considered a hero, they'll go out of their way to greet you and might even applaud as you ride into town. Either way, there are pros and cons to becoming something of a public figure. People won't bother to report you when you steal a horse if you're famous, and any bounty hunters or posses that come after you when there's a price on your head will take twice as long to try again after failing the first time, for example. On the flip side, as you make a name for yourself you become a target for gunslingers who are looking to make names for themselves, and so you're challenged to duels that play out entirely using the game's slow-motion "dead eye" mechanic.

In duels, even though speed is a factor, dead eye affords you an opportunity to place your shots precisely. The head is the most obvious target, but occasionally you might be required to (or wish to) win a duel without actually killing your opponent. With practice, you can shoot a gun out of an enemy's hand as he makes his move, which is especially satisfying and makes you more famous than killing someone outright. Dead eye can be used in much the same way during regular play, but a slowly replenishing meter limits how often you can trigger it, and given how effective the lock-on targeting system is, you're unlikely to need it much. With the exception of sniper rifles, you can lock on to enemies from a great distance with any weapon. Then, once you're locked on, you can tweak your aim to target a specific part of your enemy. Nudge your aim up just a touch, and there's a good chance you'll get a one-hit-kill headshot. (You do that so often that it's likely to become a reflex every time you raise your weapon). However, you don't always want to kill your enemies, because, for example, once you learn to use a lasso, you have the option to bring bounties in alive. It's more challenging, but it also doubles your reward, and it's extremely satisfying to shoot a criminal in the leg so that he falls to ground and can only try to crawl away, hog-tie and slump him over the back of your horse, and then deliver him to the local sheriff.

You can also use your lasso to rope wild horses, which is a fun way to upgrade or just replace the mount that you spend so much time with. After catching a wild horse, you wait for just the right moment to mount it and then, via a simple minigame in which you maintain your balance as the horse tries to buck you, you break it. Initially, you might want to change your horse just to get a color that you like (there are lots to choose from), but it's also fun to keep a lookout for rare breeds, because they not only look a little more impressive but are also noticeably quicker. Regardless of what kind of horse you ride (including those that are pulling carts and wagons), the responsive controls work in the same way and make it easy to adjust your speed from a walk to a trot, canter, or gallop. You also have the option to match your speed with that of any character you're riding alongside, which is incredibly useful.

As you spend more time with the same horse, it rewards your loyalty by increasing the length of its energy bar, which determines how long it can sprint at full speed. You shouldn't become too attached to your mounts, though, because Red Dead Redemption's world is both a dangerous place and one in which horses occasionally behave unpredictably. There's nothing wrong with a horse walking around a little when you climb off it, but if you leave it close to a deep river, you run the risk of losing it if--as we witnessed on one occasion--it stupidly steps in, because, like you, horses can't swim. Horses also have a habit of not staying put when you tie them to a hitching post, so you then need to whistle for them to come to you from wherever they've ended up or run the risk of inadvertently stealing someone else's identical mount. Other, more avoidable ways to lose a horse include its getting shot by enemies or attacked by wild animals, though the controls for shooting from the saddle are good enough that you really have only yourself to blame if that happens.

Red Dead Redemption's varied wildlife adds a great deal to the world and also makes it a dangerous place to let your guard down. Crows, hawks, eagles, and vultures fly overhead; armadillos, raccoons, deer, and skunks try to stay out of your way; and cougars, coyotes, wolves, and even snakes can be dangerous if they see you before you see them. All of these species and lots more inevitably cross your path, and whether they're solitary creatures or hunting as a pack, their behavior is always believable. Furthermore, all of these animals can be hunted and then--via an animation that sees blood spattering on the screen--harvested for their skins, meat, and other valuable body parts. Beavers, boars, bobcats, bears, buffalo, bighorn--all have something to offer, and all pose a slightly different challenge.

Other than the fun of the hunt, the main reason to kill most of these animals is so that you can sell the aforementioned body parts to a store owner the next time you're in town. Sometimes, though, there are additional incentives in the form of ambient challenges that, as the name suggests, reward you for objectives that you might complete in the course of regular gameplay. For example, sharpshooter challenges include shooting people's hats off and shooting birds out of the sky from a moving train. Hunter challenges, on the other hand, include one-shotting grizzly bears and taking down a pack of wolves using only a knife. For a change of pace, treasure hunter challenges present you with a treasure map that often amounts to little more than sketches of a landmark, and challenge you to locate the treasure hidden nearby. You become a little more famous every time you complete one of these challenges, and beating a significant number of them is a requirement for unlocking at least one of the different outfits that Marston can change into.

Marston is an impressively detailed character whose scarred face and default outfit play big parts in making him wholly believable as a 30-something gunslinger. Other than donning a bandana that covers much of your face (and hides your identity so that you don't affect your fame or honor while performing certain actions), there's nothing you can do about the scars, but by putting on a different outfit you can change how certain people react to you. There are more than a dozen different outfits to discover and unlock. Some of them, like the duster jacket and the poncho, are easy to unlock and offer no real benefit other than making you look even more dangerous. Others, though, such as military and gang uniforms, can be obtained only after completing multiple challenges, and wearing them makes certain factions more accepting of you. There are even a couple of outfits that can make gambling more fun: one gives you the option to cheat anytime you deal in a game of poker, and another--acquired by signing up for the Rockstar Social Club--grants you access to a high-stakes game.

Believe it or not, even while cheating at cards and gunning down hundreds of enemies, it's possible--with only one exception during a plot-critical mission--to make it through Red Dead Redemption's entire story without ever getting on the wrong side of the law. It's fun to play as a heroic bounty hunter, but it's also fun to be chased by one, or several. Much like the system in GTA, being spotted committing a crime alerts local law enforcement, and until you outrun them, they pursue you relentlessly. Your crimes aren't completely forgotten the moment you escape in Red Dead Redemption, though, because every crime that you commit raises the bounty on your head, and the only way to clear that is to visit a telegraph operator and either pay the amount of your bounty yourself as a fine or present him with a letter of pardon--which isn't easy to come by. It's a great system, because in conjunction with fame and honor it really makes you feel like your actions have lasting consequences.

Depending on how much time you spend completing optional challenges, Red Dead Redemption's single-player mode can take you anywhere from 20 to 40 hours to play through. If you're in a rush to get through the game for some reason, you can use stagecoaches and quick travel options to move between key locations on the gigantic map instantly, but there's so much fun to be had out in the wilderness that bypassing those areas isn't recommended. You should also know that while bugs and glitches are few and far between, there's at least one stagecoach driver who apparently isn't great at math and might inexplicably charge you $100 (not an insignificant sum of money, given that it's enough to buy property) on top of the quoted price for a journey. Other problems worthy of note during our 30-plus hours in single-player included a conversation between Marston and another character in which only Marston's lines could be heard, an attempt to crouch behind a decrepit overturned wagon that resulted in Marston being thrown high up into the air, and a cutscene in which two versions of the same character--one injured and animated, one neither--appeared alongside each other. You might also notice characters having some pathfinding problems when confronted by hitching posts, stacks of crates, and the like, but beyond these extremely rare issues, the world of Red Dead Redemption is very difficult to find fault with. It looks incredible, it sounds superb (though the excellent soundtrack occasionally swells up without reason), and it's just a fun place to spend time regardless of what you're doing or whom you're doing it with.

In addition to its lengthy single-player offering, Red Dead Redemption boasts a good number of multiplayer modes that support both competitive and cooperative play. No matter which mode you want to play, all multiplayer sessions start out in Free Roam. Here, you and up to 15 other players are free to do whatever you please with the entire gameworld at your disposal. You can shoot each other, you can cause trouble with townsfolk, you can form posses to complete gang hideout missions, or you can become the session's most wanted outlaw and then kill or steer clear of any other players who come looking to collect the bounty on your head. Your character in Free Roam mode is persistent, and as you earn experience points you gain access to additional character models, better weapons, and superior mounts. It's unfortunate that you don't get to design a character from scratch, and it can be frustrating to enter Free Roam as a level-one player riding a burro and armed only with a pistol, but it doesn't take long to level up, and even high-level players can be killed with just a few bullets if you can get close to them.

When you enter competitive online modes, you don't get to use your persistent character, and everyone is on a level playing field. The five modes on offer are free-for-all and team-based versions of Shootout and three versions of Capture the Bag. Clearly, these modes are variations on the traditional deathmatch and capture-the-flag themes, but they do more than just apply a Wild West lick of paint to them. For starters, all multiplayer games kick off with an awesome standoff in which all players stand around in a circle (or in two opposing lines if it's a team game) and wait for all hell to break loose when the word "Draw" appears on the screen. And in Capture the Bag modes, the bags of gold that you carry weigh you down so that you move more slowly, making you an easy target in the free-for-all Gold Rush and making escorts or cover fire vital in the team-based Hold Your Own.

Between the Free Roam and competitive modes, there's enough great multiplayer content to keep you playing Red Dead Redemption long after you've watched the credits roll at the end of the superb single-player mode and gone back in to finish up any optional challenges and missions that you missed. This is an outstanding game that tells a great story with memorable and occasionally laugh-out-loud-funny characters. Think about great moments that you remember from spaghetti Western movies, put them all into one 20- to 40-hour epic feature, and picture yourself in the starring role. Now you have some idea of what's waiting for you in Red Dead Redemption.

Add Link From Amazon

 

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier pushed further into future

When announcing its $54 million full fiscal year net loss today, Ubisoft addressed an ongoing reorganization of its studio teams "to release new iterations of our major franchises on a more regular basis." A post-earnings conference call underscored the need for regularity, as Ubisoft used the forum to announce the delay of the upcoming tactical shooter Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Previously expected to launch during the 2010 holiday season, Future Soldier has been furloughed until next year. Citing "a very competitive environment," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said it would be holding the game back until the quarter ending March 31, 2011.

While the holiday season's lineup won't be brought into focus until next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the last stretch of 2010 could play host to a veritable brigade of military shooters. In addition to Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops, Electronic Arts is preparing a revival of its Medal of Honor franchise, and even in the tactics-focused subgenre, Sony has the Zipper-developed SOCOM 4 set for release by year's end.

First announced in April 2009, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier gets its name from the "Future Soldier" programs being conducted by the US and its NATO allies. The initiative, currently part of the US Army's Brigade Combat Team Modernization Program, focuses on outfitting infantrymen with networked communications and high-tech equipment.




Source By GameSpot

Trauma Team

Trauma Team Preview:
Previous Trauma Center games have focused on virtual surgery, challenging you to hone your operating skills to a scalpel's edge with punishing difficulty. Trauma Team takes a more holistic approach by staffing six different characters, each with a distinct specialty. No two disciplines play the same way, and the resulting variety is refreshing. Hopping between skills and performing different procedures is easy and rewarding thanks to the slick presentation and sharp controls, though players looking for a tough challenge may not be happy with the lessened difficulty. Still, there is a lot of cleverness to be found in both the gameplay and the writing. Of course, neither is without its flaws, and the game sometimes drags its feet when it should be moving things along. Occasional pacing slowdowns aside, this is a lengthy game that is packed with content and priced affordably. The quality and diversity of the gameplay shine through despite its blemishes, making Trauma Team the most accessible and feature-packed Trauma game to date.



The most familiar discipline here is surgery. The controls use the same slick system as before: you select your tool with the analog stick and perform actions with the remote. It is definitely entertaining (even for TC veterans), and there are some new elements to contend with, but surgery is nowhere near as challenging as it was in previous games. There are no supernatural abilities to contend with, only the story of an amnesiac prisoner called on to perform high-risk surgeries in exchange for years off of his sentence. Surgery is more streamlined in Trauma Team because it plays a supporting role instead of being the franchise player. While some may lament the reduced challenge, this old standby ends up filling its niche quite nicely because the other disciplines round out the game so well.

Orthopedics is similar to surgery in that it deals mainly with cutting on an anesthetized patient, but it plays out a little differently. Rather than selecting your tool on the fly, you use the one you are automatically given. You cut, drill, hammer, and screw in sequence, all the while building up a chain meter for each successful action. This meter offers another layer of instant feedback on top of the neon adjectives displayed after every action, upping the pressure as the procedure continues and your chain grows bigger. Another significant difference is in how the cutting action is presented. Pointing the remote to keep your tool in the designated area is easy at first, but it's not long before the camera starts moving of its own accord, forcing you to keep up with the cut line while staying within the borders of the guide. Soon, the camera starts moving out of sync with the guide, and you have to be even more wary. This is initially aggravating, but once you get the hang of things, it becomes a reasonable, if slightly contrived, challenge. The orthopedic doctor is a muscular specimen named Hank Freebird, a relentless optimist whose extracurricular activities, while almost too goofy, somehow manage to stay within the bounds of sanity.

Emergency care is the most intense of all the disciplines and is handled by a similarly intense doctor who loves to take charge and yell at people. Controlwise, this mode is similar to surgery, but you have only a few tools at your disposal, and your focus is on stabilizing patients so they can be transported to the hospital. Burns, cuts, and broken limbs are your common foes, but the real challenge is that you have to handle multiple patients at a time, and they are all losing health quickly. Switching between patients and administering treatment is an engagingly hectic challenge, though you can find yourself forced to rely overmuch on the magical health-boosting stabilizer injection. Still, this is the most frantic action in Trauma Team, and successfully saving a bloody parade of accident victims is very satisfying.

Endoscopy is a much more deliberate specialty, but it's not without its challenges. The trick here is the controls: you have to pinch A and B and move the remote forward or backward, mimicking the motion of pushing or pulling the endoscope through your patient's inner pathways. Steering and tool usage are both relegated to the nunchuk, and learning how to use the analog stick to cut after being accustomed to using the remote is definitely tricky. The controls are sharp, but tough to master. This helps mitigate the fact that endoscopy is one of the more repetitive disciplines, because it takes a while before you get the hang of things. Trauma Team's resident endoscopist is Tomoe Tachibana, the daughter of a modern-day samurai lord, who is on a quest to attain honor outside of her homeland and prove her worth.

Diagnosis and forensics offer the most divergent gameplay from the Trauma Center standard because they don't feature proper medical procedures. In diagnosis, you talk with your patient, use a stethoscope, and run tests in order to identify symptoms. As the cranky diagnostician, you begrudgingly accept a computerized companion program, but not without a healthy share of cantankerous quips. Using this computer, you attach symptoms to diseases and determine your diagnosis. Looking at actual CT scans and X-rays is cool, even though it amounts to little more than a spot-the-difference minigame. Occasionally the progress of your diagnosis hinges on finding one particular symptom that for one reason or another manages to elude you. While Trauma Team generally does a good job of nudging you in the right direction, it is frustrating when one obscure, illogical, or just plain overlooked detail stands in your way. Patience and perseverance are the keys to overcoming these infrequent barriers, and there is always a solution, no matter how vague.

While diagnosis can require some cleverness, it is forensics that more often requires ingenuity on your part, and this gameplay is some of the most unique and clever that Trauma Team has to offer. As the icy Dr. Kimishima, you work with a helpful FBI lackey to investigate crime scenes, corpses, and audio recordings in order to collect evidence cards. By analyzing or combining these evidence cards in logical ways, you can piece together the puzzle and further your investigation. Doing so also requires that you answer multiple-choice questions about the evidence at hand. Some questions are easy, while others are vague or poorly worded; some answers are surprisingly amusing, and the best questions require you to make logical leaps. Forensics episodes play out in clever and enjoyable ways, though they are susceptible to hang-ups in the same manner as diagnosis episodes. While both offer some of the most intriguing new gameplay mechanics in the game, they are also prone to carrying on too long and rehashing discoveries.

Fortunately, quick readers can thumb ahead and accelerate through these doldrums, but the same can't be said for the cutscenes. The story is told through still shots that, while stylish and appealing, often linger too long. All of the aforementioned doctors play crucial roles in the intertwining story, and though they can border on cliche or downright weird, their personalities and escapades come together quite nicely to create an enjoyable narrative. Throughout the game you can switch between characters and disciplines whenever you like, and this freedom helps you set your own pace. Given that forensics and diagnosis episodes are slower paced and take much longer to complete than the other specialties, it's great to be able to hop over to surgery or emergency care to spice things up.

Trauma Team is a lengthy game that will likely take you tens of hours to complete, and just when you think things are wrapping up, well, think again. When you finally complete the game, you unlock a new difficulty level, as well as new doctor-specific medals that are awarded for performing certain tasks throughout the adventure. You can also play four out of the six disciplines cooperatively (diagnosis and forensics excluded), though surgery, in which you share tools and act simultaneously, is much more interesting than the others, which force you to take turns. All told, Trauma Team is an impressive package with a diverse array of engaging gameplay modes. Though the characters and the activities have their flaws, the whole comes together impressively, making Trauma Team a great bet no matter what your specialty is.


Source By GameSpot

Alan Wake

 Until last night, you had never fired a gun before, but priorities tend to change when you're being hunted by unholy creatures of the night. In Alan Wake, darkness is your most fearsome enemy. The shadows are home to monsters who shun the light, growing more powerful as they slink through the jet-black unknown. You hear a noise behind you and spin around to examine your surroundings, pointing your flashlight from tree to tree, scanning the ground while you ready your trigger finger for the imminent attack. The world of Alan Wake is one of fear and tension--a place where it's perfectly acceptable to be afraid of the dark, because if you're not, you'll be enveloped by the evil forces that dwell just beyond your field of vision. The foreboding atmosphere that permeates every inch of this wilderness never lets you forget the dangers that await the unprepared, but the feeling of dread that defines the early portions dissipates as you get deeper into this moody adventure. Alan Wake doesn't offer enough surprises to keep you unhinged, but the storytelling is so enthralling and the combat is so frantic that you'll be sucked in until the thrilling conclusion.



A vivid imagination can be a dangerous thing. Alan Wake has been suffering from writer's block ever since he released his most recent best-selling novel two years ago, but he soon realizes there are much worse things than being unable to put pen to paper. A story he's written but has no memory of has come to life, flooding a quiet mountain village with demonic creatures that torment his every waking hour. The dark forces that populate this night-time adventure should be familiar to anyone acquainted with the horror genre, but the unique storytelling gives this game an identity all its own. The acerbic protagonist relays his thoughts on the outlandish events happening all around him through incisive yet oddly poetic prose that breathes believability into these supernatural events. Alan Wake's brash nature makes him unlikable at times, but his unwavering focus to save his wife at all costs makes it easy to empathize with him.

The most interesting aspect of the storytelling comes in the form of optional collectibles you find as you wind your way through dimly lit forests. Pages from your unpublished manuscript lie just off the beaten path, and it's in your best interest to snatch these up even though you have to venture deep into the deadly forests to do so. These passages frequently foreshadow events, giving you a snippet of something terrifying waiting for you around the bend. Other times, they fill in details tangential to your own quest, giving you a peek at what other people in the town are up to. These pages flesh out the story in fascinating ways, but there are even more elements tucked away if your eyes are sharp. Abandoned TVs and radio sets can be switched on to trigger brief expositions that give you another look at what is going on just beneath the surface. The television show is particularly intriguing. Modeled after The Twilight Zone, these creepy scenes contains all the twists and moral lessons the classic series is known for.

The excellent combat builds on the fantastic storytelling, ensuring there is never a dull moment during this roughly 12-hour adventure. Alan Wake has a handy way of dealing with dark-fueled creatures: shine a flashlight on them. You carry said light source in your left hand, and you use this to weaken enemies who dare to challenge you. By pointing it at them for a few seconds, you destroy the darkness inside of them, making them vulnerable to your firearms. This mechanic is not only original, but also leads to thrilling situations. When you're surrounded by a gang of growling beasts, you have to choose one individual at a time to spray with your life-sucking light, and balancing your aim to keep all attackers at bay is exciting. If baddies get too close to you, you can duck out of the way at the last second, triggering a slow-motion dodge that lets you quickly retaliate before they have a chance to attack a second time. Because there is so much ammunition sprinkled about and your health regenerates after every battle, you'll rarely succumb to their aggressive advances, but each encounter is still exhilarating.

Exploration is as important as combat when trying to make your way through these haunted woods. Going off the beaten path is the only way you can find the missing manuscripts and television sets, and there are hidden weapon caches that aid you in fending off this unrelenting horde. Aside from your standard pistol, you can nab a hunting rifle and a shotgun, which make short work of poltergeists at close range, as well as a few explosive weapons that quickly dispose of anything that fears the light. Toss a flashbang grenade into a cluster of foes and watch them melt away into nothing. There are also little touches that add to the tension. Rapidly tapping X reloads your ammunition more quickly, and your frantic button taps mirror Alan Wake's movements as you both try desperately to stay alive. At times, you'll find generators that, when activated, energize nearby lights for you to take shelter in. But starting these up requires a few precise button taps that can be mighty stressful when an axe-wielding ghost is breathing down your neck.





The prologue starts things out with a heart-racing encounter. Seemingly alone in the woods after a brutal car crash, you make your way slowly through the foggy forest to the lighthouse oasis on the other side. Of course, a peaceful walk in the woods soon takes a deadly turn, and you find yourself sprinting for your life toward a cabin, barricading yourself inside moments ahead of the imminent danger. This electrifying scene sets up the tension that hovers above you at all times, but sadly there are few instances during the rest of your quest that match this confrontation. Alan Wake's moon-lit wanderings become predictable just a couple of hours into the game. There are a few different takes on the core action, such as escort missions and a novel twist on the classic turret sequence, but not many genuinely surprising or completely unexpected events. Because the storytelling is strong and the combat is rousing, the game never becomes stale. But the lack of memorable moments weakens the impact of the chilly atmosphere, and you're rarely startled despite the supernatural events happening all around you.

Thankfully, the eerie forest you spend most of your time in is so well realized that you'll hardly notice you're doing the same thing for much of the game. A cloud of fog blankets the forest, adding an extra shroud on top of the suffocating darkness. The thin beam of light produced by your flashlight offers a glimpse at what's hiding behind the pitch-black cover, but it cannot produce enough light to ever make you feel safe. Enemies circle around you like wild raptors, luring you into thinking they're coming from your front side, and then when you least expect it, you'll find an axe implanted in your back by a demon who snuck up behind you. Foreboding music increases this desolate feeling. The subtle score that underlines your quest for survival keeps your nerves on edge and your neck hair raised. The slight awkwardness to Alan Wake's movement is easy to ignore once you become entrenched in this gripping adventure. The mood is so beautifully represented and consistent throughout the game that you'll be hard pressed to tear yourself away.

Above all else, Alan Wake’s gripping storytelling really sells the protagonist as a famous author. Every moment of this story is fraught with tension. Wake's narration is filled with as many questions as answers because he has no explanation for the strange events occurring all around him. And the missing pieces from the manuscript, radio program, and television show are doled out in such deliberate chunks that they slowly string you along until the full secret is revealed at the end. The clever storytelling ties in with the dreary atmosphere, building on the fear established from the very beginning with subtle use of lighting and a moody musical score. Unfortunately, the path you march down rarely offers any surprises, which makes your actions take on a by-rote feeling after a while. But the combat is so satisfying that it's largely able to overshadow this misstep. Alan Wake is a riveting adventure that will keep you glued to the screen until the very end.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

The 2008 release of Prince of Persia took the franchise in an invigorating new direction, employing open-world design and a painterly artistic style to great effect. It breathed life into a series that had been treading water for years, but you won't see any of those new elements in The Forgotten Sands. This is a throwback to the superb Sands of Time, focusing on elaborate level design and the sort of acrobatic wonder that would make even the most agile monkey jealous. Unfortunately, the leap back in time is not entirely smooth. The early portions have a paint-by-numbers feel, offering no surprises for those familiar with the franchise, and the combat is shallow and lacks the flair the prince so often exhibits. But those missteps fade away once the prince gets into a groove. The intricately designed levels are full of surprising twists and the deft maneuvering required to pass the more challenging sections makes completing a particularly tricky room rewarding. A few problems keep The Forgotten Sands from reaching the level of its timeless predecessor, but playing through this gravity-defying adventure is still time well spent.




The story in The Forgotten Sands focuses on the sibling rivalry between the prince and his brother. At one point in their lives, they got along perfectly fine, but relationships tend to crumble when demonic possession rears its head. Although the story is ho-hum cliche, there is a certain charm in the manner it's told. The prince narrates the events during the action, and his personality interjects some lighthearted fun into the proceedings. Thankfully, this is not the dour prince who appeared in the previous game in the franchise, but rather the good-natured fellow from The Sands of Time, and his quips add to the experience. Unfortunately, the prince's personality is not the only thing borrowed from The Sands of Time. The opening level, in which you try to break into a castle under attack, borrows heavily from the opening sequence of its predecessor, and it seems as if the predictable level design is a portent of things to come. The Forgotten Sands does break free from its inspiration after a few hours, but that doesn't excuse the forgettable introduction.

The removal of the open-world design means that The Forgotten Sands is entirely linear, but this turns out to be one of the game's strengths. Each of the stages builds on what came before it, continually blending new techniques with your core abilities to create something special. Like in previous games, the prince starts out with the power to run along walls, leap between posts, and slide down dangling banners. But there is so much more to making your way from one point to the other than that modest list indicates. Your original moves are tweaked throughout the game, twisting the basic concepts to produce something unique. You may get in the habit of running along a wall and jumping off with casual ease, but when a quickly closing door forces you to speed things up, you need to approach this basic maneuver from a different angle. This reinvention of established themes keeps the platforming sections consistently thrilling.

However, the thing that really pushes these levels to new heights is the moves you unlock during the course of the game. The first and most widely used is the ability to freeze water. Waterfalls and leaking spigots can be frozen with the push of a button, creating walls and pillars of ice for you to climb upon. Initially, these water-based puzzles provide only an aesthetic twist to the standard platforming, but once you understand the basics, things become a lot more interesting. You often need to freeze and unfreeze water in midair, making it possible to leap between geysers that are not synced or crash through a wall of water that was frozen solid just a moment earlier. You unlock new abilities as you go through the adventure, and these are all mixed seamlessly together to keep you continually on your toes. And because many of the puzzles require you to adapt on the fly to new obstacles with pinpoint precision, it's an empowering feeling to make it past a particularly difficult stretch.

Aside from the impressive acrobatic abilities you must exercise, there are a fair number of puzzles as well. These are generally of the turn-the-crank variety, and though they do put a kink in the swift pace, it's still satisfying to solve their ancient mysteries. Problem solving crops up during the platforming portions too, and though it's always fun to figure out exactly what needs to be done to reach the other side, the limited camera is sometimes the biggest obstacle you have to overcome. The view is frequently zoomed in too far and strips away full control, making it impossible to tilt the angle to get the best view possible. This is especially troubling during portions of the game in which perspective is paramount, making it difficult to tell in which direction a waterfall is draining or from which wall you need to leap to grab onto a pole. There are only a few times during the game when the camera is a serious problem, but those sections chip away at the goodwill fostered by the excellent level design.

Outside of platforming, there are brief combat sequences, though these are sadly the weakest portions of the game. The prince has never been a particularly accomplished fighter, but the combat has always had enough style to overcome its shallow nature. However, in The Forgotten Sands, the smooth camera angles and nimble counter system from previous games are nowhere to be found, resulting in duels that require little more than mindless button tapping. You unlock new moves through an experience system, and it is fun to tweak your abilities to your fighting style. However, instead of giving the combat more depth, the added moves just make it even easier to dispatch of your undead foes. Once you unlock an ice attack toward the beginning of the game, even the most fearsome warriors quickly fall to your blade. In addition to being way too easy, the combat also suffers from technical problems. The choppy animation of the prince makes it difficult to string moves together and the inconsistent hit detection makes it a chore to line up a killing blow. Mercifully, there isn't a lot of fighting during the adventure, but what is there only serves as a detour from the otherwise fun experience.

There are challenge rooms to complete after you finish off the final boss, but because these focus on the forgettable combat rather than the exhilarating platforming, they add little to the overall experience. But where the combat falters in The Forgotten Sands, the platforming rises in its place, delivering the exquisite level design and breathtaking acrobatics for which the series is known. The prince's new abilities add unexpected wrinkles to the standard jumping and running, continually tossing in new ideas to keep you transfixed until the thrilling final sequence. Despite its slow start and shallow combat, this is another fun entry in the long-running franchise. Series veterans will once again marvel at the prince's uncanny ability to reach higher ground while newcomers will wonder why they took so long to tag along for the ride. The problems keep this from joining the ranks of the best games in the franchise, but this is still a good effort that surprises and entertains.

Source By GameSpot