Hydro Thunder Hurricane Review

We all miss those good old days when arcades where the place to go. With home consoles back then barely featuring a few dots running around the screens, the bigger and more powerful arcade machines were what gaming was all about. In the 90s consoles started to gain momentum and a few years later arcades were forgotten machines collecting dust. Hydro Thunder was a very exciting arcade game that I personally was thrilled with back in the days. When the Sega Dreamcast needed a racing game to compete, the series came with amazing graphics and awesome tracks to represent. Now years later, the series is back for more on the XBLA; how good did this title turn out to be? Read on.

The crazy looking boats are back and so are the tracks. The thing about this game is that it is in a way relaxing. You will sit down and enjoy all what is happening around you, try to find shortcuts and boosts and you will most likely finish first either way. The way the tracks were created was to look good and be exciting. For an XBLA game the graphics are decent and will manage to grab your attention for a while. The level of excitement generated from what is going on around you will fully depend on how old you are. The few Viking ships and dragons trying to cut your race short shouldn’t be that exciting for some one who has finished games like Halo and Kill Zone for example. Some of the tracks simply lack details and the interesting stuff like dragons popping up are not as pretty or interesting as it sounds.

The load times in the game were a bit frustrating. And the fact that we sometimes played the same track over and over again did not help much either. The game comes with a several game types to choose from. You either have to race others, collect checkpoints, or all of the above in a tournament like event. That seems to be a long list of things to do in an XBLA title, but do not let the list fool you. The races are nearly identical with nothing separating one mode from another. And we were a bit disappointed with that, as we actually expected a few different modes to really help this game shine.

Controlling the boats is a bit frustrating too. The game seem to have ignored the laws of physics as at times you feel like you are just shifting from one side to another rather than riding a wave. This was a massive disappointment for this game, since the controls were a lot more efficient and interesting in older titles in the series. Trying to look for support from the sound department will not help either. The sound effects are as lackluster as it gets. The comments you get while racing are also very annoying and we do recommend you play your own music in the background rather then listen to your partner on the boat telling you what you just did over and over again.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane was a title we were really looking forward to in this summer’s XBLA lineup of games. Sadly and due to a number of shortcomings we were not able to enjoy this one to the max. Fans of the series are better off dusting their old Dreamcast and enjoying another run at the retro titles in the series. The new XBLA title is just not worth to be named along the other titles in this series.

Crackdown 2 Review

Back in 2007, I picked up a game to get myself through the generally dry and boring summer. The game had a demo of Halo 3 and everyone was saying that is the only reason why the game was selling. Crackdown turned out to be one of the best surprises of my recent gaming memories. The game was crazy and fun where any and everything can go. I enjoyed collecting those orbs and making stunning jumps from one building to another, killing hundreds of enemies with different styles and vehicles. Crackdown made my summer that year and I spent the next couple of years recommending the game to any one with a functioning Xbox 360.

When the sequel was announced I was left a bit worried. The original minds behind the game were gone and the series got a brand new developer to handle it. I was still looking forward to a sequel that will improve upon the first game in the series, a sequel that will look better and offer far more then just a few explosions and stunt drives. And now after playing the sequel for days, I can say that the series went from the best surprise to an ugly reality.

Crackdown 2 is not bad, but it is basically Crackdown 1 with a new mission. After saving Pacific city in the first game, the city is in despair again after a terrorist group took control and helped spread a virus that turns humans into freaks. Your job is to save what is left and turn the city back to what it was. With such a huge city, the missions should be very creative and daring, right? Unfortunately, the main story here will have you do the same thing again and again until the end where you get a few twists that are honestly not worth all the time spent on the game. You will spend your time going from one part of the city to another activating stuff and controlling areas without a single addition to the story. You do get some races and jumping missions as a side dish to the main course, but all in all, this has to be one of the most disappointing story modes in some time.

Collecting orbs to improve your character was fun in the first game, and is still fun now. A new addition to this game is moving orbs that you actually have to chase around to get. Orbs are the only thing that makes this game playable, ironically enough. You will start noticing how fast your character improves over the course of the game, giving you something to look forward to after every one or two hours of gameplay. Improvements such as higher jumps and running faster will make finishing your mission faster and easier, so I would recommend going after the orbs before anything else. Another collectable this time is a bunch of audiotapes found around the city (how original!). Those tapes give you a little more idea about the story, but are too far apart and short to make any noticeable splash on the game.

The city is the most important factor when looking at a sandbox action game. Astonishingly enough all the work done on the city since the first game is: nothing. All the developers did is burn a few buildings and destroy a few sidewalks and we have our city for the sequel. How can someone get away with something like this will boggle your mind. While I did appreciate the few landmarks I noticed from the first game while driving around the city, seeing a ton of others and going inside to do the same stuff I did 3 years ago is something I won’t accept even from a 10 AED expansion pack these days.

So, the gameplay is the same but what about the ‘look’ of the game? That must have improved, surely? Again, and I say that in the most disappointed manner possible, the sound and graphics are the same compared to the first game. I actually went back and played the first Crackdown for a bit to make sure all of this is not just a bad dream. The graphics, which was above average a few years ago, is very close to ugly right now. The voice from the agency telling you what is happening is still there, but imagine this: He keeps on saying the same lines along the fifteen hours you spend playing this game. Every time you get a moving orb he will say well done, every time you finish one part of the mission he says the exactly same line. I had a feeling that the voice actor went missing before completing the development of this game, which is why the developers couldn’t record any more lines.

The one thing we can consider an improvement in this game is the 4 player coop addition. You can now invite anyone online playing Crackdown 2 to join your game and help you beat the mission or finish a race stunt. The online game was fast and smooth thankfully and I did end up enjoying a few 4 player coop missions online. The other online mode is arena where you get to battle it out with other agents online. While the mode was plenty fun, it lacked the detail and polish we see and feel in similar modes in other games. Note that the online features in the game are easily the best thing about it.

Sitting down and trying to figure out what went wrong in the series is fast and simple. Crackdown 2 after three years is nearly identical to the first game, nothing got worse, but nothing got better either. What happened is that far better games came out during the last three years. We went from a gaming world with only a couple of really good sandbox action games, to a gaming community filled with them. After the first Crackdown came remarkable games such as Fallout 3, Infamous, Just Cause 2 and of course GTA IV. The sequel does not even come close to competing with those premier titles. And if this is the 360’s answer to Infamous, then Microsoft has a ton of work to do. They can start by handing the series back to the original developers.

Toy Story 3 Review

We were all left disappointed one way or another by movie turned videogames over the past few years. How many times did one of us pickup a game just because the movie was such a blast only last weekend, only to regret every penny we paid for the so called “game”? The issues in the genre range from lacking graphics to the fact that the developers are usually given very short time to finish the game and release it in time with the movie. Another problem with movie-to-videogame adaptations is how blindly the game follows the flick. You will spend 5 hours finishing scenes from the movie without any goals, targets and most importantly, without having a tiny bit of fun! The Toy Story series for us is the best thing since the Walkman (That is old school for you right there) and so a ton of anticipation surrounds every and any thing released under that name. Luckily for us, the game itself does not disappoint.

Firing up the game I was greeted right away with familiar faces, characters, scenes and voices. Which I considered to be a pretty good start, after all some games in this genre even fail at doing that. Scenes from the movie were all over the place, but I was not disappointed, but rather glad to see the creativity the developers put into this part of the game. As you progress through the story mode you will enjoy scenes and lines from the movie were you work on solving the problem or escaping what ever you are trying to escape. Nothing too complicated here. Young gamers will enjoy every last drip of the story, while older gamers can actually relive the movie and their own childhood with ease.

After completing the story mode, you will probably be left a bit disappointed. This is Toy Story 3 at the end of the day but you did not live the experience to the max yet. Here is where the developers stepped up big time with the license they had on hand. What do kids do with toys? They create an environment using each toy and live a fantasy filled world. This is exactly what young fans of the series will be doing in the Toy Box mode. This is an open Toy Story mode where you are in control of a town with all the toys you have seen in the movie living happily, each in its own little world. Each character will have its own environment and set of missions and goals for you to enjoy and complete.

With the Gameplay taken care of to a certain extent, all the game needed now is good graphics to match those stunning visuals we saw in the movie. Luckily for the fans of the series, the game does that as well. The characters all look lively and are very well animated. You will actually enjoy watching every move and act done by the characters in the game. In addition to the good graphics, the game comes with some very well done sound effects and voice acting. For sometime I actually forgot I was playing a game and was sucked into this simple world of Toy Story, only to wake up to my dog chewing on my pants.

Nothing too complicated here, Toy Story 3 is actually a perfect complement to the movie in theaters right now. It might not match the level of excitement or creativity found in the movie it self, but the fact that the developers did use everything they had on hand and made sure the game is more Toy Story then anything else, is good enough for us. Older gamers might find the game too simple to warrant a purchase or to be seen playing in public. I used the excuse of teaching my nephew how to play videogames, come up with your own excuses people. Quick!

Splinter Cell: Conviction Review

Admittedly, I was never a fan of the series. After growing up beating great stealth games such as Metal Gear Solid and Syphon Filter, every other new stealth game was just trying to imitate them instead of being original. Interest hit rock bottom for the Splinter Cell series over the last few years and the developers felt that something has to be done. Well, a ton of surgery was done on the series making this latest entry fun, addictive and most importantly worth your valuable time and money. How they did it, though? Read on and find out.

The developers of this game took the whole system they had from previous games in the series and thrashed them in a very nice and cozy trash can. Conviction, from the very beginning, feels new and interesting. The single player mode starts with a quick introduction to all the major new additions to the series. You will get used to the new cover system, integration methods and stealth controls within the first 10 minutes playing the game. So basically, within the first 30 minutes you will feel like you are playing a new stealth action game that right away redefined the genre overall. Phew, that was fast!

Let’s talk about some of those new features. First the covering and stealth systems, where both those aspects were made to be fun this time around. I was always the impatient guy that couldn’t wait and hide in games like this. But Splinter Cell makes me wait and appreciate every moment while at it. When you are in cover, the whole screen will be dark, showing you exactly what the enemy sees. Once you are spotted, color will flow all over the screen in such a fantastic style, letting you know that while the rooms look prettier now, you are about to drop dead. With a few flash grenades and running, you can be back in the dark soon however, and the game will have a ghost showing you exactly where the enemy thinks you are. I thought that was such an exciting feature in this game, the enemy will actually start planning an attack on that exact spot, with you watching from far ahead waiting to hunt them down one by one. A slightly disappointing thing with all of this however, is that at times it is a bit too easy to get back into stealth mode.

Taking cover now is easier then ever, but more significantly, fun and interesting in the same time. The controls are set in such a way that every move you make while in cover is smooth and accounted for. You will not be stuck on a wall for no reason while trying to hunt down your enemies. Even the visuals while in cover are fantastic, you will see the bullets scratch the wall you are behind and you will feel like you are flirting with death every time a bullet is directed your way.

Another notable feature in this game is how fast it is. You will not stop to read your objectives or wait for load screens during the levels. The objectives will be shown to you on walls and objects in the game, letting you know what needs to be done next. For me, each level felt like a mini action movie, simply because it had all of the required elements. You have the location and you control all the commotion going on within each level. You also have the story, where the drama is set on sky high. You have personal issues and grudges going around along with the usual national security risks. What more can you ask for?

After looking at how we hide and sneak around in this game, lets look at the hunting itself. Once you are in the shadow waiting to attack, what is next? Well, in this game it is totally up to you. Blast the doors open and attack? Cause a distraction for the enemy to come to you? Want to use a window and attack the enemy from behind? How about tagging the enemy using a mirror from under the door, planning your attack ahead? It is all up to you here, and you will learn to appreciate each and every option the game gives you. This right here is why this game is being played again and again by people around the world. You can simply make a different scenario out of every situation you are in.

Now after taking all the good stuff out of the way, it is time to look at some of the bad in this game. The single player mode is just too short for my comfort. I understand that the game has to offer so many multiplayer modes, but such a great game should have had more than a 5 hour story. It is a real shame, and while the coop modes (Online, split screen or system link) are great and addictive, I cannot help but feel bad for missing out on 5-6 more hours of this mouth watering action. On the bright side though, the game does come with another story mode tailored specially for the multiplayer game.

Splinter Cell: Conviction is just one of those games you have to play. It is a breath of fresh air in the genre and gamers will appreciate the effort put into the details in every corner and window. I would rent the game if I only wanted to play the single player mode however, but getting this with a friend will certainly get you your money’s worth and then some. At the end of the day, with all these new additions, all we can do after beating the game so many times now, is hope the next additions in the Splinter Cell series is only going to get better.

Lost Planet 2 Review

The first Lost Planet was as on and off as it gets. The series did how ever show potential. The level design was awesome and the enemies came in all sizes and shapes. The multiplayer game was also interesting enough for people to try out and Capcom all of the sudden had a new franchise on their hands. With the announcement of Lost Planet 2 however, people were expecting far more of the good and far less from the frame rate and Gameplay issues. Unfortunately for all of us however, Capcom got the whole formula wrong.

Let’s first get to the ugly in this game. What makes it all worse for LP2 is the high level of expectations on its shoulder for some reason. The first game was good, but why people were awaiting and expecting so much from this one we have no idea. The first game, at the end of the day, was average at best. The worse aspect about this game on the PS3 is the past-generation-like lag and frame rate issue. I do not judge frame rate issues until seeing them honestly, but it becomes so bad here that you might end up dying and restarting a whole level because of it.

The poor level structure means the game will only allow you to save at the end of each level. So let us recap what we have so far. You will die many times for reasons out of your control, meaning you have to repeat some hour long levels from the start. Do I even have to go any further here? The game has 6 episodes to go thru, with each episode split into a number of different levels. Saving will only be done after those levels only, so if you really have to leave in a middle of a level you are out of luck. I hate on every game that does that to me. I invest in a game to have fun and take a break from my stressful day, not to die trying to finish the next level.

The next ugly thing in this game is the controls. The minute you see the control setup you will try to run out of the room. So many buttons and things to do, and the controls sadly are not even responsive. Things will take too long to happen, and we are taking about the offline game here. In Coop this gets even more frustrating, because you will have the full view of your partner acting like a dumb ass in the middle of a battle field.

The problems above make the game literally unplayable on the PS3. No matter how good the other aspects of the game are, trying to play with 16 other online gamers with no proper controls and lag, you can literally have more fun watching paint dry.

The couple of good things in this game are the graphics and sound departments. Graphically, the game looks really impressive. The environments are really good; you will be going from forests to ice worlds and deserts in this game. And the developers managed to make all of them look perfect. The enemies are really detailed too and the big monsters will scare the crap out of you, right before you blast them off with a rocket launcher.

What really frustrate me with this game is how many different things this game has to offer. You have online coop, online VS mode and the offline story to finish. Sadly all of those cannot be properly enjoyed because of the lethal problems in the game’s engine. Having played the 360 version of the game recently too, I can say that the difference is noticeable without even playing both versions side to side. That is most likely going to be another topic for the console fan boys to fight about. If you really want yourself some Lost Planet 2, go buy it for the 360. The PS3 is unplayable and the game really struggles to keep up with its potential and all the action going on in its world.

Vancouver 2010 Review

Winter Olympics are not such a huge event here for a very good reason; we never get snow to start with! But still, for us sports fans’, getting to know what is going around all over the world is important. And once every 2 years we get one Olympics showcase to watch and follow. The Winter Olympics this year were played in Canada and were won by the USA a few months ago. The excitement and pride of each nation participating in the Olympics was as clear as it gets in the news. The way this game translates that onto your TV screens however, is a totally different story.

Watching TV recaps of the events, I noticed how proud the players and coaches were with each medal they won. At the end of the day, indivisible achievements are not what stands out, but your country’s medal count. But the names of those stars were something to remember and follow. Sadly in this game you will get nameless avatars as the characters you use to participate in each event. What is the point of creating a full event if the main stars are not even invited?  With no real names and sound commentary, the game seemed dead at times, especially if you have no idea what is going on in some events.

One of the bright spots in Vancouver 2010 however is the variety of the events. Just like how we all enjoyed smashing buttons in Track and Field back in the days, every Olympics game now has you do that. The main problem gamers in this region will face however is understanding the point of each event and how to deal with it. If you know the difference between a 1500m and 500m skating race for example, you will know when to hit top speed and when not to. You can actually practice stuff like that before entering the Olympics mode, but you will have to believe the game is rewarding enough before investing so much time into it.

Completing and mastering each event here will take sometime. So it all depends on how much gaming time you have on your hands. The game also makes use of nearly all the buttons on your controller. You will be doing everything from turning corners, to speeding up and avoiding obstacles. This can prove to be a load of fun if you know what you are talking about.

Due to the nature of this game and sport overall, a high difficulty level was not something we were expecting. The game will kick your ass to start with, when you still do not know what the hell is going on. So make sure you try the tutorial created for each event in order to not get embarrassed in front of your pets. Once you get your hands dirty however, and know what is going on, there is a full online mode for you to mess around with. It is basically the same events as the offline mode, but with other strangers trying to win a gaming medal online.

The graphics in this game were pretty impressive honestly. I was not expecting such a high level of detail. The characters look great overall, but we are still bothered by the fact that no real life athletes made the cut. Game flows smoothly online and offline and we never faced any lag problems all around. The friendly menus are also a plus.

Vancouver 2010 is not as bad as some older Olympics games. We can tell that games like this will force people in the region to start following sports other then football. For now though, this is certainly a game made with the fans of the sport on mind only. If you like trying something new though, giving this game a shot wouldn’t be the worse decision you have made so far this year, judging from that Ipad in your hand.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Review

There are many reasons why football fans worldwide are excited about the new FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa game, even though we just had another FIFA eight months ago. First, the excitement of the world cup can overcome anyone and with about a month until kick off the game is a perfect appetizer before the main course. The other main reason though is how good the EURO 2008 game was two years ago. That game for many changed how people looked at FIFA altogether and the new ideas in that game helped FIFA 2009 become the best football game in ages. Can this game make that big of an impact though? Read on and find out.

The game looks nearly identical to FIFA 2010. Most of the stars look even better now. What I feel EA Sports did is that it took all of the top stars from this season and made sure they all looked as realistic as possible, because at the end of the day, those are the players that made the news every week for the past year. Probably the best graphical feature in this game, however, is the fantastically created world cup stadiums. The way each stadium is presented before each WC match is what makes this game special at the end of the day.

EA tried to sell the game as an improvement over FIFA 2010 in the gameplay department but that’s not entirely true for one small reason: FIFA 2010 was nearly perfect! FIFA WC 2010 does have a few improvements in how the players run and how passes are made but other than that I could not notice any other changes. Causal FIFA 2010 gamers might notice a new feature or two, but people that played the hell out of that game will feel a bit too comfortable with WC 2010.  It is interesting to note, though, that the referees do call a whole lot more penalty kicks now.

The weakest point of this game has to be the commentary. During a game, the commentary stays solid and does not get boring too soon. However, when it comes to commenting on what is going on outside the game, FIFA WC 2010 is a let down. For the top teams, you will get a story line by the commentators. They will talk about the team of 1966 when playing as England and will mention how Spain always seems to make it only to fail in the end. Other than that though, the commentary is pretty dull. I scored a goal in the 92^nd minute to win the world cup (as the Syrian national team for god’s sake!) And guess what the commentary had for me? “Oh, they have won it so late.” And that is it. Syria scoring a last minute goal against Brazil in the world cup final only got that? What more does he wants to scream “GOAL!! The underdogs have done it!!” (or something along those lines)? The game finished, the Syrian players lifted the cup like they have done it before (HAHA!) and that is it. I played 25 games, qualified from the Asian group, beat Germany and Italy on the way to the final and lifted the world cup on the hardest difficulty with the Syrian national team to only be back to the main menu. Is it me or do I deserve a refund here?

Other than that WC 2010 is a fantastic game overall. Every single team in the world is present, although the weaker teams have their player names jumbled up. The game modes are deep and plenty. Recapturing the key moments from the qualifying phase and allowing you to mess around with the outcome is just too exciting. Playing Bahrain Vs KSA and trying to score another goal in the last minute to qualify was a heartbreaker! How about the Irish beating France to qualify? All of the drama is a few buttons away when you buy this game.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is FIFA 2010 on steroids, and it could have easily been a simple expansion download for FIFA 2010. But EA Sports has a tradition to continue here, I still remember playing the very old World Cup games and this year was not going to be different. Causal gamers that already played FIFA 2010 should stay away from this one. Football fans – you already have it, don’t you?

Star Ocean: The Last Hope International Review

The JRPG genre has been an unexplored territory for me for many years now. Even with all the good titles and the positive reviews they seem to be getting over the past years, the idea of a bunch teens saving the world has never appealed to me. So when I got the chance to review Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, I had a couple of doubts in my mind: one, is it going to be fair to the game for me to play and review it? And secondly, how well will non-RPG fans like me be able to enjoy this game?

Right, the first thing I learned while playing this game is that it takes a while for it to grow on you. The graphics, at first, were shockingly awful considering how hot Mass Effect 2 and God of War 3 looked on the very same TV a few hours ago. The graphics have a slight cartoonish look, which goes well with the “bunch of kids going to space to save the world” theme.

The game itself first hit the market as an Xbox 360 exclusive game in 2009. Since then the game was gifted with an extra word – ‘International’. Reason behind this decision is simple: the game’s English version in our hands now features the Japanese voice track too, in case you really want to be lost and have no idea what is going on. Of course that is the “non-RPG” fan side of me speaking, it is a good value addition for those wanting to retain the original experience.

Taking Star Ocean International, without caring much about the genre, turned out to be a bit more fun than I anticipated. The game is long and the story, while cheesy to start with, does become a bit interesting later on. The length of the game is nearly triple the 10-20 hours standard limit we seem to be getting with games in recent years. This could be good news for the few of us that actually have that much time on our hands. But the casual gamer looking for quick game will probably struggle with it. Adding drama to the main story line are the characters. Each character on your team seems to have a story to follow and a relationship to understand. These side-quests are completely optional but they do add a good amount of depth to the already lengthy single player campaign.

The action in the game is better then most of the other RPGs I have played. Well, even with my short history with the genre, the previous sentence is still considered a compliment. The action never get old thanks to a solid mix of battle and strategy elements. Powers of each member on your party have to be considered before taking on a specific enemy. Moving around the battle area freely is also a plus. You can also map out attacks and spells for each character on your team onto different buttons on your pad.

Based on how you fight and battle you will also earn rewards on your bonus board. Finishing off an enemy with a critical hit or killing multiple enemies with one hit will earn you a colored gem. Those gems once arranged on the bonus board give you extra goodies such as extra experience gained from each fight and so on. You could lose the whole board if your party leader dies, so play it out carefully and do not risk your rewards.

The only issue I see holding this game back is the save point system. I was turned off by many games released in the last few years where saving the game was difficult or required extra measure from my side. In Star Ocean, you have to find a glowing save point in order to record your progress and quit the game (like FF8!). It’s a pain finding save points as they are rare to come by while exploring in the game.

I am pretty sure I will be picking up more JRPG games after playing this one. I might have not enjoyed it to the maximum, or understood all the weird stuff going around but you can easily tell when you have a good game on your hands. The length of the game is a welcome change and the story does not get boring due to the amount of drama, no matter how cheesy it can get. At the end of the day, people that played this game last year on the 360 have nothing to look forward to in the PS3 version. Everyone else though should probably give this game a shot and see how a bunch of teen boy band look-a-likes end up saving the human civilization.

FIFA Manager 10 Review

The world of football management is a pretty complicated one. A manager has to deal with everything from tactics and transfers to moral and team problems. In many cases these days though, the manager’s job is limited to simply making sure the players on the field are doing well.  Only established managers such as Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger get the chance to interfere with nearly everything inside a club. Games like Football Manager deal with a specific side of the job. You make deals, sell players, arrange games and plan your tactics. FIFA Manager 10 wants to make you feel like you are the whole club. You will manage your club, play as one of the players, set tickets prices, design the stadium and even learn a new hobby while at it.

FIFA Manager is back this year with “over 400 new features”, or that is what the developers would like to say. While changes are around and plenty, most of them are small tweaks that many of us will not even notice. The main changes this year come in the shape of the online mode. The single player game remains unchanged at the core, but the new little changes do add up positively overall. How much did FIFA Manager 2010 improve compared to FM 2010 and FIFA Manager 2009 though? Read on and you will find out.

First off, we really like the number of options this game offers when entering a match. If you wish you can take things into your own hand and control a player on the field. If you are in a hurry, you can get an instant score and get the whole game over with. You can even watch the game in 3D and note your player’s moves and tactics. The options here really cover everything a manager can ask for. We were especially impressed by the new 3D animations this year. We were delighted by how a good passer can perform a number of different looking passes in a match. The addition of the new 3D animations might sound unimportant but it surely does make the game better overall.

The one disappointing aspect in the 3D engine though is the match engine itself. At times some of the players seem to float around pointlessly. One of my players took the ball in the opposition’s side, and ran back slowly towards the other side of the pitch. He then turned around and started running in the correct direction again. Those glitches are far apart and will not occur that often, but a quick fix in the next patch should get rid of them completely.

When looking at the presentation, the game does a fantastic job. The majority of the logos are authentic and most of the players in the game have a picture in the profile. Despite all the authentic logos and pictures going around, the game seems to have got some wrong information regarding some big teams. The captain of Arsenal for example was not Fabregas. Injured players that are out for the rest of the season in real life were back in action a week into the season in FIFA Manager 2010. On a more positive note, the game does offer you the chance to manage any team in 35 different leagues including the Saudi and UAE football leagues.

The biggest new addition this year is the online multiplayer mode. The online mode is pretty simple. Here you will pick a team and get going playing against other players around the world. People in for a realistic and time consuming online game might be left disappointed. The online season is quick thanks to strict time limits and a limited number of options. Think of the online mode as a single player light version. Playing online a few times was actually fun, but the simplicity soon took over and we were back playing offline soon after.

The game this year offers a few other additions. You can now take control over your stadium. Change everything from the fast food offered in the stands to the number of VIP boxes and new locker rooms. The options are truly fantastic considering some of the changes can be spotted playing the game in the 3D mode. The changes you make will have a direct effect on your budget and income for the season.

You can now shout out instructions watching the game from the sidelines. Just like real life (and Football Manager). The instructions can be simple or complicated depending on the situation. And you will appreciate how the players start adjusting their game based on your orders in the 3D match. Winning a game after asking your wing backs to attack can be pretty rewarding.

The graphics are very good in this game. The screen is rarely plain or boring. Every message you get will usually have a picture of the player involved and even the coach or scout as well. The skins used are very bright and the game even comes with a SkySports.com like news page that you will be presented with at the end of each week. The matches themselves look really good no matter what option you choose.

FIFA Manager 2010 is a manager game with a ton of options. You can choose everything about your career before you start a game. The huge number of teams and leagues to choose from only adds to that huge number of options you have on hand. We honestly wish the developers spent more time adjusting and adding features to the offline single player mode instead of adding a quick online mode to the mix. Football fans looking for a game that concentrates on just football and tactics should go with Football Manager 2010. If you are after the whole package though and if you think you have an Arsene Wenger somewhere inside you, then FIFA Manager 2010 is your game.

Assassin’s Creed II Review

Despite all the negativity surrounding the first Assassin’s Creed, we were still very impressed with what the game had to offer. The interesting story and magnificent visuals surely were an important factor. But the repetitive nature of the game limited how far it could and should have gone. Even though the game ended up selling very well, gamers still expected and wanted more than doing the exact same three missions over and over again. The developers listened carefully and highlighted the shortcomings in the first game and worked on them. AC 2 comes with a load of improvements while building up on all what was good in AC.

To complete a sequence in AC you had to gather info, climb a few buildings before assassinating the target.  In AC2 it’s a completely different case. Now you will get to meet new people and talk to them, look around the more lively cities and collect items and money. The majority of the missions are still rather simple, but that doesn’t mean they are not fun. Playing the game for a few hours straight you will feel like you are watching a very good movie. That comment right there shows you exactly how good the presentation is in this game.

The story is also very interesting. It continues after the events in the first game and builds up with style. Factored in this time is some drama and comedy. The drama comes from the death of some key characters and seeking revenge. Comedy comes in a numbers of ways in a different number of situations (With Mario making has AC debut). We were expecting the story to drop off a bit after an impressive start, but the game managed to keep coming back with more drama for us to follow and look forward to. Every time you visit a new area or meet a character a little icon will appear indicating that new info was recorded. That info will give you an idea about the historic importance of that area and character. So reading them is certainly not a waste of time.

AC was based in the Middle East, something we rather enjoyed. This time however all the action is happening in Italy as Desmond tries to go back and find out what exactly happened in the past. The cities picked to represent the game are perfectly created. Each city has its own set of places to visit and climb. Each city also has shops for you to check out. The shops sell everything from weapons to cloth and decorations for your castle. That is right; there is a business side of AC now. You gain money from completing missions, treasures scattered around the game or even by stealing that money from poor citizens.

The weapons you can buy are very diverse and each comes with its own set of animations. We actually ended up buying all of them just to see the awesome animations each one of them offers. The money you collect will even help you complete missions faster. You can hire people to help you sneak by guards or even hire a few men to fight on your side for a while. Another way to make money is investing. We actually felt here that developers are taking it a bit too far. But you actually can buy and improve certain buildings in your city to attract more people to the city and there for increase your daily income. Not a totally bad idea, but we would rather worry about killing people with style instead.

Most of the time you will have to move around the city while under cover. You either have to climb buildings or walk with people to distract the guards. The fighting and its animations are so good in this game though, that most of the time we actually went for the fights. The combat and its controls will improve as you progress through the story. The tutorial levels most games force you to play at the beginning are scattered around AC2. The simpler moves like throwing knives for example will be learned in the first few levels. Other more complicated moves will be introduced as you need them during the course of the game. That is a very good idea for one reason. You will actually remember and use each move before moving on to the next one.

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