1701 A.D. Gold Edition Download

1701 A.D. Gold Edition is a compilation of the original 1701 A.D. and the new expansion game, Sunken Dragon. Sunken Dragon adds 11 new missions and a new world editor, which by themselves are an exciting game expansion. Throw in the original game alongside for a total price of $30, and you have a winner.

The original game garnered great reviews and rightly so. A solid economic simulation, the original game had some great things going for it. The game’s economics, diplomacy and trade features meshed almost perfectly. And, it was just a charming game. While not the most complex strategy title around, it was a lot of fun.

Sunken Dragon adds 11 new missions, which are presented in a different method of story-telling than usual. Instead of having a campaign mode that basically plunks players immediately into the mission with a brief statement that does the bare minimum of providing a story backdrop, Sunken Dragon begins with the story immediately, then sends players off to find their destiny. The story is still somewhat short, but relayed in an intriguing manner. It seems that a friend is in need of some serious help in managing his colony, which was founded to provide support for his real goal of searching for and finding the treasure of the Sunken Dragon. This first mission involves straightening out the economic mess of his colony, allowing him to devote more time for treasure hunting.

The story is presented with a short introduction, and then play begins. Our friend, Finn, is hanging around in a little window at the upper right of the screen, and will utter remarks now and then on what he is thinking. This acts as a prod of sort for players to get moving.

The first few missions involve finding treasure, taking care of fire disasters and fixing the economy, just as in the original game. The main gameplay elements involve economy and discovery.

Economics make the 1701 world go around, and it's important to get these concepts down in the beginning, because things will move pretty fast after a short time. There are four tutorials included, and I would strongly advise anyone new to the 1701 series to play these, as they include information on trade. This is important, because for some reason, 1701 keeps the trade and diplomacy menus separate. It's not very clear how to set up trade relationships if players are just depending on intuition and the manual for direction.

At first, players will need to build farms, resource huts and mines to gather resources, and factory buildings to refine the resources. A warehouse and also markets are important to distribute the goods to the populace. Most of these buildings will need to be connected to each other by roads in order to "communicate" with each other. Often, resources and factories will be on separate islands, and trade routes will have to be set to bring the resources to the factories.

Trade is vitally important, and it should really be explained a bit better. Trade goods are available in a menu, with the cost and value displayed. However, trade is often taking place with the computer opponents, and they are present in the diplomacy menu. It would have been helpful if these menus were combined.

The buildings and town inhabitants all look great and the game's overall graphic appeal still holds up after 2 years. It's an attractive game, with a lot of animated action at the various buildings and locales. The zoom feature is nice, too, and presents players with a smooth transition back and forth between close-up shots and long-range views.

The new missions are just what the original game needed. 1701 A.D. was a lot of fun, but it was a little too open-ended. The lack of a campaign mode left some of us feeling slightly aimless. These missions are varied, mostly difficult and all fun. I really loved the personal feel granted by the mission characters who are interactively involved. The side quests are also interesting and engaging.

Players will be required to fix the economy, take care of natural and man-made disasters, and explore and settle other islands. These missions have different restrictions on them, which help to give a different "feel" to each one. As this is a real-time game, sometimes it's easy to get behind and then become completely bogged down, but restarting is easy and often offers the best solution. Think of it as training. Really tough training, actually, these missions are hard! However, they are not unfair, and there are three difficulty levels to choose. Depending on the lowest level chosen for any one mission, a bronze, silver or gold medal will be awarded for successful completion of all the missions.

The gameplay mechanics mostly work seamlessly together and present a great gaming experience, but now and then the communication between game elements breaks down. It's rather annoying when production stops or farming never commences, and it's not clear as to why. Sometimes it's necessary to just bulldoze buildings and begin again. This reminds me of Caesar III.

While there is a lot of new stuff, including new ornaments and a cool world editor, the main interface structure is unchanged. The good, and the bad. The good are the simplified menus that are easy to understand, the bad is the lack of information presented by these simplified menus. And, the placement of buildings really needed changing. It's ridiculous that houses can't be placed in groups by holding down the mouse and dragging. The bulldoze feature works the same way.

The military aspect is unchanged from before. It's not a big feature, which can be a positive or negative depending on the perspective. I don't like fighting, so I'm fine with the absence of any real military strategy. Others may feel the lack.

All told, this is a worthy expansion that adds to the original without making any major changes. The missions add the one missing element, a campaign mode for those of us who need concrete goals. The world editor is also a great addition for the creators amongst us. The price makes it a great buy whether players already have the original game or not.

Review Scoring Details for 1701 A.D. Gold Edition

Gameplay: 8.0
This game is fun! And, that’s what it’s all about. While 1701 A.D. Gold may not be the most overly complex or huge strategic title ever, it is an engrossing and thought-provoking game. The economics are just right and will literally take up hours of time, in a good way. There could be more information organized in the menus, but this is just a small drawback.

Graphics: 8.0
The game is attractive and still looks pretty good compared to other similar titles. The animations of the inhabitants and buildings are good. The view in the closeup viewpoint is clear, too.

Sound: 7.0
The music is not very memorable, but isn’t bad, either.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Even the easy level is fairly challenging. The missions can be difficult to accomplish and will require some thought on non-obvious ways to achieve the goals.

Concept: 7.0
This game doesn’t really break any new ground, but the execution is excellent.

Multiplayer: 8.0
The multiplayer mode has several options to set the game scenarios. Also, there is a cooperative mode in multi-player which is a nice option, especially for families.

Overall: 8.0
This game is great fun! A really nice way to end the summer, and one that won’t break the bank, either.

Legend: Hand of God Download

As any fan of the genre will tell you, there has been no shortage of RPG’s to hit the market in recent years, and with standout titles like “Mass Effect” and the “Neverwinter Nights” series in one’s collection, newer entries have some tough acts to follow in order to impress gamers. “Legend: Hand of God,” (L:HoG) Master Creating’s most recent offering, is not impressive, but it does offer a quasi-decent romp through the mainstays of the genre, albeit one marred by occasional bugs and generally lamentable voice acting.

The story couldn’t be more generic for an RPG: a portal keeping demons at bay has been opened, and it’s your job as Targon, the last member of a secretive society called the Order of the Keepers of the Holy Flame, to reseal the portal by finding a legendary amulet called the “Hand of God” in time to prevent the demonic hordes from sweeping into your world and tearing it asunder. Sound familiar? Though Targon will interact with a fair number of people during his journey, he works alone (with the exception of the fairy who accompanies him); this not a party-based RPG, so gamers looking for that experience will have to look elsewhere for satisfaction (if you haven’t already, give “Mass Effect” a spin).

There aren’t any surprises for fans of the genre in terms of gameplay. All the usual suspects are here: melee combat (press and hold the attack button to continuously attack), spellcasting (press a previously assigned hotkey), as well as health and mana pools that are regenerated by potions. As Targon gains experience, you level up. As you level, you can distribute points to one of four attributes: strength, dexterity, constitution, and intellect. Which attributes you decide to increase are determined by which “paths” (read “classes”) you choose.

L:HoG offers five paths: warrior, villain (rogue), magic (mage), wilderness (ranger), and faith (healer). You will be asked to choose two of the paths at the beginning of the game. This means that as you level up, you will have to decide which skill trees to invest in within each path.
In addition to being a clever way to get more mileage out of a relatively small class pool, this hybrid class system adds much needed variety to the title. Without it, gamers would likely feel much more restricted in their ability to customize their character, and it would be far less appealing to play. I decided to try out a mage/healer and had some fun toasting enemies with fireballs and being able to heal myself while in or out of battle. Early on, I decided to devote most of the skill points to the magic path, increasing the power of my offensive fire and ice spells. Only later did I start seriously improving and adding to my skills in the Path of Faith. Having the power to choose exactly how your character develops helps to make the title feel like it has some depth, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

With all this talk of how closely this title follows the conventions of the genre, there is one way in which it stands out from other fantasy RPGs: there aren’t any torches in the game. If you enter a dark cave and need additional light, you simply use your cursor as a modest light source, which happens to be a luminescent fairy, who has decided to accompany you on your journey. The fairy acts as your cursor and as a source of real-time light. Ultimately, though, this is a gimmick, but it’s one that works well, especially in darker areas where the fairy’s light casts some eerie real-time shadows.

How well do all of these gameplay elements work together as a whole? The game is by no means revolutionary or even evolutionary in terms of the genre, but it retreads familiar territory competently. The occasional bug does rear its ugly head, however, like clicking on one of the earlier vendors in an attempt to look at his wares and hearing Targon blurt out: “I need a key to the cemetery!” At the time this happened, I had no idea what cemetery he was talking about, as it wasn’t mentioned in any of the quests I had accepted, nor in any of the conversations in which I took part. And it’s not as if the vendor had keys for sale…Not sure where that one came from.

On a more positive note, the game’s control scheme is quite flexible and user friendly. It allows you to configure the left, middle, and right mouse buttons to your liking, as well as use the number keys as customizable hotkeys. For instance, you can set the right mouse button as the melee attack button, the middle as a healing spell, and the left for point-and-click walking. This can be done on the fly by mousing over the button you wish to reassign, clicking it, selecting a spell or action icon from an icon-based pop-up menu, and clicking on the icon of your choice. This is a nice feature both in theory and practice, especially if you want to quickly assign one of the buttons to a new spell you just earned after leveling up.

One of the more annoying problems with L:HoG, however, is the inconsistent quality of its voice acting. This problem plagues just about every character with spoken lines, even the protagonist. In particular, he seems to deliver many of his lines as if he is trying too hard to be convincing. This often the problem with spoken lines in the game; the actors are trying to sound convincing, but their delivery often falls quite flat. This is even more unfortunate when there are glimmers of creativity and wit evident in the lines being delivered, but then that creativity and wit are all but destroyed by sub-par delivery.

While the voice acting is hit and miss, the title’s score deserves some praise. The tracks are rich and well- suited for the game. I was generally quite impressed with the overall quality of the soundtrack. The visuals, on the other hand, aren’t as impressive, but they almost hold their own with other recent titles in the genre. Real-time shadows, sharp textures, and solid lighting make for a visually pleasing experience. There are a few nice touches here and there as well, like field grass swaying as you move through it. Just be wary of cranking up the visuals, as this puppy can demand a lot from your system at higher levels. One related gripe I have here is that you can only adjust the visual settings outside of the game, which is rather inconvenient when you’re trying to figure out what settings work best for your system.

On a final note, I have to mention the problematic camera. I have played many RPGs, but I have never experienced the feeling of being lost in a gameworld. However, I found myself feeling lost any number of times while playing this title because it offers a number of intricate maps, which would actually be commendable if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t level the camera out to see the horizon, which would allow you to get a better sense of where you are in relation to the rest of the world. L:HoG is presented in third-person, and you have the ability to rotate the camera and zoom in and out on your character within a limited range. There is also a mini-map of the surrounding area, but somehow I never really felt as if I had a good “lay of the land,” because I wanted to level the camera out to look ahead and scan the horizon but was unable to do so. I would have even settled for being able to zoom out a bit further to see more of my surroundings, but no dice. Quite frustrating. One way to address this would be to allow the player go into first-person mode while looking around or allowing the camera to level out and show line of sight from a shallower angle to the ground while in third-person.

Review Scoring Details for Legend: Hand of God

Gameplay: 6.0
Been there and done that numerous times. Want more? The gameplay is competent for the genre, but ultimately uninspiring.

Graphics: 7.0
Nothing spectacular, but there are some nice lighting effects and textures are generally well done. Some character animations can be a bit stiff, though.

Sound: 7.0
A solid score and generally well-wrought sound effects are marred by inconsistent voice acting.

Difficulty: Easy to Medium
The learning curve is minimal and the AI doesn’t seem to have any sense of self-preservation.

Concept: 6.0
This is generally uninspired title, both in terms of its narrative and gameplay.

Overall: 6.0
L:HoG has promise, but there’s nothing new to see or do here. This is a hard title to recommend to veterans of the genre, unless you don’t mind retreading the same gaming territory, dealing with occasional bugs and a camera that’s a bit too restrictive, as well as spotty voice acting. This is one dragon you don’t need to slay.

Skate 2

Last year, EA released a skateboarding title that not only was the first game to really give Activision’s Tony Hawk a run for its money, but provided one of the most compelling and original skateboarding titles in a good long while. skate was an original and unique skateboarding game, and now EA is getting ready to unleash the sequel. skate 2 will carry on the legacy of its predecessor by offering an excellent control scheme, as well as some great new moves and gameplay features.

skate 2 once again takes place in the city of San Vanelona five years after the first skate. However after a huge earthquake hit the city and left it completely in ruins, it has been rebuilt and renamed San Vanelona. Essentially, the city will boast tons of new areas to skate on and should feel completely different to players.

skate 2 will feature a good deal of new moves that will use the control scheme in great ways. For example, one new move is the hippie jump, where your skater will jump off of the board into the air. In order to pull it off, you simply pull the two triggers, each one corresponding to a different foot, which is an intuitive way to pull off such a move.

Additionally, your skater will be able to get off of the board and walk around a bit without skating. This comes into play when you use the grabbing mechanic, as you’ll be able to grab certain objects from around the environment and move them around to create your own jumps and rails to grind.

One of the most noticeable changes in the game is the framerate boost. Whereas the first skate moved along at 30 frames per second, the sequel will move at a smooth 60 FPS clip, making it feel a lot smoother. There are also some great new animations and visual effects that make the game look very good, even this early on in development.

skate 2 is shaping up to be a nice improvement over the original game, and should definitely appeal to gamers looking to take that trip back to San Vanelona.

Paws and Claws: Pet Vet Australian Adventure

Sometimes game companies get into a bit of responsible game development and make titles that have a certain educational value. The Pet Vet series is one such set of titles and the Australian Adventure is the latest. I will start off by saying that my hat is off to any developer who makes a reasonably designed title that will get young players into a profession that appeals to them but may not always be available to them; case in point, veterinarian.

In PVAA (sorry it's a long title) you start off customizing your vet and prepare them for adventures in the Australian Outback. Selecting what type of clothing is great, but it does not effect performance in the field. Since we are in Australia, you can count on some location specific critters to tend to. Players use their SUV to drive around the wilderness and locate animals like wombats, kangaroos, koala bears and horses. Assessing what the animal's ailment is will allow you to either treat the animal right there or bring it back to the clinic and begin a more lengthier treatment schedule using pharmaceuticals and surgery.

For each animal you cure and help you are given money, which you can use to improve your clinic, setup additional treatments, add buildings and even begin hosting safaris for profit. Being a vet ultimately means making money, but the other reward is that you get to help animals.

And help them you will; these creatures suffer from all sorts of interesting ailments including worms, salmonella and other weirdo ailments I could never pronounce much less spell. But be warned, the game is for kids, so surgery, gross side effects from medical problems and in-the-field injuries are all "G" rated. No blood, nothing gross, nothing to scare small children but be aware, there is the need for euthanization. Parents be prepared to discuss this sometimes sad real-life experience. This is all overshadowed by the joy a player may experience when they see an animal all the way through a serious ailment and it gets a new lease on life.

Paws and Claws is certainly nothing to get excited about graphically; the environments are drab and lackluster, characters are also somewhat disappointing. All the money clearly went into making the animals look good, and they do look good. Would have been better also, if the developers made more than six animals to find and cure (where's the snakes) and some more varied missions may have helped alleviate the repetitiveness which plagues the game. Some simple audio moves nicely with the game but there are no surprises found in the outback's soundtrack.

If anything, the game manages to create a worthwhile experience as you find animals, identify problems and then set out to resolve that problem whether quickly or not so quickly, there is a certain amount of satisfaction when you see a creature at death's door and you bring it back to a full recovery. The game may not have a great deal of depth to it, but there are some good moments.

Review Scoring Details for Paws and Claws: Pet Vet Australian Adventure

Gameplay: 7.0
Wash, rinse, repeat. The game does not have much going for the missions but the ailments vary greatly, time to use the brain kids!

Graphics: 6.0
It's passable but only graphical love was put into the animals, zoom in on the humans and you will quickly zoom back out.

Sound: 6.0
Wanna hear a dingo yelp in pain when you need to take its temperature? So did I.

Difficulty: Easy
Adults will want the pace to pick up, children may have better staying power since their minds will be absorbing so much info.

Concept: 6.4
There are several animal titles out there where you act as caregiver and vet, this one is decent enough, but needed way more critters to find and help. How many times can you rescue a lost koala?

Overall: 6.3
There are worse titles out there that are in this vein, I just wish the whole experience had been fleshed out more giving the game more depth and varied missions.

Portal

When Portal was originally released as part of The Orange Box in October of last year, its uniquely puzzling gameplay and dark, sharp-witted humor thrilled consumers and critics alike. Set in a mysterious scientific facility, Portal introduced players to new ways of moving through the gameworld that challenged their perspective and flexed their spatial awareness. The pitch-perfect voice-over soon became stuff of Internet legend, and the song that played during the end credits was so popular that it has since been released as a downloadable track for Rock Band. The only real complaint that surfaced was that the game ended too quickly. Recently released as a stand-alone retail product, Portal remains a unique gem of a game that packs a huge amount of appeal into a small package.

At the outset of Portal, you wake up in a sleeping pod. Rising to the tinny sound of Muzak playing on a radio, you look around your glass-walled cell and notice that there is no door. A sedate, quasi-robotic voice welcomes you to your "relaxation vault," mentions something about "enrichment center activities," and alerts you that a portal will be opening shortly. A moment later, a tall, orange-rimmed oval appears on the wall next you. Looking through the glass to the hallway outside your cell, you notice a similar, blue-rimmed oval. Inside the blue oval stands a woman in an orange jumpsuit who appears to be mimicking your every move. Then you realize that the woman is you, and that you are looking at yourself in profile. Stepping through the oval, you find yourself in the hallway outside of the relaxation vault, looking in at where you stood just a moment ago. You've just had your first taste of portals, and it's only going to get weirder from here on out.

So if you step through the blue one, you'll come out...where?

The first few levels of Portal introduce you to fairly simple applications of portal technology, eventually putting the portal gun in your hands and enabling you to create portals anywhere you like. Well, not quite anywhere. Certain surfaces are not portal-able, and this is one way that subsequent levels, known as test chambers, become more difficult. Other elements, such as energy balls, weighted cubes, floor switches, and moving platforms, are incorporated into the test chambers in increasingly exacting ways, but the real complexity and the real genius of Portal lie in the challenge of "thinking in portals."

Sure, you know that if you place portals here and there, you will enter here and exit there, but what if here is the floor 20 feet below you and there is a spot high up on the wall? You'll retain your momentum while going through the portal, so entering the floor portal at speed will rocket you out of the wall portal perpendicular to the floor. This has a profound impact on your strategy, but not all portal-thinking is strategic. If you place one portal at your feet and the other on the ceiling overheard, will you fall forever? Or if you put two portals on the floor side by side, could you create a reasonable facsimile of whack-a-mole? The magic of Portal is that it truly does inspire this unique flavor of spatial imagination, and once you get a taste, you'll be delighted to find yourself thinking in portals even when you're not in front of your PC.

If portal technology is the meat of the game, then GLaDOS is the perfectly paired wine. The omnipresent voice that guides you through the test chambers, GLaDOS initially reveals a dry, almost unintentional sense of humor in the first few test chambers. As you progress, her humor begins to show signs of self-awareness, eventually blossoming into something too hilarious and too well-deployed to spoil here. Suffice it to say, it is one of the chief pleasures of Portal and features some of the best writing in video game history.

Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.

For all its heady delights, Portal is a short-lived feast and can be reasonably completed in as little as five hours. To help draw things out a bit, Valve has included six advanced chambers, all of which are existing test chambers tweaked to present a tougher challenge. You can also take on challenge maps and attempt to complete the test chambers with the least number of portals, the least steps, or in the least time. Ever since it was originally released more than six months ago, there has been ample time for the online community to produce a bevy of maps that, though varying in quality, are freely available for any test-chamber-hungry portaler to download. Its Orange Box roots mean that Portal also comes equipped with in-game achievements that can serve to extend its longevity. Nevertheless, the odds are that it'll be over a bit too quickly for your liking.

Short as it may be, Portal is a fantastic game that should be played by anyone interested in unique, well-crafted gameplay and a witty, whip-smart script. The stand-alone retail release comes with the same price point as the downloadable Steam release, which is about the cost of a night out at the movies. Portal may not last much longer than some feature films, but pound for pound it remains one of the best games on store shelves.

Devil May Cry 4

It’s hard to believe that we’re already up to the fourth installment of the Devil May Cry series. What almost started off as a revised Resident Evil game has blossomed into its own series with its own rabid fans. In the fourth installment the game no longer focuses on longtime hero Dante, instead we get a new antagonist called Nero. Nero is a wise-cracking angst-filled youngster who has amazing abilities thanks to one of his arms being demonic. Even though the characters may have changed the Devil May Cry experience is still the same action-packed, over-the-top gaming experience we’ve come to expect.

What I should mention right away is this isn’t a rushed port of the console game. Devil May Cry 4 is a beast of a game that was designed for some hardcore specs, usually the kind reserved for the latest first-person shooter extravaganza. The manual includes a comment that the game was developed and tested using nVidia GeForce 7, 8 and 9 series graphic cards. Further comments suggest that running the game using a GeForce 8800 card will let you run the game with all of the special effect settings turned. Additional comments state using a GeForce 9 series card will let you really experience the game. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your graphics card now could be the time since Devil May Cry 4 is a powerful game that can use some intense hardware for all of the eye candy.

If you want a game to show off just how good a PC game can look Devil May Cry 4 is the game. This is a game full of amazing visuals from mission to mission. Huge backdrops full of rich, incredible details are everywhere in the game. Breathtaking lighting effects show up not only in dark mysterious areas but also in the stages set outside in bright sunlight. The boss battles fill the screen with encounters that will have your PC screaming for mercy due to the limitless action. Once again this game will push the limits when it comes to system requirements so be prepared.

As far as the game itself, well what we get is a game that still plays like a Devil May Cry game in my opinion. If you’ve never played Devil May Cry then the game can best be described as a third-person action game with enormous amounts of hack 'n slash elements. Throw in some 'lite' adventure elements such as finding items in the game and upgrading your moves lists. Then add some spooky, creepy and gruesome visuals similar to a Resident Evil game. Finally make sure you have a cocky, conceeded hero who can perform some of the most over-the-top moves. Mix all of these ingredients together and you get the Devil May Cry experience.

The same over-the-top action found in previous Devil May Cry (DMC) games return in DMC4. While some of the controls may have changed from previous DMC games, for many PC gamers DMC4 will probably be their first experience with series. Make sure you have the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows since the game was designed to be played with the 360 controller in mind. The game is immediately playable with the 360 controller with no remapping of buttons to worry about. All of my playing time with DMC4 was with the 360 controller. There is a keyboard layout option you can use but honestly I couldn’t imagine playing the game using the keyboard. Now that might be my console side of me coming out but the game feels just like a natural fit using the 360 controller. Now, that isn’t to say that the controls are worry free because there are some small issues.

While the overall experience is smooth with the controller the game still plays more like a button-mashing fest instead of a fine-tuned experience. Close range attacks with your sword are performed with the Y button. Long Range attacks are performed with the X button. The B button performs Devil Bringer moves, which reach out to grab nearby opponents. The Devil Bringer moves are the new moves in DMC4 since they are exclusive to Nero. For me the game loses focus when you start trying to pull off the combo moves you purchase during the game.

The combos felt very hit or miss to me, sometimes they worked but most of the times they didn’t. Even when they did work the game never seemed to change depending on the combos. Sure, you might have saved a few seconds in completion time but the enemies could still be defeated just bashing away on the controller. Performing special moves in the game were even more of a challenge since you have to hold down the right or left shoulder button. As you hold down one of the shoulder buttons you then need to press a certain direction and then hit a specific button to pull off special move. Once again these felt very imprecise with no sense of accuracy or precision. In the heat of battle it felt easier to forget about the combos and just bash away since they both did the same job.

Yet even with the off-balance controls I still had a blast playing the game. The action was still intense enough to make me want to keep playing. The almost-limitless enemies in certain areas never got old since I found that even just bashing away I was still pulling off some amazing moves. The Devil Bringer controls were especially fun to use during the game. Pulling in demons with the Devil Bringer and then smashing them to the ground never got old. Or jumping up in the air to pull a demon out from the sky or blasting away with your gun and then pummeling them with your sword were always satisfying.

One issue with the game is more of a Capcom issue in my opinion: the camera angle. The game does let you change the camera angle with the right analog stick but for some areas the camera angle is locked. This usually happens when you move from screen to screen because the game is still presented with the almost static/rendered backgrounds. This has been an issue with Capcom games since the original Resident Evil and it’s still an issue today. For example, you’re pressing down on your controller to move down towards the bottom of the screen. The screen then changes but your camera angle is now reversed and you’re now walking up instead of down. This causes you to go back to the previous screen you were just at. This happens far too often in the game so just be prepared. Thankfully most of the action in the game happens far away from these sore spots.

Story wise you do get a fairly forgettable plot with some interesting moments at time. Dante plays an important role in the game so be prepared for his appearance. If you’ve played any of the Resident Evil games or other DMC games you should probably know what to expect. Hero takes out scores of demons, which leads to boss battles, which leads to next plot development. Someone is trying to bring about a master demon to take over the world or some other similar nonsense. Nothing too exciting but not griping science fiction like you can find in movies or books.

DMC4 is definitely a game that looks like a modern game with plenty of visual effects to make your jaw drop. While the gameplay doesn’t quite give you the same head rush it still gives you plenty of entertaining moments that will keep you glued to your PC. If you missed DMC4 on the Xbox 360 or PS3 then you should definitely check it out on the PC. Just make sure you have plenty of horsepower to throw at the game since this is one heck of a graphical powerhouse. Even with my Core 2 Duo processor and GeForce 7900GS my system was still having issues with the game. Some occasional slowdown and tearing would occur when I had everything turned on in the game. Manage your PC settings properly and you should be in for an amazing experience. Oh, one last item is the load times to start the game. It took at least five minutes to load the game each time I started it or even changed the graphic settings so be prepared.

Review Scoring Details for Devil May Cry 4

Gameplay: 8.4
While I felt the game is more of a mindless hack-and-slash fest I still had a good time chopping down as many demons as I could.

Graphics: 9.0
Just be prepared to be blown away with the visuals in the game. As I mentioned earlier DMC4 is an excuse to get a new graphics card just to turn on all of the visual goodies in the game.

Sound: 8.3
The voice acting in the game was done very well with some great work by most of the actors. No real moments of cringe during the majority of the game. While the background music and sounds effects fit the game well, the battle music is the standard industrial metal we’ve heard in countless other games and movies. Oh, and you’ll hear it over and over again.

Difficulty: Medium
The game includes two difficulty levels so you can either take your bumpy stroll through the park or jump out into the shark-infested waters.

Concept: 8.0
Sure, there are some new modes in the PC version but even these additions can’t really change the overall experience of the game. Legendary Dark Knight Mode fills the screen with an insane number of enemies for you to take out. Turbo mode gives you an all new level of speed to play the game at.

Overall: 8.4
Devil May Cry 4 may not be the complete overall title of the DMC franchise but for many PC owners this will be their introduction to the series. What you get is a great title with plenty of action to keep you busy and enough eye candy to melt your corneas for a while. You get to play as both Nero and Dante so you get the best of both worlds, the old and new DMC experience. There may only be a few slight differences but the overall experience is still a blast to play.

SIREN: Blood Curse (PS3)

While far from perfect, SIREN for the PS2 was a pretty frightening entry to the survival horror genre, offering up some authentically harrowing moments and chilling sense of ambience. Now, Sony is revisiting the SIREN universe with a new PS3 entry, SIREN: Blood Curse. This time around, Sony is taking a somewhat different approach, releasing the game via downloadable episode packs on PlayStation Network.

The game does a good job of taking advantage of the episodic system, dividing the experience between seven different characters experiencing the events of the first game. While the narrative works well, there are a few issues with the gameplay including some overly linear moments, a lot of handholding from the game’s mission structure, and some generally weak dialogue. Still, the game does provide some exceptionally frightening moments, and is worth a look from survival horror fans looking for something scary for their PS3.

SIREN: Blood Curse takes place during the events in the original game, only this time you’ll play as seven different characters at certain points as you investigate and try to survive in Habuta, the vanished Japanese village where sacrifices where once held. You’ll be attacked by the Shibito, who are essentially powerful zombies who stalk your character and can kill you quite easily should you be without a powerful weapon like a metal pipe or a gun.

One important element of the gameplay is sightjacking. Sightjacking allows you to see what other characters see through a split-screen mode, allowing you to get a better view of certain areas or determine what their path is. The addition of split-screen to the sightjacking system is a nice touch, letting you still play the game normally while seeing through someone else’s eyes.

Unfortunately, the game is not without some flaws. The campaign is extremely linear, requiring you to follow the game’s specific instructions to the note, to the point of forcing you to go back and repeat sections in order to elicit the given outcome. The game doesn’t exactly foster exploration, meaning that there are very few ways to approach each the game’s situations. This linear structure will turn off some gamers, who prefer to drum out their own solutions to problems.

Another thing that is a bit lackluster in the game is the overall story. While the game does a fine job of setting up ambiance and creating a terrifying atmosphere, the actual story and dialogue is pretty cheesy and doesn’t really do much to pull you into the game.

In order to fully appreciate SIREN: Blood Curse, you’ll definitely have to download the full package, which gives you all twelve episodes for $39.99. The game is also available in a la carte form, letting you download four-packs of episodes for $14.99 each. The episodes vary in length, clocking in at between 30 minutes to an hour each, and the whole experience should take between 10-12 hours to complete.

However, the main caveat with downloading the whole game is the space it consumes on your hard drive. Each episode weighs in between 600MB and a gig, and the whole thing will eat up about 9 gigs of space. This can be a problem for gamers with smaller PS3 hard drives, especially with the increasing number of disc-based games that require hard drive installs like Devil May Cry 4 or Metal Gear Solid 4.

Graphically, SIREN: Blood Curse looks pretty good in some ways, but leaves something to be desired in others. The playable character models each look pretty good and are well animated, and the special film grain effects give the game a creepy quality. The lighting on the other hand is a bit too dark, and while it was surely an artistic decision, it can be pretty frustrating when trying to navigate your way through the game. Also, the Shibito look a bit too simplistic, almost as though the character models were recycled from the PS2 game. The sound effects are also a bit of a mixed bag. While the sound and music are generally very atmospheric, the voice work leaves a bit to be desired, as do the aforementioned dialogue and script.

While not without some problems, SIREN: Blood Curse still succeeds in being a fun and compelling survival horror game with an excellent sense of atmosphere and some truly terrifying moments.

Review Scoring Details for SIREN: Blood Curse

Gameplay: 7.5
Although the gameplay is extremely linear and doesn’t leave any room for exploration, there are still some very chilling moments throughout.

Graphics: 8.0
The main character models look pretty good and the special effects are impressive for a downloadable title, but the whole affair looks a bit too dark.

Sound: 8.0
The sound effects and music are both very well done and atmospheric, but the voice acting and dialog are both a little corny.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
The story is a bit underwhelming, but the game’s sense of ambiance is great.

Overall: 8.0
SIREN: Blood Curse has a few problems with the gameplay, but is generally better than its predecessor and is a pretty chilling experience.

We Love Golf Review (WII)

When the Wii’s motion technology was unveiled two years ago, the first thought in everyone’s mind was simple: a lightsaber game! Well, after that, it was golf. For one thing, in Wii Sports the golf game was one of the most fun to play – and anyone could play it. Now we’re counting in at nearly two years since Wii Sports and we’ve yet to see a good golf simulator on the Wii. While We Love Golf! isn’t exactly what we’ve been waiting for, it’s good enough to satisfy those hankering for a Wii golf game.

The developers of We Love Golf! had a few games to look at as examples on how to make the motion control work. The Super Swing Golf franchise, while fully fleshed out with modes galore, didn’t really utilize motion sensing very well – in fact, it was nearly broken. And the annual Tiger Woods franchise couldn’t figure the swing mechanics out either. While Wii Sports golf didn’t actually detect left to right spin, it did have solid swing controls that made for a satisfying replacement of button presses. So how does We Love Golf! fare on the fairways?

The controls sadly aren’t 1:1, like everyone is hoping for. And while the motion tracking doesn’t go the simulation route, it still manages to “feel” like you’re playing golf. To hit the ball, players drop their Wii Mote cursor off the screen (activating the shot mode) and either hold the B button for a practice swing, or the A button for the real thing. Actually, one of the best mechanics of this game is the ability to switch from shot mode to aiming mode just by pointing at the screen – it’s controlled just by the Wii Mote and it’s smooth and feels great. If you’re ready for the shot, by holding A, players then make a slow and steady swing that follows the rhythm of an onscreen “club” on your shot meter. While you don’t have to crane your neck to see this club, it is something you’ll have to get a feel for. Audio cues will prompt a down swing.

Sadly, the power or plane of your swing really has no affect on your shot. The only thing that matters is where your club is on the meter (thus measuring your power) and the rhythm of your shot. To hit a draw or a fade, players adjust their club head by twisting the Wii Mote before the shot, and hold the position through the swing. Again, it’s not the same as twisting the club head in your downswing or changing your swing path – but it works. We Love Golf! does not offer the 1:1 golfing simulation we are all hoping for, but the swing mechanic works generally without a hitch and it feels good. The only times I had problems was with short putts – the game had trouble reading my swing. I also don’t like having to crane my neck up to the meter when putting, since it’s almost impossible to “feel” how far back you’re going on the meter. If you’re a real golfer, this game will actually teach you to slow down and smooth out your swing (it helped my game). A true golfing simulation probably won’t arrive on the Wii until better technology arrives, via Nintendo’s Motion Plus add on.

What We Love Golf! really nails down the fairway is replay value. This game has tons of modes and things to do and unlock. On top of driving range mini-games and tournaments, the game offers fully fleshed out online play, complete with leaderboards and the ability to play random people (without pesky friend codes). Players can even unlock Zack and Wiki and Street Fighter masks for their characters and use their Mii’s to play too.

While I don’t really care for the art design (Camelot is the same developer who made Hot Shots golf), the graphics aren’t bad. The music goes from passable to laughable at times (the tense putting music is enough to make someone throw a club), but again, it does its job. This game is an acceptable golfing title for the Wii that most families will probably love. The multiplayer options really are perfect for parties and get-togethers. For the hardcore, you’re going to be disappointed in the swing mechanics.

Review Scoring Details Final Fantasy IV

Gameplay: 7.5
Camelot has compromised on the unreachable 1:1 swing mechanics. While what they’ve implemented instead works as a solid replacement, it will surely disappoint the hardcore.

Graphics: 6.0
The art style is extremely generic, but the bright color scheme and Japanese cartoon aesthetic will please this game’s intended audience.

Sound: 6.0
The music goes from appropriate to nerve wracking. The “putting concentration” theme is downright horrible.

Difficulty: Easy
Players will quickly understand the controls and start to birdie holes with no problem. The game can get difficult in later tournament rounds.

Concept: 6.0
This game is pretty much a reskinned version of Camelots other golfing title, Hot Shots Golf.

Multiplayer: 9.0
With a variety of multiplayer modes and Wi-Fi play, We Love Golf! is almost like a real life golf foursome.

Overall: 7.5
While the swing mechanics might not appeal to everyone, the many game modes and online play trumps previous Wii golf outings.

Soulcalibur IV

Ever since it debuted in arcades a decade ago, the original SoulCalibur has been widely revered as one of the greatest fighting games of all time. Now, NAMCO Bandai is releasing the fourth entry to the beloved fighting franchise (fifth if you count Soul Blade), SoulCalibur IV on next-gen systems. While the gameplay isn’t far removed from the previous entries in the series, SoulCalibur IV does add some great new elements, like a more fleshed out Character Creation mode and online play. Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues with the game, namely a short and lackluster story mode and a few elements that aren’t as fleshed out as they could be. This is not likely to deter most fighting fans, however, as the basic mechanics and stellar fighting that has garnered the series millions of fans are still here, making it worth a look for hardcore fighting game fans.

SoulCalibur IV features a huge roster, with 30+ characters both new and series regulars. You’ll be able to play as a good chunk of familiar favorites from SoulCaliburs past, as well as various newcomers. The most highly publicized new additions to the character lineup are Darth Vader and The Apprentice from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game. Although The Apprentice is a bit of a cheap character, Vader feels quite balanced with the rest of the characters in the game. Additionally, the robust character creation mode from SoulCalibur III makes a return, with a few added features to make the specific character you want.

SoulCalibur IV adds some pretty big changes to the overall formula. New to this entry are armor upgrades, which will allow for some RPG-like customization for the game’s characters. While you can use the armor to beef up your created character’s stats, you can also add special skills and new weapons to improve characters within the game’s roster (unfortunately you cannot make very many aesthetic changes to Darth Vader or The Apprentice aside from a few stat boosting items). These give you a variety of added boosts, like faster charges and nullifications (like Ring Out), and allow you to foster your character to your given play style.

Still, while the classic gameplay that made the series so great is largely unchanged, there are a few problems overall. The story mode is very underdeveloped, giving you some text to read and then a series of battles, with very little difference between it and the standard Arcade mode. While there is also a “Tower of Lost Souls” mode that has you fighting a series of endurance battles in order to unlock special items in the character creation mode, even this feels a bit shallow and empty compared to single-player modes in previous SoulCalibur games.

Also, there are some balancing issues when it comes to special equipment. There are ways to unlock or create special armor combos that will enable you to effectively dominate with very little or no issue. This not only kills the game’s challenge after a point, but sullies the fun a bit.

Online play in SoulCalibur IV is very solid, making for extremely smooth multiplayer matches with very little lag. Unfortunately, as of this review, the servers are bit inundated with players, and it can be a pretty trying experience to find a match, but once you do, the results are a blast.

Graphically, the game looks great. The animations are better than ever, and the attention to detail on the breakable armor looks fantastic. The game moves very smoothly, clocking in at 60 frames per second with no noticeable slowdown at all.

Soundwise, SoulCalibur IV has the expected epic soundtrack (including Duel of the Fates of Star Wars fame) and some decent, but not great, voice acting. Luckily, if the English voice work isn’t to your fancy, the game allows you to switch to Japanese VO, as in previous entries to the franchise.

SoulCalibur IV has a few problems, but what the game does right, it does fantastically. The action is the same fast and furious SoulCalibur gameplay that we’ve all come to love, and the addition of online play is necessary and solidly implemented. Online fighting fans shouldn’t be disappointed.

Review Scoring Details for SoulCalibur IV

Gameplay: 8.0
Fast-paced and easily accessible, SoulCalibur IV has a solid fighting engine that appeals to hardcore fans without alienating newcomers. However, the single-player elements leave something to be desired and feel shallow compared to previous entries in the series.

Graphics: 9.5
Gorgeous character models and luscious environments coupled with smooth framerates make this a fantastic looking game.

Sound: 8.5
The soundtrack is up to par with previous SC games, but the English voice acting could use a little work.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
The new single-player modes are shallow and a bit disappointing, and the storylines in the story mode are nothing to get excited about.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Matches run smoothly with very little lag.

Overall: 8.5
SoulCalibur IV doesn’t stir up the pot too much, offering mostly the same gameplay as previous entries. Fortunately, the franchise has it down to a science, and the addition of online play further sweetens the deal.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

News

Activision Unveils Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 Today
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is now available for download on Xbox LIVE Arcade for the 360

Xbox LIVE Arcade Celebrates the "Summer of Arcade"
"Summer of Arcade" lineup features five incredible games launching over five scorching weeks; beat the heat and play for a chance to win prizes including 100,000 Microsoft Points, an Xbox 360 Elite console and more

Xbox 360 Unveils Gameplay for Every Passion
Microsoft showcases groundbreaking approach to game shows; "Final Fantasy XIII" to be available on Xbox 360 at launch in North America and Europe.

Activision and Microsoft Announce Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 for Xbox LIVE Arcade
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, the sequel to the smash hit, takes players on an all new adrenaline ride through six different action-packed gameplay modes.

Description

Experience an unbelievable adrenaline rush from playing the latest version of the frenetic retro shooter Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2! Newcomers and pros alike will be blown away by the screen-melting intensity and insane new features, including six action-packed gameplay modes, new enemies, new scoring strategies and a diverse list of exciting achievements! If that’s not crazy enough for you, try multiplayer mayhem for up to four players! Use power-ups in versus mode to boost your stats or handicap your opponent. Or team up with others in co-op mode. Play it all in razor-sharp 1080p to new pulse-pounding music!

Features

• 6 Different Action-Packed Modes: Deadline. Evolved. King. Pacifism. Waves. Sequence. Unlock all 6 of these innovative and challenging modes
• Multiplayer Mayhem: Step up the intensity with four-player multiplayer! Versus, team and co-op modes offer different types of challenges and strategies. Pick your ship and pwn the grid!
• Achievements: 12 entertaining and inventive ways to boost your gamer score.
• Geoms: Collect Geoms to increase your multiplier – but you better be fast because they won’t last forever!
• Additional Enemies: Shoot down all the usual suspects, then say, “Hello” to new enemies that have found additional ways to hunt you down.

Notes

Microsoft Points: 800

Shining Stars: Super Starcade Review

Kiddie games aren’t usually thought of as being robust. Kids certainly wouldn’t use that word to describe their favorite virtual plaything. But that word is somewhat fitting to Shining Stars: Super Starcade, a kid-targeted mini-game collection for Nintendo DS. It looks like a Build-a-Bear knock-off (or Care Bears, if you’re old enough to remember them), is based on some doll license I’ve never heard of, and could be written off as another one of “those” games. But while it features all the flaws you’d expect (it’s a knock-off of other products, the mini-games are super repetitive, etc.), Shining Stars is slightly better than the average mini-game menagerie.

Duck Shoot

Collections, Collections

Shining Stars features a carnival setting where players can buy new attractions (mini-games) and place them in their blank carnival space. Attractions are purchased with credits, which are earned by playing each mini-game. Let’s dissect those attractions individually:

Balloons: Dogs love popping balloons. Kids love holding them until they slip through their fingers and fly several feet into the air. But if you’d like to pop them, Balloons will give you the chance to do so with your stylus – and in more challenging ways than you’d ever anticipate. As the balloons soar through the air, the view is constantly moving down, as if you were skydiving. When clouds cover a balloon, it can’t be popped. This makes the game a bit more exciting than a typical DS balloon popper (believe it or not there have been others) since you now have an obstacle to work around.

Water Fight: Using your in-game character (chosen from a list of various cartoon animals) to grab and throw water balloons, Water Fight is a virtual version of the classic summer activity.

Springboard: When a guy can’t stop jumping on a trampoline, it’s your job to draw lines underneath him, forming new springboards that will boost him high into the air and on top of the goal platform.

Star Race: While controlling a spaceship in this side-scrolling race, touch the right side of the screen to accelerate and drag the stylus to steer. Double tap the screen to use a temporary, auto-rejuvenating speed boost.

Hidden Stars: Scratch the screen to unearth stars hidden in the sand. Tornados fly by and kick up sand, covering the stars, requiring extra seconds of scratching before they’re fully unearthed.

Duck Shoot: Shoot the ducks as they scroll by. Like the balloon-popping game but easier.

Matching Stars: Remember the card game Memory? A Mario-themed version appeared in Mario 3. A toy-based version (cards with balls, keys, plastic cars, etc.) appears here as well.

Air Hockey

Air Hockey: Exactly what you’d expect. Amusing, but the fun is limited to any amount you’d expect to have with a virtual air hockey table. You can’t push the paddle past the middle line – that’s fair, but you can’t push it up to the middle line either, restricting player movement.

Bumper Cars: A top-down skirmish between pint-sized bumper cars. Ram yours into your opponent using the stylus.

Match the Dots: Just like the connect-the-dots books you had as a kid, only here there’s a time limit and the dots disappear.

Drawing Stars: The same as Match the Dots but without the disappearing dots.

Donut Dash: Try to decorate a donut with the same delicious toppings as the one shown on screen. Unfortunately, the ingredient icons are unclear and are without a text description, making it impossible to make the right donut without several minutes of trial and error (and memorization).

Feed the Clown: In a word – huh!? This catapult-launching game challenges you to throw balls in the mouth of a mechanical clown. But it doesn’t work very well. After numerous attempts, it had to be assumed that the clown just wasn’t hungry. No matter what, he wouldn’t take the balls.

The Stars Say: It’s Simon Says…with stars.

Constellation: Match the Dots pictures are used, but instead of matching the dots, you drag colored stars to various points on the picture. Not too exciting, but it beats the Simon Says game.

Mega Mall: This mini-game – presumably the last – is unlocked with 100,000 credits. If you can get to that point, you’re either a kid with incredible endurance or a parent trying to unlock it for your kid. Because the average mini-game awards a minimum of 300 credits and a maximum just under 800, it’ll take what feels like a lifetime to unlock this game. And if you want to unlock the other mini-games first, your earnings will be spent on those instead, delaying the acquisition of this “mega” mall. Is it worth it? I couldn’t tell you – I’m not a kid or a parent.

Springboard

The wide variety of mini-game types doesn’t make up for each game’s individual flaws. But if you’ve got a young kid to buy for (someone aged 4 to 7; certainly no kid older than that), there are worse ways to spend $20.

Review Scoring Details for Shining Stars: Super Starcade

Gameplay: 6.0
One of the better – but far from groundbreaking or long-lasting – mini-game collections made specifically for kids. The mini-game variety and decent execution, most notably with the Balloon game, are where Shining Stars succeeds. But the repetitive nature of each mini-game and the fact that each one is a knock-off of something else is where it fails.

Graphics: 4.0
Bright, Web-based graphics that work well for the game but don’t utilize the hardware at hand.

Sound: 2.0
Horrifying. So repetitive and annoying, it’s scary!

Difficulty: Easy
This is nothing like the arcades I remember. I guess that’s why they call it a Starcade. Every game is easy – no tokens required.

Concept: 3.0
Recent reports indicate that the government will allow cloned meat to be sold in the United States. But the game industry is way ahead of them – they’ve been cloning each other’s products for over two decades.

Multiplayer: 5.5
You can’t go wrong with single-card play. But this isn’t the best game to take advantage of that feature.

Overall: 6.0
Four words: for young kids only. They’ll like the mini-games, appreciate the variety, and should enjoy the bright colors and cutesy characters. But if you have to question it – if you think that your kid may be too old for this game – he or she most certainly is.

Ant Commandos Widow Maker Bass Review

The Ant Commandos have certainly found a niche when it comes to designing great peripherals for games such at Rock Band and Guitar Hero. First, GZ got their hands on the Double Range guitar, which effortlessly bridged the instrument gap between not only RB and GH, but also took up and conquered the challenge of a wireless peripheral controller for the PS2.

TAC is back with the Widow Maker Bass, a guitar that is supposed to be used to strum out those bass riffs, but, in a pinch, you can use it as a lead guitar.

Here is the feature list from the Widow Maker Bass product page:

• PowerThief Power Saving Mode - Automatically powers the controller off when the unit senses inactivity to squeeze every last drop of power out of battery packs!

• AutoSense 2.4GHz Wireless - Unlike infrared systems on other controllers that require a direct line of sight to the console, it automatically detects available single or multi-user RF channels to provide a 30 foot radius of 2.4GHz wireless connectivity!

• 360 FLY Function - Special design for flashy acrobatic visual effects made famous by ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and others.

• Xtended Fret Button Array - A second set of FeatherTouch fret buttons high on the neck.

• Low Battery Indicator - When the battery is low, the Red light will blink.

• Patented Button Cluster - Specially designed button cluster features a recessed Start button that prevents players from accidentally pausing the game in the middle of blistering jams!

• Super Whammy System - Finely tuned with a high density precision coil spring assembly, it provides reliable operation for many years of extreme abuse from rock ‘n’ roll animals!

• ComfortNeck - Exciting new neck dimensions and a specially designed contoured edge provides a more comfortable grip on the neck.

• TickleTilt Sensor - The smart TickleTilt Sensor incorporates two separate sensitive sensors so players can activate Star Power by lightly tilting the controller

• Whammy-wah food Pedal Connection - Expansion port for future connection to Whammy-Wah foot pedal for Star Power and whammy.

• PlayStation 3 D-Pad & Home Button Support - Designed and built-in for your navigational convenient when not playing the game.

There was a few problems getting this guitar to synch up with the Rock Band game as a bass, but after jumping through a few hoops, it finally recognized the second guitar in the game. That aside, though, the performance of this guitar is very good. The controls are responsive and you can hammer away to your heart’s content and this guitar will pick it all up.

The fret buttons are spaced a little wide apart, much like the Double Range guitar, and for bigger hands that should not be a problem. And anyone who has picked up a real bass (like, say, an older Fender Precision Bass), will know that the fret set-up on a bass is spaced a little wider than most six-string guitars anyway.

The guitar looks good, is a touch heavier than what one would expect from a peripheral, and is comfortable to wear for hours at a gaming session.

This guitar is the perfect companion for the Double Range and really brings the look of a band together. As a bass guitar, or even as a main guitar, this is an easy recommend.

Review Scoring Details for Widow Maker Bass

Pros:
Wireless and responsive, this guitar has a good look and feel.

Cons:
Some connectivity hoops to jump through, but if you get it right, there is nothing ahead but bass riffs on a solid instrument.

Overall: 9.3
Too much instrument for running bass lines? Perhaps, and while the Double Range got a 9.5, this scores a little lower simply because it was more of a pain to get the game to recognize the instrument. Still, it is a great tool that makes the game more fun to play.

Ikrariam

The strategy-game genre has seen many iterations, from the slow-paced turn-based games to real-time outings. There are civilization-building titles that allow players to micro-manage resources while growing their cities. Games like Civilization can be very focused on outcome but also have a nice open-world field and some of these titles can allow for a sandbox setting.

Ikariam is one such sandbox game that has an ancient flavor coating it, but at its core, it is a micro-managing game of city expansion, alliances, light political turmoil, residents you must keep happy, and resource managing – all in a multiplayer world.

Gameforge is behind this online Java-based title that moves at a sedate pace. You have to plan ahead, much like you would in a game of chess, keeping an eye on resources. Should you start to fall short of required materials (they are wood, wine, marble, crystal glass and sulfur), if your combination of trade post and trading port allow, you can colonize another island with a village, harvest resources there and ship them to the town requiring the materials. Or you might be able to find them being sold by another player.

There are other factors that come into play and the game will allow players to attack other cities and colonies. However, more than likely, at least on the server this preview is based on, players seem more content to trade amicably and grow populations, conduct research and build up.

The game’s pacing can be measured in hours, whether you are online or not. A governor’s residence in a colony, needed to quell corruption, won’t take long to initially build, but to increase to level 2, it will take close to eight hours and a host of resource materials. However, Ikariam is the type of game that you can pop into for 10 minutes here and there, begin a research track or start a building, or even conduct trade, then log out and come back hours or a day later to see the work completed.

The game is played from an isometric view point with tabs that will key in on one of your cities, show the island, or display the world map. Proximity to other islands is key for trades as distance is measured with ‘x’ island radius. At the entry levels of your city, you get a one-island radius, but as you work up your colony, that expands.

As for the look of the game, the developers went for the ancient Greek feel, with each island boasting a Wonder. Wonders can be like a Colossus. As donations are made, the Wonder will level up and provide bonuses. In the case of the Colossus, a defensive bonus is given. There are also four areas for your colony (or colonies) to research. These will determine what is available for your city to build and how the game shapes up.

The game has many different layers that overlap and affect what you are able to do, but the nice thing about this is that it is not overly complex. In fact, my 12-year old has taken to playing the game and is enjoying herself. It is a delight to see her plan what she needs to be building next and fretting when she starts to run short of resources.

Ikariam is not a groundbreaking game, but it is a nicely paced and entertaining title. There is a subscription plan in effect; player can log into Ikariam (it is entirely Web based), register for free and play the game. There is also a Plus version of the game that asks you to ply your advisors with ambrosia (at a cost – 100 ambrosia will cost you $14.99 while 1,000 has a $79.99 price tag). Ambrosia has a time factor attached to it. For example, for a 20% boost in harvesting building materials, it will cost you five ambrosia and it lasts for seven days.

Because this is a Web-based game, the system specifications are low, and this is a great game for a laptop on the go. While gamers may not sleep, eat and breathe the game, it still provides a nice little diversion.

The SimCity Box

With all the civilization simulations on the market, it is easy to overlook the title that really started the city sim and drove it to new heights. SimCity was the type of game that was so deep it was actually used in classrooms. Well, the years have rolled along and hardcore economic, city-managing programs have given way to titles that are a bit more entertaining.

EA (and Maxis, the developer) have not left the world of SimCity behind, even though the company has taken the franchise in a bit of a new direction with SimCity Societies. The SimCity Box is a collection of five titles, all of which have been reviewed on GameZone, in one form or another. First up there is SimCity 4, the game that updated the franchise and was well received. SimCity 4 did have its own expansion with Rush Hour, a title that brought superhighways, subways and other transportation into the SimCity franchise.

But Maxis was not merely about resting on its laurels for one of the best 1-2 punches to hit the SimCity franchise. Knowing that some gamers liked a bit of a lighter experience, the company went in the direction of titles like Tropico and introduced SimCity Societies, a game that was a bit more cartoonish, and much easier on the economic front (not by much). The expansion to the latter title was Destinations, the game that made players the moguls of destination resort towns. The challenge was to balance a thriving local economy with a tourist trap. Then there was a total of 180 in terms of direction with The Sims Carnival: SnapCity, an arcade-esque title that was more about puzzles than The SimCity franchise.

Why bring up all these titles? Because they are bound together, albeit on separate disks, in the compilation that is The SimCity Box. The first four titles mentioned are all about testing your prowess as a city planner. The latter is the weakest in the set and has no real reason for being in this collection other than a radical change of pace.

Granted SimCity 4 was released in 2003, and as such is the granddaddy of this compilation, but you are much better served from a creative and brain-burning standpoint with working on it than playing SnapCity. SimCity 4 does feel a bit dated, but the gameplay is still a strong element and with Rush Hour, you have a deeper experience than with Societies and its expansion offers.

Because all of these titles have been reviewed, rather than try a catch-all here, it would be easier to see what each title brought to the gaming market. It is better to actually talk about this as a compilation, and in that regard (regardless of personal opinions about SnapCity) this is a strong box set to have. It truly does have a bit of something for everyone.

This is a very good value and it is nice to see the titles bundled so well. This is a solid recommendation for anyone who lacks either SimCity 4 or Societies and would like to give the job of being a mayor a try.

Review Scoring Details for The SimCity Box

Gameplay: 8.0
With the exception of SnapCity, this bundle offers deep gameplay that will require some thought.

Graphics: 7.0
A mixed back, but generally – depending on the title – they get the job done.

Sound: 7.0
Another mixed bag, but while only a supporting cast, they get the job done.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.2
A very nice idea putting all these titles in one box. Nothing new is really added, but the core idea is sound.

Overall: 8.0
A great value for anyone who has one or less of these titles and who would like to have a compilation that offers some diversity of gameplay.