Is Heavy Rain a video game? Is it interactive drama? Is it both? Maybe a better question to all three questions is: is it good? Tigresa (Stephanie) and Snarkasaur (Dave) aim to find out with a little deliberation. We may disagree about nudity a bit, but I think we come to a common consensus on Heavy Rain as a whole in the end. Heavy Rain is a difficult game to both review or discuss without getting knee-deep in spoiler territory, but we have taken on that very challenge.

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Everyone knows the old saying – “Two heads are better than one.”  For the most part, it’s true.  Get more people thinking about something, and everyone benefits – you get more and different opinions that might help you shape the way you think about… well, anything.  It’s with this mindset that we go into our Two Brains review, where Molotov Cupcake and Snarkasaur have had a meeting of the minds to discuss Dante’s Inferno for the both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
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If you’ve played Unsolved Crimes for DS, then Crime Scene will instantly feel familiar. So familiar, in fact, that at first I thought they were developed by the same team. Basically, you play as a rookie investigator and must use your evidence collecting and analytical skills to help solve various cases from murders to terrorist attacks.

The gameplay is a point-and-click at heart, but the spin here is a huge focus on evidence-based mini games, for lack of a better term. In other words, you must dust for fingerprints, swab for blood and compare ballistics information to identify what gun shot which bullet, and so on. Although some of these games can be a little silly (you use a laser to destroy unwanted cells in your microscope, for example), overall the entire process is engaging and fun. That is, when the controls work.

And as Hamlet says, “Aye, there’s the rub,” The first major problem Crime Scene has is the fact that there really isn’t a tutorial level to get you used to the controls. For example, the menu system isn’t completely intuitive, and you may find yourself fumbling a bit. But that could be forgiven. The real issue is that you aren’t given any chance to practice with the various evidence collection mini games before you’re thrust into the real world, so to speak. You’re shoved into the deep end and you have to figure things out as you go along. This would be fine, except for the fact that you are penalized very severely every time you get something wrong. This is made worse by the fact that the only instructions you’re given for the various steps of say, taking a blood swab, are given during the timed interval when you’re supposed to be doing those steps. Meaning 1) you can’t possibly read all the instructions in the given time and 2) you will “fail” because you’re spending time trying to see what you have to do in order to succeed. Add to the fact that the controls aren’t as responsive as they could be and you may find yourself with a Game Over before you’ve even begun (I know I did). Certainly, this is not the most encouraging way to introduce the player to the game.

Once you’ve managed to figure out what you need to do, you would think that things would move more smoothly. Sadly, this isn’t true. Try as you may, the game won’t always read your stylus gestures correctly, so you will often find yourself failing the swab test, for example, because you “aren’t swabbing in the right area” even when you’ve been rubbing your stylus right over the blood spot. Each time you make a mistake, you lose credibility (a blue thermometer-like meter). When it drops all the way, your game is over, and you have to start over from your last save. Thankfully, the game does auto save at key points, but you still want to make sure you save often, otherwise you’ll have to re-do a lot of (what then becomes) tedious data collection and analysis, not to mention tons of dialogue to weed through (there’s no “skip” option).

By far the most vicious offender is the tweezers, which command you to follow a certain path with your stylus a certain number of times in order successfully pick up the item. The problem is, these gestures are only recognized about 10% of the time, and if the game thinks you’ve picked up your stylus, you drop the tweezers and have to start again. Add to the fact that you might have to repeat the same pattern 9 or 10 times before the meter expires, and you’ll often find yourself ready to throw your DS across the room and give up. No, I’ve decided the scalpel is actually worse since whenever you try to use it to cut something, following the prompt, it either tells you the area can’t be cut or for some reason takes the scalpel away from you and you have to start over in a never ending cycle.

Magnifying the problem is the control design: rather than sticking to a primarily stylus-only control system, you have to use the L and/or R buttons while using your stylus to perform various maneuvers. In principle, this seems fine, but in practice, it’s awful. It’s very uncomfortable to hold the DS that way, especially for long-stretches and for extended periods. I know my hands were really hurting after only the first case.

When everything is working smoothly, however, the game is enjoyable. It’s an interesting take on the genre, especially since the mini-games don’t feel tacked on the way they did in Unsolved Crimes, and it’s exciting to see the pieces of the puzzle reveal themselves. You really do feel like you’re the one solving the case, instead of being lead through it step by step the way you are in many other games of this nature. I also like that you will occasionally find dead ends such as clues that you can’t identify in the database, or clues that end up being a false lead, which force you to rethink the situation. You’ll also often have to revisit the scenes to look at things in a new light and discover new clues that may help crack the case. I also liked that you must build your case in order to apply for a warrant by selecting the best evidence to include in your file. This was just another way the game made you feel like you were really the one solving this case rather than just hanging along for the ride.

Crime Scene does have other flaws, but these seem minor in comparison to the huge control issue. For example, the translation isn’t always the best (I believe this was a Spanish-language game originally), and sometimes you might struggle to figure out how the game wants you to respond. Also, you aren’t able to fully explore the scenes the way you can in other games of this genre, and you can only zoom in to look at something more closely when the game allows you to. Still, these are negligible and don’t harm the gameplay in the same way that the unforgiving controls do.

The pattern of the gameplay is basically as such: you’ll be briefed on a case, comb the scenes, collect evidence, analyze the evidence, and then build your case. You’ll often have to revisit the scene and may get new suspects to interview, but that is generally the way the game goes. Your evidence collection tools are basically a swab for blood and other fluids, a duster and tape for fingerprints and footprints, a scalpel, as well as a reagent spray and UV light to discover hidden blood and fluids, plus tweezers to collect small evidence or bullets. Back at the station, you analyze this info using a scanner, camera, microscope and computer database. So you may scan in the fingerprint you collected at the scene and then compare it to the various fingerprints in the system to try and find a match. Many of the tests do mimic real life evidence analysis and this is where the game is truly in its element, especially since the analysis tools work much better than the collection ones do, control-wise.

The sad thing about Crime Scene is it may have earned as high as a 7/10 if the controls weren’t so brutally unforgiving. I honestly don’t know how the game got past testing, as broken as the controls can be most times. And the reality is the fix could have been as simple as removing the “fail” state from the data collection process and making it so you only lose credibility for misinterpreting the evidence. As it is, however, I can’t recommend this game, because the controls really do break it. You will undoubtedly find sections that you cannot get past because the game will not read your tweezer’s movements, or unfairly think you’re rubbing the swab in the wrong area. Save yourself the aggravation and look elsewhere for your CSI needs.

Doin It RIGHT: - CSI aspect is different and can be great fun when controls are working well. - The game makes you feel like you’re truly the one in control of the investigation.	Doin It RONG: - Penalties for failing (often due to poor controls) are severe, even in your first case. - Frustrating controls make the game unplayable too much of the time.
FINAL SCORE: 4 / 10

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Ragnarok DS is what you could consider the portable version of the MMO Ragnarok Online, of which, I can confess I am not very familiar with.  However, I think that may be one of the reasons this baby brother was released for the DS: to introduce potential new players into the Ragnarok universe.

The game is basically a dungeon-crawling action RPG, and follows the story of Ales, a young man whose dream is to be an adventurer and eventually start his own guild.  He immediately finds an amnesiac young girl named Sierra, who he agrees to bring along with him on his adventures.  Naturally, as the story progresses, more people join his party in the constant search for adventure: pretty typical RPG-faire here.

Although some buttons are mapped (i.e. You can use the D-pad to move your character and the face buttons to pull up menus), you’ll find yourself using the stylus almost exclusively, since the button integration isn’t complete.  For example, you can’t press a button to continue in dialogue or go back in a menu, which can be a bit annoying.  So expect a very Zelda DS experience here, control-wise.

Dragging your stylus will move your character around, and tapping on a monster will initiate his attack.  Unless you change the settings, your character will keep attacking that enemy until it’s defeated.  You also have access to a shortcut bar at the top of the touch screen, where you can set frequently used skills and items for easy access.  To use a skill, you must click on it and then perform the action indicated on the top screen, like drawing a swift line through an enemy or a circle through a group of them.  You also have limited control of your party members.  You can set their tactics, such as telling them to act freely, or commanding them to heal, and you can click on their picture in the taskbar to direct them to attack a particular enemy.  However, you can’t directly tell them what skills or spells to use, which is a little frustrating at times.

Exploration is interesting.  Towns remind me a bit of Suikoden Tierkreis in which you are presented with a menu (shops, save, etc.), but when you pick an option (i.e. Tavern), you can walk around and interact with people in that location.  Towns are the only place you can make a permanent save (with two save slots available), although you can make a temporary save any time.  The biggest gripe I had with this system is with no quick travel (more on that later), you may find your quests dragging out for long periods of time, and if you choose to do a temporary save (so you don’t risk losing all your progress), the game will automatically return you to the title screen instead of asking if you want to continue.  It’s not a big deal, but it is irksome.

The game does have an interesting dual-leveling system.  You have your base level, or what you would be most familiar with in every RPG, and then you have your “job level.”  Each time your base level goes up, you’re given points you can use to improve your character’s attributes, such as dexterity, luck, intelligence, etc.  The higher that attribute is the more points it will take to increase it, giving a bit of strategy in how you distribute your points.  When your job level goes up, you’re given skill points to spend on learning and improving skills based on what job you are.

Everyone starts the game as a novice job class with two basic skills, but once your job level reaches 10, you can go to the job guild and apply for a more advanced job, such as a swordsman.  Each job has its own equipment and skills, and whenever you change jobs you must “start over”: all your equipment is removed (but not lost), and your job level goes back to zero.  You also must start from scratch with your new skills.  As you level up, you can also try for an even higher level job (such as a knight), which has its own requirements and skills, but which will enable you to use equipment you otherwise could not.  In some ways, this is the most interesting aspect of the game, as there are even higher “secret” jobs you can acquire if your character becomes powerful enough.

Although there is a story and plenty of (very. slow. moving.) dialogue, the heart of the game is fetch quest dungeon crawling.  Generally, you are told to find some random object, you go on your trek, fight your way through to the very end of a dungeon, kill the boss monster, collect the item, and then trudge all the way back.  That’s right. There’s no quick travel, even after you complete a dungeon.  It’s a little ironic, considering you use warp gates (instead of doors) for everything, yet you can’t just warp to places (i.e. from a town) that you’ve already visited.  It also means you will have to go through the dungeon to the exit every time, plus passing through all the forest or whatnot you had to travel through to get there in the first place.  Even though dungeons aren’t very big (no more than a few floors or sections), this gets old pretty fast, as it is completely unnecessary. This is made worse by the fact that there is usually only one laborious path from point A to point B, which would be fine one or two times, but certainly not more than that. Add to the fact that you must find the map for the area whenever you enter a new locale (think the original Zelda dungeons), and it all can get old pretty fast. Later in the game, you’re able to purchase some items that give you limited quick travel abilities, but the fact that this is done so late and doesn’t solve all the repetition is still disappointing.

Don’t get me wrong, Ragnarok can be fun at times, but overall, I found the frustration usually outweighed any levity.  For example, you can only take on one tavern quest at a time, and I found it could take many hours of battling the same monsters before you ever got them to drop what you needed for your quest.  Also, quests are only partially recorded in your menu.  Let me explain… Only the main quests and tavern quests will be listed, but often details won’t be, and some sub-quests of the main quests will not be included at all.  This often means you have to trek back to whomever it was that gave you the quest to find out the details (i.e., what items did they want you to collect for them again?), which is completely poor design.

Muliplayer. For a game that’s based off of an MMO, you would expect the multiplayer experience to be a high priority to be developed well, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.  For instance, you can’t jump into multiplayer directly from the main menu the way you can in most DS RPGs that offer it.  Instead, you have to travel the long distance through the game world until you get to the Mirage Tower, a tower filled with various floors and enemies that you can tackle as either a single player or with others in multiplayer.  The game never tells you this at any point.  It isn’t mentioned in the otherwise very thorough manual, either.  So it’s very possible someone could play through the game and never even realize that multiplayer exists, or at least never figure out how to access it.  This is the first flaw.  The second is that you can only play with others in this tower.  That’s it.  You would expect that you could have friends join you once you finish the main story to help you fulfill the thousands of side quests available (which make up most of the gameplay), but you’d be wrong.  Although I dabbled in the multiplayer for the sake of this review, I think in general you would find the tower more fulfilling as a single player experience.

Basically, once you arrive at the tower you have the option to make a save and customize your character’s look along with a few messages you can trigger with the face buttons.  Then you can enter the tower as either a single player, or choose multiplayer.  The game will then ask if you want to do this locally or over WiFi, and if you choose WiFi, then you have the option of entering (or choosing, if you already registered them) your friends.  Otherwise, it will randomly search for “Allys” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled in the game) to join you.  You have no customization in this at all, which is a little disappointing, as you could very easily end up with a rather unbalanced party.

The first few times I tried to get matched up, my allies decided to jump right into the very top of the tower, as they were obviously more experienced than me.  Luckily for me (or my character, perhaps), my connection got broken almost immediately as we arrived in the tower, and I was sent back to the matchmaking screen.  When I finally was able to enter the tower (on floor 1), I had only one other ally with me.  This was fine for these early floors, but I could see this system being problematic for higher levels.

Basically the tower is just a series of rooms per floor that (thankfully) are pre-mapped.  You must defeat a certain number of monsters per floor to either A) make the warp appear that will take you to the next level or B) make the special monster appear that you must defeat to make that warp appear.  Just do this over and over and there you have the tower.  After you pass a certain number of floors (i.e., five), you will fight a boss monster.  Then you will go to a screen that lets you and your allies “bid” on various items, such as weapons, potions, and cards.  You can pass or bid, although I found the system a bit confusing.  After the time limit passes, you win whatever items you had the highest bid on.  Then you have the option to continue in the tower or end your session.

I would imagine that playing locally with friends might have some potential for fun, but as it stands, I feel like the multiplayer was a “tacked-on” experience and doesn’t really add much to the game as a whole.

I was hopeful that the game simply got off to a slow/poor start, but even once you successfully open your own guild, the gameplay remains basically the same: flawed, repetitive, and with a low challenge level. However, if you like dungeon-crawling action-RPGs, you may want to give this one a try anyway. It can have a very Diabolo-esque feel to it at times (you will be picking up a lot of loot, which you much decide to keep or sell to maintain your limited inventory).  The card system (which I haven’t mentioned) allows you to customize certain weapons and gear to improve their stats (think of them as the runes or gems you might have experienced in other RPGs), which does add a bit of strategy.  Once you finish the story, which is pretty short by RPG standards, about 20 hours, with only about 10 of that being actual content and the rest filler, you have hours and hours of gameplay if you choose to complete all the side quests available or take on the tower (either alone or in multiplayer). Still, there are better DS RPGs on the market, so you may be better off spending your money elsewhere.  Or, if you’re really interested, you may want to try the more robust MMO experience that Raganarok Online offers on the PC.

Doin It RIGHT: - Simple gameplay makes it fun for those new to RPGs or looking for a less-complicated affair. - Hours of questing gameplay. - Leveling and job system adds interest and depth.	Doin It RONG: - Design flaws (such as no quick travel) can make the game tedious. - Story is shallow and moves too slowly. - Multiplayer feels like it’s “tacked on” and doesn’t really add to the game.
FINAL SCORE: 5 / 10

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The word “rapture” has several connotations. Its most popular usage is to describe those who are wrapped up in a state of bliss or overwhelming ecstasy. To devout Christians, it’s the second coming of Christ. To the thriving community of gamers who eagerly devoured the critically acclaimed (and smash commercial hit) BioShock, the word’s meaning is absolutely concrete. “Rapture” is synonymous with the bizarre yet profound adventure that continues to push the bounds of what gaming can accomplish; Andrew Ryan’s obliterated utopia — the fully realized dream of one man who believed in the power of the power of the self. Rapture. The name sends chills down one’s spine.

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With the unfortunate last minute release date delay, the Return to Ostagar content had the misfortune of following in the mighty footsteps of Mass Effect 2. Had it come out with time to spare before the wicked began feasting upon their precious space cargo, it may have seen better sales. I’m sure many are more than unwilling to switch back to BioWare’s “other” RPG that players may have pillaged and ransacked several times over by now. As much as I love Mass Effect from the bottom of my heart — I was willing to pop that glorious disc in and find out if it’s worth your valuable time (and money).

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After a long day’s work of gaming (I use the term ‘work’ loosely here), there is nothing I like more than to take an hour break in between furious gaming sessions to relax with. This for me is almost always a music/rhythm game, because they’re just so easy to pop in and get down to business with. And hot damn it’s always what I want and when I want it. I had always wanted to get into the SingStar business, and as a lover of Spanish music, when I heard SingStar Latino was being made for North American PS3 gamers, I was more than ready to finally get started. (Since playing this though for review now I’ve gone out and picked up SingStar Vol. 1 and SingStar Vol. 2.)

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The difficulty with reviewing Zelda games is that very few people have never played one.  People who write for gaming websites of any type are particularly likely to have donned the green tights at some time in the past, and more than likely multiple times.  This means that to review a Zelda game is to have preconceptions about the series before one has even begun the game.  From my experience, there are generally three types of Zelda users:  the lovers, the haters, and the lovers turned haters.  Some didn’t appreciate the change to a cartoony Link.  Others can’t stand the adult Link from Twilight Princess.  A few weird malcontents can’t stand either.  Nevertheless, every voice cries out when a new Zelda game is announced, and fortunately for the fans, they usually shout the loudest.

When Spirit Tracks was shown at E3 earlier this year, it was met with many cries of derision.  “Link on a train?  Preposterous!  This is completely out of line with Zelda lore!” said obviously with a posh British accent.  And groans of “No more toon Link!”  I even read forum posts, much to my chagrin, of people musing on the future of Hyrulian technology, as though spiritual trains somehow herald the end of magic and the beginning of Industrial Hyrule.

I suppose the point of all this meandering is simply to point out that this is another Zelda game.  It follows many standards, introduces some fantastic new additions, and rings true to the series as a whole.  It has much in common with Phantom Hourglass, as it should because this is the DS line of Zelda games and the entire toon aesthetic just works on the platform, but also mixes things up in ways that will feel great to the opened minded.  Personally, I am an unabashed Zelda fan, and this review will make that quite obvious.  For me, the series can do no wrong.  But even were I not, the mere technical precision, the wide open world full of depth and humor, and a top-notch presentation that only Nintendo seems capable of delivering at times would make Spirit Tracks a year’s best, and certainly one of the best of the handheld games of 2009.

Link’s means of travel in Spirit Tracks is a Spirit Train.  The game opens with our young hero taking his engineering exam.  He travels to Castle Hyrule, resplendent with green gardens and quaint stone buildings as always, where everything proceeds to go terribly wrong, a grand evil looms its ugly head, and things happen much as players would expect.  If it happened any other way, I think fans might revolt.  The beauty of the Zelda formula is that its charm never loses its luster (to most of us).  Somewhere along the line it transformed from an eye-rolling acceptance to a nostalgic necessity.  Someone messes with Zelda, the dude in green tights gets mad, and the quest begins.

Central to the land, which is divided up into four elemental sectors, is the Spirit Tower.  Early in the game the Spirit Tower is broken up into four floating pieces and Link is required to chug-chug along to each of the world’s sectors to find ways to put it all back together.  The overworld is replete with places to explore, monsters to shoot cannonballs at, and rabbits to hunt (more on that later).  The train aspect does make exploration a slightly more linear affair, but in reality it isn’t as oddball as people might want to believe.  The rails are preset, and while at first I thought it would have been much more interesting to draw one’s own rails around the map, after some thought I realized the impracticality of this.  For one, preset rails cut down on exploration time immensely.  Link has the opportunity to discover new lines for completing side quests in the game.  These new lines often have new stations to venture to.  The rails act as arrows pointing directly where he needs to travel.  Players certainly don’t have to wander over to the new dungeon or cave, but are rewarded for doing so.  Preset rails are also necessary due to the nature of the map.  The advantage that Phantom Hourglass had in its overworld exploration was that everything was on water.  When travelling on water, one could pretty much expect nothing hidden under the waves unless there were a treasure map to go along with it.  If there were an island, Link could sail over and check it out.  He didn’t need to explore lots of unknown territory just to spot the land mass.  If Spirit Tracks had a “draw your own rail” mechanic, players would waste hours and hours traversing these rather large maps in an effort to stumble across the things they needed to find.  It would also make the bunny hunting mini-game insanely more difficult and quite simply not worth doing.

My point is, while the train tracks aspect of the game did feel limiting at times, it was really the only way to play it.  My only critique with that in mind is the warp gates, which were completely inadequate to fast travel.  There are three gates per sector on the overworld map.  Each gate leads to one of the other realms, but Link needs to drive to a gate from wherever he is in order to teleport.  Unfortunately, unless he happens to be right there, driving to a gate is generally not that much quicker than just driving to a destination.  The ability to travel from anywhere on the map, ala Phantom Hourglass, would have been loads more convenient.  I didn’t mind having to find all the gates, I’m always down for such discoveries, but making me travel to each one every time was just a chore.

Link’s quest takes him to five standard dungeons and the Spirit Tower itself which serves as a massive, multi-tiered dungeon (with no frustrating and unnecessary time limitations).  The dungeons are fantastic in a way that both innovates and adheres to tradition.  Many of them do bear the tired old puzzles from every other Zelda game (when will they stop forcing me to push blocks along icy paths?), but there are also new toys to play with that more than make up for old tricks.  The whip in particular is surprisingly fun both in combat and in puzzles, and I found myself enjoying a minigame for the first time in Zelda history as I swung my way around a mountain in a whip-race to the top.  The other new gadget is a whirlwind making fan that requires one to blow in the mic.  This can be slightly wearing after a time, particularly in the first few hours of play, but its novel at first and players aren’t required to use it for most of the game anyway.  My favorite addition to Spirit Tracks is the Spirit Flute.  In true Ocarina of Time tradition, Link is given an instrument to play, and this one takes the shape of six pipes that require players to blow into the DS.  The stylus is used to maneuver which pipe Link is presently blowing into, and it’s truly the most entertaining instrument to play in the series.  It feels like playing an electronic pan flute, if one can imagine that.  My only complaint was the scarcity with which it’s used.  Then again, maybe it was just right and any more would have wore on me.

It certainly would not be a Zelda game without epic boss fights, and several times while playing this game I remember thinking to myself, “these might be the best bosses in Zelda history.”  The boss of the fire temple in particular I found to be immensely fun, and the only one not completely fresh is the first in the game, which oddly enough was the one showcased at E3.  It’s fairly standard Zelda fare itself, but the others are a blast.

The other giant addition that Spirit Tracks introduces is Zelda’s constant companionship and assistance.  Anyone who has seen the trailer knows that Zelda loses her body.  She doesn’t lose her soul, which consequently finds Link and follows him around.  This is the Zelda I’ve always wanted.  After I played 2008’s Prince of Persia, I remember thinking how cool it would be if the Zelda series followed this formula of Link running around together with Zelda in a similar fashion to the Prince and Elika.  Somewhere across the ocean someone must have thought something similar because Spirit Tracks is very reminiscent of that mechanic.  In regular dungeons and on the overworld she is just a “spiritual” guide, talking to Link, giving him advice, et cetera.  However, when in the Spirit Tower she has the ability to jump into these giant suits of armor, who are invincible to all but rats and sand, and help Link mess some bad guys up.  She carries him across lava, assists him with puzzles, and cuts enemies to shreds.  Working in tandem with Zelda has a learning curve, but once mastered is one of the most satisfying aspects of the entire game.  One boss in particular requires a cooperation between the two nothing short of symbiotic.  The Zelda interaction as a whole is easily my favorite part of Spirit Tracks.  It makes Link’s quest less lonely, adds a whole batch of personality to an otherwise mute character, and the cut scenes between the two are hilarious and adorable.

Critics will scoff at a train-riding Link, and fans will play it regardless.  It’s often pointless to review a game like this because opinions are so likely to be formed before touching the thing.  But as a lifelong Zelda nut who both looked forward to Spirit Tracks and feared it would repeat some of the frustrating aspects of Phantom Hourglass, I found myself in love with everything about it.

Doin It RIGHT: - Link and Zelda together at last! - Fantastic dungeons and epic boss fights. - Great mixture of innovation and classic gameplay.	Doin It RONG: - Poor fast travel option. - Side quests can get a little tedious. - No Triforce.
FINAL SCORE: 9.5 / 10

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Everyone knows the old saying – “Two heads are better than one.”  For the most part, it’s true.  Get more people thinking about something, and everyone benefits – you get more and different opinions that might help you shape the way you think about… well, anything.  It’s with this mindset that we go into our Two Brains review, where Tigresa and Snarkasaur have had a meeting of the minds to discuss Left 4 Dead 2 for the both the Xbox 360 and PC.

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Those of you who have been following my reviews of the episodic adventure Tales of Monkey Island by TellTale will know I’ve had very little bad to say about the game, overall.  After playing through dozens of ho-hum point-and-clicks, many that suffer from poor writing, irritating, uncreative puzzles, and frustrating bugs, the latest romp through the Caribbean with Guybrush Threepwood has been a breath of fresh air.  But how does the momentous finale, Rise of the Pirate God, stack up against the other four episodes?  As Guybrush would probably snicker and say, “Does it sink or swim?”

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Fitness buffs have long known the benefits of using the Wii as an exercise machine via extensions such as Wii Fit, EA Active Personal Trainer, or even simple games such as WarioWare: Smooth Moves, which asks you to pose accordingly in order to be successful. As of late I’ve taken it upon myself to get in better shape, so I’ve taken advantage of the glut of options available to me in order to facilitate my own fitness program. For a while I had my eye on Ubisoft’s Just Dance, a music/rhythm game that encourages you to get up off your derriere and get into the action by dancing your little heart out. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t work too well as it was intended, but if you simply use the game as a visual guide to shaking what your mama gave you, it does provide an intensive and entertaining workout if you’re willing to throw your inhibitions — and possibly your dignity — out the door.

Just Dance asks you to slither off of the couch and into the groove with a selection of thirty tracks, including “Groove is in the Heart,” “Wannabe,” “Surfin’ Bird,” and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” This rather paltry song selection includes tunes that are guaranteed to get the blood pumping through your veins and your heart beating furiously while you work up a sweat in the comfort of your own living room. They can be a little corny, but most certainly infectious and easy to get excited about as you work your way through the game. The word “game” is applied as a rather loose term here, as most of the enjoyment you’ll find yourself having will be through following motion-captured dancers onscreen rather than scoring points.

It’s extremely simple to get into. All you need is a Wii remote and the game, or a few friends to join in on the fun if you can handle the embarrassment (if you’re not a wild child who loves to dance). Choose a song, whether you’d like to play the short version or full version, and watch the onscreen dancing silhouette. Once the song begins, a short countdown will commence, followed by visual cues that aid in helping you to figure out which dance move will be performed next. The choreography is not stilted in that it will not stop and break down individual dance moves for beginners. You either follow the prompts onscreen or you will not succeed. It’s quite punishing for those with slow reflexes, as the prompts that fly across the screen and are not exactly easy to follow. They do give a good general idea of where to hold your arms and legs, but implementing them in the middle of the song as you struggle to follow the dancer can be quite difficult.

As hard as it can be to get the dance moves down pat, at the very least there are only a couple sets of predetermined steps to memorize. They will be performed over and over in each song, so if you want to play the same song several times over, you’ll eventually be able to master it. It all works well in theory, but fails miserably in practice. Since the game works to track your movements and successes with motion-sensing via the sensor bar and Wii remote, Just Dance finds it difficult to score you correctly when you will often place the remote in different locations than the game would imagine. Different people hold the controller in the opposite hand, nearer or further away from the sensor, and various other locations that make it hard for you to “pass” a song in the traditional sense. You’ll often work up a powerful sweat but end up performing miserably on a song regardless of how well you worked it. This essentially renders the in-game scoring useless as any real indicator of your dancing prowess. Accurate scoring is a gamble, and it’s a real shame since there really is no other aspect of Just Dance that makes it a real “game” aside from the fact that friends need only shake a Wii remote to join in.

But don’t be completely put off — there’s plenty of fun to be had. If you dance your heart out and put a full amount of effort into the game, your score will be increased, as it truly rewards dancing with thought behind it. It’s a fantastic game for those who simply love to dance, want to learn some choreographed steps to some of their favorite songs, or people like me who want to get in better shape via video games. If you actually try rather than shake the Wii remote haphazardly, then you’ll start to see some results both in your waistline and in-game. The game could most certainly benefit from DLC or additional song packages, but what’s offered is a viable fitness bonanza that will get booties shakin’ and friends guffawing at how ridiculous you all look. Still, for an MSRP of $39.99, it’s hard to recommend Just Dance over Dance Dance Revolution or even fitness packages such as EA Active Personal Trainer. If you enjoy dancing, though, Just Dance would be ideal at $19.99 or less.

Doin It RIGHT:- You’ll get a great workout if you actually try. - Energetic songs. - Most songs are licensed save for a couple covers.	Doin It RONG:- Less a game than a dance choreography video. - Can be difficult to learn several dance steps. - Low replay value unless you just…really love those songs.
FINAL SCORE: 6 / 10

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A while ago, I stumbled upon a gem of a game called Puzzle Quest for the Nintendo DS. An intriguing concept, the combination of role-playing game with puzzle was immediately addicting. Not only for me, but for my Dr. Mario addict, casual gamer of a wife. Though my affections for the little portable system have since diminished, the RPG and puzzle game mashup has been purchased, and played through again, for my 360.

Earlier this year, when Square Enix announced that, in collaboration with PopCap, they would be releasing a puzzle-RPG title that would use elements from Bejeweled Twist, I knew Gyromancer would find its way onto my Xbox. PopCap plus Square Enix definitely equals “yes, please” in my book. Obviously, one cannot help but compare the game to the excellent Puzzle Quest, but how does it stack up?

Immediately, it was apparent that this title was a lot shinier than Puzzle Quest. Though it still has the cardboard illustrations for characters that are just there for illustrative purpose, the atmosphere of the game, the cleanness of the illustrations, the music, the experience was impressive.

In fact, upon boot up, I was addicted. The story was interesting, in the beginning, and the gameplay was crack. Seriously, if you haven’t played Bejeweled Twist, the puzzle backbone of Gyromancer, try out the flash version here because it is really fun. By just looking at a screenshot you might mistake Twist for the original Bejeweled. However, the mechanics of the game change significantly based on how you move the jewels. To create matches of three or more jewels, you do not swap the gems, but instead rotate a group of four clockwise. At first, it was really frustrating that you could only rotate in one direction, but I got used to it and, later in the game, it was infuriating when the rotation direction was changed.

But this is a puzzle-RPG game, and it cannot survive or be successful based on the puzzle aspects alone. You are Rivel, a mage that is chasing after a rebellious group called Temperance. This group is led by a man named Qraist, who is essentially the bad guy of the story. However, that’s about it for narrative. It is dull, uninteresting, and brought me out of the game. The story is a tacked on element to Gyromancer and truly makes the RPG element of the game weak. Not only was the story tacked on and dull, it was annoyingly superficial. For example, one of the characters dies, and comes back to life, three times. Eyes were rolled. Three times.

So, is the puzzle aspect the only saving grace of Gyromancer? Not exactly. Though the story elements are extremely weak, the questing and gameplay are interesting and fun. You want grinding? Gyromancer has it. You want random battles? It’s there. You want adventurous journeys? Yep. How about the ability to summon badass creatures with unique abilities? Well, read on, because Gyromancer does do some of these things right.

There are ten basic levels, one final boss level, and a challenging endurance level called Challenger’s Door. In the basic levels and boss level, you are given a bit of the story at the beginning and then you play. The story does not come back into the picture until you have beaten the level. In the beginning you are given an overview of the map, a shot of where you are trying to get and then, finally, you are shown your begin point. You move your character along a path and you will encounter monsters along the way. Some of the monsters will be stationary on the map, some will move as you move, and some will be hidden in treasure chests (“monster-in-a-box!”). As you move on to increasingly difficult levels, the creatures will advance as well.

To destroy these monsters, you have in your arsenal three creatures of your own. Once you are in a level, any damage to your monsters is permanent until you leave or beat the level. As I battled it out with my enemies, I began to feel a disappointment with the gameplay. It took me a few battles to realize that I was missing the competition of Puzzle Quest. In Puzzle Quest you make a move and then your opponent moves. Not so in Gyromancer. You make your moves and try and build up the levels for your monster to cast spells automatically (yes, you don’t select what happens) to place ability gems. Opponents will spew out their own bombs to screw with your attack. They do not make moves, attacks are just placed based on your moves. Once their attack gem has been placed you have to get rid of them within so many turns or they will do damage to your creature.

While in battle you have the option to cast spells that you collect in your travels. There are only four spells in this game. All of the spells effects last for one turn and they will allow you to do things such as change the direction in which you rotate your gems, place your ability gems immediately, and unlock locked gems. The bad thing about this is, once you are out of whatever spells, you have the option to buy them from the marketplace for a mere 40 Microsoft Points each. Microtransactions indeed.

You level up after winning so many battles. Your creatures level up with you, even if they weren’t used in the battle. Your creatures will eventually reach their level caps and you will need to summon new creatures in the Summoner’s Den to continue on successfully. You find new creatures on the map in the form of gyro codes. Your found codes can be used in the Summoner’s Den. You must pay to summon the new creature and you must get rid of one of your three to make room for your new warrior. Each creature has an affinity color or a color from which they gain power. Ideally, you want to have a variety of colors in your array of warriors.

This is where the grinding comes in because somewhere near the middle of the game, you must do some serious leveling up to continue. It was in this grinding that I became bored with the game. I wanted every battle to feel like it meant something. However, it seems like every battle was a vicious little reminder that there was another game out there. A better game.

All in all there are plenty of worse games out there. In fact, Gyromancer isn’t a bad game at all. Only a few moments of grinding were tedious for me. The battles were addictive and challenging. The creatures were interesting and fun to unlock. I think it’s the fact that I wanted so much more. I wanted a good story. I wanted less randomness in the battles. I wanted a game that I would want to come back to.

Title: Gyromancer Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Square Enix and PopCap Games Platform(s): XBLA (Reviewed), PC Release Date: November 18, 2009

Doin It RIGHT: -Addictive and Challenging Gameplay -Interesting Creatures -Graphics and Music Create an Awesome Atmosphere	Doin It RONG: - Paper Thin Story - Unnecessary Grinding to Advance - No Real Enemy to Strategize Against in Battle
FINAL SCORE: 7.5 / 10

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Modern Warfare 2 had more hype than any recent title that I can remember. It look a lot of active work for me to avoid details before I was able to experience the game first-hand. The work paid off, of course, as I had no expectations for the title outside of the many hours of fun I had with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I can say with certainty that Infinity Ward has improved upon the Modern Warfare formula.

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Zombies are something our society takes to quite well. For some reason, we tend to tire easily of vampires and werewolves. But you could serve up three zombie video games or even movies back-to-back, and there wouldn’t be a peep out of us. We’re a society that just loves huntin’ us some zombies, and we always want more. Whether it be from a long-running respected franchise, like Resident Evil, or a fairly new franchise like Left 4 Dead, zombie video games just seem to hit that soft spot. So, does the latest Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles keep the adrenaline pumping when heads start rolling?

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Last Halloween, we fast-forwarded 500 years into the future, where interstellar mining was alive and well. The Concordance Extraction Company, or C.E.C., was charged with tasking mining ships with this mammoth deed. Just when things appeared to be running smoothly, a distress call was received by the C.E.C. from the USG Ishimura. Isaac Clarke, an engineer employed by the C.E.C., along with some squadmates, were sent to evaluate the situation. Upon arriving on the Ishimura, Clarke and his squadmates discovered that what appeared to be a simple malfunction had gone terribly awry. A terrifyingly hostile race of beings known as Necromorphs had overrun the ship and jeopardized the survival of Isaac and his party. The three were separated, and Isaac was left to fend for himself out in the deepest, darkest reaches of space, left only with the Necromorphs and every bit of his wit that he would need to use to survive. With that, we were thrust into Dead Space, one of EA’s most enjoyable new IPs of last year. Presented in a format reminiscent of Gears of War or Resident Evil 4, gamers were tasked with keeping the space engineer Isaac Clarke alive until he could get to safety or to the bottom of the Necromorph invasion.

With such an engaging entry into the action/survival horror genre, EA knew they had to deliver more of the same while fans eagerly anticipated the release of the previously-announced sequel. Taking an unorthodox approach was apparently warranted, as Dead Space Extraction was released via Visceral Studios on the Nintendo Wii. At first, gamers (including myself) were taken aback — how could we possibly be expected to embark on the same kind of adventure we previously devoured with a rail-shooter based on the Wii? The answer soon presented itself: with shaky hands, dim lights, and a whole lot of spare underwear on hand. Dead Space Extraction delivers.

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