Although the release date has been pushed back into May (check it out on May 18, 2010, to be exact), fans certainly have plenty to look forward to.

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[Source: Atlus]

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[Source: Atlus]

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Of course, if you’re a really cool kid on the block, you can pick up one of the new (black) controllers with a copy of Monster Hunter Tri for some serious monster-hunting action.  This bundle will sell for $59.99, saving you a cool $10. (Of course, you can also buy the game separately, for $49.99.)

“Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we’re confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about,” said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Licensing. “Gamers of all kinds enjoy playing games on Wii. Monster Hunter Tri delivers an incredible new experience on Wii, while the Classic Controller Pro gives players even more control options for their favorite Wii games.”

In addition to the grips that make the controller more hand-friendly, it also includes a second row of shoulder buttons, and that pesky cord has been moved from the front to the back (where it belongs).  While it’s not the sexy black Wii console bundle our friends in Japan received, it’s still not a bad deal.

Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo’s Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote and nunchuck, or Classic Controller to slay the monsters that inhabit the world.

[Source: Nintendo]

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In the blog entry,  Mr. Strichart emphasizes the importance of preparation for these battles, especially the “escape scroll” item:

“There is no shame in going into a battle, testing the waters, and running away before you find one of the game’s hundred-plus ways to die. This allows you to throw yourself back into the fight armed with knowledge, and it’s a great way to pad your levels! If I could put a “theme” on all of the blogs for this game, it would be that caution will win the day.”

For those of you die-hard Shiren fans who laugh in the face of such claims, don’t worry: if the main bosses aren’t challenging enough, there’s always the post-game.  Hardcore players only, who know the game inside and out, have acquired the best gear, and developed a perfect strategy.  Less serious fans can skip these, of course, as finishing the main game is still a significant accomplishment.

Famitsu rated the game nearly perfect (9/9/8/9), and you don’t have long before you can try this incredibly addicting game for yourself.  Shiren The Wanderer comes to Wii on February 9, 2010.   For more on the game, check out the official website: http://www.atlus.com/shiren.

[Source: Atlus]

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After a brief introduction of the main characters, who are all chatting in this Black Page chatroom, the game cuts to someone just waking up to the sound of a cell phone ringing.  The scene is blurry until the character’s eyes adjust to the surroundings.  “Where am I?” he wonders.  Soon the game switches to a first-person view, as you gain control of the character named Shin.

Although I haven’t yet had a chance to play Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, so far Calling seems to play similarly in a lot of ways.  You use the Wii pointer to guide your view around the room, and the nunchuck to walk around.  When the cursor of your pointer falls on something you can search, a little magnifying glass will pop up (along with a low rumble of the remote), to let you know you can explore further.  Clicking A will either pop up some text describing the object (i.e., “An old rotary phone.”), or it will give you an action prompt to pull or push (i.e., pull open a drawer, push open a door).  Once you find a flashlight, you will use it to illuminate the darkness and search areas previously too dark to explore.  Occasionally you will find an object that merits even closer inspection, and a special mode will pop up enabling you to manipulate the object to search for more clues.  In this segment, for instance, you find a doll that you can inspect to find a name written on the bottom of one of its shoes.  What that name means is something we’ll have to wait for the full game to find out.

Overall, this basic exploration control scheme works well.  I personally found it a little finicky at times, but that could be me (due to the placement of my IR sensor) or due to this being a demo and not the final game.  Still, it feels nice to be able to manipulate the environment instead of just clicking.  It can also increase your immersion in the game, as you will have to struggle (just as you would in real life) to find the door and open it when you are trying to flee, which does add to the tension.

So, being a horror game, there nearly always has to be ghosts, right?  Calling delivers. From what I’ve seen in this build, what you experience in this game will feel very familiar to anyone who has seen a few Japanese-style horror films, or who has played games like Fatal Frame.  Occasionally, while you’re exploring, a ghost will attack you.  If you press the indicated on-screen button at the right time, you can escape without harm; otherwise, you have to shake the Wiimote to escape.  You may also have segments where you go into “alert” mode, where you are frozen in place and must examine the immediate area around you for a clue.  In the demo, finding the right object triggered an escape sequence, where the screen tinged red and I had to flee or it was “game over.”

Calling utilizes a “panic” scale of sorts, that registers your level of fear.  If, for example, you fail to escape from a ghost immediately, your fear level will increase.  If your fear gets too great, your game will end.  However, if you are able to find a safe place to rest, your level will return to normal.  Although this idea was introduced in the demo, there really wasn’t time to experience it, so it’s too early to say how this system will work in the final game.  Also, whether “game over” will mean starting from a check point or restarting a whole segment is not clear at this point either.

The game does utilize the Wii remote’s speaker as a cell phone, and you will occasionally get mysterious calls (from ghosts, presumably), leaving you cryptic messages.  It’s an interesting concept (although not entirely novel, seeing as this is post-Silent Hill), and it will be interesting to see how well this is integrated into the final game.  You can also use your phone to take pictures, although you are limited to one at a time.  Although the ability was introduced (through text tutorials) in the demo, it wasn’t a part of the gameplay, so I’m not sure how they work.  My suspicion is pictures are just for fun (you can upload them via the network, I believe), rather than being essential to the game as they are in Silent Hill.  However, only time will tell on this.

Right now, voice acting is limited primarily to the ghosts, with your character only making a few sounds or saying a word or two.  Hopefully this will be remedied when the game is released, as I was a little disappointed by the lack of voice.  Except for a few areas without any sound at all (something I’m guessing will be fixed), the sound was pretty good throughout, with realistic rings for various phones, creaking floors, and creepy music.  A few times sounds felt a bit off, but again, I’m confident this will be polished by the time the game releases.  Graphics aren’t stellar, but they do the job for the most part of conveying a spooky environment.

As far as scare-value goes, this demo was really short, a little too much so, in my opinion, to get a good feel for the way the game will play out.  Still, it wasn’t particularly scary, and I say this as a person who startles very easily.  The only portion I found really scary was the end of the demo, in which you must hurry to escape the ghosts that are chasing you.  I know I found myself fumbling trying to open doors and get back to the safe room.  However, the fear was diminished by the fact that, when you get to the “safe” room, it switches to a movie (and third-person), which pulled me completely out of the moment.

Nevertheless, I did find myself (when the demo ended), saying, “That’s it?” and wanting more.  I’m confident that Hudson will work out the kinks and that Calling could still be an engaging game.  I don’t think it will be perfect, but I think the story has the ability to be interesting enough that even with a few bumps along the road, it will be worth the ride.

Special thanks to Hudson for providing the preview code.

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Atlus’ Shiren the Wanderer, based upon the popular Japanese Mystery Dungeon series, is something both old and new. Though the series has been prevalent on the other side of the globe for quite some time, North American gamers were first introduced to the randomized dungeon-crawling with 2008’s release of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer for Nintendo DS.  Now, this series (one that aims for hardcore role-playing gamers) is coming to the Nintendo Wii.

The game will follow the wandering ronin Shiren as he pals around feudal Japan with his female sidekick and pet weasel. The gameplay leans much more towards the sadistic side (much in-line with the recent Atlus release Demon’s Souls) where characters die permanently, and all items are lost when the protagonist dies.

The official blog has released several batches of screenshots, the latest of which you can find below this post. It looks to be a colorful and well-designed RPG, something the Wii could definitely use.

The biggest news concerning the game is that it has a firm release date that is not too far off. Shiren the Wanderer will be available to North American gamers on February 9th, 2010.

Stay tuned to Spawn Kill for all your Shiren, Atlus, and RPG news.

[Source: Shiren the Wanderer Blog, Press Release]

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Best Retro Throwback: Retro Game Challenge

Cuatro Chihuahuas:
If you haven’t heard of this game, I wouldn’t be surprised.  It was a bit of a sleeper, sadly, but a great game nonetheless.  Especially if you grew up playing the NES until your hands cramped up, you will definitely want to check out this gem.  Rather than remaking or doing sequels of hit games from the 8-bit days, Retro Game Challenge is set up in a creative way.  You are transported back in time so that you are a kid again, and you must complete various game challenges in order to finally be able to get back to your present adult form.  Sounds a little weird, but it works.  You get to play various games throughout the adventure that are completely original and new, yet will feel very familiar: space shooters, racers, and even an old-school RPG all appear, and for the most part, they are as much fun to play as any of the games they are tribute to were.  One other neat thing is you get access to various issues of game magazines in order to read about upcoming releases as well as learning tips and tricks (not to mention cheat codes) to help you achieve your challenges.  Once you make all the challenges for a particular game, you can then play the game in free mode whenever you like.  This game was one of the freshest and most fun games I played all year, and I cry a little tear each night that we haven’t gotten the sequel localized.

Game That Freaked You the @!$# Out: Demon’s Souls

K-Tuck:
Demon’s Souls, the PS3 exclusive RPG from From Software, aims to provide something no other game on the market can. It strives to intimidate, to dishearten, and to terrify its player. In this regard, Demon’s Souls excels. Every interaction the player character has with a base-level enemy is a potentially fatal one. Of course, this is to say nothing of the larger, more powerful foes littered around every unsuspecting corner. How should a player feel, dodging death at every step forward, when he is suddenly facing massive Tower Knight, an epic fire-breathing dragon, any of the Archdemons, or the invading force of a Black Phantom? Freaked out, of course.

Game Hardest to Categorize: Brütal Legend

K-Tuck:
Brütal Legend, Tim Schafer’s love child between games and heavy metal, was tracked closely by fans of many different mediums: anything from music, Schafer’s past work, Jack Black himself, to the promise of an open-world game where the environments were inspired by classic metal album covers. Curiously, how the game was actually played didn’t get much coverage before release, and when the game finally hit store shelves gamers were a bit befuddled. The title brings bits of adventure games, action games, car combat and racing games, rhythm games, and real-time strategy games into one ambitious mixture. Although the blend leans more towards specific aspects, Brütal Legend does so many things that its hard to discern which of them were the developer’s original intentions.

Scariest Monsters: House of the Dead: Overkill

Tigresa:
Not only is House of the Dead: Overkill my personal favorite Wii game of 2009, it had some impressive monster models for “just a zombie game.” The insanely wild ride of a story the game takes you on leads you to confront some seriously fudged up boss battles. From Total Recall’s creepy Kuato look-alike with the fetus’ head extending from a monster’s body to the crazy screamer hiding in corners and running up to you to the mindschlock ending boss fight that I refuse to spoil because it’s so damn outrageous and freaky — makes for some a mix of some creepy, some disturbing and some scary fights.

Game That Made You Swear: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Molotov Cupcake:
I’m very impatient. Patient when it counts, but when it comes to douchebaggery and unacceptable online behavior, I can get downright nasty. Plenty of vitriol was spewn out of my mouth when it came to what was possibly my biggest letdown of the year regarding the multiplayer department (I found it to be a superb single-player endeavor) — Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I’m sure I’m not alone in the fact that that game singlehandedly elicited more foul language out of my mouth due to cheap deaths and unbalanced gameplay than I’ve ever heard myself allow. Chants of the “gamer’s prayer” did abound as people traipsed around with ridiculous perk and weapon combinations, and the overall frustration with that game grew and grew with every day that passed until finally I decided I’d forget about the multiplayer entirely and never unleash that much anger again. Not worth it. And I’m sure many of you are wanting to follow suit for more greener pastures and cleaner mouths.

Most Unattractive Characters: Dragon Age: Origins

Snarkasaur:
This definitely requires some explanation, because for the most part Dragon Age is a great-looking game, particularly on the PC. It’s not stellar by any means and doesn’t compare to some of the visually gorgeous work we’ve seen this year, but it does the job. But where it gets unattractive are in its portrayal of “nudity” and a few of its nastier bosses. The brood mother is quite possibly the grossest thing we’ve seen in a game, with her multiple protruding teets and weird appendages. And the darkspawn in general are just a nasty looking bunch. Being unattractive in that capacity is a good thing because it adds to players wanting to kill these monstrosities. The half-baked nudity in Dragon Age, particularly during sex scenes and whenever a character sheds his or her armor is where the unattractive part really hits. The human body in prime condition is a beautiful thing. BioWare’s portrayal of that body was unappealing to say the least.

Most Narcissistic Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Molotov Cupcake:
For me, graphics do not make the game. I am just as impressed with flat, polygonal characters as I am with fleshed-out organic beings who mirror the human form with finesse and unbelievable polish. Unfortunately, many titles sacrifice engaging and solid gameplay for glossed-over looks and a plastic exterior to mask the ugliness underneath. Luckily, one shining example this year proved that we could have our gorgeous, expansive landscapes and fluid gameplay as well. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was home to some of the most breathtaking expanses of land, mythical setpieces, and gorgeous scenery I have seen in my 18 years of gaming. Where it excelled in providing impeccable interaction between characters and solid gunplay, it mastered the art of presentation. Snowy cliffs, ornately decorated sacred grounds, and lush jungles dotted the landscape in-game, and each time I arrived at a brand new location I was floored by the exhaustive attention to detail and the obvious amount of dedication it took to bring the game to live. An absolute pleasure to play and even more of a visual treat, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is most deserving of the Most Narcissistic Game award, and it should be proud.

Best Music Game: The Beatles Rock Band

The Herp:
Ever since Harmonix stepped onto the scene of music games they have always delivered the best that the genre has to offer. Don’t forget that they were behind the first couple Guitar Hero games before branching off to create Rock Band. It was a surprise to me that they were able to snag the rights to The Beatles tracks and after seeing what they did with it, I don’t even want to think about how it would have ended up if were in Guitar Hero’s hands. Harmonix could have easily coasted when creating this game, riding the coattails of The Beatles’ expansive library, but they didn’t. The style, presentation and storytelling in The Beatles Rock Band stands out in a genre that is flooded with throwaway titles. Even though the core gameplay remains the same, they were able to bring a brand new experience for all gamers. The Beatles: Rock Band could not be more deserving this year for Best Music Game of 2009

Least Hype, Most Delivery: Borderlands

The Herp:
Though some were following Borderlands from the beginning, many of us were not. The most I heard about the game was regarding the insane amount of weapons you can find and shift in graphics. The decision to change them from hyper-realistic to cel-shaded was done very late in production. I didn’t hear much else and I’m sure that had something to do with the media not being too impressed by its early iterations. Borderlands seems like such a simple concept. It’s a first-person shooter mixed with MMORPG elements. It wasn’t until after I played it that I realized how much fun the game actually is. It brings together a ton of MMORPG elements to create a very exciting game, not to mention the art style and the story work so well together. I can’t imagine the game being any different. With all the loot-gathering, the different classes and skill trees, the ability to play the game entirely via co-op, Borderlands is a very unique experience for anyone who wants just a bit more from their shooters. I always describe Borderlands as “baby’s first MMORPG” but it definitely is a game that had very little hype and definitely delivered.

Most Hype, Least Delivery: Scribblenauts

Snarkasaur:
Before E3 of 2009, very few people had heard of Scribblenauts.  After E3, it was about the only thing people could talk about.  Final Fantasy XIV?  Cool, but what ridiculously off the wall thing can I write in for Scribblenauts?  So it was that we all boarded up the hype train, strapped in, choo choo’d, and took off for a few months.  Then Scribblenauts released in September and everyone kind of smiled and looked around and realized that the train had stopped and our tea was cold and we hadn’t been eating fillet migon just now but Manwich.  In fact, what might have been lauded as a fantastic game this year was marred by the praise it received before its release.  If nothing else, the experience proved that bringing new concepts to a show floor isn’t always going to bring positive results.

Best DLC: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Snarkasaur:
Arkham Asylum’s DLC did right just what the game did right. It kept everything similar to the challenge modes that came with the game, but mixed it up a little, threw in some extra difficulty, and best of all was totally free. And if you had a PS3 version, you were granted access to actually controlling the Joker himself. Most people would probably assume they’d take Batman and just re-skin him, but Rocksteady surprised everyone yet again by giving him his own methods and feel entirely. The Joker maps were a treat and a great departure from the style players had been used to while controlling the Batman.

Worst Game of the Year: Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga

Cuatro Chihuahuas:

Read my review, and you will know why this game won in this category.  I have played a few stinkers on the Wii, but undoubtedly this is one of the worst games I’ve ever played on any system.  The combat is shallow and boring, the sound is annoying, and the graphics aren’t just bad, they make the game painful to play.  Overall, the game has the feeling of being rushed out the door about half-way through, which is disappointing, as it has some deep elements.  Nevertheless, you shouldn’t ever play this game for any reason.

Second Opinion

The Herp: While I didn’t play all the terrible games this year, NBA 2K10 was one of them. The core gameplay was as solid as ever and did offer the best basketball experience; however the amount of bugs, the constant crashing, the horrible online play, the frame rate issues and the fact that 2K Sports thought it was ok to not release a patch until a month after release definitely makes me feel that 2K10 deserves this tag. For a company that has been enjoying being the #1 basketball game for so many years, you don’t have to look too hard to see how 2K Sports can turn something you love into something you despise.

Game of the Year: Dragon Age: Origins

Tigresa:
Dragon Age: Origins had such an immersive world worth getting into. BioWare put so much into the lore of the universe that it was hard not to get completely sucked in. I grew so fondly attached to all of my party members, when in most RPGs there are always possibly two good teammates tops worth making it into the ranks of your battle-going party. In Dragon Age: Origins, since they God-blessedly all level up simultaneously, I constantly found myself strategizing on which teammate to take for which mission, since the majority of them were so likable. The game is phenomenal and so intricate in that every little choice you make has many an outcome on the story to come. With a handful of epic endings to experience, it makes me wonder if there is anything that is considered true “canon” if we are ever lucky enough to receive a sequel.

Dragon Age: Origins does something so well, better than any game I’ve ever played to date. BioWare has outdone even themselves with this one. There is no plain and simple paragon/renegade decisions to be made in the game, there is no “right” and “wrong” points to be attributed. Because of that, you really feel more inclined to make decisions you feel are truly “right” for each individual situation, not simply making “good” choices for the sake of being a paragon. Also, there is no official paragon/renegade path in any sense of the terms, because to some of your teammates they become pleased and approve of your actions when you take matters into your own hands and kill off people during quests, while others might be neutral about some situations, lest others may ask you to be kind and rational. Those are decisions you have to make on who you want to please and who you want on your side, because you will find yourself in many a situation where your teammates will be at each other’s throat in disagreement over what should be done. Everything you do has a consequence both in the game and with your relationship with each character.

I actually am typically more of a sci-fi nerd over the lore of dragons and elves, so I was excited to get into the decision-making shoes of my character, but I didn’t expect to get very “into” the world itself because the times of ye olde don’t usually feel very engaging to me. Being as the making choices and leveling up my devilish Miss Blood Mage was what I was looking forward to, I was more than impressed. The world itself? It must have taken years to craft the depth and histories behind all of the different races, characters, and places to visit in Dragon Age: Origins, and it totally had me at “Hello… Grey Warden.”

Honorable Mention: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Blehmeng:
My heart was set on voting Batman: Arkham Asylum for Game of the Year for taking a franchise that sorely needed a makeover and making it one of my favorite games of all time. With the stealth, fighting, exploration, and fully developed characters in one of the best game worlds I’ve seen in a “sandbox” game, it surpassed all my wildest expectations for it, and made it a game that I intend to devote time to each year to play, much like my favorite games from every generation.

Second Opinion:

The Herp:Personally my game of the year was Killzone 2. When you add everything together, the graphics, the story, the huge battles, the excellent class based multiplayer, the clan system, the voice acting, the great music and sound, the environments, it all comes together to offer an amazing FPS experience unlike anything else released this year.

Third Opinion:

Molotov Cupcake:I played many a fantastic game this year, and some equally terrible abominations. However, throughout this tumultuous year of gaming, one title stuck out to me the most: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. As a staunch naysayer in the beginning, I simply could not fathom the trance this game was putting many a journalist and layman gamer in…after all, it’s just a third-person action/shooter title that has elements derived from plenty of games before it. However, after sitting down with it, I found myself unable to look away from the screen. My daily ritual became one of getting off work and heading over to my newly-acquired PlayStation 3 Slim for some quality time with Nathan Drake and his motley crew. Nate, Elena, Flynn, Chloe, and even Lazarevic made this a journey I won’t soon forget with their believable and undeniably human personalities and agendas. I formed genuine bonds with this cast of characters, ones that grew stronger with each twist and turn of the epic plot, and ones that brought tears to my eyes near the game’s climax despite its positive (yet not absolutely finite — we could see more Drake) conclusion. The cinematic presentation, superb voice work, tight controls, and charm of Uncharted 2 won me over from start to finish, and I’m not too proud to say I was absolutely wrong about this game. It’s without a doubt my personal game of the year, and a title that I can only hope inspires upcoming releases to do what’s been done before much better. And then we’ll talk about throwing innovation into the mix.

And there you have it. This concludes the first annual Spawn Kill Game of the Year Awards! Did you agree or disagree with the nominees elected to reign supreme? Did we miss anything? What were your personal picks? As always, we’d love to hear what you think so don’t be shy and let us know in the comments below. Happy 2010, everyone!

Don’t forget to check out our companion podcast, episode 5 of the Kill Kast, found here and on iTunes for your convenience!

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While similar, the two games are not identical.  Each will feature its own set of recipes, mini games, and tasks.  While the handheld version is obviously more of a solo experience, the Wii game is aimed at bringing the whole family together with a variety of fun, competitive mini games.  In addition to competitive mini games (such as racing to fill orders fastest), the Wii game also offers the ability to play the entire story mode in co-op.

Fast Food Panic is available now for the DS and ships January 19, 2010 for Wii, both versions are selling for $29.99.

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[Source: SouthPeak Games]

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[Source: Atlus]

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Sega’s Constantine Hantzopoulos was admittedly “stunned” by the numbers indicating that Dead Space Extraction had sold less than 10,000 units in its first month. His reasoning was that EA had established a popular franchise with high ratings on the Xbox 360 and PS3, and had the financial means to market their game to the exact type of consumer that would be interested.

Hantzopoulos was quoted as saying:

“Basically… you got [sic] EA, who can put all the marketing muscle behind this, an established franchise that scored quite well on 360 and PS3. They should be able to actually hit this out of the park, right?” … “We get numbers, real numbers aside from NPD — and I’m like, ‘whoa’.” … “Are we going to do more mature titles for the Wii?… probably not.“

Hantzopoulos himself admitted there was a market for mature titles on the Wii. What do you think? Let your voice be heard!

[Source: Gamasutra]

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Gabriel Cunningham, diagnostics. Dr. Cunningham’s job isn’t to cure patients, but rather, to diagnose their maladies so that other doctors can treat them.  This is the bare bones of what being a doctor is really about: putting all the pieces of the puzzle together to deduce a possible cause for the various symptoms with which your patients present.  In addition to performing tests and comparing the results, you also need to be able to analyze what your patients tell you, as they won’t often give you the full picture.

CR-SO1, general surgery. Veterans of the series will probably feel most at home with this style of play.  You’ll be doing a lot of careful incisions and stitching, always being careful to watch for your patient’s vitals.  One gameplay change is you are no longer timed.  Don’t confuse this for “easy,” however, as you will still need a steady hand to become a master surgeon.

Maria Torres, ambulatory. Maria’s job is to stabilize patients on their way to the hospital.  This can often be a frantic juggling act, as you must balance your time between several patients at once, triaging to make sure the most dire cases are addressed first, while still not neglecting the rest.

Hank Freebird, orthopedic surgery. With Dr. Freebird, you will be back to the surgical suite, only his operations will usually be less life threatening.  Nonetheless, the results of his procedures can have significant lasting effects on the lives of his patients, making them just as important.  Although he is a big guy, his procedures require patience and a delicate touch, whether you’re driving pins into a fractured femur or carving a segment of artificial bone, you’ll have to stay at the top of your game and keep your reflexes rock-solid.

Tomoe Tachibana, endoscopic surgery. In some ways, Dr. Tachibana’s work may be the most dramatic departure from previous Trauma Center games.  You need to carefully work the endoscope in, working in a small space and with only a flashlight to guide you.  Once you arrive at the area needing attention, you must use a select group of tools in a small area to accomplish your task.  You must be careful not to hurt the patient by moving around too much or bumping into things in order to successfully complete your procedure.

Naomi Kimishima, forensic pathology. While playing as Dr. Kimishima, you will use your skills as a pathologist and detective to help solve crimes by finding, analyzing, and corroborating evidence found on the scene and on the bodies of the victims.  However, unlike most pathologists, you will also be able to explore the crime scene in order to discover the truth.

If the characters themselves weren’t already intriguing enough, the varied gameplay should definitely perk your interests. Trauma Team is set to release Spring 2010 for Nintendo Wii, and Atlus promises lots more info in the build-up until then. In the meanwhile, you can visit the official website: http://www.atlus.com/traumateam/.

[Source: Atlus]

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The story is actually pretty interesting, at least on paper.  It features a country finally at peace after decades of war.  Unfortunately, as so often happens in reality, the masses aren’t satisfied with peace and so the government creates a program of sponsored dogfighting, with corporations competing against one another using military personel as their champions.  Players begin as a rookie pilot codenamed “Lynx” who works his way up through the ranks and quite obviously starts uncovering some nasty government secrets.

The gameplay features the Wii remote acting as a throttle, which will accelerate or deccelerate their plane, and the nunchuck as a flight control stick, tilted to roll, pitch, and yaw.  The idea sounds fun, but whether it will work to simulate anything resembling entertaining flight is questionable.  The team working on the controls, Project ACES, are responsible for the Ace Combat series of similar games that have been popular in Japan for years (there are currently 10 of them in the series), but have also gathered a smaller following here in the states.  The games are well received by critics and players alike, so look for this to make waves as well.  Its debut on Nintendo’s money maker has the potential to wow or completely disappoint, as most games on the Wii seem to do.

The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces has a release date of January 12, 2010, which should render it completely obscure even if it does prove full of awesome given the competition of January.  Check out the video below, and head to http://www.skycrawlersinnocentaces.com/ for some interesting tutorials that attempt to explain the controls. 

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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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Unlike Umbrella Chronicles, The Darkside Chronicles actually dedicates effort into telling the stories of the games it seeks to let players re-live or experience for the first time. The first Wii Resident Evil on-rails shooter, Umbrella Chronicles, set out to summarize quite a number of Resident Evil games in a rather short amount of time. Though it was an enjoyable co-op experience on its own, it constructed an insulting rendition of some of fans’ most loved video games, dedicating anywhere from 5-15 minutes per game it sought out to summarize (which was Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and the addition of all-new background experience through the eyes of Albert Wesker).

The Darkside Chronicles takes you through Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which took place after RE3. With this new sequel, there are complete, 7-8 chapter scenarios whipped together for each game, which do a fairly decent storytelling job, though Resident Evil purists will be able to point out the missteps and altered plot points in a snap. That for me was a bit of a drawback, because Leon never kissed –this person– in the original story! But I will let it slide, because the tales are weaved very well. There is also a whole new full scenario added called Operation Javier which seeks to bridge the background story of how Leon and Krauser knew each other before the events of Resident Evil 4.

The storytelling feature has definitely seen great improvement over the predecessor, but there is one major aspect during gameplay that should never occur in games these days. This mechanic is actually a step down from the previous game, Umbrella Chronicles. For some reason unbeknownst to me, the developers decided to revamp the camera system into a shaky, nausea-inducing madhouse. This is probably the game’s largest flaw. About halfway through the game, it becomes slightly more tame, but still extremely out of control. The camera heaves left to right in and out of focus of the screen at every point, making it extremely frustrating and difficult to get some of your shots to register as a headshot, let alone shooting out tiny little targets like lightbulbs to unearth hidden items and gold.

The graphics have not really been improved much, though they look great on the Wii. There has been a noticeably larger upgrade to the amount of cutscenes in The Darkside Chronicles. This is something I welcomed wholeheartedly, as seeing Claire and Leon in the Resident Evil 2 scenario in CG so often because it felt like a treat since RE2 never received a remake and smooth CG was not quite rampant in the original game. The only thing negative worth mentioning is that in the sunny outdoor levels (which are rather few), the graphics appear jagged and scratchy and do not flatter the visuals. Luckily most of the game is spent indoors or in dark corridors, in which the graphics look smooth.

For the Wii, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is a great game to add to your co-op arsenal. The co-op functions great and it’s a lot of fun. One minor drawback is that now your ammo is shared with your partner, so either lay down the law about your anti-trigger happy allowances before you play, or you’re just going to have to hold tryouts for new friends. The single player experience is still fun and worthwhile, but the real fun to be had is with the multiplayer. I played through 50% of the game with a partner and the other 50% alone to compare the differences. The difficulty is definitely a bit skewed to be easier for the co-op experience because whether playing solo-style or with a friend, the same amount of zombies and other enemies that you’ll encounter on-screen will be remain the same.

Lastly, when you complete the entire main story, you will unlock a bonus Tofu mode. Tofu? Well, if you played Resident Evil 2 and unlocked it, back then it was a parody of the character HUNK’s (which is also a bonus stage) level, in which you played as a… block of tofu and were timed and ranked in your zombie huntin’ skills. This is surely a homage to that minigame, except now you play as Claire and the zombies are replaced with vicious, giant hog-wild tofu cubes that you must clip your way through. It’s minor and it’s funny the first time through, but I won’t be making any more runs, as it tires quickly.

There are many improved elements and features, through a couple of small downgrades from the previous Umbrella Chronicles, but overall, this is truly a worthwhile experience that you can expect over 10 hours of re-experiencing your favorite games or enjoying them for the first time. I logged a solid 22 hours after completing the main scenarios, unlocking the secret chapters (there are 20 chapters throughout the game, and two bonus ones if you can unlock them!) and searching for special items, and improving my score. If you are a zombie fanatic (and who isn’t?) and a Wii owner, how could you say no?

Doin It RIGHT: - Exciting two-player experience. - An increase in the amount of CG scenes. - 20 (Plus 2 if you can unlock them!) chapters available, with definite replay value for Resident Evil fans.	Doin It RONG: - Nausea-inducing, shaky camera. - Same amount of enemies when playing either alone or with a friend makes the single player experience unbalanced and more difficult. - Minor plot occurrences are added to the old games’ lore. Leon would never kiss—!
FINAL SCORE: 8 / 10

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