Wii Reviews

Welcome to Eldar, the land of many grays and browns, brainless enemies and mercenaries, and mute characters. A console first for the action role-playing series, Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga presents plenty of problems from the beginning: an awful color palette, yawn-worthy cutscenes, stiff combat, poor enemy and mercenary AI, and a predictable story.

First-person shooters, sure, but first-person gambling? This is blackjack, only viewed from the best seat in the house: inside the martini-addled head of a card junkie. Our host is Mr. Paradise (how can you not be magnetically drawn to Vegas with a name like that?) – prepare to meet his hands.

Just when you thought you’d seen the back of Tim Henman, here he is again, teaching rookie players how to lob, slice and smash, and sharing tips on how to not win Wimbledon even once in your career. “Cheers, Tim,” we thought, arrogantly skipping Virtua Tennis’ tutorial, “but we’ll muddle through without you.”

Above: 360/PS3 screenshot

Even though it’s the fifth of the series, Virtua Tennis 4 is - for better or worse depending on your affection for Sega’s tennis games - still very much what we remember playing in the arcade ten years ago. It relies on simple, arcadey mechanics rather than the simulation-based play 2K’s Top Spin series is famous for. In fact, you only really need four buttons (up from VT2009’s three!), a joystick, and a basic understanding of geometry to feel like a master. It’s a system that has transcended the sport, appealing even to those out there who think Federer is that guy who played for the Red Wings. That’s all well and good, but fans are eventually going to start expecting new and exciting things. Too bad VT4 isn’t different enough to warrant a purchase, and due to its slower and less responsive gameplay, actually causes us to worry about where the franchise is headed...