The Xbox Live Arcade version of Konami's coin-op classic Frogger should be instantly recognizable, even though it's received a major graphical overhaul complete with colorful hi-res elements and background art. The basic idea is that you have to get a tiny green frog across a crowded freeway by dodging traffic, over a rushing river by leaping from turtle to log and finally into one of five little froggy-homes at the top of the screen. Along the way, speedsters attempt to crush you into
You might want to hold onto something for this one: Prey turns fast-paced first-person shooter action on its head quite literally with some dizzying gravity effects that would have Sir Isaac Newton spinning in his grave. In multiple directions.
As Tommy, a Native American on a quest to rescue his girlfriend Jen from being pureed in an alien Cuisinart, you'll battle your way through a massive cybernetic alien spaceship that scoffs in the face of the laws of physics. At the flip of a switch the
Elven bows sing and dwarven hammers ring as your fellowship fights desperately against a swarming horde of orcs and goblins. Enormous eagles and shrieking dragons clash overhead while, outside your city's walls, cave trolls are exchanging crushing blows with giant talking trees. Although the outlook is dire, you can't help but smile as you summon your next attack - a happy band of rock-tossing hobbits. They're probably dead men walking, but still: hobbits.
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for
Shrieking through the sky at over 600 knots, loosing two heat-seekers at an unidentified foreign bogey should really get your adrenaline pumping, but somehow Over G Fighters manages to completely neuter the experience. Sadly, the game takes a systematic approach to draining all of the fun out of sitting in the cockpit of today's most cutting edge jets.
Over G begins by setting up your fighter's controls with the assumption that you didn't buy this flight-sim for its simulation qualities. The
It would appear that Tigers highly publicized swing changes have pervaded EAs golf sim as well. Tiger 06 for 360 is a hurried, stripped-down cut-and-paste between current-gen and next-gen consoles.
The courses look cleaner and more detailed than the current gen editions - trees embrace gentle winds, single blades of grass glimmer in the sunlight, characters stand knee high in heavy rough and sparse handfuls of spectators stare off at one another (you can peg them with the ball too). And the
As the only baseball game on the Xbox 360, Major League Baseball 2K6 is something of an all-or-nothing proposition. Unfortunately, this next-gen rookie gets outplayed by the seasoned vets on the "old" consoles.
At first, everything looks fine, especially on an HDTV. Field details are sharp and textures appear to have depth. The audio commentary boasts a larger library of lines, giving players more variety in what they hear when compared to the PS2 and Xbox games. But the game suffers from the
It takes skill, balance and a well-developed pair of cojones to control a 180-mph MotoGP racing bike on the worldwide Grand Prix stage - but 60 bucks and a videogamer's steady hand will get the job done on an Xbox 360. Of course, pretty or not, that last bit may determine whether or not you'll even like MotoGP '06.
It's not that the game is overly sim-like; the cursory controls and arcade bike physics are easy enough to manage. But you must remember one thing: you're piloting an unstable
The good news: the insanely popular Final Fantasy series of role-playing games has finally come to Xbox 360. The bad news: it's a game that's three years old. The online-only Final Fantasy XI, already out for PC and PS2, fits well with the 360's internet capabilities, but the system's first massively multiplayer RPG feels a bit like a clunky relic.
Unlike a regular game, there's no ending to an MMO. The goal of FFXI is to create a character and gain levels, currency and gear by hunting
Wednesday 3 May 2006
Remember Baddiel and Skinner singing about "Thirty years of hurt" during their classic England anthem Three Lions? That's how we feel about EA's FIFA series - it feels as if it's been that long since we played a semi-decent version of the series.
EA has obviously taken note of all the criticism directed at FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup 2006, and the result is the best soccer game (that isn't Pro Evolution Soccer) we've played in ages. Thank goodness for that.
Lots of
Creeping quietly down the hall, the harsh fluorescent lighting gleams off your bald head. Your target walks a few paces ahead, unknowingly striding into certain doom. As you round the corner, you carefully unwind the fiber wire and prepare to throttle your quarry to death. You raise the deadly garrote, but before you can strike, you accidentally bump the back of your target's knee with your own, alerting him to your presence. He turns around and lets out a scream that alerts everyone within a
