It seems that Rockstar has been brought up on some solid working class values. Sure its game – Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition – celebrates gratuitous customisation and ostentatious displays of wasted wealth but, with the release of the Remix-ed version, there are very obvious signs of pragmatism that can be summed up in the phrase 'waste not, want not'. This is reference to the inclusion of a whole new city, Tokyo, for the budget release of its street-racing odyssey. While other ...
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1 Mar 2006

Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers

Xbox Preview | Full Spectrum Warrior Ten Hammers

The good news with this sequel is the military-obsessed boffins behind Full Speccy Wazza have actually listened to the comparatively few criticisms they got after the release of the first game. But the result is that this has left Ten Hammers feeling like a more complete, improved version of the original rather than a fully-blown sequel. It's still looking top draw soldiering to us, though, so it's not all bad. In new flavour FSW, you're now able to burst into buildings to flush out those ...
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28 Feb 2006

Fight Night Round 3

Xbox Preview | Fight Night Round 3

The word "visceral" describes things that impact the soft internals of a body (particularly those of the stomach or ‘abdomen' to get all sciencey on you) and there's a good reason why it frequently describes boxing. Graphics or physics alone won't get the job done; a good boxing game has to make you feel like you're about to get slugged. EA has a reputation for delivering the experience of professional sports in a way that goes beyond the rules of the game, and Fight Night Round 3 hungers ...
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28 Feb 2006

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

Xbox Preview | Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

After our very latest play of Ubisoft's future-combat stun-specialist, we now know what it feels like to warfight advancedly. Turns out it involves killing insurgents. Lots of 'em. Advanced Warfighter overloads on the arse-clenching tension, just like GR2, but the feeling of leading a squad into terrorist territory is now winningly next-gen. The 'Cross-Com' eyepiece feeds you images from your mates' helmetcams, enabling you to go ahead and flank an enemy while your boys get busy on the front ...
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28 Feb 2006

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

Xbox Preview | Gauntlet Seven Sorrows

Four warriors on an epic and mighty quest. Four Warriors once wronged by a desperate King who committed seven deadly sorrows. Four warriors freed to put right what once went wrong. Four warriors to redeem the King, save his soul, and the entire world. And four warriors to hack and slash and mash their way through hundreds of thousands of enemies. Again. And again. And over and over again. Hang on, we know just the boys you're looking for... Yep, Gauntlet's story might have had a bit of spit ...
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27 Feb 2006

Driver: Parallel Lines

Xbox Preview | Driver Parallel Lines

2004's DRIV3R is one of the most critically reviled games of all time, but that hasn't stopped developer Reflections from making another sequel. It has, however, stopped them from making another horrible sequel, as Driver: Parallel Lines looks less like a lame knockoff and more like a serious contender for Grand Theft Auto's lunch. The first Driver to not star an undercover cop, Parallel Lines is the story of The Kid, a gifted getaway driver working his way through New York's underworld in ...
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25 Feb 2006

Commandos Strike Force

Xbox Preview | Commandos Strike Force

There's a lot to worry about with Commandos Strike Force. You could worry about the basic idea for a start, which in the words of developer Pyro's CEO, Ignacio Perez, combines "the tactical approach of the previous Commandos games with the intense action of an FPS." The whole point of the series was its lack of intensity - just slow-burning, top-down puzzles in a WWII setting. You could question the stripping down of the characters you switch between; of the original six, only three remain: ...
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24 Feb 2006

Bad Day L.A.

Xbox Preview | Bad Day LA

The checkered history of Los Angeles suggests that on occasion it can help, ahem … redefine the concept of the human love/hate relationship. Even so, the city's seen nothing like this. In the third-person action game Bad Day L.A. you'll face missions involving plane crashes, zombie hordes, meteor showers, riots, a tsunami, an earthquake, and more. Crips vs. Bloods this is not. At the center is misanthrope and reluctant hero Anthony Williams. He's a former Hollywood agent so disenchanted ...
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22 Feb 2006

Scarface: The World is Yours

Xbox Preview | Scarface: The World is Yours

Imagine if, after taking a nosedive into a mountain of coke and getting perforated with bullets, Tony Montana hadnt died at the end of Scarface. Hard to believe? Sure. Strips the film of its central message? Hell yes. But for better or worse, thats the premise of Scarface: The World is Yours. As the game opens, players replay the final scene from the movie, with one important twist: after trading fire with assassins sent by rival drug lord Alejandro Sosa, Tony escapes his burning mansion. ...
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22 Feb 2006

Hitman: Blood Money

Xbox Preview | Hitman: Blood Money

The Hitman series has always been about finding creative solutions to problems, specifically the "problems" its protagonist is hired to kill. As the bald assassin named 47, players have been able to run around with guns blazing, sneak through the shadows and garotte guards from behind or slip on a disguise to poison or smother their targets, all to more or less equal effect. Due in May, Hitman: Blood Money ups the ante not only by giving players inventive ways to kill, but also by giving them ...
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