Game Reviews

GO VACATION (Wii) [4/5]

If you’ve got Wii Sports Resort, then Go Vacation will ring a familiar bell. With some of us lucky to live in areas where these activities can be accessed, if you’re not, Go Vacation is not exactly the next best thing, but certainly a fun substitute. Select your Mii character avatar (you’ve by now certainly created), and head on out to explore Kawawii island, with its Marine, City, Snow and Mountain resort areas, packing in over four dozen summer and winter related sports and activities, or you can simply explore the island. Up to four players can enjoy tennis, horseback riding, golf, quad bikes, water-gun or light saber fights, arcade style games, jet skis, scuba diving, white water rafting, surfing, skiing, skydiving, car racing and loads more. As you progress, you get to claim your own island villa and decorate it according to your taste. There’s communication with other characters, and while this may all seem like a bit of The Sims, it is not as in-depth as that alternate world and focuses on the fun activities. Most peripheral controls get incorporated via the extensive game options, from the balance board to steering wheel. Don’t expect full-on realism, but rather a fun cartoon-style experience the whole family can enjoy. What would be a shame is if you are in fact on vacation by the seaside and you crash indoors playing this! Save it for when the sun is down or when you’re back home.

TETRIS (NINTENDO DS) [5/5]

My first encounter with Tetris was in the ’80s / ’90s cross-over, as one of the handful of games on my dad’s DOS word processor. While the graphics, various gaming modes, music and themes have been adapted and updated over the decades, it still boils down to the same basic addictive concept, whichever way you dress it up. For those moored in RPGs, or engulfed by first-person-shooters or football games, and unaware of Tetris – it’s a Russian designed puzzle game from the mid-’80s where the player has to arrange various falling block shapes, fitting them to fill up levels which is eliminated, avoiding it piling up to the top, resulting in a loss. Here Nintendo gives the enduring Tetris the portable 3D treatment. Advantage: it looks pretty cool. Disadvantage: the hypnotizing nature of Tetris will have you playing for eternity (if you didn’t need to eat, drink, and fulfil other essential functions of life), which can seriously mess with your eyesight in 3D mode so after a few minutes, pull the 3D slide down to 2D. Gaming options expand the basics to include up to 8 wi-fi linked multiple players (with a single game cartridge), and varied modes covering Marathon, Fever, Computer Battle and Survival, each giving the game a different angle (plus 9 Party Modes and on-line battle modes).

But the most exciting is the Augmented Reality option where you get to play 3D Tetris within your own environment!

DEAD RISING 2 Off The Record (Ps3) [4/5]

Fortune City. Frank West returns to kick some zombie ass. Having fallen from grace, the photo-journalist turned zombie killing hero has to claw his way back, and kick-starts this by taking part in the popular, super bloody pro wrestling style zombie-killing show, Terror Is Real. Expect a lot of splatter!

But, on the periphery issues like Zombie rights loom, and the antidote for those infected, Zombrex. Having been bitten, Frank is on this drug. It has to be taken every 24 hours. In this adult fun park where vice is rife, after his regrettable zombie showdown, the wise-ass Frank finds himself in a similar situation as the zombie outbreak where he was trapped and hailed a hero in the first instalment. With a few survivors they have to stay alive, but Frank also has to find Zombrex. With a lot of zombie destroying ahead of you, and a mystery to unravel, Frank gets to use his camera, but also partake in some anti-social behaviour like smashing slot machines and ATMs for the money!

People can drop in any time if you’re on-line for a co-op game (via transceiver calls), and you can go on a zombie slaying trip with a friend as you explore Fortune City. This is brought to you by Capcom (who can be considered zombie and survival horror experts with their brilliant Resident Evil series), so you can expect some high quality carnage.

With Halloween not far behind us, this is one for the adults with an 18 restriction.

UNCHARTED 3 Drake’s Deception (Ps3) [4/5]

Exclusive to PS3, the adventurous exploits of Nathan Drake hits the third chapter.

Covering 8 locations (incl. London, France, Syria, Yemen, and a Colombian flashback) with almost two dozen chapters, what can be seen as a male version of Tomb Raider delivers a sprawling 3rd person action-adventure loaded with a variety of exciting situations for tense moments and thrills wrapped around the storyline of the Campaign mode. It involves the treasure hunt for a valuable item and the lost city Iram of the Pillars. Other modes include Multi-Player (on-line or LAN connected, incl. a buddy system) and Co-op (on-line or split screen with another PS Network friend).

Previous characters like Drake’s partner Sullivan returns (and you get to find out how they connected), as well as Elena and Chloe. Clues and artefacts lead them on an exciting journey to many parts of the world, with ancient orders and villainous rivals standing in their way, dangerous situations in their quest leading to hand to hand combat, gun fights, perilous climbing & swinging, and the use of stealth when action is not called for.

From rooftops and deserts, to ships and airplanes, this should keep many quite occupied over the holidays. The game is also 3D compatible for those who’ve jacked up their gear in anticipation of this addition to the gaming realm.

Game Review: RESISTANCE 3 [4/5]

The third chapter of this popular first person sci-fi action shooter series is Move compatible. Set four years after Resistance 2, the new lead Joseph Capelli (who was dishonorably discharged) is hiding out with his wife and kid in Oklahoma, with one of the few surviving human resistance cells. The invading Chimera aliens have overrun the planet, but Dr. Malikov (the accidental creator of the hybrids) has a possible solution and Capelli has to travel to New York to help execute it (with a whole lot of intense fighting to be had).

At your disposal you have a range of weapons, like the Bulls-eye (with tracking capability), your Magnum (with explosive detonation), and energy-draining grenades. When it comes to shooting (as with driving games), the realism of the PS controls are never accurate enough, so with the incorporation of the Move control you have far more shooting capabilities as you take aim for real (instead of trying to move your target cursor with a joystick) – even better if you get yourself a Move Battle Rifle to slot your Move control into. On top of this, Resistance 3 can be played in regular mode or in 3D (if you have the correct screen). The reach goes further with on-line 16-player battles and 2-player co-op missions.

REVIEW: Paul Blom

Game Review: UFC PERSONAL TRAINER – The Ultimate Fitness System [3/5]

Everyone has a bit of bloodlust inside them. Some more than others. With too many rules in boxing and not enough reality in pro wrestling, those who want to experience real life gladiators (without the killing) settle for the Mixed Martial Arts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With these fighters in top shape, this title takes a step towards making it possible for gamers to discard pretending to beat up opponents in the gaming world, and dive into sculpting their own bodies, featuring around 70 approved exercises from the UFC and NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). Your BMI is calculated and this will determine calories burnt. Three real-life UFC trainers will take you through your paces, including Greg Jackson, Mark Dellagrotte and Javier Mendez, each with their specific regimes to follow. The kick and punch combos, floor-work and core exercises are dependent on the Move control which tracks your motion. (A holster is supplied to strap the control to your ankle for floor work). Categories you can target include strength building, weight cutting and endurance building and tackle a 60- or 90-day program to follow. This is more of a lifestyle accessory than a game.

REVIEW: Paul Blom

Game Review: SAW II – Flesh & Blood [3/5]

For those who don’t yet have Move controls, all games reviewed here (except UFC) can be played without it, but this one still depends solely on the joy-pad. With Halloween season, what better way to get into the swing of things than with this 2nd video game chapter of the popular horror movie franchise. For third person survival horror junkies and fans of the movies, this grisly, dark and creepy game will certainly satisfy. Set between the first and second movies, you’re in the unfortunate shoes of Michael (son of cop David Tapp from the first movie), trying to get to the bottom of his father’s death. This dumps him in the Jigsaw Killer’s sights. Clues and specific control combinations are hidden and hinted at throughout the game, as it kicks off where you wake up in a room, addressed by the TV puppet, needing to get out of a crushing head trap – the key sewn into your eye socket and a scalpel on the table… From here you’re part of Jigsaw’s meticulous game as you traverse your way through the decayed, dank and miserable building with its innovative and deadly traps. Naturally, this game has an 18 for violence, gore and language. Fans of the movie series will be glad to know that a DVD box set of the entire series is being released, and will feature at the HorrorFest late-October – www.horrorfest.info

REVIEW: Paul Blom

Game Review: LittleBigPlanet [4.5/5]

And after all the more intense gaming titles, some more tranquil, relaxed and non-threatening all-ages fun will do. The craft-style cardboard, fabric and sticker world of Sackboy’s LittleBigPlanet is a colourful, texture filled platform universe of imagination, loaded with all the elements you’d expect from the genre and fun puzzle solving entertainment, all with a fantastic visual style. Here DaVinci and The Alliance saves Sackboy from the Negativitron, and with his Pod you control his travels to new levels. The producers make full use of the controls including the Sixaxis motion control, and in addition your character’s physical abilities, emotional and personality expressions can also be displayed. And it goes a step further with the incorporation of the PlayStation Move controls for more immersion. What makes this so much more expansive is its ever-growing community of shared user-created content (which is pushing 4 million playable levels in the LBP2 community section). Check out www.LBP.me via your PlayStation Network. Downloadable content from the first game can also be used with this sequel. The makers plan to continue making new content available.

REVIEW: Paul Blom

GAME REVIEW: Resident Evil – The Mercenaries 3D [5/5] and Nintendo 3DS System [4/5]

Old-school and new generation gamers can both feel that the new 3D wave is simply another marketing ploy to galvanize consumers into a spending fit. But, once you pick up the new Nintendo 3DS portable system, you’ll wonder how you ever got by with its predecessor. The unique screen’s 3D look is quite remarkable and highly effective, complete and without the aid of any glasses! Additional menu functions include the 3DS Sound option to record and play with audio, such Wii functions as the creation of Mii characters, on-line connectivity and syncing with other players. And, you can take incredible 3D pictures! The touch screen stylus is now a more compact telescopic one. Face Raiders is an in-system game placing anyone’s face in the 3D action, your surroundings the background. More software can be added down the line, as with iPod apps. Another built in blast is the phenomenal Augmented Reality Nintendo (used in co-operation with the supplied cards). The software recognizes the card and from it sprouts totally 3D objects anchored in your real surroundings and reality popping up or sinking into your real world. You can move 360 degrees around these objects as they make a part of your surroundings.The health warning is not there to annoy you, as children under 6 can get vision damage. After my first bash, I had a bit of a dizzy result (not taking the recommended breaks!) The 3D effect can be adjusted to 2D. With so much encapsulated in this system even before you get cracking on a game, the possibilities are far-reaching. Which brings us to RESIDENT EVIL – The Mercenaries 3D. Being one of my all-time favourite survival horror games, I was pretty damn excited to take the 3DS on its maiden cruise with this one. After some training levels to get to know your characters movements, interaction & weapon handling, you’re off on a new eye-popping trip with this terrifying franchise. Series veterans like Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are in the character roster (with more to unlock), and the expected range of firepower and villainous zombies & freaks are on hand to blow away, the creepy factor as high as always. Duo-play with another 3DS gamer has many advantages including resuscitating your partner and Internet play takes you global. (18 for violence).

GAME REVIEW: Marvel SUPER HERO SQUAD – The Infinity Gauntlet X-BOX [3/5]

Old-school and new generation gamers can both feel that the new 3D wave is simply another marketing ploy to galvanize consumers into a spending fit. But, once you pick up the new Nintendo 3DS portable system, you’ll wonder how you ever got by with its predecessor. The unique screen’s 3D look is quite remarkable and highly effective, complete and without the aid of any glasses! Additional menu functions include the 3DS Sound option to record and play with audio, such Wii functions as the creation of Mii characters, on-line connectivity and syncing with other players. And, you can take incredible 3D pictures! The touch screen stylus is now a more compact telescopic one. Face Raiders is an in-system game placing anyone’s face in the 3D action, your surroundings the background. More software can be added down the line, as with iPod apps. Another built in blast is the phenomenal Augmented Reality Nintendo (used in co-operation with the supplied cards). The software recognizes the card and from it sprouts totally 3D objects anchored in your real surroundings and reality popping up or sinking into your real world. You can move 360 degrees around these objects as they make a part of your surroundings.The health warning is not there to annoy you, as children under 6 can get vision damage. After my first bash, I had a bit of a dizzy result (not taking the recommended breaks!) The 3D effect can be adjusted to 2D. With so much encapsulated in this system even before you get cracking on a game, the possibilities are far-reaching. Which brings us to RESIDENT EVIL – The Mercenaries 3D. Being one of my all-time favourite survival horror games, I was pretty damn excited to take the 3DS on its maiden cruise with this one. After some training levels to get to know your characters movements, interaction & weapon handling, you’re off on a new eye-popping trip with this terrifying franchise. Series veterans like Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are in the character roster (with more to unlock), and the expected range of firepower and villainous zombies & freaks are on hand to blow away, the creepy factor as high as always. Duo-play with another 3DS gamer has many advantages including resuscitating your partner and Internet play takes you global. (18 for violence).

GAME REVIEW: Ghost of Sparta PSP [3/5]

If you’re still in that Clash of the Titans and 300 mood, this second PSP Ghost of War version will transport you to this vicious ancient world of living myths and legends.  Kratos, now a God, is plagued by visions of his past mortality and sets out to find its source.  It takes him to the Temple of Poseidon within Atlantis, with a well stocked supply of enemies and gigantic beasts & sea creatures to battle along the way.  With an epic cinematic scope and feel with the animated bridging scenes, you get to choose difficulty of Mortal, Hero, Spartan, or God.  Machismo won’t help you by going straight for the God setting, as it will take some quick fingers and patience to hack and slash your way through this.

GAME REVIEW: GRAN TURISMO 5 (PlayStation 3) [5/5]

I remember how impressed I was when the first Gran Turismo game arrived in the late-’90s, living in my PS One for quite a stretch. Placing it beside the current 5th chapter on the 3rd PlayStation generation, the improvements are vast. Together with HD screen development over that period, we hardly envisioned these advances when we were grinding away the tracks, drifting before we knew it would become a legitimate style. Over a decade later and the improvements have multiplied beyond exponentially with each new instalment of this ultimate racing game exclusive to PS. The range & amount of cars to access, the jacked-up realism, souped-up performance, and on-line connectivity for a global race of real drivers as opposed to you against the CPU, sends it way out there.  Production vehicles, racing models, F1 and go-karts, it’s all here with over 1000 cars from all manufacturers, across world renowned courses, city streets, drifting locations and respected rally tracks. Prepare yourself!

Game Review: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – Fate of Two Worlds (PlayStation 3)

If you’re a fan of either the world renowned Marvel comic book heroes and villains, or the trusted Capcom gaming characters, this will be right up your alley.  For someone who is an avid fan of both these brands, you’ve hit the frickin’ jackpot!  The spectacular opening sequence (with a great blended 3D & comic book look) is guaranteed to get your gaming fingers itching. These two worlds collide when Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom and Resident Evil nemesis Wesker forms an unholy alliance. This may well be the ultimate tag fighting match as you get to choose any 3 characters on your side for one hell of a beat-’em-up experience, filling the screen with fast-paced intense action and crazy special moves and combos unique to each character. With almost 40 of them (19 from each side), there is no shortage when it comes to diverse characters and powers. They’re all 3D, not flat comic book “cutouts”. You may not be familiar with all of these, but you’re set to get very well acquainted with all of them if this is your kind of PS3 poison. With the recent serious security breach of the global PlayStation Network, I’d wait a while before going on-line though..

Reviewed  By   :   Paul Blom

Game Review: Singstar – Afrikaans Treffers (PS3)

The popularity of Afrikaans music is undeniable in SA (But… how many of those Afrikaans PS3 players have Singstar microphones, and like the more frivolous pop derivative selected for this collection?  The 25 song choices for this local flavoured karaoke ride includes radio fodder from cheesy pop and boyband extractions, to not-as-funny comedy tracks, crooning, and soppy love songs, from Dozi, Eden, David Fourie, Die Campbells, Ray Dylan, Nadine, and Robbie Wessels (solo and with Bok Van Blerk), to Blackie Swart, Snotkop, Juanita Du Plessis, Gerhard Steyn, and of course, Kurt Darren.  Songs with a little bit extra come from Theuns Jordaan, Steve Hofmeyr, Romanz, Karen Zoid, Jak De Priester, and surprisingly Idols winner Heinz Winckler.  But two of the highlights are worlds apart – the only vintage classic being Gé Korsten’s Liefling, while a new school Zef Rap classic is the sore (but very welcome) thumb of Jack Parow’s Jy Dink Jy’s Cooler As Ekke (censored of course). Even if you don’t understand Afrikaans (being one of our almost one dozen official languages, we ought to speak at least two) it could actually be a lot more fun because of that very fact.  So, gryp julle mikrofone en laat die jol begin!

Reviewed  By   :   Paul Blom

Game Review: More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima – How Old Is Your Brain? (Nintendo DS)

The first Brain Training games on the DS were quite an eye-opener on how lazy our brains can get, and this edition reminds you how long ago you tackled those various brain tuning exercises (speaking from experience!). With some very well planned exercises to regain your brain’s actual age by keeping its various sectors active and alert, these include: math related problem solving, music key recognition, word analysis and unravelling, day and date matching, working out money change and more. Sound dull? The way it is presented makes it a fun, challenging game, utilizing voice commands and physical writing on the touch screen with your DS stylus. Relaxing your prefrontal cortex comes in the shape of Germ Buster, a Tetris-style game lining up capsules and germs of the same colour to eradicate them. Brain Age Check Tests include a voice activated Rock, Paper, Scissors game; Continuous Countdown has you subtracting the same designated number from a high one, all the way down; Speedy Symbols has specific symbols assigned to the numbers 0-9, and when they flash on screen, you need to jot down their symbol as quickly as possible. These games seem simple until you get into them, and make you realize how lazy your brain can be. A daily run-through can greatly help in getting you back on track.

Reviewed  By   :   Paul Blom

Game Review : FABLE III (Xbox 360)

Set half a century after the 2nd Fable instalment, again the primary essence of this action Role Playing Game is choice. By interacting with a variety of Albion inhabitants, your decisions have a direct impact on the course of the tale, and your fate. Make nasty choices and you head down the path of evil, while a more virtuous life will result in rising to becoming a great and influential figure. After choosing your gender, you go out into the world with the potential to lead Albion down a fortuitous road, or dark destruction as you decide on your actions, contributing to the changing of your appearance and villagers’ reaction towards you. Even your diet and fighting style translates to your appearance.  Your loyal dog follows you everywhere and will prove indispensable, from assisting in combat to finding treasure.  Magic also comes into play with spells and potions. You can also have sex, get married and start a family! Special downloads are available on-line. Going out into this free-roaming Steam-Punk slanted realm, exploring could become more interesting than the real lives of the gamers sinking their teeth into this virtual existence!

Reviewed  By   :   Paul Blom