Critical Gauge replaces the Soul Gauge and allows you to use the Critical Edge, Brave Edge, and Guard Impact mechanics dependent on how full your meter is.  The new Critical Gauge works in a similar fashion to Street Fighter IV’s Super and Ultra Combos.  Guard Impact has changed in SCV, now repelling attacks regardless of the attack attribute, if pulled off at the right moment.  This doesn’t help against unblockable attacks, throws, or Critical Edges however.  The most noticeable difference is that you are no longer able to parry attacks.  Just Impact is gone and has been replaced with Just Guard which, if timed right, will allow you to move faster than normal guard and you can use it against unblockable attacks.  Quick Step allows you to dodge vertical attacks as well as gain a better position to attack your opponent.  You will see your character get blurry with white speed lines when executed properly.  Stagger Recovery from SCIV seems to have disappeared as well.  Getting up after being knocked down can be a very difficult task here as your opponent will be relentless in attacking you once you are down.  Critical Finish and Soul Crush have been removed from SCV completely.  Equipment destruction is still a mechanic however there is no armor gauge indicator as to when it will happen.

There are plenty of game modes for online and offline play.  For local and single players, you can play the Story mode called Story ~ 1607 A.D. ~, Arcade, Quick Battle, Vs Battle, Legendary Souls (unlocks once you complete Story mode), and Training.  Online modes include Ranked and Player matches and the new Global Colosseo lobby.

The story mode is a little disappointing as you can only play through it using set characters like Patroklos, Pyrrha, and a few others to follow the game’s main story line unlike in previous games where you could play through with each character to follow their individual story and how they all come together.  Playing through the story mode will unlock characters, stages, and more. Story mode uses a mix of cut scenes and charcoal-styled drawings to push the story along.  While the charcoal drawings are nice, I was a little disappointed that there weren’t more cut scenes.  I just find that cut scenes keep me into the story more so than watching the camera pan across a drawing whilst dialog is being spoken.  Arcade mode consists of six stages of battle with four different routes: Standard, Europe, Asia, and Leaderboard.  You can set the difficulty before you start.  Quick Battle allows you to fight varying opponents and will unlock titles that you can set in your Player License.  You can choose from a list of opponents before play quick battle.  VS Battle allows you to select the stage and your opponent and allows you to play against the CPU, friends, or just watch a CPU vs CPU battle.  You can choose the settings like number of rounds and battle time prior to the match.  Once you complete the story mode, you will unlock Legendary Souls, which is a series of CPU battles on high difficulty.

Fighting over Xbox Live allows you to fight ranked games that will affect your Xbox Live ranking or you can play more casually with player matches or in the new Global Colosseo, a lobby that can accommodate up to 100 players where you can chat, battle, or spectate.

If you have played any of the Soul Calibur games, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue just picking up SCV and playing. However, you will notice that the changes to the battle system results in you getting your ass kicked…a lot.  I will admit that when it comes to fighting games I lie in between button masher and move learner.  I’ll learn a few key moves and then button mash my way through matches.  This has worked in the past but it seems that this new generation of fighting games has made button mashing a very limited mechanic.  I ended up spending a grip of time in the Training mode.  Training modes in most fighting games can be a frustrating experience.  No fighting game trainer has been better than the one in the Virtua Fighter series and it annoys me that none of the other fighters will use this system.  In the SCV trainer, you have to go to a Moves List in the pause menu.  From there you can sift through the TON of moves your character has as well as select a move and watch each one as they are supposed to look when executed correctly.  However, in order to practice said move, you have to back out of the menu to get back to training and then remember the move.  Easier said than done as some of these moves are quite complicated.  The player input is shown on the screen but that doesn’t help when you can’t remember the actual move.  At any rate, I have learned enough moves to help me complete a good portion of the game but not without wishing it was with Virtua Fighter training.

Timing is especially important in gaming and is one of the things that fighting games really focus on.  For the most part, I noticed that getting the timing just right is relatively easy in SCV.  Another thing to note is that you really have to be fast with your attacks.  If you aren’t, your opponent will hit you with a barrage of attacks that will leave you almost completely helpless.  I have played against the CPU where I wasn’t able to get one single hit in because the opponent simply never let up, ever.  I also found that once you start getting your ass handed to you, it doesn’t stop.  The more you lose, the harder they seem to get, to the point of having to quit the battle and restart it.  Honestly, I don’t know if this is because it is getting harder or if I am simply getting so frustrated and tired that I let up.  I noticed that when April played against the CPU, she experienced similar scenarios.  Character balance seems off as characters that wield much heavier weapons seems to be just as fast as those that use smaller, faster types of weapons.  Doesn’t seem very fair that a character like Nightmare can swing his sword as swift as a character like Natsu and her Ninja blades.

Character Creation is back and has some improvements.  You can edit character height and weight as well as edit separate parts of the body.  You can create a character from scratch or based upon an existing character and you can choose to make a male or female version.  You can even use male equipment on females and vice versa although not everything will be available.  You can change the color of the weapons as well as their visual affects like the weapon trail color and the effect the weapon has when landing an attack.  Items are unlock throughout gameplay, gone is the credit and store system as in previous game’s creation modes.  You can spend HOURS creating a custom character and you can save up to 50 of them, so have fun!  In SCV, however, the equipment is simply aesthetic and does not enhance your character in any way other than looks.

Since Soul Calibur II (skipping SCIII), each game has introduced a guest character.  A few have been console specific but in SCV both the Xbox and PS3 versions feature Ezio Auditore da Firenze from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series.  Another special character is Katsuhiro Harada, producer of both the Soul Calibur and Tekken series.  He appears in the Quick Battle mode as Harada TEKKEN and once defeated will unlock the Devil Jin style.  I have faced him once and was not able to defeat him…yet…however, it seems to be a random appearance as he has not shown up again since.  Dampierre is a returning character (from Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)) however he is a pre-order bonus and requires a code to unlock.

Overall, Soul Calibur V is a great fighting game and is worthy of the series.  Barring some slight character balancing issues and a slight learning curve to adjust to the changes in the battle system, Soul Calibur V is a game you will likely spend hours on playing with friends online or locally or just fighting lone battles against the CPU.  The story mode in SCV is probably the weakest of the major console versions, but seriously, who really plays a fighting game just for the story?  The graphics are gorgeous, as usual, despite my disappointment in the lack of cut scenes in the story mode and I really found myself enjoying the music this time around.  The dialog is over the top ridiculous along with the voice acting, but again, who chooses a fighting game based on voice acting?  If you are a fan of the Soul Calibur series or fighting games in general, you won’t want miss this one!

Soul Calibur V is rated T for Teen and is available now for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  A review copy was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

Before I do so, let me first just say that the game is great, and if you liked the first one, there is no reason not to get the second to complete the collection. I just wish that there was some sort of connection between each game; a way to import data to tell the second game what you have accomplished in the previous game(s). Any other issues you can read about in my review of the first game, as they are essentially the same.

The developers at Telltale Games continue to refine the gameplay, but that has become inconsequential because it doesn’t really matter if you fall off a cliff or lose all your hearts, and that’s really the worst thing that will happen to you in the game. There isn’t really a whole lot of new items and spells, most of them make a return from the first game. The cooperative play is as good/bad as ever, with easy drop in and out, the ability to switch characters on the fly, and an embarrassing wealth of hidden collectables to find and unlock.

And why change? The formula for these games is practically flawless for what it is: fans of the movies get to cooperatively play in an interactive playground with the characters they know and love. These games have evolved in such a way that gives them so much charm, that it becomes difficult to judge the game based on a system of pros and cons. I can only judge them based on how well they did the job of capturing the magic of the movies for me.

In one broad paint-stroke, I will say that Years 5-7 has done the best so far of all the series to convey the basic story of the movies to the players. Scenes are easily and readily recognizable, and played out through Lego characters that express themselves extremely well despite only being able to grunt and emote. I laughed several times at the genuinely creative way they recreated all the important scenes of the movies, whether in cut-scenes or within play. All the epic scenes in the movie are epically charming in the game, and this is strangely true for even the most dramatic moments.

It is clear that the creators spent less time trying to redefine the genre, and really focused on story telling, and that’s where I realized that this has become a genre of art; it’s own class of interactive story-telling; a way of extending the life of a great movie even beyond its own bounds. And it does so by appealing to the very core element that draws casual gamer to get sucked into Bejeweled or the hardcore gamer to WOW: the need to get everything.

It baits you with Lego studs that permeate the entire game with various alluring colors like blue and gold. The feeling you get when you wave your wand at a statue and watch it dance, sing, then explode with studs flying everywhere is similar to being in one of those cash booths with bills flying in your face: one part excitement, one part panic, and eight parts smiles.

You have to enjoy this exhibit with a friend, otherwise the experience is stifled. Getting immediate feedback on the effectiveness of a cut-scene, wandering off in separate directions without a clue as to what the other person is doing, and exiting an area while the other person is still exploring has become the joy that is the Lego games.

If you and a friend, significant other, or child enjoy the Harry Potter movies, then this exhibit is worth the price of admission. You will enjoy hours upon of casting fun spells to solve simple yet fun puzzles, collecting countless Lego studs and bricks, and unlocking a plethora of characters and costumes. It will make you laugh, it will never make you cry, and best of all, it’s fun for the whole family.

LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Nintendo DS, 3DS, and PC.

A review copy of the game was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Normally, I would wander around and check out the world. I may not even talk to anyone before I kill someone or something. When I played Oblivion, I wandered into some random dungeon through what probably was a back door. I killed a bunch of guys I didn’t even know (they attacked me first, by the way), and ended up with some pretty cool equipment. Then I discovered there was a story.

With only three hours to play, I wanted to explore the story. If you have played Oblivion, wandering around the landscape is largely the same, except the graphics are pretty stunning…and oh, you can collect bugs along with the normal foraging for herbs and spices. However, it’s the story that sometimes gets lost in the mix of wandering around taking on side-quests in such a huge, open world.

It would seem that the first 45 minutes of the game is where you will be learning the ropes and building up your character a bit before you are turned loose into the open world. There is a story there, something about a dragon, but it was hard to catch on in such a limited time. I know there are dragons in the game, so nothing new there. After wandering around for a while running from wolves, seemingly weaponless, I bumped into some NPCs at a little cottage. Apparently I know one of the guys there, and he tells me to go to Riverwood to meet the Jarl.

So without a thought to check for a menu system (with a card in front of me that shows me what all the buttons do), I wandered around until I found Riverwood. In Riverwood, I bought a sword and found the Jarl; pretty easily actually. He tells me that one of his wizards is looking for a Dragon Stone, whatever that is. They need me to get it, and that’s good enough for me. So I set off on my way to retrieve the stone, which wasn’t far away. My sword didn’t auto-equip, so I opened the menu for the first time, and lo and behold, I already had a sword…and armor…and magick. So, I wasted my money, but at least I got to see how purchasing an item worked.

So, with my weapon in hand and donning my armor, I used the map to try to find the area the stone was hidden. It seemed I couldn’t find my way up there head on, so I wandered around the mountain where it seemed to be located. Along the way, I bumped into a giant. It killed me with one swing of his hammer, but he looked good doing it. My second attempt at finding the stone took me up a mountain trail. Soon I was in an amazing snow storm. I could see individual snowflakes! Truly stunning. Good thing I picked a Nord, because Nords have resistance to cold, and it was cold! Before I knew it, I arrived at my destination and facing off with some bandits. I dispatched them quickly and headed indoors.

Inside, I made my way through dungeon corridors. Bumping into some more bandits, I snuck up on one and laid an amazing shot on him. There was a cut-scene that showed me slicing the guy in half! Very cool stuff. I continued forward and at one turn, I saw a guy with his back to me. I tried to sneak up on him too, but as I did, he walked up to a lever on the floor and pulled it. Arrows shot out of the walls at him, killing him instantly. Poor sucker set off a trap! I figured out the puzzle that would keep me from getting pelted by the arrow trap and forged ahead. A deadly spider forced me to to use my magick.

The magick system is a little different from previous titles. For example, healing is not a one-shot casting. You cast it and you heal over time while casting it. You can heal more by continuing to hold down the magick button. After fishing around the menu a bit, I found that I not only had a healing spell, but a destructive spell too. I could cast fire, which should work great against a spider and his webs. Sadly, he killed me as I was setting to blast him away. On my second try, I realized that I was ready to level up! OK, so I missed that initially, but I was happy to get more powerful.

To level up, it asked me if I wanted more health, stamina or magick. After I chose stamina, I was taken to this screen with a circle of constellations, each one representing a perk I could upgrade. My flame magick was one of the choices, so I bumped that up a notch. My second try with the spider proved more fruitful, as I set the bad boy on fire and slashed at him with a sword I picked up off one of the bandits.

An NPC that was trapped by the spider forced me to make a moral decision. I won’t go into detail about that, but soon after, I was ambushed by some skeletal warriors. These weren’t random skeletal warriors, I had wandered into their crypt! Oops, sorry guys! Oh well, they didn’t accept my apology, and after several tries I finally destroyed them. One of them had a very nice axe that I procured. Another had a pretty sweet bow and some arrows. Soon, I was a walking armory and I leveled up again. I chose more stamina and more fire. Now I could cast fire with two hands if I wanted, and I did.

A little deeper into the dungeon I faced off with a skeletal mage. He was sucking my life force away, so I sent a fireball at him. I must say that the fireball spell kicks butt! It was simple and small ball of flame that flew to its target and exposed. Awesome. I pressed forward until I found the stone I was looking for. I went up to it and it said that I learned some strange word and it seemed like I had completed my task. After another no-so-surprising ambush, I pushed on.

It seemed I was now moving upwards towards the surface. After a few more battles, all of them pretty fun and tense, I found a large door with a puzzle. The puzzle was fairly easy and I had solved it as a Bethesda representative tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I needed help, and that there was a clue in my inventory. He realized I had just solved the puzzle and let me continue on my journey.

Soon I was on the surface again, and I quick-traveled back to Riverwood. After finding the Jarl again, and receiving some praise in the process, I was asked to defend the west tower from a dragon. Apparently my character has some limited experience in this sort of thing. Well, this sounded pretty intriguing, so I went off in search of the west tower. I didn’t actually have to search at all, as I was led there by a humble little unit of soldiers that seemed ready to fight a dragon.

Good thing they were ready, because as soon as we found the tower, we were attacked. The dragon was big, beautiful, and powerful. However, with my new bow and arrow that I had snagged from the newly re-dead skeleton in the dungeon, I plucked at it from above as my companions sniped and stabbed it from below. Soon it was slain and I leveled up again. After snagging some body parts from the dragon, the representative returned and said that I should just wander around some more as my time was running out.

So I did, and that concluded my three hours of play. Now to back-track a touch, I wanted to talk about the character creation process. As it turns out, you do not pick a class. This is not a bad thing, as you are going to shape your character by the way you play anyway. You can pick your race, and if you have played Oblivion, you will notice that there is nothing new here except how detailed each of the races are now. It’s hard to believe that this is the same system that released Oblivion. You will get to tweak your character’s facial features a bunch, so you can basically make your character look just about anyway you want. It’s slick, easy, a beautiful.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is every bit a sequel to Oblivion as it is a spiritual successor to Fallout 3. The combination is astounding and if my very limited time with the game is any indication, this is going to be one hell of a game.  The two greatest games this year are fixing to come out in November and they both have Sky in the title. Can you guess the other title? I thought so.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due out on November 11, 2011 for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

For those new to the genre, the game will take you through a quick tutorial that explains the basics while putting you through the motions. This serves as a quick and easy guide to all the tricks you will need to survive. It also will quickly explain special moves the first time you are expected to use them. This makes it simple for anyone to pick up and play.

And for those who are familiar with this series, you will notice some major changes right from the get go. The opening credits are pretty exciting and sets you up for a whole new type of adventure. You will be gunning down enemies from a chopper, painting targets from a bomber, and flying a whole arsenal of death machines.

But you won’t be mindlessly facing off with nameless Migs. There is a story here too. While it’s little predictable and cliche, it is penned by the best-selling military author Jim DeFelice, so the set-up and dialogue are solid and makes the combat much more interesting. This is especially true when you start facing off with characters you know, but enough about the story before I start spoiling things. Let’s just say that there is a decent story behind the whole thing which makes it a little more engrossing and fun.

The real fun comes with the flying. Flying is simple and intuitive, and while you may feel lost in the skies at times, the H.U.D. really helps keep you on track while never feeling in the way. It tells you where you enemy is, when you are locked on, and when someone is locking on to you. It also tells you when you can enter dogfight mode, which is a really cinematic roller-coaster ride.

You can perform all sorts of aerial combat tricks, and you can enjoy watching your flying prowess by changing your view to behind your aircraft or in the cockpit. One of the best moves is the one Maverick made famous in Top Gun where you apply the brakes hard when you are being tailed so they fly right by you, then you lock on to them and blow them out of the skies. Yes, you get to do that maneuver in this game. And just when things start to get a little repetitive, the game throws a different challenge at you.

There is online co-op featured in this game, and while it is fun, it’s a little too chaotic to really get any kind of synchronous strategy going with a partner. The real fun is just flying solo and kicking butt through the campaign. And that’s really enough to make this game a standout in flight combat games. Don’t expect Crimson Skies here, this is a much more fast-paced,  in-your-face, dogfighting flight game that makes you feel like the Ice-Man.

I recommend this game to anyone that has enjoyed the After Burner series or really loved the combat scenes in Top Gun. If you are new to flight games, there will be a little bit of a learning curve, but the game takes you through the paces slowly enough to learn on the go without making it too easy for those with experience.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is rated T for Teen and is available for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

A review copy was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.  This review is based on the Xbox 360 version.

Nintendo has released several versions of this game over the years: If you pre-ordered Wind Waker, you were treated to a disc with several classic Zelda games. The disc also featured a version of Ocarina of Time that included some slightly updated graphics and an additional Master Quest, an odd re-mix of the original quest with some twists. There was also a version released for the Wii’s Virtual Console. This version is a faithful recreation of the original game. With all these remakes and re-releases, should you even spend the money to buy this version? ABSOLUTELY!

If you were too young to be introduced to Ocarina of Time, this is the way to play it. And if you are one of the many gamers that have beaten this game several times, this is the way to play it. This remake does so much more than simply rehash the same adventure. It fixes many of the small issues that you may have by playing the original cartridge.

First and most significant is the menu system. Having to pause the game and go to a multi-screen menu to equip the iron boots was a huge problem in the original, especially in the water temple. The developers recognized this issue and made the iron and hover boots items you can assign to one of the four shortcut buttons on the touchscreen. They also moved the Save option to the Start button, which solves the problem of going to that Save screen when you accidentally press the wrong button when exiting the inventory screen. It’s remarkable how they were able to get so much functionality out of so few buttons.

They also really updated the graphics. What’s truly amazing about this update is that they stayed true to the original source, but beefed up the detail and textures to add more life to everything. There are some debates out there that maybe they didn’t do enough. I am going to disagree with that notion and state that the feel of the original game was so integral to the experience, and updating the graphics too much would take away from the nostalgic feeling that veterans of the game will experience.

The updated graphics actually make things easier to see subtle details and clues. In the Water Temple, there is a cut-scene that subtly hints at a hidden passageway under a floating block. In the original, I completely missed that because the graphics were a little hazy. In this version, it was clear that there was a gaping hole. It’s easier to notice the Tri-Force symbols that are strewn around various dungeons. And they did it without sacrificing the images conjured by my memories of the first game, it enhances them.
The most dynamic change to the graphics is the 3D. Since this was one of the games to bring video games into the 3rd dimension, it is only appropriate to remake it in true glasses-free 3D. And it looks great. I would argue that is actually makes things a little easier, especially when tracking the distance of those pesky Keese or when playing energy-bolt tennis with Phantom Gannon and Gannondorf. Navi and the Deku Tree have never looked better.

The game uses the gyroscope to allow you to look around the environment by moving the 3DS unit around. When you go into a first-person perspective or aim the hookshot, bow, slingshot, and boomerang, you can either use the analog stick to look around or move the 3DS around. It’s like your DS is a virtual window into Hyrule. It is a neat addition that makes aiming a bit easier. Be careful and make sure that you are turning with the 3DS or else you will lose the 3D effect and the screen will get blurry and make you dizzy. For those who don’t like the 3D, or it makes them feel dizzy, you can just turn it down or off. Some people turn it off when they are in first-person. I personally like it on all the time. One thing I noticed is that there is a weird paradox while using the gyroscope to look around. You don’t have to turn all the way around to see behind you as Link turns much faster than you do. It only takes a quarter turn for you to see directly behind Link.

Nintendo has also included the Master Quest! This odd, and challenging remix that was introduced in the Master Quest re-release for the Gamecube takes the game and flips it around, as well as changes up some of creatures you find in the dungeons. It’s amazing how turned around you will get in the Master Quest after you get familiar with the layout of the original.

Another inclusion is a boss challenge mode. You can relive any boss battle you have already completed. There is a timer so you can go online to see how you stack up against others. It’s actually kind of nice to have a chance to practice these battles so when you play through the game again, you stand a better chance, especially in the Master Quest.

Best of all, the game is portable. It may be worth the purchasing a 3DS just to get a chance to play it. If you don’t believe me, borrow it from someone first and you will see what I mean. This is truly a worthy remake of one of the greatest video games in history.

You choose from one of four pre-made characters. Lucas – a fighter, Katarinna – a gunner, Anjali – a shapeshifter, and Reinhart, and entropic mage. Like most of these types of games, the characters are secondary to the action, however Square-Enix goes out of its way to give these characters some personality. Since the characters are all pre-made, they are featured with full voice-acting in both the cut-scenes and during the action.

Most cut-scenes feature a dialogue wheel where you can choose your responses to non-player characters. While most of these are pretty straight forward, some of them offer some real moral dilemmas and will force you to make some pretty tough decisions. For the most part, the meat of the game isn’t changed by these choices, there are ultimately some consequences to your actions that make it interesting to play through the game a second time.

Leveling-up is a little confusing at first, but it turns out to be a fairly simple. Part of the learning curve deals with a new concept to these types of games: Stances. You have two offensive Stances and a defensive Stance. You assign Abilities to each Stance and you can enhance them with Proficiencies. Then you select a Talent, or power-up a talent up to five times. Talents give you bonuses that improve your attacks, healing, or giving you bonuses when you are hit.

Most of my confusion stemmed from the names they chose for everything. Having played many a table-top game, I’m used to Abilities and Proficiencies being very different so it took me a bit to absorb the way they use them.
Here is the problem: you don’t have a lot of options to create really unique characters. To keep the flow of the story going, Square Enix chooses to make you fill the shoes of one of their heroes instead of allowing you to create a hero in their universe. There are two advantages: it simplifies an otherwise cumbersome leveling-up process and it allows your character to have a voice and personality in the cut-scenes.

I honestly prefer to be able to create my own character and choose spells and weapon proficiencies instead of being forced into a limited path. While Dungeon Siege 3 simplifies things quite a bit, it’s also a very constricting format. As a spell-caster, I like to choose various elemental attacks, yet I am forced into using electricity and entropy as my only options. The only way I can use other elemental attacks is by equipping certain weapons. Much of the fun of these types of games is finding a power combination that works best for you. This game limits those choices to the Proficiencies that you choose to add to your Abilities and the equipment you choose. And while the process of leveling-up your character is fairly simple, your equipment management is incredibly complex and confusing.

There are tons of weapons and armor in this game. Equipment comes in different varieties from Normal to Unique, and many have special attributes, such as Doom and Fire. The menu displays how equipping a certain item will affect your character’s attributes, but its effect changes based on your Stance, so you have to balance weapon sets for each Stance. Also, you have to use the in-game guide to understand what each of the attributes do. Weapons and armor have so many traits that you will probably be spending most of your time in the equipment menu trying to put together the best combination for your enemy. Unfortunately that comes at the expense of the co-op experience.

When playing local multi-player, you can’t level-up your characters at the same time. In games that are over ten years old, you had a split-screen so you didn’t have to wait for your partner to level-up their character before you started on yours. Missing the split-screen really pushes you to hurry your Attribute, Proficiency and Talent selection. This goes the same for equipment management. You share equipment, so one player can sell off your equipment or use an item that you would like to use. It’s kind of nice that you can look at your whole party’s equipment all at once, but it also adds to the confusion of managing the whole thing, and only one player may equip themselves at a time, so you have to wait for your partner to check out the new item they picked up before you can look at yours.

You also have to carry equipment for the other two characters you are not using. You can switch between the four pre-made characters and level them up as you choose. However, if you are going to use them, you better use them throughout the game as you have to equip them and level them up as you go. This encourages you stick with one character through the whole thing, for better or worse.

When you are playing co-op, the person who starts the game is in control. They control the camera and they choose which character will be the focus of the story. The second player can add and drop at any time, and each time they join, they have to choose one of the other three characters. It’s strange at first, but after awhile you realize this just gives player two more options, although I feel it is best to stick with one character through the whole quest.

The story continues the lore of the Kingdom of Ehb on the continent of Aranna. This was the setting for the first two games, although Dungeon Siege 3 takes place approximately 150 years after the first game. It is clear the developers put a lot of emphasis on the lore of their world, as you can read all about it by examining books and papers that you find throughout the game. The story is affected by the choices you make, which makes you think about some of the moral dilemmas the game puts you in from time to time. You will be saving, judging, and killing a variety of characters, but in the end the only thing that will matter to you is the combat and the treasure it yields.

Combat is pretty chaotic; it’s fast paced and the enemies will surround and overwhelm you at every turn. Unless you have a ton of protection, you will be doing a lot of stick and run maneuvers as you try to avoid the main crowd of enemies. It’s fun, especially with two players, yet a bit repetitive. Understanding how all of your stats work together and how that affects gameplay is tricky. While there are a ton of ways to buff your characters, I have a hard time actually figuring out what I’m doing that makes my character stronger in certain instances.

Fortunately, the controls themselves are simple enough. Your character responds well, however I have a hard time trying to activate my powered-up abilities because I have a hard time figuring out when I can use them. You need to have enough mana and spheres to activate them, and in the din of combat you have to be sharp to find the right time to use them. It’s still a joy to rip through a hoard of enemies with a friend.

And that is what is most important in a game like this. Square Enix has kept it simple and it’s a fun game for friends and couples to enjoy together.

Dungeon Siege III is rated T for Teen and is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

A review copy was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.

They do this through their new controller. It features a standard set of buttons, which includes two analog circle-pads, a d-pad, a four-button layout, two shoulder buttons, and two triggers. All these buttons surround a 6.2″ resistive* touch screen. The demo they showed featured several interesting ways that developers might use the new controller.

First they showed that you can switch the game display from the TV to the new 6.2″ controller screen. The controller, while not a portable device, can work independently of the television because it is receiving a wireless video signal directly from the console. This allows you to use the controller while the TV is on another channel or even while the TV is off.

Next they showed someone using the controller as a drawing tablet to draw a picture of Link. As he drew, the full-color picture was shown both on the controller and on the television screen. This demonstration also showed that the the controller monitor will have a 16:9 aspect ratio that is standard with all HD televisions.

Then they showed the controller on a tabletop with two players playing Othello on the controller monitor. One player was shown clearing the game pieces from the controller screen by tilting the controller on its side. The pieces just fell right off the screen. This shows that the controller can be used to stream two-player board games from the console directly to the tablet so you can use the tablet as a game board.

In a neat little demonstration, they showed that playing defense in baseball can be redefined with the new controller. On the TV was the normal view you might see in a baseball game, with the camera over the shoulder of the pitcher. The controller showed a different view: the catcher’s mitt with crosshairs to indicate where the pitch would travel. Once the hitter hit the ball, the screen switched to an outfielders view where you “aim” the controller at the ball to catch it. Before we get too excited at this though, it is important to point out that this particular demo only featured one controller being passed from one player to the next.

Next up was one of the more unique uses for the controller. The controller was placed on the ground in front of the TV and it showed a golf ball lying in a sand trap. The player stood to the side of the controller with a WiiMote and when she swung, you could see sand fly up on the new controller as the ball flew on the big TV screen.

Then the demo focused on how the controller can work both for casual gamers and hardcore gamers. For casual gamers, they showed that you can use Wii Fit without even turning the TV on. Just grab the Wii U controller and stand on the Wii Fit board. For the hardcore crowd, you can use the controller in conjuntion with a special gun peripheral that allows you to use the screen as an aiming device, like looking through a sniper scope or down a gun’s crosshairs. In the demo, the Wii U screen showed a close-up view of the virtual world displayed on the TV, and the player simply looked around the screen until he found his target: Shigeru Miyamoto.

Then they showed how the controller can be used to send data directly to the TV with no latency issues. Holding the controller vertically, the player was able to send ninja stars flying to the screen by swiping his hand across the controller screen.

You may also be able to make video calls and send data from websites on the controller to the TV screen. You can use the controller to find a website and then swipe the screen towards the TV and it pops up on the television for all to see.

Last, they showed how you can use the controller screen to display an inventory screen, clearing up visual space on the TV. They did this by showing off Link in HD, fighting a gigantic spider in a beautifully rendered cathedral.

During the entire video presentation of the new console, not once did they show a picture of the actual console. Everything was focused on the new controller. They also didn’t mention any of the specifications on which the hardware will be built. We just don’t really know how powerful it will be compared to the current generation of consoles.

Here is what we know so far about the console:

• The new console can wirelessly transmit data to the new controller without latency issues.
• The console will support HDMI, Component, Composite, and S-video input/output, and will feature HD video which will support 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i.
• It will have some sort of connection with the 3DS.
• They are trying hard to get major 3rd-party support as shown in the Announced Games below.
• It’s backwards compatible with all Wii software, controllers and peripherals.
• It uses optical disc media that has 25GB storage (although not Blu-ray).
• It will have internal flash memory and will support SD memory cards and USB mass storage devices.
• It has four USB 2.0 slots.
• It will include Mii Support as found on the 3DS system.
• It will not play Blu-Rays or DVDs.

Here’s what we know about the controller:

• 6.2″ 16:9 resistive* touchscreen that will transmit video data streamed from the console, independent of any television.
• Rumble feature, microphone, accelerometer, gyroscope, stylus, and an inward-facing camera.
• Two analog circle-pads, D-Pad, Four-Button layout, two shoulder buttons (L & R), and two triggers (ZL & ZR).
• Full games can be streamed from the console to the controller, but it has to be in range of the console and the console has to be on.
• The Wii U controller is NOT a portable gaming device.

Here are the games that have been announced:

Third Party

• Lego City Stories (TellTale Games)
• Darksiders 2 (THQ)
• Metro: Last Light (THQ)
• Tekken (Namco Bandai Games)
• Batman: Arkham City (WB Interactive)
• Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
• Ghost Recon Online (Ubisoft)
• Killer Freaks From Outer Space (Ubisoft)
• Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft)
• Dirt (Codemasters)
• Aliens Colonial Marines (Sega)
• Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (Tecmo Koei)

First Party

• Super Smash Bros.
• Pikmin 3

Here’s what we don’t know:

• Technical Specs, although we know it runs on some IBM quad-core chipset that will be able to support full 1080p HD.
• What Nintendo’s online strategy will be (Friend Codes?).
• Launch Date and Titles.
• Prices for the console/controllers.
• Whether you can use more than one tablet controller at a time.
• Exactly what disc media they will be using.
• If it will have a media center like PSN or Xbox Live.
• What will be included with the system (pack-in game?/controller?)

There is still a lot to be discussed, and from what I have read and heard from those in development, the development kit is not complete and the demos you have seen are not really what you are going to get. Not only that, but those few teams that were lucky enough to get development kits have only had them for a very short time.

My thoughts:
The announcement for this console reminds me of the Wii reveal. They focused so much on the new controller that some people didn’t even get that it was a new console. Nintendo’s President, Satoru Iwata, stated

“Because we put so much emphasis on the controller, there appeared to be some misunderstanding”.

Of course, if you ever read any video game websites you would have known they were announcing a console, not a controller.

The general response from gamers in forums and on websites on the Wii U is mixed at best. While it’s hard to argue that there is an innovative factor with the new controller, some are fearful that developers will not fully explore the functionality and it will just end up being a gimmicky controller.  Others state that even though it would be great to have Nintendo games in HD, there are still so many questions and some of the answers to those questions would be deal-breakers when deciding to purchase a new system.

The fact that Nintendo refuses to spend the money to include Blu-Ray or DVD playback is frustrating for some. For me, I agree with the statement from Iwata who said:

“Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities. The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn’t warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies.”

Don’t think that Nintendo could include Blu-Ray playback for cheap. Blu-Ray is a Sony entity and they would most likely charge a pretty penny for Nintendo to include that technology. Besides, you can now get decent Blu-Ray players on the cheap these days. While nothing official has been stated, I’m sure they will include a Netflix application that will feature movies in HD. It just wouldn’t be worth the extra cost that it would take to include Blu-Ray playback.

It is also undecided whether or not multiple tablet controllers will be supported. I have done a ton of research, and as it turns out, the chipset they are most likely using has the capability to stream 1 HD signal and 4 SD signals at the same time. Here is the kicker: how much could one of these new controllers cost to make? Iwata has stated that they are focusing on one controller for now because to make games that feature multiple controllers forces people to buy extra controllers. He seems to be alluding that these controllers are expensive to make. However, they really aren’t.

Since they are using a standard size, 16:9 ratio, standard definition, resistive touchscreen, the cost of the screen itself is actually less than $50 retail. With a lot of digging and a ton of calls, I found that you can get one of these screens for less than $20 in bulk! Add the casing, the buttons, and the electronics, and you can manufacture these in mass for around $60 each. Research has shown that people would be willing to pay around $80 to have the experience that multiple controllers would give. That is a $20 markup for Nintendo!

Finally, there is the question of their long-term online plans. It stands to reason that this will be the make or break feature of the system. If the online experience is anything like the Wii’s, it could be doomed. I think Nintendo realizes this, and from the rumors I have heard and some of the “slips” from developers, Nintendo has ditched the friend codes and has made the online experience possibly better than the competition by using the controller as your online presence (which can be used with the console off).

Much like the year prior to the Wii launch, there are a ton of things for Nintendo to iron out before official announcements are made. Fortunately for us, the longer they wait to decide, the cheaper the technology will become and that will benefit us in the long run. While Iwata doubts that they can release this console for less than $250 retail (and I’m sure they won’t), it could definitely be produced for less than $300. Of course, the value of the console will be determined when all the answers to the big questions come in.

Thank you for reading!!

* A resistive touchscreen senses contact from virtually any object. The other type of touchscreen is a capacitive touchscreen, which senses objects that can pass through an electric signal, such as a finger. Resistive touchscreens typically do not support multi-touch and are less expensive to manufacture.

One of the things that the Lego movie games have done really well is tell a brief version of a story through humorous cutscenes without any dialogue. With Pirates being such a complicated story, re-telling this story without any spoken words is no small task. They do as good a job as possible, but the story, especially the last two movies: At World’s End and On Stranger Tides, are just too convoluted to follow. You really have to know the story already to get anything but an occasional chuckle out of it.

Still, you have to hand it to Traveller’s Tales for even attempting such a daunting set of movies, and giving them all to us in one game is a great value. There is truly a lot of collecting and gameplay for two players. But what is the true value of all that gameplay if it isn’t any good? Fortunately, the tried and true formula works really well for this franchise.

These games are about exploring, solving puzzles, and bashing things to Lego bits. You go from one locale to the next putting the sword to anything and everything. Most things are destructible and if you spend enough time on a level, you will discover some pretty devious puzzles to solve. Solving these puzzles require you to use different characters that are available to you. Some characters carry a gun, some hunt for treasure, and others can fix things. For the majority of the puzzles that you have to solve in order move the story along, they will give you a hint as to what character to use if you are trying to do something that requires another character. Other puzzles leave you to your wits, and sometimes this poses a challenge that makes you wonder if this game was for kids or adults, which in my opinion is a good thing.

Getting around is simple enough. You can run, jump and attack. There isn’t any major combos to learn, and only certain characters can do a double-jump, and only in specially  marked spots. This keeps the game from becoming overly complicated which makes it kind of a mindless romp through a great pirate adventure.

The locales are all very well done. You will travel through taverns, villas, ports, pirate ships, coves, caves swamps, deserts, forests, and to the World’s End. The graphics, even on the Wii, look great and the characters feature subtle detail such as Jack Sparrow’s drunken swagger. Most everything is made out of digital legos, which really adds to the charm and humor of the game.

If you have played other Lego games, you are going to find that the same problems with control still exist. Countless and pointless deaths await you at every corner as you try to jump to areas that look like you should be able to reach, only to find out that you just jumped a little off target. This frustration only increases when you add a second player that is struggling with the same issue. More deaths are in store during combat, when you accidentally lock on to your partner and start wailing on them with your sword while they are yelling “That’s me! That’s me!”. The punishment for such deaths is truly minimal in the scope of things, still it’s just a little frustrating, especially when falling means having to retread a large portion of a level over and over again because you keep missing a simple jump.

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean uses a unique split-screen that is created as your two characters move apart from each other. This is really cool because it allows you to know exactly where you partner is in relation to you, and at the same time gives you maximum view for your character. This is a vast improvement from having both players share the same screen. However, sometimes the view created cuts off your view where you need it most. It is also very disorienting, and you may or may not ever get used to it.

Then there is the scene transitions. If one of your characters moves into a new area, the scene shifts automatically to the new area. It doesn’t give the other player time to leave as well. While this keeps the game moving, it would have been nice for them to at least give the other player a countdown to get to the door before switching scenes. This is most irritating when you are just about to collect something and your partner accidentally exits the level.

Overall, the game does a great job at capturing the universe, translating it into gameplay mechanics, and stays true to the Traveller’s Tales/Lego game formula. Using the unique aspects of different key characters, solving puzzles that are sometimes a little devious in their simplicity, and bashing everything is sight all have a basic charm that keeps you busy for hours at a time. Bringing a friend along is the way to enjoy this game, although, going back through levels on Free Play to collect hidden items can be fun on your own. I can easily recommend this game to fans of the other Lego games and for anyone that loves the Pirates movies and is looking for another way to enjoy the adventures of Jack Sparrow and company.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 years and older and is available now for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Mac, and PC.

The genre was at its peak at the turn of the century. The first few years of this decade saw the release of Ratchet & Clank, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Super Mario Sunshine, Banjo-Tooie, Glover, Spyro, Maximo, Tomb Raider Chronicles, the list is huge. When I talked about games, the conversation would always be about items we were looking for, areas we were trying to reach, or bosses we were trying to defeat. Gaming was a more solitary experience that was social only when we wanted to show a move off, or needed help finding a secret area.

Now, the conversation is about multiplayer options, kill counts, n00bs, and map packs. We talk about quests completed and the characters in our party and about better ways to use our weapons. We are talking about Call of Duty, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, and Farmville. We chat about Mafia Wars, and speak of the Gods and Gears of War. It’s more social and more competitive. Stories are more complicated and include complex relationships and plot twists. The princess truly is in another castle.

Part of me realizes that this is both industry and market growth for video games. It’s a necessary step in the socialized network that interactive media is taking. The simple idea of just taking a game to its completion is now morphed into getting better times and scores, or improving player skills so you can compete online, or even playing through all the possible story lines a game has to offer.

There was a time when most games tasked you with little more than finding an object hidden in a 3D world. These are true platformers, where you really have to analyze the world around you. Sometimes you are given a clue as you enter the level, or by speaking with characters within the level. Sometimes you are left with very little to go on and you just have to figure it out for yourself. You start with all your moves and have access to all the tools to beat the game from the beginning. No leveling up, no skills to learn, and no weapons to find. Tomb Raider and Super Mario really stand out as the best examples I can give of that style.

It’s no wonder that they stand alone with Ratchet and Clank as the last triumvirate of 3D platforming. It was sad to see Rare separate from Nintendo, because they had a winning formula. When we finally got to see the release of Kameo: Elements of Power, we realized why Nintendo held off on the green light and let Rare slip away. It just wasn’t as good as it should have been. With Rare went Banjo Kazooie, who’s Nuts and Bolts release in 2008 left all the things that made the series great out of the game and heaped in loads of ridiculous vehicles, which makes absolutely no sense to me. We also lost Conker’s Bad Fur Day, which was re-released by Microsoft, however all rumors about a sequel were subsequently squashed and we have been left with tales of “what could have been”.

Granted, in making my point I have left out some important titles. I have yet to give mention to Jak and Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Sly Cooper and most importantly, Prince of Persia and Uncharted. None of these games, save Uncharted and Prince of Persia, have not seen an original platforming game for a major console since 2005 (Sly). Once I invite Uncharted into the mix, it gets a little complicated. While being more than just a Tomb Raider rip-off, Uncharted still falls more into the category of action adventure.

The action adventure genre encompasses games whose focus is more on story-telling and combat. This genre would also include Lost Planet, Bionic Commando, Infamous, et al. We start to drift away from the pure element of using the surrounding landscape and a handful of moves to find hidden goals.

Prince of Persia comes even closer to a platformer, particularly the most recent release in 2008. However, in Prince of Persia, focus is split between platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving. You also have to “level-up” by finding ways to use the magical pads that are strewn through each level. These elements make it more of a hybrid game than a true platfomer.

Most platforming games today take shape in 2D. Games like Little-Big Planet, N+, Braid and ‘Splosion Man have all garnered excellent reviews, but will not be breaking the 2D plane anytime soon. Of course, with the release of the 3DS, who knows what could happen with these franchises. It’s all up to the consumer, who drives the traffic of these trends. The media can help suggest and steer the ship, but the true direction of popular gaming comes from those purchasing the games.

When Grand Theft Auto 3 came out to rave reviews, the sandbox genre of games had not taken off. It wasn’t until Vice City that dollar signs lit up in the eyes of developers and the sandbox grew significantly that day. Now, the sandbox genre is starting to dwindle again, mostly because the first-person shooter has been making a tremendous comeback. Even tactical shooters are becoming more common as they offer a bigger challenge than the typical shooter, which is often wrapped in some sci-fi or western theme.

In the sandbox genre, we are now left with Elder Scrolls, more of a role-playing experience in first/third person, and games of its ilk such as Fallout and Red Dead Redemption, which incidentally is a converted first-person shooter and published by Rockstar, the creator of the GTA series. These games go beyond the normal sandbox game and add in elements from just about every other genre. Take Red Dead Redemption for example, it has leveling up from RPGs, it has first-person shooter elements taken from its namesake, Red Dead Revolver, it has racing elements, as well as action adventure qualities such as sweeping story elements and third-person travel (who doesn’t think Epona when they first have Marsten hop on a horse?).

Where does that leave the 3D platformer? No one can do better than Nintendo, so why even try? I suppose it’s a question that the consumer has to answer. Are the days of hide and seek over, or is it just a small hiatus while the genre reinvents itself? Is convergent styling the wave of video games? Does a game have to fit a category? Hell, even Final Fantasy X mixed sports into its RPG!

For me, 3D platformers have been one of my favorite genres of all-time. I would hate to see them go, and with Mario being such an important title for Nintendo, I don’t see it ever going away for good. But seriously, where are all the other great ideas for the genre? Why have we gone pretty much exclusively to 2D? And most importantly, what do you think?

The concept is simple, you will play through a whole new story that takes place prior to the events in the movie. This 2D side-scrolling version of the game introduces many of the characters in the movie. Each chapter, seven in all, is broken up into three parts, which is capped with a big boss battle at the end. Using Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, and his God Powers, you fight wave after wave of enemies as you explore each world that Loki sends you to. That pretty much sums it up.

If this concept sounds fun to you, by all means pick up a copy of this game. For me, it felt like I was fighting the same four or five enemies, just packaged up a little different each time. At least there are several ways to dispatch enemies and runes that you can use to spruce up your already overwhelming powers.

Some of the platforms are destructible and can be dropped on enemies. The only problem is that most of the time you end up knocking them down on accident while trying to bash enemies rather than being able to use it as a strategy.  Also, you can pick up enemies and use them as umbrellas for falling toxic rain, or as a weapon. Although the sequences are at times frustrating, the moments where I had to use an enemy in this fashion are a nice change of pace from the “run till the screen stops, then fight a bunch of enemies till the screen moves again” formula.

While the main levels are pretty bland, the boss battles spice it up a bit. While none of them are too difficult, they present a nice challenge and exhibit some creativity on the part of the game-makers. They are big enough to fill both screens and have some sort of weakness you have to exploit to beat them.

The graphics and the music don’t get in the way, and that’s a good thing. They also aren’t very good. The character’s have lots of jagged edges and the cut scenes just feature still cut-outs with text boxes, which is really pretty standard for the DS. The bosses look epic, but it’s nothing that we haven’t already seen on inferior platforms such as the Gameboy Advance.

If you beat the game, you gain access to a Survival mode that pits you against each of these enemies in a constant stream. In this mode, you get to choose which world you want to explore, so in a sense you are playing the same game as the single player story minus a couple of the game’s most interesting elements.

Other bonus content includes a gallery of the game’s art featuring work by Mark Brooks, a sound player that plays music and sound FX from the game, and another mode where you can pick any of the main NPCs from the game and beat up even more of the same enemies from the game. Sadly, none of this adds enough to the experience to say that it adds any value to the game.

I could probably recommend better side-scrolling beat ‘em ups to you, but if your kid is into Thor, this should keep him occupied for a few hours. The difficulty is low and the moves are varied so kids new to games may enjoy the added complexity to an otherwise simple and easy game.

Thor God of Thunder (DS) is rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 years and up and is available on the Nintendo DS.  Other versions of the game are available for the Xbox 360, PS3, and the Nintendo Wii.

A review copy of the game was provided and did not affect the outcome of this review.

Check out our Thor God of Thunder Wii review and Xbox 360 review.