PoP: RS is great! Really easy to get to grips with, and I love the camera controls:

tilt the Wiimote to pan the camera 360 degrees
use the D pad for the same effect, plus up and down
press 1 for landscape view
press 2 for 1st person view

Combat is very easy, although I have found the combos to be a bit hit and miss but the stealth kills are great, especially when you initiate them from above your opponent (on an overhead beam, for example).

Traps are fairly bog-standard and don’t yet present much of a challenge, which to be honest, I am pleased about. I’m not of the school of thinking that likes to be tortured by games!

The Dark Prince is uber cool but the downside is that his life evaporates incredibly quickly. Fortunately there appear to be many things that can be broken to replenish his life-sand.

Moves are as always, excellent. Since I haven’t actually played Two Thrones (I’ve owned it for PS2 since it was released!!), I don’t know if RS has new moves. Certainly there are ones that are different to SoT and WW and I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that some have been coded especially for the Wiimote. The dagger grab, for example, makes excellent use of said controller.

Visually the game is excellent, although it must be said that in a couple of instances, the camera has automatically changed its angle, leading to the Prince’s doom! Thank goodness for the Recall!

The FMVs look nice, although there is a distinct change to in-game visuals just before you regain control of the Prince, which isn’t exactly seamless. TBH the graphics for the Prince could be better - environments are beautiful, which makes it all the more obvious that he looks a tad flat. However, in-play, he is very fluid, which is after all, what counts. And we all know that pretty games aren’t necessarily good games! Moreover, if this is the only negative thing I can find in this game, it’s not a big deal at all.

Perspective is put to good use in this incarnation but I’d prefer it if when in landscape mode, it didn’t switch back to normal the moment you move the Prince. Sometimes being in landscape mode is very handy!

Music is good, although I’d prefer a little more of it and the voice overs range from mildly annoying (because they are so quiet you have to strain to hear them) to “If you don’t shut up, I’ll have to kill you”! Overall however, there isn’t much to complain about.

I really like PoP: RS - it has everything I want from a game; good visuals, excellent gameplay, nice sounds, combat (but not to excess), puzzles and adventure. Generally I’m not a fan of platformers but this game is so expertly realised that actually, I don’t really notice the platform elements too much.

I’d easily give this 85 - 90%.

I was so excited when I bought this game, Spider-Man (SM) 1 was OK but laid the foundation for controls. SM2, in my opinion, was amazing. It was like playing a superhero Grand Theft Auto with an entire, and accurate (apparently), city to explore and live in.

Web swinging was fun and easy to learn thanks to it’s control system and the option to change the way it worked. The one let down of SM2 was the fact that the missions were very boring and unbelievably repetitive.

Not much has changed in SM3. The basic plot follows the film although scenes, script and order of events have changed slightly so as not to spoil the film or to offer something new.

Graphics
Crap. That’s all I can say really. There’s no shading, instead everything has a garish white stripe that flickers on and off. Buildings disappear regardless of distance and their textures are appalling - grey slabs with black “windows”. All of which flicker, jump about, flash, annoy you. In-game characters look like identical to those in SM2 (reference to the PS2 title) if not worse, they’re badly animated and appear 2D at times.

The enemies all look exactly the same to each other depending on their gangs. There are 3 different models for each gang but between each gang they’ve all got the same roles (some dodge, some have shields/weapons, some are big and strong).

But back to the graphics. Oh my God are they crap. Terrible. Absolutely rubbish.

Audio
Another down side to this game, there’s not much music and when it does play it’s the exact same tune from SM2. All of the original actors lent their voices which works well and keeps with continuity but the developers must’ve spent their entire budget on them. The enemies, like gang models, have different voices but they’re used terribly. The same quips from Spider-Man and his opponents are used constantly, Spider-Man’s in particular rarely make sense and are out of context.

Spider-Man gets smacked to the floor by a fat bloke holding a lamp post - “Yeah no one can stop me now!” says Spider-Man. Haha?

Gameplay
Web swinging is very hard, I’m mean next to impossible. The remotes work well though and it can be fun to imitate Spidey’s movements across the skyline and between the buildings. But wait! I’ve shot a webline straight forward and yet he flung it backwards causing me to stop dead and fall to the floor. Haha that was funny, I bet it won’t happen again. Oh it did. And just again.

After 20 bajillion times of this web swinging becomes tedious. It wasn’t until a few hours after I completed the actual storyline (about 4 hours or so I think) while doing gang missions that I really got a knack for it. And it’s still slow and difficult to control.

Fighting is generally okay although it’s basically shaking the remote about, there’s no skill or timing really needed. In big gang cuffufles everything slows down a little and you spend a lot of the time jumping away and webbing back down, repeating the same “sniping” strategy to pick off outside targets.

While fighting Spidey’s enemies the responsiveness vanishes and I spent a lot of the time madly waving the controls with no action from Parker.

Conclusion
The game has it’s moments where things are fun but the bugs, bad graphics, bugs, repetitiveness, bugs and crapness of the game get in the way far too often.

Oh and they’ve thrown out the acrobatic moves from SM2 that let you learn more adrenaline (special attack power) and generally made you look cool playing the game. And once you’ve finished SM3 you get a chance to kill all the gangs, there’s roughly 30 gang hotspots and normally about 4 missions per spot so that means repeating the same missions 120 times or more. Not good. Especially when you start a mission and then instantly fail it!

Oh yeah there’s also the ongoing effort to find all Spider Medals and Meteor Fragments - the first reward lets you play as black suit Spider-Man which would make things cooler but it’s a huge endeavour to find all the medals. The Meteor Fragments, all 100 of them, get you a bright yellow congratulations sign appear. That’s it.

This game, in general, INSANELY SUCKS. If you’re a huge fan of the film, like me, buy it but leave all even moderate expectations behind or that’s where you’ll want to leave the game.

4/10

And I did the whole review without making a joke about Spiders and bugs.

Intro
Well my brother bought this when I first got the Wii and he played it for about 10 minutes before giving up. I was playing Red Steel at the time, once I finished I moved onto Zelda. I avoided it at first because of the slating my brother gave it but it’s actually very good! The reason why he hated it was it that this was his first experience with the Wii, he’d barely even touched WiiSports before it - and for someone who’s addicted to Call Of Duty (COD) 1 for the PC, he was disappointed that he couldn’t control it.

It’s a difficult game to get used to, but my experience with Red Steel was really useful even if it was just to get used to moving in a three dimensional virtual world using the remote for orientation.

Graphics & Audio
Now this is an awesome looking game. It beats the Hell out of COD1 on my PC and at all times looks stunning. There’s many different NPC models and they all look great and very realistic.

If anything the game is very dark and grimy to create a realistic environment - lots of smoke, craters, bomb remnants - it looks disastrous but that’s the point. This can create problems with light though, sometimes everything was too dark to actually see the enemy - especially with light from other sources in the room reflecting on the television. I had to play most of the game in a dark room to see anything (and yes my tv is set up properly ).

But when you break out of the destroyed cities and towns the lush green fields of the country look great and chapters set in forests are really detailed.

The title sounds great too. Lots of explosions, thundering cannon fire, stereo gunshots - it’s got it all. I suppose the trouble is though that the voice acting, although done well again, was often drowned out by gunfire. Now again this is realistic of what war is - LOUD - but it does sometimes affect the gameplay. This is where the objective screen comes in handy so if you miss an instruction and if it’s important it’ll be there for you to recap.

Gameplay
Now the game itself is divided into chapters, each one is basically a huge environment. Cities, towns, farms, mansions - it’s got all of your basic war locations. Nothing really new but it’s not like developers can rewrite history to improve gameplay.

Anyways, it’s your basic FPS. You point and shoot, but what makes it different is there really is a huge sense of team dependency. If you try and storm that machine gun turret you’re going to die. And that’s a fact. You’ve got to look for cover, watch your team mates and give your support.

The AI they use is pretty good, they sometimes have the habit of running in front of you and then standing in a doorway so you can’t go through but they generally have a good basic intelligence.

The enemy AI is somewhat more stupid, at least on the easy setting I chose , and often just stand in front of your troops waiting to die. But there is some realism in the fact that they often retreat and regroup when your own team force forwards and if you fall back they’ll take up the space and even run for cover.

There really aren’t that many weapons though for a COD game, maybe there’s slightly more or less I can’t remember, but nothing really stands out. Again this may be a sacrifice of gameplay for realism and historical accuracy. Chances are if you kill a Nazi they’re carrying an MP40 or a Kark rifle or whatever they’re called. But there’s still enough variety to keep the game going although with two spaces for guns it’s easy to deal with any strategical situation - use a rifle for distance and accuracy and an automatic gun for close quarters and fierce fighting.

Grenades are handy and the physics used are perfect, and it’s hilarious picking up enemy grenades and just throwing them back at the guys who just lobbed ‘em.

Controls
Just your bog-standard FPS controls, you can crouch, lie down, jump and lean side to side. Pretty standard stuff. The remote works well in that you control the gun well and it’s pretty accurate, if maybe a little too accurate - I’m a rubbish shot even after a week’s constant play.

The feedback’s good also, the remote vibrates from every gunshot, impact and explosion to the head. It’s very immersing and atmospheric.

But then there’s the downsides.

I’m not sure why it happens but there are short periods of absolute crappiness. When there’s a lot of action over a large distance, like for example you’re rushing a huge mansion and there’s up to 20 or so characters shotting the Hell out of everything in sight, the game dies.

Frame rate drops slightly which is understandable and it’s never for any more than a second or so (any longer and you’d be shot to death) but there’s another problem. The controls completely freeze.

It’s neither my remote nor the batteries, I’ve changed them both, but they just don’t work. And always at the worst possible time. I’ll rush into a room and I’ll suddenly lose the ability to shoot, the button just doesn’t respond and then suddenly my character with dart about the room without me controlling it often simply running for maybe 3 or 4 seconds face first into a wall while I’m being shot.

I don’t know where the problem is and it may be just my hardware after all but it absolutely ruins the experience and makes the game unplayable. Especially when I’m driving Vera, the British Army’s Jeep. It’s terrible to control anyway with the two remotes held like a steering wheel but it gets worse when suddenly I lose the ability to turn corners and the car just drives continuously into a brick wall. This happens so much that I’ve lost patience and I often have to restart the chapter because of the unresponsiveness or reset the console if worse comes to worse and all buttons stop working.

Overview
In short an excellent game, brilliant graphics, brilliant sound, brilliant controls but my experience was plagued with very buggy sections that forced me to quit.

When it’s not working 4/10.
When it is working 9/10.

Far Cry Vengence Review.

Introduction:
I’m not new to FPS games at all and have played through plenty of PC and console FPS’s like Doom (PC), Unreal (PC), Exhumed (Saturn) Duke Nukem 3D (PC/Saturn), Far Cry (PC, XBOX & XBOX360) Halo 1 & 2 (XBOX) Metroid Prime 1, 2 and Hunter (Gamecube/DS).
When I first saw the Wii’s controller I always wondered how an FPS would work with this unique scheme, now I’ve found out.

Graphics:
FarCry is a game I’m familiar with on 3 different systems so far, so I’m not new to the CryTek engine or its graphical capabilities. It was one of the most beautiful game engines when released and still to this day has some impressive visuals. It looked good on the XBOX but thanks to a quick port apart from being in high definition it didn’t seem to push the 360, so what have Ubisoft done for the Wii?

The Wii version is not for those who like eye candy. It’s sad to say but like others have said, this game is behind last gen visually. Gone is the beautiful pixel shaded water of the CryTek engine. Gone are the beautiful shadows, textures and high quality foliage. What are Wii users left with? A game that regularly slows down, a game that likes blurry textures and ugly, blocky shadows which seem to come from nowhere! Overall, a game that looks worse than most last gen games.
Where did it go wrong Ubi? Was it rushed? Is the Wii not powerful enough? Whatever the reason, it is a shame and I believe that the Wii should be able to do better than this.

Gameplay:
One of the things that can have a massive impact on how a game plays is the AI. Well, the guys on these exotic islands have some of the worst AI I’ve seen. If you were standing next to a comrade, only for him to be gunned down would you stand there staring into space? These guys do! The AI is basic at best, which is a shame, with the visuals at an all time low, you’d hope all that wasted processing power was calculating some pretty hefty AI to help make up for that fact.
Now, onto the vehicles. When I first played, I couldn’t steer the Jeep that I got in for love nor money. I was hitting trees and generally getting nowhere fast until I worked out something in the controls, which I’ll share with you soon, to make it a ton easier.
Other gameplay mechanics are simple things like, 3 suicidal guys standing in front of a stack of logs, just waiting for you to shoot the support away, sending the wood flying towards them!

Sound:
I haven’t got a high end sound system, nor am I an audiophile so I’m probably not the best to comment on sound. The weapons sound good and the explosions rumble my sub. There are some oddities tho. Music skipping part way through like a stuttering CD and as the guys you’re shooting at utter the same few sentences, sometimes the sound is just cut before they stop speaking. Very unnatural and it can be slightly off-putting.

Controls:
I’ve saved this for last for a reason. Nintendo made FPS’s playable on a hand held with Metroid Prime and the DS’s touch screen and they have given FPS’s precision control with the Wiimote and nunchuck.
Ubisoft have done a fantastic job with the controls, the precision is amazing. When I first played it was disorienting but within no time I was straifing around people, shooting at them all over the screen and having a great time doing so.
Driving was a pain in the beginning, as you steered you seemed to look around and never knew what way you were going. Solution? Ubi have added the option to lock your view and still be able to move the cross-hair around by holding the A button and it also works whilst your on foot. These controls for me were very reminiscent of Goldeneye, but instead of aiming whilst still you can still move around.
Zooming seemed odd but you get used to it, quickly push the Wiimote forward to zoom in and do the same to zoom back out. To throw a grenade, hold the Z button on the nunchuck and literally throw them by throwing your hand forward!
One thing I would have liked is a left handed set-up. I’ve accidentally thrown a hand grenade instead of firing because on a normal gamepad the trigger in the right hand side is normally the fire button which confuses me sometimes! It’s a right handed world and I’ll just have to adjust.

Conclusion:
Despite the graphics, sloppy AI and choppy sound I’ve fallen in love with my first FPS experiences on the Wii. It’s like an EXTREMELY ugly girlfriend who is fantastic in bed. You wont what to show it off to your friends, but you will have fun playing it on your own!

6/10

Chaz.

“The Critically-Acclaimed Medical Simulation Game is Making A Hourse Call On You Wii!”

“Trauma Center: Second Opinion Turns your Living Room into An O.R.!”

Dr Derek Styles is back. But es not the only surgeon on call.. Dr Nozami Weaver joins the team. Bringing along everything the Doctor ordered: Difficulty modes. New Surgical Impliments like the defibrillator. and an exciting never before seen conclusion. SO what are you waiting for? if one dose of Trauma Center wasnt enough, ITS time you got a Second Opionion! …..
———
Trauma Center second opionion is a fantastic addition to the wii libary. its these types of games which are made for the wii.

At first it is slow to get into as you start off small like in most games. causing it to be a little bit dull. but it helps you learn the ropes. and eventually after 40-50minutes into the game you get hit with the main concept. i wont reveal to much as it may ruin the storyline which isnt indicated on the box.

But when your starting to just get used to the operations and keeping patients alive. you do get hit with a major operation which makes your hands shake as you have roughly a 3 second gap before the patient dies and its game over.

It certainly does give you a gripping expierance and a well thought out story to make it more than a just “cut em up” “save there lives” “throw them out” type of game.

The graphics also arnt to bad, but with the time you get and the pressure your under you dont have time to check the visuals your in there trying to save lives.

Graphics 5-10 could of been a bit more realistic instead of simple polygons.

Story 9-10 It certainly does keep you gripped.

Controls - 8-10 i would of given a 10 possibly. but due to it takes around 30mins to get used to the controls and you make a few mistakes if your a beginner it could of used some extra help.

Overall - 8/10

A must buy if you want to expierence something new on the wii console.

-For Pimp my wii Only-

Marvel - What happened to the Hulk???

So I pick up this game, slide it into my beautiful looking Wii, enter the game and first of all I am hit with the most beautiful cinematic moment I have ever seen come out of a game, im memorized my the sheer quality of the sequence, seeing every last wrinkle on Colonel Furys face and then the game starts and I feel as if I have just loaded up X-Men Legends on my PS2, how wrong I was!

Story

Its a game with superheroes, and lots of them so what other storyline could be used other then we are all here to save the world?? Dr Doom has called upon a wide range of bad guys ranging from the not so know Dare Devil and Loki to the more well know ones such a Rhino and Scorpion. Its up to the allience of super heroes from the well know Spiderman to the not so well know such as The Phantom. But I assure you getting to grips with the lesser know ones is just as fun as playing with you old favorites. After a mission you go back to base and you can perform mundane ‘RPG’ task such as ‘bring me black widows laptop’ etc which are not necessary to complete the game but to enhance the story slightly, Is black Widow really on the good side?? So the story isn’t very deep, but then it doesn’t have to be it is supposed to be a hack and slash from A to B game and it does this well

Gameplay

The gameplay is what you expect from a hack and slash adventure game, you go through linear levers destroying anything and everything on your way, no holds bar superhero style so nothing new an initiative there. But wait there is as you go though and destroy everything you get experience points which are used to maker your Super Heroes, well super! and then when you get into the game a bit more you discover that you can also get experience points for teams which are set up by you, your own emblem and name, enhancing the teams overall powers! so this is what make the game shine for me the RPG element, Choosing the right outfit for each character, effacing there abilities and finding that ultimate team is all part and parcel of the fun. The fun thing for me about this game is the control method, yes they managed to squeeze motion controls into this game, your special powers and your normal attacks can be controlled by flicks of the remote and the camera is controlled by the nunchuck. This works very well and adds another dimension to this game.

Multiplayer

Right so you thought playing on your own was good, now get three of your friends rounds, all huddle together, pick you favorite super hero and go and kick some butt! The multiplayer on this game is to say the least very fun, but tactics can now be involved with different multi character combos now being able to be pulled off with more ease. If you like one player on this, two player you will love. The only downside I have to this is the camera, when all four of you are trying to turn the camera things can get a little messy!

Graphics

This area of the game, for me is a bit of a let down. The cinematic sequences are gorgeous and after seeing the game intro you are really let down when the game begins. The characters are distinguishable….just and the fighting can seem a bit false sometimes but the graphics don’t really affect the gameplay and do the job.

Sound

The music in the game is ok. It is plain and to be honest not really noticeable at all. The voice acting in the game however is really good with the vast majority of the characters all having a separate voice actor assigned to them. The in game comments can however get a bit repetitive, how many time do we need to know about the Super Soldier Serum??? overall the sound in the game is mediocre at best

Conclusion

A great addition to a Wii games collection and a must for any Marvel fan. It not the most deepest game in the world but with 20+ characters to play with it will keep you coming back for more, and more.

Overall Rating 8/10

MySims – Your New Best Friends

MySims is a twist on the Sims franchise, taking away the daily man management tasks of cleaning, washing, eating and replacing it with an emphasis on build, build, build! This is not your standard Sims game and if your looking to go to work every day, go take bathroom breaks or even Woo Hoo then this game just may not be for you but if you have a creative mind, love cute graphics and enjoy a game where you can play at your own pace then you may have found the first must have third person title

Gameplay

The gameplay is fairly straight forward, you move into a run down town and your job is to rebuild it into a prospering neighborhood, and the only way to do this is to build businesses and house’s to increase the towns popularity.

When you first move into the town you meet the Mayor who talks you through all the things you are going to need to now about the game, from building right the way through to essences. The building mechanics in the game are straightforward but the results are limitless, you start off with a set of building blocks, as you progress with your town the range of these blocks becomes extensive allowing you to build anything your heart desires. If you want to build a Sofa shaped like a crocodile then feel free, as long as fill in the blueprints then the rest is up to you, let you imagination roam free. Now essences are the other big thing in this game, they are items you need to go round and collect to give your creations colour and life. There are over 80 in the game and can be found all over your village, the forest or even in the desert. They can be picked up by fishing, shaking or prospecting, I did get confused when I digged up some bacon and chocolate cake but its all part of the fun!

To progress in the game you move people into your town, build their houses/businesses from the ground up and once they have a place to live in its time to start building to their demands, be it a pizza over for the chef or a sculpture for the museum each sim requires furniture to be made, and with certain essences needing to be used, essences are the currency of the game, the more you have the better, and more choice your creations will have.

There are also many characters in the game whom you can move in and out of your village as you please, with over 80 who you can move into your town it will be hard to pick which ones will stay and which ones will go! There are also six different personalities in the game, each having their likes and dislikes, for example the Goths love the scary essences where the Cuties like the Flower essences. Also having certain houses next to each other effects the Sims behaviour, giving it a nice addition to the strategy of the game.

Graphics

The graphics for the game are fairly solid, they are bright and colourful and even the most darkened of person would find it hard not to break a smile. The game looks like a giant toyland and it fits the game perfectly, a great effort made on EA’s part

Sound

The music in this game fits the graphics, bubbly and fun. A good inclusion is the change in music when you walk by peoples houses, walking by the Goths will result in creepy music being played where as walking by the restaurant will results in some cheesy Italian music blasting out.

Conclusion

The game is marketed towards young children but I think anyone can pick up and enjoy this game, it fun orientated and an open ended game letting the played do whatever they so choose. Although the game is good it does have a few problems which I feel could have been sorted out before release, the game sometimes freezes mid play while the loading catches up with itself and the constant loading between entering building can get tedious. These problems aside it is a good starting point from EA games showing their intentions and respect they have for the Wii, if only all other developers took the time and effort EA have taken and there would be a lot more must have game. Overall a good game, though linear at time, I would recommend it for a rent first, you either love it or hate it.

Final Rating: 7/10

Conan - Xbox 360
Review by Nintenfan1989

“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.”
– Robert E. Howard, The Phoenix on the Sword, 1932.
Created in 1932 Conan The Cimmerian, The Barbarian & The Destroyer has come a long way, through books, movies and now games. However does this game live up to a 75 year old legend?

The gamplay is fun, with loads of blood, gore and flying limbs its definatly worthy of the title “Hack and Slash”, but its incredibly buggy and you often find Conan stuck in the ground and only able to spin, arrows suspended in mid air, limbs floating all over the place like some bad space horror film or the AI attacking rocks for no reason. This shouldn’t put you off too much though, because its funny to see and can be just as entertaining as the game itself, and to make up for the horribly glitchy game play they have added a ton (over 100) combat moves and a load of naked women chained to the walls with only a bit of string between their legs to protect their modesty, and to top it off they are VERY glad to see you, chained up naked by horny pirates you would think these girls would be a tad bit upset, but instead they pull a stripper pose and purr something sexy to you in hopes that you will carry them off into the bushes.

Conan also has a few tricks up his sleeve (or rather, under his loin cloth, since thats all he really wears) the moves Conan can pull off are gory, violent and very entertaining, and with the ability to remove just about any part of the enemy’s body or even chop them in half vertically so each piece has a leg, same as a Sunday chicken roast, this game is full of entertainment for Conan or Hack and Slash fans alike.

Theres loads of enemys to slaughter and rip limbs from, but sadly they are basically the same thing copied over and over and just given different weapons, you have your soldiers that get tougher, better equipped and more combat skill as you progress, you have the odd lion and flying lizard thing and of course the annoying apes which repeat the same annoying and frustrating 2 moves over and over again, but apart from that each different enemy is only a change of graphics. But, no matter how repetitive it seems, with all them combat moves and different ways of killing someone you will always find something to keep you amused.

Putting the game play aside, the story line is pretty dull, your Conan and you have just woke up a sorcerer who has decided to enchant your armor and spread it across Hyboria. So now you must go and reclaim your armor, piece by piece with each one giving you new powers to overcome the sorcerer. He cant be too smart if hes giving you all these powers to destroy him, but then again what villain is.

The search for your armor does however lead to some of the most fun and hyper-violent boss battles a hack and slash could ever hope for, from smashing pirate bosses faces into their own clubs till point where their heads turn to mush or ramming a witches staff down her throat, to even climbing inside a sea monster to destroy its insides and then cutting your way back out through its eyeball.

My one put off of the story line however is the fact that Conan casts spells, anyone that has read the books or watched the movies will know that Conans pet hate is “Sorcerers and their tricks”, so why he would run round turning monsters to stone, creating portals to suck in unsuspecting soldiers, making fire rain from the skys and even spewing bats from his body is beyond me, because it entirely destroys the original Conan.

What does stick to the Conan universe however is the graphics, while they don’t look good enough for the 360 they do have some painted charm to them, which brings you back to the realms of the REAL Conan, it looks more like a painting then a game and has its own beautiful charm that makes up for the lacking detail in the models and jerky animations.

The voice acting and sounds are also very much like what you would get if you watched the movies, giving the games a small slice of the movies charm, but the surround sound could have been used a little more.

Overall the game could have used a good bit of polishing up, you just cant help but feel like its been rushed, but even though the downsides to the game are large and plentiful you will find that you hardly even notice them once you get into the full swing of the game.
Conan isn’t worthy of an immediate buy at full retail price, but once it drops in price i highly recommend it, it is a game that you shouldn’t miss out on if you enjoy a good bit of hyper-violent, blood and boob filled slash-fest.

Gameplay - 8/10 - Very fun, very violent but very glitchy
Graphics - 6/10 - definatly suiting to Conan, but not next-gen
Sounds - 7/10 - Its Conan magic, but the voice actors could have tried a little harder.
Overall - 7/10 - Well worth a buy, just not at full price.

Video Game to Feature 58 Tracks Including Songs from Mega Rock Artists Rolling Stones, Metallica, The Police, The Clash, Foo Fighters, Radiohead and More

Chertsey, UK – October 29, 2007 – Harmonix, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games, a division of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), along with distribution partner Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today the final song list for its highly anticipated music videogame Rock Band™. Featuring the most master recordings of any music game ever by the world’s biggest rock artists, Rock Band includes 58 tracks and spans every genre of rock ranging from alternative and classic rock to heavy metal and punk. With multiple instruments and an impressive selection of online and offline game modes to choose from to play as a band or individually, Rock Band offers players an infinite number of ways to play each song and live out their ultimate rock and roll fantasies.

“Our goal with Rock Band was to give players the chance to experience an amazing cross section of music from the last four decades, and our final list of tracks includes everything from emerging bands to iconic artists,“ stated Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment, Music and Games. “The overwhelmingly positive response from artists, music publishers and record labels made the final selection process challenging, but extremely exciting. As a result, 51 out of 58 of the final selections are based on original masters, giving fans an unprecedented way to get closer to the music they love.”

Eric Brosius, Harmonix audio lead stated, “Now that the disc track list is locked and Rock Band is being prepped for manufacture, we are working with our music partners to set an exciting download schedule, both for launch and beyond. Through DLC, players will have the ability to take a deeper dive into the music of the artists featured on the Rock Band disc, or further explore different genres of rock or additional bands if they choose.”

Rock Band Set List:
In addition to the 45 tracks listed below, Rock Band will also feature 13 songs ranging from a variety of established bands to up-and-coming independent artists that can be unlocked as you play through the game.

1960s
Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”

1970s
Aerosmith “Train Kept a Rollin’”*
The Who “Won’t Get Fooled Again”
Boston “Foreplay/Long Time”
Mountain “Mississippi Queen”*
The Police “Next to You”
David Bowie “Suffragette City”
Black Sabbath “Paranoid”*
Blue Oyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper”
The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop”
Deep Purple “Highway Star”
KISS “Detroit Rock City”
Molly Hatchet “Flirtin’ With Disaster”
The Outlaws “Green Grass & High Tides”*
Sweet “Ballroom Blitz”*

1980s
Rush “Tom Sawyer”*
Bon Jovi “Wanted Dead or Alive”
The Clash “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Faith No More “Epic”
R.E.M. “Orange Crush”
Iron Maiden “Run to the Hills”*

1990s
Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly”
Metallica “Enter Sandman”
Nirvana “In Bloom”
Stone Temple Pilots “Vasoline”
Weezer “Say It Ain’t So”
Smashing Pumpkins “Cherub Rock”
Radiohead “Creep”
Beastie Boys “Sabotage”
Hole “Celebrity Skin”
Garbage “I Think I’m Paranoid”
Soundgarden “Black Hole Sun”

2000s
The Hives “Main Offender”
Queens of the Stone Age “Go With the Flow”
The Strokes “Reptilia”
Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”
OK Go “Here It Goes Again”
Nine Inch Nails “The Hand That Feeds”
Pixies “Wave of Mutilation”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Dani California”
Coheed & Cambria “Welcome Home”
Fallout Boy “Dead on Arrival”
The Killers “When You Were Young”
New Pornographers “Electric Version”

• Indicates a cover song, all others songs are original master recordings

Rock Band is a new platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before, challenging users to master the lead/bass guitar, drums, and vocals as solo artists or cooperatively as part of their own band.

Rock Band is slated for release for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PLAYSTATION®2 computer entertainment system in the first quarter of 2008 in Europe.

Rock Band is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

EA will serve as the exclusive distribution and marketing partner for Rock Band, managing distribution for the game in US, Europe and Australia.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

This Halloween, you needn’t leave your own living room to encounter spooky spirits and creepy creatures from mysterious otherworlds. The Wii Shop Channel is celebrating the year’s most frightfully fun holiday by offering a mix of eerie games that’ll keep players’ spines tingling. Mash with monsters in a classic Castlevania sequel, tangle with supernatural samurai or battle as a powerful magician-you’re bound to discover cool tricks and visual treats no matter which titles you choose. Happy Hallo-Wii!

Today Nintendo adds three new classic games to the popular Wii™ video game system’s Wii Shop Channel. The games go live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the channel every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Castlevania® II Simon’s Quest (NES®, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii Points): In this one-player adventure, you’ll take on the role of Simon Belmont once again and duel to the death with Count Dracula. Grab your legendary whip, Vampire Killer, and roam freely through Transylvania on a quest to find the count’s missing body parts-these are the key to breaking an evil curse. This quest won’t be easy, though, for you must battle hideous fiends who stalk the land. In addition to the intense action and tight control the Castlevania series is known for, this sequel also introduced several unique game-play elements into the fold. Build experience the longer you play, buy weapons and items from merchants, or talk with villagers to get clues (some of which are false). Watch as day turns to night and then back again. Take a deep breath, steady your nerves, and help Simon end his curse and defeat the count once and for all.

SAMURAI-GHOST™ (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older - Animated Blood and Violence, 600 Wii Points): This action platformer features a samurai ghost from the depths of the underworld. In a past war, Kagekiyo managed to defeat the shogun Yoritomo and his clan. However, their evil spirits were not completely destroyed, and now, in the world known as Dark Side, they seek the time of their rebirth. In order to shatter those ambitions, Kagekiyo must make his way across seven zones and head for “The Heart of the Darkside” where Yoritomo lies in wait. Use spirit weapons to power up your sword, or other items, such as candles to recover health, and defeat the endless hordes of enemies. Each zone is not only protected by a boss but also includes demons as well as real samurai from 12th-century Japan. Get ready for some intense one-on-one combat action.

MAGICIAN LORD (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen - Blood and Fantasy Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1990 and regarded as one of the NEOGEO’s earliest signature games, this side-scrolling platformer mixes action with the mystical world of fantasy. A magician named Elta, last descendant of the famed Magician Lord, takes on an epic adventure to save the world from the evil Gul-Agieze. Elta must battle through eight stages, collecting the eight tomes of power that are key to defeating Gul-Agieze and his evil plans. By obtaining orbs in one of three colors (elements) that appear during the game, Elta’s offensive powers and jumping abilities can be strengthened. The effect varies considerably depending on the combination of elements, though, and Elta can transform into six different forms: Waterman, Dragon Warrior, Shinobi, Samurai, Raijin or Poseidon. Can you help Elta to become the new Magician Lord?

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.