Friday, May 9, 2008
VIDEO GAMES
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"Iron Man" has always had a flight problem in video games. Over the decades, the high-tech, high-flying Marvel superhero has peripherally appeared in several games, but he's never been able to truly soar.
Jumping from rooftop to rooftop in the 12th century doesn’t really sound too exciting, but Ubisoft has managed to bring a good bit of fun, flare, and brutality to the PC with “Assassin’s Creed: Director’s Cut Edition.” "NBA Ballers: Chosen One" is a game with a little bit for everyone. While it doesn't entirely embrace basketball's traditional style, it wins you over with its entertaining and addictive type of play. There are several kinds of games in “Chosen One,” and while there are plenty of other variations, the roots of this title are in the playground. Eight hours into "Grand Theft Auto IV" (Rockstar Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99), I've stolen 17 cars, run over 20 people and killed another 15 (some of whom had it coming). I've shaken down a couple of store owners and beaten up an old lady. I've driven while drunk and, perhaps worse, while talking on a cell phone. Nintendo's Wii has dominated video-game hardware sales since its debut in November 2006, and it shows no sign of slowing down. In March, U.S. stores sold more Wii consoles than Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s combined. And now that shortages of Nintendo's machine seem to have abated, there's nothing to stop its momentum. Or is there? Can the stylus be mightier than the sword? Maybe not in a real battle, but it serves as a formidable weapon in "Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword" (Tecmo, $34.99), a visually stunning fighter that pushes the Nintendo DS console to its graphical limits. While not being a full-fledged fan of ABC’s hit drama “Lost,” I found myself wondering what the point really is for the new Ubisoft game “Lost: Via Domus.” The main theme of the game isn’t so much adventure as it is story and dialogue. Before the dawn of the century, when video games like Street Fighter and Tekken were the undisputed kings of the fighting genre, HAL Laboratory, Inc. crafted a fighting game unlike any other. As a fantasy-loving nerd who came of age in the '80s, I was fascinated by the role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons." Fortunately, I didn't know anyone else who cared, so I didn't get drawn into the cult. But I've been a sucker ever since for the electronic games that were inspired by it, from 1981's "Wizardry" to the ongoing "Final Fantasy" series. Video games are all about action: shooting aliens, slaying dragons, crashing cars. But the industry's focus on high-octane mayhem means a lot of other genres — romance, say, or comedy — are neglected. If the video game on your TV screen looks awesome, sounds amazing and everybody in the family wants their turn, it’s probably Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The genius marriage of a dazzling video game, great music and lots of action, the Guitar Hero series has been around for a little over two years. Its latest incarnation is Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. No matter how many people are playing "Halo" or "Madden" at any given moment, you can bet that many more are playing solitaire, poker or Uno. And not with a $5 deck of cards — they're using the awesome processing power of modern computers to play the games their grandparents loved. At a recent industry conference, "Parappa the Rapper" creator Masaya Matsuura urged other video-game designers to move away from "games that motivate the player to use physical attacks as a way of establishing superiority." He wasn't really taking a stand against game violence; rather, he was urging his colleagues to look for more creative, constructive ways to play. If you've ever been in an automobile accident, even a minor one, you know there are few noises more sickening than the sound of metal crunching against metal. No matter how bad a day you've been having, that noise means it just got a whole lot worse. I spent large chunks of last year playing the same AAA video games everyone else played: "BioShock," "Rock Band," "Super Mario Galaxy" and so on. But if I actually kept track of my gaming hours, I wouldn't be surprised to find that I spent just as much time enjoying the simpler delights of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade. There are no magical walls or loading times within Electronic Arts' driving game, a next-generation reinvention of the "Burnout" series set on the open roads of Paradise City, a Los Angeles-like metropolis where the grass is green and the streets are busy. (Don't worry, Guns N' Roses fans. The classic "Paradise City" is indeed in the game.) Most gamers who grew up in the 1980s have fond memories of "Duck Hunt," one of the games that came with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Your controller was a plastic gun, the Zapper, that you used to shoot on-screen ducks; if you missed, your hunting dog would snicker. Despite the ubiquity of the Zapper and "Duck Hunt," light-gun games for home consoles never really caught on. For the last decade, Namco Bandai's "Time Crisis" series has pretty much had the genre to itself, although if you visit an arcade you're likely to see a broader selection (with bigger weapons). “Painkiller Overdose” is a strict run-and-gun shooter in which you play as the tortured son of Heaven and Hell, Belial the Prince of Hate. The word hate is used repeatedly in the opening cinematic, just to make sure that you hate everything in the game. Well, I think it worked in the wrong way. NEW YORK (AP) -- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the latest in the celebrated series of first-person shooters, has some pretty big shoes to fill. The fact that it must compete with the much-hyped Halo 3 and Bioshock doesn't make things any easier. But Call of Duty 4 ($59.99 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC and Nintendo DS) has one major advantage: It does everything right. It has been a terrific year for video games, and boiling it down to a top 10 list was difficult. But here are the games I enjoyed the most in 2007. Picking up a new title for that video gamer on your holiday shopping list can sometimes seem like the impossible task. With so many titles and several different platforms, how do you know which one to get? Well, hopefully this guide will help in making that important choice. First thing, of course, is to make extra sure they don’t have the game you’re thinking of getting them. I know it sounds obvious, but us gamers tend to be spontaneous and will pick up a new game when we’re sent to the store to get bread and some milk. Each year more big names and more big money are being put into the development of video games. This year the XBOX 360 and PC were introduced to a video game from the vision of John Woo. “John Woo Presents: Stranglehold” is very much a Hong Kong-inspired action shooter game. The signature Woo elements exist in this game in spades, and that’s probably its saving grace as well. The slow-motion jumping, the dual-wielding pistols, the angry out-of-control cop. Yep, this is classic John Woo. Video games like "Mass Effect" don't come around too often, and good thing: This new science fiction epic is so good it's basically sucking away all of my free time. Action addicts who'd rather shoot first and think later may find it somewhat pedantic, but "Mass Effect" (Rated M, $59.99) is a wonderful example of dorky digital storytelling. Shooter games are one of the most popular genres in the video game world. But you must have a certain desire and skill to play shooters, or else you are going to end up confused and disappointed. The same can be said of first-person games. So when you run across a first-person shooter like 'BlackSite Area 51," it's not the game to get your feet wet. "BlackSite" is produced by Midway, and its plot offers a frightening scenario to citizens of this country: war on American grounds. The backlash of the war in Iraq spills over to conflict in a tiny town in Nevada. In “Star Defender III” you must travel through eight solar systems to defeat various aliens and their fleets of ships. As you play through each system you gather assorted powerups like better guns, extra ships in case your ship is destroyed and a huge selection of missile-type weapons to choose from. “Tennis Titans” is a simple, fun, fast-paced tennis game for any member of the family. The game has seven characters that you can unlock through winning matches. After defeating each of the zany characters, you can then choose to play as that character. A nice perk is you don’t have to start your tournament mode over if you want to switch to a different character. Golf is a sport dripping in decorum and tradition. So it only makes sense that Midway would be the one to put out a golf game centered around the characters of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, a cartoon airing as part of the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Leave it to the French to bring us the first parkour video game - and then set it in the Middle Ages. Though his favored method of movement wasn't really invented until the past decade, Altair, the light-on-his feet protagonist of "Assassin's Creed" somehow feels right at home leaping across Jerusalem rooftops in the year 1191. |
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