THE first thing that strikes you about the PS3 is how big it is, despite its curved exterior.

But switch it on and this is instantly forgiven.

The key to the PS3 is its incredible graphics, and on a high definition TV they are simply mind-blowing.

Movement is fast, and so realistic that during one car racing game, Grand Turismo HD, it can actually be difficult to tell whether you are playing a game or watching a DVD.

The detail in the picture is amazing, with individual stones in the gravel or racetracks visible, and spectators’ faces and actions all programmed to be as realistic as possible.

The cars’ movements are incredibly lifelike, and the physics in the game are perfect on everything from the latest Formula 1 car to a scooter you can race.

One particularly stunning track is the Grand Canyon, where you have the feeling
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you are looking at a National Geographic documentary rather than playing a computer game - every crag and rock recreated perfectly as your car screams through the canyon.

In Tiger Woods Golf, from Electronic Arts, the PS3’s power is used to recreate Tiger Woods facial expressions perfectly, and it can feel like watching a video.

Controlling characters in games and moving around

3D environments is easy as you can simply tilt the controller or move it in the air. This takes a bit of getting used to, and you do end up looking rather silly, but it soon becomes intuitive.

Overall the PS3 is incredibly powerful and far more advanced that anything we have ever seen.

As always, expect huge shortages in November when it goes on sale, but this is one console that is well worth waiting for.

Anticipated titles at release time will include the fourth game in the ever popular Gran Turismo series, Madden 07, Vampire’s Rain, Crysis, Fatal Inertia, MotorStorm, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 3, NBA Live 07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire, Resistance: Fall of Man, and F.E.A.R. Also keep in mind that the PS3 is going to be widely backwards compatible with older PS and PS2 games, which you’ll be able to buy from Son’y PNP service, if you don’t already have them � one of the major selling points! For your PS3, game reviews already written will be just as useful. Finally, going back even further, Sony has announced that a wide variety of Sega Genesis (MegaDrive) games will be also be compatible with the PS3, opening up yet more games to its repertoire.

It all began a year ago when I saw the x box in my neighbor�s multi family yard sale. He wanted to get rid of it because his son has been spending all of his me on it and I was able to get for a reasonably low price. And since he also had lots of x box games to go with the system I was able to get them for a few bucks as well. I was able to get my favorite fighting games for a lot less money than of have I bought them from a video game store.

The x box game that I�ve grown to really love is the Dance Dance Revolution. It�s a new type of game that combines a workout with the normal gaming experience. It�s a revolutionary video game that tries to accurately simulate dancing. At the time that I bought the game I had no idea that it would be challenging.

To my surprise it was quite difficult and I actually felt that I was really dancing as I played the game. It�s amazing to play a game that stimulates your mind while giving you a cardio-vascular exercise.

X box games can cost quite a lot and I learned that it would be wise to rent a game from a video store to determine if it�s worth buying. However, Dance Dance revolution was the exception. It�s the only game that was more convenient to buy than to having rent the game and the mat. The idea of using a mat that was used by other people seemed quite unhygienic.

X box games on eBay can also be bought for less money than those on video games stores so I go there to check out some games. The most economical way to get new games is to trade games with other x box gamers but you have to make sure than you ca get your games back. In recent months the only games I buy are the ones that I�ll really like and of course, the exceptional Dance Dance Revolution.

These events in mobile technology are indeed changing the way we use the cellular phone. Even the manufacturers of mobile phones are cleverly responding to this rising status of mobile phone gaming, as they are able to improve their gadgets to be more suitable for the best possible gaming experience for the user. These enhancements include bigger phone screens, more vivid colors, better sound quality, and more recently, the means for involving more than one user in the mobile gaming experience.

Multiple player games were initially possible with two players using Infra Red technology, where Nokia led the pack with the two-player mode of the their handsets� built-in game, Snake. Then, more players were able to participate in one game with Blue Tooth. Now, with the onset of 3G technology, the future promises big advancements in multiplayer mobile gaming. A once lonely affair of defeating your own high score, mobile phone gaming has indeed come a long way.

On the other hand, 3G will also be responsible for enabling your mobile handsets to download high-resolution videos and music with superior sound quality, giving you more entertainment to pour your attention on. It may sound like a threat to the popularity of mobile gaming, but it may very well be a worthy challenge for game developers to continuously provide games that are more exciting and more challenging than ever.

The challenge for service providers and cellular phone manufacturers is to find ways and means for mobile game users to stay interested and involved in using the multiplayer platform. The technology has yet to match the interactive level, which the users of computer network gaming currently enjoy, in that it lacks a channel that simultaneously allows communication between the people participating in the game. Another way of keeping the users interested would be to provide continuous subscriptions and user promos for this type of gaming. This would be similar to the way some online gaming websites are able to keep track of your scores when you are a registered user, and how some establishments have a rewards system for repeat customers, just to keep them coming back.

For easy to download mobile games, visit http://www.polyphonics.eu.com, where you can choose from hundreds of games of different genres, including arcade, puzzle, sports, and racing. You can download popular games like Monopoly Tycoon, Classic Solitaire, Wizard Pinball, and even a stylized version of Chess.

Because of the recent advances in mobile phone technology, mobile phone games are becoming more and more sophisticated as the years progress. We are so far away from its infancy, as famously represented by the moving gray pixels of Snake. We now see fully immersive graphics that are in full color, well rendered and, in some cases, even come in 3D. Mobile phones have transcended its original purpose for mobile communications. It is has also morphed into a portable gaming device.

Just like other gaming platforms, mobile games also come in different genres. There are action games, strategy games , puzzles, simulations, there are even highly specialized genres like first person shooters and stealth games.

One genre though that would otherwise look strange inside a mobile phone but surprisingly works in the real world are role playing games. When you first consider it, role playing games or RPGs do not seem like such a good idea when played in mobile phones. There are limited controls, which limit not only the movement and action but the customization options as well. The limited screen real estate would also severely limit the immersive experience that is part and parcel of any good role playing game.

But it does work. Role playing games have made a great transition from traditional gaming platforms into mobile phones. And even though there are obvious limitations when compared to their console and PC counterparts they are still possess the kind of addictive fun that gamers have learned to expect.

One reason why role playing games are generally popular and translate well to mobile phones is the emphasis on storytelling. Much like the text-based role playing games of old, the current crop of mobile phone role playing games have put more emphasis on how the story unfolds and develops as you progress deeper and deeper into the game.

Mobile phone role playing games can also be seen as a sort of interactive novel that enables you to see how a story develops while also being aware of your schedule. For example, even if you are very busy you can pick up on an adventure or quest you may have started previously and complete some tasks in order to finally complete the quest and start on a new quest. The very nature of the game allows one to pick up a game at any point and then stop when he is already busy with work or other responsibilities.

A role play game is any game where the players assume a role other from that which they occupy in normal life. It is usually marked by some sort of special and unrealistic characteristic, such as a capacity for magical spells or cybernetic implants, neither of which is regularly available in ordinary life. There are many varieties of role play game, but the most popular and well known are those that descend from Dungeons and Dragons, so these are the ones I will be concerned with here.

Dungeons and Dragons belongs to a category of games known as pen and paper role playing, because nothing is required to play them save a pen and some paper. A hallmark of all these role play games is the simplicity of the requirements, which one might say was carried on into the computer generation through requiring only the game to play, except that this is not the norm for games now. These pen and paper games have inspired large numbers of computer games, including Might and Magic and World of Warcraft, enough to be considered the founders of a genre which has become increasingly popular.

A small number of players, usually between four and seven, are required for pen and paper games and although the number can vary it generally needs to remain within these bounds for a reasonable game. Once a group has gathered to play, it is very uncommon for any new players to enter or even for old ones to leave, because the character progression and the necessity of close teamwork leads to a crystallisation of the group. It can be very disruptive to the group dynamics to change them abruptly mid game, so the current players tend to discourage new people entering in the middle of a campaign which can last several months. On the other hand, the cooperation required of the team can lead to strong bonds forming between them. This can make it very easy for a player to expand their network of social contacts to include those of their friends, however because many people play the game for escapism they may not wish to discuss their life outside the role they play. Thus the game can either encourage or inhibit the foinformation of additional social ties, depending on the character of the players. One thing that is certain, though, is that it tends to bring together like minded people in a setting they are comfortable with.

Single player computer games can be dismissed instantly, as there is no real difference between a single player RPG and any other single player game. Unlike pen and paper games, computer games are theoretically played in isolation. However, in actuality the large internet community means that they are never really alone. MMORPGs naturally involve huge numbers of people (hence the name Massively Multiplayer) and the renowned anonymity afforded by the internet makes it easy for people to start conversations. It is entirely usually for a person to have a hundred friends around the world, and not know what a single one of them looks like in real life. In addition to this, online RPGs support player run organisations known by various names, although usually as clans or guilds, which give a structured system for them to provide support and help for each other. The long term members of such a group usually know each other extremely well, and often organise times to meet online.

Occasionally, acquaintances formed online will extend to real life, usually because most players keep contact with their friends over instant messaging such as MSN messenger and ICQ, and can just as easily use these media to keep in touch with friends made in an online game. This enables an overlap of real life with their life online, and a large number of contacts can be built up this way. However it is quite unusual for one player to introduce two others to each other, so social networks formed this way rarely extend more then a single level.

So online games can provide a great aid to the foinformation of social networks, although these networks are usually quite distinct from those formed outside the internet. However, these two worlds will often overlap, as online and offline friends will be contacting the player with using the same email address or messaging account.

Pen and paper games have little effect on social networking, and are effectively no different then any other social club, but online games are something else. As more and more activities are carried out online, the dividing line between reality and cyberspace grows more diffuse and faded. So it should not appear unusual that networking is being carried along with the other activities into the online world. In conclusion, pen and paper games do nothing for networking that any other club does not, yet online role play games can have a tremendous impact enable a much larger pool of contacts to form within an entirely different society.

This is how F.E.A.R.’s manual starts, and it couldn’t have done a better job at summing up F.E.A.R.’s essence. Throughout this review, we will be getting a bit deeper into all of the elements, that made F.E.A.R. on PC the worthy shooter that it is, and we’ll see how well they hold up on the Xbox 360.

Starting up F.E.A.R., you are greeted by the main menu, which gives you the choice of playing through the Campaign, jump into some Instant Action, or go for some multiplayer frenzy over Xbox Live.

Campaign and Instant Action

The Campaign is F.E.A.R.’s story mode, and it is the recommended starting point for those new to F.E.A.R. Only a few story elements are presented initially, and the game does a great job of keeping you in the dark throughout the campaign, and retaining a certain air of mystery. You start off the Campaign as F.E.A.R.’s point man, and you’ll witness a character by the name of Paxton Fettel taking command of a battalion of telepathically controlled super soldiers. Fettel then seizes control of the Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC), a rather shady corporation that develops military applications. ATC is to F.E.A.R. what Umbrella is to Resident Evil, so you know ethics aren’t a major concern here.

As F.E.A.R.’s point man, it is your task to eliminate Paxton Fettel. You are accompanied by your team and by Delta Force, and since Fettel can be located at all times by means of satellite tracking, your job shouldn’t be that hard, right? That’s where the horror theme kicks in, as a ghostly little girl, reminiscent of the The Ring, suddenly appears and starts causing death and mayhem around her. Who or what is this girl? How does she relate to Fettel? These are just some of the questions for you to clear up, and while doing so you’ll be going through quite the adventure.

Throughout the Campaign, you’ll be able to gather clues by means of consulting laptops and answering machines. You are by no means obliged to consult them, but not doing so would be a pity if you’re not familiar with F.E.A.R.’s story. In fact, your own character, the point man, is a bit of a mystery himself. At the beginning of the game, his superhuman reflexes are hinted at, something you will be able to experience for yourself during the Campaign. Something else you will be able to sample are the numerous hallucinatory horror scenes…

F.E.A.R.’s atmosphere gets under your skin. There are no monsters suddenly spawning in front of you, ready to rip your head off if you’re a fraction too late at pulling the trigger. What you get here is psychological terror. At one point, you can be walking through a normal corridor, only to have the ceiling suddenly transforming into an ocean of blood, with a slow motion effect kicking in. The creepy little girl makes numerous appearances, and so does Fettel. They often scare the seven living shades out of you because you never exactly know what to expect. Are they just there to haunt you, or is there more to their apparitions? Other scare tactics involve startling images suddenly popping up, as well as Delta Force members or ATC staff being severely mutilated in your line of sight. It crawls under your skin to the point where the play of the lights and shadows on the walls around you creeps you out.

Not only do you have to fill in some blanks regarding the little girl and Fettel, but you’ll also have to answer some questions about yourself. You can sort some things out and develop your own theory, but the definitive answer is reserved for the very end of the Campaign, which will most likely come as a surprise. The Campaign as a whole consists of ten intervals (chapters), and should take you somewhere between ten to twenty hours to finish. The timeframe depends on the difficulty level you selected, and on whether you want to take out all of the enemies and sniff through every room for items and clues.

The opposition you will face is formidable with some of the best artificial intelligence ever devised. These enemies don’t just go through some predefined animations in order to make it harder for you to hit them. Their degree of action is far greater than that, as they will duck or travel under crawlspaces in order to pursue you, and they can jump through windows or vault over railings. They can jump down to a lower level, climb ladders and push over large objects to create cover. Best of all: they can work as a team. Camp behind a corner too long, and they’ll try to flush you out with a grenade, or find an alternative route to flank and surprise you. Blindly storm towards them, and they’ll look for cover in order to lay down suppressive fire. These are just the replica soldiers, F.E.A.R.’s grunts, we’re talking about here. The game has some other, extremely deadly foes that are either blindingly fast or take a considerable amount of firepower to bring down. Enemies like that obviously don’t even need to take cover.

It doesn’t take much in F.E.A.R. to bite the dust. One moment you can be walking around with full health and armor, only to find yourself starting over from the last save the next moment after having been somewhat careless or unlucky. Especially on the higher difficulty levels, the enemies prove to be crack shots and skilled grenade throwers, ripping you to shreds in the blink of an eye. There is no such thing as the screen fading out when you’re left without health, so it may even come as quite a surprise to see the game suddenly loading the last checkpoint. Checkpoint? Indeed, there is no quick save like there is on PC, so you have to rely on the automatic checkpoints the developers have laid out for you if you die. For the most part, the game uses the checkpoint system rather smart, slightly before or just after major events, so you won’t have to replay too much if you were bested by the A.I.

As relentless as the A.I. may be, there are a couple of things that work in your favor. First up are the medkits. Not only do they restore a fairly big chunk of your health, but there also is a rather generous amount of them scattered throughout each interval, and you can store ten of them in your inventory at each time. Don�t let these kits give you a false sense of security though: it still is easier to lose health in F.E.A.R. than it is to gain, especially during the game’s set-piece battles, where you will be severely outnumbered and/or outgunned. Never forget that in F.E.A.R., your enemies can inflict just as much damage on you, as you can on them.

Your heightened reflexes and skills are represented in the Slow-Mo meter, which can be found at the bottom center of your screen. When activating Slow-Mo, the world around you slows down considerably, with you still being able to react at almost normal speed. The effect is somewhat like the bullet time that could be found in Max Payne, although here it has been taken completely over the top visually. Firing at enemies during Slow-Mo triggers air distortion caused by bullets in flight, and there also are numerous particle effects. Aside from that, there aren�t too many things as intensely gratifying as blowing an enemy away in Slow-Mo. It’s as if you’re the star in your own action movie, and it makes each firefight a work of art. Slow-Mo certainly is one of F.E.A.R.’s most precious assets, but you’ll have to use it wisely as the Slow-Mo meter depletes rather fast when in use, only to refill slowly when idle. And don’t think about waiting behind a corner to refill your Slow-Mo meter during a firefight, as doing so often leads to the above mentioned grenade being lobbed at you, which might very well be the last thing you see.

It also is worthwhile to hunt for health and reflex boosters. These boosters permanently increase your maximum health and Slow-Mo time by a small amount respectively. They are often hidden or stashed away in a remote room, but a distinct blue or green glow always hints towards their nearby presence, so you might want to keep an eye out for that.

The weaponry is another element that heavily influences F.E.A.R.’s gameplay. It’s mostly a mix of fictional and non-fictional firearms, ranging from your average pistol or assault rifle, to heavy duty stuff like rocket launchers or particle beam weapons. Bulkier weapons pack more firepower, but they are often limited in ammo and slow you down more than smaller firearms. Death effects when using these weapons are varied. Firing the shotgun at an enemy from close range will splatter him into a bloody mist. With the Penetrator, F.E.A.R.’s nailgun, opponents can be pinned to walls. Most awesome is the Type-7 Particle weapon, which melts the flesh off foes, leaving only their smoldering bones behind. And it’s scoped for sniping action, how cool is that? You can only carry around three weapons at all time though, so there is some strategy involved in choosing the right set. The shotgun often is a smart choice, since most of the combat in F.E.A.R. is close-quarters.

Aside from the firearms, you can carry three types of grenades as well. There is the hand grenade that blows up a couple of seconds after you throw it away, and it’s an excellent tool at keeping the pressure on the enemy, forcing him to leave cover. More strategic, but still great offensive tools if you use them correctly, are the proximity and remote mine. Whatever the one you use, they all create a neat Timecop ripple effect when they explode.

More risky is the use of melee. Every weapon in F.E.A.R. can be used to bash enemies with, but the point man also has a flying jump kick, a roundhouse kick and a slide tackle in his arsenal. Melee attacks don’t work too well against F.E.A.R.’s bigger enemies, and it also means you’ll risk running into a retaliatory weapon bash, but it can be very satisfying to jump kick into an opponent, especially during Slow-Mo.

After finishing up the Campaign’s tenth interval, a bonus mission unlocks. It’s exclusive to the Xbox 360 version and lets you view F.E.A.R. from another point of view. While the bonus mission expands on the story, it also is rather short, so in spite of the tough combat inside it doesn’t hold that much value. More interesting is the Instant Action mode, also exclusive to F.E.A.R. on the Xbox 360. Instant Action gives you four missions to choose from, dropping you straight into the action against F.E.A.R.’s signature A.I. During these missions, you are scored one a variety of factors including the number of enemies you killed, the amount of medkits in your inventory, your accuracy etc. At the end of an Instant Action mission, your score is uploaded to the Xbox Live leaderboards, so you’ll be able to see how well you match up against the other F.E.A.R. players out there. Instant Action turns out to be a great addition to the gameplay because you can face several of F.E.A.R.’s more notorious enemy types in one go, something which is impossible in the Campaign.

Multiplayer

Up to 16 players can join a multiplayer match via Xbox Live. The modes that are available are the same as on PC, so there is Death Match, Team Death Match, Capture the Flag, Elimination and Team Elimination.

Interesting, is the option to pick a Slow-Mo variation for the Death Match, Team Death Match and Capture the Flag modes. This makes Slow-Mo a pickup acquired by grabbing a reflex booster placed on the map. Activating Slow-Mo in multiplayer results in you, and the players on your team, having faster reaction times than the others. It does give you a blue glow and will make you visible on everybody’s HUD though, so grabbing the reflex booster will make you a target.

Also worth of note are the customization options the host has at his disposal. As such, weapon restrictions can be set, winning conditions can be adjusted, and it’s even possible to give point rewards and penalties for certain actions. Most notorious is the option to crank up the run speed. This makes it entirely possible to create hectic Quake- or Unreal-like games. Everything runs fine online, without any hiccups, so what is there to complain about when it comes to multiplayer?

Well, the lack of a post-game lobby might cause some distress among gamers. Forget the dedication of games such as Chromehounds. In F.E.A.R., after having finished a multiplayer game, you will be kicked back to the menu screen. Hasta la vista, baby. Xbox Live is the only way for you to get in some multiplayer action by the way, since there is no co-operative mode in F.E.A.R. on Xbox 360, and no option for a system link either.

Graphics and Sound
It came as a pleasant surprise to note that the graphics in the retail version of F.E.A.R. have been notched up in comparison with what’s on offer in the Marketplace demo. The textures are sharper and have more detail to them. Dust clouds kicked up by bullet impacts look more natural. It still is evident that this is a PC port though, so first person shooters like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and especially Gears of War easily trump F.E.A.R.�s visuals.

While the scenery in F.E.A.R. certainly looks solid and convincing, it does become repetitive after awhile. This is caused by the locations you’re wandering in, which will always be the ATC buildings. There is some variation by means of sending you through maintenance tunnels, conference rooms, medical labs, rooftops and such, but sooner or later it will all look like more of the same.

It’s a good thing then that F.E.A.R. is such a dark game. The play of light and darkness in F.E.A.R. isn’t just there for looks. It sets the tone by creating a thick atmosphere, keeping you on your toes. Indeed, you’ll be hanging onto your flashlight as if it were your saving grace whenever another dark section pops up. It works like a double-edged sword: from one side, the flashlight makes it easier for you to find those desired boost packs, but from the other side it can also alert the enemy to your presence.

The character models are very convincing and it is a joy to fire up Slow-Mo and look at the visual effects accompanying you sending the enemy flying backwards through the air after having pumped him full with a rain of buckshot. The ragdoll physics are great, and only occasionally does the game slip up with them, making them do something that they couldn’t possibly be doing in real life, like getting a hand stuck in the ceiling, a victim of graphic clipping.

Where F.E.A.R. truly excels is in the sound department. Forget about the concept of each level having its own theme. The music in F.E.A.R. is tailored to each individual event, a reaction to what’s going on. Sometimes the music simply toys with you, setting you on the wrong foot. It can build up the tension by increasing the pace, and just when you expect a climax, nothing happens and everything goes silent. A couple of moments later then, that silence suddenly is shattered by a ghostly apparition. You never know what to expect in F.E.A.R., and this is one of those rare cases where the music adds to that feeling. It’s hard to say what can give the most distressing feeling, as the game also uses silence as a tool, forcing you into your own personal nightmare.

Sound effects are varied and can come from everywhere by means of blood that’s dripping through the ceiling above you, or by the various objects you kick over. With the atmosphere playing such a big part in F.E.A.R., it can be very upsetting to have the silence suddenly being broken by an explosion or nightmare sequence. F.E.A.R. deservedly received various �best use� of sound awards when it was released on PC, and all of this auditory goodness has been carried over to the Xbox 360 version, where it will stand out even more for those who have a surround set in the living room.

Controls
All of the keyboard functions from F.E.A.R. on PC have been mapped onto the Xbox 360 controller. As usual, the controller does a great job at handling the action, but since there is so much to keep control of in F.E.A.R., it might take you a fair chunk of time before you’re used to everything, and maybe you will need to remap some of the controls to get a more natural feel. For example, if selecting the next grenade type is mapped on the d-pad, why not map selecting the next weapon on there as well?

When it comes to controlling the point man, F.E.A.R. still feels very much like a PC shooter. The analog control with the sticks leaves something to be desired at times. Slowly walking forward can prove to be a bit of a burden, with the point man either hesitating on the spot, or taking one step too many altogether. In general, the point man also has somewhat of a weird walk to himself, as if he’s running around with the urgent need to go to the restroom.

Achievements

F.E.A.R. is definitely going to make you work for those achievements, with some of them having a high degree of unattainability to them. The bulk of the points is reserved for the Campaign, but you’ll only pluck the fruits of your labor after having played completely through the Campaign at least once since there is little in the way of reward for progress in between intervals. Only completing the second, third, seventh, eight and tenth interval gives way to an achievement, and at five points each they don’t stand tall.

Completing the Campaign adds 35 extra points to your Gamerscore, but there are extra rewards for such activities like finding every booster or killing every enemy. The sweet spot however lies in trying to complete the Campaign without dying, which gives you 150 points in one go. Trying to complete the Campaign on extreme difficulty gives you another 100 points. Good luck with that one, it’s only reserved for the best.

When it comes to the multiplayer, completionists will find that they have to participate in 1,000 ranked multiplayer matches again. At least it beats having to go through Quake IV’s 5,000. There also is a bunch of achievements going towards scoring at least 50 kills with just about every weapon available in F.E.A.R.

There also are some secret achievements to be gathered in F.E.A.R., but chances are high you don’t even want to unlock those. Not only are they worth nothing, but you probably don’t want to be known as the suicide king.

The Straight Dope

Roughly one year after Condemned: Criminal Origins, Monolith returns to the Xbox 360 with F.E.A.R., courtesy of Day 1 Studios. Whereas Condemned did receive some flak because of its rather slow melee combat system, the same certainly cannot be said about F.E.A.R. The spooky atmosphere is back, but this time we get some phenomenal A.I. and intense action as well. It makes F.E.A.R. a captivating experience, and a title that is certainly worthy of your attention.

And let’s face it: a game has to be special to be able to stand ground against Gears of War, Call of Duty 3 and Rainbow Six Vegas. Remember though: much like with the Wii, F.E.A.R. is allergic to bright light. Failure to play F.E.A.R. after the sun has set, in a quiet, dimly lit room, will result in a severely hampered gameplay experience.

This game has attracted a lot of attention not only from the gaming public, but also from the industry. You don’t have to click too many times to find some developer commenting on how their game is better, and Gears is not innovative blah, blah, blah.� Comments like these running rampant all over the internet are proof that, Gear of War has become the game by which all others will be measured.

The question is NOT - Is Gears of War good?The question is - How good is Gears of War? It is UN-BE-LUCKIN-FEEVABLE ABSO-FREAKIN-LOOTLY INSANE-A-CREDIBLE; it is SPLENTACULAR, GIGANTICAL, and TERRI-HUGE-MONKEY-REFIC!!You don’t understand.It is BEAUTY-DELICIOUS, EXCEL-MEGA-LENT, 100% NOT-FUBAR-ASTIC, O MY GOODLINESS, FOR GOODLY CRYING OUT SAKES this game is AWESOME!!

Gameplay and Controls

Gears of War

This game is fun to play. The campaign coop is the single most fun I have had on XBOX LIVE since I purchased my 360.� I went through it hardcore in co op.� It was hard, and we were dying and reviving and having a good time, all the while laying waste to the locust horde. The game; however, is not without a few small flaws.

Using the “A” button for dodge roll, taking cover, and the roadie run is a good idea at first for simplicity’s sake.� As the campaign goes on, you end up sticking to walls that you are attempting to run past.� If you are running from something, chances are there is a good reason for it.� Like a locust wanting to have a piece of you.� Then you stick to a wall you are trying to run past, and he does just that.
I didn�t use the roadie hardly at all in the campaign until the last boss fight where it is an absolute must. This sticking to a wall thing becomes very frustrating. One of the most satisfying and visually overdone graphical blood fests of all time is the chainsaw kill.� You will want to this whenever possible. If you get close to locust press the b button and grit your teeth together and enjoy.

The weapons are good for the most part. The COG machine gun has the chainsaw and the locust does not. I do wish the differences were greater, but o well.

Gears of War

The crossbow is very cool; launching an explosive tip arrow between the eyes of a locust is awesome.� Once the arrow sticks, it blows up and chunks of meat go flying all over the place.� The shotgun is nice for the dog like screaming creatures that come straight at you.� Just back up and shoot in their general direction.� Good fun with the shotgun.� I wish the gore level was higher with this weapon, though.

The sniper rifle is used seldom, but it too is very satisfying as head shots, produce a melon explosion with blood gushing up from the torso.The revolver is useless in the campaign.� The grenades are used to close the holes that the locust come up through.� Close the hole with a grenade and no more bad guys - a great way to conserve ammo.� This is very useful in the INSANE difficulty setting.� For the most part, though, the grenades don’t do enough damage to warrant use on the filed of battle, where if you get out of cover to use the grenade you will die in 1.5 heart beats.

The ability to blind fire - just hold the fire trigger while under cover and only your weapon will be exposed.� This is basically a waste of much needed ammo on higher difficulty settings, but is cool none the less.

Gears of War

The multiplayer is a lot of fun. Skill levels are high with human enemies. These guys got very good, very fast.� Going online WILL test your skills.� I recommend an energy drink, and 4 espressos�, to enhance your twitch reflexes.� Connection speed and hosting advantages reign supreme as usual. Close range weapon fights will be won by the guy with the quickest connection and not the best aim. Long range weaponry seems to be the choice of the highest scorers and as usual camping and teamwork is rewarded.

With human enemies being as skilled as they are, the sticking to the wall thing, as well as getting out of cover quickly becomes an obstacle that the most successful online players have mastered.� Learning the maps, and the location of the most sought after weapons on that map will help your score. I recommend stalking the highest scoring person in the game, and watch and learn from him. But be aware, he or she won’t like it. If you engage an enemy your teammates will come out of the woodwork to steel your kill. Using a one shot kill weapon is the best option online, if you care at all about your score. Bottom line here is practice, practice, practice.

Graphics and Presentation
The graphics have are a wonderful thing to behold.� I take a look at them as whole and there is definitely an artistic theme to the game.� The world of Gears of War is; quite simply, what is left after the human race receives a thorough ass kicking by the locust horde.� Very reminiscent of what you would picture a city looked like after a World War II bombing.

The characters in the game look very good.� You can see scars that tell a story of a brutal past.� Each character’s personality is amplified by the graphics that put that character together.� When you look at the characters in the game, they provoke thought.� You wonder about that character.� They are NOT perfect, and so their imperfection is compelling.

Gears of War

The corner of a two story building lying on the ground, and if you look closely at the rubble you can almost put the building back together in your head.� The game makes sense graphically, and spatially.� You look at a building as you approach and once you get inside the layout make sense from what you observed outside. This was the first time I could almost taste and smell the world of the video game.

The concrete dust in the air was almost palpable, the humidity and the smell of the sheet rock laying all over the floor of different buildings, the water misting in the garden house, together with the mold growing on the concrete walls, and the rusting steel pipes, produce a sensory overload that is very well done.The rain falls from gutters in streams, and when you step under the stream the water splashes off you.� Look down into a puddle and see a dynamic reflection of what surrounds the puddle.

I had played through the game on hardcore without noticing this detail. Detail like this exist throughout the game and do exactly what they are intended to do, bring you into the world of Gears of War. The lighting is very atmospheric and changes from environment to environment.� The light reflecting off rain drops produces a very subtle, but noticeable effect that is very cool.� The light playing off the approaching enemies is so well done, it is off the charts.

In a sequence in the game where light becomes part of the game play; which to my knowledge is truly innovative, you can bait the locust horde into leaving the light and then watch the ensuing carnage.� Think “Pitch Black” the movie.The way the game takes you into different environments and then makes you part of the environment is very rare in the world of video games and must be experienced and appreciated by every gamer.

Sound

If you do have a surround sound set-up, you are lucky.� This game takes full advantage of 5.1 Dolby digital.� Everything in the game is imaged naturally and correctly.� There is a sound stage that is put together in front and behind you, that rivals some of the best Hollywood movie productions.� Not only is the sound directional, but it is some how set to make sense in its distance from you.� For example as you are standing in cover with your back pressed against the wall, bullets are splattering the concrete all around you; it is as if you can hear the concrete dust falling onto your shoulders.� At the same time this is happening you can hear the boomer chanting out “BOooooooom” every time he fires his boomshot/rocket launcher.� When he does fire, you will hear the rocket make impact directionally.� You will also know approximately where the boomer is according the sound of his voice.

Gears of War

There is a point in the game where you will speak to a character that is directly under you.� I don’t know how they did it, but it sounds like he is under you - a truly wonderful effect.The music never gets old.� I use to think I would never want a sound track to video game.

When this soundtrack is released I will buy it.� The music could not have been done any better.� It fits the sequence in which it is set.� The music adds suspense and relief as it should, where it should.� What I mean is the music is placed so well, it just becomes part of the experience and actually adds to experience.� This is what music in video games should do.

The Straight Dope
This is a very cool game.� The graphics, music/sound, and game play all add up to an excellent gaming experience.� Moments of suspense, the use of teamwork lead to a truly cinematic experience that will not be soon forgot.

With the launch of the 360 version Xbox Live Arcade, shooter fanatics found that their fix was only a few MS Points away. Geometry Wars led the charge, but arcade hits like Contra have joined the fight to keep this great genre alive.

Sierra Online is the latest to put their helmet into the Xbox Live Arcade shooter ring. Wanako Studios� Assault Heroes is as quintessential as a shooter can be, but at the same time stays a fresh title with lots to offer the casual arcade gaming fan.

At first glance Assault Heroes may look like your standard Smash TV or Commando clone, but in essence, this top-down shooter is different. The story of Assault Heroes is basically non-existent, but there is a bit of pre-text talking about saving the world by finding some sort of underground laboratory. You are one of only two Special Forces fighters still alive in this futuristic world; the other being your co-op partner if he/she so chooses to join the fight. There are even cut scenes in Assault Heroes which is a bit rare for a basic arcade shooter, but it does show that Wanako was trying to immerse the gamer at least a bit into this world of flying ammunition.

Anyone bring suntan lotion?

You�ll have a total of three ways to roll in Assault Heroes - by foot, by 4×4, and by boat - and the developers did a fine job of mixing up play between them. The 4×4 assault vehicle is the main form of transportation in Assault Heroes, as much of the action takes place on the ground. You�ll actually begin your missions in this dune buggy from hell, which is about as easy to control as a vehicle can get in a video game. The left stick does all of the vehicle control, which, when coupled with the overhead view, makes for easy manipulation. The utilitarian 4×4 can stop and turn on a dime as well, so jerking the stick back will stop (and go immediately into reverse) and a 360 degree motion will spin the heap in a very tight circle. The 4×4 always runs at about the same speed too, so it really doesn�t matter what type of terrain it�s traversing. The lack of realistic physics with the assault vehicle makes the feel more like using a hovercraft than a wheeled hooptie.

The 4×4 is not only a good means of transportation, it’s also a good way to blast baddies off of the map. The main weapon of the 4×4 is a roof-mounted minigun that has a high cyclic rate. Taps on either bumper will change the primary weapon from minigun to flame thrower to flak cannon. The flame thrower has limited range and can overheat, but it�s the best piece against the droves of infantry soldiers that will approach the 4×4. The flak cannon is good for armored gun emplacements, tanks, and any other heavy structures, but it�s much harder to aim than the minigun, and has a very slow reload rate. Each weapon can be �powered up� two times, which gives each much greater overall firepower.

In addition to the main 4×4 weapons, your soldier can unleash some other big offensive threats from the cab of the vehicle. The grenade does heavy damage, and can be pinpoint-placed with the help of a reticle. Holding in the right trigger will �arm� the grenade and bring up the reticle. The reticle can only go so far from the 4×4, so range is a bit limited, but accuracy is usually pretty good. Missiles can be launched in a similar fashion from the vehicle and make for great counter-attacks from the legions of aircraft fixing to take you out. When the future seems bleak for the good guys (e.g. too many enemies and not enough good guys) a �nuke� bomb is only a left trigger pull away, and can take out all of the enemies within range. You won�t get many nukes, so use these wisely.

You can hop in and out of the 4×4 whenever you choose by pressing the B button, but it�s better to stay in it as much as possible. There are times when a power-up requires an on-foot stretch, but most objectives can be completed inside the cockpit. A few special areas force on-foot action as well, which helps to break up the relentless offensive onslaught that comes from the 4×4. There�s a bit more finesse to the on-foot game, as the pea shooter that is your rifle isn�t overly effective. Looking for incendiary barrels or wise use of the grenade (right trigger) pays big dividends when on the Hush Puppies.

The boat missions are very similar to the 4×4 missions, with the motion of the ocean causing just a bit of havoc with the whole aiming dynamic. A nice little feature is that your hero will actually switch to a jet ski when wandering away from his cigar boat. The similar look of the ocean�s waves makes the boat missions less interesting to look at than the varied terrains of the 4×4 missions, but it�s still interesting to play with the different vehicle physics and moving landscape.

What would an arcade-style shooter be without co-operative play? Assault Heroes fully supports the cooperative action with the ability to play both offline and online with two players. The gameplay is nearly identical to the single player campaign, except there�s another vehicle and character fighting right alongside of you. We didn�t notice any kind of ramp up in level difficulty either, even though team-ups equal more firepower. Wanako even programmed in three co-op specials that can be performed when both players press X. Pressing X and then arming the same weapon as your teammate will produce a special attack. For instance, when both players have their flamethrowers equipped, a thin band of fire is created between the two throwers that smokes anything in its path. The flak gun creates a nuke-like packet of energy, while the minigun produces fiery homing rounds that cause major damage.

Bumber boats with guns!

The overall gameplay of Assault Heroes is a delight. There are droves of infantry enemies, tanks, planes, bunkers, and ships that come at you pretty much non-stop during the missions. There are also boss battles which are usually quite challenging. An interesting feature during boss battles is that a quick press of the A button will reveal the behemoth�s weak spot so that you can concentrate fire in that area. The online and offline co-op works in perfect conjunction with the sheer insanity that is Assault Heroes, as the developer balanced the difficulties with either one or two players well. It�s also worth noting that Assault Heroes runs quite smoothly via Xbox Live, and makes the one of the better quick-hit companion games out there.

One of the few downsides in Assault Heroes�s gameplay is that too much of the action takes place near the upper portion of the screen. Wanako did a nice job of making sure that enemies come from behind the player character (including a huge mech walker in a few of the levels), but it seems that enemies off of the north end of the screen have an advantage. This is because your vehicle will have to normally push northward in order to load the next phase of the map, which often times puts the gamer in a precarious position. We would have liked the vehicle to stay a bit more centered no matter what was loading at the time.

Just as solid as the gameplay in Assault Heroes is the way in which it looks. This is what an arcade-style shooter on a next-gen platform should look like. Built from the ground up, Wanako made sure that Assault Heroes looks as much like a zoomed-out, full-priced action game as possible. The 4×4 leaves indelible tracks in the earth. The ocean looks ultra-realistic as the waves crash the shore. Particle effects from weapons are as good as you�ll find in most regular 360 SKUs. And the plentiful animation sets keep the on-screen action busy and aesthetically pleasing. It�s great to watch a row of palm trees get mowed down by your tank, or ten guys get blown toward the camera lens after a nuke ignites.

There�s really little to be disappointed about with Assault Heroes. It�s only 800 MS Points, and is on par with (if not better than) any of the arcade-style ports that have come out for the Xbox or Xbox 360. Download this one if you and a friend are looking to relive the quarter stacking days, or if you simply want a break from the cerebral gameplay that seems to dominate the next-gen era.

6 months late and only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, yep, sounds like another games console launch�

On November 17th Northern America saw the long awaited launch of the Sony PlayStation 3, but how many people got what they wanted?

Well, as expected the number of units available was very low and as usual there were quite a few people ready to pay big money to be the first to own a PS3.

The 60GB PS3 has a retail price of $600 and so far eBay has seen a steady flow of units selling for between $1,500 and $4,000 !!

Many people camped out over night on the cold streets for a chance of getting their hands on the highly prized console, some waiting three days to ensure a good place in the queue. Outside one Circuit City store 50 plus people patiently waiting but only 10 PS3 consoles were available for sale� A large bold sign reminding queuing hopefuls of this limited number seemed to make no difference, some waiting in line just for the chance that someones credit card might be declined or maybe an unexpected stock delivery? It’s great to see the never say never attitude alive and well in the streets of the USA!

These die hard PS3 fans are a special breed, keeping one-another encouraged and talking amongst themselves about the impending games releases and online capabilities, you can really feel the excitement in the air.

For others though, the cold long wait was just about the money, they weren’t afraid to admit that they intended to sell the console on for a profit, As with the games console releases in the past demand far outweighs supply and there are plenty of gamers prepared to pay top Dollar for a early chance to play. One queue waiter commented “I’d rather take the $2000 profit and wait another three months!”

So that’s the folks in the US underway, Japan had their PS3’s first on November 11th, but what of the European gamers? Well Sony have put off the Europe wide launch until March 2007 because of reported production problems with the graphics chips, and the difficult to manufacture Sony Cell processor, But will they meet the march deadline? They can’t say! Sony are currently refusing to guarantee a Spring European launch at all, so it could be an even longer wait for Europe. Let’s wait and see�