E3 2010 Trailer: Rayman Origins

Another new Rayman game from Ubisoft but this one looks into the origin story of Rayman. This game has the wonderful brand of Rayman and Rabbids humour though.

E3 2010 Trailer: Raving Rabbids Travel in Time

Another Rabbids game and this time they are messing up history by traveling back in time. I love the parody of Back to the Future.
DAHHHHHHH!!

Holiday Review Guide: Part 3 - Nintendo Wii & PSP Games

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Sony Computer Entertainment, High Impact Games
Available for PSP and Playstation 2

Jak and Daxter are back and on a mission to save their world from the brink of destruction due to Eco shortages. Along with Jak’s girlfriend, Keira, they speed to the end of the world to search for a new Eco source and happen upon new characters, locations and a whole new adventure.

The Lost Frontier lives up to the successful Jak and Daxter franchise with tons of fun platforming levels, new vehicles to ride around in and more. There are lots of new power-ups to explore but you won’t be able to switch back and forth between Dark Jak and normal Jak like the previous game. Dark Jak does make an appearance once in a while though.

This makes a great holiday buy either on the PSP or PS2 and I know fans of the series will be impressed with the new instalment.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Rockstar Games, Rockstar Leeds
Available for PSP and Nintendo DS

Now I’ve reviewed at Chinatown Wars before on the Nintendo DS, but now there’s a version for the PSP and I know Sony fans want to know if the game is worth the coin. The game still focuses on Huang Lee and his quest to return his stolen father’s sword and seek revenge on the people who took it. You will join up with the Triads and do all the usual car stealing and gun shooting missions you find in GTA games but in this version, the screen is wider, the radio station selection is bigger and there are more missions to complete.

The controls don’t exactly translate well over from the Nintendo DS version to the PSP and the multi-player mode only allows for 2 players on the PSP but overall, this is still a fun game. Fans of the GTA genre will find the same excellent Rockstar flare and humour here as the big console games.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Rent it!

Little King’s Story
Xseed Games, Cing & Town Factory
Available for the Nintendo Wii

Little King’s Story puts you in the role of a young boy, Corobo who is the newly crowned King of a whole kingdom. You must return your new kingdom to its former glory by training your subjects and defending your borders. Taking a page from the book of Pikmin, you must control your groups of soldiers, builders and more by pointing them towards their tasks.

Don’t let Little King’s Story’s childish exterior fool you into thinking this is a kid’s game because this title will have you massively frustrated after the second boss or so. Remember to save often and expect to die a lot. Achieving upgrades and exploring new areas will have you addicting to this title in no time.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Rabbids Go Home
Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montpellier
Available for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

The rabbids have finally tired of their party life and want to go home. Believing they live in the moon, they begin to steal tons of junk from around the world to build a tower that reaches their home. You need to help the rabbids race their shopping carts around and collect all the junk needed to complete their tower.

Moving away from the normal rabbids mini game genre, Rabbids Go Home has you racing through levels collecting items on a list and scaring humans in the typical rabbids’ humour. There isn’t much of a story here but the need to help the rabbids collect their items and complete their mission will keep you on your goofy path.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Rent it!

Holiday Review Guide: Part 1 - Celebrating Christmas in May

[I know I'm posting this late on my own website but these reviews actually did run in the Pulse Niagara before the Holidays, so I'm not completely behind. Besides it cold enough outside in St. Catharines right now that it could damn well snow, so consider this a good list of games to snuggle up with right now until the real summer weather kicks in.]

Assassin’s Creed 2
Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal
Available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC

The time has come for Desmond Miles to return to the animus and jump into the memories of a new assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, in Italy during the Renaissance era. Experience the gripping story behind the murder of Ezio’s family and his journey to uncover the conspiracy behind it.

Ubisoft has raised the bar with an amazing new combat system which evolves with each new weapon, improved enemy A.I and a whole new in-game economy system for easy money making. The running through the recreation of Italy is almost as good as visiting the city in real life and the game has some of the best voice-over work I’ve heard in long time.

If you want to feel the thrill of the chase from your couch, then grab a copy of Assassin’s Creed 2 today.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy this!

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time
Sony Computer Entertainment, Insomniac Games
Available for Playstation 3

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time continues the story from Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty with Clank being kidnapped by Doctor Nefarious and Ratchet & Qwark continuing to search the galaxy for any clues to Clank and Dr. Nefarious’ location. Both our favourite heroes will learn more about their past then they possible could have ever imagined in this fantastic new adventure from Insomniac Games.

New elements in the game include the ability to fly between planets and complete mini games and seek out hidden objects in order to upgrade your abilities and ship. Also the game has new constructo weapons that allow you to customize various elements and it includes a special time pad puzzle system which records multiple holographic images of Clank and then plays them back.

With tons of mini challenges and an exciting story line, this makes a great game to spend all those long, cold winter nights with.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Buy this!

Borderlands
2K Games, Gearbox Software
Available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC

Borderlands is like the Fallout 3 for people with not a lot of time to play videogames but a lot of friends to play them with. Part RPG, part FPS, Borderlands puts you on the planet of Pandora where the last remains of a society once there to mine has all but disappeared. You and the few inhabitants that still remain scavenge for what you can and cling to the legend of the vault which apparently holds a vast alien treasure. You and your team plan to find the vault though under the instruction of a guardian angel – a mysterious woman who only talks to you.

Choose from 4 playable character types and explore the world of Pandora via the main quest and various side missions. You can choose to play solo or join up with 3 other friends at anytime during your campaign for co-op play. Choose to play in your world or theirs. The world of Pandora holds a vast amount of cool weaponry and gadgets to aid you in your mission and you even get to hop into a cool vehicle or two.

The Holidays are time to get together with friends and family and what better way to spend time with your favourite people then riding around in tanks and blowing up skags.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Buy this!

Left4Dead2
EA, Valve Corporation
Available for Xbox 360 and PC

The outbreak has happened again and this time you are following 4 new survivors in the Southern United States as they fight their way through hordes of zombies in order to make their way to safety. The game is broken down into chapters which can be played solo with A.I team members or with up to 3 other players with co-op mode. You do also have the option to play 4 vs. 4 multiplayer in various maps.

Fans of the Resident Evil series will be out of their element here as zombies move faster and tend to attack in packs. Even on easy I had trouble surviving this game but thankfully your A.I. teammates are great shots, so if you learn to take backseat to the action, you’ll survive to see the next level. This is definitely a nice change to the normal zombie game though and I enjoyed the movie like cinematic scenes and story line.

Left4Dead2 definitely brings new life to the zombie horror survival genre and this is one game you can’t live or unlive without this Holiday season.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy this!

The Girl Gamer's Gaming Tech Guide - Gadgets for Gaming

Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010 – Top Shot Pack
Activision, Cauldron
Available for the Nintendo Wii

For the hunter in the family, there’s Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010 Top Shot Pack which includes the game and a Wii remote peripheral shaped like a shotgun. The peripheral has a spot to place both the Wii remote and nunchuk and once the game is switched to the top shot control scheme you can use the shotgun peripheral to shoot almost like a real gun.

The Wii version of Big Game Hunter 2010 gives you 12 story missions and 13 shooting gallery challenges to work your way through, each with various animal life to hunt.

Nyko Charge Base IC for the Nintendo Wii
Holds two Wii Remotes or Nyko Wands

One of the biggest problems facing gamers right now is controller battery life and Nyko is serving up various solutions for all consoles. The Nyko Charge Base IC for the Nintendo Wii is probably the prettiest and most functional of all the chargers I’ve come across. The magnetic grips allow you to stick your remotes onto the charger without removing the rubber sleeves and the blue LED lights on the charge base turn green when the charge completes. The charger comes with two battery packs to insert into your Wii remotes and also includes a USB port on the back should you choose to charge another device like your iPod.

Charge times range from 8 hours with a rubber sleeve on to 4 hours without the rubber sleeve. I suggest taken a minute to remove your rubber sleeves before each charge. The base’s magnetic grip also improves with the sleeve off.

Nyko Charge Base 360 for Xbox 360
Holds two Xbox 360 Controllers

Also available from Nyko to help you with your charging issues is the Nyko Charge Base 360 which charges up to 2 Xbox 360 controllers. I love this charging kit because my regular Xbox battery won’t last more than a few hours lately and the Nyko NiHM battery lasted the full 25 hours it claimed in the manual. One controller takes 2 hours to charge and two controllers take 4 hours. The base has an indicator on the front which glows red when the controllers are charging and green when they are done. The controllers sit perfectly in the cream coloured cradle.

The only downside to this kit is that you can’t charge the batteries on their own without the controller being attached which I would love because I only have one controller that takes a battery pack but I read on CNET.com that you can charge the batteries separate by placing a book on top on them. I haven’t tried this method yet, so don’t blame me if a fire breaks out.

Sony Playstation 3 Wireless Keypad

If you’re like me and you talk to your friends a lot online during gameplay but don’t have a headset, then you have to use the basic controller to type in all your messages which can take forever. Luckily I discovered the solution to my messaging problems with the Sony Wireless Keypad for the Playstation 3. This small keypad device plugs into the top port of your Playstation SIXAXIS or Dualshock 3 controller and fits perfectly over the top portion of your controller. The keypad has its own separate power source, so you’ll have to charge it via the USB cord that plugs into your Playstation 3.

The QWERTY style keyboard features Bluetooth functionality and a few dedicated buttons that allow you to jump to preset features on the XMB like your message box or friends list. There’s even a touch pad button that allows you to use the entire surface of the keypad like a touch pad simply by moving your finger over it which is very useful for moving the pointer while using the web browser.

Nyko Wand Action Pack for Nintendo Wii

If you’re looking for the perfect solution for the over-priced Nintendo Wii controller problem, then look no further then the Nyko Action Pack which contains a Nyko Wand (Wii remote alternative), a Pistol Grip which allows you to enjoy accurate light gun action during all your favourite Wii games and a rubber sleeve to protect your Nyko wand.

The Pistol Grip has a trigger and a button on the back of the handle which can be assigned to either the B or A buttons on the Nyko Wand which respond digitally to the Pistol Grip via its trans-port technology. Putting the wand into the Pistol Grip can be difficult as the directions don’t tell you to pull the trigger away from the wand when installing it, so please be careful or you could break the thing. Ultimately this is a great alternative to buying another Wii remote as it is cheaper and you get more.

Your Shape Featuring Jenny McCarthy
Ubisoft
Available for the Nintendo Wii

Generally I am the last person to promote exercise as I am the last person to get off my butt and game, but the toned body of Jenny McCarthy has found her way into the home of my sister along with a Nintendo Wii and I’m all for anything that will get my sister gaming again. Ms. McCarthy helps lovely ladies find their waist line again with her innovative exercise program that utilizes a Wii camera tracking system. This is a far easier system than holding the Wii remote and nunchuk in your hands or strapping them to your legs like in other Wii programs. You’ll be sweating to some general disco sounding tunes while taking instructions from Jenny and viewing yourself on screen via camera.

This is pretty much an aerobics based program which features jumping jacks, walking & running in place, etc. I suggest you alternate this program with another weight based game or a game with sports in it in order to mix it up a bit.

The Rabbids Supports the Olympic Games

DAHHHHH! Rabbids go bobsledding the only way they know how in support of the Olympus Games currently going on in Canada.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage - Part 1

Got 15 minutes to waste? I've got something pretty to show you. Assassin's Creed: Lineage is the new viral video series that Ubisoft created to promote the upcoming game and it is pretty darn neat. Check it out.
Best Game Based Movie So Far.

Assassin's Creed II: Master Assassin’s Edition

Ubisoft has released the details on the Assassin's Creed II: Master Assassin's Edition and its contents. The release date for this pretty set will be November 17, 2009 just in time for holiday shopping and it will be available for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The set will include:

* Ezio collectable statue (8.5 inches tall)
* Exclusive in-game map: Santa Maria Dei Frari – Limited Edition Exclusive
* The Art of Assassin’s Creed II hard-covered art book
* Additional Bonus Disc includes:
- Behind the scenes of Assassin’s Creed II
- Assassin’s Creed II soundtrack
- And much more
* Premium Collectable Tin

The suggested retail price will be $89.99 but I'm not sure if that's US or Canadian dollars. Probably US.

Everything in the set is nice but all I would really want out of it would be the figure. It would go nicely with all my other videogame ones.

Missing Reviews: From Under the Game Pile

As many games as I review there are still plenty of great title that manage to get swept under the review pile over the course of my year and I hate to see them not get the once over that they deserve. While some of these titles have been out for a while I found them to be quite worth the time to check them out.

Too Human
Silicon Knights
Available on Xbox 360

Local St. Catharines game developers, Silicon Knights brought Too Human out last Fall and though it didn’t receive huge praise, I did find it to be an excellent title once you got past everyone else’s opinions on it. Honestly I can’t believe I didn’t review this title sooner but it just seemed to keep getting pushed back for other games and then I never got around to it.

Too Human is based on the Norse mythology and has you playing the role of Baldur, one of the Aesir, cybernetically enhanced humans which are seen as Gods to the humans they rule over. Baldur is tasked with protected his people from the sudden attacks of machine-like creatures that are feeding on human flesh. The game has the usual role-playing genre elements but includes some interest first time combat controls using the analog sticks and an item inventory that no one player could completely collect in just one play through.

I found the combination of technology and Norse mythology to be spectacular and the storyline that combined the various Norse Gods and Beowulf storyline was also gripping. While the combat took a bit of getting use to, I found the new use of the analog sticks for directional fighting moves was much easy for pulling off combo moves than most fighting systems I’ve used. Overall this is a beautiful game with an amazing storyline and since it was created by our hometown gaming studio, I think all local gamers should give it a chance.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Electronic Arts, Pandemic Studios
Available for PC, Playstation 3, Playstation 2 and Xbox 360

It’s been more than 3 years between the Mercenaries games which would make you wonder if that’s too long to go before making a sequel. Luckily for Pandemic Studio, fun never gets old and that is exactly want you get with Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

The game puts in the middle of a rebellion in the country of Venezuela, where oil has become the main focus of the conflict. While the government has tried to maintain control of the situation, there are a number of factions working within the country trying to take control as well. You can work with 5 of those factions: Universal Petroleum, the People's Liberation Army of Venezuela, the Chinese army, the Allied Nations, and the Rastafarian Pirates, each of whom will give you missions in order to get you in better with the main up and comer in the area, Ramon Solano.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was a great “bomb the f@#K out of everything” kind of game. Everything in the world can take damage and best of all; you can run over everything with your vehicles so no more tiny trees stopping your rampage of death. The game sets you up with an A.I. buddy in the game, but playing the game in co-op mode is much better and removes any little glitches you may find with your A.I. pal.

The wide variety of missions and weapons at your disposal make this a sweet game to play through alone or with a friend. Best of all, your choice of 3 different characters to play with makes each time you play through with a different character a new challenge. If you’ve a fan of games like Grand Theft Auto IV, then I definitely suggest checking out this open world game.

Rating: 8 out of 10
Buy it!

Raving Rabbids TV Party
Ubisoft, Ubisoft
Available for Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS

If you’re looking for a goofy party game to play with your friends at your time drunken house party, then may I suggest adding the Rabbids to your guest list? Raving Rabbids TV Party is a goofy mini-game collection that will have you and your friends acting silly for hours on end.

After chasing Rayman to his home, an accident has caused the Rabbids to become trapped inside Rayman’s TV. It’s up to you to keep the new Rabbids TV station full of cool program by choosing from several mini games each day. The mini games range from B movie shooting galleries to American Idol parodied dance shows. All the games featured the classic Rabbids humour which is guaranteed to keep your party amused well into the night.

Unlike previous Rayman Rabbid games, this party game won’t force you to play all the games in the programming schedule, so you can just skip the harder mini games if you like. I found that playing this game with any remote other than your original Nintendo nunchuk and remote will make this game harder to complete, so don’t use any third party brands with it.

The controls are still not precise though even with the proper controllers. I honestly found that 75% of the games were pretty easy to pass but the rest were downright impassable. The Star Wars parody game is one that I remember to really hard and confusing in the controls. All and all, this is a great party game and one that I would recommend for family play and party nights.

Rating: 7 out of 10
Buy it!

Ubisoft to Setup New Studio in Toronto - UPDATED

Ubisoft announced on Monday in an official press conference that they will be opening a new studio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as part of a program to bring new jobs to Ontario.

Ubisoft, which has a studio already in Montreal which employs 2000 people, also setup a new studio in Vancouver early this year.

The CEO of Ubisoft, Yannis Mallet and the Premiere of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty appeared together to make the official announcement about the new studio.

UPDATE: Ubisoft has posted a highlight video from the press conference on Monday.

[Via CBC News]

49% of Canadian Gamers are Female

At the Ubisoft Press conference today, Ontario Premiere Dalton McGuinty stated that over 49% of Canadian Gamers are female. Okay, so I'm one of them, so who's the other chick? Just kidding.

That's great to know that the gaming population in Canada has finally become 50/50 men and women. Must be all those long cold winters with nothing better to do than play videogames.

[Via VG247]

Rabbids Go Home E3 Trailer

New E3 Trailer for Ubisoft's Rabbids Go Home.

I can't wait for the new Rabbids game to come out. This game looks so darn cute and I love that the Rabbids are evil enough to steal President Obama's clothes in the trailer. Those little rascals.

Review: Prince of Persia: The Fallen King

Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Ubisoft
Available for Nintendo DS

On the heels of the latest Prince of Persia console game release, Ubisoft has also released Prince of Persia: The Fallen King for the Nintendo DS. Though The Fallen King’s Prince character is slightly modeled after the current Prince character in the console storyline, this Nintendo DS game actually brings its own story, characters and new style to the Prince of Persia series, so don’t expect a copycat version here.

This time around the prince is trying to survive a world that has fallen into darkness. The god of chaos, Ahriman has unleashed a cloud of corruption that has begun to plague the kingdom. The Prince, following a tip, decides to head to a reputed safe haven, but instead finds the town to be rife with corrupted creatures and a trio of floating magic users. It is up to the Prince to find the god of light and obtain his help to rid the kingdom of the corruption. However the Prince does not have to do it alone. Along his journey the Prince encounters a Magus by the name of Zal whose magic draws the corruption to him and has corrupted the lower part of his body. With Zal’s magic to aid he in his mission the Prince must stop Ahriman and his forces before all hope is lost.


Prince of Persia: The Fallen King plays much like your typical side scrolling action adventure, but with a very unique twist. The entire game is controlled using the stylus, while the buttons on the Nintendo DS are completely useless. Problem is though, if you move your stylus a bit too high or a bit too far to the left, you’ll cause Prince to fall to his death over and over again. Luckily the developers put a lot of check points in the game, so don’t worry if you never master the art of the stylus controls.

The Fallen King does stay true to the Prince of Persia style of acrobatics as the Prince is still able to perform a multitude of wall climbing, wall jumping, and wall sliding moves. Movement in the game is quite simple controlled by either sliding the stylus along the bottom of the screen or holding it still at the other end. The combat system has you just tapping each enemy as they approach to attack. Pretty simple sounding but when put into practice you find that Prince doesn’t seem to respond properly to most of your actions. You move him to jump and he just walks off the cliff. Grand ...

The background graphics are rich and most of the objects lying around in game become interactive at some point or another in the game. The character designs have a very manga chibi style feel which makes the game play experience feel much like a living comic book. Even the stylus has its own effect when touched to the screen. Dragging the pointer across the field leaves a trail of glittering blue-white light that greatly improves the overall look and feel of the game. All in all the game is very clean and appealing to the eye.


The sound could have been much better considering the effort they put behind the graphics in this game. The sound comes off very budget which was a huge disappointment especially when the newest console version of Prince of Persia had a beautiful and haunting soundtrack. When you’re on the level select screen navigating the stages, the same track plays for the entire time and when you’re in a game level, you’ll hear the another boring track run over and over again until you clear the stage. So if you decided to turn the volume all the way down on your DS, don’t worry, you won’t be missing anything. Also there are no voiceovers in this game only text conversations, so be prepared to read a lot of text.

While Prince of Persia: The Fallen King is a pretty looking game, its lack of button controls made it down right frustrating to play and difficult to enjoy. While I am a fan of the console version of Prince of Persia, I honestly think that Ubisoft should have put more energy and time into this instalment of the franchise before they released it into the wild because it’s hard to believe after playing both Prince of Persia and this that the same company could create two completely different games: one perfectly wonderful and exotic and one so god awful to control and listen to. I suggest Prince of Persia fans stick to the console version and leave The Fallen King on the store shelves.

Rating: 4 out of 10
Pass it!

Happy Holiday from the Bunnies!

I will never get tired of these viral videos. NEVER.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Rabbids and Ubisoft.

Happy Holidays from Ubisoft

Today I went to the mailbox and found another sweet Christmas card from the nice people at Ubisoft Canada.

They sent me a holiday card with a pop out paper rabbid and greetings in multiple languages. Of course, I love anything rabbid related so I put my little Splinter Cell agent together as soon as I got the chance. The inside of the card showed 3 other rabbid types though ... Altair, Shawn White and a normal rabbid, all in papercraft form.


If anyone got those, post them because I want to see.

New Unlockable Skin Revealed For Prince of Persia

Ubisoft fans will be happy to hear that there is another unique skin that is unlockable for Elika in the new Prince of Persia. This cool outfit is a tribute to Jade from Beyond Good & Evil, one of my favorite games.

I believe the skin becomes unlockable once you defend the game the first time. While the outfit comes complete with Jade's staff, it does not actually act as a weapon for Elika in the game. With all that magic though, does she really need a weapon though?

CSI: New York: Overview Trailer

Yes, I am a huge fan of CSI: Las Vegas and New York. Not Miami though ... can't stand Horatio Kane and his stupid one liners. AND THOSE SUNGLASSES - ALWAYS TAKING OFF THE SUNGLASSES IN THE MIDDLE OF A SUPPOSED COOL LINE. GAHHHH!

Anyway, the new CSI: New York game is slated to hit store shelves end of December and I actually want to play this game. The first CSI game for the PC wasn't that bad and this new one has the actually actors from the show providing the voice-overs and its story lines are written by CSI script writers.

Not sure about the lack of moving characters in the game footage so far though. The first game had 3D characters in their scenes and I think they moved for at least they showed movement during the crimes.

Here's a trailer for the original game on the PC. Check it out if you're interested. I can't embed it on the site unfortunately.

Prince of Persia goes Gold with Free Download

Ubisoft announced on Friday that Prince of Persia has gone gold and will be released to consoles on December 4, 2008 and in PC form on December 11, 2008. Included in this cool announcement was the new download "Altair Costume" that gamers will be able to download as a skin for their favorite Prince.

By signing up for Ubisoft.com account at www.princeofpersia.com now, players can unlock the free skin to upload to their PS3 or Xbox 360 gamertags on day one. Pretty sweet threads for the Prince

Review: Price is Right

Price is Right
Ubisoft, Ludia, Fremantle Media
Available for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and PC

Call me a sucker for nostalgia but when it comes to the Price is Right, nobody in the world can turn down the chance to “come on down and be the next contestant on the Price is Right”, even if it is in just in a videogame. Ubisoft has brought to the pixelated screen after a long hiatus (the last Price is Right game made for a console system was for the Commodore 64), the Price is Right videogame, so those of us at home can finally put our pricing skills to the test instead of just yelling at the TV screen while we’re watching. And don’t tell me you don’t do it because we’ve all watch the Price is Right at some point during a day off or sick day and commented the whole way through that we could do better that the dumb college kid that just lost at cliff-hanger.

Both the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS have single player and multiplayer mode that allow you to play through the game show by yourself or with 3 other players. There is no online in either game and in the Wii version, you have to share a controller between all four players which is good, I guess for single remote families.

Each game has the 3 strike mode which allows you to play through contestants’ row, the pricing games, the showcase showdown and the showcase on a constant loop collecting as much prize money as possible until you gain three strikes. Strikes are obtained when you lose at contestants’ row or the showcase showdown and if you lose at the showcase down, you won’t go on to the showcase, which is weird, because if you lose at contestants’ row, you still get to play a pricing game.



In the Nintendo Wii version though, you do have a choice to play classic mode which plays like a real version of the game show, where you must win on contestants’ row to move onto a pricing game and so on.

The stylus and Wii remote controls are pretty much limited to point and click use and pulling down on the wheel. Hole in one does use the Wii remote as a putter but the accuracy is completely off and if you win, you do so by luck. I think the developers probably could have figured out a few more uses for their unique control options like using them to mix up the bag in three strike pricing game.

The Wii game has 17 pricing games while the DS version has 12, all from the actual Price is Right show and most of the classic favs are here like plinko, cliff-hanger, punch a bunch, hole in one (or two), etc. Each game has a challenge to full fill which increases your score and in the Wii version unlocks the game to play at any time and a video from the show which features Bob Barker. Most challenges just have you winning the pricing game at the highest value possible.

While the graphics look badly like something out of the days of the Nintendo 64 or Playstation, the atmosphere of the Price is Right has been captured by the developers in the colours, backgrounds and screen setups. Each item up for bid is shown as a video from the actual show though it would have been nicer for the videos to be shown in full screen instead of just tiny picture in picture.

Your avatar choices are very limited and don’t look anything like people would on the show. Miis would been so much cooler to use in the game instead of the token black women, the random old lady, and anonymous guy in military uniform. I’m surprised they didn’t include goofy college kid with stupid t-shirt.

Fans of the show will be happy though to hear the announcer from the Price is Right covering the announcing and a little bit of the host’s job through the game. Sure, the game would have been so much cooler with Bob Barker or even Drew Carey as the host, but having at least the announcer from the show makes this experience so worth the time to play it.

The game opens the same as the show does and it actual makes you want to clap and scream along side the multi-cloned audience. The theme song for the show and all the classic sound effects are in the game too, so expect to get the “waa-waa” when you lose at a pricing game.

There were a few issues with the announcer getting his lines cut off and his item descriptions not matching the item up for bid. Also each bit seemed a little hurried during the pricing games which along side the other sound glitches were really started to kill the mood of the game.

It’s hard for me to rate this game because the critic in me sees this as bit of mess but the Bob Barker lover in me finds this game to be too friggn’ cool. For anyone looking for a game to play against friends or family, I wouldn’t necessary pick this as my first choice especially with so many other good mini games and trivia games saturated the Nintendo Wii market right now but if you’re really a fan of the show, I would have to say this is not a bad representation of the game show. A couple of Mii avatars and maybe an appearance from Bob Barker and this game would have been the best game show videogame out there.

Rating: 6 out of 10
Rent it

Review: Haze

Haze
Ubisoft, Free Radical
Available for the Playstation 3

When a game company is known for creating great game titles and then spends two years hyping a game as the next coming in the first person shooter genre, that company is basically setting itself up for either a make it or break it situation. Free Radical, famous for titles like GoldenEye 007 and Timesplitters, setup their most recent PS3 exclusive title, Haze for a “make it or break it” release and now we’re going to see if it paid off for them.

Haze is the story of Shane Carpenter, a young Mantel soldier that's dispatched, along with the rest of his squad, to the Boa Region of South America. The largest PMC in the world, Mantel has an army of enhanced warriors boosted with their specialized "supplement" known as Nectar. With a large force at its disposal, Mantel has been asked to go in and pacify the region from the dangerous "Promise Hand", a militant group of rebels headed up by the villainous Skin Coat. However, Carpenter finds that his mission to liberate the indigenous people is not what it appears to be, and after one objective takes an unexpected turn, he finds himself defecting to the rebel cause and fighting against his former squad mates.

Generally I am not a FPS fan because I’m terrible at them and I don’t get enjoyment from 12-year-olds pwning my butt online over and over again. Much to my delight, Haze was actually pretty easy to pick up and even the levels were passable without dying 20 times over first. The nectar drug enhancements, when used properly, make finding enemies in the jungle incredible easy with its heat vision affects and the A.I. seem to fit each difficultly level perfectly. In other words, the A.I. was easy to beat on easy and that’s good for FPS noobs like me.

Once you get into the shoes of the rebels though, you no longer have nectar and have to get smarter in your use of battle strategy. The ability to play dead takes some time to master and luckily the Mantel Corp. troops aren’t as fast or good a shot as you were on nectar, which makes taking them out a lot easier.



The single-player campaign can be played cooperatively with up to 4 players via split screen, LAN, or Online and this is where Haze really shines. The ease with which you can join a quartet of players is so seamless and simple, even allowing access to your PSN friends list, that you’ll wish all your games had the same ability. This certainly makes the campaign more engaging; with many of the levels owing themselves to cooperative play. Plus, if you’re having trouble in the single-player, why not invite others to help you out?

The environments in Haze start off lush, green and beautiful but slowly turn into dull, brown & grey wastelands and corridors that fail to impress. With stunning games like Uncharted and Heavenly Sword on the PS3, Haze’s dull graphics just don’t stand out on a system we know graphically is capable of so much more. The voice-overs for the game, while well done, lost their impressive sound behind the redneck dialog of your squad mates. All those “Biatch” and “Booyah” battle cries made me want to switch to the rebel side long before the storyline made me.

Hype can ultimately turn a decent game in a mega failure, but I think if PS3 fans are able to put the hype aside, Haze isn’t such a bad title. The co-op play is unique and formatted well, and the moral storyline is designed to show a little glimmer of our own possible future. It may not be GoldenEye 007, but how can you pass up the chance to play a game that lets you shoot enemies while juiced up on super powers?

Haze: 6 out of 10
Rent it!


Winner of the Korn Vs Haze Music Video.