Mobile Games

Robot Alliance

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Galaxy on Fire

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Heli Strike

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Anyone who is both a fan of mobile gaming and a longterm follower of the gaming world in general must have been struck a little by a sense of deja vu over the past couple of years. Almost exactly a decade after console gaming went through the 3D revolution, we began to see a few 3D titles trickle through the release schedules and onto our mobiles. However, things have only got really interesting fairly recently.

The first 3D games generally fell into two camps, the 'tech demo' or the '3D dealbreaker'. The tech demos were those where a game had been shoehorned into a 3D experiment. A good example of this type is Rollerbot, a game released in late 2004. Whilst it boasted full three dimensional environments and free movement, it was never going to sell by the barrel. The 3D dealbreaker is the opposite, where an existing 2D game has been butchered in order to make it into a 3D one. If you've played a disappointing 3D game in the past couple of years, it was probably one of these.

It is a good job that Fishlabs came along in 2005 to try and raise the bar otherwise we might have forever been mired in useless 3D ports rather than the top quality titles that can be found such as Glu's Project Gotham 3D and Gameloft's Brothers in Arms. However, whilst Fishlabs may lack these ultra high-end licenses that are guaranteed to have oodles of copies flying off virtual shelves, they are still coming up with the goods today. Before we look into their current catalogue, though, maybe we should have a little stroll down memory lane and look at their past two years.

Burning Tires

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Blades and Magic

Moving on Up

You’re probably wondering right now what has caused this little article if we’re only going to mildly criticize Fishlab’s games. Most long-term mobile gamers will probably already know the answer, but for the uninitiated it can be summed up in three little words: Galaxy on Fire.

This game managed a feat that has only been completed sucessfully on the PC, a much more likely platform. That is, Galaxy of Fire managed to create a whole galaxy of planets to visit, where the player was free to trade, fight or just cruise to their heart's content. An Elite impersonater to a certain extent, the game proves the true scope of the Abyss engine, and indeed the thing it does best: the wildly ambitious.

Thankfully, around this time Fishlabs also got into the groove with more standard mobile 3D fare. Probably still the best futuristic Wipeout-style racer available, Planet Riders is a hyper-shiny slick game and Heli Strike features the solidity of the traditional arcade shooter wrapped around a gorgeous 3D play world.

Of course, after the huge critical acclaim that Galaxy on Fire received, Fishlabs would have been foolish not to follow up on the victory. Thankfully, Deep was recently released. Instead of flying about in space, you find youself scooting about the bottom of the ocean, but this game still features a gargantuan, cohesive gameworld. It even manages to plug-in the gaps in the presentation that, whilst they weren't noticeable first time around, makes the interface of Galaxy on Fire look a little like a top-notch fan project by comparison. Other than basic trade, you also get to fish all the weird sorts of creatures that roam about the darkest deeps.

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Asphalt 3 3D

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4 Wheel Xtreme

Way back in February 2005, we got our first glimpses into Fishlabs' intentions. A couple of months later, the Abyss engine was announced, which is the little work of genius behind all of the Lab's full 3D games.

Admittedly, the first wave of games certainly had its share of faults. Robot Alliance was a great first-person shooter hiding behind a barricade of tricky controls and Motoraver's controls were even worse. The game somehow made driving a car about as comfortable as giving birth, and Cloud Commander was flat out not that great. However, while these games are easy to criticise, they are positively drenched in passion and conviction.

Why Sink into the Abyss?

Okay, so far we've looked a little at some of the Abyss engine's star contenders, but there are a few more reasons why this little bit of technology is a little bit special. The main one is its sheer compatibility. You could easily make the mistake of thinking that many of the Fishlabs titles were symbian games, yet they all work perfectly on the majority of current J2ME (Java enabled phones). Part of this is down to sheer hard work on Fishlabs' part. Unlike most developers who use dozens and dozens of game versions for different handsets, the Fishlabs games only require a handful of versions for compatibility across over a hundred handsets.

This in itself it pretty extraordinary, but having personally played hundreds of games over the past few years, I feel I can say that Fishlabs games outperform the majority of comparably splangly-looking 3D titles on lower end handsets. That's not to say that if your handset still tells war stories on the weekends it won't chug along like the ancient phone it is, but for anyone with a K700 or above, you can look forward to highly impressive framerates.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

athan Drake is rather forthcoming when he states that everything he touches seems to turn sour … Ok, that’s not precisely how he phrases it, but you get the drift.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a visceral romp that takes the formula from the first highly successful game and pushes it to new heights – both figuratively and literally. There are a lot of inside jokes and some really good chuckles stemming from the dialogue and cut scenes. There are new characters and familiar ones.

The story revolves around the adventures of Marco Polo and, specifically, his return from China. When Polo left China, he had 14 ships with more than 600 passengers and crew. When he finally made his home port, only one ship remained with 18 passengers. The initial idea that intrigues Drake and draws him into the adventure is what happened to those other ships. But as is usually the case, it evolves into something much bigger – the Cintamani Stone (purported to be a fabled jewel that grants the owner great power … as in world-conquering power) is one of the items in the equation, the other is the path that leads to Shambhala. Of course, this swings Drake into full adventure mode, but one of the elements here is not knowing exactly who to trust.

(There will be no spoilers here.)

Drake’s initial adversary is a war criminal who heads a private army and is on the trail. Along the way he teams up with Chloe, who seems to have her own agenda in all this and eventually he meets Elena, and there are nasty, voracious monsters that seem to crawl out of legend and are very hard to kill.

Developer Naughty Dog has crafted a game that is somewhat linear, and has a fair amount of repetition in terms of raging gun battles and puzzles, incorporating the platform elements very well. It is simply a case of if you think there is an easy path, but look around and find that there appears to be handholds in the wall, then that is usually the way you will need to go. You kill the bad guys, pick up weapons – all of which seem to range from nice guns to RPGs. And lest you think some of those weapons are a bit extreme, wait until you go up against a tank and you will definitely see the need.

The game starts out in Borneo and moves into the Himalayas. True, some of the mechanics in the journey are similar, but the pacing seldom slows – something that Drake often comments on.

From a control standpoint, Uncharted 2 is nothing that is too difficult to learn. In fact, the control scheme is rather straightforward in design. That alone helps to put the focus on the game itself. The dialogue is often quite humorous, and even pokes fun at itself. When Chloe and Elena are first introduced, Chloe says she senses some history between Elena and Drake. Elena then introduces herself as “last year’s model” – an obvious but entertaining reference to the first Uncharted title.

The game also brings multiplayer into the mix, with some nice cooperative sessions through game maps. There are also a bevy of achievements that can be earned; you can gain achievements particular to each weapon, as well as score for the type of attack, such as headshots.

For the most part, Uncharted 2 does not reinvent the action-adventure wheel, but from a graphic standpoint, and from a pure fun stand, this game soars on the PS3. This is a lot of fun.
When you play a game that stops non-gaming members in the family dead in their tracks to watch and enjoy the way the game is playing out, that says a lot. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves did precisely that.

Demon's Souls Review Page 2

These ghosts are only one of several ways other players will be assisting you on your journey. You'll notice plenty of bloodstains coating the ground; by activating them, you'll witness an instant replay of another player's final few seconds before the unfortunate victim succumbed to death. These bloodstains may warn you of an upcoming drop into nothingness, a particularly difficult enemy encounter, or a deadly trap waiting to be sprung. If you wish to assist a player more directly (after all, self-sacrifice might drop a helpful bloodstain for your fellow players, but it doesn't do you much good), you can leave a note. You must choose from a preselected list, but there are dozens of messages to choose from, and you'll likely find a sentiment that communicates exactly what you need to share. If there's a deadly drop ahead, leave a note (which appears as a rune on the ground) warning your fellow players. Not only will it help them out, but if they find it useful, they can rate it. When a note is rated, it replenishes some of the note-givers health. Low-rated notes fade away quickly, while high-rated ones stick around longer. It's a superb system of give and take in which the writer and the reader can both benefit. Those who offer and receive true help are rewarded, and those who provide incorrect, pointless, or misleading information are simply wasting their own time.

The mines of Stonefang Tunnel have really gone to the dogs.

The most direct way of helping other players, however, is to join them on their quest. Demon's Souls' ingenious implementation of co-op play is hardly straightforward, though it is incredibly imaginative. Players exist in one of two forms: body form and soul form. If you are in body form, you have full hit points, while in soul form, your hit points are generally halved (though a terrific ring you can find early on will give you a boost). You start your adventure in body form, and when you die, you are resurrected in soul form. Because you are only restored to body form when you defeat a boss or use a relatively rare stone, you'll spend most of your time as a soul. When in soul form, you can drop a soul marker; a player in body form can then activate that marker to summon you to his or her world. At that point, you join the player in his or her realm and tackle the challenges at hand together. If you are in body form, you can summon either one or two players, for a maximum party of three. There is no way to invite a friend, and no voice chat to communicate strategies or warnings. Yet while that sounds limiting, this imaginative system works in the context of Demon's Souls' harsh world and backstory. You feel as if you occupy a single node on a vast web of interconnected realms that mesh and overlap in mysterious ways.

The result of this unique and amazing set of online features is a curious sense of camaraderie. On one occasion, we joined two other players in the host's instance, and using Demon's Souls' built-in emotes, all three players bowed to one another at the same time. That friendly moment was a microcosm of the sense of community that the game's tightly balanced cooperative features create. By dropping your soul mark, you are not only offering your service to a player in need, but also reaping rewards in the way of souls, as well as learning new combat strategies in your own realm. This is particularly helpful when it comes to Demon's Souls' exceptionally difficult--and exceptionally rewarding--boss fights. The first main boss you fight may give you an idea of the awesome character designs you'll see elsewhere, but its relatively low level of challenge won't prepare you for the dual monstrosities known as maneaters or the nail-biting and exciting storm king battle. Not all of these boss battles are as hard as the gameplay that leads to them, but they are tough nonetheless, and the boss designs are deliciously grotesque.

Nevertheless, other players aren't always your best pals; sometimes, they may be your worst enemies. Once you've progressed far enough (and procured the necessary item), you can invade another player's realm as a black phantom--and other players can invade yours. Don't worry that you'll suddenly be attacked by another player many, many levels above you: your invader must be around the same level as you, so you should be on more or less equal footing. Even so, the presence of an enemy player changes the very nature of your exploration. Not only must you cope with the array of demons seeking to slaughter you, but you must also be on the lookout for the telltale blood-red shimmer of your intruder. As a result, you'll move ahead much more cautiously--and when you do finally meet, the ensuing encounter is tense and exciting. Don't be surprised if you let out an audible gasp when you receive the notification on your screen that another player has penetrated your realm; no matter how often they happen, invasions never lose their potency. If you're the one being invaded, the intrusion is exciting and a little bit scary; you'll look around, wondering if you're being followed, and listen for signs of your foe. When you're the invader, you'll feel vaguely evil scouting about, trying to stay out of your victim's sight, and looking for the best opportunity to attack. And there may be surprising moments in which these various systems coalesce. For example, you may join another player in his or her realm, only to have a black phantom appear. The unspoken (there is no voice chat) partnership between you and your collaborator makes banishing a black phantom from his realm almost as satisfying as banishing one from your own. Of course, the souls you earn sweeten the deal.

Yes, you can kill him. But chances are, he'll kill you multiple times first.

Amid all of its elegance, Demon's Souls has a few small but noticeable flaws that bear mentioning. The game's targeting system is picky, so you may find it a chore to lock on to certain enemies when you need to most. The camera is occasionally hard to control when you're targeting demons, like when you need to deal with multiple flying gargoyles as you simultaneously climb a narrow, suspended staircase (there's no death in Demon's Souls more heartbreaking than a falling one). And there are a few areas where the frame rate tends to stutter, though these occurrences aren't frequent and are never overwhelming. Of course, the game's greatest potential drawback is its level of difficulty. If you are easily frustrated, or looking to unwind for the night, Demon's Souls isn't going to fit the bill, though that doesn't mean it's generally cheap: it always abides by its own laws. When you die, it's because the section is legitimately hard--but when you die, you learn. And you can minimize death by paying close attention to the tools you're given: player spirits, notes on the ground, bloodstains, and the cackles and groans emanating from around the corner. You know that walkway that crumbled underneath you and dropped you in the middle of some menacing fiends? Chances are you simply didn't read the note another friendly player left urging you to sprint across.

Demon's Souls harbors many more intricacies as well--nooks and crannies loaded with extra loot, a mechanic known as world tendency that changes the difficulty level depending on certain actions you take, and additional benefits (and risks) should you rescue (or kill) certain non-player characters you encounter on your travels. There's a lot to discover, and the game wants you to figure it all out on your own. But while Demon's Souls doesn't serve the answers to you on a gilded platter, it gives you a number of refined and inspired tools to help you succeed, and its astounding, oppressive world will cast its spell on you. If you crave true innovation, a fair but relentless challenge, and gripping exploration in which every step has consequences, then you crave Demon's Souls.

Demon's Souls Review

The Kingdom of Boletaria is an unforgiving place. Entering it means embracing a seemingly endless cycle of death and resurrection as you slowly tread through sullen swamps, scavenge dark caverns, and sneak between looming castle walls. It's dark and dreary, as if the residents of hell have plunged a dagger into the very idea of happiness and left its lifeless form to wither away. Developer From Software's action role-playing game Demon's Souls houses this kingdom, and you should not expect the game to welcome you as an old friend and willingly share its deepest secrets. This is an uncompromising RPG of the highest order--and a brilliant, atmospheric, and visionary one. It is at once old-fashioned and innovative, a stubbornly difficult dungeon crawler loaded with wholly unique mechanics. Perhaps the game's greatest triumph, however, is that it takes qualities normally associated with frustration and discomfort--constant trial and error, slow progression, harsh enemies--and makes them virtues. It may have an unusual and unforgiving set of rules, but it stays true to them and, in the process, draws you in like few RPGs can. Demon's Souls is a stark and sulky beauty and is one of the finest games of 2009.

Demon's Souls' uncanny ability to ensnare you in its web starts with its five gloomy, meticulously crafted worlds. It takes some of the usual elements of dark medieval fantasy--roaring dragons, demon knights clad in well-worn armor, crumbling stone castles--and then molds them into a cohesive and enthralling universe. Every element is in exactly the right place, from soaring demons that look like manta rays to rows of fiends using their pickaxes to unearth unspecified valuables. Each world feels and looks authentic, as does the hub world (called the Nexus) from which you access them. There isn't much narrative to speak of, just some basic but intriguing backstory regarding the giant beast called the Old One and the demons infesting the kingdom. But you'll barely notice how thin the story strands are, for the kingdom itself weaves a story of its own as you slowly investigate its nooks and crannies, and the characters you encounter seem totally within their element. When you kneel before the Maiden in Black and she prays in her halting, affected speech, you believe in her conviction. When Blacksmith Boldwin sneers at you that he needs your business, you hear the contempt in his voice. Their lips don't move when they speak, but it hardly matters: these world-weary people, and the frightening realm they inhabit, are immediately believable.

The game doesn't just look and feel unforgiving--it plays that way too. You may tackle any of its five main regions at any time, but that doesn't mean you will easily slice your way through each one. If the first few minutes of the tutorial don't betray the challenges in store for you, the same level's gargantuan end boss certainly will. You are meant to die, and you are meant to die often. When you do, you return to the archstone at the beginning of the area and do it all again. When you are resurrected, you get to keep most of what you had on your person--your weapons, your armor, your healing grasses, and so on. However, you lose the most precious commodity you possess: collected souls. Souls are the game's currency, and the primary way of accumulating them is to kill demons. You can't sell looted weapons that you don't need, nor can you put souls in the bank for use later. You can hold onto them, spend them on important items like spice (which replenishes your magical energy), or use them to improve your core attributes (such as endurance, strength, and so on).

If you're afraid of the dark, the Tower of Latria may not be the best choice of vacation spots.

Should you die on your travels, the souls you've amassed aren't necessarily gone for good, however. You can return to the location of your death and touch the bloodstain you left behind, which returns the lost souls to you. Be careful, though: if you die on your way to your bloodstain, it will disappate and be gone forever, along with all your hard-won souls. The whole thing may sound incredibly harsh, and on the surface, it is. You'll cautiously traverse the same hallways and stairwells to find your bloodstain, only to have a lamp-carrying demon shock you with electricity, lift you into the air with the tentacles growing from its face, and take half of your health away with one fateful stab. The constant specter of death means you should plan how you want to spend your souls in advance. Once you get enough, you'll want to hightail it back to the Nexus and improve an attribute, upgrade your weapon, or repair your armor. Eventually, you'll make a breakthrough, and enemies that seemed so dastardly the last time will be mere speedbumps the next. Yet even when you accumulate thousands upon thousands of valuable souls, and you know that the sensible thing to do is to return to the closest archstone and teleport back to the Nexus, your curiosity may push you onward. There always seems to be a terrific surprise lurking around the bend, in the way of awesome new enemies (a giant blob made up of flailing corpses), amazing environments (the thin suspended walkways hanging over Latria's murky swamp), and precious loot (stones used to upgrade your crossbow).

The monsters may be tough, but the game grants you the flexibility you need to take them on as you see fit. You'll create your character using Demon's Souls' robust customization options and select a class when you first begin, but you aren't stuck with one particular play style. As long as you meet the necessary statistical requirements and own the requisite item (a talisman for casting miracles, for example), you can use any weapon, any armor, and any magic you please. It's a good thing, too, for certain circumstances may dictate that you follow an unplanned path. Perhaps you had no intention of using magic, but a simple soul arrow spell can come in mighty handy when you're dealing with flaming bugs fluttering about in the sky. You may plan to pour all your souls into your strength attribute, only to realize that leveling up endurance is the better idea, because you'll be able to absorb more damage with your shield before losing health.

These soaring demons don't just look dangerous--they'll pummel you with spears if you aren't careful.

What makes extreme difficulty and incessant trial and error such wonderful qualities in Demon's Souls, when they are so loathsome in other games? It starts with the deliberate and wonderful combat, which doesn't seem complex at first, but reveals its subtleties in time. Rarely will mindlessly hacking and slashing get you anywhere, unless death is your ultimate goal. You need to contemplate every move, swing only when you are sure you won't be countered, and switch weapons or use items only when you are sure your window of opportunity is wide enough. You'll encounter all sorts of awesome and unnatural beasts, from tumbling skeletal fiends to frightful three-faced larvae, and while they have a set number of attacks, they still behave unpredictably. You will undoubtedly take a lot of damage until you learn the subtleties of fighting each enemy, but combat feels just right. You move with the right amount of weight, combos take time to pull off, and animations are silky smooth. Everything moves and interacts in the way you'd expect. If your sword hits the wall instead of the enemy, it will glance off. If a demon knight rears back just before you do the same, his sword will make contact at the part of your body that you left unprotected. These touches may seem small and unimportant, but when every second counts, and when life and death are separated by a millimeter or two, you rely on such consistency.

The challenging combat is enhanced by a number of innovative online features that invite players to interact with each other. To survive, you not only need to pay careful attention to your environs, but you must be mindful of the clues other players have left for you, both purposeful and accidental. The game's online integration is nothing like you've ever seen, and it's a core component of the Demon's Souls experience. The signs and indications of other players are everywhere. You'll see translucent white ghosts roaming your world, moving about and swinging their weapons, though you can't directly interact with them. These spirits are actually other players. They are fighting the same enemies and sprinting across the same bridges, but they inhabit their own worlds, not yours. You see only their apparitions, but those apparitions may be enough to clue you in to a surprise ambush up ahead or a bit of hidden loot around the corner.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Review

Realistically simulating a modern military operation is no easy task. Every element, from the top-level command communication down to the way you reload your gun must be accurately tuned to create a believably engaging experience. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising takes on this formidable challenge, and, for the most part, it succeeds quite well. The campaign is made up of long, tense missions in which you and your squad must traverse kilometers of terrain at a methodical pace, engaging enemies from long range and responding to dynamic battlefield conditions. Success requires patience and execution, and the reward for a completed mission is a strong sense of hard-won satisfaction. While most of the game elements combine to create a realistic atmosphere, there are some issues that hamper your immersion. Some sundry bugs will catch your attention, but the most notable problems occur in the behavior of your allies and enemies, whose battlefield awareness takes some awkward stumbles. Fortunately, you can ditch your computer allies for human ones in the four-player online cooperative mode. There are also two competitive multiplayer modes that offer a more action-packed experience and provide better opportunities to utilize your command abilities. Despite the issues that threaten to steer it off course, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising stays on mission and provides a tough, yet rewarding, tactical experience.

The campaign takes place on a fictional island off the coast of Russia that has been occupied by the Chinese. The slick, stylish intro details the island's embattled history and sets the stage for your insertion. From there on out, there are no more cutscenes. There are just missions and briefing screens, the latter of which are accompanied by stirring Chinese and American musical themes. As you endeavor to complete the 11 campaign missions, you'll engage in a variety of conflicts. One afternoon you'll be flanking alongside an armored advance, while one night will find you and your squad traveling over hilly terrain to scout an enemy target. Each mission has multiple objectives and can take longer than 30 minutes to complete, which makes for a substantially varied campaign.

Though the missions are long, Dragon Rising's inherent difficulty level can extend them to be even longer. This is not an easy game, and it is easy to lose your life in the course of battle. You'll generally engage enemies from long distance, and a foe that is 100 yards away is dangerously close. By being cautious and handy with a scoped weapon, you can usually out-snipe your enemies. But hilly terrain, groves of trees, and small clusters of buildings ensure that you won't always be able to pick them off from a distance. Mortar fire, mounted machine guns, or a few bullets from an enemy rifleman can bring your mission to an abrupt end. On normal difficulty, there are a fair amount of checkpoints throughout each mission, so the penalty for dying is softened. As you bump up the difficulty level, your enemies don't actually get tougher. Rather, the game strips away helpful onscreen elements, such as indicators of your squad's health and the positions of your enemies. With these game elements removed, Dragon Rising feels more realistic, and the action is more tense and immediate. This makes victory taste much sweeter, but it also means that one bullet can erase 45 minutes of progress.

When you do get killed and have to play a section again, don't expect things to play out the same way. Depending on your squad's movement and effectiveness, the enemy may maneuver differently and employ different tactics. The same goes for any allied squads that are accompanying you. This flexibility makes the game more dynamic, and, for the most part, this is a good thing. Having to actively adjust your strategy is an appropriate challenge that adds realism to the proceedings. Yet because events can vary so widely, you may sometimes find yourself in a situation where it is nearly impossible to succeed--or even survive. Sometimes you can overcome these tough spots with persistence, but sometimes, you'll have to bite the bullet and restart the entire mission. Again, Operation Flashpoint's dedication to realism makes frustration easier to come by, which is something players will have to embrace if they hope to enjoy the game.

Unfortunately, there are some causes for frustration that can't be chalked up to realism. These come primarily from your AI squadmates, who occasionally exhibit a serious lack of battlefield judgment. For example, if you are crouched and firing regular shots at an enemy position, an ally will think nothing of walking in front of your gun as he tries to gain a better position. Your buddies can also get confused about cover; sometimes they position themselves on the wrong side of a barrier or just outside of a protective wall. And be very careful about where you issue the "treat wounded" command. In their efforts to find a safe place to administer treatment, your medic and the injured soldier are likely to expose themselves to enemy fire by crossing an open field or leaving the safety of a bunker. There are also sundry movement issues, such as soldiers getting stuck on trees or failing to follow commands. Sometimes giving them a push or a shot in the leg can actually remedy this, and when enemies do similar things, it can be easier to pick them off. Still, this kind of stupidity definitely dampens the realistic tension.

These issues notwithstanding, friendly and enemy soldiers often act in helpful and authentic ways. Your squad usually responds quickly to your commands and tends to be cautious and mindful of enemy positions. Likewise, enemies will go prone when fired upon, head for cover, return fire, and often maneuver to flank your position. You will often feel legitimately threatened, and overall, your enemies feel like trained, battle-ready soldiers. That said, much of the campaign is made up of long-range encounters, and you'll rely heavily on your ability to cut down enemies from a distance. Most of the time, you can command your squad to follow you, and they'll do a good job of staying alive and spotting targets. You can easily issue more specific orders using the quick-command radial or by pulling out your map, and as long as you avoid testing their not-so-great vehicle-piloting skills, they will prove to be more of an asset than a liability.

Alternatively, you can recruit up to three other players and play the entire campaign in cooperative mode. There are some bonus stand-alone missions that can be unlocked as well, and these offer quicker encounters better suited to short play sessions. There are also two competitive modes that support up to eight human players: Annihilation (Team Deathmatch) and Infiltration (defend/destroy the objective). Even at full capacity, every human player can have a squad under his or her command, and providing your teammates have a working knowledge of the command radial, multiplayer matches are intense and hotly contested. Though the AI players suffer from the same kind of missteps, the nature of these conflicts make them more of a strategic asset. The air is thick with bullets and squads are usually on the move in Annihilation, while Infiltration presents a lop-sided strategic contest that is engaging in its own way.

The competitive and cooperative modes round out the game nicely, though they suffer from occasional bugs. For example, your gun may become temporarily invisible or you may shoot bullets that appear to hit enemies, but in actuality, they neither hit nor deplete your ammo count. Both of these can often be fixed by reloading, but there is a certain roughness that can detract from the realistic tone that the game tries to set. Despite its various issues, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is largely successful in its endeavor. The environments and core action create a great feeling of tension and immediacy. The various weapons and vehicles also give you a great array of ways to accomplish your objectives. With a lengthy campaign and solid multiplayer action, Dragon Rising is a tough and engaging tactical action experience.

Halo 3

That's what I would have said had Microsoft dumped a boatload of free crap on my doorstep, which is just a Garfield doormat with the lettering worn away except for half of the word "lasagna". There's also a fake rock that can store an extra key inside but I haven't gotten around to making a backup key to the backup key I had to use when I lost my keys while going out and buying the game in the first place (yes, this will factor into my review).

Since nobody showered me with riches or a free review copy I'm left with the task of forming my own opinion about a game, a fate worse than death or eating anything from Burger King. I don't really have anything against 7-11 though.

Every review I've read has started by talking about the hype surrounding this much-anticipated title. Because I'm just as uncreative as them, I'll be doing the same. The hype surrounding Halo 3 has been impossible to ignore even if you've been living under a rock, with Osama bin Laden, and he was always hogging the television. Even if you cut out your eyes, well, the Braille Institute is currently sponsored by, you guessed it, Halo 3.

Video games are more mainstream than ever.

Like Sony did with the PlayStation, Halo 3 is helping to make video games more mainstream which means a two minute story on The Today Show about this hot new game coming out while showing footage of a bunch of faggots waiting in line for it. Thanks. Now even the lowest form of life on Earth, bored housewives, think we're nerds. If you really want to see video games hit the mainstream, kill all people who currently play video games.

Single Player

The general consensus is that Halo 3's single player feels more like an episodic installment than a full, robust campaign. There isn't much to it and what's there isn't particularly exciting. Of course, the most common defense to those claims is that the multiplayer is so refined that it more than makes up for the sloppy solo campaign. Besides, multiplayer-only games that don't even afford players the opportunity to shoot at the same stupid aliens in the same corridors with the same reflective shader for roughly six hours aren't punished for it, so why is Halo 3?

If you went to two steakhouses that made similar quality steaks but one included a baked potato free of charge but the baked potato was short, didn't offer anything particularly new over other, more competent potatoes, and had an unsatisfying ending, you would probably prefer the other steakhouse.

But wait, the other steakhouse is themed after the Irish famine and doesn't even have potatoes. So? If you're going to offer potatoes to video game diners in your stupid analogy, it might as well be a good potato or none at all. You still have to look at the potato, which makes you depressed when you think of what that potato could have been like had they had actually put the effort into it and tweaked the A.I. a little bit.

If Halo 3's single player is a moldy old potato, then the multiplayer is the steak. But the steak is from Outback Steakhouse and someone spit on it. It's okay, not great, but mom likes going there and it's close to the house. And if the single player is the potato, and the multiplayer is the steak, Xbox Live must be the spit.

Ten Minutes With ArmA 2

I'm also horrible at shooters. Like, really bad. I'm the reason for those "WALK HERE" and "SHOOT THIS" reminders in Perfect Dark Zero. Bullet Time wasn't quite slow enough for me to get a bead on the bad guys in Max Payne. One time I ate shark meat and in the middle of the night I ran into my best friend's bathroom and projectile vomited but it was pitch black and so I couldn't see that the toilet seat was down and my vomit was rebounding in a million directions.

That didn't have anything to do with FPS games, but I felt like sharing.

Given my knowledge of the series and my level of expertise in shooters, it's only natural that I give the ArmA 2 demo a try.

I approach Miles. The green text floating near his shoulder informs me that he is the Leader of Fire Team, which sounds impressive all around. In the absence of a Bossman of Nuclear Team, I decide to follow his orders.

My first task in the service of the proud and glorious nation of my birth, Miles tells me, is to find a box.

Unfamiliar with my surroundings, I approach a nearby group of soldiers in the hopes that they've seen a box somewhere around here. One man stands to the side and smiles as two of his brothers-in-arms exert themselves. The soldier on the left does traditional push-ups, the other holds his arms out to his sides with some degree of uncertainty and wiggles his hips, bracing himself for a fall that never comes.

I'm not really sure how to communicate with these men. After a few moments I find a button that lets me salute. By timing the snap of my hand to my forehead to a rough approximation of morse code, I try my best to inquire about the box. Unfortunately, my flailing gets elicits no response, not even a missed push up.

Thankfully, there's another soldier nearby who goes by the name Squad Leader. Before I can launch into my morse code routine once again, his highly reflective sunglasses bring me to a halt. Something about them isn't quite right, but what?

The horrible truth settles in - I can't see myself in the reflection.

My mind races. Has Obama repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell yet? Does it even apply to vampires? Shit shit shit! Play it cool, man. Just turn around, real slow-like, and find somewhere to think this through.

Perfect, an empty barracks. I'll just duck in here, hide between a few cots-

No! I sprint as hard as I can, but the cots' endposts hold my body in place, just as they were undoubtedly designed to do. As my legs and arms continue to move as though my movement were unhindered, I begin to accept my fate, embracing the vampirism that has made me stronger than ever.

That Duke Nukem Thing

That Duke Nukem Thing

You've heard the news by now, of course. Is it even possible to have a passing interest in video games without getting blasted with a face full of details when something happens that's even remotely related to Duke Nukem Forever? No.

When the 3D Realms site posts a Help Wanted ad for modelers with experience in "crafting compelling and evocative shades", it's front page news. When George Broussard gets into a heated debate about the best degenerative disease (it's progressive supranuclear palsy by a mile), he gets quoted on snarky forums across the internet so nerds with absolutely no sense of irony can revisit the eternal riddle of how he has so much free time.

So yeah, you probably know that 3D Realms has met a ghastly fate.

I'm sure there will be plenty of outlets beating this dead horse for a few more cheap laughs. Lots of timelines detailing the things that have happened since Duke Nukem Forever was first announced. A few "...and I'm all out of funding!" one-liners. Maybe a drawing of Duke with a mustache and devil horns by an unemployed Demetri Martin as he struggles to find a style of humor that isn't Mitch Hedberg's.

Really, though, this isn't the time for that. DNF was the source of countless jokes for lazy writers for more than a decade. It's disrespectful to keep joking when real human beings have been affected by this news.

I'd like to extend my sympathies to all those who lost their loved ones when a DVD drive that began burning the gold copy of the game in 1998 finally overheated, leveling the entire 3D Realms offices in a massive explosion that killed nearly 80 people.

Tony Hawk Can't Lose (gracefully)

Activision has finally unveiled the controller for Tony Hawk Ride, warming the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of fans who have been anxiously awaiting Skate 3. Here is the metaphorical cube which you will have a chance to gleam at your earliest convenience:

Personally, I think it's sort of a dud. That thing does not look like it will be comfortable to hold. Is anyone on the design team familiar with ergonomics?

If nothing else, it has a nice, flat surface to hold your snacks/partially diffused bombs/infants while you play.

Resident Evil 5 Review

Resident Evil 5 Review

All gripes aside, it’s generally easy to spot the appeal of Resident Evil games. They’re full of guns and zombies, and it doesn’t hurt that they’re usually in the upper-echelon of graphical prowess whenever they’re released. Granted, some things have changed over the years. Jill isn’t around anymore, and the game’s pace has become a bit more arcade-like. That hasn’t stopped players from sinking their teeth into each new Resident Evil that Capcom offers, and with Resident Evil 5, the developers seem to have outdone themselves once again.

Granted, the title of “greatest Resident Evil game” is a hotly contested issue among diehard fans, but this should be seen as a positive sign. If folks seem to have trouble deciding which is the best, surely the developers have consistently dedicated themselves to achieving a high standard of quality. Of course, one of the biggest draws for any game is found in its visual style. This is one area where RE5 shines brightly, no questions asked. Detailed textures in the hair and musculature of characters, dynamic physics and luscious bump-mapping, lifelike animations and intense lighting – the list of graphical goodies is virtually endless. There can be little doubt that Resident Evil 5 has never looked as good as it does on the PC, making this title an outstanding tool for tech demos, or just showing off the power of your processor.

The setup for this incredible zombie fest is a bit more tightly packed and thoughtfully layered than what you might expect to find in your average shooter. The premise quickly shifts from simple to shocking, and despite the game’s Japanese origins, all the voice work is nicely executed. Resident Evil 5 is a game that feels expertly paced, offering a very pleasant variety of gameplay scenarios to ensure that the game stays intensely exciting without getting too exhausting. The writers were not even afraid to throw in a bit of humor, which is a nice plus, as any scenario involving zombies should never take itself too seriously.
Veterans of the series will obviously get a big kick out of Resident Evil 5, but fortunately, previous experience with the franchise is not mandatory. Everything from intense shootouts to frantic boss battles will take the player on an outrageous rollercoaster of adrenaline-fueled combat. Much of the time, it isn’t just the big scary monster that’s making you sweat, but the quiet moments of palpable fear, passing through a dusty, quiet street, knowing that something is always lurking and waiting to kill you.

One of the big frustrations with the console version of RE5 was the inventory system. For newcomers, the system takes some getting used to, because there are limits on how many objects can be carried around. Searching and scavenging are still an important part of the game, of course, and you’ll still be trying to conserve your ammunition as much as possible. That being said, the keyboard makes item selection a breeze. Instead of cycling around with a console controller, you just tap a button to whip out your shotgun, and you’re good to go. Another positive aspect of the PC is the good old mouse control, making aiming and firing at incoming zombies far less frustrating. These improvements might not come as a surprise, but they are certainly welcome and may even persuade console players to give the PC version a try.
The second protagonist, Sheva, remains the defining element of Resident Evil 5. As an AI player, she holds her own pretty well in combat, but her behavior can be a bit inconsistent when things get rough. This is why the two-player cooperative mode is so fundamental to the game. Having a living, thinking human to assist you on each mission really brings the experience to a whole new level. This also allows for the implementation of more advanced strategies, an important asset to have, as we all know that video game zombies will not play fair. There is really no question that RE5 was meant to be played this way, but it certainly stands tall with its single-player mode. If you missed out the console release, you have absolutely no excuse for passing on this version. There can be little doubt that Resident Evil 5 will make the other games in your software library quite jealous.