The Story*

“A lethal marketing virus has turned half the world’s population into brain eating zombies. Now they are after you and your friends’ brains!

All you have on hand are every day items and an internet connection. Reach out to your Twitter friends to help you build defense towers out of every day items. Stop the zombies from penetrating your home base and eating your grey matter!

With your friends manning the towers and your brilliant battle strategies the zombies don’t stand a chance … or do they?”

*(taken from the game’s description on iTunes)

To be honest, when I first heard about Tweet Defense I thought it was going to be a new game on Twitter; something similar to the Assassin’s Creed Twitter Experience. It wasn’t until the game actually released that I realized I was completely wrong.

Tweet Defense is just another addition to the crowded tower defense genre. I like the genre, but there are so many that still use just the original concept; top down game play with waves of enemies that travel a linear path to an exit. Place towers along the path and stop them from reaching that exit. Tweet Defense is no exception.

From the start, you’ll want to sign into Twitter. This will give you multiple bonuses for your towers. The amount of friends, followers, and number of tweets will give you a boost in your rate of fire, range, and damage respectively. Following the daily booster will allow you to buy the booster tower at a cheaper cost in game and will also receive an additional range boost. Get used to this because you’ll be signing in every time you start the game as these added boosts do help.

Now for the core tower defense game play. Ten maps are available with three difficulty settings. You aren’t really presented with a challenge on any difficulty until maps 7 to 10 though. From 1 to 6 the paths that the enemy takes are narrow and long so with a good setup, it shouldn’t be a problem. 7 to 10 are more open and require good planning. These levels will require you to use your towers to make a path for the zombies giving you more time to shoot them on the path you make.

Gameplay consists of zombies entering from one side of the map and exiting on the other. Paths are set for these zombies to travel on. You must set up towers along this path and destroy the zombies before they reach the exit. Each tower is different and costs resource points. Killing a zombie will grant you 15 points each. Each tower is self explanatory. You can use Nail guns, Catapults, Flame Throwers, Gloop Towers, Electric Towers, and Boost towers. Each cost 50, 150, 200, 500, and 1000 respectively with the boost tower depending on your twitter options. As for zombies, there are Sneakies which are slow zombies, Blubberbies which are tough zombies and require a lot of fire power, Mombies which spawn Zuppies when close to death and freakies which are slow, but require a bit of firepower. When you exit the game, the game will automatically save so you can continue from where you left off.

With gameplay out of the way, there are some great things with this game. Visually the game looks great. Whether you are playing at the default zoom level or zoomed in close. Everything is smooth and no jagged edges. Zombies are rendered great. When killed, they fall backwards in a fountain of blood. The towers are built from items commonly found outside of a house. With the later levels you will be setting up a lot of towers. With the amount of towers and zombies on screen, there is no visible lag. Very impressed by that. Another great feature is the auto save function; when you want to quit, the game will auto save allowing you to continue with your round and map.

The music is very repetitive but you have the option of using your own music too. The zombies sound like you’d expect but when you have a lot on the screen all dying at once with every tower firing, it is annoying and will have you muting the game.

While the game looks great, I noticed quite a few faults worth mentioning. There is supposed to be an update released but I don’t know what fixes it will include. First thing I noticed was the pace of the game play. It feels boring. Compared to most of the new tower defense games I play, they require more interaction than just placing a tower and waiting. More often than not, you will have a strong set up and will just be watching the zombies die. Depending on your settings, the screen may dim or go to sleep. Second, at times it can be hard to place a tower exactly where you want it as your thumb is in the way. This isn’t so much a game fault, but a hardware fault. With a tile set or grid I feel it could have helped with location. Also, when trying to upgrade towers near the edge of the screen, it is almost impossible to do. Third, the game doesn’t save your Twitter information. I can see why this was left out because in order to get the booster tower bonus, you must follow the person on Twitter. This can easily be done in game with a simple button, but by giving the option to save the info and follow this person automatically would have greatly improved this Twitter functionality. As I mentioned before, even with 3 difficulty settings, the game isn’t really difficult until map 7-10. There are no boss battles either. This would of made it much more of a challenge and rewarding when defeating a boss.

My Final Thoughts:
As a tower defense game, Tweet Defense is fine. It has everything you’d expect – varied waves of enemies, various towers, upgrades, and multiple unique levels. I have one problem though; it’s the same experience as any other tower defense game. Sure, you can use twitter to put a bonus on your tower, but it doesn’t provide anything new to the genre. Games like Plants vs Zombies, Fieldrunners, Defender Chronicles (2D tower defense), and geoDefense Swarm that are available on the iPhone provide a unique experience. The twitter option is neat, but just feels tacked on. If you are a fan of the tower defense genre, you won’t be disappointed. If you are looking for a tower defense game with a new take on the genre, you’ll be for the most part, disappointed. While the game is at $0.99 I recommend buying it, but when the price increases, the choice is up to you.

Game Review:

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR GOD OF WAR I AND GOD OF WAR II

If you own a PlayStation 3 (PS3) and you’re new to the God of War trilogy, do yourself a favor and pick up the God of War Collection. Immerse yourself in the mythos of Kratos and see how he evolved into the furious badass he is today. I remember playing through God of War II and having my jaw drop at the literal cliffhanger. Ever since the third installment was announced for the PS3 back in 2007, fans of the series have held their collective breaths, wondering which direction Santa Monica Studio would take. When Sony unveiled the debut trailer at E3 2008, suddenly the buzz was on. Fast forward to 2010 with the release of the highly anticipated title.

God of War III is the final piece to Santa Monica Studio’s trilogy puzzle, set to light up PS3s everywhere. It picks up right where God of War II left off — the monumental confrontation between the gods of Olympus and Kratos rallying the Titans for another bid at The Great War. Riding atop Gaia’s back, Kratos boldly announces his intentions to “bring the destruction of Olympus!” It’s rather hard not to believe the Ghost of Sparta isn’t capable of accomplishing such a feat. His resume of doom is quite impressive, including: killing Ares, acquiring Pandora’s Box, escaping the Underworld and defying The Fates. If there’s one man for the job of bringing down Zeus and company, Kratos is just the guy you want to go on a murdering rampage.

If you’ve played through the previous titles, you know exactly what to expect with the gameplay mechanics and the controls. It’s a third-person action adventure with elements of platforming; throw in a fixed camera and token sex mini game, and you’ve got a title that feels instantly familiar. Chests are scattered throughout, providing orbs for upgrades, health and magic. Weapons run the whole gamut — from Kratos’ trusty Blades of Exile to Hercules’ Nemean Cestus.

The range of weapons available is a hack and slash player’s dream, leaving the door wide open for unique combinations of brutality. With any title in this genre, its worth is determined by combat mechanics and this is where God of War III shines, carrying on the legacy of its predecessors. Tight controls make it easy to switch from sharp weaponry to devastating magic. Combat runs elegantly to string combinations of grounded and aerial assaults before segueing into optional quick time events of finishing moves. Ending lives is not a delicate exercise; Kratos goes full out, leaving behind entrails, heads and other body parts in his wake. If you’re squeamish, these predetermined button presses of remorseless violence will most likely leave you queasy. Whether it’s flesh being separated from sinewy muscle or intestines spilling from slashed bellies, the attention to detail underscores both artistic and technical skill Santa Monica Studio employed.

Words like epic and mind-blowing get tossed around a lot, but they’re so fitting, especially after getting a high dose of visual eye candy during the opening sequence. The sheer scale of the ensuing battle grips you in rapt attention. Exiled Titans returning for one last hurrah against the gods of Olympus? You can bet your eyes will water at the glorious nihilism on display. It’s a celebration of ass kicking, wonderfully vicious ass kicking! While taking down Minotaurs and Centaurs are welcome ways to execute particular combinations, there is definitely a sense of awe and satisfaction when committing deicide. The scale is what draws you in. Think about it. Numerous gods completely dwarf Kratos, leaving your antihero to sometimes climb onto them to execute vicious kills. You’re not just fighting enemies left and right anymore!

While God of War III begins with high-octane overdrive sequences leaving you breathless, it settles into a more manageable, recognizable pace. Climbing from Hades’ Realm up Mount Olympus, there is something new to keep your attention from straying into boredom. Kratos’ ascent gives the game a vertically-oriented focus, once again emphasizing the massive scale of his quest. Level designs and objectives are balanced to prevent gameplay from growing stale. Icarus Ascent, where you use the Icarus Wings to fly straight up through what is essentially a wind tunnel, is one such welcome transition. As Kratos defeats enemies, he gains new weapons and abilities that keep combat engaging. Beyond gameplay and level design, God of War III is simply breathtaking; even Chimeras and The Furies are grotesquely beautiful! Cutscenes employing more traditional animation doesn’t break up the pace; surprisingly, it provides a richer backstory using simple means to contrast against the graphically intensive design. Santa Monica Studio has finely balanced every aspect to constantly keep the audience’s attention.

While the game is a technical and artistic victory in visual eye candy, there may be certain aspects that would irk the discerning gamer. The storytelling is blunt and straightforward: Kratos makes a declaration of killing everything on sight and goes about doing so with the most vicious methods he can conjure. While there were elements of humanity in Kratos in previous titles, he is absolutely heartless; there is no empathy or mercy left, painting him as a fairly flat character. I must step in with a side note concerning the pacing as well. While the game was well balanced, there was one particular objective that was a slight bump in the road. I won’t ruin anything, but it felt like I was playing Spartan Guitar Hero. It was a discordant note in an otherwise fluid pace.

These are, of course, minor asides in a title that is otherwise a stellar example of what technical and artistic visions can combine to create. There were numerous times when I was left slack-jawed at the cutscenes after I took down a god. As the finale of the trilogy, it certainly bears the burden of expectations. With balanced poise, God of War III provides a satisfying end to a series that will leave an indelible mark amongst the PlayStation fanbase.

Jinkwell’s final say: God of War III has left me completely enthralled by the beauty of both the graphics and the combat. Only one word adequately describes this game: epic. I wasn’t just watching murder unfold; I participated in the act through quick time events for one serious cut of deicide.

Game Review: Scrap Metal
Release Date: March 10, 2010
Genre: Racing, Action
Developer: Slick Entertainment
Available Platforms: Xbox 360
Players: 1-4
MSRP: 1200 MSP
Multiplayer: Versus
Game Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+)
Website: http://www.scrapmetalgame.com/

The controls have two options, the default control scheme uses the left stick and you point in the direction you want; and you can drive & steer the vehicle with one control button. The advance control scheme will be more familiar to any gamer who has played a racing game, with them you press RT to drive and use the left stick to steer. These controls are much more intuitive. On both control schemes you press A to fire your weapon. The controls are tricky to learn and will get you frustrated, but all I can say is stick with them and give them a chance. After awhile using them you will get used to them and will have no trouble at all. Overall the singleplayer was a solid play through. It was full of explosions and exciting races and provided a lot of fun and frustration in equal measure.

Multiplayer in this game is much the same as the singleplayer with a few exceptions. You can’t upgrade your vehicle. Instead your giving a set of vehicles for each of the game modes. You can however customize your car but its limited; you can only change the paint job on each vehicle. There is 3 game modes; Race, Derby & King of the Hill. Race is pretty much want the title says you race against 3 other Xbox Live players and the rest are AI. Derby is an all out war with everybody trying to destroy the other persons vehicle. King of the Hill is mix of both Race & Derby were you have destroy other vehicles and earn points and also race around a track. Online was great to play, it was much the same as the singleplayer. The lack of players in one lobby was a disappointment, there was only 4 players in each game mode with the rest being AI. If there was 8 players in a single lobby for each game mode it would have been better.

Game Review: Final Fantasy XIII
Release: March 9th, 2010
Genre: Role Playing Game
Developer: Square Enix
Available Platforms: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Players: One
MSRP: $59.99
ESRB: Rating: Teen
Website: www.finalfantasy13game.com

Prologue

Cocoon – a utopia in the sky.

It’s inhabitants believed their world a paradise. Under the Sanctum’s rule, Cocoon had long known peace and prosperity.

Mankind was blessed by it’s protectors, the benevolent fal’Cie, and believed that tranquil days would continue forever

Their tranquillity was shattered with the discovery of one hostile fal’Cie.

The moment that fal’Cie from pulce – the feared and detested lowerworld – awoke from it’s slumber, peace on Cocoon came to an end.

Fal’Cie curse humans, turning them into magic-wielding servants.

They become l’Cie – chosen of the fal’Cie.

Those branded with the mark of a l’Cie carry the burden of either fulfilling their Focus or facing a fate harsher than death itself.

A prayer for redemption. A wish to protect the world. A promise to challenge destiny.

After thirteen days of fates interwined, the battle begins.

(Taken from the in-game booklet.)

I have to admit, taking this on after reading some pre-release reviews had me a bit worried. I had heard that some Final Fantasy series lovers would hate this game.  I had decided to take this game on as an unbiased reviewer, not a Final Fantasy lover, in case they were right.

But after a few hours in, I realized that this was another game that some reviewers had completely wrong.

Though it has both it’s ups and downs, it is an amazing game. If you haven’t decided on getting it or not, let me help you make up your mind.

The first thing you’re going to notice when starting FFXIII is the graphics. Absolutely fantastic! That’s all you can really say. Once again Square Enix is raising the bar on video games. Battle scenes take on the same look as their ‘movie’ scenes which makes the entire game flow so smoothly.

I think the story is excellent and I love the way all of the characters intertwine back and forth and meet up throughout the game. Also, you don’t play the same main character throughout the entire game, you switch between them so you can see what each group is up to at all times.

The one thing I highly recommend doing is reading all of the Datalog and keeping up with it. Your first chance to get into your menu is the best time to start. It goes through a lot of details they leave out at the beginning of the game and really gets you caught up to speed as to why they’re doing what they’re doing.

Your main characters are all in the fight for different reasons. Lightning and Snow are out to save Serah (Lightning’s sister and Snow’s fiance) who has been taken by the fal’Cie. Hope was pushed into the entire situation and blames Snow for everything that has happened to him. Sazh’s intentions remain unknown for quite some time, but he sticks it out and fights with these people he’s only just met.

Then you have Vanille. Cute at first, but I promise you, her odd voice, constant moaning and “Ah!” “Oh!” “Yeah!” “Mmmm” comments will get to you after a while. She plays a good part in the game and is a strong character, but sometimes I wish she would just shut up.

The battle system is easy to learn if you go through the tutorials. It progresses well throughout the beginning of the game so you’re not bombarded all at once. They also keep the tutorials in your Datalog so you can check up on them if needed.

Now you can only battle with one character in the beginning (you get the ability to switch about 20-25 hours in). The other characters fight by themselves and you have no control over what they do. The only thing you can change is their “role” in battles. You have 6 different Paradigm’s which allow you to change the characters abilities as well as their behavior in combat.

For example, for more damage-dealing, you would want to use Commando or Ravager. If you need healing more, you can switch a character to a Medic. The best thing about this is that you can switch in the middle of a battle to what you need.

There are things that I really like about the battle system. If you use a potion, it goes to everyone, not just a single character. That helps during the fights more than you can imagine!

Two features that make it feel like your cheating is the Auto-battle command. Instead of going through and picking what you want to do, it will automatically choose what is best for that specific fight. Cheating, I know. Also you have a retry feature. If you die, you can start again right before the battle started, or you can use a combination of buttons to stop the current fight and retry again, if you started out badly.

There are SO many more features to the battle system, but you’re going to have to get the game to test them yourself!

Your character advances through a process known as crystogenesis. You obtain crystogen points in battle and you spend them in the Crystarium to unlock new abilities. Reminds me exactly of the Sphere Grid in FFX, which I was a big fan of. A great feature of the crystogenesis is that even if your characters do not participate in that battle (or even if they are not part of the party you are currently with) they still get crystogen points.

Music in the Final Fantasy series games has always been very good, and very important to fans. You can clearly tell that the music is not Uematsu, but it is still very good and fits the game very well.

There are a few things I’m not fond of (besides Vanille’s voice…). There are NO towns to shop in and explore (I know, right?!?). You do have a “shop” option at save points, but there are not a lot of options… Weapon choices suck, though you do have the ability a bit further into the game to upgrade them, which doesn’t make up for the lack of choices, but it helps.

Overall, I am very happy with what Square Enix has done. Though it is not my favorite Final Fantasy, it makes a great addition to the series. I would recommend it to anyone!

A big thanks to Greg Knefel & John Knefel (family members and amazing gamers!) and all the rest of my gaming family for their input!

Originally released as a Wii game, Cocoto Magic Circus is the second game in the Cocoto series. Cocoto Magic Circus is a cute, cartoony tap-and-shoot arcade game. Your main goal is to eliminate the bad guys and rescue your fairy friend.

The story can seem a little tough to understand as you only have a cut scene at the start and end of the game. From the initial video when you load the game, Cocoto and friends discover a Magic Circus. Upon arrival, a clown puts on a little juggling act and snatches Pixie, your little fairy friend. It is up to you to stop the bad guys and retrieve the fairy. With your dart gun in hand, you select one of four characters – Cototo, Shiny, Neuro, or Baggy, and visit five challenging locations – Abyss, Volcano, Atlantis, Jungle, and Heaven.

As you enter the magical circus tent, you are presented with various mini games. At their core, the mini games require you to shoot enemies; either in their physical form, or a picture that resembles them. To shoot, simply tap the screen relative to the target. As mentioned before, there are a total of 5 locations you visit. Within each, you are given 7 mini games to complete. That’s a total of 35 games in single player! However, not every game is unique. Games will be repeated, but when they are, you are given a new target to hit that is common to that location. To start each game, the scary clown will pop up and show you the target(s) you are required to shoot. A mini game consists of shooting a certain amount of targets within a given timeframe. Each game requires,  you to either shoot oncoming enemies before they reach you, before they reach Pixie, or multiple matching target games. If you don’t hit the required targets before the time limit, you will lose a life and have the option to retry. To gain new lives, a bonus round will appear that will require you to shoot golden apples. Throughout each game, red and green balloons float across the screen. Be sure to avoid random red balloons as they will negatively affect your shooting or time. Green balloons are good and will give you extra incentives. At the end of each location, a boss will appear where you must continue shooting him until he dies.

The greatest thing about this game is the easy pick-up-and-play controls.  See a target? Tap it and your dart gun will shoot. Quick games allow you to pull out your device and play a few games while you’re bored. When you are finished the single player component, jump online and play a round of three games against another player in real time. Before and after each round, you may chat with your opponent. No one online, or don’t feel like playing another person? Play against the computer. When searching for an opponent and no one is online, you can set the game to notify you in-game when someone else is looking. If you have friends that play, or want to play someone again, there is a friends list hidden in the community balloon.

The biggest improvement this game needs is more precision in the controls. It’s frustrating when you know you’ve hit a target, but the game doesn’t think you did. Usually you know the crosshair is in fact on the target but it seems to miss slightly or not recognize the hit. I find the best way to hit the target is to tap with the flat part of your thumb instead of quickly tapping it with part of your thumb.

My overall thoughts:

I played Cocoto Magic Circus on my iPhone 3G. The game, for the most part, ran smoothly. Loading times were quick, or instant when starting a game. During the initial boot, the game would hang before showing the main menu, but after that, it ran smoothly. The overall presentation of the game surprised me as it is quite humorous. From the opening cut scene and the music throughout the game, I thought I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon. Although you won’t always find someone online, I found the online matches work well even on the edge network. Even with the occasional imprecise controls, it’s hard not to recommend Cocoto Magic Circus. As an introductory price, the game was released for only $0.99, but now at $3.99, there still seems to be more content and replay value then other games at this price. Check out the mobile version of Cocoto Magic Circus available only on the iTunes app store.

Enter a secret world of mythological creatures and demi-gods as you, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, recover Zeus’ missing lightning bolt. You are not alone in this quest as you have your good friend and protector, Grover, to help keep you safe. Along the way, you meet several other demi-gods who are willing to fight alongside Percy Jackson to ultimately stop the war of the gods.

If you are unfamiliar with the original book and/or recently released movie, Percy Jackson is a teen living what he thinks is a normal life, until one day he is accused of stealing Zeus’ master lightning bolt. With this accusation, Percy is of course confused, but in great danger. Hades, the God of the underworld, has sent his minions to kill and retrieve the lightning bolt from Percy Jackson. With the help of his teacher Chiron, protector friend Grover, and his mother Sally, he arrives at camp Half-Blood. On the way, he encounters and, to his surprise, slays a Minotaur. With the fall of the Minotaur, Percy’s mother dies. Camp Half-Blood is a secret and safe location on earth where demi-gods live and train amongst each other. While here, word quickly spreads around the camp about who Percy is and how he had slayed a Minotaur. The stronger demi-gods of the camp are jealous and take it upon themselves to eliminate Percy. Percy proves the demi-gods are no match for him as he destroys them one by one. While enjoying a somewhat relaxing night around a campfire, an image of Hades rises from the fire and terrorizes the camp. Here, it is revealed that Percy’s mother is still alive in the Underworld and in order for him to get her back, he must give the master lightning bolt, which Percy doesn’t have, to Hades. And so the quest begins.

The core gameplay mechanic is a turn based RPG filled with battles. I say this because you won’t be bothered with 5-10 minute cut scenes or character dialogue. Instead, you move from point to point on the map and remove any threat in your way. Almost every point is a battle, so essentially I could say you are moving from battle to battle. Along the way, you will see star points on the map. These points mark the continuation of the main quest, where the story unfolds. These are the only points you will see any dialogue between the characters or information about the story.

Choose your attack

The controls are typical of a DS game where most, if not all, of the input is done on the lower screen. Every action is a simple button press; no long menus to go through to attack or upgrade. As I mentioned before, the core gameplay is battles. When entering a battle, you will notice a time bar at the top of the screen. This bar indicates whose turn it is to attack. Each attack requires a certain amount of squares that are removed from this bar when used. After each turn, the bar is refilled. Whoever is closest to the bar may attack again. If there is a tie, Percy wins because he is favored by the gods. Most of the time when the enemy attacks you, you have the option of blocking up to 50% of the hit. With precise timing, you must tap inside the shield the moment the enemy strikes. If you hit too soon or too late, you may receive greater damage to your character. At first it’s trial and error, but eventually you memorize each enemy attack and are able to block just fine. At the end of each battle you receive team experience points. Earn enough and you will receive upgrade points or new abilities for each character. Items are also dropped from the enemy after each battle. Proper selection of abilities is crucial to success in each battle. If you don’t like the abilities of a certain character in your party of 3, switch between 1 of the other 5 characters following Percy. Also, no need to worry about healing your characters at the end of each battle; it is automatic. During the battle however, be sure to watch the health of your party as it will deplete quickly. Have a healing character, such as Grover, to heal each character as needed.

What’s great about this game is how many gameplay elements are borrowed from other games. The map is present in other DS games like Puzzle Quest, and Clash of Magic; select the next point, and continue with the story, or next battle. Shield/blocking, I find, is similar to Mario RPG. The music is quite good and fits the overall feel of the mythological world you play in. When you complete the main story you can continue playing in Overtime mode. Here you travel back on the map and remove the evil creatures that still roam the earth.

Map screen

One of the few things I noticed that could have been improved on, were the critical hits. Occasionally when you attack, you will have the ability to extend the damage you deal by dragging the stylus in the direction of the on screen arrow. Sometimes the trace wasn’t precise enough resulting in a lower percentage dealt. For enemies with a lot of health, getting a high percentage on a critical hit is crucial. The second thing that could have been improved was the blocking. It seemed that, even if you perfectly blocked the attack with the maximum 50%, you’d still receive a huge amount of damage similar to not blocking.

My overall thoughts:

Since it’s a movie tie in game, it’s not meant to provide any new gameplay elements or a brand new story. Surprisingly though, for a movie tie in game, it’s actually a fun and addictive experience. You should be able to get a solid 8 to 10 hours of gameplay. It borrows RPG elements from other games, but it does a good job at it. It follows the movie fairly closely while adding many extra parts for battles and character progression. Blocking takes some time to get used to and reminds me of Mario RPG. It has simple commands for battles and doesn’t involve a lot of strategy. It provides an easy pick-up-and-play game. I think these simple controls and strategies are what kept me playing and wanting to see what happened next. It’s nice to take a break from the “mature” or deep RPG games and play something lighter once in a while. The battles can feel repetitive; same strategy over and over, but wide variety of enemies to fight.

If you like the RPG genre for battles and not so much for the story, this is the perfect game for you. For others that want the story, I highly recommend reading the original book. However, for fans of the movie looking for some myth action on the go, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief is a great choice for the Nintendo DS. It is sure to provide hours of enjoyment.

Game Review:

Racing simulators have always been my favorite genre of gaming, as long as it’s a good one. There are many great racing sims out there- Codemasters Race Driver: GRID is just one example, and each console has its exclusives- PlayStation with Gran Turismo, Nintendo with F-Zero and Mario Kart (even though Mario Kart isn’t a ‘proper’ racing sim) and the Xbox with Forza.

The first Forza was a hit on the original Xbox and it ‘wowed’ a lot of people. We do, however, have Polyphony Digital- the guys who make Gran Turismo- to thank for the original concept. It’s been them that has managed to shape the path for all racing sims that have come out ever since.

As soon as you start Forza for the first time you’re put into the Audi R8 V10 (after you’ve installed the contents of disc 2, which is optional but recommended), and you’ll inevitably come first if you have any experience at racing games. But it’s not just that- the scenery, the mountains- it’s very beautiful, especially when you’re speeding around the course at 130MPH.

You can admire the scenery in over 100 tracks and race on them with over 400 different cars. That’s the most any racing game packs in to date, but Gran Turismo 5 is set to beat that- but I won’t turn this into a competition between Gran Turismo and Forza.

The single player mode has vast amounts for you to be getting on with- be it tuning your car, browsing the shops for more cars, upgrading your own cars and of course, racing. The main meat of the racing in the game is in the Season Play mode- here, you can choose from one of many different events to complete. Each event is branded with a class, so you will be needing a car for whichever class you choose.

It might not be the nicest, but nonetheless, it still looks lovely.

Every time you complete a race, you’ll earn credits –which you can spend on buying cars and upgrading parts- and XP, that gets added onto your driver level and your car level. Every time you reach a new driver level, a car manufacturer will want you to ‘recognise your talents’ and will send a car, free of charge. Of course, most of the time it will need some fine tuning and upgrading to bring it up to scratch for racing, but within an hour you’ll have a great collection of cars at your fingertips.

There is also the Event List mode, where you’re all able to choose any event you would like to complete- though there aren’t many different events to choose from, you’re not just stuck with doing circuits. There are point to point races that you can do with just 1 other CPU, or race around the magnificent 10 mile Japanese circuit. Either way you’ll find yourself racing in some way, shape or form. To complete this you need to be able to get a Gold in all of the events- this might be easy for those of you on the easiest difficulty, but the rest of us it proves a nice challenge.

Sometimes you might want to go and do an event but none of your cars are up to scratch- this is where the Upgrade Shop comes in. You are able to completely customize your car internally and externally, though the Upgrade Shop specializes in internals, but does cater for the spoilers, rims and the chassis.

The parts you buy from the Shop can improve your speed, acceleration, handling, launch and braking among a few others, which makes it vitally important to upgrade your car from the rubbish stock internals. Apart from the Upgrade Shop there is the Quick Upgrade, where you can choose which class you would like your car to go up o and the game will automatically choose the parts needed to get it up there, making it painlessly easy to get a grade F car right up to grade A.

Where this game overtakes its rivals has to be in the online portion of Forza. There are a few different modes to pick from, the biggest of which is the online multiplayer. Up to 8 players can join you in a lobby with just your mates or you can jump in to one of the many Quick Match options. There is the Playground (tag), Curcuit RWD (Circuit with Rear Wheel Drive only), Circuit, Drift and Road Racing (longer tracks where “endurance is key”; disc 2 installation required). The most popular of these, while I’ve been online, is the Circuit- here, you can choose the car class you want to race in and then it chooses a lobby for you to join.

3...2...1...and we're off!

Each lobby has its own set of rules that can be adjusted by a set person in the group. Restrictions can be set to limit what tuning setups you apply to your vehicles, meaning that if you don’t have a setups that meets the requirements, you’ll be driving around in a shoddy stock car.

There are also leaderboards online for just about everything- you can see who’s the best racer, drifter, and more. It’s not like you’ll ever be able to be better than them, but hey, it’s worth a try, right?

The cars you use in this mode though seem a little strange, however. You don’t choose the car you would like to race in from your own garage- you just choose any car available. You can apply your own tuning setup to it though, thus improving the cars’ stock tuning, but I still find it a little strange why you can use any car, not just your own car.

Other notable features included here is the rewind option, giving you the ability to re-do a badly taken corner. Taken from GRID, but here you aren’t punished- do it as many times as you want and nothing will happen to you. There is also the photo mode which allows you to take photos of your race- these are stored on your console and then can be uploaded to your Storefront for everyone to see. You can also download them to your PC- which is how I’ve got mine into this review!

The driving physics do feel very solid but do slightly fall to GT’s realism of being able to adjust the physics to suit your style. The A.I. is also very stable, with not every car following the line through the track, a la Gran Turismo PSP.

This car crashed at maximum speed- doesn't look like it though, does it?

I just wish I could say the same about the damage model. It feels very, very half-hearted. Whereas in GRID and Burnout Paradise your car will completely disappear into a shower of bodywork, driving in excess of 200MPH into a solid cement wall just makes your car look like someone’s got a chisel and scraped your car in Forza. Internal damage is applied to the gearstick and all the other car internals, but if you’re going to be putting damage into a serious racing game such as this then it needs to be done properly.

Aside from the Forza Motorsport 3 main game mode (as it is called), there is also Free Play that allows you to complete a quick race, where you can choose any car you want and race on any track you want. Sounds fine and dandy, but there is no customization you can do in your races- you can’t choose how many CPU’s you want to race against or what you want their cars to be, so this mode is a very shallow experience. Added to this that when you race against CPU’s there is no internal damage, only cosmetic, it just seems like a filler mode.

Coupled with this is the Hot Lap mode, which the regulars will be pleased to see- you can race against your own ghosts previously set on laps on your own profile, which adds another layer of longevity to the game.

If you want to play some offline fun then you can do so with the split screen mode- unfortunately I was unable to test this whilst reviewing this game as I only have the one controller, but I understand that you are able to race against one other mate of yours. Could have been nicer, but that’s what the online is for.

James Final Say:
This is the best serious racing game there is available right now. There is vast amounts to do, although it might not seem like it- and if you’re a Gamerscore manic then you’ll be buying and racing our cars ad weeks and weeks to try and ace it. The biggest question is, however, can Microsoft and Turn 10’s simulator really beat Gran Turismo? With GT set to fall later this year (we hope, anyway), we’ll soon find out.

DLC Comments:
Given that I’ve received a copy of this game to review very late, you might have thought that I’d have the DLC- and I do! There’s the recently released Nuremberg track set, along with the older car packs; all of which will set you back 400 Microsoft Points. If you ask me, I’d say that was a little high- but if you really want some new rides then this is the way to go.

Game Review: Toy Soldiers
Release Date: March 3, 2010
Genre: Action
Developer: Signal Studios
Available Platforms: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
MSRP: 1200 MSP
Multiplayer: Versus
Game Rating: T (teen)
Website: http://www.signalstudios.net/

Most video games theses days try to take the player away to a new environment and meet space aliens or explore strange new worlds, well Toy Soldiers doesn’t do this because as its title suggests, its all about epic battles in toy form. Toy Soldiers is  primarily a strategy game with tower defense elements. For those of you who think Toy Soldiers isn’t worth the 1200msp price tag, I hope to change your minds with this review. This arcade title takes gamers back to their early childhood, playing with small plastic toys except now it’s more entertaining watching toy figures in high definition, acting out plots and fighting wars all without your hands getting in the way. This game allows the player to take control of a multitude of vehicles ranging from tanks, bombers, biplanes, and more. Toy Soldiers brings out the inner-child within each and every gamer as they fight the deadly toy foes.

The Campaign

As the player, you get to experience 24 action packed missions in both the Allied and Central campaigns. The objective of each mission is to prevent the enemy from penetrating your heavily lined defenses and entering your toy box. You have to survive each wave tackling tanks, armored vehicles, fighter planes and the occasional a bomber plane is chucked in there for good measure and of course infantry whether it be on horseback or foot. If this sounds overwhelming don’t panic, the game has easy to use controls so no button mashing is necessary, the toy soldiers can either fight on their own or be controlled by the player in third person mode. The game also features a well-designed tutorial level at the beginning of the game to demonstrate the basic control scheme, it also includes a few practice battles for the player to get acquainted with the games core mechanics. As you play and complete each objective you will acquire many weapons for your arsenal which can help you greatly through this lengthy campaign  and when you fight the boss at the end of each conflict. The bosses in this game are large toys as you might expect from the title but are manifested in many forms such as a huge tank, a railroad gun and a zeppelin aircraft. Once you have completed the campaign, you will then unlock the survival mode where you fight against countless waves of enemy toys desperately trying to defeat you, which will no doubt keep you entertained for hours on end. By completing both the British and German campaigns you will  unlock Xbox Live avatar awards, a gas mask for finishing the British campaign and a pickelhaube (a German army helmet) for making light work of the German campaign.

There are also a few upgrades, just take for example the Anti-Aircraft gun dubbed ‘Pom-Pom’ level 1. At first this weapon isn’t great but isn’t bad either at taking down enemy air craft but in order to purchase these upgrades you must first have enough money to buy them. You can earn money by destroying the enemy with your weapons, each soldier/vehicle you annihilate you gain money, which you can then spend on new weaponry or simply upgrade your existing weapons. If however you decide to upgrade the ‘Pom-Pom’ to level 2 dubbed ‘Seventy-Five’, not only does the appearance change but it now has greater range and inflicts more damage on its foes.

If you choose to upgrade it further to level 3 dubbed ‘Old Quick Flac’ the appearance changes again for the last time and is now highly dangerous against anything in the sky. This is just one example of how much your weaponry can be upgraded. Overall this game has a solid campaign with three difficulty settings for those gamers out there looking for a challenge.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer aspect of Toy Soldiers doesn’t disappoint either, as it offers five maps for you to battle with your friends in both local play (split-screen) and online via Xbox Live. The five maps come in many different shapes and size, some are very large with several bridges and small rivers/moats and others are smaller allowing for a more tactical approach and is very ground based, eg Troops, tanks, Troops on horseback. In the multiplayer you can pick which army you fight for, either the British or the Germans, no difference between each army other than the appearance. Both sides are equal and you may require great skill to beat the opposition. This multilayer has to be one of the best I have seen from any arcade game.

My Thoughts

My overall impression this game is truly surprising. I must admit when I first heard of this game I wasn’t overly excited however, after the first few minutes playing through the game I noticed a sensation I hadn’t experienced since my childhood, a sense of joy and excitement. Any game that manages to do this is well worth purchasing regardless of its price tag. Toy Soldiers offers hundreds of hours of game both the campaign and multiplayer are more than enough to keep you playing for many months if not years. So if you are looking for a war game download this and even if you aren’t I still urge you to give it a try, it may surprise you.

The detail is on each maze is beautiful!

The first city you play is the Seven Cities of Gold which is very reminiscent of the Egyptian tombs and has that underground feel. With the addition of spiked rolling boulders and booby traps, it makes for some exciting mazes. After Seven Cities of Gold is Arctic Caves, a cold and icy set of mazes, full of rolling ice boulders and icicles along the walls, much the same as the Seven Cities of Gold except it is covered in ice. Last, but not least, is the Wild West, one of my personal favorite cities, where in one maze in particular you are under a mountain and the maze is shaped like a cog wheel. It just brings back the memories of what the Wild West was truly like.

In the Willd West!

In each maze, you need to pick up Idols, which are small statuettes, then collect a certain amount of gold before you can pick up the golden pickaxe, thus completing the maze. Then, after a few mazes, you start a maze where you collect one lost relic; these are spread out through the game and through each of the three cities. The controls are simplistic to use but some can be tricky to master. Using the right thumbstick, you can tilt the maze, which makes the character start sliding and gravity takes it course. That’s not all, if you press A, you can flip the entire maze upside down which I must say can be disorientating, but other than that, it adds a new dimension to each maze. You can also press RT & LT to zoom in and out to get some much needed detail on your screen for those tricky parts of the maze where there are traps and it is a definitely feature you will be using throughout the game.

But if you’re like me and like to take your time instead of trying to beat the developers time, you can go slow and use the things that are supposed to kill you to your advantage. If I tilt the maze and use the boulders to destroy spikes, then dynamite to destroy flames and thieves, I can earn some extra gold in the process, but if you’re not careful you can easily get yourself killed or even have your gold stolen by thieves. You have the option to play as Dr. Diggabone or your own Xbox Live Avatar. I chose my own avatar simply because I don’t get to use him that often. By choosing my avatar I can make the game my own because I can quit the game, edit my avatar’s facial features and I have a brand new character to play. Seeing my avatar in his funky archaeology suit and sliding about in caves dodging boulders, flames, and spikes, outwitting thieves and other enemies, is pretty cool and makes a change from staring at the one main character, Dr. Diggabone.

Brrrr...looks chilly in the Artic Caves!

The game looks fantastic and plays the same. The graphics are amazing in 1080p and each maze played looks beautiful whether you are in the Arctic Mazes or the Wild West. The one thing I love is the pick up and play aspect of this game. The controls are not by any means hard to learn but some can be tricky to get used to. However, once you do, you will have endless amounts of fun. Also, there are leaderboards, something which provide endless amounts of game play, trying your best to beat your friends times.

Dr. Diggabone is about to snatch an Idol!

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