So Blizzard has spent twelve years and $100 million creating StarCraft II. But what they’ve actually done, as you may well be aware by now, is release the first chapter in what is set to be an episodic game. This initial portion, subtitled Wings of Liberty, restricts you to playing a solo campaign as the humanoid Terran, with the Zerg and the Protoss becoming unlocked in two more add-on packs that will arrive in due course. Whether Blizzard will charge a cut price for the expansions or put them out as three complete games is unclear, but I’m pretty certain that StarCraft fans will pay any price to continue this venerable RTS saga, and this new arrival is by no means a third of a game.

Anyone who has doubted the quality of Blizzard’s workmanship can breathe a sigh of relief; StarCraft II is everything an RTS should be, with balanced classes, clever upgrade paths, rewarding gameplay and a difficulty curve that manages to challenge veterans and ease in newcomers. But is it perfect?

No.

The biggest problem facing my immediate enjoyment of StarCraft II is its plot, or more specifically the writing and the way in which it is delivered. After a truly spine-tingling opening cutscene, things start small with hard drinking southern badass Jim Raynor plotting a revolution from a seedy bar. Soon things escalate and he’s back on an intergalactic mission to fight for righteous causes in a questionable manner.

The characters are stereotypical and completely devoid of realistic qualities, with Raynor and his crew made up of sarcastic, drawling members of a slightly distasteful Confederate army. His accumulated allies soon include a Rastafarian criminal who literally has a voodoo doll stuck on the front of his body armour. It’s not exactly culturally sensitive, and when allegiances shift or tough decisions need to be made (and the story does branch at points) then you’ll struggle to muster any emotion about the dramatis personae. In essence, Blizzard could do with some of BioWare’s writing staff.

Once you get command of a spacecraft you can pick missions in a non-linear fashion, with three or four often available simultaneously. This is definitely a strong point, because it lets you choose how to strategise your upgrades based on the amount and type of research points awarded for the completion of each mission. It also allows you to pick a mission that you fancy and leave the tougher-sounding confrontations for when you’ve got more time on your hands. Your spacecraft acts as a hub for upgrades and research, and you can also recruit mercenaries, chat to crew members and see what the intergalactic 24 hour news is saying about your most recent exploits. It all works well, and the character models look great, even if all the men have bear-like arms and more scars than Kratos.

Any StarCraft fan, or indeed anyone who’s played an RTS in the past, will get to grips with the basic gameplay of Wings of Liberty immediately. There are some training missions, but these are so basic that they’re completely unnecessary unless you’re my mum, and you’ll be able to tackle the first missions without any trouble. I’d even go so far as to say that the normal difficulty level actually makes the initial couple of hours a little pedestrian, but since you can alter the difficulty before embarking on any mission it’s easy to adjust it up or down as you progress. There is a relatively good mix of mission types, and the game forces different strategies upon you from time to time because of the tempting secondary objectives and partially non-linear mission selection process, but anyone familiar with the RTS genre will know what to expect.

Now, the multiplayer. You probably know that there’s been something of an uproar over the lack of LAN play, and this is definitely a disadvantage, but I expect that Blizzard might relent and bring it along with the expansions. For the time being it’s not a critical flaw, but it will make an impact on the popularity of the game. The decision was presumably taken so that the Battle.net system controlled by Blizzard would be involved in every aspect of the game, whether playing solo or with friends. The good news is that Battle.net doesn’t seem to penalise you if your broadband connection suddenly goes down. It registered a disconnect in the middle of a couple of my campaign missions, and I was allowed to continue after acknowledging a dialogue box, so don’t worry about game-ending connection problems.

Finding games online is made easy in StarCraft II, and you’ll be able to face players of similar abilities once you’ve got a few matches under your belt. You can even visit a skipable novice section, although that doesn’t mean you’ll face off against novices, as it’s just as easy to get one’s ass handed to one’s self here as anywhere else online. Online play is the only way you’ll be able to gain control of the other alien races, which adds to its appeal, but it can feel a little sterile because of the lack of ingame chat channels, but Blizzard has already announced that these will be included in a patch, so it’s a temporary problem at worst.

The presentation of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is generally excellent. The corny voice acting is a pain, but the cinemas are rendered and directed well, and there is plenty of personality to all of the ingame units. Graphical details are scalable so that even laptop users can play, but you’ll really want a decent dual or quad core machine to see the game at its best. Sound is top notch, from effects to music, although it does verge into cheesy territory which can be distracting.

It’s well known that Blizzard creates games that define genres, and although StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty isn’t one of them, it’s well designed, addictive and certain to sell in its millions. I’ve had a good time playing it in the first few days since its release, and that’s quite a compliment considering how sceptical I was prior to its launch. It’s not revolutionary, and it’s more than a little similar to its predecessors, but then that’s precisely what the fans wanted. Isn’t it?

Sam & Max return once again in the episodic Devil’s Playhouse series in Sam & Max the Devil’s Playhouse episode 4 “Beyond the alley of the dolls.” (Hint: it’s a very old movie) Beyond the alley of the dolls is the 4^th episode but, does it beat out the rest of the episodes before it or will this episode fail to bring anything new to the table.

STORY:

In episode three of Sam & Max, the villain Sammun-Mak took over Max’s body to rule the world. The efforts of Sam & Max stopped the evil Sammun-Mak by using a ancient tool to take out his brain from Max’s body. After everything was returned to semi-normal, Papierwaite was in a state of panic. Soon a bunch of Sam clones came from behind Papierwaite. Soon Sam & Max ran for their lives to get away from the dogglegangers.(That’s what Max calls them(Sam’s Clone)They soon ran into Stinky’s Dinner to escape the Sam clones and find out what do they want and need. They soon find out that the dogglegangers want the toys of power. After solving a few puzzles to get out of Stinky’s Dinner, they soon find the lab of where the Sam clones are being made. So, Sam & Max must find the mystery of these clones and who really is behind this terror. Sam & Max episode four will take about 3 hrs to complete.

GAMEPLAY:

Sam & Max the Devil’s Playhouse episode four “Beyond the alley of the dolls” features tons of improved puzzles, more toys of power, great, smart and funny dialogue. The puzzles within this episode are pretty unique on its own accord. There was one puzzle in this episode that changes at random during each Playthrough. Others were basic but, complex puzzles that needed timing, smarts, and the toys of power. These puzzles would not be unique without the toys of power. There are new toys of power that will be added to your inventory wheel for Max to use. These toys come in the form of Playing cards in which can read peoples mind and the Cthonic Destroyer which will destroyer anything from the dark dimension. Ones that come back are Charlie Ho-Tep which is a creepy ventriloquism doll, Rhinoplasty, Telephone, and Future Vision. All these toys help Sam & Max get through the puzzles and problems within the episode. Finally, is the dialogue in which is still funny, smart, and just great to listen to random stuff and things that relate to old movies and other Sam & Max games.The only problem I saw with the gameplay was a little glitch during the beginning of the game where Max takes out his gun but, then his pistol would disappear. That was the only thing I saw but, overall the game works as perfect as the other episode.

CLOSING NOTE:

Sam & Max The Devil’s Playhouse Episode Four “Beyond the alley of the dolls” is a great addition to the series and house a lot of fun and unique ideas for the final episode. Overall, this is the next best episode, next to my favorite Episode 2 “The Tomb of Sammnu-Mak.” The Final episode is near at hand, so get ready for the season to end with a bang in Sam & Max The Devil’s Playhouse Episode Five “The City that Dares Not Sleep”

Episode One Review:

http://thegamershub.co.uk/2010/04/sam-max-the-devils-playhouse-episode-1-the-penal-zone/

Episode Two Review:

http://thegamershub.co.uk/2010/06/sam-max-the-devils-playhouse-episode-2-the-tomb-of-sammun-mak/

Episode Three Review:

http://thegamershub.co.uk/2010/06/sam-max-the-devils-playhouse-episode-3-they-stole-maxs-brain-review/

As most of you know, Sony introduced the minis line to introduce great games at a very affordable price for people to play at home and on the go. Games that are fun and addictive. Supermarket Mania feels right at home in that case as a PS3/PSP Mini. The title falls into the genre of Time Management game. These titles are primarily found on PC. It was apart of a fad in PC games a few years back and now it has made it mainstream to consoles and handhelds. Can Supermarket Mania stand up to the height set by the genre and become a hit on the consoles, or will it simply fall short.

The Story
You play Nikki who basically single handedly runs a grocery store. Throughout the story mode you are given these small comic strip cutscenes that you can use to piece together a story. It’s nothing special at all but at least it exists. The real point of the game is the fun, not the story. You Nikki through a host of levels in story mode and in Endless mode. Through the story you bounce from grocery store to grocery store on your way to becoming the best at managing a supermarket and keeping shelves stocked.

Time Management
Time management games are very addictive and this game is nothing different. You will drown hours out on PS3 and PSP as you play this fun little title. The endless mode simply has countless hours of fun. The story mode can last you anywhere between 3-5 hours which is very good for a mini. The controls are very easy to get used to on both PSP and PS3, D-pad is how you select and X is the ‘fill’ button. Certain context sensitive events use triangle but that’s really all you will need to know. On the higher levels the game can be a pain but nothing excruciating. As you go through the game you can use the money you earn to upgrade your walk speed and how much your cart can hold and other useful things to accelerate the amount of money you earn.

Mini Fun, Mini Price
If time management games are your thing and you would love to play them on the go on your PSP or PS3 than Supermarket Mania is the game for you. At the extremely affordable price of $4.99 USD, it is worth every penny. It’s what makes it one of the better and more attractively priced games for the amount of gameplay on the minis line of games.

Hydro Thunder was a classic arcade game in the days of yonder. I can remember going to play it at the arcade and feeling the rush of speed and fun it was. A racing game, on water! Who would have thought? Years have past since its debut in the arcades and on the Dreamcast then followed by its ports to N64 and Playstation One. Microsoft have bought the rights to Hydro Thunder and have created with the help of Vector Unit, Hydro Thunder: Hurricane the official sequel to the original. Does the title live up to all of its glory we once had with the title so long ago. Can it withstand the racers of today or is this boat tipped over.

Memories
If you have every played the original Hydro Thunder you will immediately remember the fun you had as you are playing this title. You will be overjoyed at the fact that they are so true to the original it’s superb. The meat of the game lies in the single player. You start out with one track, one mode and one boat. Through playing you unlock more modes, more boats and of course more tracks. The controls are very fluid and give you a great sense of speed with the vibration in the controller. Graphically it is very good for an arcade title. The water is simply great looking, the environments are simply okay with some texture and corner issues. Destructible environments are always a plus though.

Modes
There is the typical Race mode across eight (8) unlockable tracks. Ring Master, where you drive the boat through rings to prolong your time and finish in the fastest time possible. Ring master has 24 scenarios to compete on. Gauntlet which has you avoid obstacles in an attempt to beat the timer to the finish line across the eight different tracks. Finally there is Championship, which has you compete in a set number of races of a mixed gametype to score points on the leaderboard to be ranked #1 and win the championship. Your progress is tracked via a points system. Everything you do unlocks points to your profile and unlocks more races and boats. If only you were able to customize your vehicle it would add to the flair.

Boating Party
Through Xbox Live you can party up with your Xbox Live friends or you can have up to four players in your living room and take them online with you. You can also take your whole online Xbox Live Party with you to race in either Race mode or Rubber Ducky Mode, which has each team pick a player to carry the rubber ducky across the finish line. First team who has the rubber ducky cross, wins. The online is fun and easy to hop onto and do with friends within a party or matchmaking over XBL. If you are a fan of Hydro Thunder this is a great and very welcomed addition to the title.

Hurricane Is Coming
HTH is an evolution of the Hydro Thunder franchise. It feels like a game that we have been missing. The title is not perfect, but it feeds the appetite of the gamers who miss the original. It is a very good investment at 1200 MSP ($15) with all the modes, if you enjoy the game there is plenty to do. So if fast paced water racers with some challenge are your thing, then hop on this boat and come along for the ride.

Until a week ago I could safely say that I’d never been shot at and killed in an FPS by an enemy that was clearly facing in the wrong direction and standing on the other side of the map. That was until I played through Sniper: Ghost Warrior, and now I’m a veteran of the ridiculous. In fact that small, bizarre eventuality crops up so frequently that it becomes a metaphor for that which is offered by the game as a whole; glitches and unfair AI.

Now for the controversial news: I enjoyed this game. I probably wouldn’t have if I’d parted with £30 for it on Steam, since it’s really the gaming equivalent of a B-Movie, and is priced as such elsewhere. But when you think of it as a second class game, you’ll forgive it for it encyclopaedia of faults and have fun over the three or four hours it takes to complete. You’ll also die a lot, so it’s probably best to get a friend to hit the quicksave button for you every couple of minutes or accept that you’ll be back to the same checkpoints over and over.

Let’s get the bad points out of the way first. Far Cry famously gave its protagonist a red Hawaiian shirt to explain away the ludicrous distances over which enemies could spot and ultimately kill you. In SGW you’re kitted out in a full Ghillie suit, and so there is no justification for the alertness of all the in-game foes. They’ll fire from the hip and hit you from what seems like several miles away, which not only makes your sniping capabilities look impotent but also makes you wish that the sections in which you’re given an assault rifle weren’t the most infuriating in the whole game, magnifying your apparent incompetency in the face of the drug smuggling supermen.

To continue with the bad points, the plot and the missions are stolen straight from many of SGW’s high budget peers. The tropical island environment is an homage to Crytek’s work without having any of the open world qualities of Crysis, the waypoints and many of the action set-pieces are clumsily borrowed from COD, and there’s even a bit of rope-swinging to be done, which suddenly makes you feel like you’re in a very wooden Tomb Raider game. The story is delivered through infrequent radio chatter and pre-mission briefings delivered over the loading screen, a la the Modern Warfare series. Oh, and you get to play as two different soldiers, giving you a different perspective on the same battle, but it’s a pain more than a pleasure.

In essence the plot and mission structure never get much further than ‘kill the bad South American chaps’, but they chuck a half-hearted twist in the middle which you’ll simply forget to care about. The only real innovation (as far as I know) is the hybrid health system which regenerates, but only up to 30 per cent. To get any higher you’ll need to inject a medkit. The result is that you’ll end up in a near-death state for most of the levels as enemies quickly bring you back down below the 30 per cent mark. It actually took me an hour or so to even bother to look at the health bar, because I just assumed that the regenerating health would act in the same way as it does in other modern FPS titles, so I guess it’s a take it or leave it feature, and another aspect of this game that is delightfully broken.

Sneaking about is necessarily a big part of this game, although the developers didn’t really bother with much of a dedicated sneaking system, so it’s often pot luck as to whether you’ll get caught. This is exacerbated by the eagle-eyed enemy soldiers who are paradoxically impossible to spot because they blend in so nicely with the jungle foliage. The sniping system has understandably been given the largest amount of attention, and I was at my happiest when perched on a convenient ledge raining down pointy metal death on the idiotic NPCs scattered below. As well as watching your breathing, checking the wind speed and slowing down time to take aim, you’ll get a reticule that is overlaid on the crosshair to show you where a bullet will actually end up. This allows headshots to be placed with relative ease, and the addition of the bullet cam which follows your projectile to its fleshy target definitely makes the whole process satisfying if repetitive.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior uses the latest version of the Chrome engine, and I was actually surprised how good the whole thing looks at a quick glance. With a decent rig you’ll see impressive foliage and appealing natural vistas. Shadows are clunky, but the loading time of levels is incredibly short. My only piece of advice is to avoid looking into the faces of NPC s, because they are supremely uncanny and really rather distracting. Make sure you shoot as many faces as you can.

The sound quality is all over the place, with decent atmospheric effects spoilt by terrible gunfire on all but the silenced weapons. Grenades are impossible to aim, but since they look rubbish and don’t do much damage it’s not really an issue. You can also fight with knives and a pistol, but like the assault rifle you’ll always wish that you could stick to sniping for the duration. Sadly the game has other ideas.

I fear that after claiming to have enjoyed Sniper: Ghost Warrior I’ve gone on to slate it in almost every way possible. But I’ll repeat again; I had fun with this game. It might be my affinity for the cowardly sniper, it might be my love of camping, and it might be how much fun it is to play a low-fi game that has half-baked rules which can be broken and exploited by both the player and the NPCs. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you get it cheap you can’t really go wrong.

BUY AT: (£19.95)

DEALS:

Baseball is America’s national pastime. It has been very popular in Japan, Mexico and several other countries. From when they are little we cultivate players to grow into champions of the diamond. Little League World Series is a place where we get a glimpse of future talent years ahead of their careers. Little League World Series 2010 brings together the whole family to enjoy a fun baseball game in the comfort of your living room. Does the title have enough style and substance to stand up to other titles out there, or is it just a strikeout.

Authentic Little League Action
Little League World Series 2010 is very authentic as during Exhibition and any of the other non-season related modes you can choose a real life region that will be competing this year for the Little League World Series. All 16 teams are represented, from Japan, to Europe to New England. Graphically however the title resembles something of a cross between an NXE Avatar and a Wii Mii. The title is geared to children and young adults so it is understandable.

Seasoned Players
The season or Tournament Mode as it is referred to in the game is the key draw here. It allows you to choose a region and then a team within that region to customize with a logo, and characters. You can customize their equipment to their names and gender. The options are well suited and not overbearing. As you go through the seasons fifteen (15) games you will earn attribute points based on your performance which you can spend after every game on an individual player or your overall team.

Baseball, For Everyone
The gameplay is very fast paced. Going through the tutorial is highly recommended. There are many things to learn and it takes practice to get the timing of everything down perfectly, so you at least have a chance in the game. Luck is also a great help as well. As you do plays in the game such as strikeouts and hits you will earn points to your ‘special meter’ at the bottom, that has three segments. If you choose to use it you will have more power at bat and faster pitches on the mound, as well as various other perks such as amazing catches. The game plays very much like a kid version of The Bigs. A pitcher can only have three pitches at a time, which is sort of annoying. The game time is 6 innings, which is fairly good and not too long.

Fun, For Everyone
There’s more than just baseball this title, there are Skill Challenges that can be played solo via Score Attack or up to four(4) player Battle locally. There are six(6) different challenges to compete in ranging from Home Run Tourney to Pitching Darts, Dunk Dugout, Batting Frenzy and Pitching Bowling. It’s a fun diversion but it is more fun with friends and family to play as well. There is no online in this title, which is very sad. The only hint of online are the online leaderboards.

Final Inning
When it comes down to it, Little League World Series 2010 is a great game for the family and young baseball enthusiasts. At the price of $39.99 USD it is very reasonable. However for the hardcore there will be little of interest here, the graphics are child-like. The gameplay is alright but reminiscent of The Bigs. If you are looking for a great baseball game for the family than pick up this title, if your looking for realistic play than wait for the first pitch to be thrown on another MLB title instead.

Guybrush Threepwood returns in Monkey Island 2 LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edition. LeChuck is back and ready to destroy his nemesis Guybrush Threepwood. So then, what is so special about the Special Edition? Does the Special Edition find gold in the bottom of the ocean or will it sink to a watery grave. Get ready to put your pirate hat and eye patch on to find out.

PLOT:

Guybrush Threepwood is looking for a new treasure this time around. This time the treasure is “BIG WHOOP” which holds legendary treasures. The story begins with him hanging from a rope and telling his love interest on how he got here. The story really begins with him talking to two pirates and how he defeated LeChunk for the 100^th time.  After the mocking of Guybrush, Guybrush leaves the camp site to go by the near village.

Soon Guybrush meets Largo LaGrande who takes Guybrush’s money by force. Soon after, Guybrush must go find clues on how to stop the embargo on the ships placed by Largo LaGrande.  Guybrush soon meets the Voodoo Lady, who once helped him stopped LeChuck before. The Voodoo Lady tells Guybrush to make a Voodoo doll of LaGrande. So Guybrush must find four items of Largo LaGrande to use the voodoo doll with. Once made, Guybrush must go and confront Largo LaGrande once and for all. After defeating Largo with the voodoo doll, Guybrush makes the biggest mistake of his life. Guybrush still had LeChuck’s beard, in which Largo was LeChuck right hand man. So Largo took the beard and will bring LeChuck back to life. So the adventure continues on to find the treasure of “BIG WHOOP” and to defeat LeChuck once again.

SPECIAL EDITION’S GAMEPLAY:

The special edition of Monkey Island 2 houses tons of improvements. One big difference of Monkey Island 2 special edition is the quick switch between old school and new school graphics.  If you’re an old school gamer and want to remember the old days of Monkey Island 2 than use the old school mode. The other is the new HD type graphics added to the game. The new HD graphics are very bright and colorful and well-done and detailed. Both are great additions for Monkey Island 2 special edition. Other features include a new musical score, voice-overs and an in-game hint system for people who get lost. There are two types of control, which are the point and click or control pad/stick control. If you like the point and click adventure games choose this control but, if you don’t than use the control pad/stick control.

These improvements for Monkey Island 2 are a great addition for people who are new to the Monkey Island series. For the people who remember Monkey Island 2 and played it back in the day will like the new features in this special edition.

CLOSING NOTE:

Monkey Island 2 LeChuck’s Revenge is still the great artful, puzzling, and funny game I have played in the past. This is a great addition for newcomers and the old school people. Monkey Island 2 LeChuck’s Revenge Special Editions still has the simple gameplay, funny dialogue, and great puzzles. Monkey Island 2 still shines above water even after 18 years.

NCAA Football has grown in popularity over the past few years but not quite to the height of its big brother, Madden. Still there lies a dedicated group of NCAA fans who will purchase this title for all the new features and to represent their college. So what sets this title apart from the previous years and is it enough to score a purchase from everyone who’s on the fence.

Go Team!
No matter what team you plan to represent in NCAA 11, everything is authentic this year from the mascots (addition from last year) to the new entrances. Your favorite team will enter how they would really enter in real life, from slapping the iconic sign at Notre Dame to pumping up the crowd in Texas. Everything is for the fans. Which is what I believe EA got right this year, they made a game for the fans above all. Take your favorite team through a dynasty expanding many seasons or take an athlete through his college career. No matter what you do you will feel the team spirit.

Big Man On Campus
I’m going to go out and admit that my favorite part of NCAA 11 is the Road To Glory mode this year. It has everything a player can want to simulate life as a college football player. You rise from the high school playoffs, to the championship game and depending on your play you are given options on what team to join and different offers by team and string (1^st, 2^nd , 3^rd ). From there you help guide your team to championships on your road to becoming the best of the best in college football. It turns out to be great fun and the presentations done by ESPN and Erin Andrews chronicling your progression really makes you feel like you’re in the game.

Dynasty And Features
NCAA 11 brings back the staple of Dynasty mode. Take your favorite team on multiple championship runs through the decades. Same basic features from the past return. Including Exportation of your draft class to Madden 11. Other modes in features include 1-Button Mode, which allows for vets and newcomers to enjoy simplified controls where passes are auto caught. TeamBuilder is great fun which allows you to create a team on your PC at the website of your high school football team and take them online. Custom  Stadium Sounds allow you to upload songs from your hard drive and use them as you see fit, as first down music, game winning music or even touchdown anthems. Offensive selection is a key part of NCAA 11, every school runs a different offense in real life so it is fitting that they do in the real game. There are multiple offenses to choose from the choice is your depending on your play style, such as Air Attack, Rush Attack, West Coast Offense and many more. Also added this year is the No Huddle Offense, which allows for you to get back on the light right after a play with your full playbook at your disposal at a press of a button after a play.

High School Antics
NCAA 11 Online (which requires the Online Pass on the back of the booklet or for the user to purchase one) is tailor made for the hardcore NCAA fan. Every stadium you play at will have its own invisible meter for fans that will shake your team up and possibly crack under pressure. It will make the play-calling lines shake and sometimes buttons above players heads will appear as question marks. The affect is very neat but if your good enough you can truck through it. You can create your high school or fictional team (try and create Mean Machine from The Longest Yard) and take them online to compete in the all new TeamBuilder Lobby, it allows you to play against other created teams as well as a Season Showdown leaderboard that helps you track your team combining wins with everyone who has downloaded the team. There’s also the staples of Online Dynasty and Quick and Custom matches. New this year is Dynasty Wire which allows you to track your Dynasty online via the website which keeps you up to date with your team.

Hail Mary
NCAA Football 11 is a great companion piece to the football fans Madden. This year it has made some strides but everything doesn’t add up to a necessary purchase. The TeamBuilder features and fan focus as well as the new mechanics make for a very enjoyable game. However it doesn’t warrant anyone but the hardcore fan from purchasing the title. If you like football and NCAA you will enjoy this game enormously, but if you’re a casual player maybe you should wait until Madden 11.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is the first realistic golf game I have ever played. It is also the first in the series I have had the pleasure to try. You hear of sports games being repetitive and the same thing over and over. However still every year the developers come up with new ideas to sell the product and improve upon the basic formula. PGA Tour is no different, but does it warrant another purchase to those who already have last years model and can it win me over, someone who has never played a Tiger Woods game in his life.

Birdie
The presentation in this title is amazing. It is what one has come to expect from EA Sports titles. The character creation feature is top notch. You can import photos via EA’s online server, or you can use your Playstation Eye or Xbox Live Camera to take pictures and put your face in the game. You can also create a character from stock mock-ups and such which is still very deep. From there you can use your created character in every mode from skill challenges to the all-new Ryder Cup (team based US Vs Europe match).

RPG: Role Playing Golf
The one thing that intrigued me the most is that there is a leveling up system in PGA Tour 11. You can do various goals within the game or reach milestones and win tournaments to gain mass amounts of XP, or play in Skill Challenges to learn the various aspects of the game and win some XP for it. Your XP is not only used to further your overall level, but as a currency to spend to upgrade your created character’s attributes and stats. The higher overall level you are the more clothes and clubs become available to you at the pro shop which are also purchased via XP.

Go Online
EA’s online business model has been something of a controversy these past few months. Players who purchase the game will get a code on the back of the instruction booklet asking them to input the code once the game either boots up or you attempt to play online. The features are explained to you and you are asked if you would like to input a code or purchase the ‘Online Package’. Most of all it seems this is to discourage selling of the game and reselling. One feature that is rarely mentioned is the ability to run a ‘TRIAL’ period of Online. Tiger Woods trial period is seven (7) days, after 7 days you will be asked to purchase it or input a code from then on when trying to access the online.

Win Online
Once you go online there are a few options in front of you. There is the typical matchmaking, which matches you with a random stranger. EA Sports GamerNet, which is an interesting world challenge type activity for the hardcore golfer. As you are playing through the single player and you do something amazing you can hit R2/RT and choose to upload your challenge to the server and people will compete to get the best score and best your challenge. For beating others challenges you get various XP rewards depending on difficulty. New game mode to the online this year is Online Team Play where players can join one of two teams for up to 24 player (12 v 12) of golfing action. Then there is Simultaneous Play where you can get up to four players all shooting at the same time with no waiting for the other to go. Finally there is Live Tournaments, a key for all hardcore Tiger Woods fans. Live Tournaments are just that, they range from Pro tournaments to weekly and daily tournaments for all skill levels. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 feels to have the definitive online experience for golfers who want bang for their buck.

Learn The Mechanics
There are eleven (11) different game modes and nine (9) different mini-games to compete in on single player and online. The amount of time one can put into this game is simply astounding. Returning features to the game are Putt Preview, Percision Putting, and Live Weather via The Weather Channel. New key features are a Focus Meter that allows you to use various advanced skills such as Power Boost, Spin, Putt Preview or shrinking the aiming circle while previewing a shot. As time passes during a hole/match focus is slowly restored. True-Aim puts you in the heels of the golfer, utilizing in-game markers to distance the target and adjust your swing accordingly. There is no zooming in and seeing where your ball will land. It is the most authentic way of playing golf, but it also adds to the difficulty.

Go Get ‘Em Tiger
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 feels to be easily one of the most fun sports games I have had the pleasure to play. Graphically the textures repeat on various courses a lot and the amount of difference in detail to the courses are lackluster as well as the hair in the game looks pretty bad. If you can look past the graphical hitches there is plenty to enjoy. The customization is amazing, the game modes are plentiful and the difficulty can be tweaked to suit your style of play. The online is for the dedicated but leaves room for newcomers to enjoy some features as well. I am no golf expert but this, is as close as you can come to a hole in one.

Limbo is the highly anticipated XBLA title released to be apart of the Summer Of Arcade for Xbox Live Marketplace by Indie Developer, PlayDead Studios. Does Limbo have enough to warrant a gamers hearts and minds or is this Limbo something you can’t get out of.

Welcome To Limbo
LIMBO starts up and the player is welcomed to a world of artistic shades of black and white. Something not seen in very many games these days, but after playing Limbo you may wish it creates a fad. Some players will appreciate the artistic nature of the game (like myself) and others may discourage it as shoddy or otherwise. In forms of gaming, the developers created a title to be remembered visually. The side scrolling arcade puzzle solving nature of it is uncanny. Every moment your questioning your own actions, ‘what do I do next? Is this right?’ Unlike other puzzle solving games, your unsuccessful managing of the puzzles meets your little boy character with a gruesome demise. Some deaths are not met with little affair, this is not a game for children to play. It will give them nightmares. Decapitations, limbs missing, shish kabob kills, and drowning are just a few ways to die.

You WILL Die
Simply as the heading says, you ‘will’ die. A lot. The difficulty of the game is pretty steep but the fun factor will keep the player trying. Often I wondered while playing if the title should have been called ‘A 1000 Ways To Die’ as it would have made more sense. However the game is amazing fun and sometimes you will find yourself dying on purpose (thank the developers for auto-saving) just to see what happens to your body. My favorite is getting crushed by a giant block and watching the goopy jello-like leftovers as the block rises. I’m sick like that. I am quite sure that everyone will have their ‘own’ favorite way to die.

Let’s Get Physical
Physics are something this game does magnificently. Manipulating gravity, magnetizing metal objects and simple movement of crates and objects in the world of LIMBO are all simply done thanks to real world physics. It’s easy to tell a lot of time was put into the detail of the environments as well as the backgrounds to make the character feel uneasy and yet safe enough to let your guard down. To help the physics the control for the title is simple two-button control, one is jump and the other is an action button. Simplicity is key in side scrolling games and PlayDead knew this.

Run Right
LIMBO is one of the few arcade games so far this year that has got me wanting to keep playing. I know for sure I will replay this title after I beat it as there are hidden little pebbles that give you achievements, however they are a puzzle in and of themselves to get to. While playing this title I couldn’t help but draw a few comparisons to Portal. Another Indie developed title that went on to do big things. The game has many same elements, some strong adult themes, like suicide and whatnot. Gruesome points of the game, as well as a mind numbing puzzle solving element. LIMBO is a must have for any XBLA gamer, heck, any gamer. The few shortcomings it has as far as lack of a major intertwining plot and difficulty never takes you out of the world of LIMBO, or makes you want a refund. This is 1200 MSP well spent for any gamer.