Super Mario Galaxy 2

The sequel to Super Mario Galaxy features strange new worlds to explore, new challenges to overcome, and Mario's trusty sidekick, Yoshi.

• Levels have tons of different objectives, all of them fun  
• New power-ups spice up the action  
• Later levels offer a sizable challenge  
• Stunning visuals that are a marvel to look at  
• Catchy soundtrack that combines classic Mario songs with new material.

It may be easy to take one look at Super Mario Galaxy 2, see the same gravity-altering traps and spherical worlds from its predecessor, and dismiss this as a by-the-numbers sequel to the superb original. But by assuming you know what to expect from Mario's latest adventure, you would be doing yourself and this game a great disservice. This is not only the new standard against which every 3D platformer must now be judged, but it also seamlessly integrates so many elements from Mario's 2D roots that it stands toe-to-toe with even its genre-defining progenitors. Every aspect of this game is absolutely bursting with joy. The vibrant artistic design immediately welcomes you into this colorful world, and the catchy soundtrack deftly mixes classic tunes with new compositions to provide the perfect backdrop for your goomba-stomping, star-snatching fun. But it's the expertly designed levels that will keep you coming back, even after you've seen everything this game has to offer, just to experience it one more time. This is an instant classic that belongs alongside the best games Nintendo has ever created.

Journey to the center of Earth, and right back out the other side.

Things are once again rotten in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser has taken Princess Peach prisoner for the umpteenth time, forcing Mario to momentarily put his plumbing gig on hold to rescue his fair lady. The best thing that can be said about the story is that it mostly stays in the background. A few lighthearted exchanges between Mario and his foes precede major battles, but there is only a brief break in the action before you get back to flinging fireballs and cracking shells. In fact, Galaxy 2 is much more streamlined than its predecessor. The elaborate hub world that has appeared in each of Mario's previous 3D adventures has been scrapped and replaced by an easy-to-navigate map that lets you hop right into the next level. Galaxy 2 has less downtime than the original, ensuring you're always engaged and entertained.
And you'll be happy to jump right into the action because Galaxy 2 is a long and often challenging adventure. There are lots of different activities to take part in, but everything comes with the same prize: a shining star. It takes 70 of these celestial bodies to make it to the end of the game, but there are many more hidden throughout the universe waiting to be discovered. No matter what you're doing in Galaxy 2, everything feels just right, thanks to the ultraprecise controls. It's a breeze leaping between walls, performing deadly butt-stomps, or jumping across lava-filled pits. There is an unabashed joy in movement that makes even running around the colorful worlds and taking in the uplifting atmosphere feel special. The camera does an admirable job of framing the action, giving you a clear view even when you're dancing on the ceiling in a reverse-gravity room or leaping between floating meteors in space. There are a few times where the angle is less than ideal, making it difficult to line up an exact jump, but for the most part, the camera performs its duty with flying colors.

Even with a belly full of pasta, Mario is still lighter than air.

The wealth of different objectives in Galaxy 2 is mind boggling. Just about every star introduces at least one new mechanic, generating a truly stunning degree of variety. Whether you're grabbing onto the talons of a powerful bird, competing in score-based challenges for a monkey that's wearing sunglasses, or slamming into enemies while ice skating, you're constantly presented with a new activity. Even though many of these situations only appear once or twice during the course of the game, they're all fully fleshed out and incredibly fun. It's really interesting how varied objectives can be even within the same level. The first time you enter a level, you may have to zip down a sand slide at breakneck speed, dodging cactuses and nabbing coins all the while. But when you enter the level again to try for a different star, you may have to navigate an underground obstacle course from a side-scrolling perspective. Because your goals are constantly changing and always at a high level, Galaxy 2 never gets stale or predictable.
If the huge variety of goals doesn't sound like a big enough change, there are also power-ups that further mix things up. One of the few weak spots in the original Galaxy was a lack of interesting power-ups to play around with, but that has been rectified here. The most notable addition is Yoshi, the lovable dinosaur with the prehensile tongue. Once on this green fellow's back, you can point at enemies or objects with the remote and swallow them whole. You can snatch up a spiny and then shoot it like a projectile, inhale a pepper to receive a massive speed boost, or chow down a bulb to light up hidden pathways. There's also a power-up that lets Mario roll around like a Goron from the Zelda series, a special suit that gives you the ability to create clouds in midair, and a drill for digging through soft dirt. All of these power-ups build on their most basic functions as you get deeper into the game, forcing you to look beyond your preconceptions to use them in unique ways.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

In Nintendo's latest Zelda game, Link sports his older look from the Nintendo 64 days. The Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess makes use of the Wii remote controls.

The Good

• Compelling characters and story  
• outstanding world and puzzle design  
• longer than most action adventure games  
• terrific graphics, from an artistic perspective.

The Bad

• Wii-specific elements feel tacked on  
• graphics and sound sometimes go from nostalgic to dated.

When game consoles transitioned from offering primarily 2D games to polygonal 3D games about 10 years ago, all of the tricks and gameplay ideas that developers had been relying on for years flew right out the window. During this time, Nintendo quickly found its footing and released masterful takes on its old franchises that retained the fun and feeling of the older games while properly updating them in exciting and impressive new ways. 1998's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a prime example of this. It featured a more realistic take on the series' fantasy world than ever before, while implementing innovative new controls and offering a good sense of freedom without making the player feel lost. It's one of the greatest games of all time, so it's hard to fault Nintendo for revisiting that same formula. And that's precisely what the latest game in the series, Twilight Princess, does. For the most part, that's a very good thing, because Twilight Princess is a lengthy adventure packed with many well-designed puzzles and some interesting characters. But once you get over the rush of excitement from a big, new Zelda game having finally arrived, it's hard not to feel a tinge of disappointment--there's a very noticeable lack of evolution here, which makes aspects of the game seem more dated than classic. Even so, there isn't much out there that compares to Twilight Princess, except for the Zelda games that have come before it.

Link is back! In wolf form!

Like most other Zelda games, Twilight Princess is a retelling of the same basic tale, though this one is not without its twists. There's a princess named Zelda, a land called Hyrule, and a world that's on the verge of destruction if you don't do something to save it. In this installment, there's a darkness creeping across the land, locking it in the eternal dusk of the twilight realm. You play as Link, a humble, pointy-eared boy who lives in a far-off village and herds goats for a living, yet he ends up getting involved in the conflict. The twilight that's infected the land is an alternate reality of sorts, serving as the game's equivalent of A Link to the Past's dark, alternate world, or in some cases, serving the same purposes as the adult Link/child Link differences in Ocarina. The difference here is that when you're in the twilight, you're transformed into a blue-eyed wolf.
Early on in the game, you meet up with one of the shadow dwellers, an impish little creature named Midna. Midna rides around on your back while you're in wolf form and serves the same purposes as Navi in Ocarina, providing you with the occasional hint. Link's beast form behaves roughly the same as the human form, as far as combat is concerned, but you can't use items. You can, however, access otherwise unreachable areas by following set jump paths that Midna will lead you through. The wolf can also dig and go into a heightened-sense mode that shows off scent trails and other hidden objects. For the first portion of the game, you'll be forced back and forth between forms, but you eventually earn the ability to switch back and forth at will, and some of the game's later puzzles will require you to do just that. You can also ride around on horseback, if you like, but by the time you get to a point when you have large distances to cover, you'll also have the ability to warp around, limiting the horse's usefulness to a couple of combat-oriented sequences.
Many of the early parts of the game take place outside in the game's overworld and in various outdoor areas as you try to clear the darkness from the land. But along the way, you'll also enter various temples and dungeons to collect new items, solve a wide variety of puzzles, and fight bosses. While most of the game's story sequences take place above ground, these temples are the core of the entire game, and they're very well done, even if they cover a lot of the same ground that you may have seen in past Zelda installments. You start out with a forest temple, make your way to a mine under Death Mountain for your fire temple, scratch your head and try to figure out the inner workings of moving water around in the water temple, and so on. That's not to say they're all taken from old blueprints, though, and some of the later temples take you to somewhat more interesting locales, like a sky temple that demands that you make precise use of your grappling hookshot.

Most of the weapons and items you'd expect to see in a Zelda game are back in Twilight Princess.

For the most part, the puzzles are great and rooted in logic. So if you stare at the map long enough and figure out what each lever-pull does, deducing what's going on in the water temple isn't impossible. And once you get movement-enhancing items like the hookshot, you'll be carefully looking at each wall and ceiling, hoping to see a grapple-friendly target that will move you along. You'll push blocks, you'll move cannonballs from room to room in hopes of finding a cannon and clearing a path, you'll fire arrows at targets that cause blocks to move--it's all pretty standard if you've been keeping up with the Zelda series, but the formula still works quite well. However, with the way the puzzles are designed, it's certainly possible for just about any of them to trip you up and cause you to spend an hour or so just wandering around, staring at everything and trying to figure out what to do next. However, none of the puzzles are especially fiendish, which means that you might catch yourself feeling a little foolish when you finally realize that the solution was staring you in the face the entire time. But really, figuring these puzzles out is where the majority of the fun and sense of reward comes from as you play, because most of it's designed extremely well.

It's good that Twilight Princess' world and puzzle design can carry it, because the combat and boss fights aren't very deep at all. Most enemies just require you to swing your sword at them, which is done by shaking the Wii Remote or shaking the Nunchuk for a spin attack. You can lock onto enemies with the Z trigger and strafe around them, hop back and forth, leap in for a jumping attack, or jump back and out of the way--the same basic moves as past installments. But normally you can just keep on shaking the Wii Remote like a maniac and come out on top against most enemies. There's no finesse to the way the Wii Remote is used, and at times you'll wish that you could just hit a button to swing the sword instead of dealing with all the motion-sensing nonsense. This is especially true in the rare cases that require you to time your sword swings properly, as well as once you start learning a few extra moves, like the shield bash, which is done by shoving the Nunchuk controller forward. Most of the time, performing this move resulted in a spin attack. The combat controls using the Wii Remote may feel somewhat different from past games, but it doesn't draw you into the experience any more than using a standard controller would, and at worst, it's imprecise.

Twilight Princess' tale will take somewhere around 40 hours to complete. That's a long time, especially for an action adventure game.

A few enemies require more advanced tactics, like spinning around to get behind them or using one of your items to make them vulnerable. Just about every boss fight in the game requires you to use more than just your sword and shield. Like in every other recent Zelda game, in Twilight Princess you'll find a new item about halfway through a temple, and you can bet that you'll need that item to take on the boss. There are a few tricky parts, but it's certainly feasible that you'll get through the game's 35-to-40-hour story without running out of hearts and dying. That being said, the boss fights make up for some of their ease by being pretty epic. Almost every one pits you against a giant, screen-filling creature that at least looks tough, even if you're just going to grapple your way onto it and stick your sword in its weak spot over and over again, or use your ball and chain to bust it apart, without even breaking a sweat. Even the final confrontation is relatively easy, and if you get stumped going against any boss, you can ask Midna for help and get a fairly good idea about what you're supposed to be doing. If you want to go off the beaten path, you can find a handful of side tasks to take on, like fishing and some other minigames, but aside from the combat-filled Cave of Ordeals, which is a 50 stage area that acts as a sort of survival mode, these aren't too exciting and the rewards you get for completing them aren't especially helpful.
Overall, the game is paced well and it keeps you moving more often than not. At one point you have to move around to various statues that are stashed throughout the world, and this bogs down the action a bit, but it's nowhere near the time sink that the late-game sailing marathon that padded out the back end of Wind Waker was. Your time spent in Twilight Princess involves very little back-tracking, and not too much repetition, keeping the focus squarely on original, interesting stuff.
The Wii was designed with relatively modest graphical capabilities, at least from a technical perspective. So if you spend a lot of time trying to pick apart the visuals of Twilight Princess, you'd notice plenty of low-res textures and jagged edges. But that would be missing the point. Twilight Princess is an excellent-looking game due to some terrific art design. Much has already been said about the art style reverting back to a more mature or realistic look after Wind Waker took the series in a decidedly cartoonlike direction. While there's nothing terribly "mature" about this T-rated game, it looks absolutely great from an artistic perspective. The world itself offers the sort of variety you'd naturally expect from a fantasy game, with everything from lakes to deserts to dungeons, but it's when you start seeing the twilight realm that the game really takes off, visually.
Twilight realm portals that open up do so with an almost Tron-like glowing, computerized look, and when you teleport around or change forms, that same style shows through, breaking your character into cool, tiny black squares and reforming you in a new place or shape. You're also going to fight a lot of crazy-looking dark shadow creatures, and many of the enemies in Twilight Princess look really nice, up to and including those large boss opponents. At the same time, the game gets a lot of little details right, too. You get a lot of close shots of characters' faces in the game's cutscenes, and their faces are often filled with emotion. The eyes, particularly, convey a lot of soul, which really helps make Link's wolf form work, too. It may have its rough edges here and there, but Twilight Princess is the best-looking launch game on the Wii. Like most other Wii games, you can play this one in 480p and widescreen, if you're so equipped. Playing in progressive scan sharpens things up, which makes some objects look better, but it also makes the edges on everything more jagged-looking.
The Legend of Zelda series' symphonic-style music has always been great, dating all the way back to the NES original. That same music keeps getting updated, and more new themes have worked their way into the series and become recurring, as well. You'll hear a lot of classic melodies in Twilight Princess, and those help give the game a nostalgic feel. Much like the graphical portion of the game, the music gets by on the strength of the compositions, but at the same time, all of the music is rendered in the same sort of sample-driven, synthesized style that the series has had since the Nintendo 64 days. While that might also give you a dose of nostalgia, it's also really dated. Given that the Wii is running discs on a greater storage capacity than Nintendo games have had in the past, and advances in standards for video game music, it's disappointing that the series hasn't finally moved to full digital recordings. After all, these songs are worthy of an orchestra. Similarly, it's surprising that the game's story is conveyed through text and text alone. Link has always been that sort of blank-slate character that doesn't speak in games, and he doesn't have any lines in Twilight Princess, either. That's a fine stylistic choice, but there's plenty of dialogue in the game coming from other characters, and in this day and age, for a game whose story is as much a factor as this one's is, it should have all been spoken. At least the dialogue is well-written.

The game's puzzles might stump you from time to time, but they're logical and rewarding to figure out.

The rest of Twilight Princess' sound is really weird. On one hand, it's using plenty of the same sort of sound effects and battle yelps that the series has relied on, which again will tap into fans' nostalgia for the series. So you'll get the familiar sound of swinging swords, exploding bombs, and all of that. It generally sounds fine, but the game also makes frequent use of the speaker on the Wii Remote, piping a lot of combat noises through it. Unfortunately, this speaker is cheap and tinny, making everything that comes out of it sound distorted and poor. The audio coming through this speaker also chops up fairly frequently, as if it can't maintain a decent connection with the console. Hey, no big deal, right? Just turn the speaker down in the settings menu. That's an option, but some sounds are either only played through the Wii Remote speaker or they're played so quietly on the TV that they lose impact. Having some of the sounds play through this speaker seems like a neat idea, but it doesn't work all that well in practice.
Objectively speaking, it's still a little disappointing that the series hasn't evolved much at all with this latest installment. You'll almost certainly enjoy the game for its terrific puzzles, colorful characters, and compelling story, but at some point the feeling of nostalgia crosses the line and holds this game back from being as unbelievably good as some of its predecessors. So as impressive of a game as it is, Twilight Princess seems like it could have been so much more with a few presentational updates and more effective and interesting uses of the Wii's unique control scheme. But even without those things, Twilight Princess is a great game that stays extremely true to the Zelda franchise's past. That's excellent news for fans of the series, who'll find in Twilight Princess a true-blue Zelda game with updated visuals, some new twists, plenty of challenging puzzles, and a faithful dedication to the series' roots.

Wii The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review II

A fearsome boss waits at the end of each dungeon. These duels comprise a variety of different combat techniques and make you use your full repertoire. There are times when your swordwork takes center stage. Here, you stab and swipe with the precision offered by the motion controls, and though the actions don't always correspond to your own movements, it's still a rush to chip at an enemy's defense until you bring it down. Other times, you may have to utilize your clawhook or shoot a few arrows, and trying to decide what the best tool for the job is makes these battles feel like fast-paced puzzles in which you could die if you take too long to solve things. As good as the boss fights are--and all of them do test your wits and skills--it's a shame you have to fight two of the bosses three times each. Part of the appeal of The Legend of Zelda and other adventure games lies in seeing the grotesque enemy designs. By presenting the same foe more than once, predictability sets in and the shock factor is diminished.

Link's passport book is full of stamps, lucky dog.

Predictability crops up in the quest structure as well. You repeat the pattern of fetch quest, dungeon, fetch quest, dungeon so many times that it starts to feel like you're just going through the motions. Thankfully, there are a few diversions that add a hint of variety to the been-there-done-that trappings. The silent realm forces you to tear through previously explored areas with a slight twist. You must collect scattered tear drops without being seen, but you have to use different techniques from what you would normally use because you don't have any weapons. Granted, by the fourth time this situation crops up, what was once fresh begins to feel a bit stale, but it's a nice detour from the meat-and-potatoes progression that the rest of the game encompasses.
Repetition exists not only in what you do but also in where you go. There are three main areas in Skyward Sword (a desert, a volcano, a grassy plane), and you visit each of these on three separate occasions. Your objectives do change, but you often have to walk through the same environments you've already visited. Considering that revisiting the same area was one of the most maligned aspects of Phantom Hourglass, it's odd that Nintendo would once again reuse places to pad the length of this adventure. And in no place is this more troubling than in the final few hours of the game, where your last trip to the volcano world thrusts you into an unusual mission that plays unlike the rest of the game. The levels are meandering and illogical, and the artificial intelligence is laughably bad. Not only does this section feel out of place--it just isn't fun on its own terms.
When you're not questing through dungeons, you can take part in plenty of side missions. Your main mode of travel in Skyward Sword is on the back of a bird. You're free to travel anywhere in the sky your heart desires, and the stirring music does a great job of making you feel like a soaring adventurer. Quests are usually handed out by the needy citizens of Skyloft, and these encompass a great deal of different activities. Some of them, such as carrying pumpkins for a tavern owner, are quite lame, but most of them are fun in their own right. One quest lets you decide the proper use for a love letter, while another sees Link in the role of unassuming steroid pusher. Both scenarios trigger side stories that are not only funny but will entice you to finish them just to see how they turn out. Still, the overworld is not without its faults. First, flying through the air is a slow process, and once you test the limits of your bird's diving ability early on, there's little to demand your attention on the long flights. Second, although there are many islands in the sky, few of them contain anything worthwhile. It's a far cry from the rich world of The Wind Waker where you were never sure what you would encounter next.

Harp playing is one of Skyward Sword's weaker minigames.

A few of the new elements introduced in Skyward Sword are positive additions to the series. An upgrade system lets you use collectibles you scrounge up in your quest to improve your tools. For example, you can turn your slingshot into a scattershot that fires three pellets at once or improve the healing powers of your potions. This is a great addition to the franchise because it gives you a purpose for collecting things, with a tangible result when you acquire enough goods. Link is also more agile than in past games. He can now sprint through worlds and shinny up short walls, and this allows the labyrinthine design to be more robust. A stamina meter ensures you can't abuse this, and there are clever situations where you must run precisely, lest you run out of breath and fail your mission. There's also a motion-controlled segment onboard a minecart, and though it only lasts a few minutes, it's a thrilling detour from the main actions. These elements are worthwhile additions to the franchise, but it's a shame that there aren't more of these features to really set Skyward Sword apart from previous games.
The good elements do outweigh the bad in Skyward Sword, creating another engrossing experience in this venerable franchise. Strong visual design meshes the cartoony world of Wind Waker with the more realistic approach offered by Twilight Princess, and the riveting orchestral soundtrack brings back many classic tracks while offering a few tasty new ones. However, the formula is beginning to show its age. There just aren't enough new ideas to separate Skyward Sword from its predecessors, and the few additions come with mixed results. Even with many bright spots, Skyward Sword still feels like a nostalgic retread. Those yearning for something new will be disappointed, but anyone thirsty for another exciting adventure will find plenty to enjoy here.
Editor's note: This review originally stated that aiming was handled through the Wii Remote's infrared sensor, which is incorrect. The review has been amended accordingly. GameSpot regrets the error.

Wii The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

Skyward Sword stays true to the Zelda formula, carrying many of the same strengths and weaknesses that have been present for years.

The Good

• Excellent dungeon design  
• A host of worthwhile collectibles  
• Great boss fights  
• Strong visuals.

The Bad

• Troublesome controls  
• Lots of padding  
• Predictable formula.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword finds itself in an unenviable predicament. In the 25 years since its inception, the franchise has picked up a few bad habits. Chief among these are a predictable structure and fetch quests that force you to trudge through hours of ho-hum content before you reach the good parts. However, changing these aspects would require a complete overhaul of the tried-and-true formula, and it could ruffle the feathers of those who seek familiarity. What's a gamemaker to do? In the case of Skyward Sword, Nintendo has kept the elements that have hung like an acidic cloud over past iterations while crafting a new control system to keep it from feeling like the same old game. Unfortunately, the combination is not successful. Inconsistent controls continually torment poor Link, and the predictable structure does little to distract you from these faults. Thankfully, other staples, such as exquisite dungeon design and enticing collectibles, are also present, and the clever storytelling keeps you invested. Ultimately, Skyward Sword commits many of the same mistakes that its predecessors have made, but it still provides enough engrossing content to keep you hooked.

Link gets in all manner of wacky predicaments.

In the opening moments of Skyward Sword, Zelda is seen penning a letter to Link. However, this is not a plea to rescue her from the clutches of evil. Rather, it's a wake-up note for a boy who relishes sleep above all other activities. Zelda and Link spend time together in Skyward Sword where they enjoy the sights of Skyloft, the peaceful city in the clouds they call home. Although Link is his usual mute self, the two have an endearing rapport that makes you hope things work out for these two kids. When a twister plucks Zelda out of the sky, events are set in motion that only Link has the power to rise up against, but this is not your typical Zelda story. There is no damsel in distress here. Zelda is every bit Link's equal, and as the pieces of her own quest slowly come into focus, you appreciate the stirring sacrifice that both of these characters make. The supporting cast members--made up of an absurdly evil villain and one-note citizens--don't resonate in quite the same way. But this is still a well-written story that calls forth a variety of emotions on your quest to free the world from evil.
It's only when you enter your first combat scenario that things begin to falter. Link's sword mirrors your hand movement, so whether you thrust forward or swing horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, you see your actions play out onscreen. In theory, this should open the door to a wealth of exciting possibilities, but in practice, there are enough noticeable issues to keep you from enjoying the sword-swinging fun. The most pressing of these problems has to do with the fact that the game doesn't force you to move with precision. The first time you face a lizalfos, you may circle around until you see an opening and then unleash a horizontal strike when it lets its guard down. Once it recovers from being dazed, the lizalfos charges toward you; once again you circle and dodge until it reveals a weakness. There is some satisfaction in a battle cleanly won, but going through this elaborate charade is both time consuming and ultimately pointless. Instead, you can parry its opening attack and then flail away at its prone body until it's vanquished. By either using a shield parry or landing one sword strike against most enemies, you can stun them and then proceed to waggle your way to victory.
If you decide to be slow and precise rather than quick and efficient, new problems arise that ensure combat does not go smoothly. The Wii Remote has trouble recognizing your different swings. Often, you thrust forward in real life only to watch Link swing feebly in the game or just stand completely motionless. The sensitivity varies wildly so you're never quite sure how much force you need before the game recognizes your actions. As in the aforementioned situation, you may swing your arm while Link ignores you. Other times, you might adjust your grip so you go from holding on your left side to your right, only to see Link lash out at an enemy when you didn't want to do so. Most troubling of all is how the aiming works. There are certain items that require you to aim at the screen. However, the calibration is frequently wrong, forcing you to tap down on the D-pad to recenter. This happens with alarming frequency, and when you find yourself in a heated battle looking directly at the ground, you'll curse the game for damning you with such a cumbersome control scheme.

Good thing Link isn't afraid of heights. Or birds.

The control issues don't end with the combat, either. When Nintendo released the first 3D adventure in the series in 1998, Ocarina of Time set a number of standards (such as Z targeting) that are still used in a variety of games today. But that was 13 years ago, and many ideas that worked back then feel downright clunky now. For instance, your camera control is very limited. You can tap Z to center your view or lock on to an enemy, but this is a poor solution because you can't freely scan the environment without switching to a first-person perspective. There are times when you square off against giant foes but your view is almost completely blocked, placing you in a frustrating situation that could have been avoided. Automatically jumping when you run toward a ledge is also included in Skyward Sword, and combined with the troubled camera, you may find yourself accidentally jumping off of a cliff or taking inadvisable angles.
It's a shame that you spend so much time fighting the controls in Skyward Sword because the content is quite enjoyable. Dungeon design is particularly impressive. Recent entries in the series got into the predictable habit of introducing a new item in each dungeon that you would subsequently use to solve most of the puzzles and defeat the boss. Thankfully, that's no longer the case in Skyward Sword, and the experience is much better for it. Now, you need to dip into your bag of tools to figure out the best way to advance. You may need to use your beetle to scout the environment or roll a bomb into a hole, and the unpredictability of the obstacles forces you to carefully consider each scenario. Though you rarely die in combat, there are more than a few situations where you might find yourself stumped. You can solicit advice from Fi, the companion who travels with you, and this advice is usually vague enough to point you in the right direction without spelling out exactly what needs to be done.

Hitman: Codename 47

Even if you like the basic premise and action of the game, a number of very serious flaws quickly sap its entertainment value.

Hitman: Codename 47 is a game in which you strangle a man as he urinates in a storm grate. And that's only the beginning of the dark, adult subject matter. The game puts you in control of a trained killer who uses stealth and firepower to murder various thugs and criminals. Even if you like the basic premise and action of the game, a number of very serious flaws quickly sap its entertainment value.
The frame story, such as it is, owes a large debt to the movie La Femme Nikita, or its Americanized version, Point of No Return. Your alter ego, the bald and nameless hit man, begins the game restrained to a bed in padded room. You're then greeted by a disembodied, Russian-sounding voice that orders you through a training course tutorial. Here, with melodramatic camp, he'll instruct you on how to use a garrote to strangle a dummy, drone on about the origins and technical specs of the AK-47, and largely annoy you. Oddly, your character never once stops to ask where he is, why he has a bar code on the back of his head, or who this talkative Russian is who's ordering him about. The main hint about the hit man's origins is a vague, uninformed, and potentially insulting introduction in the manual that compares science and religion and hints at Frankenstein-like attempts to outdo nature. The predictable truth about the hit man's origins is eventually revealed as you progress through the game.
As you immediately learn in the tutorial mission, controlling the hit man can be a real chore. Your crosshair changes based on the weapon type you're holding, and it also changes when you move it over an object you can manipulate. When you right-click on the object, a pop-up menu lists your available options. So, with a dead body, for instance, you can drag it away from the scene to prevent suspicion, or you can don its clothes for a disguise. This system is clever in theory but annoying in practice, since you'll often click on an object and nothing will happen. But then you'll move the crosshair slightly, and then it suddenly works. Another control problem is actually in the lack of control on certain occasions. Instead of manually climbing or jumping at particular times, the hit man will automatically carry out those actions when at a junction that allows it, though you can only guess which those are. At other occasions, you'll inexplicably be able to climb ladders manually. What's even more surprising, given that the game emphasizes stealth, is that you can't go prone to hide or snipe. You'll also get frustrated at the frequency with which the hit man gets snagged on doors, chairs, and other objects.
What really impedes control is the use of a third-person view. You can switch between two external camera views, but both are jerky and awkward. In the default view, movement and exploration inside buildings can be very frustrating as ceilings and walls sometimes partially block your view. A third-person view such as this doesn't work well in a game that requires situational awareness, stealth, and accurate aiming. The only time you get a first-person view is when sniping or using binoculars.
Once done with the tutorial, you begin the main missions, in which you carry out hits for "The Agency." Succeed, and you'll earn more money with which to buy new weapons and gear, though it's unclear why this agency that dictates your fate can't afford to just give you the weapons you need. You'll typically earn more than enough money to buy whatever you need regardless, which makes it a moot point. Then again, without the money there's no initial motivation to actually follow your orders. You don't know whom you're working for, why, or what would happen if you didn't obey - though you eventually do find out.
The game is divided into chapters of multiple, related missions. These take place in exotic locales across the globe: You'll instigate a war between Chinese Triad gangs in Hong Kong; take out a drug lord deep in the rainforests of Columbia; stop a terrorist who plans to detonate a bomb at a world-peace conference in Budapest; and prevent a Russian gunrunner from selling nuclear weapons secrets in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, the gameplay is more frustrating than fun. In addition to the awkward controls and the camera's tendency of getting in the way, scripted cutscenes will begin at seemingly random moments, more often than not at the worst junctures, such as in the middle of a firefight. Your heads-up display constantly updates you with messages about enemies' status, so you'll know when one of them has discovered the body of a friend and is now alerted to something suspicious. How you can know the status of multiple enemies who are out of view is also never justified.
For a game that lavishes so much attention on weapons in the training mission, this lack of realism is surprising. A sniper rifle can kill with one shot, but it can take five or six hits from a pistol or submachine gun to knock someone down. The hit man can also lug around two submachine guns, with one in his hand and one hidden in his suit coat, along with multiple pistols, ammo, and other assorted gear. He's more of a one-man army than he is a sly assassin. Although, in some missions, you'll definitely need all the firepower, as you'll have to take on a score or more of guards. You'll get the sense that the game can't decide whether it's a shooter or a more tactical "sneaker," reminiscent of Thief: The Dark Project.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials

Essentials is a stand-alone Rainbow Six product that's half Rogue Spear mission pack and half civil service test simulator.

As soon as Red Storm announced that it was working on a new entry in its Rainbow Six series, the Internet was abuzz with speculation. Could the game's title possibly be longer than the one used for Red Storm's last product, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Mission Pack: Urban Operations? Sadly, the answer is no. Compared to that game, Red Storm's newest product, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials, is downright tongue-tied. Unfortunately, it has more serious problems than its title. Essentials is a stand-alone Rainbow Six product that's half Rogue Spear mission pack and half civil service test simulator.
In case you think you misread the last part of that last sentence, here it is again: one half of Essentials is a simulation of taking a civil service test. If you're the type of person who wants his Rainbow Six performance tests to take the form of shooting Tangos and not actually, say, taking a test, feel free to skip down a few paragraphs. For all the rest, it seems like kind of a waste to review this part of the game. If you're aching for the heartbreak and triumph of participating in a civil service exam but lack the courage to actually take one, you don't have a whole lot of other choices. In fact, you don't have any other choices. You should run - in a snake pattern - to your local software store and buy Covert Ops Essentials.
But read this first. Essentials includes a CD full of information about the history of counterterrorist agencies, operations, and equipment. After studying it all, you can play the role of any of the Rainbow Six agents and take a series of fictional multiple-choice Rainbow Six entry exams. In some sense, it's not a horrible idea. There's a lot of information included, and most of it is well written. The problem is that Red Storm decided to create its own interface for the project. What it came up with looks like a "futuristic" interface as envisioned by a Hollywood special effects person in 1980. It includes plenty of arcane, unlabeled icons, menus shaped like rotating spheres, and lots and lots of scrolling green text on a black background - just the way people who have never actually used a computer often imagine computer interfaces will someday look like. It's neither attractive nor functional.
Interface enhancements that exist in the real world are simply ignored in the informational segment of Covert Ops Essentials. For instance, even though there's a huge amount of information to wade through, the developers neglected to include any kind of hyperlink feature. If you see a topic that you'd like to read more about, or if you remember seeing something you want to get back to, you'll have tough luck finding it. While there is a search feature, it's useless to the point of being absurd. Every article appears to have only a handful of keywords associated with it, and the multimedia clips don't have any. For example, the disc includes footage of a 1970 airline hijacking in Amman, Jordan, but neither "Amman" nor "Jordan" will jog the program's memory enough to make it cough up a link to the clip. It should also be mentioned that the escape key, kind of the cornerstone of modern interface design, does absolutely nothing in Essentials. Add in some periodic crashes, and you end up with some potentially interesting information organized and presented so poorly that it's rendered useless.
That leaves the second disc, which, according to the box, includes nine new missions. This is only technically true. What's actually included are three new single-player missions and six very small training missions. The three single-player missions are all of high quality. The first one takes place in a jungle. It is the hardest of the three and is made harder by the fact that camouflage hides the terrorists but grants you no reciprocal benefit - they can pick you off as if you're wearing neon-orange hunting gear. The next two missions take place in an Arctic research station and a missile silo in North Dakota. Both are also well done, though much easier than the jungle level.
No new weapons are included, the enemy artificial intelligence has not been improved, and the Rogue Spear graphics engine has not been enhanced. The only feature carried over from the Urban Operations mission pack is the excellent defend mode, but it's available on only three of the nine maps.
Red Storm announced recently that it would finally release the Rogue Spear map-making tools this November. This means that in the coming months, the active Rogue Spear mod community will start distributing custom maps free of charge, thereby significantly lessening the value of new, officially released Rogue Spear levels. Red Storm's newest Rainbow Six game is a full-priced product, but it contains little more than three decent maps and a mess of unusable information. Therefore, Essentials is anything but.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Rogue Spear: Black Thorn

It's a solid but unremarkable addition to the aging tactical shooter.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Rogue Spear: Black Thorn Review

It's a solid but unremarkable addition to the aging tactical shooter.

As Rogue Spear expansion packs go, Black Thorn isn't quite as good as last year's Urban Operations. It offers neither as many new features nor as many maps. On the other hand--and ignoring for a second the clear measuring implications of GameSpot's ten-point rating system--it's immeasurably better than last year's other Rogue Spear expansion pack/civil service test simulator, the utterly misguided Covert Operations. If you've been waiting for that one extra element to finally draw you in to the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear experience, Black Thorn isn't it. It's a solid but unremarkable addition to the aging tactical shooter.

The new levels in Black Thorn are good enough, but nothing special.

Like Covert Operations, Black Thorn is a stand-alone product priced as an expansion. It can be played either by itself or as an Urban Operations mod. The best feature of Urban Operations, its custom mission generator, has been included in Black Thorn. Though it offers no new game types, the six standards--assault, lone wolf, terrorist hunt, hostage rescue, recon, and the very tense and fun defend--are all there. And unlike in Urban Ops, each of the 15 maps in Black Thorn supports all six gameplay modes.
Unless you were paying a lot of attention to the manual and the opening movie, the previous installments of Rogue Spear all shared the same story: something about you rescuing hostages from various exotic locations such as, say, Belize. Black Thorn continues the tradition of having an irrelevant plot that's buried deep in the mission-briefing subscreens. The story is completely optional, and you can successfully navigate the single-player campaign without having any real idea what exactly is motivating your squad at any given moment.
Ten missions were originally planned for Black Thorn, but one that took place on a hijacked jet was cut at the last minute in deference to the September 11 attacks. At this point, Rogue Spear levels have settled into a pleasant groove, and the nine included in Black Thorn are all professional but generally unsurprising. Here's a list of the environments, in case one setting really strikes your fancy: Japanese embassy, cruise ship, African village, jungle camp, hospital, train station, bus station, convention center, hotel.
In the campaign mode, eight of the nine missions are pretty straightforward hostage rescues. The African village mission breaks form a little and involves your having to reach an elevated position to destroy a bus before it leaves the city. The entire campaign can be finished in a few hours, especially if you don't try a lot of different plans. The custom mission generator, however, gives the single-player game a lot of longevity.
Ten new real-world weapons have been added to the Rogue Spear arsenal, but, seriously, who cares? That was a test: If you're mad about the "who cares" part and appreciate the differences between the 9mm MP5 PDW SMG, the 9mm TMP SMG, and the 9mm M12 SMG, you should probably get your car keys right now and just go buy Black Thorn. No other series models weapons as accurately as Rogue Spear, but it's often at the cost of making the weapons virtually indistinguishable from one another to anyone but hard-core enthusiasts.

Only hard-core Rogue Spear players should apply.

Six multiplayer-only maps are packaged with Black Thorn: an Alaskan depot, a junkyard, a city street, a terrorist camp, an office complex, and a Japanese pagoda. As usual, the single-player maps can be used in multiplayer as well. A new multiplayer version of lone wolf has also been implemented. In it, one player is "it," and the rest of the players must hunt him. The player who kills the lone wolf then takes his place. Even though it's a gameplay mode that's been available for a while as a mod, it's a lot of fun, and formalizing it means there'll be more people playing it online. Playing over Microsoft's Zone is still an option, though the default server browser is now Ubi Soft's own free player-matching service, Ubi.com. The new service is slick and appears to work well, and there are already a lot of people playing Black Thorn, which means you shouldn't have a hard time finding a game.
There isn't much to say about the graphics. The flat look of the outdoor environments and the very obvious, very square skyboxes tend to give the impression that you're rescuing hostages from a museum diorama. Like the methods of team Rainbow Six itself, the graphics may not be pretty, but they get the job done. In fact, the same can be said of Black Thorn in general. It's a well-made but entirely prosaic map pack. 

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear

Though Rogue Spear is in many ways a much better game than its similar predecessor, it too is not without a laundry list of problems.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six was the sort of game whose unique style managed to win people over despite its noticeable flaws. When developer Red Storm Entertainment set out to create a sequel, it must have figured that deviating from Rainbow Six's winning game plan would be a mistake. As a result, though Rogue Spear is in many ways a much better game than its similar predecessor, it too is not without a laundry list of problems.
In Rogue Spear, once again the elite Rainbow team is called upon to put the kibosh on terrorist activity around the globe. At first, these terrorist incidents appear to be random events, but as you progress through the game you will uncover the disturbing forces behind the new wave of terror. Following Mr. Clark's detailed mission briefings and background information, you will lead your team against these sinister powers and help make the world a better place.
The most obvious improvement in Rogue Spear is the graphics engine, which has been heavily modified to allow greater levels of detail, larger mission environments, and better character animations. Most of the scenarios are simply gorgeous and are amazingly detailed. Buildings are richly decorated, while outdoor areas are more lifelike than before. In most indoor areas, even the most out-of-the-way rooms are highly detailed, complete with random civilians wandering around in some areas, like a fat guy in a towel heading to the sauna. Rogue Spear also includes weather effects, such as snow and rain, which can hamper your ability to see and hear terrorists.
One graphic enhancement you definitely won't miss is the vastly improved character animation. Not only do the 3D models in Rogue Spear look more realistic, they also move in a more lifelike fashion. A slew of new motion-captured animations have terrorists bolting out of rooms when you hurl a flashbang, rushing to investigate strange noises, and dying in a seemingly endless array of dramatic Hollywood-quality deaths. Your own team members will also maneuver in a variety of new ways, including moving in a crouched position and limping severely when they've been wounded. The game still suffers from polygonal clipping problems, but overall it looks a lot better than Rainbow Six.
Rogue Spear is at heart the same game as Rainbow Six, only with a number of new features that enhance the overall experience. For starters, you can now crouch and peek around corners. These are perhaps the most useful new features in the game, since they let you remain stealthy and peek into rooms before entering them. Also, you can now bring along dedicated snipers, who set up shop and pick off tangos with deadly accuracy when you give the word. Though there are only a handful of missions where snipers are genuinely useful, it still is nice to have them as an option. Also, you can now order your troops to cover or defend specific areas when they hold for a go-code, which is another great feature that is absolutely critical on several missions.
Rogue Spear has several new weapons, including three different sniper rifles and several new assault rifles. However, this is a mixed blessing since 90 percent of the missions require the utmost stealth and secrecy. Most mission briefings warn you that the terrorists will flee or kill hostages (thereby ruining your operation) if they catch the slightest hint of your approach, and for this reason, you almost always want to carry a suppressed weapon to keep things on the sly.
The watch mode introduced in the Eagle Watch mission pack is still available in Rogue Spear. This lets you plan a mission and then have your operatives carry it out while you look on in safety. You can also jump in and assume control at any time.
The game introduces several new operatives, including a number of characters from the Rainbow Six novel and a few additional leader-types (so you don't have to worry quite so much about losing Chavez any more). Rogue Spear also offers 18 missions, two more than Rainbow Six. Once you complete a mission, you have the option of trying it again in two great new game modes: Lone Wolf, which challenges you to traverse the map alone, with randomly placed tangos on the alert, and Terrorist Hunt, which lets you wander the map in an effort to liquidate each and every bad guy. In both modes, all additional elements are thrown out, including hostages and bombs, so it's just you against the bad guys. Also, Rogue Spear retains the practice mission and branch campaign options from the original game.
Unfortunately, in addition to all the new features, Rogue Spear also includes some significant gameplay imbalances. On the one hand, Red Storm has significantly fine-tuned the enemy AI. Terrorists now react much more realistically to everything that happens around them. Not only that, but they react very quickly and shoot very straight, and they rarely, if ever, miss their targets. By itself, this would not be a problem, but because the friendly team AI is so flaky, the game can be overwhelmingly difficult for all the wrong reasons.
In several areas, particularly on the Kosovo and hijacked airliner missions, the terrorists always react faster than your men - always. In fact, your computer-controlled team members tend to move and react much less effectively than they did in Rainbow Six. True, they don't get hung up in doorways quite as often as they used to, but they don't survive missions as often either. Worse yet, your guys still get stuck on ladders on occasion and even fall off elevated walkways, sometimes fatally.
Part of the problem here lies in the mission-planning phase of each operation. For the most part, this mode is exactly as it was in the original Rainbow Six. The major differences include support for the new action orders (cover, defend, snipe) and an improved 3D view of each mission area. However, even with the 3D view enabled, you seldom get a good feel for the operation area until you actually enter the mission. This causes countless problems while planning missions, because you often can't tell what sort of area you're asking your troops to pass through.
Also, because of its larger and more intricate mission areas, Rogue Spear could have seriously benefited from a much smoother, more intuitive, and less cluttered planning interface. In Rainbow Six, mission planning was one of the highlights of the game. In Rogue Spear, it feels more like a chore. Planning the stealth-only missions in this game, in fact, is almost absurdly difficult given the size of the mission map and the numerous guards scattered around it.
On a more positive note, Rogue Spear's multiplayer options are phenomenal. The game offers several adversarial modes, including assassination, in which you attempt to defend an NPC general, and stronghold, in which one team must defend its base from the other team's attack. The game is playable on both Mplayer and MSN Gaming Zone, though your mileage will most certainly vary on both services. Yet while the game's multiplayer options are impressive, the performance seems to be all over the place. Many users have complained loudly about sudden network drops and crash bugs, while others rave about the game's stability. Passing final judgement on Rogue Spear is difficult. While it has numerous noticeable problems, it retains the original game's charm and unique style. The new features are good, particularly the addition of snipers and crouched movement. Multiplayer support is also excellent, though it does still need tuning. Overall, the game succeeds almost in spite of itself, because Rogue Spear is damn good at its core and more of a good thing for fans of the original Rainbow Six.

Delta Force

If ever there was a game that proved the value of gameplay over graphics, it's Delta Force.

At first glance, NovaLogic's Delta Force doesn't look like the sort of action game you might expect to see here at the tail end of 1998. After all, a game in this genre has to be 3D accelerated to be good, right? Not necessarily. If ever there was a game that proved the value of gameplay over graphics, it's Delta Force.
Delta Force is a game of special forces combat against terrorist and insurgent forces. You can play the game from either a first- or third-person viewpoint. You can even do both at the same time, thanks to the picture-in-picture feature that lets you see your first-person view in a small window while playing the game from a third-person POV.
While comparisons to Rainbow Six are inevitable, Delta Force bears only a passing similarity to Red Storm's tactical shooter. For starters, you do not plan your own operations in Delta Force; they are assigned to you. You also do not have the luxury of working with seven squad mates. You will typically have two to four other soldiers in the field with you, but they make up separate assault teams that you cannot control (and which often have separate, specific mission goals). Finally, each of the game's 40 missions takes place in the great outdoors. The only real similarity between the two games is the special forces angle and the semirealistic action where one shot translates into one kill.
Delta Force includes five single-player campaigns, each against a different foe in a different theater: a drug lord in Peru, terrorists in Chad, terrorists in Indonesia, insurgents in Uzbekistan, and more terrorists on the Russian island of Novaya Zemlya. The foliage (which is universally sparse), the buildings, and the bad guys all vary from region to region, though the landscapes are all pretty much the same except for color changes (green for jungle, tan for the desert, white for the snowy arctic circle, and so on). Rolling hills and plains pitted by deep, smooth canyons are pretty much the standard terrain type here.
Most of your missions involve finding and eliminating an enemy base, but these are well varied because of differences between the many bases you attack. At the beginning of the game, for example, you'll encounter enemy strongholds that are typically guarded by foot soldiers, a few roving patrols, and maybe a guard tower or two. Later on, these bases become much more formidable, with bunkers, razor wire fences, increased patrols, and even a few enemy helicopters.
The attack-and-destroy missions are interspersed with a healthy number of other scenarios. For example, there are a few missions where you will have to infiltrate a base to steal a laptop or some other source of intelligence data. Others include rescue missions, convoy ambushes, and (in one of my favorites) laser-designating targets for naval bombardment. Overall, the mission design in Delta Force is very strong. Another positive note is the fact that you have a lot of control over the order in which these missions are completed. You can even skip around from theater to theater, if you like. And even though the basic goal is pretty much the same throughout (kill all the bad guys and make it to your extraction point alive), the mission specifics are varied enough to keep things exciting, challenging, and reasonably fresh.
One point where Delta Force could stand some improvement, however, is in the mission-planning phase. As mentioned earlier, you have no say in the mission plan itself. You can alter your starting equipment and weaponry, but the mission waypoints are fixed - and suicidal. Nearly every mission is planned out so that your first dozen or so steps will take you straight into the heart of heavy, concentrated enemy fire. The best way to complete most missions is to ignore the waypoints entirely and make your way slowly around the objective, sniping all visible bad guys from extreme range before moving in to mop up the survivors. Unfortunately, the movements of your fellow soldiers seem to be triggered by the waypoints, so they will not always move if you don't walk over a particular spot on the map. This was especially evident on the last mission in Novaya Zemlya, where my pals in Charlie Team stayed safely hunkered down in a ditch - about 10 feet from a group of four terrorists - throughout the entire mission.
Then again, the computer-controlled good guys aren't often much help anyway (particularly Charlie Team, which was about as useful as red shirts in Star Trek). For some reason, these poor fools got wiped out early in almost every single mission, often before I could even make it to my first few waypoints (maybe that's why they wouldn't leave their hole on the last mission…). The AI for enemy troops, on the other hand, is quite good. Unlike in Rainbow Six, a bad guy in Delta Force will most certainly respond when you blow away his buddy - and so will a dozen or so of his comrades. Opening up with an automatic weapon from an unprotected spot is sheer suicide, as the bad guys will quickly home in on your stream of fire and wipe you out. Also, a few shots in the wrong place or at the wrong time will bring in hordes of reinforcements to make your job more difficult. Still, for the sake of playability and game balance, the bad guys generally present you with a good target and pause enough between shots to give you ample time to react to an attack.
Your ability to locate and kill your enemy, however, is directly proportional to the speed and power of your PC. Based on NovaLogic's highly tweaked Voxel Space 3 engine, the unaccelerated graphics in Delta Force are functional, with even an occasional hint of brilliance - but only on a well-equipped Pentium II machine. The game's minimum spec calls for a Pentium 166 with 32MB RAM, but on a Pentium 233 with 64MB RAM and a 12MB Voodoo 2 card, the game crawled along at any resolution higher than 512x384 at 256 colors and looked just plain ugly at any of the lower settings. Unless you have at least a Pentium II 300 with 64MB RAM and an 8MB video card, you will have a hard time picking out enemy troops from the multicolored chunks that make up the landscape. NovaLogic is reportedly working on a 3Dfx patch that will accelerate the character animations and the building rendering (all of which is polygonal), but no release date has been set for that patch.
Still, the tepid graphics engine does not ruin this game. So long as you have the hardware to run it at 640x480 with 16 million colors (the aforementioned Pentium II 300 can do this just fine), Delta Force can actually be quite impressive from a visual standpoint. The maps are all very well designed, as are the various bases, airfields, and other objectives you'll encounter. The player and enemy animations are excellent and realistic. The death animations even vary depending on where a character is shot. And the rolling terrain makes sniping a real challenge, as you often have to wait for a bad guy to pop up from behind a rise before pulling the trigger. The idea was to create believable outdoor environments where combat could take place at extreme ranges (we're talking about distances of up to a kilometer here), and Delta Force truly delivers in that respect.
The game's Dolby Pro Logic 3D positional sound and excellent sound effects make the battlefield even more realistic and immersive. The sound of bullets whizzing by is often the only indicator you have that you're under fire. When you hear slugs hitting the ground all around you, you know that it's time to move and move fast. Also, the shouts of your enemies (which come complete in a language native to the theater) will let you know whether or not you've been spotted. Once, after shooting a Peruvian at point-blank range, I heard him yell "Medico! Medico!" before crumpling to the ground.
The weapon sound effects, from the suppressed H&K MP5 to the mighty M249 SAW, are utterly fantastic - possibly the best I've ever heard. In multiplayer games, the weapon sounds of 32 players combine into an unforgettable din. When you enter a multiplayer game of Delta Force on NovaWorld, NovaLogic's free gaming service, you will feel like you're entering a real combat zone.
In general, multiplayer games of Delta Force are incredibly fun - when they work. NovaWorld is very obviously lacking in the bandwidth department, and reports are flying all over the Net about difficulties getting this game to work well over modem and generic Internet links. Still, if you catch NovaWorld on a good day and at a good time, you're in for a treat. Delta Force online is one of the most enjoyable and thrilling multiplayer experiences I've ever had. Game variants like capture the flag, king of the hill, and team deathmatch are a real blast no matter how many players are in a game. While the game has several flaws, such as horrific warping, questionable stability, and bizarre scoring glitches, it's still a lot of fun. Hopefully, NovaLogic will address the game's problems in a patch or two. One feature it should add is the ability for players to start their own games on NovaWorld (currently, you are limited to a set number of games already in progress). And for all you deathmatch purists out there, forget all that crap about the evils of camping. Sniping is the key to victory in Delta Force. If your CTF team does not have a sniper or two in the hills, for example, you simply will not win.
Delta Force is a very impressive game overall, despite the limitations of the graphics engine and the multiplayer flaws. The excellent single-player gameplay, the solid multiplayer component, and the incredibly immersive battlefield environment make for a truly impressive game. Any action fan who is open-minded enough to look past the graphics engine will see a game that easily ranks with Rainbow Six as one of the year's best "alternative shooters." Just make sure you have a powerful system, otherwise you'll waste all of your ammo firing at pixels you could almost swear had just been moving.

Freedom Fighters (Part 2)

While the enemy AI doesn't seem to be quite as smart as your team, the Soviet troops are good at taking cover and using nearby gun turrets to ensure that your advance is a difficult one. They'll also use cover and will take advantage of their superior numbers, making them a consistently challenging foe. In all, Freedom Fighters' friendly and enemy artificial intelligence is easily some of the best to date in a shooter. The game has four difficulty levels, and the increase in challenge from one level to the next is noticeable. You'll definitely be taking more damaging fire as you slide up the difficulty scale. Additionally, the game is good at getting more difficult as you move through the missions. Near the beginning, you'll be facing basic troops with pistols and other light weapons. But you'll start to see larger troops with flak jackets and shotguns and heavily armored machine gunners, and later in the game you'll even face off against a tank.

The only problem with Freedom Fighters is that there simply isn't enough of it.

The only real problem with Freedom Fighters is that there simply isn't enough of it. While the game does a good job of making you think you're nearly finished, only to toss another set of missions at you, veteran action gamers should be able to get through the game on the second or third difficulty setting in eight to 12 hours. However, unlike other action games of similar length--Max Payne, for example--the game doesn't really give you much reason to go back through and play a second time. Rather than giving you access to special features or alternate modes, completing the game simply gives you the ability to go back and play any mission at will, though with the entire squad you've amassed.
Freedom Fighters is simultaneously appearing on the PC and all three major consoles. While each version of the game is about as equally impressive on its respective platform, there are definitely some differences in control. The PC version of the game makes great use of the same mouse-and-keyboard control you'd expect from most first- or third-person action games. It also offers more-precise aiming control. The console versions understandably rely on auto-aim to make up for a gamepad's relative lack of precision, though you can still aim manually in the console versions of the game, which is required for doing things like blowing up explosive barrels to take out a cluster of troops at once.
The console versions of the game all contain a four-player multiplayer mode. Though it isn't really a main focus of the game, the multiplayer mode is basically a version of king of the hill, where one team must hoist their flag and hold the position until a time limit has been reached. The PC version doesn't have this mode, but it isn't strong enough to really be missed. The ability to play the game's outstanding single-player campaign cooperatively, online or off, would have been a much more meaningful multiplayer addition.
Graphics is another area that varies from platform to platform, but again, each version looks pretty fantastic when compared to other similar titles on each system. The models look and move well, the game keeps a pretty solid frame rate throughout, and the environments are realistically urban, giving the game a nice New York City feel. Weapon fire, lighting, and most other effects look appropriately dramatic. As you'd expect, the PC version offers the greatest graphical performance, especially when running at 1600x1200 or higher with the draw distance set as far as it will go. By comparison, the console versions aren't quite as sharp, though the Xbox version's visuals outpace the GameCube and PS2 equivalents. The GameCube version also occasionally shows seams between its polygons, which makes it look slightly worse than the others, though still great in its own right. The graphics do have a bit of an impact on gameplay--it's more difficult to see troops at a distance on the console versions than it is on the PC. When you're trying to gun down an entire squad from a machine gun turret, you can't do any zooming in, so it's easier to miss a target or two.

The Russian soldiers sound appropriately menacing and speak in their native language.

The sound in Freedom Fighters is really terrific. With only a couple of exceptions, the voice work is well done. The Russian soldiers sound appropriately menacing and communicate with each other in their native language. The sounds of combat, especially when you're working with a large squad, are of particular note, as they really make you feel like you're on a battlefield. The game's music, filled with choral vocals reminiscent of the Soviet national anthem, is also a stellar high point, and it adds a perfect level of drama to the proceedings.
While the game could have been lengthier, Freedom Fighters is still just an outstanding blend of pure action and tactical squad combat. The squad control works incredibly well, making it easy even if you haven't had much experience with squad-based games in the past. Anyone looking for thrilling action with refined control and a great premise need look no further than Freedom Fighters.

Freedom Fighters

Anyone looking for thrilling action with refined control and a great premise need look no further than Freedom Fighters.

 

 

It must take a lot of work to make a squad-based action game. On top of having to deliver all the core aspects that any shooter should have--things like responsive gameplay and great graphics and sound--a game designer working with squad-style gameplay also has to worry a lot about artificial intelligence. All it takes is a smattering of instances where a player's AI squadmates get stuck on a wall or take an inefficient path around a few obstacles to really shatter the illusion of working with a team and turn the game into a drone-babysitting simulation. Freedom Fighters, the new game from the developers of last year's great Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, deftly avoids the many pitfalls of AI squad tactics, and this, combined with great control, mission design, and presentation, makes for a truly fantastic game.

Most of the game's plot is advanced by a series of humorous Soviet-run newscasts, which cover your actions as terrorist activities.

Freedom Fighters takes place in an alternate reality that never saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Instead, the Red threat has continued to grow since the end of World War II, taking hold in countries as close to home as Cuba and Mexico. The game opens with the plumbing team of Chris and Troy Stone paying a visit to the clogged sink of Isabella Angelina, who also happens to be a vocal member of a watchdog organization devoted to informing the American public about the evils of the Soviet Union. The duo enters her apartment to find that it has been hastily evacuated, and soon after, Soviet troops bust in to try to find her, only to capture Troy instead. The Soviet invasion of the US has begun.
After that brief setup, you're thrust into the role of Chris Stone, and you hook up with Isabella's resistance movement almost immediately. Operating from the sewers beneath New York City, the movement aims to overthrow the invaders and drive the communists out of the country. You'll start as a lowly member of the team, but you grow in popularity and influence as the game goes on, and Chris will slowly transform from an average 32-year-old plumber into a battle-hardened leader.
The game isn't terribly long-winded in its storytelling. Most of the game's plot is advanced by a series of humorous Soviet-run newscasts, which cover your actions as terrorist activities. Your missions are laid out in the rebel base, and the briefings are great at explaining the strategic significance of, say, reclaiming a high school building for the red, white, and blue. Though the story is told well and works great in the context of the game, it's pretty short on substance. Aside from a foreshadowed plot twist that you can see coming from a mile away, not a whole lot happens in the game. It must also be said that the game doesn't provide much closure at the end, simultaneously setting up for a sequel while not really leaving you with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. A more climactic final mission would have gone a long way. These things hardly affect the incredible quality of the game's action, though.
At the outset, Freedom Fighters plays like a rock-solid third-person shooter, with smooth and responsive controls. You can shoot from the hip or raise your weapon for precision firing, which causes the camera to zoom in slightly for a cool over-the-shoulder view. You have an inventory of items and the ability to carry a pistol and one primary weapon, such as a shotgun, an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, a machine gun, a rocket launcher, or a submachine gun. You'll also be able to carry grenades, Molotov cocktails, high explosives, binoculars, and health packs that restore your health when used, though they can also be used to heal wounded civilians or other freedom fighters.
Once you've operated on your own for a little while and have gotten used to the control, thanks to some well-placed training messages, the game gives you the ability to command up to two other squad mates. By increasing your charisma rating--which goes up as you complete missions and can also be given optional boosts if you rescue prisoners or heal civilians--you can eventually control up to 12 soldiers simultaneously. Running with a crowd definitely makes Freedom Fighters feel like a much larger game, and the late-game firefights that erupt when you have a larger squad are extremely impressive and, more importantly, a lot of fun.
Squad control is both simple and effective in Freedom Fighters. You need only three buttons to command your troops on the battlefield. The recall button forces troops to fall in behind you. The attack button can be used to send troops after a specific soldier, or you can target a general area to get troops to cover specific locations. Finally, the defend button is used to get troops to hold their position. Tapping the buttons will assign commands to one member of your squad, but holding the button down for a split-second longer assigns the command to your entire squad, which is usually more effective.
The squad AI isn't perfect--we saw our troops get hung up when attempting to climb down onto some train tracks, and we saw one instance of a squad member not taking the most efficient path to its destination--but its rare problems are easily overlooked because the rest of the time they work very well, and using your team effectively is really satisfying. Squadmates support each other and naturally use the urban terrain for cover. You can effectively lead their charge, or you can let them do a lot of the work themselves and support them with covering fire. The squad dynamic lends the action a great deal of variety, ensuring that no two skirmishes will play out in quite the same fashion.

Players looking for thrilling action with refined control and an excellent premise need look no further than Freedom Fighters.

Each mission in the game has one main goal, but that goal is usually impossible to attain without performing a collection of secondary tasks. For example, you'll never be able to blow up a supply bridge while attack choppers are covering it, so you'll have to acquire some C4 and take out a nearby helipad to remove all choppers from the area. And you can't make your way into the police station while snipers are covering it from the roof of a nearby gas station. So you'll have to get behind the station and blow it up. Each mission usually has multiple locations, and you can move freely from one area to another via manholes found throughout the city.
Manholes also serve as the game's save system. The game is saved automatically whenever you move from one location to another, and you can also make quick saves there. There are enough save points to keep things fair, but not so many that you can remove the game's challenge by saving every few seconds. It's a good balance.

 

No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way

No One Lives Forever 2 is a rousing success on every level.

No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way--the sequel to GameSpot's 2000 Action Game of the Year, The Operative: No One Lives Forever--continues the surprising success Monolith has experienced in the last couple of years. It improves on almost everything that worked well in the first game, and it also fixes that game's problems. Thanks to this sequel, an already amazing year for action games just got even better.

Skill points can be used to raise eight different character stats.

Though the details have changed, the new game's story and setting are similar to those of the first game. It's still the swinging '60s, you're still UNITY agent Cate Archer, and you're still fighting the worldwide crime syndicate H.A.R.M. and its quirky henchmen. This time, you'll not only travel to predictable locations such as a remote military base, an undersea laboratory, and Japan, but you'll also visit the never-before-simulated world of Akron, Ohio, an environment that in video game terms qualifies as truly exotic.
If the story hasn't changed dramatically, the means of telling it certainly have. The expository cutscenes--which were sometimes interminable in the original game--have been seriously streamlined for the sequel. Nearly all of them make their points quickly and effectively and then move on. This skillful trimming results in scenes that are funnier and generally more entertaining than those in the original game. And from the unexpected visual gags, to the strange gadgets, to the overheard conversations of H.A.R.M.'s neurotic, chatty minions, all the other elements of the series' steadfast good humor remain intact as well.
The series' stealth elements, arguably the weakest aspect of the original's gameplay, have undergone a complete overhaul. Thankfully, a lean function has been added to Cate's repertoire of actions. Most of the game's 40 levels (spread across 15 long chapters) can be completed using stealth, brute force, or a combination of the two. And unlike in many games with a stealth element, guard alarms are usually localized--if you trigger an alert in one section of a level and manage to escape, enemies in another area won't necessarily be alerted to your presence. The designers have also done away with all the aggravating missions in which you automatically lose if you're spotted. Though triggering an alarm (especially on higher difficulty settings, where enemies pack a real wallop) will often result in a tough situation, you always have the option of fighting your way through, fleeing, or hiding until things cool down. In fact, several new gadgets, such as the bear trap and the banana peel, are specifically designed to help you escape from pursuers.
Excellent level design complements the game's improved sneaking element. Most of the environments include side passages that can be used to avoid guards. These side-passages, however, also give enemies a way to circle around you in a fight. The AI of your enemies, which was already excellent in the original, has been somewhat improved. Often, one henchman will hold his position while another one tries to work his way behind you. Meanwhile, the AI of characters who aren't actually engaged in combat has been improved dramatically. Guards will become alerted by sounds, footprints in the snow, cries from other guards, and the bodies of their fallen comrades (which you can pick up and carry out of sight). Once alerted, they won't immediately pinpoint your location. They'll first check the area of the disturbance (taking a moment to investigate dead bodies). They'll then start poking around, turning on lights and peeking into closets, in an attempt to find you. All these actions are accompanied by auditory feedback in the form of either the guard talking to his compatriots or muttering to himself. The stealth system is both intuitive enough and lenient enough to avoid the frustrating half-baked feel of similar systems implemented in other shooters, which often seem to be nothing more than an afterthought. With the possible exception of the Thief series, No One Lives Forever 2 features the most seamless and satisfying integration of first-person stealth to date.
As in the original, there are lots of bonus objects to find and extra tasks to undertake. But this time, there's an actual incentive for tackling these challenges. Skill points are awarded for completing objectives, and these points can be used to improve eight different character stats through five different levels. The effects of raised stats are noticeable without being unbalancing. For instance, improving your weapons skill will reduce the amount of time it takes to load a new clip. It's nice to have improved skills, but it's not necessary to complete a level.
The graphics are rendered using LithTech's next-generation Jupiter engine, and while they're somewhat trumped by the next-generation Unreal engine on display in the Unreal Tournament 2003 demo, they still look terrific. The Jupiter engine is capable of rendering large environments with a lot of detail, and it seems particularly suited to creating some striking water effects. But the characters in No One Lives Forever 2 are an especially notable triumph of imaginative design combined with excellent technology. Fluid animations and eyes that actually track objects permit the game's characters to truly act--a rare feat in gaming. The soundtrack is once again an endearing mix of an orchestral score and Ray Conniff-style space age pop. Also, those who played the original may notice that a new actress has provided Cate's voice work for the sequel. It's a little jarring at first, but you'll quickly adjust to it.

The Jupiter engine does a good job with large outdoor environments.

Facing stiff competition from games whose sole purpose is multiplayer action, the developers have concentrated on the game's great single-player experience and (possibly wisely) decided to not include any competitive online modes in No One Lives Forever 2. Instead, they've created a supplemental four-chapter campaign that can be tackled cooperatively by up to four players. The campaign is composed of reworked environments from the single-player game, and it's designed to be a true campaign experience in that you can actually save and resume online sessions. The levels do a good job of tailoring the action to a team of players. For instance, at one point you have to carry Cate's unconscious body to a safe zone, an act that requires one person to bear the load while the others to protect him or her, since you can't carry a readied weapon and a body simultaneously.
Since it's not a review until someone starts complaining, here you go: The multiplayer doesn't have a lot of replay value. Also, there might be a few too many tasks that require you to scour a level for a key object. Those criticisms might seem half-hearted--in truth, there isn't really a lot to complain about. No One Lives Forever 2 is a rousing success on every level. In an era when grim, humorless realism appears to be the sensibility of choice among shooters, a game as genuinely funny and good-natured as No One Lives Forever 2 is a welcome relief. That it's also a genuinely excellent game makes it almost too good to be true.

Far Cry (Part 2)

The game limits you to four weapons at a time, so like in Halo, there's a tactical element present that makes you weigh the positives and negatives of each weapon. All the weapons are taken from the real world, including the M4 carbine and the G36 assault rifle. It takes a bit of time to familiarize yourself with each weapon, especially since each has different characteristics, such as recoil. The G36 is hard to aim while firing, and the P90 submachine gun has a high rate of fire but does less damage. Hit location is also important. Headshots usually result in kills, while mercenaries have body armor that makes them resistant to hits to the torso. There is a rudimentary physics engine in the game that lets you knock over objects and hurls bodies in the air, but it's not as fleshed-out as it could be. For instance, a wooden crate will float in the water, but it won't shatter, even if you fire a minigun at it.

You can drive vehicles from a third-person perspective, which is easier.

Far Cry features a loading technique that's similar to the one used in Half-Life and Halo. There's generally one long load at the beginning of each chapter. Then the entire level, no matter how large, plays seamlessly after that. The game only pauses for a fraction of a second every now and then to autosave your progress. Otherwise, there's nothing that takes you out of your suspension of disbelief, so you always feel as though you're actually exploring a tropical archipelago. The game uses a checkpoint-style save system, so you can't manually save your progress. If you die, you'll start back at the last checkpoint, which only takes a few moments to load. The inability to quick save the game isn't as annoying as it seems, since the checkpoints are generally spaced within reason. However, there are a few moments where it feels like the checkpoints are few and far between, which can be frustrating when you die and have to restart. At any rate, publisher Ubisoft reports that a quick-save feature will be added in a downloadable patch for the game.
The single-player campaign packs more than 20 hours worth of gameplay, which is an impressive amount in this day and age--when most first-person shooters feature campaigns that are half this length. And the developers manage to do this without making it feel like they're recycling themselves through the campaign. As you slowly uncover the plot, there's always something that will awe you, stun you, or scare you. Just when you think you've seen it all or you've gotten to the point where most games would end, the designers keep on going and up the ante even more.
The multiplayer portion of Far Cry is competent but not nearly as spectacular as the single-player game. There are only three game modes--free-for-all, team deathmatch, and assault--as well as a limited number of maps for each mode. Moreover, all the maps are quite large in size, which means that if you only have a handful of players, then you'll spend a lot of time looking for someone to kill. You'll also spend a lot of time just moving around the map because sandy surfaces restrict your movement speed. Additionally, movement speed is reduced by the specific weapon you're carrying. There are a few vehicles in multiplay, but they're not too useful during combat. The jeep, for example, has an open-air driver's compartment, which means there's no protection at all from bullets. And there are not a lot of places to drive because the thick foliage and rough terrain limit vehicle usage mainly to roads. Some of the weapons also feel horribly unbalanced. For instance, the rocket launcher does a tremendous amount of splash damage, and the sniper rifle can dominate a match over long ranges. There are also a handful of other oddities in multiplay. Most notably, if you pick up a weapon of a certain class that you already possess, the new weapon disappears as though you picked it up, but you won't actually have it in your inventory.

The lighting and shadow effects in the game are incredibly impressive.

As expected, you're going to need to have some serious hardware to run Far Cry as it's meant to be played. While the game will run on lower-end machines, you'll have to tone down detail settings. And with older video cards, you won't get much of the graphical eye candy in the game. From our experience, we recommend a 2GHz machine with a DirectX 8.1 or 9.0-compliant video card. However, Far Cry could very well be the killer app people have been looking for to justify upgrading, because it looks that good. And, frankly, running the game with a lower detail level means you lose a lot of the jungle foliage, which reduces your level of immersion in the game. It should be noted that Crytek's execution is superb. Aside from the multiplayer quirks, we experienced no stability issues and no bugs. This is an impressive accomplishment considering the complexity and ambitious scale of the game. The potential for this technology is exciting. Not only do we expect third-party developers to license Crytek's engine to power their own games, but Crytek also includes editing tools with Far Cry, so modmakers will get to develop their own ideas.
Far Cry is a stunning game in so many ways. It certainly raises the bar for graphics to new heights. And yet, it's not just a technology demonstration. In Far Cry, the graphics are just one of the ingredients that submerge you into the experience. The developers exhibit a growing sense of maturity throughout the game. It's as if they themselves were learning how to use the graphics engine in conjunction with the AI, sound, and level design to create a superior gameplay experience--one that starts out impressively and, for the most part, just keeps getting better. The result is an awesome thing to behold, and it's an even better thing to experience.