Preview: The Sims 3 Showtime

Become a superstar!

The Sims 3 Showtime follows up on an expansion for the first Sims series: The Sims Superstar. We are promised a new social feature, so that you can share everything you do in the game, at once while you’re still playing.

Venture into a new world and live the dream as singers, acrobats, magicians and DJs. Using the all-new SimPort feature, send your Sim into a friend's game to perform in their world, book gigs in your friends' town, go on tour and be reviewed. You can also build custom stages for your Sims to perform on and use them for your own show later.

We are also promised new traits and lifetime wishes, so the players have more tools to tell their story. A new achievement system has also been confirmed and you can earn points that you later can post to your walls of facebook, twitter or any other social posting device. The Sims 3 Showtime is set for release in early March.

UK RELEASE: 09-March-2012 | NORDIC RELEASE: 08-March-2012 |  US RELEASE: 06-March-2012

Review: International Volleyball 2009

Some fun in volleyball games

Before International Volleyball i had my doubts again. The third time testing a sports game for a sport that doesn’t had many games. One failed (Handball Simulator 2010), one was surprisingly good (Rugby Challenge 2011). This one? It’s in the middle of those two.

Serve's up!: You can serve in three different ways in IV2009.

Again, I thought this would be a game with a lot of controller trouble, but it really isn’t. If you enter training mode as soon as you start the game, you will learn that volleyball on the computer is really easy. It’s basically four or five buttons you use a lot. Then you have your own choice what kind of shot or serve you are going to use and it really doesn’t matter if you hit the right buttons, as long as you hit one of them. The game is surprisingly fun and good for some time, but gets boring when playing long matches. Volleyball isn’t the ultimate sport to make a PC game from.

Not again: I didn't even know Luxembourg had a volleyball team.

Got this one: I got all the time in the world, piece of cake to catch this one.

That being said it simulates volleyball the way it should be done. You sometimes feel that you play volleyball for real and even if the graphics doesn’t match on the pitch, the game got some cool animations. The replay feature where you see the point ball from the net is also brilliant. The audio isn’t really so good, but I heard the crowd shouting for their national teams several times. Credits for bringing that in the game. This game surprised me a lot and is a lot of fun, but not for too long.

Failed blocking: If you don't stand right in front of the shot, you're not going to block it!

Gamescore

International Volleyball 2009 (2009)

Graphics: The graphics hasn’t been in the creators mind for one second and everything looks pretty boring. Some fine animations now and then, but it isn’t enough to bring the score upstairs. 2/10

Audio: There isn’t really much sound present, but you’ll have the basic volleyball sounds you’re problaby so familiar with. The audience was unusually loud sometimes and this made this game a lot better. Nothing is worse than playing in front of an audience that just sits there and shuts up. 4/10

Gameplay: A very fun game indeed. Full of surprises these “not so famous” sport games. Well, it’s fun for one or two matches, but then things start to get to familiar to what you just watched. No licenses of real volleyball players and every player are named from “Number One” and further. Would have been funnier if they at least used real fake names. 5/10

Controls: As mentioned, the controllers looks tricky at first eye, just like Rugby Challenge. After some practice and the gaining of skills, you will manage to get some points. Maybe not win some matches, because the game is pretty hard, even on easy. You steer all the players on your team as if they were just one and this works very well! 8/10

Overall Score: International Volleyball 2009 isn’t a big game and maybe I’m giving it some sympathy votes, but the game was actually pretty fun for a while. As this one being the only volleyball game I know of (except for blubby volley), it’s get the first place on volleyball games list hall of fame! 5/10

Review: Helldorado

A wild west where no one survives

Helldorado brings the game further away from the old Desperados series, but the game shoots itself in the foot a lot of times. It can be fun at times, but to many bugs and errors destroys the good game feeling.

3rd person: There is even a third person cam added to Helldorado, but it could have worked better.

This is a classic western story, where you will play both cowboys and girls with cowboy hats. It’s a strategic tactial game, like Commandos, so sneaking is more important in this game than just flying around having a blast at everyone. You can do this also, but it wouldn’t do you good, unless you want your characters killed freely. Every character also got a special skill they can use. For example John Cooper is a typical muscle man who can lift enemies after he’s killed them and is always fast with his six shooter, Hawkeye is an Indian who can make war cry to trick the enemies and shoots with a bow and arrow, while Kate O’Hara is a woman who can seduce enemies and poison them with her perfume.

Ready,set,go!: Situations like these are always 50:50.

Help from the woods: Indians and cowboys live in peace in Helldorado.

The difficulty in this game is something else, when it is out of this world. Helldorado can be so hard and tricky at times, that you just give up and want to quit the game. The easiest difficulty seemed hard so I’d rather not think about what this is like on medium or hard. The game’s story are good at times, but a lot of details is let out, so you don’t really understand why different things are happening now and then. Graphics and audio for this game are pretty mediocre for a 2009 game and not really what i would have expected, but it have its glance moments sometimes.

Better graphics: Not all the particles are ugly.

Gamescore

Helldorado (2009)

Graphics: Looks very cartoon like when zooming out and a little better when seen close up or in third person. The game is anyways outdated and out of standards for a 2009 game. 4/10

Audio: I wish the game characters would have told us a little bit more, instead of just: Okay! Roger that boss! Sure can do!, when clicking where they have to go or run. The music is not so god either. 4/10

Gameplay: Are fun when you manage to pull missions off, but this happens only after a giant amounts of tries. The game is clearly too hard and would have benefitted from being a little bit easier. When it comes to the story, it is an okay western adventure story, but the lack of details around missions and why we really are doing things at all are a problem. Should have known a little bit more about what’s really going on here. 4/10

Controls: This is maybe the game's ace. Works well in best commandos style, where you can sneak up on enemies and have many opportunities to lay them to the ground. The game is usually played with mouse, with some keyboard features. 8/10

Overall Score: Helldorado can be a great game sometimes, when it’s not too hard or the missons are random. Desperados was a good game and i would thought that Helldorado would be to. Western fans will find this amusing either way, but if you’re not into the wild west from before, this could clearly be walked past. 5/10

Newsflash: Max Payne 3: Release date postponed until June

The Third game in the Max Payne series was supposed to come in 2009, but have had been postponed several times. The Rockstar owner Take-Two say in a press release today, that the game will be released June 1. in Europe, while the Americans will have it the 29. May. Take two director Strauss Zelnick also says that the extra couple of months will give the game something more and that the game will be better that way. We will sure be waiting.

Review: FIFA Manager 12

Still little brother

Every year it’s the same. Football Manager and FIFA Manager are released and FM surely gets the most of the voters. It’s not so weird, because FIFA Manager seemed to have stood still since the game saw the broad of daylight. This year’s version is a long ride of soccer boredom. Last i checked, soccer was far from boring so something must have gone wrong in the process.

Real players: FIFA are using their licenses to the maximum.

The game are presented in a not so bad way. In reality, when starting this up, it’s gives you a good feeling. EA have always had great licensed music in their games and FIFA Manager 12 got it to. The menus also looks pretty good, so the first impression of the game is totally good. The problems comes when you start up a new league and understand that everything is at is was before in this series. You’ll have a bunch of leagues to choose from, the most of them fully licensed, so here is the homework lesson done, as in the FIFA Manager games before.

Typical Rooney: Okay goal, but when are the graphics getting an update?

When in-game and trying to search for players, setting up tactics and basically doing anything at all, the old problems comes back. The game has a lot of functions, but the problem is to find everything and it should be easier in a game like this to do such. This is where Football Manager is in a whole other level, so FIFA Manager should really learn from them, if they are hoping to improve their game in the future at all. We already been talking about the sound. The music is great, but the commentary duo seemed to have been removed during matches. Maybe for the best, i always simulated anyways, didn’t used to hear a lot from them. If the game was in the graphic department of FIFA 12 it would have scored a lot higher, but EA seems to use the same graphics for their manager game as they did the first time. Maybe a time for an update now?

A comment please?: You don't have to be a scientist to answer the questions before a game.

Gamescore

FIFA Manager 2012 (2011)

Graphics: Yeah, the graphics. Seems like it’s still the FIFA 2007 graphics. I got no clue why? It shouldn’t be too hard to bring the new FIFA 12 engine in the game? The game would have grown on that. 4/10

Audio: Great music in Electronic Arts games, they should have some credits for that. With the commentary being gone and no match feeling whatsoever, just turn off sounds instead. But keep on the music! 6/10

Gameplay: Can be great now and then, but the whole game build up is just wrong in comparison to the manager king. The licenses are in their place, that’s a good start, but if FIFA Manager is going to be the same game every year, with only updated squads and players, then it will never knock FM of their high throne. Some new menus during the matches this year, but this actually makes the game worse. Something new and fresh is needed badly here! 2/10

Controls: It’s not hard to click on something, but it’s when you’re don’t know what you are clicking on. That is the biggest problem in this “manager adventure”. It’s still fun to set up you’re whole damn family, but this game is not the sims, so what’s the point? Many roads, but no one leads to Rome. 3/10

Overall Score: I now start to understand that EA have enough with one soccer game and with FIFA 12 everything is brilliant done. You cannot say the same thing about FIFA Manager 12, as it’s almost the same game we have seen since it first got out. It’s got some other things that FM don’t have, but it lacks a lot of things that FM have. I don’t see any reason to try this game, except maybe for the licenses. If that is a reason to get a game. 3/10

Preview: Tombraider 2012

The start of the story

The next Tombraider is upcoming this year, but the date has not been set up till this day. The story will take place before the other games in the series and we will met a different Lara Croft, 21 years, who is more unsure of who she is.

The game rumors also to have a new survival instinct, that Lara can use to solve puzzles. It will highlight useful items for use if the player is stuck in solving a puzzle. However, Lara can only do this while standing still. Some elements of the world crumble when Lara stands on them for too long. When the player jumps to grab a ledge, Lara will no longer magnetize to the nearest ledge like in previous instalments. The player will also be able to change direction mid-air. Puzzles will be more complex than previous titles, it will use elements of fire, water, wind, and friction. Helping hands and UI will be kept to a minimum, except for indications of burnable objects, health items, and during quick time events.

Tombraider 2012 will be released for PC during the latest summer or autumn of 2012 and is being developed by Crystal dynamics. Square Enix will release the game. After viewing some of the Tombraider trailers, i have to say that the game looks fantastic already. 

Review: Mafia – The City Of Lost Heaven

One epic story, from start to finish

Mafia 2 have already been reviewed on this site and now the time has come for the prequel. It’s actually been ten years since Mafia saw the daylight, but it’s clearly not a game that was typical for that time. Never before had we seen such cinematics and dialogues as in Lost Heaven. The game was fantastic ten years ago and is even better now, if that is possible, with the thoughts of what kind of games we have around the world today.

Light it up: Smokin' mafia-style.

The listener: You're whole story is being told to a detective named Norman.

The story of Mafia starts very similar with the one in Mafia 2. You’re character is an average Joe, who is up to no crime, before he against his will, have to join some criminals to keep his life. You play as Tommy Angelo, a cab driver in the streets of Lost Heaven, a big town similar to New York. One night working graveyard and relaxing in your cab, something that’s changes your life happens quickly. Two gangsters have been in a pretty bad fight with some rivals and is heading you’re way. They badly need a ride and one of theme is hurt. They’re names are Paulie and Sam. These two are going to be your closest friends the next couple of years, as you spend the years from 1930 and down to the late 40’s, working for the well-known Salieri family. A family that has traditions in the districts and who is run by the mob boss Don Salieri.

Many of the stories and missions in Mafia are truly epic and it’s almost impossible to not like what you see. The missions are always long and is presented in a way never seen in a video game before. The presentation of the missions in Lost Heaven are actually much better than in the sequel. The actor job in this game was also amazingly done. Many of the characters that have their voices used in Mafia are well known actors from other Mafia movies, so the game feels real the whole time. The graphic was  maybe the best of all games, when it came out in 2002 and it was a lot of machines that had trouble running the game, and i bet there still are.

What are they planning now?: The mission briefing room is being well used.

In cold blood: Sam takes another role at the end of the game.

If you take the gaming sequences in Mafia, you'll have yourself a brilliant Gangster movie, from the top class movie list. There is enough game sequences in this game to make a pretty long movie and you will keep watching intros, outros and epilogues over and over again, because they just are so damned fantastic. I cannot on the top of my head, bring up a game that have set deeper tracks than this one. It’s pretty weird if you get bored when playing this, because the game has always so much to say, and a lot of that comes from the great movie sequences that pops up from time to time. When you play, you will be waiting for these over and over again and i could really wish you didn’t have to play at all! Even if the game is fantastic there also, especially for the time being.

Buying booze: Problems occur, of course.

Stay down!: Now is a great time to pay the Salieri family a visit.

If you in some way haven’t heard about this or didn’t try it at the time, you should definitely do now. It’s a story full of surprises and twists, as well as a sad ending I didn’t like, but this doesn’t bring the game down at all. It just reflects the hard Mafia life of the 1930’s and 40’s. When finished with this you should also give the sequel a try, as it is at the same level. 2K Games is the new Gangster game expert. A Mafia game maker like Martin Scorese in the movie world. The only complaint is that i wish this game would never end, as a fantastic story like these don’t grow on trees.

The Don himself: Tommy finds out that he shouldn't cross the Don. In the end, he have to pay for it.

Gamescore

Mafia - The City Of Lost Heaven (2002)

Graphics: When this got out ten years ago, it was the best of the best, for those who managed to run the game. Rumors had it that many had to run the game on low specs, but now in 2012, this game can be run at a high detailed level. Of course, details wasn’t so good then as it is now, but the facial details of important people, as well as the graphics on the cars in the game, was fantastic. The action packed sequences between play is also amazing, but seen on with eyes of today, details in environment are a little short. 7/10

Audio: Maybe the best game voiceovers that has been done ever! Fantastic from the first to the last word. This game scores high over what is normal for a PC game. It even scores high for a movie. 10/10

Gameplay: The game is great, what so ever! The missions are varied and will keep you occupied long enough to think that you find yourself in a big American town at the beginning of the 1930’s. There are twenty missions in total and I wouldn’t mind if there were a hundred of them. The first thing you think when completing the last mission in Mafia is: I have to play this again as quick as i can! And of course you should then. It’s one of the best game stories ever!  10/10

Controls: Here’s what the game scores lowest on and the only possible thing the game could have been better at when it came out. The controllers doesn’t always work so good. Problems in getting in to cover can be tricky and you just feel awful when you die at the same mission the 20^th time, because you had a hard time aiming. This goes in the “forget this” book anyways, because the problems aren’t major enough to drag this game down. The story is to good! 8/10

Overall Score: Would have been a clear 10/10 if this was ten years ago. It almost is now actually. You have to turn a lot of things upside down to find a so amazing story as you find in this game. The replay value is also amazing, with all the in-game movie sequences being the most fantastic things, alongside with the actor work and audio work. Because graphics starts to get a little bit outdated (not much) and the controllers can be tricky, this receives a 9/10

Review: FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4

Strange laps on the Speedway field

The FIM Speedway series now have a long history. The history is maybe not so positive and the latest installment in the series does not hold up.

Got to hold on: It's not hard to crash in this game, trust me!

The positive things first. The game has licenses for real speedway stadiums and also a lot of real drivers, from all around the world. When starting this up, it doesn’t look so all bad, in the in-game menus. You actually have a lot of opportunities and you can click yourself in to training to start racing a little. The first race was a disaster. The controllers didn’t pay any attention to what i did, so i entered the setting from simulation mode to arcade. It helped a lot.

Licenses: The real drivers are in FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4.

If it helped, it still wasn’t good enough. And when you race in a game like this, it doesn’t take you long before you get bored. The career mode has a little bit more to it. You can shop and buy things when you not are on the race field, but otherwise, the game doesn’t add anything big to show here. The controllers feels weird and the motion that shows up on the screen doesn’t look natural. No, i don’t suspect a high score for this game!

Glory: The first victory, who also became the last.

Gamescore

FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4 (2011)

Graphics: The speedway bikes you ride on have gotten quite some job, and also the riders. It’s also not that bad if you look around the stadiums. The motions in this game is a whole another thing and everything seems to look like it’s made of plastic, when it’s not standing still. 5/10

Audio: Could have added a commentary to a game like this, but it’s not done. The music in the menus are boring and the sounds at the stadiums to give you good feeling are miles away. 2/10

Gameplay: Not enough modes, not enough fun to keep playing on and also to hard. No problem in playing this for an hour or so, but after that, you will never touch this again!. 2/10

Controls: Weird controls. The bike doesn’t always go where you tells it to go, but it gets a little better if you switch from “simulation mode” to “arcade mode”. The controllers are pretty good set up for the keyboard though.  3/10

Overall Score: The game actually looked better, when i saw a video of it, rather than testing it myself. The biggest problem in this game, that destroys the good feeling for once and for all, is the gameplay and the controllers. They are both weird, so if you want to keep playing this on, you got to be a hardcore speedway fan! 3/10

MMZXRUXZKB6R

Review: SFG Soccer

Simple, funny soccer

From StirFryGames comes SFG Soccer. A different soccer mini-game that can be a lot of fun. It is usually, but it would have been even better with a little more modes.

Crazy kick: It's going to take something really special to get a bicycle kick right, like this.

The regulars: When scoring, you have to celebrate of course.

SFG Soccer is marketed as a funny soccer game. It is, so absolutely and you can have hours of fun playing the game. The career mode is the most anticipating one, where you start of with a basic team who has no skills at all, and play them to victory. You start in the lowest division of totally four divisions, and play your way up the leage. The matches is arcade for sure and things happens quickly. It’s not really a beautiful game, but it sure is fun! You can also edit all the teams in the league, if you wish. Then you can play with real teams and players, from the real soccer world.

Good reading: You got to love statistics.

Sideline-cam: From here, you have full control!

Gamescore

SFG Soccer (2009)

Graphics: Not so good. Everything looks like something from the late 90’s, but then again, it’s not the point in this game to have good graphics. 2/10

Audio: Not really a lot of sound in this game, but the who is there, is bad. 1/10

Gameplay: A good feeling soccer game who sure is fun! You have four leagues to travel up and down from and a lot of teams to meet. 64 actually. There is also statistics for everything that happens on the pitch, so it will keep you occupied. 8/10

Controls: Pretty okay controller setup, but the players doesn’t always do as they are told. Especially when the ball is in the air. It’s not easy to hit an bicycle kick, so when you do, it feels great. 7/10

Overall Score: SFG Soccer is just trying to be a funny game that can knock out a couple of hours from you. It’s doing more than that. There is no problem in playing this game for a while, I think, and I sure feels great when you move up division with your team, that to get to know on the road. Should clearly be given a try. A free demo can be downloaded at the makers homesite.6/10

Review: NCIS - The Game

Mediocre detective skills

Ubi soft releases a new detective game and the expectations are not so high, with the toughs of their latest installments in the CSI series. NCIS is actually a better game, in all areas.

The evidence says you're lying!: Leroy Gibbs doesn't let you out of the interrogation room until you have told the truth.

More please: During interviews, you have to act quickly to get the information you need.

NCIS The Game is made on the tv series with the same name. I have to admit that I haven’t watched the show a lot, but i see a clear resemblance to all the characters who are in the game, so the graphics are pretty well made. The likeliness to the show is pretty difficult to judge by me, so I’m going to concentrate on just the game for now. There is four episodes in this game and every episode takes around an hour/ an hour and a half, so it’s a pretty short game. Could have been a couple of episodes more, because you don’t feel that the game is over when you see the credits rolling over the screen.

Try that again: If he's lying, we will find out!

Stretch out: You can even touch dead bodies in this game.

When the game starts, you soon feel that you will have more opportunities, when it comes to forensic work, than in the CSI games. You basically go around and take pictures of the crime scene and take it back to the lab so it can be investigated further. Every character has they’re own thing to do and in the starts it feels like there is a lot. When playing through half of the game, this process is starting to get very boring. It’s the same all over again and I feel like it should have been more opportunities, when it comes to the labwork and the processing of the crime scenes. In the audio department, there has been a solid job. Solid acting on both the stars in the series and other civilians and murderers in the game. Some of the four stories are good, but it’s likely you catch the killer before the game does. But in the end, the game is a whole lot better than CSI.

Whole lot of action!: Not really. But it's nice that the game is trying to be Die Hard.

Free phonecalls?: I hope they don't pay for calling each other. You will see a cellphone every five minutes in NCIS.

Gamescore

NCIS - The Game (2011)

Graphics:  Great facial expressions at times and the levels you are wandering around on looks pretty much great. The negative thing is that they seemed to have used the same motion a lot of times the characters moves around in cut scenes. This happens often, so it pulls down the character. 7/10

Audio: Great voice acting. Even the characters that doesn’t say much got it right in this game . 9/10

Gameplay:  Seems great in the start, when you think that the game has so many opportunities. As the game progresses you’ll soon understand that it doesn’t, and you will get bored quickly. Also, more episodes wouldn’t hurt, as the game is completed in a little over four hours.  3/10

Controls: You can move around wherever you are, with a simple mouse click. This should have been so simple, but i’ve noticed several times that the characters walks another way than i tell them to. Also, when taking fingerprints, it’s very hard to be done with the motion. You can sit in a couple of minutes pulling your mouse, because you didn’t get off a little piece of tape. This is frustrating. 5/10

Overall Score: NCIS The Game seems like a funny game when you’re starting your first mission. After a while it’s gets very boring and if you have played Ubi Softs latest detective games, CSI, you then know that the games is all about doing the same things over and over again. It little more variation would have been nice. But it’s not a bad game. It looks good and the acting are sometimes excellent, so it’s worth a little look. 5/10

Review: Rugby Challenge 2011

The next great sports game!

From earlier experience i am no longer that person who jumps highest, when someone makes a sports game no one has tried before, thanks to the Handball simulator. I’ve should have done that this time, because Rugby Challenge really qualifies as a fantastic game and simulator of the Rugby Union. Let’s hope the series is going to continue in the future.

Three points!: Why walk when you can jump to glory?

Not everyone knows really what rugby is and i am one of those people, but even so, this game was a extreme pleasure playing. I have seen some Rugby matches in my life, but haven’t really paid enough attention to what’s really going on the pitch. Now I know! Rugby isn’t just about kicking and punching people to the ground, running straight forward and hoping for the best or a brainless form of a sports game. I now understand that this is an intelligent and tactical type of game, very similar to soccer.

Still big brother: England is one lenght better than Scotland in this game.

So good: The opportunity to just hug each other is there.

There is no problem if you don’t understand, because the makers of the game, from New Zealand of course (The biggest rugby nation), have made tutorial videos with rules and everything else you need to know. They have also made a pretty big tutorial to learn the game buttons and how you play. After this tutorial i went straight out in the game and had an extreme good time.

Beginner?: Learn rugby on 1-2-3!

Get away!: Sometimes, it's better just to kick the ball!

The gameplay is very good and the games you play feel very, very real. The graphic in this game is also one of the best I’ve seen in a sports game lately. Those of you who follow rugby closely, will definitely recognize the players who are in the game. The game has a lot of licensed club teams, but not so many national teams. The two of the world’s best team are anyways licensed (Australia and New Zealand), so that’s pretty good I guess. There is also a bunch of stadiums to choose from, but not all licensed here either. You can play exhibition matches, practice, World cup or play any of the in-game leagues. Those are by the way ITM Cup (New Zealand), Super Rugby (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), Aviva Premiership  (England), Top 14 (France) and Pro 12 (Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy). This game clearly did take me by surprise, because i had no expectations for this to be good at all. It was a gladly new meeting!

Only just: The touchdowns never looks the same.

Bend it like Beckham: Just what it's all about

Gamescore

Jonah Lomu’s Rugby Challenge 2011 (2011)

Graphics: Looked good from the moment i saw it. Great player models, great look-alike rating and great motion when the players are barking into each other, because that happens of course too. The stadiums in the game are also wonderful, when looking on them, for real! 9/10

Audio: It was a surprise to me that the commentaries were so good, because they are actually on level with FIFA. Not exactly, but right behind. A long way ahead of PES if i could compare to soccer games commantaries. The sound on the pitch is also good and you will get the rugby feeling any time. 8/10

Gameplay: Here, i got tired after a bit. The game is extreme fun the first hour, but so on, it slowly starts to die. It’s maybe because i don’t watch rugby a lot? After a while, i just feel like the matches are all like and i am starting to get points the same ways it did the match before. Anyways, it helps with a little break, then you can play again, so it feels fantastic. 7/10

Controls: The first time I layed my eyes on the control setup, it wasn’t happy. There is a lot of things to think of in this game and you have a lot of buttons to push. Even so, the makers have edited this pretty good in the game and the buttons you have to push during special locations, comes up under the match. After a match or two, you will get the hang of it and then it’s time to become the ultimate rugby champion.  8/10

Overall Score: One of the best sports games this year, no doubt! Came from out of nowhere and raised my rugby interest to the maximum. I’m clearly going to start to watch a lot of rugby from now on. One of the game’s strongest card’s is the graphic sequences, who is really beautiful sometimes. They also give us a lot of creative celebrations after a touchdown. This game is a must if you’re into rugby and if you’re not, you are going to be after you tried this game. 8/10

Review: Flight Control HD

Aircraft mini-game fun

Fun little mini-game i came over. In Flight control take control of the tower and give commands when the flights are going in for landing. You can squeeze a little fun out of it!

Good round: When it get's you going, the game can make you occupied for a long time.

Move away: The planes with blue marks can't be controlled.

This is a really simple click and drag type of game, where you have to choose where several flights are going in for landing on your on air station. When the flights are coming in from the different parts of the screen you have to watch out so they don’t crash in each other. There are several types of planes and the all move in different speeds. There are also helicopters, who are extreme slow. The game is good at what it is and is absolutely worth a try, but remember that it’s a mini-game, so you will not get the big game sequences.

Stress-factor: The game freaks you out every time you loose control!

Gamescore

Flight Control HD (2009 - 2011)

Graphics: Hard to set up against others, but i think it look good for this kind of game, without being outstanding. Nice colors on the maps. 4/10

Audio: The only sound in this game is click! when you choose settings before a flight and crash! when you don’t manage the planes well enough. Could at least made some more sounds and music in the game. 1/10

Gameplay: Great for a short time. The game doesn’t really offer anything except what i wrote earlier, but is fun for a short time of play. Then you can pick up where you left later, as you unlock more maps the more you play. 7/10

Controls: No problems with the controls, as the only thing you choose is where the flights are going to go before they land. 9/10

Overall Score: This game was a fun little experience, even though it sounded a bit boring when I first heard about it. It’s fun to choose where flights are going to land and then to control their route to the landing pitch. An okay game that can be worth trying out. 6/10

Review: Worms Crazy Golf

Not so Crazy Golf

The Latest installment for Worms is Warms Crazy Golf. It looked actually pretty fun on the videos and on the preview pictures, but the reality is a different one.

Do you have to stand there?: This happen's more than one time.

You learn the basics in this game pretty fast and you can easily become a top golfer, in worm a edition of course. The game’s career mode is pretty big actually and you’ll have 18 holes to play on, in four different worlds. You start with a basic golfer and play your way up the rank, so you can buy new balls, golf clubs and so on. In between holes, you something get the opportunity to take part in something that is called skill shot challenge. The point here is for example to kill as many sheep as possible (yes the weapons from original Worms walk around on the boards) It works well to get a break from the other maps, but it isn’t too much to brag about.

Ooops: If not timed correctly, this it what happens!

The game’s modes are many, but so boring if you play it more than fifteen minutes. It’s fun to have the animals from past Worms in the game, but they shouldn’t make as many frustrating situations as they make. If standing right by a sheep, you actually have to use three shots to kill the sheep, before you can proceed on through the map. Then you most likely would have used up your chances to make a par, so you will not go through to the next map. Par is needed to proceed further in the game. The graphics and sound is classic Worms and was good one time. It sometimes feel like time have stood still and i personally would have liked to see an upgrade here.

At least: If not interrupted by any crazy animals, a possible scenario is under par.

Gamescore

Worms Crazy Golf (2011)

Graphics: The typical Worms graphics in good old 2D style. It really isn’t that bad, but far from good. Looks older than it really is. 5/10

Audio: You can still hear a kamikaze here and there and that’s fun. Also good background music and clearly on the Britannia level, where you certainly are in England. 8/10

Gameplay: Starts good when you have a lot to stumble through. After a while you understand that the game only got one lane and that lane is basic golfing. Would have been a lot more fun if the maps was more unlike each other. More stuff could also been added, the things you get for victories and coins feels just like game adds. 3/10

Controls: It’s easy to golf in Worms Crazy Golf, that’s one thing for sure. Something’s are pretty difficult to manage though, for example spinning the ball with the mouse. In addition are the shots sometimes hard to place and you will end up shooting a total different place, when you tried to hit another spot. 6/10

Overall Score: Worms Crazy Golf is fun for a while and it’s good to see that the worms still got it. They only got it for sometime though. You will be ripping your hair out of your head when you hit a sheep the third time you try to shoot past it. This happened to me a lot! So it was pretty frustrating. It’s worth a try for the multiplayer fun maybe, but clearly not for the single player. It would be a short fun before you get bored. 5/10

Review: Wolfenstein

A Sci-Fi FPS set in world war two

In 2009 Wolfenstein came out in a part of the new series. It had then been eight years since the last encounters with B. J. Blazkowicz. In this game reality switches places with fantasy, when entering world war two in the Wolfenstein world.

I'll do it: B. J. Blazkowicz is back doing what he likes best.

If I have understood the game correctly, events in this game take part before Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Agent B. J. Blazkowicz, your playable character in the game, as well as in every Wolfenstein game, gets sent out on a mission to take out Nazi-scalps  and to find out what’s going on in the fictive German town of Isenstadt. Rumors have gone out that the Germans have gotten something in they're hands that can end the world forever. It’s time to make these pigs grill like they deserve and you’re first mission starts when entering from the train into town.

The more the merrier: It's funnier working with others.

The game is graphic/audio-wise very good, but the story can be complicated at times, so be sure to follow the game closely. The Germans have taken control of an amulet, that can make them travel through another dimension, who make them look like monster-like creatures when seen in this world. You self will be in control of this amulet, when found and you can use it to travel through hidden doors and such. You will also have the ability to move super quick or enter slow-motion mode. Slow-motion mode is pretty cool and you will need it when running over bridges who falls or when getting out of different traps that is made for you. It can also be used to dodging bullets. These things with the portals is a pretty unusual thing to see in a world war two game, but Wolfenstein really makes it work. When playing this game it feels like something really special.

Unstoppable: That's how you feel when seperating German body parts all day.

Wolfenstein is a pretty unusual game and if you played the series before, you know what you get. There is of course some negative things. The story is creative and very alive, but even so, sometimes it just doesn’t feel like you’re really in this world. Many of the voice acting performances is pretty boring and the best part is maybe where the Germans are screaming scheize!, when shot in the head. The game is also a very very bloody game and there is no problem in separating body parts when a soldier has been taken down. This isn’t a negative thing, but i now understand the high age limit on this game. This will feel like fun for a while, but don’t get your expectations up to high, because the game doesn’t have the flow all the way.

Bang-Boom: B. J. has a thing for explosions.

Gamescore

Wolfenstein (2009)

Graphics:  The graphics has gotten a lift since the last game, but even thought the characters and the details are many, the game looks a little gray everywhere. I understand that the game was made that way and that there is a point when it’s dark in dark places. Great graphics when entering the other dimensions though.  8/10

Audio: Pretty poor acting job on most of the characters, except B. J. himself, he sounds the most real. Great sounds on guns and such though, a lot of explosion potential. 7/10

Gameplay: The game starts out with an interesting set up, but it feels like something more could have been baked in the story, as it gets boring when you play enough. The backround of story is great, but is really more interesting when you hear about it. It is not so extreme when played through. . 5/10

Controls: Can be difficult, as there is no special cover system in this game. If you manage to do it, there is no problem taking out enemies at close range, but you must expect to see the screen go a little red. Basic keyboard/mouse on the controls and it works okay. 8/10

Overall Score: Wolfenstein starts off with an interesting story to tell us. As the game progresses the story gets less and less important and soon you will find yourself flying around shooting at everything, without really remembering what you were supposed to do and why you should have done it. The game is worth trying out if you haven’t played it, but it’s no must. A game closer too good, than average, thanks to the start of the game. 7/10