I must admit that I’m not the biggest fan of fighting games. This is not because I don’t like the genre, as it can be incredibly fun – especially in the arcade -, nope, it’s simply because I well and truly suck at them. I’m the kind of guy who you can easily beat and still have a full health bar remaining at the end of it. I’m just incredibly crap at learning all the special moves and then actually remembering them. I do rock at putting I’m four times in the same paragraph though. Forget kicking your head off, using recurring words is my special move!

Anyway, Soulcalibur IV has been hyped beyond belief because it has one major thing going for it over Soulcalibur III. It’s not the updated graphics or the advanced character creation mode, neither is it the all-new Critical Finish system or the option to fight against other players alone. Nope, it’s none of these at all. Instead the hype comes in the form of a small wrinkly alien and a dude with breathing problems. Never underestimate the power of the Star Wars franchise when you want to sell a product by the truckload.

There’s also a whole load of your favourite Soulcalibur characters returning of course (and two new ones; Algol and Hilde), but who really cares when you can kick ass with Darth Vader and Yoda? (Oh, and there’s also Vader’s apprentice from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) There’s one major problem however, Vader and Yoda can’t currently fight each other. The PS3 version of the game will get Darth Vader and the Xbox 360 version will get Yoda. However, there are rumours that both will be available as downloadable content for each respective console in the future – which is really a sham for something that should really have been included in both games.

Will you be finding me online? Maybe if I’m willing to overcome the embarrassment that will follow every single one of my defeats, as it’ll probably be every single match. I am shamefully attracted by the chance to play as Yoda though.

Soulcalibur IV will hit the UK on August 1, which is this Friday.

The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth and its sequel were two excellent RTS games that did superb justice to some of the epic battles seen in the three films. If you aren’t too keen on strategy games, however, and would rather be running around in the thick of the action then there was the two third-person perspective games that gave you a starring role in some of the films biggest set pieces. While these two games were by no means awful they weren’t exactly brilliant either. Although it somewhat felt like you were part of an epic battle the games themselves were far too linear and really nothing more than your average hack-and-slash – like Dynasty Warriors with a splash of LotR paint and some elves thrown in for good measure. Well, just when you thought they’d squeezed the last out of the franchise another game promising epic battles comes along.

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will probably be instantly familiar to anyone who’s played the Star Wars: Battlefront games. Basically you fight in ‘huge’ battles where your task is to secure and hold a series of objectives. To accomplish these objectives you’re able to pick from four classes – Mage, Scout, Archer, and Warrior – which each have their own unique strengths and abilities. Heroes can also be unlocked; allowing you to play as recognisable characters from the films and books. However, as already noted, the game is supposed to give you a sense that you’re part of something bigger. Pandemic Studios (the games developer) hope to accomplish this by allowing 150 units on screen, 16 player online battles and split-screen/online co-op modes for those who want to experience it with friends.

For any fan of LotR – like myself – the ability to experience the amazing battles depicted in the books and films is enough to make you start counting down the days to release. If I went off game descriptions alone I may just plonk down the cash for this on day one but being the hungry-for-more gamer I am, looking at videos and screenshots has somewhat lessened any excitement. The video below shows a few scenes from the game and while it looks pretty nice there’s one niggling question. If the battles are so epic then, well, where the hell is everyone? For a battlefield it looks pretty darn empty to me. Where are the promised 150 units on screen? Plus, why does the archer seem to fire 500 arrows a minute? Maybe I’m just over-analysing the whole thing.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see if LotR: Conquest lives up to the hype that takes place in all product press releases. In this online age it’s the multiplayer where the real verdict will be leveled, which means that if it’s anything like Star Wars: Battlefront then we may just have a winner yet. Hopefully they’ll be less Frodo, and I doubt many people would disagree with me on that one.

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (official site)

While this trailer for The Sims 3 may look like an episode of Laguna Beach I’m still surprisingly looking forward to the game. You see, not only does the game allow your Sim’s access to the entire town without those pesky loading screens (and the ability to see what’s going on elsewhere at any moment) but it also deals with the problem of one family aging while the others stay frozen in time - something which has always annoyed me.

I’m the kind of guy who loves to create stories so The Sims franchise has always been a favourite of mine. Unlike other people I don’t actually care about the constant expansion packs because, hey, it’s new content and at least EA are continuing to support the game. Couple that with an excellent community with literally millions of creations and you can have endless fun!

It’s strange isn’t it? Strange how ‘endless fun’ comes from tasks that become second nature in our daily lives. This time around there won’t be as much of trying to force your sim to go to the toilet as the micro-management has somewhat been reduced. The focus is more on making social connections and creating your stories from these. So, it’s still The Sims at heart but tries to emphasise the fun parts. I guess that makes the title of this post redundant, huh?

The Sims 3 won’t be with us until sometime next year.

I suppose you could ask what a 21 year-old male is doing playing a game that clearly looks like it’s - and mostly is - marketed towards kids. However, I do have some pretty good reasons why Animal Crossing: Wild World still remains the perfect game for anyone lucky enough to own a Nintendo DS.

At first glance Animal Crossing: Wild World looks like a game about cute animals and, um, it kind of is. However, there’s enough depth to this game that you’ll soon forget why you’re getting curious looks from the guy sitting next to you on the train. It’s strangely gratifying trying to pay off a mortgage to resident raccoon shopkeeper Tom Nook (although you’d think he was handcuffed to you by the way he follows you around his shop) and it really takes little skill in order to accomplish this. Earning money is as easy as picking fruit off the trees or shells off the beach, while at the same time you’re amassing quite the collection of furniture and clothes to kit your house and yourself out with. There’s also other activities including fishing, digging for fossils, doing errands for the animals or simply making your house look unique.

Now I know that doesn’t sound extremely riveting but trust me on this - it’s relaxing! The best feature about the game is that it runs in real-time, meaning that you can schedule certain events around different times in your day. Although, to be fair, this can be slightly annoying when you pop on only to find that Tom Nook has shut up shop for the night. You do have to be careful as leaving the game to gather dust for a few weeks will mean you’re greeted with some of your animal friends having moved out, cockroaches in your home and weeds everywhere on your return. If you get into the habit of returning everyday you’ll have better relationships with the animals and shops will also have new goods available for you to buy.

Parents can be safe in the knowledge that their kids will get months of play out of this game so it’s certainly worth its £25 asking price, even though it’s been out for a few good years now. They can extend this lifespan even further by inviting friends into their village through wi-fi and trading items with them. If you pick it up yourself, like me, be warned that it will get addictive. Cute it may be, but it doesn’t stop you returning day after day (although I’d sure like to hit Tom Nook with my spade). You can be guaranteed that you’ll get enough daily use out of your Nintendo DS to totally justify having one. I’ve had the game for over two years now and I still return to it three to four times a week. It’s also the perfect game to play in five-minute doses making it a great travel companion.

Finally, for those looking for more Animal Crossing fun, Nintendo has just announced that a Wii version, called Animal Crossing: City Folk, will be hitting stores on November 16th. If you can’t wait until that time then you know what to do!

After hearing the announcement for Persona 4’s release in North America later this year (09/12/2008) I felt guilty for not beating Persona 3. Previously I’d gotten to the 2nd Block and beat the first full moon instance without consulting any FAQs. After I looked into the intricacies of the game, I realized I had missed a boatload of valuable Social Links. Being a semi-perfectionist, I decided that I wanted all the social links maxed by the end of the game. Instead of restarting the game, I left it to gather dust for months.

After the announcement I felt that I had to return, if only to prepare myself for the inevitable release of Persona 4. By now Persona 3 Fes was released in the States (coming October 22nd in the UK!), so I decided to get myself a copy and start from there. It was nice to be able to copy over my player stats from my Persona 3 save file (which helps a lot for the social link scheduling) and persona compendium. So far I’m 30+ hours into the game and meticulously following 6 different FAQs (Walkthrough, Persona Fusions, Max Skill Link, Quiz Answers, Persona stats, and Skills). Sadly I’ve only reached the 3rd block by this point (probably 1/3 of the original Persona 3 story).

My first gripe is with the archaic save system and lack of checkpoints. On numerous occasions I’ve found myself dying and losing 30+ minutes of progress because I made a small mistake or encountered a cheap enemy. Additionally the interface is often clunky and requires you to micromanage Personas, which can be quite time consuming over time. In fact during the full moon instances, you can find yourself going through over an hour of gameplay without a single save or checkpoint in between. It’s sad to see that all of this could have been fixed with a little bit of updating (which I hope will come in Persona 4), especially considering this is the 2nd revision of the game.

Even though this game is torturing me and wasting my time, I find the story and characters both compelling. The game often feels like one giant puzzle involving balancing persona creation, skill linking, and leveling . Bottom line…. don’t try this game unless you’re ready to commit the time and soldier through its flaws. While it isn’t “difficult” like Ninja Gaiden 2, it certainly is complex.

(Images from Games.net)

Electronic Entertainment Expo is a lot smaller than it has been in years past. However, the big game companies still have a lot of news this week. One of the biggest surprises that Microsoft announced during their press conference is that Final Fantasy XIII is going to be released on the Xbox 360. The Final Fantasy games have been exclusive on Sony consoles since FFVII in 1997. In addition to Metal Gear Solid, the Final Fantasy series have been one of the exclusive advantages Sony has held over the competition in the past. This announcement further legitimizes that Microsoft role in the video game industry. They can be just as competitive as Sony. Although the game is being launched on Xbox 360 and PS3 in the Europe and US, the game will still remain exclusive to the PS3 in Japan. I think this is a great opportunity for all fans. Perhaps it will also bring more fans to the series and genre.

1up posted a discussion with the producer of the FFXIII following the announcement. Final Fantasy XIII will combine the best of both combat modes from FFXII and FFX. Although many people disliked the combat in XII, I found it less annoying than most griding battles of other RPGs. XIII will be a return to the combat style of X, but enemies will be visible like in XII. The are little details on the game specifics other than the game is based on Fabula Nova, the mythology of the Crystal. As a big fan of the Final Fantasy RPGs, I’m thoroughly excited for this next installment. There is no official announcement on the release date.

It’s no mystery that the Wii is dominating households and the casual market. However the the tracking and accuracy of the Wiimote have always been wonky. Anyone who’s experienced the sub-par sword gameplay in Ubisoft’s Red Steel knows what I’m talking about. Thankfully today Nintendo announced the Wii Motionplus (Working Name) attachment along with Wii Sports Resort. Basically this little attachable gizmo will make your Wiimote waggling gestures more accurate and precise.

No longer will Wii sword games be limited to rudimentary up/down, left/right, and diagonal slashes. This was demonstrated rather nicely during Nintendo’s press conference in the fencing mini-game segment. The actual position of the Wiimote in 3D space translated directly into the position of the Mii’s sword. I’m looking forward to some awesome swordplay (Bushido Blade sequel please?) and another reason to dust off my Wii.

After beating Metal Gear Solid 4 I found myself in a games drought. Luckily I was able to borrow Ninja Gaiden II from a co-worker, who suggested I play the game on “Warrior” (hard) mode. I followed his suggestion and ended up crawling to the 3rd act after dying numerous times (mainly during boss battles).

Despite the lukewarm reviews for this title, it’s certainly grown on me. The combat is improved over the first title and much more furious. I think reviewers were particularly disappointed because there is no real cohesive plot to justify all the locale changes. In addition, enemies feel cheaper overall and death is often due to bad luck instead of the player’s fault. The camera issues are certainly annoying, but I found myself adapting around them. The increased difficulty is countered by the partially regenerating health bar, which is very welcome change. I wonder how much abuse I’m going to take until I have to restart in Acolyte (easy) difficulty. If you’re a fan of action games, difficulty, and pure gameplay mayhem, then this is the game for you…. even if it doesn’t live up to Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

Six years after Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo has finally released a to sequel to their best selling fighting game. Super Smash Bros. Brawl includes characters from all of Nintendo’s most popular games, such as Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda. The battles are simple enough so that anyone can just pick up a controller and fight. However, hardcore gamers will likely have their favorite character’s moves and combos memorised. This is one of Wii’s best party games yet. You can fight with up to four characters at a time. Although Brawl’s graphics are only marginally improved over the the SSB Melee, Nintendo has added a bunch of extras that will make any fan happy. You can unlock trophies of your favorite characters and objects. Also, each level now has several music tracks to choose from. There are also secrets to unlock throughout the game.

The characters in the game are greatly imbalanced. I have yet to figure out how to play with Olimar effectively. Meta Knight, Snake, and King Dedede were my favorite new characters. Other new characters also include Pokemon Trainer (3 characters in one), Pit, Wario, Snake, and Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. In addition to the group and solo mode, there is the new The Subspace Emissary, which is basically a story adventure mode to unlock new characters, levels, and items. You can play this mode solo or co-op. When you play this game, I highly recommend bringing out your old GameCube Controller or purchase a Classic Controller. Although you can play with the Wiimote, it isn’t as easy or as comfortable to hold.