Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, the flawed but ambitiously mature in tone & style PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 game, will apparently be getting a selection of free goodies. Actually, make that four free maps. Better yet, a selection of four downloadable maps. Said maps will become available sometime this month and will come wrapped in a lovely pack Eidos chose to name The Dope Bag. How very cute, really.

There are many ways to decide which games are true gems and interestingly each one of them seems to be at odds with the others. Is it innovation we’re looking for in a good game or is it the refinement and evolution of existing concepts? Is fun (whatever that means) more important than an interesting plot? Which are the objective values of game design? Do value and price enter the equation? Length? Oh, and if graphics don’t really matter, how come we’re still playing Dragon’s Lair after all those years? More importantly, how can I suggest 15 top games for your monolithic PS3?

Well, I guess the best way to do it would be to a) go for the 30 top-rated games as selected by the top review sites and magazines, b) add 10 games as recommended by gaming connoisseurs and/or bloggers I more or less trust, c) subtract the games that have lost their way to Europe, and d) select 15 games from the above according to personal tastes and a divine -dare I say- sense of justice. So, what follows is said list in no particular order and even including the ridiculously well received CoD 4, which I personally detest.

- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
- Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
- Unreal Tournament 3
- Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock
- Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
- Virtua Fighter 5
- MotorStorm
- The Eye of Judgment
- Burnout Paradise
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Devil May Cry 4
- The Darkness
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
- Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Football games, not unlike adventures and strategy games, don’t need fancy graphics, never truly age and are more than tricky to get right. They are, you see, one of them gameplay driven genres. That’s why Sensible Soccer still is a better game than the latest FIFA, that’s why thousands of people still enjoy Kick Off II and that’s why Football Manager -one of the most successful gaming franchises ever- is in essence a game without graphics. So, what are your options in digital football gaming, I pretend to hear you ask? Well, read on, read on.

Football Manager

Football Manager, the venerable series that began life as Championship Manager, has always been an immensely addictive time sink of a management game, an impressive ever-evolving database of the international world of of football and an incredibly fun game too. Nowadays, it can also be said that FM is a true football RPG, and one of those games we all take refuge in when our teams get disqualified/relegated/ridiculed. Traditionally FM 2008, the latest and best version of the game, is available for PC only, but you can also grab a stripped down version of the game for your PSP or go for FM 2006 for the Xbox 360. Oh, and a MMO should soon be released.

Pro Evolution Soccer

Pro Evolution Soccer is a rare yet happily popular attempt at realistically recreating football. There are no crazy scores here and precise crossing is a matter of technique. It really feels proper. Now, Pro Evo might lack FIFA’s official shine and impressive graphics, but -believe me- it still is the better game. By far. Makes for quite a brilliant party game too. Pro Evo 2008 can be played on the PS3, PS2, PSP and -provided you don’t mind less impressive ports- on the DS. The highly innovative Wii version of the game, a footie RTS of sorts, will soon be reviewed.

Sensible Soccer

This is the best football game ever. Want to know why? One word: pace. Care for more words? Well, how about after-touch, one button gameplay and lovely pixel-art graphics? To properly enjoy Sensible Soccer you should really play it on an Amiga, but lacking one, I guess you could try the equally retro PC or Atari ST versions of the game. Alternatively the best way to get some faithful yet up-to-date Sensi action would be via the Xbox Live Arcade. Sensible Soccer 2006 (PC, Xbox, PS2) is decent, as is the Mega Drive/Genesis version available via a certain TV plug-’n'-play thingy.

FIFA

Not much of a fan of the franchise really, but I must admit it’s quite enjoyable. And looks rather good too. FIFA 2008, quite obviously the latest offering in the long running series, can be played on virtually any console, meaning versions for the Wii, PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, DS and PSP have already been released.

Younger readers will be shocked to know that the survival-horror genre, just like many of the enjoyable things in life, is a French invention that first manifested itself as the 1992 critical and commercial hit Alone in the Dark or -as game journos came to name it- AITD. AITD, then, the first, best and still unrivaled survival horror game, and of cousrse something you absolutely have to play, went on to spawn three sequels. Actually, make that two decent sequels and one sub-par reimagining of the franchise in 2001, and do try to forget its filmic adaptation.

And now, in the year of our lord 2008, Alone in the Dark is coming back and hitting every major format from the PS3 to the Xbox 360, the Wii, the PC and the still enduring PS2. It’s so close you can even preorder it and, most probably, this will be a pretty wise pre-order too. The game, you see, might not be set during the 1920s or feature any traditional adventure gaming elements (let alone a properly Lovecraftian atmosphere), but it definitely looks fantastic, sounds spooky and will also sport some of the most innovative combat & physics mechanics imaginable. Besides, it all takes place in the astonishingly overlooked Central Park…


Oh, and here are some very reassuring words from Alone in the Dark lead designer (and apparently fan) Hervé Sliwa:

“We have great respect for the first Alone in the Dark and we want to respect the legacy of that, but we also want to put our souls into the new game. I would say the new game is not a sequel, it’s a new approach to the game with new innovations and new rules. Of course you don’t need to play the first one to start this one, but we have little connections between the two games.

The project started in my mind 10 years ago when I was on a trip to New York city, my first trip to the US. Just after I arrived, I was walking in Manhattan and I went up to Central Park. New York at night is lights everywhere – the city that never sleeps. I arrived in front of Central Park very late at night and the park was very dark. I was in front of this huge dark square and it was really weird – it was such a contrast between the dark square in front of me and the lights in the street everywhere. It was like a parallel world, the world of the light and the world of the darkness – it was amazing. At that moment I had a flash in my head that it could be a great playground for a new Alone in the Dark game. When I came back from the trip I had lots of photos of the buildings around the park and I started to imagine lots of different situations and possibilities for the game, different scenarios in the park, adventure plots and so on. At that moment I was working on Sheep Dog and Wolf, so I put all my ideas in a box. After Kya: Dark Lineage we found out Atari had the brand and we had the opportunity to propose a new project, so I took all my ideas out of the box. We had a brainstorm at Eden and proposed the first ideas for the new game and that was the start of the new Alone in the Dark.“

Sonic the Hedgehog was really big, you know. Bigger than Horace ever was and definitely bigger than Zool. He almost won the 16-bit console wars too (if ever there was such a thing), and -admittedly- is still recognizable enough to sell the odd overpriced copy. Then again, everyone can see the character and his truckload of silly overacted friends aren’t doing half as well as expected and -that’s the ugly bit mind you- usually star in some shockingly dreadful games.

Now, as I’m not one to necessarily demand a return to Sonic’s 2D roots and 90s gameplay form, even though you have to admit that Sonic Rush for the DS was the best Sonic for what felt like ages, I think Sega should realistically have a long hard look at Sonic’s current-gen outings. Try to figure out what they can do right and what they simply should do away with. And you know what? It’s as easy as having a look at two 2007 games.

The first one is simply called Sonic the Hedgehog and debuted on the Xbox 360, though a virtually identical PlayStation 3 version did promptly follow. Oh, yes, and it is such an astonishingly awful game you’d think it was meant as a bloody interrogation tool for a consolized version of hell. Also, despite its title, this abomination has nothing to do with the implied return to form you might be hoping for. On the plus side though, Sonic the Hedgehog Next-Gen could probably also serve as a developer’s map of the things designers should avoid: tons of horribly unfunny Sonic Team written dialog, an overly complex control scheme, graphics without style or flair, a silly soundtrack, weird missions, a horrid camera system, pointless exploration bits, exhausting loading times, an interesting selection of bugs and glitches, a badly judged difficulty curve, nonsensical ideas regarding save points and only a few moments of fast platform (almost) properly Sonic action, that unfortunately aren’t that good anyway.

On the other hand, the other extreme if you wish (you know, to, uhh, justify this post’s title) we have Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii, an impressively better game that really tried to focus on the basics that helped define and elevate Sonic to classic status, while also trying to keep up with the gaming mainstream of today: it’s in 3D and uses the Wii Remote. Happily it also offers a simple -almost intuitive- control system, great speed and what can essentially only be described as 2D gameplay. It is thus a fun game that feels properly Sonicy. Mind you, it’s not perfect, not by far, but definitely a step in the right direction. And it does spare us those anime cartoon anthropomorphic animals that aren’t Sonic…

It’s weird, I know, but even though both the Sixaxis and the Xbox controller aren’t really suited for FPS gaming, both of them heavy-weight consoles seem flooded with the things. Shocking and pointless and boring and dull I say. Unwieldy too and that’s why I’m urging you to ignore these shootie offerings and focus on 3 rather different and properly fun PS3 titles. These:

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

In short, this feels like playing through a Pixar movie, complete with amazing graphics, excellent music, wacky characters, childish humor and shiny colours. Not an innovative game, I’ll give you that, but pure mindless fun and as polished a platformer as you could hope for. Besides, it also sports a silly story and your kids will love it. Should also serve to show off your console’s power to you friends, though they might get a tad disappointed when noticing the complete and utter lack of any multiplayer options whatsoever.

The Eye of Judgement

A strictly multi-player game that combines traditional CCG gaming with the power of the PS3. How? By using the PlayStation Eye camera and some very physical cards. Through the use of a board and said cards - each properly encrypted- players attack each other in the pretty intuitive fashion of selecting a card and placing it on the board in a fashion not unlike Magic the Gathering. The camera translates the card into a monster/order/whatever, prompts the PS3 to play an impressive animation and calculates any results. Not surprisingly Wizards of the Coast helped design the thing and its a breath of fresh air.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

A classic arcade-adventure gone next-gen, or, to be precise, the evolution of arcade-adventures. Fantastic graphics, brilliant game mechanics, interesting puzzles, a convincing setting, PC quality storytelling, shockingly good voice acting and an inspired mix of bits of every genre imaginable make Uncharted the best single player game the PS3 has to offer. Yes, despite it being pretty short. Length, you see, has nothing to do with quality.

Truth be said, if Call of Duty 4 isn’t your cup of tea and you’ve already beaten Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, there’s not much you can do with your still shiny Sony PS3 during the holidays. Unless that is someone reminds you the bloody thing also happens to be a reasonably priced Blu-ray player, and apparently ButtonSmasher just did that for you. Heh. Now, as Blu-ray players are quite appropriate for watching movies, all you have to do is find something worth watching. Something to scare the kids with. Something like Pan’s Labyrinth. Better yet, Pan’s Labyrinth itself. Your PS3 will thank you and you will thank me (hopefully in cash).

Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece, you see, is probably the best movie on them shiny new discs yet and definitely one of the few truly classic movies released this past decade. It’s a sublime mix of dark fantasy with brutal realism set in post-Civil War Spain, that manages to raise important questions while offering some of the most beautiful yet disturbing visuals you’ve ever imagined. Instead of spoiling even the slightest bit of plot for you, let me just admit I’ve been watching it and showing it around regularly this last year, and that the first time I did so I also needed a bit of tequila to calm me down. Definitely not for kids this one.