Shadow Complex is superb, an intelligent and refreshing mix of action and exploration, far more polished than any other Xbox Arcade title I’ve played. Here we have the realistic graphics and visual effects of a first-person shooter applied to a classic side-scrolling adventure. Thanks to the use of the Unreal Engine, what should look primitive, nostalgic even, looks slick and very modern, taking a classic and sadly over-looked genre in video games and bringing it gloriously into the next generation.

I’ve been waiting for a game like this for years. I am instantly reminded of legendary titles from my past; Out Of This World, Prince of Persia, Castlevania, and the one it most parallels, Metroid. Games where each step is but part of a larger labyrinth, where intricate paths lead to new tools that allow you to backtrack and uncover hidden entrances. Guns to shoot down roaming guards with, yes, but hook-shots and jet packs, upgrades that allow you to climb chasms and cross fiery pits of death. The kind of physical obstacles you’ll need to think creatively about, roll around in your mind and pace your living room to find a solution to. This is a thinking gamer’s action title.

The story centres around ideas banged out with author Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) and expertly scripted by comic book writer Peter David (The Incredible Hulk). That a group of game designers had enough sense to partner with real writers to work on their game is enough to make me want to cry. I found myself jotting down lines of dialogue because they were that good.

“If it’s any comfort, you’re not the only pawn in play today. There’s a very large Chess board out there…..”

A conspiracy is afoot in America. A powerful and secret military organization called The Restoration envisions the United States as the next Imperial Empire, one to rival Ancient Rome. Infiltrating the highest levels of government, the group aims to start a series of civil wars, to divide and then conquer their very own country so that they may assume control and follow their Manifest Destiny ideals in making Americans the dominating leaders of the world.

This is the plot that powers both Orson Scott Card’s novels Empire and his upcoming sequel Hidden Empire. Shadow Complex takes place in the same world and timeline, crossing similar events, but with different characters and different locations. Some of the technology introduced in the game will apparently end up in the second book.

You play as Jason Fleming, a young and intelligent man who grew up in a military family and benefited from the training handed down to him, but was sensitive enough to question the ideals of the service and pursued a different life instead (a nod surely to Jason, son of James Bond creator Ian Fleming).

One day he and his date Claire head out to the remote country for a climbing and cavern exploration adventure when she suddenly disappears. While searching for her in amongst the hills he uncovers a military base belonging to The Restoration as they assemble for a frightening invasion. When Claire ends up in one of their detention cells, Jason follows his sense of responsibility and is soon crawling around in heating vents and slipping past guards to try to infiltrate the complex and rescue her.

Jason and Claire are grounded, almost average characters in the video game world and I like the natural way they interact with each other. In recent years the video game industry has adopted the marketing tactics used to sell sneakers to sports fans and beer to fratboys and it’s refreshing to have characters that aren’t addicted to trash talk, pumped up on steroids, or crippled by juvenile angst.

At first you run around with just a backpack and a pistol, sneaking up behind guards to execute wicked take-downs and trading shots with the others who come running when you trip the alarms. A flashlight allows you to explore the walls and ceilings and very quickly you come across locked areas that glow with hidden, secretive colours.

Hidden within the complex are the components of a powered armor suit. As you explore the miles and miles of corridors, storage rooms, hanger bays, and underwater lakes, you’ll find upgrades to enter those colour-coded areas. Areas that the flashlight reveals to be yellow break down with gun fire, green with grenades, red with missiles, and so on. Similarly there are physical obstacles; high-up balconies, flooded corridors, and cave-ins that will be accessible with suit components that let you jump farther, run faster, swim underwater, and climb walls with precision.

In an unusual twist, you go up in experience levels, increasing your shooting accuracy, based on points earned not from defeating guards, but rather from exploring new areas of the map and collecting upgrades. Thankfully there’s no area in the game that you can’t return to, in fact by design you’ll visit each section of the map at least twice if not more. At any time you can pull up the map and see just what percentage of the world and its upgrades you’ve managed to collect.

Events in the game do allow for dynamic changes. Some areas you’ll enter will trigger special shoot-out galleries or Boss Fights against massive ‘Mechs that can change that area slightly, forcing you to go through it in different ways.

The most impressive effects involve underwater exploration. There’s a lovely sense of ballet as you float and swim, exploring dark waters with your flashlight and doing your best to find the next air pocket to breathe from.

Combat is satisfying, not because of any blood or gore effects, but simply in the way you “blow away” the guards once you walk into room. There’s a shotgun-like weapon you’ll uncover later in the game that will send them flying with just a simple glance on your part.

As one large puzzle, Shadow Complex is quite engaging. You don’t have to assemble the power suitor visit each section of the map to finish the game, in fact the expectation seems to be that you won’t. Once you finish the game you can start again, carrying over your experience and any special unlockables from before. You still need to gather all of the items and visit the map sections again to keep going up in levels, but the idea being you know better how to and can spend more time exploring new areas and items.

Special unlockables are awarded if you manage to find all of the gold bars and for every ten levels of experience you gain, starting at 20 up to 50. To give you an idea of what that means, I managed to collect all of the items and reach 99% of the map on my first run through and I reached level 20. On my second run, level 30. Yes, each time I was given a bonus to make it easier to finish the game faster, but it will still take several more tries to fully “finish” the game.

One of the game elements that truly sets Shadow Complex apart from others in the same genre is an item called the Foam Gun. With it you can shoot quick-drying globs that stick onto walls and floors, allowing you to use multiple shots to build walk-ways, ramps, and ledges. The foam will become the obsession of the most die-hard players who will no doubt use it to access ahead of schedule and get items out of order.

Shadow Complex is easily one of the year’s best titles, a rare game that makes all the right original choices, so much so that it should be played by other game designers to take notes from. In no way shape or form does it feel like a download title, it could have easily been released on disc for $70, but instead it’s being offered online for 1200 Microsoft Points ($20) making it also the best deal of the year.

A superb single-player story mode and online support for up to 16 players make this the best Grand Theft Auto game yet.

One of the many things that set GTAIV apart from its predecessors is Liberty City, which is more convincing as a living, breathing urban environment than anything that you’ve seen in a game before, and bears little resemblance to its namesake in 2001′s GTAIII. Liberty’s diverse population believably attempts to go about its daily business, seemingly unaware that several criminal factions are at war in the city. Niko has no such luck. He’s compelled to start working for one of the factions shortly after arriving, when he learns that his cousin Roman has some potentially fatal gambling debts. Niko’s military experience makes him a useful freelancer for employers in the business of killing each other, and though his reluctance to carry out their orders is often apparent, he does whatever is asked of him in the hope that completing missions for other people will ultimately give him the means to complete his own.

Liberty City has changed a lot since 2001.

Actually, Niko doesn’t have to do everything that is asked of him. On several occasions as you play through his story, you’ll be presented with decisions that afford you the option of doing what you think is right rather than blindly following instructions. You don’t necessarily have to kill a target if he or she promises to disappear, but you have to weigh the risk of your employer finding out against the possibility that the person whose life you spare might prove useful later in the game, or even have work for you in the form of bonus missions. To say anything more specific on this subject would be to risk spoiling one of GTAIV’s most interesting new features, but suffice it to say that every decision you make has consequences, and you’ll likely want to play through the game at least twice to see how the alternatives unfold.

Grand Theft Auto IV’s story mode can be beaten in less than 30 hours, and there are so many optional activities and side missions to take part in along the way that you can comfortably double that number if you’re in no hurry. The majority of the story missions task you with making deliveries and/or killing people, and play out in much the same way as those in previous games. With that said, most of the missions are a lot easier this time around, partly because Niko is a more agile and efficient killer than any of his predecessors, and partly because the LCPD seemingly has better things to do than hunt down an illegal immigrant who’s gunning down undesirables all over the city. Some of the more imaginative missions sprinkled throughout the story include a kidnapping, a bank heist, and a job interview. The cinematic cutscenes associated with story missions are superbly presented and are the sequences in which the game’s characters really shine. Without exception, the characters you encounter benefit from great animation, great voice work, and superbly expressive faces. They’re not always so impressive when they join you on a mission and refuse to do what they’re supposed to (for example, not following you on an escort mission, or failing to negotiate a doorway). Nevertheless, these problems are few and far between, and they’re made less painful by the new “replay mission” option that you’re presented with whenever you fail.

He's a gun for hire, but Niko Bellic is the most likeable GTA protagonist to date.

New abilities in Niko’s arsenal include scaling fences and walls anywhere he can get a foothold, shimmying along ledges, and, most importantly, taking cover behind objects. The ability to stick close to walls, parked cars, and the like at the touch of a button makes GTAIV’s gunplay a huge improvement over that in previous games, and, in tandem with the new targeting system, it also makes it a lot easier. Enemies are rarely smart enough to get to you while you’re in cover, and given that you can lock your targeting reticle on to them even when they’re hidden, all you have to do is wait for them to poke their heads out and then pick them off with a minimum of effort. Locking on to enemies targets their torso by default, but you can use the right analog stick to fine-tune your aim and kill them more quickly with a headshot or two. Playing without using the lock-on feature make things more difficult, but you’ll need to master the technique so that you can shoot blindly at enemies from positions of cover when you dare not poke your own head out to line up the shot.

Given the amount of trouble that you get into as you play through the story mode, it’s inevitable that the police are going to get involved from time to time, even when their presence isn’t a scripted feature of your mission. Liberty City’s boys in blue are quick to respond when you get flagged with a wanted level of between one and six stars, but they’re not nearly as tough to deal with as their counterparts in previous GTA games. They don’t drive as quickly when pursuing you, they rarely bother to set up roadblocks, and you’ll need to blow up practically an entire city block before the FIB (that’s not a typo) show up. Furthermore, you’re given an unfair advantage in the form of your GPS system; when you’re not using it to plot a valid route to any waypoint of your choosing, it doubles as a kind of police scanner. Any time you have a brush with the law, the GPS shows you the exact locations of patrol cars and cops on foot in your area, and highlights the circular area (centered on your last known whereabouts) where they’re concentrating their search. To escape, all you need to do is move outside the circle and then avoid being seen for 10 seconds or so, which is often best achieved by finding a safe spot and just sitting there. It’s not a bad system in theory, but in practice it makes dodging the law a little too easy, especially when your wanted level is low and the search area is small.

The police are rarely far away, but escaping from them is easy for the most part.

When you’re not running missions for criminals, taking part in street races, stealing cars to order, or randomly causing trouble, you’ll find that there are plenty of opportunities to unwind in Liberty City. Some of these optional activities offer tangible rewards that can prove useful in missions later on, whereas others are just a fun way to kill time and take in more of GTAIV’s superb humor. For example, you can watch television, listen to numerous different radio stations, check out some genuinely funny shows (including some big-name acts) at cabaret and comedy clubs, and use a computer to surf the in-game Internet.

I’ve given this game 9 out of 10 stars.

I have no problem admitting I’ve played every single Harry Potter video game that Electronic Arts had produced, which has proven a surprisingly easy task, given the games have usually gotten notably better every time. I’m a big fan of Harry Potter‘s world and these games give me a chance, in some small way, play around there.

WII’S KILLER APP

The series started coming into its own when the Wii showed up a few years back, accidentally handing EA a killer application of the Wiimote. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, more so than any Harry Potter game before it, harnesses the Wiimote/wand potential. Half-Blood Prince is available on every platform under the sun, but it was clearly built with the Wii at the forefront and that’s where you should play it.

In a game based on casting magic, it would be far too easy to overcomplicate the motions required to achieve active spells with the Wiimote. In this respect, EA both failed and succeeded, depending on what part of Half-Blood Prince you’re playing. Thankfully, most of the game’s spent doing things that make subtle, brilliant use of the Wiimote’s capabilities. While running around Hogwarts, you’re pointing at objects, lifting them into the air with a simple flick up, tossing them in another direction with a brush elsewhere. While conjuring potions — a surprisingly huge part of the gameplay experience in Half-Blood Prince — the Wiimote responds wonderfully as your hand tips and stirs. And Quidditch games, while mind-numbingly easy and on-rails, do feel natural. By comparison, the traditionally-controlled versions are overcomplicated and twitchy.

On Wii, however, it’s not uncommon to overdo the required hand movements, resulting in the casting of unintended spells. That said, I’ll happily take some hyper-waggling over three-step analog stick combinations to accomplish the same task. For example, a simple levitating spell is a flick up on Wii, but requires moving the right analog stick up, then left, then right (all in one quick motion) everywhere else.

MY HANDS ARE TANGLED

Half-Blood Prince‘s Wiimote dilemma comes about halfway through the game, when EA decided to add one too many spells to the combat arsenal. Combat begins as an entertaining back-and-forth of rock-paper-scissors, but such simplicity is ravaged when attacking spells are coming at such a fast pace that you’re unable to execute the correct motions. Here, the precision of a controller proves advantageous. I can’t count the number of times I accidentally executed a protection spell on the Wii version, meaning to do something else. To ensure proper hand movements, I was forced to sit up straight, holding my Wiimote and nunchuck forward, to avoid additional frustration.

There’s even a mildly amusing wand-centric metagame happening as you walk around. Collecting crests unlocks in-game bonuses, and in addition to whole crests, there are mini-crest pieces scattered all over the world, highlighted by golden hues. While navigating Harry with the nunchuck, a simple swish over the highlights with the Wiimote sends mini-crests scattering. It’s a lot like Super Mario Galaxy‘s star bits, except without the ability to have a second player point a Wiimote at the screen.

SPOILER ALERT

I hope you’re already familiar with the source material, too. If not, hold off. Not only will the game spoil one of the series’ biggest twists, but every dramatic element from the book is completely removed from this version. Half-Blood Prince makes no attempt to weave a coherent narrative, especially problematic for one of the more complicated Harry Potter books. Reading the book or seeing the movie is a requirement; it should be on the box. Like every other Harry Potter game that EA has produced, it assumes you’re already intimately familiar with the storyline. I’d previously associated this issue with an accelerated development schedule, but this is EA’s sixth Harry Potter game. The gameplay’s advanced every year, but the storytelling remains disturbingly stagnant.

All told, Half-Blood Prince is also criminally short, unless you’re obsessed with completing all the mini-games to perfection and unlocking the 150 crests (good luck!). Half-Blood Prince is an absolutely joy to control, thanks to the Wiimote, but in almost every other respect, it feels like just another licensed game. I don’t know if EA needs to be lifted from the restrictions of the Harry Potter books to produce the epic Harry Potter video game adventure that’s been swirling in my head, but now that it’s nailed the biggest hurdle, controls, we need an equally impressive game part, too. Maybe next time.

http://g4tv.com/games/wii/51401/Harry-Potter-and-the-Half-Blood-Prince/review/#ixzz0KatDwORk&D

It’s getting tough to review Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, simply because they’re all pretty identical once you get beyond the tracklists. Sure, you might find a tweak here or there, but truthfully, they’re all about the same. This one is a lot of fun to play, but not worth the extra $60 while it’s so similar to the rest of the bunch.

Guitarists, drummers, singers, and bassists can all play together – no rhythm guitar parts, sadly – and thankfully, the star power and performance meters are somewhere you can see them now. But the big addition to gameplay is for the guys banging on the skins: a second kick drum pedal. The double bass work is pretty optional – it gets its own special difficulty (Expert +), but you have to do it because it feels, for lack of a more clinical term, totally metal. Seriously, if you can get through Slayer’s “War Ensemble” at the highest difficulty setting, you will feel like and absolute musical super hero. And you will BE one because that song SUCKS to play on expert.

Overall, I give this game a 6 out of 10.