Publisher:

The Scoop: Looking to offer an alternative to the sim-heavy Smackdown VS. Raw series, THQ has decided to take a second stab at a more accessible wrestling game after the lukewarm-received Legends of Wrestlemania. This time, instead of handing over the reigns to long-time WWE developer Yuke’s, THQ has brought in their San Diego Studios team to tackle the challenge.  Oh, and THQ San Diego’s head producer is some guy named Sal Divita.  You know, the guy who worked on such Midway games as NFL Blitz, NBA Hangtime and Mortal Kombat. This isn’t the first time that the San Diego Studio has worked on a wrestling game, though.  Most of the team worked on Midway’s TNA Impact that was released in 2009.  That game didn’t get the kindest of reviews, so the San Diego team is looking to redeem themselves with their latest wrestling endeavor: WWE All-Stars.

The Setup: WWE All-Stars pits 30 WWE superstars, past and present, against each other in the dream matches that WWE fans have always wanted to see.  Who would win in a dream match between Hulk Hogan and John Cena?  Is The Big Show a better big man than Andre The Giant?  Can “Stone Cold” Steve Austin take down the “Celtic Warrior” Sheamus?  Also, for the first time in nearly 16 years, players can take control of “Macho Man” Randy Savage in a WWE video game.  All of these superstars and dream matches are in your complete control.

What’s Hot: WWE All-Stars looks to get gamers, both old and young, to pick up the controller and duke it out as their favorite WWE superstars.  That’s why, as opposed to the Smackdown VS. Raw series, WWE All-Stars sports a simple control scheme that anyone can learn within minutes.  The left thumbstick controls your character, while the face buttons are split up into two strike commands and two grapple commands.  You have normal strikes and grapples along with strong strikes and grapples.  While a strong grapple does a little more damage than a normal grapple, it also takes longer to set up.  This can leave you wide open for your opponent to counterattack and turn the tide of the match in their favor.  Signature moves are pulled off by pressing both of the strike buttons or both of the grapple buttons simultaneously, while finishers are triggered by pressing both the left bumper and right bumper together when your finisher meter is full.

There are three meters that you have to keep your eye on during each match:  The first is your health bar.  Your health bar appears underneath your wrestler’s name during the progress of a match.  It starts off green, then as you take damage turns to yellow, then orange, then red.  Once your final red bar depletes, the meter will start flashing.  This means that if you get hit with a finisher, you’ll be knocked out.  The second bar to watch is your signature move bar.  This bar will increase with each strike and grapple that you connect with during the match.  The bar is cut into thirds, giving you the ability to store three signature moves at maximum.  One thing to keep in mind is that your ability to run is also tied to the signature move bar.  If it’s empty, you won’t be able to run and pull off running strikes or grapples.  The third bar is your finisher bar.  Quite simply, this bar tells you how close you are to being able to perform a finisher.

In most of the matches, the goal is simple:  Beating your opponent senseless and either scoring a knockout or pinfall.  There are no submissions or count-outs in these matches; pinfalls and knockouts can happen anywhere inside or outside of the ring.  Weapons are hidden underneath the ring apron, but you run the risk of being disqualified if you use them in any match that isn’t an Extreme Rules match.

Speaking of specialty matches, WWE All-Stars contains a handful of match types to fight your battles in:  One-on-one, Tornado Tag Team, Triple Threat, Fatal Four Way, Elimination Rules (up to four players, including tag team matches), Handicap, Steel Cage and the aforementioned Extreme Rules match types are your choices.  Steel Cage matches are especially fun, as there are no pinfalls or submissions.  The only way to win the match is to escape from the cage.  This works by climbing up to the top of the cage and stopping a meter in a designated zone five times in order to successfully escape.  The more damage that you’ve dealt your opponent, the larger the escape zone will be on the meter.  Of course, you have to be aware of your opponent at all times.  You can be interrupted during an escape attempt and thrown back into the ring if you’re not quick enough.

Publisher:

The Scoop: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a fun-filled game for any fan of Star Wars and/or LEGO games.

The Setup: Based upon the Cartoon Network CG series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars focuses on the plotlines of seasons one and two—aka the events between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano… they’re all here in adorable LEGO form. Even if you’re not familiar with the television show, you’ll still love the missions, the slap-stick humor, and the improvements to the game’s formula. While I can’t say it’s definitely the best LEGO game ever, I can say it’s definitely my favorite!

Editor’s Note: This review is based off of the Xbox 360 version of the game. There will be a review for the Nintendo 3DS version coming soon!

What’s Hot: What isn’t?

The set-up isn’t any different from other LEGO Star Wars games. Play through the level, collect as many Lego studs as you can, collect the kits, unlock characters, smaller characters can use crawl spaces, Jedi can use the Force on any object glowing blue… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That also doesn’t mean LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is the same old game with upgraded, HD graphics. There are enough improvements to the traditional formula that make it difficult to put the controller down. Plus, the cut scenes are hilarious! (You can check out one of the many cut scenes here.)

One of the improvements is with the Build Kits. Each level still contains ten hidden kits, but now there’s new incentive to collect them. Instead of old and busted incentive of collecting bits and pieces of a decorative starship, the kits build additional classic Star Wars characters. Want to go up against Count Dooku with Luke Skywalker and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed? Collect all the kits and build the characters!

Lego Obi-Wan is not amused

Another improvement is the space battles. Each battle is part ship-to-ship fighting, part assault. Sometimes you have to land on the enemy ship to sabotage a gun or communication tower before you can successfully blow up the fleet. Space battles are much more fun/easier to complete if you have two people playing.

And then there’s what I like to call the holding pen. In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Mos Eisley’s cantina served as a sort of central hub. From there, players could select which levels they wanted to complete next, unlock extra characters, attack NPCs for studs, and generally wander around. The holding pen in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is Anakin Skywalker’s flagship, the Resolute. Characters start out on the bridge and as they progress through the game and collect gold bricks, other areas of the ship are unlocked: engineering, hanger bay, med bay… Each section of the Resolute features a hallmark of the original LEGO games, like building custom characters or unlocking vehicles. But these hallmarks have been revamped for the better! In no particular order:

• Custom characters: in the original LEGO Star Wars games, players could create two custom characters. Now you can create up to fifteen.
• Unlockable characters: gone are the days of approaching the Mos Eisley cantina bartender and buying new characters. Now various characters will wander around the Resolute as if it’s some sort of tourist trap. Find them and press B to buy them!
• Speaking of characters: Only Republic characters will wander around the Resolute. If you want any evil Separatist characters, like Count Dooku or a battle droid, grab a fighter from the Resolute’s hanger bay and fly over to General Grievious’s flagship, the Malevolence. You’ll also find bounty hunters such as Cad Bane and Jango Fett hanging out in the hanger bay. Just be careful: any Republic character on the Separatist ship will be attacked, and vice-versa. This is quite possibly my favorite improvement over its predecessor. (But that might just be the Star Wars nerd in me.)

Not everything in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is simply an improvement upon the original formula. New features have been added that help make the game more interesting and add to the replay value. One of the biggest new features is the addition of a real-time strategy (RTS) levels. Players get the chance to play war general, assigning troops to specific locations, invading bases, blowing up Separatist armies with tanks, the works. Since a lot of episodes in the television show center around ground battles, this is an awesome addition to the game. There’s even an unlockable RTS freeplay mode where you can play just the ground battles over and over again. Like with space battles, I recommend playing these with a friend. You can cover more ground that way.

Send in the clones!

Another one of my favorite improvements is the ability to complete two plotlines at once. For example, in one level Obi-Wan and Anakin are separated on board the Malevolence. Anakin goes one direction, heading towards the bridge to sabotage what he can, while Obi-Wan fights his way through the cargo bay and faces off against General Grevious. If two people are playing together, one will complete Anakin’s story at the same time the other completes Obi-Wan’s. But if you’re playing solo, you’ll have to keep jumping between the two.

Along that same vein: co-op is vastly improved upon. Similar to LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars features a dynamic split-screen mode, making co-op so much easier. In the original, both players had to move together due to the limitations of the camera; if one player moved to the edge of the map, the camera would stop until the other player caught up. In this co-op mode, the screen will split in two, allowing both players to go opposite directions instead of shouting, “GET OVER HERE!” to one another.

Ahsoka and Captain Rex figure out a strategy

What’s Not: That awesome co-op improvement I just talked about? It’s not available online! In fact, there’s no online co-op at all. Why eliminate it, especially when so much emphasis of the game was placed on teamwork? There were also some technical glitches that lead to reboots. During a space battle, I landed on an enemy ship and my fighter was destroyed. Another fighter did not respawn in its place, leaving me stuck and unable to complete the mission.

And don’t get me started on the random game freezes. (Hopefully a patch’ll fix that!)

If you’re only interested in slicing things with lightsabers, then this may not bother you as much. However, for players not familiar with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, plot-wise you’ll be lost. While the events in the game mirror the episodes, they don’t go in episodic order. They’re grouped according to which bad guy was the main villain. After the prologue, the three main villains—Count Dooku, General Grevious, and Asajj Ventress—split and go their separate ways. You have the option of completing all the levels attached to a specific villain in one foul swoop or manually jumping between the three. Think of this as Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back: Even though the events take place at the same time and are intertwined, you have to complete all of Luke Skywalker’s story—training with Yoda, facing off against Vader, losing his hand—before you can play Han Solo’s story.

Plus, when it comes to solving puzzles, fans of the show will have the advantage. Sometimes solving a level involves doing exactly what the characters did in that specific episode. While the puzzles are not impossible to figure out, it’ll save time if you already know how Ahsoka took out the droid super tank.

It was also disappointing that some show events were missing. While I’m all for excluding the riveting episodes revolving around Padme’s senate cabinet meetings, what happened to Death Watch? No navigating a stealth ship through Admiral Trench’s blockade? Where’s Obi-Wan’s girlfriend? Yes, the game would be impossibly long if all the episodes were incorporated, but they left out some of the good ones!

Final Verdict: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a great game; it doesn’t mess with the winning formula and adds new features to mix things up. Fans of the show will appreciate it more, but it’s still a lot of fun for those who haven’t seen a single episode. Plus it’s not a bad deal at $50. Just be prepared for some plot confusion if you’ve never watched the show… and random game freezes.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go re-watch seasons one and two.

Publisher:Frozen Codebase
Developer:Frozen Codebase
Platform(s):Nintendo Wii (WiiWare)
Genre: Sports, Racing(?)
Rating: Not Rated   
Official Website: http://www.jamcityrollergirls.com/ 

The Scoop: Jam City Rollergirls is the first known effort (At least as far as I know) to make a game out of the American tradition of the roller derby, a sport in which two teams of women roller skate along a circular track in an often violence-filled attempt to get one team member to lap the opposing team. Instead of being a realistic depiction of the sport however, developer Frozen Codebase mixes elements from the kart racing genre to bring more fun into the mix.    

The Setup: Jam City Rollergirls is actually the first game I ever downloaded from the WiiWare channel; as a long time critic of the Wii’s online capabilities I often found myself spending my time and money on Xbox 360′s Live Arcade or Playstation 3′s PSN Store. I was rather excited to finally try out one of the Wii’s downloadable titles, especially since they have the reputation of supporting indie developers while still maintaining quality control (let’s face it, you have to sort through a lot of crap on the 360′s Indie Marketplace).    

In Jam City Rollergirls you control the “jammer” of a roller derby team which you select from a small roster of five real teams. Your role is to lap the opposing team for points, while issuing commands to the other girls to either defend you, help you get through the line, or block the other team’s jammer. Because a realistic game would only involve going around in circles on the track, the developers decided (wisely) to introduce some elements from kart racers into the game. As you go around you can hit speed boosting icons or collect power ups which was be used to increase your speed, give you a shield, or attack the other team.   

One of the tracks places you inside a meatpacking plant while another is set in a sewer, it's little reality seperating touches like this which sets Jam City Rollergirls apart.

The game includes the standard array of game modes. There is season play, which allows you to earn money and customize your own derby girl, I guess it is the equivalent of a story mode, minus story. You also have a quickplay which allows you to play just one match against a team or your choosing on a track of your choosing. Two player multiplayer is done through split screen, and a rather necessary and highly recommended tutorial is included to teach you how to play the game.    

In the end you are left with a more simplistic video game in which the core idea is to have fun, much like the games of old; unfortunately, I feel the game may have been more hindered than helped by the decision to go onto WiiWare as a distribution outlet. What I was hoping would be a way to alleviate my criticism on the WiiWare Channel may actually have boosted it, proving my point that when you limit the developer, you limit the quality of the game.    

What’s Hot: For a WiiWare game the graphics are pretty good, especially considering the file size limitations of the WiiWare channel. The character models are reasonably sharp, though the textures are pretty bland. The tracks are pretty good looking too, in the end I won’t say it looks much better than a higher res Playstation 1 game, but most of those games were well over 50MB in size.    

A few of the tracks aren’t half bad, most of them separate themselves from just being an oval track which is, from what I am to understand, the usual case for a roller derby track. Some of them can actually make the matches pretty tough to score points in. I found myself wishing that some of the tracks had more too them, but this was me just thinking from a kart racing point of view, as if they had more too them scoring would be near impossible without being on the easiest setting.    

What’s Not: As long as I played the game I only heard one song, which was maybe 15-20 seconds and looped. Anyone ever played Terminator for the NES? It was kind of like that. By the end of the first hour I wanted to beat my head against the wall, by the end of the second I got a great idea and muted the television.    

The character creation and season play mode only provide so much in terms of content, before too long you begin to notice that repetition is kicking in. It’s the music all over again and I know what the problem is. The internal memory of the Wii is very small, only like 512MB (though they measure it in ‘blocks’ which is a size I am unfamiliar with). When you make a WiiWare title you are limited in the size you can make the whole game, I believe the size is 50MB and in this day and age that is just pathetic. More modes and more music require more space and I think that given more space Frozen Codebase could have released a game that may be pretty decent fun with a group. Perhaps a series of derby inspired minigames? a more in depth season mode? I just think it could be more variable than it is, instead of just, what I feel, is only slightly more content than your average demo. Oh and more offense based powerups, that bomb is useless and the fire burst thing is a little too overpowered.    

This is the only useful offensive power and it is a little too ridiculous

Control is what killed it for me more than anything else. I see this problem with many of the games on the Wii, I think other people have noticed it too, but I don’t think anyone is will to stand up and say it. In my opinion they don’t make the game any more fun in 98% of examples. Seriously, they are almost always unresponsive, pointlessly confusing if your game involves more than pointing and shooting, and as I said before they seldom add any fun to a game. Here is the breakdown on the controls with Jam City Rollergirls. You move with the control stick on the nunchuck, that works. You move faster by tapping A, it’s a little annoying but I can live with it. The Z and B buttons are used to attack on your left and right side respectively and the C button uses your current powerup, makes sense so far so why is it that I can’t use the classic controller? To jump you need to waggle the nunchuck up, okay now we have a problem. If you waggle the remote you can get a boost from one of your teammates (this move is key to getting through the crowd), and again, we have a problem. Are these waggles really needed? They seldom work right, especially the jump, and while the jump is honestly useless on most of the tracks you end up jumping every time you move your left hand (if you’re a righty), especially when you don’t actually want to jump. The Wii has the classic controller and if you must make the game for the Wii than you should have it as an option, because otherwise you leave it open for guys like me to complain that the controls are horrendous… and these controls are most certainly horrendous.    

Final Verdict: I am still open to the idea of a kart racing inspired game based on the American Roller Derby, I think it had potential to be a very fun downloadable game. In the end I think the main problem was very poor controls and hardware limitation. Perhaps if we were to see this on Live Arcade or, if you must have the motion controls, PSN it would fare better.

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Eurocom
Platform(s): Nintendo Wii, DS
Genre: First Person Shooter
Rating: T – Teen
ESRB Content Descriptors: Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Players: Up to 4 local, 8 online
Official webstite: http://goldeneyegame.com/
Get it now @: amazon.com, gamestop.com, bestbuy.com

The Scoop: When Goldeneye 007 was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64, it set the bar high for any game carrying the James Bond license.  It was not only a great FPS, but also became the game to represent what a console FPS should be.  Console players could finally precisely aim at targets and pull off things like headshots using the N64’s analog stick.  Fully-rendered 3D characters of enemy AI would react differently depending on where on the body they were shot and the ability to aim through the sights of a sniper rifle were revolutionary game mechanics.  Adding on an excellent multiplayer mode with a ton of characters to unlock only gave the little cartage enormous replay value.

The dozen or so Bond games that have followed in the past 13 years have half heartedly tied itself in with the godfather of console FPS, but Goldeneye 007is the first game to fully embrace its heritage.  Purists are not going to get a “HD” remake of the original game but more of a reboot like last year’s Star Trek movie or SyFy’s recent Battlestar Galactica TV series.  It may play closer to a modern Call of Duty FPS, but with classic elements from the original blended in, the result is a great game.

The Setup: Goldeneye’s story has been completely overhauled to fit the replacement of Pierce Brosnan with current Bond, Daniel Craig and his take on the character.  It is a bit of a risk considering how iconic the original material is, but the game’s developer, Eurocom, is able to pull this off by keeping all the relevant parts of the story intact and dropping a lot of the dated material.

You are not Pierce.

The game starts off like the classic with Bond and Alec Trevelyan (006) infiltrating a chemical weapons facility in Russia.  Before the mission is over 006 is captured and killed in cold blood by the base commander Ourumov and Bond narrowly escapes.  Bond then sets out to track down Ourumov and he uncovers a plot to steal a Russian satellite that can emit a large electromagnetic pulse called “Goldeneye”.  “Goldeneye” can render any electronic device inoperable in areas the size of London.  The story does take some liberties with the use of action movie logic but it is a fun ride overall.

As for gameplay, Eurocom went out of their way to let you play 007 any way you want by supporting the Wii-mote/nunchuck, the classic and even the Gamecube controller.  All work well, but if you want to keep up the folks online you are going to have to get used to the Wii-mote/nunchuck setup.  It is, by far, the quickest way to aim and shoot.  I should also mention you can use the Wii Zapper but I do not have one, so no comment.

As a FPS the game feels more like a modern Call of Duty clone than an update of the original as you do things like aim down the sights of your gun to shoot and auto regenerate health by staying out of the line of fire, but this is a good thing.  With the advancement of enemy AI you can no longer take advantage of  “dumb” AI like you could in the original.  (Go back and play it like I did and you will know it to be true.)  If you are still not convinced, Eurocom does meet you halfway with “007 Classic” mode which will turn off the health regeneration and leave you at the mercy of finding bullet proof vests to survive.  It is not easy.

What’s Hot: One sweet element of the original game that is carried over is the ability to run and gun through the levels, or to play like Bond and get through undetected.  The stealth does amount to no more than crouching and clearing areas with you silenced PP7, but the game is way more fun when playing like this for no other reason than it being the Bond way.  The levels are broken down into small sections, so if you do accidentally set off an alarm you can kill the few extra guards before moving on and continue as if nothing happened.

They don't even know I am here!

Multiplayer was a large part of the original’s legacy being as it was one of the few games you could actually get four people to sit and play.  In this modern era of Xbox live, Steam and the PSN, Goldeneye does an excellent job of keeping pace with the times.  You can still couch it like the classic with a four way split screen or take it online.  I have read of a few people experiencing lag online, but I, for one after sinking about twenty hours into it, have had no issues.

What’s not: Three words:  Quick Time Events.  They really feel out of place in this game because it does everything else so well.  Goldeneye does have a heavier story than your average FPS but it is good enough it doesn’t need me to shake the Wii-mote to move it along.  Without spoiling too much, the end boss fight is a disappointment because of it.

I would have liked to have more Bond moments mixed into the single player campaign.  The best by far, was when I was about to run across a dilapidated bridge polluted with laser sights from sniper rifles. I had to stop and think, “I don’t have to run across that do I?”  In the end, they could have more of this and less explosive barrels.

Die cheater!

Final Verdict: Goldeneye 007 is a solid FPS that stays true to its roots by bringing back the still relevant elements of the original game and mixing them with current popular gaming mechanics.  Eurocom did an excellent job of delivering a solid Bond experience making it way more than a Call of Duty clone.  I cannot recommend this game enough, especially if the Wii is the only console you own.  And even if you do have one or two of those big HD consoles, it is time to wipe the dust off the Wii.  It is not to be missed.

Publisher:

The Scoop: Activision brings back the monster truck mayhem with their third entry in the Monster Jam series and the first on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 since 2007’s Monster Jam, which was also Activision’s first Monster Jam title.

What’s Hot: Monster Jam: Path of Destruction bills itself as the most authentic monster truck game to hit consoles.  Now, I am going to be honest with you.  I have never seen a monster truck show before.  So, while I was playing this game, I decided to do a little research on YouTube and watch a handful of monster truck events to get a better idea on how these behemoths handle in real life.  The more of these events that I watched combined with playing more of Monster Jam over the last few weeks have helped me get a better understanding of what you can and can’t do while in the driver’s seat.

With that being said, the controls and handling of the monster trucks in Monster Jam is rather authentic.  The left thumbstick controls your front wheels and your turning while the right thumbstick controls your back tires.  While these vehicles can be rather quick, they’re certainly not going to be mistaken as a rally car by any stretch of imagination.  You have to hit ramps and jumps accurately and judge your speed accordingly, otherwise you’ll be tipping over and flipping around the track the whole time.  Once you learn the discipline of these monster machines, you should be able to conquer anything in the game.  I was genuinely impressed with the game’s driving engine along with the two-thumbstick wheel scheme.

The main attraction to the game is the career mode.  In career mode, you compete in different events to earn XP towards your ranking.  When you rank up, you unlock things such as additional monster trucks (all 28 trucks are officially licensed), events at one of eight real-life arenas such as Lucas Oil Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium, and additional decals, vinyls and upgrades for your truck.

Career mode has several different event types to play through.  These range from pulling off tricks and destroying (almost) everything in “Freestyle” events, beating the clock in “Gate Rush” events, and getting down to some nitty gritty racing action in “Stadium Racing” and “Circuit Racing” events among others.

Multiplayer is also supported via offline play.  However, since this review is in the minority that doesn’t own a second controller for any of his consoles, I was unable to test any of the competitive options in the game.

Sound wise, the sounds of the engines are incredibly loud.  It almost got to the point where I thought Activision forgot to supply me with a free set of earplugs that I could wear while playing the game.  The game also features audio tips and tricks from the drivers of these mean machines, as well.  Sans some of the generic rock tunes that play in the background at the menu, it’s a solid auditory experience.

Graphically, the trucks of Monster Jam look terrific.  Each truck is given enough detail to make it look like you’re really driving the real thing.  The stadiums and arenas themselves are par for the course, though.  If you’re going to be looking hard at the authenticity of the stadium builds in the game, you’re not going to see a whole lot that will help you get an idea on how well they were done.  However, that’s just a minor nitpick.

What’s Not: In career mode, you earn these decals and upgrades for your truck throughout the game.  However, there are a few issues with this.  Decals are minimal at best.  In fact, creating your own truck in this game doesn’t have much depth to it.  It seems like a minimal effort in the customization department and certainly doesn’t offer the player very many options on how to show off their car.  Odds are that you will have to be very creative with what little you get.

Upgrades are another disappointment.  Rather than racing as one truck and building them up during the career mode, everything you earn gets upgraded to every truck in the game.  The worst part is, you have no control on what upgrades to add.  It’s all an automatic process.  If you are a person who likes to tinker and adjust things to your liking, you’re going to be really disappointed.

Want to pull off these cool tricks and stunts in the “Freestyle” mode?  No problem!  Just unlock how to do them!  That’s right, in order to learn how to do some of the stunts in the game, you have to unlock “Stunt Challenges” via the different stadiums.  Considering “Freestyle” events are one of the big events in the game, being left without a proper tutorial or even a hint until I unlock these “Stunt Challenges” is rather frustrating.

“Circuit Racing” events in the career mode are a complete disaster.  The tracks for these events in the game are better suited for motocross events, honestly.  You can barely get two-wide on the tracks, the A.I. constantly gets in your way, and some of the track layouts are complete rubbish.  When you crash or tip over, you’re not given enough time to try and reset yourself before you get penalized for a respawn.  I understand that a proper racing event is key in a racing game.  But for monster trucks, it just doesn’t work here.

Let’s not forget the complete lack of online multiplayer in the game, either.  To me, a racing game should have mandatory online play of some shape or form.  This is a game that can have plenty of replay value when played with or against a human opponent.  As I said above, I only have one controller for my console.  The only single player experience that the game comes with is the career mode.  No quick races or quick events where you can set your own lineups just for fun or practice, either.  You either play career mode or you better have a second controller handy.

Speaking of replay, it’s very minimal.  You could probably sit down on Friday night and be finished with the game before the noon kickoff of Sunday’s football festivities.  Once you complete anything, there’s really no other reason to go back and replay any of the events unless you’re looking to squeeze all of the Achievement Points out of the title.

Final Verdict: Monster Jam: Path of Destruction is a game that both impressed me and disappointed me at the same time.  The driving mechanics and controls are superb and really nail what monster truck driving is all about.  However, the lack of depth and the exclusion of online play from the title is what really kills it, even for a title with a $40 tag.  The foundation for bigger and better things is here, though.  It’s going to depend on Activision and Virtuos where the game franchise goes from here.  In terms of audiences, monster truck enthusiasts and younger audiences will eat this game up, there’s no question about it.  For the general racing fan, perhaps a rental is your best bet.

Publisher:

*While the game is available for the Nintendo Wii this review is based on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions. Some differences may apply with the Nintendo Wii version and some features may be missing.

The Scoop: This makes Harmonix’s third foray into the world of Rock Band. Fifth if we consider The Beatles: Rock Band and Green Day Rock Band. This time around we are introduced to new elements such as a new instrument, the keyboard, a new Pro Mode, and a revamped career system.

The Setup: Ummm…Rock Band has a story? I guess “you” decide to make a band! Then your do stuff…ya know bandy…stuff. Traveling the subway lines, roads, states, countries, and continents to make a name for yourself. ~~~~SPOILER ALERT!~~~~ You become a jet-setting rock god in the eyes of your 8 gajillion fans.

What’s Hot: Before you get too excited the Pro Mode reviews will have to come at a later date as the Keyboard, Pro Drums, and Guitar are not in my possession. I shall very soon be purchasing the smexy Ion Drum Rocker, however and the Keytar soon after. Right, now that I’ve shot down most peoples reasons for upgrading to Rock Band 3 let me elaborate on the many awesome non-Pro Mode reasons that you should consider the upgrade for anyway. First and foremost, my favorite new addition has got to be the drop-in drop-out menu system. At the bottom of the screen you’ll see four different join rectangles for your four designated peoples. With these menus you can sign in and out, switch characters, go to options, and flip back and forth between one instrument to another without the tedious, “Ok, hold on…you sign out first. Ok, now I’ll sign in on the drums.” nonsense. Now with the click of a button you and your buddy can switch it up very easily.

Rock Band 3 is chock full of these “minor” enhancements that majorly impact the greater good of gameplay. Another favorite of mine is the ability to skip songs in a set list. If you and your buddies decide to make a setlist that is 1,928 songs long (which is possible!) Then you hit a snag in your mojo and just can’t beat a song! Now you can skip it and move onto the next 1,927 without having to start over again. Setlists also now possess the ability to save and share them with friends. Picking the songs out that you want to use is made vastly easier with the new filtering system for song searching. With over 2000 songs it can be rather tedious finding everything you want to add. These are just a few of the tweaks that Harmonix added in to this new version that really streamline everything and give it a nice polish.

The second biggest change is the new career mode. Gone are the days of traveling the world consisting of such a limited amount of cities. In this day and age a band is not judged by its travels, but by its accomplishments. Like “Complete 50 Drum Rolls!” It acts almost like an experience system with your fans. The more challenges you complete the more fans you gain, getting you closer to the next stage in your life long ambition of opening for Sting. Some of them are very easy, like calibrating your game. Others are ridiculous, like hitting every note in every song on the Rock Band 3 setlist!

Which leads me to the last and awesomesauciest(TM) of tidbits (it’s a word…I just made it up! See the little TM* on the end of it…Mine!). The setlist! This game has one of the most diverse and interesting soundtracks ever. There is Classic rock to new wave. Pop to whatever the hell you would call The Flaming Lips. All tracks are well thought out additions to the already bursting library. I mean it has Bohemian Rhapsody AND Freebird! C’mon!

What’s Not: Sadly, no game is without flaws; as is the case with Rock Band 3. My only major gripe with this iteration is the redesigned career mode is a little hard to catch on to if you don’t know what you’re looking for. My wife and I just ended up playing songs that we were picking thinking we were completing some challenge. We were, it was just a play-so-many-songs-of-a-certain-type kind of challenge. Once we figured out how to do Road Challenges and get back into what we were more accustomed to it really started to flow better. This could have been avoided very easy though with a more prominent way of directing people the right way.

The other smaller issues are all about the presentation. The cartoonish sort of look is a tried and true method. It helps to emulate rock stardom and makes it easier to connect with players. It needs a fresh coat of paint though. It’s slightly changed in RB3, but for the worse in my opinion. Something that still plagues the look is the body structuring. Facial customization has seen a major boost, but not the bod. There is no reason my character’s shoulders should stay MASSIVE no matter what weight I am. My wife’s female guitarist should be able to have a heavier body without looking like a tube.

The clothes are absurd. Yes, clothes have wrinkles. Yes, they bend and contort around when we move. No, they shouldn’t be affixed in that position. It looks as though someone soaked the shirts in starch, folded them at odd angles and then ironed it to seal the deal. ON LEATHER COATS EVEN! Some shirts even give my character the appearance of manboobies. This is similar to RB2, but it’s amplified here and does not come out the other side in a good fashion.

Ok, seriously, last thing. Where is my Stairway to Heaven? Bribe, steal or beg your way to get this song Harmonix! For then you shall rule the world!

Final Verdict: While lacking visually in some areas, the core of what a music game is stands strong in Rock Band 3. A clean and beautiful mix of various artists, genres, and iconic songs fill this latest installment. It bodes well for the series to see it in such a polished form while still seeing new things introduced. The addition of the keyboard and harmonizing can get you up to seven people rocking out at once; making this the ultimate party game.

*Totally fake, he does not actually own this word, but really wishes he did.

Publisher:

The Scoop: Penguins battle it out to see who’s top bird in this colorful, cartoony, kids Wii party game.

The Setup: Club Penguin is an MMORPG for designed for kids between the ages of 6 and 14. Since its launch in 2005, New Horizon Interactive and Disney have made it their focus to keep the game and its community kid-friendly. Since the success of the online community, three spin-off video games have been released on Nintendo platforms—the first two being for the DS. The newest title, Club Penguin: Game Day! is the brand’s first venture to the console.

Being that this is a party game, I invited the usual suspects—James Baseman, Travis Washburn, and Jeffrey Volpe—to play. Although the four of us are in our mid-to-late 20s, we had a ton of fun with this colorful, whimsical Wii title.

What’s Hot: This game is made of win if you’re a kid. The graphics are excellent and vivid, and make you feel like you’re watching an animated cartoon. And the only thing needed to play Club Penguin: Game Day! is a Wiimote—no nunchucks or classic controllers needed!

At the beginning of the game, players create their own penguin character; they can either create a new one or download an existing penguin, if they have one, from Club Penguin’s website. Penguins are customizable from a variety of bright colors, whimsical eyes, and cartoon-like beaks. In story mode, players can continue to customize characters, swapping out eyes and beaks as they see fit.

There are three game modes to choose from: Story Mode, Tournament Play, and Quick Play. After trying out the Story Mode, we quickly realized that Club Penguin: Game Day! is a cleverly disguised game of conquest. Players work as a team as they attempt to take over an island, one area at a time, through winning a series of mini games. You can choose between four teams to join: Red Team, Blue Team, Green Team, and Yellow Team. We chose Blue Team, and began our noble quest in transforming the island into one giant Blue Team camp. In Story Mode, each area on the island features practice mini games, as well as the actual tournament. And for those who have a Club Penguin account, all progress and stamps (think achievement points) can be uploaded to your Club Penguin profile.

The instructions are clean and simple, all taking place on one screen with pictures along with simple text explanations. Several of the mini games use the same controls, but there’s enough variety that the similar controls don’t feel repetitive. There are three ways to play a mini game: Easy, Normal, and Hard. We stuck with Easy while trying to get a feel of the game, but even some mini games on Easy were challenging. When kicking the games up a notch to Normal or Hard, the games did become more and more challenging, but not to the point of frustration. Each mini game is anywhere between 90 seconds to 150 seconds, depending on the complexity of the mini-game, and that was just the right amount of time.

Tournament Play pits you and your friends against one another in Free For All or Two on Two game play. Four mini-games are selected at random, and may the best penguin win. Quick Play allows you to select one mini-game at a time to play through, whether as practice for the Tournament Play or just for fun.

While we loved all the mini games, these were some of our favorites:

Sumo Smash: Penguins + Inner tubes = Awesome. Four penguins wearing inner tubes try to knock one another off an ice island. At the end of 90 seconds, whoever has the most points wins.

Puffle Paddle: Bounce a little puffle off the ping-pong paddle, but don’t let it fall!

Dance Party: Get your grove thing on as you mimic the moves on the screen, waving the Wiimote up and down, left and right, and in giant circles. (Warning: If you’re going to play this mini-game while sitting on the couch, make sure you don’t hit the person sitting next to you. Sorry, Travis.)

Sled N Slide: The penguins try their hands (flippers?) at being a bobsled team, and work together as a unit to run the course and beat the other teams’ times.

What’s Not: The only bad thing about Club Penguin: Game Day! is we wish there were more mini games to play. After battling our way through Story Mode and Tournament play, we were left wanting more.

Final Verdict: Club Penguin: Game Day! is a must-have for young children, especially those already involved in the world of Club Penguin. It’s colorful, fun, and has just the right amount of game play balance between challenging and simplistic. If you have a little one between the ages of 6 and 12, this is a title they’ll enjoy.

Please note:  This is a review for the Wii version of EA Sports NBA Jam.  There is scaled down version available on the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

The Scoop: For a lot of people, NBA Jam reminds them of pumping an endless amount of quarters into the early nineties Midway arcade machine while wearing some type of MC Hammer baggy pants.  It was an original arcade sports title, where the emphasis was on fast action instead of a simulation.  With fantastic gameplay and a truly funny sense of humor, it appealed to both hardcore and casual gamers, and became an instant classic.

The original Jam brings me to the mid-nineties while I was in college.  Cheap food and entertainment were what was paramount back then, and for how much a PlayStation cost, it might as well have been available only on the moon.   Sega Genesis games, however, were cheap and plentiful.  My roommate’s Genesis was hooked up to the living room’s TV set, where it always had Mortal Kombat II or NBA Jam in its slot.  Tim Kritzow’s Marv Albert impression shouting “Boom-shaka-laka!” and my personal favorite: “Tenacious D!” would fill the room for hours while supper plates with dried bits of Kraft Mac and Cheese would stay unattended in the kitchen sink.

Now, after years of subpar follow-ups on various consoles, NBA Jam is getting a proper reboot with EA Sports at the helm.  Instead of messing with the original formula they have wisely returned the game back to its 2 on 2 roots and delivered a great game.

The Setup: The 2 on 2 games are the core element of NBA Jam and are what you will mostly play.  Like the original game, you control one player on the court while the CPU takes care of your teammate.  You can call for a pass at any time to take control of the ball if you don’t like where the CPU is going but the AI is really good at getting open for a shot or setting you up for an “Alley-Oop”.  There is also a co-op option that you and a friend can use to play against the CPU.

The game recommends you start at “Jam Camp” to walk you through the motion controls using the Wii-mote with the nunchuck.  Moving your player is done with the nunchuck’s analog stick, while face buttons on the Wii-mote handle passing and stealing.  Like the mini basketball game in Wii Sports Resort, horizontal flicks with the Wii-mote are used for slam-dunks, jump shots and blocking.  Old school purists unable to let go of the gamepad can use the classic controller or the Wii-mote on its side but I found flicking in slam-dunks worked really well.

Jam’s roots are in the quarter-eating arcade, so the games are short and fast-paced and will only take about ten to twelve minutes to play.  Traditional NBA rules are thrown away save for a shot clock and goal tending so players are allowed to get physical and shove or elbow the competition.  If you get three baskets in a row your player is then “on fire” and his subsequent dunks will launch him skyward for “fireball” slam-dunks until the other team scores.

U can't touch this!

What’s hot: The game looks and sounds great.  With an official NBA license, all teams are represented with each having three to six players to choose from.  Like the original, real photos of the player’s heads are used and now placed onto modern 3D character models allowing for more slam-dunk and Alley-Oop animations than ever before.  The in game music is funky and upbeat with some decent production values that keep it from getting tiresome.  Best of all, Tim Kritzow is back as the in-game commentator and has more to say than ever.  My new personal favorite is “Like my wife’s top drawer, nothing but Nylon!”

EA Sports striped away the gimmicks that have hampered previous versions of Jam and brings the game’s core elements back to the forefront.  The “classic campaign” is the original game with better graphics and is as fun and competitive as ever.  Pulling off slam-dunks and Alley-Oops has never felt this good before.

Once the classic campaign is done, you will want to invite friends over and get them playing.  Multiplayer is where this game shines and extends its play value.  Up to four people can play 2 on 2 at a time and the game’s showboating presentation will bring out the trash talk from unlikely places.

The remix campaign stretches out play value as well with each NBA team having a bronze, silver, and gold challenge to beat.  The challenges can be a mini-game (21, Domination, or Backboard Breaking), a 2 on 2 game that is like the classic version but with power ups, or a Boss Battle.  Boss battles are 1 on 1 games played on a half court against an NBA legend.  Each of these legends comes with a unique ability and some are unfairly strong.  Larry Bird’s ability to make it rain 3-pointers with a single throw will have you pulling your hair out in frustration but it is very satisfying once you do beat him.

Jam has a ton of hidden Easter eggs that can be unlocked by using cheat codes and are worthy of searching the internet for.  Rap stars, politicians and team mascots are all fair game in Jam’s universe and can create some wild match-ups.

Note to Trump: Rodman does the firing on the court!

What’s not: I’m not going to say NBA Jam is like a peanut butter sandwich without any jam because the remix campaign does do a lot to build on the original concept.  Instead I’ll ask you to imagine you paid $100 to see Lady Gaga perform at Madison Square Garden and she only wore a T-shirt and jeans for the entire show.  This game will give you the same feeling after a while since there is a lot missing from what we have become accustomed to in a sports title.

A local leader board tracks a few of your stats with only points scored, shots blocked and rebounds being recorded.  EA has also decided to stick with the old school way of inputting your three initials to keep track of your profile.  If you don’t pick three letters and stick with them or you do not input them correctly the game assumes you are another profile and you will not receive credit for your stats.  Right now KEU instead of KEV is credited on my Wii as having the most rebounds.  Cute for 1995, but not so much in 2010.  A way to sync your profile to your Mii would have been preferable.

The NBA players are locked to the team they are currently with and there is no way to trade them.  Understandably, each team needs to be balanced to fit the design of the single player campaigns, but why can’t I have Lebron James and Steve Nash on the same team for an exhibition match?

Most importantly, with all the effort EA put in creating a wonderful multiplayer experience and since the game is best played that way, online play is missed.  Even an online leader board would be welcomed.

Magic was a kitten compared to Larry.

Final Verdict: I am going to recommend NBA Jam, even at full price because although it is missing some standard sports game elements; it does successfully bring back the core gameplay from when it was great.  The single player campaign experience is thin but you will break it out for get-togethers enough times to make it a worthy addition to your collection.

Publisher:

The Scoop: Take control of the Lords of Earth, Sea, Air, and Fire and battle through the world of Gorm in order to save Earth from Magmion, the evil Lava Gormiti.

The Setup: Based off of the highly successful Gormiti toy brand and TV series, Gormiti: the Lords of Nature! plunges gamers right into the Island of Gorm where armies from the various elemental forces of nature are battling it out.

In the midst of the war stands the evil Lava Gormiti, Magmion, who discovers a tale of five sacred amulets spread across the Island of Gormiti. Once the five sacred amulets have been discovered and reunited an inter-dimensional portal to Earth will be opened, allowing Magmion to reign destruction in both worlds.

Fortunately for us earthlings Magmion will have his hands full, as the four lords of Nature plan to foil all his evil plans and save Earth.

What’s Hot: Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is a game that blends puzzle and combat mechanics together in order to provide a pretty interactive adventure. Puzzle challenges, such as moving parts of a bridge around to connect two pieces of land together, aren’t too complicated or challenging and are definitely age appropriate for the current Gormiti fan base. Whether you’re fighting off lava men or solving a puzzle, there is always something going on.

Gormiti: The Lords of Nature is a very “team” based game in the sense that players are often required to switch between the different Lords and use their special abilities to overcome certain obstacles.  One section of a level may require you to control the Lord of Sea and swim across a river to activate a switch, while another section would need the Lord of Earth’s abilities to create a bridge made out of vines.  This is a really well designed feature as gamers will get to play as all the characters instead of just choosing one and leaving the other three to sit on the bench.

The game also features some bonus material in the form of a sliding jigsaw puzzle, which becomes unlocked as gamers collect up to 16 egg-like items in each level.  The puzzles represent different characters in the game and upon successful completion of the puzzle, gamers are treated to a fun little reward.

As a game based on a licensed toy brand and TV franchise, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is pretty darn accurate when it comes to recreating the characters and environments.  This is definitely something that would be more appreciated by fans of the toy brand and TV franchise, rather than the average gamer who hasn’t dabbled much in the Gormiti world.

The graphics aren’t anything earth shattering, but the characters, environments, and animations are very colorful and bright, just like you’d expect from a video game based off of toys and a TV series.  The added FMVs and animated cut scenes are a nice addition and are fairly well done.

What’s Not: The controls (at least on the DS version) were unreliable and didn’t always respond to my input.  Sometimes it would take a second or two for the characters to follow my stylus other times my stylus attacks didn’t register.

When controlling the group of Lords together, there were times where one of the Lords would get stuck in an entrance way or behind an object, and I would be force to just select that one character and navigate the Lord back up to the rest of the group.

Even though the blend of puzzles and combat work out nicely and keeps the game lively, both mechanics are watered down and straight forward.

In most cases of video games based off of licensed products the game is heavily geared towards pleasing the current fan base of the franchise, and Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is no different.  Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! is targeted towards younger gamers and fans of the Gormiti toys and TV series, so anyone that doesn’t fit in either of those categories may have a hard time getting drawn into the game or sticking with it.

Since the game is really targeted towards the current Gormiti fan base, it never really explains any of the background or lore to the whole Gormiti universe.  Why do these four teenagers have the ability to transform into a Lord of Nature?  Who is this Razzle fellow and why is he here?  These are just some of the questions that you will ask yourself if you know nothing about the series prior to playing this game.

Final Verdict: For fans of the Gormiti toys and TV series, Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! will make a good addition to your growing Gormiti collection.  The characters and environment seem to stay pretty true to the franchise and gamers get to experience saving the world as all four Lords of Nature.  Younger gamers who don’t know much about the Gormiti series should still be able to enjoy Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! as it’s a very easy game to pick up and offers easy to follow tutorials.

Gormiti: The Lords of Nature! for the Nintendo Wii and DS is currently available from Amazon and Gamestop.

The Scoop: Following the lighter adventures of the Dark Knight, this old school style 2D brawler will let you get some cartoon Batman camp while presenting some retro-vibe. Bring a friend cause this game is co-op to its core.

The Setup: The cartoon Batman: The Brave and the Bold is known for mixing the corniness and camp of the classic Adam West TV series with the gloomy look of the early 90’s Batman: The Animated Series (still easily one of the best cartoon of all time). And one of the major angles of the cartoon is that Batman teams up with a different hero or set of heroes every episode. It’s not my favorite Batman cartoon outing, or my second, but the show is still very enjoyable, especially if you watch the Adam West movie beforehand.

The team-up aspects of the show are brought to life by way of 2 player co-op, and make no mistake; the game is based entirely around 2 player co-op. Go in alone and you will find yourself bored within minutes.

What’s Hot: The 2D hand-drawn animation is quite good, though that should be expected from a full-fledged retail release. The sprites are crisp and clean and the animation moves without a hitch. The 3D Backgrounds are mostly good, though some of them completely stand out by looking about as good as the ones in Klonoa: Door to Phantomville over 10 years ago.

The soundtrack is right at home with the show, the jazzy tunes wouldn’t normally be at home while punching people in the face, but in this case it just fits. The dialogue is campy and fun, just like the show; expect lots of cheesy one liner’s and unnecessary puns. The banter between the two characters is most likely going to be the highlight of the game for most people, as it was for me. It would at times become so funny I would take numerous hits just trying to hear every word of it. Many of the summon special attacks also carry the same humorous tones, my personal favorite is Booster Gold, who shows up with a horde of paparazzi that take so many picture that the flashes knock the enemies unconscious.

Co-Op is the key and the co-op is actually pretty fun, while not requiring the most brilliant of minds there are many items in the game that require teamwork to obtain. Like the Lego series of games there isn’t any major tactical advantage, it’s just more fun with a partner.

What’s Not: Like the Lego series this game doesn’t exactly take a brain surgeon to play, but unlike the Lego series there isn’t a plethora of characters and options. Not to say there isn’t multiple attack and unlockable weapons, they just amount to next to nothing. Ready your thumb, you’re gonna be pushing that A button a lot. Controls are another problem I have; you have to use the nunchuck and wiimote setup instead of a classic controller. If you are making a game that plays retro you shouldn’t muck it up with non-retro controls. They aren’t even well laid out with the buttons, attack is A which makes jumping awkward (not that the other way around would matter) and your specials are done using the ‘1’ button… that button should never be used for ANYTHING in a Wii/nun setup. No other buttons to use? MAKE MORE BUTTONS. Or make use of the classic controller; there is nothing wrong with not using motion controls.

The game is short, only 4 levels, but the levels just don’t end. You’ll spend near an hour on the first level alone, and that is the shortest I’ve seen (I’ll admit, we didn’t finish the game). You’ll get to the end and be so grateful for the coming change of pace, only to find that the next level is yet another hour in length. This is the main reason you need to play with a friend, because I can vouch that the level lengths make the game nearly unplayable by yourself. On the first go I was with two others switching back and forth, upon leaving I realized I needed to start the game again. I played again with another, made it around the same distance, and then had to start again by myself. Sorry but I just couldn’t do it alone.

Final Verdict: This game is cheaply made, looking and playing last gen; WayForward has basically given us a great Live Arcade/PSN title and decided to charge a full 40 bucks for it. If they would have thrown forth some production value or lowered the initial price I would be all for it, but as it is this game is not worth it at all, buy something of higher quality for your 40 dollars and wait for this one to drop to around 15 dollars or end up as a download like seems the logical choice.

Or just rent it like I did, that works too.

*FINAL NOTE* The game features a Wii / DS connectivity that I was not able to cover in the review as I didn’t own the DS game and it was not available for me to rent at the time.

Order your copy of Batman: The Brave & The Bold from Amazon.com today.