The story in Mafia 2 is well thought out and you start off as a soldier in the war against Mussolini. From there you come back home and that is when you start to fall into the life of crime which is the basis for the game. It does flow really well with a decent pace but unfortunately at about halfway through the game the pace is ruined by a chapter which drags down the game to a snails pace and really takes away from the game rather than adds to it. I don’t want to give away spoilers so that is where I will leave that comment, only to say that personally I think the game would have been better without that dull chapter and without it ruining the pace.

The graphics in the game are excellent and well detailed however at times there was some screen tearing on the Xbox 360 version. This seemed to happen really only in the first couple of hours and then settled down so it was not too much of an issue, just a little distraction.

The game uses a cover system which feels a little clunky at times but it is very important to use cover as there are times when you can be killed by one shot. The AI is not that great, but come across one with a shotgun and it may be game over if you are out of cover. One annoyance I found was the police wanted system. You have two layers of wanted – first the car you are in is labelled as wanted and secondly if the police see you out of the car they get a description and then your clothing is marked as wanted. To get rid of the wanted status of the car you must change vehicles or change the number plate at one of the many garages and to get rid of personal wanted system you must change your clothes. The problem was getting to these places. There seemed to be at times police on every corner so it was quite a task to actually shake off the police. You may lose their alert but as soon as you go near another police car the alert starts again and you can get into a vicious cycle.  Simple taking another car is not that simple because all stationary cars are locked so you have to wait for the animation of smashing the window or picking the lock before you could take it – and in that time another police car turns up. I tried running to a shop to get a change of clothes and shock horror just as I was about to go into the store a police car turned up and the alert started again, I got into a 20 minute vicious cycle of alerts and no alerts before I was able to take proper action. Frustrating times but it did not dent my enjoyment of the game.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and it’s storyline and would recommend it to everyone to play. It may not have the sandbox feel of other games but really it does not need it. Definite rent, possible buy.

Toy Box is a whole town which you can build up and do mini fetch quests for different town residents. Quests are very short but there are plenty of them to keep you occupied. I have spent 3-4 hours in Toy Box mode so far and I doubt I am near completion.  It is a fun game with plenty to keep you occupied and is available on all formats.

This is not a review, just a passing comment

GOOD/10

This game has borrowed (copied) many elements of some of my favourite games. You will see elements from the likes of Bioshock, F.E.A.R and Fallout 3 just to name a few. There is an old saying that imitation is the best form of flattery and the developer here has done very well in it’s flattery and come up with a very accomplished game which is worthy of your money.

The detail in the graphics is excellent and unlike the above named games I experienced no glitches, bugs or graphical issues like tearing whatsoever.  It was like they took all these games, mixed them up and actually improved the look and feel to give a polished experience.

The story itself is a little wild and at times has you going from the year 2010 back to 1955 via a TMD (Time Manipulation Device) strapped to your arm. The game is based around time manipulation but unfortunately I do not think they used it enough in the game. There was only a bit near the beginning and some near the end of the game where you went back to 1955. I would liked them to have extended this and had more experiences of going through the time warp. It was a good feature but not used to it’s potential. This did not affect my enjoyment of the game at all, I just think it should have been utilised more within the storyline.

I really enjoyed Singularity and it was a pleasant reminder of some games I had played in the recent past and would definitely recommend everyone play it. It is an accomplished FPS and whilst it may not be worthy of the full RRP price, this is a must-play if you can get it cheaper than what the game shops are offering (£44.99). Available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Rated 18 Years

GREAT/10

It is classic Lego game fun and while I would not rate is as highly as the previous games – Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones it is still definitely a worthy addition to your collection if you are also a Lego fan.

The previous games got bigger and bigger in gameplay space especially the last Indiana Jones episodes so it was a disappointment to find that Harry Potter version feels a heck of a lot smaller.  I think this is due to being mostly in the confines of Hogwarts Castle so I did feel at times a little claustrophobic and restricted and it also felt quite linear.  I suppose this is not really something I can criticise too much because of course they are trying to vaguely follow a story which was mostly set around Hogwarts and if they strayed too much away from that, die hard Harry Potter fans would find holes in the story.  As usual with Lego games there are tons of collectibles – red bricks, gold bricks, postal boxes and some which are unique to Harry Potter like shield crests – each level has 4 quarters of a shield to collect. There are also bonus levels to play for extra gold bricks.

There is really not much I can say about this game further. It is Lego, in the same vein as the other games with a different skin and a smaller playing area. If you are a Harry Potter fan you can add it to your collection, if you are like me and do not like Harry Potter but are a Lego game fan, it is still a worthy game to play because you will soon forget you are playing the series.

One final note for the developer, I think the title is wrong. I know the game is aimed at all ages, but the title Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 really makes it sound like the actual game is aimed at pre-school when it is not.

GOOD/10

What next for Lego games?  Spiderman, Superman, or maybe a collection of super heroes would be good?

EA Sports have tried to change the game slightly and have added a new “true aim” mode which is supposed to replicate proper golf and which is turned off by default so you have to enable it. Sadly, in their rush to try and bring something new, they forgot to tell us how to use it.  This is exactly what the manual says:

True-aim is an all-new, more authentic way of playing golf in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. Rather than utilising an aiming circle, players using True-aim must use an in-game marker to see the distance ot the target and then adjust their swing accordingly. This results in a more realisitic way of playing and gives players even more control over their swing.

Sounds easy yes?  Except when you switch to True-aim mode you are presented with not an individual marker but about 8-10 different GPS points and there is no explanation at all on how to use them or switch between them.

Another lack of explanation is for the new Focus mode. And this is what they say:

Use the all-new focus feature to take even more control over your game. Your golfer’s focus is displayed as a red meter in the lower left corner of the hud. As you perform advanced maneuvres such as power boost, spin, putt preview or shrinking the aim circle, focus decreases. Once focus is completely depleted, advanced maneuvres are no longer available. As time passes, focus is slowly restored.

This is all pretty self explanatory and on the whole it works very well except I cannot get it to work for boost accuracy in the training section so I keep failing. The instructions are clear to a point but when you exit to take your shot there is no instruction on how to actually apply it to the shot and so my training is failing. Needless to say I exited the training and just played the game as I used to.  Now I am sure some bright spark will come along and explain how to do these, but if something which should be simple requires explaining, then EA Sports have failed.

Let’s talk about the putting. This is one of my biggest gripes of the later Tiger Woods games, it is that I cannot use the putting grid very well. I struggle to read it and understand the speeds and putt accurately. I can manage about a foot either side of the hole but anything greater than that and my putting is a mess.  EA Sports have been criticised by many gamers for this before – not for having a putting grid, but for having no real alternative to read the green for those who hate the grid.  Sure they have the putting line by pressing LB (Xbox 360 version) but this can often be very vague and it is limited in use to how much focus meter you have. The putting line uses up quite a large chunk of focus so there are many times when you can only use it once per putt or even have no chance to use it at all because you have not enough focus, so you are left to using the putting grid – if you know how to use it well.

Gone are the monetary prizes for your skills and now you have the XP system known from RPGs and adventure games.  You get XP points for completing challenges and general play of the game. These can be spent on upgrading your skills or buying items from the club shop. You have to balance out your desire for new kit against upgrading your skills. My personal recommendation is to ignore the pro shop until you start  getting lots of XP and concentrate on upgrading the skills only at first. Certainly there are a few early challenges which require you to have a certain amount of power to pass so power should be an early priority.  Speaking of challenges, there are 48 challenges to play ranging from completing 3 or 4 holes in a certain par or more challenging types of 9 holes. They are a little challenging this time round as not only do you have to beat the par score of the opponent but you also have a minimum amount of greens-in-regulation (GIR) or fairways-in-regulation (FIR) – so as an example one of Retief Goosen’s challenges is that you have to beat his score of -1 under par but also minimum of 7 out of 9 greens in regulation. So its a double challenge as you may pass on one but fail on the other.

Generally I feel the game is an okay upgrade but it seems to lack some punch and something new to the table, those bits which are new are quite poorly explained and the whole game just barely feels like a new game at all. As I said at the beginning it is just the same of golf churned out with a few bells which at a push let out a little ding.

Be wary of buying the game second hand if you wish to play online. EA now have a unique code on each manual which unlocks the online play. If the code is used then you have to pay to unlock the online play. A bit cheeky but I can understand a bit that they want some money from the second hand market although being the largest game developer in the world, they certainly do not need the money and many customers will see it as penny pinching.

I am disappointed with this game, its just another rehash but if you are one who has to buy every iteration of every Tiger Woods game then it is worth buying, just do not expect any groundbreaking new things. I would class it more as an expansion pack, but then that is the way all sports games are nowadays.

GOOD/10 (at a push)

My personal opinion is that whilst I enjoyed every Splinter Cell game in the series, I felt that as each one passed, they were getting a little stale.  I think something had to change and the changes in this game I think are for the better.  Okay Sam is no longer a spy but a civilian but really in the sense of the game this is only a matter of how he looks.  The main element of the game is still stealth based but with a few added extras like upgrading weapons and the execute system.  I think the execute system is quite good actually, by performing hand to hand kills you get the ability with a single press to mark an enemy and with another press execute them from a distance in slow motion James Bond style bullet to the head. This can be very useful in situations where you feel there a too many enemies to handle or you cannot get to the stealthily. Some may not like it, but here is the news, you don’t have to use it!  Apart from one section in the game later you can totally ignore the fact you have the execute ability and play the game like the old games.

The graphics in this game are excellent, not quite on a par with Call of Duty MW 1&2, but it is almost there. There is high detail in the environments and aside from a little tearing of the screen occasionally, it looks fantastic.

I think fans of the series who do not play this game because it has moved from it’s roots are doing themselves a disservice because this is every bit a Splinter Cell game with a few changes and Ubisoft fully deserve the No.1 spot it has claimed in its first weekend of sales in the UK.  Well done to Ubisoft for having the balls to try something different on a tired old series and making a success of it.

The real problem as far as I can see was that the series was getting old.  It was stale and none of the previous games really improved that much on the previous before that. In a nutshell it was the same gameplay, different location each time and very similar storyline.  Splinter Cell Conviction throws away the old rigid rule book and starts afresh with a new set of rules.  He is no longer an operative in a silly black outfit and donning night vision goggles but is working alone in civvies to his own agenda.

Gameplay wise, Ubisoft have now implemented an quick execute option so you can tag and kill multiple enemies with a couple of button presses.  I like this option. I have problem with some games sometimes in that my reactions are a bit slow so creating a set piece for multiple kills I think is excellent. It is not a given right either, so not to make it too easy, the execute option has to be earned by close up kills.  If anyone complains this makes the game too simple then the easy answer is do not use it. You are not forced to use the tag-then-execute option, it is merely there for those who do want to use it.

Personally I love the new gameplay. It is very fresh and I love the fact that they have moved away from the dry old black-clad-super-spy theme to give us something new.  This may be the recipe they need to bring back gamers who abandoned the series before because it was getting stale.

Roll on April, I will now submit my pre-order.

My friend Cat hates the changes  and you can read her well thought out rant on here

http://carocat.co.uk/2010/03/21/splinter-cell-conviction-demo/

Cat gives more information about the changes although I do not think they are all negative things. Two very polarised opinions

Well the game is out now and has gone straight to Number 1 in the all formats chart. I purchased this game on release day and I have to say it is one of the best games I have ever played. Actually it is not really a game it is more like an interactive movie with many different endings depending on your choices in the game.

I was so immersed into the story of the game I was actually upset that I made a single wrong button press ending in the death of a minor character that I had to restart that chapter again and do it properly because what I did felt so wrong and this is how the moral decisions within the game play on the players emotions.

Like all games, Heavy Rain is not perfect and sometimes suffers from confusing controls especially during moments of intensity like a car chase or a fight and confusing scenes are made more confusing because the more stressed the character gets, the faster the commands display on the screen. Fortunately if you are struggling with this aspect you can turn the difficulty down and play it a little slower.

Despite the niggles, I will now whip out my thesaurus and list some words which describe it – amazing, brilliant, unique, gorgeous, memorable and breathtaking. Yes the game and the ending was so brilliantly executed that when the credits rolled at the end it left me breathless and truly lost for words.  EXCELLENT/10

Out now on Playstation 3 only. Rated 18 years

Every once in a while a game comes along which is attempting to redefine video games and their genres and maybe even create a new genre.  Heavy Rain on the Playstation 3 is one such game and expectations are high that this game is going to have a positive impact in the way future games are constructed.

Heavy Rain is not just a game, it is also an interactive thriller based around 5 main characters who you get to play. These characters are actually real people alive today and they all centre around a fictional story of a serial killer – The Origami Killer. Your actions and reactions to events in this game will determine how the game plays out, in fact your actions are so important to the gameplay that a wrong decision may lead to the death of that character and once dead they are dead for the rest of the game and you continue with the remaining characters so you may have to think hard about your actions before committing to them.

The developer, “Quantic Dream” wants to play with our emotions. They want the gamer to feel real emotion when playing the game and to feel what the characters are feeling. If they succeed with this then maybe it may change some games forever. If they fail, then it will only be remembered as just a game in gaming history.

Heavy Rain is an adult game and not suitable for children. It has mature content and is designed solely for a mature audience. Kids need not apply on this one. Think Patricia Cornwall or James Patterson.

Heavy Rain will only be available on the Playstation 3 and is due for release at the end of February. Check out www.youtube.com for lots of trailers and preview videos.

Rated 18 years and over.

In at number 5 is Professor Layton & Pandoras Box. The successor to Professor Layton & the Curious Village, this game brings you more mind bending puzzles than you can flick a baked bean at and is recommended for all ages although may be quite hard for younger gamers.

RRP £34.99

At 4 is Singstar Volume 2 on PS3. Old and young there are songs to sing for everyone.  The bundle comes complete with two microphones so you can further deafen your deaf great grandma.

RRP £49.99

In at 3 is the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit. An unusual gift maybe, this pack is a mini keyboard and headset which attaches to an Xbox 360 controller. Today Microsoft released an update which allows for Twitter and Facebook on the 360 so this mini keyboard can be a thumb-saver for typing messages over Xbox live.

RRP £24.99

Number 2 is Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. This standalone disc contains the two downloadable add-on packs which were released for the original game on Xbox marketplace – The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and the Damned.. The great thing about this is if your boyfriend/wife/husband has sold/traded/lost their original disc, they do not need the original to play this game. Available on Xbox 360.

RRP £34.99

At Number 1 slot I do recommend an Xbox 360 4200 points card for the marketplace.  On the face of it, it looks like a boring pressie but believe me this will give hours of fun to the internet connected Xbox 360 gamer.  For those not in the know and are shopping for others, a points card is like a voucher which a person can spend online via their xbox 360 to buy games, movies and additional content for games.  Games range typically between 800-1200 points each so they can choose for themselves what games they wish to download. This is very useful when buying for someone when you know they have an Xbox 360 but you have no idea what to buy them.  Ultimately they get a valuable gift for them but they can choose the real prize

RRP £34.99

If you decide any of these products might be a good gift or even want to browse for other products, www.vouchercodes.co.uk can offer you some money saving vouchers to try and help ease the Christmas spending burden, every penny saved is an extra tot of brandy or nibble of a mince pie (with cream)! Go directly to the link above or below are some handy links direct to a few video game retailers discounts.

Game – www.vouchercodes.co.uk/game.co.uk

Play.com – www.vouchercodes.co.uk/play.com

Amazon – www.vouchercodes.co.uk/amazon.co.uk

These are just a few of the stores who offer discount vouchers from free delivery to money off, bogoffs and so on.

Merry Christmas!