Release Archives: WEEK OF APRIL 19, 20054.19.2005 Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict *Game of the Week* Developer: Epic Games Publisher: Midway System: Xbox MSRP: $49.99 As much as I loved Halo 2, there were a few quirks in the multiplayer that threw the balance all out of whack and essentially ruined the experience for me. After playing a demo of UC2, it seems that many of the problems I had with the Halo system are nowhere in sight for this game. The most important new feature UC2 brings to the table is a much more advanced way of handling melee combat. At the touch of a button you can switch between the standard run and gun first person view and a third person view that makes navigating the rocky terrain much easier. You can even pull off some defensive moves while in the third person, such as reflecting an incoming attack, that should add all sorts of depth to a usually mindless genre. There's also more than ten unique characters to choose from. I don't mean that they simply have different skins; I mean they all have different moves and techniques. With more than 40 maps available from the onset and a huge variety of game types, this should be the perfect FPS for people wanting a little break from Halo. Polarium Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo System: Nintendo DS MSRP: $29.99 Polarium, like just about every puzzle game ever conceived, can be described as a deceptively simple yet highly addictive experience. I know because every preview I've read has some semblance of that sentence buried within. So what new twist on the classic Tetris theme does Polarium offer up? Instead of rotating the blocks on screen you use the stylus to change their colors. Running the stylus over the blocks draws a line and when you tap the stylus all the blocks flip from either black to white or vice versa. If you can get an entire row of horizontal blocks the same color it will disappear. The trick is trying to get as many lines to disappear in one motion as possible. Extra replay value is included with a puzzle mode in which your goal is to clear an entire puzzle drawing only one line. With multiplayer and the ability to make your own puzzles included, this should be a must buy for DS fans anxious for a new game. Psychonauts Developer: Double Fine Productions Publisher: Majesco Systems: Xbox/PS2/PC MSRP: $49.99 If this would have only come out five years ago, a time when I ran screaming with glee to the nearest store every time a 3D platformer came out, I think my head may have exploded. And if it wasn't for Unreal Tournament 2, a game I have not only played already but thought was amazing; this would surely be my game of the week. As it is, I can only highly recommend it. While I may not live in a fantasy world where I get preview builds of games, I can still tell you a little bit about this orphaned titled. Microsoft was set to publish it but decided at the last moment that it was all too shocking, and let Majesco scrape it up. So all you PS2 owners better get down on your hands and knees and thank the gaming gods. Pyschonauts puts you in control of a little kid trying desperately to escape from summer psychic camp. You know what that means - my favorite video game ability is back in full force. It's about time we got a new game with psychic abilities. And while I don't expect the sheer brutality present in Psi Ops, you do get a ton of different moves at your disposal. Throw in one of the most surreal worlds around and a sense of humor that should make anyone laugh and there is no reason you shouldn't buy this game. - Tom |
