"We're looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Until then, we'll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."

The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18.

• The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
• An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director’s commentary, and more.
• The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
• A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
• Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™  starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector’s Edition. 
  

"I had a great time doing the voice for my own animation,” said Gordon Ramsay. "Being in a video game is a new experience for me and I'm very pleased with the results.”

After executing the three phases of an order – preparation, cooking and service – Chef Gordon Ramsay will score each meal. As they progress through the game, players will be rewarded with access to recipes from Chef Ramsay's own repertoire.

WINDOWS XP
• 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
• 512 MB RAM
• A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
• At least 6 GB of hard drive space

WINDOWS VISTA
• 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
• 768 MB RAM
• A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
• At least 6 GB of hard drive space

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:

• Intel Integrated Chipset, 945GM or above.
• 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.
• 768 MB RAM

• ATI Radeon series
  • 9500, 9600, 9800
  • X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
  • X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
  • 2400, 2600, 2900,
  • 3650, 3850
• NVIDIA GeForce series
  • FX 5900, FX 5950
  • 6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
  • 7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
  • 8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
• Intel Extreme Graphics
  • GMA 950, GMA X3000, GMA X3100

After something like a 42-year development cycle and 100 gameplay presentations from Will Wright, Spore finally has a release date.

Via a very brief teaser video posted on the Spore website, EA has announced a confirmed release date of September 7th, 2008 for the PC, Mac, and Nintendo DS.

"The wait is almost over," Chief Designer Will Wright said in a press release. "We're in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can't wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year."

The seven months until release gives plenty of time for conservative, religious, and parents groups to get up in arms about the "pro-evolution" content of the game.

Growing up I remember being a big fan of Micro Machines. Those little cars were a ton of fun to play with and collect since they were much smaller versions of matchbox cars, but still had a lot of detail. The only problem seemed to be that they’d always get lost around the house. Now you can relive those experiences in a way with Micro Machines v4. In this game by Codemasters, players race small cars through a solid single player campaign to regain their collection.

Micro Machines v4 features a very large single-player experience with over 40 tracks. The goal like in almost every other driving game is to beat your competition in a variety of game modes including time trial, race and battle. As you venture through the game you’ll build up your arsenal of cars by going through various levels from learner to legend. Of course the trial and race modes are pretty self explanatory, but battle is a little different. In this mode, players battle the computer to get enough distance between them to earn a point; whoever wins the most points wins the game. Overall this mode is fun and keeps players interested.

Of course, the game wouldn’t be fun if it were just racing so Micro Machines included a nice variety of weapons and power-ups to challenge you and your opponents. Players are able to pick up items such as shockers, heat-seeking missiles and machine guns as well as more unique weapons like dice bombs and hammers. There are health and energy power-ups too.

To go even further in the single-player experience, there are plenty of Micro Machines to unlock in the game. Version 4 has 750 cars total to collect in a variety of styles including lowriders, sports utility, and more.

The quick and fun experience in Micro Machines is perfect for multiplayer which the game does very well. Players are able to race against three other friends or play a team game. One other nice feature included in this mode is a track editor to create maps in various environments, although this is only available through multiplayer. Sadly there is no online support for Micro Machines v4.

Finally, the last really good thing about Micro Machines is the tracks. Although there aren’t a ton of them, they are in very interesting places. Since you’re driving mini-cars you’ll make your way around places like a backyard, kitchen, pool table, roof and more. Certainly the developers put a lot of consideration into level design and it pays off in the game.

Sadly not everything is great about Micro Machines. Two big issues with the game are the difficulty and length. Version 4 is obviously geared towards children 10 and under. The majority of the game is gas, brake and slide. After just a couple attempts on a level it’s pretty easy to win and players with any experience should be able to complete the game in a matter of hours.

To go along with this, the computer isn’t the brightest. I’ve noticed they’ll often fall off the sides of tracks and will give up after just a bit of a challenge. As for the length of the game, there are over 40 levels, but each one doesn’t take much time to beat. At most I noticed it would take about five minutes to move on to the next level.

Another big issue in the game is the graphics. Overall Micro Machines isn’t very impressive from a visual standpoint. The environments are interesting, but for today’s graphic engines they are average at best. To make things worse, the menu screen graphics are terrible.

Finally, two other issues in the game are sound and load times. The only in-game sound to speak of is engine noises. There is virtually no music to speak of in the game. As for the load times, they are pretty long and I noticed up to 30-45 seconds at times.

Micro Machines v4 isn’t trying to be the best racing game out there and that works for the title. Certainly the sound, graphics and difficulty aren’t the best you’ll see, but Micro Machines is fun, simple and keeps you interested. There is a lot more to do in the game than you’d think with a robust single and multiplayer experience, but in the end the game is geared towards children and for them it is a pretty solid racing title.

The controls are easy to pick up and play and do keep you interested.

The in-game graphics are average, but the menus are poor at best.

The game is mostly sound effects which makes it pretty lackluster.

For the experience, Micro Machines is pretty fun and amusing.

The game is short, but multiplayer will keep you coming back.

]]> Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:18:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2007_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2007_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2007_announced#

"We are pleased to bring our highly successful WWE SmackDown vs. RAW franchise to next generation consoles," said Kelly Flock, executive vice president, worldwide publishing, THQ. "As the publisher of the number one wrestling video game brand in the world, we are eager to take this franchise to new heights by offering the game to current generation, next generation and handheld gamers."

"We are excited about the next groundbreaking release in the multimillion dollar SmackDown vs. RAW franchise," said Nelo Lucich, vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. "WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 combines ambitious, exciting features, such as the interactive fighting area within the crowd and a brand new analog control grappling system, which enhance the WWE video game experience. We are confident this debut will offer a compelling sports entertainment experience for the next generation of gamers."

WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 is expected to make its debut on both current and next generation gaming systems beginning this fall.

"We were thrilled with Empire Earth II, with its reception from the fans and press, with its innovations, and with its take on the series," notes Dr. Ian Davis, CEO of Mad Doc. "Yet there's always something more you want to do, always some way to make a great game even better. We were aching to add the Fealty and Tug-of-War Modes, and I think fans are going to have a lot of fun with these. Those, and the other features we've put into play here, really make the Empire Earth II experience complete."

Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy is scheduled for release in Spring 2006.

Empire Earth II, like its predecessor from 2001, is generally known as one of the most massive real-time strategy games available. It follows the evolution of mankind over a half million years, from the era of the caveman all the way to a future filled with giant robots and all things “nano.” Mad Doc Software didn’t change the standard formula much from the original game (which was developed by Stainless Steel), so EEII was still a very daunting game with literally hundreds of units, gigantic tech trees, and plenty of resource gathering to keep your mouse finger twitching. The sequel did however include some tweaks including a picture-in-picture feature, a war planner, and even more customizable options than before. Mad Doc Software is promising even more surprises to keep us busy with the upcoming Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy expansion pack due out February 14.

It’s an ambitious expansion that aims not only to add the standard new units and maps, but also update several core aspects of the game. For example, EEII shipped with 14 civilizations – no small number, to be sure. EEII:TAoS is set to add even more to the mix. In response to fan requests, France and Russia will be represented, as well as the African Zulu and Maasai (not fan requested but Mad Doc insist they help round out the game’s regions). Along with the new factions come new units. The French will now be the first to get their hands on stealth planes. The laibon is a special priest for the Maasai who not only can convert opposing units, but also will be able to heal friendly units early on in games. Along with the new factions come three new campaigns (fifteen missions) and some new turning-point battles.

The only noticeable change for the graphics-side of things is new dynamic lighting effects. Explosions will now reflect off of buildings and the environment, making things a little more exciting in the eye-candy department. Mad Doc has also responded to gamers’ complaints that units don’t visibly react differently from one type of damage to another. With the expansion, units will go scattering through the sky, limbs flailing in reaction to a cannonball blast or other explosion.

New units and some nice effects aren’t going to be enough, and Mad Doc knows that. You can also expect new features that affect gameplay. For instance, there will now be indigenous civilizations minding their own business on the map. You could wipe them out, or better yet, if you can make them your allies your entire army will receive special boosts, like dealing more damage, or healing abilities. The designers promise this can really turn the tide in a multiplayer battle.

But so could the fealty feature. We’ve all been there before - you’re playing a huge skirmish game online against six other people, and you just get decimated right from the get go. About five minutes into the game, and you’re about to be destroyed. With the fealty feature, a desperate player can swear allegiance to the army that is destroying them. That way, if the dominant army accepts it, the weaker player can continue playing rather than sitting out the next 2 hours of gameplay. The dominant player now gets a portion of every resource the “vassal” gathers, and can control any military units he creates. Sounds pretty great to me - here’s hoping it’s half as fun as it sounds.

Another interesting feature coming our way is the tug-of-war mode. In tug-of-war, games will be played across more than one map. You’ll start midway between each player’s fortress, and each time Player A wins a map, the battle moves one map closer to Player B’s fortress. Player B gets to call in some reinforcements, but Player A gets to bring along his hero and other units that he won the first battle with. The closer to a player’s fortress the game gets, the harder it will become for the advancing player. Plus, if you ever go back to a map you’ve already passed, both players’ buildings will still be there, right where they were left.

The additions to EEII that will come packed with Art of Supremacy seem to cover everything. It of course will have new playable factions and with that, more units, but that’s to be expected. What’s more exciting are the gameplay additions. The concept of fealty and making conquered players swear allegiance seems like a sure winner and if it indeed works like I’m imagining, you can expect to see it popping up in tons of new RTS titles. Tug-of-war also sounds interesting, although it certainly sounds like one full match could prove incredibly time-consuming. We’ll just have to wait and see if the expansion pack can please the series’ veterans, while possibly even pulling in some new players. Explosions resulting in screaming soldiers soaring through the air certainly sounds promising…]]> Thu, 09 Feb 2006 19:11:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

When Sony announced the PlayStation Portable at E3 in May 2004 they claimed that games for the system wouldn’t just be ports of PlayStation 2 games and instead would just be new games. Despite Sony’s desire to have original content, some developers have decided to bring out ports any way and such is the case with WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006. Is it just another port or is it an exception to the rule?

Usually you’ll find that most ports on a handheld system are a stripped down to the bare essentials version of the console game, but that is not the case with Smackdown Vs. Raw. This game features every mode seen in the PlayStation 2 version; whether you want to play Royal Rumble, Cage Match, Buried Alive, Fulfill Your Fantasy or any of the others, they are all packed into this little UMD. Aside from that, the game just about includes every wrestler from Raw and Smackdown as well as many of the wrestlers you may remember growing up with like Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and Jake the Snake, although most of these grapplers need to be unlocked.

As for the gameplay in 2006, the controls are pretty solid and if you’ve played the Smackdown series before they are very familiar. Related to the controls are all the moves that are available in the game. Players can still pull off reverses and finishers although you will see certain moves used a lot more. One addition not seen in the series before is the stamina meter. During a match your player will eventually tire out and slow down, but with the simple holding down of the select button your stamina will improve and this can have a direct result on the outcome of the match.

Obviously the matches feature a lot of depth, but it doesn’t end there as the game also includes a season mode, GM mode, and create-a-player. The season mode sadly only allows you to play through one full season, but it does include multiple storylines with voice talent from the stars.

The GM mode on the other hand allows players to set up matches for either Smackdown or Raw wrestlers and work the business angle. This mode has you create exciting matchups for ratings and money and even allows you to jump in and play the matches when you so desire.

One thing completely utilized for the PSP is the game’s connectivity to the PlayStation 2 version. This is a very nice feature as it will allow you to switch your game back and forth during a season. Although create-a-player is problematic on the PSP due to load times, players can transfer that data over as well. One last thing is that Smackdown Vs. Raw includes ad hoc wireless support, but of course that means you’ll need up to four friends close by who all have the game as there is no game-sharing feature.

The biggest problem in Smackdown Vs. Raw has to be the load times. Last time we saw such problematic times was in Rockstar’s Midnight Club 3. The load times here are very long and average at least between 30 to 60 seconds. Beyond that, if you decide to go into create-a-player, every alteration you make takes forever to load so thus this option is almost unplayable on the handheld.

Another slight drawback in the game is the graphics which are hit and miss throughout. The arenas and crowds are rather poor quality while the character models are decent as you can tell each superstar apart, but the polygons on the wrestlers are still a bit rough and their movements are slightly choppy. The one good thing I can say about the graphics is that the cut-scenes are very impressive and that adds to the excitement leading up to the match.

Worse than the graphics is the commentary which is largely absent from the game except in season mode, but even there it’s quite rare. In-game there is just about no commentary although there are some sound effects, but nothing that really stands out. The music fits the wrestling atmosphere I suppose, but isn’t all that memorable.

One last issue in the game is the three mini-games that are featured. They include Texas Hold ’Em, Airplane with Eugene and a trivia game. Texas Hold ‘Em is slow and dull; Airplane is just idiotic to say the least; and the trivia is very simplistic. Unlike many other PSP games where the mini-games add something to the experience, these just seemed like a last second thought for the developers in order to make the product different from its console counterpart.

Overall WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2006 is a solid game for the PlayStation Portable especially considering they brought over every conceivable option to the handheld sans online play. The problem with this though is that unlike its console brethren, the PSP edition features extremely long and frustrating load times that really hurt the final product. Nevertheless, Smackdown Vs. Raw offers a lot for players and if you like wrestling or enjoy the series, this is definitely a game to grapple with for a while. 

Controls are familiar if you’ve played the Smackdown series before.

Arenas and crowds are poor while character models are average. Cut-scenes are very impressive.

The voice-acting that is present is solid, but it is meager while commentary is missing.

It's fun for any wrestling fan and offers a lot to do; load times really drag it down.

There is a lot of replay value as every game mode featured in the PS2 version is here.

]]> Sun, 29 Jan 2006 13:56:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp_ships http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp_ships http://www.gamebump.com/go/wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_psp_ships# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

"As the industry leader in handheld gaming, we are excited to release WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006 as the company's first title for the PSP system," said Kelly Flock, executive vice president of worldwide publishing, THQ. "We are confident the WWE SmackDown vs. RAW franchise will flourish on the PSP system and deliver a definitive WWE video game experience for both long-time fans and newcomers to the series."

"The success of WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006 continues with its launch on the PSP system," said Nelo Lucich, vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. "With a host of game play features, an impressive roster of Superstars and exclusive content, WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006 is one of the most comprehensive titles offered for the PSP system and lets fans experience WWE video games in an exciting new way."]]> Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:58:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_ps2 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_wwe_smackdown_vs_raw_2006_ps2# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The WWE doesn’t have an off-season like the major sports do and thus you see a new wrestling game coming out faster than a yearly basis. The reason for that, however, is that there are different franchises for each console. The PS2 has had the Smackdown! Vs. Raw series, which fans had a good time with last year. This time, PS2-owning wrestling fans get second helping of the fun, but with an extra coat of polish that makes it one of the best wrestling games ever.

The first thing you’ll notice in WWE Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2006 are the graphics and its presentation. The character models of all the wrestlers are spot-on accurate to their real-life counterparts. All the details, from their skin and muscular definition to their eyes and facial expressions, look fantastic and are animated spectacularly. It’s not so improbable to mistake this game for a real telecast of one of their shows if you’re glancing at the TV from a distance.

What adds to the great presentation is the commentary from both teams of Jim Ross/ Jerry “The King” Lawler and Michael Cole/Tazz. Some of the things they say can and will get repetitive, but they sound natural on the mic and do go into detail if the wrestlers facing each other in the squared circle have a history. Another nice touch is that they’ll interrupt what they are saying to comment on a powerful move or unexpected counter.

The great character models carry over to the created characters you can make. Now, they aren’t as well detailed as the main roster, but when in the ring with one of them, the CAW holds its own and looks like they belong in the ring with the WWE superstar. What makes this all the more amazing is the sheer number of options laid at your fingertips when creating one. You alter head and body types, changing the sizes of almost every individual part as needed. That’s almost elementary in every “create-a-person” mode these days, but then you get to hair, skin, and facial hair styles and boy are there a lot to choose from. Then you have to cycle through hundreds of different articles of clothing and tattoos with which to adorn your virtual grappler with. And that’s just creating the look.

Next, you’ll want to create your character’s entrance. You can do so in two ways – easy creation and advance creation. With easy creation, you just pick a current superstar’s entrance (or select from a few preset edit animations), select music to come out, and lastly a movie that plays on the big screen. It really is easy, but if you use advance creation, you’ll have so much more control over it. In advance creation, you’ll be able to customize each portion of the entrance – stage, ramp, ring-in, and ring. The same animations from easy are here, but you’ll be able to mix and match the animations to create one with your own flavor. On top of that, you can control the camera placements, pyros and fireworks, and light coloring. Finally, add some music and maybe a video and your custom entrance is complete. The only bad part about it all is that you can’t preview the different parts of the entrance very quickly – the game needs to load a full portion to show it. Thus, it makes the whole creation process very slow and time-consuming. It would’ve been nice had they added small picture previews of these things, most specifically for the camera angles and pyro/fireworks. The character animations I can understand having to load for, but for those little things, it’s frustrating to sit through a good ten second load for every preview just to check out something that you may not even use.

After you’re done toying with these, you can then edit a moveset for your character, and if you’ve played the other Yuke’s developed wrestling games, you know that there are hundreds of moves to choose from. Unlike the tedious time-consuming nature of the create-an-entrance, this mode will be time-consuming because there is just so much to sift through. They have moves for almost every situation possible. Standing grapples, running grapples and strikes, ground moves, rebounds, top rope – you name it, and they’ve got it.

This brings us to SvR’s gameplay, which remains intact from Yuke’s previous games. Circle and a direction on the D-pad initiate a grapple. From there, circle and the d-pad again will perform a move. Each direction corresponds to a different move, so you can just imagine what kind of repertoire a single wrestler can have. There’s X for strike, triangle for running. The shoulder buttons take care of your reversals – L2 for strikes, R2 for reversals. Thankfully, the reversal window is a lot larger this time around, so you’ll be able to perform your fair share of reversals against the computer instead of having them being so one-sided in the AI’s favor. As you can see, series vets will feel right at home here.

Yuke’s has, however, added two new major gameplay elements – momentum and stamina. Momentum may not seem new to fans as it is the flashing bar underneath your player name on the screen and filling it enables your finisher. But filling it requires getting the crowd behind you. You can do this by performing your trademark moves that you set in your moveset, flying off the top rope, or hitting really big moves. That’s if you entered the match deciding to fight clean. If you entered and chose “fight dirty” either in your CAW’s profile or prior to an exhibition match, filling the meter has different requirements – fight with dirty moves or use a weapon on an opponent, just to name a few.

You’d thinking that just using your powerful moves repeatedly would be enough to fill your momentum meter and use that finisher of yours – and you’d be right. To balance that, Yuke’s has invoked the stamina meter. This meter depletes when a wrestler exerts himself, so using big moves over and over again will drain this fast. When it’s drained, your wrestler will double over in exhaustion. The only way to recover stamina is either by standing still in the ring or holding down select. The stamina system is a great way to balance the use of power moves to build momentum, though it can be turned off if all you want to do is hammer away on someone.

Now that we’ve gotten the basics of the gameplay, let’s check out the modes you can use them in. The first of those is the standard exhibition in which you can select any match type and square off against a friend or two or against the AI. And in following the trend of the create-a-mode, there are a great number of match types that you can compete in. Aside from the standard single and tag matches there are hardcore, steel cage, hell-in-a-call, elimination chamber, buried alive amongst a host of others. If you’ve seen it on WWE television, then it’s in here too. They’ve even added the fulfill-your-fantasy mode for the divas, which is just a modified bra-and-panties match that now includes pillow fighting and spanking. I’ll leave the rest of that to your imaginations.

When you’re done with that, it’s time to get into the meat of the SvR 2006 – season mode. Here you’ll take a superstar of your choice and take him through a whole WWE season from the summer events to the granddaddy of them all, Wrestlemania 21. The best thing about it is that there are multiple story lines, some of which are exclusive to certain characters, so playing through multiple times with different people is a must if you want to see everything season mode has to offer. That’s a good thing too since the mode itself is so short. It would have been nice to get a couple of title defenses after winning the world title at Wrestlemania.

The stars really shine here because everything is voice acted – no more crappy text menu driven season mode here. And for the most part, the voice acting is great. All of the talent did a great job here, which makes sense considering that they act as the characters on a weekly, if not nightly, basis. To ice it off even more is the fact that your CAW has a voice too in all of the cutscenes. You can choose from five voices during the character creation process. This adds more towards immersing you in the action and drama. It really does feel like you’re watching WWE’s weekly programming when you’re playing through this. Hell, some of the storylines in SvR 2006 are better written than some of the current content on the small screen.

The other meaty mode of the game is the general manager mode. With the GMs of each show becoming more important during the last few years, it was inevitable that a mode that puts you in their shoes would find its way into one its console games. Here you’ll be responsible for one show’s roster. You’ll be in charge of the booking and contracts of over 20 people at a time, so keeping track of every detail can be a little harrowing. The goal of this mode is to win the general manager of the year award. To do so, you’ll need to book matches, rivalries, and promos that further the rivalries you create to attract the audience and rake in the ratings. You can even slander the other brand in order to steal some of the other show’s fans and ratings. More ratings equal more money and more success, thus paving the way towards that GM of the year award.

Beyond that, there’s the create-your-own WWE pay-per-view and a create your own championship belt, both of which are self-explanatory. The best part of creating a belt is that you can challenge and defend them online. Online in SvR is serviceable, but the community has found ways that make playing a match rather irritating. Stack that on top of the many instances of lag, which for a timing-based game such as this is killer, and it’s not as fun as it could have been. That’s not to say that going online with this game is a bad thing, it’s just that the mileage per person will vary.

I already mentioned some bad things earlier – the tedium of preview created entrances, the brevity of the season mode, and some of the online stuff – and for the most part that’s it. The GM mode though needs some more combing over.

In short, it sounds fun, but in reality it’s a bit boring. Though you can control each of the matches you make, there’s really no point in doing so, especially since you’ll need to go through a few of them just to move on from the week. This makes the majority of the mode text-driven, which, like the rest of the major sports games out there, is quite boring. However, there is a silver lining here in that this is the first year it’s been implemented, and they already have a solid base with which to start from. It’ll be interesting to see how they further develop this mode in future installments as it has plenty of potential to become a fun mode, it just isn’t here in SvR 2006.

The last gripe I have is that Yuke has gotten the graphics and gameplay pretty much down, but the hit detection is still shoddy and there are a few clipping issues. You’ll occasionally miss a ground strike because your opponent is in his “getting up” animation, or a dive from the top rope will mysteriously miss even though it looked like it connected. The targeting system is really bad too, and with the referee a selectable target, it makes trying to avoid that DQ a little harder than it needs to be. And the belts on certain wrestlers or CAWs look odd because the person’s stomach or waist will clip right through the belt creating the image of an incomplete title. This also happens when wrestlers that differ greatly in size tie up – sometimes their arms will clip right through each other, even through heads at times. After all these years, you’d think that these problems would’ve been solved, but alas they’re still ever present.

Without a doubt, WWE Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2006 is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, wrestling game ever made. The graphics are some of the best seen on the PS2, showing that it ain’t done just yet; the amount of customization options is enormous; the gameplay was already solid as seen in previous years and Yuke’s up the ante by polishing some of the past blemishes; the season mode does an awesome job of recreating a WWE telecast; and lastly, the game is downright fun. Even if you own every other wrestling game to date, you need to add this to your collection regardless.

It’s scary how good these models look. Points off for some clipping issues.

Old system worked before, so why change it? New momentum and stamina implemented well.

Outstanding voice acting from the WWE roster. Some licensed tracks included to entertain you.

If you’re a wrestling fan, this is the most fun you’ll have short of actually being there.

Different paths and stories for some characters plus 2 shows – season mode will eat up time.

]]> Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:24:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_archer_macleans_mercury_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_archer_macleans_mercury_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_archer_macleans_mercury_psp# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

Offers various, addictive missions, but actual goals are not varied enough.

Impressive graphics and framerate, and the mercury’s movements are realistic.

Definitely lackluster with only blob effects and a slight background beats. Needs a soundtrack.

Mercury is fun; just moving your blob through the contraptions certainly gets addictive.

The game is long and addictive with 72 missions and five bonus levels.

]]> Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:32:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_archer_macleans_mercury_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_archer_macleans_mercury_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_archer_macleans_mercury_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Simple puzzle games always seem to be a success, consider Tetris for the original Game Boy which now is considered a phenomenon. It’s no surprise then that the PlayStation Portable has a highly anticipated simple puzzle title coming out on its release as well titled Archer Maclean’s Mercury.

The game’s basic concept is similar to Marble Madness, but in this game you have a mercury or liquid metal that oozes through the missions as you take on enemies, challenges and the clock.

The gameplay in the puzzler is simple as you control the liquid metal with the analog stick on the PSP. The problem though is that it almost will certainly require players be very attentive to guide their mercury through the mazes.

The missions in the game are filled with color and detail showing off the PlayStation Portable's amazing graphics.

Mercury also has some interesting tricks up its sleeve as your blob goes around corners, through grates and tubes which cause the mercury to adjust to the situation. Besides that, the mercury blob handles different puzzle aspects of the game including teeter-totters and weights. Other interesting features in the game include the ability to cut your mercury on sharp corners, change the color of the blob and merge with other blobs.

A nice addition to the game is the WiFi mode which should add some extra gameplay and allow players to take on each other in two-player battle mode.

The real question mark coming from Archer Maclean’s Mercury is the replay value. Once you beat mazes will you want to go back and play them again and will the various mazes be fresh and interesting.

Time will tell when the puzzler releases for the PlayStation Portable on March 24, but currently the graphics and puzzles provide a new experience from the other launch titles releasing for the PSP.

Archer Maclean’s Mercury is certainly an innovative launch title for the PlayStation Portable. The graphics are impressive on the PSP, but the addictive simplistic gameplay is most likely what will keep gamers playing. The WiFi mode definitely adds to the game, but the real question is whether there will be enough mazes to keep gamers interested. Mercury is understandably a very interesting title that is certainly one of the most innovative and arguably one of the best looking release titles for the PlayStation Portable.]]> Tue, 08 Mar 2005 07:45:00 -0600