Sega's beautiful action-strategy-rpg Valkyria Chronicles released today, so if you're keen on experiencing a unique game that bends an established genre and blends another, now's the time to pick it up. If you're further interested, two bits of DLC have already been confirmed for US release in early 2009. One allows you to play as a side character called Edie, and the other allows you to take on the role of the game's antagonists. If Japanese prices are anything to consider, you can expect them to run $5-10 a piece. You can also expect them to be fully voice acted.

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D is one of the handful of major studio games now available for the iPhone (or iPod Touch) through the newly released App Store. It's a decent time waster, sure, which is what you'd expect from a cell phone game, but given the power of the iPhone and the hefty $9.99 price tag, this game is a waste of time and opportunity. I would wait a bit longer for more impressive, and better controlling games to come around.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

A pocket review for a pocket game:

Nitro Kart 3D is a rather quick port of "Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart" for the Xbox, PS2, GameCube, and N-Gage. Like the other kart game on the iPhone (Cro-Mag Rally), controlls are stripped down to the bare essentials. Acceleration is automatic, or rather, perpetual, and all the player must do is steer by tilting the phone side to side.

The control can be frustrating and take quite a while to get used to. Not being in control of acceleration feels a bit strange as well, like being the passenger in a car and leaning over to take over the wheel. I don't think developers have gotten a handle on the iPhone's accelerometer yet, and so using it will feel a bit flimsy until the programmers have it hammered down.

Controlling the karts always felt sloppy to me, but it can be managed by adjusting the sensitivity. Game modes available include standard "Cup" mode, a pretty simple Story mode, and Time Trials. There is no multiplayer.

This is one of the very first 3D games for the iPhone, so it's hard to gauge the graphics, but from what I've seen of other games they're already a tad sub-par. Textures in the distance appear to manifest before your eyes, and there is a very annoying attempt at a lens flare effect that has watered down to nothing but an indistinct series of blobs that do nothing but block your view.

Again, for the money, you should expect more. This may be one of the best 3D iPhone games, but that's not saying much. Treat this game like a launch title and keep your distance until the real games show up.

The App Store will be available beginning today via iTunes 7.7 and part of the free iPhone 2.0 software update for all iPhone customers on July 11. iPhone 2.0 is also available for iPod touch users for $9.95. Apple also announced today that more than 500 native applications will be available on the iPhone's App Store when Apple's iPhone 3G goes on sale tomorrow.  

"iPhone enables The Associated Press to deliver news in a way that simply wasn't possible before," said Benjamin Mosse, director of Mobile Products, The Associated Press. "Taking advantage of iPhone's revolutionary location-based services, our Mobile News network can capture and store local news stories that can be read by users even when they're offline and our award winning photography and AP video are displayed in stunning clarity on its high resolution screen."  

Yes, we know this is a “gaming blog” but many of our fans use or are interested in the iPhone. Heck, we even may be covering user-created games for the device in the future!

What five minutes of One Piece will do to you.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is a Nintendo Wii exclusive action-adventure game following the exploits of the Straw Hat Pirates of the popular manga and anime series, One Piece. The overall gameplay of this lengthy journey might not be solid enough to hold its own, but fans of the manga and anime will mine a decent amount of enjoyment out of the title. Though some errant attributes keep it from being generally recommended, it plays surprisingly well for a licensed game, but that's not saying much.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

After some misdeeds on the high seas, the Straw Hat Pirates' captain and One Piece's main character, Luffy, is forced to fish aboard their ship as penance for wasting food. He hooks a mysterious orb instead of catching a meal, and this orb causes an island to emerge from under the ship. When the crew comes to, they decide to do what any pirate gang would do and see what treasure the island has to plunder. The absurdity of the plot may only resonate with series fans, but luckily the characters themselves offer some much needed levity in the form of personality, though their at times over-animated nature might put off a few people.

Down with the Navy and its 193 men.

Unlimited Adventure is set up like a traditional action adventure game in the vein of Legend of Zelda. Exploration of the island is key, and of course you'll open up more areas to investigate as you progress. Advancing to new areas is done through the use of Luffy's orb, which for some reason needs to be fed to charge up, amounting to a lot of backtracking and hassle on your part. The barriers the game sets between you and adjacent areas are almost always rock walls that mysteriously explode, so these more traditional gaming restraints need to be taken with a tongue firmly in cheek to be accepted. Unfortunately, once you do enter a new area the game offers little in direction, so you may be wandering around for a while wondering what to do next.

While wandering around, you will run into the militant and evil Navy that surely means more to One Piece fanatics than the rest of us; otherwise they suffice as a near constant fodder for your cast. Once you team up with the rest of the characters, you can change between members at any time with a press of the minus button. There actually is some variance in each character's range of combat. Luffy has the power to make his limbs act rubbery and extend like Mr. Fantastic or Street Fighter's Dhalsim, which lends him some wide-range physical attacks. Usopp can chuck throwing stars from a distance while a little talking reindeer thing called Chopper is only capable of weak short-range melee bursts, but can eventually turn into a powerful, hulking beast. With repeated use, moves become more powerful and new ones become available. Truth be told, the combat is fairly simplistic at its core, but the variety of characters can keep it from being too tedious.

Unlimited Adventure doesn't exactly take advantage of the Wii's unique control options, offering only the traditional Wii Remote and Nunchuk setup. Control is responsive overall, though the game's jumps and attacks don't exactly push the genre's envelope. Camera controls are average, as the Z button on the Nunchuk does most of the camera work. It can lock on to a nearby enemy, set the camera behind you in exploration mode, or be held down and adjusted with the directional pad. The only controls to take advantage of the Wii Remote are the useful character specific moves that are activated with a simple waggle.

One Piece serves up a standard presentation with average graphics. The character models stay true to their 2D roots, but the environments are repetitive and bland. You can at times see an expanse of land, but there's not much to see within the expanse. The sound design may disappoint in that the music, which at best is forgettable and at worst, grating, is accompanied by merely adequate sound effects. But the true crime for some may be that there is no option for Japanese voice acting. This may pain fans, but the English audio is fairly decent and, let's face it – a story about a mishmashed team of character stereotypes with rubber arms and talking reindeer sidekicks calling themselves pirates isn't exactly the stuff of high art.

One Piece does offer a passable versus multiplayer mode where you can select a team of characters from the game, hero and villain. It's passable enough to offer a decent diversion from the main narrative, though it would only keep the interest of series fans, and even then the combat isn't deep enough for it to last for long. The main game also has a few sidequests like butterfly collecting and item creation but outside a few items whose creation is necessary to progress, only the most ardent of One Piece fans will stick through to see all of either mode.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure isn't a bad game, but that hardly makes it good. It's adequate enough for series fans, who should be able to overlook its relative mediocrity for the chance to play a rather lengthy adventure with Luffy and crew that is somewhat solidly made. For everyone else, you'll be hoping that the adventure isn't quite unlimited.

Do a Google search for Jeff Gerstmann and you might be troubled by the automatic advertisement that appears on the right-hand side.

The Amazon ad was removed soon afterwards.

NCSoft has released new screenshots of Lineage II The Chaotic Throne: The Kamael for the PC. The expansion includes the following features:

Click the link to view the official site.

Originally intended for the European and Japanese markets, Formula One Championship Edition isn’t exactly the kind of racing game American audiences are clamoring for. Nevertheless, Sony has decided to bring the game stateside in hopes of winning over new racing fans perhaps not as familiar with the straight laced racing style not often seen in games.

The biggest problem normally for a game like Formula One is combining the elements of realism and fun to make the experience enjoyable for both types of fans. In this game, Sony has done a commendable job of servicing all racing fans by giving players a fistful of options. These include the ability to change the weather, traction, brake assistance, inclusion of racing lines, vehicle damage and difficulty to name a few to better adjust you to the gaming experience. 

This was a tremendous success for Sony because on most other Formula One titles it is very difficult to adjust to the difficulty of the game and the differences in driving. Formula One cars brake on a dime and speed up very quickly, much quicker than most cars and require you to be near exact to improve your position. By allowing novices to get acclimated to all these differences, it allows players to not only experience the concept, but also work their way up to a more realistic game experience in time instead of constantly losing right away. If you’re already familiar with that style of racing, you can simply change the settings to what they desire.

Meanwhile, the actual racing is well done if you’re into that whole Gran Turismo style of racing. The controls, while simple, mostly utilize the X for gas and square for brake and operate functionally. Utilizing the sticks, you can easily maneuver around some of the toughest hair-pinned turns. Overall the gameplay is simple, but it’s supposed to be. The experience is more about perfect driving in the quickest time over anything else. 

An additional nice inclusion with Sony’s title is how many options and extras are packed into the game. Championship Edition includes quick race, time trial, career mode, grand prix weekend, world championship mode and multiplayer. If you’re very familiar with Formula One, you can jump into world championship mode and race with your favorite driver like Michael Schumacher. As far as the online play goes, races include 22 drivers, 11 of which can be online players. You can even change how many AI players participate in a given race and of course the game tracks all your statistics. 

Staying with the options, Formula One features approximately 20 true to life courses including Indianapolis, Monte Carlo and more. There are additionally a fair amount of unlockable vehicles too including a fair amount of classic cars. Sadly they are only available for play in time trials.

Finally, overall the graphics are solid for Formula One. The tracks, cars and surroundings look okay for a PlayStation 3 title, but where this game really stands out is with the lighting and reflections. If the sun is out and you go right into it, it’ll blind your vision temporarily. The lighting also reflects off the cars very well. As for the inclusion of rain on the screen, it is a nice touch in what is a pretty game.

One problem in the title is the career mode. While the rest of the menus are simple and clear, the career mode gets a little complicated. You continuously have to jump from screen to screen in order to advance time to move on to the next race or time trial.

Speaking of trials, although stated above that Sony did a good job of making the game easier for players of all ages, the trials are still very difficult even on the easiest setting. The trials vary between beating the target time on a single lap and building up the lowest total on three laps in a given time. Players really have to be familiar with the tracks and be exact on every turn to even beat the simplest time trials.

Once you accomplish that feat, the game can get even worse as you don’t simply enter races. Instead, sponsors will offer you just a test driver option which means you have to test settings and then wait for the race day results. I understand the idea behind what Sony is trying to do by keeping the game realistic, but they aren’t even giving players the opportunity to enter a race and that’s taking a big part of the fun out of the entire experience. 

Lastly and perhaps the biggest problem with Formula One Championship Edition is the fact it’s a niche title. The game doesn’t feature spectacular crashes or a significant ability to modify your vehicles. Instead players are forced to perfect laps and drive very accurately meaning the title is either a hit or miss, there’s very little in between.

Formula One Championship Edition is an interesting title for the PlayStation 3. Overall it’s got some very solid elements to it including good graphics, simple controls and a fair amount to do. While that’s all well and good, the game struggles in its career mode and the niche concept. Certainly the game isn’t for everybody, but Championship Edition is worth a shot if you’re a Formula One fan or enjoy racing in general.

It’s a straight simulation racing title and the controls are pretty basic.

The glare and lighting are very well done, but the rest is pretty mediocre.

For the most part, the sound is basically you’re engine noises and pit crew operator.

It’s a simulation racer which doesn’t make it very attractive for most people.

The online, career mode and unlockable content should keep players interested for a bit.

]]> Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:54:00 -0600 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_ar_tonelico_screens_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_ar_tonelico_screens_trailer http://www.gamebump.com/go/new_ar_tonelico_screens_trailer# 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.

NIS America recently published a slew of new screenshots for its Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia, including a new (character) trailer, which you can view below. The game is an RPG developed by Gust (Atelier Iris, Atelier Iris 2) for the PlayStation 2 and is currently slated for release on February 6. Enjoy.

divxMovie('http://files.gaminghorizon.com/ar tonelico.divx',true);

]]> Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:24:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_killzone_liberation_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_killzone_liberation_psp1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_killzone_liberation_psp1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Ports have been pretty popular on the PlayStation Portable up to this point. One game that certainly didn’t go in that direction though is Killzone: Liberation, a follow up to the highly anticipated, but mixed reviewed, PlayStation 2 title. Liberation is still a science fiction warfare game, but instead of being first-person it jumps to third by giving players an overview look at the action and overall it works for the game. 

In this Killzone, players take over two months after the events of the PlayStation 2 version. The Helghast and General Metrac are on the attack and it is up to you, Templar, to assist the ISA troops to find hostages and stop the forces. The story is fine, but that’s not what’s going to make you jump at this title.

The gameplay is very impressive for a PlayStation Portable title. I really like the top down view of the battle; it really works in the game and allows you to see what’s going on around you. It was a terrific design decision by the developers. Staying with the gameplay, you start out with a machine gun. As you delve deeper into the experience, you’ll pick up a variety of weapons like grenades, C4, sniper rifles, shotguns and more. Just from the preview UMD, there was a nice variety of weapons to choose from and they all worked very well. These are not the only things you can pick up in the line of fire; you’ll also be able to add health packs and syringes to heal wounds for yourself and teammates.

The missions that I played were very well done and diverse. Some weren’t the longest and that may be a slight downside, but they were enjoyable nonetheless. From just the demo you have a variety of mission types including rescue, elimination and infiltration.

As for the controls, they are pretty tight in Killzone: Liberation. The analog nub is used to move Templar while square fires your guns, triangle reloads, O throws grenades and X does other combat abilities. Meanwhile, the trigger buttons are used to strafe and crouch. Lastly, the D-pad is used to give commands to your teammates and it works well. These decisions by the developers certainly make the overall controls comfortable and pretty easy to adjust to. 

Finally, the graphics are very good particularly for a overview styled game. There is some very good depth just in the demo on the battlefield. The enemies and characters are all very well done. The sound effects are equally impressive and certainly help the entire presentation of the game. 

The new direction Killzone is going on the PlayStation Portable works for the title. The game features beautiful graphics, multiplayer options and terrific sound. Just from our experience, the controls are pretty tight in the game too, making Killzone: Liberation finally the successful shooter everyone has been waiting for. It has a wonderful arcade feel. We're still unsure about the multiplayer action, but otherwise, we can safely say that Killzone: Liberation should be one of the best PSP games to come out this year.]]> Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:08:02 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party http://www.gamebump.com/go/prince_of_persia_joining_the_wii_party#
 "I can confirm that a game based on the popular Prince of Persia franchise is one of many titles Ubisoft has in development for Nintendo's Wii. At this time we can not provide an official date for the game or any additional information about it."

Now we can all start wondering how they'll integrate the running jump, and standing around on pressure plates with the Wii controller. Originally written by Philip Palmer]]> Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:43:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced http://www.gamebump.com/go/tomb_raider_legend_officially_announced#

“In setting the stage for the Tomb Raider franchise moving forward, we took ourselves back to Lara’s origins, asked ourselves the hard questions and challenged ourselves to think differently,” said Chip Blundell, vice president of brand marketing, Eidos Inc. “Who is Lara Croft? What makes her tick? How is she relevant today? Only by answering these questions could we ensure that gamers get the experience they deserve with the character they love.”

“Even before the first title launched, Lara Croft had to fight her way into the Tomb Raider franchise, since at the time most game characters were muscle-bound blokes,” said Gard. “The Lara Croft character is resilient and totally unstoppable. In Tomb Raider: Legend, we explore these core personality traits and reveal the Lara Croft gamers have been waiting to see.”

The character model that you see below features natural structure, realistic textures, detailed facial features, reactive eyes and fluid motion, all of which make her part of a living environment. Crystal Dynamics also stated that Lara Croft will have new controls, so expect Lara to do various new things that you are not used too seeing in past versions.

There will be three versions spanning across the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. No word on a PSP version as of yet. Gaming Horizon will have a full preview of Tomb Raider: Legend on April 12. So bookmark the page!

The One Year War will put gamers right in the cockpit of a mobile fighter as you battle for independence from The Earth Federation. Mobile Ops will feature full Xbox Live support giving players multiple scenarios and battlefields to battle it out online. There will also be a many customization options including beam sabers, heat hawks and other weapons.

Yoshi Niki, business director at Namco Bandai said, "With dramatic coackpit views and exquisitely detailed mobile suits, we fully expect Mobile Ops to immerse gamers into a futuristic world where giant meachas loom against a war-torn horizon. As desperate battles ensue in both open battlefields and urban environments, players can choose to engage enemies on foot, in vehicles or in mobile suits."

To go along with all of the other screenshots today, Namco Bandai has released six first screenshots of One Piece: Grand Adventure for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube.

]]> Tue, 02 May 2006 13:56:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/killzone_announced_for_the_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/killzone_announced_for_the_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/killzone_announced_for_the_psp#

“We were keen to ensure Killzone: Liberation was totally unique and offered PSP owners a different Killzone experience. So, Killzone: Liberation has been developed from scratch – creating what we think is an intense portable gaming experience.” Stated Hermen Hulst, Guerilla Managing Director. “Although Killzone: Liberation is totally new it stays true to what made the first Killzone such a great success - the characters, weapons, style and a continuation of the same great plot.”

Check out the first screenshots below.

2K Games has signed a deal with Gas Powered Games to publish future titles in the Dungeon Siege series. Two titles were announced, the first being an expansion to the PC game, Dungeon Siege II. Dungeon Siege II: Broken World adds a new single player campaign, a new race, and a new character class system to the popular PC game. A summer 2006 release is expected for the expansion.

The other Dungeon Siege property in development is a PSP game. Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is scheduled to hit retail shelves this fall and includes an all new single player campaign and ad-hoc multiplayer modes, including co-op. Further details on these titles are scarce, but with E3 just around the corner be sure to check back for more information soon. ]]> Thu, 16 Mar 2006 08:18:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/halflife_2_episode_2_confirmed http://www.gamebump.com/go/halflife_2_episode_2_confirmed http://www.gamebump.com/go/halflife_2_episode_2_confirmed# 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.

The interview over at CVG is expected to go live very soon which will reveal even more about Episode 1 and 2.

CVG]]> Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:42:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/power_stone_takes_on_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/power_stone_takes_on_psp http://www.gamebump.com/go/power_stone_takes_on_psp# 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.The original author is Olly Dean.

Capcom has announced at its Gamers’ Day Event in Las Vegas that Power Stone Collection, a compilation of classic Dreamcast brawlers Power Stone and Power Stone 2, will be arriving on the PSP later this year.As well as featuring perfect conversions of the old favourites, the game will add wireless multiplayer for up to four players with only one copy of the game. The four extra characters from Power Stone 2 will also be made available in the original, and a number of other enhancements and minigames can also be expected.For those who never played the Dreamcast originals, they’re 3D arena-based fighting games which don’t have a lot of depth, but more than make up for it with interactive environments and objects that you can hurl at opponents as you do your best to beat the living snot out of each other. Power Stone 2 adds support for up to four players and even more different stages to each level, as well as a story mode featuring giant bosses that players have to work together to take out.The eponymous power stones are gems that have the power to turn your character into and even more powerful version of themselves, complete with devastating super moves, when you manage to collect three of them without getting hit and dropping one.The first screenshots of the game are available below. It looks to be an accurate port, so this should definitely be one to watch.  Update: added the recent trailer.

Download the DivX Browser Plug-In.

]]> Sat, 18 Feb 2006 14:20:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_the_two_thrones_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_the_two_thrones_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_prince_of_persia_the_two_thrones_xbox# 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.

Sands of Time reintroduced us to a new Prince of Persia - an innocent soul oblivious to the destiny that was about to unfold before him. Warrior Within continued the story, but the Prince was a changed man - bitter and angry not only at himself for unleashing such a horror, but at the heavens for causing him so much anguish. The last game in the Prince of Persia sands trilogy, The Two Thrones, has arrived, a year after the cliffhanger ending Ubisoft left us in Warrior Within. Finally having come to grips with himself, he is once again a changed man, but one for the better after going through the trials and tribulations of the first two games. He sails to his home of Babylon along with Kaileena, the Empress of Time. But, when he arrives, he finds it not the peaceful city he remembered, but a city ravaged by war and strife.

Just as the Prince has learned from his mistakes and become a better man, Ubisoft has learned from its mistakes and experiences with the first two games to create a third game that will be a treat to fans who have followed the trilogy. Sands of Time was lauded for its wonderful environmental puzzles, some of which required the use of sand powers, while it was criticized for its bland and repetitive combat. Warrior Within was praised for its new deep combat system, but was hated for its new bitter characterization of the Prince and too much focus on the combat. Two Thrones takes the best from both games and creates a very well-rounded game that balances the exploration and the combat all while adding a few new tricks.

Those unfamiliar with the trilogy should know that exploration and figuring out how to get from point A to point B is only half the fun. I personally found these parts more satisfying than the combat, though that’s not to say that the combat is bad. The Prince is a very acrobatic character – able to run along walls, up walls, swing on bars like a gymnast, wall jump, as well as plant himself in small spaces to shimmy up or down. There are times where you’ll spend quite a bit of time to scan your surroundings to figure out where to go next.

Making your way through the stages will feel like old hat to veterans, though there are a few new wrinkles, so you may want to keep the tutorial on the first time you play through. The first are wall-mounted dagger plates. These relatively easy to see squares are places where you can dig you dagger into the wall and hang there. Once you’re hanging from one, you can either jump up to another one or wall run to a nearby ledge – it all depends on the situation. Seeking out dagger plates is actually a pretty smart thing to do because if you see one, you’ll know you need to use it somehow to get pass the area. The other minor change is that now the Prince can balance on top of the rods that he formerly could only swing on. So, no more swinging from one bar to another directly above you; all you have to do is treat it like a set of normal ledges.

Combat remains relatively unchanged. You still have a dagger as a primary weapon. Secondary weapons can be picked up from slain enemies, but they still have a limited shelf life as they can only take so much abuse before breaking. You can also throw the secondary weapon and it’s still an effective tactic on certain foes. And for those of you who have played Warrior Within, you’ll be happy to know that the same combos from there work here as well.

One of the largest changes to the fighting system is the addition of speed kills. Speed kills are really just stealth kills, but with some add twists. To initiate one, when you sneak up on a guard, the edges of the screen with blur and you’ll hear a heartbeat. Once you see/hear that, hit the Y button to start the speed kill. From here, the Prince goes into an automated animation and it’s up to you to hit X whenever the knife flares a bright blue. Speed kills start out rather simple, but later in the game, the time window to press X shortens greatly so you better practice while the practicing is good. You’ll also want to be very good at speed kills because the innovative boss battles will require the use of this technique. Some may not like it, but it’s there and you’re going to have to deal with it. Of course, if you mess up a part of the speed kill, you could just rewind time with your sand powers.

The other biggest change in combat, however, is also a major plot line – the mysterious appearance of the Dark Prince. Fans first saw him in *spoilers* the ending of Warrior Within, proclaiming that “what is yours is mine” *end spoilers*. As the Dark Prince, you can’t pick up any secondary weapons, but when your permanent secondary weapon is the lethal daggertail, you won’t want anything else. With the daggertail, the Dark Prince can hit enemies from afar and in an area, and also use it for speed kills. Performing one of those is a bit easier with the Dark Prince because all you need to do is mash the Y button. The daggertail, however, isn’t just used for fighting. You’ll also need to use it when exploring to latch onto jutting rods to help him cross large chasms, or to grab onto a wall-mounted light to extend his wall run. You’ll also need to be quick about exploring as the Dark Prince because his health is constantly draining. The only way to replenish it is to kill enemies or find sand in boxes and vases that litter the stages.

The sand powers return once again, but this wouldn’t be part of the PoP sand trilogy if he didn’t have them. I already mentioned the recall rewind ability earlier. The other’s include eye of the storm which slows down enemies while you stay at normal speed (i.e. bullet time or “matrix”); winds of sand, which unleashes a radial force of sand; and sand storm, which is an upgraded winds of sand that can now instantly destroy enemies. Each of these requires the use of sand tanks. You can acquire more sand tanks by sealing sand gates. These gates are guarded by sand gate captains who can call for reinforcements, so it’s in your best interests to eliminate him first before he can shout for backup. If he does, be prepared to face off against at least four foes at once.

Graphically, Two Thrones doesn’t look too different from Warrior Within, but that isn’t a bad thing since Warrior Within look pretty damn good in the first place. The Prince is modeled well, especially with the glowing left arm and the daggertail embedded in it. The new look they gave Kaileena threw me off a little bit considering that she looks very different from her Warrior Within counterpart. Farah also looks very different from her Sands of Time version, but rightfully so because this is in a way a “different” Farah than the one he met in that game.

On the audio side of things, the music, thankfully now fits. Instead of the choppy “silence when not fighting to the blaring hard rock music when fighting and back”, what we have here is a set of beautifully orchestrated pieces that flow relatively well between exploration and fight sequences. I’m glad Ubisoft was able to remedy that. The voices, though, stand out. Each character’s voice fits not only the look, but also the personality. The parts were very well played, but the award for best voice actor has to go to the Prince. With the Dark Prince residing within him, the Prince is constantly talking to himself. And with them having different philosophies (the Prince wants to be noble and help out those in danger while the Dark Prince is selfish and wishes to dominate the weak), there are plenty of entertaining and sometimes downright hilarious conversations. One of the more memorable lines comes during the first boss fight. If the boss happens to grab you (and the boss is mighty large I might add), the Dark Prince will chime in with “Aww I think he wants a kiss”. There are more memorable moments as you continue to progress throughout the story.

And that brings us to the last point. The story has always been one the series’ strong points and Two Thrones continues that. The ending does an excellent job of wrapping up the series and will leave fans satisfied knowing that it has a definitive end.

The only outstanding problems I had with Two Thrones were the camera, the linearity and the odd spacing of save points.

The camera isn’t as big a problem as it can be in some games, but it can hinder you in a fight, but more importantly is the fact that you may not be able to see a certain rod or dagger plate that you need to get to in trying to progress. If you can’t find or spot it, then you’re stuck unless you’re willing to go with the trial-and-error route. I found myself having to do that in certain spots, but for the most part, the camera does a fine job.

When compared to Sand of Time and Warrior Within, Two Thrones plays very much like a straight line. In fact, when two paths are presented to you, you can bet that at the end of one of them is a fountain that tells you that you’re heading down the correct path and the other is a fountain that will give you a life upgrade.

Finally, the spacing of the water fountain/save points strikes me as a bit odd. There are times when you can go forever without seeing one and times when you’ll come across two after a few simple jumps. I just don’t get it.

Two Thrones takes the best of what Sands of Time and Warrior Within had to offer – great environmental puzzles and exploration and a deep combat system – and finds a way to balance all the elements to create one fine game. It’s a worthy addition to the Sands trilogy and does an awesome job of wrapping up the story. It’s a nice way for the Prince to bow out on this generation of consoles and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for not only him and the Prince of Persia series, but also for the rest of us.  

The great gameplay from Sands of Time and Warrior Within return with better balance and polish.

Little improvement over Warrior Within, but that game looked great in the first place.

Much better soundtrack than Warrior Within; superb voice acting, especially Prince/Dark Prince

Exploration, which is about 70% of the game, is awesome and combat ain�t too shabby either.

Multiple difficulties as well as art and video goodies that open up by accruing sand credits.

]]> Fri, 06 Jan 2006 14:22:00 -0600 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_call_of_duty_2_big_red_one_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_call_of_duty_2_big_red_one_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_call_of_duty_2_big_red_one_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

With the success of the first-person shooter Call of Duty it's not surprising Activision is planning another one for consoles this time entitled Call of Duty: Big Red One. The game focuses on the squad from the first infantry who was the first on the ground in World War II. The game puts you in locations like North Africa, Italy and Europe as you battle Germans, Italians and even the French who we surprisingly fought for a bit.

No official word has been given on how many missions are included in the final version, but Activision maintains that it'll be extensive. The game features online play for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and is scheduled to release for the Gamecube too. Instead of doing various missions, this time the developers want you to emotionally connect with your team and understand the feeling of losing one of your men as you move up in rank. The game includes a somewhat free-form style in which you'll have new weaspons, sprinting and even the ability to cook off some of a grenade to better time them because if you throw it too soon the Germans will it them back. The developers are also planning to have sniper and stealth-styled missions for variety.

Graphically the game looks really impressive; there are dozens of troops going into battle and the action literally surrounds you. If you look forward you'll see at least 30 or 40 men running into battle and you can turn around and see the same amount or more following you too. All the scenes were done with motion capture to give it an even more realistic feeling. Beyond this, the action is very realistic as you'll see explosions and bullets flying everywhere. Planes even dive through and drop bombs and despite not seeing buildings take complete damage, Activision maintains it's being worked on. One thing I noticed in the demo was that if you turned after a tank was destroyed it disappeared instead of becoming a part of the landscape; hopefully they'll work to make this sort of stuff more realistic. The player movements at least at E3 seemed a little choppy, but the players moved and covered realistically.

Call of Duty: Big Red One is shaping up to be significantly better than the original console release by giving you the true First Infantry experience. The game looks to add varying mission types and a more open-ended experience, along with better graphics, more characters on screen and more of everything than the first. Truly Big Red One gives players the World War II experience they crave.

]]> Sun, 22 May 2005 14:19:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_one_ngage1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_one_ngage1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_one_ngage1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

One is a combat fighter that is based on Bruce Lee's martial arts. The game features 14 real locations and has players battle it out to become the greatest fighter of all-time.

Graphically, One is the most impressive game at Nokia's booth. The fighting was all made from real motion capture and it shows because the player movements are especially smooth on the N-Gage. Also the characters are 3D, making it look and feel even more realistic.

The game looks to feature bluetooth support for two players to battle it out or you can also play the storyline mode. The game also has completely customizable characters in which you can choose what shoes, weapons, clothes and more they have. No official number has been given on how many options you'll actually have in the game. Finally, the game includes approximately 16-playable characters along with a create-a-character option in which you'll have thousands of options to make your own fighter.

One's graphics and options are very impressive for the N-Gage and this was easily the top choice in the Nokia booth. N-Gage players will definitely be looking for the One upon its release in September. ]]> Sat, 21 May 2005 23:13:00 -0500