Game reviews
Jul 3 2008 by Ross Wilkinson, The Journal
BATTLEFIELD: Bad Company comes booming and blasting its way to PS3 this week in an excellent first-person-shooter encounter that gives new meaning to the term fully destructible environments.
Elsewhere, Super Smash Bros Brawl on Wii is a superb example of how a simple concept brilliantly executed can keep you entertained for days. Beijing 2008 gives all Xbox 360 gamers the opportunity to go for gold while Cooking Guide completes this week’s line-up on Nintendo DS.
GAME OF THE WEEK: BLAST YOUR WAY INTO BAD COMPANY
Title: Battlefield: Bad Company
Platform: PS3
Genre: Shooter
Price: £54.99
****
If you’ve had the pleasure of being thrust into the midst of a Battlefield game before, you’ll be more than happy to tackle what Bad Company throws at you as you’re dropped behind enemy lines with a squad of renegade soldiers, risking it all on a personal quest for gold and revenge.
Well worth a look.
CARTOON FISTICUFFS MEAN MULTIPLAYER MADNESS ON WII
Title: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Platform: Wii
Genre: Fighting
Price: £34.99
****
Pokemon, Super Mario Bros, Zelda and many more of your favourite Nintendo characters battle each other in this frenetic fighting extravaganza.
Brawl takes the series one step further in graphical excellence, sound and enjoyment – this must be one of the best multiplayer experiences out there.
ARE YOU A WORLD-BEATER IN WAITING?
Title: Beijing 2008
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Athletics
Price: £44.99
***
The chance to be a medal-winning athlete passed most of us by some time ago. Video gamers are lobbying for gaming to be recognised as an Olympic sport, which may offer hope, but for everyone else there’s Beijing 2008.
Transport yourself to China and compete in more than 30 events, from athletics and gymnastics to cycling, table tennis and archery. While it doesn’t add anything particularly new to the gameplay, this is a pretty impressive sporting compendium.
TASTY STUFF ON DS
Title: Cooking Guide
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Cookery
Price: £29.99
****
If you’ve yet to dust off the celebrity chef cookbooks you got for Christmas, perhaps you need the Nintendo DS to fuel your creativity.
More of a “how to” guide than a game, Cooking Guide has 250 recipes and is an interactive cooking aid that will take you through every stage of cooking, from buying ingredients to chopping, sizzling, baking and eating.
WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT
London Mayor Boris Johnson has risked the wrath of gamers by saying violent video games are a cause of knife crime in the capital.
“We must show young people that knives are not cool, and for that we need positive role models,” he wrote in Thelondonpaper.
“I want to counteract the damaging influences of drug-addled celebrities and violent video games and the lure of the life in the gang by providing opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Lego Indiana Jones whipcracked his way back to the top of the charts, toppling Metal Gear Solid 4 after just one week at the summit.
GAMES CHART
ALL FORMATS FULL PRICE
1.LEGO Indiana Jones: Original Adventures
2.Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
3.Alone in the Dark
4.Grand Theft Auto IV
5.Wii Play
6.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
7.Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
8.Race Driver: Grid
9.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
10.Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (c) ELSPA (UK) Ltd
