Call of Juarez

We wanna go back in time.

The Call of Juarez franchise always interested me in the past because of its western themes. The previous titles told interesting enough stories, and had engaging enough characters, that they were appealing despite their lack of polish. Call of Juarez: The Cartel, however, doesn't even succeed in this regard. The characters are unlikeable and under developed, and the story is completely forgettable. Beyond that, The Cartel feels rushed, unpolished, and repetitive to the point of frustration.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel tells the story of three law enforcement officers put together on a special task force to take on the infamous Mexican drug cartels. Of course, they all come from different backgrounds, making each of the three playable characters a little different. Ben is a typical gunslinger, sticking out like a sore thumb with his predisposition to using old cowboy revolvers. Eddie and Kim, on the other hand, are sassy modern cops who've grown up in the streets, and come with all the clich�d dialogue and one liners you'd expect. Together they form a motley crew, one that has to fight against enemies on the outside and within.

The problem is that the story fails to be engaging. The characters are caricatures of American law enforcement officials, with laughable dialogue that makes them hard to take seriously. Moreover, all the intrigue and emotion that developer Techland attempts to seed in the story is pointless because they never create any good bonds or trust between the characters. You don't like them, you know they don't like each other, and you don't really care what happens to them.

Call of Duty - Black Ops

 After another year of controversy and a ton of media coverage we're back again in the hands of Treyarch, usually in the shadow of its "bigger brother" Infinity Ward with the hottest franchise of the moment, Call of Duty. We find out if a new approach, and setting, can invigorate a series that some are losing faith in. With the release of Modern Warfare 1, we saw the invention of a completely new game, far away from what the Call of Duty fan base was used to and a re-invention of the IP Activision had created. Ditching the WW2 setting we saw a new direction, backed up by a revolutionary multiplayer experience and an explosive single player narrative that Hollywood would have been proud of. Since then both Infinity Ward and Treyarch have been given the reins to the title, each trying to outperform the original in every single way, with sales only growing with each release. Does Black Ops continue the trend?

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters

 I've led you astray, IGN reader. Back in April, I played Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters from developer Griptonite Games and told you it was cool.

 

Now, after playing the final version, I'm telling you it isn't. That's the difference between a preview and a review, I guess. At a glance, the simplistic nature of Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is charming, but in practice, it's extremely repetitive and boring. Plus, the game just doesn't run well.

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is a cartoon version of the movie universe, but it's not telling the movie's tale. Here, I played as Hal Jordan, the newest member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. The Guardians (little blue dudes) run the organization, and more than 3,000 Green Lanterns serve and protect. Rather than guns, Green Lanterns use power rings that create whatever the wearer imagines out of green light. However, before the Lanterns were out there, the Guardians used robots known as Manhunters. Then, the machines went nuts and got shelved. Now, they're back and looking to destroy the universe; Hal has to stop them.

The story plays out in still cartoon screens. No voices, just text. That's disappointing, but the gameplay is where I was really let down with Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters. Like most Griptonite games, I took my hero from one side of the screen to the next and wailed on everything that got in my way, but in Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, there just isn't enough variety to keep the combat fresh.

Okamiden Game New

Okamiden for the DS is a video game that manages to be both really cute, and really lovely. Though it follows events in the more expansive Okami (PS2 and Wii), it doesn't feel like a full-fledged sequel, nor is it necessary to have played the first game to enjoy playing this one. And while die-hard fans of the original may be disappointed by the smaller scale, Okamiden makes for an extremely approachable introduction to the unforgettable world of both games.

Dirt 3 Review

The race for the genre's crown of best is always a very exciting occurrence. Last year Codemasters won the BAFTA award with an excellent re-introduction to F1 racing, a title that received high honours from this site among others. Now they're introducing Dirt 3, is it another potential winner? Let's find out.

Modes

This year's instalment of the rally series offers plenty of changes including a new menu scheme. The trailer sequence is gone and replaced by a simple menu structure that is highly inspired by the triangular shape. It definitely reminds me of the Need for Speed series for some reason, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Without the trailer I can't help feeling less immersed into the whole driver experience.

The now simplified menu gives access to a host of familiar modes including: Dirt tour, multiplayer and singleplayer. The last mode offers all the different types of racing and grants control over all the criteria.

Dirt Tour

As I mentioned earlier, the career mode in Dirt is no longer accompanied by a nice little trailer sequence that stitches it all together. Instead every year of racing is represented by an unwrapped triangle. You will earn points by participating in races and once you've earned enough, the grand final will open up.

The races offer plenty of variation and challenges for gamers of all backgrounds. All the previous types of off-roading are back, but to mix things up Codies added a few more into the mix including smash attack and Gymkhana. Both of them rely heavily on the art of doing tricks on wheels and moving about with absolute ease. While they definitely help cement Dirt 3 as the ultimate arcade racer, I'm not a huge fan of this type of racing. Luckily they can be skipped by excelling in other, more meaningful, events.

Great success comes with more privileges than just the option to skip. Podium finishes will earn points that go into Dirt's ranking system. By obtaining higher levels other teams will offer you a seat in their team. Most of the time these offers will be a trade off between having a faster car and earning more credits for the win, but luckily there're some exceptions to this rule.

Driving

Gravely Silent House of Deadlock Collectors Edition

Quality: Full

Video Game Category:Hidden Object

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

OS: Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista
Processor: Pentium 4 @ 1.8 GHz/Athlon XP 2400+
Memory: 512 MB (1 GB for Vista)
Hard Drive: 13.33 Mb Free
Video Memory: 128 MB (NVIDIA GeForce 6600/ATI Radeon X800)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard and Mouse
DVD Rom Drive



Save your sister from the grave! After receiving a troubling phone call from your brother-in-law, you’re off on an adventure! Investigate the troubling scene and discover the truth in Gravely Silent: House of Deadlock. Scour gorgeous Hidden Object scenes for valuable clues and unravel the mystery behind your sister’s disappearance. This is a special Collector’s Edition release full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version. As a bonus, Collector’s Edition purchases count toward three stamps on your Monthly Game Club Punch Card!

Dungeon Siege III

 An errant dungeon crawl.

A dungeon crawler without good loot, like Dungeon Siege III, is missing something essential. If the prizes that pop out don't feel valuable, there's no slot machine appeal of opening chests, busting apart wooden barrels or slicing up monsters. Dungeon Siege III's bits of loot come with all kinds of statistical bonuses, and a multitude of special effects like elemental damage or chance to stun. But it's rare to ever get a strong sense that swapping one item for another has a significant effect, many items have near identical visual designs, and no piece is moddable. After not too long, scooping up loot begins to feel like garbage collection instead of treasure hunting.

Obsidian Entertainment, which took over the franchise from creator Gas Powered Games, is more interested in offering satisfying combat mechanics than a tantalizing loot lottery. Each of the four character classes gets nine core abilities - three defensive, the other six offensive and split across two fighting stances. All the abilities can be evolved by gaining experience and leveling up, giving Anjali's area-of-effect firestorm a healing effect or Reinhart's glyph magic a chance to slow enemy movement speed.