I’ve just been sitting thinking back to my early gaming days, realising that I missed the earliest of the gaming devices. The farthest back I can remember is running around in control of the loveable purple dragon Spyro, or wandering aimlessly around Hogwarts in Harry Potter. Gaming for me began around 1999-2000 when I was about five years old, so my console collection consisted of a Playstation 1, Nintendo 64 and a Gameboy Colour. In saying that, that means I missed the age of devices like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Sega Mega Drive or any of the Atari systems. Although back when I started off gaming, I knew nothing about these and even now, I must admit I barely know anything.

Arcade games are another thing. I never touched an arcade system as a child, apart from those times at the bowling alleys where I’d scrounge a pound from the parents. But even then, it would be games such as Time Crisis or such that I would use the money for. Recently however, while I was in Florida I did go to a Disney-form of arcade with LOADS of different arcade games. That was new for me and I finally got to play the likes of Mario Kart on an arcade system and my personal favourite, taking part in a Pod Race from Star Wars – incredibly difficult to win.

So while quite a lot of you may think it’s great to be young, I believe I missed the main evolvations of gaming. Where now the biggest improvements between systems are graphical alterations and of course, the Nintendo Wii which set the bar for motion controlled gaming.

Said snippet of news involved Chad Kroeger of Nickelback being interviewed by MTV, urging kids to “put down their Guitar Hero controllers and pick up a real guitar”. His outburst at the game was mainly sparked by the fact that he is unhappy with the dwindling number of rock bands around, and those available to support Nickelback on tour. Now, I have nothing against Nickelback, but I simply believe they have no support for this argument. We’re talking about the band that just recently added their own song Because of You to Guitar Hero: World Tour’s growing list of downloadable tunes. Plus that was announced after Chad had a go at the franchise. So to put it bluntly: it’s okay to get involved with something you’re publicly against. As long as you are paid.

After I shook my head disapprovingly at the above god-knows how many times, I decided to find out if any other “celebrities” shared his views. So following a scour through my search results, I found another news piece by another musician – John Mayer.

From a Rolling Stone interview: “Guitar Hero was devised to bring the guitar-playing experience to the masses without them having to put anything into it” is a quote from Mr. Mayer that seems rather harsh to me. After that, he then goes on to say “and having done both, there’s nothing like really playing guitar. I mean, what would you rather drive, a Ferrari or one of those amusement-park cars on a track?” Has he had a bad experience with the guitar peripheral or something? It seems to me to be more: “Ha, I can play real guitar and you can’t!!!” He most likely sucks at Guitar Hero though.

At least the Jonas Brothers love Guitar Hero. Hooray?

“Cheating in video games involves a player of a video game creating an advantage beyond the bounds of normal gameplay”

So to start, here’s a quick history of cheats: cheats have been used in video games for their entire history, with cheat codes initially used for play testing purposes. Soon after, cheating was largely exploited by the more technologically minded gamers because of the actual difficulty of enabling said cheats. This involved reprogramming a tiny portion of the loaded game which was stored on a gamer’s computer memory. Thereafter people quickly began to catch onto the popularity of this method of game exploitation and a cheat industry began to emerge following the evolution of gaming systems. Cheating was physically packed and sold as a product, stamping a distinct footprint in the gaming culture from that time on…

Then we arrive at the modern use of cheating, to find it more popular than ever! But there has been a change or two:

• Having to reprogram a loaded game has been thrown out of the window. This method has been replaced by cheat codes and trainers – quite a lot of games even have an option to “Enter Cheat Codes”
• The majority of cheats are not implemented by the modern gamer, but by the actual game developers

Game developers aren’t the only ones that have noticed the popularity and demand for cheat codes either. Several gaming magazines dedicate a whole section to cheat codes and/or walkthroughs for the latest title on console or computer. One of the assumptions as to why developers include cheats in their games is to make it more accessible for the casual gamer that may not have the time to complete the game alone. But I’m pretty sure the point in buying a game is to play it all the way through, and get enjoyment out of the time spent playing it – well at least that’s why I buy games?

However third party cheat methods such as trainers involve the use of external programs, which raise a number of copyright laws. Said issues were brought up in a case where Nintendo unsuccessfully sued Lewis Galoob Toys in reference to its ‘Game Genie’. The claim was that the device created derivative works of games and violated copyright law.

I’m against cheats for use in completing games or any form of multiplayer gameplay – surely I’m not the only one that feels terribly guilty for the past times I’ve done this (that being a walk-through for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)? But for a bit of fun or perhaps to spice up the game and provide replay factor, I don’t mind a code or two. Me using money to buy any form of cheating device is really unlikely though…

I’d managed to rack up around £135 from both Christmas and my birthday and in spite of the price, I decided to put the money into buying the Guitar Hero: World Tour whole-band package. So with my family due for a shopping trip I gathered up my money and set out to find the lowest price, as you do! I finally settled on £127 at my local Asda and purchased the package, hardly able to wait until I got home to get started on the career modes.

Thereafter I endured the painfully boring shopping trip, making me even more excited about World Tour when we eventually returned home. Easily setting up the guitar and drumkit peripherals according to a fairly basic set of instructions, I slipped the disc into my Xbox 360. During this process the amount of money I paid constantly niggled at me: £127 could have bought me three new titles instead of the one. But the fact that I had, in a way, bought a number of games in the one was present in my mind, as each instrument has its own Career mode.

Forcing the negative thoughts to the back of my mind, I decided to make a start on my Guitar Career and donned my controller. After an hour or so bashing the strumming bar about to the tunes, I realised my concern about money was ruining my gaming experience… well either that or I am generally a miserable child. I even considered getting my money back until I realised I actually didn’t have anything else in mind to spend it on. Oh, and the fact that my mother had a shot at singing Blondie’s “One Way Or Another” and informed me that there was no way I was taking it back.

So you could say I’ve slowly gotten over the amount of money the game cost me, especially since it was such a hit on New Year’s Eve! I’ve noticed that I’m always like this with new games, well the ones I buy myself at least. Maybe I’m just too uptight when it comes to money, it’s just the way I naturally am with anything I guess.

But fast-forward a few years and we now have the ability to design levels in the likes of Farcry 2 and LittleBigPlanet. Then for the more musical types there’s composition in Guitar Hero: World Tour, enabling you to build up your own track from scratch. Character customisation appears to be making its way into more and more console games: LittleBigPlanet, Fable II and Rock Band to name a few games which use the creative factor just the right amount. How much I love dressing up my Sackboy is immeasurable. Right now, he’s equipped with a lion’s mane, crisp black tuxedo, antlers and a superhero-like red cape.

The Nintendo Wii was the first console to jump on board the creative race with their Mii avatar-like player system. Since the Miis were released, both the Xbox 360 and PS3 have spent the time developing their own representation system before scrambling on the bandwagon themselves. So there-after the New Xbox Experience was released featuring a slightly more in-depth avatar customisation compared to the Wii’s. Soon to follow up on this will be the Playstation 3’s Home, which from just looking at said representative figures, will be the most customisable of the lot.

Although all of these consoles use some form of creative system to allow its users to represent themselves while playing, I believe you can safely say that after you’ve built up your avatar to look as much like you as possible it is in the end, a novelty to us gamers.

But with said systems put to the side, I believe creativity’s future is bright and it will continue to grow in gaming. Already I’m itching to get off my laptop to create another fire-ridden level on LittleBigPlanet!

Singstar is clearly now following a distinct pattern in each of its games: a disc with a list of songs to sing along to. This is an important aspect for any company to abide by when they’re meddling with the casual market of gamers. Too many functions and confusing navigation could spell the end for its past domination, and right now Sony will be taking as little risks as possible. They’ve stuck with simple game mechanics set to appeal to the less technologically-minded of us and provided the game with an accessible menu system identical to previous titles. This means you don’t have to explain to any older relatives which buttons to press making it one of the easiest titles to play!

The actual gameplay of Singstar is admirable though, complete with backing music videos while you belt the notes out. The duration and pitch of each note is shown on the screen, making easy reference to anyone who’s clueless to why they’re failing to reach Superstar status after each song. As said, you’ll be graded on your overall performance once the song has ended, complete with your placing in the High Scores chart. Also, if you truly wish to embarrass yourself, you could listen to the audio playback of your previous performance which is guaranteed to have you questioning yourself!

One thing the Singstar franchise has proved many times, is that it knows how to put together a good track list. Volume 3 is no exception to this either and is complete with tracks appealing to all music fans – young or old. A few examples of said tracks are “This Ain’t A Scene It’s An Arms Race” by Fall Out Boy, “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, ” Shut Up And Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings and “Killer Queen” by Queen. But you’re collection doesn’t hit a roadblock at the set tracks because that’s where the Singstore comes in. It’s basically a store where you download extra songs from, so you can further expand your track list if perhaps, it’s not all your cup of tea. Each song is playable in all of the available modes; solo, duet and battle and come with a choice of difficulty.

The ABBA Edition track list features their very best songs, including “Mamma Mia”, “Dancing Queen”, “Thank You For The Music”, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”, “Money, Money, Money” and “Waterloo”. I’m not the biggest fan of Abba but I can safely say that this particular game features some of the most catchy and memorable tracks that exist.

A newer, more recent feature added to the Singstar franchise is My Singstar. This allows you to upload your own videos, view others, share content and get involved with the community. But it has to be said that it doesn’t do much in the way of promoting the game, no matter how easy it is to operate.

But anyway, back to Fable II. I believe I can speak for everyone when I say I’ve looked at the achievements list with the intention of planning which path I’ll be taking. Of course, I settled on the life of good before I even purchased the game. It’s the same with every choice-orientated game for me, I just feel so damn guilty if I so much as kick a chicken in Fable II. So I set my sights on achieving ‘The Paragon’ for being 100% good, since being bad really isn’t ‘my thing’. It starts off well and I’m on my way to a life of purity and fluffy goodness, well…apart from the various times I accidentally pressed the B button, causing my hero to perform a rather violent attack around villagers. Then because nothing goes as planned, I make a fateful mistake, putting an end to my plan. Without going into it all too much, I’ll just say I took a job I shouldn’t have if I wished to remain a goody two-shoes which involved me murdering an innocent farmer. Okay, just don’t even ask why I took the quest in the first place, it’s beyond me to explain! But one thing’s for sure, that’s that achievement well and truly FAILED.

I guess that could be a good thing though because I now don’t worry as much about whether certain actions affect me in an evil way. Although I’m disliking the colour of my dog at the moment, as my little canine friend’s fur displays my hero’s stance on the scale of good and evil. Currently, he’s a darker shade of brown which worries me, but at least I’m still loved by the villagers! That has to be a plus. Seriously though, don’t suggest being 100% evil to me, I just couldn’t do that. It’d be far too painful..

Soon I will own all of Albion, haha! Well since I only own about one or two percent right now, ’soon’ could be debatable. Other games will have to wait for now, Fable’s hogging my disk drive.

So what exactly am I still doing on this game?

Well, attempting to finish the campaign on Veteran difficulty – no easy task at all! Especially seeing as I’ve only survived about four of the missions on it. Jumping from Normal difficulty right up to Veteran is something I wouldn’t recommend, although it will definitely eat up your hours… and patience.

Then we have my most likely reason for shoving Modern Warfare into my disc drive – Xbox Live. Multiplayer in CoD4 seems to take forever to get boring, either that or my attention span isn’t very fussy about which game I play. Most of my Friends List is filled with gamers still stuck like me, awaiting titles like Fable II and Mirror’s Edge before beginning their parting with Call of Duty 4 (only to be most likely sucked back in again by World of War).

Rumoured changes include touch-pad functionality on both screens and a wider screen aspect ratio. But there’s no word yet on whether it’ll be a totally new machine supporting new games and such or if it’s simply another fancy update to the current DS.

I mean, do we really need another version of the DS? We already have the DS Lite, featuring various colours. So here’s hoping it’s a completely new device and not another marketing ploy for Nintendo.

What’s so similar about these characters then, I hear you ask? Well, apart from the fact that they’re multi-million selling names. They’re both flagship characters or company/console mascots. Mario is seen in one hell of a lot of Nintendo games, having earned his right to be over used due to the success of past games under his name. Master Chief, on the other hand, is less used. Yet in a current three games running by the Spartan, he’s made himself a name that is widely popular in the gaming world. So where the Halo franchise is now, is where the Super Mario franchise was all those years ago.

But the point of this post, is simply to state the fact that I think I would die if Bungie or Microsoft turned down the line that the Mario franchise did. Can you imagine Halo Kart? Halo Power Tennis? Halo Baseball? Halo Party 4? Halo Golf? Master Chief at the Olympic Games? Dance Dance Revolution Master Chief Mix? Yes, I think you’ve got the gist of it now..I know the first time I ever played a Mario game, I never expected it to turn to so many different genres. Racing, puzzles, sports etc. Can anyone honestly stick up their hand and say they did expect titles such as Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix, or Mario Golf?

Unfortunately that was quite clearly, a fantasy world. When anyone I know is looking to buy a console, they like to know people that are already using it so they can be sure that they’ll have someone to game with and such. It actually tips the scales a good bit and is usually one of the main deciding factors in the purchase of one of the next-gen consoles for a gamer that takes it more seriously. I would personally say I know a lot more people at school that own a 360 rather than a PS3 – so that has already turned a few opinions on which new console they’ll be buying. I’m not in any way saying this is the only reason though, loads of other things contribute to the buying of a certain console, especially the exclusive games.

Yet with the likes of COD4 in my Xbox 360 disk-drive, I’ll be on the phone to my friend who is also on COD4. One problem though, they’re on a PS3 and don’t own a 360. So unless we go over to one another’s house and play a little split-screen, we can’t game against one another. Also with me not being such a big fan of split-screen, that’s not usually my favourite option. But anyway the whole point is, if PSN and Xbox Live conjoined into one massive game networking system, the possibilities would be endless! Clan matches could take place between both 360 clans and PS3 clans for example. Console-exclusive games clearly wouldn’t be playable by both but on games such as COD4 the idea would work well. But then we have loads of problems with this whole idea. Firstly and most recognizably being the fact that the chances of Microsoft and Sony agreeing to such a thing would be extremely unlikely and also the price differences of playing online. They’d probably have to just go free for both consoles or put a price on PSN.

I’ll run you through a small list of the extremely varied issues that have been blamed on video games so far:

• Murders
• Suicides
• Child neglect
• England’s failure to reach the Euro 2008
• Obesity
• Hallucinations
• Massacres
• Death of plants
• Movie ticket sales

Then the thing is that absolutely none of these issues have been proven to be caused by video games, it’s simply assumptions and blame. A perfect example is the Virginia Tech shootings, which were quick to be blamed on violence contained in video games by Jack Thompson and Dr.Phil. At the time of their statements and pre-mature conclusions not even the identity of the shooter had been released, giving them nothing to back up their statements.

Then we have a more recent suicide from February of this year, a British teen committed suicide after an argument over a confiscated Wii game. It was then proposed by the Daily Mail that the teenager’s death was clearly because of the game, an assumption based on no evidence whatsoever.

The richest of all of these coming from McDonald’s boss, Steve Easterbrook, as he blames obesity on video games. However he does say McDonalds contribute very slightly, how modest of you Steve. He said all of this to The Times and ranted on about youth diets especially, very rich considering he is boss of one of the most popular fast-food restaurants of this day. Yet he doesn’t seem to mind working with the gaming industry for a profit, making a deal with Sega in 2003 to supply McDonalds happy meals with exclusive toys.

Another interesting piece comes from film executives as they blame poor October 2007 box office sales on Halo 3. They’re convinced that movie punters were sitting at home on the futuristic FPS instead of going out to see the latest movie blockbuster, although the Master Chief hit broke all blockbuster records by bringing in $170 million on its first day of release.

So from just the examples above, it’s clear that video games are being targeted from all angles, from plummeting box office sales to massacres. But do people even bother to look deeply into other causes of the crime or issue? For example, the Virginia Tech massacre in America, we all know that in the United States people have the ‘right to bear arms’ so in other words, to keep and bear firearms. So maybe instead of blaming everything on video games such as Manhunt and GTA, people should be quicker to blame certain laws and rights. Many places don’t exactly lack in visible opportunities to purchase firearms or other weapons, sometimes being one of the most common shops about.

Another story concerns a 12 year old boy accidentally shooting his younger brother with a gun, the first conclusion was that the boy was ‘acting out an anti-terrorist game’. Therefore holding the PS2 responsible for the death and stating that video games cause violence. But how about we look into the most obvious part of the crime, where the heck did the kid get the gun? I play quite a few violent games but I’m mature enough to understand violence and that it isn’t a normal thing to do. Oh, and let’s not forget this fact, my parents are smart enough to make sure I don’t have access to loaded firearms.

Instead of everyone jumping to the conclusion of video games being the sole reason for humanity’s problems, how about we actually use our brains and look at the facts instead. People are now smart enough to know they can get away with blaming their own mistakes on video games, as many recently have done. Then it’s just soaked in by the authorities and then us gamers have another case on our hands, trying to prove we’re not all psychopaths. There’s as many other possibilities for all of the crimes or issues listed; society, health, parents or guardians and laws being a selected few.

I’ll let all these fancy experts, professors and politicians, who have probably never touched a game, come back to me with some good hard evidence to prove video games truly are the cause of all these problems. Otherwise I’m not listening, unlike some of the people that will believe anything they say because of their titles. So I’ll sit and wait for this proven evidence, which will most likely never come…

But the factor I’m talking about is the appeal to casual gamers, people that drift in and out of gaming a few days a week. The people that depend on a simple numeric score in a newspaper or their favourite magazine, a high score in that is enough for them to head out to their nearest high street and purchase a new £40 game.

So this certain factor is a big influence in the console wars, and we all know which is considered the most casual console… Nintendo’s Wii! Even just the fact it’s made by Nintendo-the same developers of the DS with casual games such as Nintendogs available, makes it an even more casual console. The Wii stocks plenty of bright, colourful games for any young kids, or perhaps even some adults too. Now with Wii Fit launched and every store fighting to get a new batch in for all the exercise-hungry families with Wiis, the console has taken another step towards the casual market. Sony have also had some casual games on the PS2, so the PS3 was probably a casual gamer’s next choice. Singstar being a particularly appealing game, even more so when it was released on the PS3. But then again, if you look into the 360’s range of games, you find just about as many casual games in there as the PS3’s selection.

So why is the PS3 considered casual then? Apparently the 360 is viewed as more of a competitive gamer’s console, yet the PS3 isn’t. But then we have Microsoft’s surprising move, the new avatars for the 360 Dashboard. These cute little Mii-like avatars will be customisable to try and capture your personality as best as it can, therefore looking to push the 360 towards the casual market a bit more. Yet still even after this, the 360 will probably remain seen as a competitive gamer’s console, why? Because of previous consoles maybe? Who didn’t have a PS2, it stocked loads of casual games and movie tie-ins. Xbox is another matter, I rarely saw an Xbox when I was little, only one person I knew had one.

So is this all about the past then? People are basing a new console on what it’s predecessor was like?

Since I first tried Xbox Live back when I got my 360 I was hooked. Goodbye COD2 campaign! The thrill of slaughtering other players felt ironically good, except when I was the one being slaughtered (which happened a lot). After I was beginning to slowly bore from COD2 a new batch of games were released, causing me to move onto the new online games with the crowd. Buying a game without online play actually scares me now, what if I get bored…what do I do then? It’s not like I can go online on Oblivion or Devil May Cry 4 is it, as great games as they are. I’m already tempted to switch to COD4 before I get spammed with invites to games while I’m trying to pass a level I’m halfway through on DMC4.

I can always get through games such as COD4’s campaign as it’s easily addictive and you don’t feel the same ‘alone-ness’ since you have a squad and such. But that’s a slow process since a good game comes at a price, and that one comes at the price of having an even MORE addictive multiplayer mode. I will admit that one of the top reasons I play single player mode in games is for, yes I will hang my head in shame, Gamerscore. But I’m not so desperate to play it on all the difficulty modes, that’s just asking too much with the temptation of online play present. But the main reason is being alone while all my friends are online without me, while I’m trying to complete a campaign in some game. Co-op campaign cures this temporarily. You just don’t feel the same when it’s not some other person.

Singstar, a huge franchise that began back in the days of the PS2, has hit the PS3 with another title. Singstar Vol.2 comes after the game’s successful first landing on the next-gen console with Singstar Vol.1. Allowing you to sing along with your favourite songs and let you feel like a real superstar, you can just forget going to Karaoke ever again!

Singstar is a game that lets you well, sing obviously, along to your favourite tunes. You have to match the pitch, tone and timing of the lyrics and are awarded points for how well you do. Your points are then added up at the end of the song to give you your overall score. Also showing you a gauge of how well you did out of how well you can possibly do on the song. A rank of your singing ability is also shown which can range from Wannabe right up to Superstar. Before you choose a song you are also asked which difficulty you would like, choosing out of easy, medium and hard. Easy will let you pass loosely and get away with a few mistakes but hard will give you nothing for even the tiniest slip up.
You can also hear an audio playback of the song you have just sung, this can also be saved to the HDD. Hearing how you just performed can be really funny and is definitely a good feature.
As usual, the songs on Singstar are of a wide variety. This includes genres such as rap, rock, pop and some old favourites. Big name artists make plenty of appearances in the game, whether modern or older. This vast list includes the likes of Aerosmith, Gorillaz and Paul McCartney. Songs can be the artists more popular songs or possibly a newer release by them, with songs included such as “Without Me” by Eminem, “Ruby” by The Kaiser Chiefs, “But It’s Better If You Do” by Panic! At The Disco, “500 Miles” by The Proclaimers and “Lithium” by Nirvana.
The Singstore is something that’s come back from Volume 1 and can really liven the game up. Offering songs and song packs up for download at a low price, you’ll be fishing out your credit card in no time! Also offering a wide variety of artists from multiple genres, you’re sure to find something you like.

You arrive in a fire-ridden domain with your horde of loyal minions. Disloyal peasants trapped, having been misled by a mystical force, beg for your forgiveness. Save them or leave them to rot in hell for betraying you. It’s your choice; this is your life now, master.

Overlord hits the PS3 in full force, with the Raising Hell expansion pack included. The 360 version of the game hit the market last year and now, it’s the PS3’s turn. This is your chance to rule everything and everyone and have your enemies at your feet, begging for mercy. The expansion pack gives the game 3 new domains, well sub-domains. These are Abyss’ and are unlocked in sequence, when you finish one the next is then unlocked for you to travel to.

The game can be played in one of 2 difficulties; Normal or Legendary and begins with the Overlord being resurrected after the ruin of his kingdom. You’re then put through a short tutorial on the game’s controls and minion control before being led up to the main area of your Tower. To begin your reign of terror you’re sent on your first mission, to find the Tower Heart, a magical source of energy that will teleport you to the domains you need to go.

Choices play a part in this game, with you being given choices between being bad or good. Such as, choosing to give starved peasants food you rescued or keep it for yourself although you already have plenty. Killing peasants has its bonuses also, giving you money and weapons and armour for your minions to pick up. However the game always leaves you feeling incomplete up in that twisted evil mind of yours, is what you’re doing really all that evil? I was expecting mind-blowing evil actions to be available at my disposal but I must admit I feel let down in that aspect by the game.
The combat system for your Overlord is quite basic with only one button for attacks. However magic attacks are unlockable for you including the ability to attack your enemies with fireballs. The game can begin to feel rather repetitive at times with the same battle tactics being used over and over again.

Your minions are your main fighting and problem-solving force. These are available in 4 different colours:

• Brown – the fighters, they cause the most damage to enemies and are able to take the most damage.
• Red – these guys can throw fireballs at the enemy and absorb any fire that’s in your way.
• Blue – use these minions to resurrect your dead minions and also to travel through water.
• Green – experts with poison, they can absorb poison.

It’s impossible to do much without your minions by your side, but to acquire minions you need Lifeforce.  This can be obtained from enemies, peasants and sheep. There’s different Lifeforce is required for each type of minion, so knowing where to find certain Lifeforce is vital. You can then use this Lifeforce to summon minions from their portals, which also differ for each type of minion. Minions can assess many places you can’t such as smaller spaces and tents and bring back any items they find for you like health, magic and money. They’ll keep weapons and armour for themselves however, but weapons will improve their attacks and armour will improve their defence. Your faithful minions can also be sacrificed in special portals; these then give you a health or magic boost depending on how many minions you sacrifice. Since minion portals are only available at a few different points in each domain, you’ll find yourself wandering backwards and forwards until you have the correct army with you. This can make the whole process very tiresome after a while.

Onto your evil base, your Tower. This is your main hub for all your evil-doing and accessories for your Tower can be added including banners, statues and outer add-ons to your Tower. Buying things for your Tower is one way to spend your gold, another is to use it to upgrade and create new weapons or armour.  Your jester will follow you around the main part of your Tower and compliment you on your evil-doings, reminding you of what you’ve done in the past. However if you find him too annoying you can simply give him a good few kicks and he’ll soon shut up.

New objects can be found for your tower, such as the Tower Heart. This can help you in many ways, perhaps by unlocking a new area in your Tower, allowing you to control more minions or giving you a vast amount of gold. Whatever they offer you, they’re worth carrying back to your Tower. Anything that needs carried can be carried by your minions, usually requiring a certain amount to do so however.

Domains can differ greatly from Mellow Hills; a bright, grassy domain with forests and a small village, to Heaven’s Peak; a drained, dark domain infested by humans infected by a deadly virus.
Music in the game isn’t used that much apart from in Mellow Hills, where it is bright and happy. In any evil domain there’s usually no music at all and you have to settle with the dying screams and roaring of fire. Minion voices can be quite entertaining but are all exactly the same, which is quite disappointing. But some of the comments they make and their overall character can be an interesting thing to watch. Peasants have quite a limited collection of voices and dialogue, similar to the minions.
The graphics in the game are good but aren’t concentrated on creating a realistic picture, which is probably the best way to go with Overlord: Raising Hell. Your Overlord definitely looks the part with steel armour and a helmet hiding his appearance totally. Minions are funny, unusually creatures with all but the blue minions looking scruffy and clueless. The blue minions look very sleek and have interesting marks on them, making them look somewhat mystical. Peasants once again, don’t have very much variation on how they appear but can come in the form of your typical hillbilly type to the slightly smarter dressed.

The Dragon Ball Z franchise makes a return to gaming, but this time it’s taking a shot at the next-gen consoles. Releasing on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit hopes to improve on previous titles and make itself a name in the next-gen world.

Dragon Ball Z features the storyline beginning of the Saiyan Saga through to the ending of the Cell Saga. To sum it up, the Saiyans are an alien race of warriors who crave destruction. They arrive on the Earth to destroy it and the many Earthlings that inhabit it. It’s a tale that involves two main characters putting aside their differences to team up and save the world together, the usual superhero kind of stuff.
Lucky for myself, I have watched the series a few times and played multiple games on it, making myself quite familiar with the storyline. The storyline is covered very briefly throughout the game, using short cut scenes to explain what’s happening. This is what makes the game a definite fan’s game, the average gamer will find it incredibly hard to understand what’s going on without having watched the shows. This is quite a hard downfall for the game and franchise as a proper explanation of what’s happening could have encouraged more gamers to get into the franchise. But the story doesn’t really last long in the game, because it’s mostly back-to-back constant battles. Thankfully however, the storyline is not the main aspect of the game, that comes down to gameplay.

The combat of the game is simple yet with the right combos, can be very interesting. There are loads of different aspects to the combat, with many different ways to attack and defend. Defending your character requires pressing the right button at the right time and can really allow you to gain the upper hand in battles. Attacking is where the depth of the combat system comes in. There are simple kicks, punches and combos you can pull off but the most damaging attacks are made available once you’ve charged up your Ki Gauge. This opens up many options to you; transforming, Ultimate Attacks, Aura Spark and other moves individual to certain characters. Some forms of transformations need to be unlocked for characters however. But it has to be said, even with these exciting moves at your fingertips, the old-favourite button-bashing still seems to work best with this game. However if properly learned and executed at the perfect times, more advanced moves will come out top. Becoming fatigued is a new feature added to the combat also, in which you have to rapidly press any button to regain your energy. This doesn’t happen very often however, unless you use defensive attacks a lot. When in Aura Spark you can hit an opponent upwards and follow them into the air, engaging in a fast-paced fight involving you to button-bash. Goes along with the rules, faster fingers win.

Drama Pieces are a new and extremely interesting addition to the series. Individual to each character, these are picked at the start of the battle and come into effect in a certain situation of the battle. They change one or more elements of the battle such as a health boost. They don’t make a big difference to the battle, you wouldn’t lose if they were triggered but it’s a nice effect that gives the characters more personality.

DBZ: Burst Limit features a total of 21 characters, starting line up being Goku, Krillen and Piccolo. A total of 5 stages are available for battles to take place, however no interaction is possible with the environment as with previous instalments. The characters have been sliced hugely, with previous titles catering for around 100 characters. The stages also seem to be lacking a bit in variety but it’s not really an important aspect of the game. Characters, stages and additional character abilities are all unlocked by playing through the Z Chronicles Story Mode.

Graphics are the games strongest feature by a mile! The cell-shaded characters look amazing and almost identical to their appearance on the show. Pop-out bright colours work well for both the characters and stages, bringing a distinct anime feel to the game. Definitely a success in the graphics department and one of the best anime visuals game around.

The cut scenes present in the game are great fun to watch, adding more enjoyment to battles. The animated bubbly graphics and sound effects compliment the cut scenes hugely. Adding more personality to the battles and letting you sit back and watch some lightening-paced action.

The game’s music is fast-paced and works great with the fighting scenes. With guitar solos and lightening riffs pumping in the background as you pound your opponent. The opening scene before the menu features a song also, in Japanese along with battle scenes from the game. The character’s voices are impressive also, with them sounding identical as they do on the animated show. You also have a choice of the Japanese or English character voices, so if you want it to sound more original you can. However one thing does bug me, the fact the character’s mouth rarely moves in time to the voice.

Online is an option in this game, along with 2-player battles on one console. Online is brilliant if there’s no lag as that seems to affect what you’re capable of doing, but matches with lag are truly horrible. There are leaderboards that will track your power-ranking, which will enable you to see how you compare to others.

Ranks….great to show off in video games and in reality. In reality you would battle through many different situations and dangers to get each. On video games you simply sit on your comfy couch with a trusty tube of pringles by your side and play continously, praying you earn enough points or XP to advance to the next rank. Spot the difference?

In reality a person’s rank would determine their ability, skill and thinking down to the bone. Possibly they were awarded it for a specific job they completed or an act of heroism. Fact is, their risking their lives against terrorism and war to earn their ranks.

Then we have our virtual world, where even the little guys can pack a punch. Everything about a player is judged on their rank in their game of choice. Entering a lobby to find a Private usually causes higher ranked players to errupt in fits of laughter. Only for them to shy away with their tails between their legs at the end of the game. Beaten and lost of all their dignity. I’ve been there in the lobbies, as my fellow teammates chatter anxiously about the General on the opposite team. Only for that General to finish last, according to the ending scoreboard.

What I’m saying is, you really cannot judge someone by their virtual rank in a game. There are many ways in which someone with the actual ability of a Private could get to General ranking. Playing the game non-stop is one way, you’re sure to rank up even if you play awful (well except in Halo 3 that is). Finding yourself a team of highly-skilled players, this can make you rank up fast if you’re constantly winning matches. Having a friend play for you is another-perhaps you have a god of gaming next-door to you.

Think about it, ranks really aren’t an accurate way to show a gamer’s ability. Kill / Death Ratios are probably the most accurate you will get to a player’s real skill level.

The 3rd instalment of Bungie’s Halo trilogy has finally landed, and pretty impressive it is! Futuristic shooter, Halo jumps back on the scene. This time round however, the Xbox 360’s the game’s one and only platform instead of the original Xbox. It is definitely one of the most hyped games in gaming history, but does it live up to the hype?

Halo 3 is set in the year 2552 and follows on from the previous two instalments. You once again, play as ‘Master Chief’ a.k.a. Spartan-117 intent on stopping ‘The Flood’ before it destroys everything in the galaxy. The Flood is a parasite that transforms victims into ‘puppets’ under it’s reign and will stop at nothing until every breathing thing is on its side. The Covenant on the other hand, is an alien civilisation that believes humanity stands in the way of their religion. However, the Flood and the Covenant are not Master Chief’s only problem. He has to save the galaxy from the slowly ticking time bomb known as the ‘Halo network’ in a race against his two enemies. Assisted by the Arbiter and Cortana, it really is time to ‘finish the fight!’

The controls system of Halo 3 is identical to its previous instalments, apart from one small change. The X button activates any equipment you may have picked up (I will explain more on this later).
Achievements in the game are mostly based around the campaign which features some ‘meta-games’ in which you have to get above a certain score. Online achievements are also included, mostly available in the ‘Lone Wolves’ game type.

Campaign in Halo 3 can be played in 4 difficulty modes- Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary. With a total of 10 missions, this will keep you amused for quite a while.  The ability to bring in up to 4 friends for some Co-op play online or off also makes this a lot easier. Another new feature to the Halo game are “Skulls” which you can collect for different achievements and to unlock different Campaign effects. “Terminals” can also be activated in Campaign which unlocks an achievement when all are uncovered. All these things will give you a more enjoyable experience on campaign mode if you’re doing it for either the achievements or just for fun.
Covenant species are what you will usually be pitted up against. There are 7 different types of covenant species. There are also different species of ‘The Flood’.

Weapons play a massive part in any shooter; this is no different with Halo 3. Two different classes of weapons are available- UNSC and Covenant. Covenant weapons are more alien-like and UNSC are forms of weapons you would expect in modern day. Some of these weapons can be duel-wield, increasing the damage inflicted on your opponent. Grenades also play a huge part in Halo, there are 3 different types of grenade. These are Frag Grenades, Plasma Grenades and Spike Grenades. All grenades have different uses and are suited for certain situations. Support Weapons are placed around maps also; these include Plasma Cannons, Machine Guns and Missile Pods. These are essential in taking down enemies quickly.

Now, equipment is something I mentioned earlier. These range in effect towards the player and/or environment. There are many types of equipment and each will have a different effect when activated. Good use of these can change a game completely and sometimes lead to spectacular killing streaks.

Vehicles have always played a big part in Halo but there are a few additions to the party. Yet again, the two types of vehicles are UNSC and Covenant. UNSC vehicles are more modern whereas Covenant vehicles are more alien-like. Vehicles range from 1-seaters to 4-seaters and are usually suited to certain situations or maps.

Onto Online Play, featured in all previous Halo instalments and contributes a lot to the game. There are a total of 11 maps available in all multiplayer modes, some best suited to particular game types.
Matchmaking has always been a main component on Halo’s multiplayer, where you are pitted up against players of your own skill level in various different game types. There are 2 playlists available; Ranked and Social.
The Ranked playlist is where you compete for a higher rank against matched players in competitive games. Game types available in this include:

• Lone Wolves: You’re a one man team in this game type, taking on various other players in a Slayer match.
• Team Doubles: A 2v2 game type, communication and teamwork are essential.
• Team Objective: Featuring 4v4 objective type games like Multi-Flag.
• Team Control: 4v4 area-control games like Territories.
• And many more…

The Social playlist on the other hand is un-ranked and not as competitive. Matches in this do not affect your Halo Rank in any way and also allow players the opportunity to take up to 4 guests online. Game types available in this include:

• Rumble Pit: A non-ranked version of Lone Wolves.
• Big Team Battle: 2 teams of 6 players go head to head in slayer and objective games.
• Multi Team: Teams of 2 take on a number of other teams.
• Rocket Race: Team of 2 take on other teams in a race to checkpoints in mongooses, with a driver and ‘shooter’ on the back. Rocket launchers are the main weapon in this game making it fast-paced.
• And many more…

Another critical part of the Halo series is Custom Games,where players host their own matches. Picking their favourite game types and inviting others for some friendly un-ranked private games. An additional game type is available in Custom Games however; Infection is when one player begins as a Zombie while the others fight for survival. Custom Games is the place where you can make your own rules:

• What’s the starting weapon?
• What’s the strength of the players’ shields?
• How fast can players move?
• And much more…

Forge, a new addition to the Halo franchise and a wise addition at that! Forge is an excellent mode available to players, allowing them to add, delete or move objects on any pre-made map available in multiplayer. There are endless things to add or change in any of the maps; these can include weapons, spawn points, vehicles, equipment, scenery and teleporters. Players are placed in the map of their choice and can then begin their recreation process by entering ‘’Forge mode’’. Even the smallest changes on a map can have a dramatic effect on how everyone interacts with what’s at their disposal.

Another new addition to the Halo franchise is the Theater and is yet another wise move by Bungie! In the Theater players can view videos of their previous games on Campaign or Multiplayer and edit them in various ways. Players can pause the video and take a screenshot or record a video clip of a certain part of the video, changing the camera angles as they please. A first class feature which enables clans to compose match reports with pictures and let’s players prove what they have and haven’t done in Halo 3.

Last but not least, the File Share. This amazingly neat little addition to Halo 3 enables players to share their videos, screenshots, map variants and rule variants with anyone in the world! Like the look of your friend’s map? Well, download it and play it! Downloads are always extremely quick and can continue in the background while you engage in some more Multiplayer or Campaign. Also, if you’re not happy with the space of your File Share you can join Bungie Pro for increased File Share Slots. Another great thing about the File Share is viewing ‘Bungie Favourites’, which is the very best map variants, rule variants, films and screenshots provided by the Halo 3 Community. This will keep you occupied for ages, trying to get the funniest or coolest screenshot to show off to your friends list.

Onto the graphical side of Halo 3, personally I don’t think that many changes were made graphically to Halo 3. Although the detail to characters and vehicles is superb and focuses on practically every inch of them, the terrain isn’t as impressive and could probably have been further polished. Overall in the graphics section, they’re still highly impressive although not much different from Halo 2.

Audibly the game is amazing; the shooting, dying screams from players, explosions and vehicles all add to the battle. Such sounds also help you while playing, this way you know what’s going on around you and you become aware of the dangers lurking closer. The music on the menus on the other hand, is calming and slow-paced; it fits in perfectly with the war mood.

Assassin’s Creed, one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. Ubisoft certainly have done well with this masterpiece.

Assassin’s Creed is set in 1191 AD across various cities including Jerusalem, Damascus and Masyaf. The Holy Land is being torn apart by the Third Crusade. You play Altair, a highly experienced but dangerously over-confident Assassin. It’s your goal to suppress both sides from hostilities. As the game starts you engage in some basic tutorials of the game’s controls then find yourself in a temple. In this temple, everything possible goes wrong and your allies are murdered because of your actions. Your master then strips you of your rank as you have broken the Assassin’s rules and you have to start from the very beginning of your career as an Assassin. To redeem yourself, your master sets you 9 tasks. These tasks however are the assassinations of 9 important men. From there, your journey begins……
There is also a storyline concerning a futuristic side of the game. Bartender Desmond Miles is kidnapped by 2 scientists and brought to their lab. Where he is placed on an ‘Animus’ which lets him travel back in time to 1191 AD as his ancestor, Altair……

Altair’s main mission is to assassinate the 9 men by any means possible so you’ll find yourself interrogating, pick pocketing and eavesdropping into their followers’ conversations to find out their location. Once you have all the information you require you will need to go to the Assassin’s Bureau to report to your ally. He will then give you a feather to smear your victim’s blood on, probably for proof he is dead. Your then off to go and assassinate your victim, you can do this stealthily or disruptively whichever you prefer. Then the whole cities’ guards are on you, so you have to get out of there quick and make it back to the Bureau to report the death.
But there are of course, side missions for you to complete if you want. These include saving citizens (which can be greatly rewarding), collecting flags, killing all the templars and climbing to the top of all the viewpoints. Saving the citizens and climbing up to a viewpoint can help greatly in your future assignments as the viewpoints allow you to see the positions of potential hiding places and enemies. As saving citizens can earn you 2 things:
• Scholars: These guys have access to all areas of the city so if you blend in with them, so do you.
• Vigilante: These guys on the other hand will block any of your pursuers’ paths so run towards them if you want a quick escape.

Onto the controls, these are interesting and easy to learn. Each body part is mapped to a button, for example Y controls your head and A your legs. Actions are also split into 2 types, High or Low profile. High profile moves are things like sprinting, jumping and basically moves that make you stand out and can attract unwanted attention to yourself. Low profile moves are more socially acceptable like walking, gently pushing people out of your way and blending. Now, blending is when you hide in a group of Scholars from guards making you invisible to them.
Your main transport is your horse, which has very similar controls to Altair. Also using High and Low profile actions.

Gameplay is great with Assassin’s Creed and choice plays a huge part in this game. Hiding is also an important part of this game as you’ll be getting chased a fair amount. Places you can hide include rooftop gardens, sitting on benches and hiding in haystacks. One of the best parts of this game is the free-running aspect. Scaling the historic buildings and leaping across rooftops is just so entertaining. You have to pay attention to the details on the building however as they have to have a ledge, window or basically something that sticks out of them to be climbable. The game is however interrupted frequently by technological interruptions which remind you of the futuristic side of things.

Now for the combat, one of the most important parts of Assassin’s Creed. Altair has 4 weapons for combat, his fists, a short blade, a sword and throwing knifes. In combat he can also dodge, counter-grab and attack and deflect. These are essential in his survival as an Assassin. The fighting is more realistic than some other games and the counter-attack scenes are quite entertaining. You can also use your sword on horseback and swing to the left and right.
There is also a Synchronisation Bar which is really your health. This tells you how in tune you are to your ancestors. This can be gained by completing objectives and staying anonymous. But can be lost by killing innocent people, falling from great heights and when you’re harmed in combat.
Computer controlled enemies are also done well and do things like patrol and talk to each other. There are 3 different stages for guards’ alertness:
• Unaware- The guard has no idea of your presence.
• Suspicious- The guard knows something’s not right.
• Aware- The guard knows of your presence and will attack.

The graphics of Assassin’s Creed could compete with any gaming title out there as the game is richly detailed. The surrounding area is spectacular and characters are amazingly detailed from head to toe. This is one of the most visually stunning games I have ever seen, it makes you feel as if your actually there! This game definitely has taken advantage of the technology available to Xbox 360 games.

The audio in the game is also very impressive. Assassin’s Creed’s sounds are all amazingly realistic and sound great. Everything has a sound to it, my favourite being the unsheathing of your sword. The horse’s hooves against the ground and the clanging of swords make this game’s sound even better. If you’re high up in buildings you can only hear the faint sounds of an eagle in the distance but if you’re down in the bustle of the city you can hear many things. The music of the game also adapts depending on the situation your in. The music will be fast paced if you’re being chased or fighting but slow paced if you’re simply walking around. Altair’s voice is cold so it really adds to his bold character. There are many other people around so many other voices to be heard, most of which have a unique sound.