This is the first of a short series of video impressions on arcade games that one can find in the wonderfull game centers of Japan.
The footage shot was all during my last visit to Tokyo. For the first Japan Arcade Special (henceforth: JAS) I will be showing you guys Senjou no Kizuna; without a doubt the most immerse Gundam game currently on the market due to the enourmous size of your field of vision on the battlefield and the cockpit controls that were mimicked from the designs found in the anime shows of Gundam.

The objective of the game is rather simple; you play either as a Zeon or EFSF soldier during the one year war, this war is persistant and statistics of your piloting, achievements, rank and any unlockable weapons and/or mobile suits/upgrades are stored on your personal IC card (pilot card) – Maps can be up to 8 VS 8 players, simply reduce the opposing force’s battle gauge (Classic Battlefield style) to win. This can be done by either destroying mobile suits; whom each have a cost associated with them I.E a Gundam is more costly to lose for your side then a stock GM. Destroying enemy supply bases will drastically deplete their battle gauge, or just have the highest battle gauge at the end of the match time.

Despite being an arcade game; there is squad communication trough voice which is enabled by plugging a standard 3.5mm headset into the cockpit. Voice chat is essential in winning due to the (incredibly) limited radar, and the huge size of the map.  If you don’t have a headset than you can always resort to a pre-set based chat system; as found on most PC games before the whole X360 porting/games for windows live became common place.

The game is pretty expensive to play at 500 yen a game, which equals 4 to maybe even 5 dollars a game depending on the conversation rate these days with the Japanese currency, however Senjou no Kizuna games are 30 minutes in total, due to the pre-planning and equipment phases and the game being played out during two matches. So all in all it’s very much worth it.

Without further delay, here’s the video impression with some actual gameplay; in which several aspects are elaborated more here and there. Enjoy ! And stay tuned next week for Sega’s latest arcade hit in Japan, the 10 vs 10 network mecha battle game: Border break !

After my Cowon S9 mediaplayer’s power on/off switch broke several days ago I was forced to temporarily use my phone as a music player. This caused me to start to re-think from scratch what kind of music I’d love to have with me. It was then that I fondly remember listening to the .Hack//SIGN soundtrack for days on end; it truly is amazing to just listen to it whilst doing your daily activities. So quickly; that soundtrack found it’s way to my phone and with good reason. It would come as no surprise to me if you haven’t heard of this excellent Composer/Musician yet because to date Yuki Kajiura (still) doesn’t share the same household status that Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop,Macross +,Escaflowne) enjoys at the moment. All the more reason to write a little bit about her wouldn’t you say ?

Kajiura has a very clearly distinctive sound, her trademark as you would call it. She’s very fond of succesfully combininig synth, opera, and French-flaired sound. Anime enthousiasts could first hear in Studio Bee-Train’s Noir (2001)
Despite the actual show itself receive alot of controversial critic, and in general being “meh” – everybody at the time agreed strongly on one positive effect; that being the breaktrough soundtrack.  Probably the strongest reason for this unprecidented combination of elements for the soundtrack could be lead to the fact that Kajiura greatly enjoyed the degree of artistic freedom that Mashimo as the series’ director offered her while collaborating on Noir, therefore their collaboration extended to many of his later projects, with the latest (as of 2007) being El Cazador de la Bruja. For example, Mashimo would never set any distinctive limitations or goals before her, allowing her to compose whatever she pleases. Afterwards, he would just take the samples he thought appropriate and insert it to whenever he wanted them to play.

After succesfully composing yet another fantastic soundtrack for Aquarian Age, Kajiura re-formed See-Saw; a former all female trio band that made it’s debut in 1992 which resulted in six singles and two albums before the break-up of the band. See-Saw was  consisting of Chiaki Ishikawa (lead vocals), herself (back-up vocals, keyboards), and Yukiko Nishioka. You may remember Chiaki Ishikawa from her impressive vocal work on Gundam 00’s ED song “Prototype” and if Bokurano’s brilliant OP song.
Backed up by her two See-Saw companions, they wrote and recorded what would in mid 2002 become the soundtrack for the .Hack//SIGN series which was yet another collaboration with Bee Train that started to enjoy mainstream success.

If you haven’t yet had a listen to anything she’s done in the anime’s or game’s she’s worked on (Granted that music aside; half or more are crappy anime productions themselves ) then by any means, please indulge on Youtube and enjoy some of the more original anime compositions you might’ve heard this decade !

Mobile Suit Gundam is currently perhaps one of the most widely loved exports of Japanese animation in the west.
Because the franchise is continuously being expanded and turned into different directions is one of the reasons that there’s a multitude of fans out there both young and old. The original show however that kick started an animation legacy that has lasted for the last 30 years wasn’t successful at all. As a matter of fact, the original run of Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979 got cancelled after having received bad ratings. It wasn’t until Bandai attempted to salvage the license by selling merchandise in the form of plastic models that the show started to gain popularity at an alarming rate.

It’s been a long time since Mobile Suit Gundam had finished it’s main storyline in the so-called fictional “Universal Century” (UC) era over a decade ago, and Sunrise had taken the show trough many new, bold series and movie spin-offs into other fictional era’s each with their own distinct problems and style to appeal to a wider fanbase throughout the last two decades Some might argue that these spin-offs were merely a poor basic imitation of the original Gundam storyline with cheesy, half-baked action or downright going into a bishounen path with Gundam Wing. Others will argue that these new directions all were welcome attempts at keeping the original imagination of the series alive.

It is now 2010 and fans rejoice with the dawn of a new morning in an old and familiar era. Gundam Unicorn; the latest Gundam production by Sunrise studios has finally been released with fans of the original time-line (yours truly included) rejoiced of the fact that this new six part OVA is a continuation of the UC  era, the era the original series had kicked off so long ago.  This OVA is in actuality an adaptation of a series of highly well received novels written by well known Japanese author Harutoshi Fukui whom you may know from the excellent military thriller Bokoku no Aegis and Shusen no Lorelei. Complimenting the brilliant mind of Fukui are in the visual design area are two very well known names. The mechanical designs have been done by none other than veteran  Hajime Katoki (0083,V,Virtual-ON,Endless Waltz etc.)  along with the character designs of the equally impressive Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Crusher Joe,Brave Reideen,Venus Wars,Z Gundam etc.)

After the opening credits, Unicorn boldly starts out in UC001, the ending of an old era, and the start of a new after mankind has finally expanded it’s reach into space. Having built several (small) initial habitats around the earth that will one day become the much needed support for mankinds problem of global instability caused by overpopulation.
History has shown us that a great change comes at a great price, and such the tragedy of the Laplace incident occurs; the first terrorist attack in space that wiped out an entire colony, starting not only an era of space; but a time of turmoil, conflict and eventually the war.

Without delving too much into the past; Unicorn fast forwards to the present. It is now UC096, three years after the events that had unfolded in “Char’s Counterattack”  We get to see a ship being pursued and engaged by Federation forces whom are quick to deploy their mobile suits. UC fans will instantly recoqnise these as the Jegan; which are the new equivelant of the GM as previously seen in the F-91 movie. The ship being persued isn’t as helpless as it first seemed and reacts by deploying a single, menacing mobile suit dubbed the NZ-666 Kshatriya which inherits the general looks of the Zaku, with the size of the Sazabi and a simular set of binders containing a plethora of funnels ala Quibeley.  It’s here that the viewer is treated to some intense action choreography. Sure we’ve all seen funnels tear apart a mobile suit before, but never in this brutally detailed manner. The effect of the beam saber clashes pleasantly reminded me of those seen previously in Gundam 00; albeit realised more tighter thanks to some great cinematography where we visually get to see the pilot and the trademark linear-cockpit seat working in tandem throughout the struggle giving that same sense of immersion and revelation when you first saw the transformation sequence of Fokker’s VF-0 in Macross zero.

I’ve heard comments from co SMR author Brett that he felt the action throughout Unicorn; whilst awesome, ultimatly felt soulless to him. I think I’ve got a good explanation of that seeing as the Kshatriya is the primary focus troughouth the episode’s combat segments. It’s female pilot clearly being visible in combat scenes whilst at most all we get to see of the federation pilots aside from their mobile suits obviously are shots of their hands on the controls of their respective suits, or a first person views looking out of their linear cockpits a the Kshatriya. It agreeably detaches a bit; seeing as the Federation pilots are nothing but seemingly faceless minions in this regards, but I for one love it in the same way I love the documentary style action cinematography the new Battlestar galactica show was famous for. It adds a sense of realism in the way that the Kshatriya’s pilot wouldn’t know the faces of those she fought against if this were a real engagement either.

Inmeadetly after the initial short skirmish, our mystery ship docks at a yet unnamed colony which is still under construction, yet already populated; long-time Gundam fans can probably already figure out that this colony was used to secretly build and test a new mobile suit; a suspicion that the viewer quickly gets confirmed. Enter Banager Links, the apparent  young protagonist of the show. Judging by the lack of interest he’s having in his class at Anaheim Electronics we figure that he’s smart beyond his years. We’re shown a brief glimpse in his seemingly mundane life before Banager senses a plea for help; following his instincts he ends up rescuing a girl who identifies herself as Audrey (tough doesn’t she look like .. ?) Colony life in a Gundam show would never be this simple and this is hardly the end of the show when Audrey claims she’s come to stop a war from breaking out. Whether it was the fact that Banager is a sucker for a damsel in distress, Audrey being plain cute or a foreboding sense of danger ; he finds himself compelled to help and in the process of doing so; gets chased around the colony by a shady group of Zeon loyalists, all the while Londo Bell forces are closing in as well and with them the threat of war becoming more real by the minute. As you might’ve guessed already from my writing style; I’m trying to leave out as much of the details of the characters and circumstances as possible so that you may enjoy your first screening of Unicorn better.

During all this, Unicorn shines just as brightly as other OVA’s of the past decade in regards to showing more of the underlying technical details of the world. Macross Zero finally showed us just how the heck pilots could achieve the dizzying amount of lock-ons often required for the brilliant missile showers or how a transformation looked like from inside the cockpit. Unicorn shows us just how well the pilot works with the linear seat interface and the omni-directional displays (being able to completely obscure parts of a mobile suit from view using CG) and also how a colony is being constructed from the inside out; whilst residents are already populating the fully constructed areas. Whilst this might not be interesting to the casual viewer of Unicorn; it does however add a nice touch for long-time fans of the show because after all, the saying goes; it’s all in the details. It also has to be said, that the soundtrack received just as much attention as the mecha/chara designs and animation. The score composed by Hiroyuki Sawano absolutely fits the bill in every scene troughout the episode, and I couldn’t have imagined it better myself. It’s really up there with Kanno’s compositions; tough unlike Kanno’s work you wouldn’t be able to listen to the soundtrack as a seperate entity whilst passing time commuting to and from somewhere, it’s just that intertwined with the on-screen action. One might argue that such is the nature of Gundam soundtracks; being filled with bombastic compositions of large orchestra’s that they just do not lend to casual listening; but even with simularly themed sci-fi/mecha shows *cough* Macross plus *cough* Kanno does mention to compose her work in such a way that they for the most part do not sound out of place during a casual listening session.

In closing, Unicorn just blew me away. It absolutely felt like a lost anime from 1988.
The main protagonist looks and fights like Camille (Zeta Gundam) hell; even has his own haro.
Whilst the CG looks modern, the underlying tone and story was very oldskool with both Zeon and Londo bell forces portrayed in a dark light, making this feel like a Zeta/CCA era story. I will definitly be buying this at launch the 12th of March, seeing as for the first time ever Bandai has ensured a simultanious world-wide release on both Blu-Ray and DVD; which instantly negates the popular reason for downloading: “it takes to long to get to the West” Being a OVA, and thus directly making this incomparable to a TV episode, it’s offcourse going to be a single episode per volume; and do keep in mind a typical OVA has several months between episodes. The official Blu-ray release MRSP is set at $30, however I’ve never seen anime retail for the exact same MRSP price. You you will no doubt be able to get this for $20 to $25 tops trough retail. I have to say it’s very exciting initiative from Bandai.I sincerely hope that people won’t be making the mistake of waiting for a cheap box “somewhere” down the line, cause it will take a good year or two at least before Unicorn has finished it run, by then if _everybody_ had been waiting for a cheap box Bandai won’t see a reason anymore to do more of these simultanious releases, and nor would any other company looking up at Bandai’s every move.

Gundam Unicorn: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ! Not only to the existing fans of UC or Gundam in general, but everybody anime lover with an interest for sci-fi will definitly get their kicks out of this despite not having followed any of the previous shows.

When I first heard that the creaters of SOCOM where working on a Massive Action Game that would feature 256 player battles on the PS3, I was extremely skeptical. I assumed that it would be scaled back or scrapped like the vaporware Huxley but after playing the beta for MAG, I became a true believer. Now that the game has been out a while, I can say confidently that MAG is the best Battlefield style game I’ve ever played.

What makes MAGstand out? For one it manages to encourage team play in a way that DICE’s battlefield series never did. In Battlefield 2 a single player can veer the course of a given battle, not so in MAG. If your team isn’t communicating, or following orders you will not succeed. The remarkable thing is that most of the time they do. I have had some bad teams, certainly. And that is frustrating, but for the most part the players of MAGseem more interested in taking objectives than running around like a lone wolf. I’ve noticed in general that the PS3 community tends to be more mature than Xbox Live, however you will still run into the occasional idiot.

At the beginning of the game you choose 1 of 3 PMCs to align with. Each has it’s own unique look, and ethos, though all have roughly equivalent gear. You can only play as this team until you reach level 60. This at first might seem like a bad thing, but choosing a faction and sticking to it builds camaraderie, much in the way the persistent war did in FROM software’s mech game, Chromehounds.

As in Modern Warfare 2, you gain XP by killing the enemy, in MAGhowever you gain more by carrying out objectives, and healing teammates. Rather than bringing out the worst in people it brings out the best. As you level up you acquire points which you can allocate to skills and gear. There are a lot of options, but this is balanced by a limit on how much weight you can carry. You have multiple slots to save different loadouts for different situations.

There are several gameplay modes each sporting different player counts, all are enjoyable. The larger modes, aquisition, and domination feature vehicles. The use of vehicles in MAG is far more limited than in Battlefield , again this may seem like a negative, but on the contrary, by limiting the usefulness of vehicles they discourage the kind of stupid lone wolf play you always see in those games.

The weapons in MAG are powerful, responsive and feel good. Unlike Modern Warfare 2 and Halo, there is no aim assist whatsoever, in my opinion this makes the combat more enjoyable.

The Graphics will not wow you, but they do look good, and the levels are very well designed.

The only significant negative I have found is that because each team defends a particular base depending on their faction, one PMC seems to have a definite advantage, that group is SVER. Their Maps in 2 of the 3 modes are virtually impossible to beat. You’d think something like that would be discouraging, but if anything the challenge drives me on. I know when we do take them down it will be very sweet. Hopefully the developer will find some way to address this, but even if they don’t I believe MAG is so much fun that at the end of the day it’s a minor complaint.

If you like serious tactical first person shooters and own a PS3, You owe it to yourself to Buy MAG!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Late 2007 Bioware released it’s original sci-fi IP title “Mass effect” and was greeted by praises for melding a third person tactical shooter with Bioware’s trademark RPG excellence, a cocktail of a gripping storyline,amazing script and an arsenal of excellent voice actors. The result was a great succes, despite several gameplay bugs, which overall didn’t stop the game from being widely enjoyed. Now, a little more than two years later we finally see the heralded and much hyped launch of Mass Effect 2, this time around a simultaneous release on both the PC and Xbox 360; again, Bioware neglecting the Playstation 3 despite having released Dragon age for all consoles and PC merely a few months back. I have played both the X360 and PC version; so the differences which there are, will also be discussed.

On a side note; spoilers are kept to only what’s found in trailers: So unless you’ve been stuck under a rock this is just fine.

What inmeadetly becomes apparant for anybody that has played ME1 is just how much the graphics have improved. Not only are the character models and various machinery/armor more detailed, but the lighting is way more complex and adds inmensely to the atmosphere. But it’s not just the graphics that have improved, oh no; I’ve never seen such an extensivly re-tooled game before in a sequel than this. Cause we’re not talking minor tweaks of things that were broken, the entire combat system has been revamped. Gone is the overheating mechanic and various pick-ups for ammo effects; instead there’s a universal “thermal clip” pick-up that serves as spare magazines. The good news is these are universal so they work for everything you have with the exception of heavy weapons, which have their own seperate magazine pick-up.

Aside from the weapon types already found in ME1 such as pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and sniper rifles ME2 now features the heavy weapon which can turn the tide of battle.These weapons range from missile launchers,flamethrowers even to this weapon that has the same effect as a micro tactical nuke. Whilst there was cover in ME1, it was annoying to use with having to push the directional stick against it continiously, now that’s replaced for a one button press to snap in, or out of cover much like Gears of War. People that weren’t a big fan of the Mako explorations can now be relieved that this element is gone. There is however going to be a DLC out soon called “Hammerhead” which gives you a Mako esque vehicle; only time will tell what you can do with it; as off-world exploration is now solely done trough a rather monotomous mini-game where you can scan worlds, find minerals to upgrade and possible side-quests.

Mass effect 2 is highly recommended; and it’s also _highly_ recommended to play the first if your planning on taking a plunge in the second as it’s truly set up to be played as a trilogy and not-stand alone. You’ll feel the action, but it’s still the gripping storyline that’s the biggest aspect of this game; don’t miss out on it !

ESSENTIAL

Even if your not a die-hard SHMUP fan, chances are that at some point of time in your years as a gamer you’ve heard the name of “Darius” 1986 marked the start of this horizontally scrolling shoot ‘em up game developed by Taito, whilst it essentially at the time was a mediocore SHMUP due to repetitive level backdrop designs despite being very unique due to it’s 3-screen arcade cabinet setup. Taito has since then expanded upon the Darius franchise with sequels but they too suffered from the curse of every Japanese developer; fixing flaws and annoyances with a game in incredibly slow increments with each next installment which in general is the frustration of many a Western gamer.

With mediocore SHMUP action the original Darius 2 arcade cabinet had to impress to get players to dump their coins. It doesnt even fit on this picture ! This cabinet is found in the legendary arcade center in Akihabara: Taito Hey.

The Darius Burst Japanese Commercial, nice CG action !

2009 has been another great year for games, both triple-A and independant. Gwenster and I have each composed our lists of the top 5 Console/PC retail games, and top 5 download/flash/portable games.

BRETT’S PICKS:

Console

5: Brutal legend (PS3)

It seems that a lot of people really didn’t enjoy this game based on internet chatter, but I personally loved it. Ironically It was the thing that most people hated, the RTS stage battles, that I ended up liking as much as the humor, which as an oldskool headbanger I very much appreciated.

4: Mobile suit Gundam Senki 0082 (PS3 import)

Back in the day I have owned a lot of Gundam games. Of the action games, only a couple have been particularly good. Of the ones I’ve played (I never played Namco’s PS2 game so cannot comment on it) this is the first Truly great one. It’s my personal opinion that Bandai actually surpassed the recent armored core games with this addictive Online mecha gameplay

3: Red Faction Guerilla (PS3)

A lot of people liked this game, but strangely for the single player. I found the single player somewhat lacking compared to Volition’s other open worlkd franchise Saints Row, but found the Multiplayer to be amazingly addictive (especially with 1 or 2 friends.) Unfortunately most people completely overlook this great mode.

2: Uncharted 2: Among thieves (PS3)

I just got this game and haven’t quite beaten it yet, but I can truly say it has the most stunning presentation I’ve ever seen in a game. It is more cinematic than Metal gear solid 4. The gameplay is for the most part incredibly tight. Honestly if it weren’t for the sheer joy I got from the next game this would be my top pick.

1: Dragon age origins (PC)

Simply look at my review. I poured over 80 hours into the game to beat it, and am still playing, nuff sed.

Portable/download/flash:

#5 Radiant (iphone)

A fun galaga style shmup with a cute sense of humor

#4 Space Invaders Extreme (Xbox live)

Though Gwenster gives me shit because it’s supposedly inferior to the portable versions, I love this update of the classic.

#3: Battlefield 1943 (PSN)

Battlefield 1942 scaled down with no germans… still better than most new games.

#2: Captain forever (Flash)

I don’t like browser games generally but this free flash game absolutely pushes all my buttons. Starting out with just a command module you quickly scavenge together a ship from destroyed foes… but watch out they all want to do the same to you.
#1: Shadow Complex (X360)

What an amazing surprise this game was. Upstart developer Chair out metroided metroid, in what is surely the most pretty 2.5 d game ever made. Absolutely a must buy for 360 owners

GWENSTER’S PICKS:

Console/PC/Arcade:

#5: Street Fighter 4 (PS3)

Capcom revived their franchise succesfully with Street Fighter 4. The first installment of Street Fighter to go 3D.
Everybody, including me were shocked by this, outragious  ! But the results ? oh man. The results were beautifull.
The fighters animations are gorgeous, the facial expressions are amazing and the game moves with unprecidented speed and fluidness. Truly this is the best a 3D fighting game has looked; thank god they have retained the 2D gameplay and as such there is no 3D plane to move into in any way. Street Fighter 4 is quick and easy to get in to, but it takes quite alot of time to master; with online play no longer are you limited to fighting people in the same room.

#4:Mobile Suit Gundam Senki UC82 (PS3)

It’s a Gundam game. An amazing Gundam action game at that, one of the few truly great ones where you actually don’t need to be a UC fan to see beyond the flaws to enjoy it. Much as Brett stated; this game surpasses From Software’s latest Armored Core 4 series in every way, most notably the online component that is well tought out. Aside from that, the action is top-notch and the graphics are pretty snazzy. Personally I would have loved the game *EVEN MORE* if they included some of the innovations from Gundam Crossfire. I.E the ability to shoot of parts of a mobile suit and strategically cripple it to save ammunition. This is a flaw with many Japanese games; previous innovations go lost for other features. In the case of Gundam Senki, you get an insane amount of customisation option to tinker with. You can even outfit equipment from different mobile suits or even factions onto eachother to maximise your deadlyness.

#3: Uncharted 2: Among thieves (PS3)

Uncharted 1 was awesome; Uncharted 2 is double-awesome. It took the formula of the first and made it better.
With incredible setpieces and stunning visuals with intense combat. The dialogue is as witty and funny as ever.
This time around they’ve added mulit-player. I tought that would suck, but it actually feels really great !
Definitly one of the best games this year.

#2:Dragon age: Origins (PC)

Bioware’s dark fantasy epic RPG. It really sucks you in, despite not having one big world to walk in trough and the game being segmented. It still feels large and epic. something that is partially thanks to the incredible effort they put in writing the lore and character dialogues. Combat on the PC is different than on the console versions; with the ability to have a strategic overview and micro-managing every battle. To help you with that you can set up FF 12 style gambits to take care of the heavy lifting for you. Amazing soundtrack; amazing storyline, it’s just one giant epic RPG.
And I do hope I see a sequel of the same or better caliber !

#1: Border Break (Arcade)

Ha ! Bet nobody saw this coming. I still have to finish the video review for this. Border Break is a new arcade game made by Sega, a 10 on 10 tactical war fought online with the use of mechanised weapons called “Blaze”
Now imagine Mech assault 2 on the old Xbox, and then imagine mecha that feel and move like AT’s from the classic anime series: Armored Trooper Votoms ; add in some of the heaviest customisation and weapons features you’ve seen and voila: you get Border break. Intense mecha action that never lets down. The basic principle is to conquer the enemy’s generator that serves as their base, in order to gain close you can gain tactical footholds and spawn forward bases of operations. With 5 classes of mechs you aim for victory ! You will be rewarded with the money and resources to buy new parts and/or weapons as you level up trough the ranks. Expect a full review of this soon.

Portable/download/flash:

#5: Taiko no Tatsujin Portable (PSP)

Namco’s insanely popular Taiko drum rythm game from Japan finally makes it’s way to the PSP.
Even with the lack of a drum accesory to play on, the portable version is really great and head to head multiplayer is offcourse also one of the options.

#4:Torchlight(PC)

Torchlight is a Diablo 2 clone, but done better. The only lack is multiplayer, but despite that this dungeon crawler is a great epic with the feel of Diablo 2 along with intense battles against fantasy foes. The best thing about this game is your companion pet, which can sell the spoils of your ongoing campaign at the town without you having to take a break from the action. If you couldn’t wait for Diablo 3 to come; than give this a shot ! It’s well worth the 20$ admission fee.

#3:Macross Ultimate frontier (PSP)

If dozens of missiles, transforming mecha and giant alien battleships are your thing than look no further.
This is the sequel to late 2008’s Macross: ace frontier game. This game is essentially a Gundam VS game set in the Macross universe as the game’s mechanics are very simular with the distinct difference offcourse being that the mecha in Macross can change into 3 different modes. Upgradable and customisable mecha, this time around you can carry FAST packs and chose different allies. High-paced action and a dozen of Itano circusses; what more do you want ?

#2:Darius Burst (PSP)

Just in time for 2009. Darius Burst is the latest installment in the Darius SHMUP games made by Taito; this one being a console (PSP) exclusive and isn’t found in Japanese arcades. High replay value, intense bullet hells, mechanised aquatic bosses and a new silver hawk all thumping along the incredible soundtrack made by Taito’s in house team: Zuntata.

#1: Shadow Complex (X360)

Incredible metroid-vania style game, that raises the bar for graphics on a 2D game. Developed by CHAIR entertainment, the guys that had brought you the incredible shitfest known as Undertow. Who could’ve tought they would develop something this mindblowing ? Set in the series of novels created by Orsson Scott Card, the game puts your main character in a collision course with a giant conspiracy agains the USA.

Dark times in Ferelden

My relationship with Bioware games does not go back very far. The first I played was Knights of the old Republic. I enjoyed the game but didn’t finish it. I truly came to appreciate them with Mass Effect which I loved. I don’t however have a relationship with Bioware’s storied legacy of PC RPGs from the 90s, so when people say that Dragon Age Origins is the spiritual successor to the Baldur’s gate series it doesn’t mean much to me. I can say this though, If that is true, then those games must have been truly great because Dragon Age Origins may just be the best game I’ve ever played.

I’ve never been a great fan of the fantasy genre. In general I prefer science fiction. When I do dip my toes in however I tend to like my fantasy gritty and blood soaked. I grew up reading Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian comics and always loved Robert E Howard’s fully fleshed out world of Dark adventure. Dragon age has enough of that flavor mixed in with the expected Tolkien inspired high fantasy to suck me right in.

It's party time

Dragon Age takes place in an extremely well fleshed out and interesting fantasy world of Thedas, more specifically in the nation of Ferelden. The game brims with intrigue both political and personal. Because the world itself is so damn interesting, I found my self reading an awful lot of the extra materials that you can dig up… something I never did in Oblivion.

When you begin the game you can choose from 6 different backgrounds, select your class and attributes. and design the appearance of your character. The character creation tools are robust (far better than Bethesda’s) But pale in comparison to what Volition did in Saints Row 2. Once created your character begins their Origin story. Each of the 6 backgrounds has a different Origin. So far I have played 3 of them and they were all excellent. These origins alone can take a couple of hours to complete, depending on how much you poke around.

Man's best friend

The story and characters are very compelling. Unlike Fallout 3 which for me was an exploration game and the story was almost a non issue, this is a true RPG. The acting for the most part is fantastic. All NPCs are fully voiced. and subtitles are off by default. This made the game quite Immersive. I found some surprising emotional ties with the characters by the end. The soundtrack is also notably good and really sets the tone just right.

Morrigan is played by Farscape's Claudia Black

One thing that surprised me is how thouroughly satisfying Combat is. While a Final Fantasy 12 style gambit system is in place, I chose not to use it and Micromanaged each battle. Pulling back to a strategic view and moving each of my party members in concert. Each battle felt significant. Note that I played the PC version, and that combat is totally different on the consoles.

You fight along side all your companions near the end

Beating the game with my Human noble warrior took around 80 hours (I stopped a lot to smell the roses but also left many optional quests undone.) Since then I Have already restarted the game as a Mage, and am still enjoying it very much.

I consider Dragon Age Origins a must play for anyone with even a slight interest in RPGs

ESSENTIAL

The special effects in this film set a new standard, much as Titanic did on it’s release. From the start you are treated to jaw dropping shots. Again this is a case where the trailer did not give a proper impression. I left the trailer feeling that Cameron was cannibalizing his own film Aliens for the look of the hardware (a common practice in every other Hollywood movie and videogame since. The truth is quite the opposite, the realistic SF aesthetic of the human equipment in Avatar feels fresh and exciting.

In the trailer I felt that the alien Na’vi did not look realistic enough. When they first appeared on screen I still felt that way, however after a couple of minutes that feeling went away. This movie has hands down the best Mo-cap animation I have ever seen. By the end of the film you are all but convinced that the digital actors are flesh and blood.

Dances with Na'vi

It’s my opinion that anyone who sees this movie and pans it is remarkably stubborn in holding to their preconception of it, or dead. Avatar is a must see and an instant Classic.

ESSENTIAL