Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie Studios
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

The phrase “finish the fight” has been echoing incessantly in the ears of every Halo player the world over ever since the final cut scene brought Halo 2 to an abrupt cliffhanger ending. Some were left with an acrid taste in their mouth, anxious to return to Earth to further battle the Covenant; others simply accepted it, but departed with a book of unanswered questions. Yet both Bungie and Microsoft knew this was the right way to ensure the next sequel’s success — by giving gamers a feast and leaving dessert surprisingly absent for a few years. Of course, we were given a sample back in May of what the multiplayer portion of Halo 3 offered, but now that mealtime has finally come, are we still hungry?

In the previous game, we ended with an image of Master Chief stowed onboard a Forerunner vessel carrying the prophet of Truth, lone survivor of a theocratic high council that controlled the Covenant and all its affairs. Truth and his followers are of the mind that if the remaining halo rings are fired, a “Great Journey” would usher those who are devout to the beyond, where they can mingle with their Forerunner ancestors. The Covenant separatist Elites and the UNSC, on the other hand, have been made aware that this is not the case, and that the rings’ true function is its ability to exterminate the parasitic rot-race known as the Flood by essentially starving them out. This would be good news if “starving them out” didn’t require eradicating all known life in the galaxy. Naturally, our hero’s sense of duty denotes that Truth and his adherents must be stopped, should he survive the longest high-dive in the history of mankind.

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Publisher: KOEI
Developer: Omega Force
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

If we could choose our crossovers, we’d take the best elements from two popular franchises and blend them together to create the ultimate gaming experience. That’s what Omega Force and Koei have attempted to do with Warriors Orochi, an amalgam of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises. But what must have sounded like a good idea on parchment burns with a flame that’s all too familiar.

Let’s face facts first: there have been multiple Dynasty Warriors sequels or spin-offs during every console lifecycle almost since the inception of the original Playstation. This juggernaut of market saturation has spanned virtually every platform except the Mac, with each successive iteration offering more characters, different scenarios to play through and increases in onscreen action. Warriors Orochi acts as sort of a compendium for the Dynasty series, garnished with elements from Samurai Warriors. When combined, they make for an interesting, albeit confusing, assembly of gaming’s most hectic historical hack-and-slash ventures.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Boston
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

The realization of a utopian society is as impossible as, say, building an entire city beneath the sea, but both ideas are attractive propositions, to say the least. Most attractive to Ken Levine and his team at 2K Boston (formerly Irrational Games), masterminds behind the first-person role-player, BioShock, a genetic foray into the abyss of the Atlantic ocean where moral decisions, creative thinking and the salvation of a city lie in the player’s capable, albeit altered, hands.

Andrew Ryan is a wealthy industrialist fed up with the way things work in the world. He’s tired of America’s charity toward the poor, overly cautious of mother Russia’s growing Communist threat and unreceptive to the holy word of the Vatican. Ryan envisions a world where the scientist has liberty to experiment and the artist can create with abandon — and none of the stagnant laws which have held progress captive for so long stand in their way. So in 1946, while the world was still celebrating the fall of the third Reich, Andrew secretly built his paradisiacal fantasy: Rapture, a self-sustaining underwater metropolis fathoms under the frigid currents of the Mid-Atlantic.

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Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Hudson Soft
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Party game
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

Fuzion Frenzy 2 is the sequel to perhaps the most family friendly launch title for the original Xbox. Back in 2001, if you had friends with which to play, and you weren’t already engrossed in Halo, FF was the choice for multiplayer action. The colorful graphics, simple controls and wealth of addictive mini-games did an impressive job of showing what the fledgling Microsoft console was capable of, earning it impressive scores from reviewers, plus the affections of its players. It was a milestone for the genre, one which warranted a follow-up, this time on the Xbox 360.

This sequel starts with hard times having fallen on the beloved tournament franchise. What was once regularly broadcast around the globe has now been silenced, banned and otherwise black bagged from the public eye. Why, do you ask? Because of a bunch of poor sports. Yep, the players themselves ruined it for everyone due to their overly zealous competitive nature, a nature which was outrageous enough for the leaders of Earth to take notice.

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Publisher: Midway
Developer: nFusion
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First person shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

World War II and video games fit together so well, it’s no wonder it’s become a genre unto itself. Offerings such as the groundbreaking Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor and Call of Duty dug their own trenches, laying the groundwork for a generous amount of sequels, spin-offs and ports to almost every platform imaginable. But with so much market saturation, how can someone fathom taking another trip to the front? Does the Unreal Engine 3-powered Hour of Victory have what it takes to stand up to its heavy handed competition? Or have we been here before?

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Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: FASA Studio
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

It’s anyone’s guess as to how a first person shooter can come up with anything original these days. With interesting elements like toilet throwing and time manipulation available to FPS aficionados, the gamut feels like it’s been run. That is unless you count Shadowrun, the first person re-imagining of the table-top cyberpunk classic, a team-based shooter that not only encourages cheating, but rewards one for doing so.

It’s 2031, and magic has become a staple on Earth after its return 20 years ago. There are two sides vying for dominance over Santos, Brazil, a South American city where the highest concentration of magic is located. The RNA, a multinational super-corporation, sees the magic as an economic tool, one that could be researched and used for gain; while the other side, the rebellious Lineage, would much rather the forces be made available to everyone for free. Naturally, the two sides disagree and to want to fight about it, yet it’s how you fight that sets this game apart from chucking a commode at someone’s cranium.

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