Publisher: Activision
Developer: id Software
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First-person Shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ryan Asher

The Strogg have finally reached Earth, and the nomadic aliens are hell bent on totally ruining our sweet planet (before we do that ourselves with our Hummers, overpopulation and sexually suggestive song lyrics). It’s a plotline that I wish I could describe further, but the opening cut scene of Strogg ships approaching Earth is the only semblance of storytelling in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. It’s a shame, really, as the clichéd, ominous-sounding narrator and the menacing spaceships descending upon Earth really had me yearning to see what other plot devices the developers would employ.

As it turns out, the run-of-the-mill introduction to Quake Wars is only foreshadowing for the gimped game within. I’ve played my fair share of barebones games before, and the cupboards are nearly bare here. Like most games of its ilk, Quake Wars lets players choose from two sides: in this case, the GDF, the humans who are ensuring our way of life (which consists of listening to Big ‘N Rich for most of us); and the Strogg, the dudes who want to take that away.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Gevo Entertainment
System: Nintendo DS
Genre: Rhythm and Music
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher J. Troilo

I always think it’s interesting when trends and fads are so blatantly obvious, that the market becomes saturated with an object or an idea. What’s fascinating is that companies try to take a concept that seems to be universally loved, and try to target very specific niche audiences over and over again, until basically everyone is tired of it and they begin searching for something new.

We’ve seen this many times throughout the decades, with all things: food, fashion, television, movies and especially video games. In television, we have seen the rise (and many would argue fall) of reality TV. And now, as we enter what I like to call the “segmentation and imitation phase”, you could find reality shows for almost any profession on the world, each trying to cater to a specific interest.

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Publisher: Paolo Cosentino
Developer: Paolo Cosentino
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz, 256 MB RAM, Windows 98, 3D Graphics (developer has not tested the game under Windows Vista)
Genre: First-person shooter/Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

Sometimes in the midst of highly touted blockbusters, a surprise game emerges that stands out from the crowd. Such is the case for TECNO, an obscure release from Montevideo, Uruguay that was largely developed by a single individual across several years. This title has a high ambition: to provide a hybrid science-fiction first-person shooter/adventure/puzzle play experience in a manner that is quite distinct from most of what is out there. TECNO takes a big risk by refusing to mimic current fads in its design.

The plot is not one of TECNO’s strong points, as sadly there is very little story development. Despite a fascinating introductory video, you don’t find out much about whom or where you are, and as you progress you never really learn much more. Your mission is to escape from an advanced technology-filled base where robots have malfunctioned. The ending of this game, while nicely done, will leave you wanting more. Although the first-person shooter crowd does not always demand a plot, adventure fans do, and they will be disappointed.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Windows Vista/XP/2000; 1.9 GHz Intel Pentium or similar AMD; 512MB RAM; Direct X 9.0c; 128MB video card with support for pixelshader 2.0
Genre: Strategy
Release date: Available now
Review by: Jason Pitruzzello

The economic forces that drive the computer gaming industry work in mysterious ways, but occasionally to the average gamer’s benefit. This seems to be the case with the Europa Universalis franchise. Paradox Interactive has followed up the financial success of its previous expansion pack with the release of a second add-on, Europa Universalis 3: In Nomine. Listening to compliments, complaints and suggestions of all types, the designers have made an attempt to improve and expand upon many aspects of the original game. The most obvious examples are an extended timeline, with an earliest starting date of 1399, and new troop types and technologies. As in the previous expansion, Paradox capitalizes upon what makes a strategy game of this depth and magnitude fun: options, options, and still more options.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Internet connection; Windows XP/Vista; 2.6 GHz Intel or 2.4 GHz AMD; 2 GB RAM; ATI X1800 XL series or higher, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX or higher; 12GB hard drive space; DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

Combining seemingly disparate things can produce surprising results. Gas and electric engines join to power our hybrid vehicles. Chocolate and peanut butter give us the peanut-butter cup. And now, Bioware and Electronic Arts have fused the RPG and squad-based shooter genres and created Mass Effect, a sprawling, epic port of the successful Xbox 360 game from 2007.

Humans became a true space faring species in 2148 with the discovery of buried alien technology on Mars that unlocked the secrets of faster-than-light travel, but even with this knowledge, traveling to even the closest stars was impractical until the discovery of the mass relays, ancient artifacts that act as giant slingshots to hurl interstellar ships across light-years of space in the blink of an eye. As human crews started to explore the universe, they began to find and reactivate relays that had lain dormant for centuries, leading them deeper and deeper into uncharted territory and awakening an ancient evil that threatened all life in the galaxy.

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Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Codemasters
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Racing
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

My appetency to win transfers just the right amount of strength to my leg to push the accelerator through the floorboards, stabbing the already red engine with white hot spurs. Two particularly troublesome rivals are crowding my rear, with the rest of the pack choking on the atomized pavement behind us. By my figuring almost a half a million dollars of fiberglass, steel and Italian leather churn recklessly underneath me. One more successful turn and I stand the tallest on the podium, one wrong move and I become the only man with a flying car in the vicinity.

Codemasters know their racing games, as made evident by their successful TOCA and Colin McRae (R.I.P.) series. DiRT, another CM racer was released last year to solid reviews; praising its great visuals, damage modeling and amazingly useable cockpit view. Now the 23 year old developer is looking to take the same tenacity (and engine) from DiRT and apply it to some asphalt with their latest: Grid.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Sports/Soccer
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ed Humphries

Timed to coincide with the real world UEFA EURO 2008 competition in Austria and Switzerland, EA has released their latest entry in the soccer field, UEFA Euro. While EA is also the developer behind the venerable FIFA series, UEFA differs quite a bit and offers up its own compelling sports package even if it seems that we’re getting two soccer games from the same developer in the same year.

Where UEFA differs immediately from FIFA is in the stable of teams to choose from. Only those teams eligible for this real-world competition are on display in the game. In UEFA, players are tasked with choosing their favorite team from among the 52 member nations of the United European Football Association. What this means is that you can choose to captain a perennial powerhouse like England or append a Cinderella story on Croatia.

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Publisher: Aspyr
Developers: Gas Powered Games, Hellbent Games
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Real-time Strategy
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michele White

Space held such hope. Quantum gate networks allowed humanity to push deeper and deeper into space. Human cyborg implants were created, aliens were befriended, and then it all went horribly wrong. A short film explains all of the necessary back-story and catches the player up on events to date. A three faction war is being fought, with each faction firmly believing that their very survival is at stake. You are a new commander in this war, and your goal is to bring home victory for your side. These are the stakes in Supreme Commander.

Supreme Commander can either be played in single player or Xbox Live modes. Single player provides options for the Campaign or Skirmish mode. Like many other games of the genre, Skirmish mode is nearly identical to multiplayer, with the exception of AI opponents substituting for the real thing. An extensive tutorial gives a thorough explanation of the game’s mechanics and complex controls. There’s also a fairly hefty manual included that explains each technology in full detail.

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Publisher: Gamecock Media Group
Developer: Wideload Games
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ed Humphries

For some, the Washington political scene can be as wild as the Amazon. Conniving snakes slither through the grass, looking to sidle up with equally loathsome lobbyists. Blowhard senator swine curry favor among their constituency while wallowing in the mud with the special interests, and when poor, defenseless votes are spotted in the great, wide open – all manner of predators crawl forth, attacking their opponents from the shadows (or in pack formation) in a bid to rip their teeth into every last dangling chad and claim the carrion for themselves. Yup, the world of politics is a jungle – a fact that the developers at Wideload Games hopes to exploit in their election year release, Hail to the Chimp.

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Review by: Andrew Clark

Birds are trouble seekers, plain and simple. Tiki the kiwi from The New Zealand story, Kazooie from the Banjo games and many of the other fowl in the gaming kingdom often find themselves in situations where they either cause or relieve a problematic situation. Take Toki Tori, for example, a squat, yellow avian with enormous eyes and a stubby pair of legs. Our winged hero wakes one day to find himself in the unenviable position of rescuing his wayward kin, who have apparently flown the coop, shell and all. What’s an avian to do to prevent his relations from becoming a tasty selection on a KFC menu? Perhaps a little puzzle solving is in order? Maybe throw in some gadgets and special powers to make things interesting? Let the egg hunt begin!

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