Combining all three of these elements you come up with a game that just…. works. It’s a beautiful mix of using your brain at a crime scene, using your brawn in a fist-fight, and using your cunning to outsmart a suspect and get a confession out of it. What you end up with here is the most unique gaming experience you have ever had to date, and likely it will be the only one of its kind that you will ever have. I’m not sure if Team Bondi or Rockstar have thought about a sequel, but really I feel as though the only way we’ll get this kind of experience again is if we get a direct sequel. So, that said, let’s tackle some of the standard review criteria and see what we come up with.

The graphics of the game are jaw-dropping, even with some minor graphical glitches along the way. It goes without saying that the MotionScan technology that brought us the super-detailed and realistic faces of our characters is a huge pay-off for the narrative. I was initially worried that we would be delving a bit into the “Uncanny Valley” where the faces would look almost too realistic and therefore be alienating, but that simply was not the case. It was easy to get lost in the 1947 Los Angeles that was created, and that is largely due to the facial animation system in play here. The car models looks stunning (though I admit my bias towards classic cars), the buildings have a good amount of detail on them, and eveything seems to come together to present a great graphical package. One frustration that I had, however, was the tendency for assets to pop-in or take a while to load, and the frame-rate takes a hit every once in a while. This might be due to the fact that so much of the data is read from the disc, as my disc seems to spin a lot throughout the game. However these items are not nearly large enough to eclipse the feat of artistry that is the graphical presentation of L.A. Noire.

The audio composition, from music to sound effects to voice acting, is top-notch as is expected. The sultry jazz music, the fierce cracking and popping of firearms going off, and the engine roaring, tire-squealing action of taking a way-too-heavy car around a corner at speed all serve to immerse you all the more in the game universe. The voice acting deepens the experience all the more. It helps that you are seeing the face of the actors who are doing the voice-overs – heck, I’m not sure I would even call it a voice over though… Basically you’re watching their performance! I am personally a fan of jazz. I’m not talking about Kenny G smooth jazz crap, but the real-deal, big-band swinging jazz. The soundtrack is pitch-perfect and serves to lay the best background audio canvas that I have experienced in a game for quite some time. All said, the audio direction in the game is definitely one of its strongest points.

In terms of gameplay, there are a bunch of hits, and just a few misses in my opinion. There is not much to go into detail with while investigating and interrogating, but there is one stand-out feature that I like. Team Bondi/Rockstar made it a point to keep the game as HUD-less as possible, so you find interesting methods of player interaction involved as a result. For instance, if you are looking at a murder victim, you can inspect different parts of the body to look for clues. Rather than use a cursor of some kind, you simply direct Cole Phelps’ arm towards the body part you want to inspect. Also, when you indicate which body part you want to inspect, or if you pick up a piece of evidence, you can use the right analog stick to manipulate the object or body part, rotating it around to look for clues. It helps foster the sense of immersion. Your job is not done simply when you walk up to a clue and hit A.

When driving a car, initially I had some concerns. If I am driving a huge boat of a car down the road, I do not expect it to be squirrel-ly when I first start a turn. It just seemed like the cars were a little too quick to respond when turning, like they were lighter than I thought they were going to be. However, when I had more time behind the virtual wheel, it seemed to be less of a concern, and I was able to use the hand brake to kick the rear of the car out and power-slide around corners. So while it may be initially frustrating to some users, I would urge you to be patient and learn to anticipate the way the cars handle – you’ll be rewarded. If you are expecting GTA IV controls and physics for the cars, you will not have the experience you are anticipating, and that’s not a bad thing, either.

I found myself consistently being pleasantly surprised by the little details in the game. If you are in a fist-fight and your hat gets knocked off (keep in mind there’s an achievement for making it through a fight with your hat on!), you can walk over to it and Phelps will grab it and put it back on. I love the way they solved for the fact that in 1947 there was no GPS in cars. Rather than painting a line in your mini-map in the corner for you to follow along, you simply get an indicator of where the waypoint is along the outer circle of the map. You just need to learn the roads and get there as you know how. However, if you find yourself turned around, simply hit X and your partner will give you your direction for the next intersection. So he will say something like “Take the next left” or “Straight on through this next intersection.” It’s a nice design element that both serves to get you directions if you need them, and provides you with a bit more of a relational backdrop with Phelps and his partner.

I could literally go on for hours and hours, but I will sum things up here: L.A. Noire is an experience that everyone should play, providing they are mature enough to take it. No punches were pulled in exposing the gritty nature of the criminaljustice system in old-time L.A. Grisly murders are explained in clinically-exhaustive detail and accompanied by thorough examination of (sometimes completely-nude) victims. Truly this is the most mature game that Rockstar has been a part of. In the end it is something that will go down in history as one of the most innovative games of our time, and for good reason. You are simply supposed to have this game in your collection, if you consider yourself a gamer by any definition of the word. Seriously, stop reading this and go out to buy the game. What are you waiting for?

However, the simpler, cluttered visuals do mean that Sega Rally Online Arcade boasts a silky-smooth frame rate. It’s difficult to tell whether it’s actually locked at 60 frames per second, but regardless, you probably won’t notice any slowdown, even with the mud starts flying.

The game’s announcements, audio stingers also stay true to the Sega Rally series’ proud heritage. This includes the classic Sega Rally co-driver, who’ll dutifully serenade you with the likes of “very long easy right maybe”, though thankfully he no longer blurts out “woah!” every time you scrape inelegantly around a corner.

The soundtrack is composed of what I can only describe as “Sega rock” — the kind of generic, synthetic rock music that blends so well into the background of a video game that you probably won’t ever notice it. Veteran Sega fans will know exactly what I’m talking about.

When it comes to actual gameplay, you’ve got a reasonably-sized single player experience, at least considering the fact that this is an Xbox Live Arcade title. There are five tracks to see, ranging from deserts to jungles to alpine peaks, and a host of well-known rally cars in which to tear them up. With a wealth of previous titles to draw content from, it’s a little surprising that Sega only included five tracks in this game, however each stage that has made it across is unique in its own way.

The differences between the cars are largely cosmetic, but at least that means you can pretend you’re 10 again and choose a vehicle based on its color or the size of its spoiler, rather than some arbitrary engine statistic.

The main single player game mode is campaign mode, and this consists of four back-to-back races during which you work your way up the pack, hoping to come out on top by the final lap of the last track. There’s a moderate difficulty curve as you progress, though it’s nowhere near as punishing as earlier Sega Rally titles. Whereas the original Sega Rally would brutally and repeatedly clean your clock in later campaign mode stages, Online Arcade merely shrugs and throws in the occasional hairpin to try to throw you off.

There’s a similarly low skill ceiling in single race mode. On the “canyon” track, the easiest in the game, you can probably never take your finger off the accelerator and still finish in the top three. This is by no means a difficult game.

Time trial mode extends the single player game’s replayability somewhat, with downloadable ghost cars for various lap records, and there are even some bonus vehicles to unlock. But most of staying power of Sega Rally Online Arcade lies in the online part.

In addition to a local multiplayer option, the online component matches you against other gamers, and quickly throws you into a lobby where more challenging human opponents await. Player counts aren’t massive, as you’d expect form an XBLA title, but there are enough people currently playing to make it easy to find a match with at least one other human being present. And the matchmaking system is usually fast enough to get you racing within a minute or so.

The long-term success of Sega Rally Online Arcade depends on how much of a community forms around its online component, and at the time of writing this is something that remains to be seen. A best-case scenario would be a bustling hard-core of players challenging each other on a daily basis. A more pessimistic prediction might involve the game flat-lining just weeks after release. Time will tell.

My biggest complaint, though, centers around an aspect of Sega Rally Online Arcade that could arguably earn it most of its sales — the nostalgia factor. Gameplay-wise, little has changed since the 1995 original, and in many ways the series seems a little too eager to cling to the past. This risks alienating new players who have no experience of Sega Rally. To them, Online Arcade might seem like a boring, dated experience.

But still, as an XBLA title, Sega Rally Online Arcade isn’t really trying to topple the likes of DiRT or Forza. Instead, it asks for a few hundred Microsoft points and delivers a solid few hours of nostalgia-fuelled entertainment in return.

You could criticize Sega Rally Online Arcade for being a hotch-potch of earlier Sega Rally games, thrown together to make a quick buck on XBLA, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair. It’s still a decent title, just one with nostalgia at the heart of its game experience. And for 800 MS points, Sega junkies could certainly do a lot worse.

Sega Rally Online Arcade is available now on Xbox Live Arcade at a cost of 800 Microsoft points.

The game-play is very reminiscent of Strider, and to me that is a great thing. One reason this comparison makes sense is that Kouichi Yotsui of Strider fame had his hands on this project. Moon Diver isn’t a sequel in any way, but I feel comfortable using the term “spiritual successor” here. There are other comparisons to be made here too, in that any fan of NES, SNES or Genesis-era side-scrolling platformer action games will see things that make them nostalgic. We’re talking about Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Castlevania, Legend of Kage, Contra, etc. You run and jump from location to location while hordes of enemies, fodder for your blades and magical abilities, do their best to come at you and drain your life bar until you are no more. Occasionally barriers form at either end of the screen, boxing you into an impromptu arena of sorts where you have to dispatch all your foes before proceeding. You have the always-handy double-jump to get yourself up and out of the fire if things are getting too hectic, and there are a bevy of magical abilities you can use and level-up in addition to your trusty blade.

So the main question is – how does the game fare? Very well, in my opinion. The action is frenetically-paced at times, the controls are simple but have a decent amount of depth in that you can change your magical abilities after each level. Graphically-speaking the game is very bright and colorful. It can be hard at times to keep track of your character with enemies flying everywhere and blowing up and so on, but that is not enough of an issue where you get frustrated. The Anime-inspired art style is crisp and comes off really well.

The sound design is a bit of a mixed bag. The sound effects are really good – you hear some really nice metallic-clashing sounds when you shove the business-end of your blade into the torso of an enemy, and explosions have an awesome “sci-fi futuristic” sound to them (just watch out for the yellow guys who blow up like BomberMan when you hit them a couple of times!) and all that. But the music in the game, in my opinion, is kind of repetitive and doesn’t really stand out as being anything special.

So the bottom line is this: If you are looking for an action-packed game that is reminiscent of some of the best side-scrolling action games of yesteryear, you can do far worse than Moon Diver. If you can get past a slightly-repetitive soundtrack you’ll find a great experience that is well worth those aforementioned hard-earned MS Points. Well done, FullPlus and Square Enix.

Duke Nukem Forever picks up 12 years after the events of Duke Nukem 3D. After defeating the Alien Forces and destroying the Cycloid Emperor Duke has become the center of the universe. Not only is he the richest man on the planet with his own sports stadiums and casinos but he is also the role model for every young adult, man-child and woman of childbearing age. Now that the aliens have returned Duke Nukem has to kick some ass and save the world’s babes. This type of devotion and one dimensional character archetype might have flown in the 90s but with no flaws or character development Duke himself feels like a cardboard cutout with guns attached.

Earlier I said that Duke Nukem Forever may have been inspired by the Halo series. This might come as a surprise to the casual observer because Duke Nukem Forever has had a development cycle that has lasted longer than a decade. The truth is that the version of DNF that we are playing now began development sometime between 2002 and 2004. Instead of a health value that goes to 200% Duke Nukem now has an “Ego Bar” that acts like the shield system from Halo 2. Similar to Master Chief’s series Duke can only hold two weapons at a time and a selection of trip mines and pipe bombs rather than being able to hold all 10 of his classic weapons.

The gameplay flow in Duke Nukem Forever is a mix of linear corridor monster battles separated by NPC character interaction and boss fights. The gunplay provided by DNF is satisfying and using the classic freeze ray and watching Duke Nukem smash a pig cop with his foot can bring a smile to your face but these moments are few and far between. Unlike DN3D Duke is no longer able to take on a group of 4 or 5 monsters at once. Instead firefights lead to you dismembering one or two enemies before taking cover and waiting for your ego to recover.

During the game’s long gestation period one of the big selling points trumpeted by 3D Realms was the insane amount of interaction the world had to offer. Some of these ideas have been implemented but for the most part it doesn’t amount to much. Duke can turn on faucets, flush toilets and pick up cans but the game doesn’t take advantage of this. Apart from a few half assed physics puzzles and some forced item fetch quests the interaction only serves as a slight diversion from the main path. This really feels like a squandered opportunity.

The boss battles fair a little better than the standard gun play. They are large set pieces with huge over the top weapons, from Duke’s massive twin rocket launchers to a large plasma cannon. The boss characters are all varied in design and each encounter is a fun diversion from the main gameplay. It is unfortunate that the game only has 5 or 6 of these large scale fights. The difficulty curve for these boss battles also varies greatly. The opening two are easy and fun adrenaline packed vignettes but there is one near the mid-point of the game that has a difficulty curve as large as the Eifel tower. On the harder difficulties the game may spawn multiple foes as the main baddy bleeds out. This can lead to some cheap deaths when you are within seconds of finishing off the big baddie. Should you die at this point it means starting the whole fight all over again. For a campaign that lasts about 10 hours that means that you are going to be coming across one of these fights at the end of each 1 – 1 and a half hour chapters.

On the audio front Duke’s classic one liners return and unfortunately the same problems of repeating dialog that plagued Manhatten Project return in Forever. It seems that each chapter only has a select number of one-liners and victory chants. This becomes a problem when Duke is telling the Pigcops to “Squeal Like a Pig” every 2 or 3 minutes. Some of the context sensitive/story mode one-liners fair much better. One of the best liners has to do with a cameo of Master Chief’s Mjolnir Armor. The audio tracks range from generic guitar rock to music meant to pump you up. The original “Duke Nukem Theme” makes a number of appearances and it is nice to hear. None of the new tracks are that memorable but they do set the mood during the campaign.

The graphics in DNF range from impressive to downright weird. The opening remake of Duke Nukem 3Ds cycloid emperor fight boasts some impressive rain effects and looks great. As you make your way through the multiple chapters of the single player some parts of the game will make you wonder if the game was finished before being pressed to the disc. Walls and small objects suffer from blurry textures and on at least two occasions supporting characters began talking to Duke without moving their lips. That sort of animation might have passed back in 2002 when DNF was in the planning phase but now it just feels funny and awkward. The gun models and Duke’s hands do look quite good. As you fire each weapon there is a satisfying amount of particle effects/lighting emphasizing their power.

Duke Nukem Forever has had a long and checkered history but it has finally arrived. Is it worth your $60? It all depends on your outlook. Duke Nukem Forever has been positioned as a AAA title. Unfortunately for Duke he just doesn’t have the same amount of polish we’ve seen in other first person shooters on the platform. The promise of a fully interactive world isn’t fully realized and the small physics puzzles that are present are simple and straight forward. If you can get passed the muddy graphics, dated character design, difficult first person platforming and throwaway multiplayer there is an enjoyable single player campaign to be had.

Without spoiling too much of the plot F.E.A.R 3 boasts an impressive amount of environments. Unlike other shooters released just this past month F.E.A.R 3 doesn’t lock you into industrial complexes or short corridors. The game opens in the aforementioned Armachan Facility, which resembles a prison. Here Point Man has access to various barrels, railings and crates he can use as cover. When you move in to the city streets and urban areas cover becomes less abundant but the range of enemies and amount of firearms available to you increases. This keeps the experience fresh and exciting instead of making the enemy encounters a series of “pop-up” targets the game will throw a mini-boss. These mini-bosses can vary and one standout example occurs during the beginning of the game when the Armachan forces deploy mechanized suits against you. Sure your standard “fire and hide” tactics will work against them but if you think outside the box the encounter will be over a lot sooner.

After completing a chapter of the single-player, or by taking the game online, you have the option to play as Point Man’s brother Fettel. He is a ghostly figure who possesses other worldly abilities. Unlike his brother he cannot normally wield weapons. Instead he has two different “spells” he can cast. The first is an offensive red ability that can suspend enemies in the air and damage them. The second ability allows Fettel to cast a shield around his brother. As long as Fettel is not heavily damaged this protective shield essentially adds extra hit points to the other player. By far his coolest ability is that of possession. At any time Fettel can posses any enemy that he can see on screen. This allows him to pick up weaponry and join the fight. This also means that Fettel can reach strategic points that Point Man cannot via possession.

Day One has also trumpeted their online component. They took what I feel is a really refreshing approach their online multiplayer. Unlike other shooters they are not trying to be the next Call of Duty or Halo. Instead they invented 4 unique multiplayer modes – a survival mode for up to four players fighting against waves of enemies called “f***cking run”, “Contractions” which plays similar to Activision’s Nazi Zombie mode lasty Soul Survivor has four players facing off against an omnipresent “Specter” who can possess A.I generated enemies to collect Souls dropped by the other four players.

F.E.A.R 3 is a very rounded package with a few loose threads. The game’s single player is short, clocking in at about 4 or 5 hours, but when you factor in the ability to play the game cooperatively with a friend from a completely new vantage point this gives it some much needed depth. The addition of new and inventive multiplayer modes means that you won’t be climbing through the same 50 ranks just to unlock machine guns and ‘perks’. If you haven’t played a previous F.E.A.R title you might want to least read a synopsis or two before diving in. Once you’ve decided to make the jump you’ll find a fairly fresh take on a genre that has become all to stagnant as of late.

From a gameplay prospective Child of Eden is a mixture of rhythm game and rail shooter. You have two weapons available, a lock on missile and short range laser, to use against multiple foes. The game progresses on rails and moves through multiple encounters during each 15-20 minute “archive”. Some enemies are only affected by your lasers or missiles. At any time you can chain together the missiles and attack multiple targets at once for a bonus to your score.

One of the major issues I had with Eden was the small amount of levels. Since there are only 5 levels the game requires that you play through each level multiple times to earn the number of stars to unlock the next archive. At the end of each episode the game deviates from the on rails formula and throws you in to a boss battle. The boss battles all differ, from a phoenix virus that is only harmed by your lock on laser to a flying whale-like virus who has multiple weak points. Each of Child of Eden’s bosses are inventive and leave a very strong impression when you first face them.

Graphically Child of Eden is a mixture of vibrant color, transparent 3D models and flashy particle effects. As you progress from the start to the finish of each mission the color scheme may change drastically. During the second mission for example as you navigate through the water themed portions of the archive everything is draped in blue textures and particles. As you move forward toward to the phoenix boss everything shifts to a deeper red tone complete with a change in enemies. Everything has a very polished and stylized look that works well with the audio tracks Mizuguchi and his team have selected.

Navigating the world of Child of Eden couldn’t be simpler. The game pushes you through each level using an on-rails system. Using the Joystick or your hand (with Kinect) you are able to highlight multiple targets. When using the controller you are able to fire missiles with the A button and the short range laser with the right trigger. While using kinect weapons can be changed by putting your hands over your head. Shooting enemies with kinect is great and it is some of the best use of the peripheral to date. Kinect isn’t exactly necessary to enjoy the Child of Eden experience but it definitely adds to the immersion.

Child of Eden is a visually appealing title that is unlike anything on the platform. The simple controls mean that anyone can pick up the game and play but only the dedicated will want to repeat the levels over and over for the best scores. The game does offer some limited online functionality in the form of leader boards as well as several unlockables that can be viewed in Luma’s Garden. The immersive Kinect controls are worth keeping the game around, especially as demonstration for what the Kinect is capable of. Even playing Child of Eden for 10 minutes leaves you with a sense of happiness.

IC2010 gives you the opportunity to take control of an international cricket team of your choice and take on the rest of the world in any form of the game you like. As with last year’s Ashes effort, only the England and Australia teams are licensed, which means that players from other nations are represented by approximate names. Cricket fans will be able to identify most of them readily enough, and their stats are appropriate. Licensed or not, anyone dashing enough to sport a real-life beard is relatively hard to recognise as the best IC2010 can manage is a smattering of stubble.

Unlike last year’s Ashes-focused game, IC2010’s default mode is Twenty20–referred to as Twenty Overs in-game, thanks to the lack of ICC licensing–but test matches and one-day matches are still available. One-day internationals have the most flexibility, as you have the option of making them as short as five overs per side, creating an entirely new form of the game in the process. This is generally not much fun, but it is almost the only way to see a game through from start to finish in less than an hour.

Both batting and bowling manage to be fun and engaging experiences in IC2010. The most obvious change from last year is the addition of a third-person action view. This, combined with a more nuanced batting and bowling system, does make you feel much more a part of the action as the game re-creates the feeling of taking part in a cricket match rather than simply controlling a match you’re watching on TV. This engagement is broken somewhat when you see a batsman passing through a fielder as he dives for his crease or you are bowled out without the stumps being disturbed, but these are rare enough and the core game solid enough that serious cricket fans may be able to overlook them.

Both batting and bowling come with extensive tutorials. While these are generally well explained and allow you to get into the hang of timing and shot placement, the criteria for completion of individual tutorials can be opaque; hence, downright frustrating. They do give you a quick and thorough overview of how the game is played, though, managing to both teach you about IC2010 and the game of cricket itself.

Bowling is pleasingly engaging this year after the detached feel in previous years. If you want to take wickets against quality opposition, you generally need to bowl to a plan, and seeing such a plan work is a satisfying experience. If you bowl a number of in-swinging balls, for instance, you may not get a batsman out–but a fourth ball that is cunningly shaped away from the batsman will often find an edge. This isn’t always the case. Because of the way that batting confidence works in the game–once a batsman has found his rhythm and got his eye in–even the most amateurish of cricketers can become rather obdurate. Thankfully, quality bowlers have enough tricks up their sleeves to keep this interesting, and disciplined bowling with clever variations generally yields results.

Batting is similarly pleasing. Power and direction of shots are controlled with the left stick, meaning that nurdling is easier and more satisfying than before. This works well for confidence building, especially in the shorter forms of the game where you don’t have the time to hang around for a few well-timed dot balls. Smacking the ball farther is relatively easy once you have mastered timing as well, but placement is key; the height of the ball, how much it bounces, and where it pitches are all essential factors to take into account when working out in which direction to most safely launch the ball. One factor that makes this process easier is the fact that you don’t have to specify your footwork before taking a shot, which removes some of the guesswork when you’re trying to play it safe. The more powerful and riskier your shot, the harder it is to get the timing right–perfectly timing a forward defensive is significantly easier and hence less risky than trying to cream a ball over long on.

If you do opt to select footwork, then you can generally hit the ball harder and pull off more impressive shots, but you run the risk of getting beaten all ends up as you swing at a ball that keeps low or go forward to a ball that explodes off a patch of rough and over your head. Leg byes are one area where the batting feels rather odd because they are never awarded–you don’t have the option to run when a ball comes off your pads or body.

Fielding is one area where the game falls down as a sim, however. Most of the fielding duties are covered by the AI, and this can lead to some obvious failings. The wicket keepers are superhuman when it comes to stopping byes–it doesn’t actually seem possible to concede any at all because they will move across as you bowl to match your line and then leap acrobatically to stop any ball that’s not called wide. And even wides have to be absurdly errant to avoid finding their way into the keepers’ gloves. The AI has other failings too. Fielders occasionally get confused when the ball reaches the boundary, giving extra runs away as they simply stand there. Balls hit into the ground near the crease invariably lead to runs being taken as the wicket keepers are preset to get behind the stumps rather than field actively, leading to unnecessary runs.

Unfortunately, while the core gameplay is passable and somewhat realistic despite the bugs, the game has problems on the periphery. The commentary is uniformly abysmal, despite being provided by such big names as Jonathan Agnew, Shane Warne, and David Lloyd. Each commentator has a very small range of stock phrases, which are often incorrectly applied, and most of them sound either very bored or simply perplexed by the scripts in front of them. The commentary is so banal, repetitive and poorly delivered that players looking to gain any enjoyment from IC2010 should turn it off immediately once they start the game.

Commentary isn’t the only aspect of the sound that is subpar. The range of bat-on-ball sounds is exceptionally limited, and the lack of a nice meaty sound when you hit the ball off the middle of the bat or a range of sounds for edges are particularly notable by their absence. Crowd noise is both limited and uniform across the world. While Twenty Over matches will be livelier than tests, the crowds sound the same whether you’re at Lord’s or in Barbados.

Squad lists are another area where the game has problems. Even though the Twenty Overs format is at the game’s core and the game is licensed by the ECB, several key members of the England team that won the recent Twenty20 World Cup are missing. This includes first-choice opening batsmen Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, as well as revelatory spinner Michael Yardy. The players that are included are modelled more accurately than last year, but the likenesses are still little more than vague–and Ryan Sidebottom’s hair is still off-puttingly static.

One bright spot is the licensing agreement with Hawk Eye, which works well. The regular pitch maps, end-of-over bowling analyses, and wagon wheels help with bowling in particular; knowing precisely where your wicket-taking balls pitched and how they bounced is invaluable as you work out how to improve. This isn’t as overused as it was last year either–though it would be nice to be able to generate customised reports using the Hawk Eye system when you want to know specific pieces of information.

The game’s multiplayer options are interesting–the offline cooperative play lends itself well to long sessions, but competitive play is lacklustre. Online animations are frequently curtailed and uneven, while fielding bugs are even more obvious when you have a human opponent to take advantage of the game’s foibles. Fundamentals of gameplay still work, even with some lag, but there is never any incentive for a losing player to complete a game because the game doesn’t penalise those who quit early.

As the game plays out in something approximating real time, completing even a Twenty Overs game can take several hours. This does mean that if you can overlook the game’s foibles–which are major but not game breaking–you’re likely to get many hours of something approaching enjoyment from the game as long as you shut the commentary off. However, the game’s poor graphics, subpar sound, and frequent bugs will put anyone but the keenest of cricket fans off.

The fantasy kingdom of Orphea is in the midst of dark times. The Lord of the Night appeared 92 days ago, and his armies of evil are spreading across the land. Unfortunately, most of Orphea’s soldiers are basically useless, so it falls upon five brave heroes to do the bulk of the work, slashing the forces of darkness to bits by the thousands in battles across the land. The story is all typical fantasy stuff, and the characters are as lifeless as the plot is unoriginal. It’s a by-the-numbers tale that’s made worse by the fact that some cutscenes suffer from severe lip-syncing problems.

Initially, the sheer scope of the battles in N3II can be exciting. In the first mission, you face enemy soldiers by the hundreds in the courtyard of a castle while huge flaming stones soar through the sky above. It’s a thrilling fantasy scene until you realize that most of those enemy soldiers aren’t fighting for their lives in an intense battle but are patiently milling around just waiting to be cleaved in two by a few swings of your blade. They politely gather around you so that the huge sweeping arcs of your attacks can conveniently mow them to bits, and they’re usually quickly replaced by many more soldiers. As the warrior Galen, you can string together your attack buttons to perform stylish and spectacular combos, and the sight of Galen twirling gracefully around–his twin blades slicing through enemies effortlessly–is impressive at first. But it quickly becomes clear that this is all just mindless button mashing, and with some levels that can drag on for the better part of an hour, the biggest challenge is to avoid getting lulled into a stupor by the excruciatingly dull action. As you progress, you encounter other characters that then become available until you have five interconnected stories to play through. While these characters feel quite different from one another, the combat is as repetitive and tiresome with one of them as it is with any other, so although the sheer brute strength of the hulking Maggni is a nice change from Galen’s more graceful techniques at first, it rapidly becomes every bit as dreary.

The shallowness and tedium of the combat doesn’t mean the game is easy, but the difficulty here isn’t the sort that spurs you on to offer a sense of triumph when you finally succeed. Rather, the gameplay and difficulty conspire to beat you into submission. You’ll face off against enemies in such large numbers that your health will get slowly chipped away, and the game is often diabolically stingy with healing items. Some enemy attacks knock you down instantly, and you might get up only to be instantly knocked down again, which is a cheap and infuriating substitute for actual challenge. There are checkpoints in each level, but they’re so spread out that death often means repeating a long stretch of action that wasn’t even fun the first time. And you might make it all the way to the end of a level only to find that you need to level up your character before having a fighting chance of defeating the outrageously powerful boss monster. This leaves you with no choice but to quit the level, replay earlier levels for experience, and then fight your way all the way back to the boss again. Oh, and be warned: The Colosseum level that you can access at any time, which seems designed precisely for fighting enemies and leveling up your characters, actually doesn’t award you any experience whatsoever. The laughably flimsy game manual doesn’t tell you this (or, really, anything else), so you might find out the hard way by spending 20 or 30 minutes hacking away at enemies only to get nothing to show for it.

N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights’ visuals are probably its strongest asset, though that’s not saying much. Your characters are detailed and their attacks are impressive. The blood of your legions of fallen foes spatters the screen, and the special orb spark techniques you can unleash from time to time are accompanied by some dazzling effects. And there are many flourishes to the environments–the swirling snowstorms surrounding a castle on a mountaintop, for instance–that lend the battles a sense of drama. On the other hand, the fact that the thousands of rank-and-file enemy soldiers you’ll chop your way through on each level all look identical saps the sense of awe from these massive conflicts. There’s some rousing orchestral music, though it’s often drowned out by the din of battle. The clash and clang of metal on metal and the other sounds of conflict all suit the action well.

In addition to the single-player story mode, you can team up with a partner and play through a variety of online scenarios in which you must survive wave after wave of spawning foes, fight your way through a maze, and race to see who can eviscerate the most enemies. But the combat is no more capable of providing an enjoyable multiplayer experience than it is a decent single-player one. The concept of tossing you into massive battles against thousands of enemies is certainly one with the potential to deliver eye-popping spectacle and thrilling action, but N3II fails to make good on this concept. The only epic struggle this game puts you in is the test of just how much boredom you can endure.

In either case, it’s disappointing to start up a mode in NCAA Football 11 and find that little has changed, and there’s no greater offender than the Road to Glory mode. This is the mode where you can create your own player and watch him grow from a high school standout to a college superstar. It’s still hosted by ESPN’s Erin Andrews, and colleague Kirk Herbstreit still chimes in to break down your performance, but aside from game specific highlights that play during his postgame recaps, there isn’t anything specific to this mode that you haven’t already seen if you played NCAA Football 10. Even Andrews’ appearance is simply a replay of what she did for the previous game. Still, there’s something undeniably addictive about taking a no-name player and turning him into a star athlete, but like last year, you still have to be mindful of the pitfalls of selecting certain positions on offense. For example, quarterbacks can always call an audible to get out of predetermined plays, but running backs and receivers are still at the mercy of an AI-controlled coach that wants to win and doesn’t care about your individual performance.

NCAA Football 11’s Dynasty mode is disappointing, at least in terms of feature upgrades from last year, but there’s one relatively small difference beneath the surface that improves a major aspect of managing any dynasty, and that’s recruiting. Like the recruiting methods found in previous NCAA games, you can woo an athlete to your school by making phone calls and pitching the benefits of joining your program. But NCAA Football 11 turns these phone calls into a more engaging and obvious meta game where you can earn points (think of them as indicating the level of interest in your school) and cause other schools to lose points based on the topics of discussion. For example, if you’re talking about coaching prestige and your school has a high rating whereas a competing school has a slightly lower rating, then the recruit will show greater interest in your program and less interest in the other. Comparing the two schools will earn you points that reflect the recruit’s interest. At times, recruiting still feels like an impenetrable wall of information, but receiving an instantaneous (and easily understood) reward for your efforts and having greater transparency in the recruitment process make it more worthwhile.

That feeling is amplified when playing an online dynasty where you can actively try to take prospects away from other player-controlled schools and hear competitors whine about it. But an online dynasty offers another significant advantage over its single-player counterpart in the form of a Web-based interface where you can access your dynasty at any time via a PC. Easily one of NCAA Football 11’s greatest non-gameplay improvements, this interface not only lets you view schedules and keep tabs on other teams, but it also lets you participate in recruiting (which functions much as it does in the actual game) and write up news stories or messages on your games that are then posted to a dynasty-specific blog with highlights that you can share through a variety of social-networking options. This is an absolutely great tool for playing up the competitive element of a multiuser dynasty, and it goes a long way in making the entire dynasty process more seamless. It does, however, have a few technical hiccups every now and then as the site sometimes isn’t available or it can take a good chunk of time to load a dynasty, but it’s a great way to kill some time when it works.

Of course, none of this would matter if NCAA Football 11’s gameplay wasn’t any good, but thankfully, it builds off of many of the improvements from last year and makes some progress in becoming an even more accurate representation of college football. The running game feels great thanks to some improved right-analog stick controls that finesse player movements–how far you press right, left, back, or forward determines just how much you sidestep or put your momentum forward or backward, which is more useful in one-on-one situations as opposed to stomping through the defensive line. Also, because of improved collision detection between players, there’s a much greater feeling of being able to fend off a tackle with a spin or stiff arm if you’re timing is right. That being said, there’s still some questionable run blocking as it’s not completely uncommon to see a lineman or receiver run back toward the line of scrimmage instead of make a downfield block on a defensive back or linebacker, but it’s certainly improved over last year. There are also moments when running backs (albeit very good ones) seemingly gain superhuman strength and shed tackles from 250-plus pound linebackers as if they were drops of water.

NCAA Football 11’s passing game has some similar quirks that are mostly just unrealistic. Two receivers running a slant route across the middle of the field run into each other far too often, thus disrupting the timing on a pass. It’s not unreasonable to see this happen once in a long while, but its frequency suggests that these receivers probably shouldn’t be playing football. Likewise, there’s some inconsistency with the long ball. Normally, if a receiver is unable to reliably make a catch on a short six-yard route, you wouldn’t necessarily expect him to make the catch on a 40-yard pass, but it happens–more than it should. On top of all that, quarterbacks can still make some ridiculous throws when scrambling, specifically when running to one side of the field and throwing the ball in the opposite direction against their natural motion. Still, the quality of the defensive AI really forces you to make smart decisions about where to throw the ball, and the fact that receivers generally try to stay in bounds (thanks to some new feet-dragging animations) when catching the ball near the sidelines opens some new opportunities, especially when the clock is ticking and you’re close to winning a game. At any rate, it’s a great feeling to read coverage and pick it apart with a smart pass.

There isn’t much to complain about when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. There are those aforementioned moments where a running back becomes a nearly unstoppable beast, but the most annoying hole in the defense is watching a defensive end stay put in a coverage zone when he’s about five feet away from the quarterback and can easily get a sack. But, all around, defense tends to play in a very smart way, and when you normally wouldn’t expect them to, defensive backs and linebackers do a great job of swatting down passes.

It’s worth pointing out that on both offense and defense, NCAA Football 11 tries to make play calling as easy as possible for those who might not understand the intricacies of the sport or just want to rush things along. As such, before the snap, you immediately have access to several plays that are based on your on-field location, down, and yardage-to-go for the first down. These initial plays are useful (and less time consuming) if you’re aiming for some bread-and-butter-style options, such as running plays up the middle or uncomplicated passing plays, but most veterans will find these options limiting as the game progresses and opt for the classic mode of play calling instead. What’s also interesting about NCAA Football 11’s play calling system is just how differently computer-controlled teams play from one another based upon their real-world counterparts. If you’re playing against a school that primarily goes no huddle, then that’s what you get in-game. This keeps individual games interesting as you adjust your strategy to meet a school’s characteristics and tendencies.

If you’re going up against other players online, you might not experience the same thing because human-controlled opponents generally play the game the way they want to, no matter what. In general, online games are relatively lag free, but there is a noticeable delay for kickoffs and any other situations that use the kicking meter. In addition, some players may jump around the field a bit if your connection isn’t completely solid, but otherwise, online games generally happen without any significant hitches.

As for presentation, NCAA Football 11 delivers some nice visual upgrades in the form of much improved lighting (which occasionally freaks out during late-afternoon games when the lighting randomly switches after the end of the half), slightly more detailed character models, and greater ESPN integration. Some teams also have field entrances that are based on their real-life counterparts, such as Notre Dame’s entrance where players slap the sign as they make their way onto the field. There are also crowd-specific animations for teams like the Florida Gators, which will show its fans doing the chomp motion with their arms. Rounding out the entire experience is the commentary team of Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit (no Lee Corso this year, to the delight or dismay of many) with Erin Andrews issuing sideline reports. The team does a decent job of calling the on-field action in an accurate–if not completely enthusiastic–way, but it often seems like the commentary just can’t keep up if the action is moving at a steady clip.

There’s always an issue with sports games when it comes to deciding whether or not the additions in the current year’s game are enough to warrant a purchase for those who bought the previous year’s game. At first glance, NCAA Football 11 doesn’t seem like it offers much in the way of new content, which might not make it the best option for fans that want major upgrades to extra modes from year to year. But whether you’re participating in an online dynasty and its new Web interface, creating your own team in the excellent TeamBuilder mode carried over from last year, or just experiencing some great changes to the gameplay, there’s plenty of content and under-the-hood changes here for the most rabid college football fan to enjoy.

Just like the PC version released in 2006, DarkStar One: Broken Alliance puts you in the shoes and ship of Kayron Jarvis, son of a talented pilot who was killed after an act of ship sabotage. Like it so often does, revenge forms the basis of this tale, though Kayron soon finds himself wrapped up in a political drama in which–wait for it–the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance. The twists and turns of the plot do their part to inspire interest, but low-resolution cutscenes and eccentric, oft-repeated voice-overs make it hard to take DarkStar One’s story seriously. The actors portraying the leads aren’t so bad, and a few side players come across well, like the boisterous, swashbuckling Captain Hornblower. Others, such as the emotionless actress performing monotone communication duties at space stations throughout the universe, sound like they barely understand what their lines mean. It’s easy to admire its spunk, but you won’t stay glued to the screen on the merits of this humdrum space opera.

Luckily, a light role-playing system that lets you upgrade your ship–the titular DarkStar One–will keep you pushing forward when the story has lost its appeal. You fly about the galaxy seeking artifacts, most of which can be found glimmering on asteroids, though some are earned as a reward for liberating systems taken over by nasty space pirates. With enough artifacts, you level up your ship, granting it more hit points, perhaps, or giving you access to the next weapon class. This is also how you enhance your catch-all plasma device, which can be used for an extra layer of shielding or to emit an electromagnetic blast, among other possibilities.

And so you push through the galaxy in a first-person perspective, collecting artifacts and shooting up anything that turns your reticle red when you target it. DarkStar One is easy to pick up and play from the get-go because of the intuitive controls that make it simple to select targets of note, switch missile types, grab cargo, and more. You shoot your mounted weapons with a single trigger, while turrets fire automatically, assuming you have enough energy to power them. As you move from cluster to cluster, you gain access to more weapon types, from ion pulse weapons that damage shields to graviton guns that fire slowly but do a good amount of damage. It’s some hours before you feel like your foes are putting up a struggle, but some later encounters force you to keep an eye on your weapon energy and maneuver carefully around giant cruisers that would turn you into space dust. Most skirmishes play out more or less the same: you target the nearest enemy and pummel it with lasers and spores until it blows up, and then you move on to the next one until the fleet is gone. Combat is simple and predictable, but it’s terrific fun to zoom about, zapping Thul drones and Arrack bodyguards, and later enemies mix up their behavior, which adds a touch of challenge and variety.

Nevertheless, this predictability eventually leads to monotony, due to copy-and-paste side missions that see you doing the same activities over and again. Heading to a waypoint to eavesdrop on an unsuspecting group of conspirators is a nice change of pace, until you realize the plotters you overhear always deliver the same lines and always need to be blown away at the end. Providing support for a cargo vessel is a fun diversion, but every such operation plays out exactly the same as the last one. These side missions are optional, but only to a point: you need funds to make sure the DarkStar One has the most up-to-date weaponry equipped, and these missions are the easiest way to earn credits. Fortunately, there are other ways of earning a living in the darkness of space, should you find yourself in a rut. If you fancy yourself a space trader, you can buy low at one trade station and sell high at another, and the easy interface lets you do so with a minimum of fuss. If you’d rather subvert the law, you can attack cargo ships and steal their payload.

The story missions do offer a bit more variety, perhaps giving you a few wingmen to assist you versus a giant cruiser or sending you off to repair a few satellites. The first drastic departure from formula sends you through a series of planetary trenches, taking down turrets and other nasties, which is great fun when you’re not struggling with the same mission’s troublesome visual slowdown. Another welcome mission takes place in the interior of a great vessel, and while it’s fun to navigate these tight spaces, the monotonous mazelike level design dampens the mood a bit. Fortunately, most of DarkStar One’s vistas are much more attractive, showcasing colorful starscapes and pretty planets with patterns of light that identify the cities on their surfaces. It’s best not to stare too closely at asteroids as you skim their surfaces lest you notice the low-res textures, and it’s a pity every race’s trade stations look exactly the same, both inside and out. Nonetheless, the game looks nice, and while they tend to suffer from some unfortunate frame-rate jitters, battles are colorful and fun to watch.

You could add a few other nitpicks to the list of DarkStar One: Broken Alliance’s minor problems. The inability to drop a side mission in progress can be a real pain if you select one that takes you to a location you haven’t yet unlocked, for example. Sometimes, selecting a neutral object on your target list will not select it on your screen, while another bug may keep you from collecting all 100 available artifacts. Yet with all its foibles, this space combat sim is a lighthearted and enjoyable adventure that could last you upward of 30 hours, depending on how quickly you decide to blow through the story. If you’ve been looking to light up the heavens with lasers and missiles, there’s no reason you shouldn’t forgive DarkStar One’s flaws and take to the intergalactic trade lanes.