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Tomb Raider: Underworld is the eighth game in the Tomb Raider series, and resumes the adventure from where Tomb Raider: Legend left off. You’ll be glad to hear that some of the unexplained elements of the plots of both Legend and Tomb Raider: Anniversary are addressed.
Fans will get the most enjoyment from this, although newcomers shouldn’t be put off as it’s very easy to pick up and play. Special mention must go to the graphics and story, but the combat is still a bit dodgy and the camera angles can be a little haywire at times.
The Hut have the PlayStation 2 version up for preorder at £17.73 - for more information, click here. They also have the DS release (click here) for the same price, except it’s available right now.
PlayStation 3 owners can click here to get their version for the slightly higher price of £23.99 from ShopTo.
The Last Remnant £17.61
11 Dec
The two most occupied genres in the gaming world are probably first-person shooters and real-time strategy titles, so it becomes difficult to find reasons why to recommend one game over another - which is why I tend to point out positives and negatives where I can.
The Last Remnant looks fantastic, has a unique battle system, and massive-scale battles. These are countered by some persistent graphical issues, long cutscenes, and rubbish load screens - see what I mean about being difficult to judge!
Click here to get this XBox 360 game for £17.61 from, erm, Game. Again, if you end up spending 50 quid or more, make use of the Game £5 off a £50 spend voucher.
Interestingly, Shaun White Snowboarding runs on the same game engine as Assassin’s Creed - pointless fact, but interesting nonetheless. It’s just a pity that this isn’t anywhere near as good as the SSX series has been, because it’s always healthy to have some sort of competition.
There are five mountains to compete on, including Alaska, Park City, Europe, and Japan. Each of these features up to three different sections: peak, back country, and park.
If you fancy this, click here to buy the PlayStation 3 version, or click here to get the XBox 360 release - both of which are £19.57 at Gamestation until 1pm on Friday the 11th of December.
For the second time in the series’ short history, Rayman: Raving Rabbids - TV Party is only being released on Nintendo consoles. The brilliant thing about the Wii version in particular is that it makes use of the Wii Balance Board (although you can play the game just as well without it).
There’s over 65 brand new mini-games to play that spoof popular culture, from TV series’ to TV classics, and everything in between. Four players can play co-op or battle, whilst up to eight can take part in the all-new party mode.
Click here to get this title for £19.56 from Game. Remember to also make use of the Game £5 off a £50 spend voucher if you’re planning on spending over £50 (obviously!).
Universe At War: Earth Assault is quite a good real-time strategy game that is let down by bad frame rates and various technical problems as it makes an appearance on the XBox 360.
Powerful forces from across the universe have brought war to our planet, leaving you to take command of several unique factions which have awesome powers and spectacular units.
Gamestation are selling this for just £4.99 - click here for more details.
Games that are designed with families in mind fall into two categories - fun and entertaining, like the SingStar series, or dull and uninspired, like You’re In The Movies. If you remember the Eye Toy titles on the PlayStation 2, this will bring back some rather painful memories!
For something that is supposed to let you "appear in your own movie", it’s completely pathetic that the camera can’t pick you out every time and adds bits of your room to it as well. Avoid, unless of course you’re getting it as a Christmas gift for a enemy relative.
Click here to buy You’re In The Movies (with an XBox Live Vision Camera) for £29.95 from The Game Collection.
Some people were unsure whether the PlayStation 3 would be a success, after a string of initial problems and a bit of a high price tag appeared to put some off. Thankfully prices have started to come down, and the problems are now (mostly) a thing of the past.
One complaint was about the annoying habit Sony had of introducing new models to the market - they seem to have settled on 80GB for now, but who knows whether we’ll see bigger in the future.
To get the PlayStation 3 80GB system for £257.99 from ShopTo, simply click here.
If you’re in the market for a new console this Christmas, then you could do worse than the XBox 360. With a very good catalogue of titles, which is growing by the month, it’s probably ever so slightly better than the PlayStation 3 (sorry fanboys!).
The XBox 360 Premium console initially came with a 20GB hard drive, until Microsoft decided to be nice recently and bump it up to a 60GB one - more than enough space to store stuff on.
Click here to buy one for £137.01 from ShopTo, and have a look around this site to find some cheap games to go with it.
Fracture £19.99
10 Dec
Fracture tells the tale of a xenophobic United States, which has been split into two sides, the Pacific and the Atlantic, by rising water levels caused by global warming. When tension mounts, war breaks out - and it’s your job to lead an army from the Atlantic to deal with the Pacific force.
This is a fairly average first-person shooter, with low replayability and a very annoying amount of repetitiveness. At times it almost feels like some sort of mashup of lots of different games from the genre, which is very disappointing.
Play.com have this XBox 360 title available for £19.99 - for more information, click here. PS3 owners can also get their release for the same price by clicking here.
Believe it or not, there’s actually two different versions of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent available - one for the PS3 and XBox 360, and another for the PlayStation 2 and Wii. The same general plot is shared, but there’s different storylines, plot twists, and levels.
Both are excellent in their own rights, and are brilliant examples of how to make great stealth games. Fans of the series will feel right at home from the off, while newcomers should be able to pick up and play straight away.
Click here to get the XBox 360 release for £6.99 from Play.com. They also have the PlayStation 3 (click here) and Wii (click here) versions for the slightly higher price of £9.99.
