Stormrise £19.99
16 Apr
Stormrise is a post-apocalyptic real-time strategy game, with the ability to control units in the air, on the surface, and underground. Presenting a civilisation that has begun once again to emerge after a catastrophic event, two warring factions arise from the rubble – the Echelon are a technologically advanced race that endured the planet’s fallout by way of self-induced hibernation, and the Sai are a tribal society that have adapted to the new environment and evolved.
Sadly this was released very closely to Halo Wars, which already puts it at a severe handicap. Throw in some dodgy controls and a wonky camera and you have a recipe for disaster – however, there are some interesting new ideas that fans of the genre might want to check out.
Click here to get the PlayStation 3 version for £19.99 from ShopTo, or click here to buy the XBox 360 release for the same price from the same retailer.
Naruto: The Broken Sword picks up where Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja left off, taking place between episodes 81 and 135 of the anime series. Fans might be interested to hear that it covers the "Return Of Itachi", "Search For Tsundae", and "Sasuke Retrieval" story arcs from this time period.
All of the original voice actors from the anime also contribute their talents to the game, and this is also the very first Naruto title to feature an online multiplayer mode – where over 25 different characters are available to battle with.
To get this XBox 360 exclusive for £11.73 from The Hut, simply click here.
Lock’s Quest £9.99
13 Apr
Lock’s Quest is a very good real-time strategy game, which has not done all that well sales-wise. The only reason I can think why this has happened is that the sheer amount of A-list titles that have been released recently have possibly overshadowed this one. Either that, or nobody’s heard of it!
Lord Agony uses a mysterious substance known as "Source" to create his own clockwork army, while archineers use it to build defences. When the soldiers begin to attack Lock’s town, he defends it until the population can escape – sadly his sister then goes missing, so he must set out on a quest to find her and bring down the evil Lord Agony.
Play.com are selling this DS game for £9.99 – click here for more details.
Although pretty much everyone is familiar with the events in the Olympic games, many don’t realise the diverse range of events that constitute the makeup on the Winter Olympics – it’s not just skiing you know!
Winter Sports 2009: The Next Challenge features 16 winter sports events in 10 different disciplines (such as downhill skiing, snowboarding, bobsledding and speed skating), with a total of 16 countries represented.
Click here to get the XBox 360 version for £14.95 from MyMemory, or click here to buy the Wii release for £17.95 from Zavvi.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 retains many of the key features from previous entries that helped make it the best golf series on the market, whilst introducing some new elements which improve on some of the weaker points.
Hank Haney, who is Tiger Woods’ real-life performance coach, is on hand to offer tips, advice, and challenges to improve your game, the "Club Tuner" option maximises the effectiveness of every shot, and "Dynamic Skill" adjusts the skill level as your progress through the career mode.
If you fancy the PS2 version, click here to buy it for £7.89 from Sendit.com. XBox 360 owners can still get their release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 for £17.99 from Play.com.
Buzz! Junior: Dino Den £6.73
13 Apr
As a spin-off from the main series, the Buzz! Junior range of games are aimed at kids. They all include a collection of mini-games, instead of the usual quiz format that’s to be found in many of the other Buzz! titles – a change that works rather well, if you ask me.
Buzz! Junior: Dino Den is the fourth entry in the series, and features a range of dinosaurs to play as. 45 different mini-games are available to take part in, with 10 of them being brand new team mini-games.
Click here to get this PlayStation 2 title for £6.73 from The Hut. Definitely one of those cheap games that families as a whole can take part in, with children probably getting the most enjoyment.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice is a DS exclusive that has a story written by one of the writers on the show, Rob Des Hotel. Set during the seventh season, this features may of the most popular characters from the series, including Buffy, Angel, Spike, The Master, and many others.
A total of 24 levels provide a somewhat difficult challenge, but if this doesn’t prove enough for you then there’s also a "Challenge Mode" option that ups the hardness by a considerable margin.
The Hut have this available for £14.73 – for more information, click here.
Dementium: The Ward £17.99
11 Apr
Dementium: The Ward is a survival horror first-person shooter that tells the tale of a man who awakens to find himself in a mysterious, derelict hospital, apparently frozen in time. Confronted by grotesque surgical experiments that roam the halls, along with a series of challenging puzzles, he must face his deepest fears in order to unlock the mysteries of the hospital and escape with his life.
Although it’s quite short and you probably won’t go back and try it again, this game has some outstanding visuals (especially when you consider the limitations of the console) and an engaging storyline.
To get this DS title for £17.99 from Play.com, click here.
Resuming the adventure from right where Tomb Raider: Legend left off, Tomb Raider: Underworld helps address some of the plot left unexplained in the previous title and Tomb Raider: Anniversary – which makes a very nice change (developers often assume players will fill in the blanks with games like these).
Excellent graphics, enjoyable platform elements, beautiful environments, and much better controls than those in Tomb Raider: Anniversary, are enough to overlook rather simple puzzles and pretty poor combat situations.
Click here to buy the Wii version for £9.29 from Amazon.
The Ultimate Board Game Collection is exactly what you’d think it would be – namely, a collection of some of the most iconic board games transferred across to the video game arena.
One odd thing though is that the Wii version only comes with 12 games, whereas the PlayStation 2 release has a total of 20. I can only assume the unique features of the Wii Remote meant that some had to go…
If you fancy the PS2 version, click here to buy it for £7.73 from The Hut. Wii owners can click here to get their release for £8.98 from Game.
