It’s a decent time to review the new Xmen game since the film is coming out soon. I’ve had my eye on the game for a long time, but it always got stepped on by the other big titles. (Shattered Dimensions, Iron Man 2) Still, I finally managed to buy it and I can safely say that it does manage to look unimpressive, but it’s a decent game anyway.

I have to say that I barely got the game. The first time I bought it for my Birthday…it did not work. Shaken and confused, but not out for the count; I went to Gamestop and exchanged it for another copy. The game worked this time……for a while. Luckily, it worked long enough for me to complete it. Upon my second playthrough, it started to freeze a little more and the sound got a little sketchy. You may wonder why I decided to complete Story Mode twice right? Well, I was aiming for the Platinum and I actually succeeded this time! Number 8 for me and I won’t be forgetting it. Anyway, that’s enough of a prelude…time for the actual game commentary.

You choose which character to play as during the very beginning of the game. They’re all made up, but I quickly went for the guy who had a sinister past. His father was against mutants and he’s not very fond of them either. Will this guy manage to change his ways or will he succumb to the darkness? Admittedly, I also chose him because he’s a long range fighter. I really like close combat, but you don’t get quite as many opportunities to go long range so I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

The game has 8 levels, but to spice things up, we’ve also been given some choices. Throughout the game, you can decide to be a hero or a villain depending on the choices that you make. It’s an interesting idea in theory, but the sad truth is that it doesn’t make a difference. No matter what you do, you’ll be doing the exact same things. There may be a minor difference here and there, but it’s extremely minor. It’s made very clear once you’ve played the game both times. Ah well….maybe there wasn’t enough budget to make extra levels.

Back to the plot! A group of anti mutant guys have begun attacking mutants and the actual mutants are being framed by persons unknown. We also have Mr. Hodge, a man who wants to help the mutants out. Cyclops wants to find the villains and put an end to the madness while Magneto wants the same thing…but he will use permanent means. The hero is forced to make the tough choices as things get intense!

The graphics are admittedly sub par, but the cover probably gave you some advanced warning on that. Seriously, since when does a company not even bother to make the cover look good? The in game graphics are basically PS2 level and they aren’t impressive at all. Unfortunately, the game also can’t handle too much action at once so there is a high chance that you can start counting the pixels once you use your ultimate attack. Anytime there are too many fighters onscreen, you can count on some lag in the gameplay. I’m pretty sure that is also why the game has a tendency to freeze. It can’t be coincidence that both of my copies ultimately started to freeze.

The actual gameplay is decent. It’s as generic as third person action games get, but it’s a formula that definitely works. The gameplay is basically the same as a Spider Man installment, but with less variety. You’ll likely spend the game spamming the same attack over and over and over at least 1000 times. The gameplay is extremely repetitious and if I were not such a fan, I probably would have needed to turn the game off a few times. Each character gets 4 different superpowers to use, but odds are that you will only use two of them. The giant laser came in handy and the final smash was great, but I completely ignored the other two super attacks. The super attacks are also incredibly overpowered and they are capable of taking down almost any boss in a single blow. The developers likely noticed this in the final stages of development so you can notice a quick fix. The bosses get a quick moment of invincibility when their health drops below a certain point. This just prolongs everything, but it had to be done right?

This review is turning out to be pretty negative right? No worries, I’m getting to the positives…but first let’s look at some more negatives! I didn’t fully appreciate this until my second playthrough…but you cannot skip cutscenes. That’s terrible! If you lose a fight, you’ll have to keep watching the cutscenes over and over again. I haven’t seen a game do this in a long time. Skipping cutscenes should really be mandatory at this point. This is why I’m glad that I ended up playing the game twice as I almost didn’t realize this the first time. (I don’t skip cutscenes on the first playthrough and I only lost once, but there was no cutscene at that point)

Let’s talk about the character portrayals for a second. Cyclops is the heroic leader….but he’s shown to be very weak. Magneto easily defeats him twice in the span of one level. It’s also a little fishy seeing Cyclops let this new recruit (who can’t be trusted) do all of the missions on his own while the Xmen evacuate civilians. The Xmen help at times…but not very often. Wolverine and Northstar look terrible because they fall under the mind control very easily. Gambit is actually a villain in this game, which was unexpected,

Don’t worry, the heroes aren’t the only ones who look bad! Quicksilver is consistently humiliated throughout the game. He talks tough, but then he gets captured by the anti mutant group…twice. He also gets one shotted by one of the bosses. Magneto also seems to be a little gullible as he actually believes that Cyclops shot down one of the helicopters, which resulted in a mutant perishing. (I do have to say that I was surprised at that scene. One of the big Xmen characters actually dies!) It wouldn’t have been completely unreasonable to think that if Magneto had not been framed a few levels earlier…

Still, aside from those issues, the characters looked decently accurate. Colossus trying to shred the forcefields with his teeth seemed a little out of character, but it happens. Either way you’ll likely forget what the characters are saying as soon as you walk away from them. You’re just waiting to beat up on the hundreds of look alike minions.

The soundtrack is decent. I actually remember a few of the tunes, which is an improvement from the average superhero game. It’s definitely not a 5 Star soundtrack, but I would give it a 3 for effort. The themes are catchy and the best one is the Sentinel boss theme. Another positive is the trophies that you can get for the PS3. None of them are outragous or essentially impossible and they add to the replay value.

Replay Value is one of the few positives for the game. It’s not nearly as extensive as Bleach Soul Resurreccion, but you can play this game for a while. There are 15 challenges to complete and a lot of X-Genes to find. I almost beat the game with 100% during a normal playthrough, but I imagine that the final objects will be tough to find. Also, any game that has trophies automatically has replay value…as long as the trophies are fun. The 8 levels will likely take you around 4-6 hours overall. Then you just need to endure the long credits!

I believe that I’ve basically covered all of the bases. Overall, this game barely manages to stay in the good category thanks to the gameplay, soundtrack, and replay value. The main reason why it did not reach a 7 was due to the short length of the game, the animation, and the fact that you cannot skip cutscenes. This is a good game to rent, but I can’t say that I’d highly recommend buying it. For 10-15 dollars I would recommend picking it up, but if it’s any higher then you should wait a while. Go and pick up Spiderman Shattered Dimensions instead!

Overall 6/10

Star Wars is a pretty big franchise and just about everyone has heard of it. As a result, we’ve gotten many video games for just about every console. Most of them are action games, but this one decided to take a sharp turn and ended up being about racing. It’s a bold move and it’s time to see if it worked out!

The game has a plot, which involves a racer’s….revenge! The title suddenly becomes clear eh? Sebulba never forgave Anakin for humiliating him in their original race so he has decided to race him once again! I’ll admit that the thought of racing someone like Sebulba may scare many gamers, but I wasn’t one of them! In fact, many of you may not have a chance to feel that fear because you’ll have no idea that there is a plot unless you looked it up. The game has an opening and ending cutscene, but that’s it as far as the in game story goes.

The two main modes are tournament mode and free play. Free play is always fun and tournament mode is basically a must have for any racing game. There are around 15 races in tournament mode and it will definitely test your abilities as a racer and as a Jedi! In all seriousness, the tournament mode was pretty fun. A little short, but the final levels are decently challenging. You should be able to clear them all within 5 tries per race and maybe with fewer. One thing that makes the races easier is the upgrades that you earn. Once you’ve maxed out your speed and power, you’re pretty much set to go. You won’t be able to max out everything in one playthrough, but you’ll be at around 80%. A few more stages would be enough to finish things off once and for all.

This game has a decent amount of replay value through unlocking characters and maxing them out. It takes a little over a playthrough to max out one character and you can try doing that for the 20+ racers. I decided not to do this…..but it’s a fun way to pass the time. Unlocking characters can be difficult as you have to break the records on each stage. There are three records per stage so that’s a lot of record smashing on the menu! You’ll likely get some of them broken during the normal playthrough, but the car smashing is usually something that you will need to aim for.

It barely even needs to be said that free play will give you a lot of replay value as well. Call someone up and then race them on the dangerous tracks! This may have been before the age of wifi, but you’ll probably find some people who still enjoy the game. It’s easy to pick up and the learning curve isn’t too high. It’s classic racing fun at its finest in perfect retro style!

That being said, the game can’t really compete with the big racing titles like Need for Speed and Mario Kart. (I would mention how it stacks up against M&M Racing, but I haven’t gotten around to playing that one yet!) The problem is that you can move at incredible speeds, but it just isn’t as engaging as the other racing titles. The stages are big, but they don’t feel very inspired. You may find yourself trapped a few times as you scramble for the goal.

The soundtrack is not bad, but it can be a little repetitious. You won’t be singing the tunes as you head back to sleep, but you won’t be cringing either. The animation is decent. It may not be the next Kingdom Hearts, but the graphics could be worse. They remind me of the N64 days since the characters are a little blocky, but you don’t typically see them anyway. The cars is what we’re after and they definitely perform well.

Overall, this is a decent Star Wars game. It may not be an exaggeration to say that it is their weakest home console release, but I need to check out the other racing title they came out with first! After that, I can make a better comparison. After all, can you really compare the thrills and chills of fighting with a light saber to floating in a car? I didn’t think so! The graphics and soundtrack are good enough to satisfy me and there is enough replay value to validate the purchase. I think that the game could have benefited from more of a story, but we can’t have it all right? I recommend this game to serious racing fans and lightly to Star Wars fans. That being said, you may just want to wait for the legendary Mario Kart 8 to grace us with its arrival.

Overall 6/10

Family Game Night is a pretty fun franchise since you can just jump in and start playing the games. You don’t need to worry about entering really hard levels or wondering where you are up to in the plot. That being said, there aren’t a lot of minigames to choose from, which means that the game won’t have as much replay value as other games that focus on recreational activities. I’ll talk about each of the games and then we’ll see how the game stacks up.

First, let’s talk about Connect 4 Basketball! The game is pretty fun, but the aiming can be difficult to master. One problem is that the balls are launched pretty quickly, which means that many players may just fire 4 balls into the same spot as quickly as they can. It’ll become more of a speed battle than a battle of wits at that point. I guess that would be where the tricky aiming would come into play. It’s a decently fun game, but it’s not something that will hold your interest for a very long time. That being said, it is my second favorite game in the video game.

Next up, we have Sorry! Sliders. This one is my least favorite from the batch. I’ve never been a fan of the game, (I do like the Sorry! game though) and it takes a lot longer to finish a round than the others. The controls are simple enough and the computers usually won’t do so well, but this game is meant to be a multiplayer experience anyway. Still, I would recommend skipping this minigame.

Another game on the list is Yahtzee! Bowling. I’m not a huge fan of this minigame either. The actual card part is fun since it’s essentially Poker. Poker is one of the best card games and the rules are simple, but effective. The bowling is really unnecessary and doesn’t really add anything to the game. It just ends up slowing everything down and making the minigame less enjoyable. The game is all right, but relies heavily on luck and that doesn’t really translate well into a video game.

We also have Bop It! Boptagon. This one is easily one of the best minigames and I’d say that it may have the second most replay value. It’s essentially “Simon Says” as you follow the commands that are on the screen. This one does take concentration as the sudden lights can make you pick something that you weren’t planning on picking. Your reflexes actually work against you in this game which is a nice change of pace. If you are buying this video game, I would assume that this minigame is the main reason for your purchase.

Finally, we have Scrabble Flash. This game is my personal favorite out of the bunch. Picking out the words hidden among the letters can actually be pretty challenging. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart and it takes a good vocabulary. Some of the words may seem obvious, but others can be extremely difficult to pick out. This game never really gets old and has a great level of replay value.

Those are all of the minigames that are in Family Game Night. You can challenge the Game Show, but it’s basically just a mode that lets you play all five of the minigames. You should do it for the PS3 trophies, but there’s not much of a point to play it otherwise. The animation for the game is sub par at best and I would say that there are many Nintendo 64 games that show more heart. The mascot can be extremely annoying and is essentially a Mario that went wrong.

This definitely wouldn’t be the highest game on my list to recommend, but if you want to check it out…by all means. It’s certainly not the worst game that you could get and it’s much better than Family Game Night 3. This can be a fun little game to play with your friends or to use as a way to relax. That being said, if you want to play a real Party game, check out Mario Party 4!!

Overall 6/10

Lost in Shadow is a unique game that came out for the Wii. I can’t say that I had ever heard of it before I went to Gamestop. When I saw the game, (With such a great price) I knew that I needed to buy it. Everyone had been talking about Limbo being awesome and this looked similar….so why not!? I’m definitely glad that I ended up buying this one.

Lost in Shadow has an epic beginning which may leave room for interpretation. Here’s the plot, (As best as I can describe it) a kid is kidnapped and when he wakes up, his body is gone. His shadow is all that’s left of him and now he needs to find it. It would seem that his body has been taken to the top of a really huge tower. The shadow must be careful, he may not be a physical being, but..THE SHADOW BEAST is lurking around! There are also a lot of other monsters and obstacles that he must be on the lookout for. Not to mention that the being who kidnapped him may still be around.

The plot is definitely intriguing and plays like a horror game. Along the way to the top, you find the memories of other kids who died. Each memory makes you stronger and your health increases. There is a leveling up system in the game, but it’s less prevalent than in most. It’s very easy to level up and each level up is pretty drastic. By the end of the game, you’ll be completely outclassing your opponents. (In the final boss, my health would always be full thanks to the minions) You should probably go and collect all of the 90 memories. Something cool may happen if you do…! I did’t, so I don’t know what the bonus is, but it’s probably worth it. I may go back and do that at some point.

The gameplay is fun and it’s like Mario. Not exactly the same and you do have the option of attacking. I’d say that it’s like a mix of Drawn To Life and Mario. Story mode is decently long and you’ll probably be playing the game for a while. Getting a game over is pretty rare and you really don’t want to die. If you die, then you resume the game as another kid and the previous “you” is added to the total of dead people. It may take a little time to get used to playing in the shadows at first, but you get the hang of it.

Towards the end of the game, you also get to experience the “Light world”. Instead of being a shadow, you become a being of pure light. It’s the only way to exist in the real world without your body and it’s fun. The game turns into a 3D platformer during this part and it can be a nice change of pace.

Time to go into one negative. It’s not a big deal, but the game is pretty easy. There are only 2-3 bosses through the game, but none of them will really pose a threat. You health bar is just wayyyy too big and you don’t need much of a strategy to defeat the enemies. Just keep on swinging your sword and the enemy will go down quickly. The Final Boss is a little different, but you will defeat him easily enough. The minions are constantly re spawning so you can just beat them (In one hit btw) and you’ll gain back most of your health in one shot. Games don’t have to be super difficult, (Like Mega Man X) but I think that it should be a little tougher than this. Take Mario (Only the 2D games) or DBZ. I’d never call them difficult games, but some levels could still take a few tries. It’s not a big deal though, since you’ll enjoy the game anyway.

Well, this was definitely a solid Wii game. The Shadow Beast makes for a pretty impressive villain. He even has his own theme going when you fight him…or when you’re running away from him. Towards the end, this fairy appears who can rip holes in reality. (Or the dimension, but impressive eh? That scene came out of nowhere) I think that the game could definitely use a sequel since I would like to see the mysterious knight battle. (And the ending is pretty depressing for the main character) I definitely recommend this game. You’ll have a unique Wii experience and a lot of fun along the way. The game has a good amount of replay value and I should mention that the graphics are pretty solid. They’re excellent during the cutscenes and look like Final Fantasy. Time to go and buy the game folks!

Overall 6/10