Consolation Prize

As The Orange Box offers such a solid line-up of games all in one package I thought I’d review each element as and when I’ve played them rather than as a whole. First up is Portal.

Although Portal is played through a first person perspective it is at heart a puzzle game where you survive using your wits and skill. When the game begins the player awakes in a test chamber at an Aperture research facility and is informed over the intercom that they must complete a series of hazardous tests and when complete you will be rewarded with cake.

Portal does an excellent job of slowly introducing the player to the different aspects of the game, building upon skills learned in each test chamber enabling you to solve increasingly more complex tests. The primary puzzle solving element of the game is of course learning how to use the portals created by the “Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device” which you pick up during the early stages of the game.

The device allows you to create two portal openings, one blue and one orange, on most flat surfaces be it floor, ceiling, or wall and creates a physical connection between the two. Thus if you walk into the “blue” portal you will walk out of the “orange” portal. This is obviously a fairly simple example but things soon become more complex when you realise physical laws can be applied to problem solving. Thus if you fall into a portal at high speed you will exit the other portal at the same velocity and it becomes apparent that you have to use these physical laws to your advantage to jump great distances, reach high platforms or drop an object onto a button or hazard. As the game progresses you’ll have to start using more resourceful methods for portal placement, and experimenting with ideas is certainly one of the highlights of the game.

Graphically the game looks good. The environment portrays what I’d imagine a research testing facility with minimalistic design to look like. Portals deserve a special mention as being able to view into a different part of the map and seemlessly move between them in a 3D space is a feat in itself.

The test chambers are all excellently designed and you feel a real sense of satisfaction when you figure out how to complete a level. Dialog from GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), your guide through the game, is top notch being both informative and amusing and gets even better as the story unfolds. Also of special mention is the ending of the game which features a sublime song sung by GLaDOS.

Unfortunately it’s over all too quickly and you’re left with wanting more. As a bonus for completing the game you get access to six advanced “re-jigged” test chambers and additional game modes such as completing the chamber with the least number of portals or the fewest footsteps providing a good deal of replayability.

Even though the game is short it’s still excellent, provides an alternative approach to the first person perspective genre and is a worthy addition to the Half Life universe.

So the fight has now been finished but was it worth the blood, sweat and tears of your fallen comrades? Well for me the answer to that question is mostly a resounding “Yes”.

The game kicks off immediately after the ending of Halo 2 as Master Chief impacts “meteor-like” on Earth. After being found by sergeant Johnson and his team the chief sets off on nine campaign missions to conclude his fight with the Covenant forces.

If you’ve played any of the prior games then you will instantly get a feeling of familiarity. This is by no means a bad thing as the gameplay which was so successful before has been retained, tweaked and honed to near perfection to provide both intense small scale skirmishes and massive set piece battles.

The campaign game features a variety of decent locations both on and off Earth with most missions providing a good balance between indoor and outdoor settings. The levels are generally easy enough to navigate around with a waymarker appearing on your HUD to provide assistance. However, without giving too much away, there’s a mission towards the end of the game that features a very organic environment which unfortunately was all too similar and isn’t the easiest level to find your way around. With the exception of the aforementioned, all the other campaign missions were thoroughly enjoyable and provided some great gaming experiences.

The story is told through a number of cut scenes using the game engine or via dialog when in-game. The story is functional and does a fairly decent job or wrapping things up but leaving some tantalising questions hanging in the vacuum of space. Speaking of dialog, the “battle banter” from comrades and foes is top class and enhances the overall sense of immersion and on occasion provides some very amusing lines, especially with the “IWHBYD” skull switched on which provides alternative dialog.

The game features a number of vehicles both old and new which can be used by yourself and your comrades and were great fun to use. I still found that when it comes to driving the AI still isn’t the best around and in some circumstances would get stuck or overturn the vehicle when you’re controlling the mounted weapon of a vehicle like the “Warthog”.

Graphically the game doesn’t look to be on a par with some of the showcase games on the 360, but they are still very good and the entire game moves at a very slick pace without any slowdown even when there are lots of models on screen during the larger battles. This in itself is an achievement that is worthy of praise. No game is complete without decent background music and the dramatic music score featured in this game strikes the right balance between subtlety and the melodramatic and is always perfect for the current encounter.

The single player campaign isn’t the longest around and should be finished within a few days, however it does promote a lot re-playability. Not only are there hidden “golden” and “silver” skulls which drastically alter campaign mission parameters, but the entire campaign can be played through with up-to three friends in co-op. Even when you’ve exhausted those options you can turn on campaign scoring for an extra edge of competitiveness’s with friends and for the game achievements.

As mentioned the “skulls” that are found dotted through the campaign missions can be switched on to alter certain parameters. For example; the “Fog Skull” removes the motion sensor and more drastic skulls such as “Iron” ensure that the mission would have to be restarted from the very beginning if anything unfortunate happened to the chief.

A lot of games tag on some sort of multi-player mode just as an afterthought but this is certainly not the case here. As with its fore bearer Halo 3 has an extensive multi-player mode on offer. Depending on your preferences you will find something to suit your gaming style. Whether you prefer running around solo or teaming up with friends or random players there are a number of maps available which are all significantly different to one another, and together with the variety of gaming scenarios and settings that can be changed provides one of the most complete multi-player experiences available on a home gaming console.

A Halo game wouldn’t be complete without featuring a variety of weapons and Halo 3 is no different. Some new weapons have been introduced like the “Brute Spiker” and “Spartan Laser” whilst others have been refined or re-introduced like the “Assault Rifle”. All the weapons feel well balanced and some are more suitable to certain situations than others. Additionally the player now has the ability to rip weapons from mounted gun emplacements, such as Gatling guns or plasma cannons, switching the view to an “over-the-shoulder” third person view. This can be incredibly powerful while the ammunition lasts enabling you to clear rooms full of enemies quickly but reducing your movement speed quite considerably. The game now also features four grenade types with the standard frag and plasma now reinforced with the spike and incendiary grenades.

As-well as weapons and grenades Halo 3 now introduces “equipment” to the mix. This provides another tactical element to the combat as deciding what to carry (only one item a time) and when to use it can sway the tide of an encounter. Each piece of equipment has there uses. For example, the “bubble shield” provides an enveloping shield which cannot be breached by weapons, whilst a “power drain” can be used to remove the shielding from your foes making it easier for you to finish them off.

Of final note is the new “Theatre” mode. Every game you play, whether campaign or death match, is temporarily saved to the 360’s hard drive for viewing afterwards. Although this initially doesn’t sound like it should cause much of a fanfare what really raises the bar compared to other replay modes is the ability to detach the camera and move it around to your hearts content while the movie is playing or paused. This is a fantastic feature enabling you to analyse your performance, or that of another player, and definitely helps you learn item locations and strategies. As an additional bonus movie segments can be recorded or screenshots taken to send to friends or upload to the file share.

In summary; although in my opinion the single player experience doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of something like Bioshock , as a complete package it provides first class entertainment and will be played for many months and years by its devotees.

If you’re familiar with Hong Kong action movies then you will have more than likely heard the names
John Woo and
Chow Yun Fat. Stranglehold sees the film director Woo bring his style of gun-fu action direction to a video game while the actor, Chow Yun Fat, lends his appearance and vocals to reprise his role as Inspector “Tequila” Yeun of the Hong Kong Police Force for the leading character.

John Woo’s influences are noticeable. From the “stand-off” sequences when you’re surrounded by hostiles, to the animations used in some of the special moves, all have a certain cinematic feel and flare. Although there’s a storyline to the game revolving around the disappearance of a cop and the kidnapping of those close to Tequila, told through some nice cut scenes and flashbacks, the main emphasis is on non-stop unadulterated action and if that’s all you require from a game then Stranglehold delivers.

The story takes you through both varied and interesting locations including a Hong Kong marketplace, a restaurant, and a history museum in Chicago. The environments themselves consist of a vast number of objects that “Tequila” can interact with or are destructible to some degree. Interactive objects are highlighted when close by and a quick squeeze of the “left trigger” will find you sliding down banisters or zip lines, swinging on chandeliers, or even rolling on a food carts whilst taking pot shots at hostiles. As mentioned previously the environments have a large number of destructible objects which can be used to your advantage to dispatch your enemies with style. Speaking of style, the more outrageous a kill the more “style” points are awarded. Simply shooting an enemy rewards you with a couple of points but if you take them out by shooting the explosive canister they’re standing next too while Tequila is sliding down a banister then you’ll be handsomely rewarded. Style points are not just there for bragging purposes they’re also used to help fill your special move gauge and can also be used outside of the game in the “Unlock” shop to purchase a number of extras like multiplayer skins and artwork.

The destructible environments deserve a special mention as they certainly alter how you approach a level and provide an entertaining game mechanic. In most games for example you could quite happily crouch behind a wall to avoid incoming fire but in Stranglehold if you dive for cover behind a structural column, wall, or most other objects you won’t be safe for long as they’re gradually whittled away by incoming fire and may leave you exposed. It does however still provide a brief respite to gather your thoughts and I found the use of cover essential in the latter stages of the game as you are attacked by multiple enemies from all sides with automatic weapons.

There aren’t a huge number of weapon types in the game but the basics are covered well with pistols, shotgun, sub-machine gun, assault rifle, heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher available at some point or other. However Tequila can only carry two weapons at a time and throughout a mission they will be swapped frequently with those from fallen enemies as ammunition is depleted.

There are four special moves known as “Tequila Bombs” that are gradually unlocked as you progress through the game. The first of which is the most basic and just gives you an instant health boost. The remaining moves are more interesting with the “precision aim” enabling you to zoom in on enemies and snipe them, the “barrage” attack giving unlimited ammunition, invulnerability and a higher rate of fire for a short duration whilst the “spin attack” kills all enemies in the immediate vicinity. The barrage attack can be particularly devastating when used in conjunction with a certain weapons like the shotgun, golden pistols or rocket launcher.

One additional gaming element not mentioned so far is “Tequila Time”. This is essentially a slow-mo mode and is activated automatically whenever you’re interacting with an object or diving whilst an enemy is in your sights. The mode can also be activated manually if required and this is an essential feature of the game as it allows you those few additional seconds to line up head shots or target the environment whilst in the thick of the action.

The game offers four difficulty levels with “casual” being the easiest and “hard-boiled” the most difficult. I played through the game on “normal” difficulty and on the whole this provided the right level for me. However, I did feel there were a few difficulty spikes in the latter stages as enemies kept spawning until certain trigger points were reached. The game does suggest an easier difficulty if Tequila dies too many times in a row but I’ve always found that persistence is the best attitude and eventually through trial and error progress will be made.

Graphically the game is no slouch with some great reactive animations from your enemies depending on where they’re shot, well designed environments and decent character models. Chow Yun Fat is easily recognisable as the lead character and John Woo even makes guest appearances in a couple of places. My only reservation with the game engine is the camera, which for me sometimes placed itself in awkward locations and I prefer a manual override when I want to examine the environment rather than having to move the playable character around.

Overall the game was fun to play, if not cerebrally challenging. It does have some flaws but none of them are game-breakers and detract from what on the whole is an enjoyable experience.

Further to my initial
impressions of the demo I’ve now finally completed Overlord and I thought I’d post up my final review of this fantasy based third person action adventure.

As the game starts you become the new overlord of the Dark Tower, once a mighty bastion of evil but reduced to ruins after it has been plundered by the so called forces of good. It’s your job to restore the tower to its former glory and once again gain dominion over the lands around you.

To help you with the task at hand you can call upon your minions, small impish creatures that you can directly control or order to attack creatures, retrieve objects or move objects too heavy for your wimpy strength. At the start of the game you only have access to “brown” minions, but you will also gain the devotion of “red”, “green”, and “blue” minions which have there own strengths and weaknesses. Brown minions are best at melee, reds are immune to fire and can throw balls of fire for a ranged attack, greens are immune to poison and have a powerful back-stab attack whilst blue are the weakest at melee but are immune to some magical attacks and can resurrect fallen comrades.

The controls are fairly straight forward with the only complexity being minion control. The right joystick is used for direct control over your horde and it’s necessary to familiarise yourself with the control as soon as possible. Your horde can consist of different colour minions and if you don’t want to send the entire horde into battle then you will have to master selecting the different minion types and guard marking. Choosing a minion type is accumplished by holding down the right bumper button and then selecting the appropriate colour joypad button that closely resembles the minion type in question, for example “B” would select “red” minions whilst “Y” would select “browns”. You can also leave minions “on guard” using the “Y” button and using a combination of these controls becomes essential the further you progress.

The inhabitants of this fantasy world are all the typical creatures you’d expect, halflings, dwarves, trolls and plenty of other interesting enemies to get your teeth into (or your minions), with some requiring specific strategies if you don’t want to witness the slaughter of your impish friends. There are also a number of “Hero” boss characters you will need to dispose of throughout the game as part of the story arc, but their days of righteousness are far behind them. Every hero has become warped in some form or other and towards the end of the game you learn how these former heroes have fallen from grace. Every creature that is killed in the game releases certain types and amounts of lifeforce which is stored and used to summon minions from spawning pits dotted around the landscape and thus a certain proportion of the game involves retreading already cleared areas harvesting lifeforce to ensure you’ve got a healthy supply in stock.

Although minions help your chances of survival you’re not completely defenseless and you have a number of magical spells at your disposal. New spells are unlocked when found during exploration but there are four definitive classes of spells accessed from the D-pad; “up” gives you fire based attacking spells, “right”, domination spells that affect your enemies, “down” gives you defensive shield spells and finally “left” results in minion enhancing effects. Of course you can always just wade into combat swinging your axe should you prefer a more “hands-on” approach.

Your tower also provides you with few other distractions. A forge allows you to create three basic weapons (sword, mace or axe) or new armour and helmets once you’ve recovered the appropriate smelters. All can be upgraded by sacrificing minions to imbue them with magical properties depending on the number and types of minions sent to the flames. Forging better armour and weapons isn’t essential (I just used the basic steel set initially), but if you’ve got minions to spare then it will make the later parts of the game easier to handle. Spare cash from looting can be used to upgrade your tower with various aesthetically pleasing objects like statues or a marble walkway, but these items don’t really serve a purpose apart from personalising the look of your tower. Finally you can access the dungeon which allows you to take on most creatures you’ve previously encountered and is a good way of harvesting minion lifeforce when choosing any of the “beetle” types unless you prefer to venture outdoors to find one of the many flocks of “sheepies” roaming about the wilderness.

On the whole the game looks good with some interesting cliche’d fantasy environments such as the mines in Golden Hills, the twisted forest of Evernight or the halfling village with typical Tolkien-es burrows built into the hillsides. However the game doesn’t employ a “roam anywhere” policy and thus you will unfortunately come across many an invisible barrier blocking your path as you try and explore the environment.

There’s quite a lot of decent voice dialog employed throughout the game and the sound effects and music serve there purpose well but on a few occasions I found that some of the scripted dialog for Gnarl, the minion master and your guide, to be annoying when repeated; Hearing his explanation of the forge time-after-time soon got on my nerves.

Although the premise of the game is to be evil I was playing through the game to get the “zero corruption” achievement and thus most of my actions could be interpretted as “good” deeds. All the enemies in the game are provided in a negative light, and heroes have long since stopped being heroic. And I ended up liberating the townsfolk rather than subjecting them to tyranny.

Overall I enjoyed this game. It has some interesting ideas and gameplay mechanics, is laced with wry humour and is fun to play. It’s not without its flaws but if you’re looking for a fantasy game that offers something a bit different then this would be worth trying out.

Recently I played through God of War II on the PS2. I was a fan of its predecessor and was very much looking forward to this game and overall it was a very enjoyable experience. For those unfamiliar with the series the game sees you playing the role of Kratos, once a Spartan warrior but as the game starts now the titular God of War. The game is based on Greek mythology and is an action fighting game with some puzzle solving elements thrown in for good measure.

Kratos is an angry man, and most of that venom is directed at the gods of Olympus. He really does have a right to be a bit hacked off with the gods. Not only was he tricked into killing his own wife and son by Ares, as told as part of the story of the first game, but in this second installment he is fooled into becoming mortal and into losing his godly powers. Thus this is a story of betrayal and revenge as Kratos seeks out the Sisters of Fate so that he can change his own destiny and destroy the Olympian gods.

Once Kratos has lost all of his abilities you’re slowly introduced to the various button combinations and as you progress through the game a number of magical abilities and additional weapons become available. These can be powered up using the collected souls of your defeated enemies giving you additional moves or attacks. What you power up really depends on how you prefer to play the game and what you find the most effective. Personally I chose to power up Kratos’ default weapon, “The chains of Athena”, along with the magical attacks “Cronus’ Rage” and “Atlas Quake. What I like about this game is that not only can you string together quite complex combo moves, but you can also get away with a bit of button mashing without being penalised. And in this respect the game finds a good balance for both the casual and hardcore gamer alike.

There are a number of difficulty levels available, however I played through the game on normal and on the whole this is well balanced and provided a good challenge to my limited skills. I did find that the game had the occasional difficulty spikes as you take on a number of the set piece enemies, and just as you breath a sigh of relief you suddenly find that more enemies have just spawned into the battle and finish you off. This can lead to some moments of head banging frustration but I always found that a specific strategy would be required and it’s just a matter of learning the attack patterns and not trying to wade into battle without defending yourself. If you die a number of times in a row on a specific section the game humbles you by asking “if you want to change the difficulty to easy”. I found this spurred me on rather than face the indignity of playing on easy, but at least the option is there should you and the game come to an impasse. Generally checkpoints are generously spaced so you don’t have to repeat vast sections of the game again should the worst happen but there are a couple of notable encounters that left me feeling an additional checkpoint was required.

The game has a rich enemy selection and some of the boss encounters are spectacularly memorable. Once an enemy has been weakened you will be able to perform a finishing move which is activated by pressing the relevant button icon floating above their head. This then launches a series of “quick time” events of button presses and / or joystick movements and if successful Kratos sends them packing to Hades in a number of brutally violent ways.
This game certainly showcases that the Playstation 2 can still deliver graphically and it’s still spectacular even by today’s “next-gen” standards. Both characters and backgrounds are expertly modeled with some fantastic animation and the level design is of an exceptionally high standard with some great puzzles. I wish I had played the game on a PS3 as its ability to sharpen and upscale the graphics from the standard PS2 resolution for my HDTV would have enhanced what is already an impressive graphical accomplishment. Not only are the in-game graphics excellent but there are some great FMV sections that progress the storyline throughout the game.

It took me about 18 hours to complete the game but there are some extras available once completed including the “Arena of the Fates” and additional costumes should you wish to glean more from the game. Unfortunately the story doesn’t really conclude at the finish of the game and leaves the door open for the inevitable “God of War III”. I really enjoyed this game and although towards the end of the game I found it difficult in places, I never felt like giving up and always knew that there was a logical solution to tackling the situation. On the evidence of what has been delivered with this game I can’t help but look forward to the next installment.

Released a few weeks ago Colin McRae: DiRT is another great addition to the xbox 360’s fine repertoire of top class racing games. Whereas the majority of racing games released are predominantly circuit or road based, DiRT as you may gather from the title is more concerned with the grittier and dirtier side of off-road racing.

Colin McRae titles of yesteryear were purely associated with Rally driving, but just like the namesake has digressed in the latter stages of his career, the developers, Codemasters, have also branched out and the game now features a whole host of off-road styles with a plethora of vehicles to make the game more appealing to the mass market. It certainly contains lots of variety and one minute you could be tearing down a narrow track competing in a traditional rally stage and the next you could be driving in a CORR (Championship Off-Road Racing) event, wheel to wheel with other competitors as you bounce around a muddy circuit.

There are plenty of modes available in DiRT. The main mode, Career, features a pyramid of eleven tiers with the bottom tier consisting of eleven stages, the next tier 10 stages and so on until you reach the final stage on the last tier. When selecting a stage you can choose from one of five difficulties starting from the easiest “Rookie” and moving up to “Pro” class. The level of difficulty you choose directly effects not only the AI opposition skill but also the level of mechanical damage you can sustain, whether terminal damage is switched on or off and importantly the amount of money you can win from placing 1st to 3rd. In a nice change to the financial rewards once you score a podium position the money that will be offered for repeating the race at the same difficulty significantly decreases, thus encouraging you to step up to the next difficulty level.

Money gained through the career mode can be used to purchase new vehicles and liveries. With 46 vehicles and 182 liveries in total there’s something to please everyone from rally cars like the “Suzuki Swift 1600″ and “Subaru Impreza 06 WRX”, to buggies like the “Ickler Jimco” and big rigs such as the “Freightliner Century Class S/T”. All the vehicles handle very differently to one another and the player has to adjust to not only the vehicle but to the track surface, whether it is tarmac, mud, or gravel the differences are very noticeable and the physics engine does a fine job in this department.

Career race events are nicely varied and as-well as covering traditional rally stages and crossover events also feature CORR circuit racing, hill climbs and rally raid events. Once an event has been selected there are a number of additional options available and although you can jump straight into the race you could also practice an event, change your vehicles set-up, repair damage or get verbal feedback on the stage from your co-drivers recce.

As with Forza this game features a good balance between realism and accessibility. For those that want to glean every bit of performance from a vehicle then there are plenty of tuning settings that can be changed for a vehicle such as the suspension, brakes, differential or the downforce. Similarly tuning is not a necessity and a player can quite happily stick to playing the game without ever feeling the need to mess around with the setup.

As well as Career mode there are a couple of additional single player modes available. Championship is the more traditional rally game setup, and the “National” event within this allows you to compete in a single rally event consisting of up to seven individual stages. The “European”, “International” and “Global” championship events bulk up the championship mode by combining a number of single rally events into individual tournaments. Rally World finishes off the single player modes and allows you to choose a single race, event or time trial for any of the career events you’ve unlocked thus far.

The environmental graphics for this game are truly excellent, very realistic with plenty of variety and locations such as the green hills and windy roads of the UK to dusty outback trails across Australia. You get a real thrill as you hurtle down dirt tracks narrowly missing rocks and trees as you slide around tight hairpin bends. The vehicles themselves are all beautifully modelled featuring a good damage system that becomes more realistic on the harder difficulties.

Whereas I was a bit disappointed with the camera views on offer with Forza I cannot fault the number available in DiRT. There are six in total and apart from the usual bumper, bonnet and external chase views there are a couple of cockpit views that really immerse you in the action. The replay camera also deserves a mention with great slow-mo, rewind, and fast-forward actions and I’ve found myself using it on many occasions to watch the action once a race has ended.

So what are the negatives? Well, there are some minor points. The game features fairly long loading times and although an attempt has been made to disguise this fact with some snazzy statistics you do eventually get bored of knowing how many times you’ve failed to finish or the amount of time you’ve spent on two wheels. And although on the whole the cockpit views are excellent, I did find that I had to switch to a chase view when using the “Chevrolet Siverado” as one of the front reinforcement bars badly obscures the view. It may be accurate, but in terms of playability it just gets in the way.

To summarise this is another fantastic racing game, beautifully modelled with a lot of variety and if you’re looking for an alternative to Forza then I would highly recommend it.

I’ve been playing Forza 2 Motorsport for the Xbox 360 for over a week now and thought the time right to post a review of the game thus far. It’s probably an understatement when I say that Forza 2 is a vast game and will keep you occupied for a number of weeks if not months at least. There are so many races available in the different modes that there’s something to suit everyone.

In the single player game you can either play the “Arcade” or “Career” modes. The career mode is the meat and potatoes of the game and to start with you need to choose your home region from either Europe, America or Asia. Your chosen region initially has an impact on the car models available and eventually other cars from your home region will be heavily discounted as your career progresses. After your region has been selected your given 20,000 credits to purchase your first ride and once you’ve selected your starting car it’s off to the races where a number of event meetings all consisting of a number of races need to be completed to earn yourself some more credits.

Initially only the “Proving Grounds” race category is available but as you win races and your driver level improves additional categories and event meetings will open up. The driver level advancement is nicely paced and it ensures that you don’t try to “walk before you can run” and the game gradually eases you into harder races and stiffer competition. All in all there are nine categories culminating in a series “Endurance Races” where only those with stamina really need to apply. The events are nicely varied and generally each one will have certain restrictions, for example “cars with less than 150 horsepower”. Thus you cannot stick with one car throughout the game and you will need to either purchase, or win an appropriate car when you fancy entering another event when you haven’t got any other suitable cars.

Every time you achieve a new driver level, or your car gains a new reputation level you will be rewarded. These can range from discounts on upgrades or cars, to opening up new relationships with manufacturers which unlock car models that were previously unavailable for purchase.

As you accumulate winnings you’ll eventually start to think about upgrading your car and you won’t be disappointed with the options on offer. You can buy upgrades, in varying levels, for nearly everything. The upgrades are nicely categorised, and a handy bar chart is available to show you the positive (or negative) effects it will have should you choose to purchase and fit the new part. Upgrading is not the only option available and you can further tweak the car by “tuning” it as-well. Again a number of choices are available from changing the tyre pressure and wheel alignment to altering the brake force, aerodynamics and the differential.

Not only can you upgrade and tune a car but you can also take it to the paint shop to re-spray it, apply manufacturer vinyls or if you’re feeling creative you can apply vinyls in layers using preset or primitive decals to fully customise the look of your ride. Each car model allows you to add up to 1000 layers to the hood and each side and 500 layers to the front and rear bumpers. The sheer number of layers really allows you the freedom to make any design you could think of. I’m no artist and my talent (and patience) is strictly limited but I have seen some truly amazing custom paint jobs that have been created.

The difficulty level of Forza 2 is very customisable. Although under the hood this is definitely not an arcade racer Turn 10 have made a number of “assists” and variables available so you can have fun playing the game whatever skill level of racer you are. If you prefer to have a “suggested racing line”, “traction control” and “anti-lock brakes” with “easy” AI opponents then that’s entirely up to you. However, each variable has an effect on your overall winnings in a race and if, for example, you had all the assists and options set at the entry level then you’d have a -25% deduction applied to your winnings.

If you fancy a break from the career mode you can jump into the arcade mode which offers either “Exhibition”, “Time-Trial” or “Free Run” events. Exhibition consists of 15 races whereby you can choose you car class or select a car from your career garage with the aim of getting a gold, silver or bronze medal in each race. Time-trials features 25 circuits where the sole aim is to beat the target time using a specific vehicle, and finally free-run is what you’d expect it to be and allows you to try out any circuit.

If all this isn’t enough for you then you can try out the multi-player aspect and this offers the usual mixture of player and ranked matches, but there’s also a number of ongoing tournaments which are continually being held for you to enter upon successful qualification. The multi-player mode also plays host to an “Auction House” where you can sell unwanted cars or buy that oh-so-sweet car with the custom paint job you’ve seen if you’re willing to part with the credits.

Forza 2 is a beautiful game to look at, granted some of the courses may not be as complex as say something out of “Project Gotham Racing 3″ but this sacrifice has ensured that the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second with a complex physics engine. If you’re ever in doubt as to how much is actually going on underneath that glossy hood you just need to turn on the telemetry display (either during a race or replay) to get feedback on a number of physical attributes effecting the car such as the G-forces or the tyre wear as you take a corner.

Although there’s not a vast number of actual racing locations available, each one has a number of different circuit alternatives. These all add to overall total number so that it becomes a respectable figure. Each circuit is nicely detailed and varied enough from one another to provide a challenge.

The cars are a big part of this game and there are a staggeringly high number (over 200) available from all sorts of global manufacturers. Although I’ve not tried out every car I have driven a fair few and each one has handling that is noticeably different to one another. Unfortunately there’s still no inside camera view and I guess it’s a casualty to ensure a smooth frame rate, but I’ve found the “bumper cam” to be perfectly adequate. If you don’t fancy the bumper view there’s also the bonnet camera and a couple of chase camera views.

The beauty about this game is that you don’t have to be a gear head to have fun playing it. The options are there so you can customise and tune to your hearts content but it’s not a requirement. Turn 10 have successfully developed a game that is accessible to all but have still maintained a hardcore racing game at its heart and for this they have to be commended. Without a doubt Forza 2 is a fantastic game and instantly takes its place on the podium along with other great racers.

Being an apprentice to an inventor is no easy matter. Not only do you have to collect all manner of resources for your master and proposition the city council for favours, but you have to be prepared to do a bit of hard grafting in the laboratory.

Leonardo da Vinci as the name suggests, is about creating inventions in renaissance Italy. You take on the role of a master inventor with a variable number of apprentices, resources and money (Florins) at your disposal. It’s your duty to develop requested inventions before your rivals, not only for the prestige and patent but also for the Florins awarded.

Using the basic setup at the beginning of the game you’re allocated one or two labs, a variable number of apprentices, resources, and Florins. The setup for each player is different adding a bit of variety and once you’re familiar with the game you can use the more advanced rules to customise your setup.

The game consists of nine turns, seven of which are split into distinct phases with the final two turns only allowing research and completion of developments:

Invention Phase: Inventions come in five different types, three levels of difficulty (easy, medium and hard) and all require differing resources. Easy inventions can be researched in seven weeks, medium in eleven, and finally hard inventions in fifteen weeks. However, the research time can be cut by two weeks for each invention of the same type you’ve already completed. Each player states whether or not they are going to research an invention, but they don’t openly declare what they’re aiming for. The resource cards for each invention will be secretly placed underneath the laboratory which is to undertake the work and will only be shown when the invention is finally complete.

Apprentice Deployment Phase: Players take it in turns to assign tasks to apprentices. They can be placed in the city to queue for various resources, laboratory upgrades, favours from the council, recruit additional apprentices or they can be assigned to work in a laboratory.
Queues work on a majority rule, so even if you’re first in the queue with one apprentices someone else would be prioritised if they joined the queue with just two apprentices. The master can also be assigned a specific task and for these purposes he is equivalent to two apprentices. Play keeps moving around until finally there are no more apprentices to place.

City Resolution: Once all the apprentices have been placed the resolution of the tasks is undertaken in order. Apart from council favours and laboratory work all the other tasks have a cost associated. The first player in the queue gets the item for free, second has to pay two Florins up to four Florins for fourth place. The final resolution is to advance your research in your laboratory by one week for each man, or by two for each mechanical man (bought via a lab upgrade) or for the master.

Invention Completion Phase: If an invention has been researched for the minimum number of weeks then it can be declared. If more than one player has invented the same thing then they must blind bid on whom will own the patent, each player however is still awarded the full amount of Florins. If you’re still working on an invention when it is declared then all is not lost, you can continue to work towards completion but you will only get a decreased number of Florins.

At the end of the game the winner is the player with the most money. However you do get bonus points for the number of types of inventions you’ve built as long as you have at least three types and these points can be invaluable.

Although the rules summary make this game sound fairly dull, it’s actually a fun game. You soon get drawn into deciding what inventions to research, managing your resources and apprentices and trying to be the first to complete inventions. I’m always a sucker for any game that has resource management but there are some particular standout mechanics that I like about the game. For starters I really like the queuing mechanism during the deployment phase. I tended to find that this led to lots of head scratching as I tried to second guess my opponents and decide upon the optimum number of apprentices to commit. There’s a great sense of satisfaction as you bully your way to the front of a queue when no one can counter your move. On the downside you’ll be cursing when you have to pay three or four Florins for a desperately needed resource.

I’m also keen on the hidden inventions, not knowing what your opponents are researching leads to some tense turns as you send “all hands to the pumps” hoping to beat or at least match your opponent to the declaration. It’s wise to try and keep an eye on the resources your rivals are buying to try guess what they may eventually research. This is however easier said then done and for all the games played so far I’ve always ended up researching the same inventions as my rival.

There’s virtually no luck to this game, in fact the only element really is the order that inventions are drawn, but even these are stacked in such a way that the more difficult inventions are more likely to appear towards the end. You really have to make your own luck with this game as all your decisions you make will have an impact on your chances of winning.

I wouldn’t say that this is a casual game, it can get quite intense and the game can last quite a long time. If you’re going to play the game with a four or five players make sure you’ve got at least a couple of hours set aside. If you’re after a game which is fairly easy to learn, but will make you scratch your head with some thought provoking decisions then I’d recommend giving this game a go.