The Christmas season has already begun... well, for retailers anyways. November is the biggest time of the month for most publishers, and with titles such as Mario Kart, Final Fantasy X-2 and Beyond Good & Evil coming out, there will be no shortage of quality titles this year. Even if some of the newer games don't float your boat, you can always find older titles that have been released earlier on the cheap. Unless of course, you live in Canada. Then you have absolutely no chance. But at least we get free health care, right?

· · · TNL Staff

Reno

WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain

Going through season mode has been quite the adventure. In a matter of months I've taken John Cena and created a stable with him, Booker T and Stacy Keibler, called Dangerous by Design. Although the season mode is cool and the idea of playing as the Million Dollar Man is too cool for words, I feel that Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth is just a little better, only because it's faster. I was hoping that they would keep the quick ready moves for a short tap, while the new grapples would have been executed with a longer button press. Alas, it didn't happen, but the game is still great as it is.

kill.switch

I've put in about two weeks worth of play time with the title, and aside from the 'hide-n-seek' nature of the gunfights when you're up against an object, it seems like your ordinary 3rd person shooter. Of course, I've never been very good at these types of games. Add to the fact that this game is harder than your usual game makes for some frustrating times. I can't fault the game though, it does a lot of things right. You can't just hide behind a wall and take cover all the time; if your enemies have the angle, they'll nip you in the arm to take off some damage, just like you can do with them. Although I'm not the best player in the world when it comes to these games, I am making progress, and slowly but surely, I'm actually getting better at this game. Who says you can't learn something new every day?

Bahn

There isn’t too much I can say about Crimson Skies that hasn’t been outlined in my review. Well, since my review was thoroughly positive, I dedicate my latest contribution to a few gaming related matters that have irked me as of late. First off, all you newbie pilots - start learning how to fly and get some skills. No one with any measure of skill respects the Piranha and therefore - we don’t respect you. It’s secondary weapon has to be the cheapest attack among the entire craft roster. The sad part about all this... you’ve got players out there who shamelessly pick it and have the nerve to brag about their victories. Hello, FASA Studios? Promise me if you ever make a sequel that you’ll make the under-skilled players learn the ropes like the rest of the more experienced types.

Um, so yeah. That’s my weekly quip for the moment. Beyond that, Crimson Skies is an excellent game. It’s safe to say that I’ll be playing this game indefinitely. I had an excellent time playing with some of the TNL Forum regulars (beware of Sl1p folks, he’s got killer skills, even with the Mini-Gyro. Now that’s INSANE!) Of course, I’ll have to cram in some time for the other recent titles that joined my collection. Stay tuned for impressions on Time Crisis 3, Voodoo Vince, and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. And I am hoping to also get into Rainbow Six 3, the latest Tom Clancy title from Ubi Soft now available on the Xbox.

But for now, join me on Crimson Skies, I need some challengers.

Haohmaru

Dungeon & Dragons Heroes

Just got finished with this - it's a fun dungeon crawl (for the most part) that has quite a few environments and very cool spells, power ups, and equipment. My only knock is that even in single player mode it's entirely too easy for anyone with any experience in playing games. The multiplayer isn't that much tougher either, certainly not enough to compensate for additional characters being on screen with you at the same time. The final boss and the first boss (because you have to figure out a weakness) are the two toughest bosses among a sea of weaklings that aren't all that difficult to defeat. Still, I'm a sucker for exploring dungeons and this is about as good as it gets so far on the Xbox.

Ultimate Beach Volleyball

Hey, Reno, pass the crack pipe, eh? A B- for this piece of trash? Horrible title with poor controls, severely limited defense and a woeful announcer who at best is uninspired and at worst repeats himself over and over. It's so bad that right after the period begins he gives you a warning that there isn't much time left. Stay far, far away from this dung heap. Not even worth a rental.

The King of Fighters 2K & 2K1

Weird seeing the U.S. version of this on the Playstation 2. Almost...eerie. What's not to like about KOF on the PS2 or having 2 of 'em for the price of one? Extra modes and characters make it worth the effort even if you have it on the Dreamcast.

Hero

Wow, its been a while since I've done one of these. Then again, its been awhile since I can remember taking active notice of what I was playing and why. Lately, Viewtiful Joe triggered near-giddy levels of enthusiasm. I can't say when it was I last yelled at a TV for dying. Joe is the game that keeps on giving - even when it hurts and you're begging it to stop.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic came back to number one of my, "I must finish this!" list. There was that terrible lull in play, right about the same time Disgaea, F-Zero GX and Soul Calibur 2 came out - go figure. However, I've been making good headway in Knights and finally met my first glitch! And it only took 32 hours! Good times.

Last, but certainly not least, is Final Fantasy Tactics. Here's a tip: even the crazies on the bus will flee if you mumble about 'blasted assassins' to a Gameboy Advance SP. Not to mention the game is a rock-solid experience, fun to play, and perfect for that nerd on-the-go.

Something tells me being that said nerd isn't the best thing. Oh well, time to finish Joe's Adult Mode!

Ren

Final Fantasy XI (PC)

One game has been consuming my life for the past week. Yes, it's FFXI. I was initially against the idea of Square making a completely online Final Fantasy, since I didn't like MMORPGs. To be fair, though, I had never actually played one. I read up on the title about a week before its release and suddenly realized that it sounded awesome. The graphics are gorgeous, especially if you can run it in high-res. It took a while for me to get used to certain things, like targeting enemies and figuring out how auctions work. I'm catching on, though. As of this moment, I am a Level 9 Elvaan Red Mage.

I am quite surprised at the people I've encountered on my travels. I figured I'd run into a bunch of idiots who would constantly use caps lock and do other annoying things. Almost every person I've come across so far has actually been very polite. It's nice to be caught in a tough battle and then notice that a mage took the time to cast Cure on you. Another kind individual pointed me in the right direction when I got lost. Very helpful people indeed.

I have no complaints thus far, except that I wish I chose a different starting city. Bastok is nice, but the scenery surrounding it is nothing but desert. I'll have to venture to Windurst if I want to wander the forests, I suppose. I believe that the airship is the main form of transportation between continents. I managed to catch a glimpse of it leaving the port, and I must admit that it looks very cool.

So far, all I can say is that FFXI is an amazing, immersive game that I don't think I'll be able to stop playing for a very long time.

Teddman

Tony Hawk's Underground (T.H.U.G.) - Xbox

This game really is a lot like a combination of GTA III and Tony Hawk games, and it's well done for the most part. The story is not too shabby, and gives you an incentive to keep playing and trying to make each goal. Instead of doing tricks for points sake, or just to check off another goal on a level's roster, you're trying to do something to advance your character's career or help another character out of a jam. At least, when the game is at its best it feels this way.

T.H.U.G. starts off really well, with the most robust create-a-skater mode yet. There are a ton of options: from hair style to the socks, tattoos, facial hair, hats, pants, shorts, shoes, even arm accessories like wrist bands. You can even adjust the position and rotation of the tattoos on various body parts. And for every article of clothing, hairstyle, and tattoo, there is a color adjust, hue, and saturation level to tweak.

You can even manipulate the proportion of all various body parts, right down to the eyes, nose, mouth, hands, biceps, calves, and thighs! With the PS2 version, this goes a step further: gamers can actually take a snapshot of their face, upload it online, and then download it into their PS2 to graft onto the custom character. You ARE the Birdman!

I've heard some disparage the game's opening levels of Jersey, the Subways, and Manhattan, but that was actually my favorite part of the game. It's the most plot-driven section. Soon after, the story degenerates into a basic "pro career mode" where you just go from one skate contest to another. I would have preferred T.H.U.G. stick to using skating as the basis for adventures. At the outset, you're skating in real life situations: to rescue a buddy from drug dealers, impressing local gang members to earn respect and protection, and even running Splinter Cell-style stealth missions.

This gives way later on to the familiar series gameplay, and the plot shifts to a thin rise-to-the-top story. But it's still great fun for fans of the series, with a nice new stat system and solid level design. The new create-a-deck and creat-a-trick modes are also thoughtful innovations. I'm glad that developer Neversoft is at least making an effort to add a new wrinkle to this "annual sequel" series.

Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike - GameCube

"Rebel Strike-Out" is how one of my friends described this clunker from Factor 5. He was a huge fan of the original Rogue Squadron for Nintendo 64, and its GameCube launch sequel, Rogue Leader. But this third installment in the series was a terrible disappointment to him, and I'm inclined to agree.

The new on-foot missions are so sloppily executed that they bring the entire game experience down considerably. And the missions are mandatory, ruining the flow of the game. I was amazed when I could not rotate my view a full 360 degrees--there's literally a limit to how far Luke Skywalker can turn his head in a given direction. There was one spot in a level where you could easily get stuck next to your crashed X-wing every time, making a game reset the only option. Bugs abound, load times are frequent (and long for a Cube game), while the cutscenes have artificing and odd transitions where the screen goes black for a few seconds.

Flying missions fare better than the on-foot sections, but still seem to lack the charm and polished execution of those in the last game. Maybe we're finally running out of material for Star Wars fighter-pilot titles? Like the new Star Wars movies, this sequel is definitely not an improvement upon the originals... The Force is not strong in this one!

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile - PSOne

I revisited this hard-to-find Namco gem for Playstation recently, and was reminded how fun "2.5D" platforming can be. The combination of polygonal graphics and 3D camera angles along a 2D plane can make for some inventive level design. The gamplay is simple, yet streamlined: Klonoa either picks his enemies up and throws them out of his way, or he hurls them downwards to jump up higher. This simple mechanic is used in a great variety of situations so that it never gets old.

Klonoa's art style borders on sickenly cute, but the graphics have never looked better than they do on the PS2. Something about the built-in texture smoothing filter works really well to improve the appearence of 2.5D games (check out Strider 2 for another example). The backgrounds seem less jagged, and when the camera dynamically zooms in and out around the action, things don't have that pixelized "scaled" look.

The only downside to playing Klonoa is that it's revealed how rusty my platforming skills have gotten. That level 2-2 boss is tough!