Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Game Review

The Assassin's Creed franchise has been extremely successful since the first game was released in 2007. Assassin's Creed II followed up on it's predecessors success, improving on everything we loved about the first game and replacing what we didn't enjoy. Now fans have a new experience to look forward to, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. This is a continuation of the story in the second game and while fans might be disappointed that they will have to wait a little longer for Assassin's Creed 3, Brotherhood delivers yet another fantastic experience with multiplayer to keep fans happy for now.

Brotherhood might have a harder time proving it's worth, it's not set in a different time period and continues the story from Assassin's Creed II. One of the thing's i love about AC games is exploring for the first time and getting to see these beautiful cities. So when i am playing in a setting i spent countless hours on not that long ago, it makes everything feel slightly less astonishing. In Brotherhood the action shifts it's direction towards the capital of Italy, Rome. Like previous titles there's also a modern-day component. The game is once again framed by the on-going battle between the Templars and Assassin's, and players are actually assuming the role of Desmond who lives in the present day and is able to experience the memories of his ancestor Ezio using a device called the Animus. The game switches between the two time periods with the bulk of the action taking place in past-time, renaissance Rome.

SingStar Dance Game Review

The SingStar franchise is well known throughout the Playstation community, with it's simple concept appealing to many of us around the world. You buy the game, along with a microphone and begin you're karaoke dream in you're very own living room. You can try to fill in pitch and timing bars with you're voice to earn points, but we all know the only reason to buy this game is to blast out you're favourite tunes along with a group of friends and feel like celebrity's for the night.

The SingStar franchise has always been about singing, however, now they have taken advantage of the Playstation Move's motion sensing technology and added dancing to the mix. Now the 30 songs also have dance routines and this certainly adds much more value to the content. As always the singing part of the game is fun and great entertainment in a party environment, the dancing however, is just a frustrating mess.

The Undergarden: Xbox Live Arcade Game Review

There is no doubting the fact that The Undergarden is an adorably beautiful game, it is cute, brightly coloured, and really satisfying to view. When you read the description of this game and realise it's all based around underwater gardening, you might make the mistake of brushing this game aside. This is a game made with the intention to please and relax whoever is playing. It's not hardcore, you can't kill people with a mini RC car or stab someone in the back, but you can appreciate the beauty this game has and find enjoyment in many other way's.

The Undergarden is unlike most games we see today, it focuses on creating rather than destroying. You play as some sort of underwater Monkey fairy with one goal, create a beautiful underwater garden of plant life. You navigate through dark caverns, brightening them up with the glow of you're vibrant plants. You can never die or fail in this game, however if you get stuck at any of the obstacles along the way, you can re=load you're last checkpoint.

Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem

The Donkey Kong and Mario rivalry has been responsible for some of the most enjoyable hand-held puzzle games over the past few years, and Mario vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem is no exception. This fantastic little puzzle game for the Nintendo DS is fun, colourful, and fans of both franchises will be delighted with the final result.

The plot is very simple, Donkey Kong has made off with Mario's girlfriend (Pauline) again, and Mario will require the help of Mini-Mario toys to get her back. This is just a simple set-up for what is an awesome puzzle game. You won't care too much about a story when playing a puzzle game but it's nice that they have added something for fans.

Much like the plot, gameplay is extremely simple and straightforward, get the Mini-Mario's from point A to point B (B being the exit area). You never get to control the toys directly, you use you're stylus to set them in motion and provide a safe passage way through any obstacles in their way. If you have ever played the classic game "Lemmings" then this will feel reminiscent of that, just simplified. The game starts off fairly easy giving players only one job, place and replace the red girders we all know from the original Donkey Kong. With each new world, comes new tools for you to exploit, such as warp pipes, conveyor belts, and ladders. The trick here is to use what you have at you're disposal intelligently. You are only given a limited supply so you must choose the correct time to use one of you're valuable tools, otherwise you might find one of you're little Mario's in a pit of spikes.

Dance Central Kinect Game Review

So far Kinect has been less than impressive with a string of prommissing launch titles, crippled by Kinect's poor motion sensing technology. Dance Central is the first family-friendly Kinect party game from the people at Harmonix. This game will require you to do more than just tap you're feet in sync, you will use you're whole body when playing this game and it will take allot out of you at times. You will need a happy attitude to play this game with friends or family because the game is only fun when you play it in a group. The game is far from perfect, but if this is what you are looking for then you will likely have allot of enjoyment here.

Dance Central uses Kinect's motion sensing technology to read player's body movements, movements which should be in sync with the on-screen prompts for you're dance to be successful. These "flash cards" each represent one move, and that move can range from a simple shuffle step to an advanced series of upper body motions. There are more than 30 songs in the game providing a great deal of variety for every taste. There are new hits (Cascada - Evacuate The Dance Floor) and old classics (Jungle Boogie) so there is something here to get everyone up on the dance floor. Each track has three different difficulty settings which must be unlocked in order.

Final Fantasy XIII Game Review

The Final Fantasy franchise has stood tall above any other Japanese role-playing game for years now. With fantastic characters, emotional storytelling, and outstanding visuals, it's one of the most recognised video game names in the world. Surprisingly, Final Fantasy XIII (13) abandons allot of the well-loved features Final Fantasy games are known for. The game is much more linear and straight-forward compared to previous titles and this has left allot of fans sceptical. Let go of any concerns you may have, i can honestly say this game is outstanding, it manages to provide characters with unique personality's, in a story and world worth experiencing.

The lead role of Final Fantasy XIII has been given to Lightning, a beautiful but deadly woman who fits the Final Fantasy world perfectly. She is one of six characters you will be able to control. Although the game does stress the fact that Lightning is the primary heroine, it is much like VI in the sense that you control different characters frequently. This multi-story approach, as well as flashbacks, is not only clever but creates a strong structure and a story which will have you on the edge of you're seat at times.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Game Review

The Call of Duty franchise has grown ridiculously fast over the past few years into the Hollywood blockbuster game we know and love. The game which truly addicted fans to the series was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It took the series from a World War II setting into the modern battlefields we see on the news every day. Treyarch's latest instalment to the franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops, has had fans anticipating something big and although it doesn't do anything really new or unique, it provides fans with yet another COD experience.

You begin the campaign as Alex Manson, a soldier who is being interrogated for information he can't remember. You play through Manson's memories in search of the information. The story has some twists which will catch you off guard, the middle does seem to loose track but unlike Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops gives you the big finale you would expect. The story is definitely the strong point this time around which is quite a welcomed surprise.