Far Cry 2 Mini-Review

(360, PS3; $59.99; Rated M for Blood/Drug Reference/Intense Violence/Sexual Themes/Strong Language; farcry.us.ubi.com)

Sharing the name is the only thing this sequel has in common with its predecessor.  In this “Far Cry,” the island paradise is eschewed for an African warzone where players control a mercenary for hire who’s mission is to capture and eliminate the warlord profiteering from civil unrest.  Realism is the name of the game as players have an entire open-world to explore in the ultimate goal of tracking down the warlord.  This is best for those looking for a break from the “Call of Duty” scene and wanting to try a slow-paced, methodical, and original shooter.

Shaun White Snowboarding Mini-Review

(360, PS3, Wii; $49.99-$59.99; Rated T for Lyrics/Mild Suggestive Themes/Mild Violence; www.shaunwhitegame.com)

Oh how I long for a next-gen update in the ultra-fun “SSX” snowboarding franchise.  As much as I had hopes that “Shaun White Snowboarding” would fill that longing, it does not.  In fact, it does not even come close.  I am positive that the control scheme was developed by someone who has never played a video game before because how to maneuver and pull off tricks defies all semblance of reason.

You’re In the Movies Mini-Review

(360; $69.99; Rated E; www.xbox.com)

If you are playing “You’re in the Movies” then you’ve already realized what a disaster this “party” game is.  The concept of having four players play mini-games in front of the Xbox Vision Camera to have their movements photographed and appear in a fake B-movie trailer at the end of 30 minutes might be slightly entertaining for anyone under ten years old, but once you realize that it takes the equivalent of a professional green-screen studio in your family room to get the game working marginally well, you’d wish you were just playing “Rock Band” again.

Tomb Raider: Underworld

(Xbox, PS3, Wii, PS2; $29.99-59.99; Rated T for Blood/Mild Language/Mild Suggestive Themes/Violence; www.tombraider.com)





Lara Croft, much like the terrain she traverses, has had her ups and downs in her twelve years of tomb raiding.  After the break-out success of her first adventure, the “Tomb Raider” franchise followed up with a blockbusting sequel that remained the pinnacle of the franchise for many years.  After “Tomb Raider 2’s” release, Lara began her slow descent into repetitive and broken gameplay, despite being one of the most recognizable symbols of video gaming next to Pac-Man and Mario.  As developers tried tirelessly to make her more relevant in a world of more sophisticated gaming, Lara strayed farther from what made her such a success and even less interesting to play.  “Tomb Raider: Underworld” marks her eighth adventure and the game returns to the roots of what made Lara successful: exploration of huge, isolated ruins, environmental puzzle solving, and defending herself from the dangers of the wild (with an occasional pirate or mercenary thrown in for good measure).

“Underworld” continues a reboot of the franchise which started in the sixth game of the series, “Tomb Raider: Legend.”  Like “Legend,” “Underworld” gets Lara away from the bright lights of the city and stealthy missions, and puts her back in her short-shorts and climbing boots, dropping her into incredibly-designed forgotten cities and in search of the secret to her mother’s mysterious disappearance.

Admittedly, it has been many years since I played a “Tomb Raider” game, picking up the controller only temporarily for 2006’s “Tomb Raider: Anniversary” which was, in essence, a beautified next-gen version of Lara’s first adventure from 1996, which also happened to be the last “Tomb Raider” I played.  “Underworld” captures the feeling I had when playing the original “Tomb Raider”- the isolation of being the only person trekking around giant ruins, listening to the echoes of predators reverberating through dank halls, and crawling through narrow corridors only to come upon massive chambers which required forethought in how to traverse to the other side.  In 1996, there was nothing else like it- it launched the adventure-platformer genre.

Since then, adventure-platforming has seen its fair share of innovation, and Lara’s not the only acrobatic wall-crawler on the block any more.  So “Underworld” has a lot to live up to, not to mention that it directly competes with the original “Mirror’s Edge” and the rebooted “Prince of Persia” franchise- both released in the same quarter as “Underworld.”  “Underworld” succeeds with its varied topography, beautiful colors, and consistently smart environmental puzzles.  I’m not a fan of the new art style of “Prince of Persia,” nor do I like it’s delayed control scheme; with “Mirror’s Edge,” though I enjoyed playing it more than “Underworld,” its environments became repetitive and its combat was clunky.  As compared to its greatest competitors, “Underworld” is predictable and cinematic- it may not be original, but it does make it palatable.

“Underworld” trips up in its mechanics: the camera, while generally decent, will become an irritation to wrestle with in order to get a good view of where to platform to next; weapon combat involves no strategy except to jump around like a crazed tick to avoid being hit; melee combat is near-suicide; and I had to strain to see in dark tombs, even after ratcheting the brightness up.  Again, none of them are deal-breakers, but when balanced against an incredibly similar game like “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune,” it’s easy to see where “Underworld” should be, as opposed to where it is.

Definitely, “Tomb Raider: Underworld” is an enjoyable experience for its short-lived story and fans of the series will be satisfied.  But for $60 on the next-gen systems, there are new and/or better action-platforming experiences to be had- but that is not to say that this isn’t worth picking up as a rental or when the price comes down…

After all, “Uncharted 2” doesn’t come out until late 2009.

Lips

(360; $69.99; Rated E10+ for Lyrics/Mild Cartoon Violence/Suggestive Themes/Use of Tobacco; www.xbox.com/lips)





I won’t down-score this game as a result of its horrendous title, but I have to imagine that there are at least a thousand better titles for a karaoke game than “Lips.” Granted: it’s short, suggestive, and maybe even intriguing, but I can’t help but think it was pulled out of a hat or selected by using a dartboard.

Nevertheless, “Lips” is the Xbox’s sleek and stylish 1^st party karaoke title meant to both rival Sony’s own “Singstar” franchise and take a piece of the casual game market away from Nintendo.  Unless it starts getting some serious content soon, it’ll fail on both fronts.

Which is too bad, because “Lips” is a game I want to see succeed- it is the perfect type of game to have on in the background of a party where just enough people are having just enough fun to make just a little fool out of themselves by singing karaoke.  The problem is that with only 40 songs included on the disc, and a very paltry amount of paid, downloadable tracks- “Lips” just doesn’t have enough juice to keep the party rocking all night long.  The genres “Lips” features are wide: Maroon 5 to Johnny Cash, Nivrana to Trace Atkins; but because of that width, few people are going to find more than a handful of songs that they’ll actually enjoy singing.  Perhaps if “Lips” stuck to a genre of music like the “Singstar” series has done, there’d be more bang for the buck.  And in this time where games like “Rock Band” are offering new downloadable songs, and sometimes albums, every week, “Lips” poor assortment of purchasable tracks just aren’t cutting it.

What is promising is the infrastructure of this game, which is spot on: two wireless microphones are included in the $70 package which are just downright sexy.  Color-changing lights and motion sensitivity make the mics feel cool to hold and the wireless feature reinforces the idea that “Lips” is a game meant to be passed around.  Notwithstanding a meager song selection, “Lips” also enables players to import any non-protected music file from a CD, networked computer, or MP3 player (iPods and Zunes included) for singing in the game.  Players won’t have the original music video playing with the song as is the case with the included tracks, and there is no support right now for on-screen lyrics, but for those who know the songs like the back of their hands, the import feature is the best thing about “Lips.” Combine that with the ability to make custom playlists that play as background music regardless of anyone singing, and the ability for singers to drop-in at any point in the song by shaking the mic, and “Lips” has all of the design of a great game… just not right now.

Hints within the import manager suggest that on-screen lyrics for imported tracks may be coming in the future.  With that, and more regular downloadable content- “Lips” could be the break-out newcomer to the music party game scene.  Without that, and it’ll be another what-might-have-been.