Christmas Shopping Quick Hits

So this week I'll take a quick look at a bunch of games and give you a quick reaction on them.  Full reviews will be coming forth, but we're getting closer to Christmas.  Those Xmas shopping days are counting down.  I'll break it down into some groups here.  Kids, Family, Teen +, Mature, Music, and Flashback.

Kids, as in kids.


Littlest Pet Shop Friends

So Littlest Pet Shop Friends.  Suffice to say, I'm not a little girl, this game was in no shape or form made for me.  The game based on the popular toys has all the cuteness you can stand.  The story is the Pets are putting on a party for a new pet that is arriving.  This means searching the town for things for the party, getting all "dressed up" and mini-games.The gameplay is simple enough and easy to understand.  The mini-games run the gauntlet of "skee-ball" to a version of the "magic 8 ball."  (I asked the ball if I'd win the lottery this week, it said "Purr-obably not.")  The only thing that really bothered me about the game was the animals "talking."  They just made the same noises over and over.  The dog, "ruff-ruffing," the bird "tweet-tweeting," the bear...um "inhale whezzing?"  The bear did sound a little weird, but overall I think this would be a good game for any little girl.  Even better if she's into Littlest Pet Shop already, because the game comes with codes you can use in their online game.  The game can be played with two players, so mom or dad can play along too.

Nerf N-Strike Elite

OK I never had toys this cool as a kid.  Nerf N-Strike Elite is pretty cool in a couple ways.  One, it comes with a Nerf gun. Two, the Nerf shooting mechanism can be swapped out for the Wii remote so you can shoot Nerf darts in the game!!!  The story is a group of kids are infiltrating....storming?  Well they are going into a base filled with Nerf shooting robots that are bad.  As light as the story is the game is very fun.  It's an on rails shooter like the light gun games you've played at the arcades.  The game has a bunch of things to unlock, such as in game real and fictional Nerf guns.  The game also uses "Red Reveal Tech" which is the old red filter to reveal hidden clues trick.  It works well and here it not only helps reveal clues, but weaknesses in the robots also.  Pretty much an young boy is gonna want this game.  You can buy a second Nerf gun if you want for two-player action, but it's not absolutely needed, you can just aim a plain Wii remote.

My Sims Agents

My Sims Agents is a bit like The Sims, but with adventure.  You are an up and coming "spy," more like a detective that gets gadgets.  You solve cases while your best friend (and narrator of the story) creates comic book based on your adventures.  The game is well done and reminds me of the old point and click adventure games a bit.  You have to look for clues, interview people to find out the truth and solve the case.  This one can be for boys or girls as your agent can be either.

Family, everyone join in the fun.

Hasbro Family Game Night 2

Hasbro Family Game Night 2 raids Hasbro's closet of board games and adapts them to video games again.  Each game gets a remix twist that makes the old classics feel new again.  While the games are easy to play I highly recommend that you play through them individually first to learn how to play them before jumping in with the family and playing the big party game that mixes them all together.   Especially for Bop-It!  In fact I'd have to say Bop-It! was the one game my party did not like as a video game.  Overall though, get out the 4 Wii remotes and have fun.

Buzz Quiz World

Buzz Quiz World was lot of fun.  You are on a quiz show, complete with studio audience.  Players are given a choice of categories and then a series of questions from that category.  Each round plays a little differently, such as Point Builder, where everyone that answers correctly gets points or Boiling Point, first one to answer six questions correctly wins or Over the Edge, where every wrong answer pushes you closer and closer to getting dunked in green slime.  Throw in a smart-alec host and you have Buzz.  There are tons of questions, though I did manage to see one repeat.  Highly recommended.

Forza Motorsport 3

Yes, a racing game for the family.  Forza Motorsport 3 is for the family because they have made the controls so anyone can race a Ferrari at a 150 mph on the Le Mans track.  This is THE racing game to get if you own a Xbox 360.  If you need more reasons, read my full review.

Teen +, almost old enough.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Somehow I've managed to not have played through a Ratchet and Clank title and I'm not sure why.  Humor reminiscent of The Simpsons, gameplay falling somewhere between platformer and shooter Ratchet & Clank Future is a good game.  Thankfully they summarized some of the back story at the beginning of the game.  The game is also one of those that you loose track of time easily with.  Just one more level, just one more planet, just a little bit further.  And I wonder why I'm so tired the next day.

Uncharted 2; Among Thieves

Lovable rouge, Nathan Drake is back.  This time he's looking for the lost fleet of Marco Polo.  Which means Nathan is in over his head again.  In some ways that commercial Sony has been airing about Uncharted 2 is right.  Uncharted 2 is so well written it does play out almost like an action movie.  This game is on a lot of short lists for game of the year and for good reason, it's that good.  If you haven't played either Uncharted games yet, think of them like this, they are the Indiana Jones of video games. (If there were never any Indiana Jones games ever made.)  Developer, Naughty Dog also added an online multiplayer to this for up to 3 player co-op play and 5 on 5 battles.

Mature, there will be blood.

God of War Collection

Sony had a hit with God of War.  God of War II cemented it's status as PS2 classics.  Now with God of War III looming on the horizon Sony has decided to get everyone psyched up for it by rereleasing the first two.  Not just rereleasing, but giving them a full upgrade for release on the PS3.  Improved graphics, remastered for full HD.  It looks beautiful.  Kratos, a brutal warrior wants nothing more than to kill Ares the God of War.  The game play is the same and the game is still epic in nature.  A very clever interpretation of the Greek mythos.  If that wasn't enough, there is a voucher for the God of War III E3 Demo, so you can get a taste of what is being called the final chapter on this great series.

Halo 3 ODST

Halo 3 ODST is not your dad's Halo.  Sure there are some similarities, but to me it was different enough to blow some fresh air into the series.  Master Chief is not in this title at all.  This story follows a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers on a mission that goes wrong form the start.  Separated, you follow "The Rookie" for most of the time, but you end up in the boots of all of them at some point.  This was another one I really liked this year.  You can read my full review here.

Dragon Age: Origins

When I said there will be blood, I could have been talking about the God of War Collection, but I wasn't.  Because while God of War does have it share of blood, it disappears after that first burst.  Not in Dragon Age.  Your character will be splattered with it and it will take time to fade away.  But there has to be more than just blood for a game to be good.  Developers, BioWare always bring their A-Game.  Creators of some of the greatest role-playing games such as Balder's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect.  Their last four games while great RPGs, all have been away from the swords and sorcery fantasy worlds.  With Dragon Age: Origins they return to the fantasy setting with a vengeance, and a bit of self-deprecating humor.  After you defeat some giant rats in your first encounter, one of the non-player characters with you remarks that fighting the giant rats was, "like every bad tale I heard growing up."  Which is a wink and nod to the fact that practically every fantasy based RPG has you killing giant rats as one your first monsters.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Really, do I need to say anything?  It's only sold over a bazillion gillion copies.  Developers, Inifinity Ward are having fur sinks and gold toilets installed at their offices.  This will get voted as game of the year by numerous game news outlets and it's worth every bit of it's praise.  This one I have also already given a full review and you can read about it here.

Music, time to 'rock the casaba'.

DJ Hero

Different, but the same DJ Hero is the newest in Activision's music Hero games.  Instead of mimicking a guitar, bass, drums or trying to sing on key, players mimic DJ'ing.  I myself was very surprised at how fun this really is.  Recently I had a friend play it.  She was lovin' it so much she would start dancing to the music and mess up in the game.  I also fully reviewed this one earlier.

The Beatles Rock Band

There were a good number of music games released this year.  The one I felt that stood above them all was The Beatles Rock Band....and I'm not a Beatles fan, I am more of a Rolling Stones fan.  That said the visuals and the music of this game won me over, so much so I have considered going out and buying some Beatles albums.  The thing is developers, Harmonix really didn't add much to the basic gameplay of Rock Band.  They added three part harmony vocals and that was it really.  Everything else about the gameplay is strictly Rock Band.  Visually they took cues from all the styles the Beatles used over the years, especially the years they no longer toured.  This could also fall into the the family category, as I could easily see baby boomers getting into this game.

Flashback, didn't these come out last year?

These last two games did indeed come out last year.  But because they were such huge sellers they both got rereleased as Game of the Year Editions this year.

LittleBIGPlanet Game of the Year Edition

Sackboy.  So cute, so fun, so beat to hell and back.  If you own a Playstaion 3 and have not gotten this game I highly highly suggest you shut your computer off and go out now and buy it.  The lovable, highly customizable Sackboy of LittleBIGPlanet lives in a pod that overlooks LittleBIGPlanet.  A planet "made of dreams"......ok in really it is made of millions of levels made by people like you and me.  LittleBIGPlanet is a platformer game at it's heart, but it's the fact that developers Media Module have given the players the tools to create their own levels that makes it more than that.  Yes a majority of the levels that people have made will be platformers.  But I have played though a level that a guy managed to make into a 2D space shooter.  I've played through a level that was a giant pinball game.  Heck I even played one that was just a giant calculator, really I'm not kidding.  That is the amount of freedom and power you have in the creation of a levels.  The Game of the Year Edition comes with some of the DLC that was available for purchase, such as the Metal Gear Solid levels, costumes, and art pack, as well as 18 levels buy top community level creators and interviews with those creators.....P.S.  Please play my level Metal Gear Solid Temple, just do a search for it.  ;)

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition

Fallout 3 was done by the same developers that have done the Elder Scrolls series of games.  Fallout 3 is set in Washington D.C. after the cold war of the '50s turned hot, nuclear bomb hot.  You are born in a fallout shelter.  You father is a doctor and your mother dies giving birth to you.  The fallout shelter or Vault as it's called, is your home until you become a young adult.  All this time you are told that nobody can leave the vault because the radiation is so bad outside.  Shortly after you reach young adulthood, your father breaks out of the vault.  Thinking you had some thing to do with it, the overseer of the vault comes after you.  You have no choice but to flee the vault yourself.  And that's where the game really starts.  From there you can do anything you want in this first person shooter.  Try to find your father, wander the wasteland formally know as Washington D.C., do evil or good.  It's all up to you.  I know a friend of mine just decided to wander and discover the whole map.  Myself I decided to chase down my father, something I'm still in progress of doing.  There is so much to discover and do you can easily loose track of time playing this game.  The Game of the Year Edition adds all five DLC packs that were released for the game.