Alpha Protocol is described as an “espionage RPG”. That sounds amazing. Splinter Cell: Conviction is full of espionage and that was great. Plus I enjoy playing Role-Playing games. Also, this was developed by Obsidian who brought us Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinters Nights 2 which, although not as good as the originals developed by Bioware, were pretty good games. This has winner written all over it.

The act of hacking a computer shouldn’t be too easy but here it can be a real pain. There’s one type of hack which is like maze puzzles I used to play as a kid, those are fine. There’s another type of hack which involves taking two codes and placing them over corresponding codes in a constantly moving code puzzle, those aren’t fine. Those particular puzzles are like The Matrix minus all of the fun, even less fun than Reloaded and Revolutions.

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After years in development Sam Fisher finally makes his return in the long awaited Splinter Cell Conviction. When Conviction was first announced, fans of the series saw a much scruffier Sam Fisher than they’re used to. The images made me think of Jack Bauer when, shortly after saving the president of the United States, he appeared in ’24′ looking like a crazy homeless bum. Sam’s crazed homeless look made him seem both capable and likely to kill anyone, including himself, at any given moment. Anyway, Sam has returned and he’s pissed. That would be the American usage of the word pissed. Not pissed as in drunk which would bring us back to the scrapped homeless incarnation I mentioned above. Sam is pissed, as in angry, and he needs some answers. He intends on leaving anyone who stands in his way without a pot to piss in. In actual fact, Sam intends to leave many people without the ability to piss at all.

Each level in the game is narrated in the past tense. As you experience Sam’s past you’ll uncover information on what happened to his daughter, his involvement in Operation Desert Storm, what Third Echelon are now up to, and much more. The story is well written and plays out like an action-packed series of 24. When compared to other Splinter Cell titles Conviction has a little more action and a little less sneaking around. Fans of the sneaking approach needn’t worry as there’s still plenty of that going around but a greater emphasis on action will make this more accessible to gamers who are new to the world of Splinter Cell.

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Many years ago Prince Darkness Gannon stole one of the Triforce with power. Princess Zelda had one of the Triforce with wisdom. She divided it into 8 units to hide it from Gannon before she was captured. That’s the intro to 3D Dot Game Heroes. Okay, it’s not really, but it may as well be. That’s actually the intro to The Legend of Zelda which tells the story of a young hero with a fairy companion, a bit like this game. Actually, a lot like this game. Being similar to Zelda, like this obvious homage or otherwise, is no bad thing but it’s worth pointing out this title isn’t going to win any awards for originality.

There was once a small 2D land named Dotnia Kingdom. Six magical orbs protected the kingdom and everything was peaceful until one day the Dark King, Onyx, stole the orbs for himself. Monsters roamed the land and Dotnia fell into chaos. A hero arrived, with their magical sword, and took back the orbs. They bested the Dark King in battle and locked them inside a dark orb. Some time passed and the citizens of Dotnia forgot about that special day. The King declared that 2D was old news and ushered in the dawn of 3D. Someone stole the dark orb and monsters once again roamed the land. There’s a great deal of dungeon crawling to be done. It’s a dirty business but someone has to do it, and that someone happens to be you.

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Heroes of Newerth, as you can see from the screenshots, looks a great deal like Warcraft. You would certainly be forgiven for thinking most of the artwork on the website has been taken from an unreleased Warcraft title. The reason behind such similarities is that Heroes of Newerth is based on a custom Warcraft III scenario named Defense of the Ancients.

To describe this as a real-time strategy game would be to ignore the fact this is an interesting hybrid of the RTS and RPG genres. When I think of the RTS genre titles such Command and Conquer and StarCraft spring to mind. You begin with a main base and have worker units mine for resources, then create some buildings, barracks for ground troops, possibly factories for land and air vehicles, then there’s a choice of building your defences or going on the offensive. Heroes of Newerth has little room for this type of approach. It feels as though the developers took a decision to shift the focus from resource management to confrontation.

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If you’re familiar with my reviews there’s a good chance you’ll know my love of Max Payne. Alan Wake is from Remedy, the Norwegian team behind Max Payne. When I first heard about this game it seemed to be a departure from what Remedy had done in the past. There appeared to be a shift from the energetic action sequences of Max Payne to something with a little more focus on atmosphere and the psychological. As it turns out there is more than enough action in this title to satisfy fans of Remedy’s previous work.

Alan Wake is a best selling author who has been suffering from writer’s block since his last novel. He decides a break will do him some good so he and his wife travel out to the small and quiet town of Bright Falls, Washington. The beautiful location and relaxed atmosphere seem ideal for Alan but as the sun sets he quickly realises that things aren’t quite what they seem.

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Considering his status as an infamous villain Wario really isn’t such a bad guy. He keeps coming back to us with a selection of bizarre mini-games which help distract from the monotony of everyday life. Of course, it’s possible I am just describing my own life. I’m sure your life is far from monotonous, in fact, you’re most likely reading this review while jet skiing on some magical lake with fairies and monsters and lies.

I’m not a big fan of mini games, or in this case micro games, and there wasn’t any one game in WarioWare D.I.Y. which had me going back for more, but that’s probably a good thing. I have nothing against mini games in and of themselves but I wouldn’t go out of my way to play them. At best I have thought of them as a good way to waste some time. It may come as a surprise, given my less than enthusiastic stance on mini games, that I quite like this title. This is definitely a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

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Many of my favourite games on the PC are Point and Click Adventures. I have many fond memories of Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Beneath a Steel Sky, and Police Quest to name but a few. As a fan of the genre it’s a shame the PC hasn’t been graced with many titles in recent times. Yes, the odd title crops up now and again but I feel there’s enough room for a steady flow. I reviewed Season One of Sam & Max on the Wii and Season Two on the Xbox 360. As far as PC Point and Click Adventure titles of note, the last one I got my hands on was So Blonde and that was back in 2008. That’s about fourteen years ago, in game years.

The Whispered World takes place in a fantasy world and you play Sadwick, a bored travelling circus clown looking for some excitement in his life. His wish is granted when he comes across an odd character while out wondering. He learns of a magical artefact and the pending destruction of the world and sets off on a big adventure. From here you can expect the usual, you travel to some areas, you meet some people, they ask you to find some things, and you deal with some puzzles.

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The Dead to Rights series is a response to Max Payne. You could go so far as to describe Dead to Rights as a blatant copy of Max Payne. I remembered thinking this myself when I first played it many years ago on the original Xbox. The main character was effectively Max Payne, minus the charm and style, with a large dog for a sidekick. I started this game hoping for something a little more Max Payne and a little less Max Painful. Surname humour for the win.

The graphics in this game are decent but they’re allied with some really sluggish animation. I don’t suppose it helps that the main character, Jack, is built like a body builder who aren’t exactly known for being nimble or indeed graceful. The music has a modern Batman feel to it which works reasonably well considering you’re running around in what’s effectively Gotham. The voice acting leaves a lot to be desired but given how poor the dialogue is it’s difficult to work out whether the blame lies with the voice talent or the writers.

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While it doesn’t add much to the overall experience there are a few nice visual additions and I’d like to see some of them carried into FIFA 11. At the end of every match you’re presented with a screen displaying the line-up, a small photo of each player, and a variety of match statistics. You can select to view statistics such as number of attempts on goal and pass completion. The Captain Your Country mode has a news section complete with genuine photographs of real players celebrating, looking disheartened, etc. This adds some authenticity to the pre and post match experience and is a nice touch.

The Captain Your Country mode is very similar to Be A Pro in FIFA 10. The main difference is that before each match the Manager sets out what type of performance he expects from you and three other players in the team. In each of the matches the name of your player and the three others is displayed at the bottom of screen and beside this a match rating for each. A place in the World Cup squad is on the line and knowing that you’re up against three team-mates in each match adds to the tension. One mistake can be the difference between earning man of the match honours or seeing it go to someone else.

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The Nintendo Wii has long been written off by many so called “hardcore” gamers as no more than a console for children. Those gamers should drop the “hardcore” label as I strongly doubt many of them have experience in porn films or in a wrestling federation with barbed wire wrapped round their arms. I think of the Wii as a fun alternative to the Xbox 360 and PS3 who can sometimes be accused of taking themselves a little too seriously.

I’ve been tough on EA in the past but must give them credit for realising that stripping away all the fluff in sports titles and leaving us with something fun and more accessible is what many Wii owners desire. When I reviewed Tiger Woods 10 I was happy with the title on PS3 but felt the Wii version was superior due to excellent controls thanks to the accuracy of the Wii-Motion Plus accessory. When I reviewed Madden NFL 10 the opposite was true. While I appreciated what the Wii version was attempting it was a better game on PS3 and Xbox 360. Unfortunately the Wii version of 2010 FIFA World Cup more closely resembles the latter example. While it’s not as good as what the PS3 and Xbox 360 has to offer it does have its merits.

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