Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Rating: T — Teen
Game type: Combat racing
Rating: *** 1/2 (out of five)
• What’s the premise?
Meridian City has become a battle zone for a gang of deadly Fast And The Furious wannabes called the Ascendants who have combined the ultimate in street racing with the latest from the U.S. military’s weapons catalogue strapped to their hoods. Your job is to join ’em and beat ’em at their own game.
• This game is most similar to…?
Twisted Metal meets Crazy Taxi.
• Can I let my kid/kid brother play it?
There’s a heck of a lot of guns blazing and your success is often measured not only by winning the race, but whom you killed in the process — so probably not.
• One player or more?
The solo career mode will suck you in pretty fast and you can go head to head with a friend or try up to eight players simultaneously with the online multiplayer mode.
• The (not-so) secret to success is…?
Full Auto 2 is a combat racing game, so you’ll have to find the balance between the two elements to succeed. If you blast all the bad guys but finish last you’ll be out of luck.
• What’s missing?
The PlayStation 3’s motion-sensitive Sixaxis controller doesn’t contribute anything to the gameplay — no jumps, boosts, steering or anything else.
• And in the end?
This game — developed by Toronto’s Pseudo Interactive — look gorgeous and has loads of missions to keep you coming back for more. Add in the fact that doing well earns you even more cars, weapons and gadgets to try and Full Auto 2 is hotter than a loaded pistol.
Genji: Days Of The Blade
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Rating: T — Teen
Game type: Fighting/adventure
Rating: *** (out of five)
• What’s the premise?
The Heishi Clan is back and are terrorizing feudal Japan with a deadly demonic twist. It’s up to Yoshitsune Minamoto and his three warrior companions to defend the Genji Clan and help rid the land of the Heishi’s evil.
• This game is most similar to…?
Genji, Onimusha
• Can I let my kid/kid brother play it?
There’s no blood, but lots of creepy demons might be the best reason to keep this one out of the wee one’s mitts.
• One player or more?
There’re four characters, but only one person controlling them. It’s a drag, because this could make for some serious multiplayer fun.
• The (not-so) secret to success is…?
Learning to use the magical power of Amahagane — which allows you to take on multiple warriors at once by pressing the correct buttons on your controller at a precise time.
• What’s missing?
The lack of camera control — the ability to look around — is maddening. You can quite often be forced to battle opponents who are off screen and it really detracts from the swordplay.
• And in the end?
Genji: Days Of The Blade, like virtually every game for the new PlayStation 3, looks stunning. But the camera control issue, along with the fact that since it was developed in Japan and dubbed into English it lip-synchs along like a Godzilla flick, make it less impressive than it could be.
