ASSASINS CREED: BROTHERHOOD

 PLATFORMS: PS3, XBOX360, PC, iPHONE.

GENRE: ACTION 
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Intel processor core 2 duo E6750 2.66 GHz
AMD processor- Athlon 64 X2 Dual core 5800+
NVidia graphic card-Radeon HD 3800 series
RAM memory- 3GB
Hard disk space- 8GB
Direct X-9 

Assassin's Creed II is definitely one of my favourite games of the last 12 months. It was a meaty gaming meal that took several steps towards fulfilling the promise of the original, with new mechanics, more variety in gameplay, and an alluring new setting: renaissance Italy. It was a big leap, in other words: a worthy sequel in all regards.

Brotherhood, on the other hand, will have a slightly harder time proving its worth. Rather than moving to a new time period, it continues directly on from the events of Assassin's Creed II, only with the action shifting almost entirely to 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 Assassins, 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 cuts between the two time periods but the bulk of the gameplay occurs in renaissance Rome.
The gameplay on offer here is solid, but by and large the bulk of the missions are pretty similar in nature to those we've already experienced in depth in Assassin's Creed II. It really feels like treading the same old ground, without great improvements. The missions where Ezio must tail a target are still frustrating, for instance, thanks to the small sweet spot at which the player must stay away in order to follow - but not alert – his target.

Rome is a dynamic and interesting world, with all sorts of systems that can impact upon Ezio and be used by players. Run around killing fools in public, for instance, and your notoriety goes up. Guards will instantly pay closer attention to you. Want to lower it? You can do that by ripping down wanted posters, bribing heralds or killing witnesses. Mind you, you could always avoid attention altogether by disappearing into crowds. While it's still a little less seamless than I'd like, Ezio can blend in with groups walking through Rome, plus he can hide in plain sight by sitting on a bench or standing with a group. These elements are an integral part of the game's rich playground, and will be a source of delight for new players, but anyone who played Assassin's Creed II will know all about them.

Brotherhood is a great game, but it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend. This is really a title designed for fans of Assassin’s Creed II, as it’s a continuation of that story, but the reality is that people who finished that game want something new – or that at least represents a clear step forward. Brotherhood doesn’t deliver that. The game doesn’t advance the wider narrative very far, the new mechanics don’t really add a great deal and the mission designs rarely explore new gameplay possibilities.

That said, Brotherhood really looks the part, with a step up in the graphics department – particularly on PS3, and a massive and varied city to explore. It also introduces an innovative multiplayer suite, for which the team(s) should be applauded. At the end of the day, it depends what you’re looking for. If you’re new to Assassin’s Creed, this is a solid entry, but picking up the threads of the convoluted story may be a challenge. If you’re an experienced assassin, on the other hand, expect to tread pretty similar ground to the last title.

PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2011

PLATFORMS: PS3, PC, PS2, PSP AND XBOX360

GENRE: SPORTS.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Windows XP SP3, Vista SP2, 7
Intel Core2 Duo 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
2GB RAM
8GB free hard disk space
8x DVD-ROM Drive
DirectX 9.0c compatible video card. 512MB Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 or AMD/ATI Radeon HD2400 or better)
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
DirectX 9.0c or higher (included on Disc)
Multiplayer: TCP/IP Broadband Internet connection
Windows compatible USB Gamepad
1280 x 720 monitor resolution

"Engineered for freedom". No, it's not another eye-rolling tagline for the latest car TV ad, but the back-of-the-box headline for the 10th outing of Konami's annual feast of football. You might be forgiven for thinking that this is the usual marketing bulls**t. After all, did we not have the full 360 freedom to manually pass last year? Well, yeah, but let's not ruin a good slogan.

In PES 2011, positioning and timing is absolutely critical, and if you can get the right side of your man, the chances are you'll reap rewards. Call another player into the fray to close the player down and tackle, and it's a game where you're less likely to get punished for arbitrary, basic mistakes, but one where you can be passed into oblivion if you give opponent too much space. But while you can generally rely on your defenders getting tighter to the man and generally being less suicidal than previously, keepers can still pull a Robert Green when they want to. They'll probably blame the new balls...
Long term PES fans are also likely to be pulling their shirts over their heads and running around the living room at the thought of an online Master League. Needless to say, time limitations and the fact that the servers only went online on September 30 prevent us from giving detailed first-hand experiences, but you'd bet your house on it, given how well it works offline. Bidding against each other for the best players, in particular, will give an already hugely addictive, absorbing mode an entirely new dimension. Traditional online play, though, we were able to test just prior publication, and found it extremely easy to get up and running, and pleasingly lag tolerant. On the downside, it's a little short on options for an online game in 2010, and is definitely an area Konami could improve dramatically in the future.

After the promising strides made by last year's reboot, PES 2011 feels very much a realisation of that potential. With its emphasis on fun still apparent, the added realism provided by control, animation and AI enhancements improve and broaden the package's appeal no end. Factor in the added tactical flexibility and the addition of the online Master League, and it's easy to see why PES' return to form will be widely celebrated. Some may prefer FIFA's more studied approach to football realism, but when it comes to pick-up-and-play fun and intensity, PES 2011 gets my vote this year.

GOD OF WAR: GHOST OF SPARTA

 PLATFORMS: EXCLUSIVELY ON PSP.

GENRE: ACTION-ADVENTURE

Set between God of War and God of War II, Ghost of Sparta picks up right at the end of God of War, with Kratos sitting upon his newly claimed throne looking appropriately grumpy. After all, becoming a god didn't remove the disturbing memories of his past, but now he's being plagued by a vision we've never seen before -- an old woman lying sick on a slab of stone. Convinced he can actually change this vision, Kratos sets off for Atlantis on a quest that eventually takes him back to his home of Sparta and into the realm of Thanatos, god of death.

Ghost of Sparta is gorgeous. Graphically, it looks better than a big chunk of PS2 games, and is absolutely the best-looking game on the PSP thus far. Detailed environments featuring constant rain and cascading water and lava create beautiful backdrops and really bring the world to life. Kratos looks wonderful as well. In fact, his character model was rebuilt from the ground up to add more detail for this game, such as the fact that he can be bathed in blood during battle, like he could in God of War III.
The game is filled with all the blood and gore, the great voice acting and dramatic music we've come to expect from a God of War installment, as well as the most ridiculous sex mini-game the series has ever seen, where a whole of swarm of women jumps in on the action. There are also more gigantic bosses than in Chains of Olympus, giving the game more of the awesome sense of scale that's a hallmark of the console versions. Upon beating the game, there are a number of challenges that become available, as well as the Temple of Zeus, where players can sacrifice red orbs in order to purchase concept art, videos, and enemies to battle in the combat arena, a free-play area where players can customize a number of settings and rip apart enemies to their hearts' conten.

Unbelievably, the developers at Ready at Dawn managed to top what they did with Chains of Olympus, delivering a longer, deeper, and more graphically beautiful game than even they thought was originally possible. Ghost of Sparta is, without a doubt, one of the best games available for the PSP. Just when I thought I had Kratos figured out, I’ve been given insight into another piece of his past that makes his anger much more understandable. The path less traveled as far as characters and locations makes Ghost of Sparta a very significant chapter in Kratos’ story. There’s nothing hugely different about the gameplay, but there really didn’t need to be. Combat works perfectly, and while I could have stood a bit more challenge in the puzzle department, that’s basically the same as saying I could have used a bit more chocolate sauce on my totally awesome delicious dessert.

SAM & MAX: THE DEVIL'S PLAYHOUSE

 PLATFORMS: EXCLUSIVELY ON PS3

GENRE: ADVENTURE COMPILATION

Sam the straight-shooting dog and Max the hyperactive bunny have been solving mysteries and fighting crime together as the Freelance Police for quite some time now. Since the anthropomorphic pair has been under Telltale's care, they've been embarking on point-and-click adventures divvied up into episodes. The latest season, The Devil's Playhouse, is a great offering for fans of the franchise and people who love adventure games.

Narrated by a plump man with crazy awesome hair in a setting reminiscent of the Twilight Zone, the season begins with Sam and Max aboard a spaceship shaped like a monkey head. The ship is owned by evil space ape General Skun'ka'pe' (or, as Sam and Max call him, Skunkape) who's focused on collecting the "Toys of Power" to gain control of the world. Y'know, the typical evil space ape motivation. After banishing the General to the Penal Zone (best name for a prison ever), it turns out that the whole scenario was actually a visualization of the future. It appears that the seemingly harmless View-Master toy Max picked up in an alley was actually one of the Toys of Power and touching it sparked his psychic potential and granted him the power of seeing the future.

If you’re looking for an adventure game that packs a lot of humor, interesting puzzles and psychic powers together in a Twilight-zone/science-fiction skin, you should give Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse a try. Although the beginning and end don’t seem as polished as the middle portions, the season in its entirety tells a fanciful story complete with an awesome cast of characters.

SCOTT PILGRIMS VS THE WORLD

 PLATFORMS: ARCADE AND PS3

GENRE: FIGHTING ACTION

Scott Pilgrim has given his 8-bit heart to Ramona Flowers. Only problem is that in order to be with Ramona, Scott must defeat her seven evil exes. Guess he didn't read eHarmony's fine print. No problem for Scott though, as he and a group of friends are all set to kick, punch, throw, pummel, and explode anyone who stands in their way.

Note that I said one of the coolest, not one of the best. For all the fun you'll have with Scott Pilgrim, it has two unforgivable omissions: No online gameplay and no instant drop-in/drop-out co-op play. That means you and three friends must sit on a couch together, share the same air (yech), and start from the main menu together. Come on, even Streets of Rage had drop-in co-op.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is really enjoyable, even if at times it can be really frustrating. The music is incredible and it has an amazing style unlike anything else out there. If only it had online co-op. But it doesn't. And so, while really cool, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is far from perfect.

SPIDERMAN SHATTERED DIMENSIONS

 PLATFORMS: PS3, XBOX360, Wii, DS.

GENRE: ACTION

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is back. In fact, four Spider-Men are back for Shattered Dimensions, a game that celebrates the wallcrawler's various incarnations. These four Spider-Men inhabit different worlds with different gameplay styles and unexpected variations on well-known villains. If you think you've seen it all with Spider-Man games, think again. (Go ahead, think. I'll be here waiting.)

   

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions has some incredible Spider-Man momentsMysterio is after a powerful tablet that will make him more than just a lame illusionist. But the pieces of the tablet have been spread out across four dimensions. Fortunately, each dimension has its own version of Spider-Man. There's the Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Noir Spidey and Spider-Man 2099. Each has unique abilities, a different visual style, and even different voice actors pulled from Spidey's long television history (including Dan Gilvezan of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends fame)., but plenty of familiar issues that prevent it from being the Arkham Asylum of the Spider-Man universe. 

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions has a lot of great things going for it. Some of the levels and boss battles are phenomenal. Beenox took a lot of chances with this game, most of which paid off in something unique and refreshing. Some old issues (bad camera, repetitive combat) still haven't been completely solved, but the good far outweighs the bad. Spidey fans should definitely pick this one up.

TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBRTRONS

 PLATFORMS: PS3, XBOX360, PC, Wii, DS

GENRE: THIRD-PERSON SHOOTER 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: INTEL Processor CORE 2 DUO E4300 1.8GHz

AMD processor-Athlon 64 X2 DUAL CORE 4000+

Nvidia graphic cards-GeForce 7900 GT

ATI Graphics card- Radeon X1900 series

RAM (memory)-2GB

Hard Disks space-9GB

Direct X-9

I was happy to report to those asking that Transformers: War for Cybertron is actually very good. Fantastic, even. High Moon has taken a fun, fast, third person shooter foundation, crafted a well thought out transformation mechanic on top of it, and designed combat situations around that. The end result is a shooter that has an identity all its own, and leverages its license to make something very cool for fans and newcomers alike.

Set millenia before the original cartoon series that fans have taken to calling G1, Transformers: War for Cybertron tells the story of the final days of the Autobot's and Decepticon's civil war on the surface of their homeworld, Cybertron. Officially sanctioned as canon by Hasbro, War for Cybertron fills in some gaps in fans' understanding of Transformers lore, explaining things like Starscream's defection from the Autobots, Optimus's succession to the position of Prime, and more. High Moon's storytelling is generally good, and feels well situated in the Transformers fiction -- it's a good modernization of the original cartoon while remaining true to the characters and stories that fans have placed on a pedestal for decades -- but there are points where the narrative jumps sloppily from one event to the next. It feels at times as though we're watching a show with episodes missing, and though there's a pre-level text crawl that does a decent job of filling in some of the details, it's still jarring cutting so quickly from triumph to despair and back again without in-game exposition.

High Moon has been very good at saying all the right things with War for Cybertron leading up to its arrival in stores, but many licensed titles have talked a great game before falling apart when all was said and done. Thankfully, War for Cybertron impresses with an excellent single-player campaign with full co-op support, the included Horde-alike Escalation mode, and surprisingly deep and inventive online multiplayer component. Transformers: War for Cybertron has taken the magic of playing with plastic and metal toys that turn into cool s**t both alone and with friends and have distilled that into something pretty special. This is a surprise, dark horse contender for best way to spend your time online this summer.

DEAD RISING 2

 PLATFORMS: PS3, XBOX360, PC

GENRE: ACTION ADVENTURE

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4GHz / AMD Athlon X2 at 2.2 GHz or better
Video Card : 512 MB VRAM - NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS / ATI Radeon HD 3850 or better
Memory : 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk : 8.5 GB of free Hard Drive space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
Direct X : 10.0
Controls : Keyboard & Mouse
Installation : DVD-ROM Drive
Other : Internet Connection required for activation

Note: Internet connection required for game activation.

Dead Rising 2 is good. Very good, in fact. I felt like I needed to get that out right away.
Dead Rising 2, the sequel to 2006's breakout Xbox 360 hit, puts you in the leather jacket of one Chuck Greene. Once a motocross superstar, Chuck's now a dude whose wife was gobbled up by zombies years ago. His daughter is infected from the same incident, but a daily dose of Zombrex keeps the virus at bay. To makes ends meet, Chuck is a contestant on Terror is Reality, a TV show where players knock off the undead for bucks. Well, after a show, there's a mini-zombie uprising, Chuck's framed for it, and a bunch of survivors hole-up in the Fortune City safe house to await rescue in three days. Chuck needs to clear his name, get his daughter meds, save survivors from the area and slay psychopaths before the military rolls in to clean up the mess.

Still, the biggest addition is the ability to create combo weapons. Dead Rising has always been about picking up whatever you could – an umbrella, a sword, a sandwich board – and using it to beat the undead back to death. That's still here, but now you'll collect combo card by leveling up and keeping your eyes peeled for posters. In turn, these cards will show you how to take two items (a fire extinguisher and a watergun, for example) and combine them at a maintenance work bench to make a super weapon (a gun that freezes zombies solid). Aside from being rad, these weapons take longer to break -- as every weapon eventually does -- and earn you lots of experience points.

Again, Dead Rising 2 has issues. It’s not the smoothest game and it can feel like the last one, however that doesn’t mean a thing when the game’s this much fun. Using a car battery and a Street Fighter mask to electrocute the undead and a set of knives and a pair of boxing gloves to make Wolverine claws are all great times. Watching Chuck get covered in blood as he slays thousands of zombies, changing outfits so that one minute you’re in a toddler clothes with a LEGO head and the next you’re in a sundress, and listening to completely whacked out boss stories – that’s what I remember about Dead Rising 2. Any issue the game might have just falls to the backburner.