Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) / 2008 Square Enix / http://www.square-enix.com / The latest effort on the PSP by Square Enix, Crisis Core has a hell of a back story present. This means that the story that Crisis Core tells is part of the larger Final Fantasy VII mythos, specifically taking place before the actions that took place in the original Final Fantasy VII. Specifically, the plot surrounds around…
Stronghold Crusader Extreme (PC) / 2008 Firefly / http://www.fireflyworlds.com / http://www.gamecockmedia.com / For those individuals that may have played Stronghold Crusader, “Extreme†is a sequel of sorts. As was the case in the original game, individuals play against the Saracen, in what Firefly calls a “Castle Simâ€. There are a number of different units and modes for fans to chew upon. Particularly interesting is the crusader extreme mode, which means…
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Xbox 360) / 2008 Activision / http://www.enemyterritory.com / After a decade of Quake games and the like, it becomes increasingly hard to believe that Activision would be able to link games together through a cogent and coherent storyline. “Enemy Territory: Quake Wars†has a story line that links it to the last three installments of Quake proper (II, III, and IV), and that is only one…
“Kane’s Wrath” is an expansion, as individuals can likely guess, to Command and Conquer 3. This review covers the PC version only, as the Xbox 360 version is set to be released on June 10th. The most interesting thing that individuals will immediately notice as a difference from Command and Conquer 3 to Kane’s Wrath is the Global Conquest mode, which changes up the real-time strategy (RTS) elements of the…
Imperium Romanum (PC) / 2008 Haemimont / http://www.imperium-game.com / http://www.southpeakgames.com / Imperium Romanum is a game that is set up in a way similar to Civilization, in that individuals start out as a governor of a province, and are charged with making their province equal Rome in terms of stature and size. Individuals that played Glory of the Roman Empire should know that this is the true sequel to the…
Each subsequent release on the PSP makes me that much more sure that it will be the winner in this current generation of handheld games. Hell, give pure processing power, it even beats out the Wii in terms of realism and immerse game play. MLB ‘08, the latest installment in the MLB franchise, provides more proof of this. The key addition that has been made to this series has to…
MLB ‘08: The Show (PS3) / 2008 Sony / http://www.us.playstation.com / Individuals that wish to have the most realistic experience that they could conceivably have playing baseball on the PS3 would be well to purchase MLB 08: The Show. This is due to the fact that Sony has made great strides to create a simulation that at points would rival that of actually playing baseball. In the years since I…
Buzz! Junior Robo Jam (PS2) / 2007 Sony / http://www.buzzjr-games.com / A few days ago, we had the chance to review the latest release in the Buzz! Series of games, Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz. This time, this is the first chance that we have had to review a game in the Buzz! Junior series of games. This is “Robo Jamâ€, and it allows individuals of all ages to have fun…
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice (PSP) / 2008 Sony / http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/Games/Pursuit_Force_Extreme_Justice / Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice is (as individuals may be able to guess) the sequel to Pursuit Force. It is currently only available on the PSP, but there are plans to port it over to the PS2 for the summer. For individuals that have not played the game in the past, the main character is a Cop Commander, which has…
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) / 2008 Square-Enix / http://na.square-enix.com/ffccrof/ / I love that Square has cut down considerably the time that passed between the Japanese release of a Final Fantasy game and the English-language versions of the game. Where it may have been years between the release dates of the two versions, it is now only about 3 or 4 months. Another thing that is great…
Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz (PS2) / 2007 Sony / http://www.buzzthegame.com /  Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz is the fifth entry in the Buzz! series of games. For anyone that is into trivia, Buzz! is one of the few games that is on the Playstation 2 that can honestly sate that urge. As individuals may be able to glean from the title, “The Hollywood Quiz†contains a number of questions that…
Singstar has been one of my favorite games of the last few years, even if I can sing at all. I also grew up listening to the radio in the 1990s, so the combination of Singstar with songs from the 1990s is something that was right up my alley. Individuals that have played Singstar before will be familiar with how to play Singstar ‘90s; essentially you pick a sing, pick…
Patapon (PSP) / 2008 Sony / http://www.us.playstation.com/patapon / Individuals that were fans of Pikman and of Black and White (or even Lemmings) will find something fun in Patapon. Your creatures, the Patapon, are directed by the tribal beat that you (as their deity and a player) provide on “talking drumsâ€. Different combos that are beaten out on these drums tells the Patapon to do different things, whether it be attacking…
God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) / 2008 Sony / http://sony.playstation.com / God of War: Chains of Olympus is the third game in the God of War series, and provides individuals with a little bit more of the back story for the series’ protagonist, Kratos. The basic game play is ported over without much in the way of changes from the Playstation 2 predecessors. As in both previous games,…
Iridium Runners (PS2) / 2008 SouthPeak / http://www.iridiumrunners.com / I like the fact that the PS2 is still a viable platform. Sure, there is decidedly more of a focus on the PS3 and the PSP in 2008, but there are groups like SouthPeak Games that are ensuring that the PS2 does not die quickly. Iridium Runners places players in 2050, where there has been a shift in racing from cars…
wipEout Pulse / 2008 Sony / PSP / http://www.playstation.com / http://www.psp-game.com / It astounds me each time I play a game on the PSP, because it seems like every developer and game firm are pushing the portable device to its limits – until, three months later, a game comes along and breaks my expectations completely. For fans of the Wipeout series, this is a direct sequel to Wipeout Pure. This…
Twisted Metal: Head-On – Extra Twisted Edition / 2008 Sony / Playstation 2 / http://www.us.playstation.com / Individuals may remember Twisted Metal Head-On was released for the Playstation Portable (PSP) in March, 2005. However, it is making its debut (along with some extra bells and whistles). I would wager that most individuals that read NeuFutur would already be familiar in some capacity with the basic concept of Twisted Metal games. Essentially,…
Star Trek: Conquest / 2007 Bethesda / http://www.bethsoft.com / http://startrek.bethsoft.com / It feels good getting games in for the Wii. “Star Trek: Conquest” is the second game that we here at NeuFutur have had the chance to review, and it is a hell of a second game to play. The intense graphics that are in-game (rather than cinematics or other fluff) push the Wii to their limits, especially when one…
Tomb Raider Anniversary (Wii) / 2007 Eidos / http://www.tombraider.com / http://www.eidos.com / Tomb Raider has been one of the most tenacious franchises in gaming history. Obviously, it does not have the lead time that a Mario Brothers has, but has remained a strong-selling force in video gaming for over a decade. The amount of systems with which you can play Tomb Raider Anniversary is large – individuals can stick the…
Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (Xbox 360) / 2007 Square Enix / http://www.square-enix-usa / Final Fantasy XI has been around for a half decade now, and expansions such as “Wings of the Goddess†ensure that players will be locked in for years to come. The game play and additions brought the Final Fantasy XI series by “Wings of the Goddess†will ensure that the 500,000 subscribers of the…