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entertaining u newspaper: your monthly guide to entertainment
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video games
by norm stovall    normstovall@gmail.com

      The month of September is well underway, which means video game release season is upon us. There are a number of high-profile games to be released this month, including Sony’s often ill-reviewed Lair, Nintendo’s Metroid Prime 3, Sony’s Warhawk and Bungie’s highly anticipated Halo 3. To most people familiar with gaming, these titles are well known, so I won’t spend too much time with you telling you how Lair is impossible to play and frustrating, that Metroid Prime 3 is surprisingly great, or that you are probably going to have to buy Halo 3, no matter what. Instead, I’d rather talk about the great games that you would probably enjoy, but may have overlooked.


Skate
For PS3 and Xbox 360

      I’ll have a full-sized review of this next week, as it got delayed till Friday (The PS3 version comes later this month or possibly early next month). The demo, however, is currently available on Xbox live. It is wildly addictive and has garnered nothing but respect from skateboard enthusiasts. If you can, download the demo on Xbox Live to see for yourself. If you love skateboarding, I’d say head down to the game shop and buy it right away.


Dynasty Wars Gundam
PS3, Xbox 360

      If you are not familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series, basically the games center around former military leaders from China and Japan, who will hack and slash their way through armies of millions of soldiers on their way to greatness. Basically, playing a Dynasty Warriors game is like watching one of those Greek/Roman war movies where you have a few guys going against an army of thousands. So what is new with this Gundam version of Dynasty Warriors? Well, take out the Asian military guys, and replace them with Giant Robots of Japanese origin. Replace the bad guy armies with Gundam bad guys, and there you have it. Dynasty Warriors Gundam is a great way to kill time, and though the action can be repetitive, the game does wonders for relieving stress. And fighting robots are always awesome. Fans of the Gundam series will be impressed, especially after playing the last Next Gen Gundam game.


John Woo’s Stranglehold
For PS3, Xbox 360

      Well, maybe you do already know about this game. It isn’t exactly underground, but I think it is a fun game nonetheless. If you are familiar with the movie Hard Boiled, you should recognize the characters in this story, which functions as a sequel to that movie. Using gameplay mechanics much like those found in games like Max Payne, you will duck, shoot, slide across tables and dive through the air in slow motion while shooting bad guys. With fully destructible environments and a high dosage of action, Stranglehold is a great example of Hong Kong action translated into video game form. As far as movie games are concerned, this one is one of the best, up there with Chronicles of Riddick. (Although I thought the movie that was based on it was kinda whatever.)

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