by norm stovall norm@904skate.com
The newest installment of the Rainbow Six franchise takes us to the land of glowing lights, legalized gambling, and legalized prostitution. Although tactically, you generally don’t get to interact with the Las Vegas environment the way most big spenders do-you are here to fight terrorists. Using all of the military expertise and cutting edge equipment you can carry, your job is to lead a highly skilled team into battle, sneaking from here to there, taking cover, and using context clues to outsmart the enemy. Online play in Vegas is amazing, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better Las Vegas themed tactical military first person shooter game. (Actually, I think this is the only one in existence.) Rainbow Six: Vegas is another great entry to the series, and many improvements have been made over previous games. If you love shooters, check this one out.
Elebits is one of those wacky but fun games in the vein of such hits as Pikmin or Katamari Damacy. In Elebits, your goal is to collect tiny creatures known as Elebits. In this hide-and-seek environment, you must leave no stone unturned in your mission to collect these little guys that just happen to be the source of your world’s power. You see, the Elebits have gone on strike, and without them, nobody can watch TV, turn on the lights, or even use a microwave. The more you collect, the more you are able to explore, and there are plenty of puzzles and examples of physics based fun to keep you entertained. With innovative controls (of course) and keen visual styling, Konami has created quite a gem with Elebits.
I couldn’t be happier to see another 2D incarnation of Konami’s Castlevania. In Portrait of Ruin, you follow a vampire hunter and a magician whose goal is to prevent the resurrection of Count Dracula. The storyline takes place in Europe during World War 2, and the setting is just as spooky as previous games such as Symphony of the Night. The action is great, and you can rely on classic-style Castlevania gameplay to keep you entertained. Portrait of Ruin also features connectivity with Nintendo’s WiFi capabilities. I highly recommend this title for classic style gameplay on the go.
|
