Tibetan Quest: Beyond the World’s End

Tibetan Quest: Beyond the World’s End

Travel to Shangri-La and find your missing niece in this hidden object game from Brave Giant LTD. It doesn’t have much to offer that is new in terms of gameplay and story, but remains enjoyable throughout. The setting is interesting and the polished visuals as well as atmospheric audio make up for the lack of challenge.

Gameplay: Not much of a challenge, but still fun.

Graphics: Definitely not a realistic depiction of Tibet, but the visuals are detailed and polished.

Sound: Nice music and great sound effects

Need for Speed: ProStreet

Need for Speed: ProStreet

NFS: ProStreet marked a change in direction for the series and features none of the police chases or illegal street racing that has made the franchise famous. Instead you get to take part in legal races on tracks from around the world. While not a bad game, it can quickly become repetitive and overall lacks the polish that we have come to expect from a Need for Speed title.

Gameplay: A completely new direction for the series and not one that all fans will enjoy.

Graphics: Not bad, but lacking somewhat in polish.

Sound: The tunes are decent, but the announcers can become annoying

Mass Effect

Mass Effect

Gameplay: A nice blend of action and role playing.

Graphics: A decent looking port.

Sound: Very good.

Mass Effect is yet another offering from Bioware that does not disappoint. The story is gripping and the characters interesting. Best of all, this is just the start of a trilogy, so there is still plenty of adventures ahead for Commander Shepard and his crew

The Purring Quest

The Purring Quest

The Purring Quest has a few flaws, including a rather limited number of levels, but it is hard not to be charmed by the delightful protagonist and moving story. The hand-drawn visuals and animations definitely stand out, but the game is genuinely fun as well. It might not feature many innovations in terms of gameplay or puzzles, but there is no doubt that it was a labor of love for the creators and something all cat fans will enjoy.

Gameplay: The controls are a little stiff, but this doesn’t detract too much from the fun.

Graphics: The game features beautiful hand-drawn visuals and some stellar animations.

Sound: The orchestral soundtrack is quite epic

Pinball FX2 – Aliens vs. Pinball

Pinball FX2 – Aliens vs. Pinball

If you are a fan of the Alien license and enjoy pinball then this pack is a no-brainer. It features three tables that not only look great, but are a lot of fun to play as well. Zen Studios also made sure that the tables stay true to their source material in regards to audio and visuals. Even amongst all the other excellent titles already released for Pinball FX2, this pack stands out.

Gameplay: The Aliens vs. Pinball table is the most fun, but the other two are great as well.

Graphics: Great use of the source material.

Sound: Once again the source material is used to good effect

Need For Speed: Carbon

Need For Speed: Carbon

At this point there is probably very little reason to return to NFS: Carbon unless you have never played it before. The whole city is available to play in Need For Speed World Online and since the Xbox Live multi-player servers for this game no longer functions you will be unable to get most of the achievements.

Gameplay: Not a huge departure from Most Wanted and a lot easier, but there is still fun to be had.

Graphics: A return to night time races so expect lots of lights.

Sound: The music is a lot weaker than the previous games

Prototype 2

Prototype 2

Despite its flaws, Prototype 2 is a action-packed romp that allows you to decimate everything in your sight. While the story is rather weak, there are enough cool powers and crazy moves to keep you interested. If all you crave is some mindless action, then Prototype 2 is your game.

Gameplay: Uppercutting helicopters have never been this much fun.

Graphics: Good, but not great.

Sound: The swearing is a bit OTT, but otherwise the audio is not bad

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training – How Old Is Your Brain

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training – How Old Is Your Brain

Brain Training is a great little daily workout for your gray matter only let down by the occasional wonky text and speech recognition. It’s really a wake-up call for those that rely and electronics to do all their thinking for them and watching your “brain age” decrease daily as you get better at the exercises is quite cool. A nice addition to your DS library, but you should stick with it.

Gameplay: Learning has never been this much fun.

Graphics: Very minimal, but then again, what did you expect?

Sound: Does the job without annoying you

Final Fight One

Final Fight One

The Gameboy Advance needs more original titles and less ports, but at least Final Fight One demonstrates how to do a port right. Based on the original 1989 Arcade title this brawler packs a lot of action and some pretty big sprites. It also includes the level that was cut from the SNES port of the game so fans finally have the full experience in the palm of their hands.

Gameplay: True to the Arcade so expect lots of action with little depth.

Graphics: Large sprites and colorful visuals.

Sound: Not bad considering the hardware

Epistory – Typing Chronicles

Epistory – Typing Chronicles

Basing an entire game around typing is not new, but Epistory does it exceptionally well and never feels like an “edutainment” title. It has a vibrant game world to explore, plenty of enemies to kill, and puzzles to solve. Seeing as the entire game is keyboard-driven and requires lots of typing, it is a bit of a niche title, but definitely worth the effort. Unless you absolutely hate typing or still get by using only one finger, Epistory should not be missed.

Gameplay: Expect plenty of typing as you explore, fight enemies, and solve puzzles.

Graphics: The origami-style visuals are unique and look great.

Sound: The game features a great soundtrack, and the narrator does a stellar job as well