Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Publisher: Activision
Platform: PC, X-Box & PS2
Taiwan Release: Already available
Originally released for PC in late 2003, the console version of Activision's action packed World War II first person shooter, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, hit the game store shelves in Taiwan in early December.
The game gives X-Box and PS2 owners the chance to re-fight the historic global conflict from the perspectives of the Russian, British and American armies as they set out to crush the Axis powers in a series of three campaigns that take players through variety of settings and geographical locations.
As the Russian players cross the Volga River and enter the besieged city of Stalingrad, the British players campaign in the deserts of North Africa, and the US gamers get the chance to push through France, Belgium and finally into the German hinterland to capture the city of Aachen. With the exception of the British campaign, nearly all the action takes place in urban areas where house-to-house and sometimes hand-to-hand combat is the norm.
Like all good first-person-shooters, players are accompanied by AI-controlled comrades in arms, and while the nameless GIs, Tommies and Communist cadres often prove to be little more than cannon fodder, they are replaced throughout the missions. Along with taking on the role of an infantryman, players also get to drive tanks, strafe German troops with a heavy machine gun from the back of jeep and hone their skills with a sniper rifle.
Graphically the game is brilliant and the details on the uniforms, weapons and vehicles are as good as -- if not better than -- several of the other leading World War II shooters on the market. The enemy AI, although hamming up its death scenes, is unpredictable and will leave players seriously wondering where the next panzerfaust will come from or where the hidden sniper is located.
While gamers with a passion for World War II-era shooters will find Call of Duty: Finest Hour gripping and, for the most part, edge of the seat entertainment, the game is not without its flaws. Players have no real control over hand grenades: it's simply a case of lobbing them and like magic they hit the intended targets. The tank cannon is also a disappointment; like the grenades, no skill is required and shells hit the target all to easily.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PC & X-Box
Taiwan Release: Late January
If you own an X-Box and can't get enough of television's Gil Grissom and his motley crew of crime-scene investigators as they tread the streets of Las Vegas solving murders and catching bad guys, then Ubisoft's recently released CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is the game for you.
Released for PC last year, the revamped X-Box version of the crime solving adventure games is a compilation of the two CSI PC games in one package -- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Dark Motives.
In both games players are new recruits to the Las Vegas crime lab and are tasked with solving a series of cases by collecting and processing evidence, interviewing witnesses and solving puzzles. Players are partnered with one of the show's cast of crime solving scientists at various stages of the investigations and they guide players through the cases. Neither case is very difficult, but they do make for entertaining play.
While the game play is absorbing, CSI sadly fails graphically because of low resolution. You can recognize Grissom, Catherine Willows, Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle, but the lack of definable detail distracts players from the game at times. There are also a few annoying game-play glitches, which along with the low quality graphics spoil a game that has seemingly great console potential.
Fans of the TV series should also note that a new CSI: Miami version of the game has just been released for PC and should be available for consoles later this year.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Publisher: LucasArts
Platform: PC & X-Box
Taiwan Release: Mid-January
With a story line that is unrelated to any of the Star Wars movies in any shape or form, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is an entertaining adventure game featuring a great plot, excellent graphics, a kick-ass combat system and a hugely enjoyable and engrossing plot.
The game focuses on the struggle between the Jedi Warriors and the evil power-crazed Siths. Players take on the role of an exiled Jedi Knight who first has to discover the reasons for their expulsion from the Jedi order and second, more importantly, stop the malevolent Sith from gaining power.
The story line is, like nearly all of the long line of Star Wars games, gripping and will have fans of the sci-fi series glued to their paddles for many hours. And even lesser Star Wars buffs will find it hard to drag themselves away from their consoles once the interface has been mastered and the action starts.
Players are faced with numerous options that arise from the players' interaction with the game's many characters. As an adventure game, Sith Lords is addictive and literally drags players in.
Gameplay consists of three basic elements. Players run from place to place through maze-like environments, interact with a vast array of colorful characters and battle various types of enemy soldiers.
Like all LucasArts games Sith Lords is graphically brilliant with not a flaw or glitch anywhere to be found. If player's televisions sound outputs are run through the stereo system then the game's fantastic audio enables gamers to enjoy a truly cinematic experience.
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PC, X-Box & PS2
Taiwan Release: Already available
The follow-up to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ubisoft's latest adventure/combat/puzzle solving edition of Prince of Persia is a must for any gamer who enjoys wandering through graphically enchanting environments and on occasion doing battle with the dark side.
Warrior Within picks up from where the previous game left off and the Prince once again finds himself pursued through time by the time traveling fiend, the Dahaka. The crux of the game's plot is based on the prince's traveling though various time frames in order to kill the Empress of Time and in so doing prevent the creation of the "Sands of Time."
Players get to guide the Prince through the ruined fortress on the Island of Time, a mysterious and annoying cave system and richly colorful tropical and subtropical gardens. Special rooms scattered throughout the different stages allow the Prince to travel backwards and forwards in time. This comes in pretty handy if players discover that they've missed an important part of the overall puzzle and find themselves unable to progress to the next level.
Unlike its predecessor, Warrior Within puts a great deal of emphasis on combat. There are dozens of different weapons to play with and the Prince is even more acrobatic than before.
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