He died... he died.

Punch-Out is back for a new generation of gamers and one that should readily appreciate just how fun, exciting and addicting a game like this can be. The first two installments were released originally on the NES and SNES, but the series never really continued from there until this year on Nintendo's little motion-sensing console! The charm, spirit and challenge are all intact and ready to give you the old one-two punch that only 'fun' can.

Little Mac and Doc Louis are back. The 5' 7" 107 lb kid from the Bronx and his chocolate obsessed trainer are ready to take on the world, starting with Glass Joe. A lot of people tend to love the underdog. There is something particularly exciting about seeing some young up and comer handle the big boys and be crowned champ. But Punch-Out!! lets you experience that for the entire time you play through. Little Mac doesn't look like the kind of person that should be allowed to walk alone at night let alone legally enter a boxing ring against beasts like King Hippo, but that's part of the joy. You are this little guy and you are going to dole out a whooping to anyone that comes your way, or more likely earn a whooping or two first but that's besides the point.

There isn't much story to Punch-Out!!, you are simply Little Mac and you have spent your time training and are ready to fight in the ring. The game doesn't set much up for you; you just enter the first fight and begin. The gameplay is very pattern-based making Punch-Out!! unlike any other fighting game out there. In fact, some might even call it more of a puzzle game. You dodge, duck, and punch. There isn't much else to it. What makes the game exciting is every unstoppable opponent you face off against, with the exception of Glass Joe.

The other boxers have their own sets of attacks, and while much of it is pattern-based you should be aware that they do mix up the patterns all the time. So instead of focusing on your opponent's patterns you have to focus on their movements. What are they going to do so that you can read their moves and find an opening or create an opening? That's the name of the game. The match may start out with your opponent using the same patterns but as you continue fighting him he will mix things up, and in many cases use some one-hit KO moves. You cannot slack off in Punch-Out!!, you have to be aware during the entire fight. Even if you knock your foe down, keep Little Mac punching the air since it will recover stamina so he can fight longer when the other boxer gets up.

As for the game's cast of loony fighters, they are absolutely fantastic and breathe character and life into the game. Seeing these cartoon-like graphics and each gargantuan (some of them practically fill up the whole screen) opponent act in their own unique and silly manner during the fights makes them so exciting. The fighters are like over-exaggerated racial caricatures but no one should find them offensive, they are all in good humor and work wonderfully for the game. Nor does Punch-Out!! discriminate since it clearly has a hand in putting up some wonderfully silly characters from anywhere, whether it's a fighter from Hollywood, Japan, India or Canada, the game's cast of characters simply rock and do a wonderful job of making Little Mac seem so endearing and Doc Louis look like a crazy chocoholic.

The characters all sound excellent as well and the punches landed sound authentic to the feel of the game. The music is also wonderfully catchy. However, there isn't much to the game's graphics aside from the characters, nor is their much to the sound aside from the characters. However, it also makes those characters seem so much better than they should. The entirety of the gameplay is focused on you and your opponent, so it makes sense to focus the graphics and sound on that as well, and it really helps make Punch-Out!! not only one of the best looking Wii games, but also a game that would look good even on the more powerful consoles.

Punch-Out is challenging. There's no other way of putting it, this game will beat you if you hail from the impatient, button-mashing group of gamers. It takes patience, dedication and practice to make it through the game's various tiers. Long time Punch-Out fans should have no trouble getting through the game's cast of thirteen fighters, but newcomers will find each victory to be blissfully rewarding. However, the game doesn't stop there. Once you become the champ you have to defend your title. Title Defense is going to be what old-time fans have been craving for years. The other fighters are all sore that you beat them and they want payback. They are tougher and more resilient and their new tactics might just cause you to even lose to Glass Joe, and no one loses to Glass Joe.

But Punch-Out is like a buffet of gaming goodness since it doesn't stop there. The real meat of the game comes, surprisingly, from Exhibition. Every fighter you defeat is available in Exhibition. But it isn't the fact that you get to fight these guys at any time you want, it's the challenges that are waiting for you. Each fighter will have three different challenges that vary not only from challenge to challenge but also from fighter to fighter. Some challenges are easy, like landing every punch you throw without have them blocked, while others are a bit more challenging, like knocking King Hippo's crown off of his head before knocking him out. There is tremendous replay value here, and the game will keep just about anyone occupied.

Punch-Out!! also incorporates a multiplayer mode, but it simply isn't very good. It amounts to two boxers in a ring throwing punches at each and if one gets angry enough they'll become an Incredible Hulk version of Little Mac and destroy the other guy. It is creative in concept but is overall unnecessary. Punch-Out!! may technically be a single-player game but it truly shines in a party setting when everyone is taking turns fighting and losing, throwing out advice and laughing, and generally having a good time at watching people come so close to winning and then losing it all. Punch-Out!! is in a sense a better party game than the many multiplayer games out there since even the people not playing become emotionally involved in what's going on.

As with many recent Wii games there are various control options to choose from. Punch-Out!! lets you use either the Wii remote held sideways on it's own or to fight with motion controls using the remote and Nunchuk attachment. Both of these options are also compatible with the Balance Board. While holding the Wii remote sideways is probably the most accurate way of playing, the most fun way is easily using the motion controls. I myself have never told anyone who has come over to play the game about the other control options simply because they aren't as engaging. When the motion controls are used people just get into it. They start moving their feet, ducking when they make Little Mac duck, bobbing side to side, and literally putting their entire body into the punches they throw. In fact, that control option alone is what makes Punch-Out!! so engaging as a party game. It's a marvelous way of playing and there simply isn't enough praise that can be said about the controls.

Wonderful motion controls, an endearing cast of characters, and excellent gameplay make Punch-Out!! one of the year's best. If you own a Wii you owe it to yourself to play this game.

Score

Back in 2005 Resident Evil 4 changed the entire survival-horror genre and in its wake came other games that were influenced by it in some way. The most obvious of these inspirations is Dead Space, a lovingly crafted survival-horror experience that still manages to adhere to genre standards but still stands out on its own with unique ideas and gameplay twists that truly make it more than a mere homage to Capcom's masterpiece. Dead Space is a radical improvement of a tested formula and is easily the new standard for survival-horror games.

Dead Space begins with you, Isaac Clarke, an engineer being sent to investigate the USG Ishimura, a deep space mining ship. Upon landing with your crew it becomes clear that something is amiss, and the game's frightening opening sets up the rest of the mood. The story will take some twists and turns as you play. It is a very intriguing story if not particularly unique. Despite that fact, you will feel compelled to play to see what happens next.

From the very beginning of the game there is no HUD. Everything is directly linked to your suit: your health, inventory, stasis, objectives and more. With a simple press of a button any of those will come up, though they will never pause the game. In Dead Space, no matter what you are doing the game never stops. Even conversations with other characters away from your position appear on a video monitor directly in your suit. There are no elements to break up the atmosphere, the gameplay or really anything; you simply just play.

Should you by chance get lost or haven't played in a bit the game also incorporates the use of a guide. You press down on the right thumbstick and a blue line shows you the general direction you should be headed in. The idea is reminiscent of Fable II's guide though that one is always on, or Perfect Dark Zero's guide that shows up only when you become lost. Dead Space's guide is at your command at any time you need it and is incorporated, again, straight into your suit. It really comes in handy, especially when you need it most.

Your foes are the Necromorphs, disgusting, savage beasts that deserve only to be killed by your hands. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and you will need to mix up your strategies for each one. The Necromorphs are wily foes though, some will pretend to be dead in groups of corpses and attack you when it is least expected. Others will sneak up on you, and they'll get you good if you don't pay attention.

The Necromorphs may be hideous and sometimes crafty foes, but fighting them is the best part of the game. EA has called Dead Space's combat "strategic dismemberment" and silly as the name sounds it absolutely applies to the game and works wonderfully. The focus is taken away from shooting your foes in the head. Instead you have to cut off their limbs. It's gruesome work, but it's also very rewarding to stand in a room filled with the severed limbs of all of your foes floating with their destroyed corpses.

Sometimes you will have to fight enemies in zero gravity situations and on rare occasions, without oxygen. Fighting without having the ability to breathe may ratchet up the intensity but the encounters are brief. The zero gravity situations on the other hand are truly fantastic. You can jump from wall to wall and enemies can attack from any direction. It's a nice change of pace and the areas for zero gravity are nicely interspersed throughout the game.

You will also have two other powers directly linked to your suit and those are Stasis and Kinesis. The two powers are used more or less for puzzle solving though they do come in handy for combat as well. Stasis will slow down fast foes and give you a breather when you need it most while kinesis lets you throw objects at foes, whether it's a fire extinguisher or one of their own torn limbs.

Many of the weapons in Dead Space are truly satisfying to use against the Necromorphs, though not all of them work as well as they should. There are seven weapons total in the game and you may carry up to four weapons at a time. A lot of them are great for cutting off limbs but others, like the Flamethrower, simply do not work that well with Dead Space's combat. Regardless, everyone is bound to have their own favorite sets of weapons and with each one upgradeable in various areas you can tear through the Necromorphs with all of your favorites.

One weakness to the combat is the boss battles. Dead Space has three of them and while all three of the bosses are huge, screen-encapsulating monsters, they are absolutely disappointing to fight against. All three of them have the same weakness, giant yellow balls that explode when shot at, and it not only makes them far less intimidating than they should be. In fact, the battles against some of the stronger foes you encounter in the game are more exciting and action-packed than any of the boss battles. But disappointing bosses simply cannot ruin Dead Space's gruesome combat or spine-tingling atmosphere.

Dead Space is a horror game, though the actual horror seems to stop after the first third of the game. From there it seems like a given quantity. You know how the enemies will act and react to your presence. But the game still keeps you on edge at all times. Dead Space's atmosphere is absolutely chilling, gruesome and haunting. The game is just so suspenseful that you won't open a door without having your weapon raised first. The organic growth on the ship, the corpses of the Ishimura's crew, blood splattered on the walls, and the flickering of lights everywhere. Dead Space nails the visual department with technically proficient graphics and the right sense of artistry to make your fear very palpable. And while it seems like the horror aspect comes to a close too soon, it surprisingly picks back up for the final few chapters.

But the sound is the one true claim to fame here. Dead Space's sound design will wrack your nerves. From the sounds that thump out of your view, a lullaby playing over a room full of corpses, the shrieks of enemies before the ambush begins, moans of suffering people still left on the ship as they kill themselves off. What few survivors there are seem hard to trust but what choice do you have? Their voices whisper fear, but they are in the same hell as you and want out as fast as possible. The music is so underplayed; in fact, it's hard to remember any of it being played in the campaign. The whole game is filled with your heavy breathing, the ambient sounds of this ship once filled with life, and the footsteps of something away from your line of sight.

Dead Space is a marvelous game; in fact, Dead Space is the best survival-horror game since Capcom's Resident Evil 4. It is a deeply satisfying and gruesome experience that has its fair share of intrigue, gore and suspense. The chilling atmosphere not only rivals that of games like F.E.A.R. and BioShock but it utterly destroys them. The game may hold a few too many similarities to Resident Evil 4, have less than entertaining bosses and the scares may disappear for the mid-game, but those minor grievances don't hold Dead Space back at all. If you want a grisly, suspenseful, well-designed and oftentimes frightening game than Dead Space is easy to recommend.

Score

Originally intended as a three-hour expansion to the superb Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST finally arrives and is anything but an expansion pack. Taking place mere moments before Master Chief destroyed the first Scarab in Halo 2, you are an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, ODST, known only as "The Rookie." Your squad has been given orders to drop into the Covenant ship holding the Prophet of Regret that's still hovering over New Mombasa. As you drop the ship enters a slip-space rupture and the iconic cast of the Halo trilogy follows after them as your drop pods crash into one another and the squad spirals out of control in the coolest opening in a game since Quake II.

You wake up six hours after the drop; your pod crashed into a building and the only way down is to jump. The first thing you'll notice after jumping down is the new health system. The health bars are back and the rechargeable shields are gone. Your first order of business is to find one of the health kiosks around the city before setting out. An AI called the Superintendent will be there from the very beginning to help guide you through the city. It will have helpful hints that flash warnings to keep back or arrows to guide you through certain areas, and in some cases, detours. Either way, it's a creative guide and while not necessary to enjoy the game, following the helpful hints of the Superintendent only make ODST that much more satisfying.

As an ODST you aren't as tall, swift or strong as a Spartan and the game makes that evident from the very moment you touch down. The new health system (or is it the old health system) adds an immediate benefit to Halo 3: ODST: the Covenant are scary again. And the dark, gritty feel of the city only adds to that feeling.

The most noticeable thing about Halo 3: ODST is the atmosphere: the game absolutely nails it. If ODST were not as atmospheric as it is it would have been a lesser game. Bungie had stated that they were taking their cues from Noir and it's a breath of fresh air for Halo. The entire point of Noir is to tell the story more through the visuals and sounds than anything else and as you play as The Rookie you'll see the destroyed city, dead soldiers and Covenant all over the streets, phones ringing off of the hooks, tickets being spewed out by machines and cars flashing their lights on and off as the sirens tear through the night. Add in an ODST's relative fragility compared to the Master Chief and you're suddenly all alone in a huge city with a half-empty submachine gun, Covenant forces that tower over you in combat and a whole lot of loneliness.

Combat still feels like Halo and that's a very good thing, but it's the subtle changes that make it seem different. You can't dual-wield as an ODST, so you need to be more careful with which weapons to go forward with in any situation. And with your more fragile state combat isn't quite as gung-ho as in previous Halo games. That's where the new VISR comes in. It's basically night vision and it highlights enemies in red, friends in green, weapons in blue and important objects in yellow. It helps penetrate through the darkness of the night and let you know what you're getting into. In previous Halo games, avoiding combat would have been pointless, but in ODST sometimes it's just a smarter idea to not get caught by the patrols or the squads holding down certain locations. Being in the city at dark it's a wise idea to keep your VISR turned on as often as possible since there could be Jackal snipers above any rooftop or Brute patrol squads, and if you're truly unfortunate a pair of Hunters will not only work your health down but whittle away your ammunition and supplies.

As The Rookie your job is to find out what happened to the rest of your squad. Scattered throughout New Mombasa are clues that can be found using your VISR. These clues, once located, will provide one of the most creative methods of storytelling I have ever seen. The clues take you back in time to when your squad mate, whichever of them it was, was fighting and how their situation came about. These flashback missions play out like a greatest hits compilation of all things Halo. You're given UNSC Marines to fight alongside, tons of firepower and a lot of enemies. Unlike The Rookie's intimate crawl through the city at night, the flashbacks have all the bombast of previous Halo games. Vehicular battles, rockets, waves of enemies and more await you as you go through the stories of your squad mates.

Upon the completion of each flashback mission you're returned to The Rookie as he continues his search. However, the New Mombasa hub is more than just a means of walking from one flashback to the other. There are audio logs, thirty of them, hidden throughout the game, that tell their own story. These audio logs are called Sadie's Story and gamers with a keen eye will find them tucked away, some in obvious spots, and others deviously hidden. The story told on it's own is actually not that good. In fact, the less said about Sadie's Story the better. However, keen observers will find that each arc of the story depicts one of the nine circles of Hell, and that finding all of the audio logs not only nets you achievements but also ties into the game's main story and broadens your understanding of it. It's a very creative method of using audio logs, it just would have been better if the actual story told through them were a bit more compelling at first glance.

The campaign also includes coop, however it ruins the game. Coop is a mode added into ODST simply because every other Halo game has it, but it isn't necessary. The atmosphere and loneliness of the game are lost, as it simply becomes two to four guys running through the city. It isn't well implemented into the flashback missions at all either since again, it's two (or more) of that same character even if there are others around. If you're going to play cooperatively there's another mode, a multiplayer mode that blends together the competitive spirit of Halo and the excellence of it's single-player: Firefight.

Firefight is Bungie's take on the new "it" multiplayer mode that was originally brought to the forefront in Resident Evil 4's Mercenaries mode and later popularized by Gears of War 2's Horde mode. It's nothing new, but with the core Halo formula running the gameplay Firefight ends up feeling fresher than it should. You can play the mode on one of ten maps, two of them are set at night making your VISR a necessity, and the mode can be played with one to four people making this the destination of coop gamers.

Firefight is a success because not only does it feel competitive since you'll be aiming for the high score but it's also a very cooperative mode with other players. You'll have a pool of lives that are shared with each of the players. This emphasizes cooperation since one weak link can ruin the entire match. Firefight also feels fresh because of the randomization of each group of enemies. In Gears of War 2 there were ten different waves that repeated five times, making for fifty total waves. In ODST everything is random and it's never-ending. As you play more and more skulls will be activated and these will cause you to mix up your strategies each time. One will cause bullets to deflect off of enemy shields; another will cause them to always avoid danger while another has the Covenant throwing grenades at you with any chance they get. Teamwork is a necessity though skilled lone wolves will also find one of the most rewarding modes around.

One aspect of ODST that demands to be praised is the sound. The soundtrack is marvelous. There is no amount of fancy hyperbole that can be used to describe it because there's only one way of saying it: it's mature. ODST's soundtrack is refined, soft and delicate when it conveys the loneliness of The Rookie. It's a pleasant surprise when you hear it, because the music just sweeps through and adds to the game's wonderful Noir feel. There are also the musical pieces that will get you pumped up for the fights ahead, though these pieces are typically found in the flashback missions.

Playing as The Rookie at night, the game comes alive. You'll be able to hear enemies following you. You'll be on edge as you hear two Hunter's prowling the streets or a group of Brutes that spotted you. The sound design in Halo games has always been excellent, but it's the different spin on the soundtrack that really boosts ODST's atmosphere.

The visuals from an artistic standpoint also add to the game's atmosphere. The city is dark, oppressive and moody. You are alone and it's up to you to solve the mystery at hand. The cars lighting up, the ticket machines going out of control, they all seem so real that you can't help but believe in ODST's world. From a technical standpoint however Halo's engine is showing it's age. It looked good in 2007, but it's time for a new engine that can take better advantage of the system. This is especially obvious in the character models. The world might look great, the guns too, but the characters are looking a little outdated. Then again, there is a reason why it's called Halo 3: ODST and not Halo: ODST.

As an added bonus for customers, ODST comes with a second disc that contains the full Halo 3 multiplayer experience. Not only does it include the three new Mythic Maps, but it also includes all of the previous downloadable maps and everything that came packed in with Halo 3. These maps make one obvious point: if you have never played Halo then ODST is the best place to start. It is it's own stand-alone game with it's own story that's wrapped up by the game's end. But as an added bonus it also includes Halo 3's full multiplayer suite.

Halo 3 ODST may have been originally intended as an expansion pack to Halo 3, but it ended up exceeding expectations. This is a case of quality over quantity. The game's campaign may be a few hours shorter than Halo 3's and it's multiplayer may be cooperative only, but ODST shows just how flexible the core Halo engine is. An innovative storytelling method, wonderful atmosphere, exciting campaign and addictive multiplayer make Halo 3: ODST not only one of the year's best shooters but also one of the Xbox 360's best shooters.

Score

Much to the disbelief of many, Halo was originally envisioned as an RTS game. Somewhere along the way Bungie decided it would be good fun to make an FPS instead and an entire genre thrived on consoles since then. Eight years after the fact Ensemble was called upon for their swan song: Halo Wars. Halo Wars may have a redundant title but the game itself is anything but. The genius of it in fact doesn't stem from the insane amount of features and new ideas shown in the game but in its simplicity.

Halo Wars is designed not only with Halo fans in mind but also with console gaming in mind. It strips away the cumbersome commands and features that other console RTS games are saddled with; there are no modifier keys, resource collectors, etc to keep track of. You are given a mission and a base and from there resources are flown in to your position and you choose how to approach the battle.

Many genre diehards that live and die by the keyboard and mouse will find Halo Wars a simplistic affair that won't quite satisfy their needs. But that's the point. Halo Wars succeeds where other console RTS games failed. The controls are easy to use, you never forget which button does what, you don't have to press on the d-pad and then press that button again to find another feature and so on. Simplicity is the name of the game and when all you have are four buttons to play with that sounds like a good game plan.

The experience itself is very streamlined as you push forward or defend certain points of interest. The missions don't go on for hours and hours like many other strategy games, RTS or otherwise. They were designed with consoles in mind, taking anywhere from twenty minutes to maybe an hour for the longer and more difficult sorties. But it works, and that's where Halo Wars succeeds. It strips away what other PC ports do not and it works wonderfully because of it.

In the game's various missions you must typically scout out a base or start with one. These bases always look the same and are not customizable; you may only make them larger to add in more buildings and turrets. From there you train your units in your base(s) and go after your objective. The missions all have an action feel to them and come in two flavors. There are the linear ones where you follow a set path across the level or there are missions where you are put in a large area and told to tackle the situation in whatever way seems best. The missions do get exciting though, one of them literally has your ship under attack so you will call units out of the ship as you fight on top of the hull to defend it. Another has you helping Spartans evacuate a city being attacked by the Covenant.

These missions start out as very simple for the beginning of the game, though that is by design. These missions teach you how to play the game and while fun they won't give you the sense of fulfillment and excitement that the rest of the game takes starting from the fourth mission.

While simplicity does a lot of favors for Halo Wars in the overall gameplay department it also carries over to other aspects of the game that didn't exactly require it. There is an overall lack of variety in the units for one, which is a bit of a shame. You'll have access to Warthogs, Scorpions, UNSC soldiers, Spartans, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Hornets and the usual Halo arsenal along with a few new ones created for the game. However, these units are not varied enough. They are all upgradeable but once you get used to what you have you know how to use it all. The same is true for the Covenant units in the game and they control almost identically to the humans. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would have been great if there were more units, or at least if the Covenant units played a bit more differently than the human units.

Another point of contention for many is that the campaign is only playable through the perspective of the UNSC. The Covenant is only available in multiplayer. It would have been nice if there were a second campaign for the Covenant to extend the campaign's lifespan and considering the quality of the game's actual campaign it would only be a bonus for the player to have more to dive into. But the campaign that is present in Halo Wars is actually fun to replay as there are Black Boxes and Skulls hidden throughout to find and the strategies can be mixed up in some of the missions.

The multiplayer has two different gametypes, Skirmish and Deathmatch, so it is a bit of a disappointment in that sense as well. This game reaffirms that while simplicity helps the game on the whole it shouldn't have been applied to every facet of it. The multiplayer has some well-designed maps for various types of matches. They're all wide open for the most part and simply involve you destroying your opponent, so in a sense the two modes practically play the same way too. The multiplayer however is fun for those looking for that sort of action on their Xbox.

The story of Halo Wars is largely forgettable. It's a simple story that takes action to the forefront and is largely told through gorgeous CG cutscenes. The one that takes place prior to the final mission is full of so much fanservice that you can't help but smile. The story told in Halo Wars is nowhere near as compelling as the story told through the trilogy nor is it as well told and nowhere near as deep. The game's plot is entertaining while it lasts but it's sort of funny to see the RTS game in the series tell a more action story while the FPS games take on a more dramatic edge with their story.

The game's graphics look great, and those CG cutscenes only help it that much more. It's bright and crisp; the units are large and well designed. You'll never squint at the screen wondering what you're fighting against. Ensemble did a great job of creating these large, excellent units and the structures and levels have that authentic Halo feel to them as well.

The same can be said of the sound in the game. You may be telling various Gauss Warthogs to attack something instead of controlling it yourself but when they move and fire it sounds like Halo and Halo sounds fantastic. The music in the game also captures the spirit of Halo. It's very surprising to see an RTS game capture the spirit of the series, but it does so without any trouble. Whether you're watching Halo Wars or listening to it the game sounds like authentic Halo.

Simplicity is the name of the game and for that reason alone Halo Wars is a great stride forward for the RTS genre on consoles. It's a bit unfortunate that the same rule was applied to almost everything about the game, from units, multiplayer, playable campaigns and so on, but the game doesn't suffer for it. The quality of it is so high that while it isn't the greatest RTS ever made, nor is it the greatest on consoles, it does take the right steps to ensure the genre's success on consoles. For everything Halo Wars does it ultimately ends up being the catalyst of change the genre needs. That and it's just cool to give a squad of Spartans orders on how to kick ass!

Score

Number 51... damn... 51 reviews. I feel old as ffff....