Shenmue 2 UNDUB JAP

Description

After his father was murdered by a mysterious Chinese man known as Lan Di, Ryo Hazuki swears to avenge his death. After a futile search for Lan Di in Yokosuka, Ryo is contacted by Chen Yao Wen, a Chinese master who advices him to travel to Hong-Kong and seek out Master Lishao Tao, who might be the only one who knows what had happened between Lan Di and Ryo's father in the past. Ryo arrives in Hong-Kong and starts searching for a man who is his only link to the elusive murderer.

Shenmue II is a direct sequel to Shenmue, continuing its story. The game's structure and basic gameplay elements are similar to those of the first game, incorporating elements of adventure, fighting, and light role-playing. Ryo explores vast 3D environments, talks to people to gather clues, and occasionally participates in fighting sequences. Like in the previous game, Ryo can train to become stronger in battles, and gradually learns new moves, which constitutes the role-playing element of the game.

The game's environments are based on real locations in Hong-Kong. The game world is significantly larger than that of the predecessor. The game also has a somewhat more linear story progression with numerous precise objectives, though free-form exploration is available during most of the game. Earning money plays a more important role, and many objectives are built around Ryo having to take part-time jobs (most of which are shaped like action mini-games) or participate in fights to win money. Like in the first game, Ryo can visit the arcades and play exact replicas of older arcade games, e.g. OutRun.

The sequel features a larger amount of characters who take part in the story. Some of them also accompany Ryo on his journey, helping him in fights or other dangerous situations. The game also noticeably increases the amount of quick-time events (QTEs). Several key sequences are composed entirely out of cutscenes during which the player has to rapidly press combinations of buttons in order to execute the correct action. Many major fights in the game also include extensive QTE segments, often serving as a culmination of the fight.

The Xbox version of the game comes with an additional DVD called Shenmue: The Movie, which contains a summation of the first Shenmue made into a feature-length movie.

Shenmue 2 SPANISH

Description

After his father was murdered by a mysterious Chinese man known as Lan Di, Ryo Hazuki swears to avenge his death. After a futile search for Lan Di in Yokosuka, Ryo is contacted by Chen Yao Wen, a Chinese master who advices him to travel to Hong-Kong and seek out Master Lishao Tao, who might be the only one who knows what had happened between Lan Di and Ryo's father in the past. Ryo arrives in Hong-Kong and starts searching for a man who is his only link to the elusive murderer.

Shenmue II is a direct sequel to Shenmue, continuing its story. The game's structure and basic gameplay elements are similar to those of the first game, incorporating elements of adventure, fighting, and light role-playing. Ryo explores vast 3D environments, talks to people to gather clues, and occasionally participates in fighting sequences. Like in the previous game, Ryo can train to become stronger in battles, and gradually learns new moves, which constitutes the role-playing element of the game.

The game's environments are based on real locations in Hong-Kong. The game world is significantly larger than that of the predecessor. The game also has a somewhat more linear story progression with numerous precise objectives, though free-form exploration is available during most of the game. Earning money plays a more important role, and many objectives are built around Ryo having to take part-time jobs (most of which are shaped like action mini-games) or participate in fights to win money. Like in the first game, Ryo can visit the arcades and play exact replicas of older arcade games, e.g. OutRun.

The sequel features a larger amount of characters who take part in the story. Some of them also accompany Ryo on his journey, helping him in fights or other dangerous situations. The game also noticeably increases the amount of quick-time events (QTEs). Several key sequences are composed entirely out of cutscenes during which the player has to rapidly press combinations of buttons in order to execute the correct action. Many major fights in the game also include extensive QTE segments, often serving as a culmination of the fight.

The Xbox version of the game comes with an additional DVD called Shenmue: The Movie, which contains a summation of the first Shenmue made into a feature-length movie.

Shenmue 2

Description

After his father was murdered by a mysterious Chinese man known as Lan Di, Ryo Hazuki swears to avenge his death. After a futile search for Lan Di in Yokosuka, Ryo is contacted by Chen Yao Wen, a Chinese master who advices him to travel to Hong-Kong and seek out Master Lishao Tao, who might be the only one who knows what had happened between Lan Di and Ryo's father in the past. Ryo arrives in Hong-Kong and starts searching for a man who is his only link to the elusive murderer.

Shenmue II is a direct sequel to Shenmue, continuing its story. The game's structure and basic gameplay elements are similar to those of the first game, incorporating elements of adventure, fighting, and light role-playing. Ryo explores vast 3D environments, talks to people to gather clues, and occasionally participates in fighting sequences. Like in the previous game, Ryo can train to become stronger in battles, and gradually learns new moves, which constitutes the role-playing element of the game.

The game's environments are based on real locations in Hong-Kong. The game world is significantly larger than that of the predecessor. The game also has a somewhat more linear story progression with numerous precise objectives, though free-form exploration is available during most of the game. Earning money plays a more important role, and many objectives are built around Ryo having to take part-time jobs (most of which are shaped like action mini-games) or participate in fights to win money. Like in the first game, Ryo can visit the arcades and play exact replicas of older arcade games, e.g. OutRun.

The sequel features a larger amount of characters who take part in the story. Some of them also accompany Ryo on his journey, helping him in fights or other dangerous situations. The game also noticeably increases the amount of quick-time events (QTEs). Several key sequences are composed entirely out of cutscenes during which the player has to rapidly press combinations of buttons in order to execute the correct action. Many major fights in the game also include extensive QTE segments, often serving as a culmination of the fight.

The Xbox version of the game comes with an additional DVD called Shenmue: The Movie, which contains a summation of the first Shenmue made into a feature-length movie.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown

Description

Lockdown is the third Rainbow Six game to appear on the consoles, this time with Red Storm Entertainment fully behind the wheel. Once again, you play as Domingo 'Ding' Chavez, leading a small commando team on black-ops missions. This time, however, the developer strays from the realistic squad-based action in favor of more arcadish gameplay. The main single player campaign is based around a dangerous virus and hostages. In certain missions, you play as sniper Dieter Weber, picking off terrorists from higher ground and providing cover while the team infiltrates the building.

The differences between the console versions are the number of missions and the availability of certain gadgets. There is an offline two-player, split-screen cooperative mode available (up to 4 over Xbox live) and full online multiplayer up to 16 players featuring traditional deathmatch, objective-based games and CTF modes, on Xbox and PS2. While the PS2 version includes a Rivalry mode, Xbox online multiplayer has an RPG element: the P.E.C. mode (Persistent Elite Creation). Before playing, you choose an avatar and a class with specific abilities (commando, engineer, spec op and medic). While playing, you earn credits and experience, which can be traded in for new weapons, items or amour. Gear regularly needs to be repaired, shown by the durability level, and experience can be used to assign skills points to abilities, individualizing your character.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II

Description

The threat of the Onyx Tower has passed for now, but mere moments pass before a new threat to the Sword Coast arises. The heroes of the Onyx Tower have disappeared, so the fate of Baldur's Gate now rests on the shoulders of five wandering adventurers who are only now journeying into the region.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II can be played solo or cooperatively with one other player, each choosing from 5 playable characters. The gameplay is the same as its previous incarnation: kill monsters and bad guys to collect treasure, items, and experience. By talking to townspeople in Baldur's Gate the player can learn of optional maps filled with more dangerous monsters and additional treasure. Equipment can be enchanted by the player this time, and given various magical effects such as additional fire damage, absorbing mana, or boosting stats.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Description

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance casts the player as one of three basic characters: an elf sorceress, a human archer, or a dwarf fighter. From humble beginnings slaying rats in the cellars of an inn, the adventurer will move on to exploring caves, crypts, and mountain passes. Naturally, it's all filled to the brim with horrible monsters, wicked traps, treasures, and fabled magical weapons. As the game progresses the player is constantly rewarded with new weaponry, new monsters to fight, and experience points to put into the adventurer's character stats to grow even more powerful. The adventurer must eventually unravel the secrets of a dark, new Thieves Guild backed by powerful mages.

X-Men: Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse

Description

The mutants from the Brotherhood and the X-Men try to forget their differences since a common enemy has appeared - the dreaded Apocalypse. His plan involves kidnapping mutants, and, with the help of the mad geneticist Mr. Sinister, extract their powers and use them to make himself even more powerful. At first, the heroes must rescue Professor X, who has fallen into the clutches of the enemy. However, when Apocalypse kidnaps Magneto's son Quicksilver, the leader of the Brotherhood is determined more than ever to team up with his former foes and stop Apocalypse's evil plans.

X-Men: Legends II - Rise of Apocalypse is an action role-playing game and a sequel to X-Men Legends. The player controls a party of four characters, though only one at a time can be controlled directly. Beside switching the characters for combat purposes, the player is often obliged to do so, because some of the tasks in the game require the specific abilities of a certain mutant. For example, Iceman can put out fire, Magneto can generate a metal bridge across a gap, etc.. Most of the time, however, is spent in combat, collecting loot and acquiring experience points. Unlike the first game, items dropped by enemies are random. The character will level up, become stronger, and learn new skills. The player can opt to allocate all the experience and skill points manually.

Each character has several different skills based on their mutant powers. These include melee, boost, projectile, traps, and others. Each character can also learn powerful super skill: for example, Cyclops has a super beam attack that can hit multiple targets; Wolverine has a spinning attack that inflicts heavy damage; Magneto has a metal attack, crushing everything in sight by manipulating metal objects in the environment, etc.

New in the sequel is on-line multiplayer with both co-operative and six competitive modes. Four players can play on a single console by plugging in additional controllers at any time.

X-Men: Legends

Description

Shortly after teen Alison Crestmere begins to exhibit her mutant powers, she's hunted through the streets of New York City by anti-mutant troops and The Brotherhood. Rescued by the X-Men, Alison is taken to Professor Charles Xavier's School for the Gifted where she begins her quest to learn control over her lava-based powers.

X-Men: Legends is a role-playing game set in the Marvel Universe. Offering single and multiplayer support, Legends tells the broad story of the war between mutants and humankind and the conflict between the X-Men and The Brotherhood, against the personal story of Alison and the role she plays.

Controlling a party of four X-Men, picked from a roster that grows to 15 mutants, players take on armed guards, evil mutants, and killer Sentinels. Mutant powers grow stronger as the X-Men level up, but so do the challenges: securing an aircraft carrier, preventing a nuclear power plant meltdown and more.

America's Army: Rise of a Soldier

Description

This is the console version of America's Army: Operations., the U.S. Army's free "recruitment tool" for computers. As in the original, the single-player campaign simulates a soldier's true Army career from boot camp all the way to the Special Forces. Most of the game's missions involve real-world situations today, and the game uses authentic Army weapons and equipment. The 35 unconnected missions are divided into five missions for each class.

Since the game was developed with the professional advice of actual Special Forces soldiers, it is realistic and forces the player to follow authentic Army tactics. If players use a run-'n-gun approach to the gameplay, they can easily get killed on the battlefield. In multiplayer, the player's experience points determine which class he is able to take. 

There are two major changes to this console version. The "build-a-soldier" feature allows the player to fully customize a soldier by changing his name, nickname, face, and even his homestate. Experience points, which are earned at the end of each mission for performing well, can be spent improving the soldier's seven abilities. The experience from multiplayer and single player are separate.

Red Faction 2

Description

Long since the revolt from the mining of Mars, a new group has taken over Red Faction, and their sights are set on the dictator, Chancellor Sopot. Sopot originally created the Red Faction soldiers using a form of nano technology but, fearing they would fight back, ordered them to be destroyed.

As the leader of the group, your task is to take back freedom that was lost, and save your skin as well as that of those who work with you.

As was originally designed in the first Red Faction, Geo-Mod builds the world around you as a means to destroy it. Using rockets, mines and the many other weapons available, you can take down walls, blast through doors (therefore deleting the need for a security key) and bring down enemies by destroying the floor that they stand on. Vehicles can also be used to help in your tasks.

Multiplayer modes are also included for up to 4 players, as well as a collection of bots. As a note, the PC version does not have multiplayer.

Gladius

Description

Gladius is a turn-based gladiatorial RPG. Players try to build a championship gladiator school by gaining experience through fighting battles in the arenas, and recruiting new members.

From the manual:"The story of Gladius starts just as two schools begin the pursuit of the Championship. It follows the epic saga of two young heroes: Ursula, daughter of the barbarian king from the land of Nordagh; and Valens, the son of Imperia's greatest gladiator. Become one of these characters and embark upon a spectacular and brutal journey to fulfill their destinies to keep the world from heading into another disastrous war."

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War

Description

Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War is an updated re-release for the Xbox based on the original PC version Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Next to the full, original singleplayer campaign, there are 7 new prologue levels that show how B.J. and Agent One first met and how they got captured and imprisoned at Wolfenstein Castle. There is also a secret bonus awarded at the end of every level when every secret area has been found.

Next to the original features this port introduces a new shotgun weapon (singleplayer as well as for the Soldier and Engineer in multiplayer games), new equipment (Holy Cross, EMP Device and X-Shield), and new enemies (Occult Priest and X-Shepard). Multiplayer games support a split-screen two-player co-op mode, and matches with up to sixteen players through a system link or over Xbox Live. Downloadable content is also available. As a bonus, a fully playable version of the original Wolfenstein 3D can be played.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Description

In a post-apocalyptic future, a society known as the Brotherhood of Steel is born, wielding powerful weapons and armor from the time before the war, they seek to bring some form of order to the wastelands of what used to be the United States. As a new member(s) to the Brotherhood, you'll soon find yourself separated from your comrades and forced to contend with a variety of missions and challenges alone. Radscorpions, Super-Mutants and Deathclaws are all in the Brotherhood's way, and bringing an end to their tyranny will certainly make the wasteland a safer place.

Brotherhood of Steel is an action game set in the Fallout universe. The Brotherhood members are well armed and carry full clips of ammo (which does run out). New weapons of various nature can be found and equipped to bring new tactics. Shooting down enemies earns experience points and these points are used to improve the attributes of various individual skills. Additionally, your character will have to content with finding keys and other objects, protecting NPCs and jumping over bottomless pits.

Robocop

Description

Robocop places you in the titanium-coated-with-kevlar boots of Alex Murphy, killed in the line of duty and resurrected as the cyborg officer Robocop. The 2003 game features a new plot not featured in any of the films. Crime is up in Neo-Detroit due to the rapid proliferation of a new designer drug "Brain Drain," and the efforts of crime lord William Nexx to control its profitable distribution. Meanwhile, a mayoral race is heating up and getting dirty. And of course, mega-corporation OCP's role in all this is almost certain, but unclear. 

Robocop will have to get to the bottom of all of these mysteries through 9 missions. Gameplay is handled as a typical first-person-shooter, with various Robocop enhancements. His HUD is projected on screen and points out available targets. The player can mark up to three targets with a lock-on button, who Robo will then auto-aim at in sequence. Thermal vision can be activated to see through walls in a limited distance. Multiple weapons are also available, from the signature automatic pistol, to missile launchers and energy weapons.

Objectives are given for each mission, from rescuing hostages to finding clues. Clues can be examined after each mission to explore the story (also updated through TV news breaks, in the style of the films). If the player can target and shoot a enemy's pistol, they will surrender and can be arrested. Should the player kill a hostage or surrendered enemy, they will take damage, forcing the player to follow Robocop's ethics and "prime directives."

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green

Description

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green is a FPS prequel to the 2005 George A. Romero film. It is also the first game based on a George A. Romero property. 

You are Jack, a hick farmer who wakes up to find a stranger on his property. The stranger is a zombie, the first of many he encounters in the game. Using whatever ranged and melee weapons he can find, Jack pummels the undead back to where they came from in the goriest fashion possible. He works his way through a number of typical Romero locales (50's style hospital, cornfields, abandoned police station, loading docks, etc) on his way to Mr. Kaufman's walled city. Once there, Mr. Kaufman asks Jack to help him clean up Fiddler's Green, a luxury condominium tower. This is where the game ends, and the movie picks things up.

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green features an interesting limb specific damage system, meaning the player can literally blow the undead to pieces. It also features multiplayer over Xbox live, system link and Internet (PC). Up to eight players can enjoy deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and invasion modes with a twist - hungry zombies are coming after everyone!

The Bard's Tale

Description

The Bard is a cynical, opportunistic musician who roams the country in search of carnal pleasures. However, this impatient and selfish fellow is compelled to accept the greatest quest of his life: save the princess Caleigh from a demonic cult that has kidnapped her. The unlikely hero must now explore the land in search of the princess, accompanied by the omnipresent Narrator who obviously can't stand the Bard and uses every opportunity to sarcastically comment on his actions. Furthermore, Fionnaoch, the mysterious abductor of the princess, does everything he can to stop the Bard, sending his minions after him.

A self-proclaimed "quest for coin and cleavage", The Bard's Tale is an action RPG that is more of a whimsical take on role-playing games than a remake of the classic series. As the Bard, players can fight off hordes of foes with blade and bow, and summon companions through magical Bard Songs. Leveling up allows the player to raise the character's main attributes and invest specialization points in the different types of weapons he can use. Magical companions must be sought out and then summoned during battles. After being summoned, they act pretty much like AI-controlled party members; some of them specialize in physical attacks and offensive spells, while others can heal the hero.

During conversations the player can choose "nice" or "snarky" responses for the protagonist. While mostly used for humorous effect, some of these responses may affect subsequent events. The game uses the Dark Alliance engine and has a similar camera and control scheme.

Battle Engine Aquila

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Description

In the future, on the planet Allium, the situation has become desperate. This world has suffered from global warming, causing the polar ice caps to melt. The rising sea has resulted in the amount habitable land to decrease dramatically. All that is left are island chains, making land the most valuable resource on the planet. The entire population must survive and compete over these islands.

Currently, there are two distinct civilizations on Allium, settled into an uneasy cease-fire. There are the scientifically advanced Forseti and the aggressive Muspell. The Forseti have recently developed the most advanced combat vehicle in existence, the Battle Engine Aquila. The Aquila is both a four-legged mechanized tank and a combat jet, it is capable of switching modes at will. Players take the role of Hawk Winter, a Forseti cargo loader operator who has been conscripted because of his piloting skills.

Battle Engine Aquila is a mechanized shooter taking place in a larger battlefield. The player plays only a single, yet important, role in a larger war effort. A large part of the gameplay consists of supporting and being supported by the allied forces. Players will have to fight naval, air, and ground forces in both modes of their battle engine.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance

Description

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a re-vamped and revised edition of the original Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, in which Solid Snake must recover the stolen Metal Gear Ray from a group of terrorists bent on using its power for unthinkable reasons.

Along with the original espionage shooter comes a collection of 200 virtual reality (VR) missions. Missions range from killing certain targets and using particular weapons, as well as seeing the world of Solid Snake from different perspectives and styles, with first-person target modes and a variety mode including crazy characters of different shapes and sizes. 

Also included are various alternative missions, ranging from the protagonist sneaking around and snapping photos of targets to bomb disposal, all out destruction, and more.

Call of Duty 3

Description

The third main Call of Duty game centers around Operation Cobra in Normandy, France, the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the Normandy area after the previous month's D-Day landings. You play as 4 allied sides with American, Canadian, British and Polish soldiers in 14 chronological singleplayer missions covering the 88 days leading up to the liberation of Paris. Surprisingly, you cannot play as the French 2nd Armored Division that actually liberated Paris.

The battles are usually dramatic with many fights and scripted events at the same time, consisting of infantry and vehicles, with semi-destructible environments. In between, there are cinematics that explain the events. A few gameplay mechanics have been kept intact or make a return: slight auto aim, the damage system that allows you to recover if you hide for a moment, and smoke grenades. New features include the ability to toss back unexploded grenades and actions requiring a successful series of button combinations. This can occur in hand-to-hand combat where you can yank the weapon out of enemy soldiers' hands. Enemies work in groups, try different tactics and search for cover.

The main multiplayer modes are standard deathmatch (battle), team deathmatch (team battle), Capture the Flag (either with two flags or two sides trying to control a single, neutral flag) and Headquarters (two sides either defend or attack a structure, and players can now respawn after dying). The new mode, War, is similar to the gameplay of the Battlefield series. Two teams start with two control points each, and one neutral flag in the middle. The objective is to control all five flags.

There are multiple-occupancy vehicles (Sherman Tank, Panzer IV, Jeep, Horch, BMW, Harley), and several multiplayer classes: Rifleman, Heavy Assault, Light Assault, Medic, Scout, Support and Anti-Armor. Each class has unique abilities. There are also two rankings: a normal rank system during a single game where your abilities improve if you do well, and an overall TrueSkill ranking. Also, unlike the previous games, your team stays grouped together after a match and is not booted back to the lobby right away.

Destroy All Humans! 2

Description

Our "hero", Crypto 137, is back. Earth is under attack again in another alien invasion. The setting is now the '60s. You go around hunting Humans with your Zap-o-Matic, Ray Gun, or a new weapon. Occasionally there are probing missions where you can hypnotize a Human to do something to carry out your plans for the Furion Planet. There are also missions where you trick humans into being abducted by your ship. 

Crypto also has new weapons: The Dislocator, a gun that shoots purple discs and grabs anything (including tanks), and beats them up. There's also a gun that can bring down meteor strikes... and another gun is called Gastro, which is a hologram on a hover-ship that helps out Crypto. 

The side quests have fleshed-out stories now; in addition, there are cult missions where you convince humans to worship an Alien God. A Co-op mode has also been added. The entire game can be played through on a split-screen and the second player can join in or out of the action at any time through the pause menu.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Description

In the second Call of Duty game for consoles, players again take to battle in The Second World War. As with other Call of Duty games, focus is on the characters and their drama amidst the furious, heavily scripted, first-person action. As a private new to war in America's most legendary infantry division, nicknamed the Big Red One for the distinctive patch they wore, players will fight through the game as a team in the Fighting First, and will be affected by the loss of friends on the battlefield.

Players will have to re-enact the successes of World War II through a wide variety of land, sea and air missions in Africa, Sicily and Normandy, by using vehicles including tanks, jeeps, armored cars and half-tracks. Success will depend on how well players can move, shoot and complete the objectives that a commanding officer provides before each mission.

The Xbox and PS2 versions offer multiplayer games with up to 16 players.

Destroy All Humans!

Description

Greetings earthlings! I, Cryptosporidium 137 of the Furon Empire, happened upon your planet on the way back from destroying the martians. Due to some experiments with atomic weaponry, we lack genitalia and the quality of our clones has degraded. Since you pathetic humans all carry Furon DNA in your genetic code, I have been instructed to collect fresh samples. Survival is not an option, but you should be honoured to support the legacy of the Furon Empire!

Destroy All Humans! is a humorous action game with winks to the era of the goofy fifties' sci-fi movies. Crypto can hypnotize and scan people, and lift objects using psychokinesis. He can also control humans using the Hypno Blast to impose his commands. Extracted DNA can be exchanged in your mothership for new weapons and ability upgrades. Furon weaponry includes a Zap-o-Matic, disintegrator ray, abducto beam, quantum deconstructor and even the famous anal probe. Not to be overpowered, you have to disguise yourself using the Holobob. There are different alert levels, similar to the Grand Theft Auto games and if you are not careful, you will be hunted down by the police, military or the government.

You are constantly in contact with the mothership, where you can purchase upgrades, save the game and apply for new missions. Crypto does not have to run all the time, he can also use his flying saucer to abduct humans or animals, cause havoc or face bigger threats. Next to the story-based missions, you will also be instructed to collect specific samples or kill a certain amount of humans in a race against time.

187: Ride Or Die

Description

187: Ride Or Die combines fighting and car racing through different game modes, including online play. In all game modes, you have to control both driving and shooting at the same time.

187 Ride Or Die takes place in the "gangsta" universe, where you are "Buck", a young thug hired to take out the members of the opposing crew while on the road. The game provides a set of different cars, characters and weapons you can play with. Weapons take a large part in the gameplay: It is quite impossible to win races without using weapons. 

There are alternate mission types such as escort missions, car bomb, police escape (the only mode without weapon), and others. There are also deathmatch modes where the goal is to get the maximum of frags on other cars in arena style maps.