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Ubisoft's latest entry in the Rainbow Six franchise puts you in the shoes of team leader Logan Keller whose teammates got kidnapped on a routine mission to capture the terrorist leader Irena Morales. Logan makes it out on his own, but has to leave his mates behind on order of the headquarter. It appears that an army of terrorists has invaded Sin City and Keller is to lead Bravo team to clear the situation and uncover the plot. It's too bad though that the story sounds like taken right out of a Tom Clancy novel and is filled with clichés like terrorist securing some dangerous weapon, treachery, government secrets and what not. Add to that a lack-luster ending that leaves you hanging and too many questions unanswered and the single player can be a bit of a disappointment.

But alas, gameplay to the rescue. If there's one thing the game does extremely well, it has to be the sense of really being a squad leader who fights very intense, tactical battles against smart enemies. Key here is an elaborate cover mechanic that lets you hide behind pretty much any flat surface or small object. When taking cover, the camera will pop out of your head and switch into a 3rd person over the shoulder perspective, that lets you look around, aim at enemies and quickly jump out of your cover for a few well-placed shots before vanishing behind it again. It's a great system and necessary as well, because the A.I is pretty smart and you can only take a few hits before your vision goes black and you drop down dead if you don't recover for a few seconds.

The level design is all over the place though as some passages are very linear in an artificial way like lines of cars stacked behind each other to form barricades, while others offer a variety of options like roping through windows or multiple entrances to surprise the enemy while they are distracted by your teammates. On the other hand, the Vegas setting is for the most part really nice and certainly hasn't been done before in this fashion in any other game. Since the game relies on checkpoints to save your progress, it's note-worthy that their placement is quite fair and tries to eliminate some of the frustration that can occur during a few especially challenging sequences.

From a technical standpoint, the game is solid, falls victim to a lot of nagging flaws however. While the sound effects, especially the realistic weapon sounds as well as the voice cast, are excellent, the mixing screws up at times, making gun fights in the room next door sound like a mile off and some character voices are almost impossible to understand even if the talky heads are right next to you. Same for the graphics which are certainly solid and run at a smooth frame rate for the most part, but oddities like a few muddy textures and pop-ups like weapons disappearing and re-appearing as you move a few feet away give the game an unfinished feel. In addition, the game's 1080i support is basically busted which adds to that impression, although it runs fine in SD and 720p.

Rainbow Six: Vegas's multiplayer component is fantastic though as the game sports 2-player split screen, LAN support and online play via the PlayStation Network for up to 14 players with a total of 10 game modes on 20 maps. Modes include variations of deathmatch and team deathmatch as well as a capture the flag-like mode or escort missions where on team has to guard a VIP while the other team has to eliminate that person. As with all online play though, your mileage may vary and some players, including me, have had some issues with the game crashing at times. If you get a game going though, it's extremely fun and rewarding, as you'll gain experience, rank up and are given access to new weapons and equipment.

All in all, Rainbow Six: Vegas is a great game, especially in multiplayer, but has some issues like a few bugs and a rather disappointing story line. Still, it's easily one of the best tactical shooters to date, especially on the PS3.

Final Fantasy X is the tenth instalment of Square's highly regarded RPG series and it was the first to be released on the Playstation 2. As with every new game of the franchise, FFX features a completely new setting, story and cast of characters.

Main protagonist of the game is Tidus, star player of the blitzball team Zanarkand Apes, who sees his world destroyed by a giant tidal wave that seems to swallow the whole city of Zanarkand. Trying to escape, he teams up with his mentor Auron, who has been Tidus' only father figure ever since his old man Jecht disappeared several years ago. The follwing fights against a giant monster serves as a tutorial into the basics of the combat system, which is completely turn-based. However, your actions and stats affect the queue in which actions are taken. Whether you attack normally, use magic, special abilities or items can lead to additional hits before the enemy can make his move and makes battles very strategic. Tidus and Auron fight hard against the offspring of the being Auron calls "Sin", but are ultimately swallowed and literally washed away.

The world of Spira is equally terrorized by Sin, mankind's punishment for a war that destroyed the city of Zanarkand a thousand years ago. It is the task of the summoners to head on a pilgrimage to all the temples of Spira to prove worthy of the final aeon, a being so powerful it can destroy "Sin" and bring the Calm, a short period of peace until Sin is reborn. The young lady Yuna is the daughter of the last summoner to defeat "Sin" ten years ago and was about to leave the isle of Besaid with her guardians Lulu and Wakka when a young stranger is swept up, who claims to be from the city that laid in ruins for a thousand years. That man is of course Tidus who suddenly finds himself in a land unknown but joins the summoner on her journey that will lead them to the ruins of Zanarkand. Along the way, he grows closer to his companions, finds new allies and will discover the truth about Sin, Zanarkand and his very own existence.

As with all the Final Fantasy games, the gameplay is very story-driven and consists of not just the straight travels from temple to temple as you would expect. Many interesting and tragical things happen during your travels and force you to take unexpected paths. You will often encounter random battles and boss battles which take place in arenas designed to fit the theme of the location you're currently in. One main difference between FFX's combat system and that of previous instalments of the series is the fact that you can exchange party members during battle. This is necessary because of the game's level up system called the sphere grid, a giant board with several hundred connected nodes. Characters start at different positions on that board and can move from node to node by using AP gained after battles. These nodes increase different stats of a character like HP, MP, Attack, Defence, Agility, Magic, etc as soon as they are unlocked by that character using corresponding spheres found in battle or treasure chests. Due to the positioning of these stat nodes, some characters will naturally strike with more force while casually miss more agile enemies. Another good example is Lulu, whose natural path follows several nodes with black magic spells and will therefore be needed to defeat foes with high defence but weakness against elemental damage. In time (and long grinding), all characters can get equally powerful at everything, but this will take you far beyond the story.

Yuna is the character that stands out as she is the only one able to summon the many aeons achieved throughout the game (up to 10, although the Magus Sisters always fight together as a trio). After an impressive summoning sequence, the complete party will leave the battlefield and the aeon will fight alone. You can assign various commands and in time, teach them new ones. When an aeon dies or is told to retreat manually, the battle continues with your normal party. The game clocks in at about 40 hours for the story, but FFX features many additional side quests that can easily push the game to 150 hours and more. The international version of the game (released in PAL regions and re-released in Japan) features even more content in the dark aeons and the sheer unkillable Penance with its 12'000'000 HP (yes, that's a lot).

Graphically, FFX was one of the best-looking games of its release year and still holds up excellently, especially considering the PS2's weaker hardware compared to other current-gen consoles. Everything is rendered in full 3D as opposed to the PSOne's Final Fantasy games (let alone earlier episodes of the franchise). Locations range rom island settings, to enchanted forests, wide plains, large cities, mountain trails and of course, the ruins of Zanarkand. Characters are very detailed, although the less important characters fall somewhat flat compared to the main characters. There are also several levels of rendering detail depending on the scenes and close up shots of the lower poly-count models look a bit outdated nowadays.
Additionally, FFX again features some of the best CG sequences seen in video gaming, used to make several scenes especially memorable.

FFX is also the first game of the series to feature voice acting and does a fairly good job at it. Although some people don't like some of the voices used, they match the characters and make them very expressive and emotional. The musical score of the game is at very high level and can easily compete with its predecessors (which are always considered among the best). All the background songs create an excellent atmosphere and are beautiful to listen to outside of the game as well. The song contributed by Nobuo Uematsu and performed by Japanese singer Rikki called "Suteki Da Ne" stands out the most and is actually played from start to end during an escpecially touching CG sequence in the middle of the game.

With a current save game at 170 hours after several finished story-replays, Final Fantasy X is easily the PS2 game I spent the most time with and not a single second feels wasted. That said, it's one of the most impressive RPGs of its console generation and well worth a try.

After the mediocre Genji: Days of the Blade, Japanese developer Game Republic tries again with their second PlayStation 3 title, Folklore. And while they still struggle with many issues in gameplay and presentation, the end result remains enjoyable for anyone interested in an engaging action-adventure with a story deep enough to question the very meaning of death.

The game follows the young Ellen and journalist Keats who are both lured into the mysterious village of Doolin, said to be a bridge between the world of the living and the dead. As you explore various fantastically beautiful realms as both Ellen and Keats, the two not only unravel a series of murders lying 17 years in the past but also see themselves in the middle of a war between the beings of the netherworld. While the story is incredibly engaging, the same can not always be said about the game's art of story-telling however. Dialogs are usually presented in a comic-style fashion of still photos of the 3D environments and characters, but often lack convincing expressiveness and are rather sterile and lifeless. On contrast, the rarely occurring cutscenes are a breath of fresh air and the voice acting is mostly solid.

The meat of the game is the combat however. As you walk around in the many different realms of the netherworld, you'll encounter about a dozen different folks per realm, each with specific strengths and weaknesses. Since weapons are of little use in the lands of the dead, the two protagonists soon learn to absorb the souls of their enemies and use their abilities against their former comrades. This allows for a ton of variation on how the game can be played, although you'll probably stick with a few key attacks for the most part. Some folks and particularly each realm's end boss, the so called folklores, will require specific combinations of attacks however and since given hints in form of collectible scratches don't always help to figure out which strategy works, you'll often find yourself shuffling through the list of collected folks. Luckily, the list is well organized and accessible, although brief pauses after each switch can get annoying after a while.

Sucking out a folks ID is done entirely with the Sixaxis's tilty-control and not only works surprisingly well but is also a great deal of fun, especially after a hard battle against an especially tough opponent. A quick yank with the controller is enough for most folks, some however hang onto their life quite a bit and need a little convincing in form of a short minigame before giving up. These range from timing-based thrusts and wild shaking to banging the IDs to the ground repeatedly or balancing them for a period of time. It's not only a nice change of pacing, but also bears a strategic element, as you may opt to wait until you can absorb multiple folks for an experience bonus. Besides gathering experience in order to lengthen your life bar, the RPG elements are on the light side however and in terms of character customization, the game can't be compared to a full-fledged RPG.

Since Keats and Ellen will stride through the same environments for the most part, the game can get a bit repetitive after a while, but Folklore tries to mix it up in many small but noticeable ways. Some of the folks change depending on the character played and while Keats is more of a brawler and can transform himself for a short time for higher damage, Ellen's attacks are often less risky as you don't have to get too close, but require a bit more preparation time. Still, at times the game tends to drag on a bit, but the outcome of your adventure manages to make up for it.

If you stick to the main plot, you can expect the game to take you around 15-20 hours, but of course the game encourages you to collect and level up each and every single one of your pokemans by following a number of side quests for special items and other goodies. There's also an online mode complete with a simple to use but rather restrictive level editor allowing you to create and share your own monster-filled dungeons and play others' creations for leader board points. This component is rather underdeveloped though and lacks a bunch of options one would expect the game to have. As it stands, multiplayer should not be your main incentive to play the game, especially when there is such an engaging singleplayer component to it.

Folklore is, for the most part, a great-looking game thanks to the imaginative and diverse environments and fantastic monster designs, as well as the often impressive texture quality. The enchanting art style is reminicent of what an Alice in Wonderland movie would be like, if Tim Burton was on the helm. Some aspects however, like some of the side-characters and areas don't look quite as good as the rest of the game and drag the overall impression down. Same can be said for the rather confined levels which not only make navigation in narrow spaces in a pack of monsters a challenge but also often forces the camera into confusing positions. Equally inconsistent is the audio, specifically the music. While later levels feature some marvelous pieces of engaging music, the early realms' tunes are so short and loop over and over that you'll find yourself annoyed very quickly. As mentioned, the voice acting is solid for the most part, although some of the characters' voices and lines are rather forgettable.

At the end of the day, Folklore is a game of mixed feelings. You'll find yourself often amazed by the game's beautiful environments and deep storyline, but at the same time, you'll be irritated by minor but noticeable flaws that show in almost every aspect in the game. Luckily, the good parts manage to overshadow most of these issues and you'll most definitely have a good time if you enjoy this type of game.

TimeShift is a perfect example of publishers pushing an unfinished game onto the market in time for the holiday season. While the result is by no means disastrous, there's no doubt the game could have been significantly better.

The story goes that at some point in the future, a secret science facility invents a suit that protects its wearer from the side-effects of time travel, i.e. being squished into a singularity by gravitational forces. Of course, one power-hungry jerk in your team can't resist temptation and steals the suit to travel back in time to achieve world domination but just before your reality collapses, you manage to get into the second suit and follow him into the past in an attempt to stop him. Or at least that's what happened if you want to believe the manual, the actual plot barely figures into the game at all and without that back story, you're basically oblivious as to who you are, where ore more importantly when you are and why you are there. The complete lack of a story figuring into the game is without a doubt its biggest problem as it kills any atmosphere the developers try to create and what good is saving the world when you couldn't care less if it was destroyed after all.

Gameplay-wise TimeShift closely follows the blue print laid out by the Half-Life series, without ever achieving its excellence though. The level design while utterly linear is quite diverse and sends you through a variety of environments from war-torn, urban cities to facility complexes and more open-ended, natural environments. To cover ground faster in some of the wider areas, you'll be given a small buggy as well, however it doesn't control quite as tightly as you'd want to.

What seemingly stands out about the game is that your fancy suit lets you manipulate time at your will as long as its energy level is not depleted and while games like Max Payne and F.E.A.R. certainly have done this to death by now, TimeShift tries to mix it up with the ability to not only slow down time but stop it completely or even reverse it. In reality however, you'll use the latter two mostly for some of the puzzles which mostly fall into the pattern of halting time to press two switches at once or crossing a pathway of otherwise moving platforms. The shooting doesn't feel that much different from other games of this type as you'll quickly revert into a routine of finding cover, slowing down time, popping up to take a few guys out and jumping back into cover. This is especially true after you find the crossbow, which kills every grunt enemy with only one shot and is easy to handle thanks to your time-manipulating abilities.

That said, the actual gameplay is certainly fun, the enemy A.I. is challenging enough (if you didn't have that crossbow that is) or at least knows how to point a gun at you, and the level design, while monotonous at times, is interesting overall. Again, the main problem is the constant irritation the game creates by not giving you any background as to why you're doing what you're doing, but it's possible to look past these problems and treat TimeShift more like an old Quake game.

The story campaign clocks in at a sizeable 9-12 hours to finish and will leave people who managed to care about the underdeveloped and flat characters with a bit of a cliffhanger, opening the possibility for a sequel. Additionally, the game features multiplayer for up to 16 combatants with standard modes like deathmatch and capture the flag as well as the unique meltdown madness in which players have to throw chrono-grenades at the enemy team's machine to slow down its countdown. Upon impact, Chrono-grenades create a small sphere which will trap players in time, making them easy targets. All in all, the multi player is quite fun, but the back-end is lacking severely compared to its competitors like Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 3 and Team Fortress 2.

The presentation is a mixed bag, to say the least. The graphics, while somewhat derivative and a mix of Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, are quite nice actually and there are some neat features the developers manage to get out of the third iteration of Epic's UnrealEngine. Most of the textures are crisp even close up, the draw distance for the more open levels is impressive and the game features some great particle and rain effects and explosions. Some of the environment is even dynamically deformable and will demonstrate the aftermath of a heated gun battle. Character-animation is rather stiff however and the game's cutscenes using the game engine are utterly lifeless and lack a whole lot of polish. You'll also encounter a few instances of texture pop-ins and flickering as well as clipping issues and screen tearing.

The sound design is not up to par with current standards however. Sound effects from weapons, environments as well as the voice acting is underwhelming and boring, which coincides with the lackluster dialogue, and the mixing is inconsistent, making conversations hard to understand in fire fights (which, while somewhat realistic, doesn't help gameplay at all). In the same vein, the musical score is just as unimpressive and forgettable, rarely adding anything to the already hardly present atmosphere.

As it stands, TimeShift is a matter of missed opportunities. The game had potential to become a surprise hit if it was given a few more months or even just weeks to flesh out the story and iron out presentational quirks. Instead we got a competent but derivative shooter with an unmemorable story mode and multiplayer that just isn't up to current standards any more. It's enjoyable while it lasts, but don't expect it to stick with you any longer than that.

Okami could very well be the game that settles the debate whether or not video games should be considered art. It's hard to not be enthralled by its lush, flowing colours, breath-taking art design and highly stylized scenery and characters. It would be unfair to reduce the game to simply being "pretty" however, as the underlying gameplay, while very reminiscent of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series, is just as superb and the distinctly Japanese setting sets it apart from anything else out there.

Incidentally, you play as Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun, re-incarnated in Nippon in the form of a white wolf by the tree spirit Sakuya to battle the evil demon Orochi. Amaterasu had already defeated the 8-headed snake and vanished thereafter, but it seems someone resurrected the legendary evil exactly 100 years after its demise, corrupting most of Nippon in the process. Joining in for the ride is Issun, a tiny, bug-sized man, claiming to be the greatest artist who ever lived. Since the celestial wolf is unable to talk, Issun is of course a welcomed guest on your journey to converse with the various villagers and travelers you'll meet on your path. The story is indeed quite entertaining, filled with surprising twists and lovable characters. It's also a surprisingly long adventure that can easily last you for 30-35 hours and even longer if you're inclined to do many of the game's sidequests netting in unlockable content like artworks, music tracks and powerful items for a new game+ retry.

As mentioned, the gameplay borrows many elements from Link's adventures in Hyrule, but the experience is more streamlined and you'll rarely feel a distinct separation between a dungeon environment and an "overworld". Instead you'll be constantly cleansing the nature of an evil darkness that has befallen the land, uncovering new areas in the process, helping the people of Nippon with their problems, eventually uncovering who is behind all the mayhem going on. Naturally, Amaterasu, or Ammy as Issun likes to call our doggy heroine, will encounter many evil underlings trying to stop her and while there is a big variety of demons, often requiring specific strategies, combat is for the most part overly easy and can soon become more of an annoyance than anything else. Luckily, you can try to avoid most battles by keeping your distance to the hovering scrolls, representing mobs of monsters, trapping you in a small arena over the course of the fight, however the rewards from besting foes can give you access to a number of very handy items later on.

Aside from conventional weapons, of which you can equip a main and a sub weapon for a number of different playing styles, Amaterasu is also capable of drawing miracles into the world using the celestial brush. Holding R1 projects the world onto a canvas on which you can draw various patterns for different effects, a technique working surprisingly well and becoming very intuitive after only a few tries. The process is context-sensitive as well, drawing a circle onto the night time sky for example, will bring forth the sun, while the same symbol drawn onto a water surface will create a lily pad for Ammy to savely cross rivers and seas. These techniques figure into many of the game's puzzles and are often required to proceed to new areas. They also figure prominently into the game's boss battles which often need you to follow specific tactical use of newly learned brush moves in order to defeat them. All in all, you'll find 13 different techniques throughout the course of the game, some of which can even be extended by doing optional questing.

The technical aspects of the game are undoubtedly overshadowed by its art design as both the visuals and audio are mesmerizingly beautiful in their composition. The soundtrack consists of numerous pieces, covering every layer of the game, from dark, mysterious tunes of unsettling dungeons to pompous ballads when roaming over the plains of Nippon and fitting themes for every major character. Disappointing however is the complete lack of voice acting throughout the game. Instead, you'll have to click through dialogues underlaid with squeaky pseudo voice acting, somewhat similar to the technique used for the King of All Cosmos in Katamari Damacy. At least the "voices" were chosen carefully and each character has a distinct voice. The graphics can be criticized along those same lines as objects of importance like treasure chests will often fade in when you almost ran past them and the camera, while offering two zoom distances, can be rather troublesome, especially indoors, making some brush puzzles trickier than they needed to be as you have to figure out how to get the desired perspective onto the canvas.

All told though, Okami is a fantastic game, incorporating many of the genre's best aspects in near perfection, offering a unique setting and compelling story wrapped in an outstanding presentation.

Much has been said about Ninja Theory's action-adventure starring the fiery red-head Nariko. Called a shameless God of War clone with roots going back to the days of the original XBox and reviews both amazingly positive and crushingly mediocre, Heavenly Sword has had a hard stand leading up to its release.

The title's namesake, a powerful blade once wielded by a celestial hero and now guarded by a warrior tribe awaiting the foretold rebirth of said hero is the object of King Bohan's desire. You play as the aforementioned beauty Nariko, a member of the sword keepers who are relentlessly hunted by Bohan's enormous army. When her father is captured by the malicious tyrant, she sees no other choice than to wield the legendary blade herself, well-knowing that any mortal carrying it into battle will inevitably be devoured by the sword's lust for blood.
The story remains entertaining throughout the game which is mostly a testimony to the great dialog and charismatic characters coupled with a fantastic presentation similar to movies like Hero. However, one can't help but think that some elements, more specifically Bohan's crow ally, could have been more fleshed out and might have actually been kept in the dark for a possible sequel.

The Heavenly Sword is actually two separate blades though, as Nariko has the choice between three different stances. Per default, she'll be using the speed stance allowing her to trade quick blows, while the power stance merges the two blades into one colossal zweihander for great amounts of damage at the cost of agility. Lastly, the range stance attaches the two blades onto long chains reaching farther off enemies and excellent for mowing down her immediate surroundings at the expense of all blocking capabilities.

Incidentally, blocking is performed automatically, given you're in the stance your attacker is currently using. This is signaled by a short, colored flash around attacking enemies, of which there usually are about a dozen, carefully circling our heroine, waiting for the opportune moment. While most enemies will stick to the default speed stance early on, later parts of the game can get rather hectic with different enemies attacking at the same time with various attacks, demanding a great deal of careful attention and reflexes.

More demanding than the common grunt enemies are the few but lengthy boss battles, each of which demands a fair amount of strategy as you use Nariko's stances to counter their hard-hitting special attacks. At certain points during boss battles and sometimes while traversing terrain, you're forced into timed button pressing sequences similar to games like Shenmue or God of War, which are noticeably more difficult, but often result in rewarding cinematics as Nariko wears her enemies down.

You'll not be fighting solely as Nariko however, her emotionally scarred sister Kai gets some play-time as well. Her parts play vastly different from Nariko's as the nimble Kai is equipped with only an automated crossbow and not trained in any melee combat, so you'll always want to keep a save distance between her and her targets. Although some of her sequences tend to drag on a bit, Kai is certainly a welcomed diversion and her quirky character and funny monologues make her a joy to play.
Like all projectiles in the game, notably the sparsely available rocket launcher and just about any debris or weapon on the ground, Kai's bolts can be steered via after-touch using the Sixaxis' tilty-support. This technique incidentally works quite well after a few tries and if you feel uncomfortable with it, there's always the option to turn it off. There are even a couple of environmental puzzles requiring precise throws, however they are usually not overly complicated and few and far between.

Simply by looking at a couple of pictures, it quickly becomes apparent that the game looks marvelously, thanks to not only the stunning art design but also great technical proficiency. The most outstanding features are the incredible facial animations throughout the game, used to give every character the kind of expressiveness other games are lacking. This becomes apparent during the many cutscenes done with professional actors and directed by motion-capture-experienced actor Andy Serkis, who played Golum and King Kong. The environments are similarly charming in their architecture and the graphics engine is capable of handling hundreds of enemies on screen fairly well. It's of notice however that the frame rate feels constantly slow, not to the extend of unplayability, but it's definitely noticeable. The audio in the game is just as fantastic as the visuals, featuring razor-sharp dialog coupled with fantastic acting. And while the plot is certainly sinister and dark, you can't help but giggle when Kai threatens a soldier to hit his weak point for massive damage. The entire soundtrack is just as outstanding with an orchestral score accompanying the action-packed adventure.

Even with all that praise though, Heavenly Sword's weakness is its disappointingly short length. An experienced player can finish the game within 6-7 hours and while there are a ton of unlockable extras as well as a harder difficulty mode once you finished Nariko's vengeance tour, it's hard to justify the full price. However, the production values are certainly there and the game is a fantastic experience from start to finish. One can only wonder what might have been, if the experience lasted just a bit longer...