Fuzzay

GTA: San Andreas is the third installment of the Grand Theft Auto series to appear during the PS2/Xbox generation. For as improved a game Vice City was compared to GTA3, San Andreas again ups the ante by simply making everything bigger. Instead of a singular city to explore, San Andreas features three major cities comprising of an entire state, giving the player more freedom to explore than ever before. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

You play as Carl "CJ" Johnson, a troubled ex-con returning to his hometown of Los Santos to attend the funeral of his mother. Upon his return, he finds his old gang, the Grove Street Families, in complete disarray and makes it his business to restore the respect of the gang throughout the community. Being watched by the police at all times, CJ is eventually forced to leave the comforts of his hometown and make a name for himself across the state of San Andreas.

Your character, CJ, begins the game with a relatively slendor build. Unlike Vice City or GTA3, there's quite a deal of character customization in this one. By going to the gym, you can turn CJ into a muscle-clad gladiator. Or if one would prefer, you can just treat CJ to burgers and pizza amd watch his side fat cross into the cities of San Fierro and Las Venturas. Depending on CJ's body type, CJ can be a slow pile of mass that can hardly jump... or he can be the opposite. As such, it's usually a better idea to be slim than it is fat, but the decision is up to the user after all. All the while, you can equip CJ with an enormous assortment of clothes, tattoos, and hair styles.

As interesting as CJ is, the star of this game is the fictional state of San Andreas. Featuring three gigantic cities based off of real-world counterparts, San Andreas is a dream come true to the explorer types. The city of Los Santos, where the game begins, is a Los Angeles clone, complete with a Hollywood to amuse the tourists. San Fierro, with all its hills and trams, is based off of San Francisco. Finally, Las Venturas, with its casinos and drunken debauchery, is obviously Las Vegas re-incarnate. To its credit, Rockstar did a fantastic job recreating these cities. As the story progresses, more cities open up, so you can't just travel to Las Venturas from the get-go unless you wish to meet certain doom. Beyond these three main cities also lie a plethora of rural villages that can be found on the various highways that connect the metropolis'.

Like the rest of the series, GTA is about performing missions to advance the storyline. Most of these missions typically involve traveling to point B to kill so-and-so or delivering some goods to someone else. A lot of it is cookie-cutter stuff, but every so often lies a memorable, unique mission, such as the marijuana fields that need to be set ablaze before the authorities bust you. The Wanted system returns as well. The more stars you have, the fiercer the police presence will be, climaxing with the arrival of the army to take you down. If continuing the storyline isn't your idea, there are plenty of side missions to accomplish on the side, such as taxi cab or pimp missions. Even without accomplishing the many side quests found in this game, one can expect to spend 40 plus hours just completing the main quest.

As Grand Theft Auto would imply, your basic mode of transport across the gigantic state is by automobile. With NPC cars scattered everywhere, there's always a car around for CJ to nab. CJ can travel via land, air, or sea, so his options aren't limited to your family friendly SUV. Care to fly a 747? Sure go ahead! For the most part, the handling of each vehicle works fine. It's hardly "realistic", but all vehicles handle differently depending on the model. And there are lots of different models.

Shooting has always felt a little bit clunky in previous GTA installments, and its no different here. Unless you find yourself playing with a keyboard or mouse set-up, you'll find yourself having to lock-on to the bad guys and press the shoot button until they fall down. Unfortunately, with a lock-on feature, often the cursor moves erratically, causing you to boil in a fit of frustration as CJ shoots someone you didn't intend to. It works, but it doesn't do it without stumbling here and there. As for the weapons in this game, expect your typical fare of assault rifles, rocket launchers, and hand guns.

There's certainly a lot to listen to as you cause havoc across the state of San Andreas. The radio system returns in this installment, with stations of talk radio, rap or hip-hop, country, and rock, all of which providing a unique soundtrack. There's somthing downright hilarious to listening to blue grass as you bolt down the highway away from the police.

GTA: San Andreas isn't a gigantic leap over past installments. The series hasn't changed the core roots of its gameplay, but that's a good thing. Providing a long storyline, fans will most definitely be satisfied with the experience.

There's something special about the sequel to the critically acclaimed The Operative: No One Lives Forever. Could it be the wide assortment of lovable, hilarious characters? Is it the story focusing on the hopeless H.A.R.M. agency as they attempt to cause evil across the world again? Could it be the stellar cross-over of gameplay between reckless shooting and careful stealth?

It's everything.The way every detail meshes together is what defines this title and truly turns it into a great FPS that can be easily recommended to anyone.

You play the role of Cate Archer, who again reprises her part as the sexy super spy of the U.N.I.T.Y agency who must once again thwart the evil H.A.R.M. agency. The story begins as Cate discovers critical intelligence of H.A.R.M.'s next act of evil, Project Omega. As she investigates the project further, it becomes clear to all involved that H.A.R.M. again has to be stopped. To accomplish her task, Cate is sent to wide variety of exotic and not-so-exotic locations including a brief stop-over in Japan (which also provides the training tutorial), India, Antarctica, Siberia, and even Akron, Ohio. Is there any other Akron?

Since the game is set in the 1960's in the heart of the Cold War, the music and styles on screen often fit with the tone. The music is campy, reminiscent of an Austin Powers movie. Character uniforms or suits, robot designs, and locations are cliched 1960's archetypes, giving the game a noticeable flair compared to other games in the genre. There's even your obligatory evil lair set underground amidst a sea of lava, albeit in this case, fake lava.

The shooting aspects in the game are as tight and solid as any you would have found in 2002, although it's fair to say that the system feels slightly dated today. Regardless, the shooting never feels tedious or boring, and the game constantly throws you new guns and cooler gadgets to test out in the field of battle. Aside from your standard FPS fare of assault rifles, hand guns, and rocket launchers, the gadgets are far more interesting. Joining your inventory could be the Angry Kitty, used to distract your assailants with its incessant crying; the welder disguised as a can of hair spray, so you can get through any locked doors or vaults in your way; or perhaps even the mascara decoder, used to well... decrypt  any electronic touch pads.

However, depending on your play style, your weapon of choice may be the CT-180 Utility Launcher. Using this weapon and using the proper form of ammo, you have the advantage of tranquilizing your targets, tracking their movements on the mini-map, firing a jolt of electricity into them, or disabling any nearby cameras. If you plan to play a stealth game, you're certain to be using this weapon the most.

Unfortunately, the stealth gameplay can be a frustrating ordeal, as I often found myself blowing my cover and having to resort to shooting everyone instead. Enemies can often see you peak around walls no matter how swift you are, proving that the only safe location to hide is in the shadows, marked by an icon on screen as soon as you enter it. It may be the ideal form of play in this tale of espionage, but it certainly isn't the easiest mode of travel, and with few consequences of going on a wild shooting spree, there's little reason to even attempt stealth.

No One Live Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way is truly a great FPS both in the presentation and execution. With the '60's vibe, the game is quite frankly, hilarious in every sense of the word. Whether it's a battle in a spinning tornado, a long tricycle chase against a French mime riding a unicycle, or the devious and absurd "Man Handler" contraption, it's easy to laugh at the insanity happening around you. For those interested in a FPS with humor and style, it's an easy title to recommend.

Earthbound, released in 1995 to the Super NES, is arguably one of the more inventive RPGs to date. Rather than a fantasy epic, involving Princesses and dragons, Earthbound is set in a more modernized world with skyscrapers, telephones, and ATM machines abroad.

Set in the year 199x in the world of Eagleland, your character, Ness, awakens one morning to the crash of a meteorite. Upon investigation, Ness discovers that the meteorite actually contains a bug sent from the bleak near-future. According to this bug, only with the help from three friends he's never actually met and power gathered from key locations across the world, can Ness defeat Giygas and save Eagleland from impending disaster.

Though the graphics aren't technically impressive, they certainly fit the mood of the game. The interaction between NPC characters will often leave you laughing, and Earthbound consistently provides goofy situations that would mostly be taboo in other RPG games. One of my favorites is the psychedelic town of Moonside, where you're attacked by electric guitars and saying yes actually means no. With a healthy sense of humor, it's hard not to fall in love with Earthbound's quirks.

The game mechanics are very similar to Dragon Quest. In battle screen, you face your opponent in a first person view, where you you can simply choose to Attack, use Psychic powers (PP) to heal or attack, use goods in your inventory, or defend. With a click of the button, your means of attack is easily registered. However, if you're attacked by an enemy, depending on your characters' vitality, you can prolong your death. For instance, if your character is "mortally wounded", your health will steadily trickle to zero. If you're fast and able enough, you can either heal before your HP hits zero, or you can frantically try to defeat your opponent before your own HP is depleted. This adds a nice twist to otherwise tedious battle moments. Enemies are often of the wacky variety, such as the Unassuming Local guy, an evil circus tent, or the New Age Retro Hippy.

There's no character customization in Earthbound, which may be classified as a detriment to the game. From the get-go, Ness has a limited range of psychic powers, but as you encounter enemies and level-up, your arsenal of abilities steadily increases. Ness mostly has healing and status-affecting abilities, and is loaded with HP. Your first ally, Paula, may be limited in health points, but she has a lot of psychic points (PP) to disperse attacks such as Fire or Freeze. Your third ally, Jeff, doesn't have any psychic points. However, Jeff can repair broken items to be used in battle, and can also fire heavy-hitting bottle-rockets with ease. Your fourth ally, Poo, is merely average in all departments. He doesn't have a lot of HP or PP, though he can "mirror" enemy's abilities and does have one of the stronger psychic attacks in the game. Each character can hold a total of 14 items, which seems somewhat limiting, especially in the early on, when you only control Ness.

Earthbound never truely takes itself too seriously, which is definitely refreshing for the RPG genre. Despite this, due to some excellent pacing and a strange, if enduring storyline, it's hard to put the controller down. The soundtrack complements the game superbly, with music that perfectly fits the wonders and humor of the setting. If you can admire all of Earthbound's quirks, you will fall in love the characters and the world you travel in.