SoulCalibur V Review

Several new faces and game mechanics make SoulCalibur V the most robust chapter in this 3D weapon-based fighting series.

The Good

• Beautifully detailed visuals  
• New fighting mechanics add depth  
• Stable online play with replay support  
• ZWEI and Viola have interesting new fighting styles.

The Bad

• No replay sharing  
• Offline modes lack variety  
• Some classic character styles are absent  
• Game lacks basic teaching tools. 

SoulCalibur V is the most complex entry in the series to date. By incorporating some 2D fighting mechanics into its 3D weapon-based system, the game forces you to manage more variables than ever before. In short, this is not a return to the simple times of SoulCalibur II. What SoulCalibur V lacks in accessibility it more than makes up for with its unprecedented depth, fostering a well-crafted, offensive-focused experience that never wants for excitement.

Take a look at all the critical edge attacks from SoulCalibur V's latest round of combatants.

At the center of SoulCalibur V's new design is the critical gauge. This meter can hold two bars of energy used to perform new types of offensive and defensive maneuvers. Critical edge and brave edge attacks are its offensive uses. The flashy, cinematic critical edge attacks cost a full bar of meter and deal substantial damage. Each character has one, and every critical edge has the same input command. Critical edge attacks come out quickly and are great for catching aggressive opponents off guard, especially when you're rising from a knockdown.

Brave edge attacks are improved versions of a character's normal attacks and use one-quarter of the critical gauge. Hilde, for example, has an attack that knocks her opponent into the air and over her head. The brave edge version starts the same way but automatically impales the opponent in midair for extra damage. This combo isn't possible otherwise, hence the meter cost. Both critical and brave edge attacks open up new combo possibilities for the entire cast and help make old characters feel new without altering their fundamental gameplay.

Defensively, the critical meter is used for guard impacting, otherwise known as parrying. That's right: unlike in previous SoulCalibur games, parrying is no longer free. Instead, it costs one-quarter of the gauge--the same as a brave edge attack--and still requires precise timing.

However, there are other ways to parry that don't use the critical gauge. The first is "just guard." This is done by tapping the guard button the instant before being struck. It requires even more precise timing than a standard parry, but if you're successful it will have a similar effect. Certain attacks also incorporate a parry into the attack itself. These attacks are generally slow-moving, highly telegraphed blows that will leave you wide open should you miss.

Guard breaking also discourages defensive-heavy play. Block too many attacks in a match, and your character will automatically drop his or her guard for a few seconds. You can tell you're at risk when the health gauge begins to flash. All of these changes create more intense matches by restricting defensive options and promoting aggressive play. However, the game also keeps itself in check through the limitations of the critical gauge. Since the gauge can hold only four quarters total, and refills slowly as you fight, you can't abuse the new techniques. It's a finely tuned balance that fits naturally atop the existing system.

With all these new additions, there is a lot of information to internalize in SoulCalibur V. What this game desperately needs is a cohesive tutorial to guide you through these changes. Instead, the only tutorial is a screen of text displayed at the opening of the story mode. That's it. This sink-or-swim mentality is conducive only to a minority of players and is a disservice to newcomers and returning fans.

Character creation in SoulCalibur V offers more ridiculousness than ever.

The game's starting point, the story mode, introduces you to Patroklos and Pyrrha, the children of series veteran Sophitia. The siblings embark on a journey across Europe that leads to the legendary soul swords. Eventually, the two are put at odds, but by that point the narrative has stumbled over so much terrible writing and illogical reasoning that it's difficult to care. This mode also fails to provide any of the interesting battle conditions seen in SoulCalibur II's campaign or SoulCalibur IV's challenge tower. And while the game has two other versus AI modes, the lack of variety across all three severely diminishes the game's offline attraction.

SoulCalibur V takes place several years after the previous game and borrows a page from Street Fighter III: Third Strike. It introduces several new characters with the slightly modified movesets of older characters. There are a few originals as well, such as Z.W.E.I. and Viola. Z.W.E.I. is a short-range fighter who can summon a familiar to help extend combos and attack from a distance. Viola is an indirect fighter who uses a crystal ball. The ball can be deployed on the battlefield and recalled to strike opponents from behind.

Ezio Auditore, of Assassin's Creed fame, is this game's guest character. In addition to being an appropriate thematic fit, Ezio is well-balanced, capable of holding his own but not overpowered like some guest characters of the past. Sadly, a lot of good characters were left by the wayside, including Talim, Yun-seong, and Zasalamel.

Online play is smooth in SoulCalibur V; you shouldn't notice any performance issues when squaring off against players with four- and five-bar connection ratings. The standard offerings of ranked and player matches are available, and the game saves your eight most recent online matches. While this is great for studying your own technique, it is unfortunate that you can't access replays from other players. Player matches support spectator mode when you're not playing, and you can even chat with other viewers.

A fan favorite, character creation, is back in SoulCalibur V and is more robust than ever. Not only does it offer all the features you would expect from previous iterations, but now you can apply patterns to your characters' garments, add tattoos, or attach special items. There is also a unique unarmed fighting style that can be accessed only within character creation that's a nod to another Namco fighting franchise. In addition, characters no longer have stats that are tied to pieces of clothing, so you're free to dress up your fighters however you'd like.

Fans looking to relive the experience of SoulCalibur's early entries may be irked by this game's new additions. But once the steep learning curve is surmounted, you will find a fresh-yet-familiar fighting system that's fun to explore.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review

Final Fantasy XIII-2 doesn't capture Lightning in a bottle, but it's still a fun and heartfelt role-playing adventure. 

The Good

• Monster collection is fun and addictive  
• Multiple heartfelt moments combine story and gameplay in effective ways  
• Caius is a fantastic villain  
• Impressive, varied visual design.

The Bad

• The best characters were sidelined in favor of less interesting ones  
• Multiple sequences bog down the pace  
• Main story is relatively easy and short.

Final Fantasy XIII-2's box art features the indomitable Lightning, looking strong and feminine in her tough-as-nails armor and flowing skirt of feathers. You remember Lightning, of course: she spent the majority of Final Fantasy XIII trying to release her sister Serah from a crystalline prison. Don't let that gorgeous portrait of the daunting heroine fool you, however. She has a part to play in this direct sequel, but it's Serah's turn in the spotlight now. Serah's not the powerhouse personality her sister is, but that doesn't keep Final Fantasy XIII-2 from delivering a satisfying mix of poignant storytelling and exciting action.

For Serah, blood really is thicker than water.

That isn't to say Final Fantasy XIII-2 is as epic an adventure as you may have expected. The story isn't long as far as Japanese role-playing games go--maybe 25 hours for a standard playthrough. There are reasons to linger or return if you're the completionist type, but the length is a consideration for series fans hoping for a Final Fantasy-sized adventure. If those 25 hours were jam-packed with challenging action and dramatic cutscenes, perhaps you wouldn't notice the story's brevity. Alas, a lengthy fetch quest makes the game drag considerably, as does a protracted platforming sequence that causes the pace to chug as you near the conclusion, right when you'd expect the tempo to take off. The cinematics and battles both burst with occasional thrills, but it's as if developer Square Enix decided that unnecessary padding was the proper solution to the problem of Final Fantasy XIII's overly linear progression.

If that sounds like a lot of negativity, don't worry: Final Fantasy XIII-2 may not be the super-great RPG you might have wanted in a series known for reinventing itself at every turn, but it's still a very good one. You could say the same thing about lead character Serah: She's a good, not great, leading lady. She doesn't have the steely strength of Lightning, though she isn't as annoyingly dainty as Final Fantasy XIII's Vanille, either (though she does have her overtly girlish moments as she twitters with the affected chirps and sighs of the prototypical Japanese RPG heroine). But she's a perfectly serviceable "every girl" who teaches school in her village on the world of Pulse, just a few years after the bitter victory that concluded the previous game.

Serah's purpose is to find Lightning, who is assumed to be gone for good--perhaps inhabiting the crystal pillar holding up the orb of Cocoon, along with Fang and Vanille. But Serah remembers events no one else does; most importantly, she remembers her sister's blessing to marry Snow, though Lightning was not always so fond of him. She knows Lightning must be alive, and she's right, of course. Lightning resides in Valhalla, a realm that exists outside of the constraints of time, where she's locked in struggle with a man called Caius. The game's initial moments dramatize this conflict in fine fashion. Caius speaks with a quiet confidence, his voice filled not so much with rage as with brazen purpose. He and Lightning stare mercilessly into each other's eyes and their swords meet, emanating a blaze of blue light. Soon thereafter, you take control of Lightning atop Odin in his form as a mechanical steed, fending off the ominous winged Bahamut in the game's first tutorial.

It's a pity that the game's two most engaging characters--Lightning and Caius--have considerably less screen time than Final Fantasy XIII-2's protagonists. Caius is a compelling villain, in part because his villainy isn't the typical in-your-face, menacing, power-hungry gnashing of teeth. It's sorrow that drives him, and as the source of this sorrow becomes clearer, your empathy grows. His emotions are distinctly, authentically human, and he isn't inherently evil; thus, he is a much more interesting villain than the usual frothing maniac. Caius gets his chance to chew the scenery a number of times, though where male characters are concerned, your focus is generally on Final Fantasy XIII-2's other lead: Noel. Noel's from the future--a future in which Cocoon has collided with Pulse many years before. He arrives in Valhalla where he witnesses the clash of the two titans, but he escapes to the past (and to Serah's side) at Lightning's behest. His hopes are somewhat loftier than Serah's. She wants to find her sibling; he has an entire future to change.

And so the two set out on a journey across time, hopping from one level to another, with each one representing a different place or time. The two make a blandly pleasant team, and apart from a third slot designated for voiceless monsters (more on that to come), they are your sole party members. Where Final Fantasy XIII's party members had plenty of interpersonal conflicts to overcome, Serah and Noel get along nicely enough. Moments that could have had great poignancy in the first half of the game--multiple reunions among them--are curiously bereft of tension and emotional impact.

On the other hand, the game's second half features an extended sequence that combines gameplay and narrative in powerful ways. To fully describe them would risk spoiling what makes them so intriguing. But consider this circumstance: you wander through desolation, citizens of another time appear as semitransparent figures. You can normally phase transparent objects into your own time, thanks to the moogle that hovers and whirls at your side (useful when you find a treasure sphere, shimmering and bobbing somewhere nearby). When you phase in one of these human figures, he falls to the ground dead, crying out to his goddess. It's shocking and heartbreaking, yet not a major plot point; it just happens as the result of experimenting with a routine game mechanic. This may seem a mere detail--a subtlety you could overlook. But it's this kind of touch that gives the game's latter hours so much heart and heft.

You won't mind spending so much time with Noel and Serah. The actors deliver their lines in earnest, though other characters aren't so uniformly excellent. Final Fantasy XIII's Hope and Snow both reappear; Snow as stubborn as ever and Hope less whiny than before. You could even call him strong and likeable. Hope's assistant Alyssa, on the other hand, is insufferably precious, while feathered shopkeeper Chocolina's soprano screech might have you shoving chocobo feathers in your ears. Inconsistent acting aside, Final Fantasy XIII-2's production values are impressive, the occasional frame rate dips notwithstanding. But the sequel is more visually diverse. In Augusta Tower, neon yellow and orange accents provide a striking contrast to the blue checkerboard walls. That area couldn't be more different from the Archlyte Steppe, where the grassy plains harbor grazing sheep and a machine allows you to control the wind and weather.

Of course, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is more than a semicoherent time-traveling tale threaded through a hodgepodge of beautiful settings. It's a full-fledged role-playing game that builds upon its predecessor in sensible ways. Does that make it ultimately a better game than the previous one? Not necessarily. It certainly addresses the issue of linearity that irked so many of XIII's players, though. Rather than follow a narrow path toward your eventual goal, XIII-2 offers room to breathe. Many areas--too many--are still collections of constricted paths. But in regions like the aforementioned Archlyte Steppe, you can venture off on your own and uncover the secrets waiting for you. (Caution: touching a cactus may not have the expected effect!) Citizens may offer you tasks, though these are few and usually amount to no more than "find me some missing items" or "kill a big monster." If you're so inclined, you can also head to Serendipity--a casino that exists outside of the normal constraints of time and space. Play the slots. Enter your chocobo in some races. Such side activities are good for the occasional diversion, but they're not so urgent or addictive that you would lose hours to them.

The overall structure also invites nonlinear exploration. Once you've unlocked a node that represents a particular place/time period, you can visit whenever you like. In fact, a later quest has you hopping around multiple nodes, scouring every square inch of the land in search of shimmering objects hidden in some of the most ridiculous places. (This excruciating quest is old-fashioned padding at its worst.) Thankfully, such time hopping is usually optional, but it often gifts you with unexpected results. You can return to the area as you left it--or you can reset it and play it as though it's your first time. Doing so allows you to choose different dialogue options or, perhaps, to approach some dangerous behemoth differently from the first time around. It's best left to discover on your own what benefit such excursions might bring you. Let's just say that when it comes to time-travel stories, the future isn't always absolute.

Freer exploration aside, Final Fantasy XIII-2's moment-to-moment gameplay is remarkably similar to its originator's. Moving about the world causes monsters to spawn, and you can run away from them, but you'll usually wish to attack. As before, party members have combat roles associated with them (ravager = offensive magic; synergist = defensive buffing). As you level up, you earn new roles to take on, so Noel and Serah aren't limited to a single role. From there, you create combinations of roles called paradigms. When battle commences, you enter the battle arena, an action bar called the ATB gauge fills, and you queue up actions for your party leader. (Other party members perform their actions automatically.) When the gauge is full, you unleash your skills, whether that means healing your ailing friend or casting lightning bolts at marauding ghouls. And should you need to, you can switch to a different paradigm during battle.

The action's primary strategic consideration lies in knowing how to put together successful paradigms and when to use them. There's also an additional consideration this time: the most powerful enemies can inflict blood wounds, reducing your maximum amount of health during the fight. Until you reach the final boss gauntlet, however, you'll rarely worry about blood damage. Simply put, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is noticeably easier than Final Fantasy XIII. If XIII's Eidolon battles had you pulling out your hair in frustration, this may come as welcome news. But in XIII-2, you can overcome a few too many battles by just setting your party to an offensive paradigm and letting things take care of themselves.

Nevertheless, combat is fun, even when it's on the easy side. This is due in part to all of the flash and sparkle. Fire and ice light up the battlefield as you fight a goblin chieftain in the murky plains. Noel slices up ghasts, leaping through the air like a circus acrobat that has forgotten the laws of gravity. And the battle music eggs you on with its skipping beats and busy melodies. When you do encounter a creature that tests your wits, your fingers and brain stay busy, moving back and forth the paradigms that best keep your teammates alive while edging some heaving monster closer to its breaking point.

But monsters aren't always enemies; in Final Fantasy XIII-2, they can be your best friends. You see, there's that third-party slot. And that slot is reserved for monsters you capture on the battlefield. Whenever you defeat a monster, there's a chance it'll leave a crystal behind. Should it do so, you now have one such creature to call your own. Each monster has its own combat role assigned. Cait sith is a medic; the zwerg scandroid is a ravager. One by one, you start to collect these monsters and assign them to your various paradigms. Switching a paradigm doesn't mean just switching combat roles--it often means switching monsters as well.

Collecting, using, and improving monsters is the game's most interesting and enjoyable mechanic. There's the whole rewarding Pokemon-esque "catch-'em-all" vibe to it. Grabbing more monsters for your roster is addictive, in part because it's fun to see what they bring to battle. The wolfish snarl of a silver lobo makes that monster a powerful battlefield presence; the thing looks like it could bite off a limb and leave a bloody stump behind, just for giving it a dirty look. For some comedy, try capturing the gigantuar, if only because its awkward poses and garish green color make it look so hilariously clumsy during a battle to the death. Monsters level up separately from Serah and Noel. Each possesses its own crystarium; that is, its own leveling-up matrix. And while you spend crystogen points (read: experience points) to improve your human party members, monsters require specific items that you must buy or earn as battle spoils.

If that aforementioned battlefield comedy is your thing, you can even outfit your monsters with trinkets. Stick a jaunty hat on a toothy ceratoraptr's head. Adorn your creepy managarmr with a four-leaf clover and then name it Mortimer. Watch these monstrosities charge about the arena, putting on vaguely ridiculous airs afforded by these silly accessories. Like most of the game's frequent cutesy touches, you might find such details charming or you might find they distract from the serious tone Final Fantasy XIII-2 cultivates. In any case, the adornments have no value beyond the aesthetic. If you want to further improve your monsters, you can combine them, sacrificing one monster in favor of granting bonuses (normally passive ones) to another. Just be careful to choose your sacrifices wisely. There are rare monsters out there, challenging to find but not always certain to be captured. You don't want to cast one monster aside in favor of some twerp that just can't bring the same kind of power and presence to battle.

In keeping with the game's "more freedom, more quickly" approach, your main party's crystariums offer more flexibility than before. You earn new roles and level them up quickly, so Noel and Serah can fulfill the roles you imagine for them, and you can choose the monsters that best pick up any slack. Progression is a pleasure. You earn points so fast that waiting a few hours to apply them means zipping through the crystarium with glee, washed along by the smooth chimes of its audio cues while watching your levels rise higher and higher. By the time the story ends, you might fully level three different roles for each character and be well on your way to topping off a fourth.

Square Enix should be commended for addressing Final Fantasy XIII's problems and for once again delivering a fun and highly playable RPG glowing with visual beauty and saturated with simple but universal sentiments. Nevertheless, the improvements feel less weighty than they might have--mechanical triumphs in a game that feels less than the sum of its parts. You won't perform awe-inspiring summons as a matter of course, and the ending--well, the ending isn't likely to leave you with the sense of closure you might want. Yet the monster collection and time-hopping freedom alone are enough to make it worth embarking on this enjoyable adventure. Just remember to keep your expectations in check: Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't a timeless adventure in the grand tradition of the beloved series. But if you're curious to see the next stage in this ongoing tale, there's no reason you shouldn't chase after Lightning. After all, she can't defeat Caius without you.

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Assassin's Creed: Revelations Review

Ezio and Altair make graceful exits in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, another great historical adventure.

The Good

• New movement options keep the platforming joyful  
• Brotherhood recruitment has been nicely fleshed out  
• Gorgeous, vibrant world with a lot to do  
• Fantastic soundtrack  
• Emotionally fulfilling ending.

The Bad

• Tower defense isn't fun  
• Desmond sections aren't fun  
• Disappointing main story.

Even the greatest heroes can't live forever. And so it goes for Ezio Auditore di Firenze, who finally steps aside to make room for new champions in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. This is another quality entry in a quality series, and it unleashes you in a visually stunning re-creation of 16th-century Constantinople. Additions to the movement mechanics make exploring the city a joyous exercise in high-flying parkour, with you as Ezio leaping across rooftops and flinging yourself up exterior walls like a Renaissance superhero. Like many sequels, Revelations giveth, and Revelations taketh away, so you lose certain elements (horses) in favor of a slew of new ones (bomb crafting). Lots and lots of new ones. Assassin's Creed: Revelations is sometimes a lumpy Frankenstein's monster of a game, half-formed appendages stitched into place regardless of whether they belong there or not. Thankfully, when Revelations remembers to be an Assassin's Creed game, it soars into the Turkish skies, reminding fans why they fell in love with this freewheeling series.

Ezio doesn't bother reciting the requiem with every kill. Sometimes, he just steals their money.

Expectedly, Revelations isn't all Ezio's story. It's also Desmond's. You remember Desmond, the bartender-cum-assassin whose mind is probed to discover truths that could potentially prevent the earth's destruction. Desmond looks different than you might remember: faces have been redesigned, features elongated, making your old comrades-in-conspiracy feel a bit unfamiliar, as if they have had plastic surgery since you saw them last. In any case, Desmond's mind is a prisoner within the Animus, the machine that allows his associates to tap into his ancestral memories. This computerized sanctuary is presented as an island, where shimmering doors leading to who-knows-where punctuate a virtual seaside. Here, Desmond and the enigmatic Subject Sixteen explore the bartender's memories and regrets in long conversations that illuminate Desmond's former life.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Desmond was becoming a full-fledged assassin, and you guided him through dank caves and across rooftops as a sort of Ezio-lite. The character arc matched the gameplay arc: Desmond was gaining confidence, and this was reflected in his ever-improving abilities. Revelations tries a more thoughtful approach but falls short. Subject 16 starts as a mystery and remains one, making for an unsatisfactory replacement for the team with which Desmond has typically interacted. Meanwhile, Desmond passes through those shining portals and into his own memories. These memory levels are made of gray columns and tiled floors that glisten and undulate like digital rivers. You move through them in first-person view while Desmond talks himself through the pain of his past. This synthetic cyberspace makes for an effective backdrop, but the accompanying gameplay is anything but fun. You create blocks and ramps out of thin air to pass through these levels, but moving across them feels flat, and jumping is inexact. The flatness turns to frustration as you encounter gusts that move the blocks you create, and deal with energy fields that cause them to dissipate. These levels are one of Revelations' many attempts to force elements into a game that doesn't benefit from them.

The good news is that you spend the bulk of your time as Ezio, though he isn't the only historical presence taking center stage. Altair from the original game returns as a playable character, and Revelations makes good use of the parallels between the heroes' lives, and scenes near the conclusion resonate with great emotion. Yes, there is a "holy cow!" moment near the end, as expected for an Assassin's Creed game, and the final shot will have fans--once again--wondering what comes next. But it's the calm before the storm that ties two lives together and thus impresses most; there's a moment when you realize you will miss these assassins of centuries past. As for Ezio's story, well, the man is older and tired, and the story reflects this weariness. It introduces new characters, the best of whom is Sofia, an Italian bookseller who welcomes Ezio's formidable charms. But the main plot, involving political unrest among the sultan and his family members, is merely serviceable, lacking the personal touch that made Assassin's Creed II's narrative so enthralling.

Nevertheless, Revelations is as absorbing as its predecessors, because it's so much fun to move through Constantinople and other key areas. This is due in part to the world's sheer beauty. Deep golds and reds make a stroll through the grand bazaar a feast for the eyes, and famous landmarks like Hagia Sophia cut striking silhouettes against the night sky. Row a boat across a strait, and you marvel at the authentic wake that ripples behind. A mauve haze softens the horizon as day passes into night, and makes you keenly feel the passage of time--a thematically relevant effect, considering how conscious the older Ezio is of his mortality. Of course, previous Assassin's Creed games looked stunning too, but Revelations is no less impressive for it. Not that every detail is perfect: citizens still occasionally pop into existence before your very eyes, and you might spot a guard clipped halfway through a rooftop. But such quibbles hardly matter in a game this visually spectacular.

The other reason exploration is so joyous is that the simple act of moving from place to place is so satisfying. Animations remain superb. Ezio doesn't grab some unseen outcropping as he scales towers: he reaches for actual ledges and outcroppings, which makes his impossible acrobatics feel authentic. Climbing a tower reaching into the heavens, admiring the view, and then making a leap of faith into a hay bale hundreds of feet below is a delight, as it always has been. But Revelations expands the parkour aspect of the game by giving you use of a handheld hook. With this hook, Ezio can scale upward more quickly and glide down ziplines--and even assassinate rooftop guards as he skims past.

The hook also allows you to reach out and grab walls as you fall--walls that would be out of reach in previous Assassin's Creed games. You can also buy parachutes and activate them in midair, which feels free and easy, like wafting downward on a cool breeze. Revelations makes it more fun than ever to stay on the move. In fact, some of its best moments focus on fluid parkour, such as an atmospheric trek through a dank cave and an exhilarating escape from a flaming boat. The best set pieces are those that focus on movement. How unfortunate that other such events are less successful--and that the game leans on the lesser ones so early on. Avoiding rocks as you are dragged behind a careening carriage isn't fun, nor is bashing other carriages as you drive one. Another carriage-focused mission is more entertaining and has you activating a parachute and flying behind the vehicle as a sort of Renaissance-era parasailer. It's nice to have the variety in between long stretches of fighting guards and wandering among crowds, but earlier games simply did such diversions better.

Not that Revelations doesn't try to mix up the pace; far from it. Like in Brotherhood, you can recruit assassins and send them off on contracts to such cities as Barcelona and Athens. This menu-based minigame works much as it did before, but there are two key improvements that make recruitment much more interesting now. Firstly, the contracts have been given context in the form of a strategic minigame. Completing contracts increases assassin influence and diminishes Templar presence. Your goal is to earn and retain control of those cities, which lends meaning to what used to be abstract busywork without real consequence. Secondly, once an assassin reaches a high enough level, you can assign him or her as a leader of a faction den. Doing so opens up new missions in which you accompany recruits as they tail targets and attempt assassinations. Your newest brothers typically fail their missions on the first attempt but rise above such adversity later on. Before, you knew Ezio was a mentor because you were told he was. Now, you actually feel like you're making a difference.

It's natural that developer Ubisoft Montreal would want to expand the previous game's mechanics, which felt like they belonged because they were pertinent to the story, and to Ezio's leadership role. On the other hand, it's hard to know what to make of the brand-new addition of tower defense to the mix. The Templars take over for Brotherhood's Borgias, controlling key areas and forcing you to kill their commander so that you can light a signal fire and purchase nearby shops. But the Templars can regain control if you don't take the time to assassinate key figures or bribe heralds. (This new twist on the notoriety concept doesn't require you to rip wanted posters off walls.) To preserve control, you participate in a tower defense battle in which you place assassins on the rooftops above a single, short alley and destroy the waves of soldiers that stampede in.

You do all this from a single vantage point, earning morale (the minigame's currency) as Templars fall, and using it to place blockades and assassins. Not only does the whole thing seem out of place, but it isn't enjoyable on its own terms. It's nice that you can shoot marauders from above as your fellow assassins take aim with bows or leap onto their targets from rooftops. But your limited view is confining, and the gameplay is too simple to lead to a rewarding victory. To make things even less fun, the camera occasionally zooms in for a close-up of a falling enemy or brother. This cinematic touch was probably meant to add excitement to this unexciting process, but it's just aggravating. All it does is disrupt the flow.

As an infomercial host might say: "But wait--there's more!" Now you can craft bombs out of ingredients that you find in chests and earn for completing contracts. It's a simple process; you just go to a crafting station, select the right ingredients, and voila: bombs. The bombs might spew poison into the air or simply explode as a good bomb should. They're nice toys to have but unnecessary because combat isn't so difficult that you're forced to pull them out of your trick bag. That doesn't mean that combat hasn't seen some changes, and to be fair, it is more challenging than before. Much of that new challenge comes from gunners squirreled away in tiny shelters, where they are out of your blade's reach. Getting shot strips away a good deal of health and knocks you back, though you should always have plenty of health packs if you regularly loot bodies. Nonetheless, it's annoying to be shot by a pair of unseen snipers, especially if you're already engaged. At least you have your own ranged weapons (gun, crossbow, knives, bombs) and can destroy gunners once you find them.

So you get more use out of your gun than before, but battles still focus on swordplay. There's still a nice ebb and flow to the action, which is made more brutal by new, frequent kill animations. You take up arms as both Ezio and Altair, and while Altair doesn't have that many moves at his disposal, his sections are much more linear. You won't do much free-form climbing as the Crusades-era hero; rather, these missions are focused much more on narrative. It's a nostaligic joy to return to Musyaf and see how it has changed in the years since Altair's original adventures. Besides, the change in scenery is welcome. Previous games let you gallop around on horseback outside of city walls. Constantinople doesn't offer much in the way of wide-open spaces, and in fact, there are no horses to ride there. But Ezio does make a detour late in the game, though the change in scenery is accompanied by a decline in free-form parkour.

Brotherhood introduced an unusual multiplayer component to the series, and it returns in Revelations. There are new characters with new special abilities, maps, modes, and other changes, but the core mechanics remain the same. In many cases, you are assigned a target and must identify him as he slinks through the crowds, trying to remain unseen. The map gives you only a rough idea of the target's location, so you need to keep your senses keen. Of course, you also need to refrain from giving yourself away to your assigned assassin, slinking through crowds and standing near identical crowd members. Some new modes take a different tack. In Deathmatch, the proximity radar is gone, as are the clones that make it easier to stay hidden. That mode is entertaining but simple, and it doesn't result in the kind of tension boasted in other modes. The new Artifact Assault mode produces tension, albeit of a different kind. This capture-the-flag variant gives you more chances to sprint at top speeds as you deliver the enemy's flag to your home base, hoping to escape a hotfooted pursuer.

As enjoyable as Revelations' multiplayer modes are, it's the single-player adventure that elicits the strongest reactions. The enhanced acrobatics make the simple act of moving from one place to the next an enormous delight. The improved recruitment mechanics communicate that there are, in fact, high stakes in this underground war between Templars and assassins. Not everything that's new represents an improvement, however. First-person puzzling and tower defense are bewildering, unenjoyable additions to a game that didn't need them. On the bright side, the game usually sticks to what it does best. And what Revelations does best is to set you free in a magnificent city, where you skyrocket across the rooftops, letting the gorgeous sights and evocative music transport you to another life and another century.

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GoldenEye 007: Reloaded Review

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is mostly unchanged from last year's Wii version, but it's still a fast and exciting shooter that doesn't rely on ancient memories to be great.

The Good

• Great mix of stealth and action sequences  
• Lots of variety, including boss fights and vehicle sections  
• Harder difficulties add new objectives  
• Multiplayer is fun both online and offline  
• Mi6 Ops adds even more single-player content.

The Bad

• Obtrusive quick-time events  
• Time Trial has been cut.

When GoldenEye 007 was released for the Wii last year, it proved that it is possible to successfully reimagine a classic. By combining the spy elements that made the Nintendo 64 original so engaging with modern amenities, it created a great experience that didn't use nostalgia to be entertaining. One year later, GoldenEye 007: Reloaded comes to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with updated visuals, as well as a few other changes, and it remains an enticing change of pace from other shooters. Thoughtful missions force you to complete diverse objectives as you slink through enemy territory, and when you're spotted, Reloaded transforms into a hectic action game with razor-sharp mechanics and a variety of deadly weapons. GoldenEye 007: Reloaded doesn't rely on the memories of an aged shooter to be great; it earns that distinction on its own merits.

At least if you kill someone in the snow the body stays preserved.

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is entirely different from the Nintendo 64 version, but that doesn't mean it has turned its back on everything that made the original distinct. James Bond is a world-class spy, and both games dramatize this fascinating profession by putting you through the rigors of globe-trotting espionage. There is a strong emphasis on stealth in Reloaded that rewards patient players who would rather silently avoid a firefight than rush in guns blazing. Whether you favor a sure shot from your silenced pistol or a quick melee strike when you move in close, quietly killing off your enemies is a thrilling rush that serves as your main tactic for most of this campaign. Occasionally, the AI becomes aware of you even when you swear you're safely behind cover, but that inconsistency is rare. For the most part, using stealth is your wisest strategy, and you can discreetly kill off a small platoon without having anyone notice that something's wrong.

Of course, a spy is more than just a silent assassin. After all, James Bond doesn't travel around the world just to satiate his bloodlust; he's on a mission to discover some kind of horrible truth. And to acquire these facts, you have to do some sleuthing along the way. Every level has objectives you must complete in between bouts of killing, and they provide an interesting diversion from the core gameplay. Most of them involve utilizing your handy smartphone to do things like snap a photograph or hack a device, and it's just a matter of lining up your target and hitting a button. But these moments make just as much of an impact as the shoot-to-kill action, thanks to the problem solving that goes along with them. For example, in the first level, you need to access a room that is seemingly sealed shut. But if you poke your gun through a small opening in the window, you can shoot off the lock barring your entry. Though these puzzles are easy enough if you just take a quick peek around the environment, they do a good job of reinforcing the fact that you're a spy.

James Bond has no problem gathering vital information and certainly knows how to avoid a fight, but when the action heats up, he's not afraid to take advantage of his license to kill. The Xbox 360 version doesn't get the precise aiming option offered on the Wii and PlayStation 3 (via Wii Remote or Move pointer controls), but the standard pad works well no matter which console you use. You can easily target whatever vital organ or flailing appendage you prefer of an oncoming enemy, and the dull impact of a bullet that strikes pay dirt is exhilarating. Sharp controls aren't the only reason that the shooting is such a satisfying endeavor in Reloaded; your impressive loadout gives you plenty of firepower with which to play around. Pistols, rifles, shotguns, and more come with all sorts of different attributes, and it's easy to find one you like because they all feel so good. James Bond has plenty of options beyond firing his gun, but the smooth shooting mechanics ensure you're immersed no matter which path you take.

The single-player campaign lasts for more than 10 hours, and a good deal of variety banishes any chance of having repetition ruin your enjoyment. Some levels are designed with stealth in mind while others force combat to the forefront, but you ultimately have the choice in how you play. The tempo changes in a heartbeat if you accidentally alert the guards, and though you may kick yourself for being so clumsy, it's always a blast to loudly gun down your enemies when you were so quiet just a moment earlier. There are other gameplay twists that ensure the campaign doesn't tread predictable waters: Brief vehicle sections thrust raw destructive power into your hands, a frantic escort sequence pushes your reflexes to the edge, and even an intense boss fight is thrown in for good measure. The only misstep comes in the form of tedious quick-time events that are overflowing with cinematic flair but aren't any fun to play because there's a disconnect between your button presses and the on-screen action. Aside from those moments, Reloaded stays engaging all the way through.

The staying power of Reloaded stretches far beyond completion of the last level. This is a game that's meant to be played more than once because the higher difficulty levels do more than ramp up the ruthlessness of your enemies. The harder the game is, the more objectives you have to complete to move forward, and replaying these levels gives you a new appreciation for how well they're constructed. Rooms and routes you never realized existed are suddenly integral parts of the experience, making another playthrough feel fresh even though you're traipsing through the same environments. What's really interesting is how your health is managed. In all but the hardest difficulty level, you have regenerating health. Because you return to full strength by staying out of fire for a few seconds, the campaign veers on the easy side, though it's still challenging enough to make it rewarding when you do come out on top. But when you play on the hardest difficulty, your health no longer regenerates and you collect armor to save you from death. This raises the tension another notch, making you use every stealth trick you've learned to stay alive. However, one omission from last year's game is unfortunate. Previously, you unlocked a Time Trial option for every mission, and it offered a frenetic contrast to the more measured standard play. It's inexplicable as to why it was cut in this latest release, and its absence does lessen the pull of multiple playthroughs. 

It's a shame that the story doesn't add to the gripping single-player experience. Pierce Brosnan played James Bond in the original game and movie, but he has been unceremoniously axed in this latest outing. In his stead is current Bond actor Daniel Craig. But it doesn't really matter who assumes the lead role when the story is never pushed beyond spy-thriller cliches. Evil Russians and predictable plot twists are the driving forces of this newly written story, and though there are some well-done action sequences, the cutscenes ultimately fail to enhance the experience. Thankfully, you have the option to skip the cutscenes entirely if you prefer, and it's a welcome tweak from last year's game. Previously, sitting through these intrusive scenes hampered the enjoyment of replaying missions. With that barrier removed, you can happily try out the higher difficulty settings without having to sit through the tedious, noninteractive sections. 

Aside from the dull story and a few lame quick-time events, the campaign is an incredible experience. But if you hunger for something beyond the expansive single-player suite, there's engaging competitive multiplayer to take part in as well. If you favor the online realm, you can square off against up to 15 other players in a variety of play types. Sharp controls and clever level design make it a blast to gun down strangers and friends alike; the rewards system also gives you something to strive for aside from the satisfying thrill of victory. As you unlock new weapons, gadgets, and modes by sinking more time into the game, there's always something to tinker with after a successful play session. This is the area where the most features have been added over last year's game. There are more maps and modes than before, and you can even play as iconic Bond characters. Some of these, such as Oddjob, even have patented weapons (hat throwing is just as deadly as a gun), which add good variety and should please anyone who fancies the Bond films. 

Offline fare is just as robust, but in a different way. The experience points system has been scrapped, but in its place is a good array of modifiers that let you put your own spin on how things play out. You and up to three friends take part in split-screen action, and you can tweak options that make your grenades sticky or bouncy, force players to explode when they come into contact with others, or shrink everyone down to bite-sized proportions. The best of these instantly kills anyone who stands still for too long. It's a great way to eliminate snipers and campers because it makes players push the action rather than wait for things to come to them. However, there is one big problem: no bots. Still, messing with the many options is lots of fun, but you won't get everything out of this mode unless you have three friends willing to share one-quarter of the screen with you. 

New in this year's version is Mi6 Ops mode, a series of single-player challenges that may not completely make up for the lack of Time Trials but at least engenders many of the same feelings. Here, you have a specific objective that must be completed, and you're graded on how efficiently you complete it. The missions resemble what you have to normally do in multiplayer, such as killing anyone who opposes you or defending consoles from attack, but because you have to play by your lonesome, they aren't quite as engaging. Still, with more than 40 of these challenges to take part in, it should take a few hours to complete them all. And if you get sucked in, you can always try to shave off a few precious seconds for an impressive leaderboard standing.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded is a great game that does justice to its prestigious name. Instead of living in the past, Bond's latest adventure embraces the present. The explosive single-player campaign is a great ride all the way through, and it's well worth replaying a few times just to see what sort of cool secrets the harder difficulties hide. The online multiplayer has you gunning down enemies and racking up experience points with the Bond characters you know and love. Sharp controls, clever level design, and a wealth of gameplay options are the backbone of this exhilarating shooter, and it absolutely nails its core tenets. GoldenEye 007: Reloaded has no need to rely on nostalgia when it so expertly creates such thrilling new memories.

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Batman: Arkham City Review

Batman: Arkham City's irresistible world, joyous movement, rewarding combat, and varied side quests make it an exceptional adventure game.

The Good

• Atmospheric, fascinating world rich with details and secrets  
• Satisfying, varied, hard-hitting combat  
• Grappling and soaring around the city is thrilling  
• Great assortment of involving side quests  
• Makes terrific use of a host of Batman characters.

The Bad

• Boss fights are too easy.

Gotham City. This crime-infested metropolis has been famously imagined and reimagined in comic books, cartoons, and films. Now, we have a new vision of Gotham, and it stands not just as one of the most unforgettable incarnations ever of the city that Batman is devoted to protecting, but as one of the most richly detailed and exciting environments ever seen in a game. Building on 2009's outstanding Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City sets you free in the intoxicating neighborhood of North Gotham, now a sealed-off superprison for the city's worst criminals. As the Caped Crusader, you struggle to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic streets, foiling the plots of supervillains and protecting the victims of those who prey on the innocent. With its atmospheric setting, thrilling movement, immensely satisfying combat, and tremendous assortment of secrets to discover, side quests to complete, and other attractions, Arkham City is a fantastic adventure game. 

It's winter in Gotham City, but the streets of the part of town now known as Arkham seem particularly cold. Snow falls on the criminals who roam this place, making the asphalt shimmer with reflections of the neon signs advertising shuttered shops that once upon a time bustled with business. Gotham faced a prison crisis in the wake of the events of Arkham Asylum, and certain unscrupulous characters took advantage of the situation by acquiring the run-down neighborhood of North Gotham, walling it off from the rest of the city, and tossing the criminals in there to fend for themselves. It's an inhumane and immoral operation; food and warmth are scarce, and some inmates are people whose only crime was voicing a negative opinion of Arkham City and those who run it. 

But their misfortune is your gain. The area of several city blocks that makes up the superprison isn't especially vast as open worlds go, but what it lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in atmospheric detail. Arkham City is home to an old courthouse, a former police headquarters, a musty museum, a disused subway terminal, and other fascinating places. These structures, with their faded portraits, old billboards, and plentiful other features, convey a sense of history. The exceptional art design draws on 1930s art deco and makes Gotham seem like a once elegant and shining city that has fallen into darkness. It's clearly a work of imagination, but as you explore it, its richness pulls you in, and it becomes a world you can't help but believe in. 

Batman has no choice but to explore the alleyways and underground tunnels of North Gotham. Within the prison's walls, Joker is dying, and the villain's schemes force the Dark Knight to help him find a cure. That quest brings Batman into contact with the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and numerous other members of Batman's rogues' gallery. Each character is represented terrifically, with plenty of nods to their histories as established in the comics, and part of the fun of progressing through the story lies in seeing what character might make an appearance next. The excellent Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and the Joker, heading up an ensemble of voice actors who never miss a beat. 

Also returning from Arkham Asylum is that game's accessible and satisfying combat system. At its core, it's quite simple: one button performs your attacks, while another counters enemy attacks. The combat rewards good timing, and when you get into the rhythm of battle, chaining your attacks together and turning your enemies' attacks against them, it's deeply absorbing. It's also as graceful as it is brutal, making it a joy to behold. The varied attack animations make most tussles look as if they might work as choreographed fight sequences in a movie. In response to your inputs, Batman might simultaneously counter two attackers with a single impressive move, or take advantage of a convenient surface and slam a thug's head against it. As you progress, you encounter enemies equipped with things that make taking them down more complicated. Guards with stun batons can be attacked only from behind; enemies with shields require the use of an aerial attack; and foes with body armor can be injured only with a rapid-fire punch attack called the beat down. It's especially satisfying to defeat large, diverse groups of enemies against whom you must use a variety of techniques. Zoomed-in camera angles that give you a close look at moves that finish off a battle add impact to your attacks and make your triumphs all the more rewarding. 

Batman's assortment of gadgets plays a bigger role in combat than it did before. In Arkham Asylum, you could throw batarangs and keep your combo going; here, you can quickly fire off many of your wonderful toys in the heat of battle. A blast from your remote electric charge device can make an enemy involuntarily swing his hammer at surrounding thugs, and a quick placement and detonation of explosive gel can knock nearby foes off their feet. The variety of "quickfire" gadget options and other special moves that Batman has at his disposal can actually be overwhelming, and you may occasionally find yourself pressing the button combination for one gadget when you want to use another. But the game does an excellent job of easing you into the finer points of the combat system, displaying button prompts when you have a good opportunity to use a particular technique. And if you don't quite grasp a move the first time, you can go into your upgrade menu and re-enable its tutorial for a refresher. The addition of quickfire gadgets gives you a number of new options, and skilled players can benefit a great deal from the smart use of these techniques, but you never need to rely on these abilities. If you prefer to keep things simple, you can certainly get by relying primarily on your fists. 

Of course, thugs with shields, blades, and body armor are one thing; enemies with guns are something else entirely. Batman is tough, but far from invulnerable, and when faced with such firepower, it's time for him to rely on stealth. As in Arkham Asylum, you sometimes find yourself needing to take out rooms of gun-wielding enemies, and all of Batman's techniques from that game are still every bit as fun to use. Sneak up on an enemy from behind and you can take him down silently. By hanging from a gargoyle, you can ensnare an unsuspecting enemy below with an inverted takedown. Your detective vision gives you an edge, letting you see the positions of enemies patrolling the room through walls and floors. And Batman has a few new tricks up his sleeve. When spotted, you can toss a smoke pellet, aiding your escape and possibly leading confused enemies to accidentally attack each other. And you eventually acquire a new gadget that's great fun in these situations: the disruptor, which lets you can remotely disable a thug's gun. It's especially satisfying to do so, then jump down in front of him and watch as he attempts to shoot you, and then knock his lights out. The disruptor's use is limited, so you can't overdo it, but it's a great new addition to Batman's arsenal. The excellent sound design adds tension to these stealthy standoffs, with bad guys becoming increasingly frightened as you pick off their buddies one by one. 

As you win battles, you earn experience points and periodically level up, which lets you upgrade your suit, gadgets, and combat skills. These upgrades have a real impact on gameplay and create a rewarding sense of growth as you advance through the game. Purchasing the batclaw disarm move, for instance, lets you yank weapons from enemies' hands, while the critical strikes upgrade rewards precise timing in battle with more powerful attacks that let you build up to special combo moves more rapidly. There are an impressive number of upgrade options to choose from, and you'll probably still be leveling up and unlocking upgrades well after finishing the main story. 

It's not all about combat in Arkham City, though. Far from it. One of the greatest joys of the game is the act of moving around its open world. The grapnel gun made getting around enjoyable in Arkham Asylum, but Arkham City, with its numerous buildings to grapple onto and soar off of, is a veritable playground. You can zip up to ledges and rooftops with the push of a button, and you can leap off these surfaces as well, using your cape to glide through the air. Once you get the hang of generating momentum with your dive-bomb move, you can soar through the city, diving and climbing like a roller coaster. It's an exhilarating way to travel. And if, as you're flying high above the streets, you spot a group of thugs and fancy a fight, it's easy to plummet straight down and plant your boot in a goon's face.

Arkham City also acknowledges that Batman's brains are at least on par with his brawn. Occasional clever environmental puzzles, such as a situation involving a pool of water covered in thin ice, frozen cops who need to be saved, and a giant, deadly shark, require you to make smart use of your gadgets. More significantly, the Riddler returns to torment Batman, and he has stepped up his game considerably. As in Arkham Asylum, Riddler trophies have been placed throughout Arkham City. Some of these collectibles have been hidden in the city's nooks and crannies, and if you locate them, you can simply pick them up. However, in many cases, the trick is not locating them, but figuring out how to get them. There are Riddler trophies in plain view all over Arkham City, but they're enclosed in cages, and to retrieve one of these, you must figure out how the mechanism for that particular cage works. There might be a series of switches on a nearby wall that need to be triggered in a particular order. Or it may be a test of agility, with a switch that opens a gate some distance away that you have only a short time to reach before it closes. Some of these puzzles are surprisingly tricky, but there's always a discernible logic that makes working out the solutions rewarding. And in a nice touch, you can mark the location of trophies on your map so that if you can't figure out how to get one at the time, you can easily come back to it later.

In addition to his trophies, the Riddler has a new set of environmental riddles for you to solve. Some of these take the form of questions or statements, such as "Do you have Strange thoughts? Maybe you should seek help?" and "I am an actor who can transform a film with the final cut. Who am I?" Answering these requires you to locate the sign, storefront, or other environmental detail that contains the answer. The richness of the world already makes exploring it a pleasure; tracking down these solutions makes doing so even more engaging. Each of these that you solve unlocks an Arkham City story, which offers some textual background on the people associated with that particular riddle, deepening the neighborhood's sense of history. The Riddler's perspective puzzles also make a comeback. These are question marks painted in the environment that need to be viewed from just the right place to appear correctly. Working out the proper vantage point from which to solve these puzzles is as enjoyable as ever.

Solving these conundrums doesn't just reward you with a job well done. This time around, the Riddler has kidnapped hostages and placed them in riddle rooms throughout Arkham City, and the only way to get the locations of these rooms is by completing enough of the Riddler's challenges. And this is just one of the numerous side quests you have the option of pursuing or ignoring during your time in Arkham City. You'll almost certainly want to complete many of these, though. These engrossing quests often make great use of villains from the Batman comics who don't play a role in the main quest, and they have their own story arcs that are worth seeing through. They're also fun to play. There are strings of murders to investigate that have you analyzing crime scenes, following bullet trajectories and trails of blood. There's a madman who forces you to race across town to answer ringing pay phones before time runs out and he kills a hostage. There are innocent political prisoners who need your help. And much more.

If you buy the game new, you receive a code that gives you access to Catwoman. (If you don't have the code, you can purchase one in the game's online store.) If you have this content loaded onto your console, the story will occasionally switch to Catwoman. The paths of the two characters occasionally intersect, and if you have the Catwoman content, her occasional interludes offer some illumination on how she gets into the situations in which you encounter her as Batman. Playing as Catwoman is enjoyable; she has just enough abilities that are unique to her to make her feel distinct from Batman, while controlling similarly enough to feel immediately familiar. She can cling to certain ceilings and use her claws to scale walls, and her caltrops and bolas can be used in combat to trip and immobilize enemies. You spend only a short time playing as her during the main story, but once that's complete, you can switch between Batman and Catwoman at any time, and she has her own objectives and challenges to complete, and her own set of Riddler trophies to collect.

Once you complete the main story, you unlock the new game plus option, which lets you carry over your upgrades but also makes your life more difficult; you have to do without the helpful lines that appear in combat informing you that an enemy is about to strike. But once you've spent that much time with the game, you'll likely be ready for this challenge. And, as in Arkham Asylum, there are a host of challenge rooms that test your skills both in all-out combat and in stealth situations. Some challenges take the form of small campaigns that alternate between combat and stealth scenarios. Each campaign assigns you an assortment of modifiers and requires you to use each of them once. One modifier might benefit you, perhaps giving you regenerating health, while another might benefit your enemies, perhaps giving one a protective aura that prevents him from taking damage. These modifiers, and the tactical process of applying the detrimental ones to the easier scenarios and the beneficial ones to those scenarios you might have a tougher time with, make these campaigns feel distinctly different from the encounters you have during the story.

But more than anything else, it's your adventures and explorations in the city of Arkham itself that make this game extraordinary. The game's boss fights look dangerous and spectacular, but they're disappointingly easy, and on occasion, context-sensitive actions may thwart your efforts. You might intend to evade an enemy attack, for instance, but instead your button press makes Batman slowly disable some device as bullets are shredding your health. But these criticisms are nitpicks in a game that does so much so well. From the speedy exhilaration of soaring high above the streets to the atmospheric thrill of discovering long-forgotten secrets in the tunnels below Gotham, this is an unforgettable adventure that will keep you coming back to the cape and cowl long after you've seen the credits roll.

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The King of Fighters XIII Review

From the ashes of its predecessor, The King of Fighters XIII rises to restore the series to its rightful place in the fighting genre spotlight.

The Good

• Fluid and flexible fighting mechanics  
• Impressive visuals and smooth animations  
• Stable online play with replay support  
• Numerous offline offerings  
• Character color customization.

The Bad

• Online spectating isn't an option  
• Lacks replay sharing. 

When we last left The King of Fighters, things weren't looking good. The King of Fighters XII, which was released in 2009, looked beautiful and had a solid fighting system, but its dearth of single-player content and busted online functionally killed it for many players. Now, The King of Fighters XIII is here, and it addresses all of the issues the previous installment faced. XIII is an immensely robust game that adds a lot a new content to XII's solid mechanics, and it easily earns this series the right to stand alongside other fighting giants in the genre's spotlight.

This gameplay montage gives you a taste of the fireworks show that is KOF XIII.

As with its predecessors, The King of Fighters XIII features one-on-one fighting between two three-person teams. When one fighter goes down, the next is subbed in--after a brief but frequent loading screen--until one side's team is exhausted. In the ring, gameplay feels similar to Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. Though quicker than Third Strike, XIII shares the same fundamentals of smart positioning and timing. Positioning comes from proficiency with the game's movement options. With four types of jumps and a roll that can pass through anything but throws, it takes practice to navigate the battlefield quickly and efficiently.
When used well, these movement techniques make you feel nimble and keep the action focused on offense. You always want to be building momentum with fancy footwork and calculated strikes. But even at its most chaotic, the game still allows you time to think. There's a satisfying tension in planning your next strike or in deciding how to break the enemy's stride. XIII has its own rules of engagement, and understanding these rules--and when to break them--lets the game's personality shine. As with any strong fighter, the ebb and flow of advanced play is as much about strategy as it is about execution.

There are three main gauges to manage in the game: power, hyperdrive, and guard. In broad strokes, the power gauge focuses on offense; it is used for enhancing special attacks and desperation moves. Next, the hyperdrive gauge is for being stylish. You can burn this meter to cancel certain special attacks into others or activate hyperdrive mode. In this mode, your character can link together moves and build combos that aren't otherwise possible. Finally, the guard gauge depletes as you block attacks. If you let it run out, your character enters a vulnerable crumple state--so be careful.

The entire system feels very flexible. Each character has the tools for building devastating combos and quickly navigating the field. This uniform character design also carries over to vitality. Unlike in many fighting games, characters in XIII have the same amount of health, which means an attack will deal the same amount of damage no matter whom it hits. Each character's health gauge is broken down into sections for additional clarity. Once you learn how many sections a certain combo shaves off, it's easy to see when to cash it in and finish the match.

You can test your skills in Story mode, though if you're not familiar with Elisabeth Blanctorche, Ash Crimson, or why that one guy from Fatal Fury is here, then you're going to feel a little lost. This mode lasts only a few hours, but it has multiple routes and endings. Once "completed," a massive storyboard becomes available. From there, you can revisit different points in the tale and select alternate routes through it. There's also an Arcade mode that's heavier on the action and is where you can unlock the game's two secret characters.

For new players, the game has various teaching tools designed to introduce the basics. The tutorial and mission modes do a fine job of this, but they don't explain why these moves are important. Knowing the tactical merits of a hop versus a hyperjump is just as vital as their execution. This problem not only exists in XIII, but also in fighting games in general. For combo training, XIII's combo trials are well implemented. They display their inputs clearly, as well as feature demonstrations to aid execution and timing. In addition, characters have their own Time Trial and Survival modes to further hone your skills.

All of this preparation would be for naught if it didn't support a solid online offering. Thankfully, XIII does not repeat XII's mistakes. It offers an online experience that's smooth and stable, provided you find an opponent in the three-to-four green-bar range. If you fall below that, you'll encounter noticeable (though not unplayable) performance dips. When you finish, you can choose to save that match's replay for future viewing. While it's a nice touch, there is not a system in place for sharing or viewing other's replays. Sadly, Spectator mode is also absent in online play, which leads to a lot of bored players during group games.

Whether you're online or off, the game's presentation is simply gorgeous. The 2D character sprites fill up the screen with astonishing detail, such as the way their clothing flutters. The numerous stages are equally impressive--and infinitely more detailed--featuring hordes of overly excited spectators or a pack of elephants encircling the ring. There's even a color edit mode where you can alter your fighter's color scheme to your liking. All of these features, combined with the tightly balanced fighting mechanics, make The King of Fighters XIII a fantastic game that can easily go toe-to-toe with the heavy hitters in the fighting game genre.

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Need for Speed: The Run Review

It comes to a halt too frequently, but when it's speeding along, Need for Speed: The Run makes cross-country racing a joy.

The Good

• Diverse assortment of cars that handle well  
• Gorgeous, varied courses modeled on real locations  
• A good number of race types keeps events enjoyable.

The Bad

• Lengthy load times sap sense of momentum  
• Quick-time events and mob chases aren't enjoyable  
• Frustrating limitations on returning to the cross-country race.

There's a whole lot of America between San Francisco and New York City. Need for Speed: The Run's greatest achievement is the way it sometimes captures the thrill of hitting the open road and experiencing the varied beauty of the American landscape, from the mountains and the prairies to the small towns and skyscrapers. Unfortunately, issues arise that sap some of the momentum from your cross-country trek, but The Run spends enough time doing what it does best to remain an enjoyable journey.

Yosemite is gorgeous. Too bad you don't have time for a hike.

You play as Jack Rourke, a racer who has gotten in way over his head with the mob. His friend Sam promises an end to his problems if he can win a cross-country street race and the huge payout that comes with victory. Sadly, The Run's attempts to make you care about Jack's plight fall flat. The talents of actors Sean Faris and Christina Hendricks as Jack and Sam are wasted; their voices emanate from character models with mouths that move oddly and faces that express no emotion. What's more, the story doesn't even make sense. Certain rivals whom you pass early in the race show up again when you're in the home stretch. Thankfully, after an early cutscene that sets up the premise, the game wastes little time with its flimsy storytelling and lets you focus on driving.

The cars in The Run feel good to drive. The wide range of vehicles on offer includes sports cars that respond tightly to your every command and muscle cars that are tough to tame, but regardless of what you're driving, racing in The Run is about balancing speed with control. Sure, you've got highways on which you can gun the throttle and cruise at top speed, but more often than not, you're on stretches of road with some tricky turns. Using your brakes effectively, maintaining a smart racing line, and speedily exiting the turns is crucial to maintaining a good time, and it feels great to put these powerful cars through their paces.

Unfortunately, you may sometimes find yourself in the wrong car for the job. With a few story-related exceptions, Jack can only change cars at gas stations, and in some stretches, these are few and far between. As a result, you may get into a muscle car to power through a stretch of highway, only to wind up facing a particularly twisty road that the muscle car is not ideal for in the next event. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that there's no easy way to return to an earlier event that offered a gas station and choose a different car. If there's no gas station in your current event, you're stuck, and must make do with what you're driving.

Jack's got to make the entire drive from San Francisco to New York, but of course, you're only responsible for driving a few hundred miles of that journey. The Run keeps the pressure on in each event by requiring you to meet one of a few objectives. On some stretches of road, you need to pass a certain number of other racers before reaching the finish line. In other events--called battle races--you also need to pass opponents, but here, you need to face them one at a time, getting ahead of one before a timer reaches zero and then moving on to the next. And some events are checkpoint races; just you against the clock. Many events are challenging tests of your driving talents, and it's a thrill to pass a checkpoint in the nick of time or slingshot past an opponent in the final stretch of a race.

It's not just the cars themselves that make driving in The Run enjoyable. It's also the places you go. Starting in San Francisco, your path takes you through Yosemite National Park, the Rocky Mountains, downtown Chicago, and plenty of other locations. The roads in The Run aren't entirely faithful to the real roads that inspired them, but they admirably evoke the beauty one might witness on a scenic trip across the United States. From driving in the Las Vegas dusk to speeding across the rolling Nebraska plains, the varied surroundings for your travels convey the feeling that you're covering a lot of ground, and part of the fun lies in seeing what richly detailed natural or urban landscape you'll be driving in next.

You need to contend with more than just your aggressive fellow racers as you travel through these beautiful settings. In some events, police try to stop you by doing brake checks and setting up roadblocks. You can hear their chatter, though, and see upcoming roadblocks on your minimap, so while it's fun to trade paint with these officers, they don't pose much of a threat. Then there are environmental hazards, such as an avalanche that occurs as you're heading down a mountain. Like the cops, these events aren't likely to cause you much trouble, but they make for an impressive spectacle.

San Francisco is just the beginning.

Unfortunately, as exciting as the racing can be, it's too often interrupted. When you wreck or go too far off the road, you're automatically reset to the last checkpoint you passed, and these resets can take several seconds. It's especially frustrating when these interruptions occur after your car goes ever so slightly off the asphalt. In some places, you can go off road without penalty; in others, even a slight deviation from the course immediately triggers a reset. These interruptions, coupled with the long load times that occur before races and for resets, sap some of the speed from a game that's all about forward momentum.

Other interruptions come in the form of The Run's much-publicized on-foot sequences. These extended quick-time events make up a small part of the game, which is good because they're not much fun. There are also a few sections of The Run where you need to worry more about avoiding gunfire from mafia cars and helicopters than racing effectively. These attempts to bring some Hollywood excitement to The Run backfire; it's just not enjoyable to constantly swerve to avoid the attacks of your mob pursuers.

Your total clocked, competitive time driving coast to coast will probably be a little more than two hours, though that doesn't factor in checkpoint resets and events you fail and need to redo. The Autolog system tries to fuel the fires of competition by constantly showing you how you're stacking up against your friends. But unfortunately, the game doesn't make returning to the cross-country race a welcoming experience. You can't jump to individual events; rather, you need to replay entire stages, which are collections of anywhere from four to seven events. This means you also need to replay any on-foot sequences and rewatch any cutscenes that occur in that stage. It's enough to make the prospect of hitting the road again a lot less attractive. You can also put your skills to the test by trying to earn medals in a series of single-player challenges that you unlock as you make your way across the country, and success here can unlock new cars for you to use on the cross-country run itself.

Racing online against human opponents is more exciting than revisiting the single-player experience. Online races are divided into playlists that are centered on things like urban-street racing and muscle-car battles, so you can easily jump right into the kind of action you want, though you're locked out of a few playlists until you complete a certain number of multiplayer objectives on other playlists. These objectives include things like completing three passes using nitrous and placing fifth or better in three races, and it doesn't take long to open up all of the playlists. Flaws do mar the experience--your opponents' cars sometimes teleport around the road a bit or appear to fly through the air unrealistically--but it's nonetheless satisfying to leave human players in your dust.

It's frustrating, though, that whether you're playing solo or multiplayer, distracting text constantly appears onscreen to inform you that you just earned 30 experience points for drifting or 50 XPs for cleanly passing an opponent. Early on, you unlock driver abilities like nitrous and drafting with XPs, but once that's out of the way, most of the rewards you earn are just new icons and backgrounds for your Autolog profile. This makes the XP system seem entirely unnecessary, nothing more than a hollow way for the game to try to keep you playing.

It's a shame that The Run doesn't deliver more fully on the potential of its premise. It's bogged down by unnecessary quick-time events and annoying mob chases, a halfhearted attempt to tell a story, and frustrating interruptions to your racing. In spite of these burdens, the game frequently makes you feel like you're tearing across the varied terrain of this vast and majestic country. There are enough of these good moments--moments when you put the pedal to the metal on a desert straightaway or nail a hairpin turn on a twisty mountain road--to make this a road trip worth taking.

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