Role-Playing

The Zone has never been less inviting

HIGH Exploring the game's vast landscapes and detailed architecture.

LOW Shooting another character with a shotgun nine times from a few feet away and doing no apparent damage.

WTF What happened to the game I loved?

Game Description: Go back one year from the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. In Clear Sky, a group of stalkers has reached the heart of the Zone - Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. An immense blowout of anomalous energy changes the Zone. There are no more reliable and relatively safe roads. Entire levels vanish in the outbursts of anomalies. Stalkers and even expeditions die or end up sealed on the lost territories. New areas, which remained unknown since the time of the Zone emergence, appear on the Zone map. Changes of the Zone map known to stalkers shake the fragile balance of forces in the Zone. Among the groupings, there flare up hostilities for the new territories, artifact fields and spheres of influence. Everyone is now out for himself. You are a mercenary who appeared at the edge of the opposition between stalker factions, Strelok and the Zone itself. You play the key role in the events that led to creation of the Zone up to the point from which the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game begins. Which faction will take the upper hand?

The last few days have been absolute hell on my productivity. Fallout 3 was just released, and pretty much everything else going on has been put on indefinite hold while I make my way through the irradiated wastelands.

To be brutally honest, the game didn't make a strong first impression with me once I actually had the disc. I wasn't the biggest fan of Bethesda's Oblivion, and the first day or so spent in post-apocalyptic D.C. is guaranteed to seem like nothing so much as Oblivion with guns.

You Dug Your Hole, Now Be Bored in It

HIGH Some of the writing elicits genuine chuckles.

LOW The vast amount of surprise-free grinding.

WTF Since when did cooking replace leveling up?

Game Description: The quiet town of South Arc is about to have some monster trouble. Foul creatures with serious attitude problems have infested nearby forests and are now slowly moving into the village. The townsfolk, fearful for their safety, do not even dare to leave their homes. Calls for help have gone unanswered, likely because every other town in the Kingdom is similarly troubled. As a young lad off in search of your calling, you stumble across a talking shovel. The verbose tool forcibly binds you to the task of digging a dungeon on the outskirts of South Arc, hoping to bait and trap the scrounging monsters. Looks like you found your calling, Master of the Monster Lair. Now start digging!

Finding Flaws in a Final Fantasy Masterpiece

HIGH The point in the story about four-fifths of the way through, wherein the characters all abandon their misguided faith and fight for what's right instead.

LOW Having to level up for three hours in order to defeat the final boss.

WTF The rock track "Other World" that plays during the final boss fight. Very strange for a fantasy game.

Game Description: Spectral Force 3 delivers challenging strategy RPG gameplay, a classic fantasy story, and tons of character and item customization options. The ten kingdoms of the land, seizing the opportunity provided by OverlordJanus's death, are attempting to unify the continent under their own banners. This is the beginning of the Great Neverland War. In order to bolster their defenses, kingdoms have begun hiring mercenary units. As new members of the Norius Mercenaries, you and your friend Diaz are eager to prove yourselves. When the squad's commander Judo is mortally wounded in battle, the mantle of leadership is entrusted to you, and so the adventure begins.

Despite being a game that appears on a gaming console that can put out some amazing graphics and support gameplay that couldn't be done on older hardware, Spectral Force 3 looks like a game that could have been developed for the PlayStation 2 and features play mechanics that were "fresh and new" back in the days of the Sega Genesis. This mediocrity serves to make it only more ironic that the title was developed by Idea Factory—because this is a game that is woefully lacking when it comes to anything resembling an actual idea.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol

It's as sure as death or taxes that anyone who takes up videogaming will find themselves rooting through a bargain bin or scouring pre-owned shelves sooner or later. For those that do, few things feel as satisfying as saving hard-earned cash and getting a gem of a game at the same time.