Strategy/Sim

Remember the little people after you make it big

HIGH Playing a game with no danger in the formula was totally refreshing.

LOW There's no command to tell all the Keflings to drop what they're doing.

WTF Realizing that the most advanced workshop can't make some of the simplest pieces.

The Universe is Yours...And Everyone Else's

HIGH You can make any creature you want, do anything you want, and affect the environment in any way you want.

LOW The first four stages combined are much shorter and simpler than the last one, which is a little strange.

WTF Planet Buster, baby.

Game Description: The creators of The Sims present the next big bang - SPORE. Create your unique creature and guide it on an epic journey through a universe of your own creations. Play any way you choose in the five evolutionary phases of Spore: Cell, Creature, Tribe, Civilization, and Space. How you play and what you do with your universe is entirely up to you. Spore gives you a variety of powerful yet easy-to-use creation tools so you can create every aspect of your universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even starships.

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

The fact that currently sits at a shameful ranking of 45 on MetaCritic is quasi-commentary on the state of games reviewing today. As if there was any doubt that graphics and flash are more important to the average reviewer than substance and creativity, the handling of this game confirms it.

I recently reviewed Operation Darkness, and as I enjoyed that game's engaging story and challenging campaign, I couldn't help but wonder why more Strategy RPGs weren't being made. Then I played Zoids Assault, and I remembered. Combining dull gameplay, uninspired design, and flat-out boring storytelling, Zoids Assault is the worst game I've played in quite a while.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Fantasy Violence, Mild Language

Game Description: When war broke out between the world's two main superpowers, the Guylos Empire and the Republic of Helic, the effects rippled across the globe, dragging other nations into the fight. Two such nations were Maroll and Jamil. After a mysterious explosion at one of Maroll's military bases, two covert ops teams are sent into Jamil territory, their exact mission details never disclosed. Somehow, the events of the present are inextricably linked to the past—to the final days of the war, ten years ago.