PSP

Game Description: In Archer Maclean's Mercury you'll watch as liquid metal blobs ebb and flow around the countless challenges you'll encounter. Guide various colored mercury droplets around each 3D maze simply by 'tilting' the level. Negotiate obstacles and hazards, solve puzzles, compete against ever tightening time and percentage limits, whilst avoiding all the traps and predators. Make it to the last levels and you'll bosses who'll push your puzzle-solving abilities to their limits.

I liked Metal Gear Ac!d about as much as Brad, but for different reasons. While Brad felt it stumbled out of the gate but gained steam later, I felt like it started out strong and became overwhelming as it got more complex.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

In my recent write up of the putrid NanoBreaker, my opening comment was that killing robots as an end unto itself is boring and a waste of time—unless there's a hook. I stand by that statement, but I think it's cosmically ironic that immediately after wrapping up a review for a terrible robot-killing game, I'm writing a review for a good one. I guess it just goes to show that in the right hands, even the most seemingly unappealing or dreary subject matter can shine.

I have to say that I expected to like Pursuit Force more than I did. I've been spending the majority of my gaming time on portables lately, and I don't like it when a handheld game tries to get too heavy. More often than not, I'm twiddling my thumbs between job assignments or I might be somewhere with only short bursts of free time.

Clearly, the goal with Metal Gear Ac!d was to score once more by launching the new PSP hardware with a proven superstar. However, this time Snake's mission is quite a bit different than his past forays, and the results are mixed.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Game Description: Metal Gear Acid is a whole new take on the blockbuster Metal Gear franchise. A plane full of hostages is going to die, unless they're given a mysterious secret weapon called "Pythagoras". When the U.S. tracks down "Pythagoras" to a remote lab in Africa, they send in Solid Snake to retrieve it. In this card-based adventure, strategy is everything. Use the Weapon card to take out enemies, the Action card to duck & hide from enemies on patrol, or call in support with the Character card.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Teen (13+), fantasy violence

I like hack-and-slash games just as much as the next guy, maybe even more so. It's a very simple, straightforward genre that hasn't advanced very much since its inception. The basic rules and formula were set up long ago, and mostly hold true to this day because there's something very compelling about constantly battling off hordes of advancing monsters while finding new, shiny pieces of armor among the entrails. Still, despite the lack of sophistication and basic structure necessary to create a game in this genre, Sony Online's PSP entry Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade is a perfect example of how even the most basic formula can be royally screwed up.