Far Cry-

This has to be one of my favorite games. The story is good, the action is really good, and the graphics are nothing short of great. The game centers around a character named Jack Carver who is hired by a journalist named Valerie Cortez to take her to the beautiful island of Cabatu. It's an island paradise until Val goes off to the island and while he's waiting for her, a group of mercinaries discover Jack and try to kill him. They then go and kidnap Val. Jack barely escapes, but he doesn't know about Val. Now, he has to embark across the stretch of islands trying to find her aided by a scientest named Doyle. The graphics blow you away. This game has the best water i have seen in a game. I found a biohazard sign on the side of a box, and it was the most plastic looking thing i've ever seen in a game. But you need a Direct X 9 compatable Video Card for the water's beautifulness, the bump mapping, the normal mapping, and special effects to be at fullest. Not only are the graphics good, the AI can probably do your homework for you. They will call for backup, formulate ambushes, and if you can see them, they can see you. If you miss with a sniper shot, they'll know something happened, and if you snipe someone they're with, they'll go and check the person. In most games if you are being chased in a vehicle, the AI will go right into a tree if it's in their way. Not here. I was playing and thought this would happen, and to my suprise, they swerved around the tree and kept chasing me. Also, the AI have idle behavior. They'll sit and have conversations between themselves, then go and have a completely different conversation. And when u get into a vehicle, there will be people having conversations over the radio. They'll talk about things from useless crap such as the weather and who won last night's game, to where they are setting up ambushes and if they're sending in a helicopter or calling in boat support to kill you, so you can hide. The game is also Nonlinear. So you can have an objective and just say F*** that! and do it later. This game uses the Crytek physics engine and it has some the most realistic physics I have ever seen. It's only compteition is the Havok physics engine found in games such as Max Payne 2, Freelancer, Starsky and Hutch, Painkiller, Brute Force, Deus Ex the Invisible War, Pitfall: The Lost Expedition, Psi Ops: The Mindgare Comspiracy, Thief: Deadly Shadows, and upcoming games including Starcraft Ghost, Half Life 2, Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, and Lord of the Rings: Middle Earth Online. If you shoot an explosive barrell that's next to some normal barrells and that's all next to a staircase, you shoot the explosive barrell, and the other barrells will blow up, and roll down the stairs killing anything they go over, and if something goes into the water, it'll float if it's something that would float in real life and sink if it's something that would sink in real life. I think it's funny to walk up to a pile of boxes and just knock it over just to watch it fall realistically. If you see some place on the island, you can go there.The only limitations are the sharks around the islands.There's also a multitude of vehicles to make your travels across the island a little more bearable. There's an inflatable raft, guard boat, dune buggy, humvee, Heavy truck, a hang glider (Yes, a hang glider), and a fork lift. The weapons you have at your disposal include a machete,wrench, .357 magnum, jackhammer shotgun, P90 SMG, M4 Carbine, AG36 assault rifle, OICW advanced assault rifle, an AW50 sniper rifle, an M249 SAW machine gun, a rocket launcher,  some good ol' frag grenades, some flashbang grenades, and smoke grenades. You can also take control of a mortar and a mounted minigun. The multiplayer could use a little work though. The levels are way too big for just 16 people. There's also an issue that pops up every once in a while where a person wouldn't die. you can blast sniper bullets through their head and they would still be standing. You also get the map editor so you can create your own little piece of "Paradise". It's really easy to use. It's basically drag and drop. The only hard part is getting to learn the ground texturing. But everything else is very easy. But the Single player makes up for it. The game is definitely worth the $50 it's marked down for.

Unreal Tournament 2004-

If you're looking for frantically fast chaos, then look no further. UT2004 pits you in an arena against the number of opponents you choose. It plays more like the original Unreal Tournament, so there's a smoother framerate and better weapons. Everything from UT2003 is in it. So if you are going to get 2003 with it, don't. It literally has UT2003 in it. Every weapon, level, music track, and character. You can now take command of vehicles to mow down your foes in the newly added Onslaught mode. There are also a multitude of mods, mutators, skins, models, voices, weapons, and maps coming out for it. The game uses Karma physics, which aren't nearly as good as Havok or Crytek, but they're good enough. There's also a music option menu where if you don't like the music that's playing, you can change it to another song, or put your own in. There isn't any naming your own bots though. I miss that feature, but it's alright. UT2004 adds a whole new game type called onslaught where you have to capture power nodes that link in a line to the other team's power generator and then you move in and destroy it. It also brings back the classic game type assault. Where you assault a team's base and complete objectives while the other team's defending. Then when you either complete all of your objectives, or you run out of time, you switch sides and your team defends and the other team attacks. UT2004 adds 3 new weapons. The grenade launcher, the sniper rifle, and the AVRIL rocket launcher. There are 40 new maps and  33 new characters. Of those 33, they're split into the Hellions, the Skaarj, and the cybernetic. The DVD limited edition also comes with a special tin case (OOOOOHHHH!!! IMPORTANT!), and instead of the 6 CDs the regular edtition is on, it's on 1 DVD.Both editions come with the Unreal Editor 3 level, skin, weapon editor. It's extremely useful and the DVD edition comes with a second DVD that has hours of mod and level making tips and tutorials on it. So, if you're looking for a frantic first person shooter with hours of replay value with it's awesome online play, choose UT2004.

*****/5 stars

Sly 2: Band of Thieves:

Sly and the gang are back in their newest adventure! This time you will be able to go through the game with all three members instead of just Sly. The game is 20 hours long according to a friend of mine and the first was only 5. I bought the game the day it came out and I have spent many hours on it. The story opens where Sly is sneaking into a museum to steal the parts of his mechanical foe from the last game Clockwerk, only to find that the parts have already been stolen by the Klaww gang. The Klaww gang is made up of 4 villans. The French painter, club owner, and forger of fine pieces of art and money Dimitri, the illegal spice lord Rajan, the loot transporter and gold prospector Jean-Bison, and then mechanical geneus and very cultured Arpeggio. Sly and the gang have to make it through 8 areas of levels to reclaim the parts of the evil Clockwerk to make sure that the mechanical beast never can terrorize the world. The game is really fun, but I think it's really easy, even to a novice player, they would really be able to get used to the game quickly. It would be a good idea to go through the first game before getting Sly 2, because there are some things referred to that would be more clear if you know what happened in the first game, it would be more clear. such as some references to the fiendish five. I like some of the new abilities that the gang has such as Sly's insanity strike which makes some enemies to attack other enemies or Maurry's Fire punch move which makes his punches do more damage, or Bentley's shrink darts that shrink the guards and their health meter. I haven't been through the whole game. I am currently on the 4th level, the Prague prison. Sly's new pick pocket move is really fun also. You can grab coins or personal posessions from unsuspecting guards. I have noticed that they changed Carmelita Fox's voice actor. She used to have a Spanish accent, but now she has an American one, but that doesn't make the game any less fun. I do believe that this game is much better than the first and recieves:

*****/5 stars


The Sims II:

OMG! THIS GAME RULES! It is everyone's favorite life simulator, except updated and polished. The game gives you control of someone through their lifetime, fufilling their wants, dreams, and helping them raise a family. The major change in this game from the last one is that your sims have a lifespan. They only live for a certain number of Sim days. I am not completely sure how many because i haven't counted. I know that from infant to todler is about 3 days, from todler to child is 7 days, and child to teenager is 14 days, and adult to elder is 27 days. I haven't become an elder yet, and my daughter is still a child. When it is your sims' birthday, you can choose to have a party for them or not, but they will grow up anyway. When your sims have a child, their DNA will mix and yeild a realistic child. My daughter has my hair, and my wife's hair color. I really haven't noticed any other similarities, but she's still a child. The gameplay is different also. Some things in the house are realistic such as, a little while ago, my guy was taking a shower and his wife walked in and used the toilet. When she flushed it, my guy ran out of the shower screaming and ran around the house. My daughter was laughing at him. Also, if you leave something in the oven or on the stove too long, the stove could catch fire, or your food could become burnt and give you food poisoning. You have to lead the sims to become successes in life by letting them acheve their aspirations (wants) to be happier and do better at work. If you send them to work with a high aspiration, they could get promoted faster. Also with work, some promotions could require your sims to make more friends. When you acheve an aspiration, they get points to spend on rewards such as a money tree that could give you some extra pocket money, or a fountain of youth that adds some days to your life. The only thing I don't like about the game is the fact that your sims age. There is a code to put on so it stops that though. You are also not confined to your house any more. You can call a taxi to take you to anywhere you desire on the block. Another friend's house for a friendly visit, the store to stock up on food (Yes your referidgerator can run out of food now) or to get the latest game for your computer like Simcity 4 Rush Hour, SSX 3, or The Sims Bustin Out, or you can go to the park if you want some fresh air. I have spent many hours on this as well, and highly reccomend this to any fan of the first game, and to everyone else out there. I give this

*****/5 stars (More if I could.)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Amazing is an understatement for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It draws you in during the opening scene in the prison where you get to play with the physics a bit and get your first things to put into your inventory, and is addicting until you are forced to put the game down. In the game there's so much you can do like climb the ranks in a  guild to the point where you're the boss, You can put together ingredients and make a potions, you can eavsedrop on other people's conversations and get quests from what you hear. You can play the game for hours without even touching the main quest. The game world is also the most beautiful thing I've seen in a game thusfar. It's a huge environment that you can traverse on foot, on horse, or you can fast travel by clicking points on the map. An improvement that is in this one is an arrow on your compass telling you where to go. In Morrowind, the people just told you what to do, and nothing else. It didn't give you very good directions. Another point of interest is in the ambient AI. They notice each other and will strike up a conversation amongst themselves. You can listen and if they say something about a problem, you can talk to one of them and get a quest from it. They also hear news. You can overhear them talking about your triumpths in other places such as closing Oblivion gates, saving cities from attack, or helping someone in the city. Also, every NPC across Tamriel has their own personality. No two are alike, even though they are voiced by the same person, which brings me to my next point, the voice acting. The voice acting is top notch employing stars such as Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart lending their voices as the emperor (Stewart) and his son(Bean). Even though there must have been like 5 voice actors for every NPC, they are still done beautifully. It is funny to go through and be attacked by someone and have someone in town with the same voice talking to you about the weather or someone in town. The graphics engine is also out of this world. It is amazing to walk through the forests in the world because it is just what a forest would look like. Not just flat ground with trees placed on it. My computer won't run it at it's max detail settings, and it still looks amazing. I can't wait to see what it looks like on full running it for myself. The voice acting is also top notch. With all of those highs, there have to be lows wouldn't you think? Well, of course you're right. There are only two things I could think of are the fact that Oblivion gates seem to pop up every two steps and the fact that it requires such a powerful machine to run (I refuse to get an Xbox 360 until i am desperate (like when Sonic The Hedgehog comes out)). All in all, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is an AMAZING game that is sure to be a classic that is easy for newcomers to the Genre to pick up and have fun with as well as veterans. If you're looking for a game to get that's fun, addicting, and not linear in the least, you should get this game NOW.

*****/5 Stars (more if I could)