Hot Shots Tennis [PS2]

After PlayStation consoles have hosted several iterations of the Hot Shots Golf series, Sony have finally decided to bring the same style of gameplay to the tennis courts, and it's long overdue.

New players will want to have a run through the Training Mode to get the hang of the controls, especially to practice their serve, before starting the Challenge Mode. The challenge here is to play singles and doubles matches against CPU opponents in order to increase your rank and unlock new characters, outfits and courts to play on. The difficulty increases slowly at first, and somewhat unevenly, as later opponents will occasionally be slightly weaker than their predecessor. This adds an unexpected touch of realism, though. As you win, you'll move up in rank, but also unlock new opponents at lower skill tiers. This gives players the option of an easier win if they're having trouble with a certain match, and usually results in winning an unlockable as well.

The controls are, as expected, easy to learn. The left analogue stick controls both your player and the direction you want the ball to go. By pulling back, you can hit the ball with less power, playing close to the net. Lob, slice, and topspin shots are all possible with the face buttons and combined with the stick or proper timing, players can also perform drop shots, smashes, or volleys. The game also has a multiplayer "Fun Time Tennis" mode, where up to four players (using a multitap), can play singles or doubles matches. The various characters have different strengths, allowing for some handicapping of better players as well. There's no online play modes though, which is a bit of a surprise.

While the game features family-friendly graphics, there's enough depth here that most players should find a good challenge. Developer Clap Hanz have created a new franchise that should easily appeal to casual players, but also satisfy fans of the real-life sport. Hopefully we'll see them take on more sports at some point.... Could that soccer ball that bounces through one of the courts be a clue?

8/10

Project Sylpheed [360]

Even though it was also developed by Game Arts, and shares a similar name with Silpheed: The Lost Planet for the PlayStation 2, this game moves from 2D shooter into 3D space battle territory. In the 27th century, some of Earth's colonies are fighting for independence, against the Terra Central Air Force, who are Earth's defenders. The game starts with a training mission of seemingly raw recuits to the T.C.A.F, during which, the enemy attacks. The characters are revealed to be fairly typical anime-style stereotypes, and after engaging the enemy for a while, you figure out that Katana Faraway is the main character and that you assume his role.

The action mainly alternates between mission briefings and heading out to dogfight in your fighter. Completing missions earns you new weapons, as well as points toward developing more powerful weapon options. While in combat, the gameplay consists mostly of finding the nearest bogey and dispatching them, usually with lock-on missiles. It's definitely reminiscent of games like Ace Combat, although you won't have to hunt as much here, since the enemies are usually a lot closer and often leave huge light trails on the screen making them easier to spot.

While the game does have a good amount of action, there just isn't a lot here thats new. Sure it's in space, and younger players who perhaps aren't as interested in the plotlines and relative difficulty of the Ace Combat series, or who are new to the genre will have some fun here. More experienced players will likely yearn for a meatier story and more diverse missions to motivate them though. Even the graphics, while not particularly bad, have a generic style to them. It's surprising this game wasn't released on the PS2, with its larger, younger installed base, since there's nothing really "next-gen" here, and Ace Combat 6 is coming to the Xbox 360 in only a few months.

6/10

The Darkness [PS3]

Jackie Estacado is a mafia enforcer who's been raised by his "Uncle" Paulie and is just turning twenty-one. After one of Jackie's jobs goes south, Paulie turns on him, not knowing that Jackie's birthday will awaken a demonic presence that not only gives him dark powers, but has its own agenda.

Inspired by the comic series, the game is a story-based First Person Shooter that picks up as Jackie is involved in a car chase after a deal gone bad. Even during this opening scene, involving realistic traffic and over the top action, it's clear that this isn't going to be a run-of-the-mill game. Jackie then starts figuring out how to get back at Paulie before he gets hit. The linear gameplay generally involves meeting up with various Non-Player Characters who advise on the next course of action. The story itself takes some strange turns along the way, making this an engaging, and often surprising experience.

The shooting action is quite diverse as well, with several weapon options available, some of them dual-wield capable. Jackie will go up against both squads of police and mob members as the story progresses. Jackie will also gain new darkness powers along the way, including use of a Demon Arm to impale and lift people or objects, and Creeping Dark, which serves as a type of snake-cam with teeth. Jackie can also summon an increasing variety of Darklings from gateways that appear and command them to attack enemies or manipulate objects.

If there's one thing that stands out about this game, it's the overall presentation. From the highly cinematic opening, to the excellent facial and eye animations and the high-calibre voice acting. Everything about this game shows how the developers were given the tools and the time to do things right. The added creepiness of some of the subject matter, and the inventive darkness powers are the icing on the cake. The game even has a substantial multiplayer mode, which allows players to play as humans, darklings, or even shapeshift during the match.

While I can't claim to be a true fan of mafia-based fiction, this game goes far beyond the genre's norms and into survival horror territory, combining them in a way that keeps you motivated. An added bonus is that you get to play the monster, but there will still be times you'll get a bit anxious along the way. I was expecting this to be a fairly typical FPS game and instead find a likely contender for game of the year.

8/10

Rainbow Six: Vegas [PSP]

Ubisoft's squad-based shooter goes portable and follows a parallel story to the home console versions, with the player controlling a team of two on a recovery mission to save fellow Rainbow Six members abducted by terrorists.

The single player Story mode features various mission objectives such as clearing areas of hostiles, hacking computers and reaching waypoints, much as expected. A nice twist is that you'll switch between characters to complete tasks, with one clearing out an area from above so that the other can escort a civilian to safety, for example. This adds more depth to the missions, and keeps things more interesting than if you simply had your second character following you around to provide cover. Completed missions can also be replayed for a better rating, or in a "Terro Hunt" mode, which eliminates objectives and serves as practice for the multiplayer modes.

The game looks quite good, though the PSP does seem to be pushed to its limits, as a kill is often accompanied by a rather large frame rate stutter. The sound is a bit sparse, but certainly realistic, given the game's scenario. There's also a good amount of speech throughout the game via mission briefings and radio chatter, adding to the feeling that this isn't a stripped-down port. The controls take some getting used to, as the face buttons are used to control the camera, but work well overall. It would be nice to see more games allow for custom controls though, especially on the PSP.

Multiplayer mode allows two to four players to join in a game of Survival or Team Survival via a local (Ad Hoc) or online (Infrastructure) Wi-Fi connection. While both modes are certainly welcome, it seems hard to find many players online as of yet. Six maps and a good amount of server options should satisfy most players looking for some online action. There's also Friends List support and a selection of canned voice messages you can send to teammates.

While it's naturally not as deep or technically polished as the home console versions, this game does offer a good experience for players who want some squad-based action on the go. It does have some rough edges and lacks some of the competition's features, such as real-time voice chat or connectivity with the home version, but most shooter fans will likely enjoy it.

7/10