Assassin's Creed [PS3]

For the past four years, Ubisoft's Montreal studio have been working on this next-generation project, bringing together elements from previous franchises and a new level of refinement to the action.

The game takes place in the present, with Desmond Miles being the subject of a research project into one of his ancestors, a man named Altair. Most of the game is spent with Desmond using a system called The Animus to travel back into his ancestral memories and control Altair as he carries out various assassinations in the year 1191.

Throughout the game, players will be given missions in various cities where they must meet with the local Assassin's Bureau, gain information on their target's whereabouts through eavesdropping, pickpocketing and interrogating locals, and finally perform the kill before moving on. Climbing certain buildings throughout each city will offer viewpoints that reveal optional objectives such as helping citizens in trouble. Collectible items such as flags can also be found while roaming the rooftops.

The game is very action-oriented, and as expected, owes quite a bit to the platforming action of the studio's Prince of Persia series. Altair's movements are much more fluid though, and you'll often find yourself jumping from rooftop to rooftop in a manner similar to parkour to get to your destination or evade the city guard. Being an assassin, there's also a level of stealth required here too. Altair can choose to carry a low profile with several moves that allow him to blend into and easily move through a crowd, act neutrally, or when the time is right, use high profile attacks on his targets. While the core gameplay is very much PoP meets Splinter Cell, the implementation takes the best of both series and blends them together in a very refined way. The controls are well designed, and easy to get used to while offering several styles of play.

It comes as no surprise that the game simply looks amazing. When you arrive at various cities, or are treated to a 360-degree camera pan when you access a viewpoint, the scale of everything will inspire you to explore every area and detail. The animation, especially between characters as they interact in a crowd, is especially impressive. On the audio side, the game's voice work is very good, and the voices of the crowd will help you locate targets, citizens who need help, and guards who are looking for you.

If you enjoyed Prince of Persia, you'll feel right at home here, and even players who found that series somewhat frustrating will appreciate this game's intuitive controls. The combination of so much to see and do, varied and optional objectives, and quality execution make for an easy recommendation.

9/10

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [PS3]

After several impressive releases that focused on historical events, Activision bring their military First-Person Shooter series into the modern age, upping the ante for both the genre and cross-platform development in the process.

Starting out as a new British S.A.S. soldier, players run through a short training course and are then given a recommendation from the four skill levels available. Throughout the game, you'll play as S.A.S. Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish, and also as Paul Jackson, a U.S. Marine Sergeant. The story involves terrorists and renegade nuclear missiles, and takes place mostly in Russia and Azerbaijan. As you progress, you mission objectives will range from typical hostage extractions and infiltrations to more diverse tasks such as sniping specific targets or sneaking past enemy patrols in a ghillie suit. The game is divided into three acts, with the latter two each being about half the size of the first one. Overall, the game is noticeably short, but still manages to pack in a lot more bang for your buck than most FPS titles.

Graphically, the game is impressive and, aside from the facial animation, is likely the best-looking game on the system so far. The environments are exceptionally detailed, and smoke, fire and water effects are all top-notch. The game also has an impressive soundtrack, with well acted voice work, though at times you can hear the sound booth acoustics when characters are outdoors. The music is fairly typical, but doesn't interfere or get too over the top. It's also the first cross-platform game of this generation to be truly top-notch on both systems.

Naturally, There are multiplayer modes as well, with the ability to play split-screen on one console, over a Local Area Network, or online. Free-For-All and Team Deathmatch modes are joined by Domination (capture three flags), Sabotage (grab the bomb and destroy the enemy objective), and several variants of each. It's unfortunate there's no Co-Operative story mode though, as the game's substantial difficulty and excellent presentation would make for an ideal Co-Op experience.

Some players will likely be put off by the series' departure from historic battles, but this game is implemented so well that it's simply a must-buy for even casual fans of the genre. It's definitely a short game, but the diversity of missions and high replayability, as well as the multiplayer modes, keep the game interesting for longer than most.

9/10

SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Tactical Strike [PSP]

While there have been a couple of previous SOCOM releases on Sony's portable, Vancouver developer Slant Six take things in a slightly different direction with this title.

Choosing a team of four from nine different international special forces units, players work their way through a scenario involving the abduction of a U.S. Ambassador that will bring them to various urban and remote settings. Instead of the usual focus on First-Person Shooter action, the game puts the camera over the squad's shoulders and gives the player strategic control over their movements and rules of engagement.

The levels are a good size for a portable game, and last longer than might be expected, with several checkpoints scattered throughout each one where you can save your progress. Players are rated on their performance in various categories after each level and assigned a grade. Before moving on, there's the option to spend skill points earned during the mission, and change the team's weaponry. The graphics look quite good, and the cut scene animation is likely some of the best on the system so far. The game's audio is fairly standard though, with weapon sounds, radio chatter and the occasional musical swell making up the majority of the soundtrack.

The command system works well, with a series of menus accessible by holding down various buttons. Holding the attack button, for example, allows you to choose attacking one highlighted enemy, define a field of fire, or shoot after receiving a signal. Whichever option was last selected becomes the default, enabling you to keep your squad moving with stealth, for example, instead of risking accidently blowing your cover with a faster pace. Various objects also spawn interaction icons as well, enabling door breaching, shooting through windows, or healing squad members. You are also able to split the squad into two teams to surround groups of enemies or complete multiple objectives simultaneously.

Moving effectively through the levels is slightly hampered by the way the position marker is used though, since you can't just point to a location in front of you. Instead, you need to press the move button, which spawns a marker that you need to manoeuvre to the target location. The trick is that the marker can only be moved "on rails" along the path that your SEALs would actually take. If you want to leave a building from the second floor, for example, you need to steer the marker down the stairs and out the door, instead of just pointing out the door with a reticule. At times this makes moving your squad a chore, especially over long distances.

The game also features both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure Mode online play for up to four players and support of the PSP headset. Most of the online modes pit a team of SEALs against a team of mercenaries with the objective of defending or destroying various targets. There's also an Extraction game with a hostage scenario and a Free For All mode that pits all the players against each other.

While the game's strategic focus might turn off some FPS fans, the action is still satisfying and well suited to portable play. The missions are a good length and the game itself features a slightly longer playtime than players might expect. The multiplayer support is definitely welcome, and even though the main mission's subject matter is familiar, the somewhat fresh implementation still makes this an entertaining title.

8/10

Manhunt 2 [Wii]

Rockstar releases this controversial sequel in an edited form after receiving an "Adults Only" rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, possibly losing the game's vision in the process.

While the original Manhunt game pushed a lot of people's buttons with its snuff video vibe and level of violence, the announcement of a sequel being released on Nintendo's family-friendly Wii seemed to be the last straw for many, and the game was largely condemned while still in development. Subsequently, the game has had some scenes edited out and a video effect superimposed over the screen when the player performs "finishing moves" on enemies.

The story revolves around Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper, escapees from a secret research facility. Controlling Daniel, it's up to the player to figure out what happened, with Leo as your guide. While the premise is substantial enough, some of the implementation is sloppy. Early on in the game Leo tells you to return home since "You left something there for yourself", without any explanation of what it is or how he knows about it, making for some fairly weak player motivation.

As you progress through the game, you'll encounter various adversaries who you can eliminate using various objects and weapons found along the way. Much of the game is based on stealth, which is well implemented, as you'll need to stick to the shadows, and even occasionally hold the Wii remote still in order to remain undetected. Sneaking up on enemies and performing finishing moves is the most effective way of dealing with them.

The play mechanic is nothing like what most people probably imagined though, as you don't control Daniel's movements in real time. Instead, icons appear in the corner of the screen showing a series of motions you need to perform. It ends up feeling much like the boss battles in God of War or even a bit like Dragon's Lair, and almost completely removes the player from the action. During these attacks, the player can barely pay attention to the violence unfolding on-screen, since the icons demand your attention, and the action is obscured by a red overlay, to the point where almost nothing is visible and blood is mostly camouflaged out of sight. It's also worth noting that this generally makes the game less explicitly violent than the original game was, with its copious amounts of arterial spray.

Graphically, the game appears to run on the same engine that the original did, which means it looks decent for a Wii title. The audio was a bit of a surprise, as there doesn't seem to be as much of an attempt to creep the player out and keep you on your toes. There's also an annoying sound from the Wii remote whenever objective notices appear on-screen that it seems you can't turn off.

While it's unlikely anyone will be taking this game at face value, the fact is that the editing of the content and the only partially interactive nature of the finishing moves do hinder the game. If the core gameplay had been stronger, with better player motivation and perhaps some non-lethal attack options to bring more of a morality struggle, this likely could have been a much deeper experience overall, and the editing wouldn't have taken as much away from it.

6/10

Naruto: Rise of A Ninja [360]

Naruto, shunned by most of his village, vows to become the greatest ninja around. This Xbox 360 exclusive features mission-based gameplay, with fighting action as well.

In the main Story Mode, players take control of Naruto as he fails his final martial arts test. Shunned by the other residents of the village, he sets of on various quests in order to restore the town's faith in him and earn their respect. Consisting mainly of fetching and collecting items, ramen delivery quests, and timed races; the game follows the first 80 episodes of the anime series. Naruto can also earn training points, used to visit the Ninja Academy and learn new skills to use when fighting his enemies.

Visually, the game's cel-shaded look won't surprise many, though it does have a higher level of detail than expected. Cut-scenes that further the plot appear to have been pulled from the series, which seems appropriate, but compared to the game look washed out. There's also a strange type of letterbox on the sides of the screen, making the footage taller than it is wide. It's a bit jarring aesthetically, but relatively minor. Sound-wise, the game features music and voice-work that's neither noticeably good or bad, except that a majority of the game's characters pronounce the word ramen incorrectly upon receiving their delivery.

The controls are straightforward when guiding Naruto around the village, but jumps aren't as smooth as in the studio's other titles, causing the occasional missed ledge. Things get more complicated when fighting adversaries, as the action becomes a more conventional fighting game. Naruto can learn and perform special moves by moving the control sticks in various directions, which require good timing and give players the feeling of doing more than just mashing buttons.

Fans of the anime series are certainly going to enjoy this title, with its somewhat open-ended gameplay. The game also brings more to the fighting engine than expected, and both offline and online Versus play help extend the replay value.

8/10