Latest Articles (Page 3490)

Acclaim has announced financial results for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2002. The company reported a 75 percent increase in Net revenues compared to the same period last year, which it attributed to critically acclaimed annual updates of its chief series, including the multi-platform All-Star Baseball 2003. The company aims to continue this upward trend with the forthcoming releases of Turok: Evolution and Aggressive Inline in the second half of the fiscal year, according to CEO Greg Fischbach, although he did confirm that platform oddity Vexx has slipped. "Followed by the launches of Vexx and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2003, we believe that Acclaim will have a very strong and diverse holiday lineup that will be well represented across all gaming systems." The company plans to launch 17 PlayStation 2 titles, 14 GameCube titles and 18 Xbox titles, along with 13 GameBoy Advance offerings. This strong support for Microsoft's fledgling console is thought to be primarily because of its uptake in the United States, where Acclaim's sports franchises are warmly received. Aggressive Inline, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3, Turok: Evolution and Vexx will also be playable during the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) next month in Los Angeles. Related Feature - Vexx preview

Late last week, Future Publishing backed website Games Radar reported that Activision - the world's second biggest publisher - had purchased Rare, developer of such titles as GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, and arguably the company responsible for single-handedly sustaining the Nintendo 64. Around Christmas time, Games Radar reported, Rare sent out a greetings card hinting a multi-platform future for the developer. Innocuous, you might well think, but this detail led C&VG to revive rumours of a Star Fox game on PlayStation 2, although as Nintendo owns the IP this seems an unlikely eventuality. Nintendo also owns a stake in Rare. Although nobody was available to make official comment on the rumours - probably realising that even acknowledging their existence would just fuel the flames of speculation - sources close to Activision flatly denied that any such deal was happening. Given how unlikely this has all seemed from the outset, we're inclined to believe this denial - although of course, final confirmation can only come from the notoriously press-shy Rare. So on past form, we might be waiting quite some time before we know the truth.

One of 3DO's leading development studios has apparently been decimated by the publisher. Despite strong sales of their latest release, Heroes Of Might & Magic IV, New World Computing lost more than half of their staff last week. According to a report on fan site Celestial Heavens, those departing included general manager Jeff Blattner, Heroes IV assistant designer Jennifer Bullard, several other senior staff, and a large number of artists and level designers. Most of the team behind the recently released Might & Magic IX were also apparently laid off, which perhaps isn't a bad thing given the awfully tacky looking artwork that graces the game. Despite the drastic cutbacks, New World are still planning to develop an expansion pack for Heroes IV (quelle surprise), with another full sequel also on the horizon in the long term. Related Feature - Heroes IV screenshots

With a pedigree as prestigious as SSX Tricky, Sled Storm had my expectations understandably high, but after a few moments with EA Canada's latest snow-capped release it became obvious that the two games share more than just a mutual developer. At the heart of Sled Storm are the same underlying mechanics that made Tricky so enjoyable, but unfortunately basing Sled Storm squarely on its predecessor has diluted its impact. Elements could quite easily be transplanted between the two, and the underlying sensation of déjà vu is striking. Your options from the start are extremely thin on the ground, save the requisites that you'd expect from what is essentially an arcade racer. Championship. Quick race. Time Trial. Multiplayer. However, the latter options are practically pointless without first unlocking extra characters, sleds and tracks in the championship, tasks familiar to anybody who spent more than a day with either of BIG's previous releases. To begin with, you can pick from three of the game's eight riders, each with varying agility and a handful of tricks available to them, before mounting their least impressive sled. Making your decision really isn't particularly tough at this stage, as each of the riders are of similar talent and are bottom-of-the-barrel material. It's actually the sled you should be more interested in, in terms of performance...

Anarchy Online might have had a rocky first few months, with poor framerates and bugs causing a mass exodus of players in the early days, but developers Funcom aren't giving up on it. Yesterday they announced a partnership with Gamigo AG which will see the addition of a new dimension for German speaking players, with native in-game and e-mail support as well as a new German language version of the game's official website. Funcom president André Backen was said to be "very happy" with the deal, before rambling on about synergies and community building. The German Anarchy Online servers should be launching some time in May, with a beta test kicking off soon. Keep an eye on the Anarchy Online website for more details. Related Feature - Midgard put on hold

Due for release through Bam next month, Star X looks set to be the GameBoy Advance's first truly 3D game, replacing the traditional sprites with flat shaded polygons. But what about the gameplay behind those graphics? We took a preview version of the game for a spin to find out more...

NHL 2002 is ostensibly the same as the PlayStation 2 version of the game. Boasting marginally improved visuals and other less obvious changes the game is effectively just a port. Fortunately for Xbox owners it is a game of unfathomable depth, featuring amongst others things an involved franchise mode which can be played for ten consecutive seasons, and a system of skill levels which award points for performing specific tasks during a game. Parading your skills up and down the rink buys you cards, of which 189 are available, and many of these unlock new features from the sensible to the outright obscure. The ubiquitous Play Now mode lets you get straight onto the ice, but if you delve slightly deeper you can go for the exhibition mode with its four player support, or a 16 player tournament mode, or you could focus on your breakaway skills using the Shootout mode. Before you begin though, you can adjust all manner of settings both in gameplay and technical areas (and the difficulty level, which could do with adjusting given I won my first match eleven goals to three), not to mention creating a profile to record your achievements and rack up your points and card totals. During the game, tasks flash up in gold letters upon completion. Graphically NHL 2002 is a mixed bag. Although the players are nicely modelled they have that tell-tale EA look and almost judder at times. That said, 700 of them have their real faces, and animation is very good in general thanks to some wonderful superfluous detail. Facial expressions are varied and usually relevant, and players all act realistically, making adjustments to their stick and collecting stray passes with their feet, although the players' sharp edges dampen the impact of the close-ups and opening sequences, and the relatively sober fight sequences are nowhere near as involved or varied as those witnessed in NHL Hitz 20-02.

Konami has announced that it plans to release Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on 4th July, and in Europe during September. Restless Dreams contains the extra scenario, "Born from a Wish", which was included in the Xbox version of the game and lets players take up the mantle of a lass called Maria. Hopefully this new trick of porting games to one format, adding bits, then porting them back again won't prove habit-forming. Related Feature - Silent Hill 2 review

JoWooD have signed arguably the world's greatest motor racing driver, Michael Schumacher, to headline a new PC game which is due out in June. It's not yet another Formula 1 sim though (like we need any more of those), but instead a karting game, going back to where Schumi and many other top drivers began their careers. Imaginatively titled Michael Schumacher Racing World Kart 2002, the game will apparently feature an "incredible combination of addictive and exhilarating gameplay and endorsement from .. a famous and successful driver". Or at least that's what JoWooD UK boss Vip Patel told us. We should know soon whether the game can live up to the billing or if it's destined for a transfer to Minardi next season.

Konami have announced that their new European R&D team is working on PC and Xbox ports of the PlayStation 2 adventure game Shadow Of Memories. Both versions are due out in September and will offer enhanced graphics, as demonstrated by a batch of early screenshots that came with the press release. For those of you who (like us) missed the original release of Shadow Of Memories, the game follows a man called Eike as he seeks to avert his murder by travelling back in time to the middle ages, 1902 and 1980. Depending on your actions in each time period, future events may play out differently, and the game has no less than four different endings. "Shadow of Memories has been the perfect start for us and we expect the title to go down well", the development team's manager Tony Bickley enthused. "We're currently investigating a wide selection of projects, across both traditional gaming platforms and new areas of business. It's an exciting time for the studio." Related Features - Shadow Of Memories screenshots

As previously reported, after months of tension the Dreamcast is finally to be laid to rest later this month in Europe with the release of its final five games. However, GameSpot is reporting that NeoGeo publisher Playmore Corporation (nothing to do with Microsoft's Xbox advertising, by the by) is planning to port The King of Fighters 2000 to the system. Ignore the '2000' moniker, because SNK's fighters are timeless classics. KoF 2000 was one of the company's last arcade releases before its unfortunate demise, and Playmore's port of the game will be available in Japan shortly. So, if you're a Dreamcast owner there may be one last game to look forward to from the late, great Granddaddies of the beat 'em up genre themselves. That sounds like a better swansong than Free Style Scooter, anyway. Related Feature - The Last Days of Dreamcast

TDK Mediactive and Mattel have announced Robotech: Battlecry for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, IGN is reporting. The game is being developed by Vicious Cycle, and will feature cel-shaded visuals in line with the television programme. Early Xbox screenshots demonstrate vast environments, particle effects and other minutiae, while the plot concerns saving the world from the clutches of the evil Zentraedi, by piloting the Veritech Fighter mech into battle. "Robotech is a phenomenal brand with great potential," Mattel's senior veepee of new media Amy Boylan told IGN, while TDK are said to be "extremely pleased" with the partnership and the product, which will be on display for the first time at E3 next month.

Mindscape's latest publishing deal will see the company distributing Cryo's PC titles in the UK for the remainder of 2002. Cryo abandoned the UK market a year ago, and apparently Acclaim haven't had much more luck distributing their games over here since then either. Now Mindscape will be trying their luck with no less than 15 titles due for release over the next eight months, including everything from Zidane Football Generation to adventure games like The Secret Of The Nautilus and kids' titles based on the Pink Panther and Garfield. "The Cryo products bring a great focus to our 2002 games line-up", according to Mindscape president Jean-Pierre Nordman. "We are delighted to be working with such a respected publisher with an impressive portfolio of titles. As an international publisher with over 10 years experience in the games industry we have a strong sales team, great knowledge of the local market and a solid relationship with the trade. We will be working closely with the team at Cryo to make sure these titles are a great success." Hopefully the games they get from them will be more impressive than the ones which Acclaim had the misfortune to end up publishing for Cryo, most of which were seriously flawed or downright abysmal. Terrifying memories of playing Dune and Shadow Of Zorro still give us nightmares... Related Feature - Cryo abandons UK market

It's been over a year since Sega's dramatic exit from the console business, but finally, after 12 months of waving its legs in the air and refusing to die, the Dreamcast really is about to die. Considered dead by virtually everybody anyway, the format has only five more titles to look forward to. Capcom's Heavy Metal Geomatrix and Cannon Spike, and Ubi Soft's Conflict Zone, Free Style Scooter and Evil Twin mark the closure of the Dreamcast annals, and all five games are now due out on 26th April. Reports from the States indicate that Capcom's Cannon Spike is definitely worth looking forward to, and that Heavy Metal Geomatrix isn't all that bad either, although it has been described by a number of reviewers as "annoying". Unfortunately, critically, Conflict Zone has fared less well and Evil Twin was never all that great anyway. The wildcard is Free Style Scooter, but we have a sneaking suspicion that this will also prove a bitter swansong for the console. We hope you will join us respectfully for a minute's silence at 11am on the morning of 26th April.

A while ago we reported that Nike was suing Sega and its advertising agency Leagas Delaney, after the latter allegedly copied Nike's Frozen Moment advert so closely when promoting NBA 2K2 that it infringed on the company's trademarks. According to a report on Spong.com, on its first day in court Sega apologized to Nike and by way of compensation agreed to inject $100,000 into Nike's Boys and Girls Clubs program for youth development. Related Feature - Nike sues Sega

Next time you have a kebab - make sure you check the wrapper. Today's offering from the kebab shop downstairs (small doner, extra chilli sauce and lashings of pickled chillies) came wrapped in paper advertising a certain games console. It read: "Dead or Alive 3. It can be hard to adjust to reality. Xbox. Play more. Play Dead or Alive 3." It also said: "Dispose of after use." We assume that means the paper wrapper - not the game or console.

Electronic Boutique UK shareholders yesterday approved the name change of the company to THE GAME GROUP PLC. The name change takes effect within three working days, and all EBUK stores will get a GAME makeover. Electronics Boutique announced its intention to change its name in January this year. It owns the Game name through acquisition - Game was a rival UK games software chain, acquired in 1999. Last week, EBUK announced its intention to see if it could legally terminate a services agreement with Electronics Boutique Inc., of America, which sees the company pay one per cent of turnover to its US namesake.

Last year we exclusively revealed that GSC Game World were planning a Napoleonic sequel to their chart topping real-time strategy game Cossacks. This week publisher CDV have officially unveiled the game, adding a brief product page about it to their website with some details of what we can expect (but sadly no screenshots yet). Due out late next year, the sequel will feature 3D graphics for the first time while still allowing a staggering 32,000 units in a single battle, with a hundred different troop types available across the ten European nations featured in the game. And although it's subtitled Napoleonic Wars, Cossacks II will actually span over three centuries of European conflict from the 16th century right up to Waterloo. Six full campaigns, ten historical battles and a dozen stand-alone missions should keep you busy for a few weeks, and of course there will be extensive multiplayer support on offer as well, including an intriguing sounding European Conquest mode. Expect to hear a lot more about this one in the coming months... Related Feature - GSC Cossacks interview

Sierra and Fox Interactive have announced that an expansion pack for Aliens vs Predator 2 is on the way. Developed by Third Law Interactive, the company behind the surprisingly entertaining KISS Psycho Circus game, the pack will feature three new single player missions for each of the three species, four new multiplayer maps, two strange new indigenous lifeforms to annihilate, a variety of new weapons and combat styles (including deployable sentry guns - oh yes) and of course all the latest patches and updates from Monolith for the original game. Subtitled Primal Hunt, the add-on centers around a mysterious ancient artifact which could hold the key to defeating the aliens. Naturally it's not long before a predator, a human mercenary and a lethal hybrid of alien and predator are all battling it out to get their hands on the prize as hostile aliens overrun the base. European release details are still unclear (indeed, the publisher's UK office apparently didn't know anything about the expansion pack until they read about it on an American news site this morning), but in the US it's due out in July for $20.

The latest installment in Microsoft's "State of the Xbox" column covers online gaming, a subject that the company has been keeping remarkably quiet about to date. A full announcement can be expected at the E3 trade show next month, but in the meantime Xbox executive producer Jeff Henshaw and online gaming bigwig Marc Whitten are insisting that playing on your Xbox with people from around the world will be as simple as putting the disc in the drive and powering up. "We could transplant the PC experience over .. to Xbox - but that doesn't make it right. There is a lot that's complicated and confusing, that requires specific and detailed knowledge by the gamer and a ton of work by every game developer to get connected, find people, and play", according to Marc. "It's as alien to the Xbox experience as installing a new set of video drivers to play the latest game would be. So we think about online as the virtual couch - playing an Xbox online should be as natural and easy as popping in the latest greatest game and closing the tray." Expect more details on exactly how this will work, how much you'll have to pay Microsoft to use your Xbox online, and what games will actually support the service at E3. In the meantime, you can read the column over on the Xbox website. It's almost worth it just for the line about the crowds of gamers checking out the latest hot Xbox games in European and Japanese stores...

Activision last night announced that a PlayStation 2 version of their Xbox driving game Wreckless : The Yakuza Missions is on the way. Unusually the PS2 version of the game will offer a number of much-needed enhancements over the lacklustre Xbox original, including "free-roaming interactive environments", almost twice as many cars to drive, sub-missions to carry out, cheat codes to unlock, and a new head-to-head multiplayer mode, giving you the chance to run your friends off the road split-screen stylee. Whether any of this will actually make the game fun to play is doubtful, but it certainly can't hurt. We'll also be interested to see how much of the overwhelming eye candy present in the Xbox version can be crammed into the PS2's relatively limited memory. The answer should be apparent soon, with Wreckless expected to crash on to Sony's console this autumn. Related Feature - Wreckless screenshots (Xbox)

The Empire might have been defeated, but several years after the events of Return Of The Jedi remnants of its once formidable might are still causing trouble for the New Republic. Which is where Kyle Katarn comes in. The hero of the original Jedi Knight is now a mercenary helping the Republic to mop up their enemies, having relinquished the way of the Force and hung up his lightsaber. As a result you start Jedi Outcast with nothing but your trusty blaster, only regaining your weapon of choice and force powers as the game goes on. Sadly this makes for a rather lowkey opening, as the guns lack grunt and (most importantly) don't feel like they belong in the Star Wars universe. The Flechette Weapon, for example, is almost identical to the Flak Cannon from Unreal, and there's even a standard issue rocket launcher included. To make matters worse, most of the weapons lack accuracy and have slow moving shots, which makes it hard to hit the broadside of a barn at long range, let alone a moving Storm Trooper. Things pick up somewhat when you finally get hold of the lightsaber, but it's not all good news here either. Melee battles tend to be rather random, especially when you're facing multiple enemies. One lucky blow to the chest is enough to kill you outright, and the fights are really too fast for you to attack and defend effectively. It's more about instinct and dumb luck than skill. Fighting gun-toting enemies, on the other hand, is far too easy. Right from the start Kyle can deflect every single shot that is fired at him with perfect accuracy and absolutely no player input is required. All you have to do is sit back and watch as your enemies are killed by their own reflected blaster shots. As long as they stay in front of you and none of them are armed with a rocket launcher or sniper rifle, you have nothing to be worried about.

4X Studio are keeping themselves busy. Already hard at work on the intriguing alternative history action game Iron Storm, and having announced a new console game called Times Of Trouble just a couple of days ago, the French developer has now unveiled yet another project. Stalingrad will recreate one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War as a first person shooter on the PC and Xbox, with a variety of mission objectives to complete, AI allies to help you out, and some RPG-lite elements in the form of skills that improve as you gain experience. The game will apparently follow the experience of a young Russian sniper as he gains a reputation for himself in the ravaged Soviet city, which suggests that 4X have been watching Enemy At The Gates. Either way, the early screenshots are quietly impressive, and it could make a nice break from the typical run and gun action of most first person shooters. Expect to hear more soon. Related Feature - Stalingrad screenshots

Empire Interactive has signed the publishing rights to Big Mutha Truckers for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game is currently in development at Eutechnyx, whose racing game credentials include Le Mans 24 Hours and Formula One games for EA. The cheekily titled game gives the player control of an 18-wheel rig, with the emphasis on racing to build up a personal fortune. After the success of 18-Wheeler American Pro Trucker on the Dreamcast, a number of truck racers have sprung up, including Jester Interactive's Super Trucks. Big Mutha Truckers aims to be different by focusing on the stereotypical image of the American trucker, which apparently includes running into biker gangs, corrupt sheriffs and "even their own redneck siblings" [I take it Empire isn't the US publisher? - Ed]. Describing Big Mutha Truckers as a "unique concept", Empire CEO Ian Higgins let slip that the company is "aiming for a Christmas launch in Europe".

The game begins with Mario and Princess Peach, fresh from thwarting the nefarious machinations of the evil Bowser, vacationing on a beautiful island in a remote location. The perpetually sunny island inhabited by friendly natives seemed like just the place to stick one's feet up. Unfortunately, things are never that simple for Mario. Somebody, disguised as our portly pipe-plunging Italian friend, has scribbled all over the walls, all over the island, and what's worse, the locals falsely accuse Mario of this heinous act and demand reparation. Not content with simply counting his losses and moving on, our daring adventurer sets off with his new water-pumping backpack to clean the whole mess up and unmask the true villain. But then, story never was all that important to Mario games. Since when has it ever consisted of much beyond rescuing the Princess and putting that overgrown terrapin back in his place? The genius of Shigeru Miyamoto's invention is in the gameplay, and apart from the usual task of collecting (sun) coins, budding plumbers will need to take out all of the phantom scribbler's work and any other mess besides using Mario's H20 cannon. His other activities look to be as varied and enjoyable as they were in SM64 - walking tightropes, jumping like a Crouching Tiger from wall to wall to reach the rooftops, and even playing football for some reason. If Nintendo can keep up a steady stream of varied tasks on a par with those in their first 3D platformer, but on a visual level far exceeding them, then I think it's reasonable to expect this to be successful. Speaking of graphics, Mario Sunshine's visual style is of course reminiscent of his 64-bit outing, but locations have changed to fit the island setting, with cobbled streets and sprawling outdoor environments with plenty of minutiae and an immense draw distance. Most of all the streets of Mario's holiday destination look warm - the whole scene has an iridescent glow to it as our hero basks in the summer sun wiping the sweat off his face with the back of his glove. The emphasis is definitely on 'cute', although Mario clearly benefits from a much higher polygon count and various other frills. If he has half the amusing little animations that his brother Luigi enjoyed in his Cube adventure this is going to look extremely impressive, and we are already promised extensive facial animations that display emotion.

It's not unusual these days for developers to take field trips to get inspiration and photographic textures for their games. Gray Matter sent a party out to Europe to look around our castles, while Remedy returned the favour by visiting the mean streets of New York in search of that extra little bit of authenticity for Max Payne's locations. If you think skulking around the alleyways of downtown NYC was hazardous though, spare a thought for Ukrainian developers GSC Game World, who recently sent a research party into the evacuated zone surrounding Chernobyl, site of the world's worst ever nuclear accident. GSC are currently working on a game called STALKER : Oblivion Lost, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the classic Russian sci-fi movie Stalker. In the game a second disaster has turned the Zone surrounding Chernobyl into an even more dangerous place, with mutated animals, toxic lakes and lethal traps awaiting the unwary. That doesn't discourage everyone though, as Stalkers guide the curious through the closed Zone and search for strange artifacts to bring back to the outside world. Whereas in the movie the dangers were more psychological than physical though, in Oblivion Lost you will be taking on wily mutants with a variety of weapons and machinery at your disposal. With an interesting storyline and a mixture of nicely detailed interiors and vast outdoors areas full of plants and wildlife, it's certainly looking a lot more promising than GSC's last attempt at a first person shooter, the decidely shoddy Codename Outbreak. Hopefully this time they can afford some real voice actors as well... For a diary of the developers' little day trip to Chernobyl and chilling photographs from inside the Zone, head over to the GSC website. Related Features - Stalker screenshots

Eden Studios, the European developer responsible for the V-Rally series, has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames, which had previously held a 19.8 percent stake in the company. Infogrames is in the process of increasing its internal development resources by adding studios like Eden to the pile. Eden is currently busy completing V-Rally 3 for the PlayStation 2 in time for its June release date, with original games promised for the Xbox and GameCube over the next two years. Infogrames chairman Bruno Bonnell commented: "We take great pride in the fact that its founders chose to continue their company's growth as part of our Group. The alliance between Eden and Infogrames is a perfect example of combining creative talent with publishing power." Other notable Infogrames studios include Reflections (Driver, Stuntman), Microprose (Grand Prix) and Paradigm (Spy Hunter).

GameCube Europe is reporting that MediaMarkt in Rotterdam, Holland is only asking €244, which is about £149.50, for Nintendo gameCube when it launches in May. Many other European retailers are opting for a higher price point of €259 or €269 according to the website, whereas the console seems to be selling for £169-79 in the UK, with some early birds having scored cheaper pre-orders with Amazon, Gameplay and others. The same website is also reporting a high level of interest in Australia, where the console will launch on 17th May. Related Feature - 25,000 Cubes pre-ordered in the UK

Nintendo is reporting that over 25,000 of its GameCube videogame consoles have been pre-ordered in the United Kingdom, with that number set to double by 3rd May. David Gosen, MD of sales and marketing, said Nintendo was "delighted at the initial reaction", and that they "are already receiving similar encouraging pre-order reports across Europe." Gosen believes that Nintendo focuses on gaming not technology, and that this message is getting through to gamers. Nintendo GameCube has sold over three million units worldwide to date, but its passage into Europe has been less than impressive. Although Nintendo aims to spend 100m Euros on marketing the console, it failed to match Microsoft's Xbox launch date as it so nearly did in the States, and although 20 games are promised on day one these are mostly ports, with a handful of standout games and exclusives. Two of the console's most important games, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Pikmin, are actually being held back to help perpetuate the illusion of regular new software, something which fans in the States have been crying out for. Although many believe that the low price and high quality of the launch exclusives will be enough to attract fans (Rogue Leader should impress, for instance), the above, along with low retail margins forcing price hikes and a relatively poor complement of original third party content could leave the console exposed to attack from a recovering Xbox. Related Feature - Twelfth Night

There used to be a time when a LucasArts game meant a high level of entertainment and ingenuity, but these days the company is guilty of feeding the corporate mouth rather than honouring its fans, and Obi-Wan is a perfect example of this. Starting in the depths of Coruscant on a scouting mission, the game's star comes face to face with a bold new enemy, the Jin'ha, and it quickly becomes clear that they are allied with the greedy, malevolent Trade Federation. Ultimately though this richly woven tapestry of Star Wars is soiled by foul visuals, slowdowns, shoddy AI and boring level design. It all feels like it was designed in a hurry. Presentation wise Obi-Wan is often as slick as its console brethren, and on a system as powerful as the Xbox you would expect that, but the game slips up in several areas. In this galaxy far, far away the scrolling text star screen looks hideous, and the characters in the in-engine cutscenes have no facial animation whatsoever. Voice acting, used throughout these short scenes and during gameplay is not bad, but the mimicry of Ewan McGregor is a bit too actively Scottish to be his Obi-Wan, and the rest of the cast is equally unconvincing. Obi-Wan's chief weapon is the ubiquitous lightsaber, although throwaway sniper rifles and other toys are strewn across some of the levels. The right analogue stick controls the lightsaber regardless of the direction you move Obi-Wan with the left analogue stick, and a double-tap of the right stick in any direction will perform a different two-stage attack. Unfortunately this cunning saberplay is overly simplistic and leads to random thrashing of the right analogue stick in combat. During use of the right stick, you also lose the ability to deflect shots from blasters. That said, the technique for doing so is a bit chaotic…