Edge 219 - Octubre 2010

Other M dabbles in cinematic tricks and sensational set pieces, but it's strength is in it's foundations; it builds an enveloping 3d world from straight lines and right angles, and ups the gears of it's rewarding basic constantly. It offers an uncluttered slice of sci-fi action, a singular take on the 3rd person adventure, and a combat system of pared-down beauty. Team Ninja had good material to work with, but the studio's own contribution is a fine complement indeed.

With Peace Walker having so recently demonstrated what can be done when a complex, home console series is carefully adapted to PSP, Valkyria Chronicles feels like a missed oppertunity. It's battle system still provides an excellent alternative to the rigid chess boards of many a strategy RPG, but one that feels comprimised rather than optimised for it's new setting. There's nothing wrong with heading back to school, but Valkyria Chronicles was already qualified.

There is, perhaps, a metagame moral in Mafia II's open-world teasing. It reminds us that the best sandbox stories are still within the reach of good writers rather than frivolous player-agency. Though 2K Czech's operation doesn't run entirely smoothly, there's a definite spark of potential and the roots of an abandoned attempt to engineer something more than throwaway entertainment. Like the characters it portrays, Mafia II expects loyalty to it's blinkered cause but unfourtunetly, in a more fatal parallel, it also falls pray to the offer of easy money and some cheap thrills.

As with many games. the blights and blemishes are partly concealed by playing it through in co-op, and there are extensive and intriguing multiplayer modes in the package, too. But as a single player experience, Dog Days feel underdeveloped. It's most striking ideas don't fulfill their promise, and it's successes are etched by pervasive minor flaws. The towering, terrifying city and the lens through which it is shot, drag you onward through the game's lesser parts. but you sense that the real crime in this whole bloody escapade is that it doesn't live up to it's dark flashes of imagination.

It'd be easy to punch holes in Puzzle Quest 2 for not moving the match-three vehicle farther down the road, but it's not a series that's stalled, just one build on a concept that hasn't really moved on. The gems that this sequel is connecting - the RPG and match-three puzzler - still need one more to complete their chain; character.

Eugen's real triumph has been in packaging the games complexities in an entirely accessible manner. By cross-developing for PC and console, the French developer has found a way to facilitate deep strategy on just a handful of buttons, streamlining the interface at little cost to the tactician. The conservative setting and lack of an engaging storyline may do little to excite RTS veterans but, in it's ruleset, Ruse expands upon the genre in a way that goes beyond gimmick. As a result, it's deserving of a wider audience than recently released high-profile rivals might allow for.

As the more intimate title suggests, this may be as much about Croft's brand awareness in the face of unprecedented (and Uncharted) competition. It certainly gets the job done in the gap between boxed released, but you can't resist the feeling that the series about grand adventure should be scaling greater heights.

A game about the most ridiculous form of human-on-human combat, HAWX 2 should be anything but pedestrian. But in miring the action in a crayon-written plot, and applying air brakes to anything going too fast, the screaming thrills it does provide are the exception, not the norm.

Guwange appears the most accessible of Cave's late 90's output, even if the latter stages of the game will require a combination of dedicated practice and natural skill to overcome. That said, there are no concessions to the newcomer. The game is designed exclusively for score attack or single credit runs, it's stern Japanese arcade mentality unmoved by the jump to console and a potentially wider audience with no extra credits or easier modes. Despite all this, the game remains enthralling and the fully featured leaderboards will obsess and delight those skilled or patient enough to excel at it.

Too calculated to be a truly sympathetic adaption, what Scott Pilgrim is missing in inspiration it makes up for - inappropriately - with sheer professionalism. It may be quietly lacking when it comes to the ad-libbed charm of the source material, but this is still a detailed and intelligent fraud; a slice of cool, corporate entertainment for an audience that probably sees no contradiction with that notion.

Murky, muted visuals and a lack of ground details let's the games presentation down, but the satisfying combat and customisation - especially when you unlock the Tune menu, which lets you add custom parts to your aircraft - do their best to hold your attention despite the frequently repeating missions.

Like the movies that doubtless inspired it, Shank ultimately has more style than substance. It looks fantastic, but it's hardly a lengthy game and it does little to trouble your brain. As throwaway entertainment goes, it's solid popcorn stuff.