Gadgetoid

Review by Johnus Maximus

Bond is back. Recently released in cinemas, Quantum of Solace is the 22nd Bond film and to coincide with its release you can get this first person shooter which covers the key action from both the new film and the prior release, Casino Royale.

Developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, it is also available for PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS and PC. The gritty action style of the new films is represented well in this game, it doesn’t steal the crown from Goldeneye, but it comes pretty damn close.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Football fans get your consoles ready as the latest instalment of the FIFA Football franchise hit the stores in October, and is jam packed full of clubs, stadiums and playing modes as well as all your favourite players.

Developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports the game is also available on pretty much everything with a screen - PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS, Nokia NGage and PC. If you only buy one football game this year you certainly can’t go wrong with FIFA 09.

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You may, or may not, have noticed that we’re getting fairly close to that most wonderful time of the year, when radio stations start playing Mistletoe & Wine, scarf and gloves become a daily necessity and mince pies are back on the supermarket shelves.

It’s also a time of the year where a fiercely drawn out competition takes place on both the real and virtual high street between the manufacturers of toys, games and other technology wonders.

The Gadgetoid team was kindly invited down to the St Martins Lane Hotel, London to get a hands-on look at some of Microsofts games and gadgets that will be available in stores in time for christmas. Follow the jump for our thoughts about the New Xbox Experience, Live Mesh and more…

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Warriors Orochi 2 is the follow up to last years crossover between two of Koei’s best selling hack and slash franchises - Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Released in September 2008, it is also available for PS2 and soon the PSP.

Developed by Omega Force and published by Koei the game seems to take a step forward in offering the player more characters and levels, yet also manages to take a step backward in terms of playability and technical competence, enough to frustrate even a die-hard Warriors fan.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

The long anticipated new Star Wars title from LucasArts has finally arrived. Assuming the role of Darth Vaders secret apprentice, this third-person platform/adventure game fills some of the plot gap between the third and fourth films and will see you unleashing the power of the force like never before

Released on September 19th 2008, The Force Unleashed is developed and published by LucasArts, and is also available on PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii and DS. Despite being short, the game is a lot of fun and offers a well presented cinematic experience that no Star Wars fan can afford to miss out on.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

TNA iMPACT! Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is the first, exclusive video game representation of popular weekly “sports entertainment” tv show TNA iMPACT!. It was released on the 12th of September 2008 and is also available on PS3, PS2 and Wii.

Developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles and published by Midway Games, TNA iMPACT! aims to provide wrestling fans with an exciting alternative to the WWE titles currently on the market. Despite being a technically competent game, it’s not really that much fun.

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Coming in just days after rumors that the UK store Woolworths would be offering the Xbox 360 console starting at just £129.99, Microsoft have officially announced their new, lower prices for all three currently available SKUs starting Friday, the 19th of September .

The new prices start at £129.99, unsurprisingly, for the Arcade, £169.99 for a 60GB hard-drive and single wireless controller and a bargain £229.99 for the 120GB-endowed Elite… which isn’t sounding so Elite now we have a 60GB version. These prices are about £10-£20 under Play.com’s prices at time of writing which means that, once retailers have the time to adjust and create bundle deals, we’ll be seeing even better bargains than this.

To put that into perspective: Play.com sell the Arcade for £149.99 and Game.co.uk for £159.99. If Play.com want to keep that edge then we can expect a ridiculous £119.99 entry point for the Xbox 360- delivered free!

Update: These prices are also reflected in the rest of Europe at 179.99, 239.99 and 299.99 Euros respectively.

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The name synonymous with golfing mastery returns once again to endorse the latest edition in the long running EA Sports PGA Tour series. As those fair weather days are becoming rarer, playing with Tiger and his fellow golfers is probably your best chance of a dry game.

Developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports, the game was released on August 29th for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Wii (that’s right, no PC release!). The game offers a well polished, easy to access experience, with a multitude of playing options that will appeal to anyone with even a modicum of interest in golf.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Released in March 2008, Condemned 2 is the follow up to the successful Condemned: Criminal Origins. The game is developed by Monolith Productions, published by Sega and also available for PS3.

Taking place in the dark and disturbingly violent Metro City, you play an ex-FBI agent fighting to stay alive. The game fuses crime scene investigation with survival horror (think CSI, Silent Hill and Half Life 2 rolled into one game) and is rated 18 for good reason - it’s scary!

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Released in June 2008, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is the first expansion game for the hugely popular Guitar Hero series which focuses on the career of one of America’s most successful rock and roll bands. Developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, the game is also available for the Wii, the PS3 and the PS2.

The game has a smaller range of songs than Guitar Hero 3 but thanks to a slightly better difficulty curve and the Behind The Music documentary style setting; this game is a lot of fun!

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