Contributions > Descriptions by Ace of Sevens (4479)

Dead Rising: Chop Till you Drop is an adaptation of Dead Rising, for the Wii. The freelance photojournalist Frank West investigates a zombie outbreak in Willamette, Colorado. He has three days at the mall to rescue survivors and solve the case before the helicopter that dropped him off returns.

The basic outlines are maintained from the Xbox 360 game, but numerous changes have been made to fit the game into the Resident Evil 4 engine and to accommodate the Wii's graphical capabilities and very different controller. The plot is the same and Frank saves the same people, though a few are missing. The map of the mall is almost the same, but Frank can no longer jump and it adds new barriers and eliminates some shortcuts, which changes navigation. While the game is still primarily about killing crowds of zombies, there are fewer of them and they are more aggressive. The cut-scenes are also unchanged, though they are now pre-rendered, but the structure of the game has been overhauled. You can have multiple save slots. It is no longer a real-time affair, but a series of missions given in sequence. Otis the janitor gives Frank side missions which are timed. You are scored on these missions based on how long it takes to complete them (or whether you complete them at all), the number of zombies Frank kills and the damage he takes. High scores result in more side missions and top scores earn various items. After a batch of side missions is done, you are given the next plot mission. These are untimed and represent Franks only real opportunity to wander around the mall. He still level-ups, but the bonuses he gains are different. Health is now a solid bar rather than discrete boxes, so the bar length just increases a little with each level instead of adding a box at specified points. Frank gets bonuses to weapon durability and damage and to book capacity, which is separated from the rest of the inventory. Books are used strictly for teaching him new moves for specific weapons or for unarmed fighting.

While he still can pick up and use numerous objects as weapons, from sensible choices like katanas and bats to silly ones like cash registers and shower heads to things that are more transports than weapons, like shopping carts, skateboards and bicycles, the number of usable items has been greatly reduced. Melee weapons all wear out and break with use. There are two classes. Smaller items can be pocketed, allowing Frank to fire a gun. Larger items, like rototillers and chainsaws, are dropped if he is attacked or enters gun mode. He can only have one melee weapon of each type at a time. These weapons cannot go into the inventory, which is used strictly for food and mixables and ammo-based weapons. There are multiple kinds of food which can be eaten to recover health or mixed in blenders to create shakes with various effects. Food can be found laying around the environment, recovered from dead zombies or found inside trash cans and boxes. These breakable items way also contain melee weapons. Dead zombies can also drop cash and ammunition.

The camera throughout the game has been changed to an over-the-shoulder view. When you go into gun mode, the camera zooms in and you aim manually using the remote. Other limited-supply weapons such as saw blades and molotov cocktails are also used this way. The role of guns has been greatly expanded. There are now five basic kinds of guns, pistols, shotguns, machine guns, rifles and magnums. Each has its own kind of ammunition. The ammunition does not take inventory space, though the guns do. Early in the game, there is a mission that gives access to a gun shop, after which you can buy better guns, for instance, replacing the rifle with a semi-automatic rifle. This is also where you buy increased ammunition capacity and books.

As before, missions are mixed between fighting bosses, which the game calls psychopaths and rescuing survivors (or frequently rescuing a survivor from a boss). Frank is now limited to escorting three survivors at a time and must do the survivor missions one at a time. Most of the boss fights are essentially the same, where he fights a powerful human enemy. Some of the bosses have had their story segments eliminated and are present as super-zombies. These super-zombies are visually distinct, have special attacks and drop bonuses when killed. Another boss fight has been converted to a QTE, where you must press buttons quickly when prompted. The game also adds new animal zombies, which are grenade-dropping parrots and very fast poodles.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 shrinks the console game to fit on Nintendo's handheld. It is still in 3D and played on the upper screen. The lower screen is used to switch characters and use the star meter.

As with other versions, you play a squad of four characters at a time. You can switch between them at any time. There are shield points throughout the game where you can save and swap out characters.

Defeating enemies builds up a star meter. You can spend two stars to resurrect a fallen ally or all five to perform a powerful fusion attack where two characters combine their powers. Any pair of characters has their own unique fusion.

Defeating enemies also builds experience, which causes your characters to level up, increasing their powers and stats. Each character has four active and two passive powers and you can distribute the points however you wish or let the computer do it for you. Points can be reassigned at any time.

The story is told through 2-D cutscenes staged in the style of cardboard cutouts. It combines the Secret War and Civil War storylines from the comics. After Nick Fury uses superheroes in an unauthorized attack on Latveria, public sentiment turns against them. Then, after more than six hundred people are accidentally killed in a super hero fight, Congress passes the Super Human Registration Act, mandating all powered individual reveal their identity to the government. The game has you pick a pro or anti registration side. The beginning and end of the game are the same either way, but the middle section is different depending on which side you choose. The levels are mostly the same, but have different objectives. Several characters are restricted to each side and locked out if you play the other.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 continues the four-player mayhem of the previous Marvel Ultimate Alliance and, before that, the X-Men Legends series. It is based on the Secret War and Civil War storylines from the comics. After Nick Fury leads an unauthorized super-hero assault on Latveria and a fight gone wrong kills hundreds of civilians in Connecticut, the government passes the super-human registration act, which requires all super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government. At one point in the story, you have to choose the pro or anti registration side and certain heroes will always be on one side or another, locking them out if you choose the other path. The game after this point changes depending on the storyline you choose.

You start with a handful of characters and can unlock more by completing bonus simulator missions, which will give you a special task like blowing up cars. There are four heroes active at all times during the game, unless they get knocked out. Each character has a health meter and a stamina meter. You can use SHIELD access points, usually at the beginning and middle of each level, to switch out characters. The stamina meter recharges on its own and controls use of powers. Each hero has a jump (which can also be used to double-jump, fly or web-swing, depending on the character), grab, quick strike and powerful strike. These can be used in combination to do things like jumping attacks, pick up an enemy, then punch them, etc. Combining these with a modifier button allows you to use powers. Each hero has a wide variety of powers. Leveling up gives you points to spend on improving the powers. You can re-assign the points and change which powers are active at any time.

Defeating enemies and smashing environment items gives you health refills and points that can be spent upgrading statistics for each hero. There are also items that you can carry that will give stat bonuses like increased HP or a bonus to a specific type of damage.

The big change over the previous game is the addition of fusions, which are two-character team-up attacks. This is controlled by a meter of four stars. You fill this by defeating enemies or finding an item that instantly fills the whole meter. You can spend one star to revive a fallen teammate or all four to perform a fusion attack. Any possible combination of two characters has their own unique fusion. There are three basic types:

There are targeted fusions, like having Things throw Mr. Fantastic at someone. These do high damage to a single target and are good for using on bosses. There are also clearing fusions, like having Storm bounce her lighting off Wolverine. These damage all enemies in a given radius. Clearing fusions are good for clearing out a clump of enemies. Finally, there are guided fusions, like Iceman and Human Torch shooting their powers at each other, then running around mowing down anyone who gets between them. These are good for clearing out scattered enemies.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 continues the four-player mayhem of the previous Marvel Ultimate Alliance and, before that, the X-Men Legends series. It is based on the Secret War and Civil War storylines from the comics. After Nick Fury leads an unauthorized super-hero assault on Latveria and a fight gone wrong kills hundreds of civilians in Connecticut, the government passes the super-human registration act, which requires all super-powered individuals to reveal their identities to the government. At one point in the story, you have to choose the pro or anti registration side and certain heroes will always be on one side or another, locking them out if you choose the other path. The game after this point changes depending on the storyline you choose.

There are four heroes active at all times during the game, unless they get knocked out. Certain combinations, like the X-Men or Fantastic Four, will give you a bonus which varies by team. If you have fewer than four players. You may switch characters at any time. Each character has a health meter and a stamina meter. The stamina meter recharges on its own and controls use of powers. Each hero has a jump (which can also be used to double-jump, fly or web-swing, depending on the character), grab, quick strike and powerful strike. These can be used in combination to do things like jumping attacks, pick up an enemy, then punch them, etc. Combining these with a modifier button allows you to use powers. Each hero has a wide variety of powers. Leveling up gives you points to spend on improving the powers. You can re-assign the points and change which powers are active at any time.

Defeating enemies and smashing environment items gives you health refills and points that can be spent upgrading statistics for each hero. There are also health icons to pick up. You can carry two of these at a time. Each icon can be used to instantly fully heal a character or to revive one that has been knocked out. There are also items that you can carry that will give stat bonuses like increased HP or a bonus to a specific type of damage.

You start with a handful of characters and can unlock more by playing through the game or performing specific accomplishments. Each character has a second costume to unlock. What you do to unlock it varies by character.

Throughout the game, you will have conversations with various NPCs. Some of them react differently to specific characters. At various points, you can choose an aggressive, diplomatic or defensive reaction. By answering a specific way enough times, you can unlock boosts.

The big change over the previous game is the addition of fusions, which are two-character team-up attacks. You fill a fusion meter by defeating enemies and are allowed to have to two fusions at a time. Any two characters have a unique fusion. These come in three basic types: There are targeted fusions, like having Things throw Mr. Fantastic at someone. You target with the left stick while mashing a button to build up power. These do high damage to a single target and are good for using on bosses. There are also clearing fusions, like having Storm bounce her lighting off Wolverine. These damage all enemies in a given radius. You mash a button to increase this radius. Clearing fusions are good for clearing out a clump of enemies. Finally, there are guided fusions, like Iceman and Human Torch shooting their powers at each other, then running around mowing down anyone who gets between them. These are good for clearing out scattered enemies. You mash a button to speed them up. All fusions have a "high score." This is a target number of enemies to defeat. If you do this, you get a health token.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - Amazing Allies Edition is a 2D side-scroller with 3D graphics. The story is similar to the seventh-generation console versions. A break-off piece of Venom's symbiote begin infecting New Yorkers and it is up to Spider-Man to save the city. He can switch between the back and red suits at any time, which each have their own move set and abilities.

As Spider-Man defeats enemies, he is given skill points which can be used to purchased boosted stats and new moves. These are separate for each costume. In general, red focuses on agility and black on brutality. In order to purchase moves you must have not only the necessary points, but sufficient reputation. Throughout the game, you have conversations with other characters where you are given red, black or neutral choices. Answering red or black will build that suit's reputation, as will various other actions throughout the game.

You can take five power-ups into each level. These can be special abilities, such as temporary invincibility, or the eponymous allies. When summoned, they appear on screen and do their specific type of damage, then disappear. Allies are unlocked by beating bosses. The red suit unlocks hero allies like Luke Cage and Storm and the black suit unlocks villain allies like Galactus and Hobgoblin.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is based on the film of the same name and star the eternally-popular Canadian mutant. Like the movie, it covers James Howlett's escape from the Weapon X program that gave him his unbreakable adamantium skeleton and his early history. The story is presented as comic-style stills with text dialogue. It is based on the engine made for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

The game is divided into six acts. Wolverine must walk through 3D levels and defeat enemies. Attacks build a rage meter. Once it is full, you can active a feral mode. Then, you can attack any enemy on-screen using the stylus. He also can search for hidden scents, which he can follow to find new unlockable combos. As in the comics, Wolverine has a mutant healing factor, so all you need to do to heal is avoid being damaged for a time. There are also a number of hidden costumes to unlock, including some that aren't in the console versions.

Overlord: Dark Legend is a prequel to Overlord redesigned for the Wii.

You control young Lord Gromgard, who is reclaiming his father's duchy where elves, dwarfs and bandits have eroded his power and the peasants no longer fear him. To make things worse, his older brother and sister are planning to usurp his father. On his sixteenth birthday, he is given a suit of armor that belonged to his uncle, the Black Baron, which allows him to take his place as the Overlord.

As in the other Overlord games, you'll do fairly little of your own fighting. Most of the game is played through manipulating your minions. You direct your minions with the Wiimote and move the overlord himself with the Nunchuck. There are four types of minions: You start with browns, who are good melee fighters. As you progress, you gain reds, who are are immune to fire and can attack from a distance with fireballs, blues, who are healers and can swim and greens, who can turn invisible and clear poison.

Minions are summoned by spending life force, which you gain from fallen enemies. Unlike other games in the series, this is not color specific. Gromgard can make his minions attack a specific target, which could be an enemy or an object. Minions collect weapons and armor from enemies and things they smash and use them to improve their abilities. He can also throttle a minion, which causes them to explode. Different minions do different kinds of damage. He can quick-kill them for a boost of mana or health, depending on minion type, or make them sacrifice themselves in a blood or mana pit for a larger boost of mana or health. Mana and health can also be refilled more traditionally by picking up items or having the minions do it. He can control where the minions go by placing waypoints. All active minions will stay there until told to move.

Game progression is represented by a map. Each section of the map has its own sub-map. This map shows the location of the minion summoning sites, mana pits, blood pits and teleportation sites. The Overlord can teleport to any site he has previously visited. Generally speaking, each sub-section of the map is a level and many of them end in boss fights. Progression is controlled by barriers that require a certain number of minions or a certain type of minions to pass or require you to have found some item, like a missing spoke for a wheel you must turn.

As you progress through the game, you will find items that minion relics, health relics, mana relics, forges, spell relics and hives. Minion relics increase the maximum number of minions you can summon. Health or mana relics increase the size of your health or mana bar. Forges gives you the ability to buy new weapons and armor and level-up your minions with the gold you've collected from enemies and side-quests. Spell relics gives you new spells and hives give you access to new types of minions. All of these require four minions to pick them up. They will then walk to the nearest teleporter to send it back to your castle and you must protect them or their way their.

Spells can be direct offensive attacks, boosts to your minions abilities or handicaps to enemies. Casting them drains mana.

LEGO Batman is based on the other games of the same name, with multiple changes made to accommodate the DS platform and take advantage of its unique features. It adds a new Villain Hunt minigame, several new character abilities and more unlockable characters.

Batman's enemies have teamed up and Batman and Robin must co-operate to stop them. The game starts in the Batcave, which serves as a hub. Batman & Robin have three chapters of five levels each. The story is told between levels using comic-book style still frames

You also can play as villains. You can unlock a secret path to Arkham Asylum, which serves as their hub. The villains have the same levels, but the story is different, as are the object and enemy placements.

In each level, you play as two characters and can tag between them at any time. You advance through the levels by defeating enemies, platforming and solving puzzles. Enemies and objects spill out LEGO studs when smashed, which you use to purchase unlockables, such as additional characters. There are dozens in total.

There are also vehicle levels, where you use the Batmobile or other themed transports to avoid obstacles and shoot enemy vehicles. As with the pedestrian levels, you must also find hidden items and areas.

The first time through, you play with set characters determined by the plot, but once a level is beaten in story mode, you can go back through in free play with any character.

Characters have different abilities which can be used to access special areas and find secrets. For instance, Mr. Freeze is immune to freezing gas and can walk to areas that would freeze Batman, meanwhile, Batman can double-jump and get on ledges that are too high for Mr. Freeze to reach. Characters also have alternate outfits with special abilities to unlock. For instance, Batman has a demolition suit that he can use to bomb things.

In Doritos: Dash of Destruction, players have the choice of playing a a Tyrannosaurus Rex or a Doritos delivery truck. In either case, they must go through a series of six 3/4 view maps which are city-themed with roads, building, lakes, etc. In each map, their character is upgraded with new abilities, such as faster speed or tighter turns. The player controls their character with the thumbstick and has a limited turbo dash.

In the driver game, players avoid the T-Rex while attempting to drive over delivery icons to deliver Doritos. Running into a building slows the player down, and getting eaten causes them to reset elsewhere on the map. In the Tyrannosaurus game, players attempt to catch and eat Doritos delivery trucks. In order to do this, they can stomp through the buildings, crunching them; though this also slows them down.

In some levels, the objective is to get a certain number of deliveries or eats before time runs out. In others, there will be a competing T-Rex or delivery truck and the player must rack up a target number of eats or deliveries before they do.

Additionally, there are two multiplayer modes. There is a tag-like Zen Mode where one player is a truck and the rest are T-Rexes. Eating the truck makes you the new truck. The goal is to reach a target number of deliveries first. The other is Chaos mode, where players are either a T-Rex or delivery truck for the whole match and the goal is to be the first to reach a target number of deliveries or eats.

Doritos: Dash of Destruction is free to download and play.

X-Men: The Official Game is set between the second and third X-Men movies; in most aspects, this version is quite different from the computer and console release. It is a top-down action game with 3D characters consisting of forty levels. In some of them, the player switches between Wolverine, Iceman and Magneto on the fly; in others, (s)he plays as Nightcrawler with no switching. Character movement is done via the Control Pad. All other character actions are performed using the touch screen. Gameplay takes places on the lower screen with character status on the upper.

Nightcrawler teleports, Wolverine attacks ground-based enemies, Iceman shoots ice attacks, and Magneto picks up metallic objects and throws them; he can also break metal doors. Enemies are vulnerable to some attacks but immune to others, so the player must frequently swap characters to defeat them. In addition to the cannon-fodder enemies, many levels have boss characters.

Silent Hill: 0rigins is a prequel to the Silent Hill series set in the 1970s. You play as trucker Travis Grady, who attempts to take a shortcut through Silent Hill late one night when running behind on his rounds.

As in the previous Silent Hill games, you move back and forth between nightmare and real versions of the town, here crawling through mirrors to get between. He must gather items used to solve puzzles and open up new areas. Monsters of various types provide obstacles and, in series tradition, are mostly disturbingly twisted versions of humanity.

Travis can fight with his bare fists or use melee weapons. Unlike previous games in the series, melee weapons break after a time. There are also one-shot items that can be thrown and several guns. Combat is performed through lock-on. There is no HUD, but the edge of the screen turns red when Travis is near death.

This release of LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga includes a re-worked version of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and an adaptation of the prequel trilogy (corresponding to LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game) developed from scratch.

Like its PC and console counterparts, it is a 3D game in which players can relive all six Star Wars movies using LEGO characters. Each movie is broken into five chapters which re-create its most memorable scenes. These are linked by 2D cutscenes. In each chapter the player(s) control two characters, either co-operatively or by switching back and forth. Action takes place on top screen with the lower one showing the available characters.

Bugs and glitches of the original Nintendo DS version of LEGO Star Wars II have been fixed, and the levels themselves slightly re-designed to resemble more their PC and console counterparts, as well as made more challenging.

Bart Simpson goes to a video game store and buys a new ultra-violent Grand Theft Scratchy game, which is promptly confiscated by his mother Marge. Suddenly, a video game manual lands right in front of him. Miraculously, after having read the manual, the members of the Simpsons family discover that each of them possesses a unique superpower. Toying with these, however, attracts the attention of the aliens Kang and Kodos, who decide to invade the Earth. Now the unlikely superheroes must not only protect the town of Springfield from an alien assault, but also find the true reason behind their newly acquired powers, and perhaps their very existence.

The Simpsons Game is a 3D action game with platforming and light puzzle-solving elements, based on the long-running cartoon. The game is divided into sixteen episodes, each containing cutscenes reminiscent of the original Simpsons TV series. Every episode is set in a different environment; some of the scenarios are based in Springfield, while others take the player into meta-virtual worlds. Some of the episodes parody a popular game or genre, having names like Medal of Homer or Neverquest. Each stage features two members of the Simpson clan working together to achieve the goal. Players must switch back and forth using each family members' unique powers to complete the level. Most of the game's versions allow two-player cooperative play.

The four controllable characters have their own unique abilities, which are used for combat, puzzle-solving, or exploration-related purposes. Homer can expand into a rolling blob or inflate himself with helium and float for a while; later, he learns a few other transformation abilities. Bart can become Bartman, using a grappling hook to access certain areas, as well as move upwards in air streams with his cape. Lisa's main ability is called "Hand of Buddha", which is used mainly for moving around large objects; she can also play her saxophone to stun or confuse enemies. Finally, Marge can gather people with her megaphone and control their actions, as well as send the little Maggie into crawlspaces only she can access. Some of these abilities have limited uses and must be either recharged or replenished with special items, while others are available only at specific trigger points.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions also contain free-roaming gameplay - exclusively in those versions player characters can leave the Simpsons' house between missions and freely wander through virtual Springfield. Familiar landmarks (such as Moe's Tavern, etc.) are present and can be explored as well. These locations may contain additional dialogue and events. It is possible to use the bus to travel quickly to various destinations.

LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga combines LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy into a single game with several new features.

Players can access all the six Star Wars movies from the game's "hub" location, Mos Eisley Cantina. Unlocked characters can be taken to explore previously visited stages from both the original and prequel trilogy. New characters have been added, including Indiana Jones; the total amount of characters in this release is 160.

Most of the changes involve the first installment, which has been updated with a few features bringing its gameplay closer to that of the sequel. Two levels that were deleted from the first release are now available as bonus stages. There are new vehicle bonus missions as well as ten additional bounty hunter missions. Red power bricks from the second game are now available in the first as well. Characters from the prequel trilogy can now build and ride vehicles, as well as wear helmets. Players can also gain access to bounty hunter and stormtrooper areas. Characters have different melee attacks and can also dodge blaster fire. New Jedi Force moves (force choke and force lightning) are included.

A new two-player Battle Arena mode is available in this release. Online play has been added for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.

Halo 3 is the third game in the main Halo series. Like the rest of the series, it is a sci-fi/military-themed first-person shooter with an emphasis on vehicles and an extensive multiplayer mode in addition to the single-player campaign.

As before, the series' signature shield system is used where, rather than health, you have a force field of sorts which loses power as you are attacked. You needn't pick up anything to refill it, only take cover for several seconds. If you can avoid being attacked, the shield will recharge on its own.

Vehicles are again present. These are human and alien transport which can be driven or ridden in with another player or AI doing the driving. Halo 3 adds numerous new types of vehicles, notably a massive mobile command center called the Elephant and a human VTOL aircraft called the Hornet. Enemies with good timing can board a vehicle, kicking out the occupant.

Also as before, you are limited to one weapon in hand (or one in each hand for some of the smaller guns) and one on back-up with both human and alien weapons available. Weapons can be fired or used to club someone for a melee hit. There are several new weapons, including the gravity hammer, which is a massive hammer for one-hit kills in close combat. When using a single weapon, your second trigger throws grenades, which have a new spike type in addition to the basic sticky and frag ones from previous games. Turrets are back, which are mounted guns with a new missile pod variant and the added ability to rip them off their moorings and carry them around in 3rd person view.

There is a new feature called equipment where you get objects with particular effects, such as a gravity lift, a shield drain field, a shield recharge field, land mines and a bubble shield which can be penetrated by players, but not gunfire. One piece of equipment can be carried at a time and it can be deployed anywhere.

All the multiplayer game types from Halo 2 are back. This includes the standard fps games like slayer (essentially deathmatch), capture the flag, assault (reverse ctf), territories and king of the hill (territories with a single point). There are also Halo-specific games, like oddball, where you must hold an object the longest time and juggernaut, where one player gets specials powers. Only they can score points. If you kill that player, you become the juggernaut. Two new games are added: VIP, where you are tasked with killing a specific player on the other team and must protect your own VIP, and infection, which is a human team vs a zombie team and humans are infected and brought to the other team as they are killed. There are also dozens of variants of these, such as crazy king, which is king of the hill with a moving hill, mad dash which is a juggernaut games where the object is to get to waypoint instead of kill people and single-weapon versions of slayer. You can make your own custom game types by manipulating a a number of variables such as weapons, goals and player stats.

This is augmented by Forge, which is a map editor. While it doesn't have the ability to change level geometry, Forge can be used to completely change object placements. This is not only weapons and vehicles and power-ups, but spawn points, crates, fusions coils (exploding barrels), etc. The map editor is actually a playable game mode with some players becoming the monitor and placing objects for use by their teammates. They can give give them a tank, for instance, or create a barrier and levitate it along as mobile cover.

The campaign mode contains a number of new features as well. The players now control distinct characters in co-op rather than the Chief just having an identical twin, the player limit has been expanded to four and it is now playable online. There is a metagame where you score points in the campaign (used for some of the achievements) and the skulls from Halo 2 have been expanded with a checklist and additional features, such as unlocking extra armor for use in multiplayer and additional dialogue featured throughout the game.

The ability to customize your appearance has been expanded from Halo 2 with not only a longer list of emblems to place on your armor and the ability to pick a third color, but multiple armor variants which can be mixed and matched and the ability to use a female voice.

Other new features include a theater where you can re-watch games you or others played from the viewpoint of any player-character or in third-person or with a free camera. You have the ability to save films for posterity, take screenshots or edit films for highlight reels or machinima (multiplayer only). This is a multiplayer feature, so you can watch films with people in your online party.

All of these things (edited maps, custom games, films and screenshots) can be put in a new file-sharing feature and are accessible to other players or through any PC via the internet.

Ghost Rider is an action game set after the events of the movie of the same name, which is in turn based on the Marvel Comics character.

You are Johnny Blaze, who sold his soul to a demon named Mephisto for noble reasons. Now, some rogue demons have escaped from hell and Mephisto needs to to destroy them before they cause him trouble. If you don't, he'll take your girlfriend back to hell with him.

Ghost Rider attacks with his flaming hellfire chains in a manner similar to God of War. If he uses a variety of moves and avoids being hit, it fills a vengeance bar. The more this meter fills, the more souls he gets from enemies he kills. Souls are used to purchase new moves and extras like additional characters. There are some shielded enemies where you must have a minimum vengeance bar to damage them. There is also a spirit gauge, which is essentially a special meter and is also built up by attacking. It allows the uses of special moves, like your shotgun.

There are also Hellcycle levels, where you must successfully avoid obstacles while destroying enemies with the bike's hellshots attacks and your chains.

Ghost Rider is an action game set after the events of the movie of the same name, which is in turn based on the Marvel Comics character.

You are Johnny Blaze, who sold his soul to a demon named Mephisto for noble reasons. Now, some rogue demons have escaped from hell and Mephisto needs to to destroy them before they cause him trouble. If you don't, he'll take your girlfriend back to hell with him.

Ghost Rider attacks with his flaming hellfire chains in a manner similar to God of War. If he uses a variety of moves and avoids being hit, it fills a vengeance bar. The more this meter fills, the more souls he gets from enemies he kills. Souls are used to purchase new moves and extras like additional characters. There are some shielded enemies where you must have a minimum vengeance bar to damage them. There is also a spirit gauge, which is essentially a special meter and is also built up by attacking. It allows the uses of special moves, like your shotgun.

There are also Hellcycle levels, where you must successfully avoid obstacles while destroying enemies with the bike's hellshots attacks and your chains. This version of the game additionally includes a challenge mode which is based on the Hellcycle levels with rule variations: elimination and survival (every racer has a depleting life bar which can be only refilled by driving through checkpoints).

This gold edition is a re-release of Marvel Ultimate Alliance with eight additional downloadable characters for the original game now included in the package. They are: Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Hawkeye, Hulk, Magneto, Venom, Dr. Doom, and Sabertooth.

Pac-Man: Championship Edition is a sequel, by the same developer Tōru Iwatani, done in the style of the original classic. As before, you are Pac-Man and you are in a maze with dots, power pellets and hosts. The object is to eat the dots and avoid the ghosts, unless you eat a power pellet, which gives you the ability to eat the ghosts for a few seconds.

What's new here is many different mazes and modes. This is designed from the ground up as a console game, so some arcade traditions are lost. The object is no longer to try to survive/get a high score without losing quarters, but to get a high score in a set time limit. You do still have a set number of lives, which makes your time end early if you lose all them.

Unlike the original or its prodigy, Championship Edition isn't broken into distinct levels. Once you clear one side of the maze, a fruit appears on the other side. Eating the fruit regenerates the empty half with new walls, dots, power pellets, etc and increases the game speed.

The iPhone version of the game adds two additional modes. In "Mission Mode", you must clear a specific goal set by the game at the beginning of play (such as eating two apples, or eating eight ghosts consecutively). In "Challenge Mode", you must aim to achieve the top score for each course, but this time the ghosts have been sped up so that they are initially much faster.

The look is a bright neon which evokes the classic Pac-Man but takes advantage of nearly 30 years of increased computer power.

Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol pairs the popular line of Karaoke games with the television series based on a singing contest. In addition to the standard Karaoke Revolution trapping, three judges have been added who comment on your performance. Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson appear from American Idol, though Paula Abdul is replaced by original character Laura. Venues are also recreated from the show such as the audition room and Hollywood theater.

The forty-song line-up is a combination of popular songs that have been used on American Idol and songs from previous American Idol winners. Performing well unlocks video clips from the show and clothes for your avatar. You can use EyeToy to give your character your own face.

Modes include the standard Karaoke Revolution modes like scoreless karaoke, duets and head-to-head elimination as well as an American Idol mode, which is essentially a career mode based on the structure of the show where you must make it through the audition and several rounds of elimination to get into the contest, then make your way to the top to be the next American Idol.

LarryBoy and the Bad Apple is based on the popular VeggieTales series of Christian children's videos and specifically on the movie of the same name.

The Bad Apple is taking over Bumblyburg using her power to create a world based around people's temptations. LarryBoy must save the citizens of Bumblyburg, including himself from their temptations to stop her.

LarryBoy has the standard platforming hop move as well as a variety of gadgets to help him accomplish his goals. These include a gliding cape to clear large gaps, a heavy cape to push floor buttons and a radioactive cape to activate electronics. He also has a plunger grapple to let him hit buttons that are out of reach and a squirt gun, both of which are operated from the first-person mode and the standard platformer spin attack.

Enemies come in three types: grunts, throwers and seekers. Grunts are defeated with a spin attack. Throwers throw projectiles, which you must hit back at the them with the spin attack and seekers cannot be defeated directly, but must be lured to an air vent, which sucks them in.

There are five levels, each themed around a particular person's temptation and a final boss fight The boss in each case is the Bad Apple and is defeated a different way each time, essentially requiring you to work out a puzzle.

The levels have various items to collect to unlock things like songs and videos and also multiplayer games like tic tac toe and darts, each with a Larry twist.

In Tenchu: Dark Secret, you play as Rikimaru or Ayame, two ninja who must protect a princess in feudal Japan. They do this through a variety of missions where they must sneak through areas unseen by guards and assassinate targets, which frequently takes the form of boss fights along with other types of missions, such as defense. Unlike the other games in the series, this is played from a top-down perspective.

The top screen serves as the main gameplay area where you see your character, environment, enemies, etc. It also has your chi meter which tells you how close the nearest enemy is and whether they detect you. The lower screen is used for the map, selecting items, and for stealth kill animations which are played when you strike an enemy that hasn't seen you.

Items including series staples like mines, throwing stars and rice balls and include a new trap combo bonus for doing things like using a mine to blow an enemy into another trap.

Freestyle MetalX is, as the name implies, a motocross stunt game. It contains 9 pro riders and twelve licensed bikes to begin with, plus some secret ones. It is structured somewhat like the Tony Hawk series with a career mode that is a succession of levels, each one containing goals like doing specific tricks, finding gaps and finding things, which could take the form of breaking windows, running people over, etc. In this case, there are also racing goals. Each goal gives you money, which can be used to unlock new riders, bikes, and levels.

Controls consist of an accelerator, brake, and clutch along with jump, trick and trick modifier buttons. The modifier can be used to turn a superman into a nothing superman, for instance. Wheelies are controlled with the right analog stick.

Arena Football is a simulation of the sport of the same name. It shares many similarities with the Madden Series, whose engine it uses, but has a different play-style thanks to Arena football's rather different rules. The game is played indoors with teams of eight on a 50-yard field and the sidelines and uprights have barriers to make balls that would go out of bounds in standard American football bounce back into the play field. It is still considered live at this point. Obviously, this makes the game much faster-paced and higher-scoring.

Features include a coach's pick which will recommend plays, a telemetry view, which lets you see how tired both your players and the opposing ones are along with passing routes so you can set good match-ups, a quick play mode, a season mode, which allows you to go up to 20 seasons and trade players, set salaries, etc, practice and online play.

Arena Football is officially licensed by the Arena Football League and includes all the teams and players from the 2006 season. New Orleans VooDoo is not included as they sat this season out due to hurricane Katrina, though their logo is available to use for created teams. Numerous historic teams are also available.

Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems is a side-scrolling platformer/beat 'em up based on the Infinity Gauntlet storyline from the comics. Adam Warlock calls on the heroes to recover the 6 Infinity Gems before they are used for evil.

You may choose ones of five heroes: Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man and Wolverine. Each one has different stats and abilities. (i.e. Spider-Man is agile. Hulk is strong, Iron Man can double-jump with his rocket boots, etc.) Initially you can choose a training area in Avenger headquarters or four levels. As you complete levels, most open up. Each hero can be equipped with gems to boost their abilities in each section. These must be obtained by finding them in the levels.

Gameplay is fairly similar to X-Men-Mutant Apocalypse. Combat is all on a 2D plane. Each hero has basic jumps and attacks and special moves that can be executed with button combinations like quarter-rolls. Enemies include various villains from the Marvel Universe and evil doubles of various Marvel heroes.

Superman is a sidescrolling action game starring DC Comics' titular Man of Steel. It features character designs based on Superman: The Animated Series. In each level, the player must collect a certain number of keys and possibly fight a boss, then step on a marked area to leave. Keys may be found around in the environment or collected from defeated enemies.

Superman attacks by punching his enemies or by punching to deflect their bullets back at them. He can navigate environments through standard walking or he can hold down the jump button to fly. He must be careful of bombs which are floating throughout the levels as running into them causes loss of health. He also must face other environmental hazards, like electrical barriers.

Some levels put ground under Superman's feet and play some like a normal platforming/fighting game, albeit with flight. Others are all flying and forced scrolling, making them something like a 2D shooter with no ranged attack where the player must hold down a fly button to stay aloft.