Lucas Arts' 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed™' by Cochaman Peef
The Epic Star Wars saga will inevitably continue in the latest offering from Lucas Arts Entertainment Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which casts players such as Darth Vader's "Secret Apprentice" and promises to unveil new revelations about the entire Star Wars galaxy. The rather expansive story, created under very very close direction from George Lucas, is set during the largely unexplored time period between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi— and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny. As its name implies, The Force Unleashed completely re-imagines the scope and scale of the Force by taking full advantage of newly developed technologies that will be seen and experienced for the first time: Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), by Pixelux Entertainment, and euphoria by NaturalMotion Ltd. Paired with the powerful Havok Physics? system, these new technologies create game play only possible on the new...

Midway's 'Unreal Tournament™'—  Award Winning! by Cochaman Peef
The Unreal series has a long and varied history far stretching from the uniquely original Single Player world traversing marathon with a rather surprisingly entertaining Multi Player mode to an MP focused franchise that tended to give Single Player a back seat to improved network code and frantic shooting action; Unreal Tournament. Originally conceived as Unreal Tournament 2007 (following 2003 and 2004), deemed a big enough leap from its predecessors Epic Games rebranded this game Unreal Tournament 3 and has just released it upon the world in all its Unreal Engine 3 goodness. From way back Deathmatching in Ariza there has been something special about the Unreal style, and UT3 takes a stand of replaying everything rather than reinventing it and seems like game play has stood still while the graphics have been given an upgrade. The game plays pretty much the same as UT2004; the flak cannon, bio rifle and other classic weapons returning to provide a wide variety of ways to take your enemy down. The impact hammer also returns, and the mini-gun and stinger combine to form the (any ideas?) stinger mini-gun. Generally quite balanced almost all weapons have a situation where they are useful. Traditionally, in the Unreal Tournament series we’ve...

Activision's 'Shrek The Third'— Chock Full of Fun! by John Mundazio
Sometimes, I just can't help but go into a game with certain expectations. If I'm getting ready to play a Final Fantasy game, I tend to expect a long, deeply moving story starring a whiny teenage protagonist. If I'm playing an FPS, I expect plenty of gun battles and linear levels. And if I'm playing a movie-based game, I expect a product that does NOT feel rushed and half-finished by a company trying to cash in on box office receipts. Fortunately, the Xbox 360 Shrek the Third game fulfills all of my expectations for movie tie-ins. I love it! The game begins with the death of the King of the country of Far, Far Away. With his final breath, the king names Shrek the heir to the throne, much to the annoyance of the ogre, who just wants to be...

ActiVision's 'Bee Movie Game'— Un-Bee-lievably Hilarious! by Cochaman Peef
From the makers of Shrek and Madagascar comes the next DreamWorks Animation film, Bee Movie— written, produced, and starring the voice of one of UPBEAT's all-time favorite comedians, Jerry Seinfeld. The Xbox 360 Bee Movie Game offers a one-of-a-kind game play experience, as you play as Barry B. Benson in this pulse-pounding adventure from the never-before seen perspective of a bee. Everything kids love about gaming— racing cars, chasing targets, flying at high speed and more— come together in this action- packed and adrenaline-pumping...

ActiVision's 'Tony Hawk's Proving Ground'— Detailed Moves! by Cochaman Peef
In the largest and wildest Tony Hawk game yet, gamers are now in total control of their skating destiny in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Set in the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., the title literally empowers players with the freedom to define their character, story and style based on the choices they make, the paths they select and the style of skating they want. The game delivers deeper customization than ever before, including a full-featured video editor to create epic skate videos and a completely customizable online Skate Lounge...

EA's 'Need For Speed ProStreet™'—  Impeccable Precision! by Beth E. Cochran
Need for Speed ProStreet is a ground-breaking Need for Speed experience where you the gamer are thrust into competing head to head against the best street racers in a multitude of racing showdowns. The game was developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, B.C. Need for Speed ProStreet boasts some impeccable precision and pretty damn impressively detailed photo-realistic graphics, effectively transporting you to the center of the action. It truly pushes the...

Atari's 'The Witcher™'—  The Sum of Cool Parts! by Cochaman Peef
The Witcher, if you haven't actually been following, is a third person RPG developed by CDPROJEKT and published by Atari based on the works of Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, and uses the popular Aurora engine, which in turn is the driving force behind the ever popular Neverwinter Nights series. I’ll start by saying the one definitive thing about this game that crosses my mind; It is certainly one of the better RPG’s I’ve played. Let’s face it, I was never big on Gothic, and never fancied my chances on Two Worlds going by some of the reviews, but I’d been tracking The Witcher for quite a long time. So, as a whole, I’d never been huge on the third person RPG genre in the style of Gothic and such, but now...

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