As soon as you launch the game, you’re faced with a quick, painless (and mandatory) tutorial that plays itself until you tap the screen. Once you complete the three steps that show the only moves in the game, you’re given a much simpler puzzle to tackle before the game wishes you well and gently kicks you to the main menu. You’ll be feeling puffed up at the relative ease of that easy tutorial until you hit your first few puzzles… and then the screaming starts. Your brain will be frantically trying to figure out how the heck seven measly shapes could take on some of the more abstract forms while your stylus hand will get a workout twirling, flipping and moving shapes for hours on end. Next thing you know, it’s Z-o’clock in the morning and you’re still up, bleary-eyed yet still going because you’ve figured out a ton of puzzles and have been going back to retry the ones you’ve skipped over.

And that’s just in the Silhouettes? mode. When you tackle the timed challenges in Time Pressure or bite the bullet and take on 7 Steps, you’ll probably need a 12-step program and a couple of interventions to get that NEVES monkey off your back. Oh, you’ll find plenty of support on your commute, that’s for sure. I took the game for a spin on the subway and ended up with a Japanese tourist staring over my shoulder and pointing out a few moves a few seconds after he and his wife sat next to me. Even more amusing was playing the Bragging Rights mode with a total stranger in a coffee shop who asked if the game had wireless play. After beating him soundly in the required three rounds, he kept challenging me for about twenty minutes until he won, after which he proceeded to pay his tab and head outside, pumping his fist in the air and yelling “YES!”
That prompted a waitress to come over and ask what we were doing and when she saw I had a DS, her eyes lit up and she asked if the game was in stores - she’s have challenged me right then and there, but she still had a few hours left on her shift.

One thing you’ll find out fast is that trying to think symmetrically will generally lead nowhere. Some of the solutions to what look like simple puzzles will have your eyes bugging out when you’ve finally realized where things are supposed to go. On the other hand, you might be stuck on one annoying puzzle for half an hour before nailing it only to blow through the next dozen or so in under two minutes. Once you get to the fourth set of puzzles, you’ll be in for some wild-eyed moments as you wonder how the heck seven shapes could make up some of the more inventive images. Then again, there are a lot of abstract puzzles that will make you burst out laughing as soon as you see what you’re about to face. If you happen to be old enough to remember the early days of gaming, some of the puzzles will look like Atari 2600 or Intellivision sprites to you no doubt, but that doesn’t necessarily make them easy to solve.

Anyway, NEVES doesn’t sport flashy graphics or animations, but that’s a good thing, as there’s more room for puzzles and less distraction overall. You’re presented with a clean menu system broken up into a series of tabs called Rooms and each Room has a series of up to 50 puzzles. The top screen shows either the puzzle or gameplay hints, while the bottom screen is where you’ll be staring intently as you move shapes around. While you can change the color of the shapes in the options screen, this is more of a cosmetic issue that doesn’t affect gameplay one bit. As for the sound, there’s an awesomely jazzy score that’s light and catchy, yet intensifies the longer you take to solve a puzzle. Sound effects are sparse, but the game doesn’t really need a lot of them pounding away at your eardrums as you’re trying to cobble together a ladies shoe or fit a drinking glass together with shapes that don’t seem as if they’d fit at all. Sometimes, simplicity works wonders for a game’s overall look and NEVES makes great use out of its clean layout.

Now about that exploit I mentioned above, if you have a great memory and wanted to get through the game in a few days’ time, you could “cheat” and do each of the puzzles in all three modes one after the other. Once you complete a puzzle in Silhouettes?, the solution stays on screen until you tap the screen. If you memorize the solution (or have a pad and pen handy to sketch it out), you can solve the puzzle in Time Pressure and 7 Steps, repeating the process until you’ve cleared Silhouettes? gotten all Gold medals in Time Pressure for completing puzzles in under a minute and tackled 7 Steps without messing up once. I only figured this out after about two days with the game, but this method still takes a bit of brainpower to complete as you’ll still need to solve the puzzles fair and square at least once. Still, imagine the looks on the faces of DS owning friends once they see your Trophy Room full of completed puzzles and all shiny Gold medals. Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t ever pick up the game again, mind you. NEVES is brilliantly designed to keep your brain percolating each time you pick it up and that’s something every puzzle game should do.

Score: A

- Greg Wilcox

If you’re more used to the typical Japanese RPGs with parties of spiky-haired characters with big honkin’ swords or more upscale open world games like Oblivion, the short solo quest here might seem like an appetizer rather than a full course meal. However, you’ll find that the adventure of Elli and his talking magic wand hits all the right notes on the cliché-o-meter, making for an engaging tale. There’s no fair maiden to rescue and a huge dragon named Gaya sitting on an even more massive gold stash runs the only shop in the game. For some incredibly deadly comic relief, you even get to chase a yellow rat bastard named Flopsie around in one level filled with poison, traps and nasty fire creatures that don’t go down easy. A few text-based scenes aside, the game is light on melodrama, heavy on combat and even heavier on the potion using. The game is coded for touch screen or button use and you can even use both if you like without having to go to the options screen and fiddle around.

In bringing the game to the DS, Fountainhead obviously put a lot of effort into this project and it shows in their design choices. The top screen shows the action and has an unconstructive HUD, while the lower touch screen is used for anything related to gameplay. O & E uses a Rogue-like play system where every movement, item use or combat action counts as a turn. In other words, let’s say you open a door and there’s an Orc warrior staring you down. Since your opening that door counts as a turn, you’ll more than likely get an arrow to the forehead or a sword chop for your masterful door opening effort. Your next move could be to retaliate with a weapon of your own, zap the pest with a blast from Ellon, quaff a potion, skip a turn or move out of harm’s way. That first-person perspective and id pedigree might lull you into thinking this is some sort of Hexen-style hack and slash, but you’d be very wrong indeed and quite dead by the middle of the first dungeon. You’ll need to think tactically most of the time, especially in areas with multiple enemies hacking away and later on, traps that will kill you in one hit.

One example is in the stage where you need to get a cask of ale, bring it to a ghost and have a drink with him in order to get a door code. On the way to the ale press is a hallway with a series of moving walls, thanks to a pesky enemy that happens to flip the lever at the end of the hall before scooting off. If you tap-tap-tap your way dumbly through the hall, you’ll be smooshed into elf chunks with a side of gravy. However (after you deal with the enemies that ambush you), if you stand at the beginning on the hell hall and tap the Y button on your DS a few times, a turn will pass each time and you’ll see the pattern the walls take. Once you’re through that area, you can (and should) stock up on all the ale you can carry. Not that I advocate drinking and gaming, but in this particular game, quaffing a brew drops your accuracy, but boosts your strength and defense (which might explain real-life bar brawls, now that I think about it). You’ll have the chance to share more spirits with the sprit a few more times in the level, so make sure to have a few Accuracy potions handy, as you’ll definitely be doing some fighting after a few brews.

If you’re too busy to read the manual, the game wisely clues you in on important stuff as you play. The rest is up to you to work through, but you shouldn’t have any trouble, provided you don’t rush headlong into rooms unprepared. If you ever get lost, you can call up a map that will stay on screen until you need to use a weapon or item. Switching weapons can be done by tapping X or using the touch screen (with no movement penalty, by the way). As smart play means managing your health through potion use, you’ll generally be prepared for anything. In addition to the potions and treasure scattered about, each level has a warp to Gaya’s lair where a healing crystal can patch you up for free and you can shell out your hard-earned gold on new items. Her inventory may be small (and initially expensive), but locating certain gems will net you some powerful weapons and armor as well as make the scaly lady happy enough to secure a discount. Just don’t mess with her stock of sheep off to the side or try to pop an arrow into her from a distance out of curiosity.

Interestingly enough, Gaya only sells items, so once you buy a weapon or armor, you’re stuck with it until you replace it with a better quality item. On Normal, you don’t need to follow the unwritten RPG rule of buying every piece of armor or every weapon in Gaya’s small stock, but you might consider upgrading as soon as possible on the other two difficulties. Actually, carrying armor repair kits in a must as is wearing the proper magic ring. Sometimes, having twice as many hit points will do you much better than boosting your strength, that’s all I’ll say. Careful scouring of levels reveals unlockable artwork, not too cryptic hints galore from deceased dwarves and even a few map pieces in one stage. You’ll also want to break everything that can be broken with a weapon or magic blast, as you’ll discover lots of helpful hidden goodies that make the detour you’ve taken worth the trouble.

If you’ve been reading the developer diaries, you’ll see that Fountainhead put a ton of thought into what could and couldn’t be done on the DS and what’s here is executed to perfection. O & E features 2D sprite-based characters in a great-looking 3D engine that reminded me of great DOS games like Daggerfall or Doom on the PS One. Considering the cartridge limitations of the DS, things like swinging chains on walls, sconces that can be put out and the overall variety of textures in the game is something to be admired. Key to the immersion factor is the excellent sound design that really pulls you into the game’s tenser moments. There’s very little music other than the heraldic main theme, but this is a good thing. You’ll be creeping along in a quiet area paying attention to the different ambient sounds while listening for a telltale enemy shuffle. Sometimes, it’s coming from off to one side, other times you’d best have eyes in the back of your head when you go grab that hidden treasure. While there’s no voice acting in the game, the snappily written script brings back memories of my pen and paper gaming days or those few D & D sessions I sat in on, totally absorbed in the process of surviving an unknown dungeon.

As for flaws, well… there’s nothing that breaks the game and the fact that it’s brief isn’t really a “flaw” at all. Remember, gamers come in all skill levels, so while that editor type or fearless hardcore Joe will blow through the game in record time, other gamers will be playing this on the road, saving every few minutes as they cautiously tap their way through some of the trickier sections. A few diehard PC gamers that disagree with modern save anywhere systems may scoff at the ability to save any time because it takes the stress level down considerably. However, if I’m on the train and about to miss my stop, I’m going to want to save my game rather than just rely on the DS’ sleep mode. Hell, you can always be Mr. or Ms. Macho and play without saving until you complete each level - there’s no hard and fast rule on that front. Besides, as I said above, Hard and Nightmare modes will have your teeth gritting as you put a death grip on your DS. Expect to add an hour or three to your times here, as you’ll probably die a lot until you work up a few new strategies.

If anything, what’s here definitely made me want more and with the recently released sequel, Orcs & Elves II hitting cell phones, it’s probably a safe bet that will come to the DS sometime in the near future. Based on the back-story of Elli’s dad, Eol, and some of the other plot elements introduced here, it would be great to see a follow up while also having this series expand onto other consoles at some point. I’m wondering what id and Fountainhead could do with the PSP’s UMD format (wide screen dungeons! Even more levels! 3D enemies!). Moreover, as for next-gen systems, the sky’s the limit and it would be great to see more games that don’t take themselves so seriously because they’re running in HD. Until then, definitely seek out a copy of Orcs & Elves, and tell a friend to do so as well. This particular style of classic RPG is one that really needs to make a comeback, so it’s just grand to have such a superb example to show that there’s room for more at the inn, particularly when it’s something as good as this.

Score: A

- Greg Wilcox

December 7-9 2007
Show times and details here

At this year’s New York Anime Festival, New York - Tokyo will have its largest ever selection of playable Japanese developed games on display. Join us for tournament style gaming with fantastic prizes and intense competition or all day, hands-on gaming for those eager to play some of the hottest new games on the market. Whatever your style, come all weekend with your best reflexes, a sharp mind, and ready to play until you drop!

FIGHTING GAME TOURNAMENT!

Think you’ve got the skills to take on some of the New York area’s finest fighting game fanatics? Step right up and go one on one for some great prizes! Registration can be done online or in person at the festival.

Featured Games:

* King of Fighters XI (Playstation 2)
* Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection (Playstation 3)
* Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360)

Tournament Rules :

Entry Cost: $5 per tournament, payable at tournament desk (cash only).

Times: 1pm King of Fighters XI

3pm Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection

5pm Virtua Fighter 5

Players can register up until 30 minutes before the first match. You must check in within 30 minutes of the first match at the tournament desk. Registration online will guarantee a spot in the tournament. However not checking in within the allotted time may force a disqualification.

Max Registration: 32 players per tournament.

Setup: At check-in, each contestant will receive a randomized number for that tournament. This number will be the player’s “handle.” We will keep track of your number, and use it to call out the ladder positions. From call-out, you have 3 minutes to claim your match against your opponent. If you fail to claim a match or lose the match, you are disqualified and your ticket will be taken.

Match Rules:

1. Default settings for all games.
2. Must pick random stage.
3. 60 second rounds, 3 of 5 matches and 2 of 3 games.
4. Players must choose character from default character lineups. No memory card saved characters, no item/character edits allowed.
5. Player must keep same character for the 2/3 games (may switch after win)
6. Only house controllers may be used.
7. No pausing during the game.
8. Any violation of the above rules will result in a VIOLATION. 2 VIOLATIONS in a tournament will result in immediate disqualification (with no refund of entrance fee).

Prizes

Grand Prize: 3 games, T-shirt/extras (stickers or other promo items)

First Prize: 2 Games, T-shirt

Second Prize: 1 Game, T-shirt

Third Prize: Random Game, T-shirt

Finalists: Consolation Prizes

Prizes must be claimed after final round with winning ticket numbers. If for any reason a player needs to leave the event before prize distribution, GNG staff must be informed beforehand. Player(s) unavailable to pick up prize(s) will be contacted via email to confirm their mailing address and their prize will be shipped to that address via USPS First Class Mail within 7 days.

Mini Tournament!

in addition, we’ll have quick mini-tournament set up on the side just for fun (and smaller prizes) for those who want no-pressure pick up and play fun!

Featured Games:

* Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (PS2)
* Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (PS2)
* Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 (PS2)

No registration for these, just drop by and play!

(*Please note, that tournament details may change at the discretion of New York – Tokyo)

HANDS-ON PLAY AREA

J-Games Extravaganza !

For this event, we’re really pulling out the stops to bring you the best and most amazing pre-release and current hits, playable all day long! Drop by for some great gaming and stick around for the tournaments - you won’t be disappointed!

Detailed Games Lineup**

Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2)

The super-hit Japanese wrestling franchise finally gets another US installment in this budget priced title that puts more expensive wrestling games to shame! Deep character customization allows you to create your favorite wrestlers from the ground up and the excellent gameplay soars over the top ropes!

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (Wii/PS2)

Arc System Works’ hard rockin’ 2D fighter comes tom both the PS2 and Wii in fine form indeed. All your favorite characters are on board for the wild ride with amazing moves and spectacular 2D graphics to keep your fingers and eyes busy as you pull off killer combos!

Dragon Ball Z:Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (Wii)

Once again, Atari rocks the Wii hard with another fantastic entry in it’s long running DBZ series. Fans of the game can expect to see tons of playable fighters, high-powered, over the top special moves and an intense storyline ripped straight from the hugely popular anime series.

Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii)

Play doctor without getting arrested or sued for malpractice with Atlus’ cool simulation. A gripping storyline propels you into the operating theater as you put your Wiimote skills to the test in some very challenging surgical situations. This game is a cut above the rest!

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

The multi-million selling zombie franchise finally gets its first all-new Wii exclusive entry that covers key moments from the series history. Expect Chris, Jill, Wesker and the rest of the gang frequently facing off against some fearsome foes. You’ll use the Wii Zapper to take down deadly undead, while trying to “survive the horror” again and again!

Puzzle Quest : Challenge of the Warlords (Wii/PS2)

The sleeper hit puzzle/RPG finally hits the PS2 and it’s looking to be as great as the other versions. In either single or multiplayer modes, the blend of addictive, challenging gem puzzles and fantasy characters becomes a surprisingly deep and intensely thrilling gameplay experience. Play this once and you’ll be hooked!

Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution (Wii)

The latest Naruto fighting game from D3PA dishes up excellent, fast-paced visuals and tight gameplay that has you whipping the Wii controller around to pull off each character’s special moves. Yet another great Naruto game this year? BELIEVE IT!!!

Omega Five (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)

Hudson rocks the 360 with this next-gen, high-definition Arcade shooter. Fly through gorgeous, deadly 3D environments in this side-scrolling shooter where enemies come at you from all sides, even the background! 2-player co-op is also aboard, so grab a friend and take down the alien horde!

Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War (Xbox 360)

Koei mixes the fast-paced action found in its Dynasty Warriors franchise with the tactical elements of the Kessen games to the Hundred Years’ War between Britain and France with stunning results. Guide your leader as he takes control of massive battlefields using his loyal army. Deep tactical depth and great visuals make this one powerful experience!

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops 2 (PSP)

Kojima Productions does it yet again with this standalone expansion to last year’s smash hit. New characters, maps and modes, all geared for multiplayer online play make this a MGS fan’s dream while waiting for the pure excellence that is MGS4 to ship.

Cooking Mama 2: Cooking With Friends (DS)

Mama returns in this all-new game for the DS! Cooking Contest allows you to play with up to 3 friends online with only one game card. Change Design mode gives you the opportunity to customize your kitchen decor and backgrounds you unlock as you move through the game. Come cook with Mama again!

TEKKEN 5 Dark Resurrection (PS3)

A perfect port of the arcade hit, Dark Resurrection is everything a true Tekken fan could want. Loads of playable fighters, lighting fast gameplay and some of the most amazing, strange and funny ending cinemas you’ll ever see. The King of Iron Fist Tournament punches its way onto the PS3 with major impact!

Culdcept SAGA (Xbox 360)

The supremely addictive card battle/board game hybrid comes to next gen and looks to be as deep as previous entries. Build up your decks move around the map and challenge opponents as you try to seize territories by force and luck! This one will be huge when it ships next year!
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Soul Calibur Legends (Wii)

Forget what you know about Soul Calibur - this Wii exclusive is a phenomenal action game that features masses of enemies to face off against, gigantic bosses and plenty of your favorite heroes and villains from the hugely popular fighting game franchise. The soul of the sword burns through YOU and that Wii remote is your weapon!

Time Crisis 4 (PS3)

Namco’s fantastic light gun shooter gets all-new first-person shooting sequences and for lucky PS3 owners, the all new Guncon 3 that allows for movement, and quick weapon selection during the out of control action. Duck behind cover and pop out to fight terrorists, swarms of deadly bugs and huge bosses in this non-stop gun battle!
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Dynasty Warriors : Gundam (Xbox 360)

Combine the intensity of Dynasty Warriors with the storied history of the Gundam universe and what do you get? An incredibly fun all-out battle game for one or two players, that’s what! You don’t need to be a Gundam fan to hop into things, but fans will groove on the huge character selection covering different eras and deep replay value.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2)

Cavia’s sequel beats the first game silly by adding co-op play, improved graphics and a much longer quest for our favorite orange jump-suited , yellow-haired ninja in training. Lots of combat,special moves galore and an overall sense of fun keep things rolling from start to finish!
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Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 (PS2)

Greatly improved over the original, Ultimate Ninja 2 offers up RPG elements, mini-games and loads of unlockable fighters from the popular anime. Beat on the tough AI in single player of call up a friend for some 2-player action!
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Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes (PSP)

How did they squeeze this game onto the PSP? Bigger multi-plane fighting arenas than Ultimate Heroes PS2, rocket-fast, fluid controls and a surprising amount of depth are all here and accounted for. Amazingly enough, the game looks as good as the console version, but benefits from the higher resolution PSP screen!

Puzzle de Harvest Moon (DS)

Natsume’s popular Harvest Moon series gets a fun puzzle spin off! Grow and harvest crops quickly in order to clear the screen before your opponent. Super cute graphics and loads of levels will keep your DS humming ’til the cows come home!

Soul Nomad & The World Eater (PS2)

NIS’ excellently funny SPRG features deep tactical fantasy turn-based battles, a surprisingly twisty plot line and one of the most devilishly mean-spirited (and hilarious) characters in gaming. Can you control the Demon Lord Gig you’re tasked with managing or will you let him destroy the world as he originally planned? The choice is up to you!

VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 (Xbox 360)

Online for the very first time and flawless, Sega’s key fighting franchise absolutely shines on the 360! Longtime VF fanatics will be in heaven as they show newbies the ropes, as the game is known for it’s wickedly fast controls and deep fighting system. Can you handle it?

Bleach: Shattered Blade (Wii)

The hit anime game finally comes to US shores and it’s a winner all the way! Super fast pick up and play action that has you flicking and shaking the Wii controller like there’s no tomorrow. All your favorite heroes and villans are here and the great cel-shaded graphics make you feel as if you’re playing through an episode of the anime!

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

A gaming first, with the two best-known mascot characters and a group of their buddies from two classic companies do battle, Summer Games style! Expect to see plenty of sweat flying from players’ foreheads as the game puts them through their paces in a series on fast-paced track & field events!

KING OF FIGHTERS XI (PS2)

11 Teams; 47 characters, exclusive PS2 characters and 7 playable bosses highlight this latest entry in the long running fighting franchise. 10 all new music tracks will keep you rockin’ as you battle your way through multiple play modes. Bring your friends and get it on!

Neo Geo Battle Coliseum (PS2)

Featuring 40 fighters from SNK hits The King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, The Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade, World Heroes, Metal Slug and Kizuna Encounter, this new game will blow the doors off all comers. Thrilling 2 on 2 tag battles in the deadly Battle Coliseum await those brave enough to pick up a controller!

Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3)

Ryu Hayabasa is back, but this time on the PS3! Team Ninja went the extra mile with this awesome action game, adding next-gen visual polish, a new playable character and enough all-new stages and enemies to make it THE version to own! Still one of the hardest games ever made, so come see how good you are!

NEVES (DS)

Love puzzle games? Well, wait until you wrap your brain around Yuke’s new DS game, NEVES. Taking the classic tangram into the modern age, this game will have your fingers and mind working overtime as you try to solve some tricky shape-shifting puzzles!

What struck me instantly was the visual style that featured super-realistic cars and a sense of speed that reminded me of some of those great 70’s car chase films such as Vanishing Point. Sure EA has done next-gen NFS games before, but the combination of even better car models and dynamic camera work really sells the white-knuckle driving action. Once I got my hands on a controller, things got very interesting when I hit the accelerator. For starters, you can feel (well, on the 360 version) all four tires gripping or sliding on the changing road surface a lot more than in previous NFS games and hell, even better than a few off-road games I’ve played. The handling model is excellent, with the game relying on your knowing how to negotiate turns correctly and applying brakes where necessary. On the demo track, the goal wasn’t simply to come in first, but to have the highest overall speed on the course. However, as I was soon to discover, merely flooring it then trying to play the old way by taking a shortcut through a roadside object or another car would be disastrous driving at its not so finest.

An attempt to blow past two cars on my left side by trying to knock down a telephone pole showed me the game’s biggest change as I slammed into the pole with my car’s right side and wrecked out of the race completely. As I sat there cracking up with my eyes popping out of my head as my poor ride sat there now a busted wreck, it was explained to me that the dev team really wanted to give players a truer racing experience this time out. That formerly speedy car I’d just crunched up would be pretty much the result if this had happened on an actual track. My second to fifth attempts at the track were failures as well - two different telephone poles and another car were smashed into followed by a fifth place finish before I took a few deep breaths and scored two wins in a row. Amazingly, the AI was suffering as much as I was, as cars in front of me took themselves out of the running with their own crashes. By the way… the damage model simply rocks.

You might think this instant race over stuff would make for sheer frustration, but on the contrary, this extra realism made me want to see more than the single demo track. EA is certainly betting the farm that many other hardcore racing fans will want to take this ride as well. The game retains a few elements of the old street racing elements, but there’s no more of that forced, annoyingly faux cool “illegal” aspect this time out. Now, the game feels like an actual series of racing events or something you’d see on the Speed Channel. In addition to the excellent camerawork on the cars, after a race, the camera dips in and out of a nicely modeled group of onlookers, dancing girls on platforms and huge balloon characters that look like props on loan from the Wipeout franchise. Fans of the cop chase element will have to get their jollies elsewhere, but if you’re into hardcore customization, this is where you’ll want to be.

The graphics were coming along just great overall with the mixture of fantastic car models, solid engine sounds, squealing tires and crash effects making for quite a visceral experience. Of note are the rich smoke effects that come from the aforementioned squealing tires - not only do they look convincingly real, you can use that smoke from skidding around turns to temporarily blind the AI (and yup, live drivers on the couch or online) into wrecking into a roadside object or other cars. Locations based on real-life roadways such as Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway, the Autobahn and the Nevada desert should be as eye-popping as you’d expect and treacherous as races go on. Car debris stays on the track throughout a race, and damage needs to be repaired between events, so you’ll need to strive to finish in the money if you want to keep going.

You can also expect to see tons of customization options and licensed aftermarket parts along with options to tweak just about anything on your car. The great Autosculpt feature is back along with a wind tunnel so players can check out the changes their modifications have on speed and handling. If you’re not a good fiddler, fear not, as the game will contain some powerful pre-built cars for each class. If you’re confident in your car designing skills, you can use the new Blueprint function to share your wild ride with other players online. The great thing about this is if your car is used by other players in winning races, you’re credited onscreen, which just might result in a side business tweaking cars for other online players. I’m not sure how virtual currency if any will exchange hands for your hard work, but I’m sure we’ll see some really powerful custom whips cracking soon after the game ships.

In addition to the new Speed Challenges, Drag, Drift and Grip races will also be part of the game plan, but as these sections weren’t playable at the event we’ll have to speculate that the dev team is pouring just as much effort into these areas. How the online play is shaping up is also a question mark; however, it’s probably a safe bet that the game will attract fans of both arcade and simulation styles of racing as both elements are well represented. In addition to next-gen systems and PC, ProStreet is set to hit the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP on November 14, making it a great holiday gift for street racing fans who own these consoles. We’ll take a look at the final version in a bit and let you know if Need for Speed ProStreet has what it takes to be the king of the road on the racing scene.

- Greg Wilcox

Dev Diary #4: Weapons, Potions, Combat and Game Design
By Katherine Anna Kang

In my early childhood I wasted countless hours, and quarters, on the classic
arcade game Pac Man, but my favorite games were always Centipede, Galaga,
Frogger and Joust - the player-to-player combat is what I liked most about
Joust. I missed out on the early consoles because, well, I didn’t have any
so, the rare console gaming that I did consisted of Mario at a friend’s
house. Though some of my friends dabbled in making PC text games, I just
didn’t get into those… I preferred to play D&D. Until Doom and Quake
obliterated any free time that I had as a young adult, the only games that
seemed to keep me coming back for more, no matter how many times I had
played them, were the classic arcade games - easy to get into, highly
addictive, simple fun. That’s how I like my games, and with the exception
of multiplayer gaming, that’s how I like making games.

There’s a strange dynamic that happens when we make games at our company.
It’s probably due to the fact that while everyone else is a hard-core gamer,
I’m not. I’m much less willing to give a game time to win me over and I’m
much less willing to plod through boring or impossible areas simply to get
to the next level. It’s extremely rare for me to finish single player games
and I hardly ever get 100% of secrets, monsters, or whatever else in a game.
I play games the way a child plays in a playground - run to the first thing
that looks fun, if it’s fun, play as long as possible and repeat as needed.
The games I enjoy playing tend to be fast-paced, fun to play from start
to finish, and have almost no learning curve - add a dash of highly
addictive gameplay and up the replay ability factor and you have me hooked.
Well, Orcs & Elves is that game. Considering that I have to play the game
hundreds of times, it better be fun enough for me to want to go back to play
it again and again and again.

For me, the key to enjoying Orcs & Elves is being able to get in and cause
havoc right away. While the simple, fast paced fun allows me to play and
enjoy the game quickly, the ability to experiment with the varied
non-critical elements of the game becomes addictive as I get engrossed with
the characters and mission of the game. I found that everyone on the team
has very different ways of playing the game. For instance, while I live by
the Haste potion, a few of the other team members hardly ever use it. I’m a
potion hound while one of our programmers foregoes purchasing any potions at
all. The arsenal provided by the many combinations of weapons, potions, and
other items results a myriad of different ways to attack your enemies. The
ability to mix and match the potions, weapons, rings and other goodies keeps
the game fresh. So, here’s an inventory of the items available in the game
and I’ll give you some hints on how to use them.

WEAPONS:

The Wand Ellon: Its most basic attack is a lighting strike but as it
regains strength and energy, it is able to cast four powerful spells (power
lighting, fire, stun, and force). Power Lightning - Blasts supercharged
lightning (best on Shadows & Slimes). Fire - Burns target & nearby enemies
(if enemy is not dead at first strike, it will continue to burn them).
Force - Damages and knocks back target & nearby enemies (best on Shadows).
Stun - Temporarily stuns target while inflicting serious damage.

Though the spells are strong and will deal critical hits, it seriously drains the
wand’s power after each use. Give Ellon time to regenerate.

The Warhammer Abraxas: It has two attacks, a devastating over-hand strike
on a single opponent who is directly in front of you and a spin attack that
assaults all enemies surrounding you. Abraxas shares energy with the wand so you
have to keep an eye on energy levels.

Basic Sword: A good sword that does the job in cutting down enemies, but you
definitely want to upgrade as tougher monsters beat you up.

Flaming Sword: This sword is particularly effective against foes weak to
fire. It’s a really great weapon - powerful but reasonably priced. This
weapon is a must-have for most players.

Vorpal Sword: This is my favorite sword but it’s expensive. If the monster is
solid, this sword will most likely obliterate it.

Medusa Scroll: The image of Medusa turns flesh-and-bone creatures to stone… most
of the time. WARNING: unpredictable while under the influence of alcohol or
other mind-altering umm… items.

Dragons Breath: Powerful artifact that spews dragon’s breath at close
targets (bad long range weapon).

Basic Crossbow: It’s good in a pinch, especially if you don’t have another
long-range weapon.

Heavy Crossbow: Pretty good bow to have if you don’t like close
hand-to-hand combat. Though the Warbow is a more powerful weapon, I prefer
the Heavy Crossbow over the Warbow.

Warbow: This is the most powerful bow in the Orcs & Elves arsenal. It’s
some people’s favorite because it’s powerful and knocks back enemies, but the
way I play the game, I prefer the Heavy Crossbow.

Phoenix Eggs: These eggs spew, what else, fire blasts when shattered
against enemies. It has a splash damage effect so it’s not a good idea to
use it when the enemy is right in front of you. The Phoenix eggs need space
to fly!

POTIONS:

Health: Restores 40 health instantly.

Large Health: Restores 80 health instantly.

Strength: Increases attack damage by 10 for 30 turns.

Accuracy: Increases odds of hitting and inflicting critical strikes (+10 accuracy) for 30 turns.

Defense: Decreases damage received (+10 defense) for 30 turns.

Haste: Enables you to perform two actions in one turn, but certain monsters
can match your speed (one of my favorite potions when surrounded by
monsters).

Remedy: Cleanses you from poisons and other negative effects and provides
additional immunity for 5 turns.

Troll’s Blood: Steadily regenerates health, +5 health per turn for 30 turns
(another one of my favorite potions).

Champion’s Brew: Brewed for champions of the King. Very expensive but
several of our dev team members find it awesome to use. It gives you an
added +15 strength, +15 accuracy +15 defense for 30 turns.

Avoidance: Nullifies the next 4 attacks directed at you for 30 turns
(another favorite).

Invisibility: Conceals you from most enemies until you attack or receive
injury. Invisible for 10 turns.

Parasitic Brew: Restores your health for the damage you deal a foe. Drain
your enemy’s life for 20 turns (this is my favorite new potion).

RINGS:

Family Ring: A family heirloom (sentimental value)

Ring of Regeneration: Regenerates health while you wear it (my all time favorite ring - once I get it, I never take it off).

Sarbok’s Ring: Keeps its wearer eternally intoxicated (being intoxicated in
this game has its values, but it has a downside too - strength +10, defense
+10, accuracy -15)

Ring of Fortitude: Wearing this ring increases your physical endurance.

Ring of Strength: Wearing this ring increases your physical attack damage.

Ring of Defense: Wearing this ring reduces damage received.

Ring of Force: Wearing this ring can knock back your opponent when attacked.

Ring of Intimidation: Increases the chance that your opponent will flee with
fear.

Ring of Accuracy: Wearing this ring increases your chance to land critical
strikes.

OTHER:

Ale: 3 different kinds (you’ll have to check them out and compare)

Gaya’s Egg: Instantly restores all health and armor, provides resistance to
fire and strengthens all attacks.

Leather Armor: What you start out with (you didn’t come prepared for battle, so tough luck).

Chainmail Armor: Flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings.

Elven Mail: Finely crafted chainmail imbued with Elven magic.

Dragonscale Armor: Made of densely riveted dragon scales providing
unparalleled protection (love this armor).

I found that most everyone who has played this game has a unique style. My usual playing style consists of getting drunk and stacking up potions… what I call “Ale and the 3 P’s”.

Here’s the philosophy of “Ale and the 3 P’s”:

1). ALE: Get as much ale as you possibly can (you can stock up in the Great Hall where you can brew ale to your heart’s content… till monsters find you camping out and decide to use you as target practice). Use your ale strategically. If you encounter a tough battle, you can use ale to increase your strength and defense while healing yourself slightly. Since the downside of being drunk is that your aim is worth diddly-squat, use your accuracy potions to improve your accuracy (one accuracy potion will usually suffice). Accuracy potions are common and cheap so I’ve never found a reason to be shy about using them… humm, all this talk about drinking and “using” common and cheap things is starting to make me sound insensitive!

2). Potion - Accuracy: Common and cheap. Use it when drunk!

3). Potion - Troll’s Blood: This is a worthy potion to invest in and hoard. During tough battles, when your stock of healing potions are low, and/or when you’re surrounded, this is a great potion to use.

4). Potion - Haste: I horde my potions so that I can use them in boss fights but this is a potion that I use frequently. It gives me such an edge over most monsters that the rare times that I play the game without it, I feel crippled. I absolutely love this potion. I use this potion to run away, to stack potions, to ambush an enemy or simply to bash my enemies more times that they bash me (two hits for every one of theirs… most of the time).

The philosophy of Ale and the 3 P’s has worked very well for me… but not in Nightmare Mode. Well, I hope this philosophy has enlightened you. If not, find your own style and see if you can beat it in Nightmare Mode. So far, only one man has beat the game in Nightmare Mode.

For next week’s blog, John Carmack will be posting some technical thoughts on Orcs & Elves and a bunch of other technical stuff that I cannot comprehend. Thanks for reading my blogs. I hope those of you willing to give Orcs & Elves a chance enjoy it immensely.

-Katherine Anna Kang

I also got to play a bit of the excellently addictive Viva Piñata: Party Animals with Microsoft’s John Porcaro and can report that developer Krome Studios has done an amazing job with the selection of mini-games. The demo had two types of races, a soda drinking “burp the boat” contest, a variation on “Hot Potato” and more that kept things rolling. Unlike many other games of this type, you get straight to the action. There’s no dice-rolling or space moving necessary; other than an intro movie and some brief load times between events, you’ll be bashing buttons and twirling analog sticks. This is one of those games that you’ll buy for the kids, yet play it with them (or play it when they’re asleep).

The other cool new game, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action, was on display and super easy to pick up and play. Set to release on November 6, the $59.99 package includes the game and four big-button wireless controllers that look like something out a sci-fi flick. Speaking of flicks, the questions I got to answer (or try to answer) ranged from super obscure to slightly tricky and some of the easier Q’s often had head-scratching follow-ups. Although you’ll see and hear a nice balance of questions overall, I’d imagine movie hounds with kids that don’t watch too many older films will be beating the pants off their offspring… at least until Microsoft signs a deal with Disney to bring the Scene It? Disney Edition to the 360.

So, how will the 360 Arcade do in the current marketplace? Well, here’s a bit of forecasting from someone who generally dislikes forecasting: With Nintendo’s Wii about to spend a second holiday buying season as a super hard to get item and the Playstation 3 struggling despite some excellent new titles, Microsoft has the right idea so far. However, a few elements need to be tweaked a bit in the future to insure those new 360 Arcade system buyers stick around for the long haul. My suggestions (as I’m full of ideas these days):

1) Pack in a second, wired controller in future Arcade packages - Microsoft could conceivably do this and charge $299.99 with not too much effort. However, I’m guessing research has shown that $300 is some sort of stress point where budget conscious hands start to stiffen before they reach for that wallet and yes, I know Microsoft has to make some money on additional peripherals. How about adding in a $5 discount coupon for an additional wireless or wired pad or a similar discount on additional memory cards? It’s a given that you HAVE to buy a second controller at some point and 256MB might not be enough for some new users that start buying more 360 games, so why not give potential owners something to really smile about when they scan that green box for product details?

2) Change up the pack-in selection every few months - The initial selection of Arcade games is good, but a bit too pedestrian in my 3000 games-owning opinion. Granted, the remixed Pac-Man is superb, Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy and Luxor can become habit-forming and you can’t beat a good multiplayer game of UNO, but with so much Xbox Live Arcade content available, it would be even better to see collections of themed games. For example, a Sci-Fi Pack with Geometry Wars, RoboBlitz, Time Pilot, Galaga/Galaxian and one or two other titles would be an amazing buy, as would an all-puzzle disc that featured Marble Blast Ultra, Hexic HD and so forth and so on. Granted, this series would be limited by be some save data issues for those buyers that haven’t planned on upgrading to a Hard Drive down the road, but given all the new family content now available for download, it’s clear that those buyers happy with their new systems just may fork over that extra cash for a HDD upgrade sooner than later.

3) Follow the Gametap model and make an Ad-supported FREE version of Xbox Live available to 360 Arcade owners (Or have a special area set up solely for Family Settings content) - Make new users feel special and they’ll be loyal for life, I say. Microsoft should hook Arcade system users up with a separate site that features family-friendly game demos, free full version XNA games and other fun stuff. Sure, you can hop on Live and download plenty of goodies gratis, but serving up a specialized section for parents and users who only want to see happy, happy content options and not end up dodging around M-rated games would be a cool thing indeed.

There are a few more ideas floating around in my skull, such as separate labeling for Xbox 360 Family related games and such, but I’d need to be on the payroll over at Microsoft if they want to squeeze my brain some more. Anyway, like it or not, it certainly looks and feels as if the 2007 holiday shopping season is officially open and Microsoft has thrown down yet another gauntlet.

- Greg Wilcox

In case you don’t remember this 80’s classic, here’s a quick recap of the gameplay: Players control Popeye as he tries to collect Olive Oyl’s love tokens (hearts, musical notes, floating letters) while trying to avoid Bluto’s punches and occasional bottles tossed by the Sea Hag. Grabbing a can of Spinach allows Popeye to punch Bluto off the screen, allowing him to collect items unmolested for a short time. The mobile-optimized update includes both the original arcade version of the game as well as an enhanced mode with bonus game play. The enhanced mode features all-new graphics, two brand new rounds (“A Dream Walking” round and “Spinach Run” bonus round), and additional characters, including cameos by Eugene the Jeep and Bernice the Whiffle Hen. Points earned throughout the game can be redeemed for downloadable Popeye comics on selected mobile phones.

“As a well-known brand seen in everything from DVDs, comics, merchandise, and even theme park attractions, Popeye is a character that appeals to all ages,” said Scott Rubin, vice president of sales and marketing for Namco Networks. “By coupling this evergreen brand and character with addictive game play, we are bringing a fun and entertaining mobile game to a mass-market audience based on a property and storyline that everyone knows and loves.”

As for that sweepstakes, the prize is pretty cool if you’re a fan of the spinach slingin’ sailor: 75 winners will win the authorized edition DVD four-disc set, Popeye The Sailor: 1933-1938 Volume 1, distributed by Warner Home Video. The sweepstakes will run from October 16 until November 30. To enter, Sprint customers can access the game’s home page on the Sprint wireless Web or by texting the word ‘popeye’ to 26262 on a Sprint phone (standard text and data rates apply). Customers can check out the game and submit their phone number to gain an entry into the sweepstakes. For the official rules and an alternate method of entry, click on over to the official Sweepstakes site.

Developer Diary #3: The Orcs & Elves story
Katherine Anna Kang
CEO and Producer
Fountainhead Entertainment

The Orcs & Elves universe is filled with an array of rich and unique stories all brimming with the vibrancy of life made up of difference races, gods, monsters, critters, sentient and powerful artifacts, and of course, magic. With the treasures to be found, innocents to be saved, and evil to be vanquished, it can sometimes seem impossible to contain this universe in one game; and no one game has been capable of it. In the two years since its inception, Orcs & Elves has made its way onto 3 separate games: Orcs & Elves (mobile), Orcs & Elves (DS), and Orcs & Elves II (mobile). Each game, and each iteration of the game, opens up another window, door, and/or chapter of the living story that is brought to life by the people at id Software and Fountainhead Entertainment.

There is so much to tell that I am at a loss at where to begin… I guess a good starting point is the Creator, and that would be John Carmack.

Many years ago, back before Quake and Doom, John Carmack was a dungeon master of some repute, with weekly games that occasionally drew friends from across the country. A workaholic schedule eventually doomed the games, but a fondness for a good, old-fashioned adventure remained. After seeing the very positive reception that the mobile game DoomRPG received, Carmack set the direction for the next project: “Obviously we should do a fantasy game. Hacking orcs with flaming swords and adventuring for gold. All the classic elements.” The seed for Orcs & Elves was planted and the universe began to unfold.

The Orcs & Elves universe takes place in the upper-most region of the Western lands of Areth. The name Areth has long been lost to all but a few and the lands are now mostly known as The Godless Lands. Areth was born with a beauty unmatched for many millennia. When the elves were but a young race and the dwarves were freshly carved off mountains, it was a wonderful place to behold. It was full of exuberance, life, and magic and perhaps it was the magic that made it too good to last. Greed for magic, power, and all that Areth could offer was too tempting for some… sharing was not an option. For Areth, the consequence of this flow of magic was the distortion of nature, the creation of monsters, and ultimately war. The dark ages descended upon Areth, but in the darkness, there was light. Heroes rose to fight for justice and legends were born; and here we begin the story of the Elf adventurer Eöl and Brahm, the Dwarf who would be King.

During The Great Conflict, the hatred between the Orcs and the Elves peaked. The forces of light and dark had formed an uneasy truce that the Orcs never meant to honor. When that truce was breached, the Elves suffered most as the Vaettir allied with the Orcs to take advantage of this feud. The air was thick with death and the war between the two races was even more fierce than the early days of conflict between all peoples of the land. If not for the Dwarven forces aiding the Elves, and if not for the initial friendship forged by Eöl and Brahm, the Elves may not have survived.

After the Elves won the war, Brahm was crowned, and Eöl found love and family. King Brahm would soon call himself uncle to a half-breed Elf/Human child named Elli. This peaceful time, however, lasted less than two decades. Treachery and war began anew as young Elli would soon find out on his first adventure to Mount Zharrkarag. This is where Orcs & Elves, the game, begins.

Key Characters in Orcs & Elves (DS):

- Elli: Son of the Elven adventurer Eöl and human warrior Fraiga, Elli begins his first major adventure at the age of 17. Though by Elven standards, he is just a child, for a human, he is a young man well past the age of transition. Due to the terrible loss of his mother at a young age, his father had been reluctant to let go of his only son. Grudgingly, Eöl finally lets his son go. As both father and son embark on their own independent and unique journey, the wand Ellon is entrusted to Elli as a guide, friend, and protector.

- Ellon: Forged by a wizard to aid Eöl and the Elves in their time of need, Ellon is a sentient wand whose power limits are unknown. Though extremely powerful, it can be reduced to a very weak state when taxed for a prolonged time. Eöl, the Elven adventurer whom Ellon was crafted for, passed down this powerful wand to his son Elli. Though best wielded by one of Eöl’s descendants, the Wand does take to being wielded by any good elf. Ellon has a large storehouse of knowledge that will aid its wielder on any adventure.

- King Brahm: The 11th King of the Dwarven people of Mount Zharrkarag, Brahm gained notoriety for his famous adventures with the elf Eöl. As a very young dwarf, Brahm chose to abandon his royal duties as heir to the Dwarven throne to hone his skills as a warrior and as an adventurer. Those skills were well earned and well used when war came to their doorsteps. After the swarming Orcs were repelled from Mount Zharrkarag, Brahm and Eöl’s strong friendship helped pave the way to better political ties between the Dwarves and Elves of Areth.

- Abraxas: Forged by the same wizard who made Ellon, Abraxas is made of the same alloy used on Thor’s legendary hammer Mjööllnir. Though Abraxas was brought to life by many similar magical components that brought Ellon to life, Abraxas is less sentient and more raw arcane power. Though Abraxas can be wielded by only those with its maker’s mark, an extremely powerful wizard, or god, is capable of instantly sapping its power. This weakness in Abraxas is the reason King Brahm crafted a special vault for Abraxas to be stored in when not used.

- Sarbok: Sarbok, son of Sarlok “The Great Ale Keeper”, lives in shadow of his deceased father’s status as Mount Zharrkarag’s greatest brewmaster. Though an accomplished brewmaster in his own right, Sarbok, the perpetually drunk dwarf, sees it as his mission in life, and death, to procure the best brew known to dwarf, elf or human. Sarbok views making and drinking ale as a way of life rather than a skill to be crafted.

- Montague: Montague is an atypical dwarf in that his naiveté is equal only to his fierce devotion to his King. Montague was chosen as King Brahm’s champion the day of Brahm’s coronation for his loyalty, strength, and skill in battle. Naive dwarves being rare, perhaps it is this quality of feigned innocence that has endeared this dwarf to many Elven visitors.

- Ithcor: As King Brahm’s chief Forge Master, Ithcor has been instrumental in crafting some of the finest weapons in the Lands. Through diligence and hard work, Ithcor helped build an armory worthy of boasting as many races have paid small fortunes to get a piece of Ithcor’s quality craftsmanship in sword, shield or armor.

- Filch: Born of the Silver Fang Tribe, Filch is the youngest of the tribe’s leaders. He is an exceptional and bold thief who ranks below only two other wererats. Where he lacks in stealth, he makes up for in aggression.

- Sonya: This Queen spider has taken dominion over many of the smaller spiders in the area of Mount Zharrkarag. By using her army of arachnids, she was instrumental in aiding the invading Orcs to victory in her quest to capture the Widow’s Gem. Her lust for this dark gem has been the driving force of her existence for decades.

- Flopsie: This thief finds mischief and treasure wherever it can find it. Rather than follow the norm of his kind, he ventures out alone rather than in packs. He has discovered the art of eavesdropping as an important precursor to the art of stealing. He has learned many secrets and heard of many places to venture into for a chance to enrich himself.

- Felir: Despised by even his own kind, Felir is a Vaettir, or dark elf as they are more commonly known, of unusual habits. Though the Vaettir are known to be brutal, clever, and unusually cruel for a race of elves, they are also known for their impressive skills in battle and their knowledge of magic. Felir is proficient in neither battle nor magic but is a sycophant and master in the arts of treachery. Having gained status through sheer manipulation and falsehoods, though unimpressive in battle, the many mines that he has entrenched can explode in the faces of enemies and allies alike.

- Bruul: This formidable Orc leader has tried to destroy King Brahm and his Dwarven people many times over, but at each turn, the orcs have been beaten and defeated… until now.

- Kai’Laria: A mysterious force full of power and magic. Kai’Laria is an emissary of one of the most powerful Wizards in Areth.

- Gaya: A copper dragon of great renown, Gaya has lived for thousands of years. At the height of her power, Gaya soared through the skies free and unchallenged, harming none who did not challenge her while obliterating any who moved against her. Gaya’s treasures are said to make even the most wealthy of royals jealous with envy. With a keen eye for gems and magical artifacts, Gaya was legendary even among her own kind as clever, dangerous, and not to be trifled with. Gaya’s kin suffered great losses during the Great Conflict. At a time when Black and Red dragons allied with evil, Gold and Silver dragons allied with good, Copper dragons chose to remain neutral. When god-like wizards joined the war, several powerful evil wizards set out to punish Copper dragons for not choosing the dark side. If not for the magical dweomers and artifacts in Gaya’s personal collection, even she would have fallen victim to these spells. Out of need and out of mutual respect, Gaya and King Brahm formed a sort of unspoken alliance.

In the Orcs & Elves game, you get a glimpse into the lives of each of these characters. It’s one place in time where we share a chapter of their lives. For some characters, this is just the beginning of a life filled with adventure… for others, this chapter will be their last and their story will come to an end.

If you’re not familiar with the Digimon Data Squad TV show, the game drops you right into things with enough info to get you started - the rest you’ll learn as you play. The main story has you playing as Marcus Damon as he and the other DATS team try to stop a pack of evil Digimon from completing their invasion of the real world. In a way, it’s like a kiddie version of The Matrix, but with overly cute Digimon doing the fighting on your side. You’re up against a wide range of virtual baddies headed up by the evil Creepymon, who looks quite like something Go Nagai would have dreamed up after too much children’s aspirin.

As you navigate the often twisty, map-less overworld, random encounters occur with more than enough frequency to keep your Digimon leveling up fairly regularly. However, the gameplay revolves more around “Digivolving” your little guys into bigger, meaner guys (and sometimes back) as the game progresses. When a battle begins, you’ll see your fastest Digimon on screen surrounded by colored hex shapes. Red signifies Attack icons, Yellow are Guard/Defend, Green are Support icons and Blue is Escape. All you need to do is count up the shapes on screen, select the appropriate icon and watch the move(s) play out. This keeps the game from being too difficult for beginners, at least in the early hours. When attacked by a much faster creature or creatures, you might get jacked up a bit before you get in a chance to attack, forcing a retreat or some healing item usage.

Those kids who know Digimon inside and out will be absolutely entranced with all the combat and leveling aspects, not to mention the over 140 Digimon and 250 items in the game. The cool thing about the Digivolving command is that it can be done during battles to turn the tide fairly easily. It’s actually a double-edged sword, as often, you don’t know what your pet will evolve into, thanks to random conditions such as “Must use X number of attacks” or “Must use X item X times.” You only find out what the evolution path is as you experiment, so at times, you might regress into a smaller, weaker Digimon during a crucial battle. While this didn’t happen to me too many times, on a few occasions I got stuck with a less than perfect Digimon who wanted to run away after getting slapped around a bit too much during a boss fight.

Keeping your Digimon team happy and well-fed helps them fight better, while neglecting their in and out of battle needs will have you seeing the Game Over screen way too many times. The game definitely rewards true fans over casual players who happen to pick this up on a whim. Then again, I can’t recall anyone picking up a game like this because there wasn’t anything else in the RPG section of a game store, but you never know. Meanwhile, back at the review ranch, the brightly colored characters look super and the background environments are pretty large and very maze-like, which will lead to some getting lost by younger players. My suggestion here is to pull the camera way out using the right stick, as the default close in view makes it harder to navigate. As for the overabundance of random battles, well, just enjoy the levels, loot and items you’ll be stocking up on.

You’ll hear some decent enough sound effects, music along with all the voices from the show in and out of cutscenes and yes, all the voice actors give their 100% as usual for a game of this type. It’s hard to criticize cartoon-based games like these for having “bad” voice acting because you’d have to only toss a TV remote to hit another kid’s show that has the same voice actors doing different characters. I choose to rate it on my “Do the actors sound like they’re playing characters or just reading lines” sliding scale and the folks here are playing characters to the hilt.

So there you have it, short and to the point. Digimon World Data Squad is going to be perfect for fans of the show, but more mature RPG fanatics looking for a game with major advances in story, visuals or technology will probably find too much to gripe about to fully enjoy the ride. One great thing about this and other Namco Bandai anime-based titles is the company’s commitment to getting color manuals and stuff like stickers to fans without fail. I’m always up for trying out any type of game in the genre, so as long as these guys keep the anime game flame lit, I’ll be flitting up with my moth wings on, trying to stay warm without getting burned.

Score B-

- Greg Wilcox

In addition, PC and 360 owners looking for still MORE Oblivion content can download the Fighter’s Stronghold pack for FREE until Sunday, October 21 over at elderscrolls.com (PC) or over Xbox Live (360). Here’s what you can expect from this pack:

Defeat the attacking marauders and become lord of Battlehorn Castle. Located in the Colovian Highlands west of Chorrol, this expansive castle will allow you to live the life of a noble warrior, with private quarters, grand dining hall, wine cellar, barracks, training room and more. And what castle would be complete without a few hidden passages and dark secrets?

Features:

* A fully detailed castle for you to explore

* Knights of the True Horn patrol the castle and do your bidding

* Secret treasure vault

* Upgrade the furnishings in every area of the castle

* Hire a vintner to create special wines to enhance your fighting abilities

* Hire a combat trainer to spar with

* Hire a taxidermist to craft lifelike trophies for your great hall

* Purchase an ancient Dwemer Forge that buffs your Armorer skill

So what are you waiting for? Once you enter Oblivion, you’ve got even more reason to never leave the house, right?