Summer’s here, and you could fry an egg on your head in 7.5 seconds if you step outside, but a better source of entertainment is stocking up with some of the best, must-have games, calling your friends, switching on the AC and switching off reality for a while.
Here’s 10 games, that you have to try to touch the limits of the gaming experience. The best bet for the summer’s entertainment.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Game Summary: Multiple cartoon game characters fight using special and highly entertaining moves and effects in a fast-paced fighting game.
If you’ve ever played Nintendo, this is a must-have. You get no less than 35 unique characters in a single fighting game, where 4 fighters at a time can punch each other’s lights out with a zany collection of moves, super-attacks called Smashes, in a 3-D, superfast, and beautifully simple-to-play experience called Brawl. The music and sounds are electrifying, and the game sets such a blistering pace you won’t be able to blink, let alone breathe. And this will be your chance to see how characters from different games, each with their own unique fighting styles, skills, strategies and special effects, play off against each other.
Surprisingly for such a easy-play high-octane attackfest, there is a good deal of strategy involved, too; figuring out each opponent’s strengths and weaknesses versus your own, and quickly, will make you the master fighter.
And yes, there is a single-player option for playing alone as well.
If you have a Wii, know that it isn’t complete without this.
Available on: Nintendo Wii
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Game Summary: An anti-terrorist team of six locates its targets, surveys the area, makes an attack strategy and moves in, all guns blazing.
This game is the most detailed, true-to-life, accurate shooter you can get. Everything in the game – weapons, movement, locales… confirm precisely to what they would be in real life, giving the game a very realistic feel.
Unlike a simple 1-person shooter, here you control a 6-person team; but the controls are easy, streamlined, and lots of fun.
Another major differentiator for Vegas 2 is dependence on tactics. You can’t just rush in and win. You need to observe, think, recon, plan, and then attack.
The maps – playing areas - are huge and detailed, and the AI – your computer opponents - are intelligent. Overall, a superb experience.
Available on: PC, PS3, Xbox360
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Game Summary: Play the role of a soldier in today’s wars, from first-person viewpoint that immerses you in the action.
This game hits you right in the gut, from the starting credits itself. One of the most beautiful games I’ve played, at the level of the playing experience, lighting, effects, detail, sound, the works. That doesn’t mean it’s just a pretty picture; this is an awe-inspiring gaming experience. The AI is supernaturally advanced, and your enemies are, trust me, not simple programs. They’re practically real, people that watch how you fight, and respond accordingly. They call for backup, hide, ambush, and retreat to fight again.
Also, it’s highly realistic in the setting and story itself, rather than being like some C-grade sci-fi movie. This is as close as you can get to real life.
On single player, it’s really short, with missions finishing quickly; the real fun will come when you go multiplayer.
Make sure you have a high-end PC, to get the full impact.
Available on: PC, Xbox360, PS3.
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Game Summary: Play a general from the Greek mythological universe, fighting to save your city, and your Gods themselves.
Chains of Olympus is, story-wise, a prequel to the God of War titles on the PS2 – and yes, playing on a handheld rather than a console is just as good. It’s easily the most outstanding PSP title in the market. In fact, it’s easier to play than the console, because the controls have been stripped down to less confusing combos. There are fewer final fights and enemies, and the game is a bit linear; but that’s still ok, because the audio, visuals, and game responsiveness more than makes up for it.
Devil May Cry 4
Game Summary: Fight with demonic forces and equally deadly humans in a dark, fantastical setting and a variety of weapons. Fantasy Action. Two words that fall desperately short of conveying the insane action-packed treat that is DMC4. If you've played earlier versions, you'll find a lot of the characters - as well as gameplay, weapons, and fighting styles - have been retained, while adding some brilliant new ones. Fighting styles are the backbone here - you get graded on the stylishness of your battles, not just the number of enemies you dispatch. You also switch between characters midway, giving a unique twist to playing and to the story.
Unreal Tournament 3
Game Summary: Multiplayer sci-fi shooter, where you only need to kill each other with innovative weaponry. If you’ve played this before, nothing changes much. The only thing(s) new is some vehicles, weapons, map features, a lot of maps… and a graphics engine that rocks.
That’s why the game completely redeems the repetitions with it’s game-playing experience and graphics alone.
Now you know what to expect. Start to finish, this is a frantic, explosive, war.
And if you haven’t played Unreal before – nothing should stop you from going out and trying UT3 right now.
Quake 4: Enemy Territory
Game Summary: War simulator using Quake characters, with a good mix of strategic battle planning and adrenaline-fueled shooting. Warning: This is not Quake. It’s a multiplayer war strategy game that just happens to inhabit the Quake universe. You won’t get much of the intense, single-person shooting experience that Quake delivered, and will instead need to concentrate on the overall war. Gameplay gives clear objectives, the maps are huge, and the new vehicles, awesome; but the fun element comes when you play as the macabre alien Strogg forces, and experience the war from the enemy’s viewpoint.
Be ready for a steep learning curve in playing. My suggestion- play singleplayer to get a feel of the vehicles, weapons, and the game, then go multiplayer, since the real strength of this game is in playing online with friends. You’ll need a high-end PC, but the experience will be worth it.
Game Summary: Car Racing with several spectacular, destructive stunt-laden twists The biggest new thing here is an open-city environment. This means you’re free of the fixed track, and can go anywhere, down any road or crossing, inside a large, very highly-detailed city. You’ll quickly find stuff to do, since on almost every crossroad is an event that you can participate in – races, stunts, best-time laps, etc. There’re around 75 cars in the game, but not all available immediately; you need to ‘unlock’ them by crashing into them on the streets. Just one more fun thing to do while you cruise around.
This is a game made for online, and especially for Xbox Live users, because a hilarious feature is the ability to take a photo of your (real) opponent’s expression just when you crash his vehicle in-game.
Gameplay is excellent. Driving is very well-controlled, and the cars feel realistic, while the speed effects, with wayside objects blurring past, give a huge rush.
Overall, the real experience – of smooth, realistic, racing high on effects – is very much there.
Game Summary: Fighting game with a decidedly creepy feel mixed with violent gory action
Play this alone, at night. With a surround-sound system. And keep out of reach of children.
Bloodshot is a game not meant for the faint of heart, with gory visuals, ultraviolent gameplay, and extraordinarily creepy music and sound. It’s basically a fighting game, though there are some places where you can use guns; there’s also a very interesting angle in the forensics, which means it’s not a brainless shooter and you actually need to use your head, and pay attention to the storyline. The overall environment is very satisfyingly scary, and there’s a tremendous abundance of weapons and special-kill effects that make this one stand apart.
Game Summary: Highly detailed shooting game, in a sci-fi war setting This game is not only so visually stunning that it doesn’t just raise the bar, it changes the rules of the game altogether; it’s also an incredibly detailed, interesting, and above all, realistic experience.
The graphics are what hit you first; the backgrounds as well as close-ups, including environment, vehicles, enemies, faces. All are so good they’re almost photographic.
Then, the gameplay. Crysis uses truly giant maps, so you have several options to reach your objective, and which route you take changes the game accordingly. The AI is smart, the environment is interactive rather than a flat backdrop, and weapons are detailed and feel extremely satisfying.
Lastly, the storyline. Sci-fi, but believable, realistic, and completely free of any cheesy scenarios a lot of other games suffer from. This could have been the best game here, if not for the huge demands Crysis makes on computer hardware; unless you’re already looking to upgrade, and upgrade big, forget the highest settings. The good news? It looks almost as good on medium-resolution.
Game Summary: Jump into fast-paced, gut-churning action against horrific enemies with a massive array of weaponry and special effects.
Released more than a year ago, Gears still is one of the best shooter games. It’s an interesting mix of tactics and all-out shooting, and in learning to use the environment to your advantage with taking cover and fighting. There’s not much in-depth storyline, but who needs it, anyway, when you can just leap into action with one of the superlatively splendid game weapons developed till date, the chainsaw-machinegun.
You’re always going to be accompanied by an AI buddy as you fight. The enemy is suitably ugly, vicious, and smart enough to make playing a challenge even on easy settings. The pace is fast, the music thumping, weapons & sound effects suitably grisly, and overall, an all-round action-movie experience beyond parallel.
Game type: Flight Simulator
First and foremost – this is a simulator, so don’t go looking for a game. There are no dogfights, and no shooting friends and strangers out of the sky. But if you’re looking for the largest, most realistic, and most detailed flight sim, this is it.
FSX has more planes, locations, missions, realism, and graphical wow than earlier versions, but your PC hardware needs to be up to the challenge.
You’re rewarded with beautiful visuals, an incredibly sophisticated and detailed weather module, an ability to experience real flying conditions from anywhere in the world, and global landmarks, so you can cruise anywhere, and experience a level of scenery detail that’s far beyond anything you’ve seen so far.
There’s also a pack of 50 missions that will test your flying skills in a civilian setting, ranging from easy to incredibly tough.
In short – gamers and underpowered PCs stay away. Serious flying enthusiasts – this is the best in the genre.
Glossary
AI - Artificial Intelligence. Your computer opponentCombos: Combination of simple moves that trigger a complex action sequence
Console: Any dedicated gaming device, usually attached with a TV. Eg. PS3, Xbox360, Wii.
Fighting Game: Game that depends on hand-to-hand fighting, or using weapons, but not guns.
First-Person: Perspective, where the player sees from a point of viewer that matches with the main character's view
FPS: First-person Shooter
Gameplay: The game playing experience
Graphics engine: The software that controls how realistically the game responds, looks, feels to the player
Graphics: Visuals of environment and objects. Gives a more realistic-looking game
Handheld: Any portable device used for playing games, like PSP, Gameboy, etc
High-end PC: at least 1 GB RAM, 10 GB free HD space, and a graphics card
Maps : Game locales, environments that you play in. Ranges from small (single room) to large (entire cities / islands / etc)
Multiplayer: Online gaming, where your opponents / teammates are not computer-controlled, but real people in different places.
Open environment: Player is not confined to a fixed path but can go anywhere he chooses in the game
PSP: PlayStation Portable
Responsiveness: Speed of response of the computer opponent and the game to your actions. Better response = less jerky movements, better control
Shooter: Game interface where you see the game from behind the barrel of a gun, in first-person
Simulator: A 'game' that bases it's challenge on being realistic, player has to overcome intricacies of real-life situations (like piloting a plane) rather than fighting enemies
Single-player: Gameplay style where you can play alone, with the computer acting as the principal opponent
Strategy Game: Focus is on resource management, such as supplies, territory, weapons, etc. Better control wins wars.
Third-Person: Perspective, where the player sees from a point of view slightly away from the main character and can control his overall interactions.
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