Rock Band Albums Announced

Harmonix have announced six more full albums to be released for Rock Band over the next few months. Make that five actually, I'll explain shortly...

So then, coming soon is Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape", Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", Jane's Addiction "Nothing's Shocking", Megadeth "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying", Stevie Ray Vaughn "Texas Flood" and a special No Doubt "Best Of" compilation. The last one being more of an EP for obvious reasons, in fact lets face it, it's a single.

The GAMEOV3R Forum awaits you...

Indy, Why Does The Floor Move?

I've been playing through LEGO Indiana Jones recently, which incidentally is quite a fun game if a little too easy for the most part. If you liked LEGO Star Wars you'll like this but a bit less. One thing that makes some of the sections tricky isn't something that should be there at all though and it's a problem common to a number of platformers since moving to 3D. It's made even worse here though because of the very limited control you have over the camera. The problem is judging where you're going to land when jumping. Pin point accuracy generally isn't needed throughout the game but on the few occasions it is, it's bloody frustrating repeating bits over and over again through no real fault of your own.

One section in particular with stone rotating columns you need to climb to collect a gold chest had me turning the air blue. To be fair this room can be avoided unless you're going for the 100%, but to make a section so tricky purely because it's so hard to tell how deep you are in the screen is something that should never make it through testing, and it's certainly something Traveller's Tales need to be watchful of in future games like Batman if the series is to keep its charm.

Be sure of your footing and jump over to the GAMEOV3R Forum

Professor Layton

I've been getting right into Professor Layton and the Curious Village over the last few weeks. It's been a great game to dip in and out of. Solve a puzzle or two and then put my DS away or play something else. For a game that's simply a collection of puzzles hung together by story it's surprisingly addictive and fun even if some of the "That reminds me of a puzzle!" moments are decidedly cringe worthy.

Despite the Prof having an "E" for Everybody rating I think he should have a far higher warning. Perhaps a "W" for weird happenings should be applied.

Rather strangely, after playing PFatCV I have a mystery of my own to solve. I played this game just before lights out on Thursday last week. When I'd finished playing I switched my DS off and put it on my bedside table. When I went to collect my DS the next morning it has now vanished and I haven't seen or heard from it since.

Has anyone got a Mii Business card for Prof Layton? I need his help!

Sleuth required! Apply HERE

The Adventures Of Paper Tim

Create your Braid adventure by making your very own paper Tim. You'll find full instructions here.

Here's one Sarcastic Gamer made earlier...



Share your adventures on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Wii Hard Drive Fake!

It is with great shock that this image of Nintendos storage solution for the Wii circulating on the internet has been proved fake. The phrase 'no shit Sherlock' comes to mind with the simple facts that it looks like some kind of heating solution, it's blue and it's over twice the size of a Wii!

We'll just have to make do with our 512Mb for a while longer it seems.

Got a dehumidifier or air conditioning unit that looks like a Wii hard drive solution? Show us on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Metal Gear Solid 4

Need a hand with something? Try the GAMEOV3R Forum

SBK08 Review

Okay, I bought this game a couple of days ago on recommendation from a friend so thought I’d have a bash at a bit of unbiased reviewing so here goes……

SBK 08: Superbike World Championship 2008 is a new motorcycling game from Milestone and the first for the developer on the 360. Milestone appear to have quite a history of making these games, even producing the first EA Sports superbike game on the PC.

The first thing that strikes you about SBK is the amount of options you are greeted with on the front end - there’s loads. Options include the usual quick race and single race options as well as the championship mode, but also includes things like a challenge mode for you to beat certain scenarios and a time attack mode as well.

SBK also features a comprehensive control tweaking system so you can adjust how forgiving you want the game to be. You have ‘basic’, ‘arcade’, ‘simulation’ and ‘extreme’. As well as these you can also create a custom setup which is very useful.

Now I feel it’s only fair to point out that this game is a proper simulator. Even with the arcade control setting switched on this game is tough and I mean very tough! This effectively means that if you’re the sort of person who likes their racing thrills arcadey or on four wheels you will probably hate this in all honesty. However I personally like a tough challenge and the unforgiving nature of the game just makes hitting the perfect apex of a corner all the more satisfying!

For real two wheel addicts it’s all here – you can control front and rear brakes, shift your riders weight, tuck him behind the screen (which you can see in helmet cam for the real purist) and make him sit up for braking. There are 7 different viewpoints for you to choose from although I always choose the riders eye view for extra thrills. The bikes are also fully adjustable in the pits with nearly every aspect of the bike setup being available for your tweaking.

Graphically the frame rate is smooth and while the tracks are solid they never really blow you away. The bikes (all of the bikes from the SBK season) however look great, adding to the immersion.

A particular mention must go to the sound. There may not be an awful lot of sound (the usual are all present with crowd noises etc) but the engine noises are spot on, exactly as they should be!

The game features all 12 of the circuits from the SBK season including tracks such as Donington, Brands Hatch and Phillip Island.

The multiplayer service runs well with very little to no lag so far and supports 8 player racing.

It seems this game will be massively overlooked though which is a shame. This is the closest game I have played to the feel of a real motorcycle and for that reason Milestone should be applauded. It may be for the hardcore but it really deserves some recognition. If you love bikes and love racing you will be more than satisfied with this game and is already available at a knock down price despite only being available for a few weeks. It is now available from shopto.net for £27.99 delivered. Well worth the money.

Graphics 7 / 10
Sound 7.5 / 10
Presentation 7 / 10
Gameplay 8.5 / 10
Longevity 9 / 10

Overall 9 / 10

Many thanks Huzz.

Want to race? Check out the Forum for SBK, Forza 2, Mario Kart Wii and more!

You Have To Burn The Rope

Are games getting too long and complicated to play? Be the hero and devote a minute of your life to this one and you'll come out the end of it with a look similar to the Grinning Colossus (make sure you have the sound turned up).

Click to Play

Be sure to check the manual before you start :)
Manual

Oh...and stick around for the song at the end.

How are you going to spend the rest of your day? Let us know on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Options

I've written about some of my compulsive behaviors when it comes to games before and I'm about to reveal another one that I've known for some time. Imagine I've just bought a new game and can't wait to get home and try it out. What do I do first?... savor the introductory cut scene to this new story I'm about to get involved in? Jump straight in and get to grips with whatever new controls I'll need to learn? Heaven forbid read the instruction manual?! No, none of these things. Without a second thought I'm right in there checking out the options menu.

I can't help it and it's always a bit of a disappointment when all I find are a few audio volume controls. I mean, what if my screen needs shifting 3 pixels to the right so it's perfectly lined up? What if I need to invert the controls for the camera? Pulling down to look up never does feel right to me and then there's left and right, do I want to control the characters head so left looks left and right looks right, or do I want to control the camera behind my character meaning the controls are reversed? What if the brightness needs cranking up a notch and the TV remote is just out of reach? Or if peoples voices are too quiet in relation to the background music? Maybe the text display speed could do with being slightly faster or I prefer the camera on the near, normal or far option? What if, what if, what if! Arrrgghhh so many choices, I'm confused.... dot com. Damn their adverts are annoying. Am I the only one that has to check all these things before I start? I need a hot chocolate to calm down... oh no, not more Options.

There was a time when the biggest choice I'd make is 1P or 2P, where did those days go? Come and vote on the GAMEOV3R Forum... don't worry there are only 3 options :)

Space Invaders World War

Here's one to keep you busy for a few minutes at work. Don't forget to upload your score and help our nation reach number 1.

Click the image to play (opens in a new window)



Let us know your ranking on the GAMEOV3R Forum