Check out the video below to see Zibit’s in action and keep a look out for our upcoming contest where you can win your very own Zibt so stay tuned for the contest.

Also check out the Zibit Gallery:

Here are a few other reviews and articles about Zibit’s

Related articles by Zemanta

• Zibits: Awwwww, so cute! (crunchgear.com)
• Zibits mini remote control robots spin right ’round, baby (engadget.com)
• Zibits Mini R/C Robots Giveaway (wired.com)

I could at this point say review over. What else do you need to know about this game?  It’s Robots Ninja’s in outer space.  Well of course we can’t leave the review like that or it wouldn’t be a review.  Here’s the details on this wonderful PC title that you should make sure you have on  your PC.  The first thing you are going to notice about this game is the strange and Mario Galaxy like game play. Gravity in this game is pretty much for you to do with as you best see fit.  in other words these little robot ninja’s can jump the distance of half the planetoid if you do it correctly.

The game-play is simple  and consist of hopping around from planetiod to planetoid  killing other players to gain energy.   The more energy (why do I want to call it energon ) you earn the  bigger you get and the bigger you get the more damage you cause when you blow yourself up to bank the points you have been earning. That’s correct upgrade by explosion!  What more do you need?  You need more okay here’s just a bit more if you are not totally sold on Plain Sight.

Plain Sight has 13 maps with up to 20 players.  Plus five crazy game modes to boot.  We have the standard deathmatch, turf war (King of the Hill for that other Robot… well cyborg game), capture the flag, and Ninja Ninja Robozilla where you fight a towering robot that’s like Godzilla except it’s a robot wearing a T-Rex Hat.  Really it’s a Robot with a big hat.

Plain sight dropped on the 22nd of last month and will be coming to PSN sometime in the summer, but don’t wait until then as we think this is a must have title for anyone that has a love of robots and Ninja’s.  It’s a $9 title so there’s really no reason to note grab this one.  Plain Sight has full support from the publisher Beattnik Games with dedicated servers and Leaderboards.

Bottom Line Plain Sight is a great game with some additive gameplay elements that are easy to pick up.  You can find it out on Steam and some other sights by going to the publishers page Plain Sight

I found a great gameplay video out on Destructoid.  Check out the video and read their article that we linked to below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Cute chaotic robot ninja explody fun with Plain Sight (destructoid.com)

Bad grammar throughout the tutorials

Magic Ludo is based upon a classic board game simply called Ludo.  There are two modes of play in Magic Ludo.  There’s challenge mode and casual mode.   Challenge mode embarks you on game play through 13 levels of competition against the CPU.  Level 1 of Challenge mode is a tutorial that teaches you the traditional Classic rules of Ludo on the classic board.  As you progress through the levels you’ll be introduced to the Chinese and African variants as well.  You’ll play through tutorials to learn the rules of these variants as well as being introduced to 2 new game boards.  As you progress through the levels you’ll encounter different challenges, which means the object of the game isn’t always to get your entire team of pawns home first.  Sometimes you just need to get a certain amount of kills to your opponent players (land on the same square your opponent occupies) or perform certain actions that are based upon the rules of the game.

More Bad grammar throughout the tutorials

Casual play offers you the option to choose Classic, Chinese or African based game variants and which board you’d like to play them on (Classic, Chinese, and Tower).  Casual mode offers you several missions within each of these game types that you must complete in order to unlock new missions.

The rules of Ludo are simple.  Each player gets their turn at rolling the die in a clockwise fashion.  A player can only move a player out of start with the roll of a 6.  Rolling a 6 also affords you a free roll of the die thereafter.  In Classic mode when you land on a space already being occupied, you kill that opponent and send them back to start.  You can also jump opponent pieces in your way to play out your turn.  Your main objective in Classic mode is to get your entire team of pawns home.  For instance in Chinese mode, you can stack, or group if you will, your pawns together if you land on the same spot another one of your pawns occupies.  This makes you more invulnerable as you cannot be jumped or killed by a lesser amount of pawns.  So, if you stack 3 pawns together, you cannot be killed or jumped by an opponent with a group of 2.  African mode is similar to Chinese mode as far as stacking your pawns.  The difference is that you can kill a stack of 2 or 3 pawns, but you sacrifice yourself back to start.  If you kill a stack of 2 with your single pawn, your pawn gets sent back to start and they lose one pawn as well.  Another difference is that stacks move slower throughout the board.  If you roll a 6 you can only move 3 spaces.  Basically, you divide what you rolled by 2 and round up.

After 100 rounds and I'm stuck at start with no pieces at home! Grrrr!

Magic Ludo is a great if you like fast-paced casual gaming.  What you will discover is how annoyed you will get by the cheap moves of your CPU opponents.  If an opponent is behind you, expect to have your piece killed and sent home 99.9% of the time.  Expect that it make take 20+ rolls of the die before you even can get a pawn out of start.  Some of the challenges are difficult to achieve and it just takes repeated attempt after repeated attempt to complete.  You’ll constantly find yourself feeling cheated over and over again, but that’s just bad programming practice if you ask me.

There’s also no music to soothe your nerves when the game is getting you down.  And believe me it will.  You’ll also notice the bad grammar during the tutorial levels.  I was fortunate enough to still understand the gist of what’s going on.  Another feature that would’ve made the experience cooler would’ve been the ability to roll the die by shaking the iPhone/iPod Touch.  I guess you can’t have it all, right?

The plus side of Magic Ludo is that it’s free from the App Store.  This is achieved by the rolling in-game ads, but they do not hinder your experience at all.  There’s no other version to purchase that doesn’t encompass ads so, deal with it.  Another plus to Magic Ludo is the ability to expand your game play experience.  For those that can’t absolutely get enough of Magic Ludo – you can download bonus levels beyond the original 13.  You can also opt to purchase an “unlocking” of all the locked levels, so that you don’t have to endure certain challenges.  Having access and download extra content from within the app itself is a plus.

Magic Ludo is available for free and how can you go wrong with that?  Give it a shot and you may find that you’ll actually pass hours away while engaged in completing the challenges that await.

By TeLeKiNeSiS

Remember the wooden game Labyrinth?  Where you guided the small steel marble through the maze by tilting the board?  Well, if you’re old enough to remember – Balloon In a Box will have you going through the same motions.  You assume the role of a, you guessed it, helium filled balloon inside of a crazed maze full of obstacles to overcome.  What you may notice upon loading of the game is the Unity splash screen.  Unity is a game engine that’s capable of creating not only iPhone games, but 360 and PC games as well.  FYI, there’s a free version of this engine available if you’re aspiring to create your own games.

Balloon In a Box offers two unique modes of gameplay.  First is “Box” mode, which offers ten increasingly difficult levels per skill level.  The next mode is “Maze” and it’s simply just randomly created mazes with an option to select from small, medium, and large.  There are no obstacles in this mode, just make your way to the finish as fast as you can.  I began my BIAB journey with “Box” mode at the easy skill level.  You’ll have to work your way through 10 levels before you can unlock medium and the same goes for unlocking the hard.  You will effortlessly make your way through the first few levels with no problem at all.  I was thinking to myself that these mazes are a piece of cake! That was until they threw the obstacles into play.  In the latter levels of BIAB you’ll encounter fans that blow you off course, shooting arrows that want to prick and pop you, along with spiky nail walls to impede your progress.  The good news is that Balloon In a Box makes excellent use of the iPhone’s accelerometer, so the controls are very responsive and pretty accurate.  The more you tilt your iPhone, the faster you go in that direction.  If you level your device out, you’ll slow down the balloon and can even completely halt movement.  This comes in handy when you have to time your movements just right to ease by walls of nails and arrow riddled hallways.

Balloon In a Box is great for the casual gamer who wants to pick up and play right away.  On the other hand, it can be very frustrating when you encounter a difficult puzzle.  In addition to the many obstacles that hinder your progress you also have button switches that open and close different paths.  You never know if you’re opening or closing the correct path to the finish.  This makes it even more challenging because you may not have explored that area just yet.  Any area of a maze that you haven’t explored remains dark until you travel that path.  This can be annoying at times because some of the panels that make the wall of the maze are black and you can mistake it for a dead end.  No need to panic because BIAB offers a tantalizing classical musical score that seems to soothe your gaming woes.  It reminds me of a song that could’ve been part of the play The Nutcracker.  Even with such a great score to play to, I’ve come to learn that the best practice for repeatedly failed attempts at a level is to take a break from the game and try again later.  You’ll be glad you did.

Another thing you’ll notice about BIAB is that it isn’t the most polished iPhone game available.  That’s quite alright because Balloon In a Box makes up for it with casual and simplistic fun gameplay.  It’s a great way to kill time on a bus, train, or while traveling on a plane.  If you want a quick gaming fix that won’t require a great deal of time then Balloon In a Box is great for that.  Not to mention the game is great for those of all ages.  The concepts are easy to pickup and learn in just a short period of time.  I know quite a few people that allow their children to take advantage of their iPhone or iPod Touch and this game is sure to please.

Balloon In a Box at first glance may not be that appealing to the masses, but it’s worth a go.  It’s only $0.99 in the App Store and that’s definitely worth the enjoyment that you’ll receive trying to conquer all the levels.  If you’re into puzzle games and you’re the casual gamer that likes a quick fix then Balloon In a Box should satisfy your craving!

By TeLeKiNeSiS

As a kid we didn’t have much money, fortunately I knew enough people that if I wanted to play a specific console I could. I’ve played everything from the Atari to the original Playstation as soon as it came out and being born in such a way and at such a time is an advantage to this day I feel I’m lucky to have had. This wasn’t the case with PCs however and I lament not having had the experience of playing games like Zork and Bard’s Tale in their prime. This includes the series of Lucasarts games using the SCUMM engine like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, and Sam and Max. Luckily the boys over at X-Box headquarters decided to give my kind another shot at checking out why these games were so good back in the day. I had purchased Monkey Island for 800 points and after playing through it I wasn’t that impressed. Thus, when it came time to check out Sam and Max, I didn’t have high expectations. The difference between the games was like night and day.

I don’t know your type of humor, but I really don’t care. Sam and Max is hilarious regardless. If you don’t laugh in the first ten minutes of playing you’re obviously a humorless, soulless, shell of a human and should probably go back to playing games like Myst. The giant robot that attacks the office while quoting old 80′s song lyrics, the little souvenirs throughout the office, there’s a writing quality here that you just don’t get in many games and it’s extremely refreshing. The visuals are great, and while I enjoyed the old voice actors (particularly Max’s VO) the new ones do the job very well.

The game play, for me, is where it gets a bit hazy. I never really enjoyed the point and click adventure style games. I think the puzzles are downright esoteric sometimes and I feel lucky I have that hint frequency adjuster in the options bar. Moving a little hand around the screen is a bit clunky too, it constantly reminds you this was originally designed for a PC. As much as I don’t really enjoy the type of game play, I find myself compelled to see what’s next, what odd character, interesting dialogue, or funny gag is unlocked after completing the puzzle they give you and progressing the story.

I’m definitely recommending buying it, and $20 for 5 episodes is a steal, but not for the game play. Buy Sam and Max only if you want to laugh your ass off and be thoroughly entertained.

By thebohemiangamer

Developer: Telltale Games

Publisher: Xbox LIVE Arcade

Genre: Action & Adventure, Puzzle & Trivia

Game Rating: T (Teen)

Cartoon Violence
Crude Humor
Drug Reference
Mild Language
Mild Suggestive Themes

Online Interactions
Not Rated by the ESRB

There  are more songs to come and those great songs we all love are in the 45 song track list, but I have to say I was a little dissapointed there wern’t more songs to start with.  Other than that you will love this latest RockBand release and get to play the best of the Beatles. 

Here’s the full Track List:

• Getting Better
• Good Morning Good Morning
• Hello Goodbye
• Helter Skelter
• Here Comes The Sun
• Hey Bulldog
• I Am The Walrus
• I Feel Fine
• I Me Mine
• I Saw Her Standing There
• I Wanna Be Your Man
• I Want To Hold Your Hand
• I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
• I’m Looking Through You
• I’ve Got A Feeling
• If I Needed Someone
• Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
• Octopus’s Garden
• Paperback Writer
• Revolution
• Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / With A Little Help From My Friends
• Something
• Taxman
• The End
• Ticket To Ride
• Twist And Shout
• While My Guitar Gently Weeps
• Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows
• Yellow Submarine

 The game follows the path of the band through all of the different venues the Fab Five played in there hayday.  

The gameplay is a bit short and easy enough to blow through Beatles Rockband in an afternoon, but as with all Rockband games the reply value is great and you will love it either way.  Once the downloadable content hits the Xbox Live marketplace  you will have much more to love.

Stupid question: Why has it taken somebody a quarter century to make a half decent Ghostbusters video game? With the possible exception of Sega’s Genesis version, most Ghostbusters games have been total trash. After Activision unceremoniously killed this brand new ghost-infested action game, I started to get concerned. After all, Activision knows what they’re doing, and if they aren’t confident in a Ghostbusters reboot, then why should I be confident that this game will buck tradition. Thankfully Atari swooped in and saved the day, because this brand new sequel is everything I’ve wanted in a Ghostbusters game … and more.

Set in 1991, Ghostbusters: The Video Game reteams all four of our proton pack wearing heroes for another ghoul-filled adventure. You play the fifth Ghostbusters, a nameless, mute recruit who is about to have the worst first day on the job ever. After learning not to shoot random things in the headquarters, you (and everybody except for Winston) are rushed off to same hotel the Busters visited in the first movie. Before long the team is caught up in a massive adventure that has them solving a series of supernatural phenomenon that all seems to be tied to a brand new female character (played by Alyssa Milano).

As vague as all that sounds, that’s basically the story in a nutshell. While there is a thread that ties everything together, it’s not as interesting as previous Ghostbusters movies. The truth is, the game’s flimsy plotline is nothing more than an excuse for you to travel to some of your favorite locations from the first movie (the library, hotel, etc.) as well as tear apart brand new areas (a graveyard, a completely different dimension and even a lost island … no, not “Lost” island). It also gives us an excuse to listen to the witty one-liners from the cast and, obviously, bust some ghost butt. There’s more than enough throwbacks to the first two films to keep fans of the series excited about who or what will show up next. I literally applauded when Walter Peck (the weasely EPA head that shuts down the containment unit in the first film) shows up to cause more trouble. At its core, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a love letter to all of the fans that have stuck with these heroes all this time.

Thankfully it’s more than just a Ghostbusters fan’s wet dream, it’s also a solid playing action game. In a lot of ways the game resembles a significantly less violent Gears of War. The game is played almost entirely in the third-person, however, the game requires you to put on your night vision goggles, pull out your PKE meter and search for clues in the first-person, as well. You can run and jump, though your running is limited by the small areas you fight in and the jumping is hindered by the fact that you have a one hundred pound backpack on you at all times. The rest is basically run around and use your proton pack to zap enemies and save the day.

If the actual ghost busting didn’t work, then that would have been the end of the game. Thankfully the developers got it right. Beyond looking and sounding spot-on, the proton beams feel like you would imagine they would from watching the movie. That is to say, they are almost uncontrollable and seem to fly all over the place. While this would be a negative for most games, the wacky aiming works in this game. Their unpredictable nature fits right in with what we saw in the two movies and gives off the sensation that you are holding the most powerful light gun ever conceived. And isn’t that exactly what you want?

On top of using the standard proton pack beam, you also get three other weapons to play around with. The first one you get is a blue beam that slows ghosts down, almost like a freeze ray (but it’s not using cold technology, as Egon points out). The next weapon is a slime gun, which not only allows you to shoot out slime (which evaporates certain kinds of ectoplasm), but also allows you to connect objects together like a rope, ultimately allowing you to move otherwise unmovable objects. The final weapon is the dark matter gun, which shoots out extremely powerful blasts of energy. Seeing as this weapon comes late in the game, I found it to be the least useful of all the weapons. In fact, I really only used it once or twice, usually while dealing with bosses.

Unfortunately not all of the weapons are used to their fullest potential. In fact, I would go as far as to say that some of the weapons feel like missed opportunities for puzzles. They are also conveniently given at just the right moments, something that definitely takes away from the illusion. Still, it would have been nice to see more of a reason to offer something like the dark matter gun. At the end of the day there just wasn’t much use for it, which is a real bummer given its potential.

Each of the weapons has two completely different attacks. For example, your standard proton pack features both the traditional beam and something called the bozon dart, which is basically a super powered bazooka-like shot that does massive damage to anything it hits. You can also upgrade each of the weapons in multiple ways, allowing for better shots and whatnot.

Even better, the environments are completely destructible. Not quite to the extent of Red Faction: Guerrilla (you can’t knock down walls or anything), but you can drop chandeliers, blow up tables and wreak havoc in all sorts of satisfying ways. But don’t get too crazy, because destroying property will cost you. Not only does the game give you money for busting ghosts, but it takes it away when you blow up the wrong things. Still, it’s awfully cool to shoot at the wall with your proton pack beam and see the markings stick around.

The conceit to the game is that since you’re brand new, you are the official guinea pig of the Ghostbusters team. That means that Egon will give you the experimental equipment with the expectations that you’ll be down in the thick of things trying it out. This gives the game a great excuse to shove you right into the action while the more seasoned Busters hang back and cover you. Would this sort of thing work in a movie? Of course not, but it’s the perfect solution for a video game.

Earlier I mentioned that the game resembles Gears of War. I don’t bring this up because of the game’s third-person point of view, but rather because of the way it plays. Since you are usually playing in a team, you will be have to contend with your allies being, well, busted. In order to revive them, you have to run up and push the green “A” button. Obviously this means that you are susceptible to being incapacitated, which will force one of the other Ghostbusters to rush to your aid. For the most part this works well, it makes you keep track of your team and work together.

Unfortunately the teamwork aspect only goes so far. For one thing, your nameless character will fall down unconscious after only a few direct hits. Usually you can get out of the way and regain your health, but there are too many small and enclosed areas in the game that don’t have any hiding spots. This is especially annoying in the later levels, as you’re fighting multiple ghosts at the same time. Gears of War resolved this problem by always giving you something to duck behind, however that is not the case in Ghostbuster: The Video Game.

Oddly enough, your biggest enemy isn’t the ghosts and ghouls; instead it’s the everyday objects that they throw at you. Half of the time you can’t see where the projectiles are coming from, so you will have to deal with multiple unfair hits. There are a couple of battles in particular that cross over from being hard to being outright frustrating. Things are made even worse when you have to reload from a checkpoint and find that you have to start the battle from the get-go. Giving your character a little more life or the option of armor would have gone a long way to improve the frustration of a few key battles.

Still, I can’t help but have a good time with the way the levels play themselves out. I love the fact that you aren’t just going in as a five man team. There is some of that, but much of the game has you splitting up into a couple of smaller teams. There are even a few parts of the game where you’re off on your own. However, even when you’re by yourself, it always feels like you’re in a team, thanks to the constant communications from the rest of your squad. My only real complaint with the team work is that you can’t suggest things for the other team members to do. Obviously it would seem odd to have the new guy giving orders, but there were plenty of times when I wanted my allies to do one thing as they did another.

Where the game excels is in the variety. While it would have been easy to simply make a game where you did the same thing (bust ghosts) level in and level out, Terminal Reality has managed to add a good deal of variety throughout each level. Early on you might be taking out ghosts in the good, old-fashioned way you saw in the movie. However, a few levels later you’ll have to force ghosts out of possessed citizens (and even the Ghostbusters themselves) using your slime gun. In another level you will have to freeze enemies before destroying them. And in one of the more memorable sequences of the game, you will hang off the side of a building shooting your proton pack at the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as he climbs up the skyscraper to get to you.

What makes all of this even more interesting is the variety in the ghosts. It’s not just the little ghosts, either. I found myself constantly impressed with the different bosses, even if most of them aren’t as gigantic as, say, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. But while the bosses are certainly impressive looking, most of them are push-overs. The chances of all of the Busters dying at once are rare, so you’ll always have a shot at killing them. I actually found some of the more traditional battles to be a lot more difficult. There was one battle in particular that I had to restart a good half dozen times, yet I don’t remember dying even once in a boss fight.

Certainly part of the charm of the game comes from the four main characters and their comic timing. While there have been a number of Ghostbusters games in the last quarter century, this is the first to actually get the humor right. A big reason for this is because of the script, which is written by the same team that gave us the first film (Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis). Not only that, but the two other actors (Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson) reprise their roles. It’s great to hear these four actors play these iconic roles once again, even if Bill Murray sounds like he’s just phoning the performance in. The script certainly isn’t at the same level as the first Ghostbusters, but I definitely found myself laughing more than I did during the dreadful second installment.

The movie’s memorable soundtrack is also front and center in this video game sequel. Fans of the movie will no doubt recognize just about every tune found in this game, including Elmer Bernstein’s entire score. The problem is, this music was always intended to be the incidental music for a 90 minute long comedy, not a seven hour action game. By the end of the game I was sick and tired of almost every song in the game, even though if it made the game feel even more authentic.

On a more positive note, the game’s graphics are outstanding. Because the levels are so linear, the developers have been able to add an incredible amount of detail to every inch of the game. Better yet, the game gives you a number of great set-pieces to fight in. Some of the backgrounds just get the job done, but there are a few that are truly remarkable. I want to highlight the Civil War battle you have to wage during the museum level, it manages to combine the intensity of a Ghostbusters fight with the old world technology of the 1800s. Not only is this a great looking sequence full of displays and statues getting blown to smithereens, but it also sets up the guys to make a lot of really funny jokes.

On the other hand, the game’s cinemas are not as consistent. The cut-scenes seem to come in two types: Amazing looking and really ugly. When the game goes into the pre-rendered visuals, it looks exactly like a computer-generated Ghostbusters movie should look. But you’ll also be subjected to the in-game cinemas, which look like trash in comparison. A big reason I’m down on the in-game cinemas is because of the crummy direction. Whoever directed these scenes doesn’t have the eye for what makes a movie visually interesting, and you will immediately see the difference between the game and the movies.

Beyond the game’s seven hour adventure, you will also find a surprisingly robust set of Xbox Live multiplayer modes. While you can’t play through the single-player game with friends (bummer), you are able to play a bunch of cooperative online games. Some of them have you fighting as many ghosts as you can before time runs out (or you die). Another has you defending PKE disruptors. And in one mode you will even be able to destroy as many relics as you possibly can. All six modes (called “jobs”) are a lot of fun and will keep you entertained for weeks, especially if you have friends who own the game. Because the gameplay is so good, you’ll find that the online works a lot better than the usual throwaway multiplayer modes that come with licensed action games.

There’s no question that Ghostbusters: The Video Game has some problems, the battles can be a little frustrating and the story never gels as much as the other movies. But those gripes are easy to overlook when the product is this much fun. With a new movie in pre-production as we speak, it feels like the Ghostbusters are finally back. If this doesn’t spur a couple of even better sequels, then there’s no justice in this world. If you’re a fan of the original movie, then this is the Ghostbusters game you’ve been waiting a quarter century to play.

SUMMARY: Even if you’re too young to remember the original Ghostbusters movie, there’s enough action, comedy and drama in this spectacular 3D adventure to warrant a look. And who knew that the Ghostbusters would make for such a fun multiplayer experience? Ghostbusters: The Video Game is definitely worth a call!

Even if you’re too young to remember the original Ghostbusters movie, there’s enough action, comedy and drama in this spectacular 3D adventure to warrant a look. And who knew that the Ghostbusters would make for such a fun multiplayer experience? Ghostbusters: The Video Game is definitely worth a call!

Even if you’re too young to remember the original Ghostbusters movie, there’s enough action, comedy and drama in this spectacular 3D adventure to warrant a look. And who knew that the Ghostbusters would make for such a fun multiplayer experience? Ghostbusters: The Video Game is definitely worth a call!

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Publisher: Atari

Developer: Terminal Reality

Genre: Action

System: Xbox 360

Written By: Cyril Lachel  Defunct Games.com

Grade: B+

Get psyched, because Activision recently uploaded one of the earliest first-person shooters to the Xbox Live Arcade download service.  While not the very first FPS game, Wolfenstein 3D paved the way for everything from Doom to Halo to Call of Duty.  But 17 years later it’s hard to go back and enjoy this dated classic.  Thanks to all of the advances in the genre, playing Id’s World War II-themed shooter is a frustrating and mostly disappointing experience.

Going in I already knew most of the game’s limitations.  I knew that all of the levels would be flat.  I knew that the game would reuse the same graphics, often making it difficult to gauge where you are and where you’re supposed to go next.  And I knew that I would essentially be dealing with a series of mazes that only seem to get more cruel and detailed as you go along.  These were all things that I expected going in.  I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high, but at the same time I was curious to see how these archaic trappings would affect my opinion of the game.

What I wasn’t prepared for was my almost immediate negative reaction.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played through Wolfenstein 3D before, but it’s certainly been a few years since playing the entire campaign from start to finish.  From the get-go I found that the idea of running around an elaborate maze to be rather maddening, to the point where shooting Nazis ceased being fun.  Could it be that Id’s classic shooter is too dated to be fully enjoyed?

In case you’re one of the very few gamers who missed Wolfenstein 3D the first time around, you play the ridiculously named William “B.J.” Blazkowicz.  As the game starts you have just killed a guard and are trying to escape what appears to be a Nazi prison.  To do this you will need to navigate through dozens of levels, killing hundreds of guards, collecting tons of stolen treasure and taking out some truly impressive bosses (including the Fuhrer himself).  Back in 1992 this was a kid’s dream come true, your own 3D playground full of evil Nazis and the most evil man to ever walk the planet.

Wolfenstein 3D was not only a hugely successful shareware PC game, but also a game that managed to help birth the popular first-person shooter genre.  Because of this 1992 classic, games like Doom and Call of Duty exist.  In fact, this game was so successful that Activision has gone on to release several other installments in the series, including the upcoming PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 game simply known as Wolfenstein.

This is one of the most important titles in video game history, a release that just about everybody should play at once point in their life.  It’s with that context in mind that I have such a hard time admitting that this 17 year old shooter hasn’t held up especially well.  There are elements that are definitely still fun, but too many of the game’s archaic design decisions get in the way here.  For example, it takes far too long for B.J. Blazkowicz to turn around.  While this may not be a problem when you’re out exploring the maze-like environments you’re stuck in, it’s a deal breaker when you are being attacked from behind and need to turn around quickly.

Another problem are the level designs themselves.  I’m sure there are people that like mapping out mazes on graph paper, but I’m not one of those people.  By the time you’re up to the third set of levels the maps just sort of devolve into difficult mazes that are extremely easy to get lost in.  Searching around a level made up of similar colors and textures for an hour looking for a door is not my idea of fun, and I’m glad that first-person shooters have moved past that kind of gameplay.  This problem could have been lessened a great deal had the developers given us a map button (like what we have in the Xbox Live Arcade version of Doom).  As it is, I spent far too much time stuck in the video game equivalent of one of a maze of mirrors you might see at a carnival (or in a crummy 80s movie).

As I played through the game’s lengthy campaign I started to wonder if I would have more fun playing this with a friend.  I know from my experience with Doom that it’s always more fun to search around mazes with a friend at your side.  Sadly there is no such option in Wolfenstein 3D.  It’s just you versus the evil Nazis.  There’s not even a multiplayer death match, this is strictly a single-player affair.

Oddly enough, it’s the game’s most glaring limitations that I had the least trouble accepting.  I know a lot of modern gamers will look at this game and wonder why everything is so flat (and there’s no ceiling in sight).  They’ll be confused why you can’t aim your gun up and down.  But I didn’t have a problem accepting these limitations.  Your lack of aim doesn’t really affect gameplay and I had much more of a problem with the same wall textures than I did with the lack of a ceiling.  What I can’t get over is how slow you are to turn around, as far as I can tell that’s the leading cause of death in Wolfenstein 3D.

Fans of the PC game will be happy to know that each of the levels (including the super secret levels) are identical to the original game.  So if you still have your homemade maps handy you shouldn’t have a problem busting through the dozens of levels found in this game.  While I didn’t have any graph paper handy, I did find a few maps online that definitely helped me in a pinch.  The graphics and sound are also identical to the PC game, which is either good or bad depending on how you look at it.  The game’s presentation hasn’t held up particularly well, but it’s not the reason that this game is hard to recommend.

As I said before, Wolfenstein 3D is a game that everybody should play at least once in their life.  Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that you should buy this Xbox Live Arcade release.  At a mere $5 it’s not too expensive to try out, but there are certainly better things you can put that money towards.  All in all, Wolfenstein 3D is a competent shooter that is brought down by slow gameplay and unfair level designs.  It’s a game that I consider to be a genuine classic, the kind of game that influences everything that comes after it.  Unfortunately even classics can show their age after 17 years of advancements.

SUMMARY: While it’s easy to call Wolfenstein 3D a classic game that helped birth the first-person shooter genre, it’s not as easy to recommend this Xbox Live Arcade port.  The game remains the same, but 17 years later that’s not exactly a compliment.  The sad thing is, with one simple change to the controls, Wolfenstein 3D would have been a must-own classic for everybody that loves Call of Duty or Halo

Wolfenstein 3D

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Id Software

Genre: First-Person Shooter

System: Xbox 360

Written By: Cyril Lachel ( From Defunct Games)

Grade: C+

Gromit is off doing detective work of his own trying to solve the mystery of Wallace’s marriage. In the game, you go back-and-forth playing as Wallace and Gromit as you try to uncover each one’s respective mystery. The game is rather short and only takes a little less than 2 hours to complete. The game play is very much a “point-and-click” style with not a whole lot of depth. Going around to different parts of the town, clicking on characters to hear them ramble on for 2 minutes or just searching the room for small pieces of paper over and over isn’t the most entertaining thing in the world to do, but the story is interesting and the well-animated cut-scenes make up for the lack of depth in the gameplay.

The publisher includes a tutorial to help you along, but since the game is not that complicated I don’t see the point. The cut-scenes are the focal point as much of the game consists of watching the story unfold with character dialog and interaction. Many of the comical bits are very cunning and got a few chuckles out of me. The story is presented in a way in which anyone can play and know what’s going on, not just Wallace & Gromit fans. This is a major plus in my book. The graphics stay true to the art style of Wallace & Gromit and represent the claymation style well. The environments are well done and compliments the game play.

The voice work is top-notch as most of the original voice-actors have returned to reprise their former roles. Because of the graphics and art-style and game uses, many people with lower-end PCs can still play the game as the system requirements are not nearly as demanding as most of the games in today’s market.

Overall, I think Wallace & Gromit: The Bogey Man is worth playing if you’re a fan of mystery games. The game play is a little dull for my taste, but the story is well delivered. It works well given that this is a simple mystery game that is meant to appeal to people of all ages. I do wish the game was a little longer.

I rate Wallace & Gromit’s: The Bogey Man a 7 out of 10.

Bonus Video: Monty Muzzel’s Sales Pitch

It’s not too bad although it starts a little slow, but you can’t really compalin too much.  I don’t think I could bust out a rap about MVC2 so enjoy and if you have not downloaded Marvel vs Capcom 2 you should be ashamed of yourself.

Enjoy the video