Summer Game Round-up

Daily Cardinal Version
September 4, 2005

As we begin to recover from our summer hangover many of us will probably resist the urge to stay focused and not procrastinate this semester in favor of doing “it later.” What better time than now is there to reacquaint yourself with some of the games you may have missed during the past few months? Despite an unusually slow summer season there were a handful of games that stuck out as worth playing.

Forza Motorsport
Hailed as Microsoft’s answer to the Gran Turismo series, Forza does everything we wished GT4 had. The visuals are über realistic and the sound is top-notch. You’ll wile away hours unlocking licensed cars, special tracks, and new options. Where you’ll spend most of your time, though, is online. Competition is fierce and the learning curve is steep, but the rewards are well worth the trouble. And it’s worth mentioning that when you slam your ride into a barricade at 100 mph you’ll see damage modeling on your car, something a certain PS2 exclusive racer won’t do.

GTA San Andreas
Yeah, it’s the same game your friend played last November, but you didn’t. Help CJ reclaim what The Man has taken from him and build a criminal empire while you’re at it. A few things both suffer and flourish in this port. Visuals are touched up over the PS2 version, but only slightly and not what we know the Xbox is capable of. The control scheme suffers, too, as firefights and certain objectives require unparalleled dexterity. Also, if you get sick of the provided soundtrack you can also listen to your HD tunes. For series vets and newcomers alike, this is a definitely worth your time.

Kirby Canvas Curse
For the seventeen of you out there that own a Nintendo DS you’ll find what could be considered its first true game. Kirby’s adventure is some half-assed tech demo or a port but a game developed solely and explicitly to take advantage of the DS’s unique gaming abilities. Guide Kirby around using your stylus in a multitude of ways accomplishing unique objectives and advancing the simple and quirky story.

NCAA Football 06/Madden NFL 06
Another year, another football game. Each year EA Sports offers up slightly improved editions of the past year’s game. Whether the college or pro game is your cup of tea either game will suffice if you feel the need to update your rosters. There are a few new things to note this year, though. NCAA has finally been treated to a graphical facelift. There is also a new mode that lets you more closely control a characters quest for the Heisman trophy. Madden, likewise, has a new superstar mode, which is a souped up model of the Heisman race. Gameplay-wise Madden was treated to a passing cone gimmick. This hinders the already tricky passing mechanics of Madden but it can be turned off. With EA obtaining the exclusive rights to both the college and professional ball titles these two games represent the full spectrum of football sims this year. Each plays as well as it ever had and the additions are a pleasant enough distraction. If you feel the need to some virtual pigskin betwixt class then you won’t be disappointed.

As we approach the end of console life cycles developers are putting most of their time and effort into the new batch of hardware. This means the rate at which quality games are released slows down considerably. Fall holds the promise of a few more top tier titles vying to capitalize on the holiday season, but the last few months, with a few exceptions, have been disappointing at best.