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Like the little plastic cats with the waving paw sold on the streets of Japan, novelty items come in many shapes and forms. Some items are more useful than others, while only a handful of them actually make it through customs in one piece.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is one of those cats, staring at you with a gleam in its eyes and an ever-inviting smile, the little paw beckoning you to take him home. But once there, he will be ogled at and played with only until something better comes along.

Don’t get me wrong… this cat is made from the finest porcelain, but on the surface, the paint is starting to show signs of deterioration. It will be easy to touch up the paint, but sometimes it’s better to buy a new cat altogether.

Following on the great success of FIFA 10, the next installment in the FIFA brand is somewhat of a clone, with a few twists. Instead of playing at club level and working their way up towards the Starting XI and eventually captain, players will now start as a reserve player for their chosen country and work their way up towards the Starting XI and eventually captain.

Similar to the Be A Pro mode from FIFA 10, which is the main attraction of the game, the Captain Your Country (CYC) mode is slightly flawed in a couple of ways. As mentioned, the whole idea is to become captain of your country, and then lead your side to victory in the World Cup final.

While playing as Germany (on amateur difficulty), I was made captain for a couple of matches, both in the qualification rounds and during the tournament, which I found a bit strange. Isn’t the goal to be made captain for the final match?

My statistics for both the qualification rounds and during the tournament were constantly significantly higher than my fellow countrymen, scoring 115 goals in about 28 matches. During the World Cup, I scored 35 goals which earned me the Adidas Golden Boot and Adidas Golden Ball at the end of the world-class tournament. Yet my CYC ranking stayed at third, resulting in some other random player lifting the trophy, as he came on as a substitute for the actual captain.

For that exact reason, I won’t be playing Captain Your Country again. For the players who don’t want to sit through all the qualification matches, which take you back to mid 2008, the game unsurprisingly features a direct 2010 World Cup mode.

Selecting a team to play with has been given a welcome graphical boost, as choosing a team from a boring menu has been done away with. Instead, players get a view of earth, with 199 nations filled in for selection. By rotating the globe, players just need to highlight a country to see their statistics, view their players and listen to the national anthem.

After selecting the country you wish to lead, players will be shown in which group they will be playing, as well as their opponents. The groupings, stadiums and match times are identical to their real-life counterparts, unlike CYC where random nations like Haiti managed to make it into the tournament.

From there, players will start with the group games and control every member of their team to make it through to the next round. After playing CYC, it’s a bit disorientating to control all the players, but it will soon become second nature.

The controls are virtually identical to FIFA 10, but a number of options are made available in terms of controller settings. Scoring a goal, on the other hand, isn’t as easy as it looks. The game incorporates a more accurate kicking system, and playing on the Legendary difficulty will more often than not result in a game ending in a 0-0 draw.

Dribbling, passing and crossing have been made a bit easier, but that also depends on which difficulty setting and player assists have been activated. One great thing about scoring a goal, besides for the personal satisfaction, are the huge amount of celebrations that the player can activate. From punching the air with a fist, doing a cart wheel or posing for a photo, with the right combination of buttons players can even do a couple of backflips or a short African dance. Without a doubt, the funniest one is when a scorer breaks out into a moonwalk or pretends to be a machine gun by pointing his fingers and shaking his head.

Another aspect in which the game has vastly improved on is the graphic detail and the general feel of the title. In FIFA 10, the nation’s pride walked onto the field, shook hands and started the match. In this iteration, the players still walk onto the field, but the pre-match hoo-ha is bit more ceremonial.

Before the start, players line up as the national anthems are played, but for the sake of time management, only the anthem of the player-controlled team is heard. Upon conclusion, the fans will erupt is roaring chants and clapping hands, while the opposing team managers shake hands.  The inclusion of the team managers is a new aspect to the franchise, and it lends a bit more credibility to the title. Shots of a group of highly-detailed fans are also a welcome sight, as the cardboard cut-out spectators took away some of the magic.

The stadiums have also been reproduced according to their real-life counterparts, with the smallest of details all in place. It’s a pity that the Hillbrow tower can’t be seen in the background when playing at Ellis Park, but it by no means make the title less credible.

During the in-game commentary, one of the commentators said that Durban makes for the prefect venue, with sunny weather and the ocean in the background. Talk like that makes a player feel excited about the upcoming tournament, but the in-game commentary does become a bit stale and rehearsed after a while.

Other than the CYC and World Cup modes, the title also makes a Coca Cola Story of The Finals mode available. The whole idea behind the mode is that players can relive some of the most exciting and nerve-racking moments during the qualification rounds.

Electronic Arts have also promised to release more Story of The Finals matches as the actual tournament gets underway, which will allow players to virtually change the outcome of controversial games.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is an excellent game to play, but ultimately it serves only as a novelty. The graphics have seen a significant boost, the control system stayed easy enough and it has South Africa in the title, but the excitement and jubilation will be short-lived once a niggle or two creep into the system.

The game is excellent in its own right and a lot of things have been improved on, but it’s just enough of a memento to keep players busy until FIFA 11. And when the actual tournament starts, few gamers will return to their consoles to replicate a virtual World Cup.

What would make an exciting FIFA game, on the other hand, is if Electronic Arts somehow combine FIFA 10 and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. Players will start at club level, play for a position in the national squad and then eventually aim to be included in the World Cup team, with the possibly to become captain.

At A Glance:

Although a lot has been improved on, it ultimately only serves as a memento.

Developer: Electronic Arts

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Distributor: EA Africa

Platform:

Xbox360

PS3

Wii

PSP

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Telling a good story can be very important to a video game. It depends on the game, of course. A sports simulation or a racing game doesn’t necessarily need a solid tale to drive it along. But when you’re going to put the player in an adventure title, and make it scary to boot, an engrossing narrative is essential. And that’s one thing that Remedy’s Alan Wake does right – it spins a yarn that, while occasionally predictable, is entertaining, engaging and quite chilling from time to time. And let’s be honest… a story that is occasionally predictable is good. It allows us to have those “I knew it” moments. Too predictable is bad, yes, but a little predictability is actually enjoyable. And Alan Wake has just the right amount of it.

The game plays out in the peaceful little down of Bright Falls, a fictional settlement in the USA’s Pacific North West. Alan Wake, a best selling author, and his wife visit the sleepy town for what Wake believes is a holiday. His wife, though, is trying to get him out of a nasty bout of writer’s block, and has researched not only the area, but a psychologist who has a practice in the area, specializing in helping creative minds. Naturally, Wake is not happy with the deception, but soon has a change of heart when his wife mysteriously disappears, and things in Bright

Falls start showing that they are not what they seem. An ancient evil, a force of darkness, has the town in its vicelike grip, and Wake must battle a seemingly invincible foe to find his beloved and piece together an old mystery that lead to the current situation.

The true beauty of this game lies in its presentation. Sure, the graphics are not top notch; they feel a bit old, and the lip-synching for the various characters is awful. But the overall package is very appealing. The title is presented in a very cinematic style, with lots of game engine and pre-rendered cut-scenes to help drive the story along. The game is broken into six episodes and

is presented in a TV series fashion, complete with a ‘previously on Alan Wake’ segment at the start of each episode (I admit, this was one of my favorite little bits of window dressing in this title). The episodes vary in length, naturally, according to the actions the player takes.

Supporting the presentation is excellent voice acting, great music, and very effectively implemented sound effects. Alan Wake is a third person action adventure with a few survival horror overtones. The game can, at times, get rather scary, but the player will never be left out

of his depth in this one; some patience, a bit of lateral thinking and steady nerves will serve anyone playing Alan Wake well. There are no invincible enemies here – rather just tougher and weaker ones. Additionally, the player shouldn’t run out of ammo too often, and better weapons are also plentiful. What’s more rare, and more important to the player, is light. See, the evil force in the game literally is made of darkness, and the town’s folk it possesses are cloaked in a sort of dark armour. In fact, little puddles of darkness sometimes lie around like bear traps, waiting for the player. That is, of course, in addition to the actual bear traps that lie around waiting for the

player. The way to defeat the darkness is with light. Light heals Wake and strips possessed victims of their armour.

It also interferes with the darkness’ ability to fling pipes, barrels, cars and locomotives at the player. Some light sources, like flare guns and flash-bang grenades, destroy bad guys immediately, while others, like road flares and flashlights, keep them at bay and strip away their armour – making it easy for Alan to put a couple of revolver slugs in their chests. Shooting your way through, though, isn’t always the best solution, and the player will sometimes find themselves sprinting for the nearest puddle of light rather than facing hordes of possessed people and farm equipment.

The darkness helps obscure some of the game’s poorer graphic elements (as well as letting it show off the excellent lighting techniques the developers used). But, more importantly, it reinforces the creepiness of the title. Being stuck alone in the dark, whether in a lumber yard, inan abandoned mine or in a thick forest, does little to calm the nerves.

This is not made any better by the awesome use of very creepy and often downright terrifying sound effects. Whether it’s a rustle in a bush, or the warped, inane babbling of a possessed dude, the sound in this game works to great effect. It helps keep the tension high, adding a lot of atmosphere to an already tense experience.

Alan Wake is not aimed at a hard-core crowd specifically, a fact which can easily be seen through the rather simple control scheme. Not that the game needs a complicated one… who needs complicated controls when you’re running away from a mob of darkness-cloaked axe murderers? But the player will be granted time to explore (if they’re brave enough) and will be able to find various objects, from useful equipment stashes through to coffee flasks and mysterious manuscript pages.

All the elements of the game tie nicely together, leading back to that all important story. The tale feels like something crafted by Stephen King at times (in fact, the famous author is quoted twice by the narrator). But the TV feel of the game, which comes complete with flash back scenes, also carries something of that other great North West tale, Twin Peaks (sans the absolute weirdness). And the story is solid enough to say that a TV series based on the game would be a great idea. The characters are well realised and rather complete (if a little stereotypical at times) and the construction and pacing of the story is solid. And (no, this is not a spoiler, it’s an obvious fact)

we’re sure to see more of Alan Wake in the future, which will be a welcome addition to our gaming collections. If you enjoy a game with a horror edge and a good story, you can do far worse than getting hold of Alan Wake.

At A Glance:

Alan Wake combines an excellent story with a solid third person adventure game… and a few frights for spice.

Developer: Remedy

Publisher: Microsoft

Distributor: Microsoft

Platform:

Xbox360

Red Dead Redemption

The American West has been famous for its stories. Everyone has been inspired by it, from movie makers to writers, from children to singers. But over the years game developers have not given it due attention and those who have tried to squeeze it into the gaming arena have put it limited extent. But now the Rockstars, a well know name of the gaming world, primarily because of Grand Theft Auto, have put all their efforts to make a fictionalized and romanticized environment of Wild West called the Red Dead Redemption.

Rocksstars have an amazing putting everything coherently about the Wild West, cactus plains, gun fights, whole some actions and the best thing is its flawlessness. Remember GTAIV, the biggest problem that I faced was the lack of health regeneration. If you haven’t brought the enough health pack with you, then you are not in a position to make your way through the mission. But now it’s all here. Though it is a tiny addition but it’s important. Rockstar has put an awesome combination of visuals and sound tracks. As far as sound tracks are concerned, it fits with every atmosphere you are in. And the lighting is just amazing; got to say the best lighting I’ve ever seen. It is either moon light at night or the shiny sun light in the dawn or the incandescence in noon, you are always aware of the day shift you are in, all you need to do is to look up into the sky.

One thing that has made game more succulent is the mood of the game, unlike GTAIV which always used to lampoon the modern world the Red Dead Redemption fits with seriousness (the way Wild West should be). Though there are some exaggerations but everything seems to be natural. This tone of the game has made it more appealing and offers the real atmosphere, requisite for the game.

Red Dead Redemption provides you with utter experience of Wild West and if you are votary of Western movies you will feel that this game offers a glimpse of almost every area shown in movies either directly or indirectly. Rockstar have really put their efforts making this game a real Western experience and they have succeeded in providing it. all the feature put together in a simple but logical way the atmosphere, fights, tone of the game, sound effects and relative tracks all these thing blend up to make a fine Western life game, the Red Dead redemption.

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