Thanks largely to Wii Fit, the fitness gaming genre is in full swing. We’ve had the Balance Board that came with Wii Fit to exercise with, and since then Kinect and Move have been released, which are both great peripherals to lose some weight with. Move Fitness makes use of the latter, in which you’ll be working up a sweat using two motion controllers.

Yes, that’s right you’ll need the PlayStation Eye and two Moves in order to interact with Move Fitness, so if you only have the one Move, it’s time to purchase an extra one to get both your arms swinging, rising, punching and whatnot. Obviously, the real benefits of exercise comes from moving your entire body, so the fact that the game can read both of your arms is a good sign of the sort of benefits that may come your way from such a workout

Firstly, you choose a virtual trainer who will guide you through each exercise and constantly remind you to remember to take a break, and then you can play single exercises or try out a workout program. The latter can be focussed on certain areas of your body, perhaps the section that you’ve been meaning to tone up for quite awhile, and you’ll also be able to set the time (everything from 7 to 25 minutes) that you wish to exercise for. For those that want to, it’s also possible to create your very own custom program.

Move Fitness does require quite a large and uninterrupted playing space to get the best out of the game and all of its exercises, but if you have it or can create the space, well the controls and tracking are very impressive. Yes, it’s possible to cheat and not really move much during some of the exercises, although don’t expect to lose much weight if you are regularly going to be doing this. Do it properly, and working out with a Move controller in each hand is definitely enough to work up a sweat, and the exercises are a lot of fun.

There are 28 exercises in all, which doesn’t really sound a lot, although effort has been made to make them feel varied. There’s heavy bag training, cross boxing, dodgeball, basketball, stretch exercises, and much more. Many of the exercises feel as if they’re actually doing their job and burning some calories, so in this way the game is a real success. An exercise tool that loses you some weight is always something to be pleased about when you step onto the bathroom scales.

True, Move Fitness does feel as if it is lacking in options, although the budget price (around £20, although shop around and you can get it for a lot cheaper) makes this all the more easy to stomach. The game does keep track of the amount of calories you have apparently managed to burn, there’s local multiplayer, and there are also previous scores to beat and goals to meet, which all should be enough to keep you playing. Look at it this way and you’ll realise that Move Fitness is a cheap and manner in which to lose some of your excess weight with.

8/10

The developer taking up the task of crafting an ambitious crossbreed this time around is Trendy Entertainment with their first game, Dungeon Defenders. It’s a multiplayer focussed union of tower defence and RPG. Both genres have an equal presence in the game and it’s a union that one would think could really work, provided the concept was in the hands of the right developer.

A word of caution to begin with, as a single player game Dungeon Defenders is somewhat of a failure, where the odds truly become unmanageable. It’s the multiplayer side where the game truly comes to life, with classes of characters that complement each other’s abilities well, and the contesting for loot grants a potentially competitive layer on top of the co-op aspect. For once, local multiplayer isn’t ignored either and, like the online component, it too supports four players, and you can even combine local players with online.

Dungeon Defender’s Tower Defence half sees you constructing defences to protect a magical crystal from hordes of incoming enemies. Defences cost mana, of which you earn through defeating enemies, selling things, or finding stuffed in a chest. On the Tower Defence side, it can also be used to make your defences more robust.

Just as any good Tower Defence game should allow, Dungeon Defenders Can fill the screen with enemies, granting a level of intensity and feeling of insurmountable odds to the game. The framerate largely manages to stay relatively smooth even when things become crowded, whilst the colourful and lavish cartoon aesthetics add to the fun and grants the game masses of personality.

Whilst defences can be constructed anytime, there is however a build phase where your construction can be carried out quicker and without interruption. The idea is to lay down your defences before the enemy horde arrives. Helpfully, you’re informed of what type of enemies you’re up against in the impending wave, allowing you to employ the appropriate defences to attempt to counter them upon their arrival.

The tower defence genre, by its very nature, is simplistic, though the RPG portion adds a layer of complexity that many will embrace. You’re able to directly get involved in the combat, of which is simplistic, but enjoyable in a chaotic and brainless sense.

In true RPG fashion there are multiple classes with four on offer: the Squire is centred on melee combat, the apprentice prefers to hurl magical projectiles, the huntress utilizes a crossbow for ranged combat, and the monk is able to heal allies and inflict status penalties on opponents.

Each class has their own traps to lay down to thwart the enemies attempts at reaching the crystal. The Squire for instance can set barricades, whilst the apprentice can place towers that spew out magic towards enemies. The classes are distinct enough to offer completely different play styles to one another, offering potential for you to explore the game in contrasting ways.

When it comes to defences, you’ll initially have limited options, though through levelling up (what’s an RPG without this compulsive mechanic?) you’ll gradually unlock more dangerous traps, as well as some new abilities for your character. You’ll also earn skill points, of which you’re able to use to enhance either your character or your defences.

There’s a real sense of progression, and even failing will see you retaining any amassed experience and levelling up will also allow you to store additional mana, allowing you more substantial options when it comes to placing and upgrading defences.

Dungeon Defenders also features masses of lovely loot to collect, and it too can be upgraded with mana. Finding and equipping your character with ever more proficient weapons and armour is as compulsive as it should be and, helpfully, in the heat of battle a thumbs up or thumbs down icon will quickly allow you to see how they compare to your currently equipped kit, though this still isn’t as quick of a process as it should be.

You get a fair bit of content for you money with Dungeon Defenders. The campaign can be played with melee combat deactivated, leaving your defences as the only method of defeating enemies. Outside of the main campaign there’s a survival mode, where the objective is to survive as long as possible against infinite waves of enemies. There are also challenges, which are designed with higher level players in mind and task you with such things as fighting without the aid of defences and trying to protect the crystal, all while it randomly warps around the environment.

Dungeon Defenders has the compulsion of an RPG and the chaos and intensity of a tower defence game and elements from the two contrasting genres never clash but live together in perfect harmony. With this first offering, developer Trendy Entertainment deserves immense praise for successfully executing the somewhat difficult undertaking of unifying two genres and delivering one of 2011’s best digitally distributed games.

9/10

Before Puma: After Hours Athletes popped through my letterbox, I had no idea what to expect from the game. Upon closer inspection, I found that After Hours Athletes, like Move Mind Benders, is a compilation of games available on PSN, but now with added Puma branding. The package is made up of Top Darts, Hustle Kings, and High Velocity Bowling – all together for the very first time.

The compilation is certainly well presented, with you flipping between a dart board, a pool table and a bowling alley to select the respective sport, and all of the games have 3D support. One thing worth noting is that once you’re in a game, there’s no way to return to the top menu, leaving you with the only option to quit the game and then load it up again. It’s a small complaint, but it is an annoyance all the same, and it should have really been better thought through when they decided to put all the games together.

In a rather savvy move DualShock support has been entirely removed, and the only way to play any of these games is with the Move controller, which certainly could help shift a few more of said controllers. Some who have yet to play these games (perhaps those without PSN accounts), which I’m sure this compilation is aimed at, may not welcome the news that they have to purchase Move in order to play, being that all the games were previously available with controller support.

If you want to play a game of virtual Pool, then Hustle Kings is the one to go for. The shiny balls are fun to hit with the Move controller, pulling it back and pushing it forward as if you are using a cue. Accuracy and power are also a must, with the game taking into consideration how straight you move the controller. As is the norm, there’s various assists which can help you out to pot those balls, and also a helpful tutorial that talks you through all the controls and intricacies. The physics are also very impressive, although the overly skilful AI can get annoying, meaning the game is at its best against another player.

High Velocity Bowling also works very well and just as you’d expect. There’s nothing more simple than rolling a ball down an alley and hoping to take down as many pins as possible. The Move controls are reliable, with an underarm throwing motion to toss the ball and a simple twist of the wrist will add spin. There’s different characters to choose from and balls can even be switched between, adding in some depth. It’s just a shame that the game is so characterless in its looks, particularly as it’s the only one in the package that goes for a cartoonish appearance.

Finally, Top Darts is the only game in the package that originally required Move. There are various rules and mini games to play, and while the controls certainly have a learning curve, tossing the darts with Move is a lot of fun. When doing so, the game takes into consideration the speed and accuracy of your throw, although the higher difficulties waters down the amount of on-screen assistance somewhat. Like High Velocity Bowling, being that it could be quite nasty, remember to not let go of the controller.

Puma: After Hours Athletes is a great, cheaply priced sporting collection, with each of the three games showing Move off well. There’s not a bad game here, and throw in the fact that it also comes complete with all the downloadable content that has been released for the games, and you have a nice little package.

8/10

Being released within the PS2’s launch window, Tekken Tag Tournament is now over ten years old, so with a sequel on the way, Namco Bandai felt it was time to do what is popular these days and put together a HD upgrade which, unlike the PS2 version, doesn’t look like somewhat of a blurry mess on a lot of modern day TV’s. Tekken Hybrid features not only Tekken Tag Tournament HD, but is also comprised of a CG film and a sample of next year’s Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Tekken Tag Tournament wasn’t canon in the series storyline, so dead characters came back to life, allowing you to assemble pairings that would otherwise have been impossible, Jin and his dead mother Jun for instance. The tag team element itself was fresh to the series, granting a twist to the otherwise familiar fighting mechanics.

It’s still focussed on ten string combos and the fighting, whilst pleasantly brutal, lacks the fluidity of the likes of Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur. Years later, it’s even more noticeable, though the version in Tekken Hybrid is the definitive PAL version, not only looking sharper but also running noticeably faster and lacking the big black borders that all too often plagued European conversations, and that these days are thankfully a thing of the past.

In terms of visuals, it hasn’t received an incremental upgrade, though it still looks competent enough , this lack of love is nevertheless disappointing and is further displayed with the lack of online play, which in this day and age is a bizarre omission to say the very least.

The tag team elements function much as you’d expect, though unlike other games, it only takes the KO of one team member for a round to be lost or won, so strategic switching of your characters is a must. You’re able to freely switch between your two chosen characters with the press of a button, at which point the character not taking part in the fight will slowly recover their health. You can also put together bigger combos with timely switching of your teammates and tag team manovoures are possible, which see the duo attacking in tandem with each other.

For many the main attraction of Tekken Hybrid will be the included Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Prologue, which, in spite of its fancy name, is actually a simple demo, albeit with trophies. It offers four characters, Ling Xiayou, Alisa Bosconovitch, Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya. Unsurprisingly it features mechanics from both the original Tekken Tag Tournament, as well as the newest iteration of the series, Tekken 6. Fresh additions include Tag Assault combos, which sees both characters of a team attacking together at the same time, whilst, similarly to the Dead or Alive series, it’s possible for characters to be knocked into other areas of an arena, where the fight will then continue. If this taster is anything to go by it appears as if fans are in for a treat come release time.

If any fighting game has got the story to make an engaging film it’s Tekken, with its dysfunctional Mishima family plot point. Tekken: Blood Vengeance is a aesthetically lovely CG film that disappointedly doesn’t really focus on the Mishima’s until later on, instead it’s centred around Ling Xaioyu and Alisa Bosconovitch, and the story is reasonable enough in the cheesy way that the game is and actually far outweighs the fighting with its presence, somewhat unexpected for a film based on a fighting game, though when fight scenes do turn up they’re largely visually spectacular and dramatic affairs.

Until its sequel comes along, Tekken Tag Tournament is still the only Tekken game that provides two-on-two fighting and, for this reason alone, Tekken Tag Tournament HD, whilst far from the most lavish of HD upgrades, is still a welcome one. That it comes with a demo and film makes Tekken Hybrid all the more of an attractive prospect for series devotees.

8/10

The original Start the Party! was one of the launch titles alongside the PlayStation Move motion controller, although it was sadly a little too limited for its own good. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun mini-game compilation for what it was, but there just wasn’t enough content for it to be plucked off the shelf regularly. This low key sequel does attempt to rectify this.

With its colourful presentation and cartoonish music, the original was obviously aimed squarely at youngsters. This sequel seems to be targeted at a slightly wider demographic, remaining with the colourful presentation but doing away with the annoying music and ostentatious announcer (replaced by someone a lot more subtle). Certainly, older gamers will be able to play this sequel without cringing as much as they may have founded themselves doing when playing the original game.

Start the Party! Save the World once again has the Move controller being a necessity. There’s 20 mini games included, which is quite a step up over the 9 that were a part of the original game. Mini games are pleasingly varied and have you doing everything from saving deep sea divers and dropping them in a boat, protecting astronauts from asteroids by drawing a protective line near to them, building rockets by placing the parts in the correct order, repairing robots, and much more. The good news is that the game makes deft use of Sony’s motion controller, and there’s not one single game that fails to work properly.

Another player can use a DualShock controller to attempt to help or hinder the current player, which is a nice idea.

A number of the games once again make use of augmented reality, in which you’ll see your Move turned into various objects inside your TV screen – everything from a hammer to a fire extinguisher. The game, on the whole, is well presented, with the theme this time being on bright and bold cartoon visuals.

Multiplayer is definitely where the game is at its finest. Here you can take part in short, medium or long party sessions, and there’s also a Quick Fire option in which throws random games at you in one session, with the focus being on quick reactions as you quickly move from one game to the next.

It’s just a shame that developer Supermassive Games hasn’t really done much work in the sense of increasing the amount of options. It’s still not possible to create profiles, meaning you’ll have to take snapshots of yourself each time you play the game, and surely a profile saving this photo as well as your high scores would suit the multiplayer focus. This would all allow you to get the party started that little bit quicker.

For the solo player, the game does save your best scores, and you’re also able to choose which games you want to play in the Free Play mode, which oddly isn’t possible in multiplayer games. The Survival mode also makes a return, in which the objective is to survive as long as possible by keeping on scoring which, in turn, keeps a meter from dropping towards failure, which is certainly good fun. But, as I mentioned above, multiplayer is definitely the best manner in which to spend time with the game.

Start the Party! Save the World, then, is a game that works, making commendable use of Move, and it’s also an improvement over the original game. But, despite the increase in mini game number, it could have still done with a few more options. This is still an enjoyable mini game compilation set at a budget price, but, with a little extra thought, it could have been even more essential.

7/10

Dancing games that make use of Sony’s Move controller can hardly do the job as well as Microsoft’s Kinect, although these games are a lot to do with the participation over anything else, and a lot of the audience just won’t care if the PlayStation Eye isn’t tracking your entire body, and as long as it is accurate for what it is, then why should it matter?

DanceStar Party is the latest attempt from Sony’s London Studios to bring to the world another casual dance game, having already tried their hand at dance last year with SingStar Dance. DanceStar Party, as my opening paragraph suggests, requires Move and an active arm, although using your whole body is more fun and is actively encouraged by the game, it’s only really your Move-grasping arm that is being tracked.

DanceStar Party features 40 songs (the full track list can be viewed at the bottom of the page) on the disc to dance and to sing to (this is an option if you wish to try out your vocals), with a diverse range of tracks that will appeal to a vast amount of people. There’s also downloadable songs available, meaning there’s plenty already on the disc, but also more to purchase to bulk the song list up even more. It’s just a shame that songs can only be purchased in bundles of four, which obviously ups the price.

The game is easy to get a grasp of, with various difficulties determining the complexity of the routine, with beginner giving you a far easier time, while intermediate and professional will truly test your arm movement reactions. When the game begins proper, you’ll see a real life dancer in the centre of your screen accompanied by a high quality official music video to the left hand side. The objective is to copy the movements of the dancer, scoring points and combo streaks by performing well. At the end, you’ll be rated out of five, meaning there’s potential to embarrass yourself in front of loads of people (up to 19 others, if you have that many friends, oh and a spacious house). Never mind, just remember that it’s the taking part that really matters.

In the Dance Studio corner of the game, there’s three modes to dance into. Dance Creator gives you free reign to create and record your own dance routines, which works well but sadly can’t be uploaded for others to download and play online. Dance Studio also is the place to go for the Dance Class – here it’s possible to practice songs, with the game breaking portions down for you, which is really helpful. Finally, the Workout mode is in there to help you to shed some weight or to keep it off.

The game does have its single player options, although it’s the multiplayer that will appeal to the majority. Not only is there the potential for a mass Dance Party (up to 20 players, taking it in turns in pairs to battle against each other, and thus you’ll need two motion controllers to take part in this mode) there’s dance offs, two player battles, and also Dance Partners: a mode that is played cooperatively with another player. Such games are really meant to be played with others – laughing, making a fool of yourself and just having a lot of fun and silly sessions as you dance away in group games.

There’s also options to upload videos and snapshots of your dancing, which certainly proves how silly you look if nothing else, and it’s possible to rate these videos and images and share them on Facebook and Twitter. At least viewing videos and photos of others prove that you aren’t the only idiot out there.

Taken for what it is then, a slickly presented game with accurate Move Controls, DanceStar Party does the job. The abscence of the option for a single player to make use of two motion controllers is rather strange and there’s also a smattering of other flaws, but the core game works really well and will add life to many a party. And to finish on an even loftier high, the game can be picked up for a bargain price.

8/10

DanceStar Party Track List

Amerie 1 Thing
Barry White You’re The First, The Last, My Everything
Basement Jaxx Where’s Your Head At
Billy Idol with Generation X Dancing with Myself
Bodyrockers I Like The Way
Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting
CeCe Peniston Finally
Chromeo Night By Night
Deadmau5 Ghosts ‘N’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire)
Diana Ross Upside Down
Duck Sauce Barbra Streisand
Ellie Goulding Starry Eyed
Elton John I’m Still Standing
Example Kickstarts
Groove Armada feat. Gram’ma Funk I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim mix)
Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand Let Me Think About It
Iggy Pop Lust For Life
Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne Down
Jessie J Do It Like A Dude
Kool And The Gang Get Down On It
Lady Gaga Born This Way
LMFAO Party Rock Anthem
Los Del Rio Macarena
Miami Sound Machine Dr Beat
New Kids On The Block You Got It (The Right Stuff)
Nicole Scherzinger Don’t Hold Your Breath
Ok Go Here It Goes Again
OutKast The Way You Move
Republica Ready To Go
Rihanna Rude Boy
SNAP! The Power
Tavares Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel
The Chemical Brothers Hey Boy Hey Girl
Tiesto v Diplo feat Busta Rhymes C’mon (Catch ‘Em By Surprise)
Tinie Tempah Pass Out
Usher featuring Pitbull DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love
Usher featuring will.i.am OMG
Vengaboys We Like To Party
Willow Whip My Hair
Yolanda Be Cool vs D Cup We No Speak Americano

In Sports Champions, Zindagi Games brought to us the best Move launch title. With some excellent choices of sports such as Archery and Gladiator Duel, it really displayed the magic of Sony’s take on motion sensing, but at the same time, it was also a wonderful game. The developer obviously knows Move well, so the release of their newest game Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest has some high expectations to meet, at least in terms of controls.

The protagonist is Prince Edmund, who soon becomes Deadmund when, like everyone else, he is transformed into a skeleton by a necromancer. The story is told through nicely drawn still comic-style sequences and is competent enough, and not without a certain level of charm.

Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest is an on-rails game, where you’ll largely be hacking and slashing your way through fellow skeletons. The game can be played with 1 or 2 Move controllers. When you use two, one will act as your sword, whilst the other will function as your shield. It works in much the same fashion as Gladiator Duel in Sports Champions, so that is to say very well. Your shield can be moved around to deflect enemy attacks, whilst all manner of thrusts and such are executed by performing the respective motions.

For the more distant enemies you possess a crossbow, of which works much the same as Archery in Sports Champions. So first you must prepare your bow and arrow, by first reaching for an arrow by putting Move over your shoulder and then you must line up your shot with the pointer function. Later on you’ll also get Ninja stars, which, if you hadn’t already worked out by now, is much like another sport in Zindagi’s earlier game, this time Disc Golf, so the strength and direction of your throw is calculated by how quickly as well as the direction you swing Move in.

It’s a bit disappointing that most of the motions are lifted directly from Sports Champions, not to mention lazy, but nevertheless it works well in the context of the game. As for the game itself, it’s enjoyable but a bit too repetitive to be anything truly special, with not enough variation in the enemies and, in turn, little call for many tactical changes throughout the game.

It’s not a very long game, so at least there’s little chance of it outstaying its welcome. After completion there’s also some mini games that support both local and online multiplayer, though these are as limited as the rest of the game, being nothing more than either co-op or competitive fights against waves of skeletons, and it would have been preferable to have had more diversity.

Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest is an enjoyable game, that is well worth the budget price, but it’s too limited and its Sports Champions inspiration is taken too far, leaving it as a mild disappointment that in terms of controls doesn’t have the surprises to offer that the developer’s earlier effort did.

7/10

Gaming spin-offs are far too rare in my opinion. After spending years producing all these assets, glorious worlds, and titles that we all adore to tinker around with, why not maximize the cash coming in by giving us a few spin-offs from time to time? GTA IV did it brilliantly. Red Dead Redemption succeeded too. But why haven’t we had an additional tale from the Mass Effect universe yet?

Obviously Sony took note of my vague ponderings by bringing us this short dip into the InFamous world. As a standalone download only title priced at just a fraction of the price of the full InFamous 2 experience, Festival Of Blood is enticing to both fans and potential newcomers to the series.

As it doesn’t require the full InFamous 2 game to actually work, it’s a cost effective leap into the series for those uneager to splash out for a full-price title that they might not be too enthralled by. Considering it contains the same production values as it’s full-priced brother – though obviously with a much smaller time to complete – it’s an excellent way to either get your first glimpse of the InFamous world, or an additional bit of bonus content for long time fans.

Playing as the same old protagonist Cole McGrath, you find yourself taken hostage and bitten by a vampire queen. With only 8 hours until you fall completely under her control, you’re tasked with driving a stake through her evil dark heart to free yourself of her clutches, and the vampire curse flooding your body. It’s a campy tale, and one that is pretty well judged for a crazy kind of spin-off like this.

Obviously, this vampirism inflicted Cole has quite a few new powers to offer outside his usual electricity wielding skills.  The best – and most useful – of which allows you to swiftly travel through the air as a flock of bats, rushing across the city to new objectives in epically quick time. His electricity based bits and pieces remain fully intact, allowing you to swiftly frazzle enemies, use lighting to boost you back to full health, and toss electric based grenades. In Festival of Blood, Cole is one powerful chap.

All the good versus evil stuff from the main series has been removed, streamlining the experience and allowing you to get on with the task you’ve been set. Standing at little more than a couple of the hours for the standard single-player campaign, you’re probably just about getting your monies worth. But there are no worries about accidentally frying the odd member of the general public here, with absolutely nothing affecting how the world perceives this new Cole.

The new enemies are varied enough to require different methods in order to dispatch them from the world, but none particularly stand out as overly creative or exciting. That’s not say they’re poor by any stretch of the imagination, but they never raise much above the usual cannon fodder you’d find in any video game out there.

As it’s using a lot of the assets from the second InFamous title, this remains on of the better looking PS3 titles out there. Although it’ll not wow anyone in this post Battlefield 3 world, it’s not only a fairly large playing area, but also one that’s crammed with detail and things to blow up and destroy. The perpetual dark helps create an atmosphere that fits perfectly for Festival of Blood too.

If you’ve any real interest in the series, then you owe it to Infamous: Festival of Blood to at least give it a go. While it doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, it provides a brief tale that will keep you hooked for its few hours’ worth of gaming pleasure. And while it won’t help turn the heads of those who despised the main games in the series, anyone with any interest will find plenty of exciting gaming thrills to make it worth their while.

8/10

The Call of Duty series has enjoyed astounding success, but one has still got to wonder how long it will last. Don’t get me wrong, I wish publisher Activision all the luck in the world going forward with the series, although I’m still intrigued as to what will replace Call of Duty as the biggest game in the world when its time finally comes – probably another FPS.

Still, there’s a large amount of people that will want to learn the fate of the likes of Soap and Price.

Modern Warfare 3 delivers all of these things in a basket, and is exactly the game that fans would have wanted – nothing more or nothing less. The campaign has huge set-pieces to be witnessed, aping the biggest Hollywood blockbuster action films, and the sort of intense action that has come to characterise the series.

It’s a very good campaign – explosive, memorable, and, at around six hours, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Some may not be enamoured by the tightly scripted gameplay, although if that’s the case then this isn’t really the game for you. Others will fall in love with this loud and over the top campaign.

Call of Duty is regularly not far from controversy, and Modern Warfare 3, while not having anything as controversial as Modern Warfare 2’s No Russian mission, once again stirs things up. The scene in question is not a mission and doesn’t last very long at all, and Infinity Ward have put it in there to show us that anyone can be caught up in war, although in no way do we need a game to tell us that. It’s not at all graphic, but it still feels as if it has been shoehorned in just for the shock factor.

In spite of this the campaign is excellent, offering plenty of moments that will stick long in the memory. Still, if you’re looking for any major innovations, the campaign is feeling a little lacking, with few twists on what has come before it. If you go into the game just expecting the norm, then you’ll be delighted, but innovation is certainly sparse for those that are seeking it.

The popular multiplayer modes obviously make a return, and this time the focus has been on balancing things up. Remember some of the perks that were regularly called unfair in Modern Warfare 3? Well, here they have been entirely removed. Not the perks of course, but some of the more overpowered actions. Killstreaks have also now been renamed Pointstreaks, with these now coming about not with only killing the opposition but also by capturing the flag in Capture the Flag and so on. A positive and welcome change for the series, if ever there was one.

Pointstreak rewards are split into Assault, Support and Specialist Strike Packages, allowing you to chose one for an individual custom class. Obviously, Assault brings in the attack helicopters and the Predator Drones etc, and Support allows for the introduction of SAM turrets and the like, while Specialist (unlocked at level 20) allows you to choose your own perks, eventually having the lot at once if you’re good enough.

Weapon customisation has also been revamped. Investing time into the multiplayer will still earn you new weapons and kit, although the more you use your weapons, the more perks you will unlock to use with them. You can reduce recoil, improve stability, add attachments and so on. The development teams behind this game have been really busy.

There are 16 brand new multiplayer maps, and a few extra modes added. Kill Confirmed is a variety of team deathmatch, in which killing the opposition causes them to drop dog tags, pick the dog tag up and the kill will be confirmed, although it’s also possible for the dog tags of killed comrades to be picked up by their team mates, denying the opposing team the kill. It’s an excellent new mode that has already been widely praised, and with good reason. The other new mode is Team Defender, in which one player carries a flag while his teammates defend him.

Separately, we also have the brilliant Special Ops mode. Here, we have the returning Special Ops missions, of which features 16 new missions for you to play alone or with another player, but you’ll also find the brand new Survival mode. The latter mode has you taking on waves of AI enemies, purchasing weapons and ammo, and just surviving as long as you possibly can.

Visually, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is very attractive, and certainly rarely suffers under the strain of the chaos of World War 3, although it’s looking a little dated these days. Some of the textures up close are very ugly, although despite its age the engine is still holding up well. The audio side adds to the intensity, with loud bangs, explosions, battle chatter and gunfire, and the music proves once again to be memorable.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t do anything radically different, but what it does do is refine the already stellar mechanics, once again making it one of the gaming greats of the year. Having said that, the visuals are looking slightly tired, and, despite its excellence, it’s about time for the campaign to offer a few more twists on the formula. Still, this is very highly recommended for the millions of FPS fans out there.

9/10

Whilst most PS3 owners will be connected to the internet, those that aren’t have missed out on some great digitally distributed only releases, though Move Mind Benders has come to the rescue with three quality Move compatible games snugly together on one disc.

The package features the classic Lemmings, the shadowy Echochrome ii and the block based Tumble, all of which are, as the name suggests, puzzle games, but they’re all nevertheless very different games from one another.

Whilst the menu is accessible enough to access each game, disappointedly once you’re actually in one of them, there’s no way to quit it if you fancy playing one of the other games, forcing you to reset it before you’re able to. It’s far from the worst problem in the world, but one can’t help but feel that a little more effort could have went into making it more inviting.

Echochrome ii with its slow paced gameplay and soothing classically themed music is easily the most relaxing game of the three. It sees you attempting to guide a little mannequin man to the goal, and whilst there are 3D objects, it’s only the shadow of these that he is able to walk and climb across. It’s your job to move the shadows to make pathways for him. It’s often a complex procedure, particularly when you take into consideration that by manipulating certain shapes so that they’re laid out in certain ways will transform them into helpful objects for the little fellow. So by attaching a circle to the floor a trampoline will be created, whilst combining a circle with an oblong will magic the goal into being. There are also other game modes on offer: Paint requires you to paint a certain percentage of the stage, whilst Echo tasks you with picking up clones of the mannequin. Meanwhile a complex level creator tool really gives you a sense and deeper appreciation of just how difficult the puzzles were to come up with and construct.

Tumble is one of the best early examples of the capabilities of move, really showing off some of the advancements that Sony brought to motion sensing, specifically the 3D space. It tasks you with playing around with blocks to meet certain objectives such as destroying a tower, but generally you’ll be constructing a tower of a certain height to reach either a bronze, silver or gold medal, and then having to do everything in your power to keep it from toppling over for three seconds. Adding a layer of complexity to the game is the fact that you have blocks made from different materials of which affect your tower in contrasting ways, so you must take into consideration their weight, shape and such to prevent your tower from dramatically collapsing, whilst at times you must build around moving objects.

Lemmings is an old game, but being compatible with Move has resulted in a control scheme that is much more pleasant than an analogue stick, though still a bit too sluggish, particularly for the more chaotic of situations. You give commands to the green haired Lemmings, to prevent them from stupidly killing themselves by assigning some of them roles, such as blockers that block the path of other lemmings, or floaters that can drop from a height without injury.

Two of the three games that make up Move Mind Benders are fine examples of just what Move can do. They’re also very diverse, but have one thing in common, that being they’re all quality games, resulting in a likeable package for puzzle fans.

8/10