Star Wars Battlefront II

In Battlefront, there are three types of play: Campaign: Rise of the Empire, in which you lead the 501^st legion, Galactic conquest, where you pick four teams: CIS, Republic, Empire and Rebels, to take over the Galaxy. And Instant Action, with a choice of Hunt, Conquest, Assault and Capture the Flag. One difference from Battlefront II and its predecessor is new space battles where you have a selection between marines and pilots, and you have a choice of four vehicles. A light, speedy ship, very good in dogfights, a heavy fighter, very good against both enemy fighters and enemy fleets, the bomber, its specialty is taking out enemy frigates and fleets, though its heavily armored which makes it slower, and a re-spawning ship, which you land inside an enemy hanger in which your own team members can re-spawn inside. Each type of gameplay is compatible for multiplayer modes. The classes are normal infantry, equipped with blaster rifles, thermal detonators and handguns; the sniper with sniper rifles and handguns and thermal detonators and droid controllers; the engineer with shotguns, health and ammo dispensers and fusion cutters. Heavy infantry are different with different teams. The Republic and Empire’s men have jet packs, boltcaster and thermal detonators. The rebels have wookies with crossbows, thermal detonators and thermal detonator launchers. There is also online play, where you can join people on the Internet in battles. Battlefront II is available for Playstation2, PSP, Xbox and other big selling consoles. The price ranges from E 45 to E 60. Battlefront is recommended for 12 year olds’ plus.

Tips:

Campaign:

• If there is a vehicle near by and the mission is to take over a command post, get inside the vehicle to clear the area of enemy forces. You cannot take over command post while inside a vehicle.
• Plan your missions carefully before taking the enemies head-on. Always begin with a normal infantryman.

Galactic Conquest:

• This is a game off strategy. Block the opponent’s army while advancing you own. Be careful to aim at the heart of the enemy’s defenses (e.g., Clones: Kamino).
• You start your game with 1000 credits. In the early stages, the hero bonus (800 credits) is extremely valuable.

Rating:

Gameplay: 8/10

Lifespan: 9/10

Sound/ graphics: 9/10

Overall rating: 9/10

Jack Jackman (R.11)

Gaelic Games

 “Gaelic Games” is the first GAA release for PS2. It is only Gaelic football and not hurling, which is a let-down as hurling is probably much preferred. It is also a very hard game and is suited for a much older age group. Not a lot of people like it as it is very hard. In my opinion, it is a terrible game, but was a best seller because people thought it was going to be good. 

I would give it about four out of ten as the graphics are very good.

By Emmet (Room 11)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Join in as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger start their forth year in Hogwart’s School. But first, help them escape the Quidditch World Cup finals as Death Eaters decide it’s time for a reunion…

Next Harry Potter discovers to his shock that he will perform three deadly tasks in front of the whole school and a panel of judges in the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts. Play as Harry, Ron or Hermione as you explore locations such as Hogwarts Exterior, The Forbidden Forest, the Prefect’s bathroom, and many more. Use all new jinxes and charms and special collector cards used to enhance your character’s abilities to defeat more terrifying monsters, to achieve your ultimate goal: collect all of the Triwizard Shields to unlock the Triwizard Tasks: the Dragon’s Egg, the Deep Lake and the Maze, where the Triwizard Cup lies.

This game differs from the previous Harry Potter games in good and bad ways. I was put off, at first, at the difficulty in controlling the characters. One difficulty was the jinxes. There are four different jinxes used to defeat each creature, jinxing it, levitating and jinxing, knocking out, levitating and jinxing and lifting heavy objects onto the enemy or throwing them off cliffs or into water.

Rating:

Game-play: 6/10

Lifespan: 7/10

Sound/graphics: 7/10

Overall rating: 7/10

PS2   

  Maximo Ghosts to Glory

Maximo was a high king. He ruled all the land with his wife Sofia by his side. It all went downwards when an evil ruler named Achilles ambushed him. Achilles had discovered that Maximo’s kingdom was situated just over the gate leading to the underworld. When Achilles was ambushing Maximo’s kingdom he banished him to the underworld. Achilles kidnapped Sofia and conquered Maximo’s kingdom. Maximo swore he would rescue his wife and win his kingdom back from Achilles. The only way to accomplish that though was to make a deal with the Grim Reaper referred to as Death or Grim. Achilles spared no time in putting his plan into action and prepared a massive drill to dig a hole directly down into the underworld. Grim was irritated because no new arrivals were coming in to the underworld and any old ones were getting out. Grim told Maximo that if he could gather all the souls of the underworld and bring them back to Maximo he would help him get his kingdom back. So Maximo set out on his quest. But there was one more thing Grim gave Maximo - a magical item known as a Death Coin. When Maximo had this item he could not die, but each death coin would only work once. Grim told Maximo that there were a lot of death coins scattered around the kingdom and he would have to collect them to in order to stay alive. As you journey through the underworld you will find magical enchantments and sword power-ups.

This is an excellent game for renting or buying. Built for all age groups.

                Reviewed by: Kieran O’ Neill (6^th Class)