Jade Empire

Canadian developer BioWare's first role-playing game after Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is set in a mythic version of ancient China, at a time when a parallel world of darkness and chaos threatens to cross over into the realm of the living. Players initially choose from a selection of predefined characters, each with a name, background, and distinct skill set. They will then be able to gradually shape their character's fighting style from over 30 different types, from martial arts to weapons-based combat to even magic. Combat is performed in real-time from a third-person perspective, with players able to pause the game to execute specific commands during the fighting sequences.

Body, mind, and spirit are the three primary attributes inherent in each character, and over time mastery over these guiding forces allows players to transform into a terra-cotta warrior, fox, or ghoul, respectively. No matter which character is selected at the onset, players will be able to hold court in a base of operations called the stronghold, where they can practice specific techniques, store acquired relics or mementos, and even build a flying ship in the shape of a dragonfly. Though the game follows the path of one character instead of a party, players can earn "followers" to their cause who will remain at the stronghold to be assigned tasks that will help influence the story.

ESPN College Hoops 2K5

ESPN's brand of college basketball returns to the virtual hardwood with fresh features and a familiar name. This "2K5" edition of College Hoops boasts a new graphics engine, a revamped "Legacy" mode, and a "Reactive Court Sense" AI system designed to produce realistic player behavior. Computer-controlled players now "decide" for themselves, individually, how to best help their team in any situation. This allows for timing-based plays, leading passes to players as they cut to the basket, and independent defensive moves based on the coach's calls.

Good coaching is as important as it ever was. Numerous smaller college teams are available for play for the first time in this year's game, allowing fans to live out their own Cinderella stories. Since ESPN College Hoops 2K5 is built on a version of the ESPN NBA game engine, "IsoMotion2" moves can play a big role, allowing players to perform spins, fakes, and crossovers to shake the D and make the bucket. As in earlier versions of ESPN College Hoops, online play is available for connected PlayStation 2 and Xbox gamers.

Dead or Alive Ultimate

Dead or Alive Ultimate brings to Xbox the first two titles in the popular fighting game series complete with Xbox Live support. One of the world's first fully online 3D fighting games, Dead or Alive Online features a number of new play modes and broadband capabilities designed to enhance the game's appeal to a worldwide audience. Dead or Alive 2, which made its debut in 2000 on Dreamcast, has received a visual face-lift to bring it closer to Dead or Alive 3. Also added are new episodes detailing each character's past and explaining some of the questions astute players have asked during the history of the series. Those who wondered what the flower meant in Kasumi's ending or why Avane was born will finally get their answers in Dead or Alive Online.



source: allgame.com

Darkwatch

Ever seen a vampire with a Stetson and a six-gun? Probably not, thanks to the vigilance of the ancient, secret organization called Darkwatch, which has existed since the dawn of history to protect us all from the evil undead. In this premier release from High Moon Studios, players take the role of Jericho Cross, a rookie Darkwatch agent in the Wild Western frontier. During a train robbery, the hero is bitten by a vampire. He gains some useful, supernatural powers, but he must vanquish the creature that infected him before he loses all his humanity and becomes a full-fledged vampire himself. Equipped with enhanced weaponry and a loyal, undead steed, Jericho sets out on a quest to find the vampire who bit him. Darkwatch boasts dynamic artificial intelligence that is affected by the player's in-game reputation, nonlinear story lines and mission progression, and precise first-person shooter gameplay featuring location-specific damage.


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Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix

Konami's quirky Dance Dance Revolution series twirls its way onto Xbox with the release of Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix, which features online support and offers exclusive licensed music designed to appeal to American audiences. The first online version of the series, Ultramix allows players to download additional songs and dance steps as well as challenge contestants from around the world to receive an Internet ranking. Play involves pressing a series of directions to the beat of the music. By stringing together complete sequences, players can increase their onscreen dance meter and advance to more challenging routines. Fail to keep up with the arrows, however, and the meter will decrease and eventually end the game.

New to the series is the Challenge Mode, which has players trying to complete specific objectives while advancing through multiple rounds of dance routines. A separate dance pad peripheral is required to get the most out of the experience, which connects directly to the controller port and lets players use their feet instead of their fingers. The dance pad can even be used as part of an aerobic exercise routine, with the game counting the number of calories burned during marathon freestyle sessions. Would-be choreographers can create their own routines for each song, save them to the Xbox hard drive, or trade them to friends via Xbox Live.

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Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

Although it offers its share of authentically equipped, WWII shooter action, Brothers in Arms is a squad-based game that requires players to manage and deploy their three-soldier teams intelligently in order to meet mission challenges. Instead of a straightforward run-and-gun progression, the game's situations are designed such that players may need to move their men around the battlefield to recon the surroundings, provide cover fire, and pin down the enemy, before they move in for the final kill.

The adventure begins with the D-day airdrop over Normandy, and missions follow situations faced by various members of the real-life 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. The player's character, Matt Baker, is also based on the stories of an actual World War II paratrooper.

In addition to its action and tactical challenges, Brothers in Arms also incorporates some role-playing styled decision-making. While the game's AI is intended to provide for competent, self-preserving squad-members, is also endows them with human wants and fears. Baker must consider his teammates interests as if they were real people -- his "Brothers in Arms" -- in order to keep their trust and have them follow his orders effectively.

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Armed and Dangerous

Armed & Dangerous for Xbox is an original squad-based shooter inspired by the legend of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. Set in the distant future, the game stars a confident gang leader named Roman who decides to overthrow an oppressive king with the help of his three-man crew, dubbed the Lionhearts. Players will guide Roman and his team across 21 missions taking place in five regions of Planet Milola. Roman and company will be hounded throughout by a motley assortment of humanoid beasts, fanatical monks, relentless droids, and other freaks of nature.

Each member of the Lionhearts specializes in certain tasks, including demolitions, magic, and muscle. Players will journey across three continents on their way to defeat evil King Forge, each of which offers such varied terrain as mountains, tundra, forests, and cliffs. To help guarantee safe passage, players can use the Cyclops Sniper Rifle to defeat multiple foes in one shot, the Vindaloo Rocket Launcher to fire four simultaneous missiles, and two types of bombs: Sticky Bombs, which can be attached to any surface (including enemies), and Topsy-Turvy Bombs, which literally turn the world upside down for a short time to shake up enemies.

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American McGee Presents Scrapland

In the role of wayward robot named D-Tritus, players visit the space station Chimera, a place diversely populated by other automatons, and full of both danger and opportunity. Futuristic, flying vehicles are a focus of the game, and D-Tritus will win, build, borrow, and steal progressively faster, more powerful rides as he moves through the adventure. Although it would be unfair to dub this game "Grand Theft Spaceship," another essential element of Scrapland concerns the relatively random events that emerge, independent of the main narrative, in its large, freely roamed environments.

Similar to Rockstar's pièce de résistance, Scrapland allows players not only to follow its story arc through one main mission to the next, but also to simply wander around the space station and find random races, fights, and other "pick-up" escapades. Somewhere between this open-ended game world play and the scripted story missions are a number of RPG-style side challenges, which can be attempted for more specific rewards such as cash or new vehicle designs. The robot hero can also visit arenas, where sanctioned races and deathmatch battles are held.

There's plenty for D-Tritus to do when he's not in the cockpit of his latest ride, however. Many missions have him on foot, infiltrating different buildings to obtain information and loot, or perhaps for more sinister purposes. D-Tritus can take on the body of another robot -- either co-opting another character he's met or changing his appearance by choosing new parts from a menu. Not only does this allow him to move around incognito, but it also lets him adjust his inherent abilities. He might take over a character who's good at jumping to conquer a platform challenge, for example, and then switch to a character who's good at shooting for a combat sequence.

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007 NightFire [Platinum Hits]

James Bond returns to battle evil on an international level in this follow-up to the best-selling Agent Under Fire. Developed by the same company responsible for The World Is Not Enough on the Nintendo 64, NightFire features a mixture of first-person shooting action and mission-based driving sequences from behind such sophisticated vehicles as the Aston Martin Vanquish.

Like Agent Under Fire, NightFire includes an original story line as Bond embarks on missions taking place in the Austrian Alps, underneath the South Pacific, and even the depths of outer space to stop a megalomaniac named Rafael Drake. Taking key elements from Bond's 40-year history in film and books, NightFire includes familiar enemies from 007's storied past as well as new characters created specifically for the game.

Bond will once again make use of a variety of gadgets to complete his objectives, some of which can be upgraded, with missions ranging from stealth assignments to all-out search and destroy affairs. Making a return from Agent Under Fire are Bond "heroics," where players have the opportunity to pull off dramatic moves the suave spy is known for. Top achievements during each mission earn players various cheats for use in both single and multiplayer modes.


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Prince of Persia [Xbox Live]

In an hour the princess must decide: marry the Grand Vizier Jaffar or die. You are the only one who can save her, but you've been arrested and thrown in the dank dungeons far below the palace where the princess nervously waits in a room at the top of a tower. You escape the guards' clutches, but you have a long way to go to rescue your true love and depose the cruel tyrant who rules his land with an iron fist. To get there, you'll have to leap across bottomless chasms, avoid spikes which shoot up from the floor, and battle nasty swordsmen.

Played in real time, Prince of Persia gives you exactly one hour of game time to master its secrets and reach your objective. Using animation modelled after the movements of real people, creator Jordan Mechner has crafted an intriguing game which not only looks wonderful, it has the feel of an old adventure film, with you in the title role. Are you up to the challenge?



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Perfect Dark Zero

Joanna Dark, that Rare heroine who raised the bar for console shooters with her near-perfect 2000 debut on Nintendo 64, returns to her past with new purpose (and on a new platform), in this 2005 launch title for the Xbox 360. As the title implies, this game is a prequel to the N64 game, set before the original's twisted story of corporate conspiracy. Gamers are challenged to guide Joanna through training as a rookie operative, and help her earn the "perfect" test scores that inspired her ominous nickname.

The earlier setting should not imply that all has been said and done, however; while the game's story line may answer old questions about Joanna and her background, it also poses plenty of new questions of its own. In addition to its story-driven single-player mode, as Xbox aficionados and fans of the series might expect, Perfect Dark Zero features a variety of cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, including split-screen shooting for up to four, and online action through the Xbox Live subscription service, capable of hosting more than 50 human players in a single map.



source: allgame.com

NBA Street: Homecourt

In NBA Street: Homecourt, players go up against NBA superstars on courts in their hometowns. Gamers who go "Career" must create a character and then pick a home to represent. Players then work their way from nobody to street ball legend by defeating other teams on their turf. Gamers go up against such NBA all-stars as Shaquille O'neal, Dwayne Wade, and Melo. As players progress through the game they are rewarded with upgraded skills and attributes for their avatar.

To truly own the courts players must master the "Trick Remixer." Gamers may execute a variety of special moves and combos during gameplay to upset the opponent's defense and to earn more points. Each successful trick bumps the Gamebreaker gauge up a notch until it is full and players activate the money ball. With control of the money ball, gamers can either go for a single basket or attempt to complete several combos before the dunk and earn up to three extra points. Online, players can create teams, chat with friends, check the leaderboard, and schedule tournaments.


source: allgame.com

Major League Baseball 2007

Major League Baseball 2K7 continues 2K Sports' annual series with an emphasis on a more lifelike presentation, from the player models and animations to the commentary and crowds. Individual faces and body types have been refined, with in-game stars sporting the same accessories, batting stances, and home run celebrations as their real-life counterparts. The prior season's "Inside Edge" scouting data is now linked to user control, resulting in a temporary stat boost for players who successfully follow an athlete's particular strengths at the plate or on the mound.

On the diamond, the defensive AI has been tweaked to allow for more accurate positioning, relays, and cutoff throws based on scoring situations and the batter's tendencies. A number of new animations have been incorporated into the defensive game, allowing for fluid throws, slick dives, and show-stopping grabs. The popular franchise mode from previous iterations returns with a team's success now tied to ticket prices, attendance numbers, news, and fan hype. Veteran broadcasters Jon Miller and Joe Morgan reprise their commentary duties, and online support is once again included for head-to-head competition in custom leagues and tournaments.


source: allgame.com