Fifa 2011

 

Description:
Just two years ago it seemed as if EA Sports had turned its back completely on the PC. With big franchises like NHL and Madden being stripped altogether, it was only FIFA that was left to stumble onwards.
And stumble it did; whereas on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 FIFA has established itself as the finest football game available, on the PC it’s been less convincing of. There have been a few wayward attempts at innovation – such as FIFA 09′s introduction of mouse and keyboard play – but it’s been lagging behind its console counterparts in almost every regard, the PC version of FIFA 10 a pale imitation of its full-blooded brethren.With the introduction of FIFA Superstars and FIFA Online, it’s tempting to think that, for the core FIFA experience, EA Sports has indeed abandoned the PC – or at the very least wilfully neglected it. It’s an approach that’s acknowledged by the talk surrounding the reveal of FIFA 11 on the PC – in the past, PC has suffered, but this year EA Sports is keen to make amends.
It’s doing that by using, for the very first time, the engine that’s propelled the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions to such success. Confusingly EA insists on calling it the next-generation engine, and while it’s not as good as what we’re expecting from whatever Microsoft and Sony’s hardware divisions have lined up for us in the future it’s certainly impressive.

Left 4 Dead 2

Description: 
Last year Left 4 Dead unleashed a harrowing and entertaining vision of what it’s like to be on both sides of the zombie apocalypse. Whether you were shooting your way through hordes of infected (the preferred nomenclature) en route to possible rescue, or scheming with your fellow superpowered zombies (an acceptable colloquialism) in an effort to choke, eviscerate, and otherwise kill the intrepid survivors, Left 4 Dead was enormously fun. The only real drawback was the shortage of content. Left 4 Dead 2 does not have this problem, offering five new campaign maps that can be enjoyed across five uniquely engaging game modes. These campaigns are more diverse, more atmospheric, and more exciting, thanks largely to the stellar level design. Left 4 Dead 2 also improves on the original in almost every other way, featuring new weapons, new items, new enemies, and new survivors that make the game richer across the board. Though the core action remains largely unchanged, the widespread enhancements make Left 4 Dead 2 even better than its impressive predecessor. This is one zombie apocalypse you do not want to miss. The heart of Left 4 Dead 2 is the five campaign maps that take the survivors through a wide variety of terrain in the Deep South. From murky swamplands to a creepy carnival ground, from flooded suburbs to claustrophobic city streets, every environment is detailed and immersive. Clever design touches abound, some of which are clues that show you which way to progress. It’s deceptively easy to get turned around, especially since you aren’t the only ones who have been leaving piles of bodies around. Left 4 Dead 2′s environments help tell a story, and as you travel through the remains of a massive government-organized evacuation effort, you get a better sense of how it all went down. The campaigns now string together to make one long adventure, and though the oppressive, desperate mood seethes more potently this time around, there is still plenty of levity and high-impact excitement. Well-timed survivor quips make trudging through zombie-infested swamps a bit less nerve-racking, and thunderous rainstorms make a tense final stand (the moments right before your rescue) even more dramatic. The sound design is a standout once again, filling the air with eerie strains and helpful cues, as well as conveying the full range of the survivors’ emotions. This rich atmosphere is enhanced by the wider variety of choke points and final stands, all of which give the campaigns their own unique pace.

Kane And Lynch 2: Dog Days

Description: The first thing you can’t help but notice about Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is its aesthetic. The entire game is seemingly played from the perspective of an invisible drunk who, armed with the world’s worst camcorder, has decided to follow protagonist Lynch everywhere he goes. The shakiness of the camera is optional, but other effects such as compression artifacts, lens flare, and lights smearing vertically across the screen are mandatory. You might initially find this visual style quite distracting, but because the treatment is always consistent, it doesn’t take long to get used to it. Opting to keep the shaky cam switched on can make the game a little more challenging in spots because it interferes with your aim, but other than a few cut scenes in which the camera sways for no apparent reason, its movement is very much in keeping with your own and with your surroundings. And, invisible cameraman theories aside, it makes sense that your view and your aim would be a little compromised when sprinting as fast as you can or getting knocked to the ground after taking a bullet–both of which you spend a lot of time doing.

Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

• Language: English
• PC
• Developer : Activision
• Publisher : Activision
• 1.23 GB
• Genre : Action (Adventure) / 3D / 3rd Person

Description: 
Yeah, believe it or not there’s a third Ice Age movie in theaters, and that means that there’s yet another film-inspired videogame for you to sit down with. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs lets you play as your favorite fuzzy critters from the movie and provides you with a tale that complements the movie — generally, you’re playing the parts of the film that weren’t shown in theaters.
Is it a Game of the Year contender? No, but Ice Age shouldn’t be written off as movie cash-in, either. Classifying the gameplay can be a bit difficult. In the beginning, it’s pretty much a straight platformer with you taking Sid the Sloth through the paces — baby-proofing the wooly mammoth nursery, battling hedgehog-looking dudes, and collecting fruit to be used as currency. However, the deeper you get, the more there is to do. Later levels have you playing in a shooting gallery where you blast passing dinos with your plant shooter, flying pterodactyls in massive dogfights as Buck, and plowing through side-scrolling levels as Scrat.
This variety is appreciated and a nice change of pace, but in the end it won’t do much for the older players among us because the game’s pretty frickin’ easy. You have a health meter in the upper-left corner that’ll deplete when you get hit or whatever, but there are plenty of strawberries to pick up to refill that meter as well as the ability to purchase upgrades. From there, it’s just hitting bad guys, learning where to roll your egg so you don’t die, and so on.

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Bright Light Studio
Release Date: Nov 16, 2010
Genre: Action Adventure

DESCRIPTION: The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 videogame is the most challenging yet, packed from start to finish with action and combat.
Playing as Harry, you are on the run from the opening sequence, fighting for survival on a desperate and dangerous quest to locate and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes. You must defeat Death Eaters and Snatchers in epic battle sequences at every turn. With only your wand for protection, it’s time to muster your most powerful magic against relentless assaults from all sides.
There are no more lessons, no more training. This time the danger is real. It’s time to fight your life.

Grand Theft Auto IV: GTA IV

• Publisher: Rockstar
• Developer: Rockstar

Description:
Stepping off a boat in the shoes of illegal immigrant Niko Bellic as he arrives in Liberty City at the start of Grand Theft Auto IV, you can tell immediately that Rockstar North’s latest offering is something quite special. Yes, this is another GTA game in which you’ll likely spend the bulk of your time stealing cars and gunning down cops and criminals, but it’s also much more than that. GTAIV is a game with a compelling and nonlinear storyline, a great protagonist who you can’t help but like, and a plethora of online multiplayer features in addition to its lengthy story mode. The PC version adds a customizable radio station and a video editor to the package, and also ups the multiplayer count from 16 to 32 players. It’s not all good news, though; the game suffers from some noticeable performance issues even on rigs that far exceed the unreasonably high recommended system specifications, and you need to be signed in to Windows Live to save your progress in the single-player game. This should have been the best GTA game yet, but it’s inferior to its console counterparts.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince

PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER : Bright Light Productions
DESCRIPTION : Two years ago, I nearly pooped my pants. See, Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix came out on the PC and it didn’t suck — in fact, it was decent. If you’re just joining us, that’s pretty much unheard of when you’re talking about movie-based games. Now, with another H.P. movie bearing down on us, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is coming to your favorite videogame console. Can EA defy movie-to-videogame logic one more time?
The answer is “yes.” And although it isn’t the greatest game in the world, some simplified mouse controls actually make this title a fair bit better than the last outing and makes for a pretty fun game. If you’re interested in this title, chances are that you’ve already read the books and are awaiting the movie. Still, I’ll do my best to summarize what’s up this time around: Harry, Ron, and Hermione are back for their sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, everyone’s abuzz about the latest happenings in the world of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and Draco is up to no good. Sure, that sounds like every Harry Potter story, but this time things are really bad.

Eragon

Description: Eragon the video game is based on the movie, which itself is based on the book of the same name. It’s a typical fantasy world full of dragons, wizards, and magic, which would seem to lend itself well to a video game adaptation in the vein of the very good series of Lord of the Rings action games that came out alongside those movies. In fact, the Eragon game bears a striking resemblance to those Lord of the Rings games, which only makes sense because the games were all developed by the same company. But while the Lord of the Rings games were well-polished action games, Eragon feels unfinished and lazily thrown together. It’s the same basic hack-and-slash principle that’s readily accessible to just about any fan of the film, but Eragon feels like a skeleton of a game that’s been padded out with some licensed content. There’s not nearly enough to make the game interesting or even remotely worth playing, though. The action is mindless and repetitive at best, and buggy and unresponsive at worst. In addition, the presentation ranges from bland to ugly, the game is short, the fixed camera angles are frustrating, and there is no online play. Even for a straightforward action game,