Call of Duty: World at War was a pleasant surprise from Treyarch. While Treyarch’s Call of Duty 3 was a disappointment, World at War, built on Call of Duty 4’s engine, followed Call of Duty 4’s formula as well. It feels extremely similar to Call of Duty 4, which is great, but adds little. While not ground-breaking, World at War is basically Call of Duty 4 set in World War II.
The American campaign follows the war in the Pacific against the Japanese. This was a very nice change from previous Call of Duty titles. Japanese soldiers have a very different AI from German soldiers. They will hide in trees, hide in pits, wear camouflage, complete with shrubbery, and even run at you in an attempt to stab you (similar to dogs in Call of Duty 4). These levels were very challenging for me, and I liked them less than the levels pitting me against the Germans. Even so, it was nice to see this small change. I look forward to more changes like this in the future as long as the core game stays the same. The Russian campaign plays similarly to previous Call of Duty games in the World War II setting. You follows Russia’s push into Germany and their ending of the war.

 
During these two campaigns, you also get the chance to play as a gunner in a plane and as a tank. Both of these missions are very fun. World at War also introduces flamethrowers and molotovs. Both the flamethrower and molotov make small camps of enemies a breeze. The flamethrower also allows you to burn down tall grass in which the Japanese often hide. You can also use it to set fire to the trees in which Japanese snipers hide. The game looks great, and the war feels very dirty and gritty. The voice acting is good, and the small scenes before each level are very cool. These give the date, some background information about what’s happening, the location, and real footage of World War II. Being reminded that this war really happened and real soldiers experienced it is one of my favorite parts of playing a World War II shooter.
Some of the aspects about the ending remind me of how Call of Duty 4 felt. I’m not spoiling anything; it isn’t plot. It’s just the feeling I got from experiencing the endings. Also, periodically through the game the AI glitches and leaves enemies running into a wall or doing something similar. It doesn’t happen too often, but it’s noticeable. In addition, Treyarch seems to have noticed that players enjoyed the Call of Duty 4 scenes in which control was limited. In these scenes, movement was restricted due to the character being restrained, but the player could still look around. World at War features this mechanic over and over. There isn’t really anything wrong with this, but it felt like the game wanted the player to be impressed with it. This was a cool mechanic in Call of Duty 4, but it isn’t new anymore. I don’t have a problem with it. In fact, I believe it should be used whenever it makes sense to restrict movement and not the ability to look around. However, it isn’t new, and it felt overused in World at War.
After completing the game, Nazi Zombies, which is similar to Gears of War 2’s Horde mode, is unlocked. In this mode, the player is stuck in a room with barricaded doors and windows. Zombies approach and attempt to break through the barricades. Players earn points for repairing barricades and shooting zombies, getting more points for headshots than body shots. These points can be used to buy upgrades or access new areas of the base. If the player touches a zombie, it’s game over! The gameplay itself in this mode is really cool; however, it spooked me out a bit playing it. If only they weren’t zombies!
World at War also features cooperative play, which is very nice to have. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to try it. It allows four people over Xbox Live or two people locally. I’m a big fan of local coop play and am glad it was included.
World at War didn’t introduce anything amazing to the genre, but it is a very fun shooter. It really does feel like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare with the setting changed to World War II. It also features coop, new weapons, Nazi Zombies, and of course the Pacific battles. Treyarch really redeemed themselves after Call of Duty 3. If you’re looking for a game as amazing as Call of Duty 4 or are expecting World at War to really push the first person shooter genre, you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for a good World War II shooter that actually shows the fighting in the Pacific for once, you’ll probably enjoy World at War.

Trine is a hack-n-slash, puzzle platformer set in a fantasy world. While the graphics are 3D, the gameplay itself is sidescrolling and 2D. The setting is absolutely gorgeous with dungeons, lush plant life, water, and more. In Trine you must sometimes overcome puzzles, usually in the form of figuring out how to reach a particular place. The undead will try to stop you and are fought in a typical hack-n-slash method – run up and hit them with a sword!
Three characters are presented to the player, the Thief, the Wizard, and the Knight. Each has different abilities that allow the player to solve puzzles in different ways. What’s interesting about Trine is that the player can switch between any of the three characters at any time (provided the character still has health). Each character has his or her own life and energy bars. The Thief can shoot arrows and use a grappling hook to reach high places or to swing. The Wizard can create crates and planks (usually used to help reach something, press a button, or as a counterbalance) and can levitate and move objects. The Knight can perform melee attacks with his sword and hold up a shield to protect himself. Many puzzles can be solved in different ways with different characters. This was of particular enjoyment to me because while trying to solve a puzzle I sometimes die, leaving me the two other characters to solve it and forcing me to rethink my solution.

 
The music and sound effects are appropriate and nice, and the voice acting is great. The characters don’t speak much, but it’s nice when they do, and the narrator does a superb job at telling the story like a fairy tale. The writing is nice, and the story more than sufficiently supplies motivation for the game.
Adding more depth to the game, Trine also features experience which can be collected. Each level has a set amount of experience, and when collected, experience is applied to all characters equally. When the characters level up, the player is able to pick skills to improve. In addition, equipment can be found in the levels. The player chooses which character to give the give the equipment, providing the chosen character with a bonus.
Trine features simple, enjoyable combat, fun puzzles, a beautiful setting, and an interesting mechanic (character swapping). These are all aspects of a great game, so it’s no surprise that I’m impressed with Trine.

WarioWare: Snapped! is the latest entry in the WarioWare series, and was a launch title for DSiWare. I was pleasantly surprised with how much fun the game was! The DSi is placed on a table and opened so that the camera points at the player’s face. The games are all controller solely by moving your head and hands within the camera’s view. The microgames, which are what the minigames are called in the WarioWare series, were all fun, and I did a lot of laughing while playing with my friends. One game has a wet dog controller by the player. The player must shake wildly to get the dog to dry off!

 
I did have some issues at first getting the camera to recognize me. At my desk, the game said it couldn’t distinguish between me and the background. I tried again later while at a restaurant and had the same result, although my friend was able to play. When I got home I tried again at my roommate’s desk and the camera saw me perfectly. You definitely have to be in good lighting conditions for the camera to operate correctly. You also need to make sure other people do not enter the camera’s vision.
Unlike the abundance of characters in the other WarioWare games, Snapped! only has four characters. Even with multiple tries needed for some levels, I still completed the game in under a half hour. I don’t think I see a lot of replay value besides using it as a tech demo for camera games for my friends, but WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! for the GameCube was the only one I did replay because of the excellent multiplayer.
Each character has different microgames to play. Three of them are for one player, and one is for two players despite not actually specifying that. In addition to the cartoony graphics on screen, a gray blob represents what the camera sees so that the player can align himself or herself. The microgames involve moving your head and hands to particular locations, swatting things, grabbings thing, and other various activities. The game is able to detect when you open and close your mouth, which is used in one of the microgames. I was also surprised to find out that the game can tell when you turn head to the side. At the end of each character’s set of microgames, video or playfully edited snapshots of the player are shown. These range from small movies with simple stories starring the player to fun little photos that seem like the type that would come from photo booths.
In addition to the microgames corresponding to the four characters, the credits is also a game. The names scroll down the screen, and the player moves his or her head to cause a rollercoaster to collide with the letters. The more letters you get, the more points you get. At the end your photo is taken and your score is saved and displayed on the title screen.
At only 500 Nintendo Points ($5), I found it a worthwhile experience. I’d be very happy if Nintendo published more small, cheap, downloadable WarioWare games!

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl did not feel like a very good game. It’s dark and ugly, and it felt like a bad mod. The interface was designed badly and was not as responsive as it should be. It had the same feel as the Hellgate: London interface, only Stalker’s interface belongs to an uninteresting game. The game is a first person shooter and role playing game. An accident in Chernobyl yields radiation that causes strange effects to the surroundings. You play as some sort of hunter or explorer. The area around the accident, known as the Zone, is off limits; however, people known as hunters go in anyways looking for strange artifacts. You have amnesia and have one mission in your PDA at the start of the game to kill a particular person. The game is very boring visually, and the a lot of the graphics are just bad on top of the boring colors. Using the interface is annoying. From what I saw early in the game, dialogue was pretty boring too. I did not find this game worth my time to explore further.