Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Age Of Empires III: Asian Dynasties

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Big Huge Games
Genre: Historic Real-Time Strategy
Release Date: Oct 23, 2007 (more)
ESRB: TEEN
ESRB Descriptors: Blood, Violence
Online Modes: Competitive
Number of Players: 1 Player
Number of Online Players: 8 Online
DirectX Version: v9.0c
Since Age of Empires debuted in 1997, the series has grown to become one of the pillars of real-time strategy gaming. Its success is in part due to the way the series has shifted historical periods. The first game covers antiquity, from the Stone Age to the Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Age of Empires II focuses on the medieval era. And 2005's Age of Empires III is about the era of European exploration and colonization. This brings us to Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, the second expansion pack and the first game in the franchise not created by Ensemble Studios. Big Huge Games, creator of Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends, is responsible for The Asian Dynasties, and the company ably delivers a solid expansion.

What the expansion brings to the table are three new Asian civilizations--Japan, China, and India--as well as three campaigns built around them. The Japanese campaign deals with the Warring States period of rival Shogun; the Chinese campaign actually covers a naval expedition to the New World; and the Indian campaign is about throwing off the oppressive yoke of the East India Trading Company. The campaigns have their twists and turns, with a fair amount of betrayal going on, though the characters are drawn in such obviously black-and-white textures that it's not too hard to see the plot developments coming. For instance, most of the bad guys in the game speak with haughty, arrogant voices, while the good guys tend to be humbler and wiser.
Minimum System Requirements
System: 1.4 GHz processor or equivalent
RAM: 256 MB
Video Memory: 64 MB
Hard Drive Space: 2000 MB



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Credit By guy_kid
serial: KDJMG-PF9JB-BYQ3V-H697Q-CWGHC

Friday, October 26, 2007

Wanted Guns

PUBLISHER:Fusion Labs
DEVELOPER:Iridon Interactive
GENRE(S):Third-Person Action, First-Person Shooter
PLAYERS:1
ESRB RATING:RP (Rating Pending)
RELEASE DATE:March 4, 2005

Combining third person action, horse-riding and sneak’em up assassination with a cinematography inspired rail shooter FPS mode, Wanted Guns is a story driven action game for the PC set in Mexico and the Wild West during the American Civil War. You play as Reverend Devlin, an unforgiving priest whose dubious past as former leader of Los Gauchos, a Mexican gang of gold-thieving gunslingers, has finally come back to haunt him. [Fusion Labs]

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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Ghost Master

Publisher: Empire Interactive
Developer: Sick Puppies
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Release Date: Aug 26, 2003
ESRB: TEEN
ESRB Descriptors: Blood, Mild Violence

If you're looking for a new twist on ghoulies, ghosties, long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, look no further than Ghost Master. Sick Puppies' real-time strategy game stands horror-game traditions on their heads, swapping the spooks and scares of Resident Evil and Silent Hill for supernatural management duties reminiscent of Dungeon Master. It's a great novelty, first of all, but it's also a real success in terms of gameplay, thanks to outstanding scenario design and an irreverent sense of humor.

The core elements of Ghost Master are simple. Reverse the stereotypical ghost story and you have a pretty good idea what this game is all about. Unlike in your garden-variety horror game, where you wander the halls of a haunted house waiting to be frightened into a fresh pair of BVDs, here you're some kind of dead civil servant (insert "are there any other kind?" or similar joke here) in charge of the rattling chains and disembodied footsteps. Problems in the small town of Gravenville have attracted the notice of the Haunter Committee, and you're sent to set things right by generally scaring the bejesus out of the flesh-and-blood types.

You do this by recruiting a team of ghosts for each scenario. This spook squad is drawn from six categories--sprites, disturbances, elementals, vapours, frighteners, and horrors--named for the chief characteristics and skills of their members. The sprites class, for instance, consists of minor spirits who mess up electrical appliances, like the cogjammer gremlin and the ghostly spider, clatterclaws. Elementals features aether and earthwall, who have the capabilities of air and earth elementals, respectively. Horrors represents the worst of the worst, such as the mortal-possessing ghastly and the headless horseman. Every sort of spook that's ever made type B-positive run down the walls in a fright flick is at your beck and call here.

Minimum System Requirements
System: PIII 450MHz or equivalent
RAM: 128 MB
Video Memory: 16 MB
Hard Drive Space: 750 MB

Screen Shots

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Classic British Motor Racing

Publisher: Metro3D
Category: Action
Release Dates
Intl - 02/10/2006

Description
An amazing 13 high performance cars to choose from, including Austin Mini, MG and Triumph. Each car accurately recreated under licence, featuring true handling characteristics of the real vehicles. Race through 6 different courses across the British Isles, including the heart stopping thrills of the traditional ‘Westminster Run’ around the streets of London. Challenge your racing agility to unlock all 3 action packed game modes including Time Trial and Grand Prix. Drive for the record or race against friends in the insanely addictive multiplayer mode. Designed to please Classic Motor fans! Your chance to own a part of British Motor Racing heritage.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Shanghai Street Racer

Publisher: Team6 Game Studios
Developer: Team6
Genre: GT / Street Racing
Release Date: March 2004

Fast cars, dangerous tracks and reckless driving guarantee a lot of incredible crashes and highspeed action. Scream through the streets of Shanghai at all hours of the day or night in a true arcade style game (really easy to learn) and blow the doors off your adversaries! Choose from 5 Hot Rods (up to 355 Km/h) on 10 circuits (You?ll see Shanghai day and night). 2 modes of play are offered: Single and, of course, Multi-Player for network racing. In Single Player mode you can test yourself against 'Time Attack' (the object is to beat your best time) in a single race, or a Championship series. In short, hours and hours of gaming!

Windows System Requirements:
Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/98SE
Processor: Pentium 3 1.0 GHz
256 MB RAM
Free hard drive space: 900 MB

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

European Street Racing

Publisher: Xider Games
Developer: Team 6
Category: Sports
Release Dates
Intl - 09/21/2007

Description
Test your driving skills and race through the streets of seven of Europe’s principal cities including Moscow, Warsaw, London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and Hamburg.
The streets will never be the same again…

Features
-The only racing game with 5 original European Cities
-12 car models inspired from the hottest European models
-Destructible cars and objects
-Day and Night mode, Spectacular stunts and tuning options
-Race against friends via LAN or internet
Requeriments:
Mín.:
Processor: 1000 MHz
Memory: 256 MB
Video card: 2nd generation ‘hardware TnL’ videocards 64 MB
such as:ATI Radeon 7500 or Nvidia Geforce 2
Hard disk: 2 GB free space
OS: WinXP
DirectX version: 9.0c



Rec.:
Processor: 1800 MHz
Memory: 512 MB
Video card: 3rd or 4th generation ‘hardware TnL’ videocards 128 MB
such as:ATI Radeon 9600 or higher Nvidia GeforceFX5600 or higher
Hard disk: 2 GB free space
Network: LAN or internet access for multiplay.
OS: WinXP DirectX version: 9.0c



Screen Shots



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Sunday, October 14, 2007

GT-R 400

Genre: Driving
Release Date: Nov 17, 2006 (EU)

Need a champion GT-R 400? Test themselves in one of the best racing Simulators, "GT-R 400"! Advanced physics, modern management, and specifically the most realistic simulated tracks transmit a sense of this race. Choose a recognized "monsters" roads, such as Ascari KZ1 or Mosler MT900R and reconciliation in fascinating fight against recognized Profi racing sports-GT 2003 Champ Martin Short

Features of the game:
16 realistic tracks on 3 continents
6 championships
New car, a new track and new goals for the winner in the race for time
- Effektnye accident in real time
Multi-player mode, allowing just two players for the victory srazitsya

System requirements:
-Windows 2000/XP
-Pentium 4 2.0 GHz 512
-Mb Ram
-CD-ROM Drive
-100 Mb free disk space
-DirectX 9-compatible 3D graphics card 128 Mb
-DirectX 9
-Keyboard
-Mouse

Screen Shots

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Friday, October 12, 2007

Fetch

Genre: Action
Release Date: 2006


Bring home your new best friend today!Spend many happy hours pampering, grooming and playing fetch with your new canine pal. Play with your dog, take him for walks and run through the park to perfect his agility and obedience. He needs your love and patience to grow into a trained pedigree dog that can compete in national competitions. Do you and your dog have what it takes to be named Best in Show?

• Ruff-house with your dog, playing fetch and teaching him to obey commands.
• Feed and care for the newest member of your family – he needs lots of attention to keep him from chewing furniture and digging holes.
• Put all of your hard work and training to the test in obedience and agilitycompetitions. How will your dog rank?
• Dress your dog in funny clothes, hats and collars. Even buy accessories and toys for your dog to play with throughout the game.
YOUR POOCH, YOUR PAL!
Adopt a New Best Friend!Choose from American's favorite dogs including Labradors, German Shepherds, Boxers, Chihuahuas, Dachshunds and Beagles to bring home today.Give your new friend a name and get ready to play!
Sit, Stay, Fetch!Teach your new dog how to sit, stay, fetch and more! Use Fetch!'s Gesture Recognition feature to get your dog to obey with a simple move of your mouse. Then reward your puppy with toys, treats and lots of love.
Best in ShowCompete in local dog shows to demonstrate your pet's pedigree and training. Progress through the ranks to make it to the national obedience and agility competitions and be named Best in Show.
Dog Days of SummerHave fun with your pooch in the kitchen and the yard, on the streets and in the park as the seasons bring sun, leaves and snow.
Teach Your Old Dog New Tricks!Use Fetch!'s Gesture Recognition system to get your dog to obey your commands by simply moving your mouse!

System Requirements
Windows® 98/Me/XP
Pentium® III 1 GHz or compatible
512 MB RAM
500 MB hard drive space
DirectX® 9 (included on CD)
2 MB DirectX 9 compliant video card with T&L functionality
DirectX 9 compatible sound card
8X CD-Rom drive
Keyboard

Screen Shots

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part1,part2,part3

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

FIFA 08

Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Canada
Genre: Soccer Sim
Release Date: Oct 9, 2007 (more)
ESRB: EVERYONE
Number of Players: 1 Player
Number of Online Players: 2 Online

FIFA Soccer 08 is the next release in the long-running simulation series from EA Sports. Most of the features of FIFA 07 return in FIFA 08, with a host of new features that aim to liven up the gameplay.
FIFA 08 introduces a new engine--called the 35-point decision engine--that enables players to react to situations and make realistic decisons. Other new features include improved shooting, where a variety of factors now affect the ball after it is struck, including ball spin, pressure from defenders, player attributes, and even air resistance and pressure. FIFA 08 also introduces a new feature called "Be-A-Pro" that will allow player to control individual players for entire matches.

Screen Shots

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Part1,Part2,Part3,Part4,Part5,Part6
Part7,Part8,Part9,Part10,Part11

CD-KEY : X8MM-RWM9-FIFA-KFLT-FIFA

Credit By ItemXP.net

Monday, October 8, 2007

ArmA: Armed Assault

Publisher: Atari
Developer: Bohemia Int.
Genre: Modern First-Person Shooter
Release Date: May 4, 2007 (more)
ESRB: MATURE
ESRB Descriptors: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
Connectivity: Online, Broadband Only
Customization: Editing Tools
Online Modes: Competitive
Number of Players: 1-32
Number of Online Players: 32 Online

Let's point out the obvious, first. Yes, ArmA: Combat Operations is a very weird name. Short for "Armed Assault" (which would have made an infinitely better title), it's much easier to think of ArmA as the spiritual sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis, an innovative military-themed game that's as much simulation as it is shooter. That's because ArmA is the product of Bohemia Interactive, the European developer responsible for Operation Flashpoint. Save for a different name and a different setting, the gameplay in ArmA is unmistakably that of Flashpoint. And that pretty much sums up what's both good and bad about it.

The things that set ArmA apart from the rest of the crowded military first-person shooter field are the same things that set Flashpoint apart from this pack. There's a feeling of verisimilitude in ArmA that you don't get in most shooters, and that's due to the way that Bohemia Interactive approaches the game. Instead of putting you in a relatively small environment or holding your hand while taking you on a heavily scripted rollercoaster of a ride like most shooters do, ArmA plops you down in the middle of a huge island that's 400 square kilometers in size. While individual missions won't require you to traverse the entire breadth of the island, you will still operate in huge patches of territory, and that really gives you the sense that you are in some real place, as opposed to being in the level of a game.

Minimum System Requirements
System: Pentium IV 2.5 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive Space: 8000 MB
Other: Hardware Pixel/Vertex Shader Model 2.0 and Open AL compatible sound card



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Sunday, October 7, 2007

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds

Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: LucasArts
Genre: Sci-Fi Real-Time Strategy
Release Date: Nov 11, 2001
ESRB: TEEN
ESRB Descriptors: Violence
Number of Players: 1-8

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds will send Star Wars purists into a tizzy. Tauntauns on Tatooine? Dewbacks in outer space? Naboo Fighters tussling with X-Wings that haven't been invented yet? TIE Fighters with shields? And since when do Wookiees have tanks? The Star Wars universe already requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but most fans at least expect some internal consistency.

These are hardly grounds to dismiss LucasArts' latest real-time strategy stab at the most lucrative license of them all. But they are grounds to wonder whether this is just a cheap tug at the pocketbooks of the fans or whether any thought went into this Star Wars adaptation of Ensemble's Age of Empires II engine. Although at times it seems LucasArts was being lazy, this isn't just a slapdash skin job. Rest assured that Galactic Battlegrounds has a relatively deep design with enough twists to distinguish it from Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

The fundamentals of the Age of Empires II engine are so intact in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds that veterans of that game can jump right in with barely a glance at the manual. So many elements are almost identical--the interface, the resource management, the upgradeable units, and the unit balance, for starters. The four tech levels are analogous to Age of Kings' four ages. The six sides in Galactic Battlegrounds are the equivalent of the civilizations in Age of Kings, each with minor differences. For instance, in the Age of Kings, the Turks collect gold a little faster, and in Galactic Battlegrounds, the Royal Naboo collect nova crystals a little faster. In the expansion to Age of Empires II, the Huns don't have to build houses, and in Galactic Battlegrounds, the Trade Federation doesn't have to build prefab shelters. As in Age of Kings, in Battlegrounds, each side can build a unique unit. For instance, in Age of Kings, the Teutons get Teutonic knights, and in Galactic Battlegrounds, the Galactic Empire gets dark troopers. Although each side in Battlegrounds has unique graphics for its units and structures, they're all functionally the same. In Age of Kings, each side's infantry, cavalry, archers, and siege engines have the same basic stats, and in Galactic Battlegrounds, each side's troopers, mechs, heavy weapons, and aircraft have the same basic stats. All the units can be upgraded. In Age of Kings, a militia upgrades to a man-at-arms, then to a long swordsman, then to a two-handed swordsman, and finally to a champion. In Galactic Battlegrounds, a trooper recruit upgrades to a trooper, then to a heavy trooper, and finally to a repeater trooper. There are minor exceptions. In Age of Kings, the Persians don't get champions, and in Galactic Battlegrounds, the Trade Federation doesn't get repeater troopers. And so on.

Minimum System Requirements
System: PII 233 or equivalent
RAM: 32 MB
Video Memory: 2 MB
Hard Drive Space: 500 MB

Screen Shots

Saturday, October 6, 2007

CTU Marine Sharpshooter

Publisher: Groove Games
Developer: Jarhead Games
Genre: Modern First-Person Shooter
Release Date: Mar 20, 2003
ESRB: MATURE
ESRB Descriptors: Blood, Violence
Number of Players: 1 Player

Minimum System Requirements
System: PII 300 MHz or equivalent
RAM: 64 MB
Video Memory: 8 MB
Hard Drive Space: 500 MB

Recommended System Requirements
System: PIII 550 MHz or equivalent
RAM: 128 MB
Video Memory: 32 MB
Hard Drive Space: 500 MB


Thursday, October 4, 2007

Death to Spies

Publisher: Atari
Developer: Haggard Games
Genre: Modern Action Adventure
Release Date: Sep 18, 2007 (more)
ESRB: MATURE
Number of Players: 1 Player

Smersh is the Russian for "Death to Spies" and was the name of a set of counterintelligence departments in the Soviet Army formed during World War II. Their mission was to secure the rear of the active Red Army by arresting traitors, deserters, spies and criminal elements. During the war these agents became the main force combating the German intelligence service. The game's main character is a captain in the 4th department of the Soviet counterintelligence service. He is a professional spy trained to execute dangerous operations on his own. During missions he has to complete various tasks in the heart of enemy territory including stealing important documents, eliminating different enemy officers or high-ranking officials, kidnapping and sabotage. Game missions are based on real historical events and operations which were executed by the military intelligence and counterintelligence during the war.

System requirements
Operating System: Windows 2000/XP x86-32bit(XP recommended)(not Support Vista)
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz or AMD Athlon 1.8 GHz (Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz recommended)
Memory: 512 MB RAM (1 GB RAM recommended)
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB Free
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 5200/ATI Radeon 9500 with 128 MB RAM or higher
(NVIDIA GeForce 6800/ATI Radeon X800 with 256 MB RAM or higher recommended)



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Super Taxi Driver 2006

Publisher: Team6 Game Studios
Developer: Team6
Genre: Mission-based Driving
Release Date: 2006
ESRB: TEEN

You'll have to use all of your driving skills to survive these rides from hell. Competitive taxi drivers will smash your car into pieces. Meanwhile, you are desperately trying to deliver your passenger safely to their destination. Can you lose the competition within time? Can you satisfy your passengers? Super Taxi Driver 2006 Contains the "original" taxi-game modes, as well as new "challenge" taxi-game modes in both single-player and multiplayer
This demo for Super Taxi Driver 2006 includes two single-player missions and one multiplayer level, with two different taxis to choose from.
Screen Shots


Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Sudden Strike - Resource War

Publisher: cdv Software
Developer: Fireglow
Genre: Historic Real-Time Strategy
Release Date: Nov 9, 2004
ESRB: TEEN
ESRB Descriptors: Violence, Animated Blood
Connectivity: Local Area Network
Offline Modes: Competitive
Online Modes: Competitive
Number of Players: 1-4

The Sudden Strike series of Real Time Strategies have been about now for several years, and I have to say I’ve been a fan of them. Now there is another addition to the ranks, Sudden Strike: Resource War, using the same engine as Sudden Strike 2, is this a title too far? Or is the addition of the resource angle enough to grab a victory from defeat.

If you have played any of the previous versions of Sudden Strike you will immediately feel at home with Resource War, the game engine is identical and as the menu system goes that isn’t so bad, since there was nothing really wrong with any of the previous versions. Controls are also the same, using the keyboard shortcuts for the unit orders is still the best way to keep units under control. The major changes aren’t all that visible, to be honest, the additions to Resource War are not cosmetic.

The resource side of this Sudden Strike: Resource War is where things get interesting, occupying certain buildings will supply added units and troops plus more emphasis is placed upon fuel supply and depots etc. throughout the game. This does add an interesting twist to the usual RTS theme. Another plus is that you aren’t in charge of the whole picture, there are units outside of your control, you are only a small cog in the war machine and that will take time to grasp.

There are also some additional units for the game, plus some added abilities for the older ones. This added dimension for the Sudden Strike series though doesn’t do much to hide the improvement in graphics in the gaming world, indeed just in the RTS area. One aspect of the Sudden Strike series is the recon side, the difficulty in finding the enemy without just blundering into them.

The use of binoculars to increase range was a clever addition along the way, but the enemy seems to have better vision then your troops and you will find yourself losing more then a few troops finding them.The graphics aren’t bad, but with CDV’s other RTS titles out now it does make you wonder why they are still following up the Sudden Strike series without totally overhauling the engine. Perhaps the total number of units onscreen at any one time is the answer here, although here is another stumbling block, since most people with higher end graphics cards will find some vehicles zipping around screen rather faster then they should.

Sounds are as you would expect from the genre, although vehicle effects aren’t as individual as in other RTS’. Weapons fire makes up the bulk of any sounds available and are good, as in all the other Sudden Strike’s.

All told Sudden Strike: Resource War is a solid Real Time Strategy title from the masters of the genre, CDV. But if this is a title for you is another question, the fact that it plays well on slower systems is probably a plus to some. It must be said though that there are much better RTS’ out there, many from the same publisher and some thought should be given before digging into your pocket. One for the Sudden Strike fans is probably the best statement to make; I’ll stick to Blitzkrieg and Codename Panzers.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- P2 333 MHz
- 64 MB of RAM
- 8 MB of VRAM

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- P3 500 MHz or higher
- at least 128 MB of RAM
- at least 16 MB of VRAM



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Monday, October 1, 2007

Bloodrayne 2

Publisher: Majesco Games
Developer: Terminal Reality
Genre: Fantasy Shooter
Release Date: Aug 2, 2005
ESRB: MATURE
ESRB Descriptors: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Sexual Themes, Strong Language

Stop us if you've heard this one before. A half-human, half-vampire antihero, along with a long-haired, trench-coat-sporting associate, goes to war with a largely underground society of vampires who are looking to come up in the world and turn the human race into their slaves. No, they didn't make another lousy Blade game. It's BloodRayne, that other half-human, half-vampire hunter of bloodsuckers everywhere. The original BloodRayne game debuted in 2002. You controlled the heroine, Rayne--a busty, redheaded alternative to Wesley Snipes' comic book-inspired vampire hunter--as she hunted down Nazis, vampires, and Nazi vampires in the 1930s. The game featured a fairly straightforward story and style of gameplay that, while not spectacular, proved to be a pretty entertaining experience for fans of comic book-style action games. BloodRayne 2, the suitably named sequel, punches up the stylish action of its predecessor, giving Rayne a whole new slew of enemies to chop up, as well as a whole host of new ways in which to do it. BloodRayne 2 hit the Xbox and PS2 late last year to reasonable acclaim, and now, 10 months later, the game has come to the PC. Why it took this long becomes apparent as you play this halfhearted console port--the developer was evidently unable to get the controls to work quite right on the PC. Couple this with the fact that none of the problems from the console game have really been fixed here, and what you've got is a pretty unappealing product.

Minimum System Requirements
System: 1 ghz or equivalent
RAM: 256 MB
Hard Drive Space: 500 MB
Other: 200MB virtual memory, DirectX 8.1 or higher

Recommended System Requirements
System: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or AMD equivalent or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 256 MB
Hard Drive Space: 1000 MB
Other: 200MB virtual memory, GeForce FX (any), Radeon 9600, 9700, 9800 or better

Screen Shots

Bloodrayne 2




Screen Shots


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Sega Rally Revo

Publisher: Sega
Developer: SEGA Racing Std.
Genre: Rally / Offroad Racing
Release Date: Oct 9, 2007 (more)
ESRB: EVERYONE
Number of Players: 1 Player
Number of Online Players: 6 Online

Sega Rally Revo is one of PAX 07's hidden gems, stashed in the non-descript Sega booth, which is itself stashed inside the PAX 07 exhibition hall. The long-awaited sequel to Sega Rally 2 on the Dreamcast (there are enough residual Sega fans to qualify this as long-awaited, yes?) was wedged between Bleach and Universe at War, but almost always busy every time we walked past the small Sega booth.

There's a reason it was always attended to by a PAX show-goer: It feels like a perfect throwback to the original arcade and Saturn releases, but gussied up with some fresh current-gen visuals and some really tough tracks. The game very much still feels like a total arcade racer, rewarding the player that sticks with each of the 24 tracks long enough to achieve complete mastery. A newcomer will have fun with the easier Tropical and Safari tracks, maybe even score a second-place win here and there, but Sega Rally Revo is really built with the "perfectionist racer" in mind. You know, that guy you never want to play Ridge Racer with.

The game is a constant balancing act. Tracks aren't just strips of mud or pavement. Most tracks combine a variety of surfaces. You'll tear across a stretch of deteriorated pavement before sliding out into a corner painted with thick mud. The cars ahead of you cut grooves through the mud which you feel through the vibration of the controller. These grooves are persistent, too. Deep ribbons in the mud made on the first lap are there in the third lap, unless enough cars have plowed across them on the second to drastically move the mud. This makes each trip through these patches different. If you manage to race through a heavily trafficked patch of mud, you'll have far different traction that if you manage to find a lane of drier or less disturbed mud. Little things like thing guarantee that victory in Sega Rally Revo will not be linked to 100-percent memorization and mastery of a course -- maybe just 90-percent.

The build at PAX 07 had a variety of unlocked tracks. The scenery is not nearly as exaggerated as those found in Out Run 2, but there is still no shortage of fun architecture and great roadside attractions.

Naturally, many players will look at Sega Rally Revo and compare it to the recently released Dirt or Motorstorm. Don't -- or you're setting up some false expectations. As mentioned, this is arcade fare, not any sort of die-hard sim, even if it does include a garage full of licensed cars and some car customization options. This is about the smirk that creeps across your face when you slide through perfect hairpin, gaining three places on the pack. And there should certainly be room for both kinds of rally games.



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