Game Review – Mafia II

Tweet

Formats: PC, Xbox 360 and Playsation 3

The classic mobster movie is an ever-favourite genre in our hearts, from Scarface to The Godfather, the life of a gangster is thrilling and entertaining to embark on. From a games perspective, this genre can potentially create for one pretty incredible game and fortunately here we have Mafia II leading the way with a great rendition of the Mafia lifestyle recreated with great game-play, superb story-telling and packed with a whole load of style that tips this to be a great package.



You play the role of Vito Scaletta, who becomes tangled in the wild and exhilarating lifestyle of a mobster, with little to do but dwell deeper into the dark and twisted world, you will find a well told and engaging story, unveiled by talented and embracing voice-actors, which provides the necessary story line for you to get involved with 3rd person gun-shooting, fist-fights and even a cheeky element of well structured stealth action. This triangle of game mechanics all work side by side to make Mafia II one of the brighter gems in the current catalogue of released titles.

The story is set in 1945, the beginning of World War 2. Indeed the world around you immediately feels naturally old-fashioned and life-like. It is easy to get engrossed in the visuals of the world around you, be it from the old-school automobiles, to the great length taken to ensure everyone is dressed how they should be for that time period, it is clear effort and care was put into the technical aspect of the game. As the story progresses and the years go by, your world begins to change around you, the 1940’s become outdated and aesthetics around you begin changing to the 50’s. This is a sheer joy to behold as cars begin to change on the roads and people’s lifestyles evolve to the post war climate. This is of course accompanied by the protagonist’s emotional struggle throughout the years of organized crime, especially as he considers the weighting option of getting out of the business, or digging deeper in exchange for the delights that reward him. The struggle feels natural and you begin to care for Vito as you play the game, realizing he is more than a thug, but a man of morals and principles, doing what he has to do to stay alive. It is a compelling story that involves many intriguing and fun characters, giving players every reason to push further and further into the intertwining story of Vito Scaletta.

Upon beginning the game and jumping into the action, you will unfortunately be somewhat tricked at first sight. The Empire City around you seems like a potential playground for fun, side missions and exploration. You will find however, that this is not like Grand Theft Auto because while the city may be large, there is very little to do aside from drive around and engage in the main story missions. This is a real let down as you just feel the need to spot random side-mission markers on your mini-map or go on a tangent and do something else to create some diversity from the main missions, but this is just not available. You will at times be stopped by the police if they catch you doing something illegal, but these segments don’t ooze the kind of urgency and thrill you would expect them to. Playstation 3 owners are indulged with some day 1 downloadable content that varies game-play slightly, but more time and effort should have been taken into Empire City to make it a more entertaining place to be in, not just a glorified run way from one mission to the next. There are some entertaining segments in the car scenes such as the occasional drive-by or chase scene with your friend hanging out of the side of the car with a machine gun, but these are few and far between, which again, is a great shame.

I guess the intention here was to not bring nonsensical and mindless entertainment to the streets of Empire City, rather 2K Games have provided you with an incredible story mode. As stated before, the game works around three mechanics, the first and most important being cover shooting. This resembles the cover and pop out action of games such as Gears of War, where you will find yourself moving from cover and occasionally popping out to shoot your enemies. The weapons are all authentic and fun to use, enemies put up great fights and with lots of great environments to destroy, almost all sections that involve guns are brutal and stylish.

There will be times where guns aren’t necessarily and an old fashioned bar brawl is the way forward. The games animation and audio help make these fights feel real, with bone-crunching hits landing easily thanks to the great control mechanics. Finally, taking a page out of Splinter Cell, you will also on occasion, be forced to sneak around in the shadows picking off enemies from behind and hiding their bodies in darkness. It is very rare to see a game have three different mechanics so well integrated and it is technically very impressive that they are all fluid and enjoyable to engage in.

All of this content sounds really great, it is just a shame that there’s more story line than action. While both are fantastic, a better balance of the two would have been nice as you seem to be watching cut-scenes a lot more often than engaging in heated action segments. On top of this, the beginning of a mobster lifestyle isn’t exactly all shoot outs, for a lot of the missions you will be doing boring and menial tasks for the big bosses, which although make sense for the story line, feel boring and irritating, after all it’s not very often you want to drive around in a truck and give out contraband, unless that contraband was bullets out of your tommy-gun. It just strikes me that 2K Games had a winning formula, but weren’t confident enough to give gamers enough of it to play around with. The game shows segments of utter genius, but then coats it with quite a bit of boring missions and a lot of story.



Taking that into account, Mafia II is still an excellent game, it is a vast improvement over the original, but you would expect that after this long a time going by. Still, it tells literally, one of the best video-game stories we have had in recent times, so this alone is worth the experience. I think you will ultimately be disappointed in what the game omits, rather than what the game gives, because it dishes out excellence in abundance, all the mechanics work perfectly from the great shooting encounters, to the hand-to-hand fist fights and all the way to the stealth missions; it is engaging with great graphics and audio. It just misses out on what I’d have to say are, pretty staple things for a Sandbox game and as a result, taints slightly, what could have been a ten out of ten game.

Technical presentation 9.0
Graphics 8.0
Gameplay 9.0
Replay value 5.0

Final score 7 / 10

Igor, CeX UK contributor

Great Green App - London Cycle

Tweet

We all know the need to do our bit to reduce our environmental impact, but that doesn't mean we can't use the odd cool gadget or app to help us. If you visit or live in London then a new free app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users who like to get about on two wheels is here to help you turn last night's beers into today's green travel calories.

The London Cycle app has a route navigator with cycle routes across Central London to keep you safe on two wheels. It also has all of the Barclays Cycle hire stations mapped. The killer part of the app is that gives live updates of how many bikes are at each hire station and how many parking spaces are left if you are returning a bike. Add to this a cost and rental timer so that you know when your free 30 minutes is about to expire or how much you ride has cost you and we've got a great green app for any London cyclist.

On your bike then and get this app here.

Jonathan

CeX, London

E Reader Review - Amazon Kindle 2

Tweet

In late 2007 Amazon released it’s first e-reader device, the Kindle 1. It was called revolutionary, and it truly was. Being able to download books anywhere in the world, for only the price of the book itself with no download fee, is fantastic. I ordered a Kindle 2 from CeX and I instantly fell in love with it.


I’ve read two novels on it in two weeks, both of which are over 1,000 pages long. On top of that I’ve only charged it once, and that was the day I got it. Using the free 3G wireless connection and it’s limited text web browser does drain that battery but it’s very simple to turn the 3G on and off to make it last as long as possible. That 3G is put to very good use in Amazon’s WhisperSync service as well, which is their way of syncing all your books to all your Kindle devices and your place in them. I can read my books across my Kindle, phone and laptop all using free apps and keep my place using bookmarks. The free apps for desktop and Android are also really good, the Android one has the ability to turn the text to white on black as well which makes it much easier on the eyes.

The device is a really great size, about the same as a large paperback but as thin as an iPod Touch. It’s really lovely to hold and very light, which is good as you end up reading it for hours on end. I have a leather cover for my Kindle but I only use that to keep it looking good, not when I’m reading.

But enough of the technicalities, lets get to the meat of the review and talk about what it’s like to read books on the device. The screen is great, it’s a six inch e-ink screen and because of that is has no glare whatsoever. It also only uses battery power when you’re changing pages meaning that you can leave it on for days and not use a single second of battery. Reading and buying books on Kindle is very addictive as well, especially as the price of the books is usually lower than the print versions. I was able to pick up The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for almost nothing and of course there are some less legal ways to get books onto your Kindle, though I’ve really not had to.

All in all the Kindle is a fantastic device, perfect for pretty much every situation you might want to read in. I’ve taken it to a festival, I’ve laid it on my lap whilst eating, I’ve taken it onto every form of public transport you can imagine and I’ve used it sat on the roof of my CeX store. It’s getting me to read more and more books and it’s saving me money on the print editions. Now I’ve used it, I can’t bear to part with it. You should definitely get a Kindle. As Amazon controls the sale of new Kindles through its website, CeX is the only high street retailer you can try a Kindle for yourself.

Sam Harrison
CeX, Bristol, UK

Game Review - Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Tweet

There are I feel, two very different ways you can go about writing a review for a PC & Mac game as iconic as Starcraft II; you can discuss it with emphasis that this is a sequel to one of the best real-time strategy games of all time, or try to steer clear of this fact and look at it as a stand alone experience. One should ask why the latter is even an option, but this is largely because Starcraft I was released in 1998, so long ago that for the current generation of gamers, the word Starcraft is only a myth and the experience is lost in history amidst the older generation of gamers. To appease both sides of the argument, Starcraft II is an excellent sequel but also a fantastic title in its own right. It does not stray off the path that made the original Starcraft so incredibly popular, which also means fans of traditional RTS will have no problem picking the game up. It also introduces some very impressive additions to the traditional game-play playing to the die-hard fans of the series while also creating vast replay-value for everyone. Starcraft II is one of the most impressive technical, visual refinements of any series and mixed with incredible multi player, a long, interesting and in-depth campaign mode and huge upgrade and customization options, this is really an RTS fans dream come true.



Looking at the campaign first, it might come as a surprise to fans of the series that while the game still holds true to the three races, Terrans, Protoss and Zerg, it is only the former that has a campaign available. This is quite disappointing that Blizzard chose to omit the latter two races largely because you will not be able to get to grips with their arsenal for multi player warfare unless you play skirmishes or challenges and inevitably, Blizzard will release the other two campaigns in either a package or download, either or I’m sure, will cost more money. Fortunately, this is almost the only minuscule drawback from what is otherwise, a full package. The campaign is long, comprehensive, challenging and offers plenty of incentive to come back and complete levels over and over in an attempt to unlock all of Starcraft II’s campaign achievements and all the different upgrades for your units. The campaign is presented in absolutely phenomenal cut-scenes that jump out at you, this is helped further by a fantastic narrative and great voice-cast. The game even offers certain ‘decision making’ moments that can effect the flow of the story, once again offering a reason to return to the campaign to find out how things could pan out differently. Each mission seems to feel totally unique and everything is strung so well together that you feel progression both in the story and on the battlefield. If that wasn't enough, there is even a role-playing experience integrated between missions that allow you to interact with other shipmates to gain valuable knowledge or important upgrades, units and weapons.

Once you have completed the campaign and you feel it is time to take the next step, online multi player is the inevitable solution. Let it be known straight away that Starcraft as a series, is renowned for its highly competitive multi player, this is one serious game. Don’t let this be off-putting, think of it more as a warning to not jump into the deep end straight away. Alongside competitive ranked matches, the game offers non-ranked game modes to warm up and get to grips with the other two races. Starcraft II offers a ladder ranking system that does pit you up against players of a similar level should you choose the competitive ranked route, and there is plenty of challenge and content to keep the online action fresh and engaging. Boasting a variety of diverse maps that offer plenty of space and room for numerous players, you will see your online experience take up countless hours of your time as there is little reason to stop engaging in such an incredible game.

Once you have had the chance to experiment with the other two races you will see that each army has it’s own distinct advantages and disadvantages, for example the Zerg race are known for their speed and rush abilities while Protoss are much more tailored for long lasting warfare with their strong armored, laser bearing units tipping the tide of battle. Whichever race you choose to pledge allegiance to, you will find a balanced and thrilling adventure, each race has countless upgrades and expansions that make using and mastering all three a sheer joy, while at the same time, they are all so incredibly balanced that clever wit and genius tactics will be needed to prevail.



Of course not everything has to be done online, being a traditional RPG, offline skirmish modes are available that allow you to tackle enemy AI in all the same modes that are available online. This however goes only so far as the true competitive spirit comes from facing other human opponents, as no matter how tough the AI is, it simply doesn't play like a human would. If you want a more structured way to become accustomed to the various faction’s units, then there is also a challenge mode available that goes through advanced game mechanics with you, letting you get to grips with some of the more technical sides to units and their abilities, preparing you for more advanced combat online.

Starcraft II promotes the idea of community amongst its gamers; this being achieved through the Battle.net online service that acts as the mediator between the community and the actual game. It is through here that you will find all the different achievements available to unlock, your friends lists, all your accomplishments, leader boards and much more. This really gives you a sense of togetherness as everyone plays and enjoys Starcraft II, especially your friends who will be constantly updating you on their achievements through pop ups. At heart this is a very social experience, with the game forcing you to create an account to actually play the game in the first place. This may seem a nuisance that to unlock achievements you must always be signed in and online, with absolutely no way of becoming invisible and going offline. However, this is a small price to pay for what is otherwise a beautifully integrated management system.

The idea of community is enhanced further with user-creation tools being available to create new levels and game-modes for Starcraft II. While not being as simple to use and integrate as say games renowned for their user-creativity like Little Big Planet and Modnation Racers, it is still an interesting way of passing the time and adding to the already ever-growing lists of customized maps and game-modes.

From a hardware perspective, it is a sheer joy to see a game of such high quality, able to run on a variety of different systems. Indeed if you want the best visual experience, a top of the line system will be required, but those who understand the joy of high quality RTS game-play will tell you that beautiful graphics are merely a bonus, as long as the game-play is top notch, which of course it is. As for the first-person sections and cut-scenes throughout, these do suffer on low-spec systems, but to nowhere near any degree that makes it unplayable or unwatchable.



To conclude, Blizzard was certainly not trying to re-invent the wheel with the sequel to Starcraft. This in many ways is a really good thing because it sticks to what it does best, fantastic traditional RTS game-play. With a large variety of tweaks and enhancements, there is plenty of new content to keep things feeling fresh for fans. On the flip-side of the coin, this is an amazing stand-alone experience for those of you who never played the original. The game serves up plenty of backdrop information to fill you in on the story so you don’t feel left out, and little else is really needed to enjoy Starcraft II. The two missing campaigns, no local-area link up and no way of playing the game unless you’re online are irritating omissions but are greatly overshadowed by the endless list of things Starcraft II does expertly. Little else can be said to fault one of our generations most sought after and successful PC & Mac games.

Graphics – 8.0
Game-play – 10.0
Replay value – 9.0

Final score – 9 / 10

Igor, CeX UK contributor

Game Review – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Tweet

Formats: XBLA & PSN

I chose to give Scott Pilgrim vs. The World a moment of my time due to a number of reasons; first of all, I feel I do not give enough credit and recognition to some of the incredible online games we are able to download. Games such as Braid won many awards but players steer clear of games that they cannot get physical copies of, and while this is indeed understandable, one cannot help but feel sorry for those people who are missing out on a lot of fun. Secondly, it made sense to me to review Scott Pilgrim with the brand new movie coming out staring Michael Cera.

Scott Pilgrim takes its formula from traditional side-scrolling beat-em-ups like Golden Axe and my personal favourite retro game of all time, Streets of Rage. However, it plays with this formula with outstanding 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, some clever RPGish elements, lots of great laugh out loud moments and fast paced combat. While there are some issues surrounding Scott Pilgrim, most do not interfere with the actual game-play so once you dive in, prepare to experience a fun and rewarding experience that you can share with your friends.

So the story is pretty simple here, Scott Pilgrim wants to date the love of his life Ramona Flowers, but in order to do that, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends in combat. The game sets out beautiful stages ranging from frozen suburbs, to a film set, all the way to a subspace highway. Each level spawns its own set of clever and interesting bad guys to beat up, they all have different ways for you to interact with them and offer a considerable amount of replay value if you want to find all of the level’s secrets. Naturally, at the end of each level you will come to a boss fight, which all prove to be thrilling, crazy and challenging, keeping the combat fresh and entertaining.

Scott Pilgrim incorporates RPG elements very well, allowing you to collect coins and spend them to upgrade your different stats, the generic strength, defense, will power and speed points. Lord knows you will definitely need to upgrade them because the game can be horrendously challenging as you become overwhelmed and surrounded by enemies. This can be manipulated by the games three-difficulty modes, but even on ‘average joe’ without powering up you will find yourself in a lot of trouble. Never fear however as in each level you will find shops that sell loads of whacky food products, books, DVDs, CDs and so forth. Each one cleverly hints at what it will upgrade but you can never actually see until you purchase the product. Some people have complained about this feature but if you do not understand that ‘bionic arm’ is more than likely going to boost strength and ‘speedy porcupine’ is going to raise your speed, then quite frankly you need some lessons in logic.

Scott Pilgrim makes it very clear that the game should be played with friends by its marginal difficulty levels. You can take up to 3 friends with you along the journey and boy is it a lot of fun. There are four playable characters in the story so its not like you are using just template characters and they all have varied attacks and stats, making it just a little bit different when changing characters. You can also sign in with your gamer profile, which allows you to collect the various trophies on offer in the game. The one thing that seriously lets Scott Pilgrim down is the lack of co-op online, for me this wasn’t a particular issue because my friends were local so we could all play off of one system, but those looking for an online experience will not find it here. Another issue is there is no ability to instantly drop-in or drop-out of play. This means that you and however many friends will have to start from the main menu to play together, this is completely illogical as all old side-scrolling games featured this function, it was almost completely staple so it puzzles me why they chose to omit this function.

Technically, the game impresses on multiple levels, a fitting soundtrack that really revives the old 16-bit era strings all its fluid game-play, great graphics and RPG elements together almost flawlessly.

Ubisoft have done a great job forming a technical and deep game, as you level up by defeating enemies you will unlock new moves and combos that help throughout your adventure. There are tag team moves available, super special finishing moves when four players play together and the ability to summon aid mid-combat to help you in sticky situations. Your health is measured in heart points and you also have gut points to use your special moves. If you get knocked out however, the game transfers your gut points to health points and if you get knocked out without gut points, you lose a life. A clever and cheeky mechanic in Scott Pilgrim is the ability to turn into a ghost and steal your friend’s lives once you have run out yourself. This is irritating but oh so much fun at the same time, creating a little bit of selfish competition for survival. You can share health and coins as well, furthering the idea that this really should be experienced with friends.

Ultimately Scott Pilgrim is a very entertaining side-scrolling beat-em-up. It takes the old formula that we all know and love, implements it well minus the lack of drop-in and online co-op, while at the same time re-styles the formula if you will with its own whacky and cartoony artwork, RPG-like mechanics and a whole load of style. Scott Pilgrim is available on the PSN and Xbox Live Arcade and should not be missed for those looking for a fun trip down nostalgia lane with a few twists to keep things fresh and exciting. Be sure to check out the movie as well coming out at the end of the month, it looks like an absolute blast.

Technical presentation – 7.0

Graphics – 9.0

Game-play – 9.0

Replay value – 7.0

Final score – 8 / 10

CeX UK Contributor

Igor Kharin

Game Review: Naughty Bear

Tweet

OK I'll admit it. I actually quite enjoy playing crap games. In the same way some people like watching low-budget schlocky horror films or read trashy magazines, I get a kick out of playing crappy games. I dig beneath the poor graphics and repetitive gameplay, in the hope that I'll discover the proverbial diamond in the rough. But 505 Games' latest offering almost pushed me beyond what even I could bear.

Naughty Bear's concept is part 'Telly Tubbies' and part 'Halloween'. You play as the eponymous disenfranchised Naughty Bear, who following his exclusion from the latest Teddy Bear's Picnic, decides to go on a murderous rampage. By stalking, stabbing and scaring his fellow bears, Naughty can finally quell the ever-cheerful yet completely psychotic voice in his head. Sounds compelling doesn't it? In truth, Naughty Bear could have been an interesting and unique game, but ends up barely being a mediocre one.

When I first loaded up the game, after a seemingly never-ending tutorial sequence, I was ready to start terrorising teddies. Having read all the instructions on how to sabotage phones and escape vehicles, and how to drive bears to the brink of suicide, I eagerly anticipated a slow, methodical descent into the mind of a killer, albeit a soft and fluffy one. My hopes were shattered immediately upon entering the first area; the small environments were heavily populated by hostile bears, making it impossible to carry out my subtle yet bloody scheme.

Upon further inspection, I found that the level was literally littered with weapons and items, and the score multiplier countdown ticked away with vicious velocity. For all its talk of sabotage and stealth, the game seemed designed to encourage a frantic killing spree rather than a more carefully planned approach. To test this, I replayed the same level, dashing from house to house and beating to death any bears I found with a stick. I attained a gold trophy and roughly quadruple the points I had acquired on my previous play through, in barely half the time.

Naughty Bear's presentation is appropriate, if not terribly impressive. The simplistic graphics and cutesy sound fit in with the game's 'children's show' aesthetic, but the annoying camera and limited number of animations spoiled the experience. Repeatedly watching Naughty spin an unsuspecting bear around and yell 'BOO!' became old very quickly.

Repetition had better be something you enjoy if you buy this game, because not only are the levels and objectives very similar (there are only four environments in the entire game. FOUR!) but you are asked to replay each scenario several times before you can unlock the next one. In fairness, you are asked to do so with different parameters in place (such as 'don't hit anyone' or 'make everyone go insane'), but this doesn't make progressing through the game any less teddy-ous.

As a time-killer, a game to play while the dinner's cooking or to wind down from an intense online session, Naughty Bear is a nice change of pace. Once you find the right pace to combine stealthy sabotage with rapid violence without losing your multiplier, there is a modicum of fun to be had. With the addition of downloadable content and online multiplayer, the more deranged among you may be drawn in. However, I do wonder who this game was aimed at. It is too childish and simplistic for older gamers, yet obviously the subject matter is above the heads of little kiddy-winks. I'm really not sure who I could recommend this game to.

505 Games' Naughty Bear is a game that aims high but hits low, less a case of 'Fur-iday the 13th' and more of 'Tom and Beary'. That is to say it was pawful. I couldn't bear it. How're these bear puns working out for you?

Lukao gives Naughty Bear 3 brutal murders out of 10.

Game Review – Dragon Quest IX

Tweet

It is true that the never-ending wait for certain titles to be released can cause a stir in the gaming world. When we talk about hype surrounding games, there is little competition to beat the Japanese surge for Dragon Quest IX. As a series, the game holds striking popularity and continues through each instalment to show the world why classic RPG game-play is still more enjoyable than ever before. Indeed Dragon Quest IX knocked Final Fantasy XIII off of Japan’s most anticipated game chart after the latter held firm for 15 months. Then Dragon Quest IX swiftly followed to sell approximately 2.3 million units in the first 2 days of sale, out of the alleged 3 million units shipped across the country. These are all impressive figures but we must not forget one, crucial point; just because it is popular in Japan, does not mean it will be in Europe and North America.

Our taste buds for games and genres differ significantly but this was taken into consideration when the new Dragon Quest project began. This instalment is primary designed to attract interest from an overseas market, so us, by introducing multiplayer and subtle features that help those new to true classic RPG game-play, easily access the game’s terrific content.

The plot in Dragon Quest 8 holds true to the enchanting style of the classic RPG; you play the role of an angel who’s duty is to guard a small village, you are stripped of your angelic powers and are forced to explore the human world and become entangled in a whirlwind of adventure and questing. Diversity intertwines this stereotypical RPG formula straight from the get go when you discover your ability to almost completely customise your character and party. You will be asked to create the protagonist to any way that takes your liking, gender included. The same then goes for your party members. This is a fantastic addition to the series and really allows the characters to gain personality. This is then followed strongly by tremendously versatile and interesting gear gathering system that helps to further make each party member unique in bizarre and intriguing ways.

While aesthetics prove a fun way to pass the time and divulge from the other portions of the game, we cannot forget that the most important part of Dragon Quest IX, is the role-play and battling. The game categorises classes in the form of vocations, which are warrior, mage, priest, martial artist, thief and the default minstrel. Once you dwell deeper into the game you will unlock advanced classes including the ranger, sage and paladin by taking up advanced quest challenges, with more vocations available. The game allows you to change vocations and choose what vocation each created character starts off with, apart from your main character that is a minstrel at default. Each character’s skills and levels change depending on what vocation is active and using a vocation will help level it up. This allows players to mix and match parties of different vocations in order to come up with devastating and effective partnerships. This also offers a tremendous amount of replay value and versatility as it takes time to level vocations and see their advanced techniques and abilities.

Dragon Quest IX’s battle system is formed of a first and third-person style, where the former is used to target enemies and latter to watch the battles unfold. The combat includes traditional combo systems and a variety of spells to use. The combat itself is traditional turn-based and with numbers for the most part, stacked significantly against you. In addition to this, Dragon Quest IX is considered a very difficult game so don’t be shy to take some time to stop and level up in particular sections to avoid getting annihilated by some of the game’s harder foes. A new addition to the series is the ability for players to see silhouettes of enemies in the wild, this removes random encounters almost entirely and allows players to choose who or what they fight or if indeed fighting is the correct option at that particular moment in time.

Technically, Dragon Quest IX demands applause. Once again Akira Toriyama’s famous artistic style shines and oozes personality in almost every monster and character throughout the game. Indeed visually the game is stunning, with great environments and plenty of colour breathing life into your adventure. The audio is also a pleasant rehash of the series, but this works well considering the series hasn’t strayed far from what it’s good at.

One of Dragon Quest IX’s most impressive new features is the cooperative multiplayer available. You can access a game from two to up to four players that pits you and your friends against the Dragon Quest world. You get to keep all your levels and items, while levelling up with your friends. There is no noticeable lag and with free roaming available, this feels like an entirely different and exciting game mode that offers plenty of fun and replay value.

There’s always plenty to do in Dragon Quest IX, whether you are progressing through the very long and compelling campaign mode, to completing the large variety of quests and side missions available, or even finding items to mould together in the alchemy pot. Whatever it is you choose to do, you will find yourself advancing in levels, unlocking brand new weapons and armour, while at the same time, having an absolute blast.

To conclude, Dragon Quest IX does not stray from the path of traditional role-playing games. If you are not a fan of games that force time commitment, then perhaps this is not the game for you. Those looking for a long, thrilling and challenging adventure simply cannot go wrong with a game with this much content. This has to be the best hand held role-playing adventure we have seen to date; do yourself a favour and go get Dragon Quest IX. Those lucky enough to own a DS XL can see this game in even better quality on the large hand held’s screens.

Technical presentation – 9.0

Graphics – 8.0

Game-play – 9.0

Replay value – 9.0

Final score – 8.5 / 10

CeX (UK) Contributor

Igor Kharin