During Game0RZ Week on TRL and Direct Effect you got the hot picks: best games soundtracks, sports games, superhero and movie-based titles , street and speed joints and factory fresh games for the mighty Xbox 360. Want more? You got it. From full-length trailers on Overdrive to screenshots, reviews, and info on all the playables, MTV.com is your one-stop shop. Game on!
If the last thing you ever see is actress Charlize Theron in a black, skintight suit with a gun in her hand and an ass-kicking smirk on her face, consider yourself the luckiest man in the cemetery. And if you happen to see her, say, on the Xbox or PlayStation 2, to which she lends both her face and voice as the mysterious Aeon Flux in the video game of the same name, or if you get to control her as she issues liberal beatdowns, sticks it to the man, hops on some poor fool's neck and either breaks it like a habit or plants a bomb on his head and then slinks away as sexy, futuristic super-assassins are wont to do... then, dear friend, you may well be the greatest human being on the face of the Earth.
Forget watching a re-run of Full Metal Jacket this Friday night, Private Maggot! Instead, load up Battlefield 2: Modern Combat on your home console and get your world war on in style. In fact, for a PC game that's built its entire reputation on mutliplayer gameplay, the single player experience in B2: MC pretty terrific.
The game's dynamic "Hot Swapping" feature may sound like something freaky that you saw on the Spice Channel once, but it's actually a function that allows you to jump instantly between vehicles and key points on the battlefield, fighting on multiple fronts. Use Hot Swapping to get better position, rack up those hard-to-reach kills, and to basically pound the Stove Top stuffing out of your opponents via tank, chopper, jeep, mortar, sniper rifle, etc., etc. etc. War may be hell, but when it's this much freaking fun, hell is exactly where you'll want to be.
Hut, hut, sit on your butt! And enter the seedy dark, and often sexy underbelly of professional football. Frankly, it's a side most of us would like to see more of. Midway actually went to the trouble of hiring an honest-to-goodness writer to pen the game's narrative - the same dude who wrote ESPN's fictional football soap opera Playmakers, and the story tells the sordid tale of a losing football franchise in dire need of a quick turnaround.
The game wouldn't be anything without some larger than life personalities to hold the proceedings together, so Midway brought old number 56, aka, Lawrence "L.T." Taylor, quite possibly the greatest to ever play defense. Taylor takes on the role of league sociopath, Quentin Sands, a man so feared he makes quarterbacks soil their jockstraps. Along the way you'll use "chemical boosters" to build your players, and even bet cash against your own team.
But what makes the game great are the injuries and spine-busting tackles-the game cuts to an X-ray of bones breaking during the hardest hits. Indeed, this game is so over the top that you won't even be able to see the top anymore. But the dirtiest trick of all is the fact that Blitz: The League manages to a solid football game that doesn't feature the now exclusive NFL license. Here's mud in your eye, EA!
Burnout Revenge is here to prove that, once again, you can't drive 55, fool. At least not in a Burnout game, you can't. Because if you do, you'll totally come in last place and everyone will laugh at you.
You know the drill by now: Drive on the wrong side of the road, catch air off ramps and knock rivals off the road to fill up your boost meter, then rip yourself past the competition. And don't even think about blinking while you're playing of your road rocket will be flipping in slow-mo end over end through the air.
And this year's game brings back the crazy, high-octane thrills of Crash mode. Drive your car at breakneck speeds into clogged intersections, causing as much unholy havoc as possible. This game has it all. Bottom line: Drive fast, die young, and leave a still-smoldering car corpse.
War is hell, kid, but at least Activision and Infinity Ward capture it beautifully. The original Call of Duty won 80 or so Game of the Year awards-and none of them because of liberal bribes, either.
A first-person shooter using squad-based tactics, Call of Duty 2 finds you and your allies fighting famous World War II battles as the Americans, British and Russians. Early missions send you to the North African desert to fight against Ratzi general Irwin Rommel and his near-endless supply of Panzer tanks. Later, you'll storm the beach at Normandy, attempt to repair radio wire during the siege of Stalingrad and go on tank-destroying missions in the Soviet Union as the war comes to a close. Computer-controlled allies here are good for more than just collecting bullets. They use smart tactics, provide support fire, divert enemies away from your position and supply you with much-needed intelligence about the enemy's strength and location.
A full complement of multiplayer options is included, with Xbox Live 360 search-and-destroy competitions, death matches and capture-the-flag challenges. To hell with historical realism. This one is too excellent not to be shared.
When you're in the mood to snap spines and menace someone with the business end of a busted 40, look no further than Def Jam: Fight For NY. Pick from one of five totally badass fighting styles, then trick yourself out with fly threads, hairstyle, some bling, and maybe even a tattoo or twelve. After that, it's time to go toe to toe with all biggest stars in the rap game. Busta Rhymes, Ice-T, Fat Joe, Flava Flav-they're all here, busting mad bones just like they bust rhymes.
Your job: To make a name for yourself and climb the ranks of the street fighting circuit. Even seasoned gamers will be crawling under granny's apron (the one with the flowers on it). Do whatever it takes to win. Grab pool cues, bats, and pipes. Fight like a vicious, lowdown, insane person, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find yourself in the ring with Fight For NY's ultimate bad azz: Snoop, aka Crow.
What time is it? According to our watch, it's clobberin' time, buddy. That means fighting evil, saving the world, and looking damn sweet in your costume.
Gameplay requires you to use all of the Four if you hope to survive. Mr. Fantastic can stretch like taffy, fending off henchmen from a distance. Invisible Girl can freeze people with her telekinetic abilities and move like a ninja. The Human Torch can set fire to everything and fly around. And the Thing just beats the crap out of all comers. While the movie featured just few redeeming qualities (two words: Jessica Alba), this is actually one of those cases where the video game based on the movie is actually better than the flick.
For die-hard footie fanatics, FIFA 06 is as sick as a 90th-minute, World-Cup-winning bicycle kick against Brazil. Simply put, FIFA 06's gameplay is off the hook. With a slew of new 1-vs.-1 freestyle moves, you can digitally embarrass your pals in new Maradona-esque ways. Newly added formations allow you to infiltrate your opponent's defenses, and a laser-precise meter lets you smash shots at the perfect speeds and angles. You can still compete in the Friendly, Season, Tournament, Scenario and Shoot-Out modes, but FIFA 06's all-new Manager Lounge will allow you to both completely manage a club (buy stud players on the transfer market, cook up your own soccer superstars and manage your team's budgets) for a simulated 15-year span and save up to eight profiles on your console for head-to-head play, stat recording and individual console ranking. And, as if things couldn't get any better, the 360 version brings the FIFA experience to HD, with roaring 3D fans, sweat-covered players and an intuitive gameplay interface that allows you to access the game's edit menu on the fly. That can only mean one thing: G-G-G-G-GOOOAAAL!!!
Ever fantasized about being in G-unit? You know, without running the risk of doing hard time in the state penitentiary? Bulletproof is your big chance to run wild with Buck, Banks, Yayo, and of course, "Fif."
After being double-crossed, Fif and crew decide to cut a path through the New York crime families like a chainsaw through tissue paper. (Apparently, being a rapper isn't all just riding around in limos with Courvoisier and chickenheads.) You'll engage in fistfights and insane gun battles all to a mess of unreleased Fiddy tracks. Plus they've crammed so much bonus content on this game, it comes on a pair of discs. Keep an eye out for cameo appearances by Dre and Eminem. Fifty fans and gamers alike shouldn't miss this one.
Sadly the vodka martini (shaken, etc.) and the liberal 1960's-style sex with comely lasses of indeterminate virtue will have to wait. As the greatest James Bond of them all (take that, George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton!), you'll get to soar the unfriendly skies in a jetpack, cruise down life's dangerous highways in an Aston Martin and show your foes their exact time of death with a laser watch. From Russia With Love marks the first time Sir Sean Connery has lent his face and voice to a video game, and all of the 007 lore (guns, girls and gadgets) Electronic Arts could lovingly jam into this third-person action shooter has been included. And when you're done riding the Orient Express, soaring past Big Ben and plowing through a series of waterlogged catacombs in a boat, you can invite your friends over and repeatedly exercise Bond's license to kill in multiplayer deathmatches. Good show, 007!
Few among us can become rock stars, but here's a game that lets you rattle the rafters like Dave Grohl or Billie Joe Armstrong. After plugging in the peripheral Gibson SG guitar controller, choose from a menu of avatars to take the stage and then select the venue. After picking from four difficulty settings, the real fun begins. There's over 30 songs on tap, from classic rock to speed metal. Your peripheral axe is equipped with five buttons on the neck, a "strum button," a motion sensor and a whammy bar. Simple, sure, but faster songs at deeper difficulty levels demand some expertise. Missed notes reward you with a dissonant plinks and clangs and your on-screen audience will respond with jeers and catcalls. Up the ante by bending notes with the working whammy bar and tilt sensor that changes your sound when you raise the neck of your guitar. How ever you play it, the game is destined to rock your world.
Your story: As the charming elf Kameo, you've inherited some radical powers from mom, Queen Theena. Your sis, Kalus isn't so lucky and gets crazy with jealousy and releases Dark King Thorn from prison. He promptly throws the peaceful kingdom into total chaos and captures your whole clan.
Your mission: to stop Kalus and Thorn from reigning and release your peeps. Your method: transform into ten different elemental warriors in this stunning adventure for the Xbox 360. Of course you'll have to capture these monsters before you actually put them to work. Yep, it's like Pokemon, but for adults.
Each warrior has it's own special fighting skills, strengths and secrets springing from a different element: plant, water, rock, ice and fire. Once you've pulled your arsenal of elements together, you'll use close combat, long-range launching of projectiles (such as ice spears, good ol' rocks) and tons of other clever combos of skills to take down massive armies and some of the coolest bosses you've ever seen. Your monsters will also be key to exploring the ginormous, breath takingly-rendered 3D worlds and solving puzzles. In short, this is a game about so much more than just kicking mythical ass.
Take to the mean streets of Los Angeles with your pick of over 36 licensed racers, fully tricked-out by the West Coast Customs crew. But watch out--the rules of the road in L.A. Rush aren't for the faint-hearted. Win upgrades and access to head-to-head, split-screen play as you race across super-detailed Hollywood, Downtown, Santa Monica, South Bay and South Central streets--all to a high-decibel hip-hop and rock soundtrack. Hell, you can even steal your enemies' cars. Buckle up for the ride of your life.
Team Madden drops fire once again with Madden 06. And why is O6 so damn en fuego? It allows you to harness the assassin-like QB abilities of your inner Peyton Manning. Ommmm.With Madden 06's QB Vision Control, steered by your controller's right analog stick, you can shift your QB's head to scan for open receivers on the run. With QB Precision Placement, controlled by the left analog stick, you can re-route a receiver to an opening, keeping passes away from sticky fingered pass coverage. Can I get an amen? Other improvements to the offensive playbook include formation-specific audibles, smart routes, head-tracking by receivers (no more throwing passes into a receiver's back) and Truck Stick Control (which turns your running back into a destroy-all Berserker). NFL Superstar Mode allows you to raise your very own football superstar, guiding him from rags to riches. The ultimate goal? Movie Star, of course. Even better, you can import a player you've already created from NCAA Football 06 or NFL Street and integrate him into NFL Superstar Mode. CRAZY! When computerized football gets this good, it's time to skip two-a-days, stay on the couch, and huddle up! Who got game?! Madden 06, y'all, and it's really ALL in the game this time.
Mario Kart DS may well cure your acne. If you play it at work, your boss will probably promote you. Women (or men, the game certainly does not discriminate) should be strangely drawn to your Nintendo DS when it contains a copy of Kart. The air will smell better and candy taste sweeter once this handheld racing title has been released. And why not? Mario Kart has long been one of the video game world's finest and most unabashedly fun multiplayer offerings. Kart for the Nintendo DS continues the great march toward gaming nirvana with 30 wacky, themed courses (some brand-new and others plucked from previous Mario Kart titles) and eight Nintendo heroes, including Mario, his brother Luigi, the hulking Donkey Kong and Princess Peach. Eight players can compete in races at the same time, and Kart features WiFi action allowing you to, say, make some nine-volt idiot three states away eat your virtual dust.
Any chimp with a laptop can edit video, but how about running a studio, writing, shooting, directing, producing, editing and sending your ballooning contract stars to the plastic surgeon? The Movies gives lets users rise to the top of the Hollywood food chain as a movie mogul. Dive into Sandbox Mode to make your own movie - from trashy exploitation flicks to head-scratchingly weird art films to sweeping, dull Oscar-worthy epics. For a more strategic challenge, give Story Mode a try. Begin in the creaky pre-sound era, break ground on a studio and hire actors, crew directors and writers. The computer will actually create a film for you, with quality determined by your stars, crew, sets and other resources; if your budgets and shooting schedules are tight, your film will suck, get slammed by critics and audiences will stay away in droves. The Movies is like four games crammed into one; do-it-yourself filmmaking tools meet Railroad Tycoon-style empire-building and character creation that rivals The Sims.
With Dr. Shaqenstein himself on the box cover, you know this disc, you'll probably want to take control of the dominatin' Miami Heat and terrorize the entire league. Or, go for a real challenge and helm a crappy-ass team like the pathetic Knicks and see if you've got the handles to survive a season.
Sure, NBA 2K is the basketball series that rules them all each and every year, and the all-new Shot Stick makes certain that it retains its title. Use the stick to finesse your shots, no matter if you're pulling off a monster dunk or a fade-away. Show 'em who's sweet.
But wait, there's more. Check out the disc's all new Strip N Rip defensive controls. Deflect or steal passes, or strip the rock away from Kobe as he drives the lane. And 2K6's franchise mode is now even deeper than ever before. Hire and fire coaches, scout draft-picks, and keep your happy fans buying up those tickets. Bottom line: it's a game sure to keep your sneakers squeakin' long after the season ends.
NBA Live 06 is a high-flying, break-ya-ankles-and-keep-the-change-sucka, five-on-five basketball jump-off. With all of the NBA's fiercest superstars on board, Live 06 breaks players down into six categories: Highflyer (LeBron James), Playmaker (Steve Nash), Scorer (Allen Iverson), Sharpshooter (Ray Allen), Stopper (Kevin Garnett) and Power Player (Ben Wallace). Using each player's uber-moves (determined by their category and executed by hitting the right analog stick and trigger button), you can create rim-shaking jams, killer crossovers, crushing blocks, swift-handed dishes and fox-like steals, all of which are accompanied by animated sequences. The gameplay keeps you on your toes: Will you try and dunk on a "Stopper," or will you cross a "Playmaker?" Live 06's Dynasty Mode also allows you to build a round ball empire: control your own franchise, choose your coaching staff and nurture that young buck on the rise to being the next MJ. NBA All-Star Weekend mode lets you impress old guard onlookers in the Rookie Challenge, step up to the seasoned vets in the All-Star Game, throw down some heat in the Slam Dunk contest or make it rain in the 3 Point Shootout. With Marv Albert and Steve Kerr providing game commentary, Live 06 really is live, y'all! So get amped for this one and give your roommate, or an online opponent, a much-needed poster-izing!
In Need for Speed: Most Wanted, your girlfriend looks like model Josie Maran. Your car's been stolen by a no-goodnik named Razor. And your rap sheet is longer than Suge Knight's.
Most Wanted is the 10th title in the popular street racing series. For this momentous occasion, Electronic Arts and Black Box deliver an automotive feast, with more than 30 cars, around 65 specific challenges for drivers, and a story mode that takes about 30 hours to complete. Flagrant traffic offenses bring the fuzz, and a meter tracks how interested they are at any given point. Get busted, and you'll receive your own walk of shame to the back of the police car, complete with COPS-style pixilation over your face.
Electronic Arts brought BMW, Porsche, Ford, Audi, Toyota and Mazda on board for Most Wanted. The resulting automobiles are suitably impressive, too, including Corvettes, Supras, McLarens, Carreras and Gallardos. Each car is customizable, and this time, augmentation kits are vehicle-specific.
Hail to the King, baby. With Peter Jackson's big-budget remake of King Kong on the way, Ubisoft and its master designer Michel Ancel bring the giant ape to Xbox 360 for a New York City-crushing adventure.
The game features two playable characters: behemoth Kong and puny human Jack Driscoll. As Driscoll in the first-person perspective, you are a potential midday snack for hundreds of dinosaurs on Skull Island. Sure, you have access to spears and various guns, but your best weapon is that lump on your shoulders (aka your brain). You can't outfight or outrun your foes, but you can outthink them.
When the misunderstood Kong takes over as the game's star, things shift into the third-person perspective, and there's not a banana big enough to keep this angry ape from jamming his fist down the throat of, well, just about anything. Kong can chomp the heads off smaller dinosaurs before tossing them aside or waste Tyrannosaurus Rexes by ripping their jaws or crushing their backs over his shoulders. Oh, and when Kong gets to New York City for the game's finale, he'll be bringing his two best friends: massive property damage and destruction.
See the possibly demented man with the burlap sack over his head, the one rushing toward you with the running chainsaw? He probably doesn't want to discuss who hooked-up on the latest episode of Laguna Beach. He's one of Resident Evil 4's many unfortunate zombie-like souls and would, most likely, want a word with your head, once it's been severed from your body. Capcom, maker of the epic horror series Resident Evil, recommends you introduce him to his new best friend-hot, leaden death. The action-soaked Evil 4 got a big-time makeover in terms of graphics, gameplay and control scheme, and the result on the Nintendo GameCube was bloody brilliant. Now the third-person perspective adventure has been released on the PlayStation 2 with new weapons for the hero, cool costumes and a never-before-seen mini-game starring the female spy Ada Wong. It's certainly deja vu all over again but with enough horror sauce to make the return trip worthwhile.
It's hard to keep a good criminal overlord down. Tony Montana, the drug-dealing gangster featured in Brian De Palma's violent masterwork Scarface, has seemingly returned from the dead to star in the third-person video game Scarface: The World Is Yours. The game suggests Montana survived the assassination attempt that left him floating in a blood-stained pool at the film's conclusion and is now serving up a five-course meal of revenge. Al Pacino's likeness has been used for Montana, and voice actors Cheech Marin, Michael Rapaport and Robert Loggia add weight to the package. Players can expect lots in the way of shattered limbs, blood sprays, drive-by shootings and Grand Theft Auto-style, free-roaming gameplay. So you can say hello to Montana's little friend in 2006. Provided, of course, you're man enough to take it.
If the prospect of nailing sick tricks at breakneck speeds is something you can warm up to but the reality of a face-plant in fresh powder and a crack full of ice leaves you cold, SSX on Tour is your game. Or maybe you're a veteran boarder or skier who wants to extend the season and create a stylish alter ego from scratch, customizing your pro from board specifications to Mohawk color. Or perhaps you're just a fan of previous SSX games - the raddest, most stylish winter sports game franchise ever - and want to now design your very own tricks and go on a superstar-building world tour on 12 gigantic tracks. Whatever the case, this game will keep your board waxed for hours.
Dust off your blaster and draw your light saber. It's time to hold the fate of a galaxy far, far away in the sweaty palm of your hand with Star Wars: Battlefront II, the sequel to the biggest-selling Star Wars game of all time. Fly a TIE fighter, X-Wing or Jedi starfighter to engage in dogfights hairier than a wookie's ass. Take control of more than 30 diverse ground and air vehicles. Find your pals, track their stats and fight alongside them (up to 24 on PS2, 32 on Xbox, 64 on Windows). There are 20 new locations, including a banquet of environments from the Star Wars movies, like the Death Star interior, Episode III's Utapau, the scorching Mustafar and the space battle around Coruscant. With plenty of playable heroes, this massive shooter - spanning the new and old movie trilogies - will satisfy even the grumpiest haters.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 is the most competitive golf game to date. Yeah, we said it. Tiger 06's all-new Rival Mode pits you against golf's most acclaimed marksmen: Old Tom Morris, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and an arsenal of contemporary stars, helmed by Captain Woods. Can you step up to the tee against these cocky pros? Most important, Tiger 06 has two major revamps: dual analog stick shot control and gridded-out putting greens. So now you can control the trajectory (right stick) and power (left stick) of your drives as well as size up and nail those 50-foot, dream-to-drain putts. Tiger 06 also lets you call shots and wager on them, if you dare, and the Gamebreaker Meter allows you to maximize your attributes when you hit a perfect shot under pressure. With 15 courses to choose from, a closet full of Polos and Chaps to rock and a newly crafted Tiger swing to test out (transferred to the game via motion-capture technology), Tiger 06 is a hole-in-one.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is a thrasher's ultimate playground. The seventh installment in the Birdman's game series sends you tearing through L.A., East L.A., Santa Monica and Hollywood as a transplanted Midwestern teen looking to make it in the skate world. Your adopted crew kicks it at an ever-evolving skate haven called Skate Ranch that, during the course of the game, you must try to save from real-estate tycoons. Sporting a new bag of board tricks, including Bert slides, manuals and one-footed grinds, THAW also allows you to visit an array of skate shops, tattoo parlors and barbershops, all ready to outfit or style your electronic persona to the fullest. As for playability, you can rip in either Story Mode or Classic Mode, and when modes are beaten, you unlock secret skate shredsmiths. Sick! As if things couldn't get any more rad, THAW employs occasional BMX riding to accomplish certain goals. Skate or die, y'all!
In the time-honored tradition of maverick lawmen, True Crime: New York City slaps the badge on you as Marcus Reed, an ex-con with a big, rusty axe to grind. Your mentor's been iced, and it's up to you to get to the root of it. Go totally by the book or wield more "questionable" tactics. It's up to you. The whole city, detailed down to the street number, is yours. And depending on how well you do your job, the 'hood will adjust dynamically. Let the purse snatchers and stick-up kids roam free, and the blocks get strewn with trash and potholes. True Crime: New York City even lets you enter subways and buildings, chasing perps on foot and unleashing some old-fashion chop socky on 'em. With every nook and cranny of the Big Apple there to explore and exploit, it's the best vacation you'll ever take from the sofa.
As any certified comic geek will gladly tell you, games based on comics usually suck. They're mostly a cheap attempt to cash in on the franchise and don't capture the spirit, energy, art style and story of printed material. Well, put your comics back in their protective plastic and pick up a controller, fan boys, cuz that's changed with this game. Feast your eyes on a look ripped right from the pages of the comic, courtesy of artist Mark Bagley. And story-driven missions - written by Ultimate Spider-Man scribe Brian Michael Bendis - pick up where the comic left off. Missions culminate in devastating boss battles where combat moves and Spidey smarts give you a necessary edge. Not enough for you? Then play as Spider-Man nemesis, Venom, leaping from skyscrapers with Hulk-like power. Also expect a veritable round table of Marvel universe characters to show up. In short, best...game...ever.
Time for a little gene therapy! Slip into your spandex in this infinitely mutatable action RPG and create custom teams of heroes from the legendary X-Men lineup. Of course you'll also tap the badass Brotherhood villains for your squad and take on over 100 variations of enemies like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Pimp your characters' levels and powers with the touch of a button, switch between characters on the fly to create devastating combos and solve puzzles in the new kick-ass environments, including Genosha and the Infinite Factory, Egypt and the Savage Lands. There's double the smorgasbord of superpowers this round as well, plus online play. It's more deep and complex than the Human Genome Project, but you hardly have to be a bio chemist to dive into the action of X-Men Legends II.
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