Video game reviews

Evolution Skateboarding

System: PlayStation 2

Company: Konami

Price: $49.99

Rating: E

With realistic graphics, high quality music and controls that put you in the game and make you feel like you're one of the professionals, Evolution Skateboarding is a great skateboarding game for the PlayStation 2. The game also has a soundtrack of 15 songs from the hottest bands. Another plus is that the game allows you to build your own sequence of moves and save them as your personal signature combo.

There are also more than 70 tricks you can use, varying from smith grinds to front side 180s. There is an arcade mode, trial mode and a practice mode in which the game gives examples of how to do each move.

Evolution Skateboarding also has secret skaters -- such as cartoon character skaters -- and other hidden items that can be unlocked. That definitely puts Evolution in the top five skating games I've played. Being the first skateboarding game Konami has made for the PlayStation 2, Evolution Skateboarding will definitely be some competition for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series.

Grade: A-

Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny

System: PlayStation 2

Company: Capcom

Price: $49.99

Rated: M

One of the most anticipated sequels to hit the PlayStation 2 is Onimusha 2, a game that is much more impressive than its predecessor.

Onimusha 2 has razor-sharp graphics that are somewhat like Final Fantasy X. It introduces a new character, Jubei Yagyu, a samurai whose destiny is to find the one who destroyed his village, but his quest is quickly interrupted when he's swept up in a supernatural plot and crosses paths with four other characters: a female gladiator, a rifleman, a ninja and a spear man. All possess various skills. These four characters aid him along his long and tiresome journey toward revenge.

The game is long, but the graphics and scenes have you wanting more. Its controls are okay but take some time getting used to. After that, the zombie slashing doesn't stop.

Another good aspect of Onimusha 2 is the sound. The quality and soundtrack are like no other. But the background music can get repetitive.

Onimusha 2 is a game that has more pros than cons and should be in the top 10 of your holiday gaming list.

Grade: A

-- ANDRE JACKSON, Times correspondent

NHL 2003

System: PlayStation 2

Company: EA Sports

Price: $49.99

Rated: E

If you liked NHL 2002, you will definitely like this game.

There are four game modes: Play Now, Franchise, Playoffs and International Tournament. There are all the NHL teams and international teams, including the USA, Canada and Sweden. The graphics are excellent, but not much better than last year's. The players faces look human, but they don't match what the real players look like. Sometimes after a goal, I look into the stands to see the crowd cheering and I almost think the fans are real. When you are on a clear breakaway, the camera angle will change so it looks like you are coming right in on goal.

If you like sarcasm and a dry sense of humor, you will think the announcers are hilarious. If not, they can become obnoxious. (Example: "He's in denial." "Don't worry, that's just a river in Egypt.")

If you own NHL 2002, you won't notice that much difference between that game and this one, but NHL 2003 is a lot of fun. And for once, a hockey game doesn't make the Tampa Bay Lightning's overall rating the worst in the league. Four other teams are worse than the Lightning.

Grade: A-

Need for Speed, Hot Pursuit2

System: PlayStation 2

Company: EA Games

Price: $49.99

Rated: E

Need for Speed is different from other auto racing games in many ways. In other games, you just race. Now you can race and try to escape the police at the same time. Or you can be the police and try to arrest cars while you are in pursuit.

At the main menu you can choose between Hot Pursuit and World Racing. If you choose Pursuit, you will then have another choice to make. You have to pick the game mode, to escape the police, the challenge mode or the ultimate racer mode. Trying to escape the cops is my favorite. In it, the police will try to cut you off. If this doesn't work, they will get more police to help. Then they will make a roadblock so your car crashes, which gives them a good chance of catching you. If that doesn't work, it will bring them to the final stage. A helicopter will be sent in dropping bombs in front of you and making more roadblocks.

If you pick World Racing, you can do tournaments and races for fun. One mode in World Racing makes you complete tasks to advance to the next level. Completing a task will unlock a new course or a new car.

The graphics are excellent. It makes you feel like you are actually there. The game play is good, and you will hardly ever see the same thing while playing.

Grade: A

-- JONATHAN BOCKMAN, Times correspondent

Blinx: the Time Sweeper

System: Xbox

Company: Microsoft

Price: $49.99

Rating: E

Blinx: the Time Sweeper is a game with only one thing going for it. You can fast forward, rewind, pause, slow down or record, which is a first in video games.

You are Blinx, a janitor at the time factory. Whenever there's a glitch in time, you go clean it up before it turns into a monster. But a team of time pirates has stolen time, and time got out of control, thus creating hundreds of monsters everywhere. Now you have to go clean it up.

To do this, you have to go through many almost identical, monotonous levels, all the while tediously hunting down and eliminating monsters. Also, the bosses are incredibly easy, and the artificial intelligence is idiotic, doing nothing but run madly at you.

The story is almost nonexistent through most of the game, and the few movies that try to make one are still in Japanese, with English subtitles.

All around, this game is a good idea, and the time control is fun. But it is horrible in almost every other respect.

Grade: D

The House of the Dead III

System: Xbox

Company: Sega

Price: $49.99

Rated: M

The House Of the Dead III is the first shooter on Xbox, but that doesn't mean it's bad.

It is meant to be played with a light gun, but actually plays surprisingly well without one. The graphics are incredible, showing every gory detail and allowing you to shoot holes through the zombies, as well as shoot off limbs. There are two modes of play, time attack and survival mode. In time attack, you have to finish the level in a certain amount of time. You are penalized for taking damage, and you earn time for good shots. In survival mode, there is no time limit, but you have a set number of lives. The bosses come big and mean, and each one must be tackled differently. There are also many different types of enemies, each with different abilities and toughness.

The game also includes The House of the Dead II, which you can unlock by beating survival or time attack mode, and a behind-the-scenes preview of The House of the Dead movie, coming out in 2003. If you like shooters, this is a game for you. If you've never tried a shooter, this is a great game to start with. It has great graphics, good game play and lots of replay value.

Grade: A+

Shenmue II

System: Xbox

Company: Sega

Price: $49.99

Rated: T

The first Shenmue was one of the best games on the short-lived Sega Dreamcast. It combined a good story, fighting and free roaming adventure. The second installment doesn't fall short in these respects, but it doesn't get better in them either. In fact, Shenmue II is almost exactly like the original except the setting is in China instead of Japan.

It continues the story of Ryo, a martial arts student who is trying to avenge his father's death. The only new thing in Shenmue II is the inclusion of a camera with different lenses. This way you can make the picture grainy, black and white or old looking, plus take pictures. This is fun to fool around with, but not much else.

The fighting in Shenmue II is fun, but too infrequent. Also, the graphics look just like the original one of a few years ago. And the voice acting is the worst in a video game ever. It's only a couple of short voice cuts put together to make a conversation. It makes the otherwise lifelike city seem fake.

But Shenmue II is strangely addicting. It's worth a try, but not if you're looking for an action-packed game. The included movie on a separate DVD is supposed to be a Shenmue movie, but it's really just a bunch of conversations and short clips from the first game put together in a movie-like fashion.

Grade: C

-- ANDERS SCHERBERGER, Times correspondent

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Company: Electronic Arts

System: PlayStation 2

Price: $49.99

Rated: Teen

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers game is pretty cool. The stages can be challenging, and I can guarantee that it will leave you on the edge of your seat, literally screaming at the Orcs and Uruk-Hai.

I thought that it was a great idea to blend together The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring, considering the fact that the Fellowship was also a cool movie. It was also cool how they used clips from the movie to introduce the next scene on the game. The graphics were pretty accurate, and the voices were those of actors from the new film.

The game is not easy. Some stages will require dozens of attempts before you can move on. But that is the fun of it, even if it can get frustrating. As you will see when you play the game, it may seem that there are other strings of stages that you can choose. However, these are not stages. They are interviews with the actors, behind-the-scenes looks at the movie and secret missions that you can accomplish with certain characters. By completing certain stages or achieving level 5 or higher with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, you unlock these levels. You can choose your favorite character, complete the game with him, then go back and replay the same stages with different characters to raise their levels and uncover their interviews and missions.

As much as I already loved the book series and the first movie, this game was an excellent addition to The Lord of the Rings stuff. I am very excited about the movie to be released Dec. 18.

Grade: A-

-- CIARA COTEY, Times correspondent

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