ShareThisBoom BloxPlatform: Wii.Genre: Puzzle.Publisher: EA Games.ESRB Rating: E for Everyone.Grade: 3.5 stars.After the complete train wreck that was Jenga World Tour, you had a better chance dumping me in that cabin from that "The Strangers" movie then getting me to play another "remove a block from a collapsing tower" game. So when I heard that EA paired with Steven Spielberg to produce the similarly sounding Boom Blox, I was packing my bags for a secluded, woodland run-in with freaks in masks.Yet surprisingly I was able to unpack my bags and play Boom Blox for an extended period of time. While it still shares some common problems that plagued Jenga World Tour, there are plenty of things this game gets right and makes it worth sticking with.The single-player mode of Boom Blox will certainly not light your spirits ablaze. It often suffers from the same problems as Jenga, and while there's lots of customizations thrown in (exploding blocks, chemical blocks, etc.), the problems are more noticeable when playing alone.This is why the strength in the game lies in its multiplayer and level creator modes. When playing in groups, Boom Blox's main troubles are pushed to the background. And with a strong level creator, where you can create your own puzzles and send them to a friend or play locally, it adds a ton of replay value over the long term.There is a throwaway story built into the game, but overlook that and what you're left with is a fun puzzle game that had me thankful I could stay there and avoid a nightmare ending in some remote forest cabin.HazePlatform: PlayStation 3.Genre: Shooter.Publisher: Ubisoft ESRB.Rating: M for Mature.Grade: 2 stars.Upon first glance, you might think that the visual style and game-play offered by Haze is nothing more than a lower-grade Halo experience. This would not be entirely untrue, if not for the fact that at times it is even worse than expected.Nectar is the main plot and game-play device; its existence is the basis for the story you'll play through, while injecting it gives you added abilities and enhancements needed to gun it out with anti-nectar rebels. From overdose grenades to being able to feign death, the abilities definitely give you an upper hand in combat.The nectar's effects, however, can't overcome the dreadful AI that may be the worst in recent years for a first-person shooter. How a game like this could have been released with such morons for teammates and enemies is beyond understanding.What it comes down to is that for a futuristic sci-fi shooter, there's just plenty more games out there that are far superior then what Haze dished up, and that is the real disappointment.Deca SportsPlatform: Wii.Genre: Sports.Publisher: Hudson.ESRB Rating: E for Everyone.Grade: 1.5 stars.With a collection of 10 sports, you'd hope that Hudson could have met success with at least half. This is unfortunately not the case, as most of the sports offerings here come off a wildly pedestrian and lack the staying power that has kept Wii Sports popular ever since its inception.Trying to capitalize on the popularity of Wii Sports, Deca Sports offers archery, curling, basketball, badminton, figure skating, kart racing, volleyball, motocross, snowboarding and soccer. The collection is intriguing, but not one of them is presented or played out properly, and at no point do you feel like you're actually playing these sports.This is mainly due to inconsistent AI and controls that are hopelessly simple. Almost every teammate (in games needing them) are motionless saps that fail to perform even the most basic of strategic tasks. The controls, meanwhile, are extremely limited and do not give you any opportunity for making the game fun. It's all a bunch of remote waving timed to specific moments. Passing, shooting, steering, spinning; no matter the undertaking, its all executed by the same motions with the controller, and that's just lazy.The only gamers who might have an OK time with this are younger gamers who haven't quite grasped the concepts of organized sports yet. Otherwise, stay away from this game.(E-mail Chris Campbell at game_on_games(at)mac.com)
'Boom Blox' a hit, 'Haze,' 'Deca Sports' not so much
Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 17:42
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