By Matthew Scott Hunter
‘God of War III’ (M)
A badass in gaming history
*****
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation 3
Sony’s flagship franchise is back for its third and final installment, but how can an epic of god-like proportions top itself? By getting even bigger. You’ll scale a titan the size of a mountain, while it scales a mountain the size of a continent. And that’s just the first level. “God of War III” constantly creates images of such astonishing size and grandeur, they would’ve made the greatest Greek storytellers feel like their tales were quaint nursery rhymes. The gods have never seemed more powerful, and of course, Kratos intends to bring them all crashing down from Olympus.
The Ghost of Sparta handles much like we remember, using his Blades of Athena to reduce anything that moves to a cluster of glowing red orbs, but there have been some control simplifications. Magical attacks have been linked to specific weapons, making them easier to select on the fly, and ranged weapons no longer use magic, creating a greater incentive to use them. No matter what weapons you use, your attacks are gorier than ever. Quicktime event kills will leave entrails spilling realistically onto the ground—never the same way twice. Kratos’ reputation for excessive violence is very much secure, and “God of War III” is a fitting sendoff for the baddest badass in gaming history.
‘Metro 2033’ (M)
****
THQ
Xbox 360
However bad the post-apocalyptic wasteland might have been in our nation’s capitol in “Fallout 3,” you can rest assured that things are even worse in Russia. Moscow — or at least its subways — is the last haven for mankind in “Metro 2033,” a shooter where military-grade ammunition isn’t simply a valuable resource — it’s become standard currency. And you’ll need a lot of it if you don’t want to be a subterranean mutant’s dinner. This might not be the most technically impressive shooter around, but the dark turns of its bleak world and twisty story are worth exploring.
‘Calling’ (T)
**
Hudson Entertainment
Wii
“Calling” throws every Japanese horror cliché in the book at us and somehow never manages to be scary. Supernatural cell phone calls transport you to all the familiar horror game locales: a school, a hospital, a creepy house. The Wii remote functions as your phone, allowing you to listen to unimpressive voice actors speak through even less impressive speakers. The rest of your time is spent waggling the controller because that’s all it takes to shake off annoyingly clingy ghosts.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ (E)
**
Disney Interactive Studios
Wii
The console version of “Alice in Wonderland” ditches the charming look of its DS counterpart in favor of an appearance more faithful to the film. But like the DS game, you’re cast as multiple anthropomorphic characters and tasked to escort Alice through the drab graphics of Wonderland. The game proceeds at a pace that would make a tardy rabbit’s head explode, and even a child would have to be mad as a hatter to endure the simplistic and repetitive fight mechanics.
