By
Matthew Scott Hunter
 ‘MADDEN
NFL 13’ (E)
****
EA Sports
Xbox 360
The standard complaint accompanying each annual
“Madden” release is that nothing ever changes.
Fans wind up paying full price for little more
than updated rosters (which could be sold much
cheaper as an online expansion). But this year’s
addition to the franchise offers more than a
handful of small tweaks, for better and for
worse. Presentation-wise, this is the best “Madden”
has ever been. Slick ESPN graphics blend seamlessly
with gameplay. An orchestral score makes each
game feel absolutely epic. And Phil Simms and
Jim Nantz are an infinite improvement over last
year’s commentators. Most importantly, the new
XP system allows you to earn experience points
for both athletes and coaches, which can be
used to purchase specific upgrades, giving the
whole game an intriguing RPG quality. So that’s
the good news.
The bad news has to do with the new Infinity
physics engine. The intent here was to replace
the canned animations of “Madden” past with
a dynamic physics engine that would ensure that
no two tackles would ever look the same. So
now there’s no limit to how many different ways
a player can fall and no limit to how ridiculous
he can look while falling. The variable physics
cause the players to flail a bit too much, transforming
from athletic superstars to rag dolls at the
slightest touch. The physics are also wildly
unpredictable, leading to bouts of extreme frustration
when you’re in pursuit of an errant football
on an erratic course. But none of these problems
are anywhere near game-breaking, and they give
EA Sports something to work on for next year.
And in the meantime, players have plenty of
those new rosters to enjoy.
 ‘COUNTER-STRIKE:
GLOBAL OFFENSIVE’ (M)
****
Valve Software
Xbox Live Arcade
Years before console gamers were raking up
kill streaks in “Modern Warfare,” PC players
were enjoying a much more elegant competitive
first-person shooter experience with “Counter-Strike.”
Unlike most modern shooters, which feature deaths
and respawns roughly every thirty seconds, death
in “Counter-Strike” is permanent (at least until
the next round), prompting players to use greater
caution and strategy, so when you finally do
score a kill, you know you earned it. This latest
iteration of “Counter-Strike”is now available
to console players, assuming they can put aside
their ADHD and exercise some patience.
 ‘JOJO’S
BIZARRE ADVENTURE HD VER.’ (T)
***
Capcom
Xbox Live Arcade
Like other arcade fighting games of its day,
this late ’90s relic features cartoonish characters
dealing each other screen-filling attacks (one
infamous move even drops a massive cement roller
on the opponent). Though these characters may
be foreign to those unfamiliar with the Japanese
manga, they battle with the deep mechanics one
expects from a Capcom developed fighter. In
fact, with little in the way of a tutorial,
that depth will ensure a steep learning curve
for any players who haven’t already memorized
each character’s move-sets while pumping quarters
into an arcade cabinet fourteen years ago. CV | 
