EA hopes this Sharp Dressed Man will demand you to Gimme All Your Lovin’ (definitely shoe-horned those in, but look at him; I just couldn’t resist) when they reboot the Medal of Honor franchise in 2010.

The 10-year-old series has been in decline for some time now, and the need for a revitalized brand has certainly been fueled by the continued, enormous success Activision has had with Call of Duty.

The EA Los Angeles and DICE co-developed Medal of Honor ditches World War II and moves to a modern-day Afghanistan where the bearded man from above (apparently based on an actual US Army Special Forces soldier codenamed “Cowboy” http://www.life.com/image/1373470) is a “Tier 1 Operator”.

I’m hoping EA aims for a more realistic story as opposed to the absurdity that was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, i.e. fighting Russian paratroopers in a bombed-out Oval Office.

Forgive my censorship, but the obnoxious and trite phrase “going green” has pervaded just about every facet of consumer marketing in the past few years.  Luckily, the cringe-inducing term is rarely used in the video game industry. Now that it has arrived, we cannot let it fester and grow unchecked.

I propose the term be permanently removed from the American vernacular or, at the very least, in reference to video games.  The Post could even run a contest to find a replacement term.  The winner would be famous and adored.

Until then we have no immediately identifiable way to explain news such as the Viva Group’s redesign of Xbox 360 video game packaging that uses 20% less plastic while maintaining the same quality and performance.

Commence the contest.

A Canadian lumber mill takes the place of a South Pacific island, zombie mercenaries stand-in for hulking mutants and Jack Carver has a German accent, but enough connects the movie to the game to call Far Cry a fairly faithful videogame adaptation. Fans won’t be pleased, though, since notorious director Uwe Boll is at the helm.

Charter boat captain Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) takes journalist Valerie Cardinal (Emmanuelle Vaugier) to an assignment on a remote island. Of course the island hides a secret lab where an evil scientist is creating an unstoppable army (X-Men comics warned us about Canada’s scientific villainy). Valerie is captured and Jack’s boat is blown up so Jack enters reluctant hero mode.

In a series of set pieces, Jack dodges explosions and kills mercenaries, while escaping capture and rescuing the girl. If you’ve seen Inglourious Basterds, you’ll remember Schweiger as the badass Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz. Schweiger is a credible action hero making Far Cry a credible action movie. Uwe Boll seems to be aiming for a 1980s action movie vibe – elevating Valerie to love interest and pairing Jack with a comedy relief providing sidekick (Boll regular Chris Coppola as the tagalong “Food-guy”).

While Boll is usually reviled for his directorial choices, most of Far Cry’s flaws stem from what looks like a Syfy level budget. The game was lauded for its stunning visuals; the movie, not so much. Jack Carver’s trademark Hawaiian shirt looks sorely out of place in Vancouver and it’s hard to be menaced by a villain that whose secret lair is a sawmill.

Far Cry
Directed by Uwe Boll
Starring Til Schweiger, Emmanuelle Vaugier, and Michael Paré
DVD released: Nov 24, 2009

Much of the Nintendo Wii’s success (over 50 million sold worldwide) can be attributed to a key point:  make games more accessible to everyone by simplifying the controller.  The notion that picking up a controller with two joysticks and a dozen or so buttons can be intimidating seems like a long overdue realization.

The AbleGamers Foundation targets another overlooked issue in game accessibility for the disabled.   “There are countless sites out there that review games for their graphics and sound, but no one is looking at the game from the standpoint of accessibility,” states Mark C. Barlet, president of the foundation.

Ablegamers.com highlights how specific games accommodate the 63 million Americans with disabilities.  Games are rated on the assistance they provide the disabled such as one-handed controls, subtitles, and color-blind sensitivity.

Increased attention will lead to new advancements in accessibility; as game publishers do not like to leave out large audiences and, most importantly, their cash.

The original Marvel: Ultimate Alliance was punctuated with wow moments. Whether it was facing off against Galactus on the Skrull homeworld, fighting alongside Thor in Asgard or playing a life or death game of Pitfall, the game took a standard brawler and entrenched it deep in the Marvel mythos. Sadly Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) is a decidedly earthbound affair.

Taking the reins from Raven Software, Vicarious Visions structures the plot against Marvel’s epic Civil War event. A series of disastrous choices by the superheroes has led to the Superhuman Registration Act – a law which puts metahumans under government control and threatens the security afforded by their secret identities.

It’s a move which pits hero against hero and forces the player to side with Ironman’s pro-registration forces or Captain America’s underground anti-registration movement. Now three years out, the Marvel Universe is still dealing with fallout from Civil War so in terms of dramatic pull, it’s excellent source material. But Alliance 2 pulls its punches, leading to a final boss who appears from left field and an ending which rings hollow.

Setting the plot aside, Alliance 2 delivers a great co-op multiplayer experience (two to four-player online or off). Not counting the DLC, the game offers a 24 character roster to form your four-member team – of course, depending on who you side with, not everyone will be available. Playable characters include recent Marvel movie stars Spider-man, Ironman, Hulk, Wolverine and Deadpool, as well as ones off the radar like Luke Cage, Penance and Songbird.

When you’re talking superheroes, you’re talking superpowers and this is where Alliance 2’s RPG system comes into play. Each character has four key powers (either buffs or attacks) which are mapped to the controller’s face buttons. As you gain experience, you can level these powers up along with some passive abilities which improve your combat performance. The majority of the characters do what you’d expect them to do: Hulk smashes, Spidey webslings, Mr. Fantastic stretches. Standouts include a formidable Susan Storm and Songbird, who has interesting variety to her powers.

Alliance 2 ups the superheroics with Fusion powers. Two characters can use their powers in concert to clear rooms, devastate multiple enemies or deliver massive damage to a single foe. Thor and Human Torch create a fiery tornado. Hulk throws Wolverine for the fan favorite Fastball Special. The Thing hurls a massive boulder which Iceman freezes for extra damage. Each pairing creates a unique Fusion resulting in over 270 specialized attacks.

The Ultimate Alliance games can trace their ancestry back to 2004’s X-Men Legends and Vicarious Visions shrugs off a lot of the franchise’s baggage in this entry, simplifying not only how powers work, but also improving inventory management and letting players swap out characters on the fly. I see most of these changes as improvements, shortening the time players need to spend navigating menus, but I’m not happy that there’s now only one alternate costume per character and that the difference is purely cosmetic.

Instead of dropping loot, bosses now drop medals which add buffs to your team. There are still simulator discs to be collected which unlock challenge missions, but these excursions no longer recall famous comic book battles. Players can level their characters in-game, while the credible AI takes control of their character. Lastly, the trivia minigame returns albeit revamped for a multiplayer experience – which is curiously co-op instead of competitive.

The in-game graphics are an improvement, but level design falls short. As mentioned above, Alliance 2 isn’t as far reaching as the first game, but the linearity was surprising especially with promising locales like Wakanda. Graphics have taken a step back in the rendered cinematics. I fanboyed out my way through Alliance 1, which had one of the greatest opening cinematics of all time. However, more is accomplished in-game, especially during the numerous conversation options available back at bases. (Tip, characters with a shared history should always talk to each other.) And I loved the flashy intros for the boss characters.

There really aren’t enough four-player brawlers; especially ones which allow for in-person co-op play as well as online. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a big fish in this small pond – and there’s enough polish here to please even those who aren’t members of the Merry Marvel Marching Society – but compared to Ultimate Alliance’s first outing, this entry is less than marvelous.

Abington IP, a Tulsa-based law firm specializing in Intellectual Property Law and Consumer Class Actions, is investigating the possibility of a class action lawsuit in regards to Microsoft’s recent banning of thousands of modified Xbox 360 consoles.  Typically, consoles are modified or “modded” in order to play games without legally owning a copy.  Once banned, the consoles are no longer able to connect to Xbox Live to play games online.

Of course, a law firm suing a major corporation is not news; however, their reasoning in the suit is unique.  Abington IP is suggesting that Microsoft timed the bannings after the releases of two major online games, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3: ODST; games likely to generate increased revenue in Xbox Live subscriptions.  Apparently, users are still able to connect to Xbox Live using their subscription, just not with the banned consoles.

The reality is that anyone modifying their console for illegal uses knows the associated risks (read: getting banned).  Hopefully the lawsuit fizzles out.

On the heels of the announcement that Electronic Arts is eliminating 1,500 positions, comes the closing of Pandemic Studios.  A reported 200 people were laid off from the video game development studio best known for the Mercenaries series and Star Wars: Battlefront.

The shuttering is even more shocking considering that EA purchased Pandemic along with Bioware for $860 million back in 2007.  EA has said that “Pandemic’s brand and franchises will live on”.  It will be interesting to see how the closing affects next month’s release of The Saboteur which will be Pandemic’s last developed title.

Following last month’s head-exploding news that the Nintendo Wii was outsold by the Playstation 3, console buyers put an end to the madness and took home the Wii en masse.  The (recently $199) Wii cracked over 500,000 units sold during the NPD’s October reporting period which ran from 10/4 to 10/31.

Nintendo marches toward its goal of ensuring every human being in the United States owns the DS, with a very respectable 457,600 units sold.  The Playstation 3 maintained a lead over the 360, although I wonder how long that will hold up considering the huge impact Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 should have for the 360.

The full breakdown for hardware sales according to the NPD Group follows:

Wii – 506,900
Nintendo DS – 457,600
PlayStation 3 – 320,600
Xbox 360 – 249,700
PSP – 174,600
PlayStation 2 – 117,800

On the software side, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves more than doubles its predecessors first month sales (206,000) and rings in an impressive 537,000 units sold.  Nintendo’s pseudo-exercise offerings, Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort, sell a combined 755,000 units.  Borderlands has a better-than-expected debut at 418,000 which was good for 3rd place overall.

Some notable (but not really surprising) absences from the top 10 were the Jack Black-led Brutal Legend and Activision’s DJ Hero.

01. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) – 537,000
02. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) – 441,000
03. Borderlands (Xbox 360) – 418,000
04. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) – 314,000
05. NBA 2K10 (Xbox 360) – 311,000
06. Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360) – 271,000
07. NBA 2K10 (PS3) – 213,000
08. Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360) – 175,000
09. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) – 169,000
10. FIFA Soccer 10 (Xbox 360) – 156,000

The last racing game I spent major time with was set on Tatooine. When playing GTA IV, taxi riding-based achievements were the first I unlocked. In other words, I’m not really the target audience when it comes to the Need for Speed franchise — which is too bad because it goes out of its way to be accessible to players like me.

Need for Speed: SHIFT is designed for scalability. On one end of its spectrum is a realistic racer where die hard drivers can tweak their cars to get the performance and handling they desire. My end of the spectrum is more like a glorified Pole Position.

And that isn’t an exaggeration. My preferred perspective was an HUD-less third person one, not the realistic in-the-cockpit view where you can see the game’s physics engine punishing the driver.

After a test run found that I shouldn’t be subjected to realistic damage, challenging AI, or anything else which might hurt my racing self esteem (even down to shifting – so there goes the game’s subtitle), I started my racing career.

My first race out got to a bumpy start — which works since ramming other cars is a legitimate strategy. SHIFT has a leveling system where you earn points for precision or aggressive driving. So you can force opponents off the track or cleanly pass them while staying along a glowing guideline showing the optimum placement for your car.

Leveling your driver up opens up new car and race opportunities, but winning is all that matters since you want to earn stars to move to the next racing tier. The goal is to advance to the prestigious NFS Live World Tour. Along the way, you compete on a combination of real world tracks and ones created for the game across three continents. Doing well leads to special invitational events and you can always elect to do a quick race from the main menu or jump online.

The core racing experience is what I expect from an established franchise’s entry on a modern system. Tight controls, photorealistic graphics and accurate sound. With over 60 cars available and over 15 real-world locations, Need for Speed: SHIFT offers a complete experience.

And it’s an experience which doesn’t get repetitious. The invitational races often give drivers access to cars outside their tiers – and there’s more than just simple races available. Time trials, elimination races and duels against rivals offer great variety.

If there’s anything I didn’t like about the game, beyond slightly buggy replays which would occasionally cycle into an endless loop, it’s that impatient players can shell out real world dollars (via Microsoft Points) to purchase the cars they want instead of saving up in-game currency.

Xbox 360 version reviewed. Also available for the PS3 and PC.

The game The Great Flu, available online at www.thegreatflu.com.

This week we take a look at the online game The Great Flu, which is available at www.thegreatflu.com.

Developed not by game designers but by a team of Dutch virologists, it’s an interesting pastime, though I have found a better group of games out there.

More of my take in a minute. First, a guest opinion — that of Palm Beach Post researcher Niels Heimerinks, who let us know about the game in the first place, after the jump.
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