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Developer: MommysBest
Genre: Side Scrolling Shooter
Players: 1
Price: 400
Rating By Community:
Violence=3/3
Sex=2/3
Mature Content=2/3
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Overview: The new Xbox experience is out along with a hand full of XNA or "Community" games, there are many to pick from and after playing all the demo's on a $5 budget this one seemed like the clear winner, does it live up to its name? or is this just another one of those games that are thrown out there to make a quick buck?

Gameplay: Tho ridiculously short, this game brings a new fresh twist to side scrolling shooters with a good deal of characters to choose from each with their own weapon, special double jump AND secondary fire for each, plus, they all hold one extra weapon in common that you will be completely ignoring throughout the game but is still nice to have.
A problem I have with XNA games is that you MUST be connected to Xbox live in order to play them, I found this out when I went to play it as I was just starting this review (I like to have the games on while I write about it in case I have to double check anything) this off course became an instant frustration for me. Off course no points will be taken off for this as ALL games are the same, but this is one thing to have in mind for any future purchase of an XNA game.

Another problem that I wish Microsoft would fix is the lack of achievements on these XNA games, it was fun playing them, but would be even funner if I knew that all my hard work would be rewarded, plus, it adds value. Now that I have listed the problems of ALL XNA games, allow me to continue by listing the problems of this particular one, the frame drops at least once per level, this is not consistent but very noticeable, also, it takes about fifteen minutes to get through the story once, you have the option to complete each level through different paths which adds a bit of replay value but not much. All the characters can be unlocked within half an hour which is about how long it takes to beat the whole game seance you have three different paths to choose from starting from the first level and each path takes ten to fifteen minutes to complete.
Each character also has a strange gadget that will grab on to walls and roofs for you, this not only looks cool but once you get used to it can be very helpful as well.
One last feature of this game that needs to be mentioned is the automatic "bullet time" effect that activates when you are near death, this looks and feels cool, plus gives you a second chance at avoiding mortal hazards near you, this makes the game very forgiving, but the fact that this game revolves around the hone hit kill philosophy sort of evens things out. Once you die you will be taken to the character selection menu and after you choose one, you will be blasted back to action, once all of the players die, the game is over.


Graphics: The game has a visual style unlike any other, monsters are imaginative and colorful, the backgrounds and environment are well detailed, and bullets in weapons are distinct. Opponents are animated strangely, their bodies are often stretched and my best guess is that its part of the style they are trying to pull of.

Sound: This seems like a game made for the stereotypical gamer male, there are big buns, chicks (you don't really get to see them up close tho) explosions, monsters, and aliens.....the sound is no different, it is very squishy and crunchy at times mostly when an enemy is killed, and there is rock on the background, could this possibly get more manly?

Replay Value: If you have been ether reading or paying attention to my review so far, you will know that there are not many reasons to come back to this game, no multilayer support, only about seven levels, and even tho it has three different endings, it only takes about thirty minutes to get there, on the bright side, there are seven unique characters. For 400 I would really have liked to get at least one hour of fun, overall whether or not you should buy this game comes down to how much is 400 worth to YOU, and how much you are willing to pay for a fun, but VERY short experience.

Conclusion: It seems like almost every single game that does something new or cool for the first time is very short, take portal for example, it was a completely new and awesome puzzle game but only lasted about two hours and it always ends up coming down to how much you are willing to pay for a very short but awesome experience. There IS a surprisingly alright story, and this is how the three endings are broken up, whoever you choose to serve will determine where you will go next, but be careful, you die in two out of the three endings. ...

Opening:
The original Fable was quite a controversial game. The game's creator Peter Molyneux had promised the world to gamers, and much of that promise went unfulfilled in the first game. The strange thing about it, was that although many of the features that were said to be in the game weren't, it still proved to be a very fun game, and the features that were in it were very innovative. The opposite of the scandal is true with Fable 2. This time around, Peter Molyneux under promised, and over delivered. Whereas Fable was a good game, Fable 2 takes everything from Fable, entirely new concepts, and a world ten times larger the the original, and expands upon it in every way imaginable. Funny, thrilling, emotional, and entirely too short, Fable 2 is everything people wanted it to be and then some.

Story
Like the original, Fable 2 is all about its satirical nature, that is, its very very funny. What makes it stand out from other "funny" games is that its GENUINELY funny in its nature. While containing a very serious plot and story, everything from the people to the expressions, which are basically your way of communicating to people, to the things that the characters say, it has a unique charm and humor to it.( A bit of an understatement; this is one of the most unique game worlds ever created, in part due to its charming atmosphere.) This atmosphere of Fable sets it apart from the countless other fairy-tale style games, and it truly gives it its own image and personality as a game. This is by and large the most endearing aspect of the game, and what will have you coming back for more, even after you've completed all the quests and the story. And about the story...

The original Fable had a rather weak story, although thats what in part made it so fun(Not many times had a game been made where you can choose which way a generic fairy tale will be told). Fable II's story, while by a good margin better, isn't great. What it boils down to is a rather generic story of a hero who must combine powers with 3 other heroes to save the world. Not so original. What makes it original, is how you can essentially choose the way the story is told.(For all I know you might be able to even kill the mains, I never tried.) Everything you do, even down to the small chores you did in the beginning of the game influence how the world is shaped for you and how the story and sub stories will play out. This also means you sometimes have to be careful as to what quests you don't do(For the most part, quests you do do won't mean the desolation of entire cities) Still, the story mode itself

Graphics
The graphical style for Fable 2 is one of those games that you could call art and not have Kojima slapping you across the face for it. If a game should have ever been called "art" due only on its visuals, Fable 2 is up there with Okami and Shadow of the Colossus. The bright and colorful vibrant shades during the daytime in such places as Bowerstone lake and Market make you entranced by the world as very few games have been able to accomplish before. Just as well, in contrast the dreary, dark and pale colors of such places as Wraithmarsh and The Bandit Coast give the game a true air of tense feeling. Its these great graphical styles that really suck you into the world, and make it a treat to just run through the roads and look at the world itself.

The game isn't so much technically impressive as it is creative. The graphics are simple, as are the water effects and most of the game. The magic is positively striking, but the effects do have some negative effects on the game. For instance, most massive level 5 spells will cause the game to slowdown for a few seconds. Nothing major, but defineatly an annoyance. The thing is, as colorful and fun-filled as the graphics are, the sheer lack of technicality in this age of gaming is disappointing. Also, when night falls on the forest levels and other levels where the color attracts you to them, the levels appear very drab and boring.




Animations are something that needs work as well. Stiff looking attack and magic animations, and enemies are no different. Expressions are well done. The characters movements pertaining to interaction with your character, such as fear, joy, admiration, and most actions on the parts of the villagers just feel fake and hollow. Despite this, your characters animations are fantastic when it comes to the customization you can do. Instead of the animations being absolutely terrible to fit with all the different clothing possibilities you'll have, the animations stay the same, even if the same does need a bit of work.

Gameplay ...

Overview:
Big fish eats small fish. Its a fact of life, and is a saying that well explains the worlds state of life. Feeding Frenzy takes this saying quite literally, as you play as a fish in the big sea whose only purpose is to eat small fish and became a big fish to eat even bigger fish. Sounds simple right? Well it is, almost too much so. The game isn't broken(well, controls may be) but it certainly does what its supposed to, if by 'supposed to' means bore you in little over an hour.

Gameplay:
The gameplay revolves around trying to devour other smaller fish and grow larger, so that you can eat the larger fish. Thats the formula for every level you play, except for the occasional bonus level which has you doing some some mini game to attain a higher score. The thing is, its all been down before, and in 1995 at that. Playing this game reminded me of a lesser quality version of Odell Down Under, a similar game where the gameplay is nearly identical. However, Feeding Frenzy is far more simplistic. There is usually only a single type of fish you are able to eat, and that will, for most at least, get extremely boring as the game progresses, since there is really no change to gameplay. This results in a very repetitive experience all throughout story mode, as there is far too little depth in the game to really hold anyone other then a casual gamer's interest for very long. The 'not-so-different' special levels you do every so often do little to keep your interest.

The controls are quite a mess. Constantly, you'll end up drifting into the mouth of a bigger fish on accident because of the Astroids-style drift that happens after releasing the controller stick. It also makes devouring small fish a pain, at least until you get the Vacuum ability to suck up fish.

The good news is there is co-op, and if you have a relative who doesn't generally like video games, this is a great game that can be played with them. The game's difficulty is easy and its learning curve is non-existant. Just try to make sure your friend or family doesn't fall asleep while playing it.




Graphics:
The charming underwater theme of the game fits very well with the mood of the game. Vibrant and colorful, but all too bland and reptitive. The backgrounds repeat, the same fish sprites are used constantly, and all in all its just becomes boring after the 15th level of the same background and fish. I guess the solution Sprout games used for this was to invert the fish colors every so often. Meh.

Sound:
The tranquil music does its work, like the rest of the game, to make you feel tired, and sort of relaxed. The creepy sound effect you hear of the guy saying "Feeding Frenzy" is more likely to scare you then relax you though. Sound effects for eating fish will get annoying after a few hours of continuous play, but hey, at least they didn't have you hear the fish screaming bloody murder every time you eat them.

Closing comments:
Feeding Frenzy is one of those games that your sister would play on an internet game site rather then a game you'd be wanting to spend money for. After all, there are some almost identical flash games you could play at no cost. I suppose Feeding Frenzy's biggest offense that it commits is just not being all that fun, even though it generally does what its supposed to. Which I suppose, is make you get very drowzy.

Story: N/A
Graphics: 2/5
Sound: 1/5
Gameplay: 1/5
Replayability: 2/5

OVERALL: 1/5
...

Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Players: 1-18 (2-4 co-op)
Genre: FPS
Price: $59.99
Reviewed On: Xbox 360
ESRB:

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Overview: It seems like every year, a new call of duty game comes out during the holiday seasons, how does this one stand out from the rest? I really have no idea because I have never played a COD game before, so this year I am jumping in and heading out to see what all the fuzz is about in this bullet packed FPS. (CAUTION: DOES NOT CONTAIN ACTUAL BULLETS!)

Gameplay: There is no denying that WWII games have been done quite too many times, and for gamers that have been keeping up with the franchise this may be a good or bad thing, this is still Call Of Duty in every single way so if you didn't like the old ones, there is a slim chance that you will enjoy this one.
What REALLY sets this one aside from the rest is an extra game option you unlock after beating the game where you are stuck inside a house and an unlimited number of waves of nazy zombies, they can come into your house but they have to break walls and wood that covers windows first. You can re-build any barrier, buy new weapons, and expand your ground, tho when you expand your ground, you also increase the number of gaps that may lay in your home for zombies to come in. The zombies get faster and stronger as the waves go by making your initial guns useless against them, guns that use to kill them with one shot will later take 2, 3, 5, 7 shots to kill them after a few waves go by, tho a head shot will always blow them up, it is alot harder to do so when they are running at you by the bunch. this is a great experience specially with friends, but I do wish they had expanded a bit more in it, there is only one type of zombie and the house is pretty small, also, it is great to have a small group so that team work becomes easier to achieve, but having about ten guys in a house kicking zombie butt would have been cool too.

Now on to multiplayer, this game supports up to 18 players which is great, you have to constantly watch your back or else you will die easily, I learned this thanks to an awesome death cam that puts you in the eyes of your opponent seconds before your defeat, and sure enough, most of my deaths were caused by enemies whom i did not see mys self, if you learn from the mistakes that the death cam shows you, you will quickly be able to dominate the grounds. The ranking system on Call Of Duty: World At War is great, you level up constantly and get great rewards, from new weapons to perks that you can add to your character to give him more health or make his bullets inflict more damage, after you reach level four you can create your own class to fully be able to customize your character to fit your gameplay style.
The AI can be very dumb at times which takes away from the experience, sometimes I feel like i am just target practicing due to the fact that they just aim at me and wait for me to shoot at them, sometimes you can even stay behind them or follow them for long periods of times before they notice you which is odd because this could have possibly been done on purpose to encourage you to be stealthy in certain areas, but if they did, they need to fix it because even I would notice people when they are running behind me or starring at me with a gun few feet away from me.
Your team mates are no better, you will often see them shooting at walls just because there is an enemy at the other side of it, I once saw a squad member run sideways across an opened door and once the opening was over he started to shoot at the wall, it was quite a late reaction.
Any time you are at your feet (not on a tank or something) your gameplay will most likely consist of the following: walk around, get ambushed, hide behind something, come out to shoot at your enemies and get back in cover once you have taken enough hits, and then go to the next area, this is all good at first but after a while you start to notice this pattern.

The loading times are covered up by a mix between real live footage, and CG content, it always loads up before the introduction is finished and you are free to skip it afterward tho some of them are quite interesting and you may want to watch each at least once.
There is an icon on the bottom left of the screen where the map is located that tells you where to go, this way, you will never get lost which is a great touch, tho not completely necessary due to the fact that this game is very linear, tho this simply further escorts you to your next checkpoint.
Most of the achievements have to be done alone, which is a shame because normally you have the option gain achievements ether solo or with a friend, and who doesn't love to grab a friend and go achievement hunting right?
Aside ...

Platform: Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP or Vista) PC
Developer: Stardock Entertainment (official game page)
Publisher: Kalypso Media
Designer: Brad Wardell
MSRP: £29.99
Ratings: PEGI






ESRB: Not rated (European Release, although all previous Galactic Civilizations II games received an E10)
Note: This is a standalone version of the Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor expansions to the original Galactic Civilizations 2.

Short Overview: Planet/starship centered Turn Based Strategy game. Very mature due to it's lineage (second expansion to a second game in a series all made by the same core group). You can spend anywhere from a few hours to a few months on a single game. My favorite thing was most definetly the humor, which drives the gameplay and gives needed respite from the epic nature of the game. Only flaw is the absense of a number of features that make the game difficult to micromanage or macromanage.

Overall Score:
Rating:

Click HERE to see the full review. ...

Developer: Volition
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Action
Price: $59.99
Players: Players: 1-2 (off-line) Players: 2-12 (on-line)


Blood and Gore
Intense Violence
Sexual Content
Strong Language
Use of Drugs

*Reviewed on an xbox360 console*
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Overview:Some say that Saints Row 2 is not as good as GTA4 and that is the reason they won't buy it, but it really isn't trying to be GTA4, though it may seem like it at first glance, this game actually exceeds GTA4 in some ways.

Gameplay: There is alot of things to talk about this game, so let me break it down this way:

When you start out, you will only have one crib, and little money, you can do missions to earn money and respect which will allow you to buy more cribs in which you can do a number of activities, such as watch previous cutscenes, change your clothes, weapon, and even collect any money your gang has gathered up, you can get money daily by buying food places, and such once you have owned the hood they are in. While you are in your crib, an interesting thing you can do is play a separate game called "Zombie Uprising" where you and a small group of other people are trapped in a small area, and you fight wave after wave of zombies until you beat the game, at the beginning you ARE supplied with weapons such as a chainsaw which when used, the camera closes up on you so you can see the zombie being ripped apart even better, just like in gears of war, this is a great addition to to Saints Row and only adds more value as well.
Other ways of getting money include doing missions, stealing a taxi and driving people around, stealing cars and selling them, and even stealing a car and taking the people inside of it hostage, this leads up to a sort of mini game in which you have to avoid the cops for a certain amount of time, if you stop or drive too slowly, then the hostage will get off the car. Missions in Saints Row 2 are very varied, you will find your self doing the regular racing and killing activities, but then you will also find yourself in a truck throwing human waste at buildings, or pretending to be a police man and trying to break up a gang fight between pirates and ninjas.

The character customization deserves a good look at, here, you can tweak and change things large as how fat you are, down to jaw placement, which is simply amazing, let say you for example choose to be an old person, the older you are, the more your skin will start to sag, and lets say you choose to be a man, what is stopping you from walking like a woman? or talking like one? not Saints Row 2's character creator, you are even free to get breast implants, this is actually more fun then making a mii, there I said it! the guy I made actually looks like me! Once you are done making a character, you can go to multiple stores to buy different clothing, this is a more limited selection, but still doesn't cut short from any other game out there that lets you customize your character, the wardrobe is large enough to satisfy your basic needs of looking fly, this will earn you more respect after completing each mission.

Unlike in GTA4, money in Saints Row 2 is actually helpful, you can use it to buy clothes, ammo, weapons, buildings, businesses, upgrades for your cribs, and for your cars, and feel free to upgrade away, unlike in the GTA series, upgrading a car can be frustrating, as you will find yourself driving slowly seance can easily crash and dent it, or in worst case scenario, blow it up, in Saints Row, you can leave it anywhere you want, and it will magically be stored in your garage, blew it up? no problem, it will magically show back up in your garage, except you will be charged a fine to fix it up, so go ahead and install those spikes at the side of your wheels so you can pop the tires out of other cars if they get too close, they aren't going anywhere.

Aside from the clothing options, the character customization in this game is the best I have seen in a video game so far.

There are many weapons in this game, ranging from my handy dandy taser gun, to a target seeking missile launcher, the variety is great to have, too bad you will feel like you mostly won't need them due to the fact that bullets do little damage to you, making this game a little less challenging then it needs to be in some areas, you can literally walk up to a cop while he is shooting at you and then throw him with your bare hands, this process can be repeated multiple times at once without dying, this only gets worse as you level up your character to take less damage from bullets, regenerate faster, and inflict more damage per punch. You can level up your character by doing certain missions, on the down side, this does not carry over to online component of ...

Fable: The Lost Chapters
publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1
System: Xbox Original

Fable 2 is coming up, so it might be a good idea to do a "pastview", eh?

Fable had promised gamers the world; or at least leader of lionhead Studios Peter Molyneux had promised it. One of the oddest surprises about the original Fable which had failed to deliver anywhere near the promises of peter M. was that it was still an absolutely fantastic game.(I wasn't really mainstream at the time, so wow, I could only imagine what he actually said was gonna be in the game at the time o_0) Fable still held its own in the gaming world for a few reasons; one, it had an intense magic and melee combat system. Two, it had a hugeopen world and lots to do. And three, you could be a hero in the game, or a villain, and the line wasn't drawn that clear either.Fable: The Lost Chapters was essentially Fable 1 with some the stuff that SHOULD have been in the original. This included more side missions, weapons, magic, and other things, but nothing truly warrenting a repurchase of the game. if you were like me, however, and never had the game in the first place, it was a spectacular deal.

Fable had a pretty average combat system for its time; emphasis on melee without many different combo attacks, magic that was sweet but ran out too quickly, and a bow for ranged attacks. But the combat system was very fluid, and battles commenced in seamless real time on the overworld. Boss battles were grand and fun. The only problem was that the combat system wasn't very deep. Racking up combos then delivering finishers was fun with melee, but thats about as deep as it went. magic was pretty fun, but overall not as helpful as melee, and rendered pretty useless in comparison. the Extra skills that you could purchase at the Guild made things a little more interesting, but not by a huge amount. Overall, Fable had a very fluid and easy to use combat system, but it didn't contain the depth of such games as Ninja Gaiden and God of War. The control you have in battles and the overworld is spot-on. The controls don't stick, the camera isn't jumpy or messy, and it all around works well.



What was probably the main selling point of the game was its twisting storyline. This was one of the few games where you have immemse amounts of decisions that truly affect how the rest of the game will be played out. And a lot of these decisions actually are decided by your moral standing.(A study once showed that only 5% of the players of Fable could actually stand to be bad all the way through. I know I ended up with a halo, though I wanted to be an assasin :/ )These choices don't just affect the story, they effect you and the people around you. If your bad, people will tend to avoid you or run away when they see you. If your good, people flock to you, and usually bug the crap out of you. but its not so black and white. You can be good or bad, or a mix of the two. Or closer to good then bad, or vice versa. Even the quests you complete at the Guild will decide how people veiw you, so much that if you don't actually do anything, people won't know you. on the other hand, if you take on many quests and emerge victorious each time, you'll get famous. If you drink too much booze you'll get a beer gut, if you work out enough you'll get buffer, and really many things effect your character in adverse ways. And best of all, the choice is up to you. It could even be called a 'benchmark in gaming interactivity', if you use the term loosely.

Score:
With Fable 2 on the horizon, it may be a good idea to pick up Fable: TLC if you haven't already played it. Its selling for dirt cheap now, and its still a fun game today. Its backwards compatible with the 360 as well. So if you've run out of games to try and want a new experience for cheap, give it a go. Be sure to look out for our DCEmu Fable II review coming soon. ...

Platform: Windows (XP or Vista) PC
Developer: Stardock Entertainment (official game page)
Publisher: Stardock Entertainment
Ratings:PEGI















ESRB:



The Political Machine is a turn-based strategy game where the goal is to conquer the worl... become President of the United States. You do this by flying your candidate around the country, state to state, building country awareness of you and promoting yourself on various issues, such as Gas prices or the War on Terror, all over the course of 41 turns. At the same time you manage your funds, build Election Headquarters, belittle your opponent, kiss a few hands, shake a few babies and overall make the world a better place.

The most obvious aspect of this game is the graphics. Bubble-head characters very similar to Nintendo's Mii's. The country is depicted in a 3D cartoon style and each state pops out of the country when highlighted. This adds a flavour of parody to the game and gives the impression that this game isn't going to take itself too seriously. The music of this game isn't noticeable. It's possible to play through the game without noticing music was even playing.


When you begin the game it becomes apparent that there is no interactive tutorial to guide you on your first couple of weeks. There is a tutorial on the main menu and its purpose is to tell you what everything on the screen is and what buildings do. The opening help screen upon starting the game tells you how to move around and some general details. What neither assistance does is tell you what to do to actually win. Once you click past the opening help screen, you're on your own.

The main screen gives the player options to display a plethora of information, little of which is defined or explained. You are given no help during the game in the way of strategies or tips and as a result a first time player will lose their first games badly whilst they work out, through trial and error, what it is they're supposed to do to win.

At the end of the game each of the states lights up in turn in either Blue or Red to represent the candidate they vote for. This will create confusion to some players as many of the states they were most popular in voted for the opponent instead, this is because the popular vote and the electoral vote aren't the same. Americans should know this, non-American's won't.

One of the most customisable areas of this game is the character creation. This allows you to create custom candidates, you could create yourself or go so far as to make a blue skinned eyeless alien. Choosing your appearance and position on topics is very easy to do. However knowing what these topics are will require reading through them, this will presumably affect an American player less as they will already have an understanding of the meaning of some these issues, such as Federal Government. A Foreign player however will need to read them carefully. Some of the issues are ambiguously named and you're left uncertain as to which side is 'For' and which is 'Against'. One important issue here is selecting your party of either Democrat or Republican, who both favour one side or the other of a topic. The player is left in the dark as to which party favours what viewpoint.

Overall this game has a learning curve like a mountain, one which could have been avoided with giving the player more assistance. Calculating votes and popularity in states is very math heavy and although calculations are done for you, you still need to understand what the numbers mean and how to improve each in order to gain ground in a state. As the game is very heavily based upon American Politics and terminology, it's likely to alienate foreign players from even picking it up.

The inclusion of custom characters gives the game a bit more of a foothold outside of the USA, as at the very least, a player can create themselves in the game as opposed to playing as Barack Obama or George Bush. Also the Quick-Play option, despite the very misleading name, allows the player to play a Custom Scenario in a comedy style Europe , Civil War USA or an alien planet whose denizens are hell bent on Galaxy Conquest. The alien planet is particularly amusing with their issues of alien destruction and artificial slaves and terror star building. I'm just disappointed I can't have Darth Vader as my Vice-President.


The most important question to ask is: Is it fun?

The answer is not really. It's a frustrating game to get to grips with, working out the maths is tedious and the only reason you'll keep playing is because you're stubborn enough to want to beat your opponent. After you beat him however, you realise you now have a new opponent to beat and you've to do ...

Format: Xbox LIVE® Arcade
Publisher: TikGames
Developer: TikGames
Price 800 Microsoft points
Release Date: September 17, 2008
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Genre: Card & Board
Website: www.tikgames.com

Remember "top-selling" XBLA game Texas Hold 'Em? That was actually a pretty good game. So now TikGames have come out with Domino Master, "bringing the fun and challenge of this classic party game to Xbox LIVE for the first time" as quoted from the press release. Problem is, unlike Texas Hold 'Em, Dominoes is actually a really boring and unskillful game.


The problem is Dominos has very little strategy in it, its mostly random and out of your control. Basically tactics are based on 2 factors, getting rid of you highest number Dominoes for damage control if you lose the round or play the domino that will give the more options for the next turn, which of course can be spoiled by the other player placing his domino so really you can't plan ahead. But then most of the time you can only play the one domino anyway, so it all becomes pointless. Things only get interesting when you play the other variants such as "All 5s" and "All 3s" were scoring gets more complex, which involves trying to get multiples of 5 or 3 (depending on the game) to score more point, which does ad a little (and I do mean little) tactical edge to the game. Bergen is similar only your trying to match numbers at each end of the layout of Dominos . But in the end there's just not the same tactical depth as other card games on XBLA (like TikGames own Texas Hold 'Em).

Of all the game modes Mexican Train is the most interesting, and most complex. In this game mode the game splits play into different tracks, with each player having their own line of Dominos that only they can add to as well as a communal one, which opens up the game and gives you more options each turn compared to the other game modes, but still there are many turns were you can only do one move or nothing, after a while its can seem draw out and very boring, and considering the default is 12 rounds which took me well over an hour to finish one game!


TikGames have tried to spice the game up with the presentation. The Dominoes are in 3d and jump/bounce as there are set down, when a winning or scoring domino is slammed down, all the tiles jump, which is a nice effect. Unfortunately its the same background for most of the game bar Mexican Train has a nice wild west theme. But really there is only so much you can polish a.... game with fundamentally boring gameplay.

What about online? well its about the same as playing against the AI only AI does not take 5-10mins to start a game, and does not quit half way thought the game. Also considering there where only 4300 people on the leader board at the time of writing, if anything its going to get harder to find a game.


In the end I don't think TikGames have done a bad job, its just Dominos is not a great game to start of with, and there is only so much you can do with it. And ultimately the problem with Dominos, is that you can lose easily though no fault of your own. But what is shocking is the price, 800 MS points, that twice as Gin Rummy which is a far better casual game.

Final Score: ...