Reach For The Stars (From Oxford Mail)

Reach For The Stars

6:00pm Thursday 14th October 2010 in The Guide By Craig Willis

TO HELL WITH THE COVENANT: Halo:Reach

This month, CRAIG WILLIS, of HMV Oxford, reviews the latest game releases and also ends up taking a very speedy trip down memory lane.

* Halo: Reach (Xbox360) £39.99: Once again I find myself in the future. The year? 2552.

Sure it’s quite a long way off but it’s the setting for the forth and final part of the Halo series (at least, so they say...).

In this prequel to the original runaway hit, you play a member of Team Noble, an elite team of super-soldiers defending the human race against aliens.

The war between mankind and this off-world species, known as the Covenant, is all set to explode on a planet called - and who’d have guessed it? - Reach.

Interestingly, it’s a scenic kind of place, though frankly you wouldn’t want to holiday there (too many aliens, too many grudges, the usual story...).

Naturally the aliens are monstrous (after all, it’s not E.T. you’re up against) but you’re a mean, lean fighting machine, armed with an arsenal of futuristic weapons and, best of all, a choice of funky helmets.

You also have the choice of playing as a male or female solider (live out your fantasies I say). But despite this dizzying choice, I’m afraid this is one game that’s definitely for the boys, unless of course you like big guns and even bigger explosions.

The game also features improved multiplayer and co-op modes to keep your friends happy. So, if you’re looking for a first person shooter that’s out of this world, give Halo: Reach a try.

* FIFA 11 (Xbox360/PS3/Wii/PC) £39.99: It’s that time of year again, the football season.

Time to clean your boots, pull out last year’s strip and get down the park.

On the other hand perhaps it’s best to leave that to the professionals – but that doesn’t mean its full time just yet. Because this month also sees the release of FIFA 11, the football game that’s been going since 1995.

It has seen many changes since then, but over the last few years the games have been pretty much business as usual.

Having said that, this year’s game has made a few improvements.

Graphically, the game is great – the beautiful game is, dare I say it, more beautiful.

All the teams are back again from the major leagues to the international teams, with all of the year’s transfers and changes.

The naff yet fantastically entertaining commentary by voice-over legends Martin Tyler and Andy Gray has also been updated.

Which means that as a football game it’s the best on the market – a must for all footie fans.

* REWIND: GRAN TURISMO (Playstation): In the late 90’s something happened to me that would change my gaming life forever.

It was Christmas and as a special gift I received an original Playstation.

In the playground everyone was talking about it, and for me this was a pretty big technological leap from my good old Sega Master System.

The first game I played on this electronic masterpiece was Gran Turismo, a racing simulator, the likes of which had never been seen before (I know I certainly hadn’t seen one like it).

And despite not being a petrol head, I found the game quite addictive.

The graphics were, at the time, something special.

Think...180 cars, ranging from classics to concept motors, all appealing to my teenage sensibilities.

But if that weren’t enough, 11 different tracks to race around, either against the computer or a friend.

And then there was the music – some of the 90’s biggest names in music with Feeder, Garbage and Ash all having songs on the soundtrack.

What else is there to say?

Gran Turismo 5 is due out soon and I can hardly wait.