Fun and games for everyone

Star Fox Command is not the longest game you’ll ever play, but that’s just fine for a DS game created for short bursts of frenzied activity. It rejuvenates the careers of the animated animals who protect the universe with their dogfighting talents. The action is loosely bracketed by storylike material, but the designers shouldn’t have bothered, because a halfhearted attempt at a narrative is worse than no narrative at all. But Nintendo does make clever use of the DS touch screen for guiding your spaceships, and any button works for targeting and firing, so this one is quick to pick up and play. Star Fox Command is rated for everyone, 10 and up.

It’s amazing that the swagger of Jack Sparrow actually translates to a screen the size of the DS, but Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest manages to capture that Keith Richards vibe. In the Buena Vista Games title you’ll play not only as pirate captain Jack, but also as Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner, in a story line that is faithful to that of the second Pirates film. It’s simple and straightforward, which means it gets a bit tedious after a while, but in short bursts it’ll bring you a smile. Dead Man’s Chest (also for Gameboy, PlayStation, and PlayStation Portable) is rated for teens.

Sega’s Yakuza, for PS2, suffers from not knowing what kind of game it wants to be. At times I thought it might be an open-ended, nonlinear experience, but then I found myself sitting through endless cut scenes that are more typical of straightforward action-adventure games. And while genre-blending titles can be interesting, Yakuza manages to do neither open-ended nor action-adventure very well. What’s worse is that characters speak with clichéd North American gangster voices. The game is named after Japanese gangsters, is set in Japan, and is filled with Japanese cultural references, so why bother with the English overdub? Especially if you’re going to give subtitles anyway. The slick colours and the chance to wield a katana just couldn’t get me past poor design. This one is rated mature.

If you want to take on the guise of a cold, calculating killer who happens to be a clone, Eidos’s Hitman: Blood Money is the paranoid conspiracy game for you. When you take on missions on your 360, PC, PS2, or Xbox, you get to decide how to complete them. You can kill a person with nearly anything: a knife, a garrote, a gun. You are a chameleon, able to hide in plain sight, and you can make someone’s death appear to be an accident. Or, if necessary, your violent and ruthless nature means you can cut through a crowd of bodyguards and bystanders without regard for their innocence. Your targets, when they meet you, are never ready. They grovel at your feet. But you’ve been paid your blood money, and nothing will stop you. Hitman is rated mature.

Among hard-core gamers, designer Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid franchise for the PS2 is among the most appreciated, and anticipated. If you aren’t already a convert, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is a good place to get in on the stealth-action series. Even though it is, essentially, the same game as 2004’s MGS 3: Snake Eater, two additions make this a worthwhile purchase: on-line gameplay and a third-person camera. The release also comes with a second disc that includes the original Metal Gear game and its sequel, previously unavailable in North America. In MGS 3: Subsistence, the year is 1964, and the world is still in the grip of the Cold War. You are a military operative with a stealth specialty sent to the Soviet Union to rescue an arms scientist who is working on a secret weapon under the supervision of the KGB. One of the characteristics of MGS games is the often-confounding and always subversive story, and this outing is no exception. It may take a bit of patience to appreciate its quirks, but if you persevere you’ll find yourself a true MGS fan. See you in line. MGS 3: Subsistence is rated mature.

For fans of European football, there are two excellent FIFA games from EA Sports to check out: 2006 FIFA World Cup and FIFA Soccer 07. In a pre–World Cup simulation of the premier soccer tournament using the former, the gang at EA Sports predicted that the Czech Republic would beat Brazil 2–1 to become world champions and that striker Pavel Nedved would win the Golden Ball for most valuable player. Well, the sim turned out to be wrong, but having had some time to play the game, I can say that if your controller skills are up to snuff, you’ll find the football games you play are nearly indistinguishable from the World Cup games you watched on the telly. It’s available for the 360, DS, GameCube, PC, PS2, PSP, and Xbox, and if you want to re-create the World Cup for yourself, this is the game for you. FIFA Soccer 07, on the other hand, is a next-gen sports simulation, wherein the beautiful game is rendered through the use of physics, not animation alone. The players move realistically, the ball reacts with some unpredictability, and the game plays more, well, beautifully. Playing FIFA Soccer 07 on the 360 (it’s also available for the DS, GameCube, PC, PS2, PSP, and Xbox, but the game ain’t quite the same) means you have real-time access to real-world results and statistics in five languages through your on-line connection, and you’ll be able to compete against other players around the world. Both games are rated for everyone.