Reviews by Mister Slimm

Iron Man: The Video Game (Xbox 360) review

Well, at least it's easy to determine what's wrong with this movie game: the flying controls are near unusable. Remarkably, the camera, aiming and movement controls are different when doing just about anything. Therefore, the only people who will ever play this game and get something out of it are those after a big lump of gamerscore. Add to that the unspeakable ugliness of the game and "movies," and the lazy difficulty and you have a legitimately worthless entertainment product. That sold nearly three million copies worldwide. More mini-reviews at misterslimm.wordpress.com.

Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360) review

There is a complete absence of iconic action in the movie Quantum of Solace, a complete lack of Bondian swagger and attitude in both that movie and Casino Royale and a largely bland flow to the game's levels but with these elements accepted, this remains a highly playable shooter with some agreeable cover-based action. It doesn't fall into the typical Bond-game trap of trying to do too many things, nor does it supply ridiculously over-powered bosses (some are quick-time events, some take one or two judicious shots) or non-standard control layouts. Multiplayer offers a good selection of game modes which work well and are fun. So while, like parent movie Quantum of Solace, this simply doesn't feel like Bond, it is a smooth, solid, easy-to-play shooter in its own right. This Quantum of Solace game contains mild swear words and extended gun violence, strong melee violence. See more mini-reviews at misterslimm.wordpress.com

Jumper (Xbox 360) review

Joyless, ugly and staggeringly short (one of the Achievements Is complete the game in less than forty-five minutes!) movie spin-off. Part of the reason is that the game consistently ignores your input making it unnecessarily difficult to, for example, run or roll away from enemies. Or hit them. Or turn around. Potential for some nice platform-hopping puzzles is never realised either despite the gameplay mechanics being present. It's odd as the game designers have clearly thought about the concept of the spatial warrior and come up with an agreeably imaginative control scheme. They've also accurately translated Jamie Bell's 'two-broken-legs' style of running. Critically, though, they never get around the fact that our 'hero' never needs to fight a single soul: his ability means he can escape any fight when not tethered and can defeat any foe by dropping them in a volcano. More mini-reviews at misterslimm.wordpress.com.

Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360) review

Beautifully polished World War II first-person shooter which is atmospheric, extremely playable, very smooth and controls, looks, animates and sounds brilliant. There's only one real complaint (aside from a couple of dispiriting bugs which require level restarts) and it's an old one: disagreeably obvious infinite spawning soldiers who direct 90% of their fire directly into any orifice they choose whether they are looking at you or not, whether they are holding a weapon or not, whether you knew you were going to pop out or not, whether they're on fire or not, whether they're dead or not, whether they're being run over by a tank or not, whether they're being riddled with your bullets or not, whether a grenade has just exploded in their face or not. Hardened is great fun as it is really tough and satisfying but, unlike Veteran, you don't get punished for your lack of clairvoyance skills. What is always good about the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty World War II games is that you never forget that this was a real conflict in which real people died real horribly. The ease with which you die, even though it's a game (you can take three or more bullets which is rather more generous than real-life) becomes, rightfully, a slightly sobering experience. This Call of Duty game contains sexual swear words and extremely graphic gun violence, graphic blade, fire and melee violence, extremely unpleasant scenes. More mini-reviews at misterslimm.wordpress.com

Terminator: Salvation (Xbox 360) review

For everything Terminator: Salvation does right, the teammate AI does something wrong, typically stand in a really unhelpful place. Play the game in human co-op, and the mild tactical requirements of gameplay (one of you has to distract an enemy while the other shoots it in a weak point, usually the back, and you must make use of cover) shine through and it's good fun. The game is well enough presented, doesn't spoil the movie and is simple to play. The Achievements are easy and the game doesn't outstay it's welcome; i.e., it's short, about half the length of similar games, and you would be miffed if you paid full price for it. So rent it. This Terminator: Salvation game contains mild gun violence.

Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli (PS3) review

One-make racing game which boasts rewarding and convincing driving and racing, outstanding rain effects (unlike a lot of games, they remembered the wiper animations), a good livery editor and some terrific tracks that we haven't seen before in a game (Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Virginia International Raceway and the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California and, for the first time in a long time for cars, Circuit Paul Ricard). There are some nice touches such as wildlife, leaves and men with flags (yay!) at circuits and a personal favourite music track over the main menu (Ebla by E.S. Posthumus). For me, the single marque is no limitation at all (indeed, I love single marque games) and the cars exhibit a wide variety of handling; some of them are an absolute joy to drive including the F512 S, F355 GTB, and the F40.