Column #7: LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, Ninety-Nine Nights II (N311) and Transformers War For Cybertron.

By Aaron Burgess

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, PC

Developer: Traveller's Tales / Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

ESRB Rating: E10+

Grizzled gamers tend to quibble about LEGO videogames' adherence to formula, but when you're dropping $60 on entertainment for your home's ficklest audience (the kids), there's something to be said for knowing what to expect. Considering there's been nary a dud in the three franchises that've already gotten the LEGO treatment-Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Batman-you'd have good reason to expect similarly high standards from the first LEGO Harry Potter entry. And you'd be right-and then some.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 lets you play as minifigure versions of Harry himself, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and over 160 unlockable characters from the book and film series. (Hello, Dobby!) As the name implies and LEGO tradition mandates, gameplay finds you exploring, collecting and battling through madcap plastic-brick versions of the first four Harry Potter installments: the Sorcerer's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the Goblet of Fire. But if you think the action starts on Number Four Privet Drive and ends with a boss battle vs. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you're barely touching on the game's potential.

Roaming plays a huge part in how you experience LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, primarily because the levels you roam are themselves so huge. Jam-packed with unlockable secrets, Hogwarts castle feels as massive and mysterious here as it must be for a first-year wizard to explore. Diagon Alley offers limitless spells, characters, objects and other diversions to purchase-your currency, of course, being the zillions of LEGO studs collected during gameplay. And the Forbidden Forest's creepy corners conceal far more than just old Aragog-though defeating the spider boss is another challenge altogether. Meanwhile, LEGO games' trademark tongue-in-cheek humor brings levity to the levels and mirth to the mystery, even (and especially) in spell-casting battles.

Where the central characters in previous LEGO games had tools to suit their personas (Indiana Jones' whip, for instance), LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 takes this idea further with its rich spell system. As in the books/movies, each spell has a particular outcome, so depending on what you want to move, whom you want to battle or where you want to go, you could pull out, say, Wingardium Leviosa to blast bricks or levitate objects, Riddikulus to take down what scares you, and so on. The AI is solid enough to make single-player mode a blast, but the spell-casting options reveal even deeper possibilities when you play alongside a friend.

Even though LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 brings just a few new options to the table, the changes will be as welcome for LEGO videogame diehards as they will be for fans of the Harry Potter series. Just like the doors and stairs in Hogwarts, the game is never the same thing twice-which means it should keep you and yours plenty busy until Years 5-7 arrives.

Rating: 8/10

Ninety-Nine Nights II (N3II)

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: feelplus / Publisher: Konami

ESRB Rating: M

The videogame equivalent of an old-school death-metal band, Ninety-Nine Nights II uses devices like plot and storyline as mere anchors for the hacking, slashing brutality that makes it memorable. Indeed, there's something almost beautiful about the conviction with which N3II (as it's also known) embraces its lowly "hack 'n' slash" status: With nothing else to prove, the game simply piles on the bloodshed, and the result is a surprisingly fun, if mindless, romp through some of the densest battles this side of Helms Deep.

Lord of the Rings references aren't just coincidental here, either. With humans (exemplified by lead character Galen) co-existing alongside ogres, goblins and elves, and a Sauron-like "Lord of the Night" and accompanying dark army encroaching on the game's fictional world, N3II applies a dark, Tolkien-esque shadow to its action. N3II, of course, compresses its Middle-Earth-esque universe to a series of increasingly bananas assaults bookended by a few minor plot points.

Repeatedly raising the ceiling on the horde-battle concept  just to smash through it again, N3II finds you taking on literally hundreds of enemies at once and reducing foes to viscera in a slew of blindingly fast, graphically rich (in every sense of the term) weapon and magic attacks. With assassins, thieves, warriors, nobles and more at your disposal, you get all the powers and attendant weapons of each character class-even if the end result is still the same. And with support for co-op play via Xbox LIVE, you can bring a real-life friend to the slaughter.

Rating: 7/10

Transformers: War for Cybertron

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Developer: High Moon Studios / Publisher: Activision

ESRB Rating: T

If you've found your Transformers interest lagging thanks to either Michael Bay's heavy hand or any number of flaccid game or novelty spin-offs, Transformers: War for Cybertron might just be the lure that hooks you again. Set during Cybertronian wartime, eons before the original "G1" Transformers toy/cartoon family hit Earth, the third-person game simultaneously spackles some of the holes in Transformers' lineage while giving many favorite characters a new lease on life. Plus, it's really fun to play.

The game's two campaigns, Autobot or Decepticon, aren't just "good" and "bad" sides of the same experience-they're literally interwoven into the game's rich back-story, with the Decepticon tale serving as a prequel to the Autobot campaign. (The nobler among you, however, can choose to enter the game as Autobots.) Support for up to three players in drop-in/drop-out co-op play means that you can either tackle the game alone (a solid, but limited, experience) or get help from friends, each of you choosing a Transformer that suits the battlefield you're on-from earth to air. And, as you'll soon discover, the ability to transform to your environment plays a huge role in how you'll fare.

Though the control scheme stays constant across both modes, War for Cybertron takes on a completely different tenor when you move from campaign to competitive multiplayer. Tight action on well-designed maps, customizable and well-armed character classes, and multiple modes with support for up to 10 players make for an experience that borrows the strongest elements of top-tier titles like Halo and Gears of War while standing formidably on its own. Consider this one of the summer's biggest sleepers so far-even for those of you who can't tell Optimus Prime from prime rib.

Rating: 8/10

 ***

Our game guru, Aaron Burgess, lives digitally but dreams in analog down in Round Rock, Texas. Contact him at first2letters@gmail.com  / AIM: First2Letters

Here we go with another edition of LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we love love love to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week featuring Daniel Tashian, lead singer of The Silver Seas, literally my favorite band in the world ( next to The Police). I'm totally serious. We featured them like gangbusters on the DAILY DOSe a few months back. Perhaps that's because I'm a shameless superfan. You think?

FYI, the new record, Château Revenge, drops today.

Take it away Daniel...

Dear Bob Marley,

Well you've been gone for a while.

I heard you used to get your news from the radio --- you and your homeboys in soccer shoes, huddled around a Jamaican transistor, listening to the BBC world service, strains of R & B from New Orleans.

I don't know why that matters to me --- I guess because I don't watch much TV (the bullshit hype of CNN adds more static to the overcrowded airwaves now). But brother, there's a lot of stuff you would dig:

• The Wire; you would like some of the technology.
• Sampling; you would probably do something really cool with it, sample some oppositional politician and make a song out of him.
• The Black Eyed Peas; I think you would dig them.

I remember seeing a photo of you (I think it was in South Africa) bringing white and black leaders together on stage, makin' ‘em shake hands. I don't think, in the end, it really did all you hoped it would but shit, you knew that. But the thing it DID do was to let everybody see that strange things happen. Me, I'm like a little lion cub...tugging on your mane. You are a big, beautiful, stately creature. There's no comparison, I'm not even in the same profession as you, in a way [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Out ‘n' about in the City of Angels with Blurt's roving shutterbug (6/15 - 6/30).

By Scott Dudelson

(above) Robert Randolph - Live @ Amoeba Records (www.amoeba.com) - 6/23

Blue Rodeo - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/22

Gogol Bordello - Live @ The Mayan (www.clubmayan.com) - 6/23

Haru Kuroi - Live @ The Mayan (www.clubmayan.com) - 6/23

Sarah Borges - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/24

Ryan Bingham - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) - 6/30

***

Scott Dudelson is a music journalist and concert photographer based in Los Angeles.  Scott is also the Chief Operating Officer of Prodege, LLC, the company behind www.swagbucks.com.

By Carl Hanni

Digging Tucson

Tucson is a somewhat schizo town to scout records in. We have some decent record stores, but nothing (apologies, proprietors) that's a truly world class store. Conversely, there seems to be quite a bit of vinyl flowing underground, if you know where to look. Most of the interesting stuff I've found in recent years has been in off the wall situations; yard sales, specialty sales, one-offs, my own sources (ohhh!). The cheapness of a lot of all this digging (nothing here was over a buck, quite a few for .25 cents) also allows for all kinds of experimentation. Here's a few hits from recent digging, all thoroughly playable.

Menescal: The Boy From Ipanema Beach, KAPP Records. This is a genuine Bossa Nova classic, as good as any I own. Led by guitarist Roberto Menescal, and featuring a young Eumir Deodato on piano. Actually, they're all young: the liner notes say they were all between 15 and 20 years old when they cut this. A summer record for all seasons, fully of casually perfect, mid and down tempo Bossa Nova numbers to chill or slow dance around the pool to.

Luiz Bonfa: Softly, Epic Records. Another Bossa Nova treasure, featuring twelve numbers by the Brazilian guitar master. Easy and sunny, this seemingly effortless music flows like water. The back ground musicians are a model of subelty and restraint, groove music taken to an almost narcotic perfection. 

Candy original motion picture soundtrack, 1968, ABC Records: original score! by Dave Grusin, and featuring tracks by The Byrds (the hippie-dippy "Child of the Universe") and two killer Steppenwolf numbers ("Rock Me," "Magic Carpet Ride"). But the real juice is Grusin's freakout pop/psych/mariachi/Indian soundtrack music, one of the most tripped out demented of the period. Sample titles: "Birth by Descent," "It's Always Because of This: A Deformity," "Opening Night: By Surgery," "Marlon & His Sacred Bird," "Ascension to Virginity" (whatever) and everybody's favorite, "Spec-Rac-Tac-Para-Com." I'm not making this up. The cast includes James Coburn, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Charles Aznavour, John Houston (now there's a whole of lot testosterone), Ringo Starr, Walter Matthau, Sugar Ray Robinson (?) and Anita Pallenberg. Not many women, except for the nymphomaniac lead, Ewa Aulin. Ah, the casual, liberated sexism of the 60s. 

Philippe Besombes: LIBRA soundtrack, Tapioca Records (1975, French import). Score. Highly respected French electronic psychout soundtrack. And with good reason: this is the merde, dark, unsettling and creepy, a bad trip on vinyl. But fascinating, hey.  Besombes went on to work with avant garde-ists Luc Ferrari, Iannis Xenakis & Karlheinz Stockhausen. LIBRA is prime early electronic-based psychedelia at it's most horror-show. 

Elemental 7, original soundtrack, 1983, Rough Trade British import. Another super spooky, dark electronic soundtrack, composed and played by CTI, which is ex-Throbbing Gristle members Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti with film/video guy John Lacey. Soundtrack to an hour long video. Contains the track "Dancing Ghosts," an early, experimental/dark acid house, zombie-dance number. The rest of it sounds like the soundtrack to a black mass. 

Python Lee Jackson: In A Broken Dream, GNP/Crescendo Records. Smoking hot 1972 blues rock w/a young, hot-throated Rod Stewart guesting on 3 tracks. The band migrated from Australia to the UK in the late 60s, where this was recorded. The title song has a truly terrifying guitar solo. 

Bobby Whitlock: Raw Velvet, Dunhill Records. White boy gospel blues-rock nirvana, warm and wet as only analog recordings from the early 1970s can be. Whitlock may be forever immortalized as the vocalist and keyboard player on Derek & The Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (both records came out in 1972), but his version of "Tell The Truth" cuts the Dominos for my money. Perhaps faced with the specter of Clapton, guitar player Rick Vito kicks out all the stops. Whitlock has one of those voices that come along all to rarely; in another time or place he could have been a gospel star. Jimmy Miller produces. 

Chet Atkins: The Guitar Genius, RCA/Camden Records. Chet Atkins recorded a LOT of records; this is a particularly scintillating one. Recorded before strings and a chorus blanded some of his stuff out, this is pretty is pretty badass Chet, before the production line.  

The Ventures: Guitar Freakout, Dolton Records. The Ventures also put out barge loads of records, sometimes reductive, sometimes not. This is really solid, with several hardcore, undiluted titles like "Off in the 93rds," "Wack Wack," "Mod East" and the title track. Song title of the month: "Cookout Freakout on Lookout Mountain."

Next month: more Tucson digging.

***

You can leave comments below or e-mail them to me directly at modmedia@theriver.com .

Carl Hanni is a music writer, music publicist, disc jockey, book hound and vinyl archivist living in Tucson, AZ. He hosts an occasional concert and film series at The Screening Room in downtown Tucson, "The B-Side" program on KXCI (Tuesday nights midnight - 2 a.m.) and spins records wherever and whenever he can. He currently writes for Blurt, Tucson Weekly, and (occasionally) Goldmine and Signal To Noise.

A brief conversation with the Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett, who is unveiling his Americana project the Dead Peasants.

By John B. Moore

Chris Shiflett is obviously best known as the guitarist for the phenomenally successful Foo Fighters, but to aging punk rockers like myself, he will always be known as the one time guitarist for the goofy San Jose-based pop punk band No Use for a Name, and more importantly as a founding member of the world's greatest cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

Not really one to sit around and count the platinum records on his wall during down times, Shiflett balances his guitar duties with the Foos and the Gimme Gimmes, fronting the band Jackson United and playing in Viva Death. So in the remaining few hours left in each day - the ones most of us would simply waste away by sleeping - Shiflett has devoted to his new project: Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants. An Americana act with plenty of pedal steel guitar, the Dead Peasants sounds like nothing the guitarist has recorded to date. Featuring a revolving cast of backing musicians, the music is part Replacements, part Hank Williams.

Knowing Shiflett has little time on his hands following is a very brief interview with the hardest working man in pop punk (and rock... and tribute bands... and Americana).    

First of all, you've got a shitload of projects going on (Foo Fighters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United), why start another band?

We've been on a two year hiatus from Foo Fighter activities so I had lots of time on my hands and I didn't think of it as starting a proper "band."  It was me and my friend Lou arranging a bunch of my songs and then calling in different people to play different parts.

Obviously the sound of this new record is a little different from what people expect to hear from you. How long have you wanted to write a country-tinged album?

I've been a fan of this kind of music for a long, long time so it felt like a natural progression for me to do this.

What musicians make up the Dead Peasants?

The album is a mish mash of a bunch of different people, but for the tour I've got my friend Luke Tierney on bass, Eric Skodis on drums and Derek Silverman on keyboards.  I think we're gonna bring a pedal steel player too.

It's also, nice to see you nabbed Audra Mae to help with vocals. How did you first meet her?

A good friend of mine is her manager and I'm also friends with the guys who put out her records (SideOne Dummy Records) so I had heard her music and loved her voice. I was stoked she came in to sing on a couple of songs. It really took 'em to a different place.

Do you plan on touring with these same musicians?

Nope.  The Dead Peasants are whoever I can corral at any given time to do some shows or whatever.

 So is this a one-off project or do you plan on doing more records like this one?

I hope I can do more records like this!

What inspired the song "An Atheists Prayer"?

Lyrically, it was inspired by a person I knew who killed himself.

As a fan growing up of No Use For a Name, I was bummed when you left the group, but certainly understand why. What was the biggest change about joining Foo Fighters?

When I joined Foos they were about to put out their third record so it was a crazy time. We immediately went out on a "promo" tour so I just sat there and listened to them give interviews all day, every day. It was kind of like Foo Fighter School.  My head was spinning.

So is Me First and the Gimme Gimmes working on anything new?

Not yet but its way overdue.

Out ‘n' about in the City of Angels with Blurt's roving shutterbug (7/1 - 7/14).

By Scott Dudelson

(above) Admiral Radley (feat: Jason Lytle & Aaron Burtch of Grandaddy) - Live @ The Hammer Museum's "I Also Like to Rock" concert series (www.buzzbands.la) - 7/8

Ben Lee - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Kaki King  - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Rachel Cantu & Kaki King - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Carina Round - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/1

Jack Tempchin (Eagles collaborator, writer of Peaceful Easy Feeling, Already Gone) - Live @ The Mint (www.themintla.com) -7/6

The Happy Hollows - Live @ The Hammer Museum's "I Also Like to Rock" concert series (www.buzzbands.la) - 7/8

The Wailers (original Wailer Aston "Family Man" Barrett) - Live @ Hollywood Park (www.hollywoodpark.com) - 7/10

Steven Adler (of Guns N' Roses) - Live @ Club Vodka (www.clubvodka.com)  - 7/10

Phil Alvin (of The Blasters) - Live @ Redwood Bar & Grill (www.theredwoodbar.com) - 7/12

***

Scott Dudelson is a music journalist and concert photographer based in Los Angeles.  Scott is also the Chief Operating Officer of Prodege, LLC, the company behind www.swagbucks.com.

Hey there! Off we go with another edition of IN SHORT, our monthly cornucopia of stuff --- sometimes music stuff, sometimes not. This month's theme: Laugh Your Ass Off (and Perhaps Squirm a Little). Enjoy.

1. Double Rainbow!

I found myself watching this, thinking, why am I watching this? This is stupid. Then: this is awesome. Then: this is stupid. Then: god dammit, this is really awesome. Trust me. Now, of course, I'm dying to have one of these. Full. On.



2. Yankee Prankee

It's painful. But you have to watch this one to enjoy the next one [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Hey there! Off we go with another edition of IN SHORT, our monthly cornucopia of stuff --- sometimes music stuff, sometimes not. This month's theme: Laugh Your Ass Off (and Perhaps Squirm a Little). Enjoy.

1. Double Rainbow!

I found myself watching this, thinking, why am I watching this? This is stupid. Then: this is awesome. Then: this is stupid. Then: god dammit, this is really awesome. Trust me. Now, of course, I'm dying to have one of these. Full. On.



2. Yankee Prankee

It's painful. But you have to watch this one to enjoy the next one [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Highlights of what's been running through the speakers here at OUTLANDOS HQ the last month or so:

1. The Kissaway Trail, Sleep Mountain

Danish outfit, very Death Cab for Cutie. Honestly, the jury is still out but so far, thumbs up; meaning, I didn't reach over to shut it off once through the first listen --- and that's saying something :-). I also did reach over to turn it up a couple of times, most notably for "New Lipstick" and the cover of Neil Young's "Philadelphia." Summary: take a risk.

2. David Chernis, Music for Super 8

Sure, sure... I might be biased. But this is beautiful. The guitar-balls behind the original Damnwells' lineup releases his first solo project, a complete 180. Instrumental. Restrained. Surprising. Eclectic. Enjoy [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

  "Read" piece in Gowanus Broklyn - 1 block from my studio - by graffiti artist Read, aka The booker, aka Bookman

Read's socially conscious art slowly being overwhelmed by "criminal" art, as I call it

I've always related to crime more than rebellion - in the art and iconography sense. This is not really uncommon - like the Jesse James or Sopranos fetish. I also came from a 1980-ish high art concept, that relevant art had to be taboo. It had to be illegal in a sense - illegal in terms of civic law, like the street graffiti that I wrote, or morally illegal like the Richard Kern or Nick Zedd Cinema of Transgression.

I did say "high art". "Illegal" art as I'm calling it, can be, or better still can become high art. But my premise here is that movements start low, not just artistically, but morally and even politically. I'm tossing "political" into the moral pot, because no matter how violent or seemingly taboo, when it's political, it's justifiable to a higher purpose - just how at many extreme and violent demonstrations, the moral purpose becomes a powerful vehicle for the base violent instinct. It would be hard to imagine the same scale of destruction at the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle, if the same action were conceived as crime for it's own self-satisfying sake. But honestly, it's indifferentiated anti-social confrontation, and only that, that ever got me out of bed as a young self-described anarchist.

My 1st-hand experiences in budding artistic/social movements are graffiti, Punk Rock and Hip Hop. I was somewhat "about town" in New York City in the late 70's and early 80's.

I know that aside from purely political graffiti, the first throws of graffiti were "base": self aggrandizement - "getting up", with no possible defense of  "social consciousness". Graffiti was as if the signature, normally at the bottom of piece of art, is all that really mattered - blown up to a gigantic size - glorified in color and executed with skill and with the risk of arrest. Showing off basically. But progressively this took on merit. And It could be justified. It was no longer fucking up public property for it's own sake. Late 70's graffiti rarely included any ostensibly important message.

Above is a photo of a recent street piece by Read (aka The Booker, aka Bookman) in Gowanus Brooklyn. This is an example of what graffiti has evolved into, not just for art galleries, but art that includes a social message. This is not the original context of hip graffiti. Bookman also does massive Open Your Eyes pieces on the sides of buildings. [I enjoy the 2nd photo where Read's rebel art is slowly encroached upon by more "lowly" criminal art]  

How about Punk Rock, or even just Rock, and Hip Hop ?

Many anthropologists have said that the taboo speech found in all cultures, finds it's only socially  acceptable venue in poetry or music - at least somewhat. Basically, if you want to fuck someone's brains out, you better put it in rhyme. So that brings us to Punk Rock, and Hip Hop. That's where they started.
THEN came the social consciousness - Bad Brains, The Clash, Public Enemy. Somehow early punks and rappers did seem a bit more dangerous. And they suddenly seem more responsible when they appear to care about humanity, when they take the "high" road in culture or politics

My final tangent: for those who support public funding for the arts - does that include the expression of the lowliest of the all-important primal expression about nothing more than fucking or breaking into cars?

Find Martin Bisi music and show dates on Myspace: https://www.myspace.com/theendcredits

Column #8: Singularity, Crackdown 2, The Cages: Pro-Style Batting Practice, APB: All Points Bulletin, Sniper: Ghost Warrior

By Aaron Burgess

 Singularity

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Developer: Raven Software / Publisher: Activision

ESRB Rating: M

The Cold War may be resigned to history, but in Singularity, developer Raven Software imagines a world where fallout from that era leads to grave consequences today. Set on the quarantined island of Katorga-12-a place where Soviet scientists inadvertently unleashed hell with the discovery of a new element, E99-the game throws time travel, zombie warfare and tongue-in-cheek dystopian drama into a blender and asks you to tear your way out of it.

Though the plot doesn't get much deeper than those few weird points, the action does-quite literally, as you (playing as modern-day soldier Nate Renko) descend into a BioShock-esque environment that covers time, space and other areas where mortals typically tread lightly. Armed with a gizmo, the TMD (Time Manipulation Device), retrieved from the Katorga-12 experiments, you can revert inanimate objects to previous states, solve puzzles strewn throughout the game, and generally jack up the course of history in your favor.

Weaponized, the TMD proves even handier: You can change enemies' physical properties to make them less of a threat, freeze or cause foes to move at a crawl, and catch and throw back objects à la the gravity gun in Half-Life 2. Along the way, you gain powers and weapons that prove even more effective in combat-and, as you near the game's conclusion (complete with three separate endings), you need all the heavy ammo you can get. Alternately, in Singularity's simple-but-fun multiplayer mode, characters from the game (the monster-sized tick being a personal favorite) also become weapons, so if the whole playing-on-the-side-of-good thing becomes too much, you can jump into the claws of a creature for some face-ripping fun.

Rating: 8/10

Crackdown 2

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: Ruffian Games / Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

ESRB Rating: M

Second verse, same as the first: At least that's the feeling fans of the 2007 smash Crackdown may have after spending a few hours in the zombie-ravaged, over-the-top world of Crackdown 2. The difference this time is that up to four of you can have the same reaction at once, as Crackdown 2 adds four-player co-op support to what's essentially the same experience of its predecessor. Beyond that, the game's updates-a few new weapons here, some different-colored Agent uniforms there-feel like nothing a little DLC couldn't have provided.

Despite a 10-year stretch (in game time, at least) since the original, Crackdown 2 takes place in a very familiar Pacific City where you, working as a heavily armored Agent of, well, the Agency, spend your time cleaning house: human enemies by day, vicious mutants by night. While combat is simplistic and level-ups again find you chasing orbs like Mario in a mech suit, the open-world game provides a fun, gritty sandbox, full of absurdly powerful weapons and dark corners to explore. Just make like the game's mutants and shut off your brain: With little in the way of story or enhancements to snare your imagination, it's your best chance for making it through this city.

Rating: 7/10

The Cages: Pro-Style Batting Practice

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3

Developer: Alpha Unit / Publisher: Konami

ESRB Rating: E

Score one for truth in advertising: Though it's not much to look at, The Cages: Pro-Style Batting Practice delivers exactly the pro-style training experience you'd expect from its name. Using the Wii Remote either with or without the Wii Motion Plus accessory, you step into a virtual batting cage and face off against a pitching machine that makes its real-world counterparts seem positively Stone Age.

You start with the basics, taking swings at fastballs and targeting selected areas of the field to build accuracy. From there, though, you get over 40 challenges' worth of slugger training designed to sharpen everything from your distance to your technique. (Thanks to a multiplayer mode, you can even invite friends over for a game of home run derby.) Switch on the Wii Motion Plus accessory, and things get even more realistic as the game transforms from a simple hitting exercise into a challenge where nuance, stance and timing truly matter. Batter up!

Rating: 8/10

APB: All Points Bulletin

Platforms: PC

Developer: Realtime Worlds / Publisher: Electronic Arts

ESRB Rating: M

Good guys, bad guys-you've seen this formula before. But in the open-world- MMO third-person-shooter APB, the theme's meaning changes depending on which side you choose. Set in the fictional world of San Paro, APB pits two sides of the city-Criminals and Enforcers-against each other, with up to 80 players per side having a seat at the table.

After tricking out your player through an insanely deep customization menu (you can even edit your own vehicles and incidental music), you choose a side and brace yourself as the objectives start to flow. Admittedly, APB gets you off to a rocky start, with lopsided player matching sometimes dumping you into clashes where you can barely get your head around the action, let alone compete against your more seasoned competitors. But as you fine-tune your character through challenges and upgrades, APB's dynamic matching system makes for a much more balanced, and tight, game.

While San Paro itself isn't much to look at, there's a lot of room for action in the city's relatively lean maps-provided, of course, both sides of the law are packing equal muscle. Objectives can end quickly even across the best-prepared teams, so adrenaline junkies will find more replay value than will those looking to get lost in the city. It seems like a minor detail, but when you consider that APB comes with just 50 hours of play (with more available for purchase), you'll want to note it before you plunk down for a copy. Then again, depending on how far APB can expand, it might be worth it just to buy in, hang out and wait.

Rating: 7/10

Sniper: Ghost Warrior

Platforms: Xbox 360, PC

Publisher: City Interactive

ESRB Rating: M

Playing as a sniper in first-person shooters can significantly up the tension and drama of your game (not to mention its ability to strengthen your trigger finger), so the idea of playing Sniper: Ghost Warrior exclusively in the sniper role sounds appealing. In practice, however, the game is a different experience, even though most of the headaches aren't on your end of the sight. Erratic AI, frustrating levels plagued by invisible walls, and a plot (something about cleaning up a banana republic) with more holes than your last kill are all problems-and unfortunately, your sniper rifle won't take care of any of them.

Difficulty varies based on your challenge and settings-sometimes you'll be tasked with taking out multiple enemies in way-too-rapid succession; other times you'll be focused on a single kill, literally trying to hold your breath to keep from going off-target. This ballistics realism, however, can be dialed back to match your skill level-and if you're up for the challenge, it makes the game's "Bullet Cam" money shots that much rewarding. Unfortunately, even a stellar killing experience can't make up for the AI that makes your enemies as erratic as your allies are useless. Best just to turn to the game's more forgiving (and fun) multiplayer mode, where you can at least share the frustration with real people.

Rating: 6/10

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Our game guru, Aaron Burgess, lives digitally but dreams in analog down in Round Rock, Texas. Contact him at first2letters@gmail.com  / AIM: First2Letters