How about a “free to play” game? Sounds great. EA has already made this move releasing “Battlefield Heroes” with some elements left out putting them aside for paying customers. You’ll say it’s not fair, and we have to agree with that, but think again and you’ll find out that is all about business; is all about promoting a product in whatever shape it is for in the end to get some money out of it, otherwise what will be the point of running it as a product?
<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->
EA is doing this promotion with “Battlefield Heroes”, a cartoon war which has its own attractive design and a theme song that lasts in your mind long after you ended the game. As a battlefield game, the vehicular control seem to have the reins and for this part the game manages great. The vehicles present in the game can be handled very well responding prompt to every move you make. The elements that bring special powers and weapons are still present in the features of the game; gaining playtime and accomplishing missions enables you to be have extra powers and weapons to use in your further steps. The paid elements for the game get you avatar clothing, few upgrades for accessing higher level weapons, but you do not have to get angry; you have to keep in mind that you are actually playing for free.

The game starts right from the beginning with your direct involvement into the action and the moment you are in you have to stick to your position. To access the game you have to visit the site, login and when the big yellow button that says “play now” appears you just press it and there you are, right into the game. The problem is that while being logged in connection or server issues might occur but this is not up to you or to your game skills to prevent. The beauty of the game is that the killing element is present only if you are run over by a land vehicle, and this can not happen as long as you pay attention to the game. Everything you encounter is never hidden in the way that you might not be able to see it coming. The other shooting elements, such as sniper headshots, or grenade or dynamite are able only to take away part of your health.

These are the nice aspects of the game, but along with them can happen tricky things that create you a bit of frustrations, such as being caught in an ambush, or vehicle damages. The game also offers a feature called vehicle map, but no way to select it and play. The moment you press the “play now” button you are cast to a server that half of the time displays an infantry map; perhaps the presence of an option that enables you to list specific maps, for instance, wouldn’t be such a bad idea, after all. But considering that Battlefield Heroes is free to play game you can just sit down, relax and enjoy the trip in the world of cartoon visuals that the game offers.

On the July 4 of the 2002 was the date when America’s Army has been first released, and with the major new revision called America’s Army 3 it proved to reveal a reliable, playable state of the team-based game. Your role is that of an American soldier with optional boot camp missions serving as instruction and primer to Army life, these missions enabling you to unlock equipment such as special sights and better gear. The details are incredibly well rendered touching the reality in a perfect note, while displaying the latest uniforms and gear of a real army.
<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->
The game has five maps, and some of them are simply updated versions such as Bridge and Pipeline. On the maps there are alleys with three lines to delimitate north/south and close quarters, ranches seen as rural levels to delimitate fortified farmhouse that has its basement as a bunker. Each map provides multiple effective game modes, including “take and hold” mode for gaining control over several points of the map, “secure and extract” for capturing the flag, “activated objective” for defending certain points at no matter costs. Many of the modes do not require killing of the enemy in order to offer the success, this is not so important, but the mission itself seems to be the key to success.

The game provides six rounds in a match, rounds lasting about four to five minutes, teams being able to switch positions and tasks after the third round, this thing giving them the opportunity to make it even. Working in team is the aspect that is emphasized by America’s Army 3, where seizing an objective through your mission will give your team four points, compared to one point that you might get at an individual shot down enemy. Teamwork is highly rated as the game offers a built-in VOIP support that enables communicating between each other.

The gameplay involves a lot of tactical moves that need to be cautiously made from cover to cover, from crouching to laying down to the best position for firing or using the grenades. The weapon graphics presents a well rendered model accurate to those of M-16s. The sounds represent exactly the actions that you as a soldier are performing, including even the way you breathe when you pull the trigger. The game doesn’t offer options to regenerate health, but has the feature of a medical choice rendered by the medical kits each soldier carries upon himself. Whenever you are hit laying down on the battlefield another soldier can come to resuscitate you, here you can use the medical training that you had in boot camp, or you can as well bandage your wounds I order to stop bleeding.

America’s Army 3 presents a more mature player base with a touch toward reality and a tactic that few of the other console shooters display. The game being offered free to the players contains the satisfaction of a job well done in a teamwork effort.

Majesco has recreated with a gorgeous facelift the classic NES in the Wii’s new release of “A Boy and His Blob”. As a player you are given the role of a boy who has discovered an alien blob that can change its shape and helps you move forward through the puzzled levels, puzzles that can make a school child want to play more often. The game is not filled with obscure puzzles, but playing Bob you will meet situations where evil blobs in different forms will turn your days into nightmares. The interaction with Blob is made indirectly through an on-screen selector which displays the choices for a throwing bean. These jellybeans are unlimited and they have different colors; each color corresponding in its turn to an ability. The selection and throwing of the bean is made by pressing and holding B button and releasing it prints the bean a faster and longer wave of throw.
<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->
Throwing jelly beans is the feature that transforms Blob and you are able to call him back using funny phrases or whistling. Throwing the beans enables you to reach the platforms above and this move is of a real help to you especially when you must determine the enemies to drop onto a switch located below. The graphics of the game looks very nice in creating the two main characters and not only them. The first level called “forest” displays lush backdrops of trees, green grasses and flowers accompanied by whimsical music. Going through the level you meet different situations where you can use the beans to facilitate you the apparition of ways to escape and to make you reach another level.

The next level represents caves, while the diversity of jellybeans has grown and you discover four new shape-shifting skills that lay at your disposal. These skills are rendered by using bowling ball, which destroy blocks that are in your way, the next one using the anvil, which enables you to drop them onto the blocks underneath; using the hop ball enables you to bounce to higher platforms, and the last one, using the parachute allows you to glide across wide chasms. This level, the caves, offers the most exciting and challenging puzzles that require reflexes and fast thinking as well.

The level called “gearworks” presents a line of producing projectile-shooting blobs and doors that are switch activated. The level reveals other abilities belonging to Blob, such as activating a shield to protect you from projectile attacks, and switches to help mounting the roof. Blob has also some other negative alien blobs that set a lot of traps for some of Blob’s friends. But these friends can be released with the help of jellybeans that transform the trap into a balloon that sets the friends free.

Other 40 levels follow for you to explore and eventually reach the Blob’s home land called Blobonia, but altogether make an exciting “Boy and His Blob” puzzled trip in a world accompanied by cheerful music and luxuriant environments.