Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
The original Viva Piñata was one of the most fresh and original games to grace the Xbox 360 last year, and from the looks of it, the sequel is set to be the same. Created by super developer Rare, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise builds from the foundations that the original set by adding new features, Piñatas, accessories, and even more color to the already bright and fluffy world.
The point of the game is to create a lush garden that lures different species of Piñatas, and from there it is up to you to make them stay, breed them, and then package them off to parties all over the world. Easy you may say? There’s that nasty Professor Pester and his band of ruffians that will come into your garden to wreak havoc and smash up your Piñatas, and if you want to get the real rare species, it takes time and dedication to set the right garden to lure them out from the wild.
There are more than 100 species of Piñatas in the sequel, meaning 32 brand new species have been added to the already impressive roster. New features include the ability to leave your garden and venture off into the Pinarctic and the Dessert Desert to trap new Piñatas with bait. Other new features include the usage of the Xbox Live Vision Camera to scan Viva Piñata Cards which then appear in your garden and the ability to have up to four people on Xbox Live create a garden together.
If you look past the kiddy look to the game, you get a very deep and entertaining sim that well keep you entertained for hours on end. Rare lost its mojo? Yeah right.
Spore
Spore is the next big thing from creator Will Wright, made famous by creating SimCity and cash cow The Sims. Developed by Maxis, now an EA studio, Spore is a massive single-player online game for the PC. Maxis and EA recently released the Spore Creature Creator, a free download which enabled people to create Spore creatures they could use when the game ships this month.
The game lets players develop a species from a microscopic organism, evolve it into into living, breathing animal, and watch it become social and interact with other species on your planet.
I can see Spore being as popular as Will Wright’s other mega franchise The Sims. With unparalleled freedom to create anything you want, you can literally spend hours in your own little world, creating species after species of funny looking creatures. With most games today either involving guns or a car, Spore brings with it a fresh breath of air that could really kick start PC gaming again much like what The Sims did in the past.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Ever wanted to know the story between Episodes 3 and 4? Ever wanted to control a character that has the full power of the Force? Now’s your chance as Lucas Arts is giving you the chance to play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice. The game has long held promises of great technology that would help bring out the best of the Star Wars universe and make the player fell like they are actually using the force in the game. The Force Unleashed is promising to bring in characters known in the Star Wars universe, as well as creating brand new characters to help progress the storyline.
The game is releasing on all major platforms with the Nintendo Wii version coming with an exclusive multiplayer mode where you can duel it out with lightsabers using the Wiimote.
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