UPDATE! Edit - Played SSBB an hour or so. Awesome stuff although i haven't managed to play online yet.
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So I bought a few things, Link's Crossbow Training, Ghost Squad and a Light gun shell.

I haven't tried Link's Crossbow Training yet, but my brother said it was pretty good. I did play Ghost Squad a few times now cooperatively and it is really a blast! It's pretty good value for £16. Link's Crossbow Training was a steal at £17, which also includes the Wii Zapper. The gunshell and Zapper are pretty good. You have to be 2+ metres away from the sensor bar to be able to calibrate it like it is in an arcade (like Time Crisis) otherwise the Wii pointer would be off the screen. Connecting to WiFi reveals that my rank is over 10,000 regionally though .

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - And here it is! Finally! A full day earlier from official release (27th)! It arrived this morning (26th, well i'm writing this after midnight so technically it was yesterday morning) - But i haven't had a chance to play/open it yet. It came with a postcard and a nice card sleeve for the box (supposedly limited edition...). I've had this preordered months and months ago...well, i'm off to open it now. Cya!

Assassin's Creed was one of those well-marketed 'next-gen' game, first appearing on Xbox 360 and PS3. The third-person stealth assassin concept looked very appealing when set in the landscapes of the 'Holy Land', dated during the Crusades. It was during this time that many discussed how much fun they had with it so it was something to look forward to for the PC version. Some of my questions in mind were what sort of specs was I looking at to play the game and how well would the game translate to PC controls. I soon found out once i got to play it. Running it in 1920 x 1200 using an 8800GTX, it ran perfectly smooth 95% of the time. The 5% that was slightly juddery was in sections of the game which you rode your horse in a large open environment at speed. Still, it was very much playable in terms of performance and it had very sharp and crisp graphics with a generous dosage of post-processing effects. Something to celebrate was how well my 360 pad worked with the game right from the very start with no tinkering of the settings. Even the tutorial instructions followed the right buttons on the pad. It's something to be expected since this game was on the 360, it makes sense for the controller to feel exactly the same, but you'd be surprised at how bad control issues were on PC games some years ago. Let's hope this sort of development for game controls continue for every other PC game, especially for ported console games.

The story is very sci-fi esque, harking to similarities to Matrix and in ways, has borrowed art directions from Half Life 2. Holding distinct impressions of what to expect from the game, i was surpised to find myself controlling my character (Desmond Miles) in a future setting held 'as a prisoner' under a seemingly authoritarian society. A machine called the Animus, looking much like a operatiing table in a middle of a large, white, barren room is where the game revolves around. This machine is used by your kidnappers to search out memories hidden within your DNA, supposedly containing the experiences of your ancestors. However for the machine to produce results, the person in the machine must 'synchronise' or otherwise experience unstability; you can't just jump right into a memory from the outset and just retrieve whatever you want. From a stable 'connection', you begin to play out your memories and increase your synchronisation levels. Within those memories, your job is to kill - acting within the Assassin's Creed. Unfortunately, after endangering your brotherhood in an incident, the brotherhood has seen fit to strip you of your rank and skill set. But you are then sent on discreet missions working your way up once again.

One of the first things that will leave a distinct impression on you would be the presentation. Although graphically excellent in both detail and modelling, the game uses generous amounts of post-processing effects to just make this feel 'next-gen' - the game makes an effort to advertise this by giving you the option to change camera angles during cut scenes. The art direction from both outside and within the memories stand out and contrasts well with each other. While out of the Animus, the rooms feel like a laboratory, trapped, locked, and lifeless: Inside your memories as an assassin, the landscapes become richer and full of life. It is within these memories that the game really takes off. Guards populate the cities of the Holy Land, citizens walk around in droves and with the buildings and objectives scattered around the map - it literally becomes your playground. You can scale buildings, jump across gaps and literally be able to reach the tops of the highest buildings. Watching your character do so is quite magnificent because the climbing/jumping animation never really looks awkward and that the sense of height and freedom is believable. It's done so well, it'd make any Spiderman game blush in shame. Why is there a need to scale these buildings? Well firstly, it's needed to get a view of the city which unlocks objectives - plus, it's sometimes easier to travel that way. Once you complete enough of these objectives (gathering information) you are then given the clearance to carry out your assassination mission - the specific target set by your leader. To add to the presentation, the sound is also excellent. The music will adjust to the mood readily whether you're running away from guards, locked in battle, or hidden away waiting for the coast to clear. The sound effects work realistically well but the highlight is the voice work. It's 'Hollywood' convincing during the cut-scenes but can be irritating when speeches are repeated over and over by the citizens within the city walls - especially the beggars.

Repetition is the key word here. While the game tries to break up the game through different people or locations, it all boils down to the same basic objectives numerous times in each and every new city you visit: Rescue civilian, pick up flags within a time limit, eavesdrop on someone, kill guards, escort a 'friend' and then boss battle. Granted, you only need a few objectives to get clearance for the assassination mission but there's incentive to complete every objective available (even though they're so similar to one another) to increase your synchronisation bar (health bar). The objectives are actually fun at the beginning because there's much to experiment at the beginning - but it's done so many times over and over in each and every city that there is little to be unexpected once you have done 2 assassinations or so. Thus, there is a lot of reason to get bored with the game halfway through. In my case, i wanted to complete the game and find out what is going to happen to Desmond Miles - those are the incentives to keep you hooked into the game, despite the great gameplay it becomes played out by the time you get halfway through the game. But let's try and be more positive. For what excitement there is to be had, it is excellent. The game combines so many elements together - Spiderman wall-climbing, Zelda horse-riding, sandbox dynamics with guards and hiding spots, Prince of Persia sort of combat, as well as employing stealth in a very accomplished state - it becomes a unique, successful mix. It seems as if the game was made out of a genuine inspiration but is just a snapshot in time - my meaning is that the game fails to evolve as you progressed and so fails to keep your interest.

The really good portions of the game are those thrill-seeking moments. Those times when you're outnumbered by 6 others, the times you leap off great heights into a stack of hay or those times when you climb up a building to stealth kill a guard with your hidden blade under your wrists - it's excellent. But the repetition starts biting at you as you learn the patterns, and start seeing some failings, like how can you climb 50 metres high, leap off into some hay and come off unscathed? How can you stealth kill enemies so easily while standing face to face? Or there might be some other slight bugs during the combat. The combat is excellent. Although the controls can be a little loose and unresponsive at times, it ultimately is fun. While in combat, pressing attack at the moment your sword hits will result in a special move - often resulting in a killing blow. If you press counter at the right time, you'll unleash a special move. While these moves are played out though, your character usually does not end up in the same place as where you started, this is bad in some situations; if you manage to get your character behind an 'invisible wall', your character will suffer an instantaneous death. There will also be times when you can get hit and be flown 10 metres into the air. While there are glitches in the game, they are rare. You may find some frustration amongst the combat; there were times when i killed 10 or so guards one after another with no sweat at all by spamming my countering moves, yet struggle against 3 normal guards because my counter wasn't responding and just get hacked to death - but i'll reiterate, it is still fun.

There is something about this game that doesn't quite leave the right taste though. While the game is incredibly fun while your interest in it lasts - the story seems to be something of an afterthought. Sure, there is a plot, there are bosses, there is some small development of your character, but what if it wasn't really meaningful? The story is not your average tit tat in terms of gaming, but i found it to be rather predictable. And the way the game ends was rather exciting, if only it continued - but it came to an abrupt end hinting at a sequel. Now that i think about it, it was rather forced. The game could easily have been cut down in repetition but lengthened by continuing the story. Money-making scheme by dragging out and splitting one game into 2? I seem to think so. Also, what was with these flags that you collected? After considerable time spent in gathering these flags scattered across the lands, i found out that there was nothing to gain in doing so. In many ways, i have to say that the game is rather short-lived and there is not much to do once you have completed the story. I may sound negative a lot here but really, the game is really good. The settings, characters, fights, freedom of movement and ambitious but far fetched storyline are things that make this one game you have to play - although i'd really recommend a rent.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is much more of a puzzler than adventure in which its clas-sed in. With cartoony visuals and distinct japanese quirkiness, it feels as though the game was made to die out amongst the western audience. For those who look out for these sort of niche games though, they'll be treated to a gem of a game in a genre that have all but withered but has begun sprouting for the Wii console. Thanks to the Wii remote pointing function, the game plays and moves much like a point-click-adventure game but is infused with many motion controlled elements in the puzzles; the combination is both refreshing and fun even for veteran gamers.

Zoom out to look around for objects out of reach.

The story of the game is summed up in the game's title alone; Zack, a young aspirational pirate, is paired up with Wiki, a mysterious golden-coloured monkey who flies by spinning its tail (i'm thinking of Sonic and Tales here...). The duo, upon opening a treasure chest unleashes the golden head of a legendary Pirate, Barbaros. In cartoon fashion, the head speaks; the golden treasure itself is actually the soul and body of Barbaros. Seeing how Barbaros is missing all of his other limbs, he strikes a deal with Zack & Wiki to restore him to form - in return, Zack & Wiki is promised a legendary ship. So of you go, humbly seeking out these golden body parts across the lands.

Now try and figure out where and how to use it.

The game's visuals are not amazing, yet the cel-shading, colour pallete and quirky but japanese stylings makes it all forgiving and in many ways brings out the mild humour while characterising the game. After playing the game, it's very hard to imagine this game looking anything else other than what it is. The sound throughout the game is also not something that is outstanding, but is full of character. The music is often upbeat in the 'piratey fashion' and sound effects are done well to convey clear meanings. It became clear to me that this game has recieved some 'love' in its creation, the details, the cohorent blend of audio/visuals results in a piece of public but personal piece of work, much like a manga artist drawing up his characters of affection.

One of many contraptions in the game.

Speed and timing is often crucial, getting it wrong could spell death for you.

Enough of how it looks and sounds, but how does it play? Well, very very well in fact. So well, that it surprises me why no other developer has looked at this game and taken notes. You control your character by pointing at the screen and 'clicking' (pressing A) where you want to go or what you want to examine/pickup. Holding down A, will make the character walk to wherever you're pointing so there's no need for the nunchuck here. The most interesting aspect of the game comes about with the use of motion controls. If you come across a tool, lever, or some object of interest, you'll enter first person mode with the object facing you and a prompt of how you should hold your wiimote comes up. If for example you wanted to open and hold up an umbrella, you hold the wiimote facing up like an umbrella, and because upon close inspection of it reveals the number '2' at the handle - pressing 2 will open up the brolly! How about using the brolly as a hook from the handle? - close the brolly (press 2) and 'flip' the wiimote so you're pointing from the handle, voila! There are so many variations in how to manipulate objects that this game represents how flexible the Wii's unique features are and that they can add an exciting dimension to traditional genres.

Rare items can be collected throughout the game.

Even with all the added motion controls, it can only push the base of the game so far. Zack & Wiki fortunately has a very solid base; without the enhancements, Zack & Wiki will still do very well because of the variety of logical puzzles although it will lose a lot of its charm. The game is split up by several locations, each location containing 3-5 levels and a boss level. Getting through these locales will progress the story and characters at decent intervals. Before choosing levels to play, the hub gives you access to elements which adds to the longevity of the game. You can purchase voodoo dolls and platinum tickets (with money gathered during the levels) which are used to gain hints or to revive yourself during a level. Other available options in the hub lets you examine your collection of Barbaros' parts, review some scenarios with motion controls, seek out treasure, look at your current game stats or look through your collections (sounds, art, Capcom-related objects etc). It is with the treasure seeking and object collection that the game's length is considerably lengthened should you wish to do so. On top of unlocking treasures in all the levels you've played after beating the story, you can seek out numerous collectible items. The game has a really nice difficulty curve which is rewarding in each progressive step. It took me just under 16 hours to beat the final boss and is something which will vary hugely between different players. Some of those who are great at problem solving should get by quite smoothly with occasional Eureka! moments while others may get stuck on one level for hours.

Depending on how well you do, you get a rating - Unpuzzleable being the best.

Right from the start, this game oozed creativeness. The mild humour is OK, but the introduction of motion sensing in this game allowed new and fresh gameplay elements. I highly recommend this game as a purchase, even though the replay value is not too great, because Z&W is something that deserves a place in your Wii game collection - especially since the game represents much of what the Wii is about: fresh new ideas for games that are accessible for almost anyone to play, regardless of skill level. The game can be considered hard for younger gamers but is just about right in challenging the many mature gamers out there. If you bought a Wii for those games that offer you something different from everything else then Zack & Wiki is one of them.