I like my brain. It has, along with my other primary sensory apparatuses, always allowed me to do lots of useful stuff. Math has always been fun. I love motor skills, and have always found my sense of equilibrium to be particularly useful when attempting to walk.

So the idea of anything entering my skull with the sole intention of turning my mind into gelatin has always been a source of concern. Ever since Khan put that hungry little earwig in Chekov’s cranium in Star Trek II, I’ve been reticent about interstellar travel. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil merely clinched it.

The #1 most badass weapon in videogame history is called the Cerebral Bore. True to its name, it bore a gaping hole in your cerebral cortex while it tore through your noggin like a possessed Cuisinart. And what could one do as the bore carried on with its objective?

Not much. Long division was out. Impending brain death pretty much inhibited that most leisurely activity of breathing. That basically left you with defecating your tighty whiteys and calling it a day.

Turok 2 was a good game for its time. Sure, it didn’t have the x-factor that made Goldeneye so memorable and its ports weren’t as good as they could have been, but the game had a decent single player campaign and its interesting multiplayer concepts kept fans of console shooters more than happy back in 1998.

But what really made an impression in the minds of N64 gamers (see what I did there?) is the simple fact that Turok 2 had a weapon that ate your frickin’ skull. Once locked on and deployed, the aggressor could casually lay down his paddle, smile at his soon-to-be-dead friend and bask in his enemy’s looming frustration as the grinding sound ravaged his/her melon on the split screen. Many a controller was smashed as a result.

The Cerebral Bore gets the top spot for its complete disdain of the pursuit of knowledge and existentialism. Not only did it kill you, but it did it slowly and in a way that would make Eli Roth squirm in his seat.

The ancient graphics and control scheme make this game difficult to revisit (like many of that generation), so this writer has his fingers crossed that the bore will make an appearance in next year’s entry in the Turok franchise.

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Honorable mentions:

The Portal Gun – Portal
Heavenly Sword – Heavenly Sword
The Golden Gun – 007 Goldeneye
Yellow Snowballs – Southpark: The Video Game

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Our next, slightly controversial entry on this list has led me to question what exactly constitutes a weapon. The Darkness, the evil entity that spawns from our anti-hero Jackie Estacado in the game of the same name, is a living, breathing thing. It’s biological, despite its supernatural origins. It has a voice and a full range of emotions (anger, malice, rage).

So what exactly are the requisites for a badass weapon? It has to cause pain (check!). It’s got to make onlookers gasp in horror and/or inspire fits of uncontrolled vomiting (check!). But on that token, doesn’t Britney Spears’ MTV Video Music Awards performance qualify? The answer: Yes, but, the Darkness can kill you, and until some long-term variable controlled studies are conducted to prove the contrary, Spears’ music hasn’t been documented to be life threatening.

The Darkness isn’t really that much unlike the Mafioso strong men it so viciously slaughters. It loves eating Italian (or “Italians” rather), gets off on controlling people and favors the use of colorful language. The two elongated eel like appendages that jut out of Jackie’s love handles are some versatile killing machines, that much is certain.

Feel like turning a Bowery hitman into a human shish kebab? Well, it’s just one button click away. Want to knock out the lights so that your prey can only hear the snarl between your razor sharp teeth before causing a permanent case of deadness? No problem.

Hell, you can even develop a gravitational field powerful enough to engulf electromagnetic radiation as stated in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Black holes sure are fun. The Darkness doesn’t just make you feel stronger; it makes everyone else seem weak. Most games have you fighting monsters. This game transformed you into one.

The Darkness is a freight train of suffering powered by the devoured hearts of its victims, with Mike Patton of Faith No More providing the creepy voice. And let us not forget that Faith No More was the band responsible for the video “Epic”, which depicted a landlocked fish gasping for air as the closing keys carried out on a somber piano. The fish, as it turned out, was the pet of Icelandic pop sensation Bjork.

So there you have it, folks. The Darkness tortured Bjork’s goldfish. And for that simple fact, it makes its pure evil way near the top of this list.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

There are many definitions for the word weapon. According to dictionary.com, it can be “any instrument or device for use in attack or defense in combat, fighting, or war, as a sword, rifle, or cannon”. Or, “anything used against an opponent, adversary, or victim”. Kirkland, Washington developer Valve clearly prefers the latter classification.

When the creators of Half-Life 2 invented the Zero-Point Energy Manipulator (or Gravity Gun) they transformed every loose piece of material in the game into a weapon, no matter how unassuming. It not only made for some amazing puzzles and showed off the Havok physics engine, but it also opened that Pandora’s Box that hides all our most sinister intensions. Players asked themselves, what is the most interesting method I can use to kill this guy?

And there was a lot of intriguing debris to choose from, because City 17 was practically a cornucopia of litter. For most citizens these pieces of rubbish might have been an annoyance, but for Gordon Freeman it was all just ammunition.

Paint cans, barrels, saw blades, lumber, pipes, washing machines, cars, tires, rocks, grates, fans and even people– anything was fair game when using the Gravity Gun. And the results of launching this refuse at Combine soldiers and other foes were rewarding, disturbing, and at times absolutely hilarious.

Hurtling exploding barrels into Antlions, or flinging detached rotary blades through the abdomens of mumbling Headcrabs, are the priceless moments that every gamer savors.

Thank you, Valve, for finally putting Sir Isaac Newton’s theories concerning physics and gravitation to good use in the field of zombie combat. If only more sciences catered towards discovering new and interesting ways to dismember our enemies.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

What does BFG stand for exactly? Well if you don’t know then you must be new to this whole video game craze that’s been driving all the kiddies wild. The real name of the BFG is probably the worst kept secret in the history of video games.

It’s an acronym that had every twelve year old giggling with delight upon discovering the not-so-cryptic meaning. The name alone would constitute a place on a list such as this, but its screen-encompassing blast ratio doesn’t hurt either.

When Doom was released in 1993, it revolutionized video games. Id Software took a lot of inspiration from their previous 3D shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, and retooled it to create a gaming classic.

The graphics were crisp, the controls were responsive and the weapons were sadistic. Chainsaws maimed imps, shotguns splattered demons, and plasma rifles scorched the Barons of hell. Doom was also the franchise that conjured up the term “Deathmatch”. But as amusing as using these weapons were, there was still one that towered above all the rest – The BFG.

The gun itself really didn’t look like much. Once equipped, it appeared as if our favorite Space Marine was simply holding an outdated copy machine or trash compactor. But no one can forget the first time they fired up this behemoth.

The way the screen turned almost completely green, the sparks came cascading down and every enemy on the screen was completely obliterated. Standing too close to the blast would take you out as well. Never has a single weapon turned the tides in someone’s favor more drastically.

The BFG (or “Big F***ing Gun”, if you hadn’t figured it out already) had the ability to make menacing hounds of hell seem like helpless pups. It did have its limitations, however. You could only use it at short to medium range and it only killed enemies in your line of sight. But those minor setbacks don’t take away from the BFG 9000’s performance record. This is the gun that made the player “too tough for hell to contain”. Now that is one badass weapon.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Gears of War did a lot of things right. It finally implemented a decent cover system into the core gameplay of a third person shooter, its graphics put a muzzle on all those cynical high-end PC owners out there and it allowed you to shove a grenade down an enemy’s gullet. Not to mention the fact that the game had a gameplay mechanic that allowed you to curb a downed Locust ala Ed Norton in American History X. If there was another slot available in this list it might have been given to Marcus Fenix’s foot.

The Chainsaw Bayonet could be the best idea to come along in gaming since some unnamed genius decided that eating randomly abandoned slabs of roast beef equated health recovery. Chainsaws are always fun…especially when they aren’t used the way they were initially intended. The reason for this is anybody’s guess, but I’m thinking it’s probably because trees don’t bleed.

The brutality of the weapon is absolutely a sight to behold. It’s rewarding regardless of whether you’re hacking up Drones, Wretches or your best friend over XBOX Live. The Bayonet let everyone know what it was like to be Leatherface for a few hours, sans the dysfunctional family and twisted fashion sense.

Now, some of you might see Gears of War on this list and cry foul for not including the Hammer of Dawn. Well let me tell you that it was no menial task choosing between the two. But it came down to this – the Hammer of Dawn isn’t gruesome enough to cause hysterical laughter. The Hammer may cook you up, but the Bayonet cuts you in half and leaves you to rot. Now that’s vicious.

Cliffy B. (Gears’ creative genius) has been quoted as saying that “the difference between good and great are all those small touches.” Well I for one think he hit the nail on the head. Putting a chainsaw on the Lancer Assault Rifle was a small touch that nobody knew they wanted. And now it’s hard to imagine a world without it. And who would want to? Someone give this man a cookie.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

First person shooters get a lot of attention on weapon lists across the board. Developers know the FPS is one of the most popular formats for Western video game consumers. To counter that, production teams try to offer a lot in the way of challenging level design, accessible story, and of course weaponry.

The responsiveness and creativity of a game’s arsenal can make or break a day run-and-guns. So it should come as no surprise that first person shooters dominate in the realm of badass firearms.

Id Software has focused its efforts in bringing us the best in terms of 3D shoot em’ ups for years now. Wolfenstein 3D succeeded in offending as many people as it intrigued and Doom dropped a FPS into a survival horror atmosphere accented with heaps of gratuitous violence. Quake would further reinforce id’s reputation as the go to guys in shooter technology, but it would be Quake II that would bring us yet another addition in id’s already impressive catalog of badass weapons.

The Railgun was a rifle that took some skill to use. It was powerful but slow. It promised to kill your opponent with one shot but it would reveal your location if you missed the mark – leaving a swirling aqua plasma stream in its wake. The upsides were that this baby was 100% deadly at any range. Being up close and personal yielded the same results as being perched safely in a darkened corner: DEATH.

A skilled surgeon with the Railgun could dominate any CTF or Deathmatch. It was a gun that inspired an about face from anyone who heard its high-toned hiss or caught a glimpse of its signature particle residue. Any online keyboard jockey worth his weight in salt remembers the Railgun and the feeling of safety and comfort it provided. Well, at least to the person holding it.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

People who play shooters know that there is one thing their bullets could never penetrate: walls. You could try all you want, but that virtual sheetrock might as well have been constructed out of 10-inches of solid steel.

Bazookas, grenades, 30 caliber rounds and high-powered lasers usually just make a nicely shaped black blemish where a gaping hole should be. That’s why our # 7 entry goes to Rare for inventing the Farsight XR-20, a weapon that screams, much like Ronald Reagan before it, “Tear down this wall!”

Surely you’ve lost points before due to an obnoxiously placed barrier. See if this sounds familiar: You find a great sniping spot, you’re prone and waiting for signs of life, when suddenly you see an oblivious noob making his way through an empty courtyard. You take a deep breath, slowly raise your sights to frame his soon-to-be-splattered cranium and prepare to propel his gray matter all over the texture-mapped grass.

Then, disaster. A distant grenade blast sends the spooked rookie hurdling like a gazelle to the nearest cover. Your opportunity is gone. A single tear streams down your face as you hear the far-off gunfire of a teammate stealing your kill.

Well, if you were playing the 2000 N64 game Perfect Dark, that situation never would have occurred. Why? Because the XR-20 made irritating walls a thing of the past. The XR (X-Ray, get it?) gave players the ability to see through walls, making it a breeze to locate the enemy. As if that wasn’t good enough, this baby also had the ability to pierce anything that stood between you and that MVP title in team deathmatch. One shot, one kill. Snipers rejoiced.

While it was slower to aim than other weapons and reloads were conducted at a snail’s pace, the auto-targeting feature more than made up for this. The XR-20 was a sharpshooter’s wet dream and it added a great new element to multiplayer – one that continues today.

Infinity Ward’s new release, Call of Duty 4, tweaks ballistics to make it possible to penetrate annoying drywall. And DICE’s 2008 release, Battlefield: Bad Company, promises to bring environmental destruction to new heights. So all you casual shooter fans, take heed. You can run, but you can’t hide.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

I don’t really like Japanese RPGs. I think they show an amazing stubbornness towards evolution of the genre, with recycled story arcs and male characters that are more androgynous than a Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie.

I thought living in Japan might help me become more tolerant, but the inverse proved true and my disdain has only grown stronger. So, if I can’t stand Japanese RPGs then why did I put Cloud Strife’s sword into the Top 10?

Simply put, the sword is bigger than the little spiky-headed man holding it, and it aided in the firm ass kicking of one of videogame’s most evil characters, Sephiroth.

Mr. Strife must have done a lot of weight lifting back in Nibelheim. Not only does he carry a Buster Sword big enough to slay a rhinoceros with an oversized pituitary gland, but he can also wield it as if it were a fencing rapier forged of aluminum.

I first saw the sword back when the Playstation was still cutting edge hardware. Displayed nicely on the back of our hero on the jewel case, it quickly caught my eye and was the reason for my purchase of Final Fantasy VII. The quest to save Gaia was arguably the best written and fleshed out of the entire series, and the Buster Sword was just as much a character in this manga-like melodrama as Cloud himself.

The weapons in Final Fantasy VII were designed for each character, and although they could be powered up, they could not be interchanged. This led to each gun, sword and javelin to have a personality of its own and reflect that of its user. But it wasn’t just Materia and Limit Breaks that made Cloud’s sword so awe-inspiring – he also got his own movie to build on its riot rousing reputation.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was released in Japan on September 14, 2005. The CGI swan song for the Final Fantasy VII universe showcased Cloud’s massive single-edged cleaver with a new sense of detail. Being able to split into various independent sections, the sword was now duel- wieldable, perfect for those boss battles in the ruins of Midgar. A big sword is pretty badass, but a big sword with extra functionality reaches a new echelon of malevolence.

So was Cloud compensating for something? Absolutely! Does it matter? Hell no. This weapon inspired me to take a chance and forget my contempt for JRPGs and embrace the “bigger is better” mantra. It lasted just long enough to enjoy a game with a killer story, great characters and excellent plot twists.

Too bad that little monkey thief in Final Fantasy IX sent me running for the exits again. Who’s up for a game of Oblivion?

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Kratos is not a nice guy. His hobbies are killing barbarians, killing peasants, killing hydras, and killing his family. He digs tattoos, revenge, and bad girls. He’s every man’s hero.

But this battle-hardened Ghost of Sparta would be nothing without his weapons of choice. Without his Blades, Kratos would have just been more cannon fodder for the gods. With them, he became a god who defied Olympus itself.

Kratos used the Blades of Chaos to deliver pain to anyone stupid enough to get in his way. And there were a lot of stupid people in ancient Greece. The Blades themselves aren’t the most comfortable accessory, with them being singed to his flesh and all. But hey, doesn’t that just make them all the more badass?

Unlike many of the other weapons on this list, the Blades of Chaos are available at the start of your journey. Other weapons became available to Kratos as his quest unfolded, but none of them outshined the Blades.

Attached to a length of chain, the blades can be flung out to greet all those annoying little harpies flying around half-naked, or used as daggers for a more personal slaying. They’re perfect for any rock-climbing enthusiast who plans on scaling the smoldering cliffs of Hades, and they come in handy when extra leverage is needed in the occasional threesome.

Whether it’s interrogation, decapitation, or mutilation, the Blades of Chaos can do the job right. And not only that, but they do it in style.

What made the Blades of Chaos such a badass weapon wasn’t the Herculean warrior holding them, but the average Joe who controlled them. Few weapons can make a player feel invincible against overwhelming odds, and God of War’s fantastic controls made the Blades of Chaos one of these rarities.

The variety of the moves and combos in God of War made the Blades one of the best-designed instruments of destruction in modern gaming. Dust off that old PS2 and pop in God of War or its equally good sequel to relive the fun of a Minotaur tonsil removal.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Weapons have been a source of pain and suffering throughout human history. Since the first caveman bashed in his buddy’s head with a rock for eying his woman, weapons have played an important role in the decay of society. Alfred Nobel invented the Nobel Peace Prize to counter the moniker of “Merchant of Death” – bestowed unto the genius for his most famous invention, dynamite.

He knew that weapons were merely devices aimed at enhancing the destructive capabilities of humans, and their presence put the entire world in Jeopardy. His last will and testament was designed to prevent this catastrophe from happening, and his vision has promoted peace, art, and the progression of science since 1901.

Weapons are also a helluva’ lot of fun. Ninja swords, maces, sniper rifles, and grenades make the world a better place. And dynamite looks great stuffed down an opponent’s throat. I am talking about the world of video games of course – a place where killing is called “fragging” and headshots reign supreme.

In the real world I am a peace loving, anti-war, Che Guevara T-shirt wearing law abider. But once I hit that power button on the console, things change. I want to see the pink mist! And that’s where this edition of Ripten’s Top-Ten takes us. Today we choose the weapons that give us those shark-like grins and quench our lust for bloodshed. The instruments of malice that deal digital death faster than a bar serving Molotov cocktails. These are the weapons that make us cheer and our opponents shudder. This one … could get a little messy. And now for #10 on our list, The Gravity Hammer.

Halo has brought us a lot of great weapons over the years. Some of them were good, some were bad, and some wouldn’t help you punch your way out of a wet paper bag. The great ones can always be identified however, by their demand in an online fragfest. Game after game yields mad sprints to snag the most destructive vehicles, the best powerups, and the most ferocious artillery, but there is one weapon that’ll send a room full of enemies dashing for the exits: The Gravity Hammer.

We first got a glimpse of the Hammer in Halo II being wielded by the Chieftain Brute Tartarus. It sure dealt with the Arbiter quickly, sending poor little pixilated Keith David careening down a bottomless pit. While not exactly an instrument of finesse, the Gravity Hammer was perfectly designed for blunt force trauma. Have a room full of elites that needs eradicating? Use the Hammer. A co-worker parked his warthog in your parking space? Use the Hammer. Can’t open that pesky jar of preservatives? Employ the Hammer. The Brute Gravity Hammer follows the ethos of the “if it ain’t broke, break it” variety. And it does this very well.

The weapons of Halo III are vast and varied. The Spartan Laser is favored for ending those annoying killing sprees by all the Maverick wannabes taking to the skies in their banshees on Valhalla. The Flamethrower is great for guarding those gravity lifts on Construct. And the rocket launcher found on the catwalk on Narrows will make your opponents wish they’d never enlisted. All these weapons serve a purpose, but it is the Hammer alone that delivers that indefinable satisfaction that comes with the knowledge that you just bashed a person into another time zone. Never has using a force amplifier tool dating back to 30,000 BCE so much fun.

The Gravity Hammer has its limitations, as do all the weapons on this list. It’s slow, its bulky, and its impossible to sneak through a metal detector, but it causes an certain emotion in its victims that leads to its inclusion in our Top Ten…that emotion is FEAR. People will fear you when they turn a corner to see this beauty cocked and waiting. And in the world of gaming, it’s always better to be feared than loved.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Well, you knew it was coming. Nintendo has set the bar for gameplay and innovation since 1985, when it released its groundbreaking platformer Super Mario Brothers for the NES.

The gray, rectangular-shaped cartridge would revolutionize the way games were played and raise the videogame industry out of the ashes of the great crash that occurred earlier in the decade.

Shigeru Miyamoto, a man who needs no introduction, is the maniacal genius that manages Nintendo EAD (Entertainment Analysis and Development). He's possibly the most influential person in this modern video game empire, a kingdom that he helped create. Miyamoto would shine as Nintendo's lead idea man and obtain messianic status over the two decades for his contributions to videogames the world over.

His baby, Super Mario Brothers, was a bona-fide console seller. If you wanted to play it at home, you had to buy an NES, and everyone wanted to play. The game was like an adrenaline shot to the heart of an industry that crashed on poorly crafted software for graphically unimpressive consoles only a few years earlier.

With spot-on controls, challenging and intuitive level design, unforgettable characters and a high replay value, Mario showed us a glimpse of the future that was Nintendo.

But as this list shows, making one good game does not make you the world's greatest developer. While many promising companies are sprouting up in newly rented business parks, with high-budget, genre defying juggernauts in tow, time needs to be spent building a library before judgment can be passed down. For those of you who need things put in perspective, here you are: Super Mario Bros. sold more than 40 million copies!

Miyamoto received inspiration for his next opus by recalling his childhood. A young Shigeru once discovered a cave while trekking through the forests of Kyoto, Japan, an adventure that would linger until the boy became the man.

It was this memory of magic and wonder that would lead to the creation of one of his most vivid worlds-- Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda was a game that would, in many ways, show the possibility of becoming truly immersed in a videogame.

Before Zelda, games were closed track sprint sessions from point A to point B, all about gaining high scores and moving through portals. Zelda was more like a hike up an uncharted mountain. You were simply given a sword and an objective: save the world.

How you were to do this was in many ways up to you. Would you explore the wilds or brave the underground? Puzzle solving, boss battles, item collecting, secrets and exploration put Zelda in the spotlight, where it remains to this day.

Every few years brings a new adventure to the homes of gamers everywhere. The Zelda series has delivered unrivaled quality, time and time again. In 1998 Nintendo released what many consider to be the best game of all time: Ocarina of Time. Receiving perfect 10s from critics everywhere, the game would envelop a whole new crop of fans and keep the series popular almost a decade later.

And let it not be said that Zelda and Mario are the only mascots that would pave the way for the gaming giant that is Nintendo. Titles like Metroid, Star Fox, Donkey Kong, and Pokemon are interwoven into a gamer language, and they would further drive nails into the coffins of the competition. Lesser known carts such as Pilotwings, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and Kid Icarus may not have the worldwide acclaim of their bigger brothers, but they also have quite a big space in a lot of gamers' hearts.

For many, looking upon Nintendo's list of games triggers heartfelt nostalgia. Remembering a particular Nintendo game is to remember that point in time-- where you were, what you were doing, and what kind of person you were.

What makes Nintendo such a remarkable developer is the fact that many people can plot an entire lifetime by the release of one of their games. The first all-nighter you pulled trying to defeat Mother Brain in Metroid. That time you gave your brother a black eye for repeatedly bumping you into the wall in F-Zero. And who could forget the time you gave up a chance to get laid at your buddy's house party that weekend in 1998, because you were determined to beat the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time? We sure haven't forgotten.

Whatever your story, Nintendo has touched millions of people's lives on every continent, and for that they will always be number one.

Must Haves:
Super Mario 64 (N64),
Super Metroid (SNES),
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Have Nots:
Luigi's Mansion (GC)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

The golden era of videogames is a hot topic among gamers, mainly because many game enthusiasts don't agree when the gaming utopia took place.

Some feel that it occurred in the mid to late 80s with the introduction and domination of the NES. Others found the 16-bit epoch to be their own personal Shangri-La. Younger gamers feel that this current “next-gen” period we find ourselves in, with its online capabilities and cutting-edge graphics, is the pinnacle of gaming paradise.

Everyone feels differently because everyone has a different collection games that define them and their age bracket. But when bringing up the topic of arcades and the era in which they thrived, there is little room for debate. The golden era took place in the 80s and the king of the cabinets was Namco.

Like many other videogame companies, Namco's early beginnings can be found in business completely unrelated to the gaming industry. Started in the 1950s, the company scraped up its capital by selling mechanical rocking horses and kiddy rides. Namco first started making videogames in 1974 after they snatched the Japanese division of Atari. A few early games followed, but they were all just a preamble to the bomb that would be dropped in 1980.

Apparently inspired by a pizza pie (sans one slice) by Toru Iwatani, Pac-Man would arguably become the most famous videogame in the world. Every respectable arcade would house a Pac-Man machine.

The game would become instantly recognizable to all who heard that opening jingle, felt its battle-worn joystick, and guided that simple little sphere to strategically munch those delicious dots in a quest to tame his paranormal enemies. Pac-Man would do a lot more than build a videogame fan base the world over. It would bring videogames into the mainstream.

Having a background in amusement parks, Namco focused on developing its arcade library, which was the main vehicle to carry a gaming fix to the consumers of the day. If you were to take a stroll through a gallery displaying these works of art you would see an assortment of masterpieces.

There is Galaga, the superior sequel to 1979's Galaxian that would have kids around the world risking alien abduction in order to get a chance at doubling their firepower. Pole Position was a hugely successful racing game for the company. Dig Dug and Xevious (the world's first vertical shooter) would both be released in the same year.

Namco had a lot of “firsts” in the gaming industry, many of which have become clichés within the community. King and Balloon was the first game to use synthesized voices. Rally X was the first game to include the ever-popular bonus round. Dragon Buster introduced the idea of a life bar, and Splatterhouse was the first game to be branded with a parental advisory warning.

Arcades are still Namco's territory. Like their amusement parks, they continue to make fantastic rides for people of all ages and preferences. Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Time Crisis continue to push the envelopes of their respected genres, and Ridge Racer continues its legacy on the PS3.

The transition to consoles came initially with ports of their coin-op successes, but original games like the Ace Combat series and the Xenosaga series offer a nice alternative to the frenzied action of your standard quarter cruncher.

Namco Cybertainment Inc. has become the largest arcade company in the world, with roughly 30,000 games in their inventory. Two years ago Namco merged with the toy manufacturing giant Bandai. They now stand as the 3rd largest videogame entity in Japan.

The merger will deliver Namco's classics to a whole slew of fresh-faced customers. By developing versions of their classics for operation on either cell phones or Xbox Live, they are guaranteeing the longevity of their product.

We will be seeing Namco for generations to come, mainly because their great videogames tap into a digital fountain of youth, preventing them from ever getting old.

Must Haves:
Pac-Man Championship Edition (Xbox Live),
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Xbox 360).

Have Nots:
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2)
Dead to Rights (Multi)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Little known facts about Capcom: Their name is pronounced Kapukon in Katakana, the writing system designated for foreign words in the Japanese language. Megaman is actually referred to as “Rockman” in his native Japan. And the name Capcom is actually a partial acronym taken from the company’s original name, Japan Capsule Computers.

Ok, enough Wiki-trivia. What is widely known is that Capcom is a developer that has made some of the greatest games to ever grace a cabinet or console. Whether you were a resident arcade junky or an agoraphobic console jockey, chances are you’ve played one or two of Capcom’s many gems. Based on their successes over the last 28 years, you weren’t the only one.

Capcom made one game that successfully hypnotized any and all who gazed upon it. Whether it was kids at an arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo or teens killing time at a local Pizzeria during lunch period on Main St., USA, the game had the power of seduction. It showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, and already had a Roman numeral tacked onto its name in reference to a prequel that was unknown to most gamers.

Yes, Street Fighter II is a sacred name for most arcade enthusiasts. It paved the way for the Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Virtua Fighter games that would soon follow. It wrote the book on 2D fighting games and, for many, has never been bettered.

Street Fighter II could separate a 13-year old from his allowance money faster than an angry parent who just discovered the newly shaved family dog. But Capcom was around long before SF II, and has remained long after. This company is no one trick pony.

Arcade games were, and still are, a major source of income for Capcom. While many companies gave up on arcades in favor of home console game development, many of the big guns kept a toe in the quarter-pumping waters, Capcom being one of them. Games like 1942, Commando, and Gunsmoke gave Capcom their initial success, and the much-imitated Final Fight and Street Fighter series carried the torch in later years.

Capcom would go on to dominate home gaming machines. Mega Man would etch the famous blue and gold Capcom logo into the cache of many a pliable mind. Delivering solid side-scrolling action with RPG elements and powerups was a stroke of genius that would spawn five sequels on the NES alone. Dozens of other Mega Man games soon followed on subsequent machines. Bionic Commando and Trojan would also become early Capcom console favorites.

In 1996, Capcom made a little game called Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan). Resident Evil scared the pants off of gamers the world over. It practically invented the “survival horror” genre and its creative puzzles and control scheme would serve as inspiration for 14 sequels on almost every console imaginable (along with three pretty bad movies).

Resident Evil made Capcom a big player in the late 90s, with help from Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe (made by sister company Clover), and the Onimusha series.

So whether its beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups, hack ‘em ups or blow ‘em ups, Capcom delivers the goods time and time again. Versatility is not something that comes easily for most developers, but this Osaka powerhouse hits the bulls-eye time and time again. So whether it’s a classic side-scroller or light-gun operated shooter, you can put your faith in the old blue and gold.

Must Haves:
The Mega Man Collection (Multi),
Resident Evil 4 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Dino Crisis (PS1)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Our next contender came out of the tangled streets of Osaka, Japan. Osaka is loud, boisterous, exciting, and over the top. It should be no surprise then that this gaming heavyweight at one time called this city home. As anyone who has played one of their signature games can attest, Konami is not one to shy away from theatrics when getting its story across.

Konami got its start like so many other video game companies– in the arcade. Its first smash hit came in the form of 1981’s Frogger. A game considered a classic by all who have played it, Frogger’s beauty is found in its simplicity.

The object of Frogger is to guide a group of frogs from one side of a busy street to the other. While it sounds relatively easy, the pressure builds as the player proceeds. Dodging trucks and rabid hotrod cruisers becomes increasingly difficult, leaving the player to compulsively drop in quarter after quarter in order to get our amphibian friends to their swampy lodging.

The slew of top-notch arcade games that Konami would develop in the decades to come was absolutely staggering. Any mallrat of the late 80’s and early 90’s can list off a number of Konami games that splintered their piggy bank into a thousand pieces. Just to name a few: Q*Bert, Rush N’ Attack, Gradius, Double Dribble, Jackal, Blades of Steel, Life Force, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sunset Riders, The Simpsons, and Contra.

It would be enough to stop there and give Konami its kudos for helping create the arcade Nirvana that was the late 80’s / early 90’s, but that would be doing them a great disservice. That’s because the developer would go onto create a game that would in many ways breathe a long overdue breath of fresh air into American arcades: DDR (or Dance Dance Revolution).

DDR would re-ignite a long since extinguished spark in the U.S. arcade market and let geeks everywhere rediscover that taste of greatness forged from hours of diligent practice and pockets full of tokens. Watching a 15-year old social recluse shine in front of a crowd of 20 by pounding away on a DDR machine like a coked-up epileptic is something that has long been missing from America’s teenage hierarchy. The outcasts were given a moment to shine, and DDR would be their stage.

Konami continued to create a fan base by taking their already lengthy arcade library and transfer it to cartridges. The Nintendo Entertainment System would offer the biggest diving board into the pool of wealth that consoles provided. By delivering many of their famous arcade outings to the masses in the form of quality ports on the NES, SNES, Amiga, and Genesis, Konami would solidify a fan base that would stick with them through the generations.

They would also create the most memorable cheat code in history through the console port of their arcade hit, Contra. Games like Castlevania and Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear would do exceptionally well on the NES, ushering in characters of unrivaled quality and depth, while leading to two of the most beloved series in video games. The tight gameplay in the Belmonts’ adventures and the over the top cinematic stealth action found in the world of Solid Snake are perfect examples of the mix of arcade style and Hollywood storytelling that make Konami unique.

Konami is now an empire that deals in video game development, movie production, slot machine production and fitness centers. The company may have been relocated to Tokyo, but that Kansai spirit still shines in its no-holds-barred take on the entertainment business. This behemoth will be around for a long time.

So remember that famous Konami logo. Who knows what will be sporting it next?

Must Haves:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, XBOX Live)
Metal Gear Solid Series (Multi)
Snatcher (Sega CD)

Have Nots:
Castlevania (Nintendo 64)
Top Gun (NES)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Ubisoft’s name comes from the word “ubiquitous”, which means to be everywhere at the same time. With the many branches Ubisoft has throughout Europe and Canada, there’s a reason for the name.

Locations in Barcelona, Shanghai, Dusseldorf, Bucharest and Casablanca (just to name a few) make the company seem like the in-house producer of spy novels rather than a high-end video game developer.

And that assumption isn’t too far off target. After all, Ubisoft has more than dabbled in the subject matter, being the creator of both the Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series.

Ubisoft got its start as a publisher, and much like Electronic Arts, used this as a springboard to make its own in-house software. Starting in France in 1986, they received their first recognition as a developer with the creation of Rayman, a title originally designed for the flop that was the Atari Jaguar and the more standardized MS-DOS operating system back in 1995.

Rayman was your typical 2D side-scrolling adventure, but it served its purpose in getting the company noticed, and Ubisoft was able to continue future creations with decent capital. Giving the hero a wide variety of powers helped the game achieve enough variety to create a fan base and later Rayman adventures.

Ubisoft continued to produce quality carts in the years to come. They would really start to make big strides once development began for the newer generation of console titles. Ubisoft really started to make a name for itself with the PS2, XBOX and Gamecube clientele. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell in particular was a huge leap for them and their famous Montreal office.

Splinter Cell proved successful with fans of the stealth/action category made famous by its Konami counterpart, Metal Gear Solid. Sam Fisher, a character now synonymous with the genre, was a more grizzled, realistic, and relatable character than the super-soldier archetype of Solid Snake. His was a more realistic world, using more realistic weaponry in more realistic settings.

The addition to the highly popular multiplayer capabilities introduced in the sequel Pandora Tomorrow would only sweeten the deal, and many gamers found more joy in the highly playable Splinter Cell series than Kojima’s cinema-heavy Metal Gear Solid series. He was the Pepsi to Metal Gear’s Coke, and many gamers welcomed the change.

After Ubisoft successfully went toe-to-toe with a genre monopoly, they decided to reanimate a classic game themselves. In 2003 the Montreal branch released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time , an artistic interpretation of the original series created by Jordan Mechner. The game successfully captured the urgency and acrobatic prowess of the original, while delivering an amazing story arc with top-notch narration.

Flipping over parallel bars, running on walls, and sliding under closing spiked gates has never been this much fun, and fans who fondly recalled the 1989 original rejoiced. Like Splinter Cell, the game gave birth to several sequels. While Mechner would not continue with Ubisoft in the development the next two games, they continued to garner success (albeit with a much darker tone and subject matter). Ubisoft had another hit that would continue to attract critical praise.

Ubisoft has made plenty of must-buy titles in its short existence, and published dozens of others. The sleeper hit Beyond Good and Evil, the Myst series continuation Myst IV: Revelation, and the stylized first person shooter XIII are some examples. But what makes Ubisoft hold its own with the other big hitters on this list is its commitment to a promising future.

By the end of this year we can expect to have Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and Haze. Next year shows no sign of letting up with potential blockbusters FarCry 2 and Tom Clancy’s EndWar rounding out 2008’s lineup.

What puts Ubisoft in the running for best developer of our generation is the fact that many will buy these titles simply because they’re brandished with the Ubisoft logo. They have built a name in the past, which continues in the present and should continue into the future. Ubisoft picked its name wisely – ubiquitous is truly what they are.

Must Haves:
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Multi),
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Multi),
GRAW 2 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Star Wars Trilogy: Apprentice of the Force (GBA)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Just like its advertising campaign, EA is BIG. The company made net revenue of over 3 billion dollars in 2005 and continues to grow. The recent acquisition of BioWare will only continue to drive this monster forward. This along with its near-monopoly on professional sports games could prove to be a bottomless well for future earnings.

However, EA is so big that it has actually made its inclusion on this list a difficult undertaking, due to its predominant status as a sun-eclipsing monster publisher. But it cannot be denied that EA's logo is found on so many must-own titles that it has to be acknowledged as an iconic developer.

Electronic Arts got its start when the director of product marketing at Apple decided to head out and establish his own venture back in 1982. The company would turn out to be Amazin' Software, later updated to the far superior call sign of Electronic Arts.

"We See Farther, 1983 EA Advertisement" Artists listed left to right.
Top: Mike Abbott, Dan Bunten, Jon Freeman, Anne Westfall, Bill Budge
Bottom: Matt Alexander, John Fields, David Maynard

Early on EA made its debut doing what it does best-- publishing. A publisher that would step out of the spotlight and let their developers bask in the public eye, EA would develop a reputation for giving their staff the credit they were due.

In 1983, EA released the now classic M.U.L.E. This little piece of software would revolutionize gaming with its multiplayer focus, and would eventually be ported from the Atari 400 to the Commodore 64, PC, and even the NES.

The game was great but it still wasn't an EA original. That feat wouldn't come until many years later when the classic skateboarding title Skate or Die! hit shelves in 1987. Skate or Die! didn't set any milestones, but it would hint at the sports-focused direction that EA would head towards in the future.

EA is such a massive firm, with their hands in so many pies, that it isn't easy to find out which games were developed completely in-house and which games were constructed by their smaller development companies. Many of the games bearing the EA logo were not actually developed by EA, but a subsidiary.

What cannot be debated about Electronic Arts is that they have cornered a significant market share. EA turns out an annual collection of new professional sports titles that mostly go unchallenged, and the rate at which players eat it up is awe inspiring (anyone remember the Madden addicts on MTV?).

The reason that these games do so well is that kids grow up wanting to field like Derek Jeter. They long to throw the pigskin like Joe Montana. They practice dribbling for hours to get that Alan Iverson crossover and stay out on the greens past sundown to sink that amazing 15-footer they saw Tiger Woods nail in the Masters. Kids want to be their heroes. So why not let them? That's what EA said back when it started its line of licensed sports games back in the late 80's, and the whirlwind is still going strong today.

After the success of Madden Football and NHL Hockey, EA decided to devote a specific branch to sports development. That fork in the road would be known as EASN. Catchy name huh? Well too bad ESPN had all four lettered acronyms on lockdown. The new name would have to have a sub-label on every box, leading to the more familiar EA Sports being created. So now with a new name, a new box style (the famous all-white cases) and a fresh new batch of official licenses, which EA is the biggest purchaser of, Electronic Arts would be ready to take no prisoners in the 16-bit console war.

EA Sports NBA Live 97 -- watch out for those steals!

The 16-bit era truly built the empire of EA that we know today. Their contributions to the Sega Genesis would make it a console seller. But not one to discriminate, they would develop for the SNES as well. This is when many of the series we still play today would be born-- Madden, NHL Hockey, NBA Live, Knockout Kings, FIFA, PGA Tour (later named Tiger Woods) and Triple Play Baseball (dubbed MVP Baseball in 2003) would all be born from this era.

If you like sports games, then chances are at some point in your gaming career you've had one of these white-boxed beauties stashed in your entertainment center ready to collect dust when you get the update and never play the old version again. And why would you? You've got the new one, and the new one has better announcers, updated graphics and improved puck/ball/racket/bat/club control than the one before it.

Maddenoliday commercial promoting the annual release of Madden

Therein lays the genius. Not only did EA corner the market, but they made it so that they can get repeat customers year in, year out. You may not like sports games, but a lot of people dig em', and EA is the hardest hitter out there delivering the goods. EA publishes a lot of games, but as far as development is concerned, sports games are the golden goose. EA has become one of the biggest publishers of video games in the world, and EA Sports was the BIG reason for that. Like the slogan says, “it's in the game”.

Must Haves:
Madden '08 (Multi),
NHL '08 (Multi),
FIFA '08 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Rugby '08 (PS2),
NASCAR '08 (Multi)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

To think of LucasArts (formerly Lucasfilm Games) is to think of George Lucas, the man who created it all. The pompadour sporting and flannel wearing visionary gave us Star Wars and Indiana Jones, for which he should be canonized. Some would be happy evolving just one form of media, but it appears that forever changing the face of cinema and inventing the Wookie wasn’t enough for Mr. Lucas. He still had to revitalize another form of entertainment– video games.

In 1982 the video game industry was on a precipice after some very tumultuous years. By the end of 1983, the video game crash was in full swing. Angry gamers were becoming frustrated by aging consoles and yearned for a breath of fresh air. It may not have been the best time to form a new software company, but many of Lucas’s undertakings were never considered financially viable by economic groupthink.

The company began by making low-key action games for the Atari 5200, but would soon find success with adventure games. The adventure genre was a huge market in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and LucasArts became one of the forerunners in developing memorable titles. They got their feet wet with the 1987 classic Maniac Mansion, a hilarious adventure that played off America’s love of B-grade horror films.

Maniac Mansion was the first game to utilize the SCUMM scripting language that would go on to create the company’s most memorable entries over the next 10 years. It also introduced something that would become a staple of LucasArts’ adventure games – humor. Games like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max and the beloved Monkey Island series would set the bar for the funniest and best 2D adventure games of the day. But LucasArts didn’t stop there.

George wasn’t going to let his lucrative franchises in the film industry go unused in this newly discovered market, and Star Wars became the basis of dozens of games for the developer. These games sent fans of the series running to their nearest software retailers faster than Han Solo making the Kessel Run. LucasArts used the Star Wars name to contribute to the flight-sim (X-wing Series), first person shooter (Dark Forces and Jedi Knight Series), role playing (Knights of the Old Republic Series by BioWare) and MMO genres (Star Wars Galaxies). If it was a genre, it had a LucasArts game.

LucasArts continues to make its mark in the gaming world today, with a level of quality that has remained consistent over the majority of the last two decades. While adventure games don’t tend to be a popular commodity and some licenses have failed to make a smooth jump to 3D (I’m looking at you, Dr. Jones), Lucasarts still offers plenty of promise for the future. From the recent collaboration with Industrial Light and Magic and the huge budget that pact provides, we can only hope that Lucasarts will continue to rocket the gaming community to a galaxy far, far away.

Must Haves:
Grim Fandango (PC),
The Monkey Island Series (PC),
Star Wars: X-wing (PC)

Have Nots:
Star Wars Obi-Wan (XBOX),
The Dig (PC)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Some developers draw inspiration from a particular genre. Electronic Arts built up some of the most successful franchises in the sports world, Id Software concentrated mainly on first person shooters like DOOM and Wolfenstein, and Lucasarts grew its fan base by creating excellent adventure games. Square Enix falls into this category as well. Their area of expertise is the RPG.

As many already know, Square and Enix started their relationship under very different circumstances than today. They were originally rivals in Japan, vying for the attention of RPG consumers in a very competitive market.

Enix made its big splash with the Dragon Quest series (known as Dragon Warrior to Western audiences). The NES game would introduce many characters, weapons, and plot lines that still appear in the series today. It turned out to be hugely successful for Enix and gave them a foothold in the Japanese role-playing game market.

What’s interesting is that Enix didn’t actually develop these games themselves. The creation process of the first five Dragon Quest games was handled by a company known as Chunsoft. Enix would merely act as publisher and maintain the copyrights.

Square, on the other hand, was a publisher. During the company’s toddler years there was the danger of having to declare bankruptcy due to some unsuccessful early releases. This impending doom led Hironobu Sakaguchi to name their last entry into the gaming industry Final Fantasy, a name that was selected to signify the company’s inevitable demise. However, the game proved to be successful, and Square was saved from the chopping block.

Many consider Final Fantasy to be the pinnacle of any role-playing series available. Fans of the FF releases could debate for hours which game has the best story line, most useless power-up, or most annoying character. Final Fantasy is one of the most loved franchises in the history of videogames and it continues to grow to this day.

Genre lines have been crossed, movies have been made, and figurines have been manufactured. Final Fantasy has gone from a last attempt at success to a household name. And through the years, the talented people at Square have been there to steer their ship into areas of new discovery.

Games like Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Front Mission and Kingdom Hearts pushed role-playing genre into new territory, while Final Fantasy kept sailing on with new plot situations, battle systems, and characters. But that’s not to say that Square always had to stay within the RPG genre. The company had great success with the car racing classic Rad Racer on the Nintendo Entertainment System. They also made a nice addition to the survival horror genre with the Parasite Eve games on the Sony Playstation. But for the most part, Square has continued to create what comes naturally to them– RPGs.

On April Fools Day in 2003, Square and Enix made one of the biggest mergers in video game history. The two rivals would shake hands (or bow, actually) and continue their monopolizing of the JRPG market as an unstoppable duo. The absorption of Square by Enix would bring together two of the most influential companies in gaming history, and fuse two of the most well-loved and respected catalogs by any company found in Japan or abroad.

What the future holds is yet to be seen. But if the past is any judge, these fantasies aren’t showing any signs of finality.

Must Haves:
Final Fantasy III (SNES),
Final Fantasy VII (PS),
Secret of Mana (SNES),
Dragon Quest IV (NES)

Have Nots:
Chocobo Racing (PS)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

SEGA is a Japanese company, right? Of course they are…aren’t they? Well, you would be surprised to learn that when SEGA was started in 1940, they were actually from the other side of the pacific.

Born as “Standard Games” in Hawaii, the company would get its start the way a lot of companies did back in wartime America, by entertaining American servicemen. There was a lot of money to be made in that industry, and Standard Games wanted a piece of the pie. So much so in fact, that they changed their name to Service Games in effort to connect better with their new client base.

The coin operated electro mechanical games that they toted would become very popular to the boys in green, keeping “SE”rvice “GA”mes (or SEGA) in the black. SEGA would enter the video game market by producing games such as Frogger, Zaxxon. When the video game market crashed in the 80’s, it affected many companies including SEGA, and would lead to SEGA’s Tokyo assets being bought out by a Japanese conglomerate. Re-titled Sega Enterprises Ltd., the company would buckle down for the video game resurgence of the late 80’s and come out swinging. Sega wanted it all – Arcade as well as console dominance. Some goals would be achieved and others would prove disastrous.

The arcade was the place for new developers to shine, and SEGA built a name for itself over the years. Classics such as Altered Beast, Hang-On, OutRun, and Afterburner would lay a lot of the bricks that would become the foundation for the company’s own console launchers. Golden Axe was another popular entry at the time, and lead to the development of six subsequent games that fleshed out the series. The games were loud, colorful, and addictive – just what young audiences were looking for in their next electronic vice.

SEGA would have a few early pieces of hardware, but its first real entry into the console war was the Sega Master System. Released less than a year after Nintendo’s unbelievably successful Nintendo Entertainment System, the Master System had some tough competition. In order to combat this, Sega created the game Alex Kidd in Miracle World. The game was meant to compete with the great success Nintendo found with its Super Mario Brothers franchise. While the game’s presentation and gameplay were sound (good enough to lead to the creation of a sequel) it wasn’t until five years later, that SEGA would finally give birth to a character able to go toe-to-toe with the mushroom munching plumber.

Sonic the Hedgehog was first introduced in 1991 on both the Sega Genesis and Sega Master System. The games reinvention of the standard platform was evident at first view. Speed was your new best friend, rings were to be collected instead of coins, and loop-de-loops were commonplace. The spiky blue smart mouthed mammal would help SEGA become a major contender in the 16-bit era of gaming, and ended up replacing the tried and true arcade smash Altered Beast as the bundle game for future Genesis consoles.

Sonic would continue his ascension to the video game mascot hall of fame in a blue streaked blur, with TV shows and plush dolls to boot. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 would be released a year later, and prove to be faster and sleeker than its predecessor. A success that would result in it becoming the best selling 16-bit cart of all time. Other games of varying quality would follow, but Sonic’s earlier adventures stand out as his best (including the excellent Sonic the Hedgehog CD for the SEGA CD).

While success in the land of hardware hasn’t favored SEGA in recent years, the company does standout as a game developer. Originality is something that has thrived in SEGA titles. Nights into Dreams, a game that revolved around two 14-year olds entering the dream worlds of Nightopia and Nightmare to battle for both the real world and it’s sleep induced parallel universe, offered new and interesting gameplay mechanics, maintaining a very artistic approach, complemented by whimsical graphics, and sensational storytelling.

Another shinning example of originality was Shenmue, a Dreamcast title directed and produced by the talented Yu Suzuki. The game, told the first part of a layered storyline which followed the path of young martial artist named Ryo Hazuki as he vowed to avenge the murder of his father. As arguably one of the best titles the Dreamcast had to offer, it stood out with richly developed characters, brutal open ranged fistfights, and “quick time event” triggered mini-games. Sadly though, the conclusion to young Ryo’s story may never be known, as SEGA has yet to announce any continuation of the series, as it never became the huge seller the company had envisioned.

While SEGA has had a rocky history, they are a company that maintains their credibility and quality within the gaming community. They continue to churn out Arcade benchmarks in the form of the trigger yanking House of the Dead, and strategic button mashing Virtua Fighter series. Shenmue’s legacy has been maintained with the addition of new franchises, like the totally immersing bruiser, Yakuza. As a company that’s seen a World War, million dollar mergers, and staved off a possible bankruptcy, SEGA knows how to survive.

Armed with exceptional amount of industry knowledge, and a commitment to creating quality games, SEGA continues to stay the course, compass held firmly in hand.

Must Haves:
Shenmue (DC), Sega Genesis Collection (PS2), Virtua Fighter 5 (Multi), Streets of Rage 2 (XBOX Live)

Have Nots:
Sonic the Hedgehog (XBOX 360, PS3)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Anyone who has played video games in the 8 or 16-bit era remembers a genre that has since become the black sheep of 3D gaming culture: the platformer. Platformers made up a huge percentage of all console games and arcades of the day, and would all be started by one game in particular, that put it’s highly pixilated main character through every kind of death trap imaginable.

Pitfall was put out by Activision in 1982, and although the company had quite a few of successes before this, Pitfall was a tremendous hit for the company on the Atari 2600, and throughout the 80’s in general. Clones were quickly manufactured almost as soon as the game launched. Other Activision earlier games included KABOOM!, Chopper Command, and Ice Hockey.

In order to understand the importance of Activision’s role in gaming, it’s better to think about what the industry would have been like if they never existed. Mario would probably have never come along to save the failing market in 85’ and go on to sell tens of millions of copies. Simon Belmont would never have taken up his whip to defeat Dracula. Mega Man could have very well been made into a top down shooter, and Ryu Hyabusa may have never started his gap jumping, ninja-flipping quest for revenge.

The face of video games would have been altered forever, or even worse, the entire concept may have died back in 1983 like it was supposed to according to the so called experts. Yikes! Thankfully, Pitfall does exist, and the videogame industry may have avoided an abyss of endless black thanks to Harry and his vine swinging, cliff hanging, action packed adventures.

Activision has become more of a powerhouse publisher in recent years, snagging up young and talented individuals and companies from all over the world. The list of quality games these people are creating with the help of Activision is amazing. However, the lack of a truly lengthy library prevents them from making this list on their own. Until true independence can be established, they’ll just have to keep their current position under the corporate thumb.

A perfect example of this would be Infinity Ward, the ammunition behind the extreemly successful WWII Shooter Series, Call of Duty. The campaigns are fast paced, in your face, and laced with authenticity throughout. Next moth, the series abandons the WWII era making the move to Modern Warfafe with the release of the highly anticipated Call of Duty 4.

Neversoft is home to the genius that is Tony Hawk, the number one gaming franchise which has dominated the digital skating market for years. And Raven, was the creative force that gave us Hexen II, the Soldier of Fortune series, Quake 4, and the phenomenal 2002 title, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast.

You can even become a rock god with Harmonix’ Guitar Hero. But could any of these companies make a top ten list on their own two legs? The answer is no. So, instead our number ten spot will belong to the mighty conglomerate that is Activision. So the first developer on our top ten list doesn’t develop anymore? Well, not exactly…

Activision, no matter how you look at it, has changed the face of gaming. Its development of the seminal game Pitfall would single handedly create a genre, save an industry, and pave the way for future innovators. Their acquisition and absorption of talented developers continues to set bar for quality software, and their role in that equation cannot be denounced. Also, the games being churned out by Activision and its developers continue to shape the next generation of gaming. Today, video games are a 6.2 billion dollar business. Activision is one of the few companies you have to thank for that. You’re welcome.

Must Haves:
Pitfall (Atari 2600)

Have Nots:
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (GBA)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

When the original Ninja Gaiden was released in the U.S. in March of 1989 on the NES console it was an instant classic. The mix of side scrolling action, shuriken power-ups, insane difficulty and memorable boss battles left a lasting impression on young gamers across America. It also set the record straight concerning the misconceptions surrounding that most mysterious of ancient Japanese arts: Ninjutsu. The game’s developer, Tecmo, encouraged us to look past the rants of so called “historians” who claim that the Shinobi were assassins who incorporated the use of avoidance, non-detection, information gathering and stealth to achieve their goals.

According to the Tokyo based game company that was all a lot of baloney. Ninjas actually cared very little for subtleties – favoring the slaughter of everything from birds, leopards, dogs and spiders to fellow ninjas, grenade hurling hulks, axe lobbing hockey masked maniacs and even women…all in broad daylight. Yes, Ryu Hyabusa definitely utilized extermination over espionage and little has changed in the almost two decades since the series’ inception.

Now with the announcement of Ninja Gaiden II (the highly anticipated sequel to the platinum selling original XBOX title) fans are excited to know where young Ryu’s adventures will be whisking him off to next. All that we can say for sure is that whatever road Hyabusa heads down would benefit from a crew of diligent street sweepers, because getting all that dried blood off the pavement ain’t gonna be easy.

When Tobonobu Itagaki and Team Ninja brought the Ninja Gaiden series back to life on the XBOX console after roughly 10 years of hibernation, fans were understandably hyped. And it delivered. It stayed true to the spirit of the original NES trilogy by including all the fast paced action that those 3 games introduced. The game continued to grow in subsequent months with the release of the highly popular Hurricane Packs made available over XBOX live, and the re-release of the improved Ninja Gaiden: Black. XBOX 360 owners were dealt a tough blow, however, when news was released that Team Ninja had no intentions of releasing Ninja Gaiden: Sigma – the 2007 next gen port, and Playstation 3 exclusive, of Ninja Gaiden – to the Microsoft console. Hardcore XBOX gamers felt betrayed and alone. But the clouds were lifted on September 12th when Microsoft announced that an entirely new and original Hyabusa adventure would be released exclusively on the XBOX 360, rather than yet another remake of its 2004 counterpart. Hallelujah!

Ninja Gaiden II is slated for a 2008 release. Itagaki and the rest of Team Ninja will once again helm the game’s development. But this time around there’ll be a little twist. Unlike the 3 previous entries, Ninja Gaiden II will not be published by Tecmo but directly by Microsoft Game Studios (Halo, Gears of War, Mass Effect). While this move pleases a lot of 360 owners who’re anxious to steer young Ryu through another acrobatic slash fest, the PS3 faithful will never get that chance. Ninja Gaiden II will be a 360 exclusive.

Little is known about the sequel’s story at this time, but it is known that you will once again be fighting to prevent the annihilation of the human race, using an assortment of authentic (and not so authentic) ninja weaponry while avenging your clan in the process. Like Ninja Gaiden before it, this addition to the series will be taking place before the circumstances of the original NES games. That means that a guest appearance by Ruy’s father (Ken), or some of the other characters that graced the earlier story arcs, is still a possibility. Who knows?

The gameplay and difficulty level are things that have always shined in the Ninja Gaiden series. Gameplay mechanics are expected to remain faithful to the original XBOX game with some welcomed additions. One of these additions has been titled “Obliteration Techniques” which have been described as moves that can be engaged to stylishly end an opponent’s existence. It hasn’t been made clear if essence collecting will play into these new techniques (pretty likely), or if a blocking mechanic might be the catalyst.

Itagaki said during a presentation of Ninja Gaiden II that this game would be used to implement a lot of the features that had to be left out of the first game due to the original XBOX console’s restrictions power wise. That same presentation also left hints of a variety of environments for our hero to wreak havoc in, both urban and rural. You’ll travel from quiet Buddhist temples to the gritty streets of New York and Tokyo, while visiting the Netherworld in an attempt to learn its secrets. Real life locations also seem like a possibility, with footage showing places that seem to resemble Kiyomizudera in Japan and the obvious inclusion of The Statue of Liberty in the Big Apple.

In an effort to make the game a little more accessible to the average gamer there has been a new auto healing health system incorporated into the gameplay. Operating similar to Halo in the way that you will gradually heal yourself as long as you avoid taking hits, with semi permanent damage being healable at save points to revive your health bar’s full potential. Although the gaming industry seems to have made a lean towards the more casual gamer with the success of Nintendo’s Wii and Bungie’s decision to lower the default difficulty setting for Halo 3, Itagaki assures us that this next Ninja Gaiden won’t alienate any of its masochistic fans. And if the early videos circling the Internet are anything to go on, those who are gluttons for punishment can expect a good hearty spanking come next year.

All in all, Ninja Gaiden II looks like it will be a promising ride. Team Ninja seems to have taken a lot of steps over the past 3 years towards giving us the perfect numchuku swinging, wall scaling, head decapitating thrill ride that we’ve been longing for. With improvements in camera control, interface design, weapon variety and item selection over the course of the last 3 installments – this game will most likely expand an already amazing upcoming lineup of XBOX 360 must haves.

“Face Off against the Triads with style.”

John Woo has shaped cult cinema for years now. First making his big splash with the film A Better Tomorrow in 1986, Woo would be launched to a new tier of success (along with star Chow Yun Fat) within the Hong Kong movie making industry. Woo’s style was a ballet of violence and embodied the perfect combination of pirouettes and pistols. But to a greater extent, Woo’s films would fuse the popular chop-socky pictures of China with the six-shooter Westerns of golden era Hollywood. The result of which still affects cinema in a major way today: leaving future celluloid heroes standing waste deep in a pile of smoking bullet casings with exhausted trigger fingers – a dangling cigarette jutting from a face made of stone.

Fast-forward to the year 2007 and Woo has just delivered his next contribution to pop culture in the form of Midway’s newest release – Stranglehold. The new XBOX 360 entry puts you in the shoes Detective Tequila, the trigger-happy cop portrayed by the legendary Chow Yun Fat (who is beautifully rendered here). Tequila was first introduced to audiences in the director’s 1992 gem, Hard Boiled. This game, not unlike that influential film, follows Woo’s trademark of dual handed 9mm massacres and downpours of shattered glass folded together into a slow motion opera of violence. The raging battles will lead you from the underbelly of Hong Kong to the tattered streets of Chicago. The director’s signature style is invariably singed to the action of this game. And while this is the reason for most of Stranglehold’s more thrilling moments, it also leaves it teetering on cliché.

The game begins with Tequila uncovering the murder of one of his comrades, presumably committed by one of the Triad gangs that litter the streets of impoverished Hong Kong. The hunt for the perpetrator eventually ensues and our man Tequila will have to investigate in order to learn the truth. Investigate as defined by John Woo that is. Which actually means reading people their last rights instead of their Mirandas, and killing enough bad guys to populate Sandusky, Ohio. Eventually you’ll discover that some people very close to you have been kidnapped – making the plot not so much thicken as lengthen.

A story of this kind has been well tread and, while at times becoming mildly intriguing, offers up little more than opportunities for Chow Yun fat to pull off some aerobatic fragging. While the yarn tends to be pretty thin, let’s not forget that this is an action game being adapted from the work of the same man who gave us Broken Arrow. Tigerhill Entertainment wasn’t trying to modify a David Lynch piece here after all. And while fans of Woo’s earlier work shouldn’t expect the same depth in Stranglehold, the content doesn’t stray too far into the shallow end.

The gameplay can easily be compared to Max Payne, simply because Payne (like many of the other games from the last 10 years) used Woo’s films as a blueprint for all that’s cool in modern gaming culture. The layout for the controller has been well thought out and responds accordingly. The two buttons you’ll be focusing most of your attention on will be the right and left triggers. The right one will send that hammer flying back and dish out that wall of bullets you’ll be putting up in front of countless waves of narrow eyed goons. The left trigger will send you diving head long over a variety of destructible environments, as well as allowing you to interact with particular rails, trolleys and chandeliers; adding some extra panache to your onslaught. Certain measures have been taken to make controlling our Cantonese-speaking hero relatively easier. You will automatically slide over all variety of counters and tabletops without so much as a button press.

The camera follows a stock third-person perspective, which is a good match for the past pace action. However, problems can arise while in the crouching position, mainly due to its inability to make Tequila transparent enough to spot the oncoming enemies. Tapping the left bumper initiates your cover, which comes in handy when the firefights jump up a notch, and the left bumper will send you into “Tequila Time”. Tequila Time is the same mechanic that we’ve seen in Max Payne, The Matrix Game, and countless others. It encapsulates you in a slow motion focus mode that will enable you to splatter your foes before they can get the upper hand on you. In most instances diving will automatically trigger Tequila Time when surrounded by enemies, so using the bumper isn’t necessary in most situations. However, it can come in handy when you are behind cover and preparing to storm into a Tea House hallway swarming with baddies.

The one really nice addition to this game is the inclusion of the “Tequila Bombs”. As you progress, you’ll collect some tools that’ll help our hardened cop become damn near indestructible. These secret weapons come in the form of health / Precision Aim / Barrage / and Spin Attack. Hitting the D-pad will help you pull off all those logic defying scenarios from the action movies you grew up with. Health will stitch you up, Precision aim will make long distance head shots a cinch (or if you are feeling a little more malicious…crotch shots), Barrage will give you a dose of temporary invincibility and Spin Attack will have Tequila commence a spinning ring of gunfire that’s definitely more Yin than Yang. When used to their full advantages, these moves will make you feel just like the well-dressed, grossly underpaid Chinese supercop you always wanted to be.

Tigerhill Entertainment did a nice job with the presentation for this game. The graphics look quite good, especially when playing on a Hi-Def television. The character models are pretty clean, with Chow Yun Fats looking just how you remembered him. The one stand out feature of this game is the highly destructible environments. It seems as though every object you come across can be blown to bits by any of the guns that you have at your disposal. So once bullets start flying in the crowded outdoor market, artifact-ridden museum or the bright Casino lights, you’ll see that interior decorating bill start to skyrocket. The nice part about this is that it isn’t just a gimmick, but something that sways gameplay.

The first time you take shelter behind a nice cozy column, only to observe it being completely eroded by gunfire, you’ll realize that this game is designed to keep you in the tussle. But remember, the new physics can also work to your advantage. See that sign hanging above the gold-toothed punk up on the scaffolding? Send a round into its base and watch that neon-lit beauty take him out head first…along with his partner below. Did you notice the propane tank sitting on the chop block next to the felon with the Uzi? Well, take a shot and watch the explosion send him flying through the air. Aiming at interactive targets will make things easier for you while marching through the game, so it pays to keep your head on a swivel and see what’s around. You also have the ability to use railings, pushcarts, winding dragon statues and fallen telephone polls to put you in a more favorable position. Approach any of these parts of the environment and hit the left trigger to slide, swing or roll your way into the action.

Stranglehold’s positives and negatives stem from the very same source. The game is satisfying for the very same reasons that make it lack substance. Like the movies that inspired it, this is a popcorn experience. It’s explosions, violence and smarmy one-liners. It never derails from this fact and doesn’t offer much in the way of depth. An addition like the game’s multiplayer (which really just includes an assortment of deathmatches) really just extends an experience that doesn’t need to be extended. The Mexican standoff mini-game, which has you take out enemies in slow-mo while dodging their oncoming bullets, offers a little break from the mayhem; but does little in the way of creating variety. That being said, this is a good and enjoyable game. Fans of the shooter genre will be quite happy with the 8 or so hours they get out of Stranglehold’s single player, and the game makes itself available to busy gamers who lack the time or will of sitting through a 100+ hour RPG. So, in the end Stranglehold turned out to be what it set out to become. It’s John Woo. But it’s also Michael Bay, Tony Scott and the Wachowskis. A lot of shine, but oh so little substance.

World War III and its hypothesized aftermath has been the subject of countless novels, films, video games and even music for the last sixty years. Basically, since the defeat of the Axis Powers in 1945, people from nations around the globe have prophesized about what the parameters would be for the next Great War. As Americans, we have been subject to these possibilities since their inception. But as time marched on, our speculations as far as the “who” and “where” of the next world conflict have evolved.

In the 60’s it looked as if it was going to come from Cuba. In the 80’s it seemed mainland Russia would be the source. Today our attention is focused on the Middle East and North Korea. Enter Tom Clancy. A man who has sold over 80 million books, lent his name to over 12 games and has had adaptations of his novels turned into 4 well received feature films tackling this very subject. In Clancy’s latest effort, EndWar, he goes about doing what he does best…telling us how the bombs are going to fall.

EndWar is a real time strategy game being developed by Ubisoft’s Shanghai team and is the first game of it’s kind being made under the Tom Clancy moniker. The Clancy name is something that is synonymous with tactical and squad based shooters like Rainbow Six, as well as their highly successful espionage series Splinter Cell (which also has a new entry for next gen consoles being slated for next year). These games focused the player’s attention on a particular soldier or group of soldiers. Now, Ubisoft wants to draw that focus back to consider the entire war that you are engaged in. From infantry to artillery, you will be in charge. The player will be given the opportunity to govern the movements of an entire front.

RTS games have been attempted on consoles before (some with less than favorable results), but none like this. Ubisoft and Creative Director Michael De Platter want you to be the general. They want you to bark the orders…and they do mean literally. Part of the reason that many attempts to transfer the magic of strategy games from PC to Console have failed is due to the poorly adapted control schemes. In reaction to that, De Platter and company have designed the game to be played with the XBOX headset.

You tell squad Red-5 to attack Alpha and they snap into action: hugging cover and staying in formation along the way. Good A.I. will definitely need to play a part in all this, but if it works as its supposed to it should help take out a lot of the Stalinistic authority needed to watch over each individual soldier, freeing you up to consider the entire battalion’s course of action. This doesn’t mean that the controller will be completely struck from the record though. Think of it as playing the role of a walkie-talkie. You press the right trigger to initiate the voice recognition and issue your orders accordingly through the headset.

A heads up display will be available for referencing your available commands, however any orders you’ve memorized can be issued without bringing up said display. Stubborn D-pad purist can rest easy knowing that the directional buttons can still be used to tell your army to move, attack, defend and capture. So, anyone that has played previous entries of the Clancy canon (GRAW, Rainbow Six: Vegas) should be comfortable with the setup.

The success of this bold technology relies on the voice recognition accuracy. According to De Platter at the game convention in Leipzig, Germany the team has achieved 90% accuracy thus far and are shooting for 95%. It’s good to see how much attention Shanghai is putting on this aspect. There’s nothing worse than ordering a platoon to take out a beachhead gun emplacement, only to witness your men start grilling burgers while their comrades are viciously mowed down – all because the computer mistook your Midwestern accent of the word “execute” as “barbecue”.

Aside from the exciting prospect of using your voice to command your legions, another thing that makes this title immediately standout are the amazing battle possibilities that will be found on XBOX Live. The game in fact has been designed specifically with online involved, which is evident due to the variety ways in which EndWar can be played. Any of the missions can be taken on in Single Player, Multiplayer or Co-op mode. Not only that, but there will also be a massive multiplayer online campaign available to the swarms of XBOX Live account holders all over the world.

Command a particular section of your faction’s military force along with your comrades. Your battle record will tip the scales of the entire war. Win a battle and you’ll advance the line. Lose a skirmish and that line will recede (along with you receiving a barrage of voice modulated ridicule from the 13 year old Erwin Rommel wannabe on the other side).

There will be about 40 fully destructible battlefields to wreak havoc in when the game is released, with almost inevitable online additions in tow. The battlefields will be set in locales such as Paris, Washington DC, Moscow, Germany, New York Harbor, Spain and rural America. The screen will be packed. Each one is clocking in at hundreds of megabytes each, according to De Platter. Upgrading will also play a large roll in EndWar with over 300 equipment and training upgrades available for your units (Riflemen, Engineers, etc.) and vehicles (tanks, helicopter gunships, camera drones, hunterkiller robots, sentry drones and planes).

All in all EndWar is looking very promising. If Ubisoft can deliver on their claims then a must have addition to your XBOX 360 library will be out the first quarter of 2008. Considering Halo 3 will be launching in September, EndWar may be sliding in at just the right time to snag a good amount of players needing a break from Master Chief in search of a new online fix. After all, why be the puppet when you could be the man pulling the strings.

Sources: www.endwargame.uk.ubi.com , www.ubi.com/us/news/info , www.computerandvideogames.com

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no…well actually, there’s a lot to fear in the shadows. Anyone whose had a run in with Jackie Estacado, the protagonist of Starbreeze Studio’s new first person shooter: The Darkness, is all too aware of this fact. And death seems to be the least of Jackie’s troubles. After all, there’s always hell to worry about.

Starbreeze studios, the team that put you on lock down in Butcher Bay with their Chronicles of Riddick entry, are back with their new horror, shooter, comic hybrid vehicle The Darkness. Anyone who has a special place for Riddick in their original XBOX repertoire will be happy to know that this new entry holds much of the magic that made that game great, not to mention a few new bells and whistles provided by the XBOX 360’s graphical power. And while the game isn’t by any means perfect, anyone who is looking for an immersing and style driven FPS won’t be disappointed.

Our story begins on the 21st birthday of Jackie Estacado. For most 21 year olds this would be an occasion celebrated with binge drinking, singing off-key karaoke, and culminate with being forcefully exited out of a strip club. But Jackie, Paulie Franchetti’s premier hitman, is not most 21 year olds. And before he gets a day older he’ll be thrown into a world of betrayal, revenge and mass murder. You’ll awaken in the back seat of a Cadillac as it careens through traffic upon entering a transit tunnel leading you into lower Manhattan. The car ride gives you your first taste of the excellent voice acting as you listen to your fellow Mafioso’s colorful Scorsese-esque banter as they crash into oncoming cars and instigate a high-tension police chase. Your destination: a hit. The car ride, like many other scenes found throughout the game, is seen through Jackie’s eyes.

After a brief bullet exchange with the cops and more than a few bumps in the road, you’ll arrive at Graves End Construction site and, after a brief chat with your bloodied comrade, be given your objectives which can be accessed at anytime by pressing the back button on your controller. You’ll notice the lack of an in-depth HUD (much like Riddick) right off the bat. This helps with the suspension of disbelief, and keeps you grounded in the world laid out before you. Once you pick up your pistols from your maimed cohort you’re ready to head into the site to seek out your mark. Jackie’s movements have some weight, which is nice.

Most FPS’s have you walking around at top speed like a floating head, but movement in The Darkness seems more based in reality. The weapons you start your journey with are a variety of pistols ranging from 45’s to 9mm’s and can be cycled through by using the left and right button on the directional pad. Pretty standard. As you progress through the game you will get your hands on the heavy hitters (shotguns, submachine guns, rifles, etc). But as you’ll learn from very early on your greatest weapon will be The Darkness itself.

What The Darkness is can be difficult to explain without giving too much away. You’ll first become aware of its presence when it’s blood curdling whispers lead you through the tutorial. From that moment you’ll be meant to question what The Darkness actually wants from Jackie, and what it’s relationship is with it’s new Italian American host. Once it manifests itself physically it will appear as two demon-headed tentacles protruding from either side of your body. This is where things start to get fun.

As you make your way through the waves of street thugs, police and Uncle Paulie’s henchmen The Darkness will give you the tools to dispose of them without mercy. Hitting the left bumper will first manifest the darkness, shielding you from gunfire while heightening your vision in poorly lit areas. It will also allow you to see gateways, which are the homes to the grotesque and comical Darklings. These little Gollum like demons are basically your minions. They’ll attack your enemies, create shadows and help give you breathing room in a firefight. There are four variations of Darkling (Berserker, Gunner, Kamikaze and Light killer), each sporting various advantages in any given situation.

Aside from the Darklings you’ll be able to use your tentacles themselves to your advantage. The Darkness offers you four different powers; all of which are executable with a quick press of the right bumper. The first power is that of Darkness Creep. Creep allows you to dispatch a tentacle through vents, holes and any other impossible to reach areas in order to unlock doors and flip switches. Darkness Arm juts one of the appendages out from you like a spear from hell. It can be used to move obstacles, impale enemies and break lights without wasting bullets. Darkness Guns are…well, guns. They use darkness power as their ammo and, if you steer clear of bright lights, give you an endless supply of rounds.

The final and most brutal ace up your sleeve is the Black hole. Once you unleash one of these cosmic bad boys, your enemies (and any light in its wake) will be engulfed by the nothingness. While quite powerful, the Black hole will consume all of your Darkness power, leaving you temporarily exposed. Darkness power can be regained by simply standing in the shadows. Increasing your overall Darkness meter is done by other means: eating human hearts. Walk over the corpses of your fallen enemies, press A and watch as the piranha like teeth borough their way into the ribcages of your foes faster than a cardiologist on crack. To answer your question: yes. This is as fun as it sounds.

From start to finish, the presentation found in The Darkness is top notch. From the barren trenches of “No Man’s Land” that you’ll survey looking for clues to your salvation to the dirty subways of Chinatown and The Lower East Side. The lighting and character models are crisp and make New York very believable. Overall, the graphics are a non-issue and accomplish what great graphics always strive for: to make the player feel that he/she is in that world. The voice acting absolutely shines in this title. Mike Patton’s (former lead singer of Faith No More) depiction of the Darkness is strong throughout, and Jackie’s monologues (which cleverly stand in for loading screens) are a nice touch. Even the act of collecting and dialing phone numbers in order to unlock extra content is done to avoid breaking the fourth wall.

While the Darkness is definitely a single player driven game, multiplayer has been tossed in. I do say tossed, because like many games in recent years it does feel as if it was put in to quench demand rather than to follow up on the creator’s vision. Capture the flag is available, as well as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Survivor. All are pretty straight forward and worth a look at some stage during your time with The Darkness. A nice little quirk is the ability to transform into a Darkling. As in single player they have the ability to climb, scurry and deliver powerful blows to enemies. But be careful. They are just as weak and you’ll risk being killed easily.

Multiplayer can be a nice distraction but it really won’t be causing any sleepless nights or premature breakups with your girlfriend. Another gripe I may have with The Darkness is that it doesn’t really seem all that difficult. Playing through on the default setting shouldn’t cause any real hiccups for seasoned players. And once you build up your Darkness meter and cast your first Black hole on an unsuspecting horde, you’ll realize that things are only going to get easier. Mind you this does send the “I feel like a badass” rating through the roof, but it would have been nice if the creators upped the challenge. Something that can be challenging, however, is ordering your Darkling minions to the correct locations. In some of the early stages I found myself repeatedly tapping the X button in attempt to get my Darkling from behind a bar, out a door and into the fray. This can be frustrating in the early levels because you rely on the Darklings due to your lack of ammo. But once you get about three quarters through the game you can basically walk right past those summoning gates without a second glance, since you can dish out far more pain than any of those little minions.

All in all The Darkness has all the ingredients for a great first person shooter. It’s style and shine really adds to its already tight gameplay and the story will keep you invested. The thing the Darkness does best is to make you feel that the characters are real. That they have lives outside of your sphere of influence. That’s what makes this game so satisfying and entertaining. That and the fact that you can consume a still beating human heart with the touch of a button…and when isn’t that fun?