NASCAR 08 (E)
Rating: **
Electronic Arts Xbox 360
The latest entry in EA’s NASCAR franchise is a lot like a car manufacturer releasing a 2008 Model T. It may not have any of the special features you’ve come to expect from an automobile, doesn’t run on modern gas, would get horrible mileage if it did and has a top speed of 25 mph, but who needs more than that? It’s a streamlined vehicle, right? Wrong. It’s just another example of the phenomenon I’ve decided to call The Next-Gen Reboot.
NASCAR 08 is the latest EA game to abandon all the progress the series made on the older consoles in favor of starting from scratch on Xbox 360. Remember features like Total Team Control and Intimidation? Gone. All that remains is driving in circles, and that doesn’t leave players with any feeling of accomplishment—especially since the final climactic race is no different from any other. You race, and then the game ends. There’s no ceremony, no winner’s circle, nothing. But I suppose that’s appropriate. If you wasted your money on this stripped-down racing sim, you’re no winner.
ESCAPE FROM BUG ISLAND (M)
Rating: ½*
Eidos/Nintendo Wii
So all of a sudden this giant, bloodsucking moth appears out of nowhere, which is common since the game is blanketed in cheesy fog to conceal the crappy draw distances. You push a button to arm your pitchfork, which stops you in your tracks, and you swing the Wii-mote to strike, causing your onscreen avatar to do the same after a one-second delay, which gives the attacking moth ample time to get out of the way. You could attempt to flee, but the tank-like control scheme is designed to prohibit the simplest evasive maneuvers. Fortunately, there’s one button on your remote that can bring the frustrating confrontation to an end. It’s the power button.
CHICKEN SHOOT (E10+)
Rating: ½*
Destination Software Wii
Imagine Duck Hunt, except instead of ducks, there are chickens. And instead of flying around like ducks, these chickens sort of loiter around, reading newspapers. They do begin to flail a bit when you start murdering them, but their surprise is understandable since chickens aren’t typically hunted for sport. That’s probably because of the afore-mentioned inability to fly, which eliminates the challenge in shooting them, which kind of makes the shooter feel like a colossal jerk.
NERVOUS BRICKDOWN (E)
Rating: ***1/2
Eidos/Secret Stash Games Nintendo DS
This game takes the simple premise of Breakout (the game where you move a pong paddle left and right to bounce a ball up to break bricks) and bursts through its borders into a whole new realm of possibilities. Some levels have you using the DS stylus to move the paddle in every direction, while others actually allow you to quickly draw the paddle, creating addictively frantic gameplay.
When Las Vegas Weekly contributor Matthew Scott Hunter realized his career as a lab technician was seriously interfering with his gaming, he pink-slipped himself into a successful career as a freelance writer. Bug the hell out of him at [email protected]