Spore

In Spore, you control a race of creatures as they make their way though genetic and technological evolution, from cell swimming through the primordial ooze to sentient rulers of the entire universe. the game play is easy to understand, with a tutorial just in case, with the choice between point and click and using the movement keys.

The game play in spore is a unique and wonderful new genre of game play that takes gaming to the next level, practically allowing the players to shape the universe for others as they progress through the game, and with an entire universe to populate with the weird and wonderful creations of the human mind, this is an ongoing task.

The game play is complimented by wonderful graphics that really brings the entire universe to life, giving an extremely colourful and vivid environments for your creations to come to come to life in and interact with. Each stage of the species evolution is completely different, making the game change whenever you advance higher up the evolutionary ladder.

Throughout the game every action you choose effects how your species develops and acts towards other creatures, and this makes the game different every time you play, which allows the game to be played again and again every single time, where the only limit to your game play experience is your imagination.

Pros:

• An entire galaxy at your fingertips.
• Wonderful graphics.
• Fully customizable creatures and vehicles.
• Galaxy populated by other players creatures.
• Ban option to get rid of inappropriate or unwanted objects.
• Customisable theme for your universe.
  

Cons:

• Some of the inappropriate creations can slip through to the game.
• Creators can sometimes be difficult to use.
  

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

In Jedi Outcast you take on the character of Kyle Katarn, a retired jedi who cut off his link to the force after almost turning to the dark side, but is forced to re-open the link when he and his partner, Jan Ors, uncover a secret saber crystal mining operation run by the dark jedi Desann and his apprentice Tavion. The rest of the game is centred around Karl re-learning his force abilities and rescuing his mercenary partner from the grasps of Tavion and Desann, and stopping Desann's secret mining operation.

The entire game, while lacking in the graphics department, has a long and involving storyline that has new developments throughout its course that keeps you guessing about what has happened after the last game ended and the new one began and also on which characters are bad and which are good. The controls are also easy to use after you get used to them, making the game easier to enjoy.

The graphics of the game show how old the game really is, but the levels are vast and some are rather intricate, which can cause frustration when a player gets lost or stuck in the larger levels. The campaign gets boring once you have played it more than once, but the multi player games are ever changing and always interesting.

Pros:

• A good first person shooter that combines the best of the force with the best of the shooter genre.
• Multi player matches provide good tournament play.
• Good storyline that lasts a long time plus good, long levels.

Cons:

• Graphics show how old the game really is.
• Joining internet games can be troublesome.
• Some unresolved glitches and bugs.
• All the controls can be hard to get used to.

Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

Rise of Nations provides good AoE game play with a new Conquer the World campaign which provides real time scenarios with a turn based world map, and with 5 different CtW campaigns to choose from, and each one changing depending on how you play and which race you are, the campaigns can last hours just trying to defeat the other nations.

The scenarios also provide something new to the AoE game play, and with the ability to fire cruise missiles, and also the more expensive nuclear missile, you can eliminate other cities from a great distance, but you have to be strategic as firing of too many causes a nuclear winter to kill off all players instantly, causing everyone to lose, which adds to realistic feel of the whole game.

The game also contains vast research and upgrades, starting in the ancient age and ending at the information age, which adds to the whole game play experience, and also adds nearly limitless combinations of race, strategy and research which stops the game from getting boring.

There is also a map editor which allows the player to create personalised scenarios to share in the multi player option of the game, allowing the player to create maps where the other player is surrounded by walls, restricting the expansion of the city, giving the creator an expansive advantage.

Pros:

• Conquer the World campaigns players hours of scenarios and missions which vary every time played.
• Computer AI is excellent, cowering when it should, and getting to big for their boots when they have the resources to start a war.
• All races have unique units, and are better at economic, defensive or offensive so you the game play is different for each of them.

Cons:

• Graphics leave a lot to be desired.
• The controls can be quite difficult to understand first time playing and the tutorial does not explain things in detail and therefore does not help the player to understand the game play very much
  

ParaWorld

In the game ParaWorld three scientists have found evidence of dinosaurs that dates within forty years and need a sponsor for their research. Naturally they go to the 'godfather' of research who agrees and they get sent spiralling into a parallel world of dinosaurs, intrigue, scheming and tribal rivalries...
Not the most original storyline, but the dinosaurs do make for a nice twist, but the tribes seem out of place in a nineteenth century world, but is later explained as colonies of England's cut-throats and thieves.

Game play is simple and easy to figure out if you have played AoE, but there is a tutorial if you cant figure something out, which makes for easy, well structured game play that provides hours of fun as you plough your way through the rather expansive campaigns and skirmishes provided for your entertainment.

Pros:

• Combines classic AoE game play with a twist of the Jurassic.
• 3 different play modes, for up to eight players in multi player matches in more than 20 different maps.
• Wonderful graphics for the Jurassic creatures to wander through.

Cons:

• Different tribes require different strategies to control, meaning you have to get used to each tribe and learn how to control each on effectively.