The plot of the game involves 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew who are performing a concert in a "war torn country." Things start getting bad and Fifty and his pals must use an arsenal of weapons to help stop the terrorists involved. Something about watching this game being played really left me with a feeling that everything was kind of tacked on. Like they started out to make a terrorist themed arcade shooter and when it don't work out, added in 50 and friends to help sell some units.

The game makes use of an over the shoulder style of shooting and employs the good old "run and gun" and "duck and cover" mechanics to much use. The whole games point system is based on killing as many people as you can and watching your score go up. Each character has their own weapon of choice that can be added to with twenty various weapons that can be found lying about or taken off of downed enemies. There is also hand to hand combat involved with contextual button kill moves that were really rather disturbing in their stark realism.

The whole game smacked of a certain stereotypical representation of the rap community that seemed a bit forced. I mean you pick up "bling" which you can then sell to buy more weapons and includes a mechanic called "Gangsta Firing Time." Haven't we moved past this sort of thing? The whole thing left me with a sort of empty feeling of a game with no real substance.

That said, the graphics were nice and those of you out there who are 50 Cent fans will be pleased to hear that the soundtrack will include exclusive tracks by Fifty and crew from their upcoming album. The game will support co-op play and online drop-in co-op as well as leaderboards. Hopefully they will be able to do something to improve this title before it launches on the 360 and PS3 this fall.

Prototype takes place in an open world recreation of New York City and you take o the role of Alex Mercer who has awakened with super powers and little memory. New York has been infested by zombie like creatures called the Infected and even the surrounding buildings have been sucked into to their evil. Hives of infected dot the city and more an more appear all the time. Using your super human abilities, you must disover the conspiracy involved that made this happen and attempt to save the city. But just because you are attempting to help out doesn't make you a hero. Alex Mercer is a decided anti-hero, out for himself and whatever he can get. And you don't have just the Infected to worry about either, there is the Army as well who is not only out to stop the infected, but for some unknown reason, out to get you too. Also be on the lookout for the mysterious Black Watch who have a hand in this somewhere as well.

The real draw in this game, at least for me, was the super powers and there were a lot of them. All sorts of special moves and knowledge can be gained from devouring the people around you. One of these powers comes to great effect when trying to escape from the Army who is chasing you down. If you can manage to get out of sight and eat someone, you can take on their form and walk around undetected. But, you must be careful. One false move or use of your super powers out in public will cause your cover to be blown and you will be on the run again so stealth is the key in these situations. Devouring other people will also allow you to gain their knowledge and put it to your own use. For instance, devour an Army tank driver and you gain the ability to drive tanks and the same goes for weapon use. The more enemies of one type that you consume, the better your ability in that area becomes. And the nice thing is, once you gain these abilities, you always have them at your disposal. Some of the other special powers include an area attack where thorny tentacles reach out of the ground to attack your enemies and a Hammer Fist which pounds enemies into the ground. A lock on system helps as well for targeting certain enemies amongst the crowds of people who are running about in a panic everywhere you go. If your really feisty, you can even distract attention form yourself by accusing random passers by of being you which will cause all surrounding enemies to open fire on the poor innocent.

Since it is an open world, you can go wherever you please, but there is a main storyline whos plot is revealed as you make your way through the game devouring people left and right. Ingesting main characters throughout the game will give you clues as to what exactly is going on here. You must use your powers to reconstruct your past and eventually discover the giant conspiracy that provides the game's hidden plot. Ultimately, you control the pace of the game by choosing which way you want to handle your enemies. Deceive or Destroy? Which one will you choose?

Prototype really reminded me a lot of Crackdown in it's basic gameplay mechanics. While the game itself looked interesting, I was a little disappointed in the graphics. The character models seemed very simplistic and I saw the same several models over and over again in the various crowd scenes. But, as this was an early build I'm hoping that this is something that will be taken care of when the final coat of paint is applied to the project.

Prototype launches this fall for the 360 and PS3 and is a single player experience although they did hint that co-op and online play were both being looked at as possibilities. And yes, there will be downloadable content although what form that will take remains to be seen.

The title includes plenty of the platforming levels that Crash is famous for, but also includes a more free roaming aspect than previous games. Crash uses an arsenal of powers including a new dodge move and combo attacks as well as capturing enemy powers that can be used later. These powers can be used not only to defeat other enemies but also to solve the various environmental puzzles that you are confronted with. There is a limit to the number of enemy powers that you can carry at one time however, so be sure to stock up wisely. And don't be discouraged if you can't figure out a level right away and be sure to remember that there are multiple ways to solve every puzzle. Often the key is matching your enemy powers with your environments. Crash will include a co-p mode where an additional player can add in as Crash's sexy friend Co-Co. No online mode is in place yet but it is something that is being considered.

While the graphics looked great and it was definitely a new game in many respects, this ultimately seemed like more of the same to me. I can see this game appealing to the younger set or die hard Crash Bandicoot fans (?) but more than likely most regular gamers will find it a bit typical. Of course I could be wrong and this could be the title that brings Crash back to his former glory. Then who will be laughing out of the other side of his face?

The first thing I noticed was the graphical upgrade. For a cartoony style game, the backgrounds and character models looked really nice. The water rushing by in a nearby river was particularly well done. Once I stopped gazing a the backgrounds, it was time to take a look at Spyro himself. His character model has matured with the franchise and he looks a bit more like a teenager than a baby dragon. This game also marks a new power for Spyro: flight. In previous games, Spyro could only sort of hover and glide a short distance, but now he has the full power of flying at his fingertips. Joining Spyro in his adventures is Cynder, a rather goth like female dragon who was formerly an enemy in the last game. You can play as both characters by switching back and forth with a button press or bring a friend along to play in co-op mode.

Spyro isn't the only thing that has grown up in this game however. The battle system has matured greatly as well, adding in God of War and Devil May Cry type fighting elements. Despite the violence of these two games particular style, Spyro manages to pull the best elements while still remaining kid friendly. For instance, Spyro's ability to harness the elements features a Kratos-like electrical area attack that will take out multiple ememies at the same time. The spouting fountains of blood and severed limbs however, are absent. Cynder has her own set of abilities as well that make use of her darker shadow powers, using things like poison and fear. Gems can be collected throughout the levels to help power up Spyro and Cynder's various powers. Sets of armor can be found throughout the game that can be mixed and matched or use one whole set to gain bonus abilities.

Spyro also boasts a pretty hefty voice acting cast with Elijah Wood returning as the voice of Spyro, goth girl supreme Christina Ricci as Cynder, Gary Oldman as Ignitus, Wayne Brady as Sparx, Mark Hamill as the evil Dark Master and Blair Underwood as Hunter. It is expected to hit in early October on the Wii, DS, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360 with the PSP oddly absent from the lineup. The gameplay on the various systems will vary slightly as they always do, but the storyline will remain the same. The PS3 version will even take advantage of the Sixxaxis controls although this control scheme will be optional. Apparently they have learned a lesson that the creator of a certain other dragon flying game didn't.

All in all I really enjoyed what I saw of this latest Spyro title and the new battle system seems like it might cross that line from pure kids game into attracting some more open minded adult gamers who enjoy a cartoony romp. As a fan of the first Spyro game, I will certainly be interested in checking it out once it is released to see more of how the the little purple dragon has come into his own.

Zombie Wranglers:
In Zombie Wranglers, you play one of four different neighborhood kids out on a mission to rid your neighborhood of zombies. This is done Luigi style by running about and sucking up the undead bastards with a vacuum cleaner type apparatus. Each of the four characters of course have different abilities that will help in the process. One such power was a blow gun that will turn any zombie it hits into a walking time bomb. Blow a dart, stand back and watch the fun.

There are five different chapters in the game with various tongue in cheek titles like "Desperate Housezombies" and each chapter is proceeded by a phone call that will give you your assignment for that level. The assignments range form taking out a certain number of zombies to taking out specific types of zombies like Emos, Comic Book collectors and Construction Workers. Chapters can be attempted alone or you can play with up to four other people online or locally and a vs mode will also be available.

The cel shaded style is cute and will probably appeal mostly to the kid market although certain adults will be sure to enjoy it as well.. Look for these cartoony zombies to infest your Xbox 360 sometime later this summer.

Gin Rummy: If you have ever played Gin Runny, then you already know what this game is all about. The rules are fairly straight forward and follow those of the traditional game. It had an interesting graphical art style that while nice, doesn't distract from the real focus of the game, which is playing cards. There are six different game types as well as special card sets, game skins and the ability to create your own rule set. Leaderboards will be available for this game as well as Vision support. Gin Rummy hits later this summer.

Lost Cities: Lost Cities is based on the German table top card game of the same name in the tradition of Carcassone and Settlers of Cattan. Basically, you are an explorer out to roam the world and find treasure. The various cards are used to do things like get funding, find treasure, etc. Two players compete to see who can finish their expeditions with the most total points at the end. You must be careful how you spend your money though, or you may find yourself with no fun ding and unable to complete your chosen missions. You can play one against one or on teams and leaderboards and Vision Support will be available. Lost Cities is available now for