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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
UBISOFT (XBOX 360, PS3, PC)

If the nonstop firefights of Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 have left you with post-traumatic stress disorder, consider this latest Tom Clancy–stamped shooter a sort of smart-weapon therapy. The war zones here—scattered from South America to the Middle East—are no less treacherous, but victory depends on more than having the reflexes of a 12-year-old smart-ass assassin. You’ll need to master strategic leadership of your four-man squad and careful use of tomorrow’s weapons.

Future Soldier’s developers recruited the help of Navy SEALs to arm the game with gadgets fit for duty in the next few years. Your arsenal includes remote-control surveillance drones, targeting grenades that mark enemies on your map, and optical camouflage that cloaks your body armor in a see-through shimmer (like the dreadlocked alien from the movie Predator). Commanding your three squad mates is a simple matter of pointing and clicking. (Real-life players assume their roles in cooperative multiplayer missions.) You can order them to scout ahead, concentrate their shots on a single enemy, or target multiple enemies for one synchronized surgical strike when you pull the trigger. Real-time satellite surveillance provides the lay of the land before you dash into the next area.

Most firefights here are fought from behind cover. You lead your guys from obstacle to obstacle, automatically crouching behind cars and flattening against buildings at the touch of a button. Of course, you can just ignore
all these tactical advantages and send in your squad with guns set to full-auto, but that seems like an oldfashioned
way to play a game called Future Soldier.

Syndicate

Syndicate
SYNDICATE
ELECTRONIC ARTS
(XBOX 360, PS3, PC)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A different sort of futuristic shooter, this first-person update to a classic PC strategy game pits its hero—a trench-coat-clad company man-against evil corporate drones instead of the usual alien armadas. Your arsenal of upgradable energy weapons is straight out of 2069, but you’ll never climb the corporate ladder without using your head. More specifically, a chip in your skull augments your senses and lets you assume control of enemy agents. This hacking ability adds a layer of strategy to each firefight, although single-player missions and the cyberpunk scenery become slightly repetitive after a while. The four-player coop er ative mode is more fun, focusing on action and tactics. Building synergy with online colleagues is the best way to play Syndicate.

Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3
MASS EFFECT 3
ELECTRONIC ARTS (XBOX 360, PS3, PC)

Known for its titillating girl-on-alien-girl sex and intergalactic blasting, the Mass Effect series is more accessible for the average dude than your typical fantasy-flavored roleplaying game. This final installment is the most action-crammed yet, a grand space opera with Gears of War–style combat. (It even offers cooperative online missions.) Newbies can dive right into the game’s galaxy-spanning war to save Earth without feeling too lost, although series vets will enjoy seeing the consequences of moral choices made in previous installments. Xbox 360 gamers with a Kinect peripheral can issue voice commands during combat and dialogue scenes. Gimmicky? Sure. But it does free up the hands during those sex scenes.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
ELECTRONIC ARTS (XBOX 360, PS3, PC)

Ten millennia of high-fantasy history—penned by best-selling author R. A. Salvatore—set the backstory of this ambitious sword-and-sorcery epic. Unlike games that pigeonhole your abilities once you choose your warrior or thief or sorcerer, Reckoning lets you customize your character deep into the adventure. Spawn artist Todd McFarlane, who inspired the landscapes and creatures, and the role playing pioneers behind the Elder Scrolls titles complete Reckoning’s dream team of developers. Whether they’ve wrought a world worth exploring remains to be seen, but at least they didn’t skimp on loot: Millions of weapon and armor combinations await your discovery.

NBA 2K12

NBA 2K12

NBA 2K12
2K SPORTS (XBOX 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, PSP)
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Basketball fans with a case of the lockout blues will find their happy place in NBA 2K12. This virtual shrine to the sport takes 15 b-ball legends—including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—and drops them into classic team matchups from the heights of their careers. The presentation shifts to reflect the era (Wilt Chamberlain’s 1971 Lakers vs. Knicks game appears in grainy VHS-quality color), while the athletes are rendered in period-accurate detail, right down to their old-school Converse court-stompers. Win each legend’s classic game and you’ll unlock his teammates for exhibition games against modern teams, finally putting an end to ages of what-if speculation.

NBA 2K12 NBA 2K12
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