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FAVE FIVE FRIDAY
Jorge Figueiredo’s Top Five Favourite Games

Battle For Middle Earth 2: Rise of the Witch King

I’ve always loved the RTS genre. I’ve also always loved Lord of the Rings with far more affection than any computer game. So when I found out that EA was going to be making an amalgam of two of my favourite things, I rejoiced. Battle For Middle Earth was a great introduction, and BFME2 built on the success of the first one. But Rise of the Witch King really added a lot to the whole package, rounding out all of the races and adding an astounding number of heroes from the books. The game looks and sounds great, drawing on voice actors from the movie and sections of Howard Shore’s unforgettable score. It’s also one of the prettiest RTS titles out on the shelves. Add a great multiplayer section to the cauldron and stir for a while and you have yourself a winning potion of videogamey goodness.

Simcity DS

The city-building genre never looked so small. I picked this up when I traded in a bunch of older GameCube games. I was looking for something to kill time on the TTC when my eyes rested upon a used copy of this for sale, so I grabbed it. Little did I know that this little cartridge would suck up a lot more time than I had anticipated. It’s a slick package, to be sure. Not quite as in-depth as its PC cousin, but it gets the job done. With a simple, stylus-driven interface and relatively decent graphics and sound, this little number is definitely worth spending the time to play.

Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! EX 2

Anyone that knows me knows that I am a sucker for the Naruto series, be it the anime or manga flavours. Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen! EX 2 is just the next title in the GNT series, but it’s so much fun. GNT4 used to be my favourite, what with the team super moves and brawl mode, but GNTEX2 has the post-time skip Shippūden characters which kick ass. The fact that you can increase the amount of damage you do by utilizing the Wii-mote and Nunchuk just adds to the fun. It’s the best looking iteration of the series (so far) and plays like a dream on the Wii. The cel-shaded graphics bring the anime to life (and in my opinion, look better than Rise of Ninja on the Xbox 360). This is a definite party game, too, creating many a rivalry. DATTEBAYO!

Team Fortress II

I participated in the beta for this and quickly became hooked. Team Fortress II is a great FPS that looks like it was programmed by Norman Rockwell. Valve did a great job “rebuilding” the TF franchise. The scalability allows a wide range of people with varying degrees of hardware setups to play (albeit with diminished settings for those wimpy sub-2.5GHz CPUs). With a variety of game modes and defined advantages and disadvantages for each class, the game encourages team play, which is important. The built-in kill cam and voice chat just add to the frenetic fun. To top it all off, Valve tends to refresh the game every now and then with new features and character balances. Somebody is sappin’ my sentry!

Boom Blox

A friend of mine gave this to me for my birthday and I couldn’t put it down for a month. Steven Spielberg and EA created a charming and addictive force in the guise of a simple, cutesy game. Real-world physics and extensive use of the Wii-Mote will have you hooked in no time. A variety of game modes await the player, from plain ol’ destruction of structures to delicate manipulation of blocks to allow safe passage of various cubic creatures. Multiplayer mode allows you to add a party element to the experience, and the “sampler” mode for multiplayer allows you to play through a small set of levels chosen at random. Do yourself a favour and grab this if you can!

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