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Finding the right gift for the gamer in your life
"Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories" for the commuter
Granted, few games less represent the holidays more than "Grand Theft Auto," but there are 265 commuting days between this Christmas and the next; plenty of time to dive into the scummy streets of Liberty City. Just about everything you loved — or hated — about Grand Theft Auto is here. The radio stations with their obnoxious hosts. The mob bosses. Our favorite scum ball Tommy Vercetti. And this time it all fits in the palm of your hand. Pick your commuting partner wisely.
Sony PSP. Rated M for Mature. $49.99
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"Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction" for the cynic
The holidays for many involve family members hurling opposing political viewpoints across the dinner table. Put a stop to it by giving the gift of cynicism. In "Mercenaries," everyone from the North Koreans to the United Nations in their "shoot me" baby blue helmets all want a piece of the Korean peninsula. It's up to the player, the mercenary, to play each side against each other all the while collecting cash and access to bigger weapons. "Mercenaries" features a massive open environment ’ imagine a kim chee-flavored "Grand Theft Auto" — loaded with tanks to command and ugly North Korean Stalinist architecture that's just begging for an air strike. Cynical to the hilt. But when you're in on the joke, a joy to play.
Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation 2. Rated T for Teen. $29.99
"Psychonauts" for the gamer who owns everything
Give the great game of 2005 that no one apparently bought: "Psychonauts." Designed by Tim Schafer, a game designer known for infusing humor and whimsical characters into game play, "Psychonauts" mixes puzzle solving with the usual swinging and jumping one expects from games of this type. "Psychonauts" is set in a summer camp for clairvoyant kids and several of the game levels where players literally navigate the brains of some of the characters rank among the best for 2005. Weird fun.
Microsoft Xbox. Rated T for Teen. $39.99
"City of Villains" for the comic book collector
In the massive online role playing game, "City of Heroes" players can create their own superheroes and team up with others to battle injustice in a massive superhero digital playground. The "City of Villains" expansion pack now gives players so inclined the opportunity to create nefarious scoundrels, form leagues of super villains and battle the square-jawed goody-two-shoes. The great thing about the expansion is that one $14.95 subscription works for players who own both "Villains" and the original "Heroes.
Win XP. Rated T for Teen. $39.99.
"Star Wars Battlefront II" and "LEGO Star Wars: The Game" for the Yoda-philes
Between a film that didn't exactly blow — or blew less than the others — and two great games, the year 2005 was a good year for fans of the Star Wars universe. In "Star Wars Battlefront II" players can join the rebels or the Imperials as a grunt and slog it out on ground in battlefields from one end of the galaxy to the other or they can hop into X-Wings or TIE fighters and dogfight in space. The battles are as frantic as battlefields are expansive. Multiplayer mode supports up to 32 players. And as for "LEGO Star Wars" ... yes, the characters and settings are designed to look like LEGO figurines, but behind the novelty is a game that's loaded with little secrets. It's pure fun. Perfect for kids and the most hard-core members of the 501st Legion.
"Battlefront II:" Microsoft Xbox/Sony Playstation 2/Win XP. Rated T for Teen. $49.99.
"LEGO:" Microsoft Xbox/Nintendo Gamecube/Sony Playstation 2/Win XP. Rated E for Everyone. $29.99.
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The zombies of Resident Evil are now popping up in rural Spain and that red liquid bubbling in the pot ain't gazpacho. Ewww. "Resident Evil 4" doesn't skimp on the yucky stuff, but what makes it the most frightening game of the year is how it breathes new life into even the deadest of horror cliches: the spooky forest. Graphics and sound are tops.
Nintendo Gamecube. Rated M for Mature. $39.99.
"Civilization IV" for the historian
The Civilization series from noted game designer Sid Meier has always appealed to the type of player who likes to sit down with their PC as say, earlier generations, sat down with Winston Churchill's history of World War II. In short. content is deep and the player will finish the game with enough cocktail talk fodder for the holidays. "Civ IV" continues the theme of world conquest. Create a people. Pick a leader from a Who's Who listing of big kahuna's from Gandhi to Caesar. And use any combination of warfare, technology, diplomacy, religion and cultural creativity to dominate the world. For parents apprehensive about buying a game for their children (see below), "Civilization IV" is the perfect choice.
Win 2000/XP. Rated E for Everyone. $49.99.
"F.E.A.R." for the traditionalist
While console owners unrolled their sleeping bags in front of their local Toys R Us for the chance to claim an Xbox 360, PC gamers were nice and cozy inside playing the latest first-person-shooter, "Fear." You know the drill: The hallways. The gore. The supernatural. "Fear" breaks no barriers in game play. But for those lucky enough to own a decent graphics card, the graphics are phenomenal. What's more, "Fear" turned out to be one of the few games that actually lived up to its title. Play with the lights on.
Win XP. Rated M for Mature. $49.99
"Advance Wars: Duel Strike" for the armchair general
This is old school turn-based strategy. Old school like chess. Or rather, cartoon chess because “Advance Wars” is set on a planet called “War World” inhabited by armies with names like Blue Moon and Green Earth and Yellow Comet. The goal is conquest. The player takes a turn, then the computer, or an opposing player, takes a turn. Each turn involves a number of smaller moves such as creating new battle units, moving existing units around the grid-based map and, if the enemy occupies a nearby space on the map, initiating battle. Re-tooled for the Nintendo DS, "Advance War: Dual Strike" supports wireless play for up to eight players and takes advantage of the DS's dual screens to simultaneously report battle statistics — troop strength, firepower, location — on one screen and the grid-like battle map on the other.
Nintendo DS. Rated E for Everyone. $35.99.
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