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PATAPON
(Sony, PSP; Everyone)
In this peculiar-bordering-on-precious rhythm-based game, you must lead legions of Patapon — bipedal blobs that look like the love-children of M&Ms and Magic 8-Balls — into battle against a rival tribe called the Zigatons and their hordes of bug-eyed monsters. To advance the Patapons and make them attack or defend, you have to strike your ''war drum'', which amounts to tapping various four-button combinations on the PSP. The trick is to time these sequences to the beat of the soundtrack. If done correctly, spears will fly, swords will parry, and insanely catchy rhythms (''PATA-PATA-PATA-PON!'') will fill the air. As you progress in levels, you're faced with somewhat complex decisions on how to allocate the weapons and other spoils of war. There's also a strategy to deploying your various units of Patapon, since each possesses its own defensive and offensive strengths. Don't let this scare you from playing this game though: Patapon is easy to love — and absolutely a must-own for anyone toting a PSP. A- — Gary Eng Walk
TURNING POINT: FALL OF LIBERTY
(Codemasters; Xbox 360, PS3, PC; Teen)
''What if?'' makes for a great story-telling hook: Take what your audience already knows, change a crucial element in chronological causality, and extrapolate to your heart's content. Turning Point's moment of divergence comes when a car accident in 1931 kills Winston Churchill, instead of merely crippling him as it did in reality. In the TP universe, without Churchill as the Prime Minister to rally England during World War II, Nazi Germany conquers all of Europe. The game opens in 1953, as Hitler's armies launch a multi-city assault on American soil. Players inhabit the role of New York City construction worker Dan Carson, who runs for cover, picks up a gun and joins the resistance.
Sure, you get menacing airships darkening Manahattan's skies, but not much else is done to flesh out the fantastical nature of this brave new world. The anemic story and characterization squander a great concept and it certainly doesn't help that the lead character has all the personality of a steel girder. To make matters worse, the shoddy enemy AI makes the gunfights feel like drudgery and standard multiplayer options (deathmatch and team deathmatch) are a yawn. It gets worse: the game is poorly paced, with story beats told in poorly crafted cutscenes; and combat is plagued with imprecise aiming and environmental interactions that feel quite buggy. Suffice it to say, there's nothing here to recommend this game as an alternative to the many other fine WWII combat titles out there: Turning Point feels like it's been rescued from the dustbin of history — unfortunately, that's where it should've stayed. D+ — Evan Narcisse
