2004s SpellForce: The Order of the Dawn was a potent blend of real-time strategy and role-playing that was hampered a bit by some lackluster pathfinding and control issues. Now, the series returns with SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars, and developer Phenomic has certainly learned from experience. SpellForce 2 shows strong signs of improvement while keeping the unique mix of gameplay relatively intact, and the result is a real-time strategy game that feels more like an action role-playing game. Or is that an action role-playing game that feels more like a real-time strategy game? Its hard to define SpellForce 2, but its certainly a nice change of pace from the real-time strategy rut.

Rally driving is, according to some, the most challenging racing discipline there is. It involves tremendous skill and the ability to adapt to the ever-changing terrain configurations and weather conditions. Its about relying on your co-pilot just as much as on your own reflexes and quick wits. Rally driving is all about skill, teamwork and dedication. Making a good rally game is sort of like that, too. Over the years, many rally games have come and gone.

If you judge Risen on its first act alone, you may be convinced that a better title for this complex role-playing game would be "Errand Boy." But while you spend many of the early hours as a shipwrecked message courier, you should stick with it, because things do get better. You explore dark caverns, clash with pirates over buried treasure, stab lizardmen in their faces, and earn the help of a furry friend with a talented nose. Some of Risens issues stay with you up to the end; theres no escaping the problematic combat and a number of bugs and presentation glitches.

UK REVIEW--The challenge of creating a truly realistic battlefield is rarely attempted in video games, but Operation Flashpoint: Red River takes it on and comes very close to succeeding. Unfortunately, the intensity of its highly tactical warzone is often broken by AI issues, poor checkpointing, and the need for a trial-and-error approach in some areas.

As Bode Miller, skiing superstar from the USA, players feel on all alpine slopes at home: you master the Kandahar downhill in Garnisch-Partenkirchen or prove their skills on Saslomg, the World Cup course in Val Gardena. 2006 Alpine Skiing offers a finely tuned combination of racing and role playing. Whether to start their own sporting career or an experienced team manager - only the fastest one on the way to the top. Thus, winter sports professionals embark on the boards that mean the world.

The back of the box asks us to "think like a manager". Now thats just asking for trouble. We dont want to end up the subject of a Panorama expose - not until were close to making our first billion, anyway. By then well have a castle in space and find ourselves eating dates off the toned backsides of nubile princesses and will laugh in the face of financial investigations. The Wikipedia entry will read like Hunter S. Thompsons secret life as Ron Atkinsons therapist. Lets think [sharpens knives]. Dare we even speculate how a football manager really thinks in this money-obsessed age of bungs, divers and prima donna underwear models masquerading as professional sportsmen?

When I reviewed the original TrackMania, I had a pretty long list of things about it that didnt sit right with me--and Ill just say right off that, to their credit, Nadeo really seemed to go back to the drawing board for Sunrise and revamp the whole shindig from head to toe. It looks better, it plays better, and it even sounds better this time around. For those of you knew to the series, its based around designing your own tracks, racing on some potentially crazy pre-made tracks,

Its a familiar story. An embattled people suffers as their land is torn apart by fierce rival factions. Just when things look most bleak, a Man with No Name comes to town and sets things right. No, not Clint Eastwood. Were talking the Nameless Hero from JoWood Productions Gothic RPG series. Beginning in 2001, the series quickly became an RPG fan favorite. In 2006 the quality of the series took an unexpected downturn with Gothic 3, a title rife with design flaws, logistical problems and bugs.

This year was supposed to be filled with sci-fi-themed first-person shooters. But now that titles like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 have slipped to 2004, similarly themed shooters with less name recognition now have a better chance to gain an audience. Chrome is such a game, and it comes as something of a surprise from publisher Strategy First, a company that you wouldnt expect to release this style of game.

Combat: Task Force 121 is a game thats just as hackneyed as its title makes it sound. Available for the usually telling price of $19.99, Task Force 121 is a thoroughly rudimentary military-themed first-person shooter that puts the bulk of its focus on online play. Up to 16 people can play online, and there are several different modes of play. While this might sound like a pretty good deal, the unbalanced shooting mechanics and mostly lousy maps pretty much do away with that notion right away.

Combat: Task Force 121 is a game thats just as hackneyed as its title makes it sound. Available for the usually telling price of $19.99, Task Force 121 is a thoroughly rudimentary military-themed first-person shooter that puts the bulk of its focus on online play. Up to 16 people can play online, and there are several different modes of play. While this might sound like a pretty good deal, the unbalanced shooting mechanics and mostly lousy maps pretty much do away with that notion right away.

A racing game featuring established features of the RPG genre is a rather intriguing prospect. With such ambition, it’s easy to fear that the racing itself would be left under realised as the numbers governing the game behind the scenes overwhelm the rest of the title. It’s a challenge for any development team then, Milestone has been brave, and the results are now here for all to see with the arrival of the first ever CARPG.

Now this is a SEGA game. Rally Revo isnt just a fun rally racer. Its a return to SEGAs arcade roots at just the right time; the same roots that made the company such a success as a hardware manufacturer and software producer in the 1990s. Of course, the classic arcade game design in SEGA Rally Revo also comes with a few elements that may frustrate or let down some, which is why we recommend the title with just a few caveats. One thing is for sure, though -the heart of Rally Revo is good old fashioned fun.

In some games, you pilot a World War II fighter, riddling enemy aircraft with machine-gun fire as the skies erupt with flames and smoke. In others, you maneuver a battleship across the waves, avoiding oncoming torpedoes while volleying artillery fire toward ground installations. And in still others, you command entire battles by issuing orders to dozens of units, weighing the various strengths and weaknesses of each.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Retribution is the second stand-alone expansion to Dawn of War II, a real-time strategy/tactical role-playing game set in the Warhammer: 40,000 universe. Chaos Rising, the previous stand-alone expansion, required ownership of DOWII if you wanted to play the originals factions in multiplayer. Retribution goes one step further by allowing you to play all six sides in both the single-player and multiplayer portions of the game without owning any of the preceding titles. Keeping everything fantastic from its predecessors and improving upon their flaws, Retribution is a must-have for DOWII fans and a great point of entry for newcomers.