The Eye Of Judgment
PS3
Rating:00000
What a great idea. Combine a traditional game with new technology. The Eye of Judgment takes the trading card game genre to a radically new level. The collectable trading cards are embedded with a CyberCode and brought to life in the 3-D game through use of the innovative "9 Fields" battle mat and PlayStation Eye camera. Players compete by selecting a card and placing the coded card in front of the PlayStation Eye for their respective creatures to come to life and battle on screen. Players take turns placing cards as they jostle for control. The winner is the first player to conquer five of the nine squares of the "9 Fields" battle mat. The gamer's task is to conquer the board by deploying their cards more skillfully than their opponent. While this game might not appeal to everyone, if you're into the basic idea, you'll love the game.
Dengue Fever
Venus on Earth
Rating:0000
Sonics:000
Even in this time when supermarkets in Toledo stock fish sauce, the fact that two American brothers started the first successful Khmer rock band since Pol Pot is a cool story. Dengue Fever isn't a gimmick, though. Venus on Earth mixes catchy hooks with tight structures and instrumentation. These are fine traits to mix with the groovy surf sound of '60s Cambodian pop. The sonics are clean and pleasant with good soundstage. Unfortunately, it seems that Chhom Nimol's voice is scaled back instead of being celebrated for it's high-pitched wailing emotion. On a side note, boy did Pol Pot suck.
Eric BIBB
Get Onboard
Telarc
Rating:0000
Sonics:0000
Eric Bibb's got to be the least blue bluesman on Earth. Get Onboard is a downright uplifting record. Bibb's blues features more gospel influence than ever, and it suits him fine. The songs are finely crafted and feature beautifully simple melodies. The recording emphasizes Bibb's husky voice. "Pockets" demonstrates a nice blend of sporadic deep bass with Bibb's willowy guitar work. Despite wide frequency range, everything blends.
HI-TEK
Hi-Teknology 3
Babygrande Records
Rating:0000
Sonics:0000
Hi-Tek's grade-A production makes up for his lazy album naming. But it can't entirely make up for some C+ emcees on the third Hi-Teknology. Hi-Tek tries to bring some underground rappers to the front here but his choices are curious. Nonetheless, Cincinatti's finest is still near the top of his game with dope beats and music. Talib Kweli's serious skills on "Time" show what this album could have been with consistently good rhyming. HT3 features as good a soundstage as you'll find on a hip-hop album. The overall sound quality is clean, dry and almost clinical.
Pursuit Force, Extreme Justice
PSP
Rating:000
The latest Pursuit Force (Extreme Justice) is great light entertainment while you're sitting in the airport or on a plane. It's more action-packed this round and plenty of toys are at your disposal for mirth and mayhem as you track down and destroy the bad guys. There are more than 50 criminal cases in several different environments (land, sea and air). You have access to a dozen vehicle types or so, including hovercrafts and boss vehicles that are each unique and specifically designed for boss encounter missions. Extreme Justice also offers an expanded weapons arsenal, which should make it easier and more enjoyable to rid the world of criminals.
Primes
Facades and Pink Forms
Postfact Records
Rating:000
Sonics:0000
Facades and Pink Forms is unrelenting techno-punk with constant hard-driving rhythm. And it's catchy. The nuggets of vocal melody and tinkly programming bits give this Vancouver outfit a welcome accessibility. The album does have spells of 200bpm boredom, but something unexpected is often on the way. Techno is not exactly known for subtle sound quality, but this recording is above adequate on all counts. If you need to hear some big time midbass thumping, Facades has it. "Voyeur" has an especially athletic bass line.