‘UEFA Euro 2008’

‘UEFA Euro 2008’

(EA Sports) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, PS2, PSP

Genre: Sports; Rating: E

Grade: B

I have mixed feelings about “UEFA Euro 2008.”

“Euro 2008” is going to be a fantastic soccer tournament that I will log many hours watching as a devotee of the sport, but it’s hard to justify full price for a game that is seriously intended for a specific market of gamers.

Not that gamers should expect club teams or other national squads from a game clearly based on a specific event, but it’s not like this is the World Cup we’re talking about here.

Once you get playing, though, you’ll see that the gameplay is smooth and the pitch is alive with the action you would hope to experience in a soccer game. Captain Your Country is clearly the star gameplay mode. You’ll create a player and aim to be named captain based on your performance in matches; it’s a fantastic mode that never gets old.

If you played “FIFA 08,” also from EA Sports, then you won’t miss a beat here, for the game operates almost exactly the same. The controls and visuals have been tweaked for good measure. If you don’t mind paying the premium price for “UEFA Euro 2008,” you will definitely find that it offers what you want from a great soccer game.

‘We Ski’

(Bandi Namco) for Wii

Genre: Sports; Rating E

Grade: C

I first must admit that I have never skied. Not once have I felt the rush of whooshing down a snowy mountain, nor felt the pangs of those first rides when you spend more time falling on your face then actually getting down the hill. “We Ski” is not the game to encourage me to give it a try anytime soon.

Not that “We Ski” is not fun, because, for the most part, it is. What really slows this game down is the controls (specifically, the use of the Wii balance board) and the technical glitches that show up when playing some of the multiplayer games.

The balance board is not necessary to play, but if you have it and think it’s a no-brainer for a skiing game, you’ll be sorely disappointed. This means that the rest of the controls instantly lose their luster, because the motions feel right for a while but often don’t register properly. It ruins the experience over the long haul. There are 14 slopes to hit, and about 150 missions, races, etc., in all to complete, making this a deep game. The multiplayer games are really enjoyable, but frame-rate issues crop up repeatedly and hamper the gameplay.

This game is not a complete loss. Some gamers will find fun in it, because there is fun to be had. Me, I’ll stick to Lane Meyer’s ski scenes from “Better Off Dead.”

‘SingStar’

(Sony) for PlayStation 3

Genre: Party;

Publisher: Sony

ESRB Rating: T, for Teen

Grade: 3 stars

Karaoke fans unite.

A “SingStar” game has finally arrived on the PlayStation 3. The videos that accompany each song make this technically better than many previous “SingStar” releases.

Good luck enjoying the game on a tight budget.

This is primarily because once you buy the game, you’ll realize it comes with only 30 songs. That’s not even enough to get through a typical karaoke party. Of course, Sony has ingeniously (greedily?) released somewhere near 200 other songs with their accompanying videos through its online SingStore. This would be great if not for the $1.50 cost per song, which means you’ll be blowing your paycheck or parents’ wallet in no time to purchase all the songs you want to have available.

The multiplayer modes are probably the strongest offerings, with “Pass the Mic” and head-to-head duets giving the game some definite replay value and fun for groups. Karaoke fans may have found their holy grail of video games, but they will have to shell out some serious clams in order to fully have it all.

— Chris Campbell, Knoxville News Sentinel