Picks and pans: ‘MySims Racing,’ ‘Cellfactor,’ more
MYSIMS RACING
Publisher: Electronic Arts
System: Nintendo Wii, also for Nintendo DS
Price: $39.99 ($29.99 for DS)
Age rating: Everyone
"MySims Racing" plays a heck of a lot like the "Mario Kart" series but has enough of its own merits to stand out as an alternative to Nintendo's kid-friendly racer.
The driving action is very similar to the "Kart" games. After designing a little Sim character, players zoom along tracks against several rival drivers, picking up attack and defense items along the way, jumping over obstacles and avoiding hazards.
Each course is littered with colored gems that increase a driver's boost meter for extra speed, and in story mode can be used along with blueprints to purchase performance and cosmetic upgrades for the player's cars.
The three kinds of cars (compact, midsize and large) can be customized and kitted out however a player chooses, with new parts becoming available all the time as players complete tasks for various characters who live in the game's racing town.
Outside of the story mode, players can face off against each other in split-screen play or take on solo races, multi-course championships and time trials.
CELLFACTOR: PSYCHOKINETIC WARS
Publisher: Ubisoft
System: Sony PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network download), also for Microsoft Xbox 360 (Xbox Live download)
Price: $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360)
Age rating: Teen
"CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars" is a familiar take on "Unreal Tournament"-style arena combat with standard modes such as deathmatch, capture the flag and assault.
It's inexpensive and features a handful of characters that play very differently from each other, and from those in most other shooters.
"CellFactor" is all about moving fast and shooting down other players online (or computer-controlled bots). There isn't even a story mode, just a series of challenges tied to each character to familiarize players with their abilities and useful tactics, and to unlock items for the three combatants.
The character Bishop has highly developed mind powers – she doesn't even bother picking up the various weapons on the field, simply absorbing their effects and applying them to her innate energy blasts. She can mentally grab and throw pieces of debris, charge up her telekinesis to send out a shower of junk and fly around the battlefield for brief periods of time.
Guardian is the opposite – this robot has no mind powers but can wield two weapons at once, make a second jump in midair and smash into foes with a damaging charge.
BlackOp is between extremes. He can use one weapon at a time, throw single pieces of junk, raise an energy shield and teleport modest distances.