This One Scores

FIFA 2012 for PS3
Price: Rs 2,499
BAG IT OR JUNK IT? As real as it gets to being on a football pitch.

For those of you who play football on the screen, FIFA 2012 kicks gaming up a notch or two in terms of spellbinding graphics bordering on virtual reality. The realism of the game will sweep a football fan off his feet. The electrifying effect of the crowd roaring or egging you is the closest you can get to actually seeing the fans on TV. The new lighting and the default camera make sure you are a part of the match with the players just an arm's reach away. My favourite part of the game came when you scored and all the players converged-the graphics are so good that the visual of the players is almost photographic.

This addictive game comes with new features like dribbling precision, which helps you do a Lionel Messi by bamboozling the rival teams with slick moves and accurate passes. This feature not only allows you to control the ball precisely in close quarters, but, lets you go, like Cristiano Ronaldo, for quick dashes and sharp turns to dupe the defence. Unlike the regular option of dribbling either fast or slow, this new edition lets you jog with the ball which gives more control over the ball and you get to shield it when your rivals attack you.

Based on a player's strength and weakness the computer-controlled players anticipate your team's movements. But if you keep an eye on which players are zeroing in on you, you can outfox them. If you have played the previous editions of the FIFA series, the standard game plan for defence invariably would be to run to the striker and tackle him. Now it's not possible to continue with this Rio Ferdinand ploy, as tactics play an important role. The defender keeps a couple of metres away from the dribbler and only when he is in the correct position to defend or tackle will he go for the ball. But there is a neat trick to stop the rampaging rival if you mistackle the ball. You can pull the opposition's shirt or arm. A word of advice: don't get carried away with this stratagem because you could find to your woe that the referee has booked your player or red-carded you.

One hitch in the game is that you can't quickly take a throw in or a free kick. The opposition regroups quickly, to prevent you from getting the edge through your quick thinking.

The game gets a couple of new online modes. The first is Head-to-Head Seasons, an online league which is divided into different divisions based on difficulty level. You start in division 10 and after a 10-game season your results determine whether you get promoted or get relegated to a lower division. Your performance is tracked so that you can see how you have fared compared to the rest of the online group. Then there is Online Friendlies, where you can play against your friend in a 10-game season. If you want to randomly play against someone else online, then based on your team's skill you will get a choice of players who measure up to your team's ranking. This is truly as close as you can get to real kicking.

GEARS OF WAR: The Final Bloody Showdown
For Xbox 360
Price: Rs 2,499
BAG IT OR JUNK IT? If you love Gears of War, you must buy this best-of-the-series.

Marcus Fenix is back, guns blazing, with his old buddies Dom Santiago and Augustus Cole in the final edition of Gears of War 3: Brothers to the End. They are here to save the near extinct human race from a new form of Locusts called the Lambent. Fenix is haunted by visions of his father's death only to find out that Adam Jonathan Fenix is very much alive and might actually own a weapon to eradicate the Lambent for good. As for Dom, he has become a farmer and planting has become his passion. But don't let Dom's agrarian pursuits fool you. Allow the Lambent to mess up his garden and see him get all charged up and vaporise the Locusts. The graphics for the intense gun fights touch stratospheric levels that leaves gore splattered all over the screen. Look at the ruins of the world and you are reminded of a severely bombarded Beirut or John Connor's stark world from the movie Terminator. The smallest of the smallest detail creates an environment that explains the game through the powerful visuals.

The Lambent shoot fire balls and keep moving, forcing you to take cover. If you are inept at dive-roll movements then you're toast. These mutated enemies keep you on your toes, so unlike in the previous GoW versions, you can't just stroll and scope out a cover and then start blasting the Locust. The good news is that your reflexes are faster and so your combat manoeuvres are a lot more precise. The trademark cover-based combat has improved leaps and bounds making sure you get the actual feel of the battle zone. Every GoW has always been marked by new weapons to play with-and the third iteration is no different. Each weapon you lay your hands on offers unique features. But don't go all Rambo and waste ammo. Preserve your firepower and grab whatever the enemy has dropped after a skirmish. My favourite weapon was the Digger Launcher, which fires a burrowing grenade that explodes behind cover.

There are two captivating modes. There is the familiar Horde mode introduced in Gears of War 2. Basically five human players fight against an almost never ending wave of the Locust. But now with the money earned by killing the enemy, you can build fortifications to bolster your defences. Basically, more the improvements you carry out, better your chances of survival. The second mode, the Beast mode, gives you the chance to be a monster and slaughter humans. You will earn currency and you can choose the type of Locust you want to be. This intense shooter is the best in the GoW series. The graphics grab the essence of the gun battles as do the sound effects. With the trilogy coming to an end, it feels like an old friend has deserted you.