Field Commander

PSP, £34.99, Ubisoft, www.fieldcommandergame.com

By George Wright

MY first thought on reading the game’s blurb was, “Oh, it’s a turn-based strategic thingamabob.”

I’ve never been a fan of strategy games, but this wartime sortie was a pleasant surprise and not long after donning my headphones and preparing for war on the PSP, I was hooked.

I even ignored the temptation of Champions League football on TV to get up to speed in the game’s training tests. Tutorial sections can be a bit dull at times, but these briefing stints were ideal and gave a glimpse of what lay in store and how to control your troops on land, sea and air.

Set in the future, rich criminal cartels have joined forces to form the Shadow Nation group and wage war on the world’s governments. In a bid to tackle the terrorists, the Advanced Tactical Legion for Allied Security puts together a top-secret military force and, as Field Commander, it’s up to you to take charge and battle the baddies around the globe, with all the military might of the world’s armies at your beck and call.

You’re quickly thrown in at the deep end, but there’s helpful voice-over narrations to spell out what needs to be done, as well as offers tips and hints along the way.

The game’s put together well with good 3D graphics, special effects that are more than a blast and an audio soundtrack that a lot of war movies would kill for.

There’s lots of studying maps, thinking tactics and putting strategies into action — things I’ve avoided like the plague in the past. However, even though I’ve bitten the dust and cursed my PSP more than I’d like to admit, I kept going back for more, so Field Commander definitely has something going for it.

The overhead camera angles work well and, once you’ve engaged the enemy, the camera zooms in for some close-up action of how the fight pans out.

As you’d expect in a war scenario, infantry divisions, special ops commandos, tanks, stealth bombers, submarines, jets, ships and helicopters are all required along the way as you tackle the single-player mode’s 30-plus missions. Where and when they are deployed throughout the game’s varying terrains is up to you.

Adding to the game’s lasting appeal is a fine helping of multi-player formats that includes Hot Seat games, where you hand the PSP back and forth between you and a pal, as well as wireless link-up and online capabilities.

Let the battles commence.

VERDICT: I won’t go over the top about it, but great presentation and gripping soundtrack made for enjoyable campaigns.

DS (also on GBA and PSP), Ignition, £19.99, www.ignitionent.com

By Richard Bell

ONCE upon a time, in some other world, there lived a young girl whose dream was to become a master of magic.

Some weird stuff apparently happened and now there are all manner of colourful blobs raining down from the heavens.

These jelly-like blobs are known as Puyos and the name of the game, quite literally, is to feverishly pop them by placing four or more Puyos of the same colour adjacent to each other.

Falling Puyos can be moved and rotated much like Tetris blocks, so you can carefully manoeuvre them into position for maximum popping action and prevent them from filling up your playing area. If you manage to clear more than one set of Puyos simultaneously, or create a blob-bursting chain, this sends lots of Nuisance Puyos over to your opponent’s screen and clogs it up.

As well as the regular red, blue, green, yellow and purple Puyos, there are also triple and quadruple sets and even a giant Puyo to spice things up.

In addition to four single-player games and a two-player link game, up to eight pals can vie through DS Download play on a single game card.

VERDICT: If Tetris and Bust-a-Move had a kid, this would be it. Easy to pick up, but hard to master, Puyo Pop Fever is addictive, frustrating fun.

Netgear, £117.50, www.netgear.com

By Derek Uchman

Wireless routers are getting faster. But they could get really, really fast, if the powers-that-be can ratify the new “n” standard. They have been at it for three years so far, and there’s no end in sight. Until such time, however, we have a handful of (very confusingly named) “draft-n” devices, including the Netgear’s WNR834B.

For those of you in the dark, a router is primary used to connect more than one PC in a household to the modem. Essentially, it sorts out all the info being sent to it from the various computers, and forwards it to the modem. Likewise, if you are downloading, it determines which PC the information is for.

In a world where it is not uncommon for a household to have several PCs, laptops and online consoles, a router is essential. Connection are either wired or wireless, or, as in the WNR834B’s case, both.

So, what does this new “draft-n” malarkey mean? Well, it promises wireless connections of up to 270Mbps, that’s pretty darned speedy, and we found it lived up to the hype. You will need a compatible adapter for your PC or laptop (Netgear make them too, naturally), as the speed will drop considerably otherwise.

Another factor which influences speed, is encryption. To squeeze the maximum out of the WNR834B you’ll have to turn the encryption off, which is dangerous as it opens the possibility of other people (neighbours!) tapping in to your network, and using your Internet connection.

As for setting up the home network, it really is doddle. We got the WNR834B working straight from the box without any hassle.

VERDICT: OK, so it’s a tad pricey, but it is cutting-edge (for now!), works extremely well, and has catwalk good looks.