Video Games | "Star Trek: Legacy" boldly goes ... eh, whatever

"WarioWare: Smooth Moves"

Nintendo; Wii. $50

Rated: Everyone

Proof positive that Nintendo has a lock on heavy-duty whimsy, "WarioWare: Smooth Moves" for Wii pretty much exemplifies what Wii is all about. Like "WarioWare" titles before it, "Smooth Moves" is a collection of "microgames," some 200 of them, actually, each using the system's crafty Wii-mote in totally exclusive ways: tilting, swinging, stabbing, swatting, balancing, mashing and manhandling the thing like no other controller ought to be handled. With it, you invoke in-game activities like sawing logs, thumb wrestling, picking noses (seriously), pumping iron, shaving and cranking.

It's a testament to the Wii-mote's wide-ranging motion-sensitive sensibilities, if nothing else -- also a fine example of its minute-motion precision, with most activities easily actuated within a forearm's radius of your starting position. If you ever snap your wriststrap and send the Wii-mote flying off to shatter the chandelier, that pretty much makes you a clumsy oaf and has nothing to do with the hardware. You probably shouldn't be handling power tools or small children, either.

In spite of the game's obvious content abundance, on the whole, it's too short because each game, delivered in thematic clusters, lasts but a couple of seconds. That doesn't exactly add up to hours of fresh gameplay.

Similarly, "Smooth Moves" sports only a token two-player mode (played from a single Wii-mote plus the nunchuk attachment for the second player, or by passing the Wii-mote around like a hot potato), which is short-lived, anticlimactic, offline only and feels completely like an ad hoc afterthought, though the game clearly begs for more "Wii Sports" -- or "Mario Party"-like interactivity with at least two players, ideally more, right out of the box.

Alas, it's mostly just you all by your lonesome.

Shaun Conlin, Cox News Service

"Star Trek: Legacy"

Bethesda Softworks; Xbox 360, $60, PC; $40

Rated: Everyone

"Star Trek: Legacy" goes where no video game has gone before by including the actual voices of all five "Star Trek" captains over the years -- James T. Kirk to Jonathan Archer.

Too bad all that talent wasn't put to better use. Awkward controls and uninspired gameplay make this a rather dull romp in the holodeck.

"Legacy" is quite simple in concept: You control a task force of ships and battle Romulans, those pesky Borg cubes and other enemies in the Alpha Quadrant. The gameplay, however, is cumbersome as you switch targets, adjust the speed of your impulse engines, beam away teams to derelict ships and redirect power to the deflectors or weapons systems, among other tasks.

Did I mention you have to do all of this while steering around and trying to destroy the enemy?

This complexity makes sense to a point -- you are controlling an advanced, futuristic starship, after all. But, with all that's going on, you rarely get a sense of the high-adrenaline space fights seen in the movies and the TV shows.

Matt Slagle, The Associated Press

"Lost Planet: Extreme Condition"

Capcom; Xbox 360. $60

Rated: Teen

Evidently, the world needs another giant alien bug-killing game. Aside from the obvious steal from similar sci-fi shooters, Capcom's "Lost Planet: Extreme Condition" is as much a tribute to the stalwart genre as it is just a likable take on it.

Cliché that it is, "Lost Planet" is worth a gander, first for its freakishly excellent visuals of a wholly original, breathlessly expansive ice world, but also for its slant on the otherwise redundant destroy-all-aliens mandate. As it happens, there's a gameplay parameter that has you on a perpetual deathwatch, even if you're just sitting there, admiring the view.

You require energy to live on the hell-hath-frozen-over world and to operate your equipment -- including some superlatively sweet giant robots and mechanized man-craft. Unfortunately, said energy is always on the dwindle; there's not much time to think nor duck-and-cover, all the time running and gunning and killing enemies for the tasty little orange glob of energy they cough up and you pick up as sustenance.

So there's nothing new here but a cool, crisp take on alien-bug-shooter conventions, replete with cookie-cutter story line; hopelessly hokey dialogue; big guns; bigger explosions; and unapologetically trite, 'til-we-meet-again, big-bug-boss battles.

Shaun Conlin, Cox News Service

"Reel Deal Casino High Roller"

Phantom EFX; PC Windows 98/ XP 2000/ NT/ ME. $20

Rated: Everyone

This perfectly simulates many popular slot and table games available at your favorite gambling halls. A lot of effort has been put into getting the look and feel of the games right. Players start by creating a profile and getting $10,000 in chips. High Roller has eight slots, five video poker and 28 table game options, plus a dedicated poker room. For the table games, expect such standards as blackjack, craps and roulette, plus rare ones, including Catch a Wave and Sic Bo. Each has a "How to Play" section with instructions. The game also has a thick manual that tells you how to play each game.

The biggest problem with the game is the packaging, which is a bit deceptive. It features some screen shots for a game that does not exist unless you play online. The box does say there is an online play area, but only in the tiniest of print, and not in the colorful "features" section. Nowhere does it mention that online play costs $10 per month after the first time.

I have no problem with the subscription model, which is a pretty good deal. For your monthly fee, you get to download a new slot machine game every month, plus fun additions, including a hotel suite you can trick out with your winnings. The makers should just be more upfront about the subscription fee on the box and about which parts of the game are subscription-based. After all, it's no fun playing if you don't know the rules.

John Breeden II, special to The Washington Post

Crave Entertainment; PlayStation 2, Xbox, PSP. $30

Rated: Teen

Most online poker games take themselves very seriously. This one strays from such rigidity in an attempt to bring more people into the poker fold, no pun intended. Instead of an inflexible poker style, the game adds role-playing and even adventure-game elements.

Your character begins in a sparsely furnished apartment. If you walk around your pad, you can find money stuffed behind pictures and under couch cushions, so take time to explore. Then look at the world map. There are many places you can play, but not all are open to you at first. Some won't let you in because your reputation is not good enough; others are simply out of your price range. The only place I could find a game starting out was in the shop area of a closed garage. Playing for $2 a hand may not seem that exciting, but it lets you learn key elements of the game without going broke.

You can play online against others or offline alone. Your online and offline characters are connected, so if you're soundly beaten online, you can build your cash back up playing offline. You can also use your money to purchase upgrades for your home, so you can impress visitors if you choose to host an online tournament there.

While die-hard players will probably scoff at the concept of magical lucky charms and special abilities that help you win, this title offers a card game more in line with typical computer games and makes online poker much less boring.

John Breeden II, special to The Washington Post

"Just Cause"

Eidos/Avalanche Studios, Xbox 360, $50; Xbox, PlayStation 2, PC, $40

Rated: Mature

"Just Cause" is like the popcorn fare found in a big-budget Hollywood action movie. The game creates an open world to explore. It's set on the fictitious island of San Esperito, and as field operative Rico Rodriguez, you're sent there to ensure a regime change that will oust dictator Salvador Mendoza, who's working with the Montano drug cartel.

The game has more than 300 missions that focus on such objectives as assassinations, espionage and disrupting the cartel. Helping you are the People's Revolutionary Army of San Esperito, the Riojas drug cartel and teammates Sheldon (who fancies Hawaiian shirts) and Kane (Rico's ex-lover).

Like a Hollywood blockbuster, this video game toys with reality (and the laws of physics), which translates to gameplay that's fun. There are 89 vehicles in this game, and, if you see it, you can get in it. Where things really get Hollywood is Rico's ability to jump from a plane (the game starts with him in free fall) and parachute directly into a moving vehicle.

Though the game's the same across all platforms, the vivid beauty of the beaches, jungles and mountain terrain looks photorealistic on Xbox 360 and rather dull on PlayStation 2. More built-in variety would have been nice, but this is a fun open-world game.

John Gaugiosi, special to The Washington Post

Atari/Obsidian; PC, $50

Rated: Teen

Anyone who's played Dungeons and Dragons the traditional way -- a pen, some paper and a fistful of multisided dice -- will feel right at home in the world of "Neverwinter Nights 2." This PC title uses the same statistical rules and is set in the Forgotten Realms, one of the game's most popular fantasy settings.

As a sequel, "Neverwinter Nights 2" is packed with new features that players of the original will appreciate. The biggest revisions: updated D&D rules, new races, advanced class specialties, a new but still cumbersome crafting system and the ability to control a party of four adventurers instead of just two.

"Neverwinter Nights 2" is definitely a throwback to older adventure computer games, where slow pacing, deep character development and story mattered as much -- if not more -- than all the hacking and slashing.

But it's not without some problems. The graphics are good, not stunning, yet the biggest glitch that I'm still adjusting to is the controls. Just moving around requires an endless series of mouse clicks to go in the right direction, and positioning the 3D view into something acceptable was a constant chore.

Matt Slagle, The Associated Press