Video game reviews: "Echochrome," "Lost Cities" and "Dawn of War: Soulstorm"

Reviews of some of the new electronic and computer games.

"Echochrome"

The goal of "Echochrome" is to create a path for a walking mannequin to reach all the shadowy echoes of itself scattered throughout each level. The trick is that each level is impossible to navigate as is.

The player has to shift and rotate the perspective so that there appears to be a path. Is there a hole in the path? Shift the view so a pillar is covering it up, and it's no longer there. Is there an impassable area between platforms? Line up two disparate segments until they become one, or cover up the crevasse with another chunk of the stage, and the mannequin can proceed.

Jump pads boost the mannequin upward, allowing it to reach higher planes with careful positioning of the camera. It's a fantastic concept. The graphics are spare — black lines against white — but effective.

The game is available for the PS3 and PSP via download. Each version has a unique set of 56 levels, and Sony updates the game regularly with rotating sets of user-made levels.

Publisher: Sony

System: Sony PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PlayStation Store download)

Price: $9.99

Age rating: Everyone

"Lost cities"

The latest German-designed game to receive the digital treatment on Xbox Live Arcade, "Lost Cities" is a fast-paced and fun card game.

There are five cities players can send "expeditions" to. Cards numbering two through 10 must be placed on cities of the same color. All players draw from a common deck, and can pick up cards from each city's discard pile if they choose.

Each new expedition puts a player into negative points in that city. Placing cards on a city being explored earns them back, but cards can only be placed from low to high numbers. Investment cards that cost more than a regular expedition can be placed before any numbered cards are set down; they make up for their higher outlay by multiplying the points earned from the city they're paired with.

Publisher: Sierra Online

System: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade download)

Price: $10 (800 Microsoft Points)

Age rating: Everyone

"Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of war: soulstorm"

"Dawn of War" has had a terrific run, but it's losing steam. With its third expansion pack, the ultraviolent strategy game adds two more factions and some tweaks to the single-player campaign. For players who haven't moved on to another series, it's a good addition to a solid foundation.

The new factions are polar opposites. The Sisters of Battle, a mostly female human sect dedicated to the fanatical worship of the Emperor of Mankind, use their faith as a weapon. The Dark Eldar, evil twins to the noble Eldar space elves, harness the power of harvested soul energy to power their terrible abilities.

Both sides fit into the over-the-top roster of factions that "Dawn of War" has built up — nine in all, now. Each faction now has access to an airborne unit and, of course, the new guys have arsenals of crazy contraptions.

The campaign of the last expansion, "Dark Crusade," has been expanded into a conquer-the-star-system mode with several planets and moons to ravage; otherwise, it plays much the same as before. "Soulstorm" is a stand-alone product, but gamers who own just this edition can only use the two new races online — owning the other "Dawn of War" titles unlocks their factions for use.

Publisher: THQ

System: PC

Price: $39.99

Age rating: Mature