Video-game reviews | "Destroy All Humans," "Hot Shots Golf" and more

Reviews of some new electronic and computer games:

"Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2"

"Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2" is almost exactly like the original "Open Tee." There are new courses, new costumes, online play and a new hole-in-one mini-game, but "Open Tee 2" doesn't carry over the shooting tweaks from the recent PS3 version, "Out of Bounds." Bottom line: This is a good game, but it's nothing a "Hot Shots" fan hasn't seen before.

At each hole the player can line up her shot as preferred, then press a button to set the power of the swing and press it again to execute it; timing the second button press correctly can make for a great shot, while messing it up flubs the swing.

Players can also opt for a power shot for extra distance at the cost of accuracy, and adjust the point of impact on the ball to add backspin or topspin, or send it curving right or left. The game can be played online by up to 16 people, or in local ad hoc mode by up to eight.

Publisher: Sony

System: Sony PlayStation Portable

Price: $29.99

Age rating: Everyone

"Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed"

With "Big Willy Unleashed," "Destroy All Humans" and its resident alien troublemaker, Crypto, move forward another decade into the 1970s.

Crypto and his boss, Pox, are trying to destroy humanity through a chain of Big Willy's fast-food restaurants, which "recycle" the humans Crypto destroys (and the Big Willy mascot statue is actually a battle robot).

The game is similar to the first two, only with disco music here and there. The "Destroy All Humans" games are pretty good fun. In this one a Wii Remote-guided cursor controls aiming and the camera, which works fine.

But the controls in general feel loose and imprecise, especially for Crypto's saucer, and the tilting and twisting required for movement are awkward motions. It also looks rough.

Still, it's fun to send hapless foes flying with a flick of the wrist, and Crypto's hypnotism, bodysnatching and other powers and weapons return — along with some new ones.

Publisher: THQ

System: Nintendo Wii

Price: $49.99

Age rating: Teens

"Aces of the Galaxy"

A space shooter in the fine tradition of "StarFox," "Panzer Dragoon" and even "Rez," "Aces of the Galaxy" lets one or two players pilot prototype ships against a vast fleet of enemy vessels that attack in formations and patterns.

It falls short of the classics, but not by much. The main reason is that there's just too much going on — it can be hard to pick out viable targets in the midst of a flurry of lasers, asteroid fragments, background ships and flashing visual effects.

This seems at least partially by design — it's the sort of game that rewards the player who can shoot down everything shootable. Chaotic visuals aside, it's a very pretty game.

The prototype ship is armed with cluster missiles, torpedoes and a chain gun; each can be upgraded with items, but only one at a time. The ship can also slow time for a brief period, scan space for invisible foes and barrel-roll from side to side to dodge enemy fire.

Publisher: Sierra Online

System: Microsoft Xbox 360, PC

Price: $10 (800 Microsoft Points), $19.99 for PC

Age rating: Everyone