Tornado Outbreak

The design document for Azurik, the first role-playing game released on the Xbox game system, must have read like a recipe: take all the ingredients of a good console RPG (third-person view, tons of combat, a freaky little world to adventure in, and a world-threatening evil to defeat), mix in the role-playing stock of Zelda with the spicy action of Soul Reaver 2, and you get Azurik. But, while this game has all the elements to satisfy the hunger of Xbox role players, it comes off as somewhat half-baked.
The denizens of the planet Perathia are blue-skinned and wear what looks like Aztec warrior garb. To be sure, this is a strange game with an offbeat story line that pits the young warrior Azurik against an enemy who, through a massive battle, has shattered the elements that power the world into tiny gems. Azurik must quest for these gems, fighting evil creatures with his massive two-bladed axe-staff and solving puzzles to achieve his objective and restore the world. The gems represent earth, air, fire, and water; the game's massive and generally well-designed levels follow that theme as well.

The graphics are up to the task and often impress. Specifically the monsters and the game's sense of scale: rooms and some of the boss monsters are enormous. The special effects are good, particularly the weapon effects, but this is also the first Xbox game to feature some minor graphics glitches that indicate the game wasn't as polished as you'd expect from the company that also brought you the console.

The real problems with Azurik involve the unresponsive controls, which suffer from a tiny but noticeable amount of lag. Azurik looks cool while swinging his weapon, but you'll never feel in complete control. Since combat is 90 percent of this game, poor combat control is a serious flaw. Also the controls aren't customizable at all. You'd think with the hard drive space they could easily offer this option, but instead you're stuck with the default controls: A for jab, B for a sweep attack, and Y for jump. The trigger is used for special magical attacks involving the gems you'll pick up.

Azurik isn't a bad game, but it's a shame that its main flaws (control and options) are due to problems that could have been corrected with a little more development time

Home of the famed parapsychologist, West Mansion was referred to as Splatterhouse by all who knew the legends. Dr. West had a tendency to experiment in the supernatural, and he created atrocious creatures in his lab, perhaps some of the most gruesome experiments ever conducted. But no one knew for sure what was in there. Dr. West had not been seen or heard from in years, and anyone who went in didn't come out.

Rick and Jennifer were parapsychology majors at the local university, and were interested in the works of Dr. West. Deciding to visit the mansion, they entered, a flash of lightning, a scuffle, and a scream. When Rick awoke, he was covered in blood and Jennifer was gone, but the most horrifying aspect was a mask stuck on his face. The "Terror Mask," said to have ancient spiritual powers, is perhaps the only help Rick will have at helping Jennifer, if it isn't too late. . .

Enjoy in-depth NPC interaction; speak with characters to find information you need to move forward in your quests, learn new skills, trade and more

The highly anticipated sequel to the Columbia Pictures hit film is about to get even bigger as it slings its web onto Xbox®.

Patrol the streets and skies of a living, breathing Manhattan, scaling buildings, slinging webs, fighting crime, and confronting villains, including Doc Ock. You can go wherever a spider can in the city that never sleeps. Take New York for a spin in Spider-Man® 2!