Reviews and sports games

The summer gaming drought is finally coming to an end. Controversial action/RPG Too Human finally launches in the UK this Friday while September sees Spore and Force Unleashed arrive. Oh, and Mercenaries 2. Steve Boxer reviews the open-world shooter today and gives it 3 stars. From what I've seen and played I'd say that was generous but maybe the tediously clichéd characters grow on you after a while. The Mummy on PS2 sounds even worse with reviewer Mike Anderiez accusing it of, "smelling like old bandages". Sounds like I reviewed the best game of the week then - Madden NFL '09. Forget all the "20th Anniversary" marketing hype but this is the best Madden game for years. It might finally surpass ESPN NFL 2K5 as the best American footy game ever. But despite the Madden IQ test, a better manual and more on-screen hints there is still a pretty steep learning curve. Especially if you don't know your Cover 2 Defense from your West Coast Offence. But I'm a big fan of Madden '09. So with "soccer" (PES, possibly FIFA '09), cricket (Brian Lara 2007) and NFL covered all I need now is decent - heck, any will do - rugby league game.