SoulCalibur IV
For: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
From: Namco Bandai
ESRB Rating: Teen (mild language, partial nudity, sexual themes, violence)

The recent rerelease of the original “SoulCalibur” as a downloadable game not only provided fighting game fans with some well-aged nostalgia, but also reminded them just how much the series has changed in 10 years’ time.

For those who give those changes two big thumbs down, “SoulCalibur IV” provides no comfort. Gaudily designed characters look more garish than ever (and, in the case of female fighters, disproportionate to a sometimes embarrassing degree). The ability to destroy your opponent’s outfit is one of the gimmicky hallmarks of the game’s polished and pretty fighting engine — believe it or not, there’s a strategic element to it — and Namco Bandai’s artists hammer that nail home by going nuts in the area of costume design.

“SC4″ also advances the series’ continued reliance on gimmicky guest characters, with no less than Yoda (Xbox 360), Darth Vader (PS3) and Vader’s Sith apprentice (both) making star turns. That’s fabulous news to “Star Wars” fans, but it also accentuates the franchise’s problem with balancing character strengths and weaknesses. If you thought Link was overpowering in “SoulCalibur II,” wait until you see the havoc this threesome can wreak.

Again, though, these are problems only if you want “SC4″ to be the straight-laced fighter its great-grandfather was. Namco Bandai feels differently, and to its credit, the series has found its niche as a weapons-based fighting game both casual and serious players can feasibly enjoy. “SC4’s” fighting science can’t approach “Virtua Fighter’s” level, but those who wish to master its intricacies will be rewarded, just as those who’d rather mash buttons will be entertained in their own way.

For those won over by the gameplay, little about “SC4’s” feature set should disappoint. The game’s character creation tool, though confusing at first, is surprisingly robust, and the degree to which you can enhance fighters with unlockable items and abilities provides more than enough compensation for the fighting engine’s shortcomings. Just in case the employment of weapons didn’t give the “SoulCalibur” brand enough distinction, this puts it over the top.

To no surprise, “SC4″ also introduces online play to the series, and it does so without incident or issue. A tournament option of some kind would have been nice, but nothing beyond two-player support is included. As per series tradition, the game’s focus remains on single-player content, and the wealth of unlockables — along with the inclusion of three separate single-player modes — does that custom proud.

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PixelJunk Eden
For: Playstation 3 via Playstation Network
From: Q-Games/Sony
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Price: $10

Serenity and hair-chewing madness collide in unprecedented ways in “PixelJunk Eden,” a game so completely in its own world that downloading the demo is probably the only way to even remotely understand it. The object of “Eden” is to restore Eden, which you do by collecting Spectra, which you get by swinging and leaping between plants that you grow by utilizing pollen, which you collect by defeating enemies. Huh? Absurd though it sounds on paper, “Eden” captivates — in part due to its minimalist, vector art-laden visual style, but also because it’s so uncompromisingly different in its approach to gameplay. “Eden’s” objectives make sense once you start playing, but the unconventional control scheme, floaty physics and rather unforgiving approach to level design and progress indication will take longer to appreciate — if you even can appreciate them at all. The easily frustrated will not: “Eden’s” relaxing exterior belies how maddeningly (and sometimes unfairly) difficult it can be even early on, and those without saintly levels of patience should just avoid this one altogether. Q-Games’ latest is addictive, original and refreshingly stubborn, but only if you take the time to understand its philosophy and forget, at least temporarily, everything you know about game design’s status quo.

Smart People (R, 2008, Miramax)
“Smart People” is, put succinctly, a coming-of-age film about a handful of people who, one exception (Ellen Page as Vanessa Wetherhold) aside, probably should have come of age quite a while ago. The plot isn’t so much a plot as it is a chunk of days in lives (Dennis Quaid as college professor Lawrence Wetherhold, Thomas Haden Church as his brother, Sarah Jessica Parker as one of his many, mostly unsatisfied former students) already in progress. Translation: It isn’t a story for everyone, and perhaps not worthy to some as being called a story at all. Similar words could be said about “People’s” sense of humor, which takes the word “dry” to new frontiers. That, of course, is only when the film actually has a sense of humor, which isn’t always and becomes increasingly occasional as the characters push ahead. So here’s the bad news: If you came here looking for another “Sideways” from the people who brought you “Sideways,” you might be disappointed by what you get instead. The good news is that when “People” wants to be funny, it often genuinely is, and when it tries to be sincere, it succeeds similarly and never at cost to a script that is, unlike the characters acting it out, very smart indeed. Ashton Holmes, Christine Lahti and Camille Mana also star.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, deleted scenes, interviews, bloopers.

Wide Awake (NR, 2007, Genius Entertainment)
In the last six months, two films have attempted to commercialize anesthesia awareness, a horrifying (and real) scenario in which a patient remains awake and cognizant of pain but unable to move or speak during surgery. The Hollywood version, “Awake,” was a decently entertaining but mostly blundering mess, and a shallow glance at the cover of the similarly-named “Wide Awake” might lead one to assume this is the Asian equivalent or inspiration. Thankfully, that assumption dies a quick death during “Wide Awake’s” very first scene, which is followed by an equally vicious second scene and a good handful more thereafter. Even with that said, “Wide Awake” is measurably less exploitative than “Awake,” eschewing that film’s dopey twists in favor of a smart, lean and genuinely tense mystery that spans 25 year but never feels excessively unwieldy. “Wide Awake’s” storytelling prowess is such, in fact, that it almost makes you forget about the horror of its opening scene. Rest assured (or not), though: Such relief not only is temporary, but prone to disappearing without warning. Unless you just received a clean bill of health from your doctor and won’t need to be near any hospitals anytime soon, proceed with caution. In Korean with English subtitles.
Extras: Deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes features, interviews.

Jane Goodall’s When Animals Talk (NR, 2008, Animal Planet)
The notion that animals know more than we give them credit for isn’t exactly cult science anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to stand amazed at just how much they really do understand. And amaze animals do in “Jane Goodall’s When Animals Talk,” which argues the merits of listening to animals and backs it up with some extremely convincing examples. “Talk” has an occasional tendency to preach its overlying message more than it needs to, and the way it seems to repeat itself between segments is a bit odd, but these are nitpicks. Once it settles into a story — be it about dogs who can sense cancer, parrots with psychic abilities or rats uncovering landmines without putting themselves in any kind of danger — it can’t help but drop jaws simply by illustrating the stories it’s telling. And for every story that amazes or amuses, there’s one that inspires, be it about pets who help kids learn to read or the rescue dogs who changed the face of the post-Sept. 11 recovery effort. “Talk’s” job couldn’t be easier, because these stories practically tell themselves, but that doesn’t make it any less exceptional of a viewing experience. No extras.

Bra Boys (R, 2007, Berkela Films)
Ever have one of those friends who, upon recounting some tale of mischief or wrongdoing, seems to omit just a few details that might taint their side of the story? Imagine if that friend instead told the story as a documentary, and you have some idea of what to expect from “Bra Boys,” which recounts the rise and spread of the Australian surf gang (yes, a gang of surfers) of the same name. As entertainment goes, “Boys” is pretty filling: The surf gang war culture is, especially if you had no idea it even existed, a fascinating phenomenon, and “Boys” decorates its story with some engaging firsthand accounts and some amazing (and sometimes graphic) footage. Problem is, the film is primarily the work of Sunny Abberton, who co-writes and co-directs… and also was instrumental in the formation of the gang that inspired this documentary, which more than anything else is about the tribulations of Koby and Jai Abberton. See a problem there? “Boys” doesn’t, and the bias is syrupy thick in favor of the gangs’ purported positive influence on its environment. Fun to watch though “Boys” certainly is, its truths should be taken with a grain of sand. Russell Crowe narrates. No extras.

Watching the Detectives (NR, 2007, Peace Arch)
As the owner of an independent video store, movie buff Neil (Cillian Murphy) sees plenty of excitement. Unfortunately, all of that excitement comes in video form, and any attempts to create some real-life thrills fall embarrassingly short. Enter Violet (Lucy Liu), who seems to have the exact opposite situation and plenty of excitement to pass around. Can Neil handle all that stimulation? More importantly, can you? Even more importantly, should you? Likeable though “Watching the Detectives” initially and semi-consistently is, it lacks a cuteness filter. One weird thing begets another, and once the zaniness starts to pile up, it becomes a bit much to bear. Considering all this weirdness is the movie’s main point of distinction, as well as a device to take the story down a rather predictable romantic comedy road, that’s no small problem to have. Though never wholly grating nor so weird that it cannot be understood, “Detectives” still feels like a lot of excessive wackiness just for the sake of it. By the end, exhaustion — and very possibly irritation depending on your threshold for cute overload — has settled in where gratification should be. No extras.

Kenny vs. Spenny: Volume One Uncensored (NR, 2007, Comedy Central)
Clarification-slash-trivia time: “Kenny vs. Spenny: Volume One Uncensored” is, in fact, the fourth season of a show that began life as a cult Canadian hit before Matt Stone, Trey Parker and Comedy Central got their collective hands on it. The premise from those first three seasons remains the same: Best friends Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice challenge each other to ridiculous tests of endurance (who can eat the most meat, who can stay tied to a goat the longest, first guy to stop singing loses), with the loser suffering a humiliation as choreographed by the winner. Kenny cheats, Spenny complains and usually loses, and viewers are treated to the lowest form of television ever to grace Comedy Central. That’s not so much an insult as a statement of near-fact, because there’s no harm in enjoying such unbelievably crass stupidity if you take it for the monumentally guilty pleasure this is. Still, should you fancy such fare, you might wish instead to hunt down the past seasons’ DVDs, all of which were sold in Canada but never in the United States. Season four’s antics push the show to new levels of ridiculousness, but the new episodes also feel considerably more staged than the old ones.
Contents: 10 episodes, plus commentary, bonus footage, an unaired bonus competition and deleted scenes.

Worth a Mention
— “The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season” (NR, 2008, HBO): The worst thing about the final season of “The Wire?” Given how each season of HBO’s best show somehow managed to outshine the one that came before it, we can only speculate how incredible season six would have been. Season five presents the show one final new target, and it’s a big one. Mass media, your table is ready. Contents: 10 episodes, plus commentary, a documentary exploring the issues behind the season and a retrospective of the first four seasons.
— “South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season” (NR, 2007, Comedy Central): Meanwhile, the gang from “South Park” takes on such pressing issues as the Easter Bunny and head lice. This set contains the “Imaginationland” episodes, so if you wanted to own those but didn’t want to buy the self-standing “Imaginationland” DVD because you saw it for the double-dipping it was, your wait is over. Contents: 14 episodes, plus mini-commentaries.

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (PG, 2007, Miriam Collection/Weinstein Company)
There exist plenty of serviceable biographical documentaries, which chronicle the life, times and contributions of the subject at hand and illustrate history through archival footage, photos and interviews with those who know him or her best and famous faces for whom he or she served as a primary influence. “Pete Seeger: The Power of Song” does all of these things, does them perfectly well, and, at least in the early going, seems content to do no more. Fortunately, Seeger’s multiple existences — folk singer, activist, suspected Commie traitor, Wall Street Journal subscriber, revolutionary musician — compel the story of his life to reach past convention, and “Song” sharply rises to the occasion after the table is set and acquaintances are made. What follows is a magnificent story about an exercise in free expression, the ironic wrath it brought forth, and how a seemingly simple folk singer inadvertently hoodwinked some very powerful detractors into accidentally reigniting the movement they foolishly tried so hard to suppress. “Song” is primarily a movie for people who love music, but it is just as much a film for those fascinated by American history — and the people who, even today, haven’t learned the lessons it tries to teach us.
Extras: Five short films from the Seeger family, deleted scenes.

Terminal City: The Complete Series (NR, 2005, Koch Vision)
Talk about your busy days. Within minutes of receiving confirmation that she has breast cancer, Katie Sampson (Maria del Mar) stumbles uninvited into the lens of a reality show that happens to be filming at the same hospital. As it happens, the camera loves her, and almost overnight, Katie has to simultaneously reconcile the effects of an unprecedented scare and a similarly unprecedented opportunity. The narrow, high-concept premise of “Terminal City” seems better suited for a film than a television series. As always, though, a good cast of characters sustains even the most acute of gimmicks, and between Katie’s family, Katie’s partners in television and most certainly Katie herself, this one isn’t hurting at all in that department. “City” cannot quite decide whether it wants most to be a quirky slice of life, a straight-faced family drama, a serious look at the realities of living with cancer, something in between or something else completely. Fortunately, the show balances its multiple desires with enough care so as to give each of its personalities plenty of ground to cover. What was that again about “City” not having enough material to sustain itself as a series? Never mind. If anything, with only 10 episodes to its name, “City” leaves long before it could ever overstay its welcome. Contents: 10 episodes, plus cast/crew interviews.

Code Monkeys: Season One (NR, 2007, Shout Factory)
“Code Monkeys” is a show about a video game about a group of people who make video games. Confused? Don’t be. It’s pretty easy to understand once you see it in action, and you can ignore the game-within-a-show gimmick and just focus on the characters if you’re still confused and so wish to do so. Problem is, with the gimmickry stripped away, “Monkeys” is just an animated sitcom about an upstart video game company in the early 1980s, and it’s a rather stupid one at that. The characters, though likeable, are pretty one-dimensional, and the jokes rarely reach beyond bathroom humor and sight gags. “Monkeys’” real genius lives and dies with that gimmick, which gifts the show with a dense trove of obscure references and nods aimed at anyone who played the games of that era. For every lame joke “Monkeys” trots out, there sit at least two or three winks ready to compensate. That, along with the nifty pixelated visual style straight out of the Atari 2600/Nintendo Entertainment System era, transforms what should be a completely forgettable show into a strange treat gaming fans would do right to check out.
Contents: 13 episodes, plus behind-the-scenes feature, gaming tips, daily pranks feature, DVD-ROM content (”Monkeys”-inspired games, wallpaper and downloadable posters).

Nim’s Island (PG, 2008, Fox)
For as long as she’s been alive, Nim (Abigail Breslin) and her scientist dad (Gerard Butler) have held court almost exclusively on their own private island. That is, until a series of strange but disconnected events finds Dad lost at sea and Nim unexpectedly charged with protecting the land from an invading force while simultaneously enlisting the help of an adventure writer (Jodie Foster) who isn’t nearly the person she (or, for all Nim assumes, he) seems to be in print. Huh? Don’t worry: It makes more sense on film than on paper, and the result isn’t half bad, either. Say this for “Nim’s Island:” It’s an adventure film aimed at kids and families that relies on actual human characters with personalities instead of the mind-mushing computer-generated visual excess that seems presently to be the unfortunate norm. The busy story is flawed from top to bottom — mainly thanks to the strange pacing and stacking of major plot events, but in no small part due to repeated misguided attempts to entrust Foster with comic relief duties. But even when she utterly fails at comedy, Foster’s character is likeable. Same goes for Nim, even when in full brat mode, and Dad, who keeps the film glued together despite never being the main attraction. When your three main characters are worth rooting for, something must be working, right?
Extras: Breslin/Foster commentary, writer/director commentary, deleted scenes, three behind-the-scenes features, PSAs.

Queen Sized (NR, 2008, Lifetime/Anchor Bay)
When fat girl Maggie Baker (Nikki Blonsky) finds herself nominated for Homecoming Queen as a prank by some girls from the popular crowd, she sees it as just another cruel prank to ignore. Her friends and supporters, however, see it differently — specifically, as an opportunity to rouse up the disenchanted, win the election and shame the pretty crowd. This should be fun … right? No? Too bad. “Queen Sized” purports to be based on a true story, so some loyalty to source material is to be expected. But no amount of loyalty can justify “Sized’s” need to constantly lead the viewer around by the nose, telegraphing every plot turn and transparently laying bare every character’s simplistic motivation in case you can spell it out yourself. Given the storyline, which is both singular in dimension but ripe for irony, “Sized” had every opportunity in the world to develop a subversive or wicked streak that wouldn’t have interfered with its desire to be likeable. Sadly, it never comes close to doing so, instead resorting to painful levels of overacting, excess mugging, repetitive storytelling devices and pages of “This is how I’m feeling in case you can’t tell” dialogue. Ultimately, what should have been a riotously fun message movie feels instead like something carefully prepared for stupid people or folks who have never seen a movie before. If you’ve managed to read this far, that isn’t you, so keep reading. No extras.

Worth a Mention
— “I Got the Feelin’: James Brown in the ’60s” (NR, 2008, Shout Factory): The latest thing of beauty from Shout Factory compiles three James Brown concerts, including the legendary Boston Garden show that took place one day after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Also included in this three-disc set: The VH1 documentary “The Night James Brown Saved Boston.” Extras include bonus documentary interview footage, a panel discussion from the film’s premiere, and bonus Brown performances and audio.
— “Biography: John McCain” and “Biography: Barack Obama” (NR, 2008, A&E): Each DVD, sold separately, contains the respective candidate’s 47-minute “Biography” episode, but nothing else. It’s a shame the two episodes weren’t bundled together on a single, bipartisan and far more compelling disc.
— “Star Trek: The Original Series: Season Two: Remastered Edition” (NR, 1967, Paramount): In space, no one can hear you complain that you bought inferior versions of these “Star Trek” seasons just a few years ago. Contains 26 remastered episodes, plus home movies, episodes from both “Star Trek: The Animated Series” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and four collectable data cards.
— “I Love the 80s” collection (PG/PG-13, 1984-87, Paramount): Don’t get too excited: Beyond the cheesy new packaging, there’s little compelling about the latest DVD go-rounds for “Footloose,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Top Gun” and “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Each is sold separately rather than in box set form, and only the last two on that list sport anything in the way of special features. Considering each of these films is available in more feature-rich iterations, it’s hard to understand who is supposed to want these versions.

Order Up!
For: Nintendo Wii
From: SuperVillain Studios/Zoo Games

Let’s begin by stating the obvious: Were it not for “Cooking Mama,” we wouldn’t be talking about “Order Up!” today. “Mama” made the cooking video game the unlikely phenomenon it somehow became, and “Up’s” core gameplay bears more than a passing resemblance.

But rather than merely hijack a ride on the money train, “Up” does what knockoffs should but rarely do: It contributes to the genre in ways that make sense, and it vastly outclasses the game that inspired its creation in the first place.

As with “Mama,” the core gameplay in “Up” centers around preparing food — flipping this, dicing that, sautéing the other thing and so on. Each recipe features a handful of steps to complete and ingredients to prepare, and you accomplish the various actions by mimicking them with the Wii remote.

But while “Mama” squares its focus on food preparation, “Up” unleashes an entire restaurant simulation that gives the gameplay a major injection of context and purpose. The storyline in “Up” stars you as a nobody chef with dreams of owning a five-star restaurant, and you work toward that end by opening a diner, building a reputation, keeping customers happy and funding everything from equipment upgrades to new restaurant ventures with the money you collect.

Everything ties back to your performance in the kitchen, but “Up” gives you enough freedom to stave off the inevitable repetition of preparing familiar recipes for a familiar cast of customers. You can order special ingredients from out of town, visit the black market for some rare recipe alternatives, and purchase and mix a surprisingly high variety of spices in whatever configuration you please in hopes of dazzling your clientele. “Up” even lets you hire assistants to share the load when balancing multiple orders. Managing your kitchen so that all meals go out hot and on time proves to be a surprisingly engaging challenge, and the way the story rewards you for a job well done is immensely satisfying.

“Up” endears itself further with a flat-shaded visual approach that masks the Wii’s graphical shortcomings while scoring some style points on the side. The game’s sense of humor is pretty sharp as well: How many other Wii games feature spot-on humor about income tax withholding, to name one example?

“Up’s” only major shortcoming, considering the system it’s on, is the complete lack of multiplayer. It doesn’t really need any — the single-player component provides plenty of value — but it’s worth noting for those who care.

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Beijing 2008
For: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
From: Eurocom/Sega
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Twenty five years ago, a little arcade gem called “Track & Field” established the norm for what gamers could expect from Olympic-themed video games, ushering in a control scheme — mash buttons rapidly and repeatedly to make athletes go faster — that polarized gamers but also made sense given the context.

The trouble with “Beijing 2008″ isn’t its refusal to revolutionize the formula. The scheme still makes sense, and as last year’s “Track & Field” revival on Xbox Live Arcade demonstrated, it remains viably entertaining if done right.

If done right.

Unfortunately, “Beijing” succumbs to temptation to tinker, and not intelligently.

Take, for instance, the start of most race events. Rather than mash buttons the instant the starter pistol fires, you must first massage one of the trigger buttons until a meter nearly but not quite fills up. Once the pistol fires, you must finish filling the meter, switch over to the race controls, and scramble to catch up to the other runners or swimmers who all had perfect jumps off the blocks. “Beijing’s” A.I. is pretty merciless, and convoluted steps like these, in events decided by fractions of seconds, only serve to put you at a greater disadvantage.

The ill-fitting controls get little help from “Beijing’s” vague documentation and tutorials, many of which simply pile on the confusion. Don’t be surprised if, during certain events, you follow the directions, execute, and still foul or fail for no clear reason. Often, the best way to figure events out and not get absolutely buried by the competition is through lots of unsatisfying trial and error. Unfortunately, “Beijing” is so finicky and demanding that by the time you get it down, your fingers are too tired and cramped to perform at the level the game demands. Sound like fun yet?

The sheer labor of playing “Beijing” is disappointing given all it does right. The game looks nice, supports online (eight players) and offline multiplayer (four), and features an appealing array of modes for pursuing personal bests and experiencing the surprisingly large (38) roster of events, which include everything from track to kayaking to judo to archery.

Unfortunately, the six events “Track & Field” trots out on Xbox Live are more intuitive and more fun than their contemporary counterparts. Gaming masochists will find strange pleasure in mastering “Beijing,” but if you need an Olympic fix and don’t wish to destroy your fingers to get it, the original remains — for another four years — the way to go.

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Downloadable Game of the Week

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
For: Xbox 360 Live Arcade
From: Bizarre Creations/Activision
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Price: 800 MS Points

For the early adopters who embraced the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade service at launch, the reward — “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved,” a gorgeous, addictive space shooter that reimagined a mix of “Robotron” and “Asteroids” and set gamers back a mere $5 — was immediate. “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2″ doubles the price of admission, but it’s worth it: In addition to the mode that constituted the whole of the first game, “GW:RE2″ features five additional modes that emphasize such skills as evasion (Pacifism), time management (Deadline), poise under pressure (Waves), pattern memorization (Sequence) and forward planning (the brilliant, territorial-minded King). Those intimidated by the first game’s difficulty won’t find much solace here, but “GW:RE2″ makes smart tweaks that allow novices to attain insane score multipliers without dumbing the experience down for seasoned players. If all else fails, you can enlist the help of friends in the new four-player co-op mode. Just make sure they’re within shouting distance: Fun though “GW:RE2’s” versus and co-op multiplayer modes are, they’re available offline only. Your interaction with online friends is, at least until next time, limited to pursuing their scores on the leaderboard.

Siren: Blood Curse
For: Playstation 3 via Playstation Network
From: Sony
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood, intense violence, strong language)

It takes little imagination to understand why games like “Resident Evil 4″ and “Condemned” are popular. They’ve injected the horror genre with the kind of pick-up-and-play gameplay normally reserved for shooters, and with fantastic results.

Problem is, accessibility isn’t very scary. And until that somehow changes, there will always be a need for a game like “Siren: Blood Curse,” which embraces uncompromising design with a suffocating, brilliant enthusiasm that should thrill those with the stomach to handle it.

Available by download only and pieced out like a television show ($15 for a four-episode pack or $40 for all 12 at once), “Curse” reboots the “Siren” series by revisiting the original PS2 game, sprucing it up, remixing the story and adding concessions (most notably, clearer objectives and a map that illustrates them) to make it somewhat more palatable to a wider audience.

Again, though, don’t confuse that for accessibility. While “Curse” won’t remind you of the original “Resident Evil” in terms of control setup, the loose controls it does incorporate, along with a camera that’s far more hamstrung than most modern games allow, means you’ll struggle with things you typically can take for granted. Your visibility options are further crippled by the game’s extravagant use of darkness and fog — an old trick, but one that still works if done right.

Some will argue that such devices are the product of sloppy programming rather than design. Frankly, it doesn’t matter. “Curse’s” bread and butter is a mix of stealth and horror, and the partial (but never total) helplessness these elements bring forth is what makes the game such an unnerving experience. Though many situations put you in a position to fight back, just as many force you to tread quietly and run like hell if you tip off your presence. During those scenarios, “Curse” is tense to the point of panic-inducing and genuinely scary. Stumbling through the grainy darkness with a sure-footed enemy on your tail as a checkpoint lingers mere yards away is what horror games used to always be about, and it’s a sensation “Curse” recaptures with amazing conviction.

With those points in mind, “Curse” isn’t for all. The episodic style makes it easy to digest the game in small bites and piece it out, but it also makes it easy to feel squeamish and head for the exit when one scary episode ends and another lingers. Enter at your own risk: Something very special lurks inside, but only the angelically patient and strong at heart need apply.

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Space Chimps
Reviewed for: Xbox 360
Also available for: Nintendo Wii and Playstation 2
From: Redtribe/Brash Entertainment
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ (animated blood, crude humor, language, mild fantasy violence)

It’s been both interesting and disappointing to follow the emergence of Brash Entertainment, which promised to elevate the image of movie-based games but thus far has simply advanced perceptions that movie-licensed titles are the black sheep of the gaming family.

For whatever it’s worth, “Space Chimps” is the publisher’s best work to date, showing flashes of ingenuity that occasionally put it in the same ballpark (though never the same aisle) as the Mario- and Crash Bandicoot-fronted games it tries to emulate. “Chimps” isn’t afraid to switch gears between puzzle solving, combat, platforming and a few faster-paced challenges that send you grinding down rails or careening down a river, and the best of these challenges are legitimately fun and executed well.

Problem is, “Chimps” also displays flashes of rushed development, and not just a few. For every sequence Redtribe executes without incident, there’s another that’s hamstrung by inconsistent design, a camera that goes haywire or some other technical hang-up that causes you to miss jumps you should be able to complete with eyes closed. An extremely forgiving difficulty curve means you’ll get around these issues with minimal persistence, but watching a clever action sequence come undone by issues the developers were able to avoid during other parts of the game is nonetheless disappointing.

Additionally, the weakest aspect of “Chimps” — bland hand-to-hand combat against equally bland enemies — appears in greater abundance than any other aspect of the game. Nothing about the combat is broken, but nothing about it is particularly fun, either. Just mash the button, move to the next enemy and repeat.

But the biggest problem “Chimps” has remains the biggest issue with Brash’s portfolio overall: It ends far too soon. The single-player adventure will take players of reasonable ability little more than three hours to finish, and it doesn’t really command a return visit unless you enjoy collecting hidden items or trying to pass the levels in time attack mode. A two-player (offline only) mini-game mode offers some additional entertainment, but certainly not enough to quell any feelings of buyer’s remorse.

Were “Chimps” a budget title, the short length would be exponentially more forgivable, but it retails for $50 on the 360 and Wii and $30 on the Playstation 2. Value propositions like that are why we have game rentals and quick price drops, and until Brash understands that, those are the only options you should consider.

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Downloadable game of the week

Roogoo
For: Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade
From: SpiderMonk Entertainment/SouthPeak Games
Coming soon to retail for: Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Price: $10

If ever a video game will teach you not to judge it by its cover, “Roogoo” is it. The object of the game is to match falling shapes — cylinders, cubes, stars and so on — with holes of the same shape. If that recalls images of the square-peg-in-round-hole toy babies play with, guess what? That’s exactly what “Roogoo” looks like, and during the ridiculously easy opening batch of levels, it’s also how the game plays. Fortunately, those lulled into false security by “Roogoo’s” pleasantly colorful look and unpleasantly easy first impression will do so at their own peril. Once acquaintances are made, the game wastes little time tweaking, remixing and piling onto the initial concept, and the challenge ramps up considerably — albeit entirely fairly — in a short amount of time. The concept proves surprisingly viable for a puzzle game concept, and you’ll likely never look at that silly toy quite the same way again. “Roogoo” ships with 45 single-player levels, which is a solid amount for the price, and those who want to throw virtual baby toy parties can enjoy the four-player multiplayer (local or online), which plays the same but employs the usual multiplayer puzzle game tricks.

Surfwise (R, 2008, Magnolia)
Contrary to what the title, DVD art and pastimes of just about everyone who plays a principle role in the film imply, “Surfwise” is not a documentary about surfing. It isn’t even really about suffers. Rather, it’s about a dad (Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz), the lifestyle philosophy he embraces, the woman he marries, the nine children they produce together, and the consequences that philosophy has on a family full of kids who existed outside of the system and the boundaries of what most would consider a normal upbringing. Were “Surfwise” simply a document of Doc’s lifestyle and approach to family-rearing, as most of the film’s first half is, it would have been a perfectly engaging piece of insightful entertainment. But when the shift turns to the kids, now grown, and the various effects that upbringing had on each, “Surfwise” enters an entirely new plane of must-see filmmaking. Every single Paskowitz who graces the screen — patriarch, matriarch, children, siblings, in-laws — has a couple cents to share, and the diversity and conviction of those opinions, as well as which side you take in the end, will keep you thinking and talking about “Surfwise” long after it ends.
Extras: Filmmaker/Salvador Paskowitz commentary, outtakes, behind-the-scenes feature, Surfers Healing PSA.

Rolling Stones: Shine a Light (PG-13, 2008, Paramount)
As is the case with most concert films, there’s little use in reviewing “Shine a Light,” which captures the Rolling Stones on stage through the eyes of one Martin Scorsese. If you like the Stones — or more accurately, if you’ve ever experienced them on stage and understand the full might of what that experience entails — “Light” almost certainly will touch the right nerves. It’s a bounty of gorgeous cinematography given the limitations of the genre, and in case this doesn’t go without saying, it sounds pristine. Though preceded by a brief look behind the scenes and punctuated by various clips from the band’s past, “Light” overwhelmingly keeps the camera trained on the stage. The lack of backstage material once the show starts is an arguable point of contention, and Stones fans of different stripes will inevitably lament the omission of one song or another from the set list. That said, the Stones haven’t lasted this long by putting on so-so shows, and “Light’s” ability to illustrate this in spite of the unavoidable disconnect enforced by the medium is, overwhelmingly, its greatest asset. Forgettable songs from the Stones’ recent catalog take on new life on stage, while a few selections (namely a beautiful rendition of “As Tears Go By” and a thunderous cover of “Champagne And Reefer” with Buddy Guy) may have you running back to the store to pick up the soundtrack.
Extras: Four bonus performances (including an awesome rendition of “Paint it Black”), behind-the-scenes feature.

Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay: Unrated Two-Disc Special Edition (NR, 2008, New Line)
One might assume that the art of making stupid comedies is no art at all. But if that’s the case, why are so many of them so bad, and what in the world is it about “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” that makes it so good? It is, in fact, art in motion — in this case, the ability to reach past cliché, sidestep the usual vat of gross-out comedy devices, and come up with something that’s both incredibly stupid and ingeniously self-aware at the same time. Outside of a few unfortunate slips (including, alarmingly, the film’s very first gag), “HKEFGB” demonstrates an understanding of this art with almost miraculous consistency. Or maybe the writers just got lucky and we’re giving them too much credit. Doesn’t matter. If “Stoner Comedy” was an Academy Award category, “HKEFGB” would be commanding Oscar buzz, and Neil Patrick Harris would be in line for a lifetime achievement award for once again stealing the show as himself. John Cho, Kal Penn, Paula Garcés, David Krumholtz and Eddie Kaye Thomas reprise their roles from the first film, and Rob Corddry, Roger Bart and Danneel Harris join the fray.
Extras: In what amounts to one of the more inspired bonus features in DVD lore, the first disc contains a horde of extra scenes and the ability, should you choose, to completely change the story’s direction using those scenes. Also: Theatrical and unrated cuts, two commentary tracks, deleted scenes, one behind-the-scenes feature, digital copy.

Barrio (NR, 1999, Studio Canal/Lions Gate)
Any bored teen or former bored teen can relate to the plight of Rai (Críspulo Cabezas), Javi (Timy Benito) and Manu (Eloi Yebra), who face a hot summer of nothing to do and so much to think about as they seek out signs of life in their working-class Madrid neighborhood. For the most part, that’s all “Barrio” is: Three teens passing time while doing that whole coming-of-age thing teens often do in movies. With one arguably regrettable exception, nothing truly seismic happens to any of the boys. But teen angst, tedium and the threat of a directionless day are a dangerous and entirely resonant combination, and even when nothing presumably is happening, “Barrio” still manages to inspire a sharp sense of curiosity about what will happen next. That’s a credit not only to the film’s ability to capture the moment, but develop its characters in all the right ways. When you shower your cast with the attention “Barrio” gives its chief threesome, heavy plot turns and other contrivances aren’t terribly necessary. And when something big does happen, it’s not necessarily a welcome development, even if it gives you something to talk about after the credits roll. In Spanish with English subtitles. No extras.

Parking Wars: The Best of Season One (NR, 2008, A&E)
The latest reality sensation to hit A&E — which at this point should just change its name or find new words to represent the “A” and “E” — follows the Philadelphia Parking Authority as it issues tickets, breaks out the boot, impounds cars and incurs the wrath and jeers of a not-so-adoring public. Set alternately on the streets and at the impound lot, “Parking Wars” simply rolls camera while the PPA does its job, and the result is what you’d expect: a thankless profession in which no excuse goes unmade and, in the case of the impound lot, no obscenity goes unbleeped. “Wars,” as even the name implies, is a train wreck with zero nutritional value outside the random bit of parking trivia. Fortunately, the producers seem well aware of the fact, inserting ridiculous sound effects and other silly tricks that typically are the domain of a “Saturday Night Live” skit making fun of reality television rather than actual reality television. Cringe-worthy though that may sound, it works for this purpose. “Wars” is trash television under any pretense, and if you’re going to make rubbish, you might as well go all the way and do it with pride. The tongue-in-cheek approach transforms a potential disaster into the arguable guilty pleasure of the season — no small feat given the present reality television landscape.
Contents: Seven episodes, plus 30 minutes of bonus footage.

Doomsday: Unrated (NR/R, 2008, Universal/Rogue)
Stop if you’ve heard this one before: A virus has wreaked havoc on the populace, and affected citizens not lucky enough to make it into walled-off cities of the future have created their own society of cyberpunk savagery and anarchy. A clash between the two societies was inevitable, and so here we are. To be fair, “Doomsday” does a few things differently, most particularly due to a mid-movie twist that significantly changes the landscape and rules of engagement. But when your film never stops moving for nearly two hours, it’s bound to do at least something different. Anyone on the fence about “Doomsday” already can glean that it’s a B-movie paying homage to well-worn concepts. But if you expect something — anything — more than an impenetrable wall of loud noise, mindless action, obnoxiously bad design and painful amounts of screaming, grunting and mugging, now’s the time to put that hope to bed. Despite all that “Doomsday” crams in, no allowance appears to have been made for character, subversion or even a sense of humor, any one of which would have done wonders to break up all that endless noise. As such, the resulting experience feels more like a blaring migraine than the guilty pleasure “Doomsday” should have been.
Extras: Theatrical and unrated cuts, cast/director commentary, three behind-the-scenes features.

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Reviewed for: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Alternate version available for: Nintendo DS
From: Firaxis/2K Games
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ (alcohol and tobacco reference, mild suggestive themes, violence)

It really shouldn’t be a surprise that “Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution” fits as comfortably as it does on machines that aren’t gifted with a mouse and keyboard. Nintendo’s “Advance Wars” series demonstrated years ago how viable turn-based strategy simulations can be on even the simplest hardware, and with real-time strategy games becoming increasingly possible on consoles, there’s no reason a turn-based game like “Civilization” shouldn’t thrive.

That said, this still is “Civilization,” and there’s nothing casual about managing multiple armies while simultaneously developing technology, establishing a government body and shoring up the economy in case any number of opposing nations should decide to attack, propose a truce or cut a deal.

“Revolution” works, and elegantly so, because it was designed explicitly with its platform in mind rather than ported down from the PC line.

Elaborately speaking, “Revolution” works because Firaxis knows when to delve into detail and when to leave things up to abstraction. Unit management and military combat, for instance, should immediately ring familiar to anyone who has ever played “Advance Wars,” and your odds in any given skirmish often come down to a single attribute number.

On the other hand, “Revolution” is always one button press away from a thorough in-game encyclopedia of “Civilization” knowledge and expertise. And while managing resources, building orders, your economy and your governmental body is never as complex as it gets in the newer PC games, there’s a ton of allowance for you to influence the course of history as you see fit — via development, through diplomacy or by force.

The abstraction trickles down through the game’s interface and into its philosophy as a whole. Though by no means a farce, “Revolution” certainly has a sense of humor, and the ways you can rearrange and mash history with your virtual Abe Lincoln or Napoleon is equal parts amusing and fascinating. Given the rather brief length of a typical campaign — anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours — there’s plenty of opportunity to try multiple scenarios with each of the game’s 16 civilizations. (An awesome trophy room, which cleverly compiles your achievements, encourages you to keep going back for more.) The only downside to this approach: No means of continuing play indefinitely once a victory condition is met, which stunts the possibilities somewhat.

“Revolution” is, of course, even more fun with friends. Though the lack of any attempt at local multiplayer is pretty disappointing, the online component (up to four players, either individually or in teams of two) works exactly as one would hope.

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NCAA Football 09
Reviewed for: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Other versions available for: Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, PSP
From: EA Sports
ESRB Rating: Everyone

If 2007 was the year EA Sports’ new-generation football games got their visual act relatively together, then 2008 is the year the feature set pulls even.

Specifically, “NCAA Football 09″ delivers the genre’s crown jewel: an online dynasty mode. Up to 12 friends can manage every facet of 12 college programs concurrently over 60 seasons within the same alternate universe. That still leaves more than 100 schools under computer control, but managing that many human-controlled programs is a logistical mess few would wish to undertake. Though some inevitably will disagree, less definitely is more in this respect.

Elsewhere, “09″ mostly refines what otherwise was an already stuffed feature lineup. The mascot game finally returns, and features introduced last year — including the awesome Campus Legend role-playing mode and the respectable highlight sharing tools — return modestly improved. The roster management tool now allows for online sharing, which means it’s a matter of time before you can download a roster of complete player names, something EA isn’t allowed to include by default per the NCAA’s licensing agreement.

“NCAA” typically shines brightest when it devises new ways to differentiate itself from the pro game. This year, the focus is on the home crowd, whose influence can reenergize the home team and rattle visiting players. It’s a small tweak, but anyone who has ever sat in the stands of a packed house on Saturday will appreciate its contribution to a game already saturated with atmosphere.

Seasoned players will spot gameplay alterations others do not, but everybody who played last year’s game should notice in no time that issues with excessive turnovers have been resolved. A new suite of tackling and rushing animations makes the battle between ballcarrier and defender that much more nuanced for those with quick fingers. Other nice touches include the ability to call bluff plays and do more than just stop the clock when calling a timeout. (About time.)

That said, “09″ isn’t free of glitches and hang-ups relating to rosters and the game’s ability to simulate games realistically, though the degree to which these problems bother you will certainly vary. (Casual players may not even notice.) EA is readying a patch for distribution any day now, so time will tell how significant a role these issues play over the game’s lifespan. Unfortunately, “09’s” biggest hang-up — the occasional complete inability for defensive backs to catch up to receivers when pursuing at certain angles — likely will persist the way turnover problems did last year.

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Elefunk
For: Playstation 3 via Playstation Network
From: 8bit Games/Sony
ESRB Rating: Everyone (comic mischief)
Price: $5

Sony’s Playstation Network isn’t as prolific as Xbox Live Arcade when it comes to churning out games, but as long as it continues to produce sleeper gems like “Elefunk” at a price like $5, it doesn’t need to be. “Elefunk” nicely apes the bridge-building subset of the puzzle game genre. As with other, like-minded names, the goal is to use the available pieces to construct a capable bridge, which in this case allows our elephant (and monkey) heroes to cross chasms. The story explaining this, though thin, is cleverly presented, and “Elefunk” does the genre proud in terms of graphics, control, physics and user-friendliness. Most importantly, the game requires brains. Though “Elefunk” runs only 20 levels deep, they’re diverse and legitimately challenging enough to keep most players engaged much longer than the numbers might assume. Trial and error and good games rarely go well together, but “Elefunk’s” hands-off encouragement of experimentation and persistence produces rewarding results. Leaderboards and a time attack variation are available for players who master the core game, and a two-player local/online multiplayer mode — basically Jenga with “Elefunk” pieces — provides a nice, casual departure from the rest of the package.

21 (PG-13, 2008, Sony Pictures)
As movies go, “21″ is a respectably entertaining semi-thriller about a pack of brilliant college students (Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Aaron Yoo and Jacob Pitts, Aaron Yoo) and the professor (Kevin Spacey) who assembles them, teaches them to count cards, and turns them into a human profit machine at Las Vegas’ blackjack tables. Problem is, this respectably entertaining film is based on an extremely entertaining book (Ben Mezrich’s “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions”), which itself is a work of non-fiction. Why the crew charged with bringing “House” to the big screen felt an obligation to completely rearrange and dramatize the story is anybody’s guess, but it did. As such, fascinating chapters about the science of legal cheating and the business of profiting at Vegas’ expense never materialize on screen, scrapped in favor of contrived character conflicts ripped wholesale from the playbook of dramatic clichés. Again, the ultimate product is decent. But decent thrillers are everywhere, stories the likes of “House” are not, and “21″ trips over its own feet on what should have been a very easy journey to becoming something far more special than it became.
Extras: Filmmaker commentary, card counting primer, two behind-the-scenes features.

Boston Strangler: The Untold Story (R, 2008, Weinstein Company)
Did Albert De Salvo (played here by David Faustino) really commit the murders of 13 women by himself? His confession says yes, but the evidence and circumstances of the case left serious doubt that it was his or even any one man’s doing. According to “Boston Strangler: The Untold Story,” De Salvo was merely a willing prop, along with cellmate Frank Asarian (Kostas Sommer), in a scheme to take credit for the murders in a way that would net their families the reward money and allow them to spend their days in state-run rehabilitation centers. Purely in entertainment terms, “Story” competently coasts by, giving the bulk of its runtime to its best-developed assets (Faustino and Sommer) and, outside of some clumsy decisions involving chronology and pace, moving the story along without excessive detour into soul-searching or other wasteful devices. But real life and history work against the film by not only spoiling the ending, but holding it to a certain standard of credibility and honor not necessarily met given the shaky claims. The influx of hammy Boston accents injects some fun into the film, but “Strangler” often challenges you to take it seriously for the same reason. Well-intentioned or not, the film often plays like pulp fiction instead of the history-altering game-changer the filmmakers (or at least the back of the box) seem to think it is.
Extra: Filmmakers/Faustino commentary.

Manswers: The Best of Season One (NR, 2007, Spike)
Chocolate and peanut butter, this most assuredly is not. The object of “Manswers” is to answer the burning questions meatheads everywhere are afraid to ask. What’s the best organ to eat if you become a cannibal? How do you survive freefalling elevator ride? How can you build a hot tub for a few bucks? What’s more valuable than gold and lurking in oceans everywhere? What’s the most dangerous wild animal in the country, and can the fabled touch of death really kill you? With exceptions, the questions chosen for this best-of set are scientifically fascinating at best and good for some lowbrow trivia at worst, and “Manswers” trots out some presumably legitimate academics and experts to back up its findings. But that reasoned research is presented to viewers in the only manner Spike TV understands: with lots of noise, a narrator with no indoor voice and ditzy girls in skimpy outfits just for the sake of it. The clash between the forces of intellect and unbridled stupidity is so fierce and acute, it’s a wonder a tiny tornado doesn’t emerge from the DVD tray and wreak havoc on all who witness it. But the bizarre juxtaposition also is what makes “Manswers” a surprisingly enjoyable guilty pleasure in spite of itself. Just don’t feel obligated to pay for it: Even if the segments were worth a repeat viewing, most of them are freely available to watch in full on Spike’s Web site. Oops. No extras.

LA Ink: Volume 1 (NR, 2007, TLC)
For those who looked at “Inked” and “Miami Ink” and screamed, “I need more!” at the top of their lungs, here you go — yet another tattoo parlor reality show. Admittedly, the back-story behind “LA Ink” is somewhat interesting: The face of the show, Katherine von Drachenberg, originally appeared on “Miami Ink” before a falling out left her jobless and on the road back to her hometown. But outside of a few introductory paragraphs this doesn’t factor much into the show’s storytelling, and beyond that point, it’s more of the same stuff that fueled the other two shows. Like its peers, “LA Ink” tries to squeeze drama where there really shouldn’t be any (This just in: Constructing a tattoo parlor doesn’t happen overnight!), and some of the interactions between the four artists feel puzzlingly rehearsed given what should be a pretty intimate setting. As with the other two shows, the most (only?) interesting ingredient of “LA Ink” is the non-celebrity customers who come into the shop to get work done. They are the ones to whom we can relate, and their stories often are genuinely engaging enough to unintentionally make the faux-drama of the shop look silly by comparison. Still, even this trail has been blazed to death at this point. Until a show decides to reconfigure the formula, only those with an unusually insatiable appetite for this formula need apply at this point.
Contents: 13 episodes, plus a cast interview and some temporary tattoos.

The Last Winter (NR, 2007, IFC Films)
A team of oil scouts (Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford and Kevin Corrigan, among others) has descended on Northern Alaska in hopes of drilling and saving Americans a few pennies at the pump, but did anyone ask the spirits lurking beneath the surface what they think of all this? Seems not, which is why our crew suddenly finds itself with a much tougher job than drilling in sub-zero temperatures already entails. Scary, right? Sure — if 101 minutes of dulled thrills and lukewarm character drama is what keeps you up at night. “The Last Winter” is proficiently in tune with its setting, and it certainly doesn’t struggle to convey the sense of desolation that comes from working in an area so demonstrably unfit for human habitation. But one can channel that sense of atmosphere, almost verbatim, into any genre up to and including comedy, and if “Winter” was counting on atmosphere alone to keep people on seat’s edge, it badly miscalculated. The film’s few thrills aren’t terribly thrilling, the vibe more neutered than nuanced, the characters too stock to make the consequences of their actions too terribly engrossing, and the wait for something truly frightening to emerge extends all the way past the closing credits. Worse, “Winter” wears an entirely unsubtle message — rhymes with “woble glorming” — on its sleeve, and regardless of one’s stance on that issue, it’s a distraction that undermines all that attempted immersion. Considering the final reveal is something even Al Gore might find a bit ridiculous, it’s a sermon not worth enduring.
Extras: Writer/director commentary, feature-length making-of documentary.

Worth a mention
— “Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse: Uncensored” (NR, 2000, Comedy Central): Robert Smigel’s too-short-lived series, featuring Triumph-like puppets (including Triumph) and cartoons too hot for “Saturday Night Live,” finally comes to DVD. It’s only a shame that, at eight episodes, the offering is so meager. Extras include audio and video commentaries, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage.
— “André Téchiné: 4-Film Collector’s Edition” (NR, 1981-94, Lions Gate): In case you’re hungry for more sophisticated and possibly educational fare, this sleek four-film collection, packaged in the same fashion as the previously-released Jean-Luc Godard set, provides a wonderful introduction to a director you may not know. All four films (”Hotel America,” “I Don’t Kiss,” “My Favorite Season” and “Wild Reeds”) are in French with English subtitles. No extras.
— “Transformers: Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection” (NR, 2005, Hasbro/Paramount): “Transformers: Cybertron” inspired a polarizing reaction from Transformers fans when it originally aired on television three years ago, and there’s no reason to figure the arrival of this seven-disc set won’t do the same. For those who care, all 52 episodes are here. No extras.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
For: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii
From: Neversoft/RedOctane/Activision
ESRB Rating: Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes)

The irony of a “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” review? If you’re interested enough in the game to read it, it probably is of little value to you. That’s because “Aerosmith” isn’t so much a new game as an old cake with different icing, its value as a purchase entirely dependent on whether those new frills hold any of your interest.

Obviously, the chief selling point of “Aerosmith” (sold separately or bundled with a band-branded guitar peripheral) is Aerosmith. The band appears as characters in the game, and the career mode — though structured the same as before — now takes you through venues and time periods crucial to their career. Perhaps most importantly, “Aerosmith” includes 25 master tracks of selected songs from the Aerosmith catalog, along with 16 tracks from Joe Perry and artists (New York Dolls, The Cult, Joan Jett and Stone Temple Pilot, among others) chosen by the band for one reason or another.

That ratio, along with the relatively small size of the set list (”Guitar Hero III,” by contrast, included 73 songs for the same price), is what likely will rattle gamers the most.

The inclusion of other artists makes sense, because Activision would prefer to sell “Aerosmith” to more than just Aerosmith fans, but it also runs counter to the game’s chief selling point. Casual Aerosmith fans may feel the track list suits them just fine, but a full-priced game that owes its entire reason for being to an Aerosmith-themed facelift shouldn’t be for casual fans. Inevitably, the hardcore will wonder why an Aerosmith-branded game made room for a bunch of peripheral songs instead of, say, “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “Eat the Rich” or any number of the band’s hit ballads.

“Aerosmith’s” inability to stay true to its mission trickles down to the career mode. Playing as the band and working up to the stadium and Super Bowl Halftime Show (sans ‘N Sync, thankfully) will be a treat for fans, but some of the authenticity is lost when songs from different eras are mixed in with each other with no respect to chronology.

Beyond that, the game plays as one would expect, though the stiff difficulty found in “GH3″ has leveled noticeably. Downloadable tracks from the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of “GH3″ won’t work on “Aerosmith,” so if you’ve purchased a bunch of those and want to keep using them, that’s no small consideration if you’re on the fence about this one.

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Unreal Tournament III
For: Xbox 360
From: Epic/Midway
ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language)

Here’s a funny question: Is the Xbox 360 version of “Unreal Tournament III” a better single-player game than a multiplayer one?

The answer, believe it or not, is maybe.

No discussion of “UT3’s” tardy debut on the 360 is complete without mentioning what it, by no fault of its own, lacks. Xbox Live’s closed architecture forbids the sharing of user-created characters and levels, which was one of the chief selling points behind the PC the Playstation 3 versions. The 360 also doesn’t allow the use of a mouse and keyboard for gameplay, which (again) both other versions allow.

There’s also no telling whether gamers are interested in flocking to “UT3″ seven months after it debuted on other hardware, which in turn makes it questionable whether the game can accrue a community of dedicated players. “UT3’s” best modes online center around objective-driven and teamwork-oriented gameplay, and the smaller the pool of players, the harder it will be to find a group that plays selflessly and as a team.

As such, and regardless of Epic’s intentions, you might find a better game offline against a bunch of bots than you will online against humans. (In all fairness, “UT3″ plays perfectly over Live, with no noticeable bouts of lag or framerate dropping.)

Don’t misinterpret as a knock against the game. To the contrary, it’s a statement about how polished the thing really is in spite of its challenging circumstances.

“UT3? doesn’t reinvent so much as tweak the “Unreal Tournament” formula, which consists almost exclusively of high-speed, arena-style, first-person shooter matches with a heavy emphasis on reflexes over tactics. The guns are nice and unique (if prone to imbalance), the vehicles and hoverboards a joy to control, the maps satisfactorily diverse in terms of size and geometry.

Most importantly, the mechanics are suited perfectly to the platform. Epic slowed the action down just a touch to accommodate the reflex disadvantage that comes with using a control pad instead of a mouse and keyboard, and it strikes a perfect balance that keeps “UT3″ faster than other shooters while also keeping it manageable with a little adjustment.

This level of polish trickles all the way down to the game’s artificial intelligence, which is shockingly good and perfectly tuned to the game’s respectively difficulty settings. “UT3’s” campaign mode is no great shakes in terms of storytelling, but it’s pretty meaty in terms of content, and the enemies you face are surprisingly human in how they advance and react. Though A.I. matches can’t match the excitement level of a free-for-all against friends, it does make a surprisingly good substitute if no such option is available.

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Downloadable Game of the Week

Schizoid
For: Xbox 360 Live Arcade
From: Torpex Games/Microsoft
ESRB Rating: Everyone (mild fantasy violence)
Price: $10

“Schizoid” is, by it’s own definition, “the most co-op game ever.” While the superlative is arguable, the game has a point: You don’t want to play this one alone. In “Schizoid,” you control either a blue or orange ship, and the goal is to fly around the screen and crash into enemies of the same color while avoiding enemies of the opposite color. As you might have guessed, your opposite-colored ally has to do the opposite, and clearing the screen is how you advance through the game’s 120 levels. “Schizoid” does some cool tricks with polarity to inject strategy into what otherwise might have been just another mindless arcade romp, and the game is quite fun if you team up with a friend over Xbox Live (or, even better, on the same couch). Just don’t expect the same level of fun if you’re playing alone: “Schizoid’s” co-op A.I. is respectable but prone to failure, and the Uberschizoid mode, which lets you control both ships at once, is far too maddeningly difficult for all but the most inhumanly gifted players.

The Year my Parents Went on Vacation (PG, 2006, City Lights)
It’s 1970, Brazil’s freedoms are crumbling to military might, and Bia (Simone Spoladore) and Daniel (Eduardo Moreira) have decided to leave their 12-year-old son Mauro (Michel Joelsas) with his grandpa while they “go on vacation” and flee the country. Unfortunately, in their rush to run for the border, neither parent bothered to check that grandpa was home — or, for that matter, alive. Now, with political turmoil erupting around him but with him too consumed with Brazil’s World Cup chances and his newfound (and unwanted) independence to understand or care, Mauro has to find a way to contend with loneliness, the strange neighbor (Germano Haiut) who takes him under his wing and a diverse community of people who are fascinated by his unexpected arrival. “The Year my Parents Went on Vacation” has all the makings of a cute coming-of-age film — which, happily, it is not. Rather, it strikes an amazingly disciplined balance between Mauro’s rather innocently mischievous perspective and the nothing-innocent-about-it state of affairs that surrounds him. There are moments of quirkiness, sadness, humor, seriousness and warmth. But no one thing dominates the others, and “Vacation’s” smart, nuanced and disarmingly affecting story never lets the film’s seams show. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Extras: Interviews, behind-the-scenes feature.

The Bank Job: 2-Disc Special Edition (R, 2008, Lions Gate)
Every band of small-time crooks should be so lucky as Terry Leather (Jason Statham) and his crew, who learn from a little birdie that a bank’s security system will be temporarily disabled at a given time. Unfortunately, the crooks don’t know the real reason why this is happening or who — in this case, government agents looking to snuff out some potentially devastating blackmail — is behind it all. Fortunately, dear viewer, you do — and that’s what makes “The Bank Job” so much fun. The small-time heist is both exciting and surprisingly funny, the big-time heist is enjoyably devious (and, in one case, excruciatingly vicious to the eye), and watching the whole thing slowly collide over 110 minutes is fun in spite of all the inevitability, because you just know it’s going to get uglier before it gets pretty. Statham gets a chance to show his range and takes full advantage of the opportunity, and “Job’s” supporting cast (Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Peter De Jersey, Daniel Mays and David Suchet, among others) is loaded with good characters whose stories sneak up on you while the main plot barrels forward. “Job” doesn’t break ground or take any brave chances with its genre, but it combines humor, lust, action, danger and a little terror in all the right ways. As breezy summertime entertainment goes, this will do just fine.
Extras: Crew commentary, deleted/extended scenes (with commentary), two behind-the-scenes features, digital copy.

Never Forever (R, 2007, Hart Sharp)
Try though they have, Sophie (Vera Farmiga) and Andrew (David Lee McInnis) cannot seem to conceive a child. But a chance encounter at a fertility clinic with a down-on-his-luck immigrant (Jung-woo Ha) — who, like her husband, is Korean — leads to an arrangement: She pays him a flat fee per “encounter,” and a considerably higher amount once he impregnates her. What could go wrong there? You know, besides everything? “Never Forever” is, simply as a matter of course, at least partially predictable: You know something is going to go awry here, because there would be no need for a movie if Sophie’s plan resulted in nothing but 90 minutes of smooth sailing. Fortunately, as it needs to, “Forever” isn’t entirely reliant on the basics of its narrative. Far and away, the film places a premium on the development of its three lead characters, and it does that more by showing than telling. That leads to some arguably hammy moments that lend an air of soapiness to the production. But “Forever” never lets that excess get out of hand, and its ability to restrain but never entangle that intensity gives those inevitable turns a much greater sense of impact than a safer movie might have left.
Extras: Two behind-the-scenes features, photo gallery.

Saving Grace: Season One (NR, 2007, Fox)
You may, upon watching the first couple episodes of “Saving Grace,” wish to watch them again before moving forward (or, perhaps, giving up). That’s because “Grace” — which primarily is about a hard-living detective (Holly Hunter as Grace Hanadarko) who drunkenly stumbles into the arms of a guardian angel (Leon Rippy) in whom she doesn’t even believe — is about a lot more than that simple description implies. There’s the married fellow cop (Kenny Johnson) with whom she has a damaged affair. There’s the religious but bitter forensics specialist (Laura San Giacomo) who can’t decide if she’s more fascinated by or jealous of Grace’s discovery. Oh, and have you met the guy on death row (Bokeem Woodbine) whom Grace sees in dreams and random visions while he does the same with her? All that and more awaits during any given hour, and only after a few episodes does “Grace” — which also has to cram some police work into the plotline — start to settle down and find itself. For your patience, the reward is high: “Grace” delivers not only one of the strangest assemblages of characters on television today, but a slew of well-written scripts that unleash a fascinating, entertaining and surprisingly balanced exchange of ideas about spirituality, faith (or lack thereof) and what makes a soul tick when all else fails. Bailey Chase, Gregory Cruz, Dylan Minnette and Mark L. Taylor also star.
Contents: 13 episodes, plus commentary, five behind-the-scenes features, music video and a rapid recap.

Meet Bill (R, 2007, First Look)
Hey, look, it’s Bill (Aaron Eckhart)! He’s just this guy who works in his father-in-law’s bank, is married to a wife (Elizabeth Banks) who seems more interested in someone else (Timothy Olyphant), and has sprouted a beer gut that, like so many other things, has caught him fully off guard. Why a local high schooler (Logan Lerman) wants him as a mentor is anybody’s guess, especially when the student seems more put together than the teacher. Like its title character, “Meet Bill” wants to be something it can’t quite be — in this case, a slightly kinder, slightly gentler but equally resonant interpretation of the middle-age wake-up call so perfectly captured in “American Beauty.” But while it has the pieces it needs and shows a ton of promise in the early going, “Bill” doesn’t quite know what to do once the ball really starts to roll. It flirts with dark comedy, but loses either its subtlety or its nerve and settles for something trite and cute instead. Then it tries again, only to fail again, and the cycle creates a mess of a movie that bounces so erratically between ideas that it barely goes anywhere by story’s end. Ultimately, and unfortunately, Bill’s movie seems just as confused about its self-identity as Bill is about his. That might make for good entertainment were our world as trite as his appears to be, but that isn’t remotely the case. Jessica Alba, Reed Diamond and Todd Louiso also star. No extras.

Steel Trap (R, 2007, Dimension Extreme)
It’s not clear, nor ever satisfactorily explained, why a group of successful but miserable media types decided to spend New Year’s Eve in each other’s hateful company. But they did, the party is a drag as expected, and when a handful of the guests receive a cryptic invitation to an even more exclusive party on another floor in the same building, each accepts without hesistation. And so kicks off one crazy person’s impossibly efficient plan to kill off seven entirely obnoxious people in all manner of cleverly torturous ways. Does “Steel Trap” sound a little familiar? Like, say, roughly 100 other generic horror films that have clogged the straight-to-DVD marketplace in the last few years? Guess what: That’s all it is. “Trap’s” entire reason for being is to draw blood. It certainly isn’t to endear us to the horrible cast, which spends the entire 93 minutes provoking each other with wince-worthy dialogue straight out of a high school short story assignment. Nor is it to dazzle us with a good endgame: The twist at the end is, in addition to insultingly illogical, boring. “Trap” relentlessly dares you to dislike it, and you should honor its wish and do so. Just save your money and do it from afar.
Extras: Director/Writer commentary, behind-the-scenes feature, photo gallery.