The Games
The following is a select list of the games available in OnLive, in addition to the three we described on page one: NBA 2K10, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Borderlands. The company is always working on new titles to add to the service (you can select “Coming Soon” from the main screen to view the list), so keep in mind that the following is a sample of what was available in June 2010.
- Assassin’s Creed II: Desmond Miles has returned to once more relive his ancestors’ memories and collect artifacts for Abstergo Industries, a front for the Knights Templar. He’s forced to do so against his will, and this time he visits 15th century Italy, where he uses his stealth skills to sneak past guards, blend into crowds, and more. The game’s nearly 200 missions follow a sprawling narrative that includes guest appearances by Niccolo Machiavelli, Pope Alexander VI, and a young Leonardo da Vinci, whose famous flying machine aids you at one point.
- Madballs in Babo: Invasion: Based on the 80s toys with such names as Oculus Orbus and Skull Face, this game challenges you to choose your Madball wisely and use its unique abilities in team-versus-team, one-on-one, or co-op combat. There are over 21 arenas and more than 20 weapons to choose from.
- Colin McRae: DiRT 2: Like to race? Then you’ll have your hands full with the latest entry in the series bearing the name of one of rally racing’s most famous drivers. Travel the world and compete in races set in jungles, canyons, city streets, and other locales. Choose from eight gameplay modes:
- - Rally, where you race against the clock with a co-driver who helps you navigate the course
- - Rallycross, in which eight drivers compete in multiple events on various types of tracks
- - Trailblazer, a type of racing similar to hill climbs, which are all uphill; trailblazer courses don’t have to increase in elevation, however
- - Raid, in which up to eight heavyweight vehicles compete
- - Landrush, which is similar to a raid, but takes place on a circuit
- - Gatecrasher, a type of rally race in which drivers smash yellow barriers and add time to the clock; the player who finishes with the most time left wins
- - Domination, where drivers compete for the lowest time in any specific sector of a landrush or rallycross track
- - Last Man Standing, an elimination race in which the last-place car is eliminated every 20 seconds
- Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands: Picking up seven years after Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones left off, The Forgotten Sands opens with the Prince on a trip to find his brother, Malik, and learn about leadership from him. The Prince finds Malik’s kingdom under attack, however, and soon his latest adventure begins. As before, the Prince can rewind time to undo mistakes, and now he has access to elemental powers that unleash the forces of fire, ice, wind, and earth.
- F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) 2: Project Origin: This elite squad of soldiers is back to fight more supernatural threats. An evil psychic power lingers in the city of Fairport, and Sgt. Michael Becket and his squad arrive to deal with not only that but also the uncertain allegiances of Point Man, the first game’s mysterious protagonist who has a personal connection with evildoer Alma Wade.
- Red Faction: Guerilla: The third installment in this science-fiction series takes place on Mars in the year 2120. You are Alec Mason, whose brother Dan is a member of the Red Faction, which resists the Earth Defense Force’s (EDF) exploitation of Martian miners. After Dan’s death, Alec becomes a reluctant member of the cause and helps them drive the EDF from six areas of Mars’ terraformed surface.
- Just Cause 2: This time, agent Rico Rodriguez is sent to Panau, a southeast Asian island nation run by a dictator, Baby Panay. Rodriguez needs to not only remove Panay from power but also find Tom Sheldon, a fellow agent who is feared to have switched sides during a previous mission. Just Cause 2 features an open game world in which you must figure out how to obtain weapons and vehicles — and then upgrade them — by interacting with computer-controlled characters. There are plenty of side stories to follow.
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction: The latest entry in this popular series of stealth games finds hero Sam Fisher and two fellow agents sent to Russia to stop rogue elements within the Russian military from selling warheads on the black market. However, that’s merely the prologue for a much bigger storyline that eventually involves the President of the United States. New features include Mark & Execute, which lets you designate specific targets to shoot when they come through a door or window, and Last Known Position, which creates a silhouette where a guard thinks Sam is, allowing you to flank him.
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4: Everyone’s favorite building blocks have brought Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones to life in a unique way, so why not a famous wizard-in-training and his friends? The storyline covers the first four books and movies in the Harry Potter saga, as Harry arrives at Hogwarts and meets Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and other characters. You’ll learn how to mix potions and cast spells, and as in other Lego games, each character has strengths and weaknesses, so you’ll need to switch between them to solve puzzles.
- World of Goo: This unique physics-based puzzle game challenges you to create structures, such as bridges and towers, out of sentient Goo Balls, which come in a variety of types with unique properties. The goal is to get a certain number of Goo Balls to the exit in each level. Cut scenes between levels move the quirky story along.