After a week of gritty flamethrower-wielding war-crimes in Call of Duty: World at War it’s been quite a relief to get to grips with some light, fantasy content in the form of Hellboy II: The Golden Army on Blu-ray and Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels for the Wii, neither of which ask you to incinerate prisoners of war.
Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels ties in heavily to the recent animated TV series and is a standard beat-em-up game set in the animated Star Wars universe. This, of course, means hitting people with lightsabers and hurling around bits of scenery using only the power of your mind and a button on the Wiimote. Character design is beautiful, the graphics are good and the sound effects are as effective here as they are in the movies. Sadly, the game itself is rather shallow-a bit of wrist waggling, a cut scene, and repeat, but as party game for kids or casual players, it will do nicely. You can visit The Leisure Lab to watch a full Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels review.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, on the other hand, has more to recommend it. The sardonic red demon is back, he’s battling angry fairies and clockwork men, and he’s still got very little chemistry with his co-stars. But who cares? Hellboy II is about spectacular visuals and great sound, and it offers plenty of both. There’s a gorgeous lo-fi animated opening, an incredible market scene that shows off an amazing array of imaginative character designs, and a steampunk army doing battle in crisp high-def. If all that weren’t enough, the sound design is equally imaginative-the sound of a thousand tiny dentist drills in 7.1 DTS HD Master will have nervous viewers shifting in their seats. You can watch a full Hellboy II review on The Leisure Lab.