What the crap? Has it really been a year already? 2008 is going to be a great year and, no, it's not because we're finally going to lose that extra 10 pounds that we've been trying to lose since New Year's of '94. That gut isn't going anywhere, so just sit back and let it hang. 2008 is going to be a great year because, even with all the crap that happened in 2007 with the Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" problems, the poor PS3 sales, and the ridiculous Wii shortages, it was undoubtedly one of the best years the game industry has ever seen. Now that things have calmed down a bit with the Big Three, there is every reason in the world why the game industry should do even better in '08. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of our "Press Start" column, I have selected a variety of titles to take a look at this month, all of which have come out fighting. 2007, although great, has shown that the game industry is stuck in a few ruts. Maybe this year we'll see American developers create some great original game concepts, instead of settling for the constant barrage of army first-person shooters. Maybe we'll see some Japanese developers create some titles with a story that doesn't fall into the typical "anime" formula. Rest assured that none of these games are like that. I invite you to kick back and check out the face-rocking games we've got in this month's triumphant edition of "Press Start!"

Are you man enough to play Unreal Tournament III?

Unreal Tournament III for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360; Publisher: Midway Games; Developer: Epic Games; Release Date: November 19, 2007; ESRB Rating: M for Mature; Genre: first-person shooter; Players: 1-32; Support: N/A; Online: matches and co-op campaign

Rampage
Bring on the pain! Another manly game designed to be played by manly men has hit store shelves! But not just any manly game; this is Unreal Tournament III. The Unreal series can be credited as the inspiration for every manly game that has ever been released. The last true Unreal installment we saw was Unreal Tournament 2004 which came out in... 2004 (I think). Other spin-offs, such as the successful Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, were fully welcomed, and now the tried-and-true core franchise is back for another fragfest.

Anyone who is familiar with Unreal knows that, if anything, the series definitely lives up to its name. UT3 is a very fast-paced first-person shooter with unreal, sci-fi weapons like the crystal shard stinger minigun, the shock rifle, and, everyone's favorite, the tri-rocket launcher. As in Gears of War, UT3 gives you the option of playing through the campaign mode by yourself or co-operatively with a friend. The story follows a team of mercenaries called the Ronin, who are looking to avenge the deaths of their clansmen.

Unstoppable
The meat and potatoes of Unreal is the gameplay; every weapon has a primary and secondary fire and both can be used strategically in UT3. For example, the flak cannon's primary fire is a spray of small flak shells that do little damage, but have a wide range, while the secondary fire is one big ball of flak that does huge damage, but requires you to be way more accurate to nail your target. Another manly new addition to the series is the ability to feign death. Doing this makes your character collapse in a heap, which adds a new level of strategy to the mix. Say someone is on your tail, mowing you down with a minigun; before he can take you out completely, you can feign death to trick him into thinking he killed you. As he passes by you to find someone else to kill, you can jump back up and plant a nice happy rocket into the back of his skull.

The graphics in UT3 are gorgeous, with incredible-looking levels and characters who move at a surprisingly outstanding frame-rate without requiring that much PC hardware. Courtesy of Midway Games.

There are various modes in UT3, such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, warfare, and a couple new ones like vehicle capture the flag and duel. Vehicle capture the flag is the same as the original capture the flag, except (this is a no-brainer) you get to use vehicles. Duel lets two players play a one-on-one deathmatch. Players can also customize their character by choosing their character's species, team and appearance. The custom character options are limited at first, but more options are unlocked as you play through the campaign. Speaking of customization, exclusive to the PC version of UT3 is the classic UT editor tool, where players can use the 3D software to create custom players, vehicles, items, weapons and just about anything else. If you are lucky enough to have picked up the collector's edition, it includes a DVD with tutorials on how to create your own content.