Category Archives: PlayStation 3

Action, Platformer, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (Review)

October 28, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 2 Comments

Co-op multiplayer Ratchet & Clank. The series has been consistently fantastic without it, but we’re always keen to watch a great game grow. But with co-op, we knew there would be concessions to the game we know and love. Would this sour the overall experience though? In short: no, this is still a great Ratchet game, even as a single-player experience.

If you’d prefer to play through the game alone (also the best way to build up your arsenal), just choose a character and get going. With Ratchet, Clank, Captain Quark and Dr. Nefarious all working together against a common enemy, you can choose to play as any of the four. An AI partner follows you around to help in gunfights and co-op tasks if you’re flying solo. Co-op partners, either local or online can drop in or drop out at any time, which allows you to progress through the game as you choose.

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Action, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Batman: Arkham City (Review)

October 24, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 6 Comments

After the chaotic events of Arkham Asylum, only the corrupt world of Gotham City would let the madhouse’s warden become mayor and allow him to hire Dr. Strange to cordon off a whole section of the city for a new asylum/prison. Dr. Strange being the head-case he is, it isn’t long before innocent civilians find themselves locked up without warning or trial. Soon enough, we’re walking Batman himself through the prison gates too, albeit as Bruce Wayne.

It’s going to be another long night for the Batman. Arkham City takes on an open-world approach with various missions available around the city map. It’s clear that films like Escape from New York have heavily influenced the landscape. Electricity is limited and streets are littered with trash, barricades, burnt out cars and mobs of angry thugs. Famous in-mates like Two-Face, Penguin and Joker all have their own areas and gang members. Despite the place being a shit-hole, they’re still all having a massive turf war.

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Arcade Shooter, Platformer, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Reviews

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Review

October 23, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

Why did the chicken cross the road? To take on an army of totalitarian penguins in a cool action puzzle platformer. Browser game fans may recognise the game, as it’s an extended version of Rocketbirds: Revolution.

The cartoony character art style set against the wartime background of the sinister penguin forces oozes style. Cutscenes play out a straightforward story of redemption and revenge with some surprisingly dark moments amongst the genuinely funny parts that themselves will raise plenty of wry smirks. Psychedelic rock band, New World Revolution, provide the soundtrack to the cutscenes, and while you won’t be rushing off to buy their album, their sombre tones suite the game well.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, PSN (PlayStation Store)

Uncharted 3: Multiplayer’s New Maps (Hands-on Preview)

October 18, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

This was new a sample of some new multiplayer playgrounds, unfamiliar even to players of the recent beta, with some local matches over a LAN connection bringing Manchester PlayStation Access attendees together before encouraging them to pull each other off ledges.

Uncharted 2 surprised everyone by making a fine first effort with the multiplayer and U3 looks set to surpass it easily with its dosage of cinematic sequences and power plays where a team is given a temporary stat boost. Today we played around on a few maps new maps with team deathmatches being the game of choice. One map was set in a desert village, similar to that seen in the recent single-player footage. There were lots of close alleys with corners and walls to hide behind, making for a fast-paced match where itchy trigger fingers and sharp melee skills proved most lethal. The climbing was brilliant here too as it can be used to perform grab kills to pull opponents over a ledge. It’s uber-slick and will probably cost us many lives in the pursuit of enjoyment over a decent kill/death ratio, as it does leave you vulnerable to being swatting off the wall in a hail of gunfire.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360

Goldeneye: Reloaded (Latest Hands-on Preview)

October 11, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 1 Comment

It would be a shame if this gets lost in the Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 storm, as it’s a hell of a lot of fun. It might just be the perfect tonic to military shooter fatigue.

The aiming still feels a little loose, as I noted with my Gamescom preview, but the game plays quite well forgoing iron-sight aiming and just blasting through. There is a large amount of auto-aim when you pull up your sights and watch as they pull across the screen to the nearest enemy. As with most titles though I’m sure you’ll be able to tone down the sensitivity and turn off any auto-aim functions so you can maintain control.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (Hands-On Preview)

October 9, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 8 Comments

For years, the Ratchet & Clank series has been crying out for co-op and from what I’ve played so far, it was a great call for Insomniac Games to finally run with it before they put all their efforts into the multi-format Overstrike. After playing the beta recently, I was worried about a few bugs that required a game reset, but I’m happy to report they were nowhere to be seen with this latest build of the game that took place in the same levels.

Ignoring the usual heroes, Ratchet and Clank, we opted to play an offline two-player game as the showboating Captain Quark and the er nefarious Dr. Nefarious, the two characters that have provided some great laughs over the years. Players will find the action very similar to the older games with every character having shooting and melee skills, complete with their own version of Ratchet’s Comet Strike, where they throw their weapon, only to have it boomerang back to them, which is great for smaller enemies and crates.

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News, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move

PlayStation Access Event Hits Manchester This Weekend

October 7, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 2 Comments

Live near Manchester? Want to play some awesome PS3 games before they hit the shops? Of course you do. So you’ll need to get down to the PlayStation Access event in Manchester this weekend.

I went along last night and enjoyed playing the likes of Uncharted 3, Goldeneye: Reloaded, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Starhawk, Tekken Hybrid and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. There are a few recent releases to try too, like Resistance 3, Dark Souls, Ico HD and FIFA 12. There’s a new 3D visor-headset to try out too along with a few games hooked up with a Move SharpShooter attachment.

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Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Puzzle, Reviews, XBLA, Xbox 360

Mercury Hg (Review)

October 5, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 1 Comment

Early PSP adopters may remember Mercury, but for everyone else, it’s time to play the definitive version, Mercury Hg. Put your red pens down the Hg is the Periodic Table of Elements name for Mercury. But yes, it’s essentially Mercury HD.

The game involves tilting the platform worlds around to roll a ball of liquid mercury around until you get it to the exit. If you get too close to the edge you’ll start to drip over the sides, depleting your life bar and size. An audio cue will let you know that you’ve been sloppy, so you don’t need to let your eyes wonder to the health metre when navigating a tricky part. Pushing Select will give you an instant restart if you’re on a mission for perfection.

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Features, Hands-on previews, PlayStation 3, Previews, PS Vita, Xbox 360

Eurogamer Expo: The Good, The Bad & The Contenders

September 30, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 1 Comment

Here’s a roundup of some of the games I managed to get some extensive hands-on time with at the recent Eurogamer Expo in London. As well as highlighting what was looking good, I’ve pointed out a few that you should definitely beware of before you splash the cash. The Contender category consists of a few games that you might usually overlook due to past form or generic looks, but have a read; you might just change your mind.

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Action, Platformer, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection (Review)

September 29, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

This collection was one of the first of the HD re-releases to be announced and since then we’ve had many more come and go. With the long development time, you’d expect perfect conversions, with little need for rose-tinted glasses to help you get through it. So let’s take a look.

For many gamers, this will be their first taste of these games, and after going back to check the PS2 versions you can see there are clear improvements thanks to the high-definition remodelling. There are also a few downsides, but more on those later.

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Hands-on previews, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360

Road Testing The Racers At The Eurogamer Expo

September 26, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 4 Comments

Unlike Skyrim (“get off, I’ve just levelled up!”), racing games are perfect for expos. The queues are never that long and you can have a quick blast on a couple of tracks, test out a few new cars and get an idea of how they’re shaping up. So here’s a look at some of the biggest racing games lining up on the console grid.

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Features, Interviews, News, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Video, Xbox 360

The Voice of Uncharted: A Nolan North Interview (Video)

September 24, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 4 Comments

After attending a recent developer session at a games expo event, I was invited to a behind closed doors interview session with Nolan North, the talented voice actor behind Nathan Drake of the Uncharted series. During the interview he spoke about how he became a voice actor and about his roles in other games such as the Penguin in Batman: Arkham City and as Desmond in Assassin’s Creed.

Click through to watch the extensive video interview.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Hands-On Preview)

September 23, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 1 Comment

Regretting not finishing Final Fantasy XIII? Well that probably depends on whether you managed to forgive the linearity and heavily automated combat to push on and finish, or on how adept you are at finding HD cutscene compilations on torrent sites to enjoy what was a cracking story along with some generation-leading CGI.

Either way you better get cracking because there’s every chance that you’ll want to return to Cocoon and Gran Pulse next year with this sequel. Don’t worry about your FFX-2 flashbacks; no Dresspheres have been sighted, yet.

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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

God of War Collection Volume II (Review)

September 17, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

If you thought the PSP wasn’t capable of hosting spectacular action games then you’d be very wrong, as Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta are a fine pair of beasts. But let’s face it, Kratos was always way too angry to settle being stuck in your pocket.

While the first God of War collection and the Sly or Prince of Persia HD trilogies were upgrades of already good-looking PS2 games, this has taken more of an effort coming from the PSP. Sporting the best visuals the handheld ever saw, these games are now re-born with their potential fully realised in HD.

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Action, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (Review)

September 15, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 1 Comment

The Games Workshop space faring Warhammer 40k universe has been begging for a proper action game for years. Having provided so much inspiration for video games it’s about time it had one.

Relic Entertainment have served 40k well already with their Dawn of War strategy games on the PC, but now they face a different challenge with an assault on the crowded action shooter genre. This is no Gears of War clone though; you’re playing as a Space Marine, the toughest soldiers out there. These seven-foot tall genetically engineered killing machines don’t need a cover-system; they’re all about fighting through the pain.

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News, PlayStation 3

Space Marine on PS3 Failing Online

September 11, 2011 Brendan Griffiths 33 Comments

PS3 gamers eager to get online and show off their Space Marine skills after charging through the single-player game may find a nasty little bug is stopping them connecting to any matches.

When logging into the multiplayer options many players are getting this message: “Your NAT is not set to “Open”. This may prevent you from joining or hosting some game sessions.”

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First Person Shooters, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Resistance 3 (Review)

September 10, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

With Insomniac Games moving onto a multi-format future with Overstrike, this could well be the final Resistance title on the PS3. It was PS3 gamer’s first FPS love, but since then it has always been overshadowed by the technical powerhouse of Killzone. So how will the series bow out?

You now play as Joe Capelli, (R2 SPOILER!) the man forced to kill Nathan Hale as the Chimera virus finally overcame the former hero. Despite Capelli’s hand being forced, he was given a dishonourable discharge from the army. Four years later, the Chimera are still slowly strangling the remains of the human race from the earth and we find Capelli living with a small group of survivors and his wife and child.

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PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, Regular previews, Xbox 360

Metro: Last Light (Preview)

September 1, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

Now I’m not saying looks are everything, but after slumming it through the grey roughness of the original Metro 2033 game, it’s amazing to see the difference in Metro: Last Light. This game looks gorgeous. Yes, it still has a bit of a grey fetish, but like Killzone, it’s made pretty work of some of the colour palettes old-timers. And the game’s still only at pre-alpha code level, so it could get even better.

Those of you that played through the original game will find that the story of Last Light follows on from the (SPOLIER) ‘bad’ ending where you did launch the missiles to destroy the Dark Ones. So it would seem that your initial fight will be against human enemies, we’re sure there’ll be a few mutants along the way too. We’ve already seen those winged gargoyle-like arseholes (they pissed me off a lot last time) flying about in one of the trailers. Towards the end of the presentation, we also saw some large troll/gorilla-like creatures that featured some astonishingly slick animation and textured rocky skin that almost distracts from them trying to rip Artyom’s face off.

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Hands-on previews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Previews

Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest (Hands-On Preview)

August 27, 2011 Brendan Griffiths Leave a comment

If anyone could make another great game for the PlayStation Move, it would be the team behind its best game so far. Rather than knock out Sports Champions 2, Zindagi Games have opted for a fun action title. You might recognise parts of the game from the early tech demos for the PlayStation Move back at E3 2009. It’s good to see that demo become a full game, we’re just surprised it took this long.

Medieval Moves is a first-person action adventure game with movement around the game world taking place automatically and the action kicking off between stops. This leaves your hands free to concentrate on using your weapons and other cool gadgets to get through the medieval settings against an army of skeleton warriors and other ghoulish foes.

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