Category Archives: PlayStation 3

Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Thor: God of Thunder (Review)

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I wanted one thing from this game: for it to be better than last year’s Iron Man 2 game that I gave a 5/10. Thor needn’t worry though as this is a much better tie-in.

Rather than follow the earth-bothering, flannel-shirted nature of the movie, this game simply takes place in the fantasy realms of the Thor universe in a separate story-line, which turns out to be a good move.

Famed comic book writer (and unfortunately the scribe of the afore-mentioned Iron Man game), Matt Fraction, has penned a very basic plot, but it is at least unobtrusive. We’ll presume he saves the compelling material for the comics.

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Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews, Sport

Virtua Tennis 4 (Review)

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After not quite doing the job Henman and Murray style with Virtua Tennis 3 and VT2009 on this generation’s consoles can Sega’s arcade tennis classic still cut it? Thanks to a long awaited upgrade to the World Tour career mode, they’re in with a fighting chance.

Before getting stuck into the World Tour mode you might want to warm up with a few exhibition matches. The leading names of modern tennis are all present except for one of the Williams sisters for some reason. The PS3 has a few exclusive classic characters too, leaving the 360 version with a comparatively small roster. There isn’t particularly much scope for extra players via DLC either as the favourites of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Sharapova and so on are all present and tennis isn’t exactly brimming with superstars like the WWE.

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Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store)

Top 10: Ways To Cope With Your Offline PS3

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PSN will be back online any day now (well… fingers crossed), but we need a back up plan for how to cope in-case this happens again. Ten important steps to safeguard us from making crazy decisions like going outside, getting sunburnt, or even staying home pressing the ’sign-in’ button, hoping it works for so long that you forget to get your girlfriend an Easter egg and end up getting a kitten from the farm down the road because it’s closer than Sainsbury’s. Her name’s Kairi by the way.

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News, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store)

News | Sony: PSN potentially repaired this week and with free gifts

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Sony today announced the most encouraging details so far on when we can expect PSN to be up and running again. That’s great news, but we were more enticed by this statement:

“Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

That sounds like free awesomeness. Click through to read the rest of the story and see what you’re getting and how the PSN will be turned back on.

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

Red Faction: Armageddon (Infestation Mode Multiplayer Hands-on Preview)

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Red Faction Armageddon’s multiplayer is going for a co-op angle this time around, similar to the Horde mode in Gears of War. Teams of four players will face off against 30 stages of enemies for each of the eight maps. Expect lots of tighter arenas compared to the last game’s open multiplayer deathmatches on the surface of Mars. We’re going to miss those epic jetpack battles.

The main map we got to try out was the underground Black Market. For the most part this level was made up of fairly narrow tunnels with low ceilings, making for some claustrophobic chaos. There’s a small square decorated with lots of neon signs which all too often distracts you from looking out for the alien’s bioluminescent glowing parts. The area of play seems to loop around in a circle. With the terrain including slopes and staircases.

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

Duke Nukem Forever (Hands-on Preview)

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Release date: June 10th 1998 2011

This isn’t the way it was supposed to be. I was psyched to hear I’d get to play Duke Nukem Forever at Gadget Show Live at Birmingham’s epic NEC venue, but I left the Duke’s area and its collection of PR girls in schoolgirl outfits feeling empty and confused.

If Duke Nukem Forever is released after 13 years of development in the condition I played it on Tuesday morning, there’s going to be a backlash of epic proportions. Hopefully the recent delay is seeing Gearbox adding a few buckets of polish to it.

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Action, PlayStation 3, RPG

Yakuza 4 (Review)

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It can be a bit of a tough sell trying to get pumped up for Yakuza 4, seeing as it’s been out in Japan for a year and they’re getting close to the release of the zombie-packed sequel Yakuza of the End. But hell, Yakuza 3 was a pretty damn awesome beat em’ up adventure game and we won’t be seeing the Kamurocho walking dead anytime soon so let’s just try and enjoy it.

Unlike the past games you’ll be playing as four different characters, each of whom has their own storylines although their paths occasionally cross. Each of them also has a different fighting style and access to some exclusive character-specific minigames and side-quests.

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PlayStation 3, Racers, Reviews

MotorStorm Apocalypse (Review)

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After smashing vehicles and racers to bits across deserts, tropical islands and Arctic tundras, where else in the world is there left to race for MotorStorm? How about the end of it? Or more specifically a city that is absolutely not (it is) San Francisco, during a series of earthquakes and storms.

The setting might be a little close to the bone in regards to the recent tragedies in Japan, but in fairness the game was almost shipping when that happened and Sony sensibly decided to delay the release.

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Beat 'em up, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360

WWE All-Stars (Review)

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As the UFC games send the wrestling genre towards ever-duller reality the WWE universe gets a style overhaul as WWE All-Stars throws in the biggest, names past and present, into the squared circle. Expect to battle with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Bret ‘Hit Man’ Hart, Ultimate Warrior, Stone Cold, The Rock, John Cena, Triple H, Shaemus and Rey Mysterio.

The emphasis is on setting everything to the extreme. The character models are beefed up to ridiculous proportions and their faces are amusing cartoonised charactertures of themselves. The first time you see two wrestlers standing toe-to-toe at the start of a match you’ll only be able to think ‘they’re effing huge!’. There are no Divas to oggle at, but considering the beefcake visuals, that’s probably a good thing.

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

Stardrone (Review)

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Strange one this. Zero gravity pinball with a grappling hook is the best way to think of it. It may look like another arcade shooter set in space, but there’s no shooting and you can’t freely control your movement.

After pushing off with one initial boost you then navigate by using your analogue stick to select a beacon to anchor your grappling hook on. Once you’re hooked up your ship will fly around the beacon until you release the tether. The momentum will carry you forwards until you bounce off a wall or until you grab another nearby beacon. Continue reading Stardrone (Review) →

PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Puzzle, Reviews

Slam Bolt Scrappers (Review)

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Don’t dismiss this one as another Tetris or Bejeweled clone as Fire Hose Games have made a real effort to try something new, ambitious and a little bit crazy.

The aim is to destroy your opponent’s tower with your own tower of weaponised blocks. Using familiar (read: exactly the same as) Tetris shapes you must create same-coloured squares (4×4, 8×8 etc) which will then convert into a weapon. There are different weapons or shields for each colour. Blue is a shield and protects the next square along, red fires rockets, purple a laser, orange repels enemy missiles with ping pong bats, green launches little drills and even more weapons await you in the later levels. These weaponised squares can be powered-up by making the squares bigger by adding extra blocks, a bit like Lumines.

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Features, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360

Ten Unannounced Sequels I Already Despise

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We live in the world of the sequel, the remake, the annual release, the safe bet, the lazy rehash. Occasionally a new name might emerge, a new IP (Intellectual Property) that hopes to become the next big franchise, but they’re generally seen to be too risky in the world of the multi-million pound costs of developing and marketing a game.

Some sequels are essential though and 2011 will be no different with Uncharted 3, Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham City already driving us nuts with the wait. Sometimes though, when we see an announcement for a sequel, our hearts sink, we question the sanity of developers/publishers and usually have a bit of a fight around the office to see which poor sod will have to review it.

So here’s a look at the sequels that haven’t been announced yet, but in all probability will be in the near future. Albeit with slightly more marketable titles. Continue reading Ten Unannounced Sequels I Already Despise →

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

Red Faction: Armageddon (Ruin Mode Hands-On Preview)

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The demolition minigames from the previous Red Faction game have been reworked into a stand-alone Ruin mode.

Rather than being more of the same though, it’s set to be a big improvement thanks to the addition of the Magnet Gun, which if you read my recent preview of the single player game, you’d know is the new toy that every big kid should want.

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

Red Faction: Armageddon (Single Player Hands-On Preview)

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The level begins with the game’s star, Darius Mason (grandson to Alec Mason of Red Faction: Guerilla), fleeing for his life.

He’s just been duped into unleashing an alien horde from a mysterious underground shaft in a Marauder temple, deep underground on (in?) Mars. We never see any people, but we can hear them cursing Mason in the tunnels ahead as they flee from what he’s let loose from the planet’s depths.

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

PixelJunk Shooter 2 (Review)

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Q-Games came pretty close to perfection with the first game. So we were damn pleased to hear it was getting a full-on sequel as we would have been psyched with a few extra DLC levels.

If you missed out first time around I’ll quickly bring you up to speed. The dual-stick 2D shooter has you flying a small ship, rescuing miners, shooting enemies, and blasting, melting and burrowing your way through terrain looking for survivors, treasure and a way out.

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First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

Killzone 3 (Review)

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It’s time for Sony’s flagship shooter to really step up as the shooter genre swells with top titles like Black Ops, the Battlefield series, Bioshock, Halo and newcomer Bulletstorm, who are all fighting for gamers’ hearts and cash. Our wishlist: cinematic Campaign mode, multiplayer, local co-op Campaign, Move support and jaw-dropping graphics. Can Killzone 3 really pack all this in?  Continue reading Killzone 3 (Review) →

Platformer, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Little Big Planet 2 (Review)

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After the success of the original, which spawned millions of levels, the guys at Media Molecule have decided to see what we can do when they throw a bigger tool-kit at us to create any type of game we can think of. The short answer? Absolutely kick their ass at their own game.  Continue reading Little Big Planet 2 (Review) →

PlayStation 3, Reviews, RPG

DC Universe Online (Review)

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After what seems like an eternity of waiting, PS3 gamers finally have a MMORPG. A genre that never took off on PS2 has been given another shot by dropping the genre’s staples of orcs and elves for the more intriguing world of DC superheroes.

If you’ve waited this long another two hours won’t hurt and that’s how long it takes to install the game. You’ll be needing 15GB of space too, most of which is taken from the disk, but at least 2GB needs to be downloaded. There’s a bit of unwanted PC-style experience for you already.

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First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Reviews

Modern Combat: Domination (Review)

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Don’t let the uninspired name put you off, this is a game worth the attention of any online FPS fan. The delightful price of £6.29 gets you five maps and six modes to enjoy that puts the likes of Blacklight: Tango Down to shame.

An old-school approach is taken in regards to your health, take damage and it stays. No health packs or regeneration makes for extra tense matches and balances things out nicely, especially if you manage to get a few shots into an opponent before you get taken down. When you do get killed it shows how much health and armour your killer has left. This works to annoy you further when you see they only had 7% left.

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