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

Soldner-X 2: The Final Prototype – The Last Chapter (DLC Review)

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The Last Chapter is the expansion pack to Soldner-X 2: The Final Prototype which I found to be an enjoyable, if over-priced blast. It packs in three new levels, 11 Trophies and 13 new Challenges. The challenges though, in true Soldner-style,require you to actually earn the right to play them. There’s even a new difficulty mode, Massive Attack, to unlock. When you get around to unlocking Extra Hard that is.

The extra levels can be played through straight away, you don’t have to replay anything for hours on end in a similar way to the way levels were unlocked in the main game. The levels themselves are excellent to play and outpace the original game’s content immediately. Enemy numbers and their attacking fire patterns are perfectly balanced between manic and fair. Continue reading Soldner-X 2: The Final Prototype – The Last Chapter (DLC Review) →

Action, PSP, Reviews

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Review)

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Looks like Ready at Dawn Studios have done it again. They’ve only gone and made the best action title on the PSP, again. God of War: Chains of Olympus provided a PSP prequel to the original PS2 game and now Ghost of Sparta looks to fill the gap between God of War 1 and 2.

The story follows Kratos as he searches for his younger brother, Deimos, who was taken from him when they were both young Spartan children. We finally get some answers about Kratos’ facial scar and his red tattoo. We also get to find out what really happened to the legendary city of Atlantis.

Continue reading God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Review) →

PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Puzzle, Reviews

Buzz: The Ultimate Music Quiz (Review)

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This music-based quiz title covers a wide range of music, ranging from the 60s (and earlier for a few) up to modern day tunes. The questions throughout the rounds try and reflect this wide range, aiming directly for family play with a wide range of ages accommodated for.

Buzz can accommodate the usual 1-4 players or even stretch to 5-8 if you have an extra set of Buzzers. New to Buzz? Well you need to get a set of buzzers which each have a large red button for the menus and four coloured buttons to choose answers from each multiple choice question. It’s instantly accessible for anyone. Continue reading Buzz: The Ultimate Music Quiz (Review) →

PlayStation 3, PSP, Retro, Reviews

Apache Overkill (PSP Minis Review)

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To all PSP Minis developers: more simple games like this please. At £1.99 this is ideal for a quick blast. This shoot ‘em up title has you controlling an Apache helicopter for 99 levels of traditional side-scrolling shooting. It’s simple, fun, and it shares a similar art style to the Metal Slug games. What more could you ask for at £1.99?

The controls are responsive and the helicopter feels nippy but weighty as it tilts forwards and backwards with momentum allowing you to fire upwards or downwards sometimes without having to move up and down yourself, handy for staying in one piece under a torrent of missile fire. Enemies go down very easily and you can take quite a lot of damage as you have a health bar rather than having to cower under a one-hit-kill policy. It’s a balance we can all enjoy. Continue reading Apache Overkill (PSP Minis Review) →

Platformer, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Reviews, XBLA, Xbox 360

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Review)

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You’ll be glad to hear Sonic 4 features no story, no talking, no towns, no RPG elements and most definitely no Werehogs. This is very much traditional 2D Sonic from the glory days of the Mega-Drive that saw the best titles for Sega’s blue spiky mascot in Sonic 1-3 and Sonic & Knuckles.

There are four main stages with four acts each, the seven special stages and then the final boss. You can access the four main stages and first three acts in any order. All the stages are basically remixes of old ones with the main differences being HD shine, some new textures and the layout being put through the randomizer. Episode 1 features, a Green Hill Zone-style outdoor location to begin with followed by a labyrinth with underwater sections, a night-time casino and an industrial factory. They look nice, but there’s no avoiding the disappointment of getting nothing genuinely new. Continue reading Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (Review) →

Action, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Vanquish (Review)

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Vanquish is the latest effort from Platinum Games, the minds behind Bayonetta. This time they’re looking to put a boot up the backside of the third-person cover-shooter genre. How? By combining rocket boosting, bullet-time and cover-shootouts that’s how.

The story is nothing more than a vague excuse for the fantastic setting on an orbital colony built on a looping surface with lots of bots and giant mechs to blast apart. It’s the future and a Russian rebel group are trying to take over the world (but in space). Just go with it. Continue reading Vanquish (Review) →

PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Sport

John Daly’s ProStroke Golf Review (PlayStation Move)

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PlayStation Move and golf games. Surely a good match, yes? Well, keep saving up for those real golf clubs because we’re not quite there yet. This may be the best golf game that uses the Move, but that’s only because the competition is the half-assed implementations of existing titles like Tiger Woods and Planet Minigolf. This is very much a case of being the best of a bad bunch.

The first-person view of the ball during the swinging of the golf club is meant to be innovative, but apart from seeing the ball as you hit it, it’s a hindrance because you can’t see where it’s actually going to go without pressing various camera buttons and then aiming by holding the trigger as the aim marker goes nuts. It’s a clunky set-up that never quite gels. Why there’s no option to use the standard third-person viewpoint for aiming and throughout the swinging motion is just baffling. Continue reading John Daly’s ProStroke Golf Review (PlayStation Move) →

News, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store)

PSN Roundup – October 13th 2010

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This is it folks, Sonic 4 is finally here and in glorious 2D, surely this is gonna be awesome? We’ll have a review for you soon. There’s more too: Dead Space Ignition is a mini-game/comic hybrid to help build up some momentum before Dead Space 2, the new demo forThe Force Unleashed II should be thundering down your broadband pipe soon enough andWRC fans can now buy the deadly Group B cars too, those trees won’t know what hit ‘em. Continue reading PSN Roundup – October 13th 2010 →

PlayStation 3, Racers, Reviews, Xbox 360

WRC: World Rally Championship (Review)

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It’s been almost five years since we last saw an official WRC game. The name is now in the hands of Milestone, the team behind the SBK motorbike games. Turns out they’ve been dying to get on four wheels all-along.

The full list of official WRC Rallies have been included. Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, New Zealand, Portugal, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Japan, France, Spain and GB all make the cut supplying 78 tracks between them. For those of you that don’t follow the WRC, the tracks are for single cars only, with everyone getting one shot to get the best time over a series of stages. The road surfaces change between tarmac, dirt, gravel, mud and snow; with the car handling changing for each. Some tracks are backwards versions and many of them often share some sections too, so the 78 number can sometimes feel a bit padded.

Continue reading WRC: World Rally Championship (Review) →

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

Homefront Multiplayer (Hands-on Preview)

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When I was invited to an exclusive press event to play Homefront I was excited. Even though it was only for the multiplayer I realised that maybe THQ and Kaos Studios thought they had something special on their hands that they’d previously kept under wraps. Turns out they have.

The single-player game takes place after a future invasion by North Korea in 2027 and is all about guerrilla warfare. The multiplayer side of the game focuses on the bigger battles that precede the main story mode. So you will be playing as what’s left of the US Military or the KPA (Korean People’s Army) during the 2025-2027 invasions. Continue reading Homefront Multiplayer (Hands-on Preview) →

PSP, Reviews, RPG

Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Review)

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For months I’ve been feeding a slew of PSP Minis into my PSP in a vain quest for something with a little substance. Then September rolls up and throws a new Kingdom Hearts title, Valkyria Chronicles II and now Phantasy Star Portable 2, or PSP2, just to mess with the search engines.

Sega’s long-standing series is more sci-fi orientated than the usual RPG-fare, but there’s plenty of familiarity that is universal to the genre. Don’t be worried if this is your first look at the series, the story is relatively new and doesn’t punish newcomers. For those that did play the last game, it’s now three years later after the Seed were defeated, but guess what, peace never lasts. Good thing too seeing as you’re a freelance mercenary. Continue reading Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Review) →

Party, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

Start the Party (Review)

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Start the Party should be high on your priority list if you’re looking for an ideal Move game for younger gamers. This compilation of brief mini-games is more fun for kids, but the rest of the family can enjoy it too.

PS2 fans may remember the EyeToy Play titles and this is pretty much an update on that format for the PS3’s PS Eye and new Move motion controller. The camera grabs a live feed of your living room and the player on-screen and surrounds them with colourful, crisp borders for each minigame. Continue reading Start the Party (Review) →

Action, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

Kung Fu Rider (Review)

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Well that didn’t take long. On the same day PlayStation Move arrives and impresses with a mighty 9/10 score for Sports Champions, we get our first stinker for the motion control device.

The concept is sound for a game idea, if not a little barmy. You slide down busy Hong Kong-esque streets on an office chair, baby seat or some other inappropriate device, aiming to get to the escape van at the bottom of the hill, while collecting cash and points along the way by kicking Yakuza thugs and performing tricks. If you can remember Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, you’re in the right ball park. Continue reading Kung Fu Rider (Review) →

PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews, Sport

Sports Champions (Review)

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So, out of the four launch titles for Sony’s new motion controller, which should you go for? Well, the answer is simple, Sports Champions. I’d advise getting at least two motion controllers to get the most out of the game, even for single-player action. Games like Archery and Gladiator Dual can be played with one, but using two adds so much to the experience.

All the games have single player modes where you compete in bronze, silver and gold tournaments with short individual matches. There are mini-games for each game too. Multiplayer is definitely King here, but the wide range of difficulty levels the AI offers, means they are a fun challenge for anyone playing on their own. The graphics are bright and crisp with everyone who played it over the weekend warming to the more realistic looking characters as better alternatives to the Wii’s deformed monsters. Anyway, to the games… Continue reading Sports Champions (Review) →

PSP, Puzzle, Reviews

Actual Crimes: Jack the Ripper (PSP Minis Review)

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After sneaking around on the DS and PC under the ‘Real Crimes’ banner, Jack the Ripper brings his mystery to the PSP Minis platform with this hidden object / puzzle game.

For those of you not familiar to the hidden object genre, you are presented with a cluttered screen filled with a ridiculously wide range of objects. The objects here all fit the setting of the late 1800s. Using a cursor you must find the items listed on your left. The graphics are well drawn and generally static apart from the odd bit of rain for example. The music sets a quietly sinister tone while the ambient noises add a decent touch of atmosphere to the game. Continue reading Actual Crimes: Jack the Ripper (PSP Minis Review) →

PSP, Reviews, RPG

Valkyria Chronicles II (Review)

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Many fans, myself included, were worried that the transition to PSP from PS3 would be an awkward one for the well-loved original title. We needn’t have worried though as Sega have managed to get the PSP to really stand up to the challenge.

The story for this tactical JRPG once again takes places in Gallia a small country in fictional Europa, after the war that took place in the original. This time around the conflict isn’t based around an invasion, it’s a civil war. You don’t need to have finished or even played the first game to enjoy this one as the story is new and uses a different set of main characters. Fans of the original will enjoy some cameos and will most certainly settle into the combat much easier. Continue reading Valkyria Chronicles II (Review) →

Arcade Shooter, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Retro, Reviews, XBLA, Xbox 360

Alien Breed: Impact (Review)

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The top down shooter genre is getting quite crowded on the PlayStation Store, so each new release is going to have to really work for our money. At over £10, Alien Breed: Impact is reallygoing to have to work for it.

The game takes place on a huge space vessel overrun by aliens. Most of the crew are dead, you’re the only hope yadda yadda. The atmosphere owes a lot to Dead Space, but hey you might as well borrow from the best. Continue reading Alien Breed: Impact (Review) →

Hands-on previews, Previews

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (Hands-on Preview)

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Early PS3 owners will already know that developers Ninja Theory can make stunning looking games. Their last effort, Heavenly Sword, was a bit unlucky as it was released too early on in the PS3’s lifecycle to become a significant sucess. Despite the much healthier numbers of PS3s out there now, Ninja Theory have decided to play it safe with a multi-platform release. And who could blame them with a game this good looking?

Before we lucky handful of fans get three delicious hours with a complete build of the game (ahead of the world’s press, by the way), Namco Bandai’s Lee Kirton gives us a bit of background about the game. Continue reading Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (Hands-on Preview) →