PS3 Fanboy

PS3 Fanboy review: Valkyria Chronicles

Jem Alexander — 2008-11-17T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Amid a sea of Resistance 2s, LittleBigPlanets, Dead Spaces and Mirror's Edges it's easy to miss out on some real gaming gems. Titles that don't immediately spring to mind when you think of 2008's must-have games, but which are nonetheless worthy of your attention. Valkyria Chronicles is one of those games and I'm putting my cards on the table in this, the review's intro paragraph, so that there's no ambiguity; Valkyria Chronicles is an amazing game. Here's why.

Valkyria Chronicles is a Japanese Strategy RPG set in a fictional Second World War. You take control of Squad 7 of the Gallian Militia in order to prevent the evil Empire from invading your home country. The game places a lot of stock in its story, with many cutscenes throughout.

The first thing you'll notice about the game is how beautiful it is. The overall anime style may be familiar to you, but you've never seen it done like this before. A textured overlay makes the game look like a watercolor painting on stretched canvas. An effect heightened by the very edges of the screen, which have been left blank and uneven. As if the artist has not painted all the way to the edge.

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This faux-watercolor style compliments the pastel colors and the overall design of the game world. Everything looks stunning, especially the pre-rendered cutscenes. It's sometimes hard to tell which cutscenes are pre-rendered and which aren't, as the only difference is the removal of some jaggies that you may not have noticed in the first place. Character designs are excellent throughout the game. The Imperian Generals, in particular, look great and we suspect the Gallian Militia uniform will be a popular cosplay outfit for years to come.

Valkyria Chronicles' main menu is its "Book Mode" -- a book that lists the game's chapters and, within those chapters, the different episodes to watch and play. There are eighteen chapters with an average of eight to ten episodes in each. Of these, only one or two will be playable, the rest will be cutscenes. If you get impatient easily, you may find this frustrating. In that respect, the game is not for everyone. If you're not a fan of investing in characters or giving a damn about the story, then you might find it frustrating.

If, however, you managed to make it to the end of Metal Gear Solid 4 and still wanted more story (as I did), then Valkyria Chronicles should find a very special place in your heart. From Book Mode you're able to access your headquarters, allowing you to upgrade your weapons, train up your squad and trade out members as new soldiers join the cause.

When you're not micromanaging or watching cutscenes you'll be partaking in battles. Like most Strategy RPGs, these battles can take a while. They can average between 30 and 60 minutes each, so despite what I've been saying about story being king, there's still plenty of gameplay meat to enjoy here. Battles have a definite hint of X-com about them (2K Marin take note -- this is how X-Com gameplay should evolve in the current generation).

At the beginning of the battle you decide how to deploy your troops. Scouts are fast but weak, Shocktroopers are much slower but can take more hits and deal more damage, Lancers are slow, anti-tank personnel. Engineers are speedy and can disarm mines and restock peoples' ammo while Snipers are pretty self explanitory. Your personnel are more than just members of these five classes, however. They all have names and personalities.

Each member of your team has different "potential" abilities which take effect under different circumstances. For example, someone might have a Pollen Allergy, making their HP decrease when they're near grass, or they might be a Lone Wolf, raising their stats when there are no other team mates nearby. My favorite Scout, Ted, has the abilites "Fancies Men" and "Fancies Women," increasing his stats when he's around members of either gender that he wants to impress.

You'll base your squad member choices on these little nuggets of personality, making up rules regarding who should and should not join. Personally, I tried to keep hate within the squad to a minimum, meaning those with "Darcsen Hater," "Man Hater" or "Lancer Hater" etc, were not allowed in. Completely arbitrary, perhaps, but it made the squad feel much more like a group of people, rather than a list of names and stats.

Once you've set your troops to deploy you will then take it in turns against the computer to complete whatever task you've been set. You will be given a number of Command Points which you spend, one by one, in order to move each of your troops. There is no grid in this Strategy RPG, however. All movement is free and based on a fuel guage (a visual representation of X-Com's "Time Units") which will steadily go down as you run about the battlefield.

Shooting doesn't take up any of your action gauge, but instead each unit has one action per command unit spent. This could be shooting, healing or throwing a grenade. Units have a maximum of three actions per turn, meaning you can spend up to three command points on a single unit before they can no longer act. Their action guage will drop with each command point you use, meaning they can move far less during their third action than in their first.

The gameplay is complex, with far more intricacies than I can discuss in this review. The game ramps up steadily, though, teaching you everything step-by-step. You'll never feel plunged in at the deep end, despite the difficulty of some of the levels. Some may take a few attempts before you figure out the right strategy. There's some excellent fun to be had in Valkyria Chronicles thanks to the deep combat engine.

The game has a great soundtrack. The only downside is that there isn't enough of it. You'll hear the same pieces again and again during battle but, thankfully, it's of high enough quality that you won't mind. Cutscenes are also laden with music, adding to the emotional impact of the story. Japanophiles can choose to play the game with the original Japanese voices with English subtitles, though this isn't strictly necessary thanks to some great localized voice acting. It's always nice to have the choice, though. It'll make that second play through a fresh experience.

As I said, the game's story is one of its most important aspects. What starts off as a relatively small-scale fight for your home town turns into a fantasy epic, with a love story mixed in for good measure. Cutscenes come in two flavors -- fully animated episodes and talking-head dialogues. All really well written and full of heart. Characters are brilliantly realised and they grow throughout the course of the game.

The story deals with some interesting issues, taking inspiration from World War II. Racism is discussed at length, with concentration camps full of "Darcsens" and in-fighting between various members of the squad taking center stage at various points. The fact that an anime series is currently in production is a testament to the story. There's a lot of it, but if you're a fan of great characters and heartwarming fantasy epics, you'll be happy.

So far this review has been overwhelmingly positive -- and rightly so. Valkyria Chronicles is a must-play title that is in danger of being looked over thanks to the ridiculous number of excellent games being released this year. Having said that, there are some aspects of the game which are lacking. Firstly, the game has no trophy support. It's understandable, considering it was originally released in Japan in April. Don't expect it to be patched in, either. Chances are the development team has moved on to something else by now. Hopefully Valkyria Chronicles 2.

The other aspect of the game that is sorely lacking is multiplayer. Sure, I've made a big deal about the fact that this is a story driven experience, but the combat engine suits multiplayer down to the ground. While the game has plenty of longevity, thanks to a New Game+ mode, plus various skirmish maps to play when you're getting story fatigue, an online versus multiplayer mode would give the game even longer legs.

The PS3 is starved for decent RPGs but with Valkyria Chronicles it has found not only an excellent specimin of the genre, but a potential exclusive franchise. It's important that people at least give this a rent. At around 25 hours for a skirmish-free run through you won't be able to beat it, but once you've tried it the game should win you over with its many charms.

PS3 Fanboy score: 9.0

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PS3 Fanboy review: Mirror's Edge

Andrew Yoon — 2008-11-11T12:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

It's very rare to pick up a game and think to yourself "this is the beginning of a new genre." But, that's exactly what Mirror's Edge is. It wasn't too long ago EA and DICE unveiled the game with a stunning gameplay trailer that had us all asking: "is this really possible?" The answer is a resounding "yes."

Mirror's Edge has almost everything going for it. The innovative first-person parkour gameplay, meshed with a distinct high-contrast style, makes it look and play unlike anything before it. To think, only a generation ago, we touted Metroid Prime on Gamecube for its ability to successfully present first-person platforming. Mirror's Edge goes even further, offering a system that's far more complex, but at the same time, deceptively intuitive.

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When I first got my hands on Mirror's Edge, I could only describe it to others as "the Mario of a new generation." Super Mario Bros. defined what good platforming games are all about: simple controls that do exactly what the player wants. The original NES game defined the new standards of 2D platforming, and did so with no frills. Players didn't need a complex story -- they just needed to save the princess.

Mirror's Edge succeeds in creating a game system that's, put simply, fun. There is an unquestionable joy that comes from jumping from platform to platform, rooftop to rooftop. Faith's arsenal of moves is quite wide, including wallruns, walljumps, kicks, slides, and rolls. Yet, in spite of the complexity of her moves, they're incredibly easy to pull off. Most of the game is played with just one button: L1, for jump. Players very rarely have to access the face buttons, as the game's most important actions are all mapped to the four shoulder buttons. By streamlining the controls, players can quickly and easily jump into the game, and do exactly what they want to do.

The game's relentless momentum doesn't allow for players to get caught up by tricky controls. Before the first real chapter even begins, players are treated to an incredible chase sequence. Bullets are flying about, and players are forced to run through rooftops, jumping from one place to another. The game does an excellent job of transposing Faith's fear into the player's hands (or is it vice versa?), as players make panicked decisions, rushing into leaps of faith, stumbling onto paths with no clear destination.

Mirror's Edge is a non-stop adrenaline rush, with one incredible setpiece after another. The prologue had my heart pounding, and subsequent levels only upped the ante. Level 1 features an incredible chase sequence in an office building. Faith must run away from a heavily armored squad that's trying to take her out. A helicopter awaits outside, and the windows and glass displays all start shattering as gunfire flies everywhere. Try keeping your head straight during that sequence. Another thrilling level has Faith jumping from one moving subway car to another. The chase sequences only get more intense as the enemies get progressively stronger and faster. Cops with pistols are easy to shove around, but wait until you get to the armored enemies with machine guns. Even scarier: enemies that can mimic your every move, and follow you through entire levels.

The stunning chase sequences are made possible through smart level design. While this isn't a free-roaming game a la Assassin's Creed, there are still multiple paths between point A and point B. Players may not discover them all, but those that play multiple times will discover there are many shortcuts -- ways of shaving precious seconds off their run. The levels, for the most part, don't feel game-like. The placement of objects in the world can feel quite natural, never breaking the reality presented by the game. "Runner's Vision," which highlights a potential path in red, makes it easy for players to find potential routes through a level (although Runner's Vision becomes increasingly sparse in later levels).

While a majority of the game is spent running away from something (or running to something), there are a few occasions where Faith must slow down and so some tricky indoor platforming. These pop up in the latter half of the game, and act almost like puzzles. Runner's Vision won't come into play during these sequences, and players must figure out exactly how to get to their destination. For example, one level features two massive scaffolding towers, and players must use them to get to the top floor of a building. "So, I have to wall run off of this wall, turn, kick off to that pipe hanging above, swing and grab a ledge on that side of the pillar." Sound crazy? You bet. But, the game will demand this kind of movement -- and it's so incredibly satisfying to succeed in conquering these tricky sequences.

Faith is an incredible runner, but she also is quite the warrior in combat, as well. Here, we see players becoming frustrated with the game. It's true that Faith can pick up guns, and it's true it will look very much like a FPS game when she does. But, that's not the point of the game. Even on the easiest difficulty, Faith is very easy to kill, with a small handful of hits taking her down. She's not a tank, nor is she meant to be. A single enemy can, and will, be able to knock out Faith with relative ease.

This kind of design encourages players to approach each combat situation smartly. I like to think of Faith as a horror movie villain -- running around as much as possible, trying to take each enemy out one at a time. Faith can disarm enemies quite easily, provided players have mastered the timing of the disarm move. Punches and kicks, while somewhat ineffectual, can still provide players a moment of breathing room. It's incredibly fun to run off a wall, kick someone in the face and then take their gun.

The gunplay isn't too great in Mirror's Edge -- there aren't that many weapons, and the controls don't feel tight enough for a FPS. Considering one of the game's achievements is to play the entire game without shooting an enemy, it's very possible to play the game without shooting. In fact, considering Faith's incredible agility, it might be easier to outrun enemies than it is to fight them.

I cannot emphasize strongly enough how enamored I am by the gameplay of Mirror's Edge. The core gameplay is so solid, and there are a number of directions I can think of taking it. For example, imagine a ninja game, where players are running around, swords and shooting stars in hand. I'm imagining a multiplayer game that takes advantage of this engine -- Capture the Flag amongst parkour masters sounds like an instant winner. (Dear EA, if you use any of these ideas, feel free to pay me a consultant's fee. Thanks!)

However, in spite of the incredible impact Mirror's Edge has had on me, it's sad to say that it's almost certain this won't win a "Game of the Year" award -- at least, not from us. While the gameplay, controls, graphics, music and presentation are all impeccable, there are two aspects that seriously detract from the overall experience: the story and the length of the game.

To call the story a mess would be an understatement. It's an unfocused mish-mash of cliche action movie storylines that do a great job of distancing the player from the world. It's a story about rescuing your sister. But wait, it's also a story about a government conspiracy. But wait, it's also a story about how an evil company is doing some kind of weird experiment. Wait, no, it's also a story about -- you get the point. The game's climax only resolves one of these threads, and just barely. The characterization is a total mess, with characters introduced (and killed) haphazardly left and right. Who are these people? Am I supposed to care about them? Because I certainly don't.

Although the game has some fantastic character models, the developers opted to use an atrocious animated look for the storytelling cutscenes that happen between chapters. Amateur animated porn looks better than this stuff. How did DICE let this happen?

Perhaps this is a classic example of the old saying: "less is more." If the developers chose to simply focus on one storyline (instead of four), perhaps it would have a bit more resonance. Or, maybe go the route of the classic NES Mario game -- don't bother with a story at all, and simply end each chapter with "Your Sister is in Another Building." Perhaps you'll disagree with me, but I believe not having a story is better than force-feeding a terrible one. When the gameplay is so compelling, there's little reason to impress me with a far-fetched conspiracy story.

While I don't have a problem with the game's length, I can see many others that will. There are ten levels in all, each taking about half an hour the first time through. That's 5 hours of gameplay in the Story mode. Mirror's Edge is firmly rooted in the old school world of speed runs and high scores, as hardcore gamers will undoubtedly play through each level multiple times, to discover the hidden bags, post the best times, and increase their time trial rankings. For those that want the most out of what the game can offer, I can see this taking easily over 20 hours. Perfecting a single time trial run, for example, may take an hour. Trying to find the best route through a level, and then executing that route, is quite addictive -- but perhaps that's not what you're looking for in a game.

In spite of the atrocious story, and the surprisingly short length of the game, Mirror's Edge is a game that's easy to wholeheartedly recommend. This truly is the beginning of a new kind of game, and I cannot wait for a sequel (or a copycat clone). If you're still unsure about this one, download the demo as it will give you a very good sense of what the game is like. If you're still on the edge, then perhaps you'll just have to take a leap of faith.

PS3 Fanboy Score: 8.0

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PS3 Fanboy review: LittleBigPlanet

Alan Tsang — 2008-10-28T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Almost two years ago, during my vigil outside the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York City, I awaited the chance to buy a PS3. At that time, I wasn't thinking about a game like LittleBigPlanet. In terms of future titles, my friends and I were anticipating the next Final Fantasy, the next Gran Turismo or the next Tekken. None of us knew that a game like LBP was poised to become what Sony expects to be the biggest PS3 game ever. Naturally one would want to know; does it live up to the hype?

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Let's begin with the basics. At its very core, LBP is a 2D platformer with a level creation tool. The controls are exceedingly simple -- X makes SackBoy jump, R1 allows you to grab and hold on to certain objects, the left and right directional buttons allow you to move back while the up and down ones allow you to move between the three different planes. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the R1 mechanic. The mere fact that SackBoy can grab/hold onto objects gives him the wide range of sub-abilities such as pushing, pulling, swinging, which really add a whole new layer of depth to the game.

Nevertheless, there are problems with the controls. The first problem I noticed was that the controls were not as responsive as I would like. For example, if you hold down the X button when you are trying to jump, you'll make a higher jump than just tapping it lightly. This mechanic doesn't seem to always function the way you'd expect it to, resulting in your SackBoy jumping into a pit of poisonous gas when all you really wanted was to land on a cute swinging cloud-shaped platform. Another larger annoyance rests in the implementation of the planes/layers mechanic; occasionally, you'll have a difficult time telling which one of the three planes you are on. It became particularly bothersome in the midst of one of the Metropolis stages, where the player must constantly switch planes and jump from one moving subway car to the next in order to proceed.

The art style and presentation are both absolutely impeccable. The large, vibrant color palette and varied textures makes SackBoy's world that much more endearing. Adding to that, the eight areas of the game have its own style, each one modeled after a region of the real world. Sure, it's not 1080p with a 60 fps framerate, but who cares when the results look this good? The music selection is yet another strong point in LBP. Despite the inclusion of ethic sounding songs, the insertion of trip-hop tracks adds a decidedly postmodern twist to the soundtrack. It doesn't sound like a video game soundtrack, but it also doesn't try to emulate a movie's. It's definitely quirky, but without being overly cinematic; here's to hoping an official soundtrack will be released at some point.

Another commendable aspect of the title has to be the tutorials. The tutorials, which help players understand the creation system, can make or break a game like LBP. Nothing to worry about here -- narrator Stephen Fry is witty and a pleasure to listen to. More skilled players might find the tutorials and demonstrations too long-winded, but they are perfect for most people trying to get a feel for the creation tools of the game. You'll even get a shiny Bronze Trophy for watching and playing through all of them.

This leads, quite naturally, to my unquestionably favorite part of LBP: level creation. Those of you with addictive personalities beware; you might never turn off your PS3 ever again. LBP comes with one of the most rich and powerful, yet user-friendly, creation systems I've ever seen. I really believe that years from now, we'll look back on the introduction of such an effective and capable customization tool in a console title as a major innovation. You are given everything from switches to bolts to materials to enemy A.I. in order to craft the exact world you want. The undo feature and Popit Cursor used to manipulate objects in your world are particularly intuitive to use. You can use the Popit Cursor to tweak, change or delete almost every aspect of your stage. Furthermore, the toolset gives you a number of templates which grant you a better understanding of how complex levels can be created. Ideally, by including these templates, the developers wanted us to know that anyone could recreate any stage in the game. While I honestly believe anyone who masters the toolset can create a fairly complex and playable level, herein lies the problem. The amount of time one needs to devote to LBP in order to create an elaborate level would be staggering -- I simply can't believe most casual players will be willing to make that investment.

Even if you don't have the slightest desire to create one of your own, you will have immediate access to a ton of quality levels created by fellow players. Even in the beta, some of the levels were already quite amazing. You can easily spend an ungodly amount of time playing with the user-created material. Other online aspects of LBP are implemented in beautiful ways as well. The ability to "heart" a stage, which basically means you are giving an online thumbs-up for the level, is especially effective -- by looking at the ratio of number of hearts to the number of players who have tried out the stage, you can easily figure out which levels are the cream of the crop. Moreover, you can check out the profile of the creator of a stage you like, which gives you access to stages they have hearted as well other levels they created. Lastly, the online co-op play in LBP is executed splendidly. You can see which of your friends are online and jump into a game with any of them. Even if you haven't made any of those yet, the Quick Play function lives up to its name by expeditiously placing you in a random level where you can immediately start to play.

Of course, with the good, comes the bad. Now we come to the biggest issue I had with LBP. The main story mode for this game is extremely brief and the difficulty is incredibly easy. My first playthrough clocked in at about eight hours, including breaks. Checkpoints are placed way too close together in what would otherwise be adequately difficult levels. Adding insult to injury, there really isn't much of a story to speak of. The paper-thin plot sends you from area to area helping out or defeating the in-game characters, but the story never becomes a compelling reason for you to continue. Furthermore, there might be some sensitivity issues with the characters you encounter -- although none of them are depicted in a negative light, apparent caricatures of everyone from geishas to the Hindu god Vishnu can be found in the different worlds.

Fortunately, the short main campaign isn't too much of a problem. The level design itself is decidedly fantastic. Every single level attempts to get you to try a new mechanic, whether it is something as simple as bouncing off a platform with a spring or as complex as the operation of a giant flying machine. Particularly after you begin creating your own stages, you'll grow to realize how much meticulous attention is paid to each aspect of the levels. One of the very last levels involves going through what can be best described as a giant multi-layer hamster wheel and having to make your way out; I still can't figure out for the life of me how to recreate something similar for my own level.

Furthermore, the replay value of this game is stupendous. Each level contains a ton of items for you to discover and a co-op area accessible only by two to four players. I'll usually repeat a level five or six times -- and I still won't get anywhere near uncovering every single sticker, object and material hidden in the stage. Perfectionists will likely spend months trying to gather 100% of the items on each stage. There are also keys you'll find located through out each level, which grants the player access to a bonus level. Those looking for a true challenge won't have to worry -- the later bonus levels can be extremely brutal, such as a stage that requires the player to jump from one mostly electrified rotating sandwich-like platform to the next in order to reach the end.

Finally, a list of minor grievances: optional mouse compatibility would have really streamlined the creation process. I wish I could really change how my Sackperson looks like. Thus far, customization is limited to changing costumes, textures and adding stickers. What I really want to do is have a character that looks nothing like SackBoy. Controlling something similar to one of your very own enemy creations would have been something cool. A mechanic I would like to see is killing enemies with something other than just stepping on them. The big Buster Sword originally wielded by Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII fame would make a perfect weapon for SackBoy. In the end, these absences were minor irritants and more of a wish list for future DLC on my part -- they do not really detract from an otherwise pitch-perfect title.

All in all, you just can't help but savor the entire experience that is LittleBigPlanet. You'll notice my review isn't overly long; despite the fact there is a lot more I could have said about it, LBP really is one of those unique titles you have to try out for yourself. Its advertising slogan sums it up rather well: "Play. Create. Share." The guys at Media Molecule poured their hearts into this title, and it most definitely shows. Some aspects probably need a little tweaking -- certainly, the story and controls leave a little to be desired, but they are very minor hiccups the bigger scheme of things. The innovative inclusion of level creation tools and the implementation of the online features alone are worth the price of admission; the charming presentation and design of the story levels are just icing on the cake. I beseech you, as a fellow PS3 owner: even if you never cared for platform games or think LBP is too "cute" for you, give it a rental or borrow it from a friend. I promise you'll have a delightful time.

PS3 Fanboy Score: 9.0

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PS3 Fanboy review: Dead Space

Jem Alexander — 2008-10-27T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Dead Space is a survival horror title developed by EA's internal Redwood Shores studio, a new IP from a studio with (and I say this with no malice intended) a mediocre pedigree. The odds were stacked against Dead Space being a good game. Instead, it emerges as one of this year's must-have gaming experiences.

From the moment Dead Space begins, you're thrust into a highly stylized and great-looking game. The opening cutscene sees you, Isaac Clarke, and your team respond to a distress call from mining vessel USG Ishimura. As the Ishimura comes into view, the light from a nearby sun bounces off it. The use of color is stunning. This is the first of Dead Space's "wow" moments.

From the get go, my graphical expectations of the game were raised -- and Dead Space doesn't disappoint. The texture work is excellent, lending to the creepy atmosphere with blood stains and wall scribbles. "Cut off their limbs" and "evacuate this area immediately" appear to be scrawled in blood. The Ishimura is well realized thanks to this level of detail. For example, every door has an LCD ticker above it, telling you the next room's name. Character models look good and move well, with impressive animation throughout.

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Light and dark are used with great effect in Dead Space. Sudden blackouts or silhouettes are common and only add to the intense atmosphere. Isaac has a flashlight, which he uses whenever he readies his weapon, though its beam is quite narrow. It can make the dark seem a little less imposing, but won't quench your fears completely. The monsters will keep coming and they keep looking grotesque and creepy, thanks to some wonderful character design.

Sound design is also well done. The Ishimura creaks and bangs as monsters scurry around her floating carcass. The music swells when a creature suddenly appears. The ticking of an elevator sounds like a clock counting down as it conveys you between floors. Everything is built to make you feel on edge and, coupled with the visuals, makes for a very scary experience.

Dead Space is a mixture of survival horror and third person shooter. The good bits from each genre have been handpicked here to create something that will scare you but that also plays well. Survival horror mainstays such as scarcity of ammo and health are combined with friendly controls and more RPG-inspired elements, such as weapons upgrading.

Gameplay consists of traversing the Ishimura, trying to find out what happened to the crew ... and how to get the hell off the ship. As you do so, you'll be confronted by an endless barrage of monsters and will need to use your arsenal of engineering-based tools to your advantage. The game doesn't take any chances -- you're told many times that cutting off the monsters' limbs is the right way to go about combat. This "strategic dismemberment" not only means that combat is always fun, but it also allows for some interesting weapon designs. It also means that those with good accuracy will preserve ammo as removing limbs will kill monsters quicker. While the shooting mechanics feel great, melee combat is underpowered and, in the case of the foot stomp, difficult to target.

Though parts of the game feel more like a shooter than others, there are plenty of excellent set pieces which will scare and challenge you. For example, at one point, you are stuck in a pitch black decontamination chamber with creatures climbing in through the roof. There are also some parts which completely change the gameplay style, such as a few turret sections. These do well in breaking up the gameplay, but aren't particularly fun in and of themselves.

Dead Space takes advantage of its space setting by incorporating some zero-gravity sections. While in zero-G you can jump to any surface in the room, thanks to your magnetic gravity boots. The first time this happens can be very disorienting, but you soon get used to it. You're usually tasked with performing some manual labor in these sections by utilizing two of your suit's special abilities: stasis and kinesis. The former will slow down objects (and enemies) while the latter allows you to pick up and throw nearby objects. It's a gravity gun, basically. A combination of these various abilities is usually at the core of many of Dead Space's puzzles.

The game's difficulty ramps up with more grotesque and powerful creatures appearing later on. Not only that, but the number of monsters also ratchets up as the game progresses. You'll also face off against a number of set-piece bosses throughout the game, though these are sadly few and far between. They're great fun, thanks to the way they change up the familiar shooting mechanics, and as a result are some of the game's highlights (despite some "PLEASE SHOOT ME HERE!" glowing weak points). One boss fight is quite memorable, as it takes full advantage of zero-G.

The gameplay is built to be immersive, and you're never meant to feel safe. Originally the game was pegged to have no pause menu, but many felt that was taking the idea a step to far. All other menus, however, keep you in-game, so you're always in danger. Your inventory screen is a projected image that hangs in the air in front of you, as are any video or audio message notifications you receive. Spinning the camera allows you to see the menu from all angles and Isaac's head moves to look at whatever items you're highlighting. It looks brilliant and never gets old.

As you progress through the ship you'll come across stores which allows you to buy new weapons, suits and nodes. They also let you squirrel away some of your items in a safe if your inventory is filling up. You'll find quite a few benches, too. These let you upgrade your weapons and equipment using a system very similar to Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid.

The story is a massive part of Dead Space. While it is enjoyable and well written, it does have its problems. The biggest issue is Isaac. I'm not a fan of silent protagonists and Isaac's refusal to speak in Dead Space is a huge detriment to the story as a whole. There are aspects of the story which Isaac has a personal connection to, yet we have no idea what he's thinking or feeling at any given moment. I understand that we're supposed to feel like we are Isaac, but his silence resulted in me feeling less connected with the character, not more.

Despite that, the game's narrative is incredibly well told through holographic video and audio chats that occur in real time. Your other team members are elsewhere on the ship and constantly contact you to tell you what to do next, or to discuss some new information. As a result everything's easy to follow and, thanks to some excellent voice acting, characters are easy to connect to. Except for Isaac.

Compared to the game narrative, the backstory is a little more hazy, but still reasonably well told. Much like BioShock, you'll come across audio and video logs which give some indication of what happened before you arrived. Overall the story is slightly derivative and if you're a fan of space-horror movies, you've seen it all before. There's a feeling that EA played it safe here. The universe is interesting, however, and has potential for further expansion. Dead Space Downfall is already available and details the backstory of the Ishimura before Isaac and co arrived. There are already plans for a sequel and a potential movie to bridge the two games. This would definitely be something I'd be interested in.

Despite a lack of multiplayer Dead Space has plenty of longevity. After beating the game a first time (roughly 10 - 12 hours) you will unlock a new difficulty level, some new equipment and money and keep all your current items and weapons for your second playthrough. Unfortunately this bounty can only be used in the same difficulty setting that you beat the game in. I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand it'd be nice to carry over your equipment to Impossible Mode in order to get the Tier 3 Engineer Trophy. On the other hand, Impossible Mode is designed to test you, which means starting from scratch.

Overall, Dead Space rocks. As a package, it's definitely more than the sum of its parts. A well told, if derivative, story mixed with some excellent third-person shooter meets survival horror gameplay. If you're interested in scary, space based monster combat, Dead Space is definitely for you. Even if you're not, it's worth a rent. You could be missing out on one of the best games of the year.

PS3 Fanboy Score: 9.0

Second Opinion - Andrew:
I just started my third playthrough of Dead Space, an impressive feat considering the huge stack of games that sits atop my desk. Not many other games have compelled me to go through the adventure more than once, nay thrice. This puts Dead Space in an elite group comprising of BioShock, Uncharted and Half-Life 2 -- that's quite good company to keep.

As Jem so perfectly notes, Dead Space is more than the sum of its parts. And that's saying a lot, considering its individual parts are so good. The graphics are spectacular, and the use of color and lighting is particularly inspired. Who said horror games had to be brown and gray? While the gameplay may not be truly innovative, the atmosphere is unmatched. All the zero-G and vaccuum sections are very memorable, and stand out as the most original moments of Dead Space. I hope to see more of them in a sequel.

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PS3 Fanboy review: PlayTV

Jem Alexander — 2008-10-06T10:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

The PS3 has firmly entrenched itself as not only a games console, but a fully fledged multimedia device. It features blu-ray, media streaming, a web browser and image viewing and printing. Now, with PlayTV, the PS3 adds television to its repertoire. Sony could easily have released a simple TV tuner with only the most essential features, but instead they've developed a product that's incredibly feature rich and integrates itself into the PS3 experience seamlessly.

Setting up your surprisingly light PlayTV box is simple and painless and requires nothing more than plugging an aerial in one end and a USB cable, connected to your PS3, into the other. Once this is done you need only load up the accompanying disc software, which will install the PlayTV client onto your XMB and guide you through the simple setup. After this, you'll have a new "TV" section on the XMB. PlayTV takes advantage of Freeview in the UK, a set of free TV channels and radio stations. Load up the client and you're off.

The emphasis has clearly been placed on being user friendly. The first time you enter any section of the software a splash screen will show you the controls. These can be reviewed again in the help section, along with more in-depth guides. If you'd rather use a remote control than a SIXAXIS controller, your Blu-ray remote will work just fine and PlayTV even comes with an overlay which can be stuck on top to show which buttons do what.

Anyone who's ever used a DVR will be perfectly at home here.There's a guide, which pops up at the touch of the square button and gives you an overview of what's on now and what's coming up on all the different channels. From here you can switch to any channel or set a program to record by simply pressing select. You can easily see how much space you have left on your hard drive and PlayTV will keep you updated via notifications at the top-right of the screen. With a thirty minute video needing up to a gigabyte of free space, you'll want to keep your hard drive free from clutter. No wonder Sony is releasing a 160GB PS3.

PlayTV has many standard DVR features, such as allowing you to pause and rewind live TV, or to record one channel whilst watching another. If you suspect you'd rather control PlayTV using a remote, rather than the PS3 controller, the device comes packaged with a remote control sticker overlay. This can be placed on the official PS3 Bluetooth remote and tells you what each button does when inside the PlayTV client.

While PlayTV is great at turning your PS3 into a digital video recorder, the highlights of the device come from its extra features. For example, videos recorded in the PlayTV client can be exported to the XMB, DRM free, and copied to any other device in MPEG2 format. This means backing up your video collection is much easier, allowing you to save hard drive space.

PlayTV also fully supports remote play. Left the house without remembering to set your PS3 to tape something? Remote play in and set it up from anywhere with an access point. Alternatively, you can use your PS3 as a video streaming drive, allowing you to view all your recorded videos from anywhere with WIFI with your PSP.

Another great extra feature allows for background recording during gameplay. After all, your PS3 is a games console, right? PlayTV will happily record the latest episode of Doctor Who while you're busy painting your friend green in LittleBigPlanet. Simply set it to record and then quit the client and start playing. You'll never have to watch the clock in case you miss your favourite TV program whilst gaming again.

Our favorite feature, however, is definitely the XMB integration. Even whilst watching TV you will receive online/offline and message notifications, meaning you're never disconnected from the PSN. Obviously, some people might not see this as a good thing, but the simple solution is to sign out of the PSN before launching (or from within the in-game XMB). The reason we enjoy this feature so much is that you can send messages back whilst watching telly. Simply call up the XMB and it will overlay on top of whatever program you're watching. You'll still be able to hear it (and see a faint outline) whilst typing out a message.

Imagine, you're watching TV and your buddy messages you asking if you fancy a game of Warhawk. You're notified as you watch the program and reply, telling them you'll be right there. With a press of the select button, the rest of the program is being recorded to your hard drive. You then jump straight into Warhawk from the in-game XMB and are playing within minutes.

Dare we say that if Sony implements cross-game voice chat in the future, this feature could become even cooler. The PlayTV box promises it will be constantly updated via the PSN, so new features could appear at any time. Until then, the smart wee box is already worth the £60 for those of you who enjoy watching TV and playing your PS3. Even at the same time.

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PS3 Fanboy review: Buzz! Quiz TV

Andrew Yoon — 2008-09-29T09:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

It's amazing to see how far Buzz! has come. The popular PS2 quiz game makes an incredible leap onto the PS3, with great success, in Buzz! Quiz TV. Quiz enthusiasts and newcomers alike will find a lot to appreciate about Buzz's first outing on the PS3. The intelligent organization of topics, new online functionality, quickened pace and very easy-to-use wireless buzzers all make Buzz! feel like a new game in the "next gen."

In preparation for the PS3 game, we familiarized ourselves with the earlier PS2 versions of the game. While they were fun party games, we hated the frustrating process of detangling all the wires from our PS2 buzzers. Thankfully, we're able to get rid of those tacky peripherals with this new package. Simply open the Buzz! box, insert the wireless dongle into the system and put AA batteries (not included) into your buzzers. What we really appreciated was how quick the installation process was. The buzzers are already synced to the system, making it quite possible to start a game within just a minute or two of opening the box. When you want to jump into a party game, that kind of speed is quite important.

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But, that's not the only thing that's been hastened about Buzz!. The developers at Relentless Software have made a product that's much more streamlined, and much more fast. Players won't be able to choose the length of the game in this iteration, but that's perfectly okay. In the PS2 games, even the shortest games felt a little too long. The PS3 version goes by much faster, and the time reductions come from getting rid of the lengthy explanations found in the PS2 original. The Buzz! games are pretty intuitive, and all it takes is a single sentence or two to really explain how each round will work. An example of smart design: the host of the show, Buzz, will tell players to answer questions as quickly as possible at the beginning of the Pie Fight round. He'll then explain what the pie does once someone has possession of it. There's no reason to sit around and wait to find out about every rule in that round: they come as you need them.

The general pace of the single and multiplayer experiences has become much livelier. Single player only offers one gameplay mode: Fastest Finger, which awards points based on how quickly a player can answer. There isn't much else single player can do, but this mode is enhanced by the presence of smartly designed XMB Trophies. There are awards based on score, and getting a Gold can be quite challenging, if you're not an expert at a particular subject. Getting the Lightning Reactions Trophy is also quite tricky.

We're really impressd by the presentation of the game. There's no real reason why a trivia game should look so good -- but Quiz TV does. Every character model is very detailed and well animated. You can see the tiny wrinkles in a character's clothes, and you can see the small animations that add life to each character. More than ever, Buzz! feels like a real game show, and its lovable cast of characters really adds so much personality to the experience. The voiceovers are as hilarious as ever. Our favorite moment? When you choose the extreme sports category. We won't ruin the surprise, but let's just say Buzz's response is quite spectacular.

The new categories added to the game add a jolt of much-needed variety to the game. Our personal favorites? Toons and Food & Drink. Quiz TV adds a feature, which lets you customize the categories you see in the game. Don't like 80s Music? You can disable that category in games. Only interested in tech questions? You can create a game that only features pertinent questions. This kind of flexibility should be commended.

If for some reason, Quiz TV doesn't offer enough questions, you can always turn to MyBuzz, one of the online features of the game. In this mode, players can go to the MyBuzz website and actually create their own quizzes for use in the game. It's a bit primitive, but it's surprisingly fun trying to create quizzes that appeal to the masses. In the game, you'll be able to browse and play through others' quizzes -- you can even rate them too. You're limited to creating multiple-choice quizzes of eight questions only. Some may complain about the length, but we found it just right.

The other online mode, Sofa Vs. Sofa, has also earned some criticism with its early release in Europe. It's true that you can only use one buzzer per team. However, most of the question types in Sofa Vs. Sofa encourage collaboration. Most questions aren't time-based, giving teams a chance to talk to each other before inputting their answers. If there's one complaint about this mode, it's that the final round takes a bit too long -- and is the only real decisive round in the entire game.

There's almost no reason to put as much effort into a quiz game as Buzz! Quiz TV has -- the casual audience doesn't need online functionality, or complex visuals. Regardless, the team at Relentless has crafted a quiz game that easily outclasses their previous efforts and becomes the de-facto standard in the genre. With great presentation, an impressive amount of content, and easy to use buzzers, Quiz TV is an easy recommendation for anyone interested in the genre.

PS3 Fanboy review: 8.5

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PS3 Fanboy review: WipEout HD

Andrew Yoon — 2008-09-23T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews, e-Distribution Games

There's been a lot of buzz around WipEout HD. The headlines of the game's epilepsy-inducing delay, combined with its genuinely good looks have created the perfect environment for hype to thrive. The long-delayed futuristic racer is the PlayStation franchise's first foray into the current generation, and it looks absolutely stunning. The bargain basement price point of $20 makes it an easy purchase, especially for those on the fence.

However, we wonder who WipEout HD is trying to target. There are three types of people in this world: those that love WipEout, those that are horrible at it, and those that simply haven't tried it yet. For those that love the franchise (us included), WipEout HD is perhaps, a bit too familiar. True devotees of the franchise have already played the sublime PSP games, Pure and Pulse. To find that every single track and every single song in the game comes from these two titles is a little disappointing. They're certainly great choices, but the wondrous effect of nostalgia doesn't kick in so soon -- Pulse came out less than a year ago. Instead, we're left with the feeling of "haven't we been here before?"

The second group of people -- those that are horrible at futuristic racing games -- won't find WipEout HD any different than previous iterations of the franchise. And the third group of people -- those that haven't ever played a WipEout game -- may very well find themselves displaced to the second group once they get their hands on this ferociously fast and relentlessly difficult racer. Sure, the new Pilot Assist feature will help beginner players steer away from the walls, but without the honed reflexes of a veteran, the game's learning curve is surprisingly steep.

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Perhaps that's why the game is priced so low. The game's incredible production values (beautiful 1080p, 60fps graphics and a stellar licensed soundtrack) certainly give the game a level of sheen unheard of for a downloadable game. At $20, it's easy to tell WipEout Purists to come back "one more time." However, at such a low price point, it becomes even easier to lure in those that somehow missed WipEout's trek onto the PSP. These are the ones, nerves untested, that will most want to fork over the money to see what they've been missing. It's a $20 experiment to see if newbies can not only survive, but enjoy, the futuristic racing WipEout has always been known for.

While 6 of the game's 8 tracks come from Pure, the progression system comes from the more recent Pulse. The campaign mode offers various grids for players to challenge. Each grid features a number of tasks to complete, and players will want to complete as many challenges to the best of their capabilities to progress forward. There are the self-explanatory Time Trial, Speed Lap, Single Race and Tournament challenges. In any of the time-based modes, players must simply beat the posted time to earn various medals. To earn points from races against the AI, players must simply place as high as they can.

One of the more forgiving aspects of the grid system is that it allows players to avoid challenges they may not be skilled at. Time Trial and Speed Lap challenges are, for the most part, very easy to clear. Getting enough gold medals in these events should minimize how many actual races players must compete in to unlock new tracks and new grids. To make things even easier, the AI Difficulty can be set before each race. Just like in WipEout Pulse, the AI difficulty and speed class aren't linked together.

However, even with the adjustable difficulty, the game may still be too challenging for casual players. Even on the easiest difficulty, we found players new to the series struggling to finish races. What makes the game's AI so hard to deal with (especially at the harder difficulties), is the game's rubberbanding system. Games like Mario Kart are notorious for their over-generous rubberbanding, which makes it easy for someone in last place to make it to the front of the pack (use a Lightning Bolt, a Blue Shell, etc). However, WipEout has the exact opposite phenomenon. Perhaps it's more realistic, but those that are in first place tend to lead the pack more and more. If you're behind by 3 seconds in the first lap, it won't be uncommon to drop to 7 seconds the next, and then 15 seconds the next. Posting continuously improving lap times won't even help.

Unfortunately, the game's weapons system is so fierce that many races become a fight away from last place. Opponent racers are constantly fighting, creating a virtual wall of carnage that players must surpass. Essentially, 3rd-8th positions will be in a persistent state of disarray, as the weapons hinder anyone in the back from progressing onwards. If you manage to make it in front of the mayhem, expect relatively smooth sailing.

This isn't to say the game is impossible. Rather, it just causes for some controller-throwing frustration. Perhaps that's exactly what veterans need, to compensate for the familiarity of these tracks. However, we do believe that even Easy difficulty isn't forgiving enough for series newcomers.

One of the best features of WipEout Pure makes a comeback in HD, and we're glad to say it's as fun as ever. The critically acclaimed Zone mode is back, and it works just like it did in previous iterations of the franchise. In Zone mode, players are strapped down in a vehicle that is constantly moving forward, constantly getting faster. The goal of Zone mode is to simply survive: as the vehicle reaches ridiculous speeds, reflexes must become incredibly well-honed to survive even the simplest of turns. What makes Zone mode even more special in this PS3 iteration is how much faster it can go. While the PSP games were limited to Phantom levels of speed, there are speeds well beyond that in the PS3 version. Just when you hit Zen, you'll realize that there's another class of speed above that. Already at that point, you won't be able to blink.

The color-changing tracks still pulsate to the beat of the music, although in a much more subdued fashion. It may have been changed to meet the requirements of epilepsy testing, but it's still undeniably beautiful. The incredibly stylized look of Zone mode is easily WipEout HD's most memorable -- and this is the one mode that everyone will be talking about once the game releases this week.

While Zone has made a glorious return, we're sad to say that another one of our favorite modes, Elimination, has not made the cut in WipEout HD. Featured in Pulse, this mode gave racers an enhanced set of weapons, limited shield rechargability, and a directive: kill as many other racers as you can. It was an incredibly fun mode, which changed up the gameplay quite a bit. It's omission is disappointing, and makes the game's feature set feel a little less substantial.

We're also sad to see the vehicle customizations of Pulse removed entirely as well. In the PSP games, players were able to create skins for their crafts online, and then download them into the game. It's strange that this PS3 version is missing two key features that we took for granted in the PSP game.

Yet, thanks to smart pricing on Sony's part, these omissions, repetitions, and flaws seem much more forgivable. At $20, it's hard to pass up. Ultimately, if you're part of the group that loves WipEout, you're going to buy HD, simply to experience the game in high-definition PS3 wonder. Yes, it's leaner and shorter than the PSP games -- but our PSPs were never pumping out 1080p graphics. Those that have never played a WipEout game will find HD a very exciting, eye-opening experience. The sublime presentation, the collectible Trophies, and the unforgettable Zone mode, make this an easy $20 purchase. But, when you're crying after an 8th place loss on Moa Therma, don't say we didn't tell you so.

PS3 Fanboy score: 8.0

See also:
PSP Fanboy review: Wipeout Pure
PSP Fanboy review: Wipeout Pulse

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PS3 Fanboy review: Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty

Andrew Yoon — 2008-08-19T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews, e-Distribution Games

We have to applaud the fine folks at Insomniac for trying something new on the PSN. Somehow, they've managed to bring out a brand new Ratchet game, just one year after the release of the first PS3 incarnation, Tools of Destruction. Quest for Booty is a direct continuation of the previous game, but can be played without any experience with the franchise at all. The developers have promised 3-4 hours of gameplay, at a budget price of $15. However, is Quest for Booty worth your hard earned cash? Depends on how much you like the Ratchet franchise.

Although it may have a budget price, the presentation easily matches any full-priced console game. The visuals of Quest for Booty are actually superior to the ones found in last year's game. The water, for example, looks far more captivating in this installment. The lighting seems to be enhanced, and the lush color palette found for most of the game really looks quite stunning in HD. The voice actors all make their return, and Ratchet and friends are animated just as sharply as they always have been.

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There's almost no indication that this is a low-budget affair -- at least, in the beginning. The game immediately follows the story of Tools of Destruction, leaving Ratchet on a quest to find clues about Clank's mysterious disappearance. While it's not necessary to have played previous Ratchet games, this one is definitely for the fans, as it primarily focuses on ancillary characters found in the previous installment. It is strange to have Clank so absent in the game -- and unfortunately, the always-lovable Captain Qwark is completely missing in this installment. Regardless, the fully narrated cinematic sequences really bring the story and setting to life.

Immediately, the game thrusts the player into some frantic battles aboard a flying pirate ship. Quest for Booty undeniably starts with a bang. In fact, the first half of the game contains some of the finest moments in the series history so far. The first two levels are incredibly well done, and show how refined the platforming design of Insomniac has come over the years. Even the grind rail sequences are interesting in this installment, thanks to a few clever puzzles that the team has crafted. The primary objective for Ratchet in these early areas is to restore power to five generators, and in order to do so, some gravity defying Mario Galaxy-esque sequences must be completed. They are an absolute blast.

The new gameplay mechanics all feel great, and make you wonder "why didn't they do this before?" Ratchet's ability to finally pick things up is much appreciated, and well used. Even better, a new device allows Ratchet to move platforms, doors and objects at a distance with a wrench. Certainly, this tool is integrated into puzzles in more interesting ways than any of the devices found in Tools of Destruction.

Platforming is definitely the best aspect of Quest for Booty. However, once the game shifts gears in the second half, it certainly feels a bit underwhelming. The beautiful design of the first two levels is abandoned in the final two levels, with dark, dreary colors that are simply boring to look at. There are a few great set pieces, but strangely, they bring the framerate to a noticeable chug, as the combination of real-time lighting, particle effects and number of characters on screen seemingly demand a bit too much from the PS3. Once the game becomes mostly oriented with combat, its shortcomings become increasingly obvious. The weapons are all taken from Tools of Destruction -- and only a small sampling are available. Even iconic weapons, such as the Groovitron, don't make an appearance in this game. The lack of weapon variety, and the limited customization options remove the tactical fun of previous Ratchet & Clank games. With no new weapons, and such an abbreviated list of options, one can't help but notice how shallow Quest for Booty's combat feels.

To make things worse, the already-short game revisits the first two levels once again at the end, instead of offering players new places to visit. With only four areas in the game total, the apparent lack of variety may have players feel short-changed. Instead of adding more clever platforming sequences and puzzles into these levels, they're turned into more grinding combat challenges.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Quest for Booty is that once the adventure feels like it's just about to begin, it very abruptly ends. While Insomniac says the game offers 3-4 hours of gameplay, it's probably closer to 2-3 hours. (There are multiple difficulties, though.) Fans of the franchise that were looking for answers to Clank's mysterious disappearance really won't find answers here. While a little more information is teased, it's clear that most players can skip Quest for Booty and continue to the next iteration without missing any crucial storytelling. The lack of revelations shouldn't detract from the excellent quality of the script, however -- once again, the team at Insomniac has crafted a cute, fun adventure that features a number of funny moments. (The best part? When Ratchet gets bleeped out for cursing. Watch for it!)

While we're disappointed Quest for Booty ends so abruptly, we still think it's a rather commendable effort -- one that Insomniac should be applauded for. While this short expansion episode has its flaws, it's still an incredible value at $15. The visuals are still beautiful, and the presentation is equal to any other retail game. The new gameplay mechanics work well, and the platforming, albeit short, is some of the best in the franchise so far. While it may only be a stopgap between the next "real" Ratchet & Clank game -- one we hope will actually have Clank in it -- it's still a recommended purchase for fans of the franchise. For newcomers, we'd still recommend Tools of Destruction for a far more satisfying experience, but for those that really can't wait for a new Ratchet game, this should more than do the trick.

PS3 Fanboy score: 7.5

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Metareview: Metal Gear Solid 4

Andrew Yoon — 2008-06-13T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Watch your head. You may get hit by one of the many 10s Metal Gear Solid 4 has earned from the critics. Here are a selection of reviews for Kojima's latest. We're not half-way done with the year, and already there's two incredible GOTY contenders on PS3.

1UP (A-) - "It is, in short, precisely what the grand finale of a legendary franchise should be: grand, final, and thoroughly steeped in its own lore."
Game Informer (100/100) - "With the series' last breath, Hideo Kojima's defining opus does more than just surpass the previous Metal Gear titles - it creates a landmark gaming experience that continually astounds with its variety, depth, and intelligence. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a masterpiece."
GameDaily (80/100) - "This is one of the most important games in history and you'll dig its cool boss battles, at times witty dialogue and unrivaled sneaking mechanics. Just be sure to keep a magazine handy when those cut scenes get ridiculous."
GamePro (100/100) - "This is video game storytelling at its absolute best, and represents a new high watermark for the craft, easily surpassing the superb BioShock and the subversive Grand Theft Auto IV."
IGN (100/100) - "Is it possible to give a game an 11? If so, this would be the game that would merit that score. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a title that exceeds all of the hype that was attached to the title."

Excuse us, while we go back to playing the game.

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PS3 Fanboy review: Haze

Jem Alexander — 2008-05-28T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Developed by Free Radical, the ex-Rare employees responsible for the excellent Timesplitters series, Haze has been a long time coming. The game has suffered from multiple delays as well as exclusivity confusion over the last year. Haze promised to deliver an immersive story, balanced multiplayer and seamless online and offline co-op play. It was also backed up by some excellent live-action trailers.

Unfortunately, it becomes apparent whilst playing the game that, while the team at Free Radical may have reached for excellence, they have either fallen short or made some bad decisions with regards to the execution of many aspects of the title. Haze isn't a bad game and, despite some shortcomings, can be enjoyable and thought provoking. But is it as good as the hype suggested? Frankly, no. Read on to find out why.

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Haze was pegged as a story-based first-person shooter that would deliver a clever, satirical story that showed war from both sides. A live-action trailer gave would-be players a taste of what was to come and demonstrated the overall story of the game. As a child, Sergeant Shane Carpenter's parents were killed and so he commits himself to Mantel's private army. Armed with the performance enhancing drug Nectar, Shane was transformed into an elite soldier, until the day he got ambushed by Rebels and is "reborn."

A great premise, I'm sure you'll agree. Unfortunately, very little of this narrative makes it into the game itself. We hear almost nothing about Shane's life pre-Mantel and we care very little for him as a result. The moment Shane changes sides is also very different than is advertised in the trailer. In fact, Haze marketing is permeated with the image of a smashed Mantel helmet. An excellent piece of symbolism that's used in the trailer as a metaphor for the moment of Shane's "rebirth". Unfortunately, that too is missing from the game.

The story continues to suffer throughout as brilliant premises make way for lackluster or cop-out implementation and resolution. There's a big reveal half way through the game which fails to leave much of an impression for several reasons. The biggest of which is that, due to the lack of narration or exposition scenes, a sense of scale and geography is lost. The game feels like it takes place within a bubble with the rest of the world oblivious to what's going on. With some nice cutscenes or some clever narrative implementation the story could have had a far greater impact.

Moving on to gameplay, Free Radical Design know what they're doing when it comes to first-person shooters. The Timesplitters series has shown us that. As a result Haze controls nicely and the on-foot sections are sufficiently enjoyable. Level design varies in quality throughout and it seems to improve as the game goes on. Early sections of the game are middling, with later parts (the bridge and the hotel, in particular) ramping up the adrenaline and feeling much more fun.

There are a few vehicle sections in the game which are sadly lacking. Poor driving mechanics coupled with dull environments and confusing level design leave you looking forward to the next on-foot section. Thankfully, there are only a handful of these sections scattered throughout the game. Later you'll come across a couple of short sections involving shooting a load of Mantel troopers from a helicopter with a minigun. These sections are far more fun and, in my opinion, should have been longer and more numerous.

Graphically, Haze looks pretty good with a distinct lack of jaggies. Character models (particularly Mantel soldiers) and animations are great. Environments range from "pretty drab" to "quite decent", with the driving sections particularly dull and gray/brown. Unfortunately, there are graphical glitches that pop up later in the game. These are most apparent while sniping, when you will see strobing textures. In no way is this a deal breaker, though.

The hook of the game is obviously the Nectar and the Rebel skills. Giving you two sets of abilities makes it feel a bit like two different games. As a Mantel soldier you'll be using Nectar a lot. Mostly because there's no reason not to. The same can not be said for the Rebel skills, however. Nectar grenades are handy, as is dodging, but most others aren't worth the hassle. The problem is that against AI, they're pretty useless -- particularly playing dead.

Which brings me to my main gameplay qualm. Mantel troopers, who were super tough and powerful when you are on their side, become really easy to kill once you're a Rebel. Also, enemies will rarely use their skills against your team. Mantel soldiers visibly top up on Nectar, but it doesn't seem to make them much tougher and Rebels very rarely use nectar grenades or play dead. No matter which side you're on, the enemies feel the same -- they just look different.

The skills really come into their own during the multiplayer modes, however. Abilities that weren't very useful against AI suddenly become quite potent against human players. The multiplayer (the gem in the Timesplitters series' crown) is good fun and well implemented in Haze. The assault multiplayer mode, in particular, is great fun and allows you to play through small story missions from either side of the conflict. These missions are separate from those in the single player game, but tie into the main storyline. Sadly, there aren't quite as many maps as we'd like. There's potential for some good DLC there.

Speaking of multiplayer, I really wanted to get some co-op play in with a buddy or two before writing this review. One of the game's main selling points was its four-player online co-op, so it seemed like an important aspect to address. Unforunately, there are some crippling problems with the online system which meant that all attempts made at co-op play with people I knew failed dismally. When accepting friend requests from those on my PSN list an error message asked me to install the latest patch to continue. Naturally, there is no such patch. Yet.

It seems that the online Haze community is split into two groups arbitrarily. A cyberspace divide separates them, meaning they can't interact within the game or see the same server lists for online matches. Neither FRD nor Ubisoft has addressed this problem yet, but with an official tournament getting underway soon, we hope it gets sorted quickly. The fact that one of the game's main features is gimped is unforgivable. Co-op with random people , however, was fun and smooth, allowing for easy voice communication. We suspect it's even more fun with people you know -- if you can connect to each other, that is.

Overall, each aspect of Haze can be summed up the same way. "Solid, but not groundbreaking." There's plenty of room for improvement here. Bluntly, Free Radical should stick to what they do best: wacky, arcade first-person shooters with plenty of unlockables and polished multiplayer modes. Bring on Timesplitters 4.

PS3 Fanboy score: 6.5

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Haze initial reviews are not promising

Andrew Yoon — 2008-05-20T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Many PS3 gamers are excited for Haze, the PS3 "exclusive" FPS from Free Radical. Since the launch of the playable demo, opinions have been mixed: some loved the instant-action multiplayer offerings, while others were underwhelmed by the core gameplay mechanics of the game. While these initial reviews aren't necessarily representative of the critical mass, they do point towards a less-than-favorable outcome for this anticipated game.

IGN (45/100) - "While their previous work was quite excellent, Haze is anything but, coming across as a middling, generic first-person shooter with bland visuals, a weak plot and laughable characters."
GamersHell (65/100) - "Haze is still sitting in the wake of Call of Duty 4, and falls into that category of being just another FPS. The game tries to include different content with Nectar abilities and rebel dynamics, but a confused story, lacking gameplay elements and technical bugs bog the game down from being a stellar PS3 exclusive."
The A.V. Club (C+) - "More narratively cohesive than the Halo trilogy, but less inventive and compelling than Resistance: Fall Of Man ... too bad it's paired with one of the more pedestrian FPS games to come along in recent years."

[Thanks, blank!]

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PS3 Fanboy review: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

Majed Athab — 2008-04-28T19:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Click for high-resolution image.

Editor's Note: This review was published earlier, before the reviewer completed all the license tests. We pulled the review, acknowledging it was an inaccurate representation of the game. The reviewer has completed all the license tests and has provided a new, edited review.

Before gamers ever really got to play it, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was already slapped in the face with accusations of being nothing more than a glorified demo. Branded with such a stigma, many gamers had turned away from Prologue and decided to wait out until next year when the "real" GT5 races out. Are these people vindicated in their racing abstinence? Or are they missing out?

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue does continue the tradition of maintaining the most realistic driving sim out on the market. It does this with stunningly gorgeous visuals while at the same time playing like a charm. A rigid online mode does drag the title down a bit, but overall, Prologue will leave you well satisfied. This is one PS3 exclusive that'll definitely make you proud to be a PS3 owner.

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The first thing gamers will notice after having popped in their disc (or installed their download) is the radiant attention to detail on cars and environments. The cars are so sleek and flawlessly designed that there are no visible jaggies ever to be found on any model. The race courses are also well-detailed, but will not stun gamers as much as the drool-worthy automobiles. The most stand out race course (as far as looks go) would definitely be the London stage. It's so accurately depicted, right down to street signs, corners, and the famous Piccadilly Circus -- a place which anyone who's been there would instantly recognize.

Pretty pixels aside, what about the gameplay? In short, it's solid. DualShock 3 and SIXAXIS controllers all work great. The DS3's rumble feedback is a nice addition, though it's rarely felt unless you're crashing into a wall -- something you should not be doing. The officially supported racing wheels each have their own menu, so you can customize your racing wheels with ease. As far as actual driving goes, the learning curve bends with each car. Each of the 67 cars available from the start have a unique feel when driving them; well, at least the ones we've bought certainly do.

While being in the driver's seat of each car exudes a unique feel, the ability to fine tune cars to one's liking makes things even more personal. Making its way into Prologue through the Quick Tuning option, players will be able to customize their car's specs and save up to three different versions of their pimped out rides. This feature is only unlocked once all A class events are completed, which means you need to be a pretty good driver to attain it. Considering that Quick Tuning is rather a complex system, placing it after A class completion is actually a choice. Gamers who can't reach that far don't really have the need for the option because they probably haven't gained enough experience to understand what all the customizable parts will do. Meanwhile, GT experts who would know exactly what to do, would easily get to this point and will have the option ready for them to abuse.

To find the Quick Tuning menu, you need to have already chosen your course and car, then you'll see the option added to your before-race menu. The tuning options are usually regulated by "Performance Points" which gauge how powerful your custom beast is. The rating you receive will then be used to check if you qualify for specific races. For example, the tuned online time trials have both 600 PP and below races as well as 700 PP and below races. What's good about this is that cars can be tweaked while fairness is held intact.

The online mode tends to do a good job in sorting out the colloquial noob from the rally champions. For the online mode, there's a set number of races with preset conditions and rules. Most of the intermediate and expert levels are locked until the player clears all ten "A class" events. This is nice as it ensures that gamers with similar expertise are playing one another, but it also means that if one does not earn an A class license, then the majority of online play with be inexcusably restricted.

More on the online mode, the game auto-matches you to opponents looking to enter the same race type as you. Finding racers doesn't take long -- not more than three minutes. Races are usually capped at 12 to 16 racers, but if there's not enough people wanting to play, the match will automatically start with whoever is around.

Gran Turismo experts and novices alike can find a challenge with each of the six race courses in the game. Each course has their own varying difficulty which focuses on drawing out different driving expertise from the player. Each one also has a variant which ultimately adds another six tracks to race on. With 30 dealerships and over 70 cars to collect, car enthusiast will no doubt enjoy filling up their virtual garage with a new beauty every time they win a few races.

About events, each one has ten races to complete. The difficulty level between A through C classes has an excellent curve and adds a balanced progression from each one. When a class is cleared, you'll earn yourself a gift vehicle. When an A class license is earned, you'll unlock not only the previously mentioned Quick Tuning mode, but also the ultra difficult bonus S class events. This is where the bulk of your Quick Tuning will be used. Elsewhere, the two-player split screen is also a great feature. In this mode, two players can race each other. Both players can only choose cars that are currently available in the garage.

Arcade mode lets gamers play any course and take a time or drift trial. The fastest laps on the time trials and drift trials can be recorded for online ranking. Online ranking can be sorted out by car, course, or driving physics. Meanwhile, GT TV is a feature that is hard to review so early in its life cycle. GT TV is a feature that allows gamers to download exclusive racing-related videos; it only received its first update last week. Hopefully it can maintain regular updates.

One thing that may seem unimportant is the lack of BGM selection. Songs play randomly and don't even display information on the playing track. It's strange that Prologue would tout the inclusion of Weezer and Mars Volta songs with TV spots and press releases, but then ultimately not make mention of them at all in the game. If you license music for a game, there needs to be supporting options -- how and when to play them. It's sad to say this, but this is a tip of the hat to how EA does things. Also, a lot of the time, music won't even play while racing. Again, the option for this needs to be given.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is, overall, a great game. It is a complete game -- not a demo. There are a few nitpicky areas that we've mentioned, but in general, most of these complaints can be easily fixed in future patches. Given how Prologue will be supported up until GT5's eventual release, those desired changes have a good chance of becoming reality. At a discounted $40 price, Prologue is a good deal. You're getting a great driving sim and one of the most realistic looking games ever.

PS3 Fanboy review score: 8.5

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Metareview: Grand Theft Auto IV

Andrew Yoon — 2008-04-27T14:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

With Grand Theft Auto IV hitting store shelves this week, the reviews have finally started to pour in. We haven't seen such universal acclaim for a title this generation. From the looks of things, no matter which version you get (PS3 or Xbox 360), you're in for quite a ride:

IGN (100/100) - " For those wanting to know which version looks better, the edge goes to the PS3 ... Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the best games we've ever seen ... The only thing you need to know is that you have to play this game. Period."
1UP (100/100) - "The PS3 version has the slightest visual edge, plus motion-control support ... Liberty City is no longer just a place you explore outdoors, looking for stunt jumps or the thrill of a six-star wanted level after riling up the LCPD during missions. I spent hours of my week-long review session checking out the game's indoor attractions."
GameTrailers (98/100) - "Rockstar always has a knack for choosing just the right songs to set the tone of its games, and once again it's hit a homerun with Grand Theft Auto IV."

So which game are you picking up this week?

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