So, ever since Sony and Media Molecule announced LittleBigPlanet was coming last year, I've been dying to have a chance to play it. Everything from screenshots to videos that I've seen have only cemented it in my mind as the game that will sell PS3's, and take over my life. Then, it got delayed, and delayed and I was really bummed out and stopped following it for a while.
But then, at E3, it appeared and reminded me why I was so entranced by it again. Now, with the release date a couple months away, I'm trying to get any information I can, and also trying to decide who I'm going to pre-order it from (there are five different offers but only two have been formally announced). I found a cool site that has a ton of info: LittleBigPlanet Central and since they have their official news site: LittleBigPlanet News I'm counting days until I can get this game.
For those who don't know, it's really hard to explain what is so cool about this game, which is essentially a platformer with a level design and share element. But it's the style, charm, and general fun of the game that make it so compelling. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about the game other than it hasn't come out yet. Nintendo tried to get it before Sony snatched it up, and for good reason. My wife is even interested in this game and that says volumes right there.
So, October 21st can't get here soon enough. All I have to do now is make my final decision on Kratos costume, Mini-Guide, or Pouch. :)
Showing posts with label PS3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PS3. Show all posts
Friday, August 15, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
Uncharted Trophy Hunt - Review
So, I got Uncharted yesterday, and as soon as possible, downloaded the patch and started up the game. Now, I've received three trophies from PixelJunk Eden, but there was something different about trying to get them for Uncharted. I had a game plan, did some research, even had a treasure guide so I could make sure I found all of them. And then I dove right in. After one night (that was shortened a little), I've got 9 of the 47 trophies and I'm completely hooked. My plan is to get all of them, but going back and beating the game on Crushing will be challenging so we'll have to see. But, since I've beat the game already, I figured I'd do a little of a Retro-Review of the game.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is about Nathan Drake's quest to find a lost treasure that Sir Francis Drake (who Nathan thinks is a long lost relative) hide after a supposed death. Without giving anything away, the game is the search for this treasure and the adventures that are brought along with that.
I'll be honest and up front. I loved this game. The gameplay is typical adventure with some shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving. All of these elements really fit into my interests and with a story that is both interesting and actually well written, it makes for a really fun experience. The controls are very intuitive and the camera works very well staying where it should almost all the time. Games I like to play are the ones where I feel like if I would have designed the control scheme, this is how I would have done it. Uncharted accomplishes this goal.
The story, like I said is good, but it's the actors' delivery that make it that way. The whole game is presented like a big movie, and that is really cool. One evidence of this is the missing load time screens, and when you enter a new level, the only way you know it is by the screen showing a graphic stating that it is a new level. I love that touch to the game. Make you feel more part of the action. Visually, the game is amazing. The first time I played it, I was on a 25" Sanyo from 20 years ago. The game looks so much better on my HDTV, I can't describe the difference it makes. Little touches such as a sound track that changes much like a movie would (tense music in a tense situation, etc..) add to the experience.
So, I think it's obvious, but I'll go ahead and say it. This game is great. I give it 5 out of 5. The only complaint is that maybe the game is a little too short. Not a bad complaint to have...
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is about Nathan Drake's quest to find a lost treasure that Sir Francis Drake (who Nathan thinks is a long lost relative) hide after a supposed death. Without giving anything away, the game is the search for this treasure and the adventures that are brought along with that.
I'll be honest and up front. I loved this game. The gameplay is typical adventure with some shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving. All of these elements really fit into my interests and with a story that is both interesting and actually well written, it makes for a really fun experience. The controls are very intuitive and the camera works very well staying where it should almost all the time. Games I like to play are the ones where I feel like if I would have designed the control scheme, this is how I would have done it. Uncharted accomplishes this goal.
The story, like I said is good, but it's the actors' delivery that make it that way. The whole game is presented like a big movie, and that is really cool. One evidence of this is the missing load time screens, and when you enter a new level, the only way you know it is by the screen showing a graphic stating that it is a new level. I love that touch to the game. Make you feel more part of the action. Visually, the game is amazing. The first time I played it, I was on a 25" Sanyo from 20 years ago. The game looks so much better on my HDTV, I can't describe the difference it makes. Little touches such as a sound track that changes much like a movie would (tense music in a tense situation, etc..) add to the experience.
So, I think it's obvious, but I'll go ahead and say it. This game is great. I give it 5 out of 5. The only complaint is that maybe the game is a little too short. Not a bad complaint to have...
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
PS3 Trophies - Now I Get Achievements...
So, I had already sent a PSP game (Burnout Legends) back to Gamefly when I saw the news that Uncharted: Drakes Fortune had received it's patch for Trophy support. I immediately moved it to the top of my Queue, and just found out, that's what they are sending me next. So, now, I'll be able to go through the game again (which I commented earlier was one of my favorites this year) and get the new fun trophies... Someone has already sent out a list and they match the existing medals from the game which is cool.
I currently have three trophies from PixelJunk Eden (I'm only a 5th of the way through the game, so expect my review soon.. oops, here comes Uncharted to derail that idea..). And I finally realize why everyone wanted these and why Achievements on the 360 are so popular. There is a cool satisfaction with accomplishing something in a game and being rewarded for it. Even if it's just for you. There is also something that drives me to go back and complete games 100%. I did this with Burnout Paradise (at the moment I'm only 9 challenges away from 102%). The added fun is that you can compare your status to those on your friends lists which makes it kind of like a cool meta-game that 360 players have been playing for a while that we are beginning to enjoy. I only hope that the completion factor does not derail my enjoyment of the game.
So, now, I'm really wishing I had a few days off to play games cause I'm really wanting more trophies. I've even almost convinced myself to get Super Stardust HD just to get the trophies. (I almost bought Warhawk again for the same reason). So thanks Sony for the trophies... You've now added to my list of games to play again.
I currently have three trophies from PixelJunk Eden (I'm only a 5th of the way through the game, so expect my review soon.. oops, here comes Uncharted to derail that idea..). And I finally realize why everyone wanted these and why Achievements on the 360 are so popular. There is a cool satisfaction with accomplishing something in a game and being rewarded for it. Even if it's just for you. There is also something that drives me to go back and complete games 100%. I did this with Burnout Paradise (at the moment I'm only 9 challenges away from 102%). The added fun is that you can compare your status to those on your friends lists which makes it kind of like a cool meta-game that 360 players have been playing for a while that we are beginning to enjoy. I only hope that the completion factor does not derail my enjoyment of the game.
So, now, I'm really wishing I had a few days off to play games cause I'm really wanting more trophies. I've even almost convinced myself to get Super Stardust HD just to get the trophies. (I almost bought Warhawk again for the same reason). So thanks Sony for the trophies... You've now added to my list of games to play again.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Pixel Junk Eden Demo Impression
So, I bought PixelJunk Monsters when it came out on the PSN, and I really enjoyed the game play, although, I didn't finish it (Burnout Paradise took over and Gaming ADD). I'm planning on getting into it again soon, but it may have to wait. I downloaded the PJ-Eden demo on Thursday, and so far, I've played through it twice. It was on my list of games I'm curious about from E3 and I was glad to see a demo.
The game is essentially a platformer that gives you control of a character and lets you loose in a garden (level) with the objective of collection "Spectra". These Spectra help to build your Eden and progress to other gardens. You collect pollen to grow new plants to attach to and climb, etc. The demo only lets you collect 5 (of the 50) spectra, but if you play it right, you can play all the way through Garden 1, or play 3-4 spectra of Garden 2 or 3 spectra of Garden 3. This is a game that is very different than other games I play (shooters, racing, sports, action) as it is very mellow, but it is also a platformer which puts it right in my wheelhouse so that is a cool contrast. The mix of the visual style and the music is really cool as I can't see how the game would have any other music. The only problem with the demo is that you can only play through it once without deleting your save game.
Some cool features of the game include: up to three player co-op locally (too bad I only have two controllers), Remote Play support (haven't tried this yet, but I will...), Trophy support (I can finally get trophies), and the ability to upload captured video to YouTube. With all of these features for a cost of "less than 10 dollars", I'll definitely be buying this game when it comes out on Thursday. So obviously my impression was you should play this demo if you have a PS3 and I think you'll want to download the game too.
The game is essentially a platformer that gives you control of a character and lets you loose in a garden (level) with the objective of collection "Spectra". These Spectra help to build your Eden and progress to other gardens. You collect pollen to grow new plants to attach to and climb, etc. The demo only lets you collect 5 (of the 50) spectra, but if you play it right, you can play all the way through Garden 1, or play 3-4 spectra of Garden 2 or 3 spectra of Garden 3. This is a game that is very different than other games I play (shooters, racing, sports, action) as it is very mellow, but it is also a platformer which puts it right in my wheelhouse so that is a cool contrast. The mix of the visual style and the music is really cool as I can't see how the game would have any other music. The only problem with the demo is that you can only play through it once without deleting your save game.
Some cool features of the game include: up to three player co-op locally (too bad I only have two controllers), Remote Play support (haven't tried this yet, but I will...), Trophy support (I can finally get trophies), and the ability to upload captured video to YouTube. With all of these features for a cost of "less than 10 dollars", I'll definitely be buying this game when it comes out on Thursday. So obviously my impression was you should play this demo if you have a PS3 and I think you'll want to download the game too.
Friday, July 18, 2008
E3 Impressions - PJ Edition
So, I finished watching the Sony E3 presentation last night (Thanks to the PSN actually providing it this year), and there were a lot of cool things about it. Here are the ones that I found most interesting:
1. Resistance 2 - I really liked the first game, but the levels they showed were awesome. They kept mentioning scale, and it was really evident in the Leviathan battle. Part of that seemed a little weird though. I'll be interested to see how it measures up in the final game.
2. Sony's commitment to the PS2 - They are bringing out 130 titles for the PS2 this year. That seems really high when they aren't providing backward compatibility on the PS3 going forward.
3. LittleBigPlanet - I cannot even describe how excited I am by this game. I really hope they don't let everyone down and delay it again. Should be the best community game since Burnout Paradise.
4. Video Store - I think this is a really great move to bring the PSN in line with other online retail opportunities. I like how you can move it to your PSP. I don't like how when you delete it to free up space, it's gone forever. I guess I'll be burning anything I buy to DVD or backing up on my portable hard drive (I also really need to expand the drive I have in my PS3.
5. PSN titles - I love the idea of Ratchet and Clank continuing on PSN. I'll be buying that for sure.
6. The many developers touting the PS3 (even notable devs from critics of the platform)
Here's what I was a little disappointed by:
1. No Netflix announcement. This rumor has been going on for a long time, and when the 360 announced it on Monday, I thought it was sure that the PS3 would announce it. Wonder if they are waiting to not compete with the new Store, or if was really only a rumor.
2. No Jaw-Dropping announcement. I'm still waiting for the announcement that they are making a peripheral that will turn the PS3 into a Location Free player or something of that nature. The games looked good, the video store is nice, but nothing blew me away.
3. No Killzone 2 love. I know this conference was about Resistance 2, but Killzone still should have had a little presence... even if it was just a teaser of really in-game footage.
Games I MUST play from E3: (not just from Sony's conference)
1. LittleBigPlanet
2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
3. Resistence 2
4. Mirror's Edge
5. Prince of Persia
6. DC Universe
7. Resistance Retribution
8. Lego Batman
9. Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
10. Motorstorm 2
Games I'm curious about:
1. Infamous
2. Flower
3. PixelJunk Eden
4. Mortal Kombat vs. DC
1. Resistance 2 - I really liked the first game, but the levels they showed were awesome. They kept mentioning scale, and it was really evident in the Leviathan battle. Part of that seemed a little weird though. I'll be interested to see how it measures up in the final game.
2. Sony's commitment to the PS2 - They are bringing out 130 titles for the PS2 this year. That seems really high when they aren't providing backward compatibility on the PS3 going forward.
3. LittleBigPlanet - I cannot even describe how excited I am by this game. I really hope they don't let everyone down and delay it again. Should be the best community game since Burnout Paradise.
4. Video Store - I think this is a really great move to bring the PSN in line with other online retail opportunities. I like how you can move it to your PSP. I don't like how when you delete it to free up space, it's gone forever. I guess I'll be burning anything I buy to DVD or backing up on my portable hard drive (I also really need to expand the drive I have in my PS3.
5. PSN titles - I love the idea of Ratchet and Clank continuing on PSN. I'll be buying that for sure.
6. The many developers touting the PS3 (even notable devs from critics of the platform)
Here's what I was a little disappointed by:
1. No Netflix announcement. This rumor has been going on for a long time, and when the 360 announced it on Monday, I thought it was sure that the PS3 would announce it. Wonder if they are waiting to not compete with the new Store, or if was really only a rumor.
2. No Jaw-Dropping announcement. I'm still waiting for the announcement that they are making a peripheral that will turn the PS3 into a Location Free player or something of that nature. The games looked good, the video store is nice, but nothing blew me away.
3. No Killzone 2 love. I know this conference was about Resistance 2, but Killzone still should have had a little presence... even if it was just a teaser of really in-game footage.
Games I MUST play from E3: (not just from Sony's conference)
1. LittleBigPlanet
2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
3. Resistence 2
4. Mirror's Edge
5. Prince of Persia
6. DC Universe
7. Resistance Retribution
8. Lego Batman
9. Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
10. Motorstorm 2
Games I'm curious about:
1. Infamous
2. Flower
3. PixelJunk Eden
4. Mortal Kombat vs. DC
Friday, July 11, 2008
Burnout Paradise - The Best Game Ever!
So, the title above is meant to draw you in.. you know for the large readership that I have... I've had my Playstation 3 for over a year, and I've played quite a few games on it. Of those, most were rented by Gamefly, and a couple I bought. There is one that I got in February through Gamefly, and after about a week or two, I bought it. That game is Burnout Paradise.
For those of you not familiar with the Burnout series, there have been five games (made by Criterion and 2 made by a different company) with the latest being Paradise. Essentially Burnout is an arcade style racer which rewards reckless driving (drifting, airtime, crashing other cars, etc..) with boost. The game has always had a love of crashing and even has made crash mode which makes the worst part of a racing game (crashing) into something fun. I started on Burnout 3, and love it, and Revenge. They were both incredibly fun to play, and I played the heck out of them.
When Burnout Paradise was coming out, I knew I would buy it, but that was solidified when I played the demo. This was Burnout like I'd never seen it. A completely open world racing game, where I choose the route I want to take in a race (even if it's wrong), a massive amount of cars and locations, and almost limitless possibilities, and all of that in glorious HD. I was hooked and I bought the game (after renting it on Gamefly (gets me a discount on games I buy also). I started working through the numerous events. Races are just like they sound. Marked Man events have you being chased by cars trying to take you down. Road Rage lets you take others down. Burnout Routes a timed events that earn you new cars. And Stunt Runs let you put your car through barrel rolls, flat spins, and other things not recommended by the car manufacturer. Each event was a lot of fun, and immediately accessible. The loading times were gone and every event was just an intersection away. This was cause for some to complain because if you were trying to do a burning route to get a new car, and you failed (which I did a LOT), you had to drive back to the start again to try once more. But in essence, this just helped to teach me the city. Getting to know better routes and shortcuts to take. I didn't even touch on the Road Rules and Showtime (which replaces crash mode) which are both pretty cool in their own right.
All of this was fun and I enjoyed the 80 cars that I had to choose from, but for me, the real fun started when I took the game online. While some games make online very difficult, getting online in Paradise is as simple as three presses to the right on the game pad. There you can race, just drive around, or set new road rules/showtime scores for your friends to beat. Once I got online, I was immersed in the land of the online challenges. The offline mode had 60 different accomplishments which when completed, helped to earn a new status for the game. Online, there were 350 challenges (50 2-player, 50 3-player, etc.. to 8-player). After finding some friends on the Criterion Games forum, I was able to complete two sets of these and get my 81st car. I was totally hooked. I've done a few races online, but for the most part, I've been doing challenges ever since. A couple weeks ago, I completed all 350, but that didn't stop me. A trend with this community is that once you achieve something, you help others to achieve it as well. It's a really cool experience to watch people from all over the world having fun and encouraging this kind of accomplishment. I know it's just a game, but there's something to be said for that.
The coolest thing happened this week however. Criterion has not stopped supporting this game even though it shipped six months ago. Yesterday, they released an update to the game which added some new paint jobs for cars, three new online modes (Marked Man, Stunt Run, and Road Rage), custom soundtracks for PS3, and most importantly, 70 new multipart, timed challenges. I've already finished about 10 of these and they are a TON of fun. The timed element really adds to the accomplishment of completing them. I've played Online Marked Man, and won my only try so far. I got lucky and took down someone chasing me. That was a lot of fun as well. The best part of this update, it was free. And it's not the last update for the year. There are at least two more coming (one which will bring Motorcycles)
So, why is this the best game ever? The gameplay is awesome, the replayability is phenomenal, the online community is accepting and easy to play with (for the most part), and the developer continued support has made the game even deeper than it was. I recommend this game to anyone who has a PS3 or 360. Some of the events have a little learning curve, but the city is so fun to drive in, and the game is such a blast, that it was easy to call this the best game ever.
BTW, if you're ever online on PS3 playing Burnout Paradise, my PSN is FrankenCelery
For those of you not familiar with the Burnout series, there have been five games (made by Criterion and 2 made by a different company) with the latest being Paradise. Essentially Burnout is an arcade style racer which rewards reckless driving (drifting, airtime, crashing other cars, etc..) with boost. The game has always had a love of crashing and even has made crash mode which makes the worst part of a racing game (crashing) into something fun. I started on Burnout 3, and love it, and Revenge. They were both incredibly fun to play, and I played the heck out of them.
When Burnout Paradise was coming out, I knew I would buy it, but that was solidified when I played the demo. This was Burnout like I'd never seen it. A completely open world racing game, where I choose the route I want to take in a race (even if it's wrong), a massive amount of cars and locations, and almost limitless possibilities, and all of that in glorious HD. I was hooked and I bought the game (after renting it on Gamefly (gets me a discount on games I buy also). I started working through the numerous events. Races are just like they sound. Marked Man events have you being chased by cars trying to take you down. Road Rage lets you take others down. Burnout Routes a timed events that earn you new cars. And Stunt Runs let you put your car through barrel rolls, flat spins, and other things not recommended by the car manufacturer. Each event was a lot of fun, and immediately accessible. The loading times were gone and every event was just an intersection away. This was cause for some to complain because if you were trying to do a burning route to get a new car, and you failed (which I did a LOT), you had to drive back to the start again to try once more. But in essence, this just helped to teach me the city. Getting to know better routes and shortcuts to take. I didn't even touch on the Road Rules and Showtime (which replaces crash mode) which are both pretty cool in their own right.
All of this was fun and I enjoyed the 80 cars that I had to choose from, but for me, the real fun started when I took the game online. While some games make online very difficult, getting online in Paradise is as simple as three presses to the right on the game pad. There you can race, just drive around, or set new road rules/showtime scores for your friends to beat. Once I got online, I was immersed in the land of the online challenges. The offline mode had 60 different accomplishments which when completed, helped to earn a new status for the game. Online, there were 350 challenges (50 2-player, 50 3-player, etc.. to 8-player). After finding some friends on the Criterion Games forum, I was able to complete two sets of these and get my 81st car. I was totally hooked. I've done a few races online, but for the most part, I've been doing challenges ever since. A couple weeks ago, I completed all 350, but that didn't stop me. A trend with this community is that once you achieve something, you help others to achieve it as well. It's a really cool experience to watch people from all over the world having fun and encouraging this kind of accomplishment. I know it's just a game, but there's something to be said for that.
The coolest thing happened this week however. Criterion has not stopped supporting this game even though it shipped six months ago. Yesterday, they released an update to the game which added some new paint jobs for cars, three new online modes (Marked Man, Stunt Run, and Road Rage), custom soundtracks for PS3, and most importantly, 70 new multipart, timed challenges. I've already finished about 10 of these and they are a TON of fun. The timed element really adds to the accomplishment of completing them. I've played Online Marked Man, and won my only try so far. I got lucky and took down someone chasing me. That was a lot of fun as well. The best part of this update, it was free. And it's not the last update for the year. There are at least two more coming (one which will bring Motorcycles)
So, why is this the best game ever? The gameplay is awesome, the replayability is phenomenal, the online community is accepting and easy to play with (for the most part), and the developer continued support has made the game even deeper than it was. I recommend this game to anyone who has a PS3 or 360. Some of the events have a little learning curve, but the city is so fun to drive in, and the game is such a blast, that it was easy to call this the best game ever.
BTW, if you're ever online on PS3 playing Burnout Paradise, my PSN is FrankenCelery
Friday, November 09, 2007
Ratchet and Clank Future Review
So, since I rejoined Gamefly, I've been presented with something that I haven't had too much of in the past, but that I'm enjoying pretty well. I have more games to play than I have time to play them. This is a relatively new thing with the PS3 and I think it's an indication of things to come. Here is what I'm currently trying to play: Guitar Hero 3 (from Gamefly), Warhawk ( I just bought it a couple weeks ago), Lego Star Wars - the Complete Saga (I pre-ordered this a couple months ago), the new Uncharted demo (just came out yesterday and it's going to be awesome), I just finished Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and I've got Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare being shipped to me right now. Again, great problem to have, but I really wished I had a few more hours in the day/
So, since I'm flying through these games pretty much, I thought I'd write a review for a few of them. I just finished and returned Ratchet & Clank Future so I think I'll start there. I've played two previous Ratchet and Clank games before this one. The original for PS2 (played on my PS3 - I love backward compatibility), and R&C: Size Matters on the PSP. Each game was a ton of fun for a lot of reasons and as such, I had high expectations for the "next-gen" R&C. Developed by Insomniac, this is their second game on the PS3 platform, and the polish was very evident in the graphics (even on my ghetto 20 year old 25 inch screen), the gameplay, and the game as a whole. R&C Future is a platformer, action, adventure, space, minigame game. There really is a ton of fun in here to be had and unlike some other reviewers, I found this to be a great way to enjoy it. The story, while not very deep, was good, and the voice acting was very good.
But, how was it to play? Well, I had a great time playing. Never did I get bored with destroying boxes, or solving puzzles, or really with anything the game had to offer. The controls were very intuitive, and the level of difficulty wasn't too hard. I really enjoyed this game, and may rent it again to go back and do things I didn't do before. The game has a great amount of replay that I didn't get to check out, because once I finished it, I sent it back. I would like to check out challenge mode, and some of the other areas I didn't explore before. Maybe once we get into another rut with games coming out, I'll have that chance. (Although as of this writing, I have 23 games in my Gamefly Queue).
So, all in all, I loved this game and would definitely recommend it. The only issues I saw were that sometimes, ammo would sort of morph into the surroundings and you couldn't pick it up. Other than that, just a fantasically fun game. 4.5 out of 5
So, since I'm flying through these games pretty much, I thought I'd write a review for a few of them. I just finished and returned Ratchet & Clank Future so I think I'll start there. I've played two previous Ratchet and Clank games before this one. The original for PS2 (played on my PS3 - I love backward compatibility), and R&C: Size Matters on the PSP. Each game was a ton of fun for a lot of reasons and as such, I had high expectations for the "next-gen" R&C. Developed by Insomniac, this is their second game on the PS3 platform, and the polish was very evident in the graphics (even on my ghetto 20 year old 25 inch screen), the gameplay, and the game as a whole. R&C Future is a platformer, action, adventure, space, minigame game. There really is a ton of fun in here to be had and unlike some other reviewers, I found this to be a great way to enjoy it. The story, while not very deep, was good, and the voice acting was very good.
But, how was it to play? Well, I had a great time playing. Never did I get bored with destroying boxes, or solving puzzles, or really with anything the game had to offer. The controls were very intuitive, and the level of difficulty wasn't too hard. I really enjoyed this game, and may rent it again to go back and do things I didn't do before. The game has a great amount of replay that I didn't get to check out, because once I finished it, I sent it back. I would like to check out challenge mode, and some of the other areas I didn't explore before. Maybe once we get into another rut with games coming out, I'll have that chance. (Although as of this writing, I have 23 games in my Gamefly Queue).
So, all in all, I loved this game and would definitely recommend it. The only issues I saw were that sometimes, ammo would sort of morph into the surroundings and you couldn't pick it up. Other than that, just a fantasically fun game. 4.5 out of 5
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