PS3

Thor: God of Thunder: Not Asgard’s finest

May 26, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Andrew Passafiume Make a comment! / Tweet it!

When it comes to video games based on superheroes and superhero movies, Sega has published some of the worst. The two Iron Man games immediately come to mind, but you can now add Thor: God of Thunder to that list. While it certainly improves upon the standard set by Sega’s previous efforts, it still fails to deliver an experience that most people would consider fun.

As the title may suggest, you play as Thor, the all-powerful God of Thunder. The story borrows elements from the movie but doesn’t entirely follow the plot of the film, allowing it to stand on its own. You follow Thor as he attempts to stop the enemy of Asgard, the Frost Giants, from destroying his home world. There really isn’t much more to this story than that.

The combat is functional; you can pull off some cool-looking moves and special attacks, but these attacks are rather worthless as you find your basic attack is all you need to defeat most enemies. There are certain stronger enemy types and bosses you will encounter that will require you to perform certain special attacks, but outside of those rare moments, you will never feel the need to use them.

Here’s where I would make a comment about the enemy variety, but there really isn’t any. You will find yourself fighting the same three or four enemy types, with the exception of an occasional boss fight, throughout the game. The enemies are all really easy to defeat, as the same basic strategy applies to most of them: hit the attack button, occasionally block, and there you go. You can also upgrade Thor with new moves and special abilities, but you will never find a need for them.

The problem with creating a superhero video game stems from not being able to truly use Thor’s abilities as demonstrated in the comics or in the film. He is a god after all, yet he feels like just an ordinary man with a big hammer and some special moves. You never feel you are all-powerful at any point in the game. Sure, the enemies are easy enough to dispose of, but the few moments of actual challenge the game presents make Thor feel puny and insignificant.

Despite all of the flaws, the game does look decent and offers more variety in the visual and level design than I expected. The voice acting, featuring both Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, is forgettable but certainly not terrible. If there is anything this game did surprisingly okay, it’s the presentation.

Thor definitely improves upon Sega’s previous efforts. The game is actually a reasonable length for a full-priced video game, and it offers something that could pass as a somewhat enjoyable rental if you’re a huge fan of Thor (although even that is debatable). You’re better off just seeing the movie again than playing this uninspired God of War clone.

Pros: Decent presentation

Cons: Stiff and shallow combat; lack of enemy variety; extra powers and abilities are pointless

Motorstorm Apocalypse

May 3, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Motorstorm Apocalypse is an impressive game in many respects. It’s technically sound, visually impressive and has a deep level of customization that can satisfy anyone who wants to feel like they’re making progress when they play. It’s such an impressive game in these ways that I have to feel bad when I say you probably shouldn’t play it.

Those who have played previous Motorstorm games would know what to expect with Apocalypse. The series is known for the vast array of vehicles all competing at once, and it’s also known for many different paths around the track. Bikes can find high, narrow routes, big rigs slog through muddy patches and street vehicles have to fight it out on the well-trodden middle. That’s still here in Apocalypse, but this entry’s new direction makes that less successful.

The direction? Well it’s now fairly infamous, given its poor timing. See, the game’s set in a city in the middle of an earthquake. We’ll leave the PR implications of that alone, but the gameplay ramifications aren’t great. The entire concept feels like the developers played Split/Second once and decided they wanted that game in their game. Sometime in the race (usually during the last lap), the track reshapes itself with falling buildings and crumbling roads. This goes wrong in two ways. First, with a free-form game like Motorstorm where there are always multiple paths to take, the changing paths are more frustrating than refreshing. You can learn these changes and train for them, but it’s not the kind of thing you can pick up and enjoy the first few times. Second, the game has always had the veneer of an arcade title, but the physics are brutally unforgiving. This wasn’t really an issue in wide-open deserts and jungles, but in Apocalypse, there are little pipes here, cement hunks there and slightly uneven surfaces everywhere. If you hit one, you will crash, and they’re in areas where you wouldn’t expect things like that. This would be even easier to take if there weren’t very similar-looking things that are intended for you to drive and smash through to great effect.

All that said, the game’s still not a bad one. You may not be able to play it at parties with people who aren’t used to it, but it’s sure to gain a following of dedicated players online. The customization is great, too. You pick your vehicle for each class, and customize each one with a host of paint jobs, parts and logos. The addition of perks online is great too. Borrowing from games like last year’s Blur, players can choose slight enhancements for online play and adjust things to their play style. It’s sure to make die-hards very happy.

The single-player campaign has a lot more to it this time, too. Rather than simple difficulty levels, the game has three separate campaigns, each with their own story. This is great, even if the style of the game and the style of the cinematics seem at odds. After all, the core game is high-drama, with intense score and visual realism. (That score, by the way, revolves around this one fifteen-second crescendo that gets really annoying really quickly. It’s avoidable in the race, but be prepared to hear it on every single loading screen ever.) The story is told as a motion comic, though, following incredibly stereotypical characters like a guy who decided to compete in this thing instead of playing pro basketball and an old guy who is supposed to be tough but ends up just feeling goofy. That said, this isn’t Heavy Rain or Uncharted, so the throwaway narrative is okay. (And totally skippable.) 

Motorstorm Apocalypse is very cool looking, and if you have 3D you may finally have your showpiece game. There are just a few design choices holding it back, and oh, do they hurt. 

Pros: Gorgeous game, deep unlocking and customization

Cons: Frustrating tracks, awkward motion comics

 

Portal 2

April 25, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Andrew Passafiume Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Very few games have been as beloved by gamers everywhere as the original Portal; it was only a matter of time before a full-fledged sequel was released. Many people were afraid it might stretch the experience too thin, or that it might even ruin what made the original so great in the first place. The actual result is a clever game that is leagues above the original, and could be an early contender for Game of the Year.

Portal 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first game. You find yourself back in the Aperture Science labs, rescued by a small robot named Wheatley who is attempting to get both of you out of there. It isn’t long before you find yourself performing another series of portal-based tests. Despite the simplicity of the first game’s plot, the sequel expands upon the story in great detail. To talk about it anymore would be ruining it for everyone else, but the combination of amazing (and hilarious) writing with clever storytelling twists make this a story you’ll be sad to see end.

Ellen McLain returns as the voice of A.I. nemesis GLaDOS, who is as snarky and sarcastic as ever. New to the cast are Stephen Merchant, who plays the quick-witted but often misguided Wheatley, and J.K. Simmons, as Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson. All of the performances are outstanding and really allow the writing to shine; there is never a dull moment to be had.

As you may have expected, Portal 2 is all about the puzzles, and it delivers on all fronts. Just like the first game, you are slowly reintroduced to the portal gun through tests that start out simple but get more difficult as you progress. And just when you’ve mastered one type of puzzle, a new element is slowly introduced to make things even more challenging. The puzzles are excellently-designed, as are the many levels you traverse, and the difficulty is balanced perfectly. You are never once lost or confused, and the game eases you into each new scenario rather well.

The new elements that are thrown into the mix include aerial faith plates that bounce you from one point to another and gels that will, for example, make you jump higher or run faster. The addition of co-op adds a lot to the experience. It’s an entirely different story with some unique twists that connect it well to the single player content. You can play it both online and locally, but don’t expect to get very far without some kind of way to communicate with your friend. 

To talk about the game anymore would simply ruin the experience for those who haven’t played yet, but I think you get the idea. Despite the lack of challenges that were so prominent in the first game, Portal 2 packs a lot of content for the price. It’s everything the first game was and more, with very inspired level design, some ingenious puzzles, and some of the best writing you’ll ever see in a video game. It might just be Valve’s best game yet. 

Pros: Brilliant level design, pacing and writing; co-op adds a lot to the experience

Cons: Lack of challenges might disappoint some

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

April 20, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

At this point, a co-op dungeon crawler seems like a relic of generations past. We don’t mean that in a bad way; the genre just hasn’t seen the flurry of releases on the latest consoles that it had in the PS2 days. (Is it the emergence of MMOs? Genre fatigue? Just an unfortunate sequence of studio closures? We don’t know.) There hasn’t been a Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, a Champions of Norrath or even a decent Gauntlet out in years. It’s in this environment that Gameloft, the cover band of the industry, has a real shot with Dungeon Hunter: Alliance. 

The game’s based, as it always is with Gameloft, on a mobile title. You choose a class, enter dungeons, gather loot and complete objectives. Along the way you level up, gain skills and upgrade attributes. In other words, it’s Dark Alliance without the IP. This version adds multiplayer, and that’s the ingredient it really needed.

First, though, let’s go over the other features. This game has Move support. It is something you should ignore, since pointing with the Move to move and hitting the Move button for almost everything isn’t actually easier or more precise in any way. We get that it’s supposed to be less daunting, but this game’s demographic should really be okay with a Dual Shock at this point. There’s HD! Except not really. The areas are all somewhat recycled from iOS versions, and they have low polygon counts. Thankfully, things are zoomed out enough that it’s not a problem, and the menus have that Torchlight-style low-budget-but-still-slick look to them. Just don’t expect to be impressed, as we think our old Champions disc has comparable visuals. Also, don’t play this single-player. Just don’t! It’s not very fun, as it’s deep enough for a phone game but pales in comparison to other PS3 offerings. Finally, the story is painfully generic. This is fine to just skip conversations in multiplayer, but a better-written tale would have mitigated the monotony when playing alone.

Okay, so the important stuff: Alliance supports four-player co-op, both online and local. Online is seamless as usual, and local does a good job of screen management, allowing all four players to access pop-up menus at once, LittleBigPlanet-style. Loot is randomly assigned a player color and only that person can pick it up, which keeps things even, and you can drop items with similar restrictions to keep a greedy player from messing up exchanges. You can join a host anywhere during his game, and if your quests line up, you can also progress on your own file. (This seems to really only work if all start at once, as otherwise you have to complete the exact same quests on your own before joining up. Still, it’s a welcome addition.) There seems to be one big oversight, though: for a game with four players, it’s weird to have three character classes. Now each class can be customized with skills and such so that they don’t play identically, but the armor and weapon drops are clearly tailored for one class, and two players basically have to split the good stuff. With the occasional exception, though, the item curve is rather shallow, so one guy will get a Spectral Staff with bonus mana regeneration and HP regeneration, and the other will be stuck with… a Spectral Staff with the same attack and fewer bonuses. 

The game could use a patch, though. Players occasionally get stuck for a few seconds on obstacles. Your inventory will glitch up and show that your HP-boosting ring is a two-handed mace with bonus fire damage. They’re small, but noticeable, issues, and you hope that a game with so little character could at least be polished. (There were reports of major online issues, but those seem to have been cleared up.)

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is the only declared candidate in the race these days, so in that respect it scores quite a few points. And the genre’s a reliable one that, with a group of friends, becomes fun even if it doesn’t have everything together. The progression, the boss battles and the gratifying feeling of acquiring levels and items that mobile and social games have captured so well lately make Alliance a blast to play, even if we can’t really say the game’s very good in any particular way. 

Pros: Enjoyable multiplayer, addictive RPG elements

Cons: Almost soulless, needs some bug squashing

 

Tomb Raider Trilogy

April 14, 2011

PS3 / Reviews / by Paul Bishop Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Just in time for the reboot of Tomb Raider later this year, Crystal Dynamics has re-issued its recent back catalog of titles in high definition. With this PS3 exclusive, players have access to the last three games produced: Legend (2006), Anniversary (2007) and Underworld (2008). Including a story thread that links all three titles, these games are natural to appear on one disc and provide some minor extras to make this a value at $39.99. 

Lara Croft travels the world hunting artifacts, but none are as personal as the sword Excalibur that is somehow linked with her Mother’s disappearance years ago. Told across all three titles, Lara battles enemies old and new to finally close this chapter in her life. Never before has the Tomb Raider series looked so good. All three games look beautiful with Underworld still looking just as good as any current title. 

Included with the games, players will have access to development diaries for all three titles, as well as trailers for the downloadable Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. In addition to the videos, the disc includes PlayStation Home avatar clothing, trophy support and a PS3 theme to tempt fanboys even more. While these are nice to have, they don’t add significantly to the overall value of the title and will only appeal to die-hards. 

The platforming and puzzle solving of Tomb Raider set the bar in the late ’90s, and if you haven’t had a chance to play these titles, then you should consider picking it up for your collection to see the final chapters.

Pros: Great game value for one disc, beautiful updating of graphics

Cons: Extras don’t add much value

 

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