PSP

God of War: Chains of Olympus

March 25, 2008

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

Before Kratos took on the gods, he served them as a pawn hoping to be rid of his nightmares caused from his past deeds. When the god Helios is taken from the sky and the world is plunged in to night, the gods implore Kratos to track down his captor Atlas and free the sun before eternal slumber consumes gods and man alike. Set before the events in the original God of War, Chains of Olympus takes all the successful elements of the series and ports them to the PSP to create an excellent addition to this thrilling trilogy.

Right from the first mission, you see that the developers wasted no resources on ensuring a smooth, playable game that will become an instant classic.
It’s essentially a gloried hack-n-slash, but oh man, what an adventure it is. Kratos is as fluid as ever as he creates spectacular combos that shred opponents and dice up the screen. The fighting is so intuitive and inviting that you will be sucked into this visceral melee right from the first level. You are rewarded for creating combos with more orbs that are used to upgrade weapons and attacks into even more deadly and visually stunning combos.

When you are not slashing your way through waves of enemies, you will be solving puzzles and exploring to further the story. Here the puzzles usually represent object placement/manipulation to trigger the next linear path forward, and while the puzzles do get slightly complicated, they don’t really get beyond the difficult level. Exploration rewards you with hidden chests that contain extra orbs or items to improve health or magic and with new scenery.

The controls are easy to pick up and you will be quickly chaining combinations together, but as the game progresses you gain more and more abilities that strain the limits of the PSP’s controls. Noticeably missing is the right analog stick from the PS2 which was used for dodging attacks. Now this same feat is achieved by holding both shoulder buttons while moving the analog control in the direction you wish to roll. The problem with this is that each shoulder button is already tied with a face button combination to use special attacks, so if I wanted to do a roll (L+R+analog) followed by a magic attack (R+Triangle) followed by a Cyclone of Chaos (L+Square) the finger manipulation in the midst of battle starts to become cumbersome.

The graphics and sound are almost movie quality and push the PSP to the limit. The stellar cut-scenes and fluid non-clipped fighting show the best the PSP is capable of. The voice acting is awesome, parcticularly as Kratos and the narrator return to help solidify this game in the trilogy, and the orchestral scores and sound effects round out this epic endeavor. While the game is on the short side (around 6 hours), there is ample incentive to replay the game on the increased difficulty modes to unlock extra treasures, which includes concept art.

I can’t even use “scaled downA

Patapon

March 25, 2008

PSP / Reviews / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Were I stocking a game store Patapon would be sitting all alone in the realtime rhythm strategy RPG section. That sounds like a lot, and it is. Patapon is deceptively deep. Its Loco Roco-esque graphics imply a simple, soothing game that is stored on the UMD. Patapon is anything but simple. It’s deep, strategy-focused, and rewarding.

If one genre shines a bit brighter than the others in Patapon it’s rhythm. Without rhythm your warriors cannot walk, they cannot fight, and the game cannot progress. Everything in Patapon requires the player to keep a beat. This is easy enough for simple movement (pon pon pata pon or square square circle square as it’s entered on the PSP), but in the heat of battle it’s easy to rush things and completely miss an attack, have a warrior eaten by a dragon, finally regain the beat, and retreat only to try it all again.

In addition to keeping a beat Patapon is a game of strategy. Squad composition and positioning are important – archers go in the back, for example. Boss fights require specific tactics to complete, and even in normal fights it is important to know when to run away versus when to push through and attack. In this regard Patapon is just as much a two-dimensional realtime strategy game as it is a rhythm game.

As with any game that tries new things there are a few nits to be picked with Patapon. It’s short, it requires a bit of grinding for materials to create new warriors and weapons, and at times it is frustratingly difficult. All three of these nits, however, are nullified by the New Game+ feature which allows you to replay the game with the same squad that just vanquished the final boss.

I’m not sure this is a con so much as a warning. Despite being released for the PlayStation Portable, Patapon is not a portable game. The timing required is so precise that ambient noise or the jostling of a bus ride is certain to throw you off. Stages that are easy while sitting on your couch will result in nothing but piles of dead patapons on the bus.

Patapon is charming, the art style is great, and the soundtrack melds into the gameplay superbly. The patapons themselves are so cute that not only will you want to win the stage but you’ll want to keep as many warriors alive as possible. It’s not that you can’t make more; it’s that it’s depressing when the cute things die. The whole experience is light-hearted and smile-inducing – particularly the patapons’ singing while they work, hunt, and take down giant bosses. If you like rhythm games then picking up Patapon is a no-brainer. Just watch out; once that song is stuck in your head it may never leave.

Bomberman Land

February 28, 2008

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

When White, the hero of bomberman, gets a plea for help from the famed Bomberman Land amusement park he rushes to the scene to find the park erased off the map. Some mysterious force has caused the park to disappear and it is up to you and your friends to gather zone pieces to put the park back together.

Really there isn’t much more to the plot than that, but then again it isn’t really necessary for a standard mini-game focused PSP release. Pieces are the ultimate goal of progression here, as you talk to befuddled inhabitants, solve minor puzzles or complete mini-games to earn these numbered tiles. Along the way you can earn money through casino games to buy props, costumes, or (more importantly) access to additional areas, which contain some of the yet unplayed minigames. As linear as it sounds, it quickly becomes anything but as you move from the Red to Blue to Yellow zones and beyond; a lot of backtracking between zones begins to wear on the player as it seems unnatural and time-consuming constantly have to check back to beginning zones waiting for someone to finally appear at a location to move you forward. The dialog sections required to get pieces out of park employees is humorous at times, but once again takes on an inane feel as I quickly got tired of the banter and skipped through the dialog to get my reward.

Undoubtedly the mini-games are the high point of this title. Very numerous and quite addictive at times, there is no shortage of replay value that is suited nicely to the portable format. The games go from timed shooters to side-scrollers to racing to somewhat difficult puzzles. Controls are aptly applied to each game whether it is using the input buttons for Whack-A-Gnome or the directional buttons and/or analog stick for driving games. Aimed primarily at the younger crowd, the games vary in challenge, but rest assured there are still ways to buy out of certain mini-games so you don’t get stuck or frustrated.

The addition of buyable costumes is a nice nuance but ultimately it is the addition of the original Bomberman that will have a whole bunch of people dropping money to buy this title. Included as a standalone game, the enhanced graphics of the original help bring this classic back into the mainstream. Add to that the fact you can play four players at the same time using the Wi-Fi option and you are getting a huge bang out of your buck. In that same vein it is possible to challenge another PSP user to some of the mini-games adding to the multiplayer options.

While the graphics of the original Bomberman have been updated, the overall visual quality of this game is not really up to the PSP’s superior output. Sprites are colorful, but there is an almost hokey nature to the graphics that isn’t helped by the sub par sound. The happy theme-park music is cute at first, but due to its repetitive quality it quickly wears out its welcome.

Bomberman Land is not going to win any awards, but its cute and easy-to-pick-up play style make this a game worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of the original.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

February 21, 2008

PSP / Reviews / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP is a port of the until now Japan-only Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Rondo of Blood is more like Super Castlevania IV (SNES) than Symphony of the Night (PSX, 360) so those whose who enjoy Castlevania titles for its 3D format may be frustrated by it, but those who remember the punishingly hard Castlevanias of years past will be right at home helping Richter vanquish Dracula one more time.

Dracula X is about precision. It’s completely possible to mistime one jump and be killed by a bat. You can’t move while jumping; Richter is committed, and the double jump is used as a means of escape instead of one to access high platforms. Instead of just jumping higher, Richter’s double jump is a backward somersault away from whatever horrible monster is currently trying to kill you. Once you come to terms with the old-school controls the game becomes a test of platforming skills. Enemies aren’t particularly difficult to kill, but mashing the square button won’t get you through things; you’ll need to learn and properly react to enemy patterns. Dracula X is difficult, especially if you don’t regularly play classic games. Technically, Dracula X’s main mode can be beaten in an hour, but you can expect to take much longer.

Graphic and sound design have always been strong points for the Castlevania franchise, and that tradition continues in Dracula X Chronicles. Richter and his assorted enemies are all modeled in 3D, and great lighting effects abound. Most bosses are introduced via a short cutscene, and boss attacks in particular are beautiful in addition to being deadly. Sound is another strong point for Dracula X; Rondo of Blood‘s original soundtrack has been remixed here to sound more orchestral (the original was fairly synthesizer heavy), and even if you prefer the original the new soundtrack sets the mood brilliantly. A Castlevania game has never looked and sounded so wonderfully gothic before.

Like the original Rondo of Blood, Dracula X Chronicles features excellent level design. Considering when the original was released (1993) level designs are varied, and the inclusion of secret areas and alternate paths through the areas is a huge step for the action platformer as a genre. Action platformers were typically a left-to-right affair, but Rondo of Blood and now Dracula X mix things up by hiding maidens to be saved, alternate boss fights, and secret exits throughout the game’s many levels.

If Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles was only a modern remake of Rondo of Blood it would be worth a purchase, but there are a few additional modes included in the package. Boss Rush makes a return, and is exactly what it sounds like. Maria mode changes things up by allowing you to play as Richter’s girlfriend with a different attack style, and the follow-up to Rondo of Blood, Symphony of the Night, is also available as an unlockable. That’s essentially three excellent games for the price of one on one UMD.

Castlevania is regarded as a classic franchise for a reason – it combines excellent level design with difficult but rewarding gameplay in one well-polished and pleasant to the ear package. This is a must own for PSP owners.

MX vs. ATV Untamed

February 8, 2008

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

Trying to capitalize on vehicles that you wouldn’t normally play in a racing game, MX vs. ATV: Untamed takes dirt bikes, ATVs, and Monster Trucks and pits them against each other to create an arcade racer that strives to be more.

The game’s biggest perk is the sheer amount of vehicles and play modes available. ATVs handle differently than dune buggies and indoor arena tracks are a world apart from the outdoor rally. Perks end there, though. The game quickly devolves into an average experience as the thrill of taking a jump leads to the inevitable crashing down to earth because you didn’t hit the lip of the ramp correctly. Moreover, the developers attempted to walk a specific line with physics and controls that lands somewhere between technical simulation racing and arcade; what they end up with is an unbalanced feel to the game. They should have chosen physics or arcade only, and stuck with it.

You can tell the developers were trying to get the best of both worlds and they mostly succeed with a lot of quick action and forgiving turns that make the game easy to pick up but occasionally the developers threw in some technical details that may frustrate players on both ends of the spectrums. Jumps are especially tricky and unforgiving; if you have any momentum approaching a ramp you need to steer the analog control before and during the actual jump to land correctly, or suffer the ensuing crash. Add to that the random hazards such as water or snow on the course and winning a race is really a tricky endeavor. Ultimately, the gameplay proves to be too weak for the hardcore racer looking for Motorstorm action and too frustrating for the casual gamer looking for a beefed up Mario Kart.

The PSP version of the game doesn’t fare so well in the graphics department. Overly blocky riders and terrain are missing that crucial level of detail the PSP has always been known for. Not that it looks horrible; it just doesn’t fully utilize the graphic capability of the system. The PSP also has the option of linking up to 4 systems for multiplayer games, and while this is a nice notion, it doesn’t add much to the overall gameplay.

If you are looking for a no-brainer racer that gives you fast action and even faster crashes you have come to the right place. If you are looking for a technical racer and tricks then you might find some of that here, but probably not in the form you are going to enjoy.

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