Mar 31 2008
SCEE revealed the new PSN Store redesign, which will go live mid-April for European PS3 owners. There is no specific date for North American console owners but presumably it will cross the ocean sooner or later.
New design simplifies the interface and makes the navigation a lot more straightforward. Hopefully they will also make the store respond faster to your commands like Xbox Live Marketplace.
Mar 28 2008
No noteworthy releases this week.
Mar 27 2008
If you’re going to release a RTS for PC, you’d better have something new and exciting to bring to the table, given that there’s already outstanding competition on the market. Last year’s World in Conflict allowed us to simulate a US-Soviet Union war with gorgeous visuals and deep tactics, Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars refreshed franchise by keeping the core gameplay intact for traditional RTS fans, and Supreme Commander allowed you to command hundreds and hundreds of units on massive maps that were literally measured in kilometers.
Here comes Seven Kingdoms: Conquest, at best it is a ripoff of Warcraft III released all the way back in 2002. Seven Kingdoms: Conquest allows you to play as either humans or devils as you try to wipe out the other by using melee, ranged and magic weapon units. You have to capture towns, mine gold, farm food and destroy everything else. The basic concept is pretty sound but the execution is where it fails miserably.
First, congratulations if you manage to get this game running. For some odd reason, it doesn’t have widescreen support so it will just crash instead of letting you play. AI is virtually non-existent as your units’ pathfinding and enemy’s capacity to wage war against you are pointless. In some scenarios, AI makes stupid mistakes (such as attacking a neighboring town without sufficient army) and gets its town destroyed, making you win the scenario automatically.
Graphics look dated, gameplay isn’t incredibly fun, there are technical bugs to contend with (without a patch, or news of a patch, and the patch server seems offline as well). If you really need a fantasy-theme RTS, I suggest you boot up Warcraft III, instead of getting into this mess.
Rating: 10%
Mar 26 2008
With the official GTA4 contest by Microsoft, you could win a trip for two to New York City, and other prizes include Xbox 360 Elite consoles, Microsoft points and Gold subscriptions. The contest is open for legal residents of United States and Canada over 18 years old. Make sure you sign up before April 14th!
Mar 22 2008
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath (PC)
Kane returns to wreck havoc on GDI and Nod traitors in the first expansion for Command & Conquer 3.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
Another prequel to Final Fantasy VII follows the story of Zack, a soldier with the Shinra corporation.
Other releases:
Mar 20 2008
Ratchet and Clank series has always provided solid and reliable action/platforming game on PS2, and its first entry on the portable world is a great success. equaling, and sometimes besting, PS2 game graphics, Size Matters maintains the classic gameplay, great visuals and smartly written dialogs.
Ratchet and Clank are having some time off from saving the world, when they get embroiled in an universal conflict (as usual). Rescuing a kidnapped adorable little girl ends up being something far different. To get through the game, you will need to familiarize yourself with the arsenal: Ratchet has his signature gigantic wrench and many series favorite weapons return. As you use the weapons, they level up to become more powerful and useful. You can also collect pieces of armor, and when you equip an entire set, you get specific bonuses.
What suffers the most is camera control as it moves from PS2 to PSP. Since the lack of 2nd analog stick is a given, there aren’t too many solutions. In Size Matters, you use L and R to control the camera, and pressing both at the same time pulls the camera behind Ratchet but it doesn’t work all the time. This camera issue is one of the few rough patches this game has.
In conclusion, Size Matters is a great Ratchet and Clank game no matter what platform it is on. If you are a fan of the series, this is definitely not to be missed.
Rating: 85%
Mar 19 2008
In Assassin’s Creed, you get to play the role of an elite assassin tasked to killing 9 men in 3 fairly open-ended cities Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus. The storyline is fairly complex, and there is a lot of exposition and characters with ulterior motives. Of course the big reveal is that you actually are in the modern-day New York, reliving your ancestor’s memory thanks to a super-special machine called Animus that can extract memories from DNA…
The struggle between the order of assassins and the Crusaders has never looked this good as this is arguably one of the best looking and sounding games on both Xbox 360 and PS3. Visuals are crisp and faithful, and even minor details are rendered incredibly well. The game suffers from little slowdown and several graphical/collision glitches, but they are just minor inconveniences in this epic game. Truly remarkable feat is the open-endedness of the world as you can climb any building you desire in the city. Assassin’s Creed suffers from a little repetition as you are tasked to climb tall buildings to scout out the city, bully informers into revealing their plans, snatch important documents and, of course, assassinate your targets.
While doing the same thing over and over for 9 times is a bit dull, you will have plenty of fun while doing it. Combat is dynamic, and animations are incredibly fluid. Short blade is best for assassination, long sword for open combat and you even get throwing knives for some long-distance killing.
In the end, the repetitive nature of the tasks is a blemish on what is easily one of the best games of 2007. Here’s to hoping that the inevitable sequels can flesh out the gameplay and offer us another thrilling chance to become assassins.
Rating: 80%
Mar 15 2008
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (X360, PS3)
The latest entry in the Rainbow Six franchise stars Las Vegas for the last time.
Other Releases:
Mar 12 2008
There has been a resurgence of games where the goal is to destroy waves and waves of enemies by placing defensive towers. There are many variations of the game, from free Flash game Desktop Defence, to PixelJunk Monsters for PS3. What does Azgard Defence do to warrant a $20 purchase price?
Not so much. It is very similar to PixelJunk Monsters (which incidentally costs only $10). It is in fact a port of a PocketPC Game: you are presented with a maze-like environment and you must build defensive structures on your castle to prevent monsters from reaching the end. There are 4 structures you can place: archer tower (basic), gun tower, wind tower and airship zone. Each structure can be upgraded to enhance damages. For example, archer tower can be upgraded to either poison tower or corrosive tower.
After a few levels, you will quickly get bored of this game as it is the same thing over and over. It is incredibly dull to place the same structures and watching the destruction ensue. What is worse is the fact that the free alternatives out there aren’t too different from this game. Granted there are more effects (such as pretty nice looking fire) but that clearly isn’t worth $20 by themselves.
Do yourselves a favor and avoid this one, and stick to Desktop Defence.
Rating: 10%
Mar 08 2008
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
The latest Super Smash Bros. game finally comes out for the Wii, allowing you to play as your favorite Nintendo (and even Sega) characters and beat the other characters up.
Condemned 2: Bloodshot (X360, PS3)
Sequel to Xbox 360 launch title Condemned returns to both next-gen consoles promising new fight mechanics to improve melee attacks.
Other releases:
