Heavy Rain Review

I know I’m months late with writing this review, but here it is nonetheless! Heavy Rain was one of the highest anticipated games released on PS3 so far this year. Garnering buzz from critics with the early Casting Call tech demo showcasing the PS3’s potential at an E3 years ago, the game it spawned is here and worry not, it’s actually a spectacular title

Gameplay – 8/10.

Although everyone’s been wrapped up in the eye candy, it’s nice to know the game itself presents a solid experience. After a tragic event relatively early on, one of the main characters children is kidnapped, plunging you straight into the center of the mystery of the Origami Killer. In order to unravel everything, the player alternates between 4 different characters throughout the experience, each contributing in their own way. Most games would have used a point and click interface for an experience like this, but Heavy Rain relies heavily on creative controls using the six-axis and button combinations, along with a timer to keep dialogue moments moving while feeling fresh. On one hand, you could look at the game as being a gigantic QTE exercise, but that’s only a perspective that the most cynical could ever take. One of the most interesting things about the game is that it is completely possible to mess up too many QTE’s or just make a few bad decisions and one or multiple characters can die, while still allowing the experience to go on. There are also normally multiple solutions to many of the sequences, offering tons of branching paths if you choose to go down them in subsequent playthroughs. While a lot of the sixaxis movements contribute to the immersion, there are times where you’ll fail something due to shoddy movement detection. The movement controls are also very untraditional, leading to a few annoying moments as you adjust to having to use R2 to move forward and the left analog just for steering your character.

Graphics – 10/10.

The wait was completely worth it. When the tech demo was first shown, it was considered one of those graphical benchmarks that showed what the future could hold for Sony’s console. With the release of Heavy Rain, the bar has been raised for every other console game on the horizon. While some games would be satisfied with having some amazing looking cutscenes or some incredibly fleshed out areas, while ignoring some of the minor ones, every single location of every place you visit in the game is jaw dropping. Since there is now a game instead of just something to look at, the graphics might not be exactly as good as the early footage of the game, it still is easily one of the best looking games of this generation. The character facial animation does wonders for breathing life into every character that you come across, so much so that Quantic Dream felt the need to include a close-up of different characters during some very awkward loading screens.

Sound – 7/10.

With the game offering a solid experience with some of the best graphics to be found in any title since the launch of this console generation, it’s sad that these lifelike characters do have some incredibly strange tropes in terms of voice acting. The most cited example is during an early moment in the game where you essentially “Press X to ‘JASON,’” turning what should be a tense experience into one of the funniest things I’ve probably ever seen in a game. Most of the voice acting issues stem from the fact that it sounds like they hired French actors to pretend to be Americans, leading to over enunciation of every syllable, or just an awkward pacing to some of the speech. While the voice acting is a bit strange at certain times, the sound effects and musical themes are all expertly done, making the VO discrepancies are definitely a minority that is made more jarring when compared to how well other moments are.

Overall – 8/10.

Contrary to most of the other big name PS3 releases, this is one game that I feel every single gamer, and even many non-gamers should experience at least once. With the excellently crafted story, emphasis on realism, making QTE's a compelling part of the gameplay, and breathtaking graphics, it's guaranteed to draw in even the most skeptical person. The story is brief enough to keep you going until the end, and ends at just the right time to feel like you had one of the most unforgettable experiences you'll find on the console. The downside to the brevity of the game is just that; while you feel completely satisfied by the end of the game, it's worth mentioning that it's probably going to clock in at around 6-8 hours for most people, but the multiple endings, plus the possibility to have any of your characters die at any time due to a bad decision more than make up for it. I'd give the game a higher score if those jarring voice acting issues weren't present and while I loved it, I could see some people being put off by how cinematic of a game it is, sacrificing rocket launchers, double jumps, and world-threatening terrorists in favor of a dad that just wants to save his son from harm, even if it means sacrifing his own life. If you don't pick it up for full price, make sure that if you're a gamer to at least give it a shot whenever you get the chance, you won't be disappointed.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Review

I've owned a copy of Uncharted 2 since shortly after it came out and haven't even touched it yet, although I spent extensive time with the multiplayer betas. Even though I've heard so many great things about how Uncharted 2 pushes the possibilities of narrative and character development, I felt I'd be doing myself a disservice by not touching the original Uncharted first. After finishing Uncharted 1, I would like to say that I'm totally ready to move on to the next game to see where this goes, and as a sort of goodbye to the original, I'm writing this review while my thoughts are untainted.

Graphics - 8/10

For a game that came out in 2007, this is still one of the most impressive PS3 games I've seen. While some people have dubbed Uncharted as "Dude Raider" or "Larry Croft", it has a lot more in common with Indiana Jones than Tomb Raider. The way the scenes transition to cutscenes, and then the in-game cinematics all combine to create an incredibly beautiful game. While some games might give you a lush jungle and fail at creating any other locations, Uncharted looks phenomenal at every single location you end up in. The high quality graphics don't just stop with the environments either; all of the models, while not as realistic as something like Heavy Rain, their animations along with the attention to detail (Drake's Half Tuck comes to mind...) help to make these some of the most life-like characters you'll ever encounter in a game. Unfortunately, even though all of the models and environments look great, it's a bit of a bummer that eventually, you start getting into firefights (which have some amazing explosions, by the way) with a lot of the same enemy models, which kind of ruins things a bit, but it's understandable. If every NPC had been completely original, who knows how long it would have taken for this to come out!


Gameplay - 7/10

Uncharted's weakest area might be in its techniques used to build tension. Adventuring through the amazing locales, taking in the sights, even the platforming and shooting are all incredibly well done. The controls feel tight the entire time, allowing you to go to whatever cover you need to, pop a few headshots, then move somewhere else. So if the core mechanics are as good as I say they are, how is it possible that this section gets a 7/10? First issue is the problem with how they set up certain battles. When you're walking through twisty tunnels in a cave and suddenly come to a big clearing with randomly strewn about boulders and pillars, you'll start to realize that this means there are going to be dudes pouring in from everywhere. It doesn't matter where it is, this always happens, and during these encounters, you tend to die a lot until you figure out exactly where that rocket toting soldier is, where the snipers are, and when the enemies that keep punching you to death are spawning from (tip: it's probably behind you somewhere). Also, the last few hours of gameplay introduce a completely different enemy, and while the change starts off as being completely welcome, it quickly grows trite when you realize it's essentially forcing itself to become a straight up action game, which isn't the best path for this type of action/adventure game and brings focus to the respawning enemies + arena formula that plagues the whole game.

Sound - 9/10

I don't think I've played any other game where the dialogue between characters comes off as natural as it does here. Every time I've heard someone mention either Uncharted, they immediately start talking about how much the liked the characters, ranging from the archetypes they represented to simple character design. The presentation of archetypes are mostly done through their dialogue and how well the actors did, elevating the scriptwriting from lines on a paper to sounding like believable responses for any of the characters during these harrowing situations. Fortunately, the voice acting isn't the sounds only strength; the soundtrack is incredibly fitting. In addition to every song being fantastically composed to create that treasure-hunting atmosphere, all of the songs are used at fantastic times. Last but not least, the weapon sounds are all distinguishable from each other during gunfights, allowing you to audibly tell who you should be avoiding or precisely where that guy with a sniper rifle is firing down at you from.


Overall - 8/10

While the whole experience is fantastic, it's a bit disappointing that some of the gameplay mechanics really do drag what would otherwise be a fantastic experience. To this day, all these years later, I've yet to come across more believable characters, and while the graphics aren't the best any more, thanks to titles like Final Fantasy XIII and Heavy Rain, they are easily in the upper echelon of what's been presented on PS3. Despite its flaws, Uncharted 1 is a title I highly recommend every PS3 owner at least try out and any collector needs in their library.

God of War III Review

I was going to attempt to hold off on writing this review until I finished the 14 other reviews I've had pending since last October, but the more I think about my experiences with God of War 3, the more I realize I need to let it all out. First and foremost, I would like to say that I was a huge fan of the first game, skipped the second, played the PSP one which made me hate the entire series, and I'm back again giving 3 a chance. This was the one release this year that was guaranteed to be at least a good, worth owning PS3 title, especially after enduring all of the hype it was getting. What were my impressions and most importantly, could it possibly rekindle the flame that Chains of Olympus urinated out then shoved into a vat of steaming elephant dung for me? Read on to find out.

Graphics - 8/10

I think it goes without saying that as of right now, the graphical powerhouse titles on PS3 are Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, and Uncharted 2 (leave a comment if I missed one). While I can't comment on the last one since I've barely played the single player in it, I can safely say that God of War 3 does a stellar job of pushing the cell processor just as hard if not harder than the previously mentioned titles, and all without a hint of slowdown. GOW3 continues to emphasize the scale of Kratos vs. the insurmountable odds he faces at every turn, from minotaurs to titans. While the previous games looked particularly well considering when they came out, God of War 3 manages to keep everything running at a smooth 60 fps the entire time while presenting almost every story event using the in-game graphics engine instead of prerendered cutscenes, which is just about the only time you get to see how impressive the models look up close. All of the models sport incredible detail, even down to the way that sash around Kratos' waist moves. So why is this only an 8/10? Unfortunately, there are moments in the action based gameplay where when the camera zooms in and you get to see the texture work on the regular geometry and you realize that the only reason the world looks so detailed is because those textures were clearly meant to be seen from a distance and lose that sharpness as you get closer. Another downside is that there are also a lot of enemies and locations that have been (or at least look) recycled from previous games and while they have been increased in detail, it would have been nice to see completely original enemies or new designs for the pre-existing ones. Fortunately, some of the bosses you come across (the first comes to mind) look spectacular and there's a rather clever 300-styled cutscene that happens early in the game.



Gameplay - 7/10

I managed to not come close to touching the demo since I had a really weird feeling that God of War 3, at its core mechanics, would be more of the same. I'm a bit conflicted on how I feel about the end result. After unlocking more weapons, the ability to switch them on the fly mid-combo comes as a welcome change of pace. Despite this innovation for the series, most of the time you'll end up just hammering out the same button combos that you've been doing since the first title. It's nice to be able to pick up the controller and instantly know things, such as how the right stick has to be dodge, but it makes me wish that there had been more originality overall instead of falling back to the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it end result that we're left with. When you consider that Heavy Rain came out a few weeks before GoW3 and completely changed how most people feel about character interaction and presenting you with compelling QTE's, it's almost disappointing to see almost all of the events in GoW3 resort to hammering on a single button. At it's best, the game slows down long enough to let you see the button presses and make sure you hit the right ones or offers a cinematic camera angle from the enemies perspective, but the competition seems like it's moved way beyond the basic mechanics presented here.

Sound - 8/10

Since I've relocated to an apartment that I'm sharing with someone else, I feel like I shorthanded myself by not having experienced this game in 5.1 glory. Fortunately, I did have a set of Turtle Beach X1's handy, and while they don't simulate surround sound or anything dramatic, they do have great bass reception. When you get to hear the booming voice of Hades, it really made me appreciate how much effort went into the voice acting. Even Kratos' trademark anger is present, if a bit trite. The score continues to be phenomenal, just as it has been in the previous games, while fitting in appropriately to each section of the game, easily succeeding in further immersing the player into the insanity of the situations at hand. While all of the voice acting is phenomenal, it's a shame that the lines written for the characters have to be so weak at times. "WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS?!" Really now?! At least the line was delivered well in spite of its content!



Overall - 8/10

God of War 3 did manage to convince me that all hope was not lost for the franchise, even if it's supposed to be the end of a trilogy. While the whole game isn't continuously full of the high notes like the first hour or so, it did make a good job of making me want to see what was around the next corner, more for the experience instead of story. One thing I did forget to mention in the gameplay segment is how infuriating the double jump system is. While it is a total bummer to survive a tough fight only to fail at jumping a tiny pit because the timing is so strange for it, it still doesn't completely drag the experience down. I almost feel like if the studio had been tasked with creating a new title from a fresh IP, they might have put more effort into overcoming some of the traps they fell into (Kratos is still one dimensional, the double jump issue, and an incredibly predictable story). God of War 3 this still succeeds in being one of the best action games of this type on the PS3 and a must play for anyone owning the console. If you're a fan of action games or the series, this is easy to recommend as a purchase. If you're new to the franchise, you might want to just rent this one or pick up the God of War Collection instead. While it is a fitting end to a trilogy, it's also incredibly formulaic which keeps it from scoring higher.

Katamari Forever demo impressions

Originally, I had planned on writing this a few months ago after some hands on time with the Japanese demo, but felt I should wait. So here we are! The US demo has finally come out on the Playstation Network and the verdict? It's pretty much the same thing you grown to love or hate. While the gameplay changes are minor (using the six-axis to jump...sort of.) there's a bit more variety in the missions, not to mention you can change characters now, and it sounds like you might be able to unlock a few of them in game if you manage to roll them up. While in the previous games, the King of all Cosmos would sort of taunt you or maybe give you an backhanded compliment for doing a bad or great job, there's an actual grading system in place, giving you more replayability if you're the kind of person that's into getting and improving high scores. The controls aside from the jump are the exact same and work as great as they always have. The two most significant changes aside from the grading system and mission variety (one mission has you absorbing water then rolling over sand to expose the lush environment underneath) is the new art style. It's not exactly cel-shaded, but it does have a cartoon-like feel, which is appropriate when you think about how outlandish what you're doing is in these games anyway. The soundtrack is great as always, with the demo featuring two songs that I don't remember from any of the other versions, but still are a variation on the unforgettable Katamari theme. Lastly, I would like to say that this is the first version of the game that I've played where once you start exceeding your goals and become huge, there's no drop in the frame rate or graphical quality. Then again, the demo does only offer one scenario where you're getting bigger, and it takes place indoors so that might not be the case for outdoor environments. As a Katamari fan, I'm looking forward to playing the full version whenever it comes out, but if you've never liked the series before, it seems like this will do little to convert you.

inFAMOUS review

Sucker Punch’s (the studio responsible for the Sly Cooper series) debut on the PS3 has finally arrived in the form of Infamous. It’s been one of the most hyped PS3 titles in gaming circles and while it instantly draws comparisons to Crackdown and Prototype, this title truly is in a league of it’s own with its moral choice system and the slight rpg elements included. Some may complain that the game lacks a true morality system since in order to get the most powerful version of yourself, you have to be truly good or truly evil, it’s fairly obvious that the game wasn’t designed with the concept of a grey area in mind and it embraces it with every choice that you make.


Gameplay – 8/10

Let’s clarify one thing now: inFamous is a pretty long game. That said, for the 30 or so hours it will take you to complete the main quest, you’re going to be in for one incredible ride and is well worth every cent of its price. Not to go into too much detail, the game starts off with a picture of a bike and the title screen displayed above it. The moment you press start, theres instantly an explosion, which serves as your prologue and sets you up for your cleverly integrated tutorial mission. As you progress through the game, you come through a few more sequences extending all the way up to the final hours where you enter a room and end up coming across a sewer that sets you up with a new power but also functions as a tutorial to help you come to grips with the controls for that specific move. Eventually, you'll find a point when you're easily able to judge exactly how far it is that you're going to be jumping and pinpointing your landing. Fortunately if you miscalculate a leap, the incredible parkour stuff kicks in.
Cole, for whatever reason, is extremely agile and capable of scaling nearly any building that populates the lush city. Any single ledge that you can see jutting out even the smallest bit is completely open for you to grab, which leads directly into the first complaint. Cole literally grabs anything within reach, which is awesome when you're scaling buildings vertically, but the moment you need to go sideways? You're going to find yourself wanting to leap from one side of the building, across two windows and a drain, then grabbing that very last one, but instead the game automatically forces you to grab on all of the things in between. Another major time this becomes an issue is during combat sequences when an enemy launches a rocket at you and you really need to dodge, but end up getting hit because you grabbed something you didn't mean to. It's nothing too major, but it does detract from the experience a small bit. Progression through the game, as previously mentioned, unlocks tons of abilities depending on which path you take, with the good side focusing more on sniper like attacks and the evil path gives you a huge area of destruction, since that's probably what you want anyway, right?
Once you become settled with the controls and gain some of the more powerful abilities, Cole truly becomes a force that can't be stopped... except by water and chain link fences. Dodging foes attacks becomes second nature as does using your environment and their strengths to your advantage. For a quick example, the kamikaze enemies you see throughout the streets are able to be blown back into a mob and detonated, taking it and several other creatures out with it. Of course, using your powers does drain your energy a bit, but quickly tapping the L3 key shows lighting icons throughout the world via minimap that you can drain in the middle of a fight, or you can drain enemies/civilians for a quick boost as well. While the entire game is pretty satisfying, unfortunately the mission variety starts to get stale about halfway through, with the basic missions being slightly different variations of things you've previously done. While I didn't mind, a lot of criticism has been aimed at how you do have moral choices, but it's almost always along the lines of "help the old lady cross the street" or "help the old lady cross the street, but when she's halfway across, shoot her into traffic, revive her, then detonate every car that surrounds her and wipe her and entire population nearby out as well." While the choices themselves may be extremely black and white, they do add a noticable change to your character and the way the city reacts to them, going so far as to slightly alter the ending and the way certain major events play out. It might not be the most incredible way to do moral choices, it actually starts to feel really fun, and that's what games like this should be about anyway. Last but not least, the storyline does a good job of giving you a slightly above average origin story and outcome of a completely original super hero that you could easily see belonging inside the Marvel or DC universe and the limited number of major characters in the cast allows you to become more attached to them than you realize.


Graphics - 8/10

While Cole is an important character, it almost feels like the central focus of inFamous at times is the city itself. Cole's character design isn't anything spectacular and could probably find itself comfortably fitting in any other game of this type and you wouldn't notice. His animations, however, are fabulous. While the controls feel great themselves, the fluidity of animations when you're running , then make a daring leap and grab on to a ledge just looks exactly how you would want it to. His various idle animations actually made me smile since this is one of the few 3rd person action games that has not just one, but several that happen as you're sitting there waiting. Sucker Punch really did an amazing job of giving you certain awesome looking moments that when you're holding on to an object with one while reaching out and pulling the electricity out of a nearby structure, or the way he slightly reaches up when he's crouched behind cover to take off a quick shot at an enemy. Enemy designs, while cool looking in the sleek comic style cutscenes, don't really look all that amazing in game. It's fine since you're almost too busy to notice, but instead of coming of as clever or creepy when they're alone, they just look...odd. NPC's in inFamous have enough models that create the illusion of a crowd when necessary, but you'll quickly find yourself coming across some of the same models throughout the 3 islands, which isn't bad considering how large the world is. Unfortunately the models for the cars are pretty bland, but that almost encourages you to just make one explode, which makes them look a lot better.

Sound - 6/10

Since this is such an anticipated title, it's a downer that there's almost no sort of soundtrack in 95% of the game. When the score does come into play, it's never intrusive in its style, but at the same time it's incredibly forgettable and seems to just happen at random times. I'm not certain if inFamous supports custom soundtracks either, so a lot of what you're going to be hearing will be the sounds of combat, the city, and npc's along with sporadic chatter with various characters from your cell phone. While the soundtrack and its integration was completely overlooked by the developer, the voice acting does a pretty good job. Cole's voice amused me since it captured that feeling of constantly being annoyed with people asking for his assistance, while others did an excellent job of portraying whatever emotion they were trying to get across. Since the sound effects consist of powers created via electricity, the team had a lot of liberty in creating whatever sounds they wanted to (I can't name a single person that's ever heard what's essentially a electric rocket launcher in real life) yet somehow everything sounds exactly how you would expect it to. A really nice touch that is typically overlook that inFamous completely nails is that NPC's actually react to you in the world, and even though it's not much, it's better than hearing "The hero of kvatch!" for 50 hours.


Overall – 8/10

For PS3 owners, inFamous is a must buy, without a doubt. If you're still a bit skeptical, you should at least borrow or rent it. The sheer size of the world, number of missions, interesting story, and creative powers will give you tons to do. Completionists will have tons of orbs to collect, which help to increase how much energy you have for your moves, the three islands to reclaim, two different stories, and loads of areas to explore. While the game on a whole is incredibly entertaining, the downside is that since there's so much to do, after playing about 50% of the time, you'll start to notice that even though theres so much stuff there, a lot of it lacks the polish of more focused games. The lack of a soundtrack for almost the entire game slowly takes it toll on you and drags the otherwise solid experience down a bit. Anyone that's a fan of superheroes, comics, sandbox games, or just looking for something to do this summer should definitely find a way to play this this out, but inFamous isn't quite what I could recommend to anyone looking for a system seller since there's all these minor gripes that add up. On the other hand, if you're looking for a game to add to your library or you're thinking of picking up a ps3 with this and a few other games, you're going to have an incredible amount of fun here.

inFamous - First Impressions

Yet another huge PS3 exclusive has finally arrived, but was it worth the wait? You play as Cole, a completely normal man that's been infused with these electrical powers that he's slowly gaining an understanding of as he progresses throughout his adventure. What hasn't been completely clear in the marketing is how he comes across these powers. When you start up the game, you're shown the title screen that simply says the title of the game and "press start", with the serene city at night being displayed as the backdrop. The second that you press the start button, ish hits the fan. Hard. Instead of giving you a typical introduction where you have some abilities at the start, or starting you off as a character without powers that gains them through the adventure, pressing start triggers a gigantic electrical explosion, completely altering the landscape and killing tons of people before you even take your first steps in this game. After the explosion is done, you're shown some comic book style scenes, then you're awakened to the sounds of yelling over helicopter blades. Because the game starts off with you directly triggering the explosion, the movement tutorial area is you trying to escape what appears to be ground zero for the explosion. As you continue forward, you'll slowly notice things are reacting strangely to you, specifically electrical items that spark as you walk by. After progressing through this tutorial area, you eventually black out and awaken on the roof of a building with your friend there, giving you another tutorial on how to use your newly awakened electrical powers, and after you're done, you're completely free to explore the first island.



This is probably the most incredible way to explain a superhero/supervillain's origin that I've ever seen. Since you're actually learning about abilities throughout your adventure, it's pretty awesome when you yourself are seeing various powers awakening. While I was a bit put off by the looseness of the camera controls at first, you're able to go into the menu and change between a normal, fast, and faster setting, which might not be as precise as a slider, but lowering it down to normal worked fine for me. One of the heavily marketed aspects is the entire morality system, which gives players a completely different skill set depending on how they play. For doing good deeds, you slowly become a hero, which causes people to cheer as they see you leaping between rooftops or simply walking down the street, while also opening up quests that you can only do as a hero. From a powers standpoint, the hero powers are a bit more like sniper attacks, allowing you to focus on a specific target while the infamous powers are more damaging to a general area, since you're most likely going to be causing as much chaos as possible. While Sucker Punch could have probably just gotten away with simply reskinning the moves to be either blue or red, instead they have moves and missions that you can only embark on if you're playing a good or bad character, and in order to stay at the highest level of either side, you have to continuously perform good/bad deeds. In terms of mission structure, you've got story missions, good and evil missions, and other missions. The story missions obviously push you forward in the game, while the good and evil missions are dedicated to allowing you to make large jumps in either direction of the morality system. The other missions are mostly just things that you do for random citizens that, while they ultimately don't affect your morality or anything, they do give you a bit of experience and completing them causes enemies to stop appearing in that section of the island.



Graphically, while it's not the best looking game ever, it's still incredibly pretty and does an amazing job of creating a gritty yet realistic environment. The animations on Cole and the pedestrians are part of what gives this immersive feeling. When you're scaling up the side of buildings, leaping over poles, or dodging between cars while taking shots at enemies, everything feels extremely fluid. There's something about the way Cole reacts to the environment that just screams awesome, especially when you're dangling from a wire with one hand while targeting an enemy and watching the ensuing explosions. The car models work, and while they're not particularly great or anything, they all capture that worn down look that you would expect to see after a disaster of this magnitude happens, and it's pretty impressive when you launch a car that was driving down the road into a group of enemies and you look over to see the person inside slowly die at the wheel, which might be grim but makes perfect sense in context. While I haven't noticed any blood, the death animations are pretty believable depending on how you take out an enemy. Last but not least, the comic style cutscenes are beautiful to look at, but that style of delivering major story points might not be for everyone, but it is an extremely stylish alternative to the various in game storyline elements and adds a bit of variety.

I'll admit that the first time I had tried out the demo, I wasn't a fan of how the movement felt and almost found the game to be a bit boring, but if you let yourself just screw around in the world and pick your own play style, it's easy to just lose yourself for hours here. While the black and white morality choices might not click with everyone that wants more options in games, it's still extremely fun once you just embrace it and decide to go down your path, either healing everyone you find while doing tons of good deeds or just causing as much chaos as possible, from starting riots to finding a way to just screw the city over completely, and it's really awesome to see that people in the world are constantly reacting to you. The score works, and while I haven't noticed any memorable songs in it, there's also been nothing grating to listen to, and the voice actors and actresses all feel like they've done a great job of capturing how each character is supposed to be feeling, extending from major characters to random civilians crying out in amazement at your actions or hatred for what you've done. Controlling Cole gets to a point where it just clicks, and since the game slowly introduces more abilities to you, you don't start off with a million things you have to know, but once you've mastered those skills and powered them up, you can pull them off without much thought at all. I'm only about 6 hours in so far, so all of this is subject to change, but I really think this is a must own game on ps3 right now, or at least checking out what it has to offer. Once I'm done, there will be a review up and of course, once Prototype comes out, I'll do a comparison between this, that, and Crackdown. So far, this game definitely feels unique in comparison to anything else I've played since the movement system is so fluid, you can actually stop enemies from spawning, you've got different ways to develop your character depending on how you play the game, which is complimented by the morality system. If you don't want to drop the 60$ on it, there's always the demo up on PSN that you could give a try.

Flower review

Ever since it first popped up at an E3 a few years ago, Flower has been garnerning an insane amount of buzz around it. Captivating audiences with its tranquil, zen-like experience coupled with some of the prettiest and most vibrant visuals you might come across in this console generation. Unfortunately, towards the end of the game, there were some decisions made to remind you that this is still a game, but its core concept is one that's well worth checking out along with the story it’s trying to present as a whole, making this an experience I feel every gamer should have at least once. Read on for a more in depth look!

Gameplay - 8/10

Flower does a great job of giving you the feel of just simply being the wind. The use of the sixaxis is flawlessly implemented, and any single maneuver you want to pull off, using your brain (and your hands), you'll quickly find yourself performing a myriad of aerial maneuvers from sharp turns to dives all with the flick of a your wrist. While the game was original touted as being a completely zen like experience, the final product does have a bit of a story to tell, especially in the last 3 stages which completely change up the gameplay. Each level is actually so well done that even after you finish one, you still will find yourself returning to your favorites and just replaying them or maybe even flying around the environment just for fun. The negative side of this is that while the last three stages do change up the gameplay, the 5th in particular is almost completely different and reminds you that you’re actually playing a game by introducing a few gaming trademarks that might bring it down for some. To make up for this though, the credits are probably the most creative ones I’ve ever seen in a game and almost feels like its very own stage! Using ANY button on the controller is a definite plus and leaves you to focus just on the aerial tricks you’ll need to perform, and the overall presentation of the story it’s trying to give the player is remarkably well done.

Graphics - 10/10

The moment you finally turn on Flower, you’re greeted with a simplistic looking level select screen that is actually show as a budding flower in a flowerpot on a desk with a city behind it. Once you select your stage however, you’re instantly transported into one of the most serene, majestic landscapes ever to grace a video game. While you’re not going to be marveling at how lifelike the character models are, the lighting, wind, and grass is simply beautiful. It’s easy for someone to walk into the room and think you’re watching a video or some sort of tech demo, but knowing that each blade of grass looks to be modeled in real time, along with the awesome effects the grass creates when you fly in close is just one of those things that has to be experienced to be appreciated. On top of this, each level actually looks completely different from the last, and as you fly from flower to flower making things prettier, it’s easy to understand why people were so impressed every time Flower was shown at conferences. Not only is this title one of the most beautiful games to grace a next-gen console, it’s also only 10$, meaning that you’re getting great eye candy for a budget price with a stellar game attached to it!


Sound - 8/10

There’s nothing quite like that distinctive “woosh” sound as swoop in from the sky to collect that one petal that eluded you for so long. The music is subtle enough to further immerse you into the world without being any sort of a distraction to the overall experience. On the other hand however, there really isn’t that much sound here but that might be the games biggest strength. Unfortunately, I can’t comment on how this game sounds with 5.1 or anything, but I’m sure you’ll just have a more powerful sounding wind coming from all around you instead of just in front.



Overall - 8/10

Flower is one of those things that definitely deserves at least a shot from anyone who’s even remotely intrigued by the concept or the buzz that’s been surrounding it. For people who are hoping to have a game that’s just about flying around a world and making thing’s pretty, at least 80% of the game is for you but the 5th level really might put a damper on your spirits. For about 10$, it really won’t break the bank and it will definitely put a smile on your face a few times if you’re into experimental, indie, or just relaxing games. There’s a bit of talk about gamers that are looking for something different really loving this, but if you’re trying to convert someone into gaming, even though it’s simplistic, it might not have enough of a defined goal to turn anyone into an overnight gamer so be careful of that. In short, if you’ve ever been curious about the game or just want to unwind, Flower is the game for you but, If you’ve though the concept of the game was pointless or whatever, then you’re definitely going to want to pass on it. For anyone that does manage to pick this up and sink some time into it, you’ll find that this might be one of the better titles on PSN even if it is a bit short with the 6 levels probably taking anyone out there no longer than 2-3 hours to finish.

Everyday Shooter Review

If you're reading this, chances are that you're into arena/twin stick shooters, such as Geometry Wars, Super Stardust HD, Asteroids, and countless others. Just to simplify everything, read the following statement: Go buy this NOW! Everyday Shooter is an exceptionally well designed and innovative twin stick shooter available on both the PSN and Steam. For optimal scoring, you're probably going to want to use a controller, so make sure you've got one available with two sticks, since using the WASD and arrow keys aren't going to cut it here. While many have overlooked or just forgotten about the game, in many ways, it can be considered just as good if not better than the original Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and Super Stardust HD. While it many not have the fancy, excessive particle effects or flashy graphics, the simplicity of visuals along with a well developed soundtrack (and some neat sound effects), and some of the most creative levels that are all different from one another make this a game that belongs on everyone's hard drive, especially for its low price.

Graphics - 9/10

Everyday Shooter was a game developed by a single person, and as a result, it was free to much more freedoms with it's artistic style. Instead of having an insane number of particles, bullets, and explosions going on, each level in ES has it's own distinct visual aesthetic, such as the etheral look of the 3rd section, the retro designed 4th stage, even to the simplistic, yet charming 2nd level. Every single one of the environments functions not only as a beauty to look at, but gives you gameplay clues. The enemy designs start off by appearing basic, but the further you go, you start to see some things that look like they were ripped straight from a dream. One of the nicest design choices is that the game doesn't give you an excessively complicated HUD. Instead, on the bottom of the screen is a long bar that slowly turns brighter, which technically tells you how long the song is, but when the song ends, so does the stage. There's also a life counter and a score present and that's about it. Since you ship is consistenly just a white triangle and there aren't any crazy particles, you'll have no problem losing yourself in the world and you'll always know exactly what it is that needs to be done and what to dodge, saving the player from a lot of frustration. The only reason I didn't give this a 10 is because I do realize that the visual style definitely isn't for everyone, but even if you don't think it looks that great, you can't deny that it's incredibly functional and easy on the eyes!



Sound - 9/10

Phenomenal. That one word could sum up everything that needs to be stated about the sound easily. Most games like this nowadays have a blazing techno soundtrack with the constant "PEWPEWPEW KAPOOSH" sound effects constantly going on, eventually causing your brain to hemmorage from how long you're guaranteed to be hearing those sounds. Jonathan Mak, creator of ES, decided that...that was stupid. Not only was he going up against blockbuster titles Super Stardust and Geometry Wars, but every time one of these games came out that wasn't that, it was immediately dismissed as just being another twin stick shooter. Instead of filling the sound effects and soundtrack with the generic stuff that you always here, he whipped out his guitar and laid down a few tracks that are completely related to gameplay. The end result is a game that's as easy on the ears as it is on the eyes, with a melodic, slighty distorted electric guitar being the background for all of the constant shooting action. It's actually incredibly relaxing to just pick a stage and relax while the music plays and you play the game at your own pace, but that doesn't do anything for that constant sound of explosions that you hear everywhere. To alleviate that issue, all of the sounds of enemies exploding are just different notes played on the guitar, indicating what type of enemy you've just taken down. While this could lead to issues with the entire headache thing, instead it's an amazingly zen-like experience, occasionally making you feel as though you're adding to the soundtrack instead of just shooting flying enemies. Another nice touch is that every song has a definite beginning and end, marked by the meter that goes across the bottom of the stage. As songs progress in intensity, you're usually confronted by swarms of enemies, and as it slowly eases back off, so do they, meaning the music in the game isn't just an afterthought and is actually vital to enjoying the game. As far as twin stick shooters go, this is easily one of the best soundtracks out there and you'll never get the feeling of wanting to turn it off since it's so peaceful.

Gameplay - 10/10

The motto for the game is "Everyday is another shooter". Most games give you a mechanic and scoring system and force you to go as long as you can. With ES, every single level lives up to that theme, each feeling like it could be fleshed out to be its own game thanks to all of them having different scoring systems to learn, new music, new enemies, and a new art style. The most compelling aspect of the gameplay is the fact that it feels unlike anything you’ve ever played before. While many titles would be perfectly fine with mimicking the gameplay of Geometry Wars or Super Stardust, Jonathan Mak really dug inside and has pushed the genre in a completely new and refreshing direction, proving that there is always more that can be done even when you think everything has been tried. As a bonus, there are a bunch of different things that you can unlock, ranging from stages to art styles that give you an extra incentive to play, not to mention there’s the entire high score that’s constantly there on each level if you’re a fan of challenging your own limits.



Overall - 9/10

Believe it or not, this was one of the main reasons I bought a PS3 and I feel that it was completely worth it. Everyday Shooter was one of the first games that proved that the psn was more than capable of pumping out high quality, fully realized titles for a low price, and not to mention that this is an indie developer and not some gigantic corporation. ES deserves a place on everyone’s hard drive. While it’s easy to look at it and brush it off as another twin stick shooter, there’s so much more present than that and thanks to the creative levels, each one feels like it’s own self contained game. The soundtrack helps to further immerse yourself, and if you find yourself growing tired of the regular game options, there are always those challenges that you can do in order to unlock different levels and miscellaneous effects that alter the experience. It’s also not that much, meaning that if you’re on a budget and looking for something to play, this is highly recommended.