RPG fans have certainly been well-catered for on the PSP. In such a late stage of its life cycle, with the Playstation Vita imminent the PSP is still going strong. Trails in the Sky – with the rather provocative acronym ‘TitS’ – is one RPG that stands out from the crowd, and not just because it’s called TitS.

This JRPG is fairly traditional by design. There’s a turn-based combat system, towns, airships and plucky teenage freedom fighters; on the face of it, it’s lacking in originality. However, developer Falcom has been making these games since the 80s, and they know how to spin a good yarn.This title is actually the first of a quadrilogy (this chapter has already been out for eight years in Japan, with the second and third chapters also released.) For this reason the plot is a slow burner; think more along the lines of a novel and you’re halfway there. Its adventure about the exploits of a spunky, tomboyish lass named Estelle and sharp, introverted cool kid Joshua, on a journey around a politically unstable country to become fully qualified ‘Bracers’ – essentially a civilian vigilante group – is an idyllic and cheerful one to begin with.

 There is so much painstaking detail (hell, you can find books throughout the game that cover ten pages at a time and are better written than Skyrim’s) that it’s easy to become immersed in the rich quasi-modern world and invested in the interesting multi-faceted people that populate it. TitS is a very wordy game; even your regular NPCs are more unique, and have more to say than many central roles in other games of its ilk. And the story this game has to tell is gripping, full of drama and conspiracy when it gets going, including some fantastic twists before the 40-60 hours are up. And because the characters and setting are given so much room to develop and assert a sense of believability, it becomes a far more involving experience for it.

Moving on to the gameplay side of things. The RPG mainstay of battering monsters to a pulp is addictive and engagingly strategic; the turned based fights are set out on a grid-like plane, the like you might see on a strategy RPG, and it works effectively here; characters can only cover a certain amount of space each turn; each weapon has different characteristics such as range and the ability the hit multiple opponents, and magic can hit enemies at any range if you’re willing to wait for it to charge first. Much like Final Fantasy X you’re given the order of both yours and the opponents turns, which you can cannily exploit to your advantage – some careful management is required, especially for the boss battles. To pop the cherry on the cake, random battles are non-existent.

Battles can get busy

The lavish towns are a delight to rummage around in. There is so much more life to them than your typical inn, weapon and armour shop combo. They’ll serve as your central hub for each segment of the game, and I found myself attached to them by the time I had to leave. This is largely thanks to the breadth and depth of the side quests, which range from rescuing cats out of trees to far more elaborate missions that over-arch over multiple quests and throw punishing bosses your way.

The side quests are remarkable, because many of them actually add more detail to the central narrative, and are eager to avoid fetch quests. However, quests can disappear if you progress to a certain point in the story before you’ve started or finished them – this can be galling as it’s not always clear at what point they will be cancelled.

There are a few more negatives here and there. The many dungeons, plains and hills are uninspired, and simply a case of getting from A to B, toughing out the monsters in your path – the simplistic level designs and lack of puzzles is disappointing.

Considering the vast scale of this game, it is surprisingly portable happy, mostly due to the fact that you can save almost everywhere at any time; a smart decision which I’d like to see implemented more often in Japanese games. However, the lengthy albeit entertaining dialogue can drag on a bit too long.

The graphics in this circa 2004 game are definitely showing their age; the animation of the 2D characters are weak, and some of the NPCs do that old-world RPG thing of walking on the spot for… some reason. The 3D environments aren’t too hot either, with blurry textures, low detail and too many recycled assets. When a town is discovered for the first time, the camera will pan around the locale, and it’s all quite attractive when you step back – it’s just a shame that the camera is fixated on the ground at every other moment.

Foppish wandering bard Olivier steals every scene he's in

 The music picks up on the visual slack nicely. Falcom are long standing innovators in the field of videogame music – they’re the first developer to employ vocals in their music and the first to have a dedicated band for their games. Needless to say, they don’t drop the ball here. I couldn’t help but hum to much of the jaunty, high energy soundtrack, especially the battle music. As it’s something that’ll be heard often, it’s a revelation that I loved the jazzy swagger of it so much I would prolong some battles just to hear everything.

For someone that likes to be absorbed in their games, TitS is perfect. The characters are (mostly) believable and are written lovingly – the witty banter is never anything other than natural and hilarious, and once again XSEED have done a convincing job translating the game. The personalities are so charming and at times affecting, and when the plot does unravel itself, it goes all guns blazing and the narrative reveals some startling ambition and depth. The true nature of a spectacular plot emerges and serves to satisfy, and titillate the player of the gargantuan second chapter, which is twice as big. It needs to be released, like yesterday.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 2/5 – Weak 2D sprites and a lot of bland textures are occasionally jazzed up by some ballistic special effects in battle. Towns have much charm and personality.

Sound: 3/5 – The music is joyful, and the orchestral stuff in particular is beautiful, though a few tracks are recycled far too much. The lack of voice-acting anywhere bar the combat may irk some.

Gameplay: 4/5 – Compulsive JRPG gameplay, and a huge intriguing world to explore lavished with detail. Some lazy level designs are a letdown.

Longevity: 4/5 – Up to sixty hours of gameplay, and plenty of enriching side-quests. Regardless, there is little replay value for anyone other than completists.

Overall: 4 out of 5

An RPG with a dizzying attention to detail, a great eye for storytelling and bags of character. TitS is highly recommended for all JRPG fans.

- Jason Borlase

 There’s no party like a party filled with corpses! Right guys? This is in no way a party to bring your Jack Daniels and social inadequacy, only fear and dread. This newly-released PSP game is frightening enough to make a real mess of your undercrackers.

Corpse Party is a heavily story-driven game about a group of likable Japanese high-schoolers, beginning proceedings by innocently taking part in a cult game involving paper and chanting (always a bad sign) to see off one of the gang who is moving to a new school, theoretically ensuring they’ll be friends forever. Saccharine sweet this may be, it turns out they made a horrible mistake.

They soon find themselves in a paranormal hurt locker masquerading as a school. Hundreds of dead children who made the same mistake litter the halls, while malevolent spirits breathe down your neck everywhere you creak. The story is nothing new, but is told skillfully as you try to uncover the truth behind these mysterious events.

This scenario gives you a similar morbid thrill to something like Battle Royale. These children are powerless to escape or even defend themselves. Base human survival precedes common decency and ethics, and it’s darkly compelling just to discover what madness will unfurl next.

"Clean up on aisle five!"

 The gameplay itself is a curious blend of adventure and visual novel elements. You control your sprite-based character in old-school 2D environments, reminiscent of a SNES RPG. You’ll scour your surroundings, make many pivotal decisions, and of course, run your arse off from the unnerving ghostly apparitions roaming around. There are no weapons at your disposal and there are no action game elements to speak of — the narrative and shocks are the main incentive to keep playing. But my, what a shocker this is.

By this time you may have taken a gander at the screenshots for this game. You may or may or may not have let out a chortle, or even a hearty guffaw at the primitive graphics. That’s fine. This is a remake of a game originally designed on RPG maker in 1996, after all. So how does a game with such crude visuals make such an impact? For a start the audio relentlessly keeps you on edge.

Corpse Party employs simulated 3D surround sound that works masterfully; when a ghost is whispering in your right ear, it sounds like it’s conferring to you, not just the character onscreen. Incidental sounds such as squelching guts as they’re being trodden in, eyeballs being scraped out by a pair of rusty scissors, sound every bit as disgusting as they probably should. Headphones are a must.

With multiple choices comes a plethora of different endings for each of the five chapters. And when you get a ‘wrong end,’ they are oh so wrong. When you die in many games your character collapses in a heap with little repercussion. Here you have to endure up to five minutes of a sweet teenage girl being slowly killed to death in the most excruciating and nightmarish methods imaginable; delirious and tormented shrieking growing weaker and increasingly hoarse rings in your ears until you finally see the game over screen.

No matter where they go the kids cannot escape from the horrors of the school

This wouldn’t have quite as much impact without the stellar voice work. Every line of dialogue is fully-voiced and only in Japanese, but the actors and actresses here truly embody these roles – this party has some of the most eye opening screams in gaming.

The biggest success however is the stagecraft of its scares. While Dead Space and Resident Evil 5 will throw hordes of monsters at you until you quickly become desensitised to the whole affair, Corpse Party takes great Machiavellianism in allowing tension to mount for as long as it can, and playing on your growing paranoia. You may walk into a room and the music will cut out suddenly; you’re not entirely sure but you may have heard something. This’ll happen a so many times that it can become unbearable. And when the trap has been sprung, it always happens in your most vulnerable state.

There are numerous snags however. RPG trappings such as hit points and the interface are purely cosmetic, and don’t serve any real purpose here other than to give gameplay a false sense of depth. Progression is rather strict and old-fashioned, in that if you miss one nook or cranny in some sections, you can’t continue. It’s easy to mess up in many situations where you may have to search something twice or in the right order.

When there are so many endings involved, it’s easy to miss the ‘correct’ ending needed to move on to the next chapter. For the final ending in particular I found myself crestfallen, having to refer to a walkthrough guide as getting the credits rolling was a pretty obtuse affair. As long as you’re not getting the same bad ends constantly, there is a certain satisfaction in obtaining them as they never fail to show you something unexpected — even if they will no doubt leave you scarred.

A strong example of not judging a book by its cover, Team Gris Gris has created a wickedly atmospheric and engrossing horror story. Only just avoiding being labelled as a straight visual novel — granting control to the characters gives so much more weight to your actions. Your own judgement can easily get you killed, and in one particular scene I felt a huge pang of guilt when I failed a certain section. Despite the mechanical limitations and some flaws, for the right and the wrong reasons Corpse Party is a memorable and worthwhile experience.

Review Round Up

Graphics: 2/5 - Extremely dated 2D visuals, uninspired anime character designs but with the odd devious visual tricks.

Sound: 5/5 - Much of the freaky atmosphere is conjured up from the clever sound effects, impressive voice-acting and strangely catchy soundtrack.

Gameplay: 3/5 - A macabre and exhilarating narrative serves to keep your interest until the bitter end. The control you have is limited, but enough to give you a strong role in the outcome of the many ordeals you’ll face.

Longevity: 4/5 - It should take roughly eight to ten hours to finish the story, but there are some extra chapters to unlock that fill-out the characters’ back-stories nicely, and if you wish to obtain all of the sickening ‘wrong ends’ you might spend considerably more time.

Overall: 3.5/5

Corpse Party is a hugely enjoyable and strikingly bleak visual-novel cum adventure game. If you enjoy Japanese horror, and don’t mind being scared witless I can’t recommend this game enough — despite its low-budget and old fashioned presentation.

Corpse Party is available now, exclusively on the Playstation Store for download only.

- Jason Borlase

Throw out your 3rd PS3 people...

Sony has released a statement to the effect that the number of devices on which you may use your PSN purchases is dropping from 5 to just 2 on the 18th on November.

Have they detected a little more friend-to-friend PSN sharing than they would like?

This is not a welcome change.

Having said that, and always looking on the bright side, they are taking positive steps to address the decrease in flexibility that this change will levy on players; “PlayStation Network users are able to change the activation setting through each device, and Sony Computer Entertainment plans to provide a new PlayStation Network account management website where users will be able to deactivate particular devices attached to their PlayStation Network account via their PC.”

We love a dashboard / control panel, specially a nice clean webby one, Power to the People!

- Richard “Rax” Burley
@Raxous

Sure, they’re niche titles, but it doesn’t make me any less P*SSED that so few played ‘em. Any player even slightly inclined to the odd RPG, can pick them up immediately and get immersed in their strange but credible worlds. There is so much quality and freshness in these titles, the kind that has been lacking since the SNES and PSone era of Japanese role players

Before I start with the love-in, I just want to clarify to all of those sniggering at the back, that the Persona games are NOT dating simulators; they are not necessarily aimed at people that masturbate furiously to Hentai. I am not a weebo; Japan freaks me out and amazes me in equal measure.

Keep an open mind weary gamers, because Persona 3 and 4 – the two pretty similar to one another, bar refinements – are some of the most absorbing, stylish and innovative games around, and one of the best things to emerge from Japan in recent times.

The Persona series is an offshoot of the risqué and fairly popular (in japan mind you) Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Not afraid of thrusting themes including the occult, cannibalism and teen suicide in your direction. Developers Atlus USA are a twisted bunch; they probably have a penchant for bondage too (that’s just how these guys roll).

Persona 3 in particular is a dark and devilish tale. Your fresh-faced teen protagonists will actually shoot themselves in the head with perverse frequency, to tease out their ‘Personas’ in battle – anthropomorphic beasts that represents the characters’… well, persona. They cast spells and do your bidding, a bit like a Pokémon, but replace the cute plush toys with psychotic abominations.

The idea behind Persona is an intriguing proposition – half social simulation, half dungeon crawler. You play the role of a mute but strangely popular high school student, where you will try to carve out a normal life in modern Japan, and save the world in the process.

You will probably want to keep on top of your studies at High School, socialise, entertain the local womenfolk; get a job sealing envelopes; go fishing, and attempt to eat the biggest bowl of beef and noodles you’ve ever laid eyes on – providing your stats are high enough, kid.

In the other part of your secret double life, unbeknownst to the regular folk, you and your band of hormonal schoolmates combat the rather creatively named shadows; otherworldly demons that are causing all kinds of problems in the world as we know it.

...How about no?

Love it or loathe it, you’ll be taking part in the JRPG stalwart of turn based battles on a regular basis. But before you do a runner back to the Ben and Jerry comforts of Gears of War 3, take note that the fights are brief and straightforward, and one guy even fights with a folded chair! Enemies can be spotted on the field, also.

The randomly generated dungeons you’ll be tackling will take a sizable chunk of your time, but you’ll rarely need to grind through the levels to progress. You’re actively discouraged from spending too much time wandering though them, as cleverly there is no ability to save in the dungeons themselves (though in Persona 4 there are save points before bosses.) When you’re low on HP and curative items, every fight becomes a gamble, so you need to know when to call it a day.

Normally the lack of save points in such a life or death scenario would be the meddling of an utter douchebag, no? In this case, I think it simply keeps boredom to a minimum. There is so much to do in Persona, that players solely focusing on only one aspect of the game would be neglecting half of the fun.

The appeal of the design as a whole, is that there is so much variety. One minute you’ll be struggling against a punishing boss that can wipe your party out in two turns, the next you’ll be going to the pictures with a girl, while she confides to you her ‘problems at home.’ Jeez…

The English dubs are really enthusiastic and endearing; they're arguably superior to the Japanese voice work.

These two existences are directly interconnected with each other. Socialising with people, and developing ‘Social Links’ directly affects the development of your character and his or her Persona’s.

You need to be conscientious of who you spend your time with; even if you think a character smells vaguely of donkey, you need to take into consideration that talking to this person develops a specific type of Persona that you’re interested in powering up – eyes on the prize and all that.

So you can have multiple Persona’s, you inquire? No? Well ANYWAY, yes you can. You can collect a bundle of these things from battle, with the maximum amount you can possess increasing with every ten levels. You can even fuse them with each other and create more powerful freakazoids.

There’s so much to do and keep track of, that it’s a miracle that Persona doesn’t fall on its arse from the weight of its own ambition. But Persona 3 and 4 never skips a beat. Your precious time in Persona world is broken down into segments. For instance, you have morning, daytime, after school and evening. There is no active clock, so there’s no need to dart around like an overworked and receding salaryman in rush hour.

Time management is a totally different beast here. Some activities won’t pass the time, but others such as spending time with your ‘Social Links’, going to work or chowing down at the sushi bar will elapse that part of the day.

So you need to be methodical with how you utilise your time; should I go to the nightclub and speak to the bitter, sarcastic monk that hangs out there, or study for the upcoming exams and work on my ‘academics’ rank? These will be the constant questions you’ll be asking yourself.

It quickly becomes open-ended in the way you can develop your character. And if you think this sounds like a gruelling, slow-paced kind of game, think again. Shortcuts allow you to skip around town with ease, and if there is no event occurring during school time, time will skip until after school. Wasted time is kept to a minimum, and no single activity or event usually drags on for longer than is necessary – which makes everything all the more addictive.

For the most part JRPGs wouldn’t be much fun without a strong narrative, story and characters – and Persona 3 and 4 grab you by the neck from the off; Persona 3 is a surreal and nightmarish story about an enigmatic and demonic tower that appears in a hidden hour, unknown to regular folk, where savage creatures emerge from to rampage around Japan, while all but Persona users sleep unknowingly though this period in coffins. Solving the mystery of the tower and other bizarre goings on in the city drives you forward. Crazy, but a good kind of crazy.

Persona 4 is a bit more upbeat, and has its feet on the ground in comparison. The plot plays out as a whodunnit murder mystery, in a sleepy Japanese town out in the sticks. This may sound a little formulaic, but when you find that the first victim of this mystery brute has been impaled on a rooftop TV aerial, and when you find that there’s another dimension, chock full of nasties to beat down INSIDE televisions, things quickly take a turn for the insane.

Dark and mature themes abound, Final Fantasy is candy floss and rainbows in comparison.

Thanks to some excellent writing, characters in both titles are unique, charming, even empathetic at times. In Persona 4 particularly, you may even feel as if you know someone like a specific character. Teenage issues such as sexuality, isolation and jealousy are deftly handled. While lessons learned along the way rarely stray into melodramatic territory, unlike a lot of corny Anime out there.

The Persona games look and sound brilliant. Put aside the fact that you can only play them on the wussy PS2 and the PSP with Persona 3 Portable; the pop-art stylised presentation is gorgeous throughout, whether it’s the minimalist but striking menu screens or the likeable character design.

The 3D graphics circumvent the PS2′s lack of junk in the trunk, by producing vibrant, colourful locales that are more bold than detailed. The artists clearly went to town on the more surreal sections of the game, treating you to some pleasingly abstract visuals, with some depraved symbolism for good measure.

And another thing, the soundtrack is the balls. Yes, the balls. J-pop with mangled, barely comprehensible engrish lyrics from Japanese singers always gets my vote. But never before has this artform been so moreish to listen too: “WE ARE LIVING ON MAAARRSSS!” “From the homo-men to now break awaaaaay!” are but examples of the stunningly evocative vocal work.

I’m going to be honest here; me and my friend like to blast the Persona 4 soundtrack from his car stereo, quite often. It’s awesome driving music. It’s the soundtrack to my life. I’m listening to it right now as I type, and I will continue to be hooked to it in the foreseeable future. “Your affeeection!” indeed.

I also have to mention that Persona 3 and 4 are extremely lengthy. About a hundred hours can easily be invested into both games on your first playthrough. So blackmail your boss with compromising photographs, or just simply say f**k you to the system. You need to set aside a lot of hours to enjoy these games fully. Do what you must; Persona is seriously worth your time.

If you become obsessed with the PS2 Persona games, like me. You may find that you’ll see life a little differently than most. Friends will become ‘Social Links;’ if you say the right thing you’ll see colourful visual cues and your social rank will increase; If you eat a vindaloo curry your ‘courage’ and ‘understanding’ stats will improve; items you obtain from your girlfriend will actually be useful in battle… Think about it.

-Jason Borlase

Speaking at a press conference live-streamed over Japanese service Nico Nico Videos, Nagoshi also confirmed that the studio’s next product will be a sequel to the PSP’s 2010 entry in the RYU GA GOTOKU/YAKUZA series BLACK PANTHER, set one year after that game and entitled BLACK PANTHER 2: YAKUZA ASURA COMPILATION. (Asura being a fighting demon in Buddhist cosmology, familiar to gamers from upcoming brawler ASURA’S WRATH.)

As before, the game will focus on teen tearaway and prize cage-fighter Tatsuya Ukyo, but will apparently place greater emphasis on fighting alongside friends. To that end, the game will boast an additional four playable primary characters apart from Tatsuya. The fictional Osaka location of Sotenbori will also make a return from YAKUZA 2.

After a short presentation of BINARY DOMAIN, largely focusing on the excellent all-star voice-cast for the Japanese edition (set to include YAKUZA veterans Kazuki Kitamura, Kenichi Endo and Naoto Takenaka), talk moved on to YAKUZA 5. It was stated that work on the game has just begun, but that the YAKUZA team felt strongly after OF THE END that the series should be re-imagined both graphically and in gameplay terms.

No information was given regarding further details or a release date, with Nagoshi expressing a wish to parcel out information more gradually than is usual.

Join us next week for the most up to date news, previews, and a very special interview.

20 minutes of gameplay from PSPs forthcoming Final Fantasy “Type-0″ has sneaked onto YouTube!

To say that PSP owners have been feeling a little hard-done by with recent developments might be an understatement.

Well, consider all the damage done recently, fully repaired!

The following should be noted;

1. Each owner will be able to download any TWO games only, which will then be theirs permanently.
2. The games will only be available for this initial download for 30 days following the re-launch of the PSN store. (Date not yet confirmed)

PS3 Free Game Choices;
- Infamous
- Little Big Planet
- Dead Nation
- Super Stardust HD
- Wipeout HD + Fury

PSP Free Game Choices;
- Little Big Planet (PSP)
- ModNation Racers
- Pursuit Force
- Killzone Liberation

All-in-all Sony have delivered a varied selection of very high quality titles here, so, please ensure you keep an eye open for the store re-launch and grab your two, free, games!

Game:

Showing up on PSP more than a decade after the last game in the Parasite Eve series, The Third Birthday further develops that game’s focus on action while attempting to streamline the experience in light of many years’ advances in gameplay. It is not always entirely successful.

With such a gap of years separating the game from Parasite Eve II, the producers have decided to distance the story from what has come before, making The Third Birthday more of a spin-off than a direct sequel. Protagonist Aya Brea finds herself working with a government agency that propels her into the recent past to battle an outbreak of freakish mutant creatures known as The Twisted.

Brea now possesses the unusual ability to project her consciousness into other people’s bodies, which functions rather like racing-action game Pursuit Force, except with people. Should Brea’s energy start to run low and death seem to be imminent, she can project herself into the body of a nearby NPC and leave the previous one to perish (whether or not this is a sly commentary on the disposability of military personnel is up to you). This ability, known as “overdive” can also be used to teleport into the bodies of weakened enemies and explode them from the inside out.

When applied to the game’s titanic boss fights, of which there may be several in each level, the overdive ability transforms encounters from pitched battles into something resembling spatial puzzles, as enemy weakpoints are identified which can only be attacked through careful co-ordination of the overdive ability and targeted fire from NPC soldiers. Thanks to some solid, though not terribly inspired basic shooting-mechanics, these encounters satisfy more often than they frustrate.

The same can not necessarily be said for the rank-and-file battles that populate the long stretches of corridor-based combat between bosses. While controls are tight and generally responsive, the game runs up against the perennial enemy of PSP action games: the camera.

The viewpoint can be snapped behind Berea with a swift tap of the targeting button, but full camera control has been mapped to the directional pad, which sits directly above the analogue nub, thereby making it tremendously difficult to move and manipulate the camera at the same time. This leads to cheap, one-hit deaths as an unseen and hugely over-powered enemy leaps from beyond the player’s field of view with tooth-grinding frequency.

Meanwhile the game’s chase sequences, wherein Brea is pursued through narrow, poorly-signposted areas by an invincible giant foe, are the opposite of the excellent boss-fights, being frustrating, repetitious, cheap and unfair. Just about every effort possible has been made to accommodate the PSP system’s poor control layout, but with such mixed success that, yet again, we have to wonder if PSP developers ought not to change their game design to suit the design of the system rather than persisting with the Quixotic task of trying to cram complex game-mechanics onto a system that is physically ill-suited to them.

Review Round-Up

Graphics 4/5 – As ever with Square-Enix’s releases, they are a pleasure to behold, squeezing a glacial, crystalline beauty out of the PSP’s aging hardware. The character and level design falls somewhat short of the high standards of their Final Fantasy series games, with the Twisted themselves rarely displaying any particular character or flair.

Sound 4/5 – Delicate orchestral soundscapes amiably defaced by clattering gunfire, inhuman screeching and grown men crying. The earlier titles in the series are particularly recalled by some of the arcadey, trance-like combat themes.

Gameplay 3/5 – Beyond the essentially competent gameplay, the game also contains a rich strain of RPG mechanics to tinker with in the downtime between missions. Dozens of guns, of which four can be equipped at once, are available and each is deeply customisable with new parts and accessories. The same can also be said for Brea herself, whose DNA can be altered via a slot-based puzzle-tinged metagame that allows you to alter her abilities, stats and attributes, a juggling act which quickly becomes compulsive. But even the boost provided by levelling and customising her abilities (and also outfits) can’t quite overcome the game’s tendency to throw up regular, dispiriting difficulty spikes that ensure that the player will become well acquainted with the Game Over screen as they trudge through the same lengthy, poorly checkpointed section again and again.

Longevity 3/5 – The main campaign can be cleared in perhaps six to eight hours, discounting the lengthy, beautifully animated and also amiably nonsensical cutscenes that are Square’s trademark. Gun and character levelling is a potential time-sink for those who wish to find the perfect mutant-killing set-up, and a second playthrough with a fully-levelled character finds many of the game’s problems with crushing difficulty and attritional combat substantially alleviated.

Overall 3.5/5

The 3rd Birthday is an appealing and focused action game that manages to retain something of the flavour of mid-nineties Japanese action-RPG gameplay while incorporating the advances in combat mechanics that have occurred in the intervening years. Some rough edges and an unengaging, rather characterless narrative conspire to dent its charm somewhat, but the strength of the core experience still shines through regardless. The 3rd Birthday, then, is another ambitious and engaging title to emerge in this, PSP’s Indian summer, and worth a look for anyone who currently owns the system.

- Elliot Mears

For an MP3 copy of the show, right click the link and choose Save As.
You can also get the RSS feed right here:  RSS Feed

If you’d like the show notes, click the more button.

[H:MM:SS] – Show Time Line
——————–
Opening Song (Innocent Primeval Breaker – Ys Seven OST)

[0:00:45] – Introductions
-Three Years and Counting
-PS2 Launch Lineup

[0:08:15] – February Coming Soon

[0:23:47] – 2010 Golden King Awards

[1:36:04] – Wrap Up

[1:39:03] – End

For an MP3 copy of the show, right click the link and choose Save As.
You can also get the RSS feed right here:  RSS Feed

If you’d like the show notes, click the more button.

[H:MM:SS] – Show Time Line
——————–
Opening Song (Innocent Primeval Breaker – Ys Seven OST)

[0:00:43] – Introductions

[0:02:45] – Jason’s Now Playing

[0:23:38] – Steven’s Now Playing

[0:45:58] – News

[1:48:34] – December 2010 NPD Numbers

[1:57:55] – Wrap Up

[2:01:53] – End

For an MP3 copy of the show, right click the link and choose Save As.
You can also get the RSS feed right here:  RSS Feed

If you’d like the show notes, click the more button.

[H:MM:SS] – Show Time Line
——————–
Opening Song (Innocent Primeval Breaker – Ys Seven OST)

[0:00:43] – Introductions

[0:02:37] – Jason’s Now Playing

[1:18:52] – Steven’s Now Playing

[1:28:51] – News

[2:13:06] – Top 5 Games of 2010 Not Made In 2010

[2:36:14] – Wrap Up

[2:39:21] – End

Much like any extended excursion or emergency evacuation calls for, property and possessions must be valued in more ways than one. This, I feel being particularly difficult for someone like me with a collection of games going well into the hundreds. Unfortunately, that isn’t even including special edition collector items and the consoles themselves. Again, with the emergency evacuation scenario in mind, small items are obviously the easiest to consider bringing.

This is to say that the PSP and DS are in the glorified position of being ‘must have’ items. Not only are they already portable, but they take up very little space and weigh even less. Something that is becoming increasingly important when considering airport baggage allowances. Not only this, but the packaging for the games for each respective system can be easily stored. Regrettably, the same cannot be said about the others in my collection.

How am I supposed to fit all this into a couple of suitcases?

It’s strange how only a week ago I was lamenting the extra effort it took me to take Resident Evil 5 out of its special edition box and yet now I can’t quite bring myself to leave it behind. The same goes for Borderlands, slip sleeves sometimes being a deciding factor of whether I can be bothered to play a game or not. So what is to be done? Do I remove the games from their packaging, lovingly slip them into one of those multiple disc holder things and be done with it?

I’d have the games, sure, and that’s all that matters, right? Not to mention the space in my suitcase saved. It’s hardly like I read the boxes anymore other than the occasional glance of momentarily renewed admiration at a particularly witty blurb or hilarious typo. Yet I just can’t bring myself to seriously consider this option. I mean, my Silent Hill 2 limited edition box is very fragile. I can’t just tuck it away in storage somewhere sans the game itself, can I? I’m not that cruel.

Silent Hill 2 will forever have a special place in my heart, and my collection.

Speaking of which, what is to become of my Resident Evil 4 chainsaw controller? Common sense tells me that immigration and customs wouldn’t quite share my enthusiasm for the novelty controller in light of security and all that. What will I do if I feel the need to play RE4 whilst flailing around like a crazed Leatherface (or Dr Salvador is more appropriate, I guess). The same goes for my Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Street Fighter 4 arcade sticks. Sure, you could look at it from the point of view that I’ll be in a country just full of arcades so I won’t need them. And you’d be right, of course. Technically I wouldn’t need them. I might want them, though.  Is that really materialistic of me?

Possibly a little too intimidating for immigration to handle.

It’s actually almost depressing that I’m this concerned with all this and I haven’t even mentioned my DVD and CD collection which is even greater to some extent. Those limited edition CDs and DVD box sets tend to take up some space, after all. Oh, and my books. I haven’t even thought of my clothes. I can always buy more clothes… limited edition items, however?

All I can say in closing on the matter is I’m glad I haven’t got Kinect yet. I’m dubious as to if my Tokyo apartment will have the room for me to work it anyway. Besides, I hear tell they’ll be quite cheap over there pretty soon.

- Sabbi Stone

The 2 handheld games will be shown in greater detail once the event begins in the next few days, however it’s safe to say from the brand new screenshots on show that both are shaping up really nicely.

Final Fantasy 4: The Heroes of Light:

Final Fantasy 4: The Heroes of Light looks set to continue to bring the charm of the earlier installments of the series to the Nintendo DS

In the wake of Final Fantasy 13, Final Fantasy 4: The Heroes of Light looks set to bring the franchise back to it's roots in terms of combat

The inclusion of new mini games offers a nice change of pace

Ogre Tactics: Let Us Cling Together:

Square Enix's latest remake brings the world of Ogre Tactics back to live in a way you've never seen before

Engage in tactical combat with skeletons and other deadly foe

Verdict? Both games are looking good and will no doubt be the ones to watch for those out there that are craving yet more charming, tactical RPG’s on their handhelds. Look out for more coverage on the two games as TGS kicks off in a matter of days and stay tuned for more Square Enix related, TGS news

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-c661be842c3ffe2f6026cf06eaf7295f}
Remember when we reach 50 reviews on itunes we will pick a random reviewer and give them the game of their choice!

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We have teamed up with the good people at Lovefilm.com to bring you a fantastic offer which will help you keep up to date with the latest games, dvds and blu-rays. Simply sign up for a free 30 day trial through one of our dedicated links and you will recieve a £10 voucher for Argos. Not bad huh?

You can cancel the trial or full service at any point, there are no contracts involved. Simply pick the plan that’s best for you and away you go. This is a service that I personally use and recommend. I have the Unlimited Games / DVDs and Blu-Rays plan which lets me have as many as I like in any month, but also gives me access to thousands of films to watch online for free. I just caught the gaming classic “King of Kong” thanks to Lovefilm. You can rent games for a whole host of platforms:

• PS3
• XBOX 360
• Wii
• DS
• PSP
• PS2
• Xbox
• Gamecube

There are plenty of options on packages as well. There are Pay as You go options if you don’t want to sign up for a regular fee or smaller packages from just a couple of quid a month.  I strongly recommend you give this free trial a go. If you decide the service isn’t for you, just cancel before your 30 days are up.

This offer is only valid for one week from 26th July – 1st August so be quick. To qualify you must register through one of the links or banners on this site AND then enter the code LFAWARGOS when prompted

Sign up: http://bit.ly/lf10voucher

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[H:MM:SS] – Show Notes
——————–
Opening Song (Track 3 – Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia OST)

[0:00:39] – Introductions

[0:02:30] – Jason’s Now Playing
-GameStop’s Rewards Program [0:02:43 - 0:15:02]
-Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP) MINOR SPOILERS [0:18:04 - 0:21:01]

[0:45:02] – Steven’s Now Playing

[1:11:50] – News

[1:58:04] – Coming Soon For July 2010

[2:01:38] – Wrap Up

[2:04:30] – End

For an MP3 copy of the show, right click the link and choose Save As.
MP3 Link / RSS Feed

If you’d like the show notes, click the more button.

[H:MM:SS] – Show Notes
——————–
Opening Song (Poseidon’s Wrath – God of War 3 OST)

[0:00:31] – Introductions

[0:06:45] – Jason’s Now Playing
-MLB 2010: The Show (PS3)
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
-Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360)
-Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers (Xbox Live Arcade)
-Halo: Reach (Xbox 360) BETA
-Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)

[0:41:17] – Steven’s Now Playing
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
-Super Street Fighter IV (Xbox 360)
-Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers (Xbox Live Arcade)
-Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)

[0:54:51] – News
-Modern Warfare 2′s Next DLC Brings More Old Maps
-Call of Duty: Black Ops Dedicated To Dedicated Servers
-Activision Learns Lesson, Drops Celebrities From Guitar Hero
-4-Player Co-Op Onslaught Coming To Bad Company 2
-Mass Effect 2 Gets New “Man vs Robots” Downloadable Content
-Write a Snappy Catchphrase, Hear It in NBA Jam
-Confirmed: UFC 2010 Requires Code for Online Play
-Big Fat Gears Of War 2 Update & Cheap ‘All Fronts Collection’ Incoming
-We Get ‘The Signal’ For Alan Wake In July
-Ghost Recon: Future Soldier pushed further into future
-Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood to have multiplayer beta
-It’s A Dead Bird! It’s A Red Plane! It’s Super Scribblenauts!
-PixelJunk Shooter 2 Is Full Steam Ahead
-Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Dated, Detailed, And PSP Bundled
-Dragon Quest IX Comes Stateside In July
-Ys We Can… Play Falcom’s Games In America
-Steam For Mac Is Live, Includes Free Copy of Portal

[1:37:52] – April 2010 NPD Numbers

[1:48:27] – Wrap Up

[1:51:11] – End

The guys tackle all the usual stuff with news of Bungie joining the Darkside (Activision) and Call of Duty: Black ops. Question: How does a gaming podcast get to talk about The Incredible Hulk’s penis? I don’t know either but the guys manage it somehow. Download the show and listen to find out more.

Also, leave us an iTunes review and you’ll be in with a chance of getting a game of your choice as one lucky reviewer will be picked at random once we reach 50 reviews.

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Leave us a review in iTunes and when we reach 50 reviews will will draw a name out of the hat and send that person a game of their choice (within reason – no band packs, imports, special editions etc)

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For an MP3 copy of the show, right click the link and choose Save As.
MP3 Link / RSS Feed

If you’d like the show notes, click the more button.

Show Rundown [H:MM:SS]
—————
Opening Song (Poseidon’s Wrath – God of War 3 OST)

Introductions [0:00:30]

Jason’s Now Playing [0:02:56]
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
-Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)
-Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360)
-Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (PSP)
-Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? (PSP)

Steven’s Now Playing [0:17:38]
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
-Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
-Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)

PAX East 2010
-Friday [0:30:15]
-Saturday [1:07:02]
-Sunday [1:43:33]
-http://kotaku.com/5505341/suspected-game-code-thief-on-the-lam-%5Bupdate%5D

Wrap Up [2:17:05]

End [2:18:44]

Back in 1999 Konami released the first Silent Hill on the Sony Playstation. Casting you as Harry Mason you explored the foggy town in search of your missing adopted daughter. With the sound of an air raid siren filling the air, the small town transformed into a blood soaked, rusty, nightmare world, populated with deformed monsters. As the story progressed you discovered that your daughter had a dark past revolving around a cult that aimed to bring to life a demonic god to judge all mankind. It was nonsensical, but fantastic at the same time.

Since then there have been several other Silent Hill games: Silent Hill 2, 3, The Room, Origins, and Homecoming. Late last year the latest Silent Hill game, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, was released in the USA on Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and PSP. Instead of the traditional Silent Hill gameplay, blending combat with puzzle solving, the developers instead decided to take a more psychological, non-combative take with this latest game.

Silent Hill Shattered Memories is something of a re-imagining of the original Silent Hill. Once again you play as Harry Mason, a devoted father who wakes up after a car crash to discover that his daughter Cheryl, is missing. Wandering out into the snowy surroundings, Harry stumbles on the deserted town of Silent Hill, which is in the midst of a severe snow storm. With no one on the streets, and Harry’s memory severely lacking, you are left to wander the streets following clues to find out where your daughter is.

The town of Silent Hill is experiencing an extreme snow storm

All of this takes place after the opening of the game, just to confuse matters slightly. To start the game your character is sitting in a psychiatrist’s office starting their first session with the latest in a long line of therapists. To begin with, your therapist asks you to fill out a simple personality test, with questions ranging from the simple “do you make friends easily?” to the somewhat more perturbed “do you enjoy role play in sex?”. The way you answer the questions will have a radical effect on the way the game plays out. For instance, the way I answered the questionnaire in my first play through meant the first level was in a video store, whereas altering my answers lead to the very same level becoming a clothes store on a later play through, complete with different puzzles.

Much of the game's outcome is determined by the way you answer the Psychiatrist's questions

Speaking of puzzles, gone are the days of old where you would come across a locked door and have to traipse across town in search of the required key. Now the solution to the locked doors is more realistic, with the set of keys for each locked door being in a logical place near the actual door. The only challenge in solving these simple puzzles lies in the manipulation of the Wii remote. By pressing the A button you can interact with set parts of the environment and use the Wii remote to grab interactive objects, such as tin cans, or latches on doors. Sometimes the solution to the puzzles seem a little arbitrary, such as the locked door whose key is hidden inside of a nearby tin can, but overall the puzzles make sense, which is refreshing for a series that was well known for it’s lengthy and bizarre puzzles.

The phone is key to discovering segments of the back story.

The use of the Wii remote in this game is particularly good. Using the nunchuck to walk forward, backwards, and to strafe left and right, the Wii remote is used to point your torch, which allows you to turn as well as illuminate the dark surroundings. Other brilliant uses for the Wii remote include using the remote’s built in speaker as the speaker of your mobile phone, which acts as a key implement in solving a number of side puzzles, as well as receiving valuable information.

Spread out around the town are a number of hidden memories; static figures that can only been seen clearly through the lens of your phone’s camera. Taking their picture unlocks a voice mail message that fills in some of the background of the game’s story. The phone also contains a map of the town that allows you to draw your desired route to your objective, although this drawn path is only visible on the phone. Annoyingly your speed of walking is dramatically reduced when you have the phone in hand.

As you progress further through the story and unearth key details, the world around you becomes encased in ice, and the game shifts from methodical exploration to frantic escape. Along with the ice, a number of skinless creatures begin to chase you through the darkness. You are unable to physically harm your pursuers, and instead must simply run away from them, attempting to block their path by knocking down objects, or hold them off by setting off flares. At this point in the game it becomes more about escaping from the labyrinthine nightmare mazes. While the exit is always marked on the phone map, there is rarely a chance to stop and check the phone, so escaping from these mazes can often be more trial and error than anything else. Fortunately, any path you have already taken is marked on the phone’s map, which does help in staving off a lot of the back tracking.

Your enemies cannot be hurt, only held back by flares

If you are unfortunate enough to be caught by one of your shrieking pursuers then you must shove the nunchuck and Wii remote in the direction of your attacker to throw them off. You can sustain a number of blows from your foe before they knock you down, but the more beatings you take, the more you stumble when you manage to escape. Fortunately there is no death in this game. If your enemies overwhelm you then you are merely dumped back at the start of the maze and must try and evade the enemies again.

The shrieking skinless monsters are incredibly clingy in this game.

The chase sequences are usually preceded by another flash-forward to the psychiatrist’s office, where you will undertake other simple tests such as colouring in a picture of your dream family or separating pictures of dead people from pictures of sleeping people. How you perform in these tests, in which there is no “right” answer, is reflected in the following level. For instance, with the colouring test, I merely scribbled over the picture with a purple pen. In the following level my home was coloured a vibrant purple, and the people inside were wearing purple clothes. While that test had only a minor effect on the environment, later tests have a more drastic effect, and to discuss them further would perhaps spoil the outcome of the game itself.

Upon completing the game, which only lasts about six hours, you are treated to a psychological profile of yourself based on the decisions you made in-game. I was genuinely surprised how accurate the profile was in describing me personally, faults and all. Of course you will only get a similar reaction if you take the tests seriously and answer truthfully.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 4/5 The developers have clearly gone to great lengths to make this game take full advantage of the Wii’s limited hardware. Of particular note are the character’s faces and facial animation, which look stylised, but believable at the same time. The game has a film grain filter placed on the graphics that adds significantly to the dark and mysterious atmosphere.

Sound: 5/5 Akira Yamaoka provides his trademark excellent score, as he has for every Silent Hill game to date. The voice acting is particularly believable, with the actor that plays Harry exhibiting all the necessary emotions to make this game seem like a genuine nightmare.

Gameplay: 5/5 The way the developer has worked with the Wii Remote should set the standard for any developer working on a Wii title. Using the the Wii Remote to control your torch, and having it act as your mobile phone works spectacularly.

Longevity: 3/5 The main story will take about six or so hours to complete, and there is no multiplayer to speak of. However, the compelling nature of the story and the sheer variety in puzzle answers will probably have you reaching for your remote to start a new game as soon as the first one finishes.

Overall 4.5 Skinless Monkey attacks out of 5 Climax have managed to take Silent Hill in an exciting new direction while at the same time maintaining some of the key atmosphere of the series. In a lot of ways this game is the anti-Resident Evil 4 – where Resident Evil 4 took the lumbering Resident Evil franchise and transformed it into a fast-paced action game, Silent Hill has instead travelled down the opposite path, into a non combative psychological thriller. Really, any self respecting Wii owner that laments the lack of “proper games” on the Wii should buy this.

[starreview tpl=16]

1. What’s the best gaming related Christmas gift you’ve ever had? Was it because the game was awesome-tastic or did it cement the love you had for a certain lady? Tell us why it meant so much to you.

Tom01255

Christmas of 1998 was a great one for me; as I eagerly unwrapped my brand spanking new Nintendo 64. This marked my first foray into console gaming and has left a lasting impression. I was immediately hooked to gaming, whilst I had played on the Snes and Megadrive of various friends; I had never had one of my own. But with my new N64 I became king of the playground. The one game I had, the massively underrated Mischief Makers (an eccentric 2D platformer) was more than enough to keep me entertained until Smash Brothers and Zelda really monopolised my playtime.

Joefeesh

Mario Galaxy. From the start, walking down the dark streets of the mushroom kingdom towards the castle, starbits falling from the sky like an upside down fireworks display. I was taken in by the lush world that Nintendo had recreated for Mario Galaxy. The amazing gravity based platforming is like nothing else and the sheer quantity of new ideas transformed into levels still astounds me. With the starry skies and smooth, shiny textures, it was the perfect gift to get me through the holidays during one of the roughest times in my life.

Crofterz

Kung Fu. OK, so my favourite games related Christmas gift takes us way back to when I got my first ever games console (the NES). However, the console itself is not my favourite gift, it was the slew of games that came bundled with it. Duck Hunt (with the light gun), Super Mario Bros., and in particular, Kung Fu. Kung Fu is, to this day, my favourite game. Although it could now be considered extremely primitive, I still love it because I spent so many hours playing it as a child and have many fond memories.

vVv Diesel

As a kid growing up with a father who loved cars, I naturally followed suit, finding myself outside with grease under my fingernails (well, it was more fun than mud!) and watching all manner of car racing. The British Touring Car Championship was by far my favorite, and after playing the original ToCA, I was hooked. Never mind the silly cheats that allowed you to unlock, of all things, a tank; it was all about pure racing. I would play with my best friend or my dad for hours at a time. Then they announced ToCA 2. Well, obviously I drove my mum insane with my constant whines of, ”I really want that game”, and endless questions as to why I couldn’t just buy it with my pocket money.

Come Christmas, I had enough pocket money saved to buy the game five times over, but there it was in my Santa’s sack. The rest of Christmas day was consumed by my new game (and a new TV too). To this day, I still adore the original ToCA games.

Braindead Hero

This one is a fairly simple answer: my SNES. This is the first console that was truly mine, and really got me into gaming. Before, I had played my dad’s Commodore VIC-20, and had plenty of fun with that. But this SNES was mine. It came with a couple of games that have stayed with me ever since, namely the classics: Doom, Donkey Kong Country, and of course, Super Mario World. Three top notch games which made an indelible impression on me and possibly influenced my future gaming tastes. The SNES early on placed me firmly in the Nintendo camp in the then ongoing Nintendo vs Sega war.

Mightyles

I would say that my favourite gaming related present would have to have been getting a Nintendo Wii in 2007… Actually, no. I am lying. In all honesty the greatest gaming related Christmas present I can think of was not even given to me, but given to my elder brother: the Sony Playstation. The reason it was the greatest present is the simple fact that, while I had always been an active gamer, it was not until the advent of the Playstation that I really dived into gaming with any conviction. That year, he got Tekken 2 and I loved it. However, it was not until he brought Resident Evil 2 that I became hooked. Couple that with games like Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Soul Blade, Tenchu, and Bushido Blade, and you can see why I say that was the greatest gaming gift in my household.

Kamiza

Without a doubt, my favourite gaming related present was many years ago when I received a Commodore 64.  Although I’d had a fair bit of video game exposure through the likes of an old Binatone machine, the C64 was the first time I owned a piece of gaming machinery that would score me cool points in school.  I had so many years of enjoyment with some of my favourite games of all time, including IK+, Commando, Ghostbusters (its better than the current gen version) and Uridium +.  Most importantly though, it meant I could stop pretending to be friends with a kid in my class just so I could play on his C64.

2. What is your biggest gaming Christmas wish?

Crofterz

Dante’s Inferno. Yes it looks like a complete God of War clone but why have games got to be “ground breaking” all of a sudden? Surely they just need to be fun? And Dante’s Inferno looks like it delivers fun by the bucket load. What could be more enjoyable than fighting an endless amount of demons as you make your way through hell, literally! The graphics looks stunning and this game is the one I’m most excited about (and have been all year). I’m just a bit gutted that I have to wait until next year

Braindead Hero

Okay, so I’ve kind of cheated as this isn’t one game, but one product. This Christmas I would love to receive an ‘ultimate collection’, spanning 9 DVDs (or 1 blu-ray) and containing the best games from the Saturn and Dreamcast. It would have full achievements/trophies and be up-scaled to 1080p HD, with full translations for those never released in English. It would also cost the same as any other game… and I’d never have to go outside again. Alternatively, if anyone wants to donate a Sega Saturn and Dreamcast to me, you will make me a very happy man.

Mightyles

This year I am going to be wicked and ask for two Christmas wishes – one based in reality, and one that seems almost impossible. First the easy one: I want Mass Effect 2. Now. The more videos Bioware release about that game, the more I want it. Despite being incredibly flawed, the original Mass Effect is one of my favourite games of all time thanks to it’s thoroughly engaging storyline and characters. For my second nigh on impossible wish? I’d like a decent Sonic The Hedgehog game.

Tom01255

I’m going to be greedy and wish for two things. Firstly, I want Final Fantasy XIII… Now… And I want it to be a proper return to the old-school Final Fantasy. I want a turn-based fighting system, massive summons to help you fight, a narrative full of twists and turns and a world map to run around á la Final Fantasy 7/8/9. Is that too much to ask!?

Secondly, my biggest wish is for a fully 3D remake of the original Gameboy Pokémon titles (preferably yellow) for the Wii. If done right, this would almost certainly be the killer app for the Wii, at least in my eyes, and I would even consider buying one!

Joefeesh

I’m just going to put this one out there and whichever developer picks it up, please get in contact so I can let you know where to send the royalty cheques. Ninja, superhero, robot, dinosaur zombies. Yeah, I thought of that. Go make it!

I would love to see a Zelda game that had a truly epic story and heart. I had this idea for the story: Link kills Ganon, but his spirit form then slowly starts to take over Link‘s mind, without him realising. He becomes the royal bodyguard, but then one day fights against hordes of enemies only to later find that it was innocents that he’d gone and slaughtered. Link then goes on the run from the Hyrulian army and Nintendo can take it from there. But any real big Zelda reboot would be nice. How about ninja, superhero, robot, Zelda zombie!?

vVv Diesel

My biggest gaming wish is to get hold of a full band kit (mic, guitar, bass and drums). Those bloody plastic peripherals annoy the hell out of me. I’m stuck with 2 guitars and 2 ‘Lips’ microphones, and all I want is a drum kit to let out all of my inner metal-head rage. Plus there’s the fact that the only instrument I can play for real is the drums. Yes, I know that these stupid rhythm games are totally overrated, very annoying and complete trash, but give me a plastic drum kit and I’ll be amused for at least 2hrs; you can keep it after that. Until then, I’ll keep on playing Forza 3.

Kamiza

My biggest gaming wish is for my family to finally relent and get me somthing / anything gaming related for Christmas.  My wife and dad both refuse to buy me anything that will encourage me to sit in front of the Playstation 3 any more than I already do. I always try to ask for vouchers for shops that I know stock games, as there’s no chance they’ll get me vouchers for anywhere as obvious as GAME. If I could pick something specific for them to get me though, it would be a PSP or PSP Go.  I’d love to be able to fill my lunchbreaks with a bit of mid-day gaming.

Make sure you leave a mushroom out for Yoshi!

3. What was your biggest dissappointment of the year? Explanation optional.

Mightyles

The PS3 exclusive Joker maps on Batman Arkham Asylum. I didn’t really know why they neglected their larger fanbase, 360 owners, by exclusively providing this content to PS3 owners, and I had doubts about the perpetuity of that exclusive. However, some 6 months later, and with the announcement of the sequel, it seems less and less likely that the Joker maps will ever come to the 360. As such, I have broken down and ordered a cheap copy of the PS3 version of Arkham Asylum (thanks to zavvi.co.uk!) as it appears to be the only way to play these bonus maps… Perhaps that was their intention all along.

Joefeesh

Honorable mention to Prototype which was a pile of balls, even with the framework of the outstanding Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction. My biggest disappointment was Fight Night Round 4. Round 3 is one of my favourite multiplayer games. So intuitive, it took me only 2 turns to really get the hang of it and start kicking some ass. The total punch control was amazing to me. In Round 4 they took what worked and broke it completely. I have no idea why they decided to turn the total punch control with the right stick into half punch control by having to press an extra button to do haymakers… It just doesn’t make sense; it’s a backwards step. Also, the counter attack was made almost unusable. Along with these built in faults, the game was released with massive bugs. At one point my mate battered somebody silly, but when the bell rang the game switched their places, putting him on the floor! Utter rubbish.

Crofterz

Now Tom (tom01255) is going to absolutely hate me for this, but I was so excited for Dragon Age: Origins this year (almost as excited as I currently am for Dante’s Inferno), but for me it just didn’t deliver. I didn’t know much about the game before it was released (I assumed there would be 4 player online Co-Op for example, as it seemed perfect for it) but I found the combat system was far more suited to an MMORPG than a stand alone RPG. Also, I felt no real connection to any of my characters (due to the sheer size and complicated-ness of it all; yes it’s an achievement but personally I just don’t like hugely massive games that will  take hundreds of hours to complete). Not only did this game massively let me down, but it also found itself in the traded-in section of my local games store within a few weeks.

Braindead Hero

My personal biggest disappointment of the year comes from bad hardware. You may be surprised to find out that my Xbox 360 has never even had a sniff of a technical problem, yet earlier this year my beloved PlayStation 3 broke. Anyone who has had hardware failure knows how bad this can be, but it was made worse by the fact that Sony no longer make the 60GB Backwards Compatible model. I might as well throw away my sizeable collection of PS2 games. Oh and by the way, £100 is way too much to repair anything that stopped working after around 1 year 5 months.

vVv Diesel

Aliens vs. Predator: Colonial Marines is THE biggest disappointment of the year for the sheer fact that at the start of the year we heard so much about it & then……

Nothing! Not a squeak or even a screenshot. Now we hear the game has been delayed. Oh dear, where have we heard this before? (Duke Nukem: Forever, I’m looking at you on this one!) Sure, it takes time to develop a good game, but with so many delays already, they have set the bar much, much higher and soon it’ll become over-hyped  just like GTA 4, Halo 3 & Modern Warfare 2. So much talk but so little to interest.

Kamiza

Without doubt, my biggest dissapointment of the year is the online element of UFC Undisputed 2009. I truly love the offline elements of the game, but when you go online it becomes a real nightmare.  At times the game is hampered by so much lag that you have a 3 second delay between pressing the button and getting a reaction on screen.  Also, it’s incredibly hard if you want to compete with your own created fighter, as most people online have maxed out the stats on their pugilists, giving them a massive advantage.  This could have been fixed with a simple patch to make sure you only get paired with people of a similar level.  Having completed the excellent career mode several times, I find that there is now very little for the game to offer me other than the occassional punch up when I have a friend round for a beer.  The online has really knocked the game down a few notches for me, and that’s a shame. Otherwise it would have been very close to my game of the year.

Tom01255

One of the older boys told me that Santa wasn’t real today… I’m getting increasingly concerned that I won’t get any presents…

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM NEWB REVIEW!

Deatils of the promotion are here:

http://uk.playstation.com/psn/support/psp/detail/item247583/PSPgo-game-offer-(selected-titles-only)/

Be sure to read the legal bumph that goes with it though as there are conditions associated with the deal, for example, if you  download the theme with Media Go, you will NOT qualify for a redemption code.  One thing I noticed about the terms is that they state that the offer will only run while “stocks last”.  Stocks of a digital download?  Hmmm.  Still, it’s worth a shot, especially if you’re planning on taking advantage of the deal HMV currently have with the PSP Go selling for £150 for a limited time!

Game

With the launch of the PSP GO, the new model of PSP that only plays downloadable games, a sea of titles have been added to the PSP Store. As well as full retail games, Sony have launched the PSP Minis, small and affordable games for download. To give you some perspective, a PSP Mini game must be less than 100mb in size, and contain no multiplayer or online functionality. In a lot of ways the Minis program seems to be Sony’s answer to the increasingly popular ipod app store. It makes sense then that one of the initial PSP Minis is a port of the popular iphone game HERO OF SPARTA.

The game is a third person adventure that has you taking on the role of Argos, King of Sparta, as he hacks and slashes his way through countless mythological creatures, including Medusa-like snake women, Harpies, and Centaurs. After having his entire fleet destroyed, Argos finds himself washed up on a strange island with no idea how to get home. He is soon approached by the Oracle, who is trapped in Hades, and in exchange for his help releasing her, the Oracle offers to help guide him back to Sparta.

Hacking is the name of the game

It is very clear that this game takes a lot of inspiration from Sony’s GOD OF WAR series, as well as the Zack Snyder’s film 300. Essentially the game play is exactly the same as GOD OF WAR; gruesome battles, quick time button pressing events, and some light puzzle solving are all that is required of you. As you progress through each level you unlock new pieces of equipment, such as Apollo’s Bow, and the Sword of Damocles. The controls are simple and easy to grasp. Square performs a quick slashing attack, Triangle performs a heavy attack, and Circle performs a special attack. While there is no specific jump button in the game, at certain points you are required to press the X button to climb ledges. For each enemy you kill you earn various orbs. Green orbs refill your health, Blue orbs refill your special attack metre, and red orbs grant experience points. Each weapon can have it’s general damage upgraded, and the damage performed by the special attack can also be increased. Some might call it derivative, but if you are going to take your inspiration from any game, you may as well be inspired by one of the best games in town, right?

Argos finds himself lost on a strange island

As this is a small downloadable game the story is fairly brief, and a little weak. There is no voice acting in the game, so the story is told through text boxes that appear at the bottom of the screen. Production wise the game is of a fairly high quality, with suitably epic music and satisfying slashing sounds effects. Each of the eight levels has their own distinctive look, and it is always clear where to go thanks to a handy little arrow at the top of the screen. Overall it is a very familiar and enjoyable experience, and a strong effort from the developers.

REVIEW ROUND UP

GRAPHICS: 4/5 The levels are well designed with a strong distinctive look for each of them. The character models are fairly detailed for a PSP game, although they lack a certain indecipherable something.

SOUND: 4/5 A really strong epic soundtrack coupled with satisfying sound effects. Although the sound your enemies make when they die is not particularly impressive.

GAMEPLAY: 4/5 While it does nothing new, HERO OF SPARTA takes an established genre and performs admirably. Unlike many GOD OF WAR clones this game is actually a lot of fun to play.

LONGEVITY: 3/5 There are eight levels to battle through, which will probably take about 3 or 4 hours to complete. Upon completion, you unlock hard difficulty. As it is a PSP Mini there is no multiplayer. The story is not particularly deep and does not contain any real surprises.

OVERALL: 4 Gorgon Heads out of 5. A decent offering that takes influence from several popular titles, most obviously GOD OF WAR and 300. There also appears to be a sneaky little HE-MAN reference at the end of each level. For the asking price of £3.99 you cannot really ask for much more from a game.

[starreview tpl=16]