get2sammyb.co.uk

Ratchet & Clank Quest For Booty on Playstation 3 Store

Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty on Playstation 3 is essentially fan-service. It’s a quick release from a popular franchise designed to tide fans of the series over until the next full release (next year).

The game continues where previous iteration (Tools Of Destruction) left off; Clank has been captured by a weird robotic race called the “Zoni” and Ratchet is sure as hell gonna find his buddy with the help of ladyfriend Talwyn.

Quest For Booty was described by Vinny Carravella of GiantBomb as being “much like your Ikea bookshelf, you’ll find that Quest for Booty looks great for the price, but doesn’t really contain the love and craftsmanship of its higher-priced counterparts”. And he’s so, so right because while Quest For Booty contains all the charm, humour and great characterisation we’ve come to expect from an R&C game, it just doesn’t feel polished in the same way the full releases are.

Whether it’s something in the timing or something in the plot I know I didn’t giggle quite as much as Insomniac wanted me to. That’s not to say I didn’t giggle at all though.

Quest For Booty sets up numerous cameo’s between past and present R&C characters and the story spans a good 4 or 5 different areas. Your weapon arsenal is largely the same as it was in Tools Of Destruction but you have the ability to raise their levels again. The main new addition is the ability of Ratchet’s boomerang wrench which allows you to throw it, latch onto enemies or platforms and use mystical powers to move platforms into posistion. It’s a neat addition to the series, one that I’m sure they will build on in the next game.

Graphically Quest For Booty is phenomonal opting for the same presentation techniques as were present in Tools Of Destruction. And I actually mean, the same. It looks amazing for a downloadable game and while I did notice some frame rate dips here and there I’ll forgive them entirely given the nature of the package.

At £9.99 I estimate that Quest For Booty is just about the right length - for me I judge 2.5 hours of video game entertainment to carry a price of £5 so at £9.99 you’re paying the right price for a 5 hour game. There is sadly no reason to replay but it’s an honourable addition to the series and will tide fans over until next years confirmed iteration in the R&C series.

7/10.

Siren Blood Curse Is £20 From Playstation 3 Store

I know, I know. Siren Blood Curse came out ages ago and I hyped and hyped about it and then only did an “initial thoughts and opinion” post. It’s because I had personal stuff going on and wasn’t in the mood for a horror game to put it cryptically. But I finished the game last week and I quite enjoyed it you know.

Siren Blood Curse is essentially the first Playstation 3 “proper download game”. And what I mean by that is with Warhawk and Tekken 5 aside this is the first package that has been released on the PSN that is not a mini game or short 2 hour blaster - this is a proper game with big environments, lots of mechanics and a full storyline.

It’s hard to know exactly what is happening in Siren Blood Curse virtually throughout the whole game because you’ll watch events happen and then get mighty confused over the fact that said characters are “alive” again or in different places. I’ll try not to give anything away but it does get vaguely wrapped up at the end of the game so you’ll have some idea. You might need a lot of patience to understand the game fully though.

Siren Blood Curse puts you in control of a set of different characters, some Japanese, some American as you are set out to explore the village of “Hanuda” — a vanished village where human sacrifices have occured before. Cue the setting for a survival-stealth-action-horror game.

The game is split into 12 chapters which can be downloaded in one go for £20 from the PSN store or can be purchased in blocks of three for £6. Be aware that downloading the whole game will fill 9GB’s of your Playstation HDD but it is available on Blu-Ray Disc in Japan and soon Europe.

Each chapter puts you in different areas of the village with seperate objectives. Usually this involves finding an escape route from the part you are in but the game throws up enough challenges and unique surprises along the way to make things interesting.

The enemy, named Shibito, are a particularly horrifying form of zombie with tears of blood flowing from their eyes. Kudos goes to the sound engineers on Siren Blood Curse because there are a helluva lot of twittering and moaning sounds that really add to the atmosphere. These aren’t your typical moaning zombies — the Shibito almost sound vocoded. It’s an other worldly sound that will see you quaking in your boots.

Playing Siren blood Curse is hindered by the lack of robust controls. The camera is tight to the action and movement at times can be extremely clumsy. It’s an interesting point for discussion though because the often shit controls really define the game. I don’t know how much of an unfair let-off I’m giving this game but the fact that the camera is tight and your movement is flawed really, honestly does add to the tension of the game. That’s not to say it’s not frustrating — just that it offers that “oh shit, got to get away, where the FUCK do I run to, ARGH!”-kind of tension. If the controls and camera are done like this on purpose then it’s a brave move from the developer and one I think they kinda just about get away with.

Graphically Siren is unbelievably dark with even a brightness option not aiding the games gloomy look. Obviously the darkness is another intentional area of the game which has you sometimes wondering out totally blind into a field full of the undead. You’ll have to use your ears a lot in Siren which is totally awesome if you have surround sound. You’ll be immersed.

The whole game is covered with a grain filter which makes everything harder to see but also adds a layer of grime to proceedings. Horror games are all about building atmosphere and Siren does that in abundance.

The main gameplay mechanic to aid your plight in Blood Curse is “Sight Jacking” which allows you to see through the eyes of the Shibito. Sight Jacking is essentially if you need to sneak past an enemy or just find out where they are. Trust me when I say there is nothing more horrifying than watching through the eyes of the enemy your main protagonist be caught and subsequently murdered.

While Blood Curse won’t be the longest game you’ll ever play (took me about 9 and a half hours) there is plenty of replay value in the form of finding all the “Archive” data.

There are 50 pieces of archive data to be found throughout the game and they become almost essential in understanding the plot of the game and characters background. There are also some easter eggs that are hinted in the game and are unlocked in the real world which really help to provide a background to the game.

Siren Blood Curse is a pretty straightforward game but it’s a tense and most importantly scary one at that. What it lacks in longevity it makes up for in thrills so if you’re looking for a game to fill a dull weekend look no further than Blood Curse.

8/10.

Mmm Sexy Graphics.

= very good. More details to come when I’ve actually had chance to play the game. To settle your pants check out the EuroGamer review where they said it was basically very good but was a little short and not very fresh.

It’d be unfair of me to comment on that because I haven’t played the game yet (it’s downloading now) and they obviously had but I felt they are being a bit harsh given the title is essentially fan-fodder between the last release and the next one. It’s only £10 so you can be rest assured if it lasts me 4 or 5 hours I’ll be happy.

Bionic Commando Rearmed on Playstation 3, XBOX 360 & PC

Bionic Commando is simplistic genius from the 80’s. I say simplistic because the formula may seem very basic now — but back in the day it was ground breaking. Coupling a swing mechanic with 2D shooting opened up a whole new plain for platforming puzzles. You’d have tow swing and grapple to get yourself up into new areas. One of the most polished, fun and downright exciting experiences that could be found on the NES.

Bionic Commando Rearmed is essentially a remake of the game that many of us remember so fondly. A few tweaks have been made to the gameplay including the ability to pick up health packs and barrels with the arm. Said barrels can be thrown into enemies. Boss battles have also been reworked for the better.

Graphically Bionic Commando is unreal — set in a 2.5D perspective with vibrant colours and awesome character models. The bosses are particularly impressive with some filling the entire screen. It’s enriching, totally over-the-top and just generally awesome. The presentation is spectacular too, with the menu’s slanting across the screen and the cutscenes that are done in a comic-book style. All the art is so well drawn and there are plenty of easter eggs in this game for fans of the original and for gamers in general. The whole game has a tongue-in-cheek kind of humour which keeps dialogue fresh and the thin-but interesting story flowing.

If the awesome graphics and polished gameplay weren’t enough though — the music is where Bionic Commando Rearmed really shines. So much so that the soundtrack of the game is available on iTunes. It’s hard for me to stress how much this game rules musically. I’ve literally never heard anything like it. A collection of 8-bit techno hits that just keep coming and coming. The only way to better explain is to show you, so without further adieu, here are some choice tracks:

Capcom could be forgiven for just including the 3-4 hour singleplayer experience that Bionic Commando Rearmed boasts for roughly £7 (price fluctuates depending on which platform you buy the game for) but much to their credit the game supports a “Medals” system which sets some difficult objectives, mlutiplayer co-op and a new Challenge Rooms area which provides the most replay value. These are mini-puzzle rooms where you must use skill to traverse the levels in the quickest time. The levels are hooked up to scoreboards so you can find the worlds best player and as you can imagine the scores set are already virtually unbeatable.

That said though it’s still fun trying.

Bionic Commando is going to appeal to fans of the original and general newcomers. It’s unreal value for money (and by that I mean I’d probably pay £30 for this game) and thus I recommend it to everyone who has a compatible platform.

Buy this game.

10/10.

Bionic Commando Rearmed Now On European Playstation 3's.

RE: Registering My Disgust At The Lack Of Bionic Commando On The Playstation Store - posted 14th August.

Ah-hah thanks Mr. Capcom again!

Did I Mention That Bionic Commando Rearmed Totally Kicks Ass?

Thank goodness for Sony making it easy to access the American Playstation Store otherwise I might be tempted to go and buy and XBOX 360 and Live subscription right now to get a blummin’ copy of Bionic Commando Rearmed.

Anyway, I downloaded the Bionic Commando demo this morning (best I could do folks!) and thought I’d share with you my thoughts and opinions on the game. The word “awesome” springs to mind.

Essentially for those of you who never played Bionic Commando on the NES (educate yourselves) it’s basically a 2D shooter where the main dude has a grappling arm. It’s a simple concept but it’s fucking awesome. The lead dude can’t even jump (which is a bit frustrating actually) so that leaves all the puzzling down to timing and skill as you get your dude to swing through the levels. It’s satisfying once you master the controls.

I had a few issues with the PS3 controller not always registering that I’m putting diagonally causing a few unneccessary deaths but on the whole it works.

There are also some extra missions thrown in on the main game (which I dunno if I mentioned is a HD remake of the original game with some tweaks thrown in for freshness) including a sweet ass VR Missions section that totally adds a good few hours onto the game. Basically these are like training missions causing you to swing and slide all over a stage in a time limit. You are then rated on your performance.

That’s all I can really say about Bionic Commando Rearmed because I haven’t actually got a copy of the game to have played enough to tell you more. Thus, my question to you is - as a Brit who has an account that can access the US store — what kind of credit card would I need to be able to buy said game from said store and is it feasible?

I Wantz Mah Bionicz Commandogs LOLZ!

Waking at 10AM this morning I excitedly scurried onto Warhawk for a couple of hours, enjoying the online experience there before Bionic Commando Rearmed was released and inevitably ate up my entire evening. Alas the sad news is that Sony (Europe I should add) appear to have forgotten about the game and instead uploaded tosh like Sheep and some other fucking Smash TV rip-off.

Now perhaps I’m being a tad unfair on said products — I don’t want to detract people from buying said games because I’ve never played them/nor do I intend to play them so it’s unfair to criticise them. What I do want to play is Bionic Commando however, so where is it Mr. Sony-of-Europe-man?

Every Thursday I expectedly tune in to the Playstation Store - excited over a release of been tracking earlier in the week and expected to be playing this afternoon. Every week SCEE take the piss. XBOX seemingly manage there European Arcade stores. Even Nintendo are not doing a totally objectionable job with WiiWare. What the fuck is with this? We were told Bionic Commando today.

Fuck off.

I love it. I was totally sceptical about it after playing the demo the other day but it’s all just clicked into place now. I totally get it and I love it. The music is out of this world awesome with hard hitting beats, Brian Eno-esque ambient squelches and even human breath and “scoo-pip” samples.

The controls are a lot tighter than you first think they’re going to be too. They just take a lot of practice and eventually you will be able to string tons of moves together.

It’s also fun. It’s got that Ratchet & Clank bolt collecting factor. That will just see you getting addicted and washed away with this game. Trust me the time will just tick away without you even noticing.

Essentially the premise to PixelJunk Eden is collecting pollen (by attacking little starfish people) to fertilize plants which take you higher so you can collect Spectra. Spectra are little glowing things. It’s all very cool.

You play as a tiny little dude on the screen who has the ability to jump in any direction and can swing around for a short period of time. It’s a small amount of moves but the simplicity does not make the game easy. This is a tough, tough game to get through and requires skill and accuracy. Both of which you’ll earn with practice.

You may have already watched the video I put at the top of this post which is actually me playing. This game has YouTube integration which essentially allows you to record yourself playing the game and then upload the resulting video directly to YouTube. It asks for your username and password and then — there it is. It’s on the Internet for everyone to see. It’s a great idea, I’m not sure how useful it is, but great. As you can tell from my video I was just testing it out and will probably never use the functionality again but I’ve already seen some awesome playthroughs submitted by other people.

You can play the game with 3 players or alone and there are plenty of scoreboards and trophies to keep you coming back.

PixelJunk Eden continues the work that fl0w started — it creates a relaxing, slow and easy video game world but it builds on it by adding bags of depth and plenty of game.

9/10.