REVIEW: Star Ocean: The Last Hope

Developer: tri-Ace| Publisher: Square Enix | Format: 360

Reviewer: Craig Jay GallagherWhile it’s long been one of the most impressive RPG franchises on the market Star Ocean has never been as popular when compared to the likes of Final Fantasy. Since the series first came out in 1996 it has constantly played by a different set of rules. Unlike other RPG titles at the time the battles in Star Ocean took place in real time in place of the traditional turn based comb at popular in pretty much every other RPG. The second game in the series went even further to show it’s independence when it introduced the a slew of new features including the ability to create items. It was through these small variations and new features that the franchise stood out from other RPG’s. In the years since each and every entry in the franchise has continued to stand out and impress.

With Star Ocean: The Last Hope we get not a continuation of the series but a prequel to the previous three entries. Set twenty years after the end of WWIII, the world is a desolate wasteland with mankind turning it’s gaze toward space in hopes of discovering new worlds to inhabit. You take on the role of Edge Maverick whose parents obviously named him for his future. Maverick is assigned to a ship whose mission is to find a new home for the last remnants of Earths population. As in all dystopian sci fi things don’t exactly go to plan. The ships are attacked during warp and crash land on a mysterious planet where it’s up to Edge and his childhood best friend Remim to discover what exactly is happening.

The presentation of the story is a little on the dodgy side. You will find yourself exploring a dungeon when you come upon an enemy whom you fight, beat and as a result are forced to endure a un-pausable cut scene which can last up to half an hour. The lack of save points which I will cover later make enduring these cut scenes a real pain as you may have to re-watch the same cut scenes numerous times.

As in previous games The Last Ocean introduces some new features. The Blindside system is something of genius it must be said. You can now avoid an enemy attack and get your group behind them. From here you can utilise powerful attacks which cannot be counterattacked and in most cases cause critical damage to the enemy. It’s a simple feature but one which drastically alters gameplay.

There is also the addition of a bonus board during battle on which you can accumulate various coloured gems. The pink gem for example can be gained when you defeat an enemy using only special attacks and it give you an extra 1% of healing points to all members of your party. Other gems offer various awards and by collecting them all you can access numerous rewards. As you can well imagine the addition of these gems helps raise your team levels throughout the game, making combat easier. There are other new features such as rush mode and jumping. Rush mode allows you to utilise a special move by building up your rush gauge through a variety of moves. When it’s full you can activate rush mode and doing far more damage than normally. Jumping allows you to dodge an enemy attack by jumping out of the way.

For a game as big as this the pacing is at times woeful. This can be attributed to a number of issues the most troubling being the lack of save points. There are times when you will find yourself exploring a never ending dungeon for hours on end with no sight of a save point to be found. Without the access to a save point you may find yourself losing a battle and being forced to explore the same dungeon multiple times.

At the end of the day Star Ocean: The Last Hope is bloody great fun. Yes it has it’s problems but the good far out weighs the bad. There’s enough gameplay here to keep you entertained for weeks, a number of different endings to unlock and dozens of side missions.

REVIEW: Bejeweled 2

Developer: Popcap| Publisher: SOE| Format: PS3

Reviewer: Craig Jay GallagherPretty much everyone with a computer has at this stage played Bejeweled, anyone who has yet to experience has  missed out on one of the most important titles in years and one of the defining games in the evolution of casual gaming. Those who have experienced the game know that like crack it’s highly addictive and can cause serious issues for your social life.

The game is now available on the PlayStation Network and while the initial idea remains the sequel offers enough variety to ensure that it will appease seasoned Bejeweled veterans while at the same time remains inventive enough for newbies.

The game features 8 modes in all, four are available from the get go with 4 more unlockable as the game progresses. All the modes are a twist on the original gameplay of matching three of the same coloured gems. Some of the modes are timed, some of them involve gems which explode and destroy a large number of gems. Some involve having to remove the gems in such a way that none are left behind.

There really isn’t that much more to talk about regarding Bejeweled 2. It’s simply put one of the most addictive and enjoyable games on the PlayStation network and it’s certainly far more fun than many big name full priced titles.

REVIEW: Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

Developer: Acquire| Publisher: Ubi Soft| Format: Wii

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

Once upon a time the Tenchu series was one of the most respected franchises on any console. The original Psone title, along with Metal Gear Solid was responsible for popularising the stealth genre. It was a moody affair, full of ninjas, violence and much sneaking about the place. In the years since the franchise has lost much of its lustre and the arrival of Shadow Assassins has gone largely unnoticed.

Shadow Assassins remains pretty much the same as previous titles in the series. You take charge of either Rikimaru or Ayame before setting off to complete numerous missions which generally involve lots of stealthy assassinations. As in previous titles direct attacks mean death. With this in mind you find yourself sneaking through the shadows, waiting for a guard to turn their back before  murdering him. The trademark violent deaths have been retained and are now even more fun given that you carry them out by waving or thrusting the Wii remote like a mad man.

Combat is significant different due to the implementation of the Wii remote. Sword fights are broken into two phases, quickly tilting the remote to defend an attack and swiping to attack. While this is all well and good in theory, the reality is something else. Blocking is a nightmare. If an enemy decides to simply use a diagonal attack then you have no means to defend. The number of times this caused a restart nearly sent this reviewer mad.

The biggest change comes not from the overhauled control system but rather from the way in which levels are broken up. You no longer have a wide open space in which to play but rather each level is now broken up into several small levels with each having a specific goal which must be completed before you can move on. This makes the game seem a lot smaller that it actually is and robs it of something which made the older titles so much fun to play. The now linear gameplay  makes everything seem confined  and as a result gamers fell like they are being led down a path rather than dropped into the thick of it and forced to find their own way.

Despite all the complaints Shadow Assassins is a decent game which has more going for it than you might imagine. The stealth sections are fantastic and  there is a lot of re-playability on offer. The restriction to carrying only 3 items makes for a far more strategic title  and as a result a far more entertaining one. Lets not forget that the game also offers around 12 hours of gameplay which in today’s market is a hell of a lot more game for you buck than most titles.

Seasoned Tenchu fans will get the most from Shadow Assassins and there’s enough to enjoy here for those not yet familiar with the franchise.

Project Natal trailer and more

Like a lot of people this writer was quite skeptical about Project Natal and felt that it was simply a way for Microsoft to endear itself to the more casual gamers and Wii owners. Upon seeing the trailer all this skepticism went out the door to be replaced with a sense of awe.

Natal looks absolutely amazing and if it works as promised then it really could revolutionise gaming as we know it. That said some aspects of the project are looking quite creepy, the trailed below contains some revolutionary ideas but at the same time the whole Milo concept is extremely creepy.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/

Assassins Creed 2 Trailer and More

Ubisoft presents
Assassin’s Creed® 2

Product Description

Assassin’s Creed® 2 is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance.

Assassin’s Creed 2 retains the core gameplay experience that made the first opus a resounding success and features new experiences that will surprise and challenge players.

Assassin’s Creed 2 is an epic story of family, vengeance and conspiracy set in the pristine, yet brutal, backdrop of a Renaissance Italy. Ezio befriends Leonardo da Vinci, takes on Florence’s most powerful families and ventures throughout the canals of Venice where he learns to become a master assassin.

Key Features

EZIO, A NEW ASSASSIN FOR A NEW ERA
Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a young Italian noble who will learn the ways of the assassins after his family was betrayed and he looks to seek vengeance. He is a lady’s man, a free soul with panache yet has a very human side to his personality. Through him, you become a master assassin.

RENAISSANCE ITALY
Italy in the 15th century was less a country and more a collection of city-states where families with political and economic strength began to take leadership roles in cities like Florence and Venice. This journey through some of the most beautiful cities in the world takes place in a time in history where culture and art were born alongside some of the most auspicious stories of corruption, greed and murder.

A NEW-FOUND FREEDOM
You will be able to perform missions when you want and how you want in this open-ended world that brings back free-running and adds elements such as swimming and even flying to the adventure. The variety in gameplay adds another layer for you to truly play through the game any way you choose.

DYNAMIC CROWD
Discover a living, breathing world where every character is an opportunity for the player. Blending in with the crowd is easier, working with in-game characters provide ample rewards but can also lead to surprising consequences.

BECOME A MASTER ASSASSIN
Perfect your skills to become a master assassin where you brandish new weapons, learn to disarm enemies then use their weapons against them and assassinate enemies using both hidden blades.

Product Specifications
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Ship Date: Holiday 2009
Category: Action/Adventure
Rating: Mature (US) / PEGI 16+ / USK (TBC)
Web site: www.assassinscreed.com

© 2007-2009 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3” is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. Software platform logo (TM and ©) EMA 2006.

Red Steel 2 Trailer and More

There you have it folks the truly impressive trailer for the upcoming Red Steel 2 from Ubisoft. The original flawed as it was remains a thoroughly entertaining game and one which gave the Wii a bit of a kick start in it’s first few weeks. Part 2 looks even more impressive and the combat system looks to have been tweaked to perfection.

Below are a selection of screens from the game as well as some development art, enjoy.

Review:inFamous

Developer: Sucker Punch| Publisher: SCEE | Format: PS3

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

Hype, it’s a dangerous entity. It can raise expectations  to such levels that no matter how good the finished product it can’t come close to meeting the expectation of the fevered masses. inFamous comes to us with a hell of a lot of anticipation, it’s been a long, long time since any game has received so much coverage and in the age old tradition of hype the game can’t possibly come close to being all that it promises. That it not only comes close to be great but is in fact magnificent is something that few expected. So good is inFamous that for the past two weeks this reviewer has dedicated more hours to it than sleep.

The story finds our protagonist Cole caught up in an earth shattering explosion which wipes out six blocks of Empire city. thousands are killed and the city is placed under quarantine. As chaos fills the street it is up to Cole to discover the truth utilising his new found super powers.

The story is very much comic book inspire, so much so that one cant help but feel an intense need to race out to the nearest comic store and buy the next issue the second the game ends. Much like the great heroes Cole is faced with great power and as they say with great power comes great responsibility.

You have the option to use your powers for good or for evil, unfortunately it is far more satisfying in a narrative sense to be the hero as the developers has sadly limited the ability to be truly evil. You cannot for example take over the various gangs terrorising the city and in doing so rule over all of Empire City. No matter how you play the game your missions remains the same. You still spend you time taking out members of the various gangs and protecting the innocent all the time hurtling the story toward its amazing well crafted finale.. That being said playing through the game and being evil is still immensely fun though you can’t help but long for what could have been.

The game features a slew of side missions which are fun and will often result in you simply ignoring the main plot of the game in favour of hunting down parcels, protecting buses and getting the trams back up and running all the time using your powers to electrocute villain and climb across rooftops.

As fun as the game is it suffers from a few small problems. The side missions and main missions both suffer from the same problem. You find yourself fighting the same few enemy types while completing the same objectives over and over, but these missions are full of some truly amazing moments which show just how good the game is and manage to make even the most mundane, bland missions worth playing through.

Taking a step back from inFamous and well it has to be said that it truly is a fantastic title. This reviewers complaints regarding it are few and none of them lessen the enjoyment to be had. The sheer ingenuity of the plot and Cole’s powers make inFamous a must own title and one which PS3 owners can feel smug about being able to play.

3 Great E3 Trailers

Alan Wake

Crackdown 2

Batman: Arkham Asylum Joker Trailer

Left 4 Dead 2 E3 Trailer

This writer is happy as hell with the official announcemnt regardign the sequel to what is in his opinion one of the finest FPS in existence. The sheer lunacy evident in the origianl and it’s sheer replayability make it an essential title that every serious gamer muct try.

Here’s the press release:

Sequel to Best-Selling Co-op Thriller Coming This Holiday

June 1, 2009 – Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller.

Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009’s marquee titles.

“A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008’s top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.”

Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more.

Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D’s dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players’ performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.

Supported by a $10+ million marketing campaign, Left 4 Dead has sold over 2.5 million retail copies since it was released in November of 2008. Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009, and will be launched worldwide with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign across TV, Outdoor, and Online.

“Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original.”

Review:UFC 2009 Undisputed

Developer: Yukes | Publisher: THQ| Format: PS3

Reviewer: Craig Jay Gallagher

It’s been a long time since the fighting genre introduced anything which could be classified as innovative or new. Even the recent Street Fighter 4 was little more of the same. Granted it’s a truly entertaining game and one of the best fighting titles around. but at the end of the day it brought nothing new to the fold. Expecting anything in the way of innovation from a real world license is akin to expecting Uwe Boll’s latest game to film adaptation to be an Oscar success.

UFC 2009 however is possibly the most innovative fighting title of the past few years. Developed for the legions of UFC fans the world over it manages the impossible and transcends fan bases appealing to all fight fans. As it stands there is no other fighting title on the market that compares to UFC. The closest comparison would be Smackdown Vs. Raw but this is only down to the similar character movements.

The combat is a bit tricky to get right initially. This is;nt some button bashing fest in which fights can be easily won through the repeated flailing of fingers on buttons. The games greatest success is in just how realistically it mimics the actual style of UFC. It doesn’t matter if you are using on of the 80 plus UFC stars or a character of your own you will have to learn how to fight in several different stances and various situations. Each fighter has several distinct styles of fighting which are broken down into two easy to summarise categories. Each of the characters has two forms of martial art, the first is striking and the other grappling. Striking is generally boxing, kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu or muai thai while grappling is broken down into wrestling, judo and BJJ.

As mentioned earlier the game is brutally realistic in its mimicking of UFC. Bones break, punches glance of shoulders only to connect with a chin. Blood flies and there is an unbearable sense of pain to be felt int he game. There are a host of different modes to keep gamers entertained, Career, Exhibition, Online and Tutorial are all present and correct. Classic Fights is the most interesting addition as it allows you to relive old UFC competitions and gives the game that added recommendation, not that it needs anything more to recommend it.

UFC 2009 looks beautiful, it is certainly the best looking fight sim on the next gen consoles and up there with the big hitters in terms of visual polish. All thecharacters are extremely realistically rendered and easily recognisable form their real world counterparts. Blood, sweat and other bodily wounds are all clearly visible and realistically defined and most impressively of all every single movement is tailored to perfection. There are no comedic transitions and not a single awkward animation anywhere to be founds.

A real world title is supposed to be a piece of fluff made as cheaply as possible with jut the addition of a name in order to sell it. It’s somewhat annoying to see that this rule no longer applies with UFC2009 being easily the best next gen fight sim available. It’s big, it’s bold and it belong on gaming shelves the country over.