Showing posts with label Ps3 Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ps3 Reviews. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Zen Pinball 2: Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4/PS3/PS VITA)

Like many of Marvel's reinvented comic book series the "Guardians of the Galaxy" storyline was rebooted years after the original was printed, and was named after the origin story which debuted many years before it (1969). Taking heed of the comic book's, and the film's growing popularity Zen Studios chose a design that was ultimately centered around the 2008 "Guardians of the Galaxy" lore. At the core, the 2008 comic book reboot tied into the previous "Annihilation: Conflict" storyline, and included a newly comprised cast of  known villains, and superheroes which you'll also see, and recognize within the film as well as on the table itself.

On the flip side the movie which also seems to have given Zen Studio developers some inspiration took only a portion of the tale that was being told. It included characters that would more, or less capture the audience's attention as well as a portion of the story that was more action packed. While the character offerings are somewhat limited on Zen Studio's pinball table rendition of the movie's events the oddly paired heroes of the story that are included still hold their places as important pieces of the story being told. Characters on the table, and within the movie include "Star-Lord", "Drax the Destroyer", "Gamora", "Rocket Raccoon", "Groot", "Yondu and the Ravagers", "Nebula", and "Ronan the Accuser". As far as the story goes the tale being told incorporates the heroes' escape from Kyln prison, and their rise to fame as the fabled "Guardians of the Galaxy". As you can probably imagine the heroes face off against many foes, and perils as they try to make a name for themselves in one of Marvel's most unique settings.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Abyss Odyssey (PS3)

With a hint of Harry Potter, a sample of Soul Sacrifice, and a clip of Castlevania the development crew over at ACE Team weave a dream-like tale of a slumbering warlock, and those who would dare to oppose his ever-spawning nightmares. The tale which follows a Chilean lore begins with the underground trek of a dreamt of female warrior named 'Katrien", and follows her as she travels down into an Abyss where her creator lies in sorrowful slumber for the past choices he has made. Katrien, who was once the Warlock's love caught wind of is secretive lifestyle, and turned on him forcing him to silence her. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned, and for the sins that followed the nameless Warlock submitted himself to an eternal sleep in which he hoped to escape the forever torment of his unrelenting nightmares. Despite his efforts though the Warlock's nightmares continued to occur, and began manifesting themselves into reality. A part of him, which is Katrien aims to right the subconscious wrongs that are currently taking place. This is where you, the gamer steps in ...

Saturday, July 12, 2014

One Piece Unlimited World Red (PS3)

Eiichiro Oda, and the development team at Bandai Namco once again grace the Playstation consoles with a tribute game designed around Eiichiro's fantastical world of pirates, and marines. Eiichiro's epic adventure known as "One Piece" boldly began in 1997 as a manga exclusive, later became an anime, and has since gained six seasons (over 600 episodes) worth of maritime lore surrounding the 'Straw Hat Pirates', and their quest for the ultimate treasure known as 'One Piece". With the addition of video games such as 'Unlimited World Red' making their debut on current generation consoles the 'One Piece' mythology continues to expand even further reaching an even broader audience than before. Staying faithful to the series, and expanding upon it Eiichiro Oda contributes to this latest One Piece game with additional plot based scenarios, and characters not yet seen in the anime series. You'll find high seas adventures in the form of a vastly constructed story mode, and a coliseum mode in which the "One Piece" battles mean everything. There are plenty of colorful characters to play as, and team up with as you take on the quests, face insurmountable odds in epic battles, and complete tasks that are asked of you. Much like 'Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker' you will be spending hours upon hours interacting with island residents, and expanding upon the island itself. There's lots to do, and plenty of fun to be had as you join Luffy, and his Straw Hat Pirate crew in their latest set of misadventures!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

A Comprehensive Review - BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (PS3 / PS VITA)

In the world of fighting games you'll find that not all games are created equal. You have your easy to play, and understand fighters such as that of the "Street Fighter" series, and then you have the more elaborate fighters such as "BlazBlue", and "Marvel vs Capcom" which demand so much more from the player. While BlazBlue, in general utilizes the same core practices as that of 'Street Fighter', or "King of the Fighters" including things like special button inputs to release certain attacks, and combo oriented fighting it still stands apart from the rest of the fighting game genre's offerings by making the applied mechanics more meticulous in nature.

Additions such as BlazBlue's exclusive 'OverDrive', 'Astral Heat', and 'Break Bursts' greatly alter the gameplay at hand. In doing so it demands dedicated attention from the player in order for that said player to come out victorious amongst the top tier players that make up it's faithful online community. Another huge thing that sets Arc System Works latest fighting franchise apart from the rest is the massive amount of content that comes with every game. A fully fleshed out 'Story Mode' with it's own in-depth character mythology as well as intricately laid out character specific interactions are among the many features that make the setting, and it's inhabitants all the more realistic, and relative.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Zen Pinball 2: Deadpool (PS3, PS4, PS VITA)

Since February of 1991, in the pages of "New Mutants #98" Deadpool (aka, Wade Winston Wilson) has been making guest appearances, and solo debuts within the Marvel Comics universe, video games, and even movies. This fan favorite anti-hero which has made himself known through his many superhero, and super villain encounters carries with him a signature brand of slapstick humor, killer martial arts skills, and some complimentary super powers. His gained powers, or abilities which were gifted unto him during the Weapon-X program include, but are not limited to regeneration, resistance to telepathic powers, immunity to toxins, and extremely slow aging. His scarred appearance which was revealed through the comic books, and X-Men movies came about as a result of the adverse effects that the Weapon-X regeneration capabilities brought along with it. Before undergoing a surgery slightly similar to that of Wolverine's, Deadpool's cancer overtook his body, and scarred it in the process severely disfiguring him. That is why he is always shown wearing his signature mask, and full body costume.

As far as battles go Deadpool has seen his fair share of fights both onscreen, and offscreen. The Hulk, Daredevil, Cable, and Wolverine are amongst the unlucky ones to have encountered this lunatic assassin, and lived to have told their tale. At one point in his timeline Deadpool had his head bashed in by the Hulk, and was even decapitated by Wolverine. Even with these mortal wounds though he was able to regenerate, and continue doing what he does best. In the early years of Deadpool's comic book history you'll find that he was more of a serious character with a bit of psychosis, and didn't develop his unique brand of humor until later on. It is this latter iteration of the anti-hero known as Deadpool that you'll find in Zen Studio's kid friendly 'Deadpool' Pinball table. Even with the "E" rating though you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that Deadpool works his way around the rating system quite nicely, and that in doing so his sarcastic charm never fades as the pinball bings around the table hitting the intended targets triggering his wacky actions, and reactions as it does so.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Battle Princess of Arcadias (PS3)



Complicated, and demanding are two adjectives that immediately come to mind when I think of "Battle Princess of Arcadias". The game which is a blend of strategy, and action starts off smoothly with the usual character, and plot introductions then quickly escalates in complexity with the introduction of an overbearing battle system. It is this battle system, and the applied character/unit leveling that more often than not will leave the player ill-prepared for the sieges, and skirmishes ahead. Before I jump the gun with gameplay explanations let me explain the story behind the fairy tale title ...

At the start of "Battle Princess of Arcadias" we find Princess Plume (who looks a lot like the princess from "Child of Light"), the proclaimed "Battle Princess" tending to the fallen princess brigade members who each have been fatally wounded by a dragon that looks as if it were ripped straight from Pokemon lore. Despite the overwhelming odds Princess Plume stands her ground against the beast, and scares it away for the time being. Unfortunately even after the gained momentary victory the remaining fallen soldier that the Princess had aimed to save prior to the epic fight dies leaving a final request that a man by the name, "Raltz" should take his place as her protector. Soon afterwards the transformed goose king, and other whimsical characters come into the picture adding depth, and variation to the ever-growing story. The story, as it were is one of betrayal, medieval espionage, and outright conquering. Some of the characters involved play a behind-the-scenes role while others are main players within the game's story, and battles. Additional elements such as NISA's signature naughty humor, and fun loving RPG antics are all thrown in the mix as well as a part of the game's core experience. While the Princess is brave enough to face the threats ahead you will find it will take some morale boosting as well as proper recruiting, and equipping to take on the more challenging confrontations that are in store for the kingdom of "Schwert".

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Ultra Street Fighter IV (PS3)

By now many of you have likely seen me ranting & raving on Twitter about this particular fighting game upgrade. While I have had some issues with the offline of "Ultra Street Fighter IV" the core of my complaints revolve around the online experience. With the freshness of a new fighter, and the growing popularity of the fighting game genre amongst the hacking community it has made for a mostly unpleasant encounter online. I get that that most people doubt my fighting game credibility, and that they believe most of my opinions aren't justified, but what I have to say has a solid grounding in reality. Not only do I know the online state of the PS3, and what goes on when it comes to hacking incidents due to prior personal encounters with hackers, but I also know fighting games. Believe it, or not I've spent a majority of my years as a gamer playing fighting games. It's the one genre besides RPGs that really captured my attention, and held it. I have personally played at least a dozen fighters in my time if not more, and have spent quality time learning each one. One fighter amongst all those titles though will always have a special place in my gaming history, and that game series/franchise is "Street Fighter".

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Drakengard 3 (PS3)

In the beginning of this Hack 'n Slash JRPG prequel by Square Enix we find a fantastical land divided by chaos, and a populous overburdened with the conflicts of war. It isn't until the five divine female Intoners (songstresses) descend from the heavens, and calm the warring civilians with their song that true peace is finally realized. Unfortunately for the five Intoners, and their newly devoted worldly followers a sixth Intoner by the name of "Zero" arrives abruptly on the scene shortly thereafter ready to kill her fellow Intoner sisters, and rule the world as she sees fit. It is Zero's story that is being told for the duration of the game, and it is through her actions, and reactions that we slowly come to understand why it is she is doing what she's doing. The bloody revenge plot that ensues is filled with a Tarantino style kill frenzy, 'Devil May Cry' combat mechanics, and a comedic nature that takes in account over-the-top sexual innuendo as well as some mature trash talk not meant for younger ears. Zero, her faithful dragons, and her soon to be disciples will ultimately delve deep into a callous, and emotional story of pure bloodshed coating themselves with the crimson stain of those who would dare stand in their way.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi (PS3)

Whether we want to acknowledge it, or not the world of gaming was built upon a gender biased foundation. Game developers either exploit the human anatomy in order to make characters such as that of females more appealing to a male audience, or take a purely girly approach not taking in account the fact that female gamers would love to see a strong willed female protagonist. There's even the fact that there are gamers who are gay who would be willing to support games more if only their own gender preference was deemed as important as everyone else's. I think in a haphazard sort of way Aksys Game's/Ideal Factory's "Hakuoki" series actually goes out of their way to provide such an outlet for both the female audience, and gay gamers alike. With a shojo artistic style, and a story geared towards giving the feminine characters an empowering voice the game sheds a unique light on the samurai era. One that's unlike any other. Not only does it contain plenty of historically true elements in it's fictitious storyline, but the game also includes a romantic nature with some reverse harem activity for the gamers who are into that sort of thing. While it is geared more towards a female, or gay audience you might find as I did that it's enjoyable regardless of it's feminine appeal.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Mugen Souls Z (PS3)




Spanning across multiple universes, and multiple world groupings NISA/Compile Heart aims to continue their wacky series about female gods, demon lords and their quests to rule the multiverse. Having won over the "Seven Shining Worlds" in the last battle against Belleria, the undisputed god of the universe 'Lady Chou-Chou' sets her eyes on an even bigger prize. This prize just so happens to be 12 other worlds ruled by demon lords. During her trek across space with her peons, Belleria, and her hero partner Ryuto, Lady Chou-Chou runs into a once slumbering goddess with a huge rack as well as a recently acknowledged female hero named 'Nao'. Through some interesting events, and a ton of dialogue the unusual group finds themselves in dire need of each other's help. The once powerful, and undisputed goddess Lady Chou-Chou is turned mini-sized compliments of a mishap with Syrma's (The Slumbering Ultimate God) special coffin. The coffin which is meant to recombine the Ultimate Gods into a single form unfortunately drains the power from Lady Chou-Chou, and forces her to side with those she initially wanted to conquer. Thus is the story so far ...

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle (PS3)

Encompassing several years of Jojo's manga material, artwork, and an unusual assortment of Jojo's characters "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle" takes 3D fighting games to new heights of lunacy. The game itself offers a virtual cornucopia of content ranging from your standard arcade fighting experience to a campaign mode in which epic battles unlock greater things for those characters you have gained during your story mode playthrough. Unlike traditional fighting games that are somewhat grounded in modern-day, or past time reality you'll find that this particular fighter is so "over-the-top", and wacky that nothing really makes a whole lot of sense. From vampires to bloodline curses, and even serial killers Jojo's All-star battle will take you to the edge of insanity, and drop you off the deep end with the odd mixture of fights contained within. There's plenty of characters to learn, various new playing styles, and several modes of offline, and online entertainment for your gaming pleasure. The question that remains though is, "How does it do in comparison to other fighting games?".

Monday, April 21, 2014

Castlevania: LoS2 - "Revelations" DLC (PS3)

In this latest "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2" DLC release titled "Revelations" Konami aims to test your mettle, and your patience with a handful of ridiculously hard boss fights, and only a small amount of level based platforming puzzles. The main protagonist this time around, who will be going along for the ride is none other than the weakling vampire Alucard, and I stress the word weakling. During Dracula's, and Alucard's last encounter we found (assuming you have beaten the game) that these two lead vampires had fooled Satan with a plot to end the dark lord's return. All Dracula wanted was for his eternal life to end, and all Alucard (aka, Trever Belmont) wanted was for the family's suffering to end. Just before the final fight with Satan Alucard let Dracula (aka, Gabriel Belmont) in on the secret between them, and in doing so had shed some light on the events that had taken place prior to their current day reunion. The sword placed in Dracula's still beating heart was no accident, and the near fatal wound was merely part of the ploy to get Dracula in good terms with a certain enemy (Zobeck). Together the two vampires thwarted Satan's plan ultimately killing him, and his demon spawn off for the second time since the beginning of this all inclusive mini-series.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Deception IV: Blood Ties (PS3 & PS VITA)

Rarely ever does a gamer get to fulfill the role of an absolute evil character. Usually there's some sort of hero out to end the evildoer's reign of terror, and bring peace to whatever kingdom it is that they hail from. In the case of "Deception IV: Blood Ties" you'll be taking on the role of a very special femme fatale with such an evil persona. This scantily clad demoness of whom I speak is none other than the Devil's daughter herself. She is literally a living part of the master of darkness's soul, and as such has inherited his evil nature. Along with the aid of three other female demons this lady of the damned aims to resurrect her father by collecting twelve holy verses from the descendants of twelve fabled saints who locked him away in his own unholy dungeon in the first place. This biblical-like scenario is anything but "good" though. As the Devil's daughter (Laegrinna) you'll either succeed in your quest to end mankind's reign, or fail in the process.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma (PS3)

In the world of fighting games you'll find that not all games are created equal. You have your easy to play, and understand fighters such as that of the "Street Fighter" series, and then you have the more elaborate fighters such as "BlazBlue", and "Marvel vs Capcom" which demand so much more from the player. While BlazBlue, in general utilizes the same core practices as that of 'Street Fighter', or "King of the Fighters" including things like special button inputs to release certain attacks, and combo oriented fighting it still stands apart from the rest of the fighting game genre's offerings by making the applied mechanics more meticulous in nature.

Additions such as BlazBlue's exclusive 'OverDrive', 'Astral Heat', and 'Break Bursts' greatly alter the gameplay at hand. In doing so it demands dedicated attention from the player in order for that said player to come out victorious amongst the top tier players that make up it's faithful online community. Another huge thing that sets Arc System Works latest fighting franchise apart from the rest is the massive amount of content that comes with every game. A fully fleshed out 'Story Mode' with it's own in-depth character mythology as well as intricately laid out character specific interactions are among the many features that make the setting, and it's inhabitants all the more realistic, and relative.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z (PS3)



Ninja Gaiden has always been a hardcore series. It's been hardcore in regards to it's difficulty, and in regards to it's required mastery. From it's early days on the NES to it's more modern debut Tecmo has kept the series faithful to the ninja theme that it's all about. Devotion, and consistent practice are a must if you hope to survive the many challenges contained within. If you've ever played, and completed any of the Ninja Gaiden games as I have you'll no doubt have felt accomplished when it was all said, and done. The same could be said for this latest spin-off about one of Ryu Hayabusa's longtime enemies, if you choose to take it on. While the gameplay in "Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z" is unlike any Ninja Gaiden game before it it still holds true to the hardcore formulas of the past. You will face insurmountable odds in the form of zombie hordes as well as larger than life bosses as you try to avenge your death, Kill Ryu Hayabusa, and do the bidding of the shady individual who revived you.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

The Witch and the Hundred Knight (PS3)

A foul mouthed witch, a faithful monstrous butler, and a summoned demon of legendary fame lead the cast of this latest action-rpg conquest that's all about magic, manipulation, and mayhem. NISA, the developers behind this new JRPG experience take their tried, and true JRPG formula, twist it six ways from Sunday, and present it in a wholly new fashion never seen before by their fans. Forget the tile based level grinding combat of "Disgaea", and the god-like management of "The Guided Fate Paradox" as they have little in common with this latest otherworldly plot. Instead of taking sides of the eternal kind (Good vs Evil) you will find that NISA aims to place you in the shoes of a summoned demon who is unfortunately bound by contract to do the bidding of a notorious swamp witch. This little creature known as "The Hundred Knight" does Metallia's (The Swamp Witch's) bidding from the beginning of the tale without so much as a question, but through experience, and your help he will gain powers, and assertive abilities that will help him decide his own fate amidst the morbid scheme at hand. In the end going good, or going bad is a decision that will be entirely up to you.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3/PSN)

Prior to the release of the "Lords of Shadow" saga, and the "Mirror of Fate" tie-in the history of the Belmont clan, and their eternal struggle against Dracula had never really been fleshed out. In fact Gabriel Belmont, the forefather of the Belmont clan had not entered the picture until the first "Lords of Shadow" game had been released. Previous 2D releases did much of nothing in the way of fully revealing Gabriel's story, or the Belmont family ties. The origins of Alucard, and even the origins of Dracula himself were kept in the shadows of gaming history like the dark characters themselves. The 2D games that were released before these definitive plot installments came into play were shared in such a haphazard sort of way that many questions were left unanswered for faithful fans of the series. The introductions of new characters later on, and the new stories that were added also made little to no sense in the ongoing saga.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Skullgirls Encore (PS3): "The Good, The Bad & The Sugar Coated"

If you missed it a couple of years back a developer by the name 'Autumn Games" co-produced a fighter titled, "Skullgirls" with another development team known as 'Lab Zero Games'. Together these two studios got on board with 'Konami' to bring to the fighting game community what was suppsoed to be a fresh, and innovative take on the 2D fighting game genre. The teams working on the game incorporated impressive hand drawn character animations with a somewhat mature theme, and a fighting system that mirrored that of previous MvC (Marvel vs Capcom) offerings. While there were definitely nods to other fighting games via color palettes, and fighting styles the game did one important thing differently. That thing of course was a way to fight back against spammers. This innovative mechanic allowed spam assaulted players to break free of a combo if the player dishing out the attacks repeated the same combo twice. In essence it did work out properly, but in an unfortunate turn of events exploiters found a way to perform infinites despite the applied mechanic, and in turn ruined the game's intended experience.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Dustforce (PS3)

Retro gaming FTW!!! Any time a game developer (particularly an indie studio) takes an old idea, or ideas and makes it their own in a successful manner I become ecstatic as a gaming enthusiast. While it's often times hard not to come off seeming like someone ripping off another idea I think "HitBox" did good with "Dustforce". This indie-like title which contains elements of the classic "Prince of Persia", and "Sonic the Hedgehog" did good to stray away from any blatant misuse of such clone worthy material. In the end what they created was an offline, and online experience that caters not only to the gamer who is looking for something new, but also an experience that caters to the more competitive gamer. Through simple controls, and challenging arcade style gameplay HitBox, and their publisher Capcom aim to capture your attention with one of the more noteworthy gaming experiences of early 2014.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Strength of the Sword 3 - The War Golem (PSN)

When I first saw the trailer to "Strength of the Sword 3" there's a couple of things that immediately popped up into my mind. One of those thoughts was "Where the heck are the first two games!?", and secondly "Why have I never heard of this game before!?". The game looked really impressive to be from an indie studio (Ivent), and definitely looked worthy of a review. The fact that the game was boasted about as being a truly hardcore experience that only skilled gamers would enjoy definitely caught my attention. I knew that if the hype were true that "Dark Souls", and "Demon's Souls" players would definitely be interested in knowing about it. Even though games with such a hard learning curve usually turn away a majority of gamers, there's actually a select group of truly hardcore gamers who love such a challenge.