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From Russia With Love (PSP)
by Lions "From Russia With Love" is one of my favorite James Bond films. It's got an exciting plot, and it's got Sean Connery, who is a competitor for my title of favorite Bond. Therefore, I immediately became interested in the game "From Russia With Love" when I heard that Sean Connery would actually be doing the voice ... acting for Bond in the game. I think it's cool that the developers tried to go for an appeal towards the classic Bond fans, as well as attract some new ones. What's not cool however, is not explaining the story in any way, depicting Bond as Rambo rather than stealthy, and delivering an overall game that feels lost in transition. Let's begin with the gameplay. It's kind of varied, and enough to at least be given a pass there, since I full understand the parameters that the developers were working on. The PSP is a powerful handheld, but it's obviously not going to have the space to support mission after mission. As it is, the single player is long enough to be justified. Many of the missions will take a good 15-30 minutes depending on your skill and the difficulty setting of the game. In addition, there are things mixed apart from typical 3rd person shooting. One of these is actually a pretty cool fight with a helicopter, in which you get to fly around in a jetpack with a minigun on it. However, these types of missions are too few and far between, and as for the actual 3rd person shooting that makes up most of the game, there just isn't enough variance. James Bond is supposed to be stealthy. Sneak attacks from above, silenced pistols, etc. Instead, this game basically has you walking right into the open and mowing down really dumb enemies with SMGs and Assault Rifles. There isn't a lot of cover to hide behind, and often times the enemy characters will simply stand, not moving and looking at the direction at which you will come from. There's no way to sneak by them. You are forced to play like it's Die Hard 4, or the 6th season of 24- which is to say, lot's of shooting. Too much shooting in fact, that it becomes dull, bland, and background. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's way more cool to have that feel of "dark creature in the night", sneaking around taking out enemies rather than just walking right up to them and hip-firing an unsilenced submachine gun. Now onto the controls. I'm going to be very lenient here because I know how limited and difficult it is for the developers to make great controls for a shooter on the PSP. This is due to the whole restriction of only one analog stick. Basically the developers had a choice here between giving the user the ability to pan the camera, or creating a center system similar to the Z-targeting used in N64 classics like Goldeneye or Legend of Zelda. Since "From Russia With Love" is a 3rd person shooter though, the panning camera seems like a better fit, and the developers did reasonably well with it. Basically the analog stick controls Bonds movements, but the square and circle buttons pan your camera left and right. This is all well and good, and works reasonably well. However, it suffers from two major flaws, both of which could easily have been fixed by the developers, making them all the more frustrating. The first flaw is that the sensitivity for panning the camera is simply too slow. Often times I found myself being shot at from behind. However, you can't simply spin around like you can on a console with that second analog stick. Instead, you have to SLOWLY peek around to make that 180 degree turn on enemies. This generally means they've already gotten a couple of shots on you to deplete your armor or health. The other problem with this camera is that it's buggy. It will get caught on things, and sometimes have spasms on you when you try to lock into an enemy with your gun using the left trigger. Usually this results in Bond quickly spinning around and shooting randomly in the opposite direction. All in all it feels a bit too unresponsive for me. The game does however deserve some props for it's multiplayer. In fact, I really respect EA for what they have done with it to make a worthwhile lasting experience which justifies purchasing the game rather than perhaps just renting it. There are four maps that you can play on. It's not much, but remember, we are talking about the PSP here and space restrictions obviously had to limit some potential. The gameplay of multiplayer itself though is quite good. It's fast paced, but strategy can still be used. The maps all have their different power positions, and each weapon has a time and place to use it. What really impressed me though, is the feature to allow yourself to play with AI bots set to a difficulty of your choosing depending on your skill of the game. This feature of the game impressed me for a couple of reasons. First, it allows people to play that either do not have WiFi to connect to, or are in a place without WiFi to play off of. And second, it adds to the longevity of the game. Obviously the video game "From Russia With Love" for the Sony PSP isn't the best-selling product in the world. Plus, the game was released a couple of years ago. Therefore it's very rare and highly unlikely that you will discover another player online to play a match with. With the bots however, you can still enjoy the well put together multiplayer maps. Sure, they aren't the same as real competition, but they can be tricky with flanking routes and such at times, and put at the hardest setting, they can still give you a bit of a challenge. Overall, this game is very high-low. It's pros are very good, while it's cons seem unforgettably bad. The single player is a decent length, but its filled with too much of the same. The graphics, sounds, and shooting are great for the PSP, but they are hindered by the wonky camera control. However, multiplayer comes through to shine, making this game long and enjoyable enough to be worth the buy. It's certainly not the best, most polished game on the market. But if you look at the options out there for those of us looking for shooting action on our PSPs, we can't be too picky. And fortunately, "From Russia With Love" offers enough to us that make it decent enough for that on-the-go shooting fix. Read the complete review |
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Tales of Eternia (PSP)
by sn0zb0z Tales of Eternia is an RPG game for the PSP. I've found that certain games play better on the PSP than others and it's usually the ones with less button smashing and quick movements that play best. That's not to say the PSP can't handle fast movements or lots of action because it can, but I just find these games are better on a home ... console. That does, however, mean Tales of Eternia is perfectly suited for the console. You spend time walking around and there are battles, but they don't involve a lot of button smashing. But while it may be well designed for the console is it a good RPG game? Story: -------- Being an RPG the story is important. The back of the case simply says "follow the amazing adventures of two friends, Reid and Farah, in the legendary RPG Tales of Eternia." Not only does this sound really unoriginal, but it doesn't sound an in-depth story that keeps you wanting to play to find out how it all ends. With it also claiming 60 hours of gameplay on the back which is a lot of time to spend gaming if it turns out there really isn't much of a story. The story begins near Reid and Farah's hometown of Rashea where the pair visit the crash site of a spaceship. A mysterious girl turns up who speaks an unknown language. The girl is Meredy and she came to prevent a collision between her world and theirs, which leads them on a journey to find the truth behind what is going to happen. First though they have to find a way to understand the girl, which leaves them searching for friends to help them. As the story unfolds you get to learn more about each character. It is an original storyline and it is easy to follow what is happening. Gameplay: ------------- You control Reid and Farah (and their friends and Meredy). There is a good sized map, although when you're walking it can seem to be taking a long time to get to where you're heading, especially as there are random battles along the way. You travel across various terrain and visit towns. When you reach certain points there are cut scenes, which can be quite long and all the speech is in text form so if you're not a big fan of long scenes or reading in games this game probably isn't for you! I found that there were far too many battles when walking along and the battles could be improved. Fights are messy as it's hard to see who is doing what and it is just a mad rush of one side into the other. If there weren't so many fights it wouldn't be so bad. You can run from battles, but you have to be ready to run the second a battle starts otherwise you'll most likely suffer damage. On the plus side, the people you battle vary in difficulty and you can level up by winning which adds to the game. It doesn't take much for one of your group to die in a battle. There are items you can buy including a life potion which will bring you back to life, but these can be quite expensive. You also need to win at least some battles to get the money (known as gald) to buy these items. With so many battles there's plenty of chances to get hurt and you don't really want to be spending all your money on life potions, but it probably is a good idea to stock up on them while you can just in case. There are a number of different potions, items and food that do certain things such as restoring some of your HP (Health Points) so you need to consider which items will be most useful to you and make sure you have enough gald if you are planning on buying life potions. There are clear instructions on which place to go to, but I quickly forget what they are as it's mentioned during cut scenes and as soon as you continue you're back to battling again. Luckily you can press Select when out on the field to get a clue. This is spoken though so make sure to turn you your volume up at this point and listen carefully because the reminder is quite fast! I still tend to wander aimlessly until I make it somewhere as the reminder is only of the place and not which direction to go. There is a compass so you can always use that to guide you, but it helps if you at least know the direction of where you are trying to find. If you press Start the compass is replaced with a small map and if you press it again you can get both guides up (or press it again and they both vanish). When the characters are walking they all go into one person so you don't have the group walking along. This is good as the others don't get in the way (although in towns where other people are walking you do get this problem at times), but it is rather strange. I see no real reason for it to just show one person rather than the group. I noticed the back of the case mentioned mentions "tons of mini-games". I'm not sure what it means as I've not played any mini-games, but perhaps there's something I've missed. It's not mentioned in the manual so I have no idea what type of games they are either. The main menu is ok and it is fairly obvious what everything is. The options are Skills, Strategy, Equip, Cook, Customize, Items, Formation (when fighting), Status, CCage and Save. With the exception of CCage and perhaps formation you can tell at a glance what each section of the menu is going to be and once you start playing it is obvious what the other two are as well. The controls are simple and you can find them all in the manual. The characters all move as they should and it's quite easy to remember the controls, especially if you played similar games on the PSP or any PS console, even though they vary depending on where you are (e.g. field, battle or a menu). Audio/Graphics: -------------------- The audio isn't great. The music is tinny, high pitched at points and repetitive. I just found it annoying and ended up turning the volume right down. The graphics are decent. The game is in 2D. It looks better during the cut scenes than during gameplay. The opening video before it gets to the start menu is in anime style and looks far better than anything in the game which is rather disappointing. The manual: ---------------- It's rare I bother looking at a game manual, but when I do I expect it to tell me all the important things I need to know. Bringing a character back to life is, to me, an important thing to add - after all trying to battle with one weak character left alive only a few hours into the game when you can still see them in the menu and in cut scenes suggests that there must be something you can do. Sadly the manual is rather useless. It didn't tell me how to bring characters back to life or even give any hint as to whether it was at all possible. It basically just explains the main menu and controls all of which were pretty obvious to me anyway. It mentioned the words item and magic power with a very short description stating they had an affect or could be used in some way. Something along the lines of being able to buy items like health or life potions and use them would have been far more helpful. Price: -------- You can pick this game up for around £18 on Play.com and Amazon. Overall: ----------- Overall this is a decent RPG. It would be better with less battles, or at least improved battles, but if you want a long game with an interesting storyline this is a good game to check out. Read the complete review |
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Crush (PSP)
by sn0zb0z You may be mistaken in thinking this game is just an ordinary puzzle game. There are plenty of puzzle games on the PSP; Go! Sudoku, Carol Vorderman's Sudoku and Puzzler Collection, for example. So what makes this one different? Well, a lot of puzzle games on consoles can also be played on paper - Sudoku being a good example. ... But you certainly can't play this on paper. This game has 3D. To complete puzzles you have to switch between 2D and 3D. Now does your Sudoku have 3D? If you're thinking yes you might want to keep your kids away from the Sudoku and crayons! This game is more impressive than kids making squares into cubes, although to be fair it's probably just as colourful. Unlike normal puzzle games this one has a story so you have some motivation to keep playing through the puzzles. Story: -------- You play as Danny, a guy whose head is in a mess and it's up to you to sort it out. Each puzzle is his dream and it's up to you to solve them to conquer his nightmares. Danny has insomnia and Dr Reubens is attempting to help him. He has a new machine called C.R.U.S.H (Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics) which is able to show patients problems and allow them to walk through and uncover their issues and secrets. Gameplay: -------------- There are 2 game modes; The Story mode and Trophy mode. In trophy mode when you collect a trophy pick-up you unlock a special time/crush limited trophy mode for that level. In story mode there are 4 different worlds and they all represent a different part of Danny's past. When you first start you can go through tutorials which tell you how to do things such as switch between 2D and 3D (known as crushing). This is very useful although it's quite easy to pick up the controls as you play (you can always restart a level if experimenting with the controls accidentally gets you killed or stuck). Each level starts with the camera going around the level so you can see how it's set out. It starts in 3D. You use the analog stick, move and directional for the camera. L1 crushes (changes between 2D and 3D). When you hold down R the view zooms out and you can use the analog stick to look around the whole level. Circle pushes items such as boulders which you need to roll along. Square allows you to crouch which is helpful in some situations. Triangle gives you a hint, which is really useful as it gives you an idea of what to do but doesn't completely give it all away so you still have a challenge. To make it more interesting there are obstacles such as the boulders I mentioned earlier and demons. The demons keep knocking you down so you need to avoid them or destroy them. For example, there are cockroaches in his nightmares and these can be crushed with the boulders, solid blocks or captured in a cage. This adds to the challenge as they're not always as easy to destroy as you may think and it becomes your nightmare as you try and figure it out. There are certain times when you can't crush as solid blocks are in your way. You cry out as if in pain and it flicks back to 3D. When you do switch walls often trap you in certain areas, stopping you from getting where you want, but it can also help you get to places that are higher up that you wouldn't have been able to get to otherwise. The challenge is working out not only when to crush but where the camera needs to be. As you're making your way around the levels there are many marbles to collect which comes in 3 colours. You also activate and collect trophies and collect memories. Trophies have to be activated and once you've picked them up it unlocks the trophy mode for that level. There is one memory in each level and collecting these unlocks some cool images that you can look through in the image gallery, which is a nice extra feature. It's an easy game to pick up and start playing and is fun no matter what age you are. While each level has the main aim to get to the end of the level and find the same objects the game doesn't feel repetitive as each puzzle is a challenge and each puzzle is set out completely differently with different objects and demons. Audio/Graphics: --------------------- The music is eerie and what you'd expect really from a surreal dream. It's alright to listen to to start with, but it soon gets annoying. The graphics are pretty good, but it's not the first thing you notice. The colour is what draws you in and really makes you feel as though you are in a dream. Price: -------- You can pick up a copy of Crush for around £5 on Play.com and Amazon which is a great price. Overall: ---------- This is a great puzzle game that it suitable for both kids and adults and you can easily pick up a cheap copy. Highly recommended. Read the complete review |
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Video Game for Sony PSP / PSP Game / To Be Announced / Published by Technopro |
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Genre: Action & Adventure / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2010-11-26 / Published by Konami |
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Genre: Puzzle / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / To Be Announced / Release Date: 2010-02-26 / Published by Sony |
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Genre: Sports - Football / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2007-03-16 / Published by Eidos |
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Genre: Action & Adventure / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2012-05-04 / Published by Ghostlight |
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Genre: Role-playing / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2012-06-01 / Published by Rising Star Games |
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Genre: Arcade & Platform / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2006-02-24 / Published by Midway Games Ltd |
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Genre: Action & Adventure / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2011-01-14 / Published by Activision |
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Genre: Action & Shooter / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / Release Date: 2010-10-29 / Published by Activision |
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Genre: Action & Shooter / PSP Game / Video Game for Sony PSP / To Be Announced / Release Date: 2008-10-24 / Published by Activision |
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