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Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP)
by tom1clare
Size Matters turns out to be a somewhat ironic title for Ratchet & Clank's first foray into the portable games market, as for large portions of the game, you're made aware of what's missing from the fully-fledged home console versions.
And that's not a criticism of the PSP. Indeed, Daxter has already proven that 3D ... platformers can be a real blast on the system. In retrospect, Size Matters' biggest mistake is to try to emulate its PS2 predecessors too closely. It neither acknowledges the PSP's strengths nor makes concessions to its smaller button selection, and a result, doesn't feel comfortable in a handheld environment.
At its core it's still a solid 3D platformer though. Technically it's very adept with mostly-great graphics showcasing top-notch animation and a superb, smooth frame-rate. The presentation as a whole is only letdown by some low-rent menu screens and lengthy load times. As previously, you get to travel between a number of worlds each with their own unique setting, beginning at a beachside resort and moving on to factories, a miniature city and even inside of Ratchet's robotic side-kick Clank. The duo make for amusing enough fair, meaning that although the story is entirely forgettable, younger players will like the characters and the attractive FMV sequences.
Ratchet's weapons are by far the best element gameplay-wise, as they're varied and relatively imaginative. Whacking boxes and foes with the wrench remains a satisfying pursuit, though with the currency of bolts you'll discover in abundance throughout the game, you'll be able to buy some awesome stuff. There are beehive grenades; the Suck Cannon, which allows you to vacuum some of the scenery and then fire it back at the enemies; and the Mootator which, rather brilliantly, turns the baddies into nice, benign cows. Better still; each weapon evolves with use, gaining power and attributes over the course of the adventure.
The familiar platforming is alright though not especially engaging. Instead, the game places emphasis on tough combat, some tricky boss fights and a cluster of mini-games to keep the player occupied. Despite this burden, they're not that great. For what it's worth, Clank's are the best, the pick of the bunch being a robot-themed homage to Lemmings. Elsewhere, he has a number of Robot Wars-style destruction arena events that are briefly diverting and worth persevering with purely for the rewards, which include weapons and a myriad of different armours and accessories which allow you to strengthen Ratchet. The lead-protagonist has some hoverboard races to busy himself with, but though they're challenging and well-devised, they're pretty uninteresting.
These aside, it struggles to distinguish itself among Ratchet & Clank titles, and as a consequence feels like an anaemic PS2 game. Levels are unnecessarily large for a PSP game; it doesn't cater for quick sessions due to poor deployment of checkpoints, tending to put you back at the entrance of a level when you load the game, regardless of where you choose to save from the last time you played.
You never escape the feeling that there aren't enough buttons at your disposal, and Size Matters doesn't go to any lengths to reacclimatise the formula to suit PSP, making for one of the clumsiest, most uncomfortable feeling configurations of recent times. Crouching involves holding down both shoulder buttons simultaneously, whilst large jumps require both of them and a tap of X. First-person targeting is inconveniently assigned to the PSP's tiny Select button whilst the D-Pad takes on a half-hearted strafe function, instead of a more intuitive quick select function for the games numerous tools and weapons.
Ratchet responds well when it comes to standard movement with the analogue nub, but unlike Daxter, Size Matters rarely challenges the player in a platforming sense. One stick control means locking-on to an enemy (seemingly through strafing around while facing them) is hit and miss; one or two enemies at a time is good fun, but situations where you are targeted by multiple foes is often frustrating, and the same applies to bosses who really expose the troubles of this less than intuitive system. And that in a nutshell sums up the game; it has a good foundation and high technical ambitions, but fantastic weaponry aside, there's little in the way of platforming or shooting that hasn't been done better elsewhere.
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Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP)
by djaaum
Monster hunter freedom unite is a game for the play station portable (PSP) which I only purchased recently. It is fairly a good game, you basically need to hunt down monsters which roam the village, and is sort of adventurous as well as the same time a platform type of game.
The general things about the game is the visuals ... and graphics, for a PSP they simply are great - I know on a PS3 or X-BOX it would be way better - and also the sound of the gameplay really goes well with its surroundings. When you go from level to level it really does go fast compared than on other games where you will have to wait at least 20 seconds or so for it to load.
On the other hand, when you are trying to fight your monster, it gets quite tricky, or difficult if you prefer, the camera is not on your side and so does not so the monster wherever you move, so you will need to keep on pressing R or L here and then to adjust, and by the time you do so, the monster would of attacked you which is not at all great. You can on the other hand lock on to the monster you are facing, but sometimes it easily brakes free.
When you are looking through your items or simply to save your progress, you will need to go through at least several different pages or menus just to fund the place, so that is also annoying.
On the screen there is a map showing you of your surroundings, and you appear as a blue triangle, and if you are facing a monster, the monster will appear as a red triangle, so you will always know where about's you are as well as the monster.
You can currently buy the game at a cheap price at £26.90 at amazon.co.uk or £12.99 at HMV.co.uk.
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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (PSP)
by shaneo632
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is another casualty in the port to the PSP; it is good, but flawed when compared to the console versions. However, there's enough here to make it worth playing.
I wouldn't buy the game, but perhaps rent or borrow it, chiefly because it's a very short title and doesn't really lend itself to ... much time devotion. First things first, though; if you're annoyed with the shooter controls for the PSP - that is, using the face buttons to aim - then leave this game alone and never look back, because it will just annoy you. One feature that helps though is the ability to swap between first and third person view, so you can find one which suits the controls better for you.
Visually, the game's not bad but it's hardly going to be used to show the PSP off. The character models are pretty good, although the enemies do look a bit repetitive after a short time, and the environments are hardly that varied either. I don't want to see the colour green in a Tom Clancy game ever again.
My major gripe is that the AI is horrendous, which simultaneously makes the game easier and harder, for the enemies are dopier than a plank of wood, while your enemies are not intuitive to your requests and will frequently make a pig's ear of a mission. Still, as a fairly brainless shooter, there is some fun to be had, and most of these AI flaws are more hilarious than frustrating.
Not a great Clancy game by any means, but amusing nevertheless; just don't expect a masterpiece and avoid if you hate the PSP's shooter controls.
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