Sony PS3

Review: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for the Sony PS3

rmgreg — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:06:05 -0500

Back when I collected comic books, I lived in the Marvel Universe. Why? Because I could point to New York City, home of Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Avengers, etc., on a map. Try and do that with Metropolis or Gotham City. Still not exactly sure which one was supposed to represent New York City. Anyway, I was a big fan of the Marvel Universe because it felt closer to home. So, when I got a chance to play in said universe with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows for the Sony PS3, well I was all over that.

Now I should point out that this game is Rated T for Teens due to its Animated Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, and Violence, so 7-year-old Nikolai wasn’t able to help me out with this one. I should also mention that the Tech Talk For Families staff of reviewers has seriously put multiple versions of this game through the ringer, so I won’t go too far in depth with the story. Instead, check out PD’s Nintendo Wii Review, Kevin’s Nintendo DS Review, Dale’s XBox360 Review and Sony PS2 Review, and my Sony PSP Review. Suffice it to say, New York City is being taken over by Symbiotes and it’s up to Spider-Man with the help of other Marvel Action Stars to defeat them.

I’m a Web Slinger

Web of Shadows starts out with a bit of excitement. First off, there’s smoke, fire, and a S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft crashed into the side of a building. Mary Jane (MJ) is there with her arm in cast, brandishing a shotgun, and yelling at you. And to make matters worse, there are a bunch of symbiotes attacking you. Just as soon as you squelch the attacking symbiotes and get things under control, Spider-Man flashes back to 4 days ago, before this whole mess started… Thus begins your training.

During this time, you are under the tutelage of Luke Cage who shows you how to use your special spider abilities by attacking rival gang members who are engaged in a gang war on the streets of New York. Now I understand the need for training to play the game, but I soon got bored fighting with the gang members and was wondering what happened to all the promised superhero action stuff promised on the game box cover. Eventually, the game moved beyond this and cool things began to happen. It should be noted that training continues throughout the game as you pick up on special attack moves. All of these moves are employed to help Spider-Man defeat his enemies.

It is also during this time that you participate in a brief skirmish with Venom, which results in Spider-Man becoming tainted with the Black Symboite Spider-Man suit and its special features, thus allowing you to play Spider-Man as either the red- or black-suited protagonist. To switch back and forth between the suits, you push the L3 button, which I found out was the left joystick on the controller. The problem with that is it is also the joystick that controls Spider-Man’s movements, so it is annoyingly quite easy to go from the red- to black-suited Spider-Man by simply climbing a wall. This became a seriously annoying problem when I needed the special abilities of the black suit and I suddenly found myself donning the red one.

As the game progresses, you gain experience points, which allow you to upgrade your attack moves for either the red suit or the black one. Learning these new attack moves involves memorizing several series of key button pushes, which I’m never really good at. So, as soon as I got an attack move that worked for me, I pretty much stuck with it. I’ll have to admit that some of Spider-Man’s moves were quite impressive to watch, I only wish that playing a video game would empower me with similar moves.

The game is played as a series of quests. Spider-Man is assigned missions that he must complete and optional missions that he can perform in order to gain more experience points. Having a series of short-term goals makes the game more palatable without having to remember that the stick of chewing gum you collected in the first chapter is needed to hold the switch in place to stop the world from exploding at the end of the game.

I should note that this game does not come with Life Cubes, or Life Crystals, or Life Hearts to restore Spidey’s life force. All it takes to power up Spider-Man’s life force is a break in the action. This means that if you are about to die, do a little web-slinging to raise your life force.

New York, New York

One of the most impressive parts of the game is the city backdrop. You literally have New York City at your fingertips, and the best part is that you get to web-sling through it. That feature alone is worth the price of the game. The zip of the web, the whoosh of the wind past your ears (it actually changes pitch as you speed down through the arc of the swing), the satisfying aerobatics as you let go of the web-line and fly unaided before sending out other web-line to purchase anchor on a building. Seriously, I could have web-slung all day and been happy with it. The New York skyline is also a sight to behold. Early in the game, I ventured up the Empire State Building, all the way up its antenna mast, and took in the view. Whoa, Central Park, The East River, New Jersey, and in the distance, the Statue of Liberty. I’m not sure how accurate it was, but I was able to get a good sense of the city.

Heroes and Villains Unite

Another feature of this game is that it brings in other characters from the Marvel Universe to aid Spider-Man in his quest to save the city. Moon Knight, Black Cat, Kingpin, Black Widow, Rhino, Wolverine, etc., all make an appearance and can come to your aid at certain points in the game. A particular, “You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me,” moment takes place during a fight with Wolverine, who smells the symbiote on Spider-Man and therefore suspects him of being an imposter. To figure out whether he is the real Spider-Man, Wolverine begins to quiz him using a multiple-choice test at the same time he is trying to slice Spider-Man with his claws. I’m sure a true fan of Spider-Man would have no problem with this, but c’mon, asking, “Who served Spider-Man and Wolverine roast and pie?” is getting a bit ridiculous. Luckily there was no time limit in responding to the questions and the internet is just a key-tap away.

Overall Impression

When reviewing this game, I figured I’d play for a while and then take a break and do something else. Unfortunately, this game was very engaging (after completing the training session with the gang war) and I found it difficult to stop and take a break, especially with each power-up giving Spider-Man a new special ability. I should note that it was only because the PS3 crashed the other night that I got to bed at a reasonable hour. That said, I’m going to give Spider-Man: Web of Shadows 7 Dancing Elephants out of 8.

Parting Thoughts

Interesting fact about my life, I grew-up a couple miles away from the Avengers West Coast Compound. Never saw any of them shopping at the grocery store, but it’s nice to know there was always that chance.

Review: The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragons for the Sony PS3

rmgreg — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:37:24 -0500

Let me state first and foremost that 7-year-old, Nikolai, and I have never played a Legend of Spyro game. Although we are familiar with the Purple Dragon, having seen the commercials for his various game-playing incarnations over the years, we have never championed his battle against evil. So we were novices to the world of Spyro when we were asked to review The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragons for the Sony PS3. However, since we like playing video games together and Dawn of the Dragons was designed with two players in mind, we were game to give it a try despite our rookie status.

The Legend So Far

I guess the first question asked would be, given the fact that we are new to the Spyro-verse, were we able to pick up on the plot of the game? Well based on what we’ve managed to gather playing the game, let’s see how well I can explain the back-story. Okay, so there’s this Purple Dragon named Spyro. Purple Dragons are very rare. In fact there is only one other Purple Dragon. His name is Malefor, the Dark Master. From that, I’m guessing he’s evil. Assisting Spyro is Cynder. She’s a Black Dragon who used to work for Malefor against Spyro, but she’s changed her ways and is now helping him. Also helping Spyro is Sparx, who fills the role of trusty sidekick. Others helping Spyro and Cynder in their battle against Malefor are Hunter, who looks like across between a lynx and a man, and Ignitus, the old, wise Dragon Leader who is aware of Spyro’s true potential. And there you go. So, how did I do?

Anyway, as the story continues, the Dark Master is free and is unleashing his wrath upon the world and it is up to Spryo to fulfill his destiny as the Purple Dragon and stop him with the Cynder’s help.

Controlling One’s Dragon-Fu

In a change from the other Legend of Spyro games, Dawn of the Dragons starts out with a twist by linking Spyro to Cynder with a magical chain attached at their necks. They can’t break the chain, so they are cursed to move, fight, and fly together. Now Nik and I are used to playing two-player games like the LEGO Adventures, where we have to share the screen together. But this one took a little getting used to because you could only move away from each other so far before feeling the tug of the leash. Sometimes, this resulted in brief arguments as to which way we should go. What can I say, except it definitely helped with our communication skills. However, my wife Tonya would argue that enhancing one’s communication skills does not mean raising one’s voice. On the plus side, the magical chain allows Spyro and Cynder to use a swinging technique to move from one place to another when they could not fly. Finally, if either Spyro or Cynder die, then they both die; a good reason to watch each other’s back. All and all, this was a good lesson in teamwork.

I should also note that you can play this game as a single player and switch back and forth between playing Spyro and Cynder… But where’s the fun in that?

Ugh, I Meant Square-Square-Circle-Square-Triangle!

Both Spyro and Cynder come with their own Elemental Powers, which you can upgrade during game play. Spyro controls Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Earth, while Cynder has Wind, Poison, Fear, and Shadow. Some of the Quests that Spyro and Cynder face in the game require them to use one of their Elemental Powers to solve a problem. But for most of the game, these powers are used to attack. And speaking of attacking, as with most games like this, there are your ‘basic hits’ and then there are your ‘special hits’ that require a complex set of button pushes in order to perform. I was never good at these moves because I can never remember which buttons to push, when, and for how long. So my solution, which I suspect is like most parents when they play with their kids, is to randomly press buttons and hope for the best. To the untrained eye, some of the resulting moves from this action can appear to be quite impressive. Finally, along with up grading one’s Elemental Powers by collecting Experience Points, one should keep an eye out for Treasure Chests containing Armor for Spyro and Cynder.

Now I should point out that Dawn of the Dragons isn’t all “kill and destroy,” there are quests that involve a bit of puzzle solving. A brief search of the web results in forums postings where people have become stuck trying to solve a few of these puzzles, I know this for a fact because we had our own episode of puzzle stickage. But for the most part, the puzzles can be figured out. In fact, on a few of them, Nik had to clue me in. So it might be best to play with a young partner.

The World of Spyro

On the PS3, the visuals are smooth and nice to look at. However, some of the camera angles that the game chose to display were a bit annoy… Okay very annoying. As an example, there were times when the camera was focused on either Spyro or Cynder, who was hanging by the magical leash below a ledge while the other was above the ledge engaged in battle with the bad guys. Who would you rather see, the pathetically swinging, stuck dragon or the fighting dragon? At other times, the camera was focused in too tightly on the characters and it was difficult to get a sense of the big picture,particularly when it involved having to see a ledge or an item you needed to make a flying leap for. But for the most part, you learn to live with the camera shortcomings and make the most of it, though yelling at the screen does help to make you feel better.

I would neglect my job if I didn’t point out that one of the selling points of the game is the talent that lent their voices to the characters in the Spyro-verse, such as Elijah Wood (Spyro), Christina Ricci (Cynder), Wayne Brady (Sparx), Gary Oldman (Ignitus), Blair Underwood (Hunter), and Mark Hamill (Malefor). The last one got Nik excited until he heard his voice and decided that he didn’t sound anything like Luke Skywalker.

Overall Impressions

Having never played a Legend of Spyro game before, Nik and I had fun playing this one. Now having played this game, I don’t know if Nik and I would go back and play one of the earlier versions for fear that it might be a step down from this one. But who knows, strangers things have happened. That said, Nik has decided to give The Legend of Spryro: Dawn of the Dragons 80 Thumbs Up out of 100, stating that it was fun, but some parts became boringly frustrating when we kept dying and had to repeat, and repeat, and repeat a particular part. This would cause him to ask me to play the single player mode, so that I could move through the level thus allowing him to go do something else while waiting for me to reach the next exciting level. As for me, well I found the game enjoyable and fun to play with Nik. I don’t think it would be as fun for me as a single player game, mainly because I could use all the help I can get. That said, I’m giving the game 6 Dancing Elephants out of 8.

Parting Thoughts

I don’t know if our television, which is a 9-year-old CRT needs to be fixed, but I wouldn’t call Spyro a Purple Dragon. I’d say he’s more like a Pink Dragon. As for Cynder, on our television, I wouldn’t say she was so much a Black Dragon as she was Purple.

Review: SingStar Abba for PS2 and PS3

Dale — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0500

When I was a kid in the 70's, ABBA was about the only pop band my mom would listen to, and we had one ABBA tape in the car, so given the option between that and instrumental easy listening, I chose ABBA, and I enjoyed the catchy melodies and beautiful harmonies. Since then, I've built my own music collection, and ABBA remains in the mix, so I was excited when I heard that the latest edition of SingStar featured ABBA.

For the most part, this is yet another edition of the popular (and excellent--we love this series) SingStar karaoke game with mostly the same features: sing single or through various multiplayer modes, either cooperative or competitive while either watching the original music videos or connecting an EyeToy or Playstation Eye to watch yourself boogie down.

The PS3 version also includes the new features introduced with SingStar PS3: the SingStore, allowing you to download any songs you want to add to your collection (for $1.49 each) from hundreds of great tunes for every fan and the My SingStar Online social media element, that allows you to post your best singing to entertain (or torture) your friends. It's a cool feature, but unless you have a bunch of SingStar-using friends, it gets old pretty fast.

Normally, at this point in the review, you'd see a list of songs we consider appropriate for all ages, but that's the beauty of ABBA. Both the lyrics and videos are completely family-friendly. Some have subtle innuendo and an alcohol reference or 2, but overall, this is a game you can hand to your kids and not have to supervise which songs are appropriate. Add the SingStore, and you can create a collection of family-friendly songs for the entire family to enjoy. Given that combination, this may be the perfect SingStar edition for families.

If you like to sing and would rather do Karaoke in the privacy in your own home or want to do so with your kids, buy this one, especially if you have a PS3. All I can say is, "Thank You for the Music."

Review: LEGO Batman Video Game for the Sony PS3 and PSP

rmgreg — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 14:46:55 -0400

By now it should go without saying that we are big LEGO fans here at the DWithE Studios, and by ‘fans,’ I mean the true definition of the word ‘fanatic.’ A quick glace of our house will reveal various LEGO kits under construction, a smattering of LEGO blocks here and there, a set of LEGO logo cups in our cupboard, a LEGO block ice tray in the freezer and various incarnations of the LEGO video games, ie., LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones. In addition, I also hold a deep, dark secret, which I shall share with you now, and that is, “I’m Batman.” Yep, have been ever since I dressed up as the Dark Knight for Halloween over 35 years ago when I was 5. So when we were presented the opportunity to review TT Games’ LEGO Batman Video Game for the Sony PS3 and PSP, my 7-year-old son, Nikolai, and I shot each other a ‘this is it’ glance. Then we pushed the secret button to enter the Batcave, I donned my Batcowl, Nik put on his Robin mask, we booted up our Sony ‘Batcomputers’ and parked our respective Batbutts on the couch for some serious LEGO Batman gaming.

Now before we begin to grapple with this review, I should point out that LEGO Batman for the PS3 and PSP uses similar control buttons, and the game storyline is exactly the same as far as we can tell, however there are some game play differences, which I’ll get into later. Also, because I do not wish to ruin this gaming adventure for you with spoilers, I’m going to attempt to be rather vague in my descriptions regarding certain aspects of the game. However if you get stuck or need help or want the codes to unlock certain items in the game, a quick Google search will help you find what you need. Finally, be sure to check out Dale’s LEGO Batman Review for the XBox360 and Redboys’ Review for the Nintendo DS.

Welcome to Gotham City

The basic game play for LEGO Batman is similar to the game play found in LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones in that the game consists of multiple levels containing various riddles and challenges that you must solve to complete the level in the Story Mode. Once you have completed the level in Story Mode, it is unlocked for Free Play Mode. In Story Mode you are assigned the two characters that you must play for that level. As you move through the level, you collect LEGO Studs by basically smashing everything in sight. Once you collect a certain amount of Studs for each level, you become a Super Hero or Super Villain, which can be done in both Story Mode and Free Play Mode. As you play, keep an eye out for the 10 LEGO Canisters hidden throughout each level. Collect all 10 and you unlock a Minikit Model. Each level also contains a Red Power Brick, which usually requires you to perform a certain set of tasks in order to reveal it. Finding a Red LEGO Power Brick will unlock certain features and bonus content. It’s important to note that with the characters that you are assigned in Story Mode, you will not be able to collect all of the LEGO Canisters or Red Power Bricks, this is where the Free Play Mode comes in. In Free Play mode, you are able to select from unlocked characters that you would like to use as well as getting additional assigned characters to help you complete your tasks. So in a sense, you pretty much have to play each level twice, first in Story Mode and then again in Free Play Mode, to fully complete the level. And that’s basically if for playing in the LEGO World.

In LEGO Batman, you start out by playing the Dynamic Duo who are trying to save Gotham City from the evil scourge who have recently escaped from Arkham Asylum. 15 of Gotham’s most notorious and criminally insane have broken up into 3 teams lead by The Joker, The Riddler, and The Penguin and they are each out complete a caper with the help of the likes of Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, The Mad Hatter, Two Face, and Scarecrow just to name a few. So in a sense, there are 3 Chapters in this game with each chapter consisting of 5 levels for a total of 15 levels. Then, in a first time twist for LEGO video games, you get to ‘replay’ each level from the Villains perspective, which requires you to complete and solve different task and puzzles first in Story Mode and then in Free Play Mode. This results in 30 levels of game play, however this does have a slightly negative effect on the game, which I will get into later under the heading The Dark Knight.

Batgadgets

Admit it, Batman would just be another guy running around in a cape if it weren’t for his cool gadgets. LEGO Batman really delivers on the Batgadgets, usually in the form of different suits. The suits are provided, but you’ll have to find them as you move through the Story Mode in order to perform certain tasks such as gliding across a gap (Glide Suit), climbing a metal wall (Magnet Suit), blowing things up (Demolition Suit), or controlling electronics (Technology Suit). In addition, Batman and Robin would be nowhere without their Batarang, which allows them to target and destroy multiple objects from a distance. Oh, and let’s not forget the Villains who have various weapons in their bag of tricks, such as Catwoman’s whip, Penguin’s penguin bombs, Riddler’s mind control cane, and Mr. Freeze’s freezegun. Finally, there are the vehicles, such as the Batmobile, Robin’s cycle, the Batboat, the Batwing, Joker’s helicopter, Penguin’s Submarine, and Killer Croc’s Airboat.

In Free Play Mode, you have access to all of Batman and Robin’s special suits, not to mention that once they are unlocked, Batgirl can stand in for Batman and Nightwing can stand in for Robin. How cool is that?

The Dark Knight

Now the nice thing about LEGO video games is that although it is full of destruction, it does it without blood and guts. However, LEGO Batman goes a little darker than its predecessors in that at times, you are required to play the game from the Villain’s perspective. Now at no time do you actually go up against the Dynamic Duo when playing the Villains, however you do go up against and are required to shoot Gotham City’s Police Force and S.W.A.T Team. Okay, I’ll admit that in LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones, you could and are encouraged to play the evil characters in order to help solve challenges such as using the high leaping General Grievous in LEGO Star Wars to extend your reach, however you were never required to shoot the Good Guys to complete the level. In LEGO Batman, you are required to shoot the Good Guys. Now the game is geared at 10+ partially for this reason, therefore, I accept that it is my decision and my responsibility when I play with my 7-year-old. Still, hearing your sweet, innocent child say, “Daddy, help me shoot the S.W.A.T. guys,” can make you cringe. There, you have been warned.

Wayne Manor and Arkham Asylum

One of Nik’s favorite features of the LEGO video games is the hidden level usually referred to as LEGO City, which allows you to basically smash everything in sight in order collect 1,000,000 LEGO Studs in the fastest time. LEGO Batman comes with not one, but two hidden ‘LEGO City’ levels: Wayne Manor and Arkham Asylum. I’m not going to tell you how to open these hidden levels, however I am going to say that they play differently from the LEGO Cities found in LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones. These differences in play make them much more of a challenge than running around and smashing things. And remember, if you get stuck, you can always Google for a solution.

Sony PS3 versus PSP

Now I already mentioned that the controls and storyline are the same for LEGO Batman on the PS3 and PSP. The differences are that the PSP is portable and comes with a smaller screen, so the graphics are not as crisp as they are playing LEGO Batman on a PS3, even when it is hooked up to a standard television as it is in our case (no, we haven’t gotten an HDTV… yet). The PSP is also much, much slower in loading the game. The other difference, which is a big factor for us, is that the PSP version of the game is single player while two people can play the PS3 version. You still have access to two characters while playing the PSP version, and you can switch back and forth between them by pressing the Triangle Button. The computer takes over the character you are not playing at the time. That said, Nik and I prefer the PS3 version because we can play as a Father and Son Team in order to solve the challenges presented in each level. The only drawback to this is we tend to occasionally bicker when Nik and I aren’t completely in sync. As an example, he goes left and I go right causing one or both of us to die. Tonya, my wife, would argue that this happens a lot and she usually leaves the room not wanting to listen to us constantly squabble like children. As for Nik and me, well we don’t know what she’s talking about.

Overall Impressions

This game is a lot of fun to play and explore with exciting puzzles and riddles to solve, which make Nik and me go “Ah-ha!” when we best them. So with that in mind, Nik has decided to give Lego Batman 100 Thumbs-up out of his patented 100 Thumbs. As for me, this video game isn’t perfect, but then again no video game is, however this one comes pretty close. I had a blast playing it with Nik, so it gets 7 Dancing Elephants out of 8. Can’t wait to see what LEGO and TT Games up with next, LEGO Superman perhaps, or how about LEGO Harry Potter?

Parting Thoughts

Of all of the characters one can play in this game, Nik’s favorite is Two Face and mine is Tropical Joker, who sports a Hawaiian Shirt… Guess we really do gravitate towards playing the bad boys.

Review: 1942:Joint Strike for Sony Playstation 3

Tonya DeWithe — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:00:25 -0400

If you’re in the mood for a classic arcade-style shoot out, this may be for you. For all those who remember and love Capcom’s classic 1942 arcade game or any of its progeny, and even for those younglings who roll their eyes when their elders wax nostalgic, this latest installment in their 194X series of World War II shoot-‘em-ups is good old-fashioned fun.

Like the original 1942, 1942: Joint Strike is a vertically-scrolling, eagle-eyed view, shoot-like-mad game set in an alternate-reality World War II period-themed world.

When starting out, you can jump into the cockpit of one of 3 World War II-era fighters to shoot at enemy targets while evading enemy fire as best as you can. Each fighter offers different strengths and weaknesses (speed, missiles, etc). You can also choose from 4 game difficulty settings.

You can control your airplane’s movement from right to left and forward and backward as you pilot it through waves of attacking enemy aircraft, shooting at air, ground, and water targets. Movement only occurs on a flat plane, though; there are no “up” or “down” controls.

While game play resembles the classic 2D version of the game, the graphics in this new incarnation are kicked up a notch (thank you PS3). This results in a game with all the feel of the classic 80s experience that you know and love, but with more realistic and gritty 3D graphics to give you the eye-candy that draws you into the game. I particularly love the shimmer of heat that rises over burbling lava as your plane flies over a volcano on the way to the 2nd level.

As you defeat enemies, you can collect floating icons that can supply you with point bonuses, health recharges, extra missiles, weapon changes or the all-important weapon upgrades. These definitely weigh into your strategy, as the type of ordinance you can fire greatly impacts your ability to survive to the end of each level. You also have a more limited supply of missiles that you can unleash to destroy multiple targets when necessary.

At the end of each level, the last enemy to be defeated is a big boss, or a really difficult nemesis that takes many, many shots to defeat.

But the name of the game is 1942:Joint Strike. As with the arcade game, you can play with 1 or 2 players. A 2-player game allows both players to play simultaneously, working together to blow up the bad guys. A nifty feature here is the choice of one of 3 special attack weapons that requires you and your partner to cooperate with each other to utilize fully. Those special attacks are very useful when taking down a big boss. Your ally can be recruited either locally or through the Playstation Network if a suitable player is available. Online options allow a choice of difficulty level, and also has an option for Voice Chat.

After a few rounds of dodging explosions, narrowly surviving waves of enemy fire, and battling huge bosses as best I could, I came to the conclusion that my shooter game skills haven’t improved over the years. I fully expect my 7-year-old to outscore me by the end of the month. In spite of that, I find myself coming back to play this game again and again, drawn by the adrenaline surge that can only be brought about by rapid fire weapons railing against overwhelming numbers of enemy targets. Luckily, I no longer have to spend a quarter per game to find that rush!

Review: Civilization Revolution for PS3

Tonya DeWithe — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:30:23 -0400

Reviewers Note: Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to review Civilization Revolution for both the Nintendo DS and Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) platforms. Since the back story and general description of game play is identical in both platforms, I decided to avoid needless repetition and included it only in the Nintendo DS review. To get the general gist about how the game is played, please see the Nintendo DS version of the review, then come back here for information specific to the PS3 platform.

Writing this review for Civilization Revolution for the PS3 was one of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write to date. Whenever I had to research some aspect of game play, strictly for accuracy’s sake, you understand, it invariably lead to a significant amount of time spent getting sidetracked with a side campaign or two. “Just a few more turns,” I’d find myself saying. “I’ve finally got Napoleon where I want him. I have to take out Paris before he offers to make peace with me and Congress makes me accept. Those spoilsports!” Yep, I had a lot of fun researching this review.

So just what is Civilization Revolution? If you’ve never played any version of Civilization, please see the game description I wrote on the review of Civilization Revolution for the Nintendo DS, then come back when you’re done. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

All set? Great.

Concept:
Just to recap, you are the leader of one of a handful of fledgling civilizations, or civs, starting to make your mark on the world. As time goes on, you must build cities, discover technological advances, explore the world around you, create and sustain an economy, advance your culture, meet and maintain relationships with the leaders of your neighboring civs...um...oh yeah, while you’re doing that, be sure to protect yourself from invasion by Barbarians or warlike civs intent on your destruction.

Translation to the PS3 Platform:
The PS3 does a good job of making controller use easy and as intuitive as possible, although there have been several times when I had a unit “rest” for its turn instead of “move” by pressing the wrong button. With the Nintendo DS, you could tap on the unit again to reactivate it; not so with the PS3. There were also a few subtle game controller features that were nice to use, but I had to read about before finding them (see below).

The graphics are beautiful, and rather than a strictly overhead view of the terrain map of the world, the land is shown at a bit more of a tilt so that the people, buildings, and land features are more prominently featured. It’s easier to see just why that catapult isn’t going to make it up that mountain and how you might as well just plot a course around it. The cities are more solid, and you can see little workers and fishermen toiling away in the background as you move your military units around. With the extra detail, it was fun to see the differences in the cities and units as new eras came along. I was amused when the caravans, represented by camels at first, became convoys of trucks after I entered the Industrial Era.

The PS3 version also has extras, like the Trophy room: Chieftains from foreign lands occasionally send you gifts of performers for your amusement. You can find them entertaining the guests in your Trophy Room. While it’s not necessary for game play, the little animations are cute. The kids and I particularly liked the pastry chefs who kept throwing pies in each other’s faces.

The foreign leaders and your domestic advisors all have more personality than could be depicted in the DS version. The advisors regularly upstage and get frustrated with each other, which helps make them seem more real, even though they speak in accented gibberish. It does make you question whether you’ve decided to risk war by not giving Elizabeth the secret of Writing because you think it’s tactically the right thing to do, or because her haughty smugness rubbed you the wrong way.

During game play, the world map centers on the unit whose turn it is to move, while information about the unit or the surrounding terrain shows on screen. As with the DS version, when your military unit attacks another unit, animated units attack each other on screen (this is my 7-year-old’s favorite part). A thumbnail version of the world map would have been handy to get a quick gist of where you are in comparison to the rest of the world, but you do have the ability to move around and get information on units or terrain squares. As with the DS, I’d highly recommend playing your first game at “Chieftain” level with the tutorial on. With the domestic advisors popping in as they would in the higher levels, they do a good job of teaching the basics of movement and strategy without making the learning curve painfully dull.

Thankfully, the PS3 version has a “Civilopedia,” which is a compendium of the various units, terrain, technologies, wonders, etc. within the game. While it’s possible to get adequate information to play the game from the in-game notes on the screen, it’s helpful to have a reference to consult when you just don’t understand the difference between building a city on top of a grassland square with a cow versus building it next to the cow. It depends how deep into game mechanics you’d like to delve and at what difficulty level you’d like to play. You may even learn something about the real world while browsing in there. With the way it is set up, with right and left joysticks controlling folders and subfolders across the top and left of the screen, it can sometimes be a little hard to find specific information, though. Soon after getting a basic feel for the game, I’d highly recommend looking under “Interface” in the “Concepts” section for some tips on how to use some of the less intuitive game controller features.

PS3 Multiplayer Options:
There are options to play against other players through the Playstation Network (Player Match, Ranked Match), play against friends in your system’s “buddy” list (Friends), or play over a local area network (LAN Party). In each of these options, you can play Head-to-Head (2 opposing humans, 3 random computer characters), Teams (2 teams of 2 humans each, 1 random computer character, or Free-for-All (4 opposing humans, 1 random computer character). Unfortunately I was not able to review this function, since at the time that I looked, there were no other players available on the network for me to play.

There is also The Game of the Week. A particular scenario is posted every Sunday on the Playstation Network. All players downloading this game will play starting from the same position. The best scores and quickest victories will be posted online. The downside of this is that there is no way to “save” your game, which they say is to “prevent cheating and ensure an identical experience for all users.” I suppose this is so a player doesn’t save his game when things are going well, then try something risky, fail, then go back to the saved game and do something else. Unfortunately, for those of us who don’t have unlimited use of the family TV, this is hard to reserve time for.

Overall Impressions:
Nikolai, my 7-year-old world-dominator-in-training is loving this game (he plays in “Chieftain” mode, the easiest). His favorite activity is watching his armies take on enemies. He’s also found the diplomacy screen to be useful in starting wars so he can attack neighboring civs. Hopefully someday he’ll see the importance of building cultural wonders and great universities and city infrastructure, but realistically, probably not for a while. He’s not all destruction, though. He also thinks the Trophy Room is a blast and likes to look at his cities. While the city graphics are well done, it’s not that easy to sit back and admire your handiwork. I would’ve loved to see a virtual tour through the streets, or to see a wonder close up, especially with the graphical capabilities that I know the PS3 can handle. Maybe in the next version.

Firaxis did a great job with this game, allowing a wide variety of gaming experiences, depending on how the player would like to play. For the novice, it’s easy to learn the basics. For the long-time fan, there are new tools to be used, new strategies to implement, and new nuances to explore to keep you engaged for a long time. As for me, I need to see if my air strike against Paris will give me the advantage I need for my motley crew of artillery and knights to take the city. Back into the fray I go!

New Lego Batman Launch Trailer

Dale — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:05:54 -0400

Here's the new launch trailer for Lego Batman, which comes out tomorrow for all major consoles. Check back soon for reviews, and check out the new screens at the Image Gallery.

Sonic Unleashed Video

Dale — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:39:15 -0400

In order to re-unite a shattered world, Sonic the Hedgehog races from continent to continent fighting Dr. Eggman’s evil minions. One such content is the naturally striking Chun-nan. With forests of ancient bamboo and stunning architecture -- such as a great stone dragon which snakes its way through the landscape -- Chun-nan is one of the most distinct places Sonic has ever visited.

However, with the recent invasion of Dr. Eggman, Chun-nan is also one of the most dangerous locales on Sonic’s tour throughout the world.

SEGA® of America Inc. has released all-new footage of Sonic the Hedgehog as he fights his way through Chun-nan!

Review: Guitar Hero Aerosmith for Sony Playstation3

Tonya DeWithe — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:44:12 -0400

When I got the opportunity to review Guitar Hero Aerosmith, I was thrilled to finally have a chance to see what all of the Guitar Hero hubbub was about. Why was this game, which to the uninitiated player’s eyes is a rip-off of the 80s electronic “follow the blinking light” game Simon, so amazingly popular.

Why, because it’s really, really fun, of course.

Once I sorted out the whole “using a guitar as a controller” thing (“oh, that green thing at the bottom of the screen means to push the GREEN button on the guitar neck”), the game was fairly easy to navigate. Since this is Guitar Hero Aerosmith, the game opened with stylized cartoon featuring Aerosmith as the stereotypical rockers, singing on stage and doing their thing as they (accidentally) sign a contract and go on tour around the world.

Gameplay and Options

Career
The overall goal is to play each set list of songs at milestone venues from Aerosmith’s career, either playing non-Aerosmith songs as part of the warm-up band, or Aerosmith hits as the headliners themselves. As you complete the songs successfully, you too can become a Guitar Hero!

First, you need to choose one of eight warm-up band member avatars to play. You can customize your character by changing their outfit or guitar. At “the Vault,” you can “buy” them special gear or unlock new songs using cash that can be earned after successfully completing a song.

You also have the option (thankfully) to choose to play at Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert levels. The biggest differences are the number of notes to play and the number of fret keys in use, for instance, Easy only uses 3 keys, while Medium uses 4. I haven’t made it past Medium. Yet.

As a song plays, the note pattern at the bottom of the screen scrolls across in real-time. You must press the correct fret keys and strum at the right time for the note to count as being played. You can gain point bonuses by collecting “Star Power” (obtained by getting a series of star-shaped notes correct), then releasing it by lifting the guitar controller up vigorously. You also can utilize the ”Whammy Bar” on long notes to add some flair. In order to play a song successfully, you need to hit a certain percentage of notes correctly. When you do, you gain points and earn cash to buy things in the Vault. The song is then unlocked for you to play whenever you want to, and you’re ready to move on to the next song on the set list.

If you don’t hit enough correct notes, you “fail” the song and get booed off the stage.

Quickplay
If you’ve only got time for a song or two and you’re anxious to leap right in and start playing, you can play any song you’ve either unlocked or bought at the Vault. When successful, points are awarded and high scores are maintained, but you earn no cash.

Multiplayer/Online
With a second guitar (or a bass guitar), there are a few things to do with a friend. If you don’t have a second instrument or a handy friend, you can also play these variations online through the Playstation3 Network.

Face-Off and Pro Face-Off are straight competitions where you either alternate portions of a song or have to play the same song at the same time. Best score wins.
In Co-op, you and your friend can rock out on any unlocked song using a guitar or bass.
In Battle mode, you can compete against a friend, but you can also earn attacks that you can use to make your opponent mess up.

The nice thing about these multiplayer games is that each player can choose their own difficulty level during the same game, with point bonuses awarded to those playing the more difficult levels.

Training
Tutorials are where you go to learn the intricacies of “Star Power,” “the Whammy Bar,” or the purpose of the “Rock Meter” on the right side of the screen.
Practice is where you go to nail that solo without worrying about scoring or booing fans. You can play any unlocked song at a normal speed, or slow it down to get that fingering sorted out.

Extras
Some “fun” customizable features such as picking out a character fell a little flat for me. It would have been more fun if you could “create” a new character, changing hair color, face shape, etc, as you can with the Wii console Miis. Since you can only choose from a handful of characters, I never felt any connection to them so I didn’t see much point in spending my hard earned cash on upgrading my character’s outfit or guitar from the Vault. These characters are also only used for a couple of cover songs per venue. The Aerosmith band member avatars take the stage when their own songs are played. I think all my earned cash will go toward unlocking the extra songs found in the Vault.

In between venues, small snippets of interviews with the real band members of Aerosmith were shown, which I really enjoyed. I’ve long appreciated Aerosmith’s music, but was never a big enough fan to seek out interviews or read their bios. It was fun hearing some of the stories of their long career, and it was good to finally get a feel for who they are as people.

The graphics were well done. Aerosmith’s characters really looked like the band members and people moved realistically. But my focus wasn’t really on the characters, though. I stared intently at those scrolling colored dots most of the time.

I was disappointed that, unlike Guitar Hero Legends of Rock, I couldn’t find expansion song pack add-ons available for download at the Playstation 3 Network Store for this version of Guitar Hero. I would have liked to add additional songs to the repertoire and can only hope that they would make some available in the future.

Age Range
This game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB, but I don’t think the average 10-year-old would be traumatized by anything here. You do have to realize that this is a hard rock band, and in that stereotypical rocker vein, there are some minor language infractions, but the language I heard in the game was tamer than what I hear on prime time network TV. Some of the songs are about more...shall we say “mature” themes. Again, this is Aerosmith. If you’re at all familiar with their music, you know what they sing about, but it’s nothing worse than is played on the radio. If you’re offended by this kind of language, don’t get this for your child. If you have a budding younger rocker who is more-than-likely not paying attention to the lyrics anyway and just wants to pretend to play guitar, then that’s your judgment call to make.

As far as the ability to play the game, my 4-year-old couldn’t play it on his own, but had a blast when he wore the guitar and strummed while I hit the frets for him. My 7-year-old could sometimes get through the songs, so I’m calling that the lower age limit. After this age test, I now know the song “The Dream Police” by Cheap Trick really, really, really well.

Final thoughts
I don’t play guitar, and probably will never take the time to learn. That said, I really enjoyed this game. I like the way it forces you to pay attention to the melody that the guitar is playing, helping you to hear nuances in songs that you may have heard for 20 years, but never actually noticed before. When I listen to The Dream Police on the radio, I now appreciate that disjointed guitarey bit near the end because it was so hard to play, and I find my fingers twitching in time until the last chord is strummed. While nobody will actually learn to play guitar from Guitar Hero, kids and adults alike can take away a newfound sense of music appreciation, and maybe a few of them will go on to learn an instrument and make music of their own one day. Meanwhile, you can find me in my living room, pretending to be a rock star and loving every minute of it.

Review: Premium Rock Band Drum Covers

Dale — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:17:27 -0400

I love Guitar Hero, but my biggest complaint about it is the click of the strum bar. Some people like the auditory feedback, but for me, it detracts from hearing the music, and the game is all about the music. So although many people don't like the Rock Band guitar, I love the fact that it's quiet so I can hear the music coming from the TV, or at least I can until the drums start tapping. Drums can be fairly loud instruments, but on Rock Band, unless you crank it up (and wake up the kids), you won't hear the virtual drums over the drum controls (which may be loud enough to wake up the kids).

The answer here is simple, and Premium Drum Covers has answered with, you guessed it, Premium Drum Covers. (I know. It's these cryptic Web 2.0 companies whose odd names give no hint as to their actual product!) The sturdy cloth covers wrap around the drum heads to provide a tight-fitting, good-looking solution.

The box includes two plastic bags, one with the four covers, and one with 16 liners. The covers are fabric, a coarse material for the "skin" and smoother stitched material around the sides. All of the fabric is sturdy and seems relatively dirt resistant. (We don't recommend throwing liquids at them, as they must be hand washed (washing instructions included), not to mention the damage to the drum set!) They are currently available in Wii white (our set) or black to match the other consoles' sets. The faces come in colors corresponding to the set colors, but solid instead of just outlined, allowing players to see the colors with peripheral vision and enhancing accuracy. An all-black set is available for those who play by position only, and the company informs me that they plan a Designer Series in the future with leopard print, faux fur, faux leather, denim, or other distinct designs. (I'm thinking studded leather would go over well or silkscreened designs with custom business logos, hippy flowers, etc.) I look forward to seeing their Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour designs.

The covers tie on tightly. When I saw the images for the first time, they looked a bit bulky, but having tied them on myself, I can say that they fit as tightly as you can tie them and fit almost like the skin on a baseball. At the same time, they're easy to remove for any reason--just untie the knot.

With 16 soft felt drum liners, you can customize the amount of dampening to rebound ratio you prefer. We found no noticeable dampening difference between 3 and 4 liners per drum, and the rebound doesn't change all that much unless you're a professional drummer or playing for hours on end. That said, with 3 liners, the loud taps become muffled thumps, and for the first time, we could actually hear the drums on the TV.

At $39, we highly recommend these pads for all Rock Band fans. It literally adds value to your game, as you can actually hear the music, which is, of course, the whole point! It may seem a bit pricey, but these are quality covers that will likely last for years and allow you to discover Rock Band all over again.