8
Apr
2009
WipEout HD Review
Overview
WipEout HD developed by the masterminds over at Sony Liverpool is another title of the classic WipEout franchise, which is known for its excellence and quality. The game is a downloadable only title but it has enough content to be a full retail title; with 8 tracks, online modes and a decent lasting campaign, this game offers a great package for just $20.
Controls
The developer gives you two ways of controlling your ship, you can use the Sixaxis or the analog sticks, obviously it is much easier to play with the analog stick, it is far more responsive. You can use your weapons with the square button and use your airbrakes with L2 and R2, this comes very useful when you need to take really tight turns at high speeds. Overall, the control configuration of WipEout HD is really good and the motion controls are one of the best in the PS3.
Graphics
The Wipeout games are known for the quality of their graphics and this does not change in this version, supporting native 1080p resolution and 60FPS, the game features stunning graphics that can be compared and may even surpass most full retail games. This game renders high resolution textures combined with beautiful backgrounds. While you are racing you can see a lot of things happening on the screen, missiles exploding in front of you, ships flying on the background, an impressive quantitiy of lights and a tracks full of colours. All of this makes WipEout HD one of the most visually stunning game not just only on the PSN but on the PS3.
Gameplay and Story
The graphics are not the only good thing in this game, the gameplay is great, with intuitive controls and a decent camera. For many people the difficulty of this game is going to be tough, so it requires a lot of practice to refine your skills and advance in the campaign mode. In the campaign mode there are 8 grids, each with different types of events, like Tournaments, Single Race, Speed Lap and Time Trial. In each grid you need to earn a specified number of points to advance to the next grid, sometimes this becomes tedious because you might not have sufficient skills to earn more points. In “tournament” and “single race” you will face other opponents and you will have a lot of different weapons to take them down, you can also refill your energy lost by absorbing the weapons instead of using them against the enemies. There is also the option to race online with your friends or other people from around the world. (it works really well) It has a lobby system where you can setup your own games with a lot of options to customize.
The Bottom Line
9.0/10
WipEout HD is an awesome experience that every PS3 owner should play, it has enough content to be a 60 dollars game. It comes highly recommended by me.
3
Apr
2009
Midnight Club: Los Angeles Review
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Rockstar Games for the PS3/Xbox360
Overview
What can I say about this game that hasn’t already been said. Let me preface by saying that I am from Los Angeles and was excited about this title coming out so that I could race around my hometown without getting a ticket like I normally do. However (and I’ll just come out and say it) this game let me down. Whether it was because nothing in this game was believable, from the storyline, the characters, the voiceacting, anything?!?! Or for various other reasons, this game was a struggle to complete and get through.
Controls and Gameplay
Thank God that you could change the default controls. I would have set this game back immediately if I had to use the right stick to accelerate and brake for the entire game. However, because they allowed me to change the settings, I can’t hold that against them too much. As far as the rest goes, it handles like a standard racer, you can tell the difference in how tuners handle compared to muscles and exotics. But what really through me for a loop were the bikes. They might as well call this game “Use a bike if you want to win”. Owning a maxed out Kawasaki Ninja is like unlocking God Mode for any other game. Physics does not apply when you hit a wall with the motorcycle. If you hit a wall from any angle besides head-on then you simply avoid crashing… As if the accident never even happened. It barely even hinders your speed. This is a major flaw in the game, and is evident in online play, as you can tell that EVERYONE uses motorcycles.
Graphics
“meh”. That’s all that really needs to be said. Sure, that graphics are okay… But is that what we’re aiming for now when we’re making games? Mediocrity? They built the city of Los Angeles decently well, but there are some major glaring flaws in the simple structure of the city. First of all, the LA River: This is a site that is used time and time again in the game to race through, everyone knows this structure. They didn’t even build it the way it is in real life! There is no water running through the middle. There is no canal through the center. It looks merely like a long running half-pipe with bridges over it. Sure, if they put the canal in it may hinder racing. How do you think people race through it now!?!?!? If your goal is to make a lifelike representation of a city, please don’t half-ass it, because people like me who live there will call you out on your bullshit. Essentially the game looks GTAIVish, without the details and close attention paid to building the city.
Story
WTF were they thinking? The story is just lame. Half the time you have to wait for people to call you on your phone for the actual storyline to progress. Waiting is not my idea of having fun playing a game. Unlike games like GTAIV where you have to wait for the story to progress, there are not “side-missions” that you can do to continue moving forward in the game. The extra missions are pointless and accomplish nothing in the grand scheme of the “story”. The characters are ethnic sterotypes and honestly kind of bothered me. The voiceacting is atrocious to say the least. The only comparison I can think of for how bad the voiceacting and dialogue is would be the new Price of Persia. It is full of nonsensical one-liners that make you groan and return the game to get a refund.
The Bottom Line
7.1/10
Do not buy this game if you are expecting Burnout. The online mode leaves much to be desired, and the single-player is lacking in all aspects. This game is trying to be what Burnout Paradise accomplished years ago, but didn’t even come close. Go out and buy a copy of Burnout instead of wasting your money on this game.