June2011
Review White Knight Chronicles: Origins (PlayStation Portable)
White Knight Chronicles: Origins eschews the complexities of the RPG genre, crafting a straight-forward co-operative experience that's well suited to the pick-up-and-play nature of Sony's portable platform
Despite taking a critical beating worldwide, White Knight Chronicles has been a successful endeavour for Sony in Japan. With two iterations...
Review Ape Escape (PlayStation 3)
Gorilla warfare
Sony's Ape Escape series has been a PlayStation staple since 1999, when it wowed the world with its dual-analogue control scheme. Now over a decade later it's trying another control scheme in Ape Escape, (known as PlayStation Move Ape Escape in North America) but is it an evolutionary step or a knuckle-dragging disaster? The original...
Review Under Siege (PlayStation 3)
Much harder than Steven Seagal
During a generation in which First-Person Shooter (FPS) titles dominate the market, a genre like the Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game can become lost on PS3 amongst a barrage of FPS frags, melees and rat-a-tat-tat firefights. Despite this the system has received some standout RTS games: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3...
May2011
Review SOCOM: Special Forces (PlayStation 3)
Tactics on the Move
SOCOM 2 wasn’t only just one of the best shooters for the PlayStation 2, but many would likely even call it the best on the system. These are big boots for SOCOM: Special Forces (aka SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs in North America) to fill, and now that the online war is back in action from the PlayStation Network outage, we’ve...
April2011
Review Patapon 3 (PlayStation Portable)
Patapon 3's blend of rhythm action and RPG is as potent as ever
Despite being fundamentally familiar, the addition of online multiplayer modes extend the game's re-playability, while bringing fresh ideas to the series. The game can be far too complicating for its own good at times, but a stellar soundtrack and vivid art-style make up for the title's...
March2011
Review PlayStation Move Heroes (PlayStation 3)
Six PlayStation icons Move in together
For the first time in PlayStation's 15 year history, six of its most loved characters have come together to compete in intergalactic games. Featuring the witty wombat Ratchet and his trusty robot friend Clank, sneaky raccoon Sly and tech savvy Bentley, and finally the dark eco-powered Jak and his energy-packed...
Review MotorStorm Apocalypse (PlayStation 3)
Remember the first time you played Ridge Racer on the original PlayStation?
Your family and friends gathered around the television in anticipation of the content about to be streamed from the flashy grey box positioned prematurely on a make-shift table in front of the television. As the polygonal graphics popped onto the screen, the room was filled...
Review MLB 11 The Show (PlayStation 3)
A home run
Truly, there are only two seasons: winter and baseball. Luckily, MLB 11 The Show's season is year-round. Widely regarded as one of the best sports series this gen, largely in part to San Diego Studios' ability to continuously improve each iteration by leaps and bounds – rather than simply providing an annual roster update – this...
February2011
Review Killzone 3 (PlayStation 3)
Send them to Hel(ghan)
Eyes peeled wide open, and like breathing, you only blink when necessary. Your heart pounds in your chest at a million miles an hour while anxiety is released with each bead of sweat that protrudes the skin around the Move controller, with its calm faint glow in the peripheral vision. The building that once was shelter has...
January2011
Review Everybody's Stress Buster (PlayStation Portable)
Hot Shot Shorties is a hectic, pick-up-and-play mini-game compilation hindered by the cumbersome method Sony's opted to package it
Splitting the game into four disparate XMB applications adds an additional layer of navigation to what is essentially a jump-in-jump-out package. Once you get there, the underlying gameplay is charming, addictive and...
December2010
Review Top Darts (PlayStation 3)
Double top
You wait years for a darts game to come to PlayStation 3 with little success and then two turn up in the space of a month – such is the power of the PlayStation Move and its suitability for bringing the sport to life. While PDC World Championship Darts: Pro Tour was a good effort aimed at those who know their Phil Taylor from their...
Review echochrome ii (PlayStation 3)
Go to the light
Sony hasn't offered up a huge selection selection of puzzling Move games just yet, with Tumble being the major entry in the genre to date. While that game certainly was a blast, many Move owners have been left yearning for some similarly stellar, motion-infused brain teasers. Enter echochrome ii, Sony's direct sequel to their...
Review Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves (PlayStation 3)
Sackboy’s got the Moves
LittleBigPlanet released on PS3 over two years ago and instantly concreted itself as a landmark title for the system. Sackboy, the adorable stitched doll who is the main character, has become an icon for the PlayStation brand, and is about to partake on his second retail game release in LittleBigPlanet 2 in early 2011...
November2010
Review Beat Sketcher (PlayStation 3)
Who said games can't be art?
Beat Sketcher combines the art of “light drawing” and music creation to create a new and unique experience for PS3 gamers, and using the PlayStation Move lets budding artists draw highly detailed pictures and share them with friends and family. When the game is first loaded a thorough calibration process kicks in,...
Review The Fight: Lights Out (PlayStation 3)
Get the low down on this beat down
If you're a hardcore gamer interested in the PlayStation Move, chances are that The Fight: Lights Out has been on your radar for quite some time. With a full-fledged online mode, dirty fighting moves and a gritty presentation, it is the very antithesis to Wii Sports boxing. While other motion-based fighting games...
Review The Sly Collection (PlayStation 3)
Adventures of the Thievius Raccoonus
The Sly Cooper games for PlayStation 2 were incredible platforming game experiences in themselves, but here we have all three Sly Cooper games in one package remastered in beautiful high definition for the PlayStation 3. Move supported minigames and stereoscopic 3D support are icing on the cake for this must-have...
Review SingStar Dance (PlayStation 3)
Bust a Move
When you’ve been the leading karaoke title for the past six years, how do you keep the experience fresh? That’s the rather fortunate problem facing SingStar, and this year has seen two significant additions to the formula, first in the form of SingStar Guitar and now with SingStar Dance for PlayStation Move. Rather than hold a Move...
Review The Shoot (PlayStation 3)
Lights, Camera, Action!
The Shoot is that simplest of creatures: the arcade lightgun game. If you’ve played any on-rails shooter in the past 20 years you’ll think you know what to expect, but The Shoot makes enough subtle additions to be worth a look even for jaded shooter fans. Setting the scene with a brass James Bond-style theme, The...
No pain, no gain!
Televisions all across the globe have humans inflicting pain and injury upon each other every day. Martial arts, reality bloopers and viral videos fill the airwaves, and millions of viewers find enjoyment in this type of entertainment. The creative developers at Idol Minds know that some gamers crave the chance to inflict pain on...
Review TV Superstars (PlayStation 3)
A real turn-off
TV Superstars is a minigame collection that hinges on the concept of being contestants on a range of reality TV shows, so it’s fitting that it ends up being a shallow and forgettable experience. It all starts off well: you use the PlayStation Eye camera to snap three photos for your contestants’ head, record a short sample and...
October2010
Review Buzz!: The Ultimate Music Quiz (PlayStation 3)
Pretty fly
Buzz! has been around for what seems like ages; released in 2005, there have been no fewer than 18 releases in the Buzz! series in those short five years. Now the latest outing for the be-quiffed host arrives in the form of Buzz! The Ultimate Music Quiz, and it’s brought a few Move rounds with it. If you’ve never played a Buzz! game...
Review EyePet (PlayStation Portable)
Remember: a dog is not just for Christmas, but an Eye Pet is
If we were presented with Eye Pet PSP as a child on Christmas morning, we'd have been beyond delighted. The game's low on content, but the initial "wow" factor of watching a desk, table, car-backseat or garden transform into a variety of environments in which the Eye Pet can play...
Review High Velocity Bowling (PlayStation 3)
Bowling for supremacy
With the buzz for PlayStation Move now in full swing it is worth remembering that, through the technology incorporated in the SIXAXIS controller, the PS3 has had motion-sensing controller support since launch. The original version of SCE's High Velocity Bowling (HVB) was released a year later and it demonstrated one of the most...
The war has been raging and it’s time to Move in
MAG is like a bottle of wine, getting better with age. An online-only game exclusively for the PlayStation 3 developed by Zipper Interactive, also known for its long-running PlayStation exclusive franchise SOCOM, MAG garnered a lot of hype before launch for its massive 256-player battles. Despite...
September2010
Review EyePet: Move Edition (PlayStation 3)
An EyePet is for life, not just for hardware launches
EyePet was originally released in Europe at the end of 2009, long before the arrival of PlayStation Move. Back then the game only required a PlayStation Eye, with everything controlled by your hands and a piece of plastic that you held up to the camera. It worked rather well for what it was, but...
