June2013
Review Jak & Daxter Collection (PlayStation Vita)
Naughty Dog's legacy
When you think of the developer Naughty Dog, quality and genre-defining are certainly two terms that come to mind. But for many people the Uncharted series on the PS3 was their first experience of the developer, unaware of the legacy of titles on the previous home consoles with Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. The later of...
Review The Last of Us (PlayStation 3)
Fungal jungle
The Last of Us portrays a harrowing vision of the future that's frighteningly believable. Californian developer Naughty Dog has gone out of its way to breathe personality into every derelict room, corridor, and courtyard, eschewing the copy and paste formula of its counterparts, and delivering an experience that feels distressingly...
May2013
Review Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode One - A Bump in the Night (PlayStation Vita)
Challenging puzzles that will defeet you
Although your adventure is only just beginning with this downloadable PlayStation Vita point and click puzzler, Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode One - A Bump in the Night's fiendish challenges will truly put you through your paces. The first instalment in the series is barely four hours long, yet...
April2013
Review Soul Sacrifice (PlayStation Vita)
Sins of the skin
Soul Sacrifice deals with morality in a manner that few games manage. While the likes of Mass Effect and inFAMOUS deliver negligible narrative tweaks in response for your borderline binary ethical decisions, Keiji Inafune’s grotesque fantasy adventure aims to explore the core of your moral makeup. Are you willing to surrender the...
March2013
Review Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PlayStation 3)
Crime traveller
It’s fairly obvious that newcomer Sanzaru Games has poured its heart and soul into Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The long-awaited fourth instalment in PlayStation’s premier theft simulator is bursting with reverence for the franchise that Sucker Punch introduced over ten years ago, and that’s evident in every inch of the...
Review God of War: Ascension (PlayStation 3)
Banishing demons
God of War: Ascension is the strange type of title that could only exist at the end of a console’s lifespan. The prequel to Sony Santa Monica’s savage Spartan series thrives on years of iteration, delivering the slickest entry in the series yet. But it’s also bankable, and as a non-numbered instalment in a long-running...
February2013
Review Beats Trellis (PlayStation Mobile)
Pocket producer
Beats Trellis may sound like the name of a hip rhythm action game, but it’s actually a barebones digital audio workstation. Designed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s research and development department, the digital download allows you to compose simple audio motifs on the move. It’s designed in the style of Ableton and Reason,...
January2013
Review Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (PlayStation Vita)
Poker face
Uncharted: Fight for Fortune was always going to feel like a letdown compared to the epic adventure of Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Billed as a classic card game, the title lacks the explosive attraction of its parent franchise. But can the cheap and cheerful digital title succeed on its own merits, irrespective of the property that it's...
November2012
Review Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PlayStation 3)
Zurgo rush
Insomniac Games has never shied away from experimenting with its premium platforming franchise, but Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault represents the series’ biggest departure yet. Designed to celebrate the brand’s tenth anniversary, the downloadable mini-adventure blends the property’s traditional twitch-based gunplay with...
Review PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PlayStation 3)
Celebrity deathmatch
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a lot like a box of chocolates that consists purely of almond-based treats. SuperBot Entertainment’s mascot mash-up cherry picks some of the sweetest moments from PlayStation lore and casts them inside a brawler so self-aware that you can’t help but smile while playing it. From the...
Review LittleBigPlanet Karting (PlayStation 3)
Stuck in the pit stop
Over the years, many developers have tried and failed to dethrone the Mario Kart series. This year, United Front Games has stepped up to the starting line, dishing out its very own blend of cardboard cut-out tracks and knitted karting chaos, all under the name of LittleBigPlanet Karting. However, despite high hopes, the...
Review Wonderbook: Book of Spells (PlayStation 3)
Muggle magic
In a generation where Sony’s casual content has aimlessly followed the lead, Wonderbook serves as a stark reminder of the platform holder’s chops when it comes to capturing the attention of the mainstream market. Advancing the company’s ongoing obsession with augmented reality, the exciting educational endeavour is an original...
Review When Vikings Attack (PlayStation 3)
Rise against the tyranny of the Vikings
There's a pitfall to the design goal of simplicity: repetition. Many accessible titles tend to eschew this obstacle through minimalistic charm and a compelling set of mechanics. But while When Vikings Attack certainly boasts these values, and makes good use of them, its incessant repetition fails to abate...
October2012
Review Sports Champions 2 (PlayStation 3)
Smashing
The original Sports Champions may have been conceived as a direct response to the Wii Sports phenomenon, but beyond its surface accessibility it offered a subtlety that went missing on players looking for little more than a party game. Obfuscated by its shoddy art style and limited multiplayer options, the PlayStation Move launch title’s...
Review Smart As (PlayStation Vita)
Mind games
Smart As appeals to your egotistical side. The PlayStation Vita puzzler is rewarding, challenging, and supremely satisfying – but the game’s key ingredient is the way in which it provides real-time information on your achievements compared to other players. Whether it's your friends, co-workers, neighbours, or even strangers –...
Review Killzone HD (PlayStation 3)
Helghastly
Killzone HD almost never happened. Franchise creator Guerrilla Games had to search long and hard for the PlayStation 2 title’s original assets – eventually discovering them in a shoebox beneath the house of an IT technician. Even with the appropriate materials located, it spent many hours sorting through outdated source code and...
Review The Unfinished Swan (PlayStation 3)
Paint by slumber
The Unfinished Swan starts with a blank canvas and a single stirring idea. Blinded by grief following the untimely passing of his mother, protagonist Monroe finds himself locked in a fantasy world littered with problems that mirror his own. Feeling purposeless without the guidance of his guardian, the orphan is forced to deduce his...
Review LittleBigPlanet PS Vita (PlayStation Vita)
The whole world in your hands
Sony is often criticised for shrinking its home console franchises down to handheld size – but, despite the best efforts of its detractors, that commentary doesn’t always hold weight. Sackboy’s maiden craftworld campaign may have been animated by the DualShock 3, but LittleBigPlanet PS Vita is one of those...
August2012
Review Papo & Yo (PlayStation 3)
Waking the monster
On its face Papo & Yo is a tale of boy and monster, of frogs and fruits, but beneath its fantastical scenario lurks a subtle maturity that goes beyond the reach of many games. It's a story devised to mirror designer Vander Caballero's own struggles in a family that bore the burden of addiction, under an alcoholic patriarch,...
Review Sound Shapes (PlayStation Vita)
Don't stop the beat
Ever since we first played Sound Shapes last year, we've not been able to shake off the feeling that something special was inbound. And here it is. Sound Shapes is inventive, imaginative and creative. It melds music, visuals, simplistic gameplay and robust creation tools into a package that's exactly the sort of game that Vita...
July2012
Review Ratchet & Clank Collection (PlayStation 3)
Nuts and bolts
Few video game franchises have greater pedigree than PlayStation’s most dependable crime-fighters, Ratchet & Clank. Armed with a plethora of imaginative gadgetry and a never-ending inventory of wisecracks, the Insomniac's series has been a staple of any self-prophesised PlayStation enthusiast’s diet for the past decade. That...
June2012
Review Gravity Rush (PlayStation Vita)
Daze dreamer
Games such as Gravity Rush are getting rarer. The Japan Studio-developed handheld adventure eschews committee design and instead coalesces on a consistent creative vision. Driven by the surreal imagination of former Silent Hill director Keiichiro Toyama, the title is a thoughtful exploration of original gameplay mechanics and cultural...
Review Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (PlayStation 3)
Doctor No
The world of Doctor Who has been just begging for a competent game. After all, aren't aliens, robots, destruction, time travel and awkward, often sarcastic, humour all great staples of the medium? It's exactly the sort of television show that could merrily hop over the gap without missing a beat. But despite a clear love of the series and...
Review Resistance: Burning Skies (PlayStation Vita)
Axed at the knee
Insomniac Games left a strong lasting mark when it stepped away from its Resistance series after the atmospheric and emotionally gripping Resistance 3. With Insomniac Games now hard at work exploring new avenues for us to enjoy, Nihilistic Software has stepped in to send us back into the Chimeran infested world once again, with the...
Review Sorcery (PlayStation 3)
A kind of magic
Sorcery is the game that PlayStation Move owners have been craving. The motion controlled title that captivated crowds at E3 2010 has been a constant source of conversation right the way through to its re-reveal late last year. But having spent almost 18 months shrouded in the secrecy of Sony’s invisibility cloak, the title finds...
