May2012
Review Starhawk (PlayStation 3)
Brave new world
It’s a testament to Warhawk's longevity that almost five years after its original release, it still maintains a vibrant and enthusiastic community. Most other multiplayer titles shed their numbers at a worrying rate, but engaging core design and unprecedented post-release support has ensured the downloadable shooter a place amongst...
Perplexing petals
Don't try too hard to understand. Datura is bizarre, a short adventure designed to be played in a single sitting with PlayStation Move, seemingly intended to bewilder anybody who comes before it. Yet that's one of its strengths. With no background information whatsoever, you take control of a man who is apparently as lost as the...
March2012
Review Plants vs. Zombies (PlayStation Vita)
Cherry bomb
If you have an electronic device released in the past few years, there's an extremely good chance that a version of Plants vs. Zombies is available for it. Since its original release back in 2009, the game has become somewhat of a measuring stick by which most tower defence games are judged. Now, PopCap Games has created a version for...
Review MLB 12 The Show (PlayStation 3)
Diamond pleaser
MLB the Show is known as a series dedicated to baseball accuracy and purity. It boasts identical replicas of the major league stadiums (even some minor league ones), players move fluidly and resemble their real life counterparts and sounds from fans heckling to the smack of the bat are captured perfectly. MLB The Show 12 still...
Review Unit 13 (PlayStation Vita)
Suited and booted
Unit 13 is an answer to critics who claim Sony’s handheld endeavours don't match their platform. Zipper Interactive’s third-person shooter seamlessly combines the depth of a fully functioning action title with the accessibility of a smartphone game, and it serves as an example of what developers can achieve when they design...
Review Twisted Metal (PlayStation 3)
Carnival of carnage
Twisted Metal doesn’t care much for first impressions: the game’s overarching heavy metal motif is about as dislikeable as the psychotic characters at the centre of its gratuitous plotline. But to dismiss Eat Sleep Play’s car combat reboot on the basis of first appearances would be a grave error, because beyond the...
Review Super Stardust Delta (PlayStation Vita)
Shining star
Although the Stardust series began life as a simple Asteroids clone on the classic Amiga computers, it wasn't until the release of Super Stardust HD on PlayStation 3's download service that it began to garner worldwide recognition. Lauded for its intuitive play controls and vibrant visuals, the twin analogue stick shooter quickly became...
Review Jak & Daxter Collection (PlayStation 3)
Jak of all trades
PlayStation 2 proved a haven for fans of platformers: Sony published no fewer than three outstanding platforming trilogies in Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter. But while Insomniac’s already honoured Ratchet & Clank with a second PS3 trilogy of its own and Sly Cooper’s on the verge of a comeback courtesy...
Review Frobisher Says (PlayStation Vita)
If Monty Python did mini-games...
Although Nintendo’s WarioWare wasn’t the first game to compile quick-fire mini-games (it’s pre-dated by Sega’s Tanto-R and Konami’s Bishi Bashi), it remains the most famous example of the genre. While so many modern games try hard to immerse the player in engaging and time-consuming missions, WarioWare...
Review Hustle Kings (PlayStation Vita)
The royal touch
Following the success of Hustle Kings for PlayStation 3, VooFoo Studios' Hustle Kings on PS Vita has arrived. Whether you live in pool halls or just whisk through them once in a blue moon, Hustle Kings is enticing thanks to a variety of options that look out for everybody. The game's pockets are stuffed with enough content to make it...
Review Table Soccer (PlayStation Vita)
Hand ball
Long before FIFA, long before Sensible Soccer, the only way football enthusiasts could get their kicks without going outside was with Subbuteo, a table football game in which your flicking fingertips did all the talking and scoring. Staring the more complex emulations of football right in the goal mouth, Four Door Lemon has brought back...
Review Escape Plan (PlayStation Vita)
The Lil and Laarg Show
Lil and Laarg aren't the type of guys to make their prison beds and lie in them. Captured by the tyrannous Bakuki, the duo quickly embark on an escape mission through roughly 80 rooms of Escape Plan's labyrinthine prison. It's never as simple as jimmying open a well-placed window with a convenient crowbar, though – in fact,...
Review Top Darts (PlayStation Vita)
Double top?
Released in late 2010, Top Darts for PS3 was a detailed and addictive recreation of the sport with a distinct party emphasis. Now Top Darts on PS Vita is here and is arguably the most focused of the system's launch titles. Despite the very obvious temptation to toy with the shiny new inputs, developer Devil’s Details has limited itself...
Review Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PlayStation Vita)
Full Drake or half-baked?
As the first portable entry for the Uncharted series, Uncharted: Golden Abyss sets itself apart from its console counterparts in a variety of ways. Firstly, the game isn’t directed by franchise creators Naughty Dog, helmed instead by Bend Studio, the team that brought Resistance Retribution to the PSP. Secondly, the...
February2012
Review MotorStorm RC (PlayStation Vita)
Micro machines
Evolution Studios might not have intended to, but it’s inadvertently created the best game in the MotorStorm series. Pitched as a spin-off handled by a small team of elite employees, MotorStorm RC takes the franchise’s established off-road racing staples and shrinks them down to shoebox size. Despite concerns to the contrary,...
Review Fireworks (PlayStation Vita)
Bangers and flash
Fireworks and the great indoors don’t usually make for the most advisable of combinations, but the PlayStation Network holds the answer for those that really need a fix of sparkly light shows and expensive wastes of gunpowder. Better yet, you don’t even have to leave your armchair to play PS Vita’s Fireworks, a free download...
Review Reality Fighters (PlayStation Vita)
Reality pales
Novarama’s not new to the concept of augmented reality: the Spanish studio’s been layering polygonal worlds on top of our bed sheets for years now with the Invizimals series, but Reality Fighters is a change of direction for the studio. The developer’s kicked out the cute creatures and laborious combat from its Pokémon-inspired...
Review Daxter (PlayStation Portable)
Lots of ottsel fun
Developed by Naughty Dog – creators of the critically acclaimed Uncharted trilogy on PS3 – the Jak & Daxter series has enjoyed about as much success as a 3D platforming franchise is capable of achieving, short of donning blue dungarees, growing a moustache and taking lessons in Italian. True to form, the series' debut on...
Review Cliff Diving (PlayStation Vita)
Making a splash
With augmented reality being all the rage right now, it’s no surprise to see a camera-exploiting trio arrive on PS Vita at launch to further expand its Swiss army knife-rivalling feature set. In Cliff Diving, the alphabetical first of the three, you take control of Dave and help him become the greatest diver in the world through...
Review WipEout 2048 (PlayStation Vita)
Adrenaline on the go
WipEout has been the staple for futuristic racing titles since 1995 when SCE Studio Liverpool — then Psygnosis — launched its début title on the original PlayStation; ever since, there's been a steady stream of games released across the PlayStation family. The newest addition to the series speeds its way onto PlayStation...
Review ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PlayStation Vita)
Go-kartin' with a creative touch
“Let’s go on a road trip!” The thoughts of the adventures just waiting to be explored sends you rapidly packing and out onto the open roads. But once the adventure starts you soon realise that even though you're having fun, in the rush you’ve left home a bit under-packed and you'd have enjoyed the trip far...
Review Little Deviants (PlayStation Vita)
Control freak
Whenever a new game system is released, you can pretty much guarantee that there will be a game built exclusively to show off the various capabilities of said system. In the case of PlayStation Vita, that title would be Little Deviants. Taking a collection of minigames and building them around the unique control interfaces of Vita,...
Review Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PlayStation 3)
And one 4 all
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One does a great job of transforming Insomniac's slapstick shooter series into an enjoyable co-operative ride. Stunning presentation and accessible multiplayer implementation provide the game with an engaging campaign, though it is somewhat let down by disappointing combat and an uninspired final-third. As...
Review Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time (PlayStation 3)
Tick tock
The conclusion of the Ratchet & Clank Future arc, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time focuses on Ratchet's continuing rescue mission of Clank and the dastardly deeds of antagonist Dr Nefarious. Building upon much familiarity from previous Ratchet & Clank games, A Crack In Time introduces numerous new mechanics including Clank's...
Review Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (PlayStation Vita)
Nice shot!
It's hard to believe that Hot Shots Golf has been around for almost 15 years, and given how much of a staple the series has been on Sony systems in that time, it's no wonder the games have become so well-loved by PlayStation fans. While the series has evolved at a fairly consistent rate alongside the growing technology, nothing quite...
