Topic: Playstation All-Stars dlc character Impressions

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This is a post I wrote for an IGN blog and I figured I should share it here. This is more or less the first videogame related "article" I've ever written, and I'm fairly proud of it. I'm also curious to hear from others what they think of the new characters (Kat might just be my new main).

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale released for the Playstation 3 and PS vita back in November to a generally positive reaction from both critics and the die-hard Playstation faithful. Sadly, the critical praise and massive pre-launch buzz didn't result in the game lighting up the sales charts, which resulted in the surprise announcement that Sony was ending its partnership with SuperBot Entertainment. Sony has stated that any future dlc for the game would be handled by Sony's Santa Monica studio, though before these events transpired, SuperBot was hard at work preparing dlc for the game. This dlc included two new characters, (Kat, from Gravity Rush, and Emmett Graves, from Starhawk) and a new stage which is an amalgamation of aspects from Heavenly Sword and Wipeout.  The first round of dlc was released today and for the first two weeks, the two new characters (Kat and Emmett) will be free to download.

I've spent some time with the new characters on both PS3 and vita, and I'm going to share my experience and thoughts about them in this post; though first I'd like to point out that I spent most of my time with the characters on PS3, though like the rest of the game, they play identically on the vita version.

First I took Kat for a spin (don't read too much into that). My first thought for trying out the new characters was that I should jump into an online game right from the start. This was a huge mistake. In my first game, a four person free-for-all, I was destroyed. After that blunder I moved into training mode to wrap my head around her abilities. Now I knew from playing Gravity Rush that Kat has some unique methods for traversing the world around her, but I didn't expect these mechanics to be so lovingly re-created in a fighting game. Her jumping is the first move that immediately stuck out to me. Kat's first jump is a standard hop, but when you double-jump with her, she is sent soaring in the direction of your choosing. This allows for Kat to easily set herself up for an attack from any angle. Most of her attacks have a medium range, though like in Gravity Rush, Kat can deal out some devastating kicks from up close. She can easily juggle characters, and her air-born kicks send opponents flying. Kat's range and speed give her an advantage over many other characters in combat.

As for her supers (quite possibly the most important aspect of a character in PSASBR) Kat impresses, but doesn't amaze. Her level one is a standard sideways attack with limited range that takes out one opponent. Her level two is what really shines as her AP builds quickly and is easy to use. When you use it, Kat levitates above the field and shoots two sets of rocks (much like her second ultimate attack in Gravity Rush) that seek out and destroy the competition. Kat's level three has her dawn a giant cosmic cat on her shoulders that allows her to wreak havoc on her opponents for a limited amount of time. Though she does have huge mobility and speed in this mode, it isn't necessarily worth it to save your AP all the way to level three, as her level two is already devastating.

Next I moved on to Emmett Graves, who I have a personal fondness for. I absolutely adored Starhawk when it first came out, and I still hop in to play from time to time. Once again, I knew from playing Emmett's original game that he had some interesting mechanics at his disposal. Unlike Kat, whose biggest draw was her wild movement, Emmett's appeal is definitely the extensive wealth of weapons at his disposal. Like in Starhawk, Emmett summons machinery from the sky to aid him in battle. The standard gun that Emmett begins the round with is relatively weak. Thankfully he is able to bring in either a shotgun or a rocket launcher. The shotgun, which has power similar to Sweet Tooth's, is a good way to distance opponents; while the rocket launcher is good for powerful long range attacks, though it is fairly slow. The other machine that can be spawned is an auto-turret. The turret is quite weak, but deploying it whenever you have the chance is great for extra AP generation.

Emmett's Super moves are also a force to be reckoned with. His level one is a simple shot sideways with a fairly long range that takes out one opponent. His level two has Emmett summon a spawning pod straight down in front of him that takes out opponents in the air and on the ground. When the pod lands it also causes a large explosion that takes out any opponents in the vicinity of the landing site. Emmett's level three super is especially interesting. When used, Emmett climbs into a slow-moving Starhawk in Mech form which is equipped with forward lasers and Aerial mines. The interesting aspect of this super is that if you press circle or R2 early in the timer, The Hawk will transform into flight mode and zoom away from the screen, only to return with three laser shots that are nearly guaranteed to net a kill. If you use the flight mode later, after attacking in mech mode, only two lasers are fired during the flight, and they don't automatically seek out opponents. This mechanic gives the player the choice between a guaranteed triple-score, or the chance at even more kills.