PS3 Reviews

Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Steve Goodwin

I don’t know about you but when I wander into my local videogames retailer, knowing fine well that the brand new next-gen title has been released and that’s why I am there, I always am a little apprehensive. That’s not because I am unsure at all whether I want the big, flashy brand new game or not; it’s more likely down to the fact that I know that there will be a massive fat £50 sticker slapped onto the box. Of course it’s going to be that price; it’s just been released and it’s for my Playstation 3. But there is always that little ray of hope that the shop has a special offer or some unwitting, mindless member of staff has missed priced it or something. Yeah, it never happens, I know.

But you know, when you sit back and think about the effort, money, man hours and resources that go into making these next generation games you kind of start to understand why we have to part with so much of our precious pennies to buy them. So when you do go to buy the latest release you have a fair challenge on your hands; it’s an expensive choice so you want to be sure that you’re getting you’re moneys worth. Well that’s something we’ve started to expect, especially when we’re considering titles for the PS3. We know there’s going to be the superbly detailed HD graphics paired with smooth animation, fantastic sound and unrivalled levels of interactivity. We expect this because we’ve coughed up the £400+ for the machine that can provide these wonders.

So that’s why Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom can be summed up using the word disappointing. That’s not to say that this is a poor game, not at all. It’s just that I’d expected more from it. Agreed, it was originally a PS2 title and we’ve also seen a PSP entry in the series both of which failed to really meet standards of similar titles. But this is developed by Sony Online Entertainment; whose catalogue contains past favourites such as EverQuest and StarWars: Galaxies.

Dark Kingdom is a self proclaimed hack ‘n’ slash RPG adventure which has you fighting to save the land of Dureth. A land of ruined cities and dark caverns that had fallen into darkness and is overtaken by hordes of evil creatures, a highly original story but one that still manages to surprise.  The tale begins with your picking from a typical trio of available characters; the Warrior (slow but very strong), his physical opposite the Scout (faster but weaker) and the Mage (expert in spells). Once your choice has been made you’re stuck with that character throughout the approximately 25 hour campaign – a shame you cannot switch members as and when say, certain puzzles crop up. Although, for longevity purposes you can play the game again using each one of the team, which does actually add some variety.

So lets take a brief look at the three elements of Dark Kingdom; RPG, hack ’n’ slash and adventure. My initial thought was one of overwhelming. RPG’s that are not part of a series, like Final Fantasy for example whose role-playing elements become second nature from playing their predecessors, can have a daunting feeling. The knowledge that you’ll have to learn to understand all the new levelling up system, special weapons, upgrades and the like, can be somewhat off-putting. Let me inform you that the way that the RPG characteristics have been implemented in Dark Kingdom is brilliant. It’s not as vast or intricate as Square’s eponymous effigy is; but then it’s not as complicated neither. Here, there are set upgrades for your character and his/her weapons and armour and it’s a simple as picking them up from the battlefield as you progress through the game. There’s no spending hours strategically picking where is best to place my experience points; just “oh there’s the second of the five upgrades for my weapon!” and “only one more piece to attach to my armour before I’m totally kick-ass!”. There is still the obligatory Orbs that you pick up from fallen foes; these can be used to increase your health, magic, defence etc – all straight forward selections. Rather than being seen as basic and shallow I feel this eases the pressure off how to build up your character and lets you have more fun levelling up automatically with progression. Unfortunately you’re never given the option of a different weapon which would have been a nice addition; RPG’s are known for their vast arsenals.

The hack ‘n’ slash ingredient of Dark Kingdom, for me, is where the main disappointment lies. I feel the combat could’ve been made a lot more interesting. It works if you like your action like this; similar to God of War and maybe even Ninety-Nine Nights but to me a more structured system would’ve pleased more. To mix button-mashed combos into a role-playing game seems an odd decision and is maybe to blame for the previous incarnation’s failures, despite the PS3 version making these combos quite pretty and visually impressive. The constant ‘drop in’ of more and more and more enemies onto the battlefield just oozes monotony and detracts from the fun. Every now and again a bigger enemy with appear but is just as easily defeated with a steady run of X,X,Square combinations. With the exception of the aforementioned God of War games (in which this method of combat is perfectly suited) I feel we’re passed this combat system.

Controls are simple and intuitive as expected with the battle combos pulled of with alternating hits of the X and Square buttons for quick and wide attacks respectively. Triangle use is for interacting; such as opening chests and picking up objects, while the Circle button has you jump. A nice inclusion is the ability to dodge attacks (using R2) as this manoeuvre can be incorporated into attacking combos. Spells are cast with the pressing of a shoulder and face button in tandem; more often used with the Mage who has fire and ice spells.

One plus is that your buddies can pick up a controller and jump in and out of the action freely and help or hinder your adventure. This can be quite fun but will not be a purchase-making addition. Online, Dark Kingdom provides the opportunity for a few of you to mash your way through the campaign but offers nothing really new or different to the single player mode. Multiplayer seems almost like a tacked on, rushed addition.

Similarly, the adventure element of Dark Kingdom is a little lack lustre. The story, if predictable, still surprises and throws in a few twists too and is unfolded in more depth as you work your way through the 30 or so levels. A fair number you might think but they are a little on the short side, however a saving grace may lay in their variety. Little titbits of the tale are revealed to the player via the means of cut scenes, breaking up the action, but are interestingly current-gen in their style and quality.

Graphically this game fails to shine where it really should. Basically a jazzed up port of a current-gen game with some neat additions and graphical effects thrown in. Characters are fairly well detailed and animated, yet despite some nice textures the environments feel a little bland and uninteresting. There are some issues with clipping which occurs when your controlled warrior becomes snagged on anything from trees to rocks to cardboard boxes; an annoyance rather than a let down. Overall, you just can’t escape the feeling that you’re playing a PS2 game which is a let down. The quality of the sound effects is equally mediocre with some nice punch battle thumps and smashes but it’s the orchestral score that lifts this title up a fair bit. Musically, this could almost rival a certain Square franchise. Almost.

To summarise and to reflect on my first point; Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom is a fun game despite repetitive combat. The levelling up system is just the right depth of the RPG element, keeping things simple but interesting. Players will have fun with this – if they can pick it up off the shelf, £50 may seem steep in comparison to it’s content. don’t forget though, this is no fully-fledged RPG or all-out button mashing game – it’s a nice mix. I would’ve liked to have seen more for the money.

Overall Score: 6/10

PS3 Reviews

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Steve Goodwin

From the moment the next-gen consoles were conceived, we as consumers, were guaranteed something very special. Developers and publishers alike bombarded us with promises of ’Hollywood-style’ visuals, immersive gameplay, unrivalled interaction, phenomenal levels of detail amongst many other gaming wonders. We expected big things. Very big things. With each generation of console from the original Playstation to Playstation 2 and now Playstation 3 (PS3), there has always been significant leaps and bounds made in every aspect of what each console could do; and therefore what we could come to expect in our games.

We are all aware that the PS3 didn’t really get off on the right foot when it was launched back in March 2007, but let us not forget that this was the first time that Sony’s main rival, Microsoft and the Xbox 360, has had a head start in terms of having a console on the shelf before them. However, despite Microsoft’s machine selling like hotcakes, Sony fans hung on and remained loyal knowing that their new machine would be capable of so much more. Knowing that with time, this console would provide us with all the wondrous delights I mentioned earlier.

So, here we are over a year down the line and we finally get the PS3’s killer app we all hoped for. Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is without doubt the finest game on the PS3. In fact it’s one of the finest games ever and we have it all to ourselves due to exclusivity rights. I know in the past when a game has been released exclusively for one console, it only takes a few months wait and it gets ported to the opposing machine. Needless to say though, we will never need to worry about Solid Snake making an appearance on the Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS4) is the first game ever to tick all the above boxes, and tick them with remarkable ease too. This game has the movie-like visuals, actually blurring the fine line between film and video game like never before. The production value of this title is very high, probably record-breaking and it’s very obvious from the offset. For it’s fourth and final instalment things have just been ramped up another few notches. Fantastic graphics, astounding audio and detailed realism have always been present in the Metal Gear Solid series.

I want to remain a little vague regarding details on story and plot elements. Mainly because the storyline provides the basis of MGS4’s backbone and to reveal something that may seem trivial could become a wrecking ball of spoilers. Basically, Snake’s outing this time round takes him to a battlefield in the Middle East on which a civil war is in full swing. Your initial goal is to infiltrate this war zone as an incognito member of the local militia, your enemy being squads of PMCs (private military companies) controlled by Liquid Ocelot. I will mention this now; for fear of writing a review of epic proportions I suggest if you are new to the Metal Gear saga then a little background reading is required. For now though, the important thing is the PMC’s are the bad guys!

You are heavily outnumbered, almost constantly, so a stealthy approach is needed. In fact it’s the whole game ethic. You will have to find ways of getting from A to B without being spotted, which is not going to be easy as this is the most intense and difficult MGS yet. If you are spotted however, don’t fret as there is a varied arsenal of firearms at your disposal, most of which can be picked up from the battlefield. Although it’s not recommended, it is possible to complete the whole game, ‘all guns blazing’. If you do chose this path, you will miss what MGS is all about; the stealth. MGS4 excels in this aspect over all other similar titles. Don’t be fooled though, MGS4 has it’s fair share of epic boss battles, with some of them bringing up faces from the past….again I wont spoil it for you.

As you’re going to be spending a lot of time moving at a slower pace, compared to say an FPS, it’s just as well that the graphics on show are truly astonishing. Everything from the scenery and environment to the character animation to the particle effects and lighting are displayed in awesome HD. The torn-apart towns at the beginning of the game just feel real and you almost find yourself coughing if the wind kicks up some dust around you. Lay over the top of this an amazing cinematic score in surround sound and you’re there in the Middle East playing your own part in some blockbuster film. Enemy AI is also unique and is very imposing. You will lose count of the times you find yourself creeping around a corner and suddenly finding yourself at the feet of an enemy; luckily facing the opposite direction. Holding your breath you decide to either take him out or remain hidden. To quote a cliché, it’s priceless, no matter how many times in happens.

Staying out of sight is key in this game and you’ve got a new toy to make it that little bit easier and a lot more fun. ‘Octocamo’ is new the MGS and it is what your suit is made of. Essentially, this suit allows you to blend in to your surroundings at ease within seconds. Stand against a wall with a particular texture/coating and your suit will mirror that texture and keep you more or less invisible. The same occurs if you lie on the ground, your whole body with mimic the flooring dramatically decreasing the chance of being spotted. It’s also amazing to watch – you wont ever get bored! Of course, despite this technology you are not at such an advantage as you might think. In MGS4 you have to be aware of many other aspects of your surroundings and actions. Enemy PMC’s will notice your shadow, so be aware of light sources. They’ll also know if you’ve moved anything like boxes and items and remember to shut doors behind you! One more thing which recalls the level of detail here is the wind. Your HUD shows wind direction and if you’re giving off a smell (no I won‘t explain it!) or for instance smoking; the wind will carry evidence of your presence in that direction. PMC’s are human; they can smell.

You’ll need your wits about you on this mission but don’t worry if things kick off when you inadvertently draw attention to yourself; the enemy has an Alert System. This system has three states; Alert, Evasion and Caution. Once you’re spotted the enemy will be at the Alert state and you’ll be attacked, lose them and after a few moments they’ll lower their readiness to Evasion where the bad guys will actively search for you. Finally the Caution state; in which the enemy give up searching but are still on guard. Each state provides you with a fair share of thrills and tension and you can even use these to your advantage to progress through the game.

Controlling Snake has never been more intuitive in my opinion. By moving the left stick you can have Snake move extremely slowly and thus making no noise or at the cost of your audible footsteps; shift at a jogging pace. The right stick controls the camera and is very useful for when spying around corners but is put to more use when in first person mode whereby the game acts as per all other FPS games. Although this is new to the series, it feels far from alien. Aiming and firing weapons is governed by L1 and R1 respectively, L2 launches your item list and R2 does likewise with your weapons list (both of which will thankfully pause the action). The face buttons control stance; walk, crawl and prone as well as reloading and perform case sensitive actions such as climb/mount, open and use. Many actions are represented with on-screen prompts although they never impede to the point where you feel like it’s holding your hand throughout the game.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was hyped like nothing that came before it, with the exception of maybe GTA4. The differences being; MGS4 actually lives up to and often exceeds expectations and this is on PS3 only and many people have waited for this title to emerge before parting with their cash and nabbing the console. Ticking all the right boxes; epic story, groundbreaking visuals and graphics, engrossing audio and immense levels of detail, MGS4 is what we’ve all been waiting for. A killer app for us PS3 owners to call our own. Hideo Kojima’s finale ends the series with a bang rather than sneaking quietly in the darkness.

Overall Score: 9/10

PS3 Reviews

Uncharted Drake’s Fortune Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Adou Gabal

The good: immersive experience, great graphics, movie-like cut scenes, good story with a few plot twists, a lot of extras (making of, artwork … etc), great animations and good controls.

The bad: You can finish the game in 8-12 hours, no online play and the platforming can see scripted at times.

From the game box art to the setting the game begins with, uncharted looks like a theatrical adventure blockbuster movie. Naughty Dog Developers haven’t been wasting their time creating their latest masterpiece, as this game truly shows the shear power of the ps3.

Story:

The game begins when Nathan Drake recovers a lost coffin of his ancestor, explorer Sir Francis Drake, while the whole scene is being filmed by a journalist called Elena Fisher. Inside the coffin, they both find the lost diary of Drake instead of his body, leading them to El Dorado. Suddenly, the boat gets attacked by some mercenary pirates as the game lets you play. After this brief but interesting cut scene you’d start to get some tingly nostalgic feelings about Indiana Jones, about what to expect from this game and about the great face animations, graphics and lighting effects this game is delivering.

Gameplay:

A lot of games made a common mistake, it’s either have decent graphics or decent gameplay. The few games which managed to have both are easily distinguished and critically acclaimed. This game falls into that category. Naughty Dog has delivered a game that has both aspects without failing under stress or pressure of what was expected. Uncharted has a somewhat unique gameplay system: the covering system works great, which is a good thing because you’ll spend most of the time killing pirates and blowing things up, however the melee combat is nothing special but on the plus side it lets you pull off action movie like combos which leave you satisfied after performing the button commands on screen.

When you’re not smoking pirates however you’ll be platforming through the luscious environments of uncharted. You’d be doing some climbing, jumping, rope walking (not exactly a rope, it’s a tree laying down between two cliffs walking) and rope swinging. Don’t expect off the wall acrobatics featured in games like prince of Persia or tomb raider, but the action is really fun.

Graphics:

This game shows great graphical detail that sets it apart from most games out there. The trees filling the environment, the water falls, the facial animations and the ancient ruins all look remarkable. There will come moments where you’ll feel overwhelmed by the beauty of the scenery. For me, the most notable scene was the U-boat. As a 3d render software user, one of the things that always annoyed me was creating realistic water. Uncharted has great water texture that sometimes you’d feel the devs. are bragging.  The animations, especially face animations, are top notch, and if you’re curious on how they made them you can check in the extras you unlock along the way.

Audio:

The game score is composed by Greg Edmonson (TV’s firefly). The music is well balanced between ethnic, traditional instruments and orchestral instruments, which momentarily gives you the feeling of a classical action/adventure taste to the game. The voice acting is pretty good and not boring to listen to as the story unravels piece by piece.

Overall:

What do you need in any game? Is it a great compelling story? Check. A fun gameplay that has no bugs? Check. A graphical masterpiece? Double check. If you own a ps3 and don’t have this game yet, you should seriously consider buying it. Although it might not be a long experience you’d sure remember it.

Gameplay           9/10

Graphics           9.5/10

Presentation       8.5/10

Audio              9.5/10

Tilt               7.5/10

Overall            88/100

PS3 Reviews

Fifa 08 Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Adou Gabal

The good: A complete authentic experience, improved gameplay (Ball physics and AI), very good graphics, good skills system, more players and more teams, interesting new modes, superior presentation, very good soundtrack, lives up for the expectations.

The bad: Only well known players look close to their real counterparts, Crowd looks still and unrealistic, no referees or linesmen during gameplay, unrealistic adboards.

For many years, EA sports has injected new elements to the game. Some have proved to be successful, while others were quickly withdrawn from the series. On the next-gen platforms, EA has promised an overhaul to the whole game, while keeping the same engine around for its ps2/pc games.

New Features

First thing you notice when you first run the game, after the long list of emblems and licenses, is that the game asks you for your favourite team. After that it will take you to the arena. The arena is a new feature that lets you take control of one player (Ronaldinho is the default player but you can change that from the options) and try all the new moves, skills, try out free kicks and shots to master the different aspects of the game.

When you press start, a menu will appear that will let you choose what game mode you would prefer to play. A new mode was available when playing offline which is the: Be a pro offline training. In that mode you will take control of any player on the pitch and master his role. Thanks to a new camera angle that will always show your player and where the ball is on the pitch at the same time, you’ll try to position yourself in the ideal position for your team mates to anticipate the right pass if you’re an attacker or try to obstruct the opponents’ forwards if you’re a defender. It’s a good experience that can only get better with the release of a patch that added the possibility of matches with players up to 5v5 at the same time. The patch also adjusted the gameplay speed that was seen kind of slow to build up attacks and make counter attacks with ease.

Now looking at standard matches’ types, the game features 621 Fifa licensed teams, 30 leagues and more than 15,000 players. Also it includes 52 stadiums that will let you even choose what grass pattern type you prefer to see on the ground. Team management has seen a lot of improvement this year, it has included to make custom formations with the smallest details, including attacking and defensive runs, exact players’ positions and more. When everything is set, the game takes you back to the arena to train a little bit with your player before the start of the match. While doing so, the game loads in the background, so when you’re ready you can just press start to get on with the game, which I thought was a smart move by EA: eliminating loading screens.

Gameplay

From the second you begin the match, you’ll notice a huge difference in gameplay. Players now handle the ball more realistically. The ball now has its own physics which means that the ball won’t be stuck to the players’ feet anymore. You’ll see players stretching and bending to try to stop or shoot the ball. Very fluid and realistic animations (which were even more fluid after the official patch was applied). The game now lets you build up your attack the way you like it: pass it around and taking it slow, play on the wings or right down the middle, as now you don’t have to run with the ball the whole time. Players are more smart defensively and offensively. EA has announced that players can now calculate 1000 moves per second to suit what’s the ideal move to make. The skill moves are not easy to pull off, but once you have mastered them, they will give you a sense of satisfaction and achievement. Also you will have to be in the ideal position to take a shot otherwise you’ll see a lot of shots off target. All in all the gameplay has really taken a step forward and is a thrill to play, it’s even worth a try if you’re a PES fan and always complained about Fifa’s unrealistic gameplay.

Graphics

Graphically, the game looks sweet. From the fully detailed stadiums to fully licensed teams and players. The hair movement, shirts deformations and even sweat are all there. Only few problems arised: although well known players are looking almost the same as their real counterparts they still looked a bit unrealistic, on the other hand, Fifa’s main rival PES has done its job beautifully with the import face feature, which produced almost real faces in-game. Also the crowd throughout the stadium looks boring, as it doesn’t react with the game events, and carry no flags of the teams playing. While the game is graphically advanced, it was weird not to include the referee or linesmen in the game. The game presentation is at its very best. Possibly one of the best game presentations on the market.

Audio

The game includes amazing audio features. From its multi-national soundtrack, to the crowd chants, the players sounds and everything associated with the match. The commentators do a nice job, adding to the whole tv-like presentation of the game. They may get repetitive at times if you play with one team for many matches. The game overall offers a very nice audio-visual experience.

Online

Online, the game experiences almost no lags at all. The gameplay is somewhat slower but it’s still a very good experience. The EA servers are stable and is home for thousands of gamers. A lot of different modes to play adds to the depth of the game. Interactive leagues, be a pro 5v5, leagues and even ranked and unranked friendlies are a joy to play, and you can always check your rank at the online leaderboards.

Overall

The game is a big leap forward from its last releases. It offers a solid, enjoyable game with lots of add ons and things to go through. You will want to play the game over and over again to unlock all of its fanshop items, or even just to compete with friends. The realistic gameplay adds an element that was absent in older Fifa releases. It’s certainly a worthy competition for this year’s PES2008 and a must buy for Fifa long time fans.

Gameplay      8.5   (New gameplay engine excels at recreating the real  match experience)

Graphics      8     (Shirt deformation, hair moves with wind, fully detailed stadiums)

Sound         8.5   (Very good commentary, great soundtrack)

Value         9.5   (The complete football game, you’ll get what you paid for in form of different game modes that will always entertain)

Tilt          10    (Deep  manager mode, lots of leagues to play, great online experience and decent AI all make this year’s fifa a long lasting game)

Overall      8.9/10 (EA has finally balanced a good gameplay engine with the impressive presentation they used to deliver every year, it’s a huge step forward that even made archrival PES get back to the drawing board)

PS3 Reviews

Civilization Revolution Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member John Millman

Sid Meir’s Civilization series declares war in Civ’s first appearance on PS3. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept of Civilization games, it basically involves leading your Civilization from the stone age to the space age, in a race to destroy or out wit all opposing Civilizations that stand in your way. The game plays like a giant interactive board game with players taking turns to move troops, plan attacks, build wonders such as the great wall of China in ancient times or a Nuclear bomb in the modern era and perhaps most importantly, manage workers to either produce, research or mine gold. Victory can be acheived in four different ways; Economic, Technology, Domination and Cultural. Each victory forces the player to adopt a different strategy in order to survive which makes the game feel fresh with each playing. In order to win the player must first choose a race. Each race has slight advantages unique to the character of the race, for example the Romans get half price roads, etc. To win the game by economic means the player must manage his workers to produce gold in a race to be the first Civ to build the world bank and own the world finances. A Technology victory requires that your Civ is the first to send a rocket to another planet, Domination involves crushing your enemies by use of force, combine units into groups of three and you have yourself an army. For each battle that is won the unit will gain in strengh and eventually be offered upgrades such as better city infiltration techniques. And finally in order to win by cultural you must make sure that your cities are generating enough culture to attract at least 20 great people to your city.

We all know that what makes a great game on the PC does not automatically translate into a great game on consoles. In Civ Rev the whole Keyboard and mouse issue is completly solved and simply mapped out onto the pad allowing for quick and easy control, navigation and management. The games are also much shorter in length, with each game taking between 3-5 hours, compared with 3-5 days per game on the PC, making for more intense battles especially when one civilization comes close to victory and the only sensible action is for all to declare war and put an end to an opponents victory attempt. Hardcore fans of the series may scratch their beards and grumble at the reduction of orders, options and map size on show here and argue that this ruins the game. But to do so they would be wrong. The reduction in options and menus works extremly well on the console and does not detract from the gameplay by any means. In fact one could argue that the new simplified controls, smaller maps and simple options add to the gameplay in terms of flow, intensity and closer battles. What PC gamers have to remember is that Civ Rev is designed from the ground up aimed specifically towards a market dominated by trigger happy adrenaline pumped console games. Civ Rev is by no means trigger happy despite the faster pace, a good strategy and knowledge of surroundings is still the key to suceess.

The difficulty is also extremly hard to master on the higher settings. On the lower difficulty settings the AI is not very good at all, you will soon find your modern tanks rampaging through an outdated AI line of medieval archers and AI that does not try very hard to disrupt your production when you come close to victory. However on the higher difficulty levels the AI is rather good and all hell breaks loose as soon as you come close to acheiving a victory (better get those defences ready). The diplomacy panel allows players to trade knowledge and information, declare war and peace, discuss world events and even bribe another civilization to attack another for a certain amount of turns. Or change governments for certain benefits and disadvantages. For example if going for a technology victory it makes sense to switch to a democracy due to increased science and gold production on the upside, but on the downside under a democracy it is impossible to declare war as those pesky citizens always VETO any attempt. But if you suddenly want to declare war simpy press R1, have a riot in the city, overthrow your current rulers, and rule with absolute power under despotism. Nice.

The modes of play included are Single player, scenario, game of the week (GOTW), and ranked/unranked matches online with full voicechat. Scenario mode involves finishing a game under certain conditions such as wiping the opponent completly off the map, be the first to an economic victory, etc. This can be a good mode to play in order to try out different tactics than one would normally employ by acheiving a different means of victory. GOTW is a static map that is updated on a weekly basis and open for everyone to play any number of times over the course of the week in order to acheive the highest score on the online leaderboards. Graphically the game is bright and colourful but do not exactly show off the full potential of the PS3. This game is all about the gameplay and does what it does very well.

Online is the place that this game really excels and brings a welcome restbite to the daily hussle and bussle of shooting, explosions and fast cars. Playing for 3 or 4 hours online, time seems to fly by and the feeling of building a nuke just before another civilization manages to complete a game winning wonder only to see their Civ turned from world leader to a pile of rubble in one turn is truly beautiful. However Civ Rev is not without its flaws, the game can occasionally suffer from the odd tear in online gameplay and seasoned Civ players may feel that the game is a little lightweight in comparison with it’s PC counterparts. All in all this is a great effort and Sid comes up trumps with what could have turned out to be a disaterous port. If you like your games with a bit of brains and more addictive than pringles then look no further the revolution is here! World domination is a step away. 8/10

John Millman

PS3 Reviews

Rock Band Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Aaron Randolph

You open the Rock Band box, and you half expect everything to be glowing with green energy. The hype has been massive, promoting Rock Band as the be-all and end-all. In truth, the Fender controller did seem to sparkle, but that could’ve been just a trick of the light. All the same, you lovingly unwrap the pieces like a brand new toy on Christmas morning, almost in awe at the wonders before you. You insert batteries where they are needed, plug everything in, insert the Rock Band disc, and wait for glory.

The glory does come, and despite everything, you’re never really ready for it.

This game looks and feels fantastic. It’s sometimes easy, depending on the situation, to completely forget that you’re playing a game. The guitar controller is thinner at the neck than you might be used to, but that same thin neck allows people with small hands (or just small people) to rock out with their bad selves more easily. The solo buttons at the bottom, however, take some getting used to, as those buttons are slimmer. I tend to use the normal buttons for the solo and save those special buttons for the Big Rock Finish. The effects switch is a nice gimmick, though it should be noted that the effects only seem to work while Overdrive is on.

The microphone works as intended, though I’m not 100% sure that phoneme detection was implemented correctly. As it turns out, you can sing whatever you want during the sung sections of the song and it won’t count against you, probably due to the sheer fun of making up your own lyrics. I’d have a story here, but this document could fall into the hands of children. The clapping/tambourine sections are equally fun, and definitely help to keep the singer engaged in the song. For the sections where you’re not singing or clapping, instead just talking or ‘rapping’, you’re forced to stick to the script, and even then sometimes, I found myself penalized when I was pretty sure I’d said exactly what had appeared on the screen, and I don’t stutter or have any other speech impediment. But this is only a minor flaw, and doesn’t detract from the experience as a whole.

And now, onto the drum kit. This is the piece of equipment I’d had the most concerns about, and those concerns appear to be justified at the moment. On the one hand, it’s only fair to admit that this is probably the most fun instrument to play, period. Be warned, however, that your legs should be in good condition. If you’ve never worked a drum set before, you’ll be sore after a few songs on even medium difficulty. And most certainly do NOT jump up difficulties until you’ve trained your arms and legs to work independently of one another, unless you’re looking to be thrashed. That having been said, a lot of fun can be had….if you’re lucky. As it turned out, I was one of the unfortunates whose bass pedal was broken after three days and perhaps a grand total of ten hours of use. And I wasn’t exactly jumping up and down on it, though I was certainly tempted to do so AFTER it broke. It took EA support over a week to send a new one — and the new one was for the Xbox 360. A little bit of constructive yelling fixed that problem in a hurry.

The gameplay itself is nearly flawless, with a ton of arenas to play at in 17 different cities, and each one has something unique to enjoy. My absolute favorite remains the one where your band’s name (or your player’s in Solo Tour) shows up in lights behind the drummer. THAT was unexpected, and incredible. Band play is fast and furious, and filled with choices. Where do you want to play? What do you want to play when you get there? Do you want to play a set where you choose the songs, or one where the audience chooses what they want to hear? Do you want to record this particular set for the Band’s DVD, knowing that if you don’t absolutely nail it you could lose twice as many fans? Being able to make these choices amongst your friends is one of the simple joys provided here.

Customization is a buzzword in the game industry, and Rock Band delivers in spades. Make your own band members however you want to make them. And while you can’t exactly mold their heads and bodies any old way you might want, there are enough clothes and accessories to deck them out in any style you choose. There are some fairly hilarious accessories available to unlock while you’re at it. Making your own band logo is more fun than I thought it would be, since you’re given a bunch of seemingly random graphics, and are allowed to modify them in almost any way you desire. Though I don’t think they intended it to be possible, my band, Barrage, has the one-finger salute as our logo. True, it’s in bad taste, but nothing’s funnier than seeing your band’s jet with that salute on it.

Songs, glorious songs. Brilliant song list. Covers old favorites and modern genius. Rush, Stone Temple Pilots, Coheed and Cambria (finally!), METALLICA. It’s a veritable cornucopia of music, and with a few minor exceptions, everything’s a blast to play. And those exceptions could just be personal bias on my part. There might be people out there who enjoy playing The Electric Version by The New Pornographers, I just don’t. But the note charts are phenomenally done. It’s hard to find any real inaccuracies or problems with the note structures for each song on Expert. The downloadable content is alright, I guess. Three songs for just under $6 after taxes isn’t bad, but so far, with the exception of the Metallica pack and Synchronicity II from the Police pack, everything else they’ve provided so far hasn’t really been my cup of tea. Once again, that’s probably just personal bias at work, so I won’t hold it against them.

I only have a few complaints and minor gripes. First of all, if you want to play Band World Tour, and your band’s designated leader isn’t available to play, you have to make a new band. Which makes sense from a realism standpoint, I guess, but in the game it’s annoying. Also, if you’ve made a character who can play the guitar, congratulations. You’ll never be able to use that character to play anything else. I ended up making three different versions of myself just so I could play whatever I darn well pleased, thank you very much. It’s like Harmonix never heard of band members playing different instruments. And since GHIII Les Paul controllers don’t work, and won’t work until Activision gets their collective heads removed from their backsides, if you want to play with four band members, you’ll likely need to buy an extra guitar.

That doesn’t stop Rock Band from being one of the most fun experiences available. So get some people together, plug in your instruments, and immerse yourselves in the spectacle, the experience, and the rich world that is rock and roll.

9.2 out of 10 overall

Pros:  Rock out on all instruments
       Great song list
       Phenomenal Band World Tour mode

Cons:  Some technical issues with instruments possible
       Some technical issues with band/member structure
       Some technical issues with EA support staff

PS3 Reviews

MGS4: Guns Of The Patriots Review

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Review written by Playstation4.net staff member Aaron Randolph

The Metal Gear franchise has enjoyed a long, rich history. With its somewhat humble beginnings on the MSX, and again on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Snake managed to imprint himself as one of the most heroic characters in video game history. Always alone, always striving to do what’s right, no matter what it cost him.

And now, with Metal Gear Solid 4, Konami and Hideo Kojima have managed to give Snake one hell of a sendoff.

This game is the ultra-mind-blowing-phenomenal-decisive-strike-bucket-of-incredible-insanity. It’s the be-all-and-end-all. It’s the holy-crap-why-can’t-all-games-be-like-this. And it’s only for Playstation 3.

I’ll even go so far as to say that this isn’t a game. It’s an experience. It might be a cliche’, but in this case it’s 100 percent accurate. This game may just change the way you think.

The plot is easily Kojima’s best. Despite the plot twists and questions the game brings up on its own, Kojima and his staff SOMEHOW managed to tie up nearly every loose end from MGS 1, 2, and 3. Remember MGS2, and how that game left you with so many questions as to be preposterous? Those questions will all, ALL, be answered in this game.

Yes, Snake’s old now. Being a clone will do that to you, apparently. Liquid Ocelot is taking over the world, and who else is going to stop him? There’s one problem. Liquid owns five PMC’s (private military companies, think mercenaries but more organized) that are so huge that they can be labeled ‘world powers’. Through five chapters, you’ll learn the truth about what Liquid’s really trying to do, as well as what is in store for Snake. And the truth isn’t pretty. One of the things I don’t like about this game (but won’t affect my score) is the fact that the plot gets somewhat depressing during certain sections of the game, mostly the end of Act 3 and the middle and end of Act 4. But as a creative work, it’s simply genius. Yes, some of the cutscenes run obscenely long, verging on qualifying as a full-length movie on their own. But, trust me, if you like Metal Gear Solid AT ALL, you’ll be too engrossed in what’s going on to care. Just keep your potato chips and other snacks handy.

Hideo Kojima’s also known for making a statement with his games, and for me, this one really stands out. While the other games seemed to denounce a certain product of war (nuclear proliferation or child soldiers, for instance), this game denounces war itself. The anti-war theme in this game is so strong that any desire I had to play Call of Duty 4 has been crushed. I don’t even want to look at the box. If you want to kill your enemies in MGS4, you might want to do so on your first playthrough. It’s been hard for me to kill anybody in the game since. On the plus side, you can also expect Kojima’s now-trademark breaking of the 4th wall, which tends to be amusing as ever, like a playful wink at the player from Kojima. Another trademark of his found here is nuances. They’re subtle, but they’re everywhere, literally carpeting the game world. You just gotta know where to look.

The graphics for every Metal Gear Solid game have been a benchmark for what the Playstation 1 and 2 could do graphically, and this is no exception. You see this Middle Eastern battlefield, and you reflexively tense up. You can’t help it, since it looks so real that you feel like you’re really there. This is the level of realism that’s prevalent in the game. MGS4 is flush with reality, to the point where you’ll catch yourself stopping to just look around at everything. The one downside is that being so graphically intensive, the framerate sometimes has a hard time keeping up, especially during cutscenes. It never gets bad, but it is noticeable from time to time. But the trees look amazing, the animals look amazing, the land looks amazing, the buildings….well, they mostly look like someone shelled the hell out of them, but they look positively real. And it all helps make MGS4 into the juggernaut experience that it is.

The sound is an auditory masterpiece from start to finish. Sound effects run the gamut from bullets to bombs to birds to breakfast, and each and every effect feels perfectly in sync with this world. The voice acting is on par with just about every other Metal Gear Solid title — it’s the best in the industry. If I had one complaint about the acting, it would be the same as the complaint I have about every other game with voice acting in it — exaggeration and no subtleties. Since voice acting appeared in video games, characters have been allowed to have four emotions; happiness, sadness, rage, fear. And the voice acting in games has always emphasized those emotions, leaving no room for implied emotion or subtleties of any kind. If a character’s feeling something, the voice acting, combined with the cutscene direction, will beat us over the head with it so that we know exactly what that character is feeling. Gamer’s aren’t stupid, and we never will be, so I wish voice directors would back it up a bit and stop exaggerating. The Metal Gear Solid series has always been on the cusp of this level of theatrical presentation, but never quite takes that last step. I’m not taking any points off for it, like I said, they remain the best in the industry. It’s just a little disappointing. Yes, the Metal Gear series is a melodrama. My problem is, it could be so much more. Though it should be noted that there are a few moments in the game where this kind of implied emotion or subtle hints at more than what we’re shown shine through, mostly involving Snake or Otacon.

The music for Metal Gear Solid 1 was good. The music for Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 was incredible. The music for Metal Gear Solid 4 is a full-on auditory masterpiece. The best music in anything, movies, TV, video games, you name it, will supplement the original material, help you experience what the characters themselves are experiencing. No matter what game you’re playing, if you find yourself at a fever pitch, the music is at least partly responsible for that. This game had me at a fever pitch, sweating in my air-conditioned apartment, stunned into shock with my jaw dropped open, smiling openly, near tears and even in tears on a few occasions. It was only on my second playthrough that I even noticed the music was there. It just fit into every section, every moment so damned well. And once I noticed the music, I started listening, and I understood. This music goes several steps beyond brilliant.

Now for the meat of the matter. The gameplay is definitively the best in the series. The controls are FINALLY intuitive, and everything is adjustable to get it just how you want it. Speaking of choice, you once again have your choice of how to play the game. You can rush in, killing everything in sight, or you can sneak through without being spotted, that’s par for the course in a Metal Gear game, though the first option is of course far more costly. You can tranq enemies, use CQC, hide in dumpsters, roll over them in an iron drum, choke them out, use them as shields, all still nothing new.

But now there are more options than ever before. Do you ignore the battle and just go on to your objective, or do you stop and help out one side or the other? You want to give your rations to a wounded soldier or save them for yourself? You can even have the Metal Gear Mk. II knock out your enemies for you, collect weapons and ammo in the middle of a battle, make noise to draw enemies away from you, manipulate buttons or switches, or even just send it out to see what lies ahead. Want a dot sight on your M4? You can put one on it. How about a laser sight instead? Or a flashlight to see in the dark or blind enemies? A suppressor to silence the gun and fore grips to increase your accuracy are also available. Or maybe you want a bigger boom? Attach a shotgun to your M4, or better yet, a grenade launcher. You can let that helicopter shoot up the rebels, or take it out with a surface-to-air missile. This game is filled to the absolute brim with choices. And I don’t want to spoil anything for you, but at the end of Act 4, you get to do something that I’ve wanted to do since the first Metal Gear Solid. Now THAT was FUN.

On the flipside, there’s the fact that while any gamers who haven’t played any of the Metal Gear series will still enjoy the (excuse the pun) solid gameplay, they won’t have a clue what’s going on. Which, I might add, is the perfect excuse to play the three previous incarnations. Which they should have done to begin with.

And then there’s online play, which isn’t exactly what I’d hoped it would be. You’ve got your standards, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag (known as Capture Mission), King of the Hill (known as Base Mission), pretty much the same old stuff that was tired in the days of the PS2. The one unique mode in this game is called Sneaking Mission, where two teams face off against each other AND Snake himself. If Snake collects enough dog tags, he wins. If either of the teams kill Snake enough times, that team wins. It’s enjoyable to play something that isn’t simply cookie-cutter online play, but the enjoyment didn’t last long, and I ended up quitting MGO after less than an hour. Metal Gear Online is an interesting perk, but it doesn’t extend much beyond that.

Snake may be old, but he’s not dead yet, and as long as he lives, you can expect him to continue to be one of the biggest badasses on the battlefield, and one of the most popular characters ever. This game serves as a remarkable tribute to the power of the Playstation 3, to the idea that video games can be art, and finally, to Snake himself, a legend in his world and ours.

9.7 OUT OF 10

Pros: Incredible gameplay
      Remarkable story
      Ingenious music

Cons: Not for Metal Gear newbies
      Online play not very engaging
      Snake’s story comes to an end….