PS VITA's UNIT 13 beats 3DS's METAL GEAR in UK

VITA Shooter outguns 3DS

Matt Adcock

In the UK this week, the new shooter Unit 13 on PSVITA beat the 3DS new release of Metal Gear Solid 3D - only Unit 13 made the top 40 sales chart (at #15). This is despite the VITA only having been on sale for 3 weeks and having a much lower installed base.

Source: http://ukie.org.uk/content/ukie-week-10-2012-uk-video-games-charts

"classic game but couldn't outgun new challenger UNIT 13"

Unit 13 Review

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

The PS Vita has its first shooter and it is a full blooded heavy duty tour of duty – from Zipper Interactive – these guys know a thing or two about shooting games as they made the SOCOM games on various PlayStation platforms and MAG on the PS3.

Unit 13 brings hot leaden death to the VITA’s beautiful OLED screen with 45 tactical missions in which you take down global terror networks and prove your place amongst the military elite.

With the precision of the Vita's dual analogue sticks, unique 5” touch-screen, Wifi connectivity for fast action and 2-player co-op, and 3G compatibility for instant social updates and highly addictive daily challenges, Unit 13 is a beast of an on-the-go action shooter.

"dusty terrorists need some hot lead - go to it soldier!"

Things kick off with a nice training course / tutorial which introduces you to the game – points are awarded for kills, more for headshots, stealth and multiple kills… The main missions are divided into several specific types – Backlash, Deadline, Camouflage, Elite etc. Each has different parameters for success, some require surgical hits on targets, others are larger scale fire0fights or rescue missions, Elite ones do not let you regenerate health apart from in specific areas and so must be approached with a less gung-ho attitude.

Getting a good score (3 stars or more) on a mission opens up the dynamic version of the missions which is shuffled with randomly generated tasks and enemies. There are six specialist soldier classes to choose from, picking the best one for the mission will depend somewhat on how you like to play e.g. sniping from afar or getting up close and personal with your prey… Each class can be upgraded so if you want to specialise in one you can build them up to be a deadly perk enhanced killing machine.

One great touch is the downloadable daily missions – a new one available each 24 hours – but you only one shot at it and the worldwide leader-board beckons!

Unit 13 looks the business on the VITA, there are some nice lighting and smoke effects, characters are detailed and muzzle flashes satisfyingly light up the area. The locations range from dusty Middle Eastern towns and vistas to underground stations, nightclubs and palaces.

"shoot first, admire the banners later"

Controls and gameplay is where Unit 13 really shines, the double joysticks on the VITA are wonderful for this sort of game, it really feels a lot like Call of Duty style run and gunning – in fact it serves as a mouth watering example of just how good COD VITA is going to be!

The missions are nicely designed and if you fail you’ll know that it was down to something you did rather than an unfair glitch or stupid level design. That just increases the ‘one more go’ factor so much so that you can spend hours happily trying to perfect a mission.

Sure the big guns of Resistance, Killlzone and COD are all on their way to VITA but Unit 13 sets a great standard for other shooters to match up to. Move out soldier – the world needs you!!

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö1/2

4.5 – Game changing VITA shooter, hits the target!!