Let the games begin!!
Darkmatters review of Killzone 3 CLICK HERE
"Anticipation is high"
"Mmmmmmmmm!"
Showing posts with label game of the year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game of the year. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
DC Universe Online PS3 Review
PS3 gamers can go 'full super'
Developed by SOE
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
DC Universe™ Online is an action MMO (massively multiplayer online game ) that thrusts players into a high-stakes scenario where they fight alongside – or against - some of the most iconic super heroes and villains of all time. And for gamers wanting to slip on some tights and cape – the good news is that this is the first MMO to hit the PS3 and that it has been totally created to work with a Dualshock joypad rather than a keyboard / mouse combo.
"Power Girl - standing for truth, decency and skimpy outfits!"
So is it any good? Can it stand up to established ‘superhero MMOs’ such as City of Heroes which hit PCs in 2004 and Champions Online which is a couple of years old now?
Well - behind the scenes you can tell that Sony and DC Comics have obviously been putting in a huge amount of effort into making this the most authentic super hero gaming experience possible. The challenge was always going to be making a game true to the DC Comics canon, yet one which enables thousands of new heroes and villains to simultaneously appear overnight and stuck in to an over-arching plot!?. This challenge has been met by legendary comic book artist Jim Lee who serves as the game’s executive creative director, backed up by renowned DC writer Geoff Johns who has crafted the story. Additional support is being added by comics genius Marv Wolfman who is responsible for in game quests and events. The DC Universe Online team are the real comic book deal and boy does it show.
"Wonder Woman takes no prisoners"
The plot – brings a truly epic storyline where Lex Luthor appears from the future and calls civilians around the world to action to fight against Superman’s foe Brainiac, whose robot drones are attacking and threatening to overrun the Earth. Luthor’s plan to help fight the menace is to convert civilians into superhumans – this is where you come in - giving players the chance to step up as a customised hero or a villain.
So the scene is set for newly superpowered forces to meet the most iconic DC Universe characters – and whether good or evil - try to save the planet. Inventing your own hero / villain will mean close involvement of the established DC Super Heroes and Super-Villains and means you are in regular contact with characters from across the comic book spectrum.
DC Universe™ Online stands head and plasma powered shoulderpads over the other super hero games out there as is alone allows players to create their own unique superpowered character – a valiant hero or devious villain worthy of the DC pantheon. While you may not be slipping on the cape or cowl of Superman or Batman (although you can play as these characters in legend arenas), players are able to create characters credible enough to fight alongside them. It really makes you feel like you are part of the DC Universe. You can fight the good fight – or use the chaos that has engulfed the world to your advantage if you’ve chosen to be a villain – and evolve and grow your character into one of the legends in the DC Universe.
"The 'super' review kit"
But what if you’re a MMO virgin and think that World of Warcraft players are the dweebiest of the dweebs? DC Universe Online might just change your mind (not about WOW players but about MMOs). From the second you’re done picking your powers, outfit and weapons you can potentially be soaring across the skies of Metropolis or ambushing scumbags on the mean streets of Gotham City. And there’s so much to look forward to as the game grows, an alert in Smallville has just been announced which will see you visit Superman’s homestead and face off against Doomsday!?
For a pick up and play game (which is essential to win the hearts of console gamers who might never have considered an MMO – that comes with e monthly subscription fee to keep playing) DC Universe Online literally kicks the ass of both City of Heroes / Villains and Champions Online. Character creation is a breeze – but nicely extensive in the range of options so that even after these first two weeks of playing this I’ve yet to spot a single two identical heroes. The choice of powers and weapons is decent – and gets better once you get in game as each has a vast branching network of upgrade options that can see two heroes with the same core powers wielding wilding different attacks and style so play in action… You also get to choose a classic super hero / villain mentors (Batman, Superman or Wonderwoman for goodies, Lex Luthor, The Joker and the goddess Circe if you're a wrong-un). This is a clever ploy as you get to build up a rapport with your chosen mentor – as they in turn begin to entrust you with harder and more meaningful missions.
"Go with a smile..."
DC Universe Online is an absolute super powered blast! Coming out in a packed gaming schedule which has seen Mass Effect 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, Dead Space 2 and Two Worlds 2 (lots of quality ‘2’s) you might think it would struggle to find players but since I put the DCUO disk in my PS3 I haven’t wanted to play anything else!
The gameplay is designed so that you can level up without having to ‘grind’ i.e. go around killing thousands of low level creatures to bag the xp points which you do in most MMO games. Progression here is all about missions, most are combat heavy but that is where DC Universe shines brightest – every battle is fun face off, never tedious – especially as you can have differing load outs so that you’ll forever be trying new powers, techniques and even weapons. The controls are excellent, simple but allowing for a good range of strategies - Square and Triangle buttons on the PS3 gamepad control your main melee and ranged attacks – the L2 and R2 triggers hot key them to use superpowers… simple but very very effective. There are some great extended elements too - I won a special combat trinket hammer from the evil Harlequin from the linked DCUO Facebook quiz , a simple entering of the code on the PS3 and I’m now packing a weapon that few players who haven’t found the Facebook quiz have!
"team sixpack"
DC Universe is the first game that I will happily paying a monthly fee for and Sony Online Entertainment has hit a major home run – addictive combat and levelling up, masses of cool and unique loot to find or win, new alerts that pop up which can be tackled with friends or on your own, vaults where you can find goodies, open-world PvP (player vs player) events which see you testing yourself… This is the real deal and it is megaton!
Players can also choose between playing on a PvP server – where there could be an enemy human controlled hero or villain around any corner just waiting to get into a scrap with you… or a PvE server which will prevent any human interference and leave you happily just motoring through the game without going toe-to-toe with others.
From the gorgeous opening cinematic mini movie – you unlock more superb short films after each major mission – you’ll be sucked in to the greater plot but also captured by the sheer range of quests, exploration and sheer comic book backstory joy. The graphics are what make DC Universe Online a must buy for PS3 gamers - and it is the difference between playing on a big screen HD TV and a standard computer monitor is the 'wow' factor that should keep fans coming back to the console version.
You may have heard that there are bugs and freezing issues, and sure I’ve had a few but since the last patch the game has been lively, virtually lag free and much more stable. And this continued improvement is part of the quality that Sony are bringing to the super powered party… DC Universe Online will evolve, grow, change and keep adding massive new gameplay elements and story arcs – it might just be the last game you’ll ever need to buy!
"There's some scary stuff on the streets of Gotham"
DC Universe Online is a comic book loving gamers dream come true. Xbox 360 owners need to petition Microsoft for something similar as they are seriously missing out! I haven’t been so addicted to a game for years – the ‘just one more mission’ factor is killer. I plan to re-review this game in 6 months to update on what has changed, where the writers have taken the story and what cool new places I’ve visited. Now I’ve got to go as I have had a distress call from the moon which requires PLAYthing’s attention – oh and Batman is after me because I beat the crap out of Robin last night (who hasn’t wanted to do that!?)
Then again – I’m also planning my first ‘hero’ character so if you need a co-op boost online – find me my PSN name is Cleric20.
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööööö
(5 - Comic book action has never been so much fun, highly recommended)...
Read more about DC Universe Online here
"Dressing up as the characters is entirely optional"
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Darkmatters hearts Yoostar 2
Yoostar 2
Yoostar 2 allows you to 'enter' hundreds of famous movie scenes, record your performances, and upload them to impress your friends and family who can view and rate them online.
The magic is created via the Playstation Eye camera which allows Yoostar2 to produce Hollywood 'green- screen' style effects without having to turn your front room into a movie set with green screen backing.
I was dubious but after watching the trailer below (via IGN) it really looks like you'll be literally able to step into well-known movie scenes and 'be' your favourite actors / characters... I'm so going to 'be' KICK-ASS, Neo, Maverick and the Terminator for starters!?
Yoostar 2 has the potential to be the ultimate party game - featuring multiple gameplay modes, including a party mode that allows a group of players to perform in quick succession and a progression mode where players face a series of challenges and unlock new scenes.
The menus etc are controlled with the Playstation Move so this is just another reason to pick one up!!
Review HERE
Check out the official site HERE
Imagine finally getting to 'act' with Leia...
Random Princess Leia Appreciation
Friday, November 26, 2010
Gran Turismo 5 - Darkmatters Review
Developed by Polyphony Digital
Published by Sony
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
You see the corner closing rapidly as the scenery blurs past at blinding speed. You take your foot off the throttle and slam on the brakes. The G-Force from the deceleration immediately dominates your senses – the tyres scream out as if in pain as they battle for grip on the road surface. You’ve picked your racing line and aim for the sweet spot of the corner – the point where centrifugal and cornering forces reach their equilibrium – where all there is left is pure acceleration… This is the essence of Gran Turismo 5, this is the ‘Real Driving Simulator’…
OK so GT5 is finally here. Over five years of painstaking development time, delayed so often that it made grown men weep with anticipation as the hype reached proportions that made Halo look ‘meh’. Having sold over 56 million units worldwide, the award-winning Gran Turismo franchise is regarded as the best and most authentic driving simulator ever created due to its true-to-life graphics, authentic physics technology and design. Since the inception of the Gran Turismo franchise, famed creator Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital have pretty much revolutionised the racing category as we know it today. GT games bring the most realistic driving simulation you can find on a console and give a unique medium for automotive manufacturers to showcase their products. So, with much pressure comes much responsibility for Polyphony Digital to deliver the ultimate racing sim and with so many preorders expectation is running at an all-time high…
And now we have it so is it any good?
I can still remember the first time I played Gran Turismo – on my brother in-law’s original PlayStation circa 1997. I had a Sega Saturn and was mid-way through telling him how much better Daytona USA was than anything on the Sony machine when he loaded it up. In the next few hours everything changed… I loved it, but then my first word was ‘car’ – not ‘mum’ or ‘dad’ but ‘car’!?
When Gran Turismo made the jump to PS2, I was there straight away and likewise I was at the midnight launch of Gran Turismo 5 where I won a Signature Edition of the game – the omens were good!
"yeah - that's my copy..."
First things first then, Gran Turismo 5 is an astonishing achievement – (un)charting new territories in visual wonder, the new ‘premium’ cars are shiny models that could make even the most car adverse person drool in awe. Taking these babies for a spin through some of the greatest cities in the world is an experience which will flood you with auto-endorphins as streetlights or sunlight (depending on the time of day) reflect off the polished sheen of your automobile. Alas not all the 1000+ cars are built to this level of jaw-dropping detail. There are many ‘ported’ cars from GT4 and you can add more from the PSP version – these cars are ok but stand out miles compared to the premium ones in terms of graphical fidelity.
But looks aren’t everything and even the most eye-popping visuals can’t make up for shoddy gameplay. Fortunately Gran Turismo 5 keeps the ‘tried and tested’ gameplay that has served the series so well up until now and upgrades the wealth of options to a point unmatched by any other console racing title.
The GT5 physics engine is crazy realistic, there is a real feeling that each car is handling as you’d expect it to in real life which is much more noticeable than in the arcade flavoured games such as Need for Speed where each car is basically just either a faster or slower model with essentially very similar handling.
So it looks great and plays beautifully (and is a dream if you invest in a decent steering wheel controller) but there are some tasty new elements added this time too. First up is car damage – a feature never before allowed in the world of Gran Turismo due to real world manufacturers not really wanted people seeing their cars mangled in such explicit detail. GT5 brings the damage, which is great on the premium cars and not even really noticeable on the standard ones. It may affect your driving style though when you see the prices of repairs after a heavy bout of paint trading with opponents!?
The online portion has been upgraded – and although the servers are struggling at the moment with the Call of Duty levels of people trying to get onto them – the racing in multiplayer sessions is fun. Sixteen people can race against each other and there are multiple options for setting up your own challenges etc. Speaking of setting up your own things – GT5 has a track builder which allows you design your own course and then race them.
Another ‘oohhh that’s nice’ feature is using the PS Eye camera to play with ‘head tracking’ which lets you look around when using the cockpit view… And if that wasn’t enough there is also the option to play in stunning 3D – I got to play a rally stage in 3D at Sony Betarooms Event and it really does add something special to the driving experience (although not special enough for my wife to countenance us upgrading to a 3D TV at home!?).
The feeling of burning around the Top Gear Test Track one minute, then drafting behind your opponent in a tense NASCAR showdown the next before going on to rain drenched F1 race is amazing. As is the satisfaction of tuning and building up your own garage of cars, photographing them and re-watching your spectacular saved films of your greatest victories…
Is Gran Turismo 5 perfect? Not quite – there have been many reviewers out there getting hung up on ‘odd looking shadows’ or moaning about the standard cars… But to be critical of Gran Turismo 5’s small issues is to miss the overall point, kind of like refusing to go out with a supermodel because she has odd toenail…
GT5 is an awesome game, it stands head and shoulders above any other racing game on the market and should be top of every car / racing game fan’s Christmas list.
Overall: Darkmatters rating: öööööööööö (10 car porn experiences out of 10)
"If GT5 was a girl - it would probably be Amber Heard!"
Is it real or is it GT5??
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