Playstation MOVE Review

I was very very sceptical about Playstation MOVE when I first heard about it I even asked myself, "Will it work??"  I will answer this question and more in this review.

So does MOVE work?? In a YES and very well at that, I have tried all 3 motion controllers for the BIG 3 consoles at the moment and I feel that MOVE is slap bang in the middle. My reason for this comment is that MOVE gives all the features of the WiiMote and more, the camera for MOVE gives the kinect feel to it. but with that said MOVE is neither Kinect or WiiMote it is an amalgamation of both. MOVE can be anything you want it to be A Sword, A Frisbee, Golf Club, Guns, With more and more games hitting PS3 that will use PSMove it has a decent future.
    
The move controller itself is very well build and is (Believe Me) very solid and sturdy. It is very easy to use all buttons within reach of the hand it is in and feels good to have it in your hand and to have something solid in your hand.

As you can see from the above image MOVE looks great and feels happy in the hand. Using your index finger for the trigger and select button and your thumb for the face buttons and start button so all you need is your 2 fingers and a hand. The ball on the top (although it looks like a ping pong ball) is soft and rubbery to the touch which makes it TV friendly-ish I have not lost my TV to it yet *Touches wood* and works as to point of capture for the camera.

The MOVE controller works with the above Camera. The camera tracks the ball on the top of the controller in either the PS3's XMB or in game to 1:1 Ratio the movement is very very fluid same as Kinect (Not had enough Hands on with kinect yet to review it that will come ASAP) both feel in their respective menu systems. In game Move comes into it own and becomes you hands basically for arguments sake in Sports Champions if you character has a sword in your hand (Not Literary) so swing slow and steady you cause little damage swing hard and fast cause great damage with possibility of dazing you opponent.

GAMES FOR MOVE PRESENT AND FUTURE: 

With move still very much in it's infancy I expect it to become more popular over time and with more and more first party games being announced it may be around for a long time to come.

With that said I will give Playstation MOVE 7 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone that likes trying new things even once :).

 

Assassins Creed II Review (PS3)

Players:  1
Network/Online Play: No Online Play

Install: About 5 mins

Trophies: Yes

Other Formats: X-box 360 and PC

Release Date: 20^th November 2009 (UK)

The STORY for ACII is Set in 15^th century Italy you play as Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, who is out for vengeance on those who betrayed his family which in turn leads him to uncover a conspiracy bigger than anyone could fathom.  For those that have played Assassins Creed ACII picks up almost straight after the first one with the blonde chick coming back and helping you escape the company to then only start on another adventure in history as another assassin ancestor.  With that said the story of AC was good but the story was not as immersive as what I originally thought but ACII takes that and destroys it. The CARACTERS and LOCATIONS in ACII have so much more background and feeling Desmond in particular has become a better character than he was in AC, as for his skills they have become “real” he actually have the same moves as his ancestor due to what is called “The Bleeding Effect” whichyou will find out about as you play through the game.  Ezio Auditore Da Firenze (Desmonds 15^th century ancestor) has so much more than Altiar. Ezio’s character is alot more open yet darker than Altiar, and in keeping with the code Ezio keeps his friends close and his enemies closer. Our friends at UBISOFT have really thought about the locations in this game really well and gone into incredible detail also with the new environment comes new skills. The location that stands out the most is Venice the buildings the scenery are absolutely beautiful and once I seen it my jaw hit the ground and with the water it looks even better.

The GAMEPLAY for Assassins Creed II makes ACI look like something from the days of PS2 sorry but it is true. ACII’s gameplay is a HUGE improvement on AC, if you remember in AC the free running physics where for lack of a better word pants but with ACII they have improved on that really well there are still one or two kinks with it but that might have been me, also the combat system has also been improved has more of a “Free flow” feel to it i.e. you twating a dude with your fist, sword or hidden blade and another comes from behind you can kill that man in one motion without breaking a sweat which makes combat a lot more fun and pleasurable.  The movement physics have had a vast improvement also with climbing and hiding has been made more fluid and real making assassination missions easier or harder depending on how you move. The final improvement to the gameplay and a welcome one at that is the enemies AI if they see you go into a hiding spot they will poke around it with a sword and will force you out and try to kill you. All of the improvements are awesome and welcomed and it has given the game the feel it needs.  The REPLAY VALUE of

Assassins Creed II has a fair amount with side missions, collection missions and many more side quests also give the game a more realistic feel. With the addition of money you can raise funds to buy new weapons, armour and even dye your gear also you gain a villa which will earn you money the more you modify the town around your villa and the more gear you buy for your villa the more money it will earn for you. A new thing that will make you want to play the game also is the new UPLAY feature this is a BETA thing that Ubisoft has thrown in to reward the player with in game upgrades and even themes for your PS3 or 360 i.e. you complete a task or mission in the game you will earn points to spend on the bonuses, this is a fantastic feature which Ubisoft can build on in the future. With trophies out of the box this gives gamers the opportunity to play through the game to earn them if they don’t get them in the first play though.

The INGAME MUSIC and SOUND FX of Assassins Creed’s soundtrack has always made the game feel great and pull you into the world and with ACII being set in renaissance Italy it gives it the feel of the carnival and the in game sounds make it more immersive. Depending where you are in the world the hustle and bustle of everyone in the area make it feel like a busy built up and feel like a town rather than a quiet village. The music in the game is great although music is not always around in ACII the only times it needs it is when you are in battle or it is an intense moment within the game. One bit in the game that uses the in game sound really well is the assassination  mission that takes place during carnival night the fireworks, music and the people make you want to join the fun and dance which is what a game needs. ACII has no ONLINE PLAY to review but it does not need it but ubisoft should think of some awesome DLC to add to the story and side missions to give it more replayability. This title has great VALUE FOR MONEY ACII Offers up much MUCH more than the original a better story, better gameplay and better in game sounds you get what you pay for. AC had a lot of the above but lacked the staying power originally thought it would have. ACII brings the series back to where it should be.In closing if you enjoyed the original then I highly recommend this title for your collection. If you played the first one and got bored of it I would still recommend it to you as it is far better than the first game and deserves at least one play through.

So overall I will happily give Assassins Creed II a solid 9 out of 10

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review (PS3)

Players:  1 

Network/Online Play: No Online Play

Install: None

Trophies: Yes

Other Formats: X-box 360 and PC 

Release Date: 29^th October 2010(UK)

Before we get started I DO NOT READ pre-launch reviews for games coz it spoils games that I want to get because it may stop me from getting or buying the game!! This time I wish I had ;)!! Also this Review was written BEFORE any DLC came out!!!

The STORY of SWTFU II (although Painfully short) is set after the story of the original no idea on how far ahead it is I would think a year tops, If you remember from the first one Starkiller (The Apprentice) becomes a jedi and according to this one dies but Juno, General Kota and several others form the rebel alliance survive and then we have SWTFU II. Now in this one you play as a clone of Starkiller and you are lead to believe that all your memories are those of a “dead man” used to train you but those memories (Or visions) drive you to find Juno (Your missus from the original) and you escape Kamino (The Planet where the clones in the 3^rd Prequel movie where created) and escape to find and save both Kota and Juno while meeting YODA on Dagobah similar to what Luke did in A New Hope. Not to spoil any more of the story it ends back on Kamino where you confront Vader and make a choice to go Light or Dark if (and that’s a BIG if) they do a 3^rd they will go from the Light ending.  The  

CHARACTERS and LOCATIONS that I have mentioned and not touched on are all absolutely stunning and very Star Warsy and drags you in. Each and every character from the first has been remodelled and aged they all look great even the cut secnes have had an overhaul and look fantastic. If I was scoring this game only on visuals 10/10 9/10 minimum.  The GAMEPLAY in this one has taken a BIG overhaul, what they have done is taken the physics from the original and said “here have a second Lightsaber and force powers during combos and enjoy”, the gameplay for this title is what the original should have been fast paced saber action unlike its predecessor where it feels like you swinging a battle axe rather than an energy sword. The gameplay in TFUII feels very god of war-ish in the fact that you have enemies coming at you left right and centre and you basically cut them into teeny tiny pieces (That’s literal by the way) another good gameplay feature is using force powers during combos than rather powering them through your saber which make destroying a walker a lot more fun.  ONE feature I would love to see (But know deep down won’t happen) is MOVE support on PS3 Imagine how cool it would be to have to MOVE controllers and swinging them like lightsabers.  

Here is a BIG sore point REPLAY VALUE this game has very little replay value at the moment, you get a few challenges (as mentioned) and you have a few more saber crystals to get and costumes too but in fairness the main has little to now replay value only thing you would replay for is trophies. This game needs some AWESOME DLC to give it the edge it so desperately desires whether or not this happens is yet in the future and in the hands of the developers but they need something!!! 

The INGAME MUSIC and SOUND FX fit the game perfectly there are one or two instances where you get an audio skip but nothing major. The in-game could have been a bit more prominent but with that’s said all the sound and music was good. ONLINE PLAY there is none to review at this time again would to see some DLC adding this feature would be a nice wee addition. 

The VALUE FOR MONEY I’m going to use this section for my conclusion also so bear with me. To be brutally honest there is no real value here for a start the game’s story is far FAR too short I have seen PS1 and PS2 games with longer stories (Not including Final Fantasy) the story all be it great need to be longer than 3 hours for a PS3 and Star Wars game I was expecting at LEAST a 6 hour story but it did not deliver, I would of even accepted a clone (Pardon the pun) of the first one where the clone went on a trip to find out about himself and take down a few of vader’s top men facilities leading to the final confrontation. The following sounds harsh but this feels alot like a DLC story leading to a new game rather than a standalone title, I would have been happy to pay between 10 to 20 pounds for this as DLC rather than it being 40 quid on its own. If I could recommend this game to anyone I would but PLEASE wait till it drops in price a bit it is not worth 40 quid not by a long shot!!!! Fans of the franchise/series will enjoy this game even if it is a onetime play though and trade-in with all its good points it is a undeniable flop. But don’t let this put you off give a go if you like great if you hate fair play to you at least you tried but remember don’t pay full whack.

So over all I give Star Wars The Force Unleashed II a firm but fair 6.5 out of 10! If they added  more to the already great story that made it longer it of been a far higher score!!!

 

Welcome to my little corner of the net!!!

So welcome to PsychoboyUK's Gamer Blog!!!! A small endeavour I have decided to start as my reviews for games have stared growing over the last year or two and I really wanna bring them to the masses!! You will usually find me skulking about on PSN (Playstation Network) more often than not and even the odd time on XBL (Xbox Live) Under my Screen-name (See Blog Name lol)

Now I hear you cry "GAME REVIEWS IS THAT IT???" nope not just that I will post my reviews of consoles, games, peripherals (that I have purchased) and the odd Game convention I will even post my predictions to the conventions before the time and leave them open for discussion on here!! I will also post my wish lists for new consoles and games.

Now Lets get started!!!! going to be a busy day today I have a number of reviews to post so keep them peeled!!!  

Your In Gaming

PsychoboyUK