Biznitch- Sunday, 01:09am
Hello out there all the avid readers of PlayStation Blogger UK!
The one-man-band leading this whole operation has stretched out his hand to ask other for input on this fine website- so here I am!
I've written some stuff about gaming (mainly mindless rambling) so I am now here to inform you all about some of the games available for the PS3- and hopefully help you stay clear of the bad ones.
I thought the best way to start on this blog would be to talk about the games I've been playing recently, those being PRINCE OF PERSIA and SKATE 2.
I got the games from Amazon.co.uk when they had a PS3 sale, so snatched them both up for around £30.
So what follows are my initial reactions to the games and how they held out....
First up-
Skate 2-
HARD. I'm slowly getting the hang of it, then it tells me to do a "Revert to pop shuvit" and I couldn't figure out how to revert. It's not on the trick menu and I presume its no longer the good ol' "R2 on a half pipe" like back in the day when Tony taught us all.....
Each time I play I find myself getting better, but then a simple sounding challenge comes along that makes me realise just how terrible I am. Another instance came up after finally learning the controls and attempted a "S*K*A*T*E" challenge. I knew al the moves, but sadly it appears the omputer players do too... As far as I see, its impossible.
On top of this, the camera angle is so low that when you pick up speed you hit that jump you've had your eye on, your characters monstrous arse takes up so much of the screen that it becomes no more than a guessing game. Then if you hit the jump you still have to time your ollie just right. It very quickly becomes a trial and error effort- the same jump over and over and over again until you finally nail it and move onto the next jump/trick/sequence that you have to try over and over until you ask yourself "Why am I still playing this?" It feels like more of a chore at times than a game.
"Easy to pick up, life time to master" -> But missing out totally on the "Easy to pick up." Its almost as if the game doesn't want YOU to play. This isn't for you, its ours.... It's an exclusive party. But for some reason, the more I play, the more I want in. Why?!
However, the developers seem to have foresaw this inevitable tediousness of the game by adding an incredibly addictive mini-game. "The Hall of Meat". Basically, every time you bail it shows you your fall in slow motion and gives you points on how much you managed to cripple your character. Beautiful. Now, every time you get frustrated when you can't get that "Boneless to 360 spoon fuck" you simply throw yourself off a building, curl into a ball and aim for a passing car. And if your friend isn't any good in 2 player, let their downfalls become an advantage and play them at this instead!
Physics faults aren't common, but are HILARIOUS! (NOTE: ALL VIDEOS ARE MADE IN GAME)
FRUSTRATION soon lead me to try the other game-
Prince of Persia-
GOD AWFUL. As a fan of the previous instalments I was foolishly stricken down by something called "expectations". Dialogue is horrible, slap googly eyes on the characters and they look like they belong in a pokeball and the old fashioned smooth free-running from the old games?
OVER.
The Prince's new claw slows things down hugely- instead of running up a wall you jump-claw-jump-claw, assuming you haven't fallen asleep before you reach your destination- assuming some more that you haven't stabbed a knitting needle through your ear just to silence that TERRIBLE dialogue.
I know the video is crap- but imagine a whole game of THIS DIALOGUE!
On top of this the camera angles changes incredibly sporadically. It proves to be extremely irritating when you try to jump from a wall-run and the camera cuts to an "Uh-oh, you're falling down a hole!" above angle, as if the game itself is mocking you for almost failing. This then means you have to guess your jumps towards the end of the wall and I can tell you now- Blind Faith, although a fine name for a disabled Christian rock band, is a terrible idea for a free-running game as it breaks flow.
I stopped playing, promptly.
The next day however the strangest thing happened- I woke up and really wanted to play SKATE 2. It frustrated me so much, but I was getting better.
The day after I took a look at my games collection- SAINTS ROW 2, MGS4, LBP etc... And all I wanted to do was play SKATE-BLOODY-2.
It seemed that the more I played, better I got. The better I got, the more I wanted to play. It's actually great to find a game that you struggle with at first because eventually, once you finally master that move that's been taunting you for so long you actually feel a sense of accomplishment. And the rag-doll physics of throwing your skater from the highest building was tremendously, and eerily, relaxing!
The 2 player version of this brilliant too. Eventually everyone with a game like this becomes "That Guy" that no-one can beat because they've played it more. But with the "Hall of Meat" means that the worse your mates are at this game, the better chance they have! (Today I was actually beat by my 3 year old niece.... TWICE!!!)
So I think now is the time to wrap this little (little?!) review up. So, what have we learnt? Well, nothing really, but if my opinion is anything to be listened to I recommend people STAY AWAY from PRINCE of PERSIA. Although, if you really think it looks good and you REALLY love cell-shading (the EASY way out of graphic designing) then I say try renting it for the weekend.
And as for SKATE 2- well... Go for it! Or at least download the demo. Give it a chance. A friend asked me if they should get it after I first played it. I said "No! But try renting it..." and now I honestly think it's essential in a collection (I actually have it on pause now!) at least for variety if anything. It's a challenge, and although aspects are bad (one of which being the terrible off-board physics) the positives are great (the ability to move ramps/environmental objects off board and the sound track) and eventually brilliant (the on-board physics and the option to edit your own skating videos with ease- very fun!).
I recommend it. That's all I can say really.
Thank you for your time and please tip your waiters.
-- BIZNITCH --
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