PSP

Jackass: The Game

December 4, 2007

PSP / Reviews / by Paul Bishop Make a comment! / Tweet it!

With regards to Jackass: there are those who like it, and those who deplore it as immature fodder for people who probably enjoy sniffing glue. That pretty sums up whether you will like the game as well. I find the Jackass television show to be both hilarious and deplorable, and the game is no different.

What little there is of plot is related to filling in for a hurt director as you film 7 episodes with 5 segments each. Each segment has 3-5 goals which can be accomplished to get more money. Get more money to unlock the next episode or extra character costumes or equally banal props to use in future segments. In addition certain episodes can be unlocked to open multiplayer challenge mode which helps bump up the replay slightly.

All of the characters are here from the show, and this proves to be one of the best things about the game because it feels like a truly brutal extension of the television series as you complete stunts no human being would be capable of such as launching Steve-O over four backyards with a human sling-shot or waterskiing on a trashcan lid through a neighborhood. The voice acting is superb and gets the feel perfectly. The soundtrack even adds to the game by giving an eclectic feel to each game, and reminding me I need to dust off my Folk Implosion and Skinny Puppy albums. Unfortunately, the graphics don’t quite attain the same level; each person’s avatar is off and wouldn’t be recognizable if it weren’t for the voice. While this is definitely the case for the PS2, the PSP fares better with the smaller screen as it is not as obvious.

Each segment requires a set of goals to complete, and even a few for extra credit while others require a score to pass, such as dancing as Party Boy to a sequence of button-pushes. This system allowed for a lot of control schemes that mostly hit the mark, but didn’t really elevate the game much beyond an overall themed mini-game. The simple game designs are very easy, almost too easy, as you find yourself focusing on the extra credit items rather on completing the segments, and while they are amusing to amass to open extra unlocks, it never required you to get these objectives in one run which could have boosted the difficulty level to at least the A

NBA 08

November 16, 2007

PSP / Reviews / by Paul Bishop Make a comment! / Tweet it!

First off, let me get this out of the way: NBA 08 is a good deal for the money considering it isn’t just the basketball game you are buying; it contains so much more in the way of mini-games and playable modes that it could choke a horse before you could get around to playing horse.

Unlike its console brethren, NBA 08 forgoes any sort of story line development of a career to focus on just playing the game. Being presented on the PSP, SCEA significantly focused the shorter one-game matches and mini-games to the quick pick-up mentality of the handheld; a majority of the sub-games could be completed within 10 minutes or less. Or if you are more inclined you could create a profile to stretch through playing a season or more interesting the conquest mode, which combines Risk and basketball.

Conquest places you as a city that must win games against surrounding cities to win the zone and move on to an essentially national match-up. As you win games you can gain losing team players to build a super team, and completing a zone allows you to unlock older legacy players to fill your roster. It is the tactics that make this more than just playing a straight basketball game simulator that help elevate this mode of NBA 08.

Other on-court mini-games range from the standard horse, to three-point competitions, including another tactical based Elimination match where you try to get each of your players to score six points. Once they do they are out and you are forced to try to finish the game with the remaining teammates for better or worse. It’s just the nuances that they threw into this game that make it more playable. Even if straight basketball isn’t your thing, there is an entire section dedicated to A

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

August 17, 2007

PSP / Reviews / by Justin Last Make a comment! / Tweet it!

I love adventure games. It makes me happy to know that I shouldn’t eat the blueberry pie in King’s Quest V. It wouldn’t have shown up in my inventory if I was supposed to eat it. Figuring out which item to present to which character is oddly satisfying and solving puzzles without the constant threat of being sniped and tea-bagged is a treat that we gamers don’t savor near often enough. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (OotP) is an adventure game at heart. There is magical combat, but it takes a back seat to the puzzles, character interaction, and massive visual scope of the game.

The lion’s share of OotP boils down to Harry, Ron, and Hermione running around Hogwarts and recruiting students to join their Defense Against the Dark Arts study club, Dumbledore’s Army (DA). In the book and the film, Harry’s friends are eager to join. They all want to fight Voldemort and feel as though their current instructor is holding important lessons back from them. None of these feelings shine through in the game. More often than not, Harry has to bribe his classmates to join the DA by assisting them with their homework, hiding their contraband from the faculty, or retrieving their stolen property.

Fortunately, the exploration is wonderful. Hogwarts is designed from J.K. Rowling’s own sketches and blueprints used in the movies. And it shows. The school is massive, and many of the areas accessible to players are never seen in the films. Fans of the books and movies that just want to wander around Hogwarts at their own pace will fall in love with the detailed environments. They’ll also have a good time earning discovery points by mopping up spills, sweeping leaves, uncovering hidden plaques, meeting house ghosts, lighting torches, and searching for hidden statues. Console gamers can also try their hand at Wizard Chess, three variations of Gobstones, and two variations of Exploding Snap. There’s a lot to do in Order of the Phoenix that is secondary to the plot, and all of them are fun.

Aside from exploration, you’re probably considering OotP for spell casting. The Wii version is the most fun in this regard as the Wii remote takes the place of Harry’s wand. Motions are responsive, and it’s difficult not to get into things when you’re actually moving a wand around (and if you’re anything like me – shouting A

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology

August 17, 2007

PSP / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Namco’s Tales series has never had the acclaim of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but fans are just as devoted. So, when the company announced Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, it seemed like a promising concept: put all the series’ best characters in one game, and let players mix and match their team.

Players start their quest by creating a character and choosing a class. Many times, this character is alone in battles, so choosing a mage or healer is not really a viable option. However, as the game progresses, players unlock magic-using classes that aren’t so handicapped, and switching to those at a higher level can please those who like spellcasting.

The game progresses using a standard quest structure, a departure from the series’ usual linear storyline. Though some advance the plot, many require simple, monotonous errand-running. Luckily, the battles themselves feature the full battle system from Tales of the Abyss. The gameplay hasn’t been dumbed down for a handheld, and this adds to the game’s authentic experience. Also included is the complex cooking system and the replay value-adding quest for Grade points.

Namco included many aspects of previous Tales games, which are sure to please fans of the series. Adding in the classic characters is a brilliant idea, and making a party of favorites is the real charm of Radiant Mythology. All the details are there; the characters learn the same moves, are voiced by the same voice actors and are shown using the original illustrations. However, they are completely detached from their storylines, which is disappointing. The plot is ultimately the game’s weak point, if only because the previous games had such good ones.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is a worthy add for fans of the series, but it lacks that engrossing storyline that made the previous games so popular. It’s a solid title, as long as it’s not the first Tales game played.

Traxxpad: Portable Studio

August 13, 2007

PSP / Reviews / by Graham Russell Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Music creation games aren’t new: a few titles have been released in recent years. However, 2007 seems to be the year they finally become successful. With games like Ubisoft’s Jam Sessions and this title, Eidos’ Traxxpad: Portable Studio, games are going beyond just being musically themed.

Traxxpad is not a “game” by any stretch of the imagination. There are no goals, points or anything to judge players’ efforts. Instead, it is a utility to customize beats in a way previously only possible on the PC. Players mix together tracks, create sounds and share the results with all their DJ friends.

The game uses an array of acronym-happy modules, like R.T.I.S.T.; S.T.A.C. and MeLOD. Each is specially made to handle a different portion of creating a mix, like putting together samples; manipulating sounds and mixing in real-time.

Traxxpad has a large library of samples for players to mix, including licensed ones from famous DJs. It will take a while to get bored of these, but Eidos has also included the ability to record sounds, as well as to manipulate and save the ones that are already there. Playing the game in public without headphones is almost impossible though, because accurate audio is important for mixing, and the sound from the speakers is not overly loud. Investing in some ear buds is crucial.

The true shortcoming to this title is the control scheme. While it is somewhat navigable after a while, the learning curve is, put nicely, steep. The game’s 50-page manual is a necessity, because nothing makes much sense until after reading it. This is somewhat understandable, since the limited buttons make all the options difficult to access, but there are reasons these applications usually stay on the PC.

Traxxpad is a competent portable music mixer, but there’s nothing here to appeal to the masses. DJ wannabes might want to give this a try, and experienced mixers can embrace the system’s complexity. It might be more appropriate in a music store than a game outlet, though.

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