As is always the case, the year is off to a slow start. Not many games are being released in January (yes, Final Fantasy XIII-2 does indeed release in January, but it’s out on the 31st so it almost doesn’t count), so we have to make do with one new PSN release from Tik Games (and Published by Square Enix… hey!), and some retail to PSN digital releases of full featured games. Well, as full featured a release as you can call Duke Nukem Forever. We’ll try to get a review copy for Scarygirl so we can let you know how the game made the jump from minis to full fledged PSN release. We already got to review Moon Diver from Square Enix a while ago, so let’s see how this one plays out. Buying anything this week? PSN Releases You Can Buy Mortal Kombat Right Here! You Can Buy Duke Nukem Forever Right Here!

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Releases for the Week (January 23rd-29th)

Welcome to the abandoned and (reportedly) demolished halls of Heavenly Host Elementary School, where vengeful spirits dwell and the fires of corporeal existence are repeatedly and mercilessly snuffed. We hope you enjoy the tour, as it’s not about to end anytime soon. It may even last an eternity… At this accursed school, a series of incidents occurred in which, ultimately, four students were kidnapped… and murdered. And though this ocurred 30 years ago, the corpse party still continues to this very day. Now the site if a perfectly ordinary high school, one unlucky class representative with a penchant for telling ghost stories makes the mistake of invoking a forbidden charm know as “Sachiko Ever After”, a charm that unknowlingly serves as the invitation to another space — a shifting, almost sentient echo of the long-closed school wherein these horrific mutilations occurred so long ago. And once you’ve been invited to this party, you have no choice but to attend. Willingly or no, all who find themselves in the dilapidated halls of Heavenly Host must persevere, fort their only companions along the way are the mournful spirits of the dead and forgotten… along with a few who consider themselves the very arbiters of lie and death. Will you remain a guest here forevermore? Or will you have the power to defy the saddest and strongest fate of all? Corpse Party is not your average scary game. It does have some strong images, and the content is sure to make you feel a little woozy, but there are no cheap scares in some dark corridors here. Instead, the excellent story is what sets the tone for the whole thing. At the very start of the game, a tale is told with just a handful of images lit by candlelight and from there, things just get spookier. Just watching the first 30 minutes of the game will give you nightmares about those damned children. Yes my friends, even the bravest of us will squeal at the sight of this game. This game was actually created in RPG Maker several years ago, and it was later ported to the PSP last year. Here’s some insight into this, directly from XSEEED Games: Believe it or not, Corpse Party has actually existed since 1996! The very first appearance of Corpse Party was as an independently-developed freeware game for the popular Japanese NEC PC-9800 series of computers, created by a small software startup who call themselves “Team GrisGris.” The title was put together using the popular game creation software RPG Maker (specifically, a PC98 adaption of it called RPG Tsukuuru Dante98), and billed itself as a no-holds-barred horror adventure reminiscent of Japanese 8- and 16-bit classics such as Capcom’s Sweet Home and Human’s Clock Tower. In 2008, perhaps spurred by the runaway success of similarly-themed horror titles like Higurashi: When They Cry, Team GrisGris released a Windows-based reimagining of their original opus titled Corpse Party: BloodCovered. This was not a mere port, but an upgrade in every sense: the graphics, the music, the gameplay and even the story itself were all changed, improved and expanded upon (and the initially unnamed side characters who later starred in Corpse Party Zero had their names retroactively applied to them, as a nod to the dedicated fans who kept the series alive during Team GrisGris’ long hiatus). The title was split into five chapters which were sold episodically at conventions, fan events and through an online store. This updated remake was also ported to cell phones, allowing Japanese gamers to horrify themselves on the go. Corpse Party was officially a hit. Novels, drama CDs and soundtrack albums were released one after another. Then, in 2010, popular Japanese visual novel publisher 5pb took notice and Corpse Party: BloodCovered: …Repeated Fear was born. This PSP title is an enhanced remake of Corpse Party: BloodCovered featuring further updated graphics and music, additional story elements and full voice-acting recorded via binaural audio technology for simulated three-dimensional surround sound. XSEED Games fell in love with Corpse Party: BloodCovered: …Repeated Fear just after Halloween 2010, and negotiated a license with 5pb to release it in the English-speaking world. Since no other version of the game has ever been officially published outside of Japan, we felt it prudent to drop the dual subtitles and release this game under the name that started it all: Corpse Party. Short, simple and catchy! It is, after all, the beginning of the story. While it was a full PSP release in Japan, it’s a PSN-only release over here. Honestly though, I’m just glad we got the game at all. It has some pretty meaty content with 5 main chapters to play and up to 10 extra ones that can be unlocked depending on your actions (you gotta to love multiple endings!). Each extra chapter is a small insight into other characters and their journey from here to the other side, and take about 1-5 minutes each at most. Bringing new information and perspective to the whole story is what they’re all about. Some of them you don’t even play, since you just read about the interactions and conversations. In this unusual experience you’ll do a LOT of reading, but we embrace that change with open arms. It’s good to actually read something instead of button mashing my way across yet another action game. Every line of dialogue is voiced (in Japanese) with English subtitles added for those of us that can’t really tell one word from the other. The gameplay is simple, you use the D-Pad to move (analog doesn’t work), use the triangle button to open the menu, and use X to interact with everything else. Since it’s a digital release, loading times are down to a minimum and won’t break your experience. There is a lot of revisiting the same spaces over and over, which might sound boring, but since you’re actually trapped inside a school, but each group is in a different dimensions, and every time you revisit places they change! How you interact with the (dead) people is what defines your actions and the story outcome. It isn’t about surviving, but rather about choosing how you’ll die. No one is safe, and all will eventually meet their end in this macabre journey. Or is there still a small ray of hope in all this twisted and macabre darkness? You’ll find the decaying remains of those that were trapped before you, and that could never find their way home. You can collect their name tags to add their information to your list. You’ll be surprised to learn how many have already seen their flame disappear, suffocated by this crazy place that slowly eats away at your mind and your soul. Sound plays a huge part in this game. Be sure to use your headphones and set volume as high as possible. Playing at 12 am with the lights off will also get you in the right mindset, though nightmares may wake you up in the middle of the night. You see, imagination is a veeeeery powerful thing. Not being able to see what is going on, but being told about it and listening to screams, blood splatter, breaking glass… that is certain to mess with your head. Graphics are simple (16-bit goodness!) and the illustrative images that pop out every once in a while are horror manga at its prime. Corpse Party is a must buy for every PSP owner. Visual Novels are hard to find, and when we’re given one of such high quality as Corpse Party, it is our duty to support them by buying ASAP. You’ll play for 15+ hours in order to see everything the game has to offer which, for a $19.99, is really a great value. XSEED Games wants us to join the party, and the dead want to lead us into the afterlife… Review Pros Cons Visual Novel Gaming at its Finest Great story A release for the sequel hasn’t been confirmed yet Rating 95% Published by XSEED Games Cost – $19.99 (PSN-Only PSP Digital Release) Disclaimer Total amount of time played: 15 hours This review is based on a copy of Corpse Party provided by XSEED Games.

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[Review] Corpse Party (PSP)

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the podcast. This week we have a special guest from the site joining us, you might know him, a little fella that goes by the name of Isli. Tune in to catch Isli, FooBear, Tosh, and I discuss a few things in the news as well as some more Skyrim talk, and a few other stories about our gaming experiences. If you’d like to be a guest on the podcast feel free to join us! You also get points for being on the podcast, so don’t worry about missing out on the secret word you point fanatics! Just send me a message on the site and I’ll let you know when we start, and I’ll add you on Skype. Also a bit of warning for those of you who didn’t beat Heavy Rain, but we talk about it at the end of the podcast quite a bit. So if you want to stay away from spoilers, you can just stop the podcast there. I made sure to put the secret word before that. We also talk/spoil Uncharted 3 again, as well as a little bit of Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol, but it’s all after I give you the spoiler warning for Heavy Rain. Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: New on PSN Nohopeleft.com Infinity Ward Hiring for Next-Gen Games Dead Island DLC ’12 in ’12′ SOPA Secret Word Heavy Rain Discussions

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PS3BlogCast Episode 33

Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 co-developers, has posted a job advertisement on Gamasutra looking for new talent for an upcoming Call of Duty title. The job listing mentions “an unannounced high-end console title,” as well as new talent for Sledgehammer’s “Call of Duty development team.” The hiring position is for a Senior

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Sledgehammer Games Hiring For New Call of Duty Game

What’s the deal with Bathesda’s latest adventure Skyrim? Well aside from the fact that it is awesomely addictive, Skyrim is suffering from a PlayStation 3 “only” unresolved lag issue that is compromising the experience for many PS3 owners. Although I haven’t started playing Skyrim, but I am a bet afraid that by the time I will hit the 60 Hours mark I will reach the pinnacle of my adventure. Apparently there have been many speculations regarding the origin of the problem and the correct methods to resolve it. Patch 1.2 was released by Bathesda to resolve some issues including the lag problem, however the problem still persists. According to many users, not only Patch 1.2 have not fixed the issue, but also made things worse, as they are now experiencing more issues, including the infamous flying backward dragon glitch. Dragon Flying Backward after patch 1.2 That pushed Bathesda to release a statement apologizing for many fans and promising a more accurate research before releasing a future patch. Press Here for full statement given by Bathesda After the holidays, we’ll continue to release regular updates for the game – through full title updates, as well as incremental ‘gameplay updates’ to fix whatever issues come up along with rebalancing portions of the game for difficulty or exploits. We plan on having a lot of these, not just a few. Overall, you should expect updates to be hitting the PC and Steam earlier and more often, as that’s a process we control. Console updates will follow, as they must be certified and processed by those manufacturers. We all know this is a huge game, and everyone has a different experience. We’ll continue to do everything we can to make the game better and better for as many people as possible every day. We’ve also realised that with the millions upon millions of people playing Skyrim, we need to treat our updates with greater care. If we get too aggressive trying to fix a minor issue, we run a risk of breaking something larger in a game like this. To be safe, we are prioritising code side fixes right now over data fixes. Quest and balance issues are usually data, and those will start rolling in a large way with the January updates.” Last week, Joshua Sawyer “Ex Bathesda developer who worked on Fallout: New Vegas and a previous Elder Scrolls game” released a very conteversial comment referring the problem to an engine-level issue. Sawyer explanation is build on the fact that the PS3 has a divided memory pool. It is an engine-level issue with how the save game data is stored. We’re talking about how the engine fundamentally saves off and references data at run time. Restructuring how that works would require a large time commitment … Hmm, obviously my next question will be how large we talking here, Ex. Bathesda employee? Bathesda’s, clearly been on the defensive side here, PR and marketing vise president Pete Hines denied the explanation through Twitter , offering the following tips to improve game performance: – Turn off auto saves. This can cause temporary stuttering since the PS3 saves these files in the background. This is most noticeable with large saves when fast traveling to a new area or entering a new area that auto saves. – Clear space on your hard drive. Skyrim makes heavy use of the hard drive, and freeing up space on here seems to help many people. Hard drive speeds also differ in PS3 models. Some users have reported increase performance by upgrading their drives. – Waiting for time to pass. Many things are running in the world depending on what quests you’ve done or places you have visited. Using Wait or Rest options, passing time will clear up some of these. It depends how long you wait, it may take up to 30 days for some items. Saving, resetting, and loading after this will have the largest effect. Really Pete? Waiting for time to pass? I am suppose to spend my precious gaming time in Skyrim resting? Well, Bathesda issued a NEW statement yesterday saying that they are already reaching out to a number of PS3 owners whom still have been experiencing issues in terms of the large save file and the lag. Here is the full statement: While the 1.2 update fixed the long-term play issues for most PS3 users, we are aware that is not the case for some. We’ve been reaching out to a number of those users to collect save games, so we can take a look at their specific issues. Right now we know it’s not one thing, but a combination of smaller ones that some folks are seeing, but others are not. Some seem to be the PS3 autosaving in the background (you can turn that off), some may be SPU AI updates, and some may relate to dynamic system memory allocation. “These fixes are not in the current 1.3 update that is in final testing, but will be in future ones. We understand how frustrating it can be when your game is having issues, and we thank all of you for your continued feedback and patience. Rest assured we take your gameplay experience seriously and will continue working on this until it’s resolved. So .. the new patch will not address the current problems with the game? Yeah, that’s an arrow to the knee alright! My concerns are clearly that developers are not making enough effort to test their games before release. In some cases the release date set by publishers are the main concern. Hey, they might be making some progress here. at least they’ve acknowledged the issue and seem to be committed to resolve it. That’s an improvement I guess, but when I pay almost a $100 for some good time, I know that didn’t sound right, I expect quality product people. Watch out for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim review by Pedro, who is working hard on giving you an insight on one of the most promising nominees for the game of the year award.

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Skyrim: A Shout To Game Developers

The end is coming to an end… everyone better run and renew their Playstation Plus subscriptions or subscribe for the first time since in December Sony is ending the year with a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! We get a FULL PS3 game for free AND a PSN release as well as a new minis as well as content from PS+ releases from the past that has passed us in passing. The image gives you a preview, but for a list of all the content AND the discounts we’ll enjoy during december, you need to read along and sing along and hop along and… read along some more? PS3 Full Game: Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3 Full Game) – 12/6 Free PSN Game: Marvel Pinball (PSN Game) – 12/13 Free minis: Orbit (Early Access, Exclusive) – 12/6 Mad Blocker Alpha (mini) – 12/6 A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks! (mini) – 12/20 Free PS one Classics: Spyro the Dragon – 12/6 Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage – 12/6 Spyro Year of the Dragon – 12/6 Full Game Trials: Dragon Age II – 12/6 Need for Speed Hot Pursuit – 12/6 Alice: Madness Returns – 12/13 Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood – 12/13 Red Faction: Armageddon – 12/13 Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway – 12/20 Carnival Island – 12/20 Motorstorm Apocalypse – 12/20 NCAA Football 12 – 12/20 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – 12/20 Sports Champions – 12/20 Media: Qore Episode 43 – December – 12/6 Discounted PSN Games: Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 and 2 (Bundle) – 80% off – 12/6 Beat Hazard Ultra – 50% off – 12/13 Renegade Ops – 25% off – 12/20 SEGA Bass Fishing – 30% off – 12/20 Sonic Adventure (Game + Add-On) – 30% off – 12/20 Sonic 4: Episode 1 – 30% off – 12/20 SONIC’S HOLIDAY BUNDLE– 25% off – 12/20 Space Channel 5 Part 2 – 30% off – 12/20 Tales of Monkey Island Bundle – 75% off – 12/20 Discounted PS3 Full Games: Assassins Creed 2 Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Assassins Creed Brotherhood Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Borderlands Bundle– 25% off – 12/13 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Bundle – 25% off – 12/13 Homefront Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Red Dead Redemption Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Red Faction Armageddon Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Split Second Bundle – 30% off – 12/13 Warhawk Bundle – 25% off – 12/13 LA NOIRE Bundle/Complete Edition – 30% off – 12/20 Discounted minis: Snowy – 75% off – 12/6 Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road – 20% off – 12/13 Psycho Soldier – 20% off – 12/13 Prehistoric Isle – 20% off – 12/20 P.O.W. – Prisoners Of War- 20% off – 12/20 Discounted Add-Ons: Marvel Pinball: Captain America (Add-on) – 50% off – 12/13 Marvel Pinball: Fantastic Four (Add-on) – 50% off – 12/13 Exclusive Themes and Avatars: I am Alive Dynamic Theme – 12/6 Exclusive Games: Orbit (Early Access, Exclusive) – 12/6 I like the discount (50% off!) on the extra Marvel Pinball tables. When we got Elemental Monster for free we had a chance to buy booster boxes at 50%… and that got me to spend $10 on the game so I was happy and the publisher (Hudson) was happy! I’ll be buying both pinball tables, Prehistoric Isle and I MIGHT get the LA Noire Complete Bundle if the price is right. Oh, and Beat Hazard Ultra! So, is the december content for PS+ a good enough deal for you to renew or subscribe?

Originally posted here:
Playstation Plus Subscribers: Your December Content is Almost Here!

I am a little late this week and about a week late from last week, and seeing as this is now the Holiday season, I will make every week a double points/chances week, except for today’s, which will be triple points and triple chances! I was going to have something different this week, using a browser game we have hidden on the site (just look for the Don’t Click Me link on the bottom), but it wasn’t going to work as planned. With that out of the way, there are 30 chances to win today (so this might be live for a couple days), with a total of 450 points each! This means we’re giving away a total of 13,500 points today! Enjoy! It should be a pretty easy one. This title received it’s first (official) English translation for the North American PlayStation release, but the first title in the series released on PC in 1992 (with numerous additions since). The game essentially allowed you to create a game within a certain genre, with the ability to create scripted events, dialogue editing, and map creation. It also sold for a higher MSRP than most other games available at the time. The following 9 members got points for anwering correctly. mowmow Grouken gotenks266 goulfreak rann dragon290513 The_Nmac Kane112 chronorayven

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Free Points Saturday, December 3rd

My PS3 is currently at Sony’s for some minor tune up (the console refused to play Bluray games and movies. No biggie) so you KNOW it’s time for them to set a timed, one week only sales extravaganza! From November 22 and till november 28th (or early on the 29th before the PSN store updates for that tuesday) you’ll be able to save up to 50% on the games listed below. How do you save the full 50%? Well, you must be a PS+ subscriber! The $50 a year (best value) subscription has already paid off for me so it’s a great investment. As for the sale, I would have bought 4-5 games on the list but since we can’t do that from a PSP or from our PCs… If you’re NOT a PS+ subscriber (why?) then you can still buy any of the games but the discount will be lowered to only 30%. Good enough for you? Limbo (Sale price: $10.49; PS Plus price: $7.34; Regular price: $14.99) Might & Magic Clash Of Heroes (Sale price: $10.49; PS Plus price: $7.34; Regular price: $14.99) Outland (Sale price: $6.99; PS Plus price: $4.89; Regular price: $9.99) Gatling Gears (Sale price: $6.99; PS Plus price: $4.89; Regular price: $9.99) Galaga Legions DX (Sale price: $6.99; PS Plus price: $4.89; Regular price: $9.99) The Fancy Pants Adventures (Sale price: $6.99; PS Plus price: $4.89; Regular price: $9.99) Section 8: Prejudice (Sale price: $10.49; PS Plus price: $7.34; Regular price: $14.99) Section 8: Prejudice – Blitz Pack (Sale price: $1.99; PS Plus price: $1.39; Regular price: $2.99) Section 8: Prejudice – Frontier Colonies Map Pack (Sale price: $2.99; PS Plus price: $2.09; Regular price: $3.99) Section 8: Prejudice – Overdrive Map Pack (Sale price: $2.99; PS Plus price: $2.09; Regular price: $3.99) Akimi Village (Sale price: $6.99; PS Plus price: $4.89; Regular price: $9.99) Dungeon Hunter Alliance (Sale price: $8.99; PS Plus price: $6.29; Regular price: $12.99) PlayStation Move Ape Escape (Sale price: $13.99; PS Plus price: $9.79; Regular price: $19.99) We’ve already reviewed Limbo and Akimi Village in case you want to read for a bit before making your purchase. So, what game has convinced you to spend a little more this week?

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For One Week Only: Save on these PSN Releases!

I do apologize for the delay of this review. Many of you know why it’s been delayed, but I was out on ‘medical leave’ and couldn’t even manage to sit and play a game. So, with that out of the way, I gotta get this review out for you. You might notice gratuitous use of the word “intense,” but I don’t have any better words to describe the use in the context of this review. Let me start by saying I’ve been a fan of the Ace Combat franchise since the games first released on the PlayStation. Though I never owned any until the PS2 titles came out, I did spend a bit of time playing them. Ace Combat was the first title I’ve played that introduced me to flight combat games, and they’ve always been very well done. But this addition to the franchise is, more or less, a reboot of the series. Gone are the imaginary worlds you played on. Gone are the boss battles. Gone are the super-fortresses at the end of the game. Does this hurt the game at all? The Important Stuff General Gameplay and Single Player In a word, no. Not at all. Rather than being set in a fantasy-based storyline, the goal of this Ace Combat is more about having a realistic tone. You now play on our Earth rather than an alternate version of it (only the second time in the series, and the first on home consoles), with, of course, countries we should all be familiar with by now. Without going into too much detail, the synopsis of the story is that a Russian crime syndicate, Batnoi, is working with an insurgent group (the SRN), where UN and NATO forces discover the group has a WMD by the name of “Trinity”. Needless to say, they have more than just the one, and wound up invading other areas in the process, from Miami to Dubai. Though you don’t have the aforementioned super-fortresses, you do still have that thorn-in-your-side of a squadron that basically haunts you throughout the game. Typical Ace Combat for ya. This game is loaded with intense moments. One of my favorites is a part where you’re scrambling to get in the air. During a lot of the cutscenes, when you’re sitting inside of your plane, you are able to move the camera around. On this particular mission, I just gotta say, look toward the right as a plane comes in for an emergency landing. It’s freaking insane. Anyway, most people would be familiar with the controls of this game. However, the default settings, for purists, aren’t sufficient enough, so I’d advise switching the control scheme to the classic controls (which allow you to have better pitch, yaw, and roll control; the default is limited to be more user-friendly to newcomers of the series). In this sense, the game plays exactly how you’d expect, select between targets, switching weapons, firing missiles, etc. There are a couple new additions, though. The main one, which you may use more often than you think, is the DFM (Dog Fight Mode). If you get close enough to an aircraft, a circle will come up around the plane. Pressing L2 and R2 enables this mode, which puts your plane on semi-auto flight, allowing you to focus more on shooting down your enemies at close range. This can get pretty hectic. On some missions, these are somewhat scripted, but they’re done in a way to make for a super intense dogfight, with flying close to ground level, explosions on buildings as they collapse, etc. If there aren’t any other immediate enemies nearby, the camera will switch to a cinematic style following your missile/bomb to its target. I can’t fully describe how awesome these dogfights can get. DFM also has a defense mode. Since other enemies can engage in DFM as well, you have to be alert. Though you have full control over your aircraft when they’re engaged, you do have the ability to sweep up behind them in an awesome, albeit unrealistic, way. I’ve sometimes had a hard time with this, but you’ll see the circle around you, and you can either try to outmaneuver it the normal way, or take your chances by letting them get up close behind you. At this point, you’ll have to line up the red and green indicators which let you know that you can now do a quick loop and get behind them, automatically entering you into DFM yourself. It’s a lot of fun, but you have to be at the right angle to pull it off, so it can get frustrating, especially online. Now, there are a couple other additions to the game that really help make it stand out. You have helicopters and bomber missions. The helicopters have a much steeper learning curve than the jets, so it might take a little time, initially, to grasp the controls properly. The nice thing is that it’s pretty lenient as far as running into buildings and stuff goes, as you’ll often be flying low to stay out of enemy radar. The number of missions is pretty limited, though, which kind of sucks, but they’re done very well. These also allow you to dodge enemies by performing barrel rolls to avoid enemy missiles. Of course, doing these in a helicopter is a LOT easier than avoiding missiles in a jet, so, in theory, you’ll have an easier time avoiding fire in the helicopter (jets do have flares as well, though). As for the bombing missions, one requires you to avoid an enemy radar dragnet, which requires careful maneuvering of your large aircraft through a canyon. Ah, just like the old Ace Combats! Except with a larger plane. But the meat and potatoes of these missions is the ability to do carpet bombing. You must enter a bombing path at the right angle, and once engaged (it’s called ASM), you’ll go from the third person view (which can’t be changed during regular flight) to the bomber’s sight, where you’ll essentially paint blast radius circles upon the ground, which is where each individual bomb will land. It makes for an awesome effect if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, this, too, is limited as far as the number of missions go. The nice thing about ASM is that it’s not reserved to the bombing missions. Some missions have you take control of attack planes, like the A-10, and you enter into these, laying ground fire on enemy targets. When in this mode, missiles and bombs reload much faster, so you can better focus your attacks on congested areas to get rid of the bigger threats like AA and SAM sites. Of course, the most limited mission type, with just one, is the AC130 gunner mission. You might be familiar with this type of mission from the likes of Modern Warfare 2, but this one is a lot harder. You can, of course, switch to the different size rounds/guns, but as far as finding targets go, it becomes a lot harder. Enemies don’t stick out nearly as much as in MW2, so you really have to be able to focus your eyes. It can definitely get pretty challenging, as you have to take out enemies before your ground troops are overrun, and with the difficulty in finding enemies, it becomes somewhat frustrating. When you find your targets, however, you’ll see bodies and whatnot fly into the air with the explosions. I liked this mission, even though it took me a few tries, because near the end is pretty intense. In fact, pretty much this whole game is. Multiplayer For me, this is hit or miss. There are a few modes, with Capital Conquest, Domination, Deathmatch, and Mission Co-op. I say hit or miss because Capital Conquest and Deathmatch seem to be the only game types people play. I haven’t, yet, been able to play the other two. Connectivity, though, is pretty quick. You can do a Quick game or search for a Custom game based on your preferences (your best bet is to just include all the parameters). A Custom game will bring up servers meeting your preferences, as well as connection stability, etc, so you can find the best game to connect to. More games need to have server search functionality. Deathmatch is pretty standard. You choose a plane (and select colors and weapons; colors can be made custom, too, but I believe you have to finish the campaign before you’re able to mess around with those; custom colors also work on single player, but they really shine online) and try to shoot down other players. Pretty simple, but can also be pretty hectic, as these fireballs can sometimes result in you getting more deaths than kills quite frequently. My favorite mode, however, is the Capital Conquest mode. It’s basically like conquest modes in other games, where the goal is to take over smaller bases before attacking the big ones. Strewn throughout the battlefield are bases you can capture by blowing them up (sometimes, they can take a few passes of bombings, though). If you have enough bases captured, you can enter into the ASM bombing path of the enemy’s main base. Attackers like the A-10 really do a number here. Of course, you’ll have that guy that has his helicopter protecting the base, and he can be quite the nuisance while you’re doing your bombing runs, so there are multiple roles you can take. I just do best as an attacker myself, but yes, you can choose between helicopter and jet online (assuming the host allows for them). My only gripe with the online portion is the slow progression of stats. After about 8-10 games, for instance, I finally increased from level 1, but it’s not too big of a deal. There are some simple perks (which I haven’t unlocked yet), but nothing too ridiculous (more ammo capacity, faster recharge, etc). Online is a lot of fun. It’s just underused and probably only hardcore fans will play it often. And the maps are a bit smaller than in single player, but they don’t need to be bigger, really. For you team players, you can set up squadrons of up to 4 people, and leaders of squadrons can also set their call signs, of which more unlock as you progress online or perform certain tasks. Winning the MVP for Attack Ace, for instance, unlocks the Falco call sign. Or, if you were the person to deliver the killer blow to a base in Conquest, you’ll unlock the Mobius call sign, etc. Graphics and Sound For a flight simulator/arcade game, and its vast maps, the terrain still looks presentable. It may not be the flash and realism you’d like to expect, but it’s done well enough to be satisfactory. However, the plane and helicopter models? Very well done. It’s got a bit of a grittiness to it that doesn’t make it seem too artsy (unless you’re weird and give your F-22 a pink coat with purple trim). The particle effects are nice, too, though they may not be the best you’ve seen. Explosions are done well enough, and watching as planes blow up in the air and rip apart is quite satisfying. One of the cooler particle effects, however, is oil spray on your screen as you pass through the wreckage of that plane you just took down. As for the cutscenes, it’s a mixture of in-game and CG. What’s nice is, since the game looks good enough, the transition from CG to in-game is pretty seamless. Voice acting is decent, too, but not the best. At least they fit the characters. It’s definitely not going to win any awards, though, but still sufficient. Sound quality is great, too. They might not be all that much different than past titles, but why fix what isn’t broken? The ambiance of explosions in the background and your missiles trailing away from you, to the missile warning tone as an enemy closes in on you, it’s all there. But in slightly more detail. As for the soundtrack, it’s pretty fitting. It has what I like to call Military Rock. You know, heavy riffs like you hear from Battlefield 3 to more intensive instrumental scores like in Metal Gear Solid. In fact, it comes with a soundtrack CD if you’re into that kind of stuff. Conclusion I believe I covered everything I needed to. To recap, I think this is one of the most intense games I’ve played all year, but I’m not sure if that opinion is biased, as I’ve always been a fan of the series. For what it’s worth, though, if you’re even remotely into the Ace Combat games, or even warfare games in general, you might take an interest in this. Sure, there might be a few hiccups here and there like the issue I had trying to avoid enemy missiles in DFM, but it doesn’t ruin the overall experience. Another small issue I have with this game is that it does seem rather short. A few missions shorter than past Ace Combat titles, but that may also just be because the intensity in this game is a lot more than past titles, so it might quite literally seem like time flies when you play this. Review Pros Cons Intense pretty much throughout Lots of gameplay variety compared to previous titles A large variety of planes with the ability to make custom paint schemes Online is fun and relatively addictive Co-op is available on some missions Bombing, helicopter, and AC130 missions could have been more common Not enough people playing online You’ll get the most out of it if you had friends who also own it and play online Rating 90%

Go here to see the original: 
Official Review: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Welcome back! Has it already been a week? Man time just seems to fly by when you’re enjoying all the games that have been coming out lately! It’s another light crew this week, just FooBear and I holding down the fort! We do a good job of course, always with the chit chat, the pitter patter, the ramblings of mad men, but you love it! So sit down, or stand up, and listen in on the two of us discussing the week in PlayStation news. Also a shout out to the PS3 as it will be turning 5 this week! Enter the secret word(s) mentioned in the PS3BlogCast to earn 75 points. The first 10 people to enter it correctly get double points! As always, we want to remind you that the PS3BlogCast is listed on iTunes! So please subscribe and rate/review us there. You can also leave a voicemail for us by calling PS3-888-BLOG or if you want to contact us via email for us you can do so here . We have a dedicated forum for the PS3BlogCast so you can leave your questions and feedback there as well. Here’s a list of some things (or everything) we discussed: PSN 14 hour Maintenance 11/17/11 New Releases Uncharted 3 sells 3.8 million on first day Sly Cooper trilogy coming to PSN Uncharted 3 map DLC inbound EA Bans Battlefield players for exploit boosting Kevin Butler Hall of Play videos Donate to PS3Blog.net! Assassin’s Creed Revelations

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PS3BlogCast Episode 26