This is a port from a 1994 arcade game but upgraded to HD and with extra some bells and whistles. It’s a lot of fun to have the whole game be live action. It honestly wouldn’t be as fun if it was just CGI characters. It’s cheesy but in an entertaining way. My wife and I loved to play this whenever we stopped by the arcade. Sadly one day it was gone! So we where both excited that we could play this game at home now. Here is how you play the game. You keep your gun “holstered” and you draw your gun when they start going for their own gun. Then you have 6 shots to kill them. If you draw to early you get a video of Wes Flowers saying “ Put the gun back in the holster “. If you do this twice in a showdown you get a foul and you fail the showdown. You will get bonus points for a headshot, which is harder than it seems. On the easier difficulty it will have text on the screen prompting you when to draw. But I played on the hardest setting because I wanted a challenge. You don’t get any signal to draw other than the sound of them drawing their gun. I always kept an eye on their hands and reacted off that instead. Sometimes there are 2-3 gunslingers at once & it’s random which one will shoot first so that keeps you on your toes. When it’s 2 gunslingers you have to finish them off with your 6 rounds, no reloading during a showdown. You have to win every showdown in the round before you move to the next round. So you get fail you get a rematch. In total there are 8 rounds and each showdown is different. Here is some gameplay footage of my wife playing the 1st round. Only one that repeats sometimes is the 3 gunslingers at once which is random on who will shoot first anyway. You can choose to have 3, 5 or unlimited lives, getting threw all 8 rounds with only 3 or 5 lives would be very impressive feat. The first 3 rounds are pretty easy and I got confident sometimes and only shot them twice and to my surprise the wounded enemy would stumble and then fire back killing me. It totally took me off guard and gave me a good chuckle. So double tapping here is effective. On round 6 – 8 sometimes I just had to fire before they even went for their gun. Which was pretty hard to time just right. On several gun gunslingers I had to try it over and over. I would count in my head and try to time it just right and it was still hard. Sometimes I try to time it with things that happen in the environment. Because just reacting off them going for there gun is very challenging for sure. Unless you are one of the world’s fastest quick-drawers. In the top right of the screen there is a gunslingers character that you can customize with items you unlock by playing the game. He doesn’t have any real purpose. I think it would have been fun if he followed the movement of the controller in a basic way. PlayStation Home items are unlocked while playing the game which is nice. You even get a arcade replica to put inside your space. I tested how much you could get away with before it told you to “put it back in the holster”. I tried getting the cursor out of the screen and lifting the gun but not having the cursor show on the screen and it can tell the gun isn’t holstered. So it can sense if the PlayStation Move is pointing straight down or in firing position. So I slowly moved the gun until it told me to holster it. Turns out it allows you to have it holstered about 45 degrees which is how some guns are in holsters. There is also 2 player with Fast Draw Showdown, you can play Quickdraw or Showdown. Quickdraw you take turns against the same gunslingers and whoever gets the most points wins. Then with Showdown you both play at the same time and who ever gets the kill shot wins the round. It’s pretty fun actually to play with a friend. I noticed some gunslingers that I haven’t seen during the single player mode as well. Overall it’s a fun game and the transition from arcade to PS3 is great. It may seem really easy at first, but the later rounds start to present a real challenge. Fun to see real people responding to your gun shots. The background music on the main menu gets you in the cowboy mode for a showdown! Review Pros Cons Real People 2 Player Action Setup really works well I wish the showdowns were continuous instead of returning to the menu Cowboy avatar has no purpose other than dress up Rating 81%

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Fast Draw Showdown Review

You rise and shine in a forest, the world around you is a mix of black, gray, and white. Armed with nothing but your own courage, you must begin your extremely far-fetched journey without any knowledge of how you arrived to your current location, or where your final resting-place is. All you know is that you must face the fear of the unknown and continue onward. Definition: Limbo A little bit of background if you didn’t know. Many christians used to believe and still do believe that if a child dies before it is baptized, then it goes to a place between heaven and hell called ‘Limbo’. Limbo was originally developed and published by Playdead Games for Xbox Live Arcade (you know, for the Xbox 360?) and released almost an entire year ago on July 21st, 2010. The gamereceived universal praise and was hailed as a shining example of video games as a valid art form. It’s proof of the fact that Indie developers rock, and in my opinion deserve way more credit (where credit is due)!! At its core, Limbo is a platformer combined with many puzzles throughout the experience. Playdead Games injected a plethora of robust puzzle physics that keep the experience mostly fresh through the 3 to 5 hour romp that is Limbo (depending on how many times you plan to die, or not, on your journey). There is no dialogue in Limbo and the only characters other than the child you play as are a hostile group of silent children that you never truly have an opportunity to interact with. The graphics here are utterly beautiful as the black and white old time feel gives an eerie sense of hidden danger to the game and keeps you focused on what is before you on screen. Limbo is a game for those who like to be challenged–constantly. To progress in the game, you’ll need to think creatively and find seemingly impossible solutions. Oftentimes, though, finding the solution is not the hardest part– carrying them out is. Many of the puzzles require precise timing (down to the last second), and even if you’ve successfully made it through before you won’t always nail it the first (or the thirteenth) time. When you do finally make it through, you are greeted by yet another seemingly impossible task. And then another. And another. And after that? A bit of peace and quiet… and then ANOTHER! The sound design is similarly minimalist, with very little music heard throughout the game, so the primary noise comes from the boy’s own footsteps. When another sound does invade the silence, it is immediately followed by a sense of dread for the player, as whatever is coming can probably kill you and ALSO wants to do just that. You'll hate this douche! Limbo shines most in its amazing story that doesn’t come together until the very end, which I shall not spoil (and that is open to many different interpretations and opinions). With the play time of Limbo, a $15 price tag may not appeal to most as many have criticized the vague ending of Limbo as a let down to the time invested in the experience. The flow of the game starts of strong at the beginning but tends to slow down in the middle, not really speeding up until the final sequences of the game. Though if one had to choose between the Xbox 360 version or the Playstation 3 version, one should go with the latter for Playdead Games added a very hidden level hidden level to the Playstation 3 version of Limbo: a ridiculously challenging experience that is enough to provoke a fist-fight with you and television. Turn up your TV volume as high as possible or you won’t have a fighting chance. On the other hand the 360 version has a leaderboard and extra hidden eggs but for me the extra level (and trophy) is a better deal. Simply put, Limbo is a title that deserves to be played by everyone. It really is more than just a game; it’s an experience unlike anything else. If you’re still unsure then you can always try the demo first, but every gamer owes it to himself to at least try this game. We’ll soon have a giveaway for Limbo (your chance to have your little own piece of black and white pre-hell for toddlers!) so be sure to stay with us! Review Pros Cons Artistic and creepy Challenging You won’t see any other game like LIMBO Ace says yes to Indie games Game can get stale at moments $14.99 is a bit too much Rating 85% Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review – Total amount of time played: 8 hours.

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LIMBO Review

Another week, another minis review! This time Mad Blocker Alpha: Revenge of the Fuzzles gets a chance to shine and try to compete for your hard earn money. What can we expect from this game? As always, minis can be enjoyed on the big screen (or the screen of the size that you have at home) from your PS3 or on the portable spectre thanks to the PSP and the Go (it DOES still exist!). Follow along as we take you into a journey that involves lots of blocks, blocks, blocks. Blocks are preset and you can only move them from left to right with the D-pad or slide them from one side to the other one at a time. No rotation them as if you were playing Tetris but game but a tad closer to Panel de Pon at least until you place your puzzle piece. Connect four blocks (or more) at the same time to make them dissapear. More than one set (of the same color) can dissapear with a single piece if you plan things right. You’ve got powerup blocks available for your survival that are activated with the Square, Circle and Triangle buttons and these are obtained from a roulette that spins every time you create a chain. Here’s a list of the powerups you’ll run into: – One of the special blocks is of the “rainbow” variety as it constantly shifts from one color to another and the colored block it lands on makes ALL of the blocks of the same color be “free”. – An exploding block that is a distant cousin to Bomberman and his amazing bombs. It explodes a bit after being placed in the same patter one would expect from Hudson’s great mascot. – A heavy block that destroy the whole column where it sorta rests for a second after it’s placed. There are three modes available once you start up the game so let’s take a look at each one to better understand what is being offered: Story Mode Name says it all, right? Here’s the story, straight from the game itself: Fluzzles are small fluffy creatures who love “shape-morphing” in thbeir beautiful homeland of Machu Popyu. Alas, evil “Mokes” are pollutiong their world in the name of profits and pointy charts that impress Make industry big Wigs! Now the Fluzzles must venture through the lands summoning the Great Buhmba to restore natures balance. Help the Fluzzles gather in griups of 4 or more matching coloured blocks to unleash the power of Buhma against the Mokes. But beware! Should the Mokes prove too powerful, the Fluzzles shall be trapped in block form forever as terrible “Desaturons”. Go forth and rejuvenate! Each level in story mode has a set objective as the goal you must reach in order to progress further. What are these objectives? – Obtain X amount of points before time runs out. – “Free” (destroy?) a set number of blocks of a specific color – Create X amount of chains before time runs out (these are achieved by freeing 8 or more fluzzles at the same time). In case you forget what your level objective is you can pause the game and see what needs to be done. Once you get to the only new level left in your journey you’ll reach the last (and only) boss in story mode. Things start out very easy but you’ll soon realize that a lot of work is required to actually beat this nemesis that stands between you and the freedom of the Fluzzles! Endless Mode Survive as long as you can and try to get a highscore! Only two ways to end this mode: you quit out (giving up…really?) or you’re overwhelmed and loose. Come to think of it, why is this mode called endless if it DOES eventually end? It doesn’t go on forever! Weird. Tower Mode Build a tower as high as the screen to go up a level! Don’t fall below the red line and watch out for the bottom line exploding from time to time! How high can you get with the help of the multicolor blocks available for your entertainment? If you’ve got a couple of minutes at a time the Mad Blocker Alpha: Revenge of the Fuzzles is a game that will provide you with a very fun take on the tried and true “match X number of pieces” formula in the puzzle genre and since it’s only $4 it’s a game you should add to your minis collection. Review Pros Cons Very fun puzzle game that’s easy to understand Good price Great artstyle and music Would have liked there to be another boss or two to battle Rating 80% Published by Open Emotion Studios Cost – $3.99 Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Story mode was completed and both Endless and Tower mode had a chance as well. – Total amount of time played: 6 hours. Want to get this game? Then you can: Buy a $20 PSN Card! Buy a $50 PSN Card!

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Mad Blocker Alpha Review

Cars 2 the game is a racing game that features many of the famous characters from the Cars world in an intense multi-style racing game. Racing game modes consist of Regular Race, Survival, Battle, Attack to several other in the online mode. This game has it all, fast paced action, guns and girls…but don’t get your hopes up just yet action fans. Cars 2 is without a doubt mostly for kids but it has some small faults that I believe hinder it from hitting a wider audience. The very first thing I noticed about this game is that EVERYTHING is completely locked down until you complete a set of license based missions. When I first got the game to the house, my first thought was to toss it in, go to whatever free race mode it had and let me 4 year old son race away as he was a fan of the original Cars game on PS2 in which he happily still plays constantly. The problem was, the free race option was completely locked out until you unlock the level 2 of the C.H.R.O.M.E. license. While annoying, I set down to play the game while my son happily watched and about 30-45 minutes later I finally unlocked the free race mode for him and handed over the controller. On top of the license issue, there are many options to scroll through and for a 4 year old, it would seem to be a daunting task as they generally can’t really read much yet. Watching my son play the game clumsily, I figured it would be something he would tire of quickly. Well it seems the developers did some research on this more so than myself because three days later, I walked in on my son playing this game, navigating the menus, drifting, shooting weapons like he has been doing it forever. The ESRB clearly states the game is E for Everyone 10+ which I agree with, but younger kids can get a grasp on this game with some help. In between my son’s personal review process (which I’m sure he would give it a 15 out of 10), I spent my time unlocking all of the license C.H.R.O.M.E. missions as well as playing some multiplayer action. The missions are fun but repetitive. They offer a little story line intro and a set race type in which you need to earn a bronze, silver, or gold trophy in each race to gain a set number of points to unlock additional missions. The game is easy to play but fairly difficult to master. Higher level missions can be painstakingly annoying at time and I often had to race a few times even to obtain just a bronze trophy for the track. Multiplayer mode is where this game really shines. There are several game modes available and its fun for players of all ages period. Regardless of the small faults in this game, it delivers in many areas for all gamers. While the game is aiming at a 10 year old plus audience, younger children can play and enjoy this game. For the parents out there, there is no better game for you and your child to play together in various ways. Its a very family oriented and enjoyable game with many of the original voice actors from the movie. Review Pros Cons Great Voice Acting, Several Game Modes, Unique Racing Experiences Not For Younger Kids, Must Complete First Set of Missions to Play Free Race Rating 80% Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by Foghorn PR for this review. – Total amount of time played: 30 hours plus. Want to get this game? Then you can:

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Official Cars 2 Review

You must save the tribe in its most desperate hour. Feel the rhythm on the earth beneath your feet and keep to the beat to give your faithful warriors a fighting chance. With over 80 quests to complete and enemy tribes, monsters and Dark Heroes to face, you must channel the bravery of the Patapon legends to fulfill your destiny as the tribe’s savior. Sign the sacred Uberhero’s Pledge, select what Uberhero you would like to reincarnate in and name him, as you and the Uber are meant to be as one. Build up your battle experience, customize the armor, weapons and skills and watch how your Patapon evolve into one of 21 different classes with unique abilities. Patapon 3 is a rhyhtm game at it’s core with lots of action thrown in to bring something extra into the equation. The intro video does a great job at getting you in the mood for some adventuring into the unknown and gives you a taste of what you’ll encounter should you decided that important and destiny are two words powerful enough that deserve your attention. Once you initially load up the game you’re given the option to install it “improve performance” and since I have a 16 GM Memory Stick Pro Duo and it only asked for 152 MB… well, why not? Don’t really know how much the performance was improved since the game does take a while to save every time you finish a level but if a 2 minute install is saving me 3 seconds every time I complete a level then I really am saving a lot of time since this is a game that will take you 40+ hours to complete in single player. You can import data from Patapon 2 to get some super special items added to your Patapon 3 experience which is great since it takes about 30-40 hours to be completely done with part 2 and having all that hard mean something is extra special… oh, an dit will also carry over your name from part 2. Totally. Choose from one of 3 Uber heroes to start things off: Yarida: The Spear uberhero. This hero loves chucking spears around and dishing out lots of pain to anyone standing in it’s path. Yarida is a good choice for Mighty Ones that need to adjust to their new Patapon form. Yarida Warriors have powerful abilities, but you must take risks to inflict heavy damage on your enemy. Yumiyacha: The Bow Uberhero, able to fire off a volley of arrows at the enemy. Yumiyacha is great at providing support for the tribe. Unfortunately, this Uberhero’s fingers do get sore, meaning it has little stamina. Choose Yumitacha if you’re looking for a challenge. Taterazay: The Shield Uberhero. Always ready for action, this fearless frontline warrior will risk it all in order to save the tribe. Choose Taterazay if you’re an experienced Mighty One and have no second thoughts to putting it all in the line. But that’s not all! Four more heroes are revived at the start to aid you in your quest and are added to your party and another two members of the Patapon Tribe awaits for their triumphant return. Here’s a short description of each one: Hatapon: He’s always the heart and soul of the party. You can count on him to bravely carry the Patapon flag, even in the deadliest of battles. His steadfast energy and funky rhythm lightens the mood when morale is down. Be careful as once there are no more Shield type members in your army… Hatapon could be destroyed in one or two strikes at most. Kan: As one of the deadly members of the Patapon Trifecta, Kan (whose arrows are always aimed with laser-precision) will stand behind your troops making it rain fear on enemy lines. Chin: The defender, he is the second member of the Patapon Trifecta. He’s a brave one, charging headfirst against enemy lines to drive back enemy troops. Woe is he that tries to stand up to his might sword… chop! Ton: The final member of the Patapon Trifecta, has one goal in life… to spear as many enemies as possible. His throwing skills are impeccable and his aim is second to none. He’ll float around in the formation, always searching for the sweet spot where he can inflict the most damage. Priestess Meden: The Patapons guiding light, has been turned to stone. Her future is uncertain, but until Patapons find a way to restore her, she’ll be kept safe deep inside their lair. Sukopon: He’s the lookout who keeps a close watch for signs of impending trouble by studying the stars. It is always on alert and peers through the telescope, hoping to spot something really big. When it does, you better not face it alone. What CAN you do while in battle? You have several actionsavailable and they’re all made up from the same basic commands. Those commands are as follow: Pata: Sound made by the Square button. Pon: Sound made by the Circle button. Chaka: Sound made by the Triangle button. Don: Sound made by the X Button Button combinations have to be entered in a “four beats at a time” pattern and keeping the rhythm going wil increase your combo. Entering a four beat pattern perfectly in time with the gneral beat of the music that is playing on a level will make the action you selected be more powerful. Mantaining the perfect beat going will eventually make you enter Fever mode in which each character class gets an extra ability added to it’s arsenal or activated for all to enjoy which really changes the flow of battle… but can be a double edge sword as missing the perfect beat twice OR not entering a correct action command will bring you back to a zero combo and leave you at a huge disadvantage in the fronline. You can march forward, attack your enemies, defend so your party takes less damage, summon a Djinn (while in fever mode and with a full bar), retreat, jump, charge up, regroup and, eventually, pause the game (you have to earn this ability by getting almost to the end of the first tutorial level but you have to wait until you’re powerful enough to do so. Why is pause an ability and not something that anyone can use?). Being able to decide what action needs to be picked next is the main element that needs to be understood or else you risk blindingly rushing into the frontline and perish. Your Uberhero and the Patapon heroes all have a health bar that needs to be taken care of since when it runs out you’ll have one less ally on your side and this could make it impossible to get to the end of the level. There are three ways in which you can recover your health: by picking up health potions which are dropped by defeated enemies, by using a healer Patapon in your army or by summoning a Djinn which will revive any fallen allies and recover the health bar of those still standing. Again, rushing to try and grab a health potion could be a bad choice if the enemies are on their way since they COULD hit you before you get it thus ending your adventure. There are several RPG elements sprinkled here and there in the Patapon 3 universe since you can level up your Uberhero, and his 3 (Patapon Trifecta) allies by obtaining enough experience points (which are gained from defeating enemies that are of an equal or higher level to yours), obtain ka-ching (that’s the name of the in-game currency) so you can buy armor and weapons… or even sell those that you don’t need to get some ka-ching in return. Some of the levels are specifically marked as being excellent for “Obtaining Experience/Ka-ching” so take advantage of them any time you run into one as they’re even more helpful when you’ve just changed classes (more on this later). There’s also a blacksmith available that will help you improve your equipment should you have enough money AND materials to properly craft the new model. The items are found on each level when you destroy a barrier, burn some grass, drill down a mountain, etc. and they’re available in great cuantities when you’re just starting but eventually you’ll be tasked with finding rare materials which are only available on sidequests or at random on regular levels which sort of puts a hold on how much you can improve your armor or weapon. You can only increase an item up to level 10 before you’re asked to level up your blacksmith so it can go to 11 (and up) but you’ll be asked to choose if the item you’re about to improve beyond it’s threshold shall be the ONLY TYPE that can go past it. This means that you better love spears if that’s your choice as choosing another item to be your “ Arch ” item will bring back your first choice to level 10. Finally, items that are unique cannot be improved at all since in YOUR blacksmith (this will explained later) as they have inherent special abilities to aid you in your quest and increasing their level would break the game. But the blacksmith isn’t the only building that is available to your Uberhero at the Patapon Hideout as you also have access to other structures within: Barracks: Here you can change your equipment or class (out of a total of 21 different classes divided as three sets of 7 depending on what main class you choose for your Uberhero and a set for each of the members of the Patapon Trifecta). Armory: View all your items and dismantle old weapons, armor and materials to earn valuable Ka-ching. If you select dismantle you’ll be shown how much Ka-ching you’ll earn before you make up your mind. Take into consideration that Key items and the regular (standard issue) Patapon equipment can’t be dismantled. Team Totem: Personalize and manage your tribe for multiplayer crusades. Choose your own calling card to highlight your teams personality, send cards to other players online to see if they want to join your team, choose the quote to use in battle and at the hideout, view your teams goal list as well as your accomplisments and so on. Hero Gate: Choose to visit another player’s hideout, or invite them to your and form a team of Uberheroes. Choose to tackle a specific mission, or play an adventure together. When visiting a Hideout, don’t forget to visit their Blacksmith to take advantage of theri weapon and armor making skills! You must buy the game NEW to be able to play online as it includes a redeem code for the PSN Store that gives you access the online functionality AND a Digital Video Guide to help you better understand the game AND to give you very specific tips should you stumble upon a level that you just can’t get past. Master Obelisk: The mysterious master obelisk transports your party to battlefields on the Patapon World Map. Scroll through the available quests and press the X button to choose a mission. Most missions can be replayed for experience, materials and Ka-ching but story related ones can only be played once. Battle Gate: Once you have formed a team, you can battle other teams in Head on (Battle to gain control over the other team’s territory. Your strenght, skill and wits will be tested in huge clashes where the winner takes all), Missile Battle (Fire missiles to destroy the other theam’s territory. If you time your shots just right, it is possible to knock your opponent’s missiles out of the air) and Dead Heat (Race accross the terrain as quickly as possiblel, avoiding or destroying the obstacles in your way) Challenges. There’s a chance to micro manage the equipment of your Uberhero and his companions but you also have the option to optimize it (either on a per character basis or for the whole party) with a simple button press. Optimize allows for the best equipment to be instantly equipped for the best stat bonuses… so what’s the point of micro managing? Well, you might be facing an enemy that a resistance to ice-enhanced weapons and it could eb the case that your best weapon has ice-properties which would in the end deal lewer damage to said enemy. A +3 Ice Spear might sound great but when and enemy can turn that into a -1 ice spear you’ll find that a plain fire sword would be the better choice. Also, sometimes the game decides that one attribute is better fit for a class than another and you COULD be “optimized” to your disadvantage. This happened to me twice and I had to manually equip a unique shield that doubled my defense and gave me an extra thousand stamina points because the game wanted me to be equiped with a fire shield instead that made me impervious to burn damage. There are lots of quests available but not all of them are mandatory as they don’t need to be completed to move along the story. Some sidequests are there for the sole purporse of teaching you a lesson in humility because the fact that a sidequest is on the 3rd level tier doesn’t mean it’s easier than a main quest available on the 6th level. Eventually you’ll se how sidequests are s great place for obtaining rare equipment thanks to the treasure chests that are dropped by the high level enemies you can defeat. You’ll pick up different types of treasure chests along the way (made of wood, silver, gold, etc.) and they also come in a huge assortment of “levels” meaning that a lvl 7 wodden chest shouldn’t have the same content as a lvl 3 of the same base material but chests are like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get. When Hatapon falls you loose the battle but all your hardwork won’t be lost as you get to keep all the materials found in the level as well as the experience obtained from your crushing (but not so crushing) march over the bad guys. You must be extremly aware of this on multilevel castles as once you’ve completed each level you’re given the opportunity to return to your Hideout (with everything you’ve obtained up until that point) or go to the next floor. Do you march on, riksing loosing whatever was inside that golden chest you found back at the halfway point… or go home and hope that a new and rare piece of equipment inside said chest will help you on your next quest? You eventually face-off against large or huuuuuugely powerful enemies that are sorta like a final stage boss but are placed in the middle and aren’t really a boss since those DO exists on castles… mmm, so those COULD be called mid-bosses, right? Anyway, they require a bit more strategy which prevents you from just spamming the attack command but these instances are only preparing you for the proper bosses the game wil throw your way. Jump might seem like a worthless commando during most levels until you realize that using it will help you avoid the “rush-and-eat-you-with-a-side-of-crushing-you-while-he’s-at-it” attack from the first true boss you run into. We’re looking at about 40 hours worth of single player content when you consider the regular story levels AND the sidequests and when you add up all the time that can be spent in the online multiplayer… well, sky is the limit. I was able to pour in about 3 hours into the online component but unfourtunately I couldn’t play for two long as the PSP isn’t the most online friendly system out there and having to jump through hoop after hoop after hoop to get it online AND maintaint it there… it was too much of a hassle for what IS a fun extra that, unfourtunately, would have been a better fit on the PS3 or maybe the Vita. Patapon 3 is a very fun game that is priced at only $19.99 and for that ammount you’ll get an interesting game that has A LOT of content available to gamers worldwide. It does take things into a different direction so those that have already played Patapon and Patapon 2 might have to readjust their approach during the first couple of levels. The micro managing can feel daunting at first but having all the customization options available is great for huge RPG fans and regular gamers alike since just pressing the optimize button streamlines the experience in the end. All PSP owners should start with Patapon and work their way up to part 3 as it truly is a great IP that hopefully will continue for many, many more years. Review Pros Cons Easy to learn, hard to put down Lots of content Only $20! Some grinding is required at several points in the game Rating 90% Published by SCEA Cost – $19.99 Available at retail and from the PSN Store for PSP. Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Total amount of time played: 32 hours. Want to get this game? Then you can: Buy Patapon 3 itself! Buy a $20 PSN Card! Buy a $50 PSN Card!

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Patapon 3 Review (PSP)

Avatar Creation The Avatar creation process is full of many unique options. You have full control of your in game Avatar from every feature of the face to the body. There is even a Monster Hunter type voice option where you can chose how he or she will grunt and grown. The story still centers around Leonard, but your Avatar will be with your party from the begging just like the first game. For those of you new to the series, your Avatar is your main character that will be used in Multilayer. The game still allows you to use whichever character you want during single player, but who’s going to pass up on changing into the White Knight? Graphics and Sound The game is gorgeous and the amount of detail to the bugs around plants and the ambiance of the sky is simply amazing. The vibrant color pallet brings the world to life. Drop in a killer musical score and a very nice opening song and the world which you spend a good 33hrs in becomes very believable. This is the best part of White Knight Chronicles 2 without a doubt. MMO Feel The game from the very start of character creation feels like a free to play MMO. You can pull up a gesture menu at any time and wave and greet and so forth. The items found and looted from chests appear in a news ticker of sorts in the upper left of the screen. The game feels like World of Warcraft and you can see where the team got their inspiration from. Its just such a mix up of stuff that makes nothing work here. The Japanese RPG is there underneath what is obviously an attempt to cater to the Western market. A shame to be honest. You can still make your own town and upload it to the servers for friends to visit and it can serve as a basis for setting out on a long list of mediocre Quests. Let the Problems Begin Where do I start with this one. The inclusion of White Knight Chronicles (the first one) International Edition is a great bonus, because if you haven’t played the series before you almost have to start with the first one. You will begin 2 in the level 30+ area and will have no tutorial at all to aid you. This leaves you having to manage hundreds of skills and attacks which must be assigned to your in game attack menu. I spent 2hrs here alone before even setting out on a quest. Major issue for newcomers of the series if you chose to start with 2. You must assign every single skill and attack which will be chosen via an in game menu during battle. The battle system was supposed to be improved and more fine tuned, but all they did here was speed up an already boring battle system and add a few options like where to hit an enemy while attacking. Your attacks are chosen as stated before and you must wait for a circle to become fully illuminated before hitting X to initiate the attack. Boring doesn’t begin to explain it. While all this is going on, you have total control over your character, but for what reason? None, to be completely honest. You can try to run around an enemy while charging your attack, but if the enemy is going to hit you, it wont miss if you’re running away, making me wish the battle was turn based even more. They are trying to fake real time battle here and it simply doesn’t work. The ability to create combos is still here and works much the same way. You add your attacks however you see fit and they use up AC points. These combos are almost pointless, as a decent air combo will use up enough AC points that you’re better off waiting to get a few more to turn into the White Knight and decimate everything in a few whacks. The option to command your characters to attack how they see fit, or defend, etc, is there to more or less say, “Hey you can do this”. I found it much easier to simply set it to attack what I am attacking and that is how I left it during my play time with no issues. More Confusion Imagine starting a movie that you have never seen half way through and you have a general idea of what to expect with White Knight Chronicles 2. There is no character involvement at all. The game assumes you have played the first one and remembers every detail that has occurred during Leonard’s previous escapade. Then you have the politics of this person and that person trying to take over and without no solid story behind it you lose any sort of commitment to the cause. Add in a bunch of fetch and kill quests and you have a very boring title on your hands. Running around in the forest destroying cores is as fun as it sounds. Find the core and hit it until its gone, all the while backtracking and spending way too much time in one area. While trying to locate your objectives, you will encounter a bunch of smaller enemy types with the a big beast in the center. You simply attack the smaller ones until you earn up enough AC points to transform and smash the big beast in a few unsatisfying whacks. Shoot me now please. Releases in the states on 9-13-2011. Review Pros Cons Musical Score Graphics and detail Boring combat No tutorial Overly Complex menu system No character involvement Tries to be too many games Rating 48%

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White Knight Chronicles 2 Review

I really like it when publishers are kind enough to sum up their game so everyone can know what they’re getting into: NormalTanks is a fast-paced multi-directional arcade shooter featuring classic run’n’gun gameplay with 3 difficulty settings. There are 8 challenging, dynamic and hazardous environments to tackle and inside every enemy base or forests and mountains, you have to choose your battle tactics carefully to survive! Over the 30 dangerous enemies types on your heroic way, including various tanks, heavy war machines and helicopters, robots and biomechanical creatures, pillboxes and SSM missile sites and every level ends with its own, unique boss to defeat. Crash, kill and destroy them all to move forward! By using special power-ups, you can upgrade your tank abilities: cannon, machine gun, and armor to help you progress. Some levels transform you to tiny bot to stealth pass near the enemies and deactivate energy fields or to giant walking robot, which demolish everything on his way to the alien’s hive! Now it’s reviewing time! Review Liked the video? Ok, now let’s find out how to engage in this action packed roll around the dirt stained warzone. Since this is a minis, dual analog controls are out and we must use the following setup: Move with D-Pad, rotate turrets with right side buttons, autoaim by hitting the analog stick, fire with R and, finally, switch weapons with L. Controls take about 5 minutes to sink in since this is one of those games where dual analog control WOULD have been welcome… but that has more to do with the hardware itself and how it doesn’t have said control input available. As soon as you’re dropped into the action you’ll notice an ammo counter on the upper left part of the screen for your two available weapons and this in turns helps you KNOW you must always be on the lookout for ammo pickups and not go around firing like crazy all over the place just for kicks (well, at least that’s true when playing on the higher difficulties, especially if you’re going for a single life speed run). But wait, what is that next to your ammo counters? Why, it’s a Health bar! Get hit X amount of times (X = Health Bar minus Health Square Lost divided by being too slow to dodge) and you’ll be vanished from this earthly plane and must pass the rest of eternity surrounded by the dark flames of… what? Wrong game? Oh, my bad! You just continue right were you got destroyed if you have extra lives to spare on you. To make things interesting, you can actually power up your weapons, health bar, total amount of lives left, current health level or tank speed thanks to pickups that become available as you go along each level or that are placed when they pop out after shooting down and enemy. Died? Then you just lost all your power ups! Since the game isn’t a “one shot and your dead” type of game you can plan accordingly and be more cautious when low on health as loosing all your power ups would certainly put you at a disadvantage. Don’t know about you, but the game reminds me of the Contra/Ikari Warriors franchises which, as a child of the 80′s and beyond, is always great news. Once you find your second Cannon power up things get even more fun and the “run, blast and crush” feeling from back in the day comes to life in many, many colors and shades of said colors that are colorful… color! Be careful as trees (color coded green!) and other elements can provide cover for your enemies and you won’t be able to spot them until it’s too late, just like in the old days! As it has been said, you only have two weapons available: * Cannon: Stong but a bit slow and it has low ammo. What can it take out? EVERYTHING! * Machine Gun: Lots of ammo, very fast but does about 1/10th of the damage the cannon just got us used to. It’s better for smaller, weaker or faster moving enemies or to take down missiles that are making their way towards you. You don’t just run into the usual enemies here and there and call it a day as some of them pop out of the ground below you, and try to be as sneaky as possible about it, with the only goal of exploding once they’re touching your beautiful “jungle green” tank finish and take down your health along with them. What is very fun is spoting one of them damn spiders and racing backwards while your frantic self tries to shoot it as it zig-zags and wobbles on it’s way to your awesome killing machine. Another great thing is how there’s actual Boss battles sprinkled around the game that test you every now and then. Bosses are usually big, wide and powerful… but they also tend to not only get weirder but crazier as you progress on and on. What is the easiest way to defeat them? Lots of power ups, lots of extra lives, slurpee, practice, perfection, non-aspirin and a will of steel. Stay alert! There’s three difficulty settings to choose from with Easy being very, very easy, normal taking things closer to the extreme and hard running the difficulty dial off a cliff, past the extreme and onto the masochistic realm of NES games… and we like it like that! Level 4 introduces another element to the mix: park your tank and take control of one of those annoying, burrowing spider mines! Use your new found “friend” to take out barrier generators so your tank can continue to make some progress and help enemies go BOOM! Eventually actual mines start popping up everywhere which forces you to take things slowly and watch were you step… or force you to just go forward like crazy and hope you have enough health left as to not go BOOM yourself. NormalTanks is a fun, old school, fairly priced, addictive and fast paced game you should add to your collection if you own a PS3 or a PSP. I’ll leave you with this final comment: That Contra vibe I talked about earlier? Tooooootally off the charts once you get to level 8. I smiled oh so much once I got to that final point that it made my day. Review Pros Cons Fun, pick up and play game Old School! Great price Only two weapons available Rating 81% Published by Beatshapers Cost – $2.99 Available on PSN (for PSP or PS3) Want to get this game? The you can: Buy a $20 PSN Card! Buy a $50 PSN Card! Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review. – Total amount of time played: 3 hours. Giveaway We also have a US PSN Code to giveaway to a lucky member from PS3Blog.net. Just a FYI you can play the game on a PS3 or PSP. It will be simple to enter this giveaway. You have until midnight on June 29th to enter. Winner will be picked at random on June 30th. Details below: Worth 1 Entry: Just leave a comment below on what you would do with a tank. Worth 1 Entry: Tweet this message and include a link to your tweet with your comment below. Follow @ps3blogdotnet @Beatshapers & retweet for a chance to win NormalTanks! Then post a link to your tweet here http://bit.ly/jTdXod To find a link to your tweet, just click the date under your tweet Worth 1 Entry: Leave a reply on this Facebook Status update with a link to your PS3Blog.net Profile Good luck!

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NormalTanks Review (minis) + Giveaway

Here’s a trailer with the latest zombie dlc coming for Black Ops. “Zombies are back in “Annihilation”, as players unearth the mysteries of “Shangri-La,” a legendary shrine lost in an exotic jungle, where new undead species lurk within a treacherous labyrinth of underground caverns. Navigate through deadly traps and solve the dark secrets buried within the shifting walls of this zombie infested temple.” There is still no official release date for this on the PSN.

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COD: Black Ops Annihilation DLC Shangri-La Zombie Trailer

Great game! Beatshapers, enlighten us! StarDrone is a high-speed action thriller with a mix of arcade action, pinball, breakout, physics and collect-the-objects. PlayStation 2 version is compatible with PlayStation®Move motion controller and playable with normal DualShock or SixAxis controllers and created for HDTV and stereoscopic 3D (coming with separate patch). The game features over 50 levels of unparalleled gaming experience and extraordinary replay value. Cause your attackers to crash with rapid speed while collecting gems and power-up enhancements. Overcome perilous hazards and elude zillions of enemies in an effort to complete each stage with a record score. With simple gesture controls and unique, intuitive game play mechanics, StarDrone is friendly to beginners, at the same time challenging enough to bring you back for more and more. What you really want to know RIGHT NOW is… how do you play? You can control the action with the Dualshock 3 by moving the analog stick to choose the beacon you want to use as a traveling aid and press a button to go round and round, like a record . Star Drone is also PS Move compatible. How compatible? You point at the screen to highlight the beacon you want to use as an anchor point so you can orbit around it and press a button to lock your on it. Letting go of the button will send you flying depending on at what angle and direction your unit was before being sent on a journey through the stars. This video will help you understand how the game works: I like the music and so will you! StarDrone has some fast paced and exciting music to go along with all the bright colors and effects displayed on screen. Said music had the advantage of never feeling dull, repetitive, shallow, unnecessary, “just because” or all of the above at any time during my many hours of game playing. The levels start out very small and take just a couple of seconds to be completed but this is mainly to allow you to get the hang of things. Said threshold is reached once you’re at either level 3 or 4 at the latest. Then you like, totally, like, find your groove at level 6. You even get to see a map for the level you’re currently hovering over on the level select screen which helps you get an idea of how difficult said map can be once you go, go, go! Want some extra motivation? You can obtain medals for your fast paced effort… which is a bit hard at first. You see, medals are tied to your completion time for each level and since you have to finish them very quickly to make the grade. You might be a bit annoyed when you don’t get a medal on your first try. It pretty much seems like the game is asking for perfect, synchronized runs but eventually you get “in the zone” and find yourself obtaining silver or gold medals on your first try. There’s four levels types available: – Collect all stars: Get ALL stars on the level to progress onto the next one. – Destroy all enemies: It’s payback time! – Collect all star shards: You see, there was this big star that got shattered so we would like you to go and gather all the pieces and bring them back. Thanks! – Get to the finish line: Race for the giant green GOAL circle at the end of the path. Easy, right? Oh, you’re so, soooooo wrong. The fact that collecting stars isn’t the main objective of the level doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go out of your way to obtain as many as possible. First of all, they add up to your score total for the level and that in turn allows you to go up on the leaderboards as you shoot for the number one spot. Second of all, collecting enough stars will allow you to enter Comet mode so you can start to sparkle and grow spikes that help you destroy your enemies simply by saying hello to them as closely as possible. Eventually you realize you actually have a health bar that needs to be carefully managed. Hitting a Creeper (creepy spherical baddies), being blasted by a rocket or thinking mines are your friend (they’re NEVER your friend, ok? Not even when they bring a bottle of wine or some sweet, sweet cake to a small get together) takes some of that away which is why you must then start to take into consideration that there are health recovery items sprinkled around each level that will prevent you from ending your tale oh too soon… restarting the level is what it is called. FYI: as Mega Man has taught us, spikes are a one hit kill so you must avoid them or else suffer the wrath of the pointy tyrant! There are three power ups available to help you out on this endeavor: Berserk: You go crazy! Watch as rage and anger enter your unit and suddenly transforms it into a lean, mean killing machine. Any enemies near you are instantly taken care of as you dash into one after the other until either they’re all gone or your Berserk time runs out. Magnet: Having trouble reaching for the stars all around you as you fly? Grab a Magnet and then stars will want to be near YOU. Any stars even remotely near your unit will be drawn closer and added up to your collection with the greatest of ease. Invisibility: Sneaky move! Enemies will be unable to see you which makes each trip easier on your thumbs BUT if you, for some reason, decide it’s a good idea to crash into them without having entered Comet Mode… you’ll get hurt, and pain is not something you want right now. Avoid floating mines, rockets and the turrets from which they spawn, Creepers and other hazards to fulfill your destiny and complete all 53 levels included with your purchase, just as the prophecy had established all those centuries ago! Just be careful of level 39. Had to do that one over 100 times before finally being able to bid it adieu. It was the ONLY level I had a problem with so maybe it was just me being “off” for a moment but ooooh how I never want to see good old 39 again. Still, one level out of 53 that gave me a hard time isn’t something to dock several points out of a game that carries around lots of Fun-Fun with it. Review Pros Cons Very fun and fast paced game Great music Lots of content for the asked price Damn you 39! Rating 92% Published by Beatshapers Developed by Beatshapers Cost – $7.99 Available on PSN Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review. – All trophies obtained. – Total amount of time played: 5 hours.

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StarDrone Review

I picked a winner at random and the winner is jwhyrock ! We had 114 entries, so thanks to all that entered. Looks like the new lottery system worked great. We have more giveaways planned soon. So keep an eye on PS3Blog.net! If you haven’t read the review for the Roxio Game Capture Unit check it out here .

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Winner of the Roxio Game Capture Unit!