Gamesugar

June 23, 2010

Peace Walker – The View from Mother Base

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 2:03 pm

Metal Gear Solid - Peace Walker
Even while being bombarded by E3, I was chewing through Peace Walker reasonably quick until hitting the first of the game’s singing robotic superweapons. The massive tank with the unfortunately odd name of Pupa was waiting to attack in the first confrontation within the game that didn’t provide any safe havens for planning strategy or recovery.

Two previous encounters with heavier infantry offered buildings or overturned wreckage for refuge, but this encounter occurs within a large open arena, a bit like a match of Twisted Metal – except that Boss doesn’t have access to a machinegun equipped ice cream truck.

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June 16, 2010

E3 Audio Bits – All Things Ys

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 7:59 pm

All Things Ys
[podcast]http://www.gamesugar.net/podcast/e32010/e3ysaudio.mp3[/podcast]

Since Aileen was already checking Ivy the Kiwi?, it made sense to stick around and find out more about the games spewing from XSEED’s new arrangement to stock the PSP with Falcom titles.

I’m going to say that the games are probably in the best hands possible, because it didn’t take her long to find a very enthusiastic Falcom fan among the XSEED ranks.

Give a listen to hear about skill items, deadly yellow gauges, gathering materials, and many more bits from both Ys Seven and Ys: The Oath in Felghana.

You can also catch the latest trailer for Ys Seven after the break.

[direct download] [RSS Feed]

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PixelJunk Shooter 2, and Other Sony Bits

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:00 am

Pixeljunk Shooter 2
Feel like getting eaten? That’s where PixelJunk Shooter 2 plans to pick up, directly following the original. The game’s also bringing online multiplayer and ghosting options along with online ranking when it hits the PlayStation Network later this year.

Other Sony bits grabbing attention from yesterday are on the PSP front, with Patapon 3 aiming for a release this fall – complete with a rather stark teaser promising a demo on June 23.

And least I forget, Valkyria Chronicles 2 has a date with my PSP on August 31.

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May 10, 2010

Persona 3 Portable Is Streamlined

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 9:21 pm

Persona 3 Portable
As far as Persona 3 Portable is concerned, the word of the day is definitely streamlined, and legitimately so because the game moves from screen to screen swiftly, even without the optional install.

I got the chance to view a demo of the title today when Atlus harnessed the power of the Internet to give an overview of the game’s most notable new feature, the ability to play as either gender.

The trade off is that “anime” cut-scenes have been replaced with more character portrait interactions, and that players now navigate the world with an icon rather than running around loose in it – well except for the dungeons of course.

Pressing square brings up a quick menu that allows players to jump to different locations now, admittedly making P3P a more ideal game on the go. Whether or not that’s a huge loss is debatable. One could lament that loss of immersion, but at the same time locations are freshened with a new 2D art perspective, keeping the game focused on character interchanges and battling with Persona.

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April 6, 2010

Catching Up With Lunar: Silver Star Harmony

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:55 pm

Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
Lunar sets the stage by opening with a bit of classic RPG drama, pitting archetypal heroes against a formidable evil – the game seemingly beginning where most others would end. The ensuing battle, which players cannot lose, offers a taste of the combat system and some understanding toward the world awaiting an expanded narrative.

And when the heroes have proved victorious, the player discovers that these events are being recounted for two children, Alex and Luna, living in a cozy home on a hill – two characters who quickly emerge as young adults, ready to have the player assume responsibility for them as they set off on their own adventures, greatly inspired by the heroic tales they grew up listening to.

The sequence represents a clever approach to establishing the world of Lunar, putting some ground beneath the player’s feet about where they are starting out from, as well as foreshadowing the challenges that wait ahead. It’s a beautiful way to open a game, offering some instant justification as to why the title has seen so many revisits over the years, revisits that cause the world nostalgia to easily attach itself to this PSP remake.

And while that word fits for anyone familiar with earlier versions, nostalgic leanings don’t keep Silver Star Harmony from proving as competitive and compelling as any other on-the-go RPG in recent memory.

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March 17, 2010

In Memory Of – My PSP 2000

Filed under: Features — Tags: , , , — Jamie Love @ 12:46 pm

In Memory
Prior to establishing Gamesugar, my PSP-2000 had developed a condition I’ve come to refer to as “PSP Leprosy” – a series of strange blotches staining the screen in permanent places. At the time I was quite concerned that this would cut its working career short, but the handheld soldiered on, ready to meet the new challenges that lay ahead during the year in gaming that is 2010.

However, during a recent adhoc co-op session for Metal Slug Double X, it was clear that my PSP was running much slower than its partner, with significantly longer load-times and finally a screen freezing glitch that forced me to remove the battery to turn it off. Still I held out hope that it might overcome this, only to have the freezing get progressively worse, until I was forced to accept that the patient was lost last night during an attempted revisit of Jeanne D’arc.

It’s impossible not to question why the young are sometimes cut short, long before their time and prior to releases like Valkyria Chronicles 2, Patchwork Heroes, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker – potential joys my PSP will never know. It’s true that the candle that burns twice as bright often lasts only half as long, and surely my PSP was able to attend gaming events and sample review code that made its short life far from ordinary.

I don’t expect an answer regarding the wisdom of the great designer in this situation, I can only mourn the passing of a portable device that gave itself in the service of gamers, in the hope of bringing a better level of information and game writing to their lives.

Assuming you’ll indulge me, a list of this PSP’s published service record can be found after the break, a permanent memorial in remembrance of its accomplishments.

Goodnight my first PSP, while I will undoubtedly be forced to replace you with another, you will never be forgotten.

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March 16, 2010

Review – Metal Slug Double X

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 3:06 pm

Metal Slug Double X
Metal Slug is a series that always gets plenty of my attention. I’ve devoted a ridiculous amount of love to the franchise during my stay on Starship Earth, even going so far as to attempt playing it on a Neo Geo Pocket Color – which requires the player to sit directly beneath the sun in order to see the screen clearly.

Even after all this time, I’ll still put money into a Neo Geo cab when one turns up at a gaming event, and still lament the fact that I couldn’t afford any of the fancy Japanese hardware that allowed the game to be played at home when I was younger. In many ways, Metal Slug is why the dinosaurs had to die – so we could use the oil from their corpses to fuel the boats that would one day bring this franchise to North America. The animation of characters and actions grabs me every time I see it, that melodramatic Looney Tunes mix of over-action that separates Metal Slug’s cartoonish hyper-violent-bullet-coaster-ride from any other title.

With this in mind, it’s easy-peasy for me to fall into this PSP enhanced port of the DS release (Metal Slug 7), finding my groove and slugging a path through more enemies in a single level than exist in the entirety of other run and gun titles. And yet, like an indecisive Emperor, there’s enough weight on either end of the judgment scale to keep my thumb from turning up or down over this release, creating an unfortunate zone of indifference.

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