John Carmack, the famed developer from id Software recently offered up his thoughts on the next generation of gaming experiences, noting that we’ll likely still see plenty of games that do not run at 60 frames-per-second.

In response to a question on Twitter, Carmack shared the unfortunate truth that 60 fps likely won’t be the standard in the next-gen, as we’re bound to see plenty of games still locked in at 30 Hz.

There will still be lots of 30hz games, which I don’t think it is a good trade.

If TVs didn’t add lag, it would be more clear cut.

Those familiar with Carmack’s thoughts on technology are likely well aware of the fact that he is a big supporter of higher frame-rates. A lot of developers have opted to sacrifice a smoother frame-rate for better visuals, but Carmack doesn’t believe the trade-off is typically worth it. The guys over at id are some pretty brilliant individuals, having brought us games like Doom and Rage, so there’s definitely some weight behind Carmack’s opinion.

What do you think about the importance of frame-rate in the next-gen? Should developers make smooth, 60 frames-per-second experiences a priority? Sound off in the comments below.

[Via]

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

It looks like Sony has found a way to invade your gaming experiences with advertisements, as a patent for an “Advertisement Scheme for use with interactive content” was filed by SCEA just last year.

The patent was first spotted by a NeoGAF user and essentially warns the player than an advertisement is about to interrupt their gameplay session. Once the ad has been shown, the player will then be returned to his/her game after a brief pause.

Also included in the patent is the added option to rewind a particular moment in the game, should the advertisement fragment a particularly important portion of the experience. I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty ticked off if I was in the middle of an emotional cutscene in The Last of Us only to be interrupted by someone trying to sell me a Diet Pepsi.

Before you start to worry, just know that there’s a chance this will never see the light of day. There are loads of patents filed all the time that never actually come to fruition. In fact, Eurogamer notes that back in 2006 a similar patent was filed by the company, and this new one is basically just an extension of that.

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Okay, bear with me for a second here. Do you remember a game (electronic or otherwise) known as Battleship? Did you ever think that two-player strategy/board/pen-and-paper game would translate well into a movie? Well, someone thought it was a good idea. That film released last week (or last month if you are in the UK), as did its accompanying video game, which we’re about to review. I’ll let that sink in a bit. Yes, what you are reading is a review of a video game, based on a movie, based on a board game (boardception?). Let’s see if the idea has any merit.

In case you haven’t been watching television or have just been avoiding trailers altogether recently, the basic synopsis of the Battleship film is as follows: NASA finds an extra-solar planet that appears to have a similar environment to Earth. These scientists then get the bright idea to send an extremely powerful radio signal in that planet’s direction. Turns out that was a bad idea – it gave our location away to aliens living on that planet which have space-faring technology, and these aliens are quite hostile. What any of this has to do with the original board game, I have no clue. The movie has released to average reviews, which usually doesn’t bode well for a video game based off of it.

That could not hold any truer for Battleship the video game. From the start, you know things are going to be rough – there’s a cutscene that features a low framerate and no voice acting. It appears to be footage from the movie at first, but it becomes quite obvious that this is not the case. You play as the faceless and mute demolitions specialist Cole Mathis who probably looks exactly like all the other human characters in the game. We know nothing about him, other than the fact that he is given control of an entire naval fleet via a tablet-like device that can also somehow freeze time when in use. Okay, so they don’t present it like that, but I do feel like I’m cheating when I’m surrounded by enemies only to whip this thing out and issue commands to remote ships without consequence.

The tablet I mentioned is one of Battleship‘s few redeeming qualities. As you play this first-person shooter, there is a naval war going on which you play a key role in. This portion of the game takes place on a grid of the island you are currently fighting on, as well as the surrounding ocean, where the ships are stationed. Your fleet is represented by the white ships, and enemies are red. Each ship has two statistics from the start, which determines how effective they are against other enemy ships or submarines. While you are fighting on land, enemies will randomly drop wild cards, which are powerups that can be added to buff up your ships’ stats. Most of these cards are stackable, so you can increase your ship/submarine’s attack and defense up to three times. But there are some issues with this system; wild card drops are so frequent, that eventually you end up with extremely overpowered ships and the aliens do not pose much of a threat at all. Maintaining your ships becomes more of a chore than a strategy. One wild card offers 20 seconds of remote control over a selected ship, during which time that ship’s weapons become 200% more powerful. Suffice to say, you hardly need 20 seconds to destroy any enemy ship. This includes the game’s “boss” at the end. If you know of any other game where the final boss takes under 20 seconds to kill, please let me know. This strategy portion to Battleship is an interesting concept, but the execution is sorely lacking.

You do feel like a badass when you call in support from your ships, though. Once said ships are in specially-marked support squares on the map, you can call in artillery, sonic shockwaves and more to devastate your enemies. It’s pretty cool, but is definitely not enough to carry this game to the next level. Speaking of levels, if you took footage from any level, you’d be hard-pressed to know which one it is or at what point in the game it is from. Part of this has to do with the environment – it’s all just Hawaiian islands. This makes for a colorful pallet, which is always a welcome change from the three shades of brown and gray we get with first-person shooters these days. However, there are only three enemy types to kill, and one hazard to avoid. You have a Thug/Soldier alien, a Brute alien, and a Sniper alien. The soldiers behave and pretty much look like humans from most distances, and you can easily forget you’re fighting aliens when only they are around. The Brutes sound pretty fierce, until you realize that a couple of shotgun blasts will take them out easily. Finally, the snipers use a railgun that they charge all the way, every time, giving you ample time to kill them. The only hazard in the game are mines which can get up out of the ground and roll straight towards you. Of course, shooting these gets rid of the problem without much issue.

The whole game is such a blatant attempt to milk the Battleship franchise, it’s not even funny. Before each mission, you are briefed by yet another faceless character, who identifies herself as what sounds like “Reagan.” It’s hard to make out her voice thanks to a poor radio filter applied to it. Her voice acting is passable, but what makes these cutscenes particularly boring is that all you are shown is a 3D map of the level that you are about to play, as the camera pans around and various key points are highlighted. The cutscenes also chug along at a ridiculously low framerate, which is odd given that when you actually play the game the framerate stays pretty solid.

That solid framerate is likely due to the fact that this game looks decidedly last-gen, and as such is hardly taxing the PlayStation 3′s CPU. Everything disappoints graphically. Explosions from grenades are decent, but the explosions shown of defeated enemy ships bogs the entire game down when you are remote-controlling a ship. There are invisible walls everywhere, and the game is so reliant on checkpoints that if you run too fast, it doesn’t register that you are in the correct spot until you back up a few paces.

When all is said and done, I cannot recommend Battleship to anyone. The story has very little relation to the movie upon which it is based. The graphics and presentation are bland. There are only three enemy types to dispose of. There is no multiplayer. Other than collecting in-game pegs inspired from the board game, replayability scarcely exists. If the alien-invaded world taken from the Battleship movie really entertains you, I would still only recommend that you rent this game. You can finish it in a single sitting on a weekend, and be done with it. Just please do not pay $60 for this obvious cash milking.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + Naval warfare is presented in a unique way… - …but it is poorly executed and quickly becomes a chore. - Boring story, graphics, enemies, ending…

© Paulmichael Contreras for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Namco Bandai has announced Tekken Tag Tournament 2‘s North American release date, in addition to the fighters that will be made available as retailer pre-order bonuses for the game.

Namco Bandai announced that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will release in North America on September 11th for PS3 and Xbox 360.

As far as retailer pre-order bonuses are concerned, consumers who pre-order TTT2 through Amazon.com or Best Buy will receive Michelle Chang and Angel. Consumers who pre-order through GameStop, though, will receive Kunimitsu and Ancient Ogre in addition to Michelle Chang and Angel. The fighters will be available to those receiving the pre-order bonuses on day one of the game’s release. Also, the fighters announced are the same ones that were announced as UK/European retailer pre-order bonuses yesterday.

Katsuhiro Harada, TEKKEN Project Director at NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., said:

Pleasing our fans is of paramount importance to the TEKKEN development team, therefore we are giving players full access to the wide array of fighters in TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 at no additional cost. The roster of playable characters in any fighting game is an essential factor in contributing to a player’s overall experience. By offering DLC characters at no additional cost to players, we are able to deliver a pure TEKKEN experience to all of our fans.

If there are any updates about Tekken Tag Tournament 2, PSLS will keep you posted.

What do you think about the release date and retailer pre-order bonuses? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Sony’s XDev has announced When Vikings Attack, a PSN action/brawler title from Clever Beans for PS3 and PlayStation Vita.

On the PS Blog, XDev Associate Producer Neil McPhillips revealed the game, which is set in a town that’s invaded by a battalion of Vikings. A local group of citizens bands together to fend off the Viking invaders and the citizens can pick up or destroy objects to use against the them.

The game has both adventure and Versus gameplay modes that can be played by 1-4 players and is a full cross play/save/buy title. Nearly any combination of four players on PS3 and Vita can get together to play the game: two PS3s and two Vitas, three Vitas and one PS3, one PS3 with three players and one player on Vita and more. Cross-platform save is supported for Adventure mode progress, regardless of where players are in the game, and saves can be uploaded or downloaded from PS3 or Vita. Also, if users buy one version of When Vikings Attack, they’ll automatically receive the other for free.

Multiplayer-wise, the game supports full local and online multiplayer modes.

Finally, When Vikings Attack is scheduled to release later this year.

To view a developer interview video that discusses some of the details about the game, click on the video below:

To view screenshots of the game, click on the Media Gallery below:

What do you think of When Vikings Attack? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

Editor’s Note: The following is a community post by PSLS reader Charlie Dove, who talks about his reservations for Black Ops 2.

Well as everyone reading this will know the next Call of Duty has inevitably been announced, and already a fair amount has been said about it. I imagine that many people reading this will be excited for the latest instalment in the long running series, I for one am not, and here’s why.

The first Call of Duty I played was COD4, most people will likely agree that it was a great game, even now I could happily play that game and still have fun for a little while. The next game in the series, World at War, was also fairly enjoyable for me, particularly with the introduction of Nazi Zombies, which was and still is my favourite mode in that game.

Since then however, I just don’t believe that it has been the same, well in some ways it has, and that’s the problem. One of my main reasons for a lack of interest in Black Ops 2 is simply that I’ve lost interest in the series because to me they all feel too similar. It has been over four years now since COD4 was released, and in many ways it still feels the same. I could switch from COD4 to WaW to Black Ops and not notice much of a difference in the gameplay. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, they have to be at least relatively similar after all they are in the same series. You could perhaps argue that Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood and Revelations are similar in some ways but they still had new elements to them. Call of Duty has had new features as well of course, but underneath it just all seems the same and I can honestly say that it’s gotten rather boring to me, I feel like there is nothing new to hold my interest and right now I can’t see that changing with the new release.

However, that does not mean that I will ignore Black Ops 2 completely, I will continue to read new details about it as they emerge and, who knows, this game could prove to be one that gets me interested again. This ‘near-futuristic’ setting sounds relatively interesting, and my favourite gamemode in the series (Zombies!) has already been confirmed as a part of the game. It’s only fair to give every game a chance, but personally it’s nothing for me to get excited about.

Well that just about covers it, I hope you guys can see where I’m coming from, though many of you (providing this actually wins the competition of course) will probably be sitting there wondering “what the f*** is this guy on about?”. Some might agree with me, though others surely won’t. This is purely my opinion and in my opinion Call of Duty just isn’t particularly interesting any more, but perhaps that’ll change later this year.

If you enjoyed Charlie Dove’s post, be sure to vote for it to win the community writer award once all the entrants are published.

© Community for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The latest issue of the Hope News Times has been released by Square Enix for Hitman: Absolution.

The Hope News Times Issue #5 contains news about Dexter Industries, which seems to be growing in power with news that Richard Strong Jr., the CEO of company Stallion Armaments, his bodyguards and possibly others — a total of 16 people — were murdered in a violent incident described as gang-related. After news of Strong Jr.’s death, Stallion’s stock plummeted in value, which saw Dexter Industries picking up 34% of the company. Stallion Armaments is described as a direct competitor of Dexter Industries by Blake Dexter himself. Dexter’s press release about the purchase of the company is expected to raise production demand, which would create new jobs in Hope, according to the headline. Insight into what happened to Strong Jr. and his bodyguards may be offered when Square Enix & IO Interactive release new screenshots of the game tomorrow.

In lighter Dexter-related news, an “advertorial” for the paper shows Lenny Dexter (Blake Dexter’s son) talking about his love of Roberto’s Chicago Style Pizza.

To read the Hope News Times Issue #5, see the image below:

Hitman: Absolution is currently scheduled to release on November 20th.

What do you think about the latest issue of the Hope News Times? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

Square Enix has released a new trailer and new screenshots for upcoming open-world title, Sleeping Dogs.

The new trailer, which appears to consist entirely of gameplay footage and some cinemas, discusses the basics of the game. The game is set on the island of Hong Kong, which is home to the criminal organization known as the Triads. Players control undercover cop Wei Shen, whose job is to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triads and bring them down. Wei’s loyalty to the Triads will be pushed to the limit, torn between the Triads’ code of honor and his loyalty to his police work. He’s trapped in a spiral of deceit and paranoia.

To prove his loyalty to the Triads, Wei will need to shoot, maim, and kill enemies to follow their orders. Wei is an expert martial artist, which allows him to take on a wide variety of enemies. The trailer claims that Sleeping Dogs has the most advanced fighting system in any world game. Wei can use both the environment and objects to take down his enemies. Sometimes, enemies will escape and Wei will have to jump, slide, and dodge obstacles to catch them. He can disarm opponents and use their weapons against them. He can also take cover and when the time is right, vault out of cover to activate slow motion.

Wei will sometimes be tasked with shooting his enemies from vehicles as his allies drive them. Wei has his choice of vehicles, of which more than 65 different kinds are included in the game. He’s shown stealing a car by leaping from one, onto the roof of another, and breaking into it. If Wei doesn’t have a gun, he can ram his opposition off of the road.

In order to survive, Wei will have to toughen up his skills. He’ll have to earn money to purchase outfits, items, and vehicles. Items and some outfits provide vital buffs to character stats. Wei can use his Triad connections to help with ongoing police investigations. He can also participate in underground street races and perform Triad favors to unlock new buffs and moves. Wei can “live like a true Triad” and get to know the four districts inside and out, try his hand at singing at the karaoke bar, engage in fights in the fight club, gamble for cash in the gambling dens, or hit the dockyards to bet on cockfights. Wei also appears to be able to interact with women to some extent, but to what extent is unspecified.

Every act Wei accomplishes affects his “face” or social standing. He can also earn XP on two levels: as a policeman and a Triad, but if/how those affect gameplay is unspecified. Face points increase as Wei completes jobs, takes over neighborhoods, and gains favor among the Triads. The higher Wei’s face level, the more respect he commends. With more respect, Wei can have more opportunities to access high-end shops, get better discounts at stores, and move up in the Triads to unlock new missions. The trailer closes with a bit more footage, the game’s release date and a message to pre-order now, and then the Sleeping Dogs Facebook and site URLs.

To view the “101″ trailer, click on the video below:

To view the screenshots of the game, click on the Media Gallery below:

Sleeping Dogs will release for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC on August 14th.

What do you think about the trailer and screenshots? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Kenzo Tsujimoto, the CEO of Capcom explained that their current three to four year game development cycles are too long. As such, the publisher/developer is striving to limit the development time frame to two and a half years.

Speaking at a recent earnings report, Tsujimoto explained that reducing development times will be a major priority going forward, as he believes that this we be a vital change in bringing the company success in the future.

Speeding up development will probably raise the cost. But creating quality content will be vital to Capcom’s ability to survive by overcoming intense global competition. We will make substantial investments to develop this content.

The Capcom boss pointed to both Resident Evil 6 and Lost Planet 3 as evidence of their continued effort to create titles in a more timely fashion. In the case of the new DmC reboot, Tsujimoto attributed the long wait to the required “time needed to select development companies because of our decision to switch to external development.”

[Via]

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

BioWare has announced the release of upcoming free DLC for Mass Effect 3‘s online multiplayer mode.

Mass Effect 3‘s Rebellion Pack will release for free worldwide to players who have redeemed Online Passes on May 29th (PS3, Xbox 360, and PC). However, PS3 users in Europe will see the pack’s release on May 30th. (A listing for the DLC had previously been leaked on a Sony Hong Kong site.)

The pack contains new characters who have new abilities and unique loadouts, new weapons, a new objective for missions, a new gear slot for the equipment screen, and new maps. The new characters and weapons will be made available inside existing Reinforcement Packs.

The new characters are:

• Vorcha Soldier (with Bloodlust ability)
• Vorcha Sentinel (with Flamer skill)
• Male Quarian Engineer (with Arc Grenade ability)
• Male Quarian Infiltrator (with Tactical Scan ability)
• Ex-Cerberus Vanguard (with new Lash attack)
• Ex-Cerberus Adept (with Smash and Singularity)

The new maps are Firebase Jade (a salarian facility ancient reservoir surrounded by waterfalls) and Firebase Goddess (a map with a circular layout inside the center of a Thessian metropolis that combines heavy fire and elevated firing positions).

The weapons are described as follows:

• Cerberus Harrier Assault Rifle – These Cerberus-modified Mattock rifles are fully automatic. Cerberus gunsmiths reined in the recoil issues, resulting in a gun that stay on target, but delivers slightly less punch per round than a standard Mattock. As such, the weapon is typically utilized by Cerberus’ elite troopers, who train constantly to make every burst count.
• Reegar Carbine Shotgun – This electrical weapon improves upon the arc pistol’s design by generating a sustained current on its target. This weapon is named for the Quarian Reegar family, whose marines have served valiantly against the Geth.
• Krysae Sniper Rifle – This Turian antimaterial rifle is modified to kill Reaper enemies. The Krysae’s scope uses a rangefinder that adjusts to keep the target in proper proportion to the shooter, which comes in useful when the sniper is forced into close range. Its specialized ammunition is both armor-piercing and explosive. In a desperate move, the Turians released its specifications over the extranet so that nearly anyone with a fabricator could manufacture this weapon to help the war effort.

The new objective randomly occurs during waves 3, 6, and 10 and tasks players with retrieving a high-priority package and securely escorting it to a designated extraction zone on the map.

The new Gear slot on the Equipment screen offers a persistent gameplay bonus that won’t expire after the end of a match. The new items will vary from weapon upgrades to character enhancements and will be available through reinforcement packs.

To view screenshots of some of the new content, click on the Media Gallery below:

Mass Effect 3 owners: What do you think of the new DLC? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Sony has released the official box art and a developer diary for LittleBigPlanet PS Vita (which is now the official title).

On the PS Blog, Tarsier Studios Community Coordinator Simon Rosenkotter released the box art for the game, which can be seen below. It reveals that LBP PS Vita will require 51MB of Memory Card space.

He also released a “Behind The Curtain” developer diary for the game, which: talks about how Tarsier Studios was chosen (their work designing costumes for games in the series), shows Media Molecule emphasizing that this is a full LittleBigPlanet title for PlayStation Vita, Tarsier seeking out community level creators, and more. The video also shows Tarsier Studios Design Lead Dennis Talajic discussing adding tilt and touch to LBP PS Vita and the ability for Vita owners to download and publish levels via 3G functionality. The video also has a bit of gameplay footage from the game as well.

To view the “Behind The Curtain Developer Diary,” click on the video below:

To view the official box art for the game, see the image below:

If there are any updates about LittleBigPlanet PS Vita, PSLS will keep you posted.

What do you think about the developer diary and box art released? Let us know in the comments!

© nickmichetti for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Game designer Warren Spector recently revealed just how epic he has been planning the Epic Mickey series to be, explaining that from the outset he had envisioned it spanning four separate games.

In an interview with MCV,  Spector explained that when it came time to start on the sequel to Epic Mickey, he was hardly taken off guard, as he had several additional games planned from the very beginning. “Before the first Epic Mickey I actually had a four-game storyline arc, and I had at least three games worth of the ‘game innovation’ to introduce,” he said. “So the idea of two-player co-op and songs in the second game was something I knew I wanted to do before I started the first.”

Spector went on to discuss how the story of the games have continued to evolve and change throughout the development process, even though he had much of it planned a while back.

We never really do the stories I come up with, because we can always come up with better ones once we’ve lived in a game’s world for a while. But I am pretty good at predicting the gameplay mechanics and innovations.

I knew what it was going to be – in essence – in 2005.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is being developed by Junction Point Studios and Blitz Games, and is scheduled for release this September.

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

Rumors have started circulating the web that Sony could be taking the early leap into cloud gaming with support from either OnLive or Gaikai.

VG247 is reporting that there’s reason to believe that Sony will be bringing one of the popular cloud-based gaming services to the PlayStation platform very, very soon. According to the source, the partnership will be announced at E3 this year and will allow gamers to stream games on their PlayStation hardware.

Whether or not this functionality will be limited to the PlayStation 3 remains to be seen, but just thinking about the possibilities that come with bringing this service to the Vita sends chills down my spine.

Obviously, this is just a rumor right now, as Sony has said nothing on the matter, so bear that in mind. Fortunately E3 is now less than two weeks away, so we’ll know soon enough whether this report bears any weight.

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Die-hard Metal Gear fans have a lot to look forward to this E3, with Konami and Platinum Games poised to blow the lid off of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance in a big way.

Konami (and Kojima specifically) are known for their epic teasers, especially right around E3. This year they have not only confirmed that Metal Gear Rising will be playable on the show floor, but have also revealed the E3 demo title screen in an effort to get fans salivating for the impending gameplay blowout.

Check it out below.

Sure, Rising may not offer up the traditional Metal Gear experience that hardcore fans have been crying out for, but man doesn’t that title screen—music and all—get you hyped for the game? Platinum has a pretty solid track record when it comes to action games (Bayonetta, Vanquish) so there’s still plenty of reason to have hope that Revengeance will be a stellar experience.

Just try to overlook the name.

© Alex for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us

My physics professor once said, “Earth’s gravity is a relatively weak force, as far as the universe goes. I fight and defeat gravity every time I walk up the stairs. We fly through the air on planes, hang gliders, and hot air balloons all the time. We laugh at gravity.” If our current aerial transportation modes are the equivalent of laughing at gravity, Gravity Rush on PS Vita is like giving it a huge middle finger, then running over its dog with a truck…while still laughing.

A common misconception about Gravity Rush is that the main character can fly, but rather than flying, leading lady Kat controls the direction in which gravity will pull her. The player will activate her power, aim at gravity’s new origin, and with the touch of a button, send Kat falling in whatever direction that might be. Shel Silverstein would be proud. This unique power is the source of Gravity Rush‘s real strength. Floating, aiming carefully, then choosing the new official direction of gravity as Kat’s main mode of transportation is insanely fun. When a mission calls Kat the entire way across town, the journey there will sometimes be as exciting as the task itself. Not since Jet Grind Radio has simply moving from one place to another been such a joy.

Bright pink gems add another reason for the player to try and see every single spot in the city. These stones function as Kat’s upgrade system; players collect them and level up attributes such as the power of certain attacks, her health, her fall speed, and so on. Collecting these gems is grand fun, thanks to the game’s unique movement style, and deciding how to spend them is rewarding, though grind addicts may be disappointed to realize that each attribute is capped per chapter. Sorry, you won’t be maxing out your gravity tornado the minute after learning it. This isn’t necessarily a drawback, but worth a mention.

Through the art, character design, direction, and controls, the game does a superb job of making the player actually feel like he is soaring through the air. Having been a game fan for over a quarter of a century, I’ve played plenty of games with flying characters and jumped off my share of high places, but never before have flying and falling come together like this, and never before have they been so fun.

Its introductory stages and missions are constructed perfectly, as Gravity Rush is fun to play while still learning how to play. The player is given simple tasks like “go over there,” which might seem elementary, but in a game this unique, such is a necessary inclusion, to avoid mass frustration. A tutorial that combines learning how to play the game with actually enjoying its features seems hard to come by these days, and Sony Japan Studio deserves credit for pulling this off. After only a chapter or two, most players will have a firm grasp on how to play and how to get the most out of doing so; any time a new ability comes along, it’s taught to Kat in similar fashion. Never did I feel like I didn’t understand a certain ability or other aspect of the game, from beginning to end.

Japan Studio deserves a tip of the hat for the job done on Gravity Rush‘s controls and camera operation. In a game all about falling every possible direction and running around on walls and ceilings, it seems like confusion or disorientation would be part of the package. While it’s not without occasional instances of those feelings, they’re well minimized. The camera always seems to find a good spot, and when it swings around, will give the player a vantage point that makes sense. Kat will jump off a ledge, free fall for several seconds, halt in mid-air, re-launch towards the underside of a balcony, land on it (now walking upside-down), and begin running with smoothness of both control and camera movement that allow the player to keep track of what’s what, the whole time. Whether falling, hovering, fighting, or moving about the city, manual camera operation constantly feels natural, and it’s always easy to see what one need to see. A neat use of Vita tech allows the player to move the machine around and get a look at the surroundings while in mid-air—gimmicky most of the time, but nonetheless cool to show your friends, and it does make itself useful once in a while (although it’s also a good way to look like a tool while riding a bus or train).

While commendable overall, the controls are not without their quirks and imperfections. When doing one particular slide move, the player needs to turn the Vita not unlike the steering gimmick found in Mario Kart Wii. That might add a dimension of fun, especially on a home console, but it lowers the portability of this portable game, because swinging the system around like that makes you a problem to those you’re sitting next to and a spectacle to those you aren’t. The even bigger sin of control, however, is that dodging is only doable by swiping the screen. In a situation requiring twitch movements like a dodge roll, removal of a thumb from a stick or button and leave the character open in another way or rob the player of another function. On the bright side, one can make it through the game without even using the swipe-dodge.

Every little detail contributes to making the experience unique: the visible wind, the camera movements, the way Kat’s hair flows, the changing position of her rising and falling body, everything. Innumerable games have used shaky cameras, but Gravity Rush uses it to perfection—not too extreme, but it conveys that something is going on, adding just enough of an extra touch to the free falling and smashing into the ground. These tiny bits of attention to detail and feature use-without-abuse is indicative of a dev team really caring about its product. Most players probably won’t even notice these touches, but will definitely feel their effect on the whole package. With all that goes on, Gravity Rush is an entry into the list of games that could be considered art.

Gravity Rush is very brown, especially in the first area; the first district consists mostly of brown, beige, several shades of dark red, occasional deep purple, and a big helping of gray, all of which was actually a favor to the player, since this makes it easier for brightly colored gems, checkpoints, and enemies to stand out. It helps players’ eyes become used to the art of spotting gems while falling at full speed. It’s all part of Gravity Rush‘s friendly learning curve. Later areas get slightly more colorful, though GR maintains its same general look and feel throughout. Don’t take the heavy use of Earth tones as a negative, though, as Rush visually pleasing in practically every way.

Kat’s adventure will take place mostly in a floating city called Hekseville, more districts of which will open with the passing of time and chapters. One won’t find much interactivity around the city in terms of shops or buildings to go into, and only a handful of NPCs in each section of the town will ever have anything to say, but the much bigger attraction to GR’s exploration is seeing the city itself. Hekseville features impressive, beautiful architecture around every corner; gazing around from any vantage point—land, sky, or the side of a building. There’s so much fun to be had whizzing around the village that one doesn’t need an Elder Scrolls or Yakuza level of interactivity with the townsfolk.

Story is certainly not the reason one plays a game like Gravity Rush, but what’s there is surprisingly interesting. With gameplay this good, this unique, and with this much innovation, Sony could have easily gotten away with phoning this aspect in—”Oh whoa I got these crazy powers by being hit by a shooting star and bitten by a radioactive moon man, now I have to save the world from moon men!” We see that happen in all kinds of games with regularity, and frankly, that’s fine in most cases; yet the story in Gravity Rush actually manages to do a bit more than one might expect…while still of course including a few helpings of moon men. It’s not going to win award for its tale, but it does the base job of an action/adventure/platform game story in providing the character with a reason for doing what she’s doing, then keeping things fresh and somewhat engaging for the game’s duration. This rabbit hole goes deeper than what would generally be expected of this type of game, for the better.

A lot of this tale will be told through digitized manga pages. The player will see mostly still images on the screen with borders around the edges, then advance to the next block of the “page.” Dialogue (most of which is unvoiced) pops up in speech bubbles, making the majority of Gravity Rush‘s story segments like an electronic comic book. I’m not usually a fan of comics, but found the storytelling in Gravity Rush surprisingly enjoyable.

At times, Kat will be called upon to fight off black blobbish enemies, which all have a bright glowing orange weak point that she must strike for massive damage. Enemy types get more varied as the game goes on, and after about the halfway point, there are intense battles to be had. Several of these larger-scale fights take place entirely in mid-air, feeling like their own special brand of dog fight—the constant soaring through the air, turning gravity control on and off in order to stay unpredictable and dodge projectiles, using her attack powers when an opening appears, frantic hunts for health restoration gems, Gravity Rush has some riveting combat. These huge battles that I’ve called “dog fights” don’t happen often, especially in the early going, but when they do, they provide quite a thrill.

Initial combat abilities include of course the basic kick and dodge, though the latter’s required use of the touchscreen makes it often unwieldy. Over time, Kat learns some new powers. Some of these have a target lock-on which is impressively functional. Given that one will be falling every direction and may not even know which way is “up” at times, it’s good to see the enemy lock-on be as forgiving as it is in Gravity Rush. It doesn’t make, for example, Kat’s gravity kick a freaking homing missile with 100% accuracy, but it comes with just enough of an allowance to prevent combat from becoming a headache. There are a few moves in Kat’s repertoire that lack much value in combat, but any player using his head should be able to figure out his priorities.

Gravity Rush has so many strengths, so few weaknesses, and is such a unique title, that it deserves some form of attention from every gamer. The premise and gameplay are so unique that we, as gamers, should reward and encourage this kind of creativity in our industry. It’s not a perfect game, but no game has to be. Playing Gravity Rush delivers sensations that I haven’t felt in years, and it’s truly unrivaled in providing this exact type of fun. Believe the hype. Gravity Rush is a game like no other.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + You’ve never played a game like this. + Really, shut up, no you haven’t. +/- Neat use of Vita tech, sometimes forced-in or awkward.

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© Knifefight for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us