• 22Sep 08

  LittleBigPlanet press event

  On Saturday afternoon, my brother and I managed to talk our way into a 4 hour hands-on with LittleBigPlanet at the "LittleBigPlanet Store" in Manchester. Sony have hired out a retail space in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens for the next month to show off the game to the public. Anyone can walk in off the street and queue for a chance to play the game in a kiosk, but I managed to book in some time with Sony's head of game demonstrations for Europe, to play the review code in private. Before you ask, I won't tell you how I managed this, because Sony could do without all of you turning up tomorrow trying the same thing!

  The code on show to the public is older demo code, the same shown at Leipzig. My brother and I though were able to sit with a PR guy and play the finished review code for 4 hours. The single-player is under embargo so we can't talk about that. We didn't see that much of it anyway. The bulk of our time with the game was in the "Create" Mode with every unlockable item available to us.

  Firstly it was time to create our Sackboys. My brother based his on The Joker from The Dark Knight. I went for the classy option of basketball jersey and Dollar chain! You can change materials textures and colours as well as adding accessories, from hats to googly eyes. In-game you can turn your head using the Six-Axis or hold down L2 and use the left stick to manipulate your left arm, or R2 for your right arm. The d-pad controls facial emotions and when you speak using a headset your character automatically lip-synchs to your speech!

  The first hour and a half of our demo time consisted of Sony's PR man taking us through the various menus and options, starting with the front end of the game, before showing us the basics of create mode and then some more complicated building techniques.

  He showed us how you can make enemies from scratch by building a body shape, including limbs, from materials in the game and then using pivots to determine how arms and legs can move. By making the enemy's arms from wood he could set one on fire for use as a weapon. Perhaps most impressively, rather than design a face, he used the PlayStation Eye to take a picture of my head and use it on his enemy design. Very clever stuff. You can even program your creations to follow you through the level and help you with obstacles rather than use them as enemies.

  Next we were shown how you can build objects to give to people as prizes for beating your level. We helped each other to construct a rack of meat over a fire and wrapped the whole thing in a Prize Bubble for collection by players at the end of the level. They could then take this object and use it in their own design. Coincidentally, you also unlock "Create" items in single player by finding hidden Prize Bubbles in levels.

  Our next creation, was a Super Smash Bros. like fighting arena. You can't cause damage to each other directly, so instead we set the floor, ceiling and walls of the arena on fire, with the objective being to knock rival Sackboys off the safe platforms and into the flames. Or you could use my technique of grabbing the other person and jumping off the platform, taking them with you!

  Realising the game's similarities to Gary's Mod, my brother and I felt compelled to do what all Gary's Mod players eventually do. We built a disco. We made a gantry with swinging lights of different colours and built the floor from glass to you could slip and slide along it with your Sackboy.

  Then we experimented with more object building, making small wooden cars powered using the engine tool and a switch for accelerating. We went on to build see-saws, Wild West wagons (which I ruined by covering in ROFL stickers) and a race course where you had to swing over electrified floors.

  Before Saturday I was really on the fence about LittleBigPlanet. The gameplay seemed very aimless when watching trailers, but after our mammoth 4 hour hands-on, under the guidance of Sony Europe's top game demo man, I can tell you that this thing is hella awesome. If you thought kids went mad for Pokemon, then watch them go insane for LittleBigPlanet

  • Posted Sep 22, 2008 10:09 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 19Sep 08

  Burnout Bikes: impressions

  Yesterday saw the release of Burnout Bikes, the latest "game changing update" for Burnout Paradise from developers, Criterion Games. But is it really game changing?

  After downloading the free update, which is about 400MB, the first thing you'll see when you boot up the game are the 2 shiny new motorbikes waiting for you in The Junk Yard. One is a naked "Ducati Monster" like vehicle; the other is a hardcore sports bike. After selecting one of them you're prompted to select colours as normal. However, Criterion has spoken of "customisable leathers" and they don't exist in the way in which they were implied. Instead of you altering the design yourself, the colour of the leathers simply matches the colour you choose for the bike. Though it is possible to distinguish between male and feel riders.

  Out on the street you'll come across a brand-new day/night cycle and changeable weather, which includes rain and fog, though I've clocked 6 hours of gameplay and it hasn't rained once. Changes in weather also won't affect handling, though they will obscure your view in a big way, making the game even more nerve-wracking than usual! Driving at night is similarly difficult. Burnout is one of the few games where the night is genuinely dark. Take your ride into the mountains and the lack of road-side lighting makes high speeds incredibly tense, as you can barely see more than a couple of feet in front of you and the mountain backdrop seems to disappear under blackness.

  The changes in day and night also affect what challenges are available to you. The update includes 38 single-player events (for the bikes) that all involve point-to-point racing against the clock. Half of these are only available at night and the other half, during the day. Thankfully though, if you have a specific event in mind you can manually set the game's clock, so you don't have to sit and wait for several in-game hours to pass. I have to say I would have liked a bit more variation in the style of the events though.

  The new single-player events only add 3 or 4 hours of gameplay if you're a Burnout aficionado, but you also get 75 new Online Freeburn challenges to complete with friends, half of which are timed, the other half remaining in the more traditional style. Of course, there's plenty of racing with friends at different times of day to experiment with too.

  One or two things about the update though, are somewhat lack-lustre. Crash into a wall on a bike and you instantly respawn without seeing what happens. Crash into a car and your rider disappears while the bike continues to roll down the road. These aren't bugs, but conscious design decisions, taken to keep the game's age rating down by removing any damage you see done to a human. It's not game-ruining stuff, but it's a bit on the soft-side for my tastes. Also, there are only 4 bikes in total and the differences between them aren't that great, apart from there being 2 fast ones and 2 slow ones.

  Overall though, Burnout Bikes continues the trend of great free DLC that's making Burnout Paradise one of the best games this year. The bikes handle well and even though they're different to the cars, they're easy to pick up and play.

  I will leave you though, with this thought...

  You can perform wheelies, but not endos.

  I call shenanigans on that!
  • Posted Sep 19, 2008 6:02 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 17Sep 08

  Why you should avoid Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

  *WARNING*

  *HUGE FORCE UNLEASHED STORY SPOILERS*

  Many of you will be big Star Wars fans, but what sort of fan you are will determine how you feel about this blog. If you're one of the mental people who has read every book, played every game and seen every spin-off, then you're probably going to hate most of the rest of this blog. However, if you're one of the sane people who appreciates "proper Star Wars," (ie. the original trilogy) then this blog is for you.

  So, we all know how dear old George had claimed the purpose of the prequels was to explain where Darth Vader came from and the motivation for his behaviour during Episodes IV, V and VI. However, many people, including myself, felt that Revenge of The Sith in particular cheapened the character and ruined his reputation as the ultimate villain. But if Episode III was damaging, then Force Unleashed is the final lightsaber blow to the strength of a once great villain.

  *YOUR FINAL WARNING*

  *MAJOR FORCE UNLEASHED STORY SPOILERS BELOW*

  At this point I should be clear that I'm not saying Force Unleashed is bad video game, after all, I haven't played anything more than the demo and don't intend to. What I am saying is that I totally disagree with the story.

  The crux of it is that Vader has taken a secret apprentice (codenamed Starkiller) to help him eventually overthrow Emperor Palpatine. This is already a clear attempt to extend the franchise for financial gain, but as the plot unfolds, the damage done to the films' stories is mindboggling.

  The Emperor begins to realise there is a plot and has spies follow Vader. Here's where the most stupid of all bombshells drops. In order to distract Palpatine from his own actions, Vader orders his apprentice to form a rebellion against The Empire. That's right, Darth Vader, the guy we all grew up knowing as the most feared man in the Galaxy, The Emperor's loyal servant, started the damn Rebel Alliance. This is why I'm avoiding Force Unleashed. I can't stand the amount of damage that's being done to the story of the original trilogy.

  Further events in the game even include Starkiller rescuing Princess Leia during a mission on Kashyyyk (which she somehow never brings up to anyone during the original trilogy) and a duel between Vader and his apprentice in which Starkiller beats the Sith Lord to within an inch of his life and even manages to remove his helmet during the battle. The whole game is a massive WTF which makes no sense at all.

  Eventually Palpatine kills Starkiller with force lightening, but not before Starkiller throws him against walls and ceilings using the force. I mean, come on! Now you're even playing down The Emperor as an all powerful villain!

  This is why fans have come to hate Lucas. And this why the only Star Wars story that matters is Episodes IV, V and VI.

  • Posted Sep 17, 2008 8:16 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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