Savage Moon, from Liverpool Studio, is essentially a 3D version of PixelJunk Monters, set in space. Now, if you’re a regualr Play reader then you’ll know just how obsessed with Monster we became last year. Yes, we’re pretty excited by this.

Then there’s Sony’s The Last Guy. This isn’t technically a new announcement but it does look awesome. It uses satellite imagery and a simple interface to great visual and gameplay effect and sees you herding (?) survivors of a zombie plague to safe places to score points.

Warhawk: Operation Fallen Star is, as you’d expect, an add-on for Incognito’s excellent online team shooter. In all honesty, that’s all I know about it so far… More in the next issue of Play. Deffo.

ShareThis

We’ve been waiting some time for this now and you probably know all there is to know about WipEout HD. It’s still out this year some time and available for download from the PS Store. So in the meantime, here are some new and sensational screenshots. Enjoy.

ShareThis

Quantic Dream’s, shall we say ‘adventure’ for now, was first announced a couple of years back at E3. What was shown in 2006 was little more than a technical demo that hinted at an adult, character-driven game along the lines of Quantic’s last game, Farenheit.

Heavy Rain was finally revealed in its gameplay form at this year’s Leipzig as that adult, character-driven game but, it appears, has much more to offer.

David Cage, the game’s director, told me that Heavy Rain is story-driven experience that, strangley, the player doesn’t play, he or she drives it. The player (for want of a better word) is the actor, the writer and the director of the experience. Now that all sounds a little ‘out there’, let me explain.

The story unfolds over of a series of sets or scenes (note: no talk of ‘levels’) and in each of these scenes you have complete interaction of the environment. By that I mean that you can interact (and not just press the X botton) with every object, every cupboard, every thing in every set. You can even was the dishes if you so wish.

The point of all this is that as you watch (and interact) with your character and the scene you are creating a unique narrative which you watch/play/direct. Every interaction can have a consequene - not only to what you see on the screen but how that scene and the wider story will play out. For example: leaving a fridge door open could have consequenes if a particular NPC sees that you have been rummaging around in his fridge.

The overall story stays the same regardless of the player’s input but as David Cage put it, “the game’s story is an elastic band that the player can bend and stretch.”

But I digress. What you’re doing in Heavy Rain is investigating. The scene I saw will not appear in the final game (but maybe as a bonus feature, says David Cage) but gave a good idea of what to expect. The scene’s main protagonist was an investigative journalist, following up on a lead about some missing women. The lead had lead her to a taxidermist’s house in a quiet suburban area. Movement is controlled with the R2 button and the left analogue. Pushing R2 will cause the character to walk forward regardless of where the camera is in relation to the player. Moving the left analogue stick will control where the character is looking - the character will also follow where she looks. In this way, the control prevents that age-old problem of movement on the analogue stick where the camera suddenly changes and your movement suddenly along with it. This also enables Heavy Rain to retain a cinematic visual style which, you’ll see, is vital.

Interaction with the environment is similarly logical and simple to use. You simply use the character’s head to look around - anything of interest, or any interactions, will ten pop up at the bottom of the screen. You can then use the various methods to perform the interation. These are designed to mimmick the action that the character will perfom on screen. So, if you’re opening a mailbox, you’ll use the right analogue to directly control the arm; as you pull down the character’s arm will move down. Another example is kicking a barrel along the ground - here the player’s action was to shove the Sixaxis forwards several times to mimmick the on-screen action of kicking. Each of the interaction was context sensitive and designed, as David Cage put it, to draw the player into the game.

The final thing I want to tell you about in Heavy Rain (there will be more in the next issue of Play) is a bit more about the rubber band idea. In the same demo I was shown two ways in which the scene could be played out; David Cage boasted that each scene could have up to a dozen different ways to play it. Anyway, the first play through had the main protgonist exploring the house, collecting evidence and discovering some rather disturbing evidence. Inevitably the taxidermist comes home and she’s trapped in an upstairs room. In the first example she makes her way out of the house undetected (after a particularly tense scene) in the other the taxidermist finds her and attacks. What follows is a series of dramatic QTE-like sequences where you’re attacked and escape. What was great about this was that it wasn’t scripted and would change depending on where you are in the house, where you go and how well or badly you perform in the QTEs. Objects can be taken and used and escape wasn’t the only option: you could grab a chainsaw and kill the taxidermist or even die and here, there’s the option to continue the story. This final outcome hints that, like Farenheit, Heavy Rain’s story will be told from multiple points of view.

So that’s it for now. Like I said before, it was my game of the show at Leipzig. An adult, story-driven adventure, Heavy Rain could mark the beginning of a new kind of videogame. It might not, of course, but from what I’ve seen of it so far, it’s likely to make quite an impression on the games industry when its released next year.

ShareThis

The best thing so far is undoubtedly Mirror’s Edge. If you don’t know anything about the game, Mirror’s Edge is a first-person platform game with a little bit of unarmed combat and shooting thrown in for good measure.

Today I saw a new level set in a sewer system (and apparently inspired by Tokyo’s sewers) where Faith (the game’s heroine) has to traverse a series of ladders, walkways and avoid the fire from snipers. It showed off the game’s excellent platforming engine and simplicity of the control. A bit like Assassin’s Creed everything wall, ladder, pipe is context sensitive so to climb, run across or slide all you do is hit the action button. Similarly, to slide under obsticles all you do is hit a different button and Faith will do her thing. The idea is to keep the game and your movement as fluid as possible.

There’s also a system of difficulty and reward in each level whereby the player will get rewards for taking for difficult and (ultimately) quicker routes. What those rewards are, DICE refused to say, only that they won’t improve or grow Faith as her abilities will remain the same throughout the game; she’s an ordinary person doing extraordinary things.

EA’s new Need For Speed game looks like a solid if not spectacular addition to the series and boasts new physics, new car damage, new race modes and so on. Huge cliche: if you’re a fan of the series then it looks like you won’t be disappointed.

Godfather II isn’t based on the second movie and doesn’t follow the movie’s plot but take place in the same time period as Scorsee’s Mafia classic and that story will be going on in the background with you dipping in and out of some of the main plot points. The game takes place in three cities (New York, Miami and Havana) but instead of focusing on driving (like many GTA clones do) Godfather II is really about what it’s like to take over and run a city as a mob boss so expect much more of the ‘city management’ that appeared in the first game.

More soon.

ShareThis

Righty-ho, I’m off to Leipzig next week to take part in what’s billed as the European E3. It’s not, of course, but it is a chance to have a look at some games that weren’t shown in LA last month.

I’ll be seeing, amongst other things, Sony’s Heavy Rain (you may remember this filmic game being announced a few years ago), InFamous – again from Sony – which is a sort of ‘Crackdown with more super hero powers’ and I’ll be playing Killzone 2 multiplayer for the first time. I saw this at E3 and, if Guerilla can deliver what its E3 presentation promised, Killzone 2 could (and I stress the word ‘could’) replace Call Of Duty 4 as the PS3’s best online shooter. We shall see.

Naturally, I’ll be updating this blog as and when I see anything that’s worth telling you about, whether it’s good or bad, so check back from Wednesday for all the news.

ShareThis

I’m a fan of Star Wars. There, I’ve said it. I’m 33 and still a fan of what essentially are a bunch of kids movies, complete with their bad dialogue, questionable plot twists and ridiculously patronising characters. Yes, Jar Jar Binks, I’m talking about you.

For all its foibles, there’s much to admire in George Lucas’ space opera: for every Jar Jar, there’s a Han Solo; for every ‘Padme dies because she lose the will to live’ there’s a ‘No Luke, I am your father’ plot twist and in spite of its generally awful script, you can find a Star Wars quote for almost every social situation.

So I like Star Wars a lot. However, I don’t like Star Wars games very much. Or rather, there haven’t been that many Star Wars games that have been that good. The elements for great games are all there – the locations, the characters, a perfectly imagined universe that just begs to be explored and played in and, of course, there’s The Force which, with the powers it gives a user, fits perfectly in with the videogame medium.

So why are Star Wars games so mediocre?

Back in the old days it seemed easy. LucasArts’ policy with Star Wars games seemed foolproof: take an existing and successful game genre, give it a lick of Star Wars-coloured paint and voila! Hit game! Some of the best Star Wars games come from this era and from LucasArts taking this attitude: Dark Forces (a Doom clone), the X-Wing series (space-based flight sims) and Pod Racer (a WipEout clone). None of these games were ground breaking but used established genres, added a pinch of Star Wars and were all the better for it.

But for every success, there were failures: Masters Of The Teras Kasi (Tekken), Yoda Stories (Zelda?), Star Wars Galaxies (Everquest). And then there were the direct movie tie-ins – each one appalling.

Modern Star Wars game success stories have come from games developed outside LucasArts; based on existing genres but developed by experts in their field. The excellent KOTOR RPGs from BioWare and Obsidian and the Battlefront games from Pandemic are two of the best examples and demonstrated that with the right talent behind Star Wars, Star Wars games could be great once again.

So what am I to make of The Force Unleashed? On the surface, at least, it looks promising. The game takes an established and recently successful genre (the third-person action-adventure sword-’em-up, a la Devil May Cry and God Of War) and throws a Jedi into the mix and all the potential that lightsabers and Force powers bring. The problem is this: it’s developed by LucasArts.

It’s the company’s first console Star Wars game since… well, since that dreadful Episode III tie-in and I’m not sure that the company ‘gets’ third-person action-adventures. If Sony Santa Monica was developing or the Devil May Cry team then I’d be as excited as a nine-year-old the day before Christmas. But I’m not. I’m worried.

We’ll be reviewing The Force Unleashed in a couple of issues’ time so we’ll know then if this is a new dawn for Star Wars games or if it’s just going to be another waste of a Star Wars fan’s time. I sincerly hope it’s the former because such a great and epic fantasy universe deserves the very best that videogames can offer.

ShareThis

Great. Excuse me while I do somersaults about the next big PS3 exclusive. I’ve been waiting for word on Heavy Rain since last year, when it was announced under the Sony umbrella. The game doesn’t look that interesting from the screens alone, but Leipzig should (read: will) give some context to the photorealistic motorcycle and torrential downpour.

ShareThis

As the title suggests, the book contains what Play considers to be the ultimate PlayStation games from over 12 years of PlayStation gaming. The list was compiled after many hours of debate by the Play team and represents games that have changed the way we play, games that have made us laugh and cry and games that are simply great to play.

As way of a little taster, here a couple of the entries for you to check out… Make sure you get the next issue of Play for the full list!

**********
97. Colony Wars

Format: PSone

In the vein of the classic X-Wing PC titles, Colony Wars was a space simulator with action-packed dogfights and beautiful artistic direction. The third and first-person viewpoints were dramatically conceived, duplicating the essence of pop culture’s more recognisable space operas. Colony Wars was frenetic, fun and constantly replayable.

What we said: “Colony Wars is utterly gorgeous, totally playable space blasting. It throws you into the battle like you wouldn’t believe!”

92%

78. R-Type Delta

Format: PSone

R-Type Delta is an insultingly difficult entry in the side-scrolling shooter series, but it’s also the most beautiful and pleasing. Now using 2D on a 3D plain, the screen was more packed with enemies than ever, while the tightly-spaced levels demanded absurdly precise manoeuvres from the gamer. Boss battles were typically dazzling encounters, elevated by the technical capabilities of the PSone, but they couldn’t hold a candle to the Delta attacks; by absorbing enemies with a front-mounted power-up, a devastating multi-enemy clear-out could be unleashed upon command. This feature verified Irem’s savvy with the genre. R-Type Delta may have been based on an 80s formula, but that didn’t mean it had to lack a 90s pizzazz.

What we said: “Crafted with grace, beauty and nostalgia, R-Type Delta is pure adrenaline-pumping shooting perfection!”

90%

41. Kingdom Hearts

Format: PS2

By combining classic Disney characters and settings with significant aspects of the Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts likely had Walt Disney sweating, in his cryogenic chamber. What should have been an ugly merger of the two much-loved families, though, ended up as a corking action RPG that used every character and world to its advantage. Kingdom Hearts is no slack, in its roleplaying elements– Sora can be adjusted to different play styles, thanks to the interchangeable offensive, defensive and magic abilities, while his cohorts, Donald and Goofy, add a layer of micromanagement to the way in which the game is played. As a sum of its parts, Kingdom Hearts is both startlingly deep and incredible fun, thanks to its positive use of both licences.

What we said: “It couldn’t work, it shouldn’t work but it does, and even manages to make Goofy look like a pretty tough guy.”

90%

ShareThis

The SciFiNow website has recently been host to a number of interviews for The Dark Knight and a premier report for the recent X-Files movie and, thanks to this new deal, it will soon be host to a number of exclusive behind-the-scenes featurettes, trailers and interviews for the upcoming movies The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Strangers and Death Race.

Check it out now!

www.scifinow.co.uk

ShareThis

It’s been buzzing around the internet for a few days, but Play can now confirm that the new Prince of Persia is voiced by none other than Nolan North, whose best known as the voice of Nathan Drake from Uncharted.

“Yep Nolan North is the voice actor of the prince,” said PoP’s game designer Thomas Delbuguet. “And we love him, he’s got a great humour. We see this prince as being a bit of a joker and he can be a bit of a sarcastic guy. He’s an adventurer, he’s out for goodies and he has his own motivatations.”

Sounds like Ubisoft has borrowed a bit more than Nathan Drake’s voice…

Check the next issue of Play for an extensive preview of the fantastic-looking Prince of Persia.

ShareThis