Flower

Well I finished Flower the other night, I bought it off of the current promotion that Sony is doing with it's fall game sale on the PSN network. I have been curious about this game since it launched this past spring. But I have not had a chance to play it until now.

The basic thing about this game is on each level you start off as one Pedal. As you go threw the Level you fly by flowers that bloom as you go by giving you more pedals. After a while you will have a bunch of pedals following you around making a pretty cool effect. There are no deaths in this game. But you can get hurt but that mainly just pops you up in the air and makes you try again.

Controls: This game is all about the motion control of the Sixxaxis controller. Holding the controller face up you can tilt if forward and back and tilt it left and right. You do not turn the controller. All you have to do to make it go it hit one of the buttons. I used the X button as it was the most convenient. You then Fly around. Going threw grass and other things.

Story: This game does not have a story per say. But it does have a basic story of cleaning up the environment. You turn countrysides green and lush and you clean up broken down city streets and make them beautiful again. I kept joking to myself that this is how I go green.

Graphics: The Graphics are not a system showcase. That is more in the hands of the game play and controls. But the graphics do not take away from this game. They are very artsy in form. Never a glitch or skip during the game. The visuals in this game were very soothing at times. I am sure that is what the developers intended.

Conclusion. This game is very much worth playing or at least giving a try. The programmers over at "That game company" Did a quality job. This might not be a AAA title or a game that everyone loves and wants to play over and over again. But at the current price of $5 this is one of the PSN exclusive games that is worth playing.

Garphics = 8.5

Gameplay = 8.5

Story = 9

Presentation =9

Overall score = 8.75

Fat Princess Demo

I know this is a little late. But better than never right? I downloaded the Demo for this a week ago and had not played it until yesterday. I was not sure what I would think about the game at first but I continued playing it allot more that I thought I would.

This is a fun little game. Something that I want from a something I would Call a multi player mini game. The graphics are fun and smooth. The concept is simple and basic. Something that everyone can pick up and play. I have to face facts as possibly many others do. Not everyone is an avid gamer. So this is a big plus to have a game that your parents could pick up and play if they wanted.

The controls seem quick and responsive. although at first I was dieing off like crazy. I got a hang of some of the basics and got together a strategy that worked for me rather quickly. The basics of the game is you run around capturing areas and trying to get to the opponents castle, at least in the demo anyway. You have a variety of different characters. a Warrior, Ranger, Priest, and Worker that help you get threw the game. You can switch threw these characters at about any time, you just go back to your castle or in many cases die and you re spawn there. They all have different things they can do. The Warrior has more health and is a great fighter. The Ranger is a distance fighter with a little less health. the Priest is an ok fighter but can also heal their own teammates, and the Worker gathers wood and minerals to help upgrade everyone else and the castle.

This is a game that I would recommend buying for anyone interested in either an online battle or something for your friends and family to join you in a little game.

Graphics = 9

Game play = 9.5

Story = n/a

Presentation = 9.5

Overall score = 9.33

Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

This is an older game. The first one came out at launch or close to launch of the Ps3 system and was able to show some of the power behind the PS3. Motorstorm Pacific Rift took everything that was good with the first and added to it.

I have had this game for a while. Graphically it is still one of the better looking games out there. I still pull it out once in a while and play it and love to see the wrecks. But also the jumps and the all over visuals of the game.

Gameplay: This is smooth and I love how this series has used the motion control of the Ps3 Sixxais controller. The addition of the 4 player split screen was very welcomed since I have stated I much prefer to smack talk with someone bedside me than to someone over my blutooth headset. The single player can be pretty intense. But can get repetitive after a while as the difficulty of the game comes from the limitation of your vehicle that you have to choose. But they did allow a much more robust vehicle type selection to this game that helps it from getting to old too quickly.

Presentation: This is not a story based game. But based more on a festival. Similar to maybe a baha race or rock climbing competition. This just adds a reason why your in the middle of nowhere.

There are some downloadable tracks that I have not tried as of yet. I do hope to download them off of the PSN store someday. But as of now I cannot give an opinion.

Garphics = 9.5

Gameplay = 8.5

Presentation =9

Overall score = 9.0

PlayOn Media Server Review.

This is not a game Review. But it is a program meant to be helpful for Consoles(PS3,Xbox360,Wii). As many know. Hulu and many other websites are not able to play their movies, trailers and T.V. shows on the PS3 web browser. Also Youtube videos although they do work Generally do not look that great if you try to make them full screen. I was looking for an alternative so that I could enjoy these sites on something other than my computer. Of course I wanted to watch them on my big screen TV. I bought the T.V. to watch shows on. I did not buy the computer to watch TV shows.

PlayOn is not perfect. It does not support everything. You have to get plug ins developed by independent programmers (PlayOn gives you a link to one independent site). PlayOn it's self will stream Netflix, Hulu, Amazon VOD and YouTube. Hulu and YouTube work very well. I do not have a Netflix or Amazon VOD account. So I cannot give an honest opinion on how those work. I have some plug ins for PlayOn and they work with mixed results. But Hulu provides most of the shows I would like to watch as it is.

I have not been able to stream any of the HD videos to my PS3 But I have not found any on Hulu offered. The Hulu screen shows up like one of your media servers on your PS3 media bar. You just need to go to the Video section and you should see the PlayOn media server. If not look for servers. Do this of course one you have the program installed on your home computer.

PlayOn has a price tag of $40. Not really worth that price. So if you can I would look for the deals that they are giving. Currently they are giving it for $20 if you sign up for Gamefly. I did not sign up for that since I do not currently want Gamefly, although I have used it in the past. But I did find a coupon online that gave me $10 off.

They also give a free 2 week trial period of their program. Which I highly recommend if you are curious and would like to try this program.

There are plenty of other options out there if you do not want to Buy play on. You can always hook your computer or a computer you have built specifically up to your TV. I was not able to do that myself for many reasons, or can use your current Cable or Satellite company and use their DVR and on demand services. For me PlayOn was the most convenient of the three.

I do not intend this to be an advertisement for PlayOn. They have not given me anything or asked me to write this. This is my personal review of the product for anyone that is curious about PlayOn.

Trine Demo

Trine is a basic platformer game similar to that of Super Mario Brothers or the Original Sonic the hedgehog games. But as most games recently it is built in a 3D world. It is very much Story based and has a narrator threw most of the demo. This is what made the game interesting for me. It told the story in a fun story book way. The basics is you switch between 3 different characters on command during the game. The demo I actually felt like I could get threw the whole game with just one character if I wanted to. But some characters allow for faster access or just a way to take a different rout.

The game is based around 3 characters. The Thief, The Wizard, and the Warrior. All of them have a back story of why they are there. all of them wanting something different. But all of them now wanting the same thing, to be set free of one another.

The game play was interesting. But nothing really new. The controls did feel solid and easy to use. although I found myself switching from character to character on accident allot because of using magic or other abilities being up with the switch character buttons in the trigger button area. Not really a complaint. But personally gave me issues while playing.

Graphics were nice and smooth. I was not expecting anything spectacular, but they gave me what I was looking for.

This game looks interesting to me. But I do not see myself playing it multiple times. I do not think this game is really got the staying capacity for me to justify buying it. The Demo was fun and interesting. But from what I saw in the Demo. I do not see myself playing this more than one time threw. For some that is just fine. For the budget minded this does not seem like a great investment. I would say this would be a great rental. But it is a PSN title only. So no way you can rent it. I would like to see it do well and the developers maybe bring out some more games like this but with maybe more depth.

Garphics = 9

Gameplay = 8

Story = 9

Presentation =9

Overall score = 8.75

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Review.

Ok. All the reviews I have seen on Uncharted 2 have been fantastic. I would have to agree with them. Uncharted 2 is one of the best games of this generation. The controls are great with only a few issues. The graphics are top notch and the story just gets better and better as you play threw the game.

First we will go into the story. I am not going to give away any spoilers. But the game goes in between game play and cut scene so well. that if your not the one playing. You might not know that there has been a change. The game starts off with allot of flashbacks. So be prepared. But without the flashbacks you would have no idea what your doing. They play between characters is fun and interesting.I really like how Nathan and Chloe banter back and forth with each other during the entire game. You know that there is a history behind the two of them right from the start. But to see how they react to each other through out the game tells you allot about the two of them. Then when you Add Elana from the first Uncharted into the mix. You get to see a good amount of confrontation that adds to the fun of the basic story. You cannot complain too much about the story and defiantly not about the acting.

Graphics were amazing. Everything was wonderfully detailed. The backgrounds were gorgeous. The up close and personal details are emasculate. Everything Is well done. There are parts where you get to look over a whole valley, and you see how much work Naughty dog put into this game. There is not another current console game out there that can match Uncharted 2 Graphically.

Gameplay. This is the only area that I had issues. The controls were great. My complaints was sometimes Drake would not post up against a wall until I had rolled into it a few times or he would completely roll past the wall into harms way when I was in a hurry to avoid getting shot. I also did have the game freeze up on me once. Then another time I was shot threw a wall. So I was not dead yet. But I had no way out. Then another time. I got caught in an obviously scripted part of the game. and got stuck behind some rubble that was more meant to keep me on the side that I was not on. I did also have a complaint about the hand to hand combat for this game. Although I liked it at first. I did start to find it tiresome at times when I would constantly get counter attacked. So although it was an improvement. I also felt at times it took away from the feeling I got from the first game of just running up and beating the crap out of someone. That would be more of my personal preference so I would not expect naughty dog to fix that.

Online. This is just a great addition to the over all game. Sometimes the match process can get unfair. Or the wait can tend to be long depending on how many people are playing in your area. But once you start playing. its so fun to run around and just find people to shoot, climbing walls and buildings and ladders. Your almost always going to get shot and killed because everyone comes from anywhere on the map. But the whole process is so much fun that it keeps you wanting to play.

Naughty Dog has brought out one of the best action packed experiences that you can have on a console. That includes watching a movie or playing another game. With Uncharted 2 you get both. With only a very few flaws. This game deserves the high praise that everyone else has been giving it.

Garphics = 10

Gameplay = 9.5

Story = 10

Presentation =10

Overall score = 9.9

Uncharted 2 Demo

OK. I know the game it's self is out today. But I do not have it yet. I was also really upset that the demo expired yesterday. But here is my review.

Now I normally do not like online games. But this is one of the funnest multi-player games I have ever played. The ability to climb quickly, the variety of weapons, the perks that you can use, and the variety of game types and characters make this worth it. This demo just by its self is worth a small fee just for it's self. But to have it as part of the game makes it a wonderful package deal.

The graphics are top notch, although you don't have much time to look at them as you are running around trying not to get killed.

The game play is wonderful although I do find myself posting up against a wall when I am trying to dive out of the way. The ability to grab people and pull them over a ledge, or counter by kicking them off the ledge is quite fun and found myself doing that once in a while when the opportunity presented it's self. throwing grenades is much faster now too and something completely welcomed. I never minded the sixaxis control for aiming although I know how it could bother some. So them moving away from it does not bother me.

The Co-op was also fun. But I never played it with people I know which would have made it even better for me. And the Co-op treasure hunter mode was also fun with 3 people. But the need for communication between the 3 players would be very helpful once you get into the harder stages.

For a demo this is perfect and above what I ever expected. If the demo was just a game as it is. It would still deserve a high ranking.

Graphics = 10

Game play = 9.5

Story = n/a

Presentation = 9.5

Overall score = 9.67

Kilzone 2

Killzone 2 was an amazing looking game. But after going threw the whole campaign I found it rather short and unsatisfying.

The game was in production for 2 or 3 years. It was delayed multiple times.But after finishing the game I just have to ask why? Why was it delayed so many times.

The story was relatively short. It offers no real answers just more questions at the end. The other game that did this to me but I had more fun playing was Gears of war. I honestly did not play the first Killzone so maybe that is why I am so far out of the loop. But throw me a freaking bone here. Allot of people that were interested in Killzone 2 had not played the first one. This was suppose to be the showpiece for the PS3 and it fell short.

This is an age that I consider great graphics just normal. They help tell the story but they are not part of it. The graphics in this game were being touted as amazing or spectacular. But they did nothing to make me feel awe struck. They were good. But a slightly better texture does nothing for me when I am playing the game.

The controls were good. I did not have an issue aiming at any time. I did not hit any bugs during the game.

The presentation was good the story had allot of potential and was presented well.

Garphics = 9.5

Gameplay = 9.0

Story = 8.0

Presentation =9.0

Overall score = 8.9

Mission

My mission is to review every game that I play. Every Demo that I try and give it a fair and proper score. Graphics will only be a small part of the final score since most games currently have amazing graphics already. But the attention to detail in both game play and story will be highly looked upon.

Story: Needs to make some since. Not that it needs to be an epic novel. But I don't like to be told one thing and then do something else or have the topic dropped altogether.

Game play: Is about controls and missions. To many games out there have you do the same thing over and over again. Making them boring. Assassins creed would be an example of a bad game play mechanic with every mission being the same with only what a character says being different. This is what made the game boring for me.

Sound: This will not only go into how good a shotgun blast sounds but also how well the music mixes with the game. The Prince of Persia sands of times music mixed with the game so well. But the sequels rock music took away from the final feel of the game. Music should bring you more into the story not just be entertaining.

Online: Something that is mixed for me. Although I do like a good online match once in a while. Sometimes the human factor and the fact that some people just do not care about the quality of the experience will tear down on the overall fun. So the quality of the game over all will tear down on the online score. If a game is an online only it will be looked down upon as something with limited replayability.