Planet Sillicon

Review of Soulcalibur IV- Part 2

By blog on Sep. 6, 2009.

Continuing from the previous post…

Other game mechanics that I think really add to this game is the chance to level up playing styles. I’ll get to why it’s styles your levelling, rather than characters, in just a second. There are many single player modes, which is nice, making it a game that you really don’t have to play online to get the best benefit from. If leader boards are your thing, though, then you will have to play online to be a part of them, obviously. You will unlock achievements as you go through, though in this particular game they are referred to as ‘Honours’

Now, for what really sets this title apart as an amazing contribution to this series is the character creation. Not only can you go and give the standard characters better weapons, as you used to be able to in previous titles, but you can go in and make a character from scratch. You can choose male or female, and then any of the weapon styles for your new character. That’s why levelling a style in this game, rather than a specific character, even though the styles are referred to by the original character who use them. You can unlock many different costume items, weapons, and armour by going through the game. Some you need to pay for, using the gold you earn by playing in the single player modes. It’s a nice system, and it adds so much depth to the game.

From the point of view of my SO, who loves the games but gets aggravated at the costumes or physiques many of the female characters are subjected to, she loves this customisability. She’s made a female samurai based on Mitsurugi, who is actually dressed like a samurai, and is really pleased to be able to play as a variety of female characters, not just those with little on.

I’m really enjoying the ability to create characters that don’t look silly, as many unfortunately do. They are all part of the game, and that’s fine, but it’s nice to have more control over the characters you most like to play as. There are even some characters included in the game that were made by manga artists, so this is obviously a very key feature of the game.

There are a few oddballs in the game, being Darth Vader and The Apprentice, and Yoda is available on the 360 version, and for download for a small fee from the PlayStation Network. I still want to talk more about this game, but I can see this post is becoming rather huge, so I’ll leave it at that.

Overall, I’m very impressed with the game, and I really didn’t expect to be playing this more than the other three, but I’m finding that it’s taking up most of my game time at the moment. I’m awarding the game a 9.2 in score, it’s really a great game that every fighting game fan should have!

I’m looking forward to getting into the other games some more to bring you more reviews.

Review of Soulcalibur IV- Part 1

By blog on Sep. 6, 2009.

Here is the first of my game reviews that I stated I would be doing for my new PS3 games… Soulcalibur IV.

I’ve played the previous two version of this game, Soulcalibur II on the Dreamcast – right before Sega gave up on creating consoles – and Soulcalibur III on the XBOX, so I was already familiar with many of the game mechanics and characters. SCIV has a few new characters, most of which use weapon styles that veteran players will already be familiar with. The graphics are nice and clear, with good interfaces and character models. The backgrounds are nice in most cases, but the voicing at the beginning of each battle is inane to the point of irritation or hilarity, depending on your mood.

The fighting is very responsive, with no control lag to speak of. Some of the characters moves remain the same from previous games, though some moves are achieved with distinctly different button and direction combinations. Some of the new game mechanics really add a nice touch to the game, such as armour destruction and the Soul Gauge Critical Finish manoeuvre. The Soul Gauge can be found at the end of your character’s health bar, and is a small coloured gem type thing. It starts green, but if you are blocking all your opponent’s attacks without landing any hits yourself – blocked or not – then this gem will slowly turn yellow and then red. Once it’s flashing red, the opponent has a chance to do a Critical Finish, which is an instant kill move, but it only works if your opponent has also broken a piece of your armour, or broken through your defence, which is when they hit your weapon a whole lot and there’s a metallic breaking sound followed by your guard being down in spite of you still holding the correct button. To do this move you have to hit all four face buttons at the same time, or simply L1.

Now, there is too much more to put in just this post, so I’ve decided to spread the review over two. Not sure if that will happen with all my reviews, but it will with this one.

First Impressions of the PS3 Slim

By blog on Sep. 4, 2009.

Because I’ve just gotten my brand new console, the PS3 Slim, so I’ve decided to review the console, or at least my first hours playing it, here today.

As a side note, look out in my upcoming entries for reviews of the four games I purchased with the console. SoulCalibur IV, InFamous, GTA IV, and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Now, onto the actual impressions of the machine so far. I’ve not had a PS3 in the past, so the console as a whole is a new experience, let alone the updated version. I found it to be surprisingly heavy when I was carting it back to my car from the store, which was a pleasant surprise. I don’t like when consoles are very light, it seems cheap. You’ll find that both the other ‘Generation 7′ consoles also have a weightiness to them that is really very pleasing to hold.

In keeping with the Wii, the PS3 uses no disc tray, rather you slide the disc into a slot where I believe there is a small monster on the inside of the console who takes the disc and places it where it needs to be… I don’t really mean that… or do I?

The console is auto set to be used with AV cables, rather than a HDMI cable. You also have to purchase the HDMI cable separately, along with controllers – only one comes in the box – and the remote and any other devices. When you load up the console originally, if you are using the HDMI cables you have to hold the power button until you’ve heard it beep twice, then it will pick up the HDMI input and you can adjust your resolution to be the same as your television. The fact that you have to pay for HDMI cables separately is my only complaint with this console.

It’s a nice looking machine, in my opinion, and I think the matte looks better than the original glossy finish. If it’s fingerprint resistant, then it seems somewhat more… professional, to me anyway. It’s quiet, and I like the system interface, too. So that’s all from my first day of playing the PS3 Slim, in the following days, maybe weeks depending on how much I play any one game, I’ll be reviewing those four games, too.

Awaiting a PS3 Slim

By blog on Aug. 27, 2009.

Next Tuesday the PS3 is available to the public, and I’m pretty damn excited, because that’s also the day I’ll be picking mine up!

I’ve not had a PS3 before, so this is a new experience for me. I’m looking forward to the relative stability a console offers compared to a PC. For instance, thanks to a disc borrowed from a friend, that pretty much spazzed out whilst it was in my disc drive, my D: drive now keeps un-mapping itself. And not whilst I’m loading, or after a reboot, no, just every now and then, in some cases, whilst I’m playing a game! I’ve no idea why this is happening, precisely, except that it first occurred when I was watching a DVD and that DVD went mental whilst it was playing. Great, juuuuust great.

A reboot fixes it fine, but come on, who wants to reboot or remap a damn disc drive all the time when you shouldn’t have to map it in the first place!? Bah! So yes, console stability, I’m sure as hell looking forward to that. I know that generation seven consoles aren’t free from the issues that plague computers, but they are at least much less likely to go through those sorts of issues. And it’s refreshing, too.

I’m also excited to get the PS3 Slim because of the difference in games. I mean sure, I’m going to get GTA IV on the PS3 just because it was so buggy on my PC I couldn’t play it, but there are so many action games, and RPGs that don’t make it to PC and do make it to PS3. The games available on the PS3 are a big draw, there’s no doubt about that. I’m really looking forward to the next Final Fantasy game, too.

When I have the console I’m going to do a review on it. I’m also going to be reviewing those games that I buy for it. Heck, I might just start reviewing all my new games!

PS3 To Ship September 1st

By blog on Aug. 19, 2009.

And not only that, it’s also cheaper!

At a Gamescom press conference in Germany today, or yesterday, it’s hard to tell, Sony announced that not only where they dropping the price on their current console, but that they were also releasing the PS3 Slim. The PS3 Slim will be smaller and lighter than it’s original counterpart, plus it will draw less electricity and have a larger, 120G, hard drive. All other aspects of the console will remain the same, there are still two USB ports, Wireless, and Bluetooth.

I have to say, I’m pretty pleased that just before I was about to buy a PS3, at the end of this month, this happens. Here in the UK the original PS3 will be selling at £249.99, as will the Slim when it ships September 1st. I don’t really mind the size of the console, I didn’t have any issue with the original PS3, so I’m pleased that the console is now environmentally better, and is also more likely to net Sony some actual profit from the consoles themselves – at this time, Sony actually loses money for each console sold, they can’t put the price high enough to cover their cost and still maintain any competition with XBOX360 and Wii – but I’m not over the moon about anything save the fact that I can afford to get a few more games with my console, now.

I find it an interesting move, on Sony’s part, because they are still selling the soon-to-ship PSP Go will still retail for £214, so they obviously aren’t entering to a huge price war with the other consoles. I’ve no interest whatsoever in the PSP Go, I think Nintendo DS Lite kicks it’s ass in entertainment, so I don’t care that they are sticking to a high price for their portable console.

In the coming weeks, when I’ve picked up my brand new PS3 Slim I’ll be writing some reviews for games I’ve played on it.