The GameOn Blog
Game Reviews, News and Updates
Need For Speed: SHIFT (PS3)
Jun 8th
Need for Speed shift is the latest racing game released by Electronic Arts and it is the 13th installment of the long running Need for Speed game series. From the high speed police car chase in Need for Speed hot pursuit, to the Fast and the Furious movie inspired Need for Speed Underground, Developers Slightly Mad studios in conjunction with EA Black Box has come along way in creating a different kind of Need for Speed series. Need for Speed Shift is a racing game which focuses on simulation racing gameplay rather than the arcade racing which was offered on previous titles in the series.
Although the gameplay is a little similar to that of its 2007 predecessor, NFS Prostreet, Shift recreates the handling of the cars which gives them a more realistic feel on it. Like Prostreet, Shift doesn’t have a storyline. Instead, it focuses on championship races which are also offered on other games such as Grid and Forza Motorsports. Upon starting of the career mode, you will be given a test drive where you must do a lap of the track to decide the difficulty of the game and your car settings. More >
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Apr 27th
The perfect blend of action and drama wrapped in solid gameplay, with new elements that keep the series refreshing
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Naughty Dog Release Date: 10/13/2009
In 2007, the first installment of Uncharted became one of PS3’s finest “early-generation” games. Its compelling and Hollywood-like storyline and script, witty characters, excellent graphics (who could forget the realistic water rendering in the jet-ski level finale?), and solid gameplay has made developer Naughty Dog’s task of coming up with a worthy sequel that much harder.
In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Nathan Drake returns as the game’s hero once more. This time around, Nate jumps into action and unknown danger when he accepts a mission to find an oil lamp that may eventually lead to Marco Polo’s lost fleet and its treasures.
Figure 1 Plenty of urban warfare this time around
If gamers thought Nathan’s animation in Uncharted was top-notch, Among Thieves certainly has raised the bar in that department. This can be most noticeably seen when the protagonist goes in and out of cover. One of the first things to be emphasized upon in the game is the stealth combat. When Nathan and Flynn sneak into a building filled with baddies at the beginning More >
God Of War III (PS3)
Apr 11th
After brutally killing and decapitating tons of Zeus’ minions with his trusty and brand new Blades of Exiles to reach the very top of Mount Olympus and finally exacting his revenge on the king of the Gods himself, Kratos finally ends his relentless quest for vengeance. After seeing the end credits role, there was only one word that came to my mind to sum up the whole experience, AWESOME.
What developers Santa Monica has done in bringing our favourite bad-ass hero to the Playstation 3 is nothing short of a modern miracle. God of War 3 is by far the most graphically brutal and violent game in the series. The level of brutality is so outrages, so violent that it sometimes bring shivers to my spine just watching my enemies die in painful agonizing death as Kratos executes his foes in gruesome fashion. However, it is still both entertaining and a very satisfying experience. The visceral combat and overwhelming sense of scale that has become the hallmarks of this brutal franchise has been greatly enhanced and pushed much farther than ever before. Thanks to the power of the Playstation 3, the developers where able to throw every idea they had More >
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Mar 18th
I’m a huge fan of the first No More Heroes. The stylish, cel-shaded look of the game; amazing soundtrack; incredible dialogue between the characters; the assassins themselves; the satire on American culture, video games, and anime; and the ultra-violence of it all make for a memorable gaming experience. The main character, Travis, is a very likeable character from the get-go – he’s a prototype of what a lot of gamers are in the real world: an otaku, a moe, a porn-lover. But the huge factor that differentiates Travis from the rest of them is that he can kick ass. A lot. With a beam katana (a lightsaber, practically) and his pro wrestling moves, he aims to climb to the top of the United Assassins Association, an organization that organizes matches between the ranked assassins to be number one. With that said, how does NMH2 fares, in comparison to the first one?
Graphics
The graphics has certainly been improved in the game. The textures are smoother this time around, the movements are more fluid, and everything looks prettier this time around. The game has a slightly darker atmosphere compared to the first game, and that might be due to Travis’ mission to get More >
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS)
Mar 11th
A much-loved investigative series centering around defence lawyers and prosecutors, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series has won new fans since its first inception. It was a relatively new idea at the time, and rarely is there a game that focuses exclusively on the people who duke it out in courts using clever hypotheses and brain-wrecking judgements. But these aren’t the only aspects that make the Phoenix Wright series a success, despite its relatively low budget and graphics that merely use a fraction of the Nintendo DS’ processing capabilities: the various characters with their own eccentricities and the ensuing solid character development ultimately turn the series into the brilliant, enjoyable games that they are.
And with Phoenix Wright’s story, star defence lawyer, drawing to a close, Capcom managed to revive the series with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, which revolves around the famed prosecutor title character, Miles Edgeworth, a former rival in the courtroom to Phoenix Wright.
Fans of the series may ask, with Phoenix Wright out of the picture, what new changes are brought to this game? Several, in fact. For one, Miles Edgeworth does not participate in any courtroom exchanges at all, unlike the previous Phoenix Wright games and More >
Heavy Rain (PS3)
Mar 3rd
The word “revolutionary” gets thrown around a lot, particularly when it comes to video games and the rapid evolution of the technology it utilizes – a revolutionary graphics engine or revolutionary gameplay. After all of this hype, the end result is usually, at best, a fantastic game, but rarely something that could be considered revolutionary. In the end we’re still controlling a character, shooting bad guys, flying spaceships, or using magic in the name of saving the world, the girl, or whatever. Not exactly “revolutionary”.
But then, what does it even mean to be revolutionary? Sure, features like cover systems and character customization are great ideas that add whole new levels of depth to video games, but we’re talking about something that has never been done before and will change the way we perceive and play video games forever.
Enter Heavy Rain, a “revolutionary” game from Quantum Dream, creators of the standout title Indigo Prophecy. Announced in 2006 at E3, Heavy Rain initially peaked interests with its teaser featuring a disturbing soliloquy that showed off the game’s incredibly lifelike visuals. As development intensified, the public was told about how this wasn’t a game but an interactive film. When Sony made trophies mandatory for More >
