Blog Archives
Critics Corner: The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC
Given the epic story of The Last of Us, expectations for the game’s first were through the roof. Very seldom are DLCs better than the main campaign and I think the reviews indicate that for the Left Behind DLC. Many critics say that it’s as good as the main campaign but not better.
However, could you really get better than the story in The Last of Us in a DLC? I guess you would have to be able to define what could have been better and how to make it better to improve upon the original in a DLC. The story was just about perfect, in my opinion, so all that was left to improve on was the gameplay. The Last of Us isn’t a gameplay driven game so it wouldn’t make much sense to overhaul gameplay for a DLC that people are playing for the story.
Let’s face it, DLC is a tricky thing to get right. Very seldom is there a DLC that stands up to the main campaign. So rare is a DLC considered worth the money that it becomes noteworthy in the gaming news cycle. Most just feel like something that was pulled from the main game and padded a bit to make a bit more money. The great ones are those that actually have time, effort and care put into their development.
Anyway, enough waxing poetic about DLCs. How good was Naughty Dog’s first-ever single-player DLC? Here’s what the critics think.
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Sony Launches PlayStation Now Beta with Nine Games
While the full launch of the PlayStation Now service is hotly anticipated, the first wave of games in the beta may just cool expectations slightly. The closed beta invites for PS3 users went out last week and the early list of available games aren’t all the epic titles that people were hoping for.
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Sony Denmark Teases New Crash Bandicoot Games
I’ve been banging on for months now that I’ve been wanting a new Crash Bandicoot developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 4. Recent rumours have suggested that Sony Computer Entertainment has quietly reacquired the Crash IP from Activision and a recent Facebook post by Sony PlayStation Denmark has all but confirmed the return of the iconic marsupial to the PlayStation family.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Gran Turismo 6
Did you know that Gran Turismo 6 came out a week-and-a-half ago? I slightly forgot that it was coming out this year. I was going to get in touch with SCE PR about getting a review copy but it completely slipped my mind. And I find that kind of funny because I’m a big fan of the series. My biggest problem with GT is that GT5 had terrible load times and took up an obscenely large chunk of my PS3’s hard drive space.
As a game, the Gran Turismo series is a bit niche in its focus. If you’re looking for a driving simulator, you won’t do any better than Gran Turismo. The driving physics and the attention to detail are second to none. However, the focus on the driving experience tends to come at the expense of the actual gaminess of the GT series. The menus are a little hard to navigate. The career mode is a little grindy. But pushing for the extra tenth each lap is just one of those great feelings in gaming and I’ve never found a game that’s captured that like Gran Turismo.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Tearaway
Did you know that LittleBigPlanet was the first game developed by Media Molecule? LBP was one of the best games released on the PlayStation 3 and LBP2 really showed the potential of the PlayStation 3 and the PS3’s “Play. Create. Share.” line of games. Of course, leave it to Media Molecule to also make a must-own title for Sony’s PlayStation Vita handheld console.
According to critics, Tearaway has vaulted to the top of the list of must-own Vita games. Considering that the most common complaint about the Vita is a lack of worthwhile exclusives, Tearaway certainly makes a case that you don’t need to tie into a big PlayStation franchise to be a good Vita game. Critics loved the charm and the way the game used just about every aspect of the Vita.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Killzone: Shadow Fall
It’s time to do our first roundup of critics reviews for next-gen games. Since the PlayStation 4 came out first, I thought that it would be a good idea to start with the PS4’s big first-party exclusive. While Xbox One fans aren’t getting an exclusive FPS at launch, PlayStation fans are getting Killzone: Shadow Fall to kick off the new generation. It’s not what I’d call a PlayStation trademark franchise but it’s what Sony are leading with.
Reviews of KSF are mixed. While some critics really enjoyed it, there are many complaints that Killzone: Shadow Fall doesn’t match its pretty next-gen visuals with next-gen gameplay. However, there aren’t any suggestions as to what next-gen gameplay is. I’m not saying that devs should be allowed to retread the same old gameplay without updating it but if you can’t quantify what improved gameplay is, can you mark a game down for it?
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7 Best Games of the 7th Generation: Uncharted 2: Among Theives
As the current console generation went on, games increasingly tried to be like interactive movies. The goal seemed to be to recreate the Hollywood experience but with you playing the starring role using a controller. While one could argue that Heavy Rain may have gotten the closest, no game captured the fun of the summer blockbuster while releasing a solid game quite like Naughty Dog.
Since today marks both the launch of the PlayStation 4 and our 7 For 7 series, I thought that it was only appropriate to kick off with the epic PlayStation 3 exclusive Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
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Sony Attempting to Remove Ellen Page Nude Images from Beyond: Two Souls from the Internet
Well, here’s a headline that I never thought that I’d write but that’s the Streisand Effect for you.
A number of websites are reporting that they’ve been contacted by Sony Computer Entertainment PR to remove images of Ellen Page’s character nude during a shower scene from the recently released Beyond: Two Souls.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Beyond: Two Souls
I’m not a big fan of release day review embargoes. That leaves people without an opportunity to cancel a pre-order if the game ends up being terrible. Not only did Quantic Dream and Sony Computer Entertainment set a review embargo on release date for Beyond: Two Souls but the embargo lifted at 11:00 AM EST. That meant that my local EB Games had been open for 90 minutes before the first review came out. That’s just underhanded by the folks making the game and setting the embargo.
The reviews for the latest David Cage creation, Beyond: Two Souls, are definitely mixed. The reviews on Metacritic run from as high as 100% down to a low score of 40% with scores falling everywhere in between. While generally everyone agrees that the facial visuals and animations are fantastic looking (they better be when you hire Willem Dafoe and Ellen Page), there’s disagreement on just about everything else. If you have a reviewer whose tastes are similar to yours, I’d read their review. There is no consensus from the critics on this one. From the looks of it, you’ll either love it or hate it. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Killzone: Mercenary
If there’s one thing that the PlayStation Vita’s been missing, it’s that must-own game that isn’t a port of a game already on another platform. Sure, the Vita has some very good games but apart from Persona 4 Golden, almost all of the best Vita games are available on another platform. Once again, Sony tapped one of its big franchises to get people onto the Vita by bringing the Killzone franchise to the portable platform.
Critics tend to agree that it’s the best first-person shooter to make its way onto the Vita but that’s hardly a challenge. What many disagree on is whether it’s the full console experience on a portable console.
et geekera 