Tag Archive: PS3


On the PS3 Horizon

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May 12, 2010

Originally Published: January 5, 2010, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

Continuing the momentum of my last article previewing games coming out in 2010, I had a chance here in NYC to get a hands-on preview with some of the biggest upcoming titles for the first quarter of 2010 for Sony’s PS3. Among the titles we looked at include God of War 3, Just Cause 2, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno, and Dark Void. I know that Bayonetta actually comes out today, but it is still a good way for those of you who may be on the fence to take a look at some game footage, stills, and get some info from the folks over at Sega themselves. So, without further ado, I present to you my PS3 Q1 2010 preview!

Ray Carsillo Q1 2010 PS3 Preview Party
Video by Jared Bodden

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Ten Games to Look Forward to in 2010

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Originally Published: December 31, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com) and Lundberg.me

As the year comes to an end, I think this is an opportune time to take a look forward at the year ahead in gaming. Last year we did this and the nine games we previewed were either awesome as expected (Ghostbusters, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Madworld, and Brutal Legend), pretty good (Punch-Out and Resident Evil 5), or delayed until early 2010 (Bioshock 2, God of War 3, and Dante’s Inferno). The three games delayed until early 2010 are basically shoe-ins for this year’s list as well because all the delays have done is make us salivate more as details leaked out to us. So with no further ado, here are the top 10 games to look forward to in 2010.

1. Bioshock 2: I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year: I will go screaming through the halls here at ESPN the day this comes out from sheer, overwhelming joy. With a lot more revealed in terms of the plot and gameplay, this easily tops my list as my most anticipated game as you return to Rapture and assume the role of a Big Daddy 10 years after the events of the first Bioshock. Along with this new twist from the first Bioshock, there is also a confirmed multiplayer mode and the ability to use your Big Daddy suit to explore the ocean immediately surrounding Rapture, which should allow for all kinds of new and creative ways to explore the once great cultural haven beneath the waves. Barring any last minute setbacks, expect Bioshock 2 to hit store shelves February 9, 2010, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

2. God of War 3: There are few trilogies in video games that are more celebrated than God of War and this is before the third one has even hit store shelves. Inspired by many classic stories from Greek mythology, you play as Kratos once more as you attempt to work out your anger issues with the gods for the last time. I had a chance to play an advanced demo of this (which I will post a special PS3 Q1 Preview video next week where I got to talk with some of the developers of God of War 3) and you will flip just like Kratos’ point of view seamlessly does in several epic boss battles as you should expect to start wrapping up this classic trilogy on your PS3 towards the end of March 2010.

3. Dante’s Inferno: Many are calling this a God of War rip-off, but I’m a firm believer that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and this might be even better because it isn’t limited to just the PS3. Inspired by the part of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy of the same name, if Kratos has anger management issues, Dante is the ultimate obsessive, smothering boyfriend as he is willing to fight through the nine layers of hell to save his girlfriend’s soul while having a tapestry depicting the holy cross stitched to his chest. Just like God of War, Dante’s Inferno mixes classic plot with tremendous, bloody action (and a little bit of nudity) and amazing, original monsters based on this classic work of literature to get any action/adventure fan’s blood pumping. Just like Bioshock 2, Dante’s Inferno hits store shelves on February 9, 2010, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP.

4. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle: Travis Touchdown returns with his beam katana (it’s a lightsaber, but that whole copyright thing can be such a pain sometimes) as he has gotten lazy and let his number one world assassin ranking drop all the way down to 51 (possibly in honor of game creator Suda 51?). When things get personal though, Travis once again hones his wrestling inspired moves and attempts to move back up the ladder to the number one spot with even more crazy, over the top boss battles that are even better than those from the first game. The sandbox system is gone to help save on time while you hunt down your quarry and travel from location to location by just going to a map menu now and since that was one of the major complaints from the first game, it looks like No More Heroes 2 could be another sleeper hit from the deranged mind of Suda 51 and his Grasshopper Studios. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is a Wii exclusive and should hit store shelves January 28, 2010.

5. Dead Rising 2: The first Dead Rising broke new ground in zombie bashing by having an unheard of (for the time) amount of NPCs on screen at one time with no lag. And it was set in a mall allowing you to have a variety of weapons from food court table umbrellas to golf clubs to nerf guns. Dead Rising 2 takes several of the great elements from the first game (regular guy dropped into a zombie invasion) and puts a whole new twist on it that has me chomping at the bit as I count the days until this hits store shelves. Dead Rising 2 assumes you failed to completely contain the zombie virus at Willamette from the first Dead Rising and now there are zombie outbreaks all over the country. These zombie zones have been cordoned off by the government, but with times being tough, leave it to reality TV to step in to offer the masses a chance to risk life and limb for amazing prizes. “Terror is Reality” is one of these reality TV shows that asks people to help control the zombie population in new and inventive ways for the chance at huge piles of cash. Of course, you’re being dropped into these living nightmares with nothing but the clothes on your back, but it wouldn’t be a zombie game if you were given a gatling gun from the get go. Add in what could be the best online multiplayer of the year as Dead Rising 2 pits you against three other players in an American Gladiators meets Resident Evil scenario and sends you all on your merry competitive ways. Zombie bashing will never be the same again on your Xbox 360, PS3, and PC come the end of Q1.

6. DC Universe Online: It is hyped as what could be the greatest MMORPG of all-time as it allows you to interact with the best of the best of the DC Comics Universe with your own original character and with a member of current comic book royalty in Jim Lee serving as the Executive Creative Director, you know you are in good hands. Unfortunately, it has been delayed countless times and is a game on life support to say the least. DCU Online was supposed to come out last summer, but now we are still waiting to rub elbows with the Dark Knight and Man of Steel and take down the likes of Lex Luthor, Mr. Freeze, the Joker, Bizarro, and many, many, many more as a loose Q3 2010 date has been set for this possible PS3 and PC powerhouse. If DCU Online doesn’t come out this year, I think the game will be completely scrapped because it has been in production for far too long for us to wait much longer for it.

7. Mafia 2: Another strong title on the horizon from the folks at 2K (why do they even bother with sports anymore when their shooters and action/adventure games are so awesome?) is Mafia 2. Set in a fictitious mob family in the late 1940s-early 1950s, Mafia 2 combines a GTA-style sandbox experience with a Hollywood-inspired cinematic driven plot as you play as Vito, a small-time hood trying his best to get his piece of the American dream in some less than savory ways. Add in some awesome action sequences and Martin Scorsese couldn’t have done a better job with this. Mafia 2 looks to be the strongest release due out in Q2 when it lands on store shelves May 3, 2010, for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

8. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Every major attempt to bring the fabled history of Castlevania into the 3D realm has fallen flat on its face and the only thing keeping the series alive has been a successful run with the classic side scrolling action on handheld systems. Things may change come the next holiday season. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has you cast as the mysterious figure Gabriel as you fight through a massive world in the third person. Mix in some puzzles and some holy (or unholy) artifacts to help power up Gabriel and you have the base for a nice action/adventure game. There aren’t a lot of details out on this one yet in terms of how Gabriel fits in with the Belmont clan or if Dracula is even the main force of darkness here (although I’m sure he is because it wouldn’t be Castlevania if he wasn’t), but from what I’ve seen so far, this could be the best chance to FINALLY bring Castlevania successfully onto modern consoles especially with Hideo Kojima (of the Metal Gear Series) consulting on this project, Patrick Stewart serving as the narrator, and some God of War and Assassin’s Creed style gameplay mechanics shown in the early trailer. Expect Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to emerge from the darkness next holiday season for Xbox 360 and PS3.

9. Super Mario Galaxy 2: Everyone loves Mario, plain and simple. Another game expected to be released in time for the next holiday season, Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be the first direct sequel to another Mario game in a decade (since Super Mario World 2 back for the SNES). Add in that you are definitely going to be riding Yoshi around and I’m sure you’ll see the return of some other classic powers and this is another sure fire hit for Nintendo. Plus, don’t forget that you are sure to see a lot of classic Mario themes, enemies, and puzzles mixed in with the tremendous planetary exploration aspect introduced in the first Super Mario Galaxy and this will be another platforming gem from Nintendo. Super Mario Galaxy 2 should be out in time for next holiday season and is, of course, a Nintendo exclusive.

10. Metroid: Other M: Nintendo has the strongest first party franchises out there and another one confirmed for next holiday season is Metroid: Other M. A lot like seeing Hideo Kojima’s production studio helping out with Castlevania, Team Ninja, best known for the Ninja Gaiden games, has stepped up to help give a bit of an anime style and storytelling flair to this newest Samus Aran adventure. Mixing some classic side-scrolling action and some 3D arena battles as you progress through the game and interchange between the two seamlessly should keep you on your toes and keep you from getting bored. Add in that at least Ridley has been confirmed as one of the boss battles and it should be interesting to see what Team Ninja can do with this beloved Nintendo franchise. Metroid: Other M is another Wii exclusive and should be out in time for the next holiday season.

So there is my top 10 for the coming year and it is one heck of a list. On top of these games, there are also lots of other games that I just could not take the time to go into right now, plus I did not feel they were worthy of the top 10. MAG, Heavy Rain, Bayonetta, Darksiders, Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands (adding a 4th chapter to one of the better trilogies for the last generation of consoles was not necessary and is thus a major reason that Prince of Persia stayed off the list), Mass Effect 2, Just Cause 2, Epic Mickey, Red Steel 2, Mega Man 10, Gran Turismo 5, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and an unnamed Legend of Zelda title for the Wii (not enough info for me to be confident that this will make it in time for a 2010 release, but Nintendo is the best at keeping secrets) all deserve honorable mentions and should be awesome games in 2010, but these are my top 10 and I stand by them. It is going to be another great year for games and I cannot wait. Until then, have a great New Year and my resolution is that I will be sure to try my best to keep you informed over the course of 2010 just as I did over the course of 2009.

-Ray Carsillo

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Eat Your Heart Out John Hammond

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Originally Published: December 20, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com), Lundberg.me, and Examiner.com

I think every boy growing up in my generation who saw Jurassic Park instantly fell in love with dinosaurs and the idea of “What if they roamed the Earth, today?” We even sat through the less than stellar sequels because the thought of living with these long extinct creatures excited and scared us in ways that stimulated our pre-pubescent imaginations.

Most of us have matured (and, of course, most of us now are obsessing over women, an entirely different breed of creature that excites and scares us), but we still remember the feelings that are stirred up when a concept involving dinosaurs is brought to the table.

In that vein, I present to you Jurassic: The Hunted, a new first person shooter from Activision. You play as Craig Dylan, a contractor for a private security firm that is hired by a scientist looking for her father whose expedition was lost in the Bermuda Triangle back in 1983. As your plane flies over the ocean and you prepare to parachute onto an island, a storm suddenly appears and lightning strikes your plane. As the plane begins to tail spin out of control, you, your teammate, and the doctor (Gilligan and the skipper escaped the same fate), fall into a bright blue light. When you wake up and begin foraging for weapons and supplies, you come across a lizard…a really big lizard.

Thus begins your adventure as you find out later that you fell through a temporal vortex and that the reversal of the earth’s magnetic poles are causing tremendous amounts of unstable energy to pull creatures and objects from all of time. You’ll explore a German U-boat, use weapons from the Civil War, and get your hands on a sweet plasma rifle from the future as you search for the missing doctor and end up trying to save the world in the process.

Well, it isn’t the most original plot, but it had great potential and like I said before, people love dinosaurs. Unfortunately, great potential does not a great game make. The execution of the plot felt rushed, like Activision was trying to just get this out before the holiday. I blew through the entire game in about five hours and even with the unlocking of a hard mode, and the inclusion of a survival mode that reminds you of a one-man Horde or Firefight mode from Gears 2 or Halo 3: ODST, is not enough to make this an elite game.

I will say that the game at least looks good. Seeing the dinosaurs on-screen in this game is like watching Jurassic Park again. All I would need is John Williams’ classic theme and I would be set with the peripherals of this game. Unfortunately, the sound falls flat on its face compared to the graphics. The music and SFX are generic at best and the voice acting would be comparable to Larry the Cable Guy trying to do Shakespeare.

The gameplay is solid, but not spectacular and I would have loved a larger variety of weapons, especially those from different time eras. The whole time travel aspect of the game wasn’t emphasized enough in general, but that again goes back to the rush job that Activision seemed to give this one. The boss battles were simple and you shouldn’t die more than a handful of times if you are any good at first-person shooters. The adrenaline feature you have is a nice idea and the graphics of seeing the vitals for the dinosaurs are awesome, but aside from that it is mostly unnecessary.

Going back to the survival mode, which is probably the only thing to try to bring you back to this game, but it isn’t special in any way and you should get your fill of hunting dinosaurs after a single playthrough of the game.

This game has a really strong core to it, but it just seems that everything was so rushed that it started to unravel at the seams as you continue through the entire game. The gameplay is average and there is no difficulty to speak of for anyone familiar with first-person shooters. A saving point for this game is that it is available on all systems and is only $40 compared to the full $50 or $60 price usually seen. Still, it shouldn’t offer you more than five to seven hours of gameplay and for that I would rent this instead of buying it.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 9.0: Easily the best part of this game is the visuals. The dinosaurs look just as good as if you were watching Jurassic Park and there were almost no glitches to speak of.

Audio: 4.0: Generic music and SFX do a horrible job of setting the mood or immersing you in the game. Add on top of that some of the worst voice acting I’ve heard in a long time and this game might be better played with the volume off.

Plot/Plot Development: 6.0: A fun idea that should appeal to a wide audience, but horrible execution and a feeling of being rushed through the game really takes you back and out of the experience.

Gameplay: 6.5: There weren’t any glitches that I could think of throughout the game, but there were only a handful of weapons to use and the melee feature was not necessary because if the dinosaurs got close to you, you were done for. Of course, every first-person shooter needs to have a melee option though. The adrenaline feature was also unnecessary. Add in the simplicity of the game and you have a barely passing score.

Replay Value: 4.0: A couple of difficulty levels and a survival mode is just not enough to bring me back to this game after the initial playthrough.

Overall (not an average): 6.5: The game gets a barely passing score because even with all the flaws it had, it was still fun. It is sad when a game like this comes out because if the developers had sat on it and put a little more into it, you could’ve seen this being a solid game that made an impact instead of something that is at best a good rental. The lower price tag does make it appeal a little more to the masses, but I would still rent it over buying it.

Jurassic: The Hunted is out now for Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, and PS2.

-Ray Carsillo

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