Nerdly

23rd Apr2013

‘Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut’ Review (PS3)

by Phil Wheat

DP-DC-York

Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut is an open-world game set in Greenvale, a secluded rural town in North West America. Playing as FBI Special Agent Francis York, gamers are charged with solving the shocking, ritualistic and brutal murder of a local girl, unravelling the mystery via clues, lies and a trail of bodies. Agent York travels around Greenvale in a variety of vehicles – entertaining gamers with facts about movies along the way – encountering eccentric natives, supernatural creatures and a folklore killer, who stalks his victims in a blood-drenched rain coat.

Having already seen a console release in 2010 on the Xbox 360, you may have heard the rumours surrounding this game, but let me use this review to put the record straight. Deadly Premonition is STILL (even in this directors cut version) one of the best worst games ever made. Ever.

The first thing that struck you about the Xbox 360 version of Deadly Premonition was the terrible control system and the early-2000′s era graphics. Coming across as something you’d see on the original Xbox – the graphics looked lo-res at times and definitely sub-par – especially when compared to the similarly-themed Alan Wake. However this new PS3-exclusive iteration of the game, dubbed Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut to differentiate it from the original, features a completely reworked control system and mappable controls allow for an even better combat experience AND a complete graphic overhaul with new HD textures! Whilst there may be new aspects to this directors cut what hasn’t changed is the fantastically original real time “hygiene” aspect that once again means shaving, showering and eating are essential – Agent York’s level of hygiene actually has consequences within the game as it influences the towns folk’s perceptions of him… Which frankly is a genius idea!

And that’s not the only genius idea in the game – from the level design and character design to the story, Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut is full of superb ideas. OK, some of the ideas may be the work of a completely mad genius but they’re still genius! And the mad genius himself, game director Hidetaka “Swery65″ Suehiro has also contributed a new scenario in this release that will please new and hardcore fans alike.

Thankfully the tweaks to this new iteration of Deadly Premonition doesn’t effect what made the original game so great – the tension, which really grabs you from the get go. Much like Alan Wake before it, and even moreso Dead Space, Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut is friggin’ scary! In fact I don’t think I’ve jumped out of my skin as much playing a video game since the first time I played Dead Space.

If the game doesn’t feature the greatest graphics or controls (which are still a little “iffy” in this new version), what Deadly Premonition has OVER other horror video game titles is the longevity. Between the main game, the side quests and mini-games – such as darts, fishing and collecting trading cards(?) – you’ll be playing this game for anywhere up to a reported 60 hours! I’ll admit I’ve been playing the game for a number of hours now and I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of the game. Admittedly you can finish the game without completing all the quests and mini games and just complete the main story, but you’ll miss out on some superb, if sometimes very weird, aspects of the game.

It’s all been said before but, yes Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut is like playing a console version of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, complete with the same strange scenarios, bizarre characters and just downright eeriness. Buy it now. Seriously. Or I’ll be round to force-feed you pickles…

***** 5/5

Category : Reviews, Video Games

Tags : Deadly Premonition, Deadly Premonition: Directors Cut, PS3, Review

0 Comm

17th Apr2013

‘Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad’ Review (PS3)

by Phil Wheat

Manufacturer: 2XL Games
Specs: Xbox Live Arcade | PSN
Rating: 2/5

Based on seven-time AMA Supercross champ Jeremy McGrath’s latest passion: four-wheel offroad truck racing, Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad, from developers 2XL Games – who are well-known for racing games like Baja: Edge of Control and 2XL ATV Offroad 2009 and utilises the same proprietary XLR8R engine to create the arcade racing action in 60fps full 1080p HD. Featuring five vehicle classes, six race tracks, online multiplayer for up to eight players, and a career mode that sees you take on 23 courses of off-road action, Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad sounds like a race gamer dream but in practise it turned out to be a lot less so…

The Good

This high-octane and addictive racer features deep customization and advancement within four categories of vehicular upgrades and an experienced-based leveling system. Whether it is a rally car or a trophy truck, there are plenty of fully-licensed vehicles to choose from. Players can race four-wheeled, 800-horsepower offroad race trucks with tons of customizable options, as well as five vehicle classes including Rally Cars, Pro Buggies and Pro Lite Trucks

There are six race tracks that include the snowy hills of the Netherlands to the Amazon Rainforest, which can all be played in both eight-player online multiplayer, which boasts dynamic interactions between all competing vehicles so players can see and feel the impact of mid-race collisions; or in career Mode, which sees payers take the role of superstar Jeremy McGrath in his bid for the Pro2 championship within the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series – again, all with real-time online statistic tracking and leaderboards.

The Bad

In the press release for Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad it states that 2XL worked with Stephane “The Flying Frenchman” Roncada (a former AMA East Coast Supercross champion), to utilize his real-world racing knowledge to help with the design of the race tracks and help with the tuning for the various difficulty levels offered so they present a challenge to all level of players as they progress through career mode. All I can say about that fact is that 2XL wasted their money!

Even as someone who plays racing games very infrequently (I can count the amount of racing games I’ve played on one hand), I sailed through Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad. In fact on a second play-through, on the hardest difficulty setting, I timed myself. I completed the entire game in 2 hours with bathroom breaks, came 1st in every race and sometimes won by as much as 30 seconds!

Graphically the game looks OK for a download title and I did have fun playing it. But due to the ridiculously easy difficulty levels, if you’re a racing fan, this is probably only worth buying when the price drops…

Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad is available now on PSN and XBLA.

Category : Reviews, Video Games

Tags : 2XL Games, Jeremy McGrath's OffRoad, Playstation 3, PS3, Review

0 Comm

03rd Apr2013

‘Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory’ Review (PS3)

by Phil Wheat

HDNV-4

“Several years after preventing Arfoire’s revival, Gamindustri has remained at peace. The CPUs and their younger sisters have been enjoying their quiet lives for a while… Then one day, the CPU of Planeptune—Neptune—is sent to another dimension. This new dimension feels very much like her own…except it has only progressed to the Gamindustri of the 1980s. In this dimension, a group of villains calling themselves the “Seven Sages” are trying to create a world free from the rule of CPUs. With help from her new friends, including that dimension’s CPU of Planeptune — Plutia — Neptune begins her quest to protect a totally different Gamindustri in her brand-new adventure!”

And so begins Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, the third game in the dungeon-crawling JRPG series which once again follows Neptune, the self-aware star of the franchise, who meets friends new and old after getting transported back to a parallel universe: a 1980s version of Gamindustri. Only this time Neptune is no longer the CPU of Planeptune and her former CPU buddies, Vert, Blanc, Noire, and the “countries” they represent are no longer as friendly as they were in her world so Neptune must now navigate her way through this parallel universe and back to her own.

Much like the Parodius games of the 8 and 16 bit eras, the Hyperdimension franchise has always has one foot in the world of parody – after all, when the four countries in the game are named Lowee, Lastation and Leanbox (after the current-gen console manufacturers) there’s no way you can be taken seriously; and the idea of parody is carried through to the gameplay (and sometimes the music) which often parodies, and occasionally pays homage to, more “serious” JPRGs – especially the granddaddy of them all, Final Fantasy.

Unlike many Western RPGs, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, like the rest of the series, tells it’s story through a combination of visual novel, point and click adventure and dungeon-crawling RPG. Sadly, like its fellow franchise members, Victory spends way too much time “telling” its story rather than letting you play the game; and you’ll often find yourself wading through masses of text just to get to the next playable portion of the story. Thankfully this time round there is the possibility of skipping a LOT of this banal chit-chat (which most of the text portions of this release are) and cracking on with the game!

Once again it’s down to the dungeon-crawling aspects of Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory to rescue what is, in the end, little more than a mundane fan-service visual anime “novel”. Like all RPGs, Western or Eastern, the dungeon set battles are turn-based affairs in which players choose if they wish to defend, use a SP (special) skill, EXE drive, normal attack, activate HDD (hard drive divinity) mode. SP skills tend to just be powerful attacks or heals that use SP; EXE drive are more powerful attacks that use your EXE gauge, which is built up by fighting.; normal attack allows you to choose from a strong attack, quick attack or attack that focuses on damaging the enemies guard; and activating HDD uses 100 or so SP and drains your SP per turn, but gives your character a large increase to damage.

Winning battles gains you items and experience (no surprise there) which in turn level up your character. Other than the traditional grinding to level up your character, you can buy and equip items to increase your power and of course you can buy new costumes (although they have zero bearing on your abilities). It’s all very much bog-standard RPG mechanics, just wrapped up in a JRPG skin. Which is a shame as I was expecting a little more from a franchise now on its third game…

If you’ve played and enjoyed the first two games in the series, you’ll no-doubt be pleased to hear that Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is more of the same. But for those looking for something a little different (isn’t that the reason we play JRPGs?) you might just be disappointed.