GRAW 2 - Ghost Recon 2 - PS3

Ubisoft, Red Storm Ent. , Ubisoft Paris Aug 23, 2007 »

GRAW2 offers up a solid, though short, single-player campaign. But the bulk of its gameplay can be found in its impressive multiplayer offering.

The Good
Intense, gritty modern infantry combat
Impressive multiplayer suite with countless combinations of competitive and cooperative game modes
Good looking graphics and excellent sound effects.

The Bad
The single-player campaign is over before you know it
Since GRAW2 is the first GRAW game for PS3, you feel like you're missing part of the story.

GRAW2 puts you in the steel-toed combat boots of US Army Captain Scott Mitchell of the fictional 5th Special Forces Group (the Ghosts) for a grueling battle south of the border in Mexico. While you needn't have played the first game to enjoy the second, it certainly helps to understand the overarching plot. A Mexican civil war has erupted between mutinous army units. For various reasons, the elected civilian government and the US have been drawn into the conflict. In the new game, the fighting threatens to spill over onto US soil along with the threat of nuclear weapons, which gives your superiors even more reasons to scream at you over the radio to defeat the rebels.

What follows is more of the intense infantry combat that featured in the original GRAW. You will go on both solo and team missions to achieve a varied set of objectives, from rescuing a Mexican journalist who has clues about the insurgency, to neutralizing enemy encampments, and more. The action unfolds on both sides of the border this time, and the game ably captures the first-world and second-world settings. The Mexican side of the border faces even more turmoil than in the first game. The visuals in GRAW2 are also more stunning than in the original, thanks to sumptuous atmospheric lighting and effects. The incredible scale remains; once again you'll look out over vast cityscapes that consist of hundreds of buildings as you fly over in your Black Hawk helicopter. But now, you can also take in the stunning vista of a setting sun over the desert, or gaze at gigantic pillars of smoke rising from the fires of a war-torn Mexican city. Also, the PS3 suffers from a bit more aliasing than the Xbox 360, the colors are duller, and the frame rate struggles at times.

Control of your teammates, vehicles, or drones is a lot easier now thanks to the improved communications system. Now you can get a full-screen video feed from any friendly asset on the battlefield, which essentially lets you be in two places at once. You can find some cover, tell your men to move to another position, and then use their video cameras to locate and call out targets for them to engage. A cool new battlefield drone called the mule has many uses, which include battlefield resupply and healing, mobile cover, and remote-controlled scout. You're able to control the mule directly from the camera view or give it movement orders on the fly. The overhead drone that was cumbersome to use in GRAW is also improved in the sequel because it's far easier to control, and you can view its video feed in full screen rather than in a postage-stamp-sized window. The game uses the Sixaxis motion controls in a limited, mostly ignorable fashion (the few motions available aren't very good), but the bigger issue with the PS3 controls is that while there are multiple control configurations to choose from, none of them let you use R2 as the trigger. This seems like an annoying oversight, especially because Rainbow Six: Vegas for the PS3 (a cousin to GRAW) did have such an option.

The six-mission co-op campaign is also a lot of fun because you can romp through a separate storyline along with up to 15 other players. The gist of the co-op story is that a Panamanian strongman is funding the Mexican rebels up north, and a separate team of Ghosts is dispatched to get the job done. Battles rage around the Panama Canal and its outlying areas, with dynamic objectives and other neat new features adding an extra layer of challenge and coordination to the entire affair. Previously, you had to worry only about killing all the bad guys as fast as you could, but with dynamic objectives, your team has to coordinate its actions to accomplish secondary goals. These goals include blowing up two radio towers simultaneously; destroying them separately would risk the appearance of enemy reinforcements.

The teamwork in the game is also enhanced in the co-op and competitive modes by the new aid system. If you're shot in a manner that wouldn't instantly kill you, your character will drop and roll around on the ground, wounded. You can choose to die and instantly respawn, but if there are friendlies around, they have a limited amount of time to patch you up before you die. This adds an extra bit of urgency to the voice channel as players cry for help and others rush in to save them.
There's such a wealth of content in the multiplayer suite that it alone makes GRAW2 an easy purchase for multiplayer fans. The flip side to this is that if you don't like to play online, then GRAW2 is an iffier proposition. The single-player game is fun, but its brevity is certainly an issue. Still, if you're a fan of modern combat, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 makes a compelling case for a game that you have to play.

Warhawk - PS3

SCEA, Incognito Aug 28, 2007 »
Whether you do your best work on foot, in a tank, or in the air, you will have plenty of exciting options to choose from in Warhawk.

The Good
Great flight control
Different tactics feel like they've been balanced out pretty well
Plenty of map configuration options give the game a lot of different looks Rank and medal system gives you something to shoot for as you play.

Warhawk is a 32-player, multiplayer-only shooter from Sony. It has ties back to another Warhawk, an early game for the original PlayStation that focused on the warhawk itself, a fighter jet that can convert to hover mode and back again. You probably don't remember it, which hardly matters, because the multiplayer focus of the PlayStation 3 Warhawk game leaves it with no real story and no real sense of the war you're fighting. This game has a stripped-down feel, but the exciting gameplay certainly makes up for those feelings. This is blue versus red across multiple modes and maps, in the land or in the air. And it's excellent fun.

Warhawk comes with five different maps. Before you get all up in arms about how low that number looks, each map can be configured for different game sizes, so there are configurations for small, medium, and large-sized games. Each map also has a dogfight configuration, giving you more warhawks to use. The different configurations make the maps feel totally different, giving you different strategies to work with and so on. This means that playing in an eight-player game can be just as thrilling as a 32-player fracas. There are also multiple modes. Team deathmatch works as you would expect, with control-point captures giving you new places to spawn but no real points benefit. Capture the flag is a standard two-flag CTF mode that puts flags in each team's main base. Zones mode creates colored circles around each base, and the goal is to earn points faster than the other guys by holding more zones than the other team. The zones link together if you hold the right ones and level up your control over them to make the colored circles bigger, which brings in even more points. Lastly, there's a deathmatch mode, which can be fun for dogfights, but this is very much a team-based game, so playing with no team to back you up isn't as much fun. You can also play online with a split-screen, which allows multiple players to play online from the same machine. On top of playing on the Internet, the game has support for LAN games.

Outside of the game, you can chart your progress to look at your rank and medals. You'll earn ribbons for a variety of round-specific accomplishments, such as finishing first on the winning team, getting 10 antiair kills, not shooting your teammates, and so on. Badges and medals also take your global counts into consideration, giving you awards, such as a meritorious service medal. You'll get this award for capturing the flag 100 times, defending 100 zones, capturing 500 zones, and then getting two flag captures in the same game. That's sort of steep, but it certainly gives you something to shoot for as you play. As you rise in rank, you'll unlock additional head, shirt, and pants types for your soldiers, giving you a clear way on the battlefield to see if someone's totally raw or a honed online killing machine.

Warhawk will run in 480p, 720p, or 1080i, and the game looks really nice overall. Its greatest visual feature is that you have a very long draw distance, giving you a clear view of things that are really far away. For example, on one map, which is made up of a series of high islands, you can sit in your base and see turrets moving in bases far, far in the distance. Armed with a sniper rifle, you can practically reach across the entire map and knock fools out. The equipment looks good, and it also blasts apart really well. Exploding warhawks cause burning hunks of metal to fall out of the sky, and it looks great. The game sound is also effective, with good weapon noises and explosions. Warhawk, unlike most online PlayStation 3 games, has voice chat, which comes in handy.
Regardless of how you get it, Warhawk is a great multiplayer shooter and one of the first of its kind to land on the still-new PlayStation 3. It offers just enough content to justify its price tag, but more importantly, it plays well, with just the right mix of tactical considerations and finger-on-the-trigger action. With hooks in there for additional map downloads, it'll be interesting to see how this one develops from here.

FIFA Soccer 08 - PS3

EA Sports, EA Canada Oct 9, 2007 »

The first FIFA for the PS3 is an impressive debut, and while it can be difficult at times, it's a polished and highly playable game.

The Good
Noticeably slower playing style
Challenging opponent AI
Mountain of game modes
Deep online and offline play
Peerless presentation and authenticity.

The Bad
Steep learning curve
Trick system a little too powerful
Slightly confusing menu system.

EA Sports has made a lot of claims about FIFA's new game modes and features, and they've been flagged up in the game's menu system so series regulars know where to start. At the top of the list is the new Be-a-Pro mode, which puts you in the studded boots of a single footballer rather than an entire team. The default side-on aerial camera perspective shifts to an over-the-shoulder view, and you're awarded or deducted points based on how well you serve the team. This means keeping the player in position, passing the ball around, and--depending on your position--making tackles or scoring goals. While controlling one player in a team of 11 might seem strange, it's an interesting, compelling new take on gameplay. Although it's tempting to run up the field and shoot at goal regardless of your position, the only way to succeed in this mode is to play your part in the team. There can be long periods where you see little of the ball, particularly if you're a defender in a good team or an attacker in a poor one, but on the whole it's a successful experiment on the part of EA Sports.

The over-the-shoulder perspective of this mode shows off another of the big new features in FIFA 08, the trick system. By pulling on the L2 button and using the analog sticks, you can perform a variety of moves that, with enough practice, have the power to cut swathes through the opposition. Simple step-overs and flicks can be executed by flicking the right stick in one direction, while more complicated moves can be orchestrated with a series of movements. A turn can be pulled off by rotating the stick in a circular motion, while an overhead flick is a complicated three-move combo that's more dependent on timing. Faster and more skilful players can pull this move off better than slower ones, and top-class players such as Ronaldinho can even launch an accurate volley shot off the flick.
In addition to the Be-a-Pro mode, FIFA has a variety of other ways to play a game of football. The kick-off mode is the place for a quick practice match with up to three friends gathered round your TV, though there are online equivalents with both ranked and unranked matches. The long-term challenge of FIFA 08 comes from the numerous tournaments that have been packed into the game's offline and online modes. Pretty much every major competition from the major domestic leagues has been included, plus you can create a custom tournament to make things such as continental or world cups that may happen in future. Predictably, EA's seperate World Cup franchise means that this tournament isn't included in the game, but there's nothing stopping you from setting one up yourself.

Online, the interactive leagues let you take control of your favourite team and play real-life fixtures as they happen, or you can jump into custom leagues that have been set up for up to 31 other players. The final mode is the manager mode. Even though EA Sports has a separate FIFA Manager game, it continues to shoehorn an even simpler management sim into the main FIFA title as well. The main difference in this mode is that you'll be coaching players and ensuring they're given enough time on the pitch for professional development, but it doesn't really add anything to the experience.

It should be no surprise for EA Sports stalwarts to learn that the overall presentation of FIFA 08 is so good that it's actually one of the game's biggest selling points. The game seeps authenticity from every pore, with up-to-date stats on some 14,000 players, official kit and sponsorship details, and English commentary provided by Martin Tyler and Andy Gray. The amount of repetition in the commentary could get annoying if you play with only one team, the natural banter and interplay between these two results in some of the best and most context-relevant commentary in any football game. The soundtrack itself deserves praise, too--with the usual mix of recognisable anthems and upcoming indie/dance numbers, there's not a filler in the entire selection. The overall quality of music means that a visit to the menu screen is something to look forward to. There are some inconsistencies in presentation, though--a referee is introduced in the prematch presentation, but he mysteriously disappears in the game itself. Why we can have AI players that make thousands of decisions a second but no animated referees or assistants is a mystery. On the plus side, FIFA 08 on the PS3 has no frame rate issues to speak of, and runs just as smoothly as its Xbox 360 counterpart.

Graphically, FIFA 08 is the best-looking football game on the market by a considerable margin. Not only are players immediately recognisable thanks to the way that they move as well as the way they look from afar, but close up they also feature individual facial details, personalised items of kit, and haircuts. The 30 licensed stadiums boast both scale and detail, with video boards up high displaying feeds from the camera cranes that sit above the goals. There are also some really nice smaller touches, such as the shirt deformation technology and dramatic, low-angle camera shots that would be impossible to achieve with even the best hi-def cameras. However, that's not to say there aren't a few graphical problems. While players boast natural appearances and extremely lifelike movement, it's spoiled by a plastic look that makes their expressions appear forced. We're sure that the intention was to make them look like they're sweating, but the reality is that they look like they've been shrink-wrapped.

EA Sports has taken substantial risks with this year's FIFA, but the resulting game can certainly be considered a successful experiment. It plays a more difficult and more refined game of football than its predecessors, and while it should be emphasised that the game is perhaps too difficult at times, it will reward players who put in the practice. The sheer number of game modes make FIFA the most complete football game on the market, while the authenticity and quality of presentation continue to enhance the package overall. It may fall just short of greatness, but it's a FIFA that's well worth trying out for anyone who's been avoiding the series.

Devil May Cry 4 - PS3

Capcom Feb 5, 2008 »

The newest entry in the revered series features plenty of awesome action, a great new character...and a bit of repetition.

The Good
Extraordinary action sequences highlighted by smooth controls and slick animations
Nero is a great new character with some terrific new moves
Beautiful visuals and incredible cutscenes will constantly amaze you
Boss characters are designed well and fun to fight.

The Bad
Environments and boss fights are repeated far too often
Puzzles and platforming aren't much fun and chop up the pace too much.
You'll probably remember Devil May Cry 3 for the PlayStation 2 as being an unfairly difficult game, yet one that rewarded your patience with a slew of high-quality action. If playing it gave you tears of frustration, you'll be happy to learn that although this sequel is a challenge, it's by no means an extreme one. In fact, you're given an excellent number of gameplay choices that help you tailor the challenge to your preferences. You can initially choose one of two difficulties (and if you want to cry like a little girl, you can unlock several more), and you can even choose whether you want the game to perform some combos for you automatically. No, you aren't apt to find Devil May Cry 4 to be excessively tough on your first play-through, though it is no walk in the park either. However, it is generally excessive--not that that's a bad thing. Stylish action, terrific boss fights, and beautiful, melodramatic cutscenes will inspire you to push forward, and they serve as an appropriate reward for a well-played sequence of demon slaying.

The devil-bringer moves go a long way, which is probably a good thing, since Nero has neither as varied an arsenal as Dante nor access to multiple fighting styles. However, he does have his standard sword, red queen, and a revolver known as blue rose, and later on he earns another weapon that franchise fans will enjoy seeing in action. As you progress, you will earn proud souls based on your performance in any given mission, and with them, you can purchase new combos and upgrade existing ones. And you'll need them, too, since you'll need to handle droves of demons that get progressively tougher--and they're awesome to look at, to boot. You can choose these new moves individually, or you can let the game auto-select them for you based on how varied you want your array of attacks to be. It's worth noting that you can't really make a mistake here; if you don't like the move, or if there is a more powerful upgrade available to you, you can unlearn what you have purchased for a full refund and use the souls for something else.

You'll also encounter a number of secret missions scattered about, and you'll no doubt find them the most challenging aspect of the game. In some cases, you have to execute a certain move a set number of times in a row, or dispatch every demon within the allotted time. While those missions are challenging, others require you to have purchased a particular move before you can manage it. If at first it seems that some of these missions are simply unbeatable, have faith and return to it later. There's a good chance you were simply just missing a piece of the puzzle. You aren't required to do these missions, but the orb fragment you earn is a perfectly fine reward, and accomplishing these difficult tasks is incredibly gratifying.

That repetition even makes its way into the admittedly spectacular boss fights. These battles are easily the shining star of Devil May Cry 4, and each boss is wildly different from the last, requiring some split-second timing and good control over your reflexes. From a giant toad to a hulking stone behemoth, these bosses are cleverly designed and a good deal of fun. Yet in the second half of the game, you'll face all of the same bosses as Dante that you fought as Nero. While the game could have benefitted from some new blood during these missions, the differences in styles between the two at least lend some diversity to the repeated bosses and test the newest additions to your arsenal. Yet amazingly (and irritatingly), Capcom brings most of them out for a third time in the game's padded and plodding penultimate mission. Yes, these fights are fun, but forcing most of them on the player three times is overkill.
Regardless of which platform you play Devil May Cry 4 on, this game is a looker. Both Nero and Dante are fluid in motion, showcasing a good deal of flair and subtlety in their movements. The more damage a move does, the more astonishing it looks onscreen, and few games can approach the pure razzle-dazzle of Nero jumping into the air, his cape flying and the glowing devil bringer tossing lumbering demons around with matchless grace. From a design standpoint, the visuals can be gorgeous to behold, and moments like your first glimpse of Gran Album bridge are bound to take your breath away. What's more, all of this visual prowess is smoothly rendered on both platforms, and broken up only by the occasional loading time. This can be noticeably reduced if you are playing on the PlayStation 3, since some files will be installed to the hard drive, though the loading times aren't excessive by any stretch. The downside for PS3 owners is that the installation takes around 20 minutes to finish.

Devil May Cry 4 is a great game, and it delivers a lot of quality action that will please fans without alienating those new to the series. If you liked previous entries, you'll find what you're looking for here; and if you were turned off by Devil May Cry 3's insane challenge, you'll feel a lot more comfortable this time around.