The 3DS false start has caused some to fear the end of dedicated handhelds

Many analysts are claiming the death of the dedicated handheld console way too early. Article after article points out the huge number of smartphone sales and app adoption, and from there leap to the conclusion that this in some way means that there is no future in the dedicated handheld market. I disagree with this position and see that there is room for a strong dedicated handheld offering from the major gaming manufactures. That is not to suggest that I’m blind to the changes taking place in this sector, nor does it mean that I think there will always be a market for dedicated handhelds. I’m open to a world without them eventually, but I would argue it’s way too hard to make that call at present.

So why are ‘experts’ stating that this market is dying? Well clearly there are a ton of smartphones out there, and many are able to play high quality games. However there are five strong reasons why, for the next generation at least, handheld consoles have a role for the serious gamer.

Firstly, if you play games a lot on the move on your phone the batteries cannot cope. This means you’ll find yourself rationing or unable to make phone calls. With their primary purpose being able to make and receive phone calls, it is a major disability when the battery cannot allow such calls to take place. Even emailing a lot can drain the battery on most smartphones, which is why many business people choose to carry a blackberry for email and another phone for calls. Whilst batteries are coming along leaps and bounds, and the CPUs which drive these machines are improving drastically, the extra ‘oomph’ these improvements deliver are fast consumed by the increase in graphical quality and screen fidelity demanded by the consumer, content creator and hardware designer.

Secondly, apart from the Experia Play, all the devices lack credible physical controls. For some forms of games this is not a problem at all, and some have blossomed because of it; but it clearly leaves out a very large number of game genres (especially those adopted by the hardcore) from being experienced in their optimum environment. The hardcore might be a minority term; but it’s a rather large minority who are willing to spend large amounts of money on games and hardware if the content justifies the financial investment (I’ll get onto that in a moment). The hardcore complained about only having one analogue stick on the PSP, so we are hardly excited about having none on the iPhone. Devices that emulate a control stick via the touch screen create a new problem as fast they attempt to solve an existing one. Have you played Street Fighter 4 on the iphone? The controls are not bad, but I can’t for the hell of me see what’s going on as my thumbs are on top of the actual graphics. Now I’m sure some can live with this, but for those that justify this and go out of their way to tell me it’s acceptable, let me pop round to your house when you are watching Avatar in HD and stand in front of your TV wriggling my bottom.

Physical buttons are no fad!

Thirdly, the software ecosystem and dedicated IP offered by the two differing types of devices vary greatly. The smartphone with its app store has allowed a huge amount of content to be generated and sold at amazingly low prices. This is great for the consumer, especially consumers who have never purchased mainstream games before. Additionally, some hardcore gamers also enjoy this content. Apple’s App Store has been good for the genres which were being overlooked on traditional consoles. Additionally, in the case of the latter years of the DS, it has helped make a mockery of the type of software Ubisoft and others were putting out priced at £30 but offering little more than a 79p app. However, this same marketplace is unable to sustain AAA titles, except once in a while. Yes, the iPhone might have its own version of Splinter Cell, but it is a different, cheaper to produce game. Would we have ever seen the iPhone version of Splinter Cell take the lead with regard to design and publishing priority? I can’t imagine such a reality, unless Apple bought Ubisoft and made it an Apple only developer as way of selling more hardware (always a possibility moving forward).

An ecosystem with such low consumer prices cannot offer a return on investment similar to that provided by traditional consoles. Is it easier to make money on the App Store? For sure, in theory, if your app can get noticed. However, is it easy to make hundreds of million of dollars? Not at all.

Will Apple ever own an IP in the world of gaming?

Additionally, Apple do not yet own or publish internally commissioned content. Perhaps one day they might; after all they have bought music software businesses and other developers as a way of capturing other markets. Yet, at present they do not and hence they lack strong IPs, which can drive the sales of hardware. It could be argued that their best IP is the App store itself along with iOS, but that perhaps is not as strong in the long term as Mario, Uncharted, or LittleBigPlanet. An App store can be replicated, but quality IP cannot be (ask Gameloft).

You see, the handheld is to the videogames industry, what the Cinema is to the film industry. The movie industry needs cinema and to an extent huge HDTVs. The experience of seeing a film on such a large screen with amazing sound is unique and consumers love it. Hence movie studios are able to invest in quality IP that makes the most of the cinema experience and justifies the high price of the tickets demanded of consumers. In turn, the dedicated handheld with its physical controls and larger, or double screen viewing experience is a perfect stage for major games such as Ocarina of Time or Uncharted, which would not see the light of day on a smart phone.

Fourth reason; whilst on paper many of the devices can provide superb graphics, many are often behind the curve in contrast to the dedicated consoles. This is because with the case of the PlayStation hardware it launches well ahead of the curve and it’s only near the end of its life that phone based hardware really catches up. It can be argued that this differential is fast reducing, however, as the smartphone has to always be running phone, messaging and other services; in reality, they can never truly throw their full processing weight behind running a game. This is why even the 3DS graphics look great compared to phones, which are technically more powerful – just compare Resident Evil Mercenaries on the 3DS to the ios version.

Fifth, the price of smart phones, or at least the ones that can really rival dedicated handhelds, are very high. If bought out of contract they can cost close to £500 (iPhone) and the iPad price is £400-£600. The iPad is often mentioned as a handheld and even home based console competitor. Let’s remember a PS3 costs around £250 and does so much more – it’s a daft claim to argue they are in the same space in reality. The PS Vita in comparison is looking at being £280 at launch, with the 3DS already selling new for around £170. The argument goes, that the software for the 3DS and PS devices are much more, but see point three above – it’s not a like-for-like comparison and the hardcore market knows and understands this. That’s why they still buy Call of Duty every Christmas for £40 as well as Angry Birds. The hardcore perceive them as two distinct offerings.

It'll do everything you know, like a tablet, except it's aimed at serious gamers...

The 3DS has had a dismal launch but if the price stabilises around £150 by Christmas, then with a strong boxed retail line up and with a good range of £2-£8 content on its excellent eShop there is no reason why this won’t be a platform which performs excellently over the next 3-5 years, appealing to old and young alike.

The PS Vita could end up being the tablet for game lovers. It is clear that for many hardcore gamers the iPad is too large, too expensive and lacks physical inputs. If the Vita also has amazing (and flash enabled) browsing, full media capabilities, perhaps even ebooks, then it could end up being perceived as the gamers tablet of choice. It’s not by chance that Sony have moved away from the small screen format of the PSP Go, and decided on a screen large enough for a quality web experience, but more portable and manageable than that of the iPad. It’s also no surprise that the device might offer compatibility with the Android market, offering the best of both worlds from an app perspective.

Will we still be playing on dedicated handhelds in 15 years? Even I don’t want to look that far ahead, but if gamers still want physical controls, AAA content and as long as there between 50-200 million of them worldwide then this will be enough to justify companies existing to provide a solution to that demand with dedicated hardware. For the immediate future though, expect to see 3DS consoles and PS Vitas on birthday and holiday season gift lists for the next 5 years.

Angry Birds has been a HUGE success. It's no fad, there will be other similar successes, but that doesn't mean that this form of gaming will replace hardcore titles. However, the game can also exist on the 3DS and PS Vita and add value to their entertainment offer.

It does everything. Except connect.......

If there was a month where those of us at the ‘cutting edge’ of gadget land needed reminding that we are still in the early days of the digital content revolution, it was April 2011. First Amazon’s hosting service went down, disrupting a number of high profile services based on it; and as I write this, we are still without a PlayStation Network.

In time there will be a further disclosure from Sony as to what happened, but due to security concerns it will never be the full picture. What we already know is that an individual – or a group of people – have hacked into the system. Potentially a lot of user info was taken, or perhaps none at all; it might have all been for show to demonstrate it could be done. However, as most of us will never know for sure, we all now have a short term headache of watching credit statements (something we should be doing anyway) and changing any other accounts which use the same email and password such as Amazon, Facebook, and other web or phone services.

Looking beyond the inconvenience of changing passwords, the damage has the potential to be far deeper. Not only to Sony, but also us, other networks and online providers. I’m a multi-console guy, but not everyone is. If, like many, all you own is a PS3, then this Easter break has been ruined from a gaming perspective. Many games have online components, indeed one of the Easter launches was SOCOM which only has a small singleplayer campaign as it’s primarily an online shooter. Gamers take the online part of the game for granted these days, and talk about communities when discussing the audience attached to them. Well, these communities have had the digital equivalent of house arrest since this started, with the government ruling their digital neighbourhood not giving out any information for days.

People have been unable to purchase new games over PSN, which in turn is hurting developers. Many of the games we have already purchased require you to be online just to load them, even if you don’t plan to use some of the online functionality. So if you do only have that one PS3 console, what can you do at the moment? Well, it’s not a disaster if you consider it sensibly, as you can of course play Blu Ray based, singleplayer games, which in reality is far from a catastrophe in a practical sense. Yet from a psychological perspective it feels claustrophobic as even if we don’t plan to use the online functionality,  it’s reassuring to know that it’s there. When it’s not we feel, as I said earlier, locked in; house bound. We have become so used to the window of online services with our consoles, our phones and now our TVs that when they are removed it feels that part of ‘us’ has been removed too. We lose access to the wider, connected community.

What this means moving forward is worrying. If a TV network stopped broadcasting for a week, people would lose their jobs and in some cases the company would go under. Unless we are suffering a power cut (and we know to blame the energy companies for that) never-ending TV is something we expect, on tap. We had slowly started to expect the same from online content services, whether it be game related or something like YouTube, Netflix or Lovefilm. For those who are supporters of the Onlive concept this should be a huge warning shot across their bows. I’m not totally against the technology, but it does seem that even if it works and is feasible, we are far from being at a point in time where it could be my only console. Based on the PSN fiasco, and not forgetting the short time Amazon was down, I would not want my connection to the ‘community’ being so vulnerable.

Ironically, even though I’m no fan of Nintendo’s timid approach to online services and content, we can now see and appreciate why they have made it much harder to utilise online services on the Wii. This could never have had happened on their system, due to lack of personal details, credit card data and other knowledge bases which both Xbox Live and PSN require to function.

The NGP will be crucial to Sony's plans in 2012, and online functionality is part of it's core appeal. At lot is at stake here....

Of course, despite my fears for losing online services in the future, we should remember that this is not a regular occurrence for Sony, and including all the other services out there this is a very rare event. However, it doesn’t really matter about all the other services if 60% of my content is wrapped up within this network, the one that is down and hence won’t let me open my films and games. It’s also bad timing for Sony, who are now really aggressively pushing PSN and their music and film service onto everything from phones to tablets. After many years languishing behind Apple, they now understand that they must offer a full content ecosystem to support hardware and are making it the centre of their strategy moving forward.

For me things have not been so bad. I’m still mid way on a few singleplayer campaigns on some PS3 games. I’ve also played a lot more Halo Reach multiplayer, and strangely rediscovered my Wii, discovering a few more stars in Galaxy 2 and finding Resi 4 very cheap for my first replay since the Gamecube version (which I also have), in ‘preparation’ for Resi Mercs on the 3DS.

I assume this type of attack could have happened to any company, but one feels that the PSN has been a work in progress for Sony, with it only recently coming up to par with Xbox Live, especially with the addition of PSN Plus services. Hence, it always seemed slower for downloads and less responsive when in the shop – which leads me to wonder if it was just badly designed with flaws invitingly left throughout the backend design.

Either way, when Sony fixes PSN everyone is hoping that they will do it right, as they have a whole industry and culture to protect. This is not just about the PSN, but also about our ability to rely on and join these communities we profess to enjoy being part of so much. Apart from fixing the security aspect, they need to make us see that it’s faster and more robust with better capacity. Additionally everyone needs some post ‘house arrest’ compensation, and Plus users should be offered a free download of whatever they want to the value of £15 minimum. Sony need to demonstrate not just that it’s fixed the issues, but that they are truly aware of what their network means to the consumers who have invested in it. Just saying ‘we’re back and it’s business as normal’ will not be enough if they want to avoid lasting damage to the whole concept of online content and services as part of our daily ‘digital’ lives.

Even Apple want us to put our content on their servers. They will soon launch a cloud music and film service for their desktop devices. How long till Iphones stream their apps?

Dual analogue sticks, a flashy high-res screen, two touch sensitive input areas, the power of a PS3 and not a UMD in sight. On paper, Sony’s new handheld codenamed Next Generation Portable looks like it could be the second coming of videogame Jesus. Sporting a quad core processor of unparalleled magic and a gaggle of games which are enough to grab the attention of the blindest cave dwellers of the Afghan mountains, it seems hard to think that it won’t sell like antidote at a poison tasting convention.

Five and a bit years ago Sony took their first steps into the mobile gaming market with the then technically impressive PSP, but it can be argued that it didn’t fare amazingly well – especially when you compare it to the life of the commuter party, the DS, with all of those hands grubbing up its touchscreen and tap-tastic stylus. With Nintendo’s leap into goggleless 3D gaming next month, what’ll it take for Sony’s handheld not to fail a technically bloated and untouched death of loneliness on shop shelves?

First and foremost I think the codename needs to change from ‘Next Generation Portable’ or NGP for short. How exciting and inspirational is that? It makes me think of something clinical or financial, not awesome next generation tech. Remember when the Gamecube was called Dolphin, or when the 360 was Xenon? Sony should’ve codenamed their device Eagle or Velocirapter. Hell, even PSP2 brings more chattery excitement to my teeth than NGP. How’s that meant to stir up trouser soiling speculation and passionate arguments in comment fields?

Stroking consumer electronics is disturbingly normal now

My next point is a problem I have with the DS. I still haven’t tried either Zelda game on the handheld as pure touch screen controls do not appeal to me. With the NGP, please don’t force us to use gimmicky control methods in games that don’t call for them. I felt a wave of nervousness big enough to capsize an oil tanker when I saw the Uncharted demo of Nate climbing a rope. For those who don’t know, you have to rub the rear touch as if you were pretending to climb a rope to make the protagonist ascend and descend it.

Why make us do this when there is a perfectly good up and down motion available on an analogue stick? I don’t want to be sat on the bus rubbing the back of my console like I was molesting a Barbie doll. Please, please, please don’t underestimate the reliability of buttons and insist that we use the touch screen at every opportunity because you believe it is a gaming revolution. The same goes for SixAxis controls. They’ve been on the PS3 for over four years and nobody likes them.

I’m not here to kick the fanboy hornet nest, but Sony made a fair few mistakes when the PS3 launched. Specced to hell and back to make it the console equivalent of a mythological deity in a box, the asking price was loaded on the hefty side, with the electronics giant still making a loss on each sale. Despite this, retailers still had a job shifting them from shelves – with stockrooms stacked floor to ceiling with PS3s.

Drake attempts to popularise new sport - 'involuntary cliff diving'

If the NGP is to do well on launch the price has to be at least in line with the £230 3DS price tag, otherwise Sony are going to face the same limited market. I know the small gaming oval contains tricks comparable to what most orbital satellites can pull off, but the majority of gamers aren’t happy paying more for a handheld than they are for a home console. I’m intrigued by the multiple SKUs that Sony has mentioned, with 3G not on the standard models. I just hope the cheaper variants won’t turn out to be useless to the regular gamer, a la Xbox 360 Arcade.

Software is where consoles have classically led the pack or stumbled into the obscurity of oblivion. The titles we have seen announced already overshadow the kind of support the PSP initially got. An Uncharted game, Call of Duty, and even the possibility of a portable Metal Gear Solid 4. How awesome does this all sound? This doesn’t even cover returning franchises to Sony’s handheld range including Killzone, Wipeout and LittleBigPlanet. If names like this continue to pop up then the NGP could really be the handheld to have in your back pocket (or the bulletproof protective case if you are one of those people that fears scratches of any size, shape and depth).

The last thing of concern is the launch window. Sony have promised the console will be out in at least one territory (hello Japan) by Christmas, but with the 3DS ready to burst from factories, will the impatient mobile gamer be able to take it? With Ocarina of Time, Starfox, Pilotwings, Resident Evil and god knows what other oracles of gaming goodness appearing on Ninty’s machine over the coming months – not to mention incredible 3D technology – the temptation to jump the gun in the next gen handheld war is feeling ever so strong.

Finally, a Snake I can play with on the train that won't upset my mum

The big question is: do we go for awesomeness now, or do we wait and see if Sony’s ace in the hole really is worth the wait? With the way gaming hardware prices can fluctuate from inevitable retailer wars, I’m going to sit on my fidgety hands and see how this one plays out. Currently I’m feeling very similar towards the NGP as I did towards the 3DS when it was announced at year’s last E3. Can these be the portable consoles that will actually steal major time away from our home consoles, or will they simply be left to slump in the ‘train journey’ inventory pile?

Whatever happens there’s still plenty more to learn about the PSP2 (I’m not going to keep up correcting that to NGP), and lots of time left for it to soar into gamers’ hearts and minds or to shoot itself in the foot like a drunk marksman in Ibiza during an earthquake. I’m two thirds excited with the remainder being made up from healthy scepticism. That second analogue nub looks gorgeous, doesn’t it?

The All Conquering Network!

• Format: PSN
  
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: various
• Developer: various
• Players: 1
• Site: http://uk.playstation.com/ps3/games/

For those of you who still have a PSP, still use it and regularly connect to the PSN, we thought it might be nice to a do a general roundup of some of the Mini titles which have been released since the service began.

For the uninitiated the Minis are small games which are normally singleplayer only, lacking in network play, and are ‘cheap’. If we lived in a world where only Nintendo or Sony existed then they would be cheap against their £7-£23 AAA cousins; but in a world of Android and Apple, cheap is really a word which would be best left out of any description relating to PSN Minis. Prices range from around £1 up to £4-£5. Most hover around the £2-£3 mark and those games which are also on Ios or Android are almost always at least £1-£2 more on the Sony PSN store. Additionally, as previously mentioned, they also lack network play. This despite only being available to people who are able to access the PSN, the PlayStation Network. Go figure….

Incidentally all Minis can also be played on your PS3. We are yet to work out why you might want to do this. The graphics look awful on a large HD television, and if you do have a PS3, you must have a game or two which is better. Still, at least this ability allows us to feel that we can get more value from the purchase. Somehow.

A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks

Interestingly, in the UK this game is not 2 bucks, but £1.74 which is almost great value. On the iphone though it would probably be 79p. It’s a top down scrolling game with great production values – full speech, a range of music, great artwork and some old fashioned top down shooter action. It plays reasonably well, but the ‘drift’ on your craft might take getting used to for some. The only real criticism is that the space background, which is lovely to look at sometimes, makes it hard to see the enemy bullets coming towards you. If you love space shooters, this is not a bad purchase; but if you were never into the genre there is no need to look here.

7/10

Looks VERY pretty for a Mini, even for a full blown PSN title. But if they had released it NOT as a Mini, but as a cheap PSN title (£4 is more than most or all minis) then they could have included network play!

NOVA, Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance

This one costs around £4 and is an FPS. At first you think, ‘wow an FPS for £4!’. That is, until you find the same game on Ios for less money, and with network play. Still, what is the PSN version like? Well it’s a clear Halo clone, without the AI. To be honest it is not all that bad, and at £2 we would have no problem recommending it. However it’s not £2. It looks pretty and the control scheme is not bad considering the problem is with the PSP design and not the game. For sure the gameplay is repetitive and the AI stinks, but the game has regular save points – so if you want a ‘stop-start’ FPS this is a good game to get if you can stomach being ripped off from a value for money perspective.

6/10

Echo, Echo, echo, e-c-h-o......

Echos

Echos is a great game. It’s designed for the PSP through and through. Imagine a maze like Pac Man, but far more organic, and also imagine you are a small circle/blob and you have to move and collect coloured crystals. As you collect them other blobs start moving around the maze in a random manner and you have to avoid them, whilst trying to get ‘x’ number of crystals. There is an arcade mode, time mode and other modes where the game adds neat little gimmicks (slowing down time, the ability to destroy other blobs etc). This is a great time waster and we think it’s one of the better Minis out there.

8/10

Aero Racer

Its a top down, Super Sprint version of Wipeout with a cool gameplay dynamic. You control a type of hovercraft and you fly by aiming your engine at an angle to the course wall. The craft, an anti grav concept, pushes away from the wall and hence accelerates. In effect this makes the game a drift racer!

If that sounds complicated, then we can confirm it’s very complicated to play in that it requires real concentration whilst racing! It is a good game, with good replay value, but its one you need to be prepared to spend time on, otherwise it’ll be a wasted purchase. It’s certainly not a pick up and play, ‘throw away’ game.

7/10

Beam Me Up

This is another great Mini, in that it plays well with the PSP controls, being what they are. You control a spaceship and you have to capture a number of different species of alien creature. On each level you have a quota of how many you need to ‘beam up’ and quite literally you need to move the ship above the aliens and ‘beam’ them into your ship. All of this has to be done whilst avoiding the oncoming missiles and bullets. Its great pick up and play action, well suited to the format (and hence the controls) and worth downloading.

7/10

Field Runners: A game that allows you to pause and pick up where you left off. Ideal for portable play - should be mandatory in all Minis. Strangely enough, it's not and there are other great tower defence games on the system lacking this crucial feature!

Field Runners

A superb tower defence game. This works perfectly on the PSP, and you can stop and save the game at any point. It’s perfect except that it’s much cheaper on the Ios Platform, which makes you feel like you’re being ripped off as a PSP user. The game itself has a good range of enemies and defence mechanisms, the graphics are clear and bright, and it is perfect ‘Mini’ fodder. An example, though, of how ‘off’ the Mini pricing regime has been from day one of the service’s launch.

7/10

Pure carnage - this is such a blast! No pun intended. I think.

Age of Zombies

We like this, in fact we like this a lot! A top down cartoon shooter where you shoot tons of zombies in 360 degree scrolling maps. The zombies are themed based upon the setting (you move throughout time), but the actual zombie ‘classes’ themselves are generally the same. The game has proper end of level bosses and some superb weapon upgrades. Once you have completed the game, you can replay the levels for high scores. Recently launched on Ios, this plays better on the PSP due to the physical analogue nub.

9/10

Blast Off

Take puzzle games and Asteroid and the result will be Blast Off. It’s so simple, yet at times so complicated. You control a tiny spaceship and you have to collect wee spacemen stuck in outer space. Often they are floating near planets and other objects, each with their own gravity ‘sphere of influence’. Hence the aim of the game is to pick up the astronauts without being pulled into a plant, black hole or moon. Very addictive, but with each level being a small concern in itself – hence, as with some of the other games here, a good ‘Mini’ gaming experience.

8/10

Freekscape looks very nice on the wee PSP screen. Not so much on an HD tv.

Freekscape:Escape from Hell

A great looking, inventive platform game where you play a demon escaping hell. The game is a pure platformer with a clever game mechanic, in that you use the enemies themselves to help you get from one platform to another. In some cases you have to goad creatures on to ram your butt with their horns to propel you over large gaps, for example.

The production values for this game are quite high and it feels like a quality, meaty production. The Mini platform, along with the PSP controls, seem ideal for platform games and this is confirmed when playing Freekscape. Certainly worth a download, if you want a mixture of platforming and puzzling combined.

8/10

Sony have a good base with the Minis, and we predict that with their soon to be released Sony Ericsson PS phone and the eventual release of the high powered PSP2 they will take the Mini platform further, making them work on both devices (leaving AAA titles to the PSP2 only). If they are to do this, they need to the following though:

• Change the pricing
• Perhaps offer bulk buy deals (something they literally just started doing as we wrote this)
• Off network support, at the very least online leaderboards, with the games supporting PSN IDs and trophies etc.

We don’t mind if there are less Minis than Ios apps, as in some ways it will mean the Minis are the best of the indie apps; but they need to release more per week, not just 2-4. If you have a PSP, still use it, indulge yourself in a few titles, it’s a cheap way of breathing life back into the machine at a relatively cheap price.

A double whammy of Red Dead news today, starting with the confirmation that the Undead Nightmare DLC will be available on Xbox Live and PSN later this month on October 26. The pack includes new single player and multiplayer content for Rocktar’s western corker.

“Undead Nightmare turns the world of Red Dead Redemption upside down,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “The supernatural vibe and the return of some favorite characters create a whole new game inside an already incredible world.”

This new adventure sees John Marston riding out against a plague of the undead that are terrorising the uninfected civilians fighting for survival. Apparently taking down zombies requires the use of ‘non-traditional weaponary’ including series newcomers the blunderbuss, tomahawk and explosive rifle. Undead Nightmare costs 800 MS Points or £7.99 on PSN.

The second snippet of news is the announcement of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare in a single disc that will include all previous DLC, as well as the new pack, much like the Episodes From Liberty City disc for GTA4. This pack costs £24.99 and will be available ‘everywhere very soon’.

My time spent with Crysis 2 seemed very brief. Playing it on the lovely open platform that the PC provides, the game build was, unfortunately, not that stable, with a frantic man running between the machines, correcting the crashes that happened consistently throughout the day. It was understandably a buggy pre-release version of a game due out next year, and on the plus side, it let me play the same section twice in a row. This would normally have been frustratingly tedious, only having a 20 minute slot with a crash taking out five of those, but Crysis has always been about multiple choices when it comes to killing stuff.

Finding myself in a collapsing stairwell, I immediately bounded off upwards looking for something to kill. It took a few minutes until I was out into a courtyard full of foes I wanted to slot. Never missing an opportunity to hop on a conveniently placed mounted gun, I took a few steps forward to a handy gun turret and started tearing through aliens and concrete alike. It made a mess of everything the bullets licked out at, but I decided it wasn’t personal enough.

Getting off the still smoking gun emplacement, I charged into the alien horde on full automatic, and decided to do a little hop over the rubble in front of me. Much to my surprise I leapt high up into the air, arms outstretched to grab the balcony in front. “Ah,” I thought, “super strength must be on.” Fumbling to remember which button from the original Crysis switched suit modes, my finger tapped the E on the keyboard and I found myself cloaked in the middle of the mayhem. The nanosuit abilities are no longer on or off with one engaged and another idle. Multiple abilities are available at the same time and mapped to different keys. Super.

Not your typical example of inner city gun crime

This streamlining of suit abilities has made everything a lot more accessible, and brutal attacks against enemies now feel more fluent. In the first game, jumping up to a high ledge and then cloaking involved a fiddly menu pop-up in the middle of such a tactical manoeuvre, but it can be done with no such fumbling in Crysis 2.

Another significant improvement is the alien presence as the bad guys. In the original game, the first half was a brilliant struggle against the North Korean army, with several memorable encounters that involved storming their compounds as a one man army. In the latter half of the game, the aliens started to show up and they just weren’t fun to fight. They had a horrible effect on the gameplay and really let an otherwise tremendous game down.

Crytek obviously took this widespread criticism to heart and has completely turned it around. The main enemy presence this time around is alien, but they’ve been redesigned to be much closer to interesting humanoid opponents. In my run through, I encountered none of the irritating, Matrix-like flying tentacle-head things that were such a burden to battle in the original. This time they were clever and genuinely fun to fight against.

The real surprise in my little play through came when a massive, walking alien tank burst through a wall, setting up a boss-like encounter. Not expecting it, I panicked and start firing wildly in its direction. This is when the game crashed and the Crysis 2 man ran to my side and started tapping buttons to see what had happened. Five minutes later, I was back in the game, and hurrying back to this big alien encounter.

After a crafty ciggy went wrong, dramatically pegging it seemed sensible

Knowing what to expect, I found a grenade launcher to try and take it on, although having watched subsequent playthroughs, it seems that I had missed the available rocket launcher. Undeterred, I started dancing between pillars in stealth mode, uncloaking to fire off a grenade or six, before leaping up high to re-cloak and resupply. Even though there was a massive stompy thing stacking the odds against my survival, the suit’s adaptive abilities made me feel powerful and like I had the upper hand, despite the obvious disadvantage of being less like a giant robot designed to kill.

Satisfied with this victory and approaching my twenty minute cut off point, I left the game on a high note. Crysis 2 is looking really good, but this could be due to the 3 GHz processor, 4 GB RAM and the GTX 470 that it was running on (although we were assured that you “only need a GTX 460 for home use”). The first Crysis on the PC was a monster to run specs wise, so hopefully Crytek have learned their lesson and toned it down a bit for the average user’s PC. On the flipside of it though, the game is also coming to Xbox 360 and PS3, opening up the series to a wider audience.

This broadening of platform is definitely a good thing, as Crysis 2 is shaping up to be a serious contender in the shooter market next year. The guns feel great, the suit feels powerful and the game looks brilliant.

Whips and kicking either tend to be a central theme in an Indiana Jones film or a kinky night in with a lady you have rented, but now they have made the transition into frantic first-person shooters with Bulletstorm. If you’ve ever wanted something that combined the high scoring trick mentality of a Tony Hawks game with the madcap action of Unreal tournament, this game might be for you.

I was removed from the game shortly after sitting down, as the console babysitter collared the guy who had just jumped off the stool, asking him if he wanted to view his score. The screen illuminated and displayed a score of around 2,500 points. Apparently this was average, but not something impressive. It needs to be punching the realms of the 4,000 mark to really leave an impression. Brilliant, I now had a benchmark to beat and target to attain. “I shall prove that I am better than the random stranger I will never meet again”, I chuffed to myself as I sat down to play.

After a quick flick over the controls I was dropped straight into the thick of it. The gamepad layout felt very familiar in my hands aside from the intriguing ‘leash’ command tied to the left shoulder button. Clicking on this sent a blue, whip like beam forward and dragged the targeted enemy right up close for a nice and personal kick in the face. This threw him straight into a man eating plant and the game informed me that I had done well. My first points acquired from a dastardly deed of violence, and certainly not my last.

Kicking and shooting: the essential elements for success in Bulletstorm

Trying to keep in mind that the game is about scoring points as much as blasting your way from A to B, I was very consciously attempting not to run and gun it like most other shooters encourage you to. This meant sliding into people, leashing them over towards me, kicking them in the head as they float upside down, and chasing them down with a stream of bullets.

When a character gets leashed or tackled in some way, their still very much alive body gracefully dangles in the air, as if caught in an isolated pocket of bullet time. This gives you a nice window to decide how sadistic you want to be, whether you want to fill them with hot smoking lead where they hover, or line up that perfect boot into the spiky, impalement friendly environment, a bit like how a footballer might aim for a sweet spot in the goal.

As well as delivering a good kick to a guy square in the goolies, many other things can receive the benefit of a good booting. For example, objects with the potential to explode can be utilised under foot and sent flying in the direction of a soon to be toasted baddie. Lining up the foot friendly projectiles could feel slightly fiddly at times, especially when trying to have it land squarely on the chin of a moving target. Shuffling inches left and right during a manic gun fight is not always the best route to self preservation.

The explosion was not received well by these folk

Ploughing through the man obstacles that stood in my way, I eventually stumbled upon a sub-boss character who did not respond with floaty terror to the leash attack. Instead, the leash connected with his armour and spun the foe round, leaving his naively exposed back open for an old fashioned bullet riddling.

Continuing the adventure from here led me through more murder point opportunities, sliding around under scenery and into what appeared to be a large open air garden centre. It was here that a massive boss character errupted from the ground, like a mole crossbred with a skyscraper, at which point the demo cut out. That run through was scored at 3,500 points, enough for me to feel smug towards the man whose face I could no longer remember, but not the golden 4,000 marks I was hoping for.

Bulletstorm definitely has something different to offer FPS fans and is shaping up to be a good game. My only real concern was how leash, kick and shoot was becoming a very familiar routine with little variation. I am sure that in the full game there will be many undesirable places for bad guys to end up kicked or leashed into, but if the developers are not careful, the repetition might set in an hour or so into play. With only one level to experience though, it is hard to know how drastically other environments will alter gameplay, but my guess is lots. The man eating plant traps were fun, but I’m sure there will be plenty of sheer drops and inexplicably placed spiked walls to propel screaming enemies toward in the full game when it is released next year on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

• Format: PSN (version reviewed), XBLA, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Atari
• Developer: Krome Studios
• Players: 1
• Site: www.bladekitten.com/game

Blade Kitten may sound like a series of commercially unviable multi-tools, but funnily enough it is the name of Krome Studios’ latest downloadable title and shares its universe with the webcomic of the same name. The game spawned from the comic series and is set as a prequel to the story, introducing the central pink-haired cat lady, Kit Ballard, a fierce bounty hunter with a passion for cheeky swordplay.

The graphical style of the game looks very similar to the visuals seen in Borderlands, only more japanimated. It looks really nice, with colourful worlds taken straight out of a comic book to provide the environment for this 3D, 2D side scrolling platformer (we refuse to use the term 2.5D because half a dimension doesn’t make any sense).

Questions punctuated with a gun to the head don't have many right answers

The game appears deceptively flat like any other side scrolling adventure. You are limited to moving left, right, up and down, with a button for jumping, sword slashing and interactions. As you start navigating through the first level, little help bubbles pop up informing you of Kit’s other useful abilities. Leap at a wall and the cat lady will dig in with her claws, opening up a myriad of new possibilities when traversing terrain. You can climb up the side and underneath things with the same ease as walking along the flat ground beneath, which really opens up the 2D environments for exploration.

Other skills include a ground busting slam, as well as the ability to plunge your sword floor-ward to create a handy bubble shield, and provide an anchor point to stop you getting blown off the mark in the few sections where there are big, blustering turbines as obstacles. This gives Kit a decent variety of moves in which to navigate the levels and solve puzzles.

Speaking of the puzzle elements, they are mainly of the simple variety with painful consequences for failure. You know the type, spiked pits, laser beams, waterfalls of toxic nastiness, that kind of thing. We’re not talking about the most perplexing brain twisters in the world; Professor Layton this certainly isn’t. Most of them are action orientated ‘find the switch beyond this fire pit’ or ‘get to the sweet spot with the on-screen prompt to send your flying sidekick thing to disable X’.

Murder seems disturbingly casual to little miss cat head

Combat is basic sword slashery, with one button for close range and another that sends the sword a few metres forward to chop up baddies at a far. Health and stamina are regained through an idle charge system, similar to that found in modern day shooters, which seems slightly odd for a platformer. At least it makes collectibles nice and simple, with the game’s currency, Hex, being the only thing to pickup aside from rare collectibles to keep trophy hunters happy. Hex is used to upgrade health and stamina, and you can also use it to buy new weapons and additional outfits.

Blade Kitten is an enjoyable platformer with some nice gameplay elements that make it slightly different. Regular checkpoints make it a forgiving game that won’t offer a huge challenge to seasoned gamers. Things can get frustrating at times when enemies attack you from another plane behind the one you occupy, which is within arms reach, but you cannot attack them back due to the cruel, twisted rules of the 2D world. We are sure that there is plenty of rich backstory to enjoy if you are a fan of Blade Kitten, so if you are, feel free to add another point onto this score in your mind.

7/10

The latest trailer for SEGA and Platinum Games’ battle armoured kill ‘em up, Vanquish, shows off a spot of nicely animated weapon shape shifting, as well some very Transformers-esque titling.

We get to see plenty of shooting and things getting hurt which seems to blur past at a rather frantic rate. You can pick the game up on Xbox 360 and PS3 later this month on October 22.

• Format: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
• Unleashed: Out now
• Publisher: 2K Games
• Developer: Gearbox Software
• Players: 1-4
• Site: http://www.borderlandsthegame.com

It seems impossible for any review of Borderlands DLC not to include the phrase, “If you liked Borderlands…” This is because fans seem only to want more loot, more missions and more guns. For the fourth time, developer Gearbox is delivering with its latest add-on, Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution, and while true fans will certainly be happy at more content, Revolution fails to deliver anything new to the franchise.

Revolution can be easily qualified as “more Borderlands”, which is hardly a bad thing. More than any effort prior, Borderlands successfully combined the loot-focused exploration and character customization of the RPG with the twitch-sensitive action of a modern shooter. It seems that anyone who undertook Borderlands ended up sinking 100+ hours into the title and continued itching for more of Pandora to explore. That is exactly what Revolution provides.

This can't be good.

Those who finished Borderlands will recall a strange cutscene featuring an “interplanetary ninja assassin” Claptrap, a cameo that was never explained. Now, the story is being told. This rogue Claptrap robot is fed up with the enslavement of Claptrap-kind and has raised an army of automated assailants to take over Pandora. Players will navigate a large addition to the planet, fight off Claptrap-inspired assailants, and eventually bring the entire Borderlands title around full-circle.

The core of the story missions are undertaken at the behest of the Hyperion Corporation, continuing Gearbox’s tradition of incorporating a single gun manufacturer into the DLC’s story. The Hyperion Corporation unleashed this Claptrap menace and now they are seeking help with containing it. There seems to be more voice work contained in the NPC dialogue, which is entertaining, and the window on another company’s machinations is kind of neat. Players will get a small peek into Hyperion and probably notice how similar in appearance it is to the Atlas Corporation from the General Knoxx DLC.

In fact, much of the content in Revolution is rehashed from Borderlands and its other DLC offerings. Most enemies are just bandits or soldiers that players will have seen before, tricked out with robotic attachments to provide that “Claptrap feel”. The chapter takes this tongue-in-cheek, pitting players against literal cardboard cutouts of many Borderlands favorites but this doesn’t excuse the obvious repurposing of existing assets, which cannot be ignored.

Tartarus Station is lovely this time of year...

What’s most disappointing however is the seeming lack of any new weaponry inside Revolution. Anyone who has played Borderlands for any length of time knows that the game trades on one major currency: guns. The inclusion of a new gun rarity in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx helped spur sales of that DLC, for certain. Unfortunately, Gearbox failed to learn from that success and instead has just populated Revolution with more average-grade firearms. Even after the DLC’s final mission, when players are treated to a trip inside Hyperion’s private gun locker, the findings are mostly a letdown.

The fact that Revolution exists at all should be appreciated by all Borderlands players. In a recent interview, Gearbox head Randy Pitchford admitted that the team never intended to create four DLC packs for Borderlands. But when fans asked for more, Gearbox could not refuse. So it’s entirely possible that Revolution may not be the last Borderlands DLC.

But all gratefulness aside, Revolution will stand as one of the least successful DLC packs for Borderlands, due to its lack of new items and unfortunate recycling of existing assets. Yes, it is more of what players want, but it is not more of what fans deserve.

6/10