Playstation 3

Beyond Good and Evil on PSN, BioWare Emails and PS3 Firmware 3.66

Not much in the way of big news so here’s three smaller things you might want to know about. Beyond Good and Evil
has been given the HD treatment and was released on Xbox Live for well
over a month now but only just today was it stated the game would
finally be making its way to PSN on June 28th.  Originally slated for
May it has been delayed for unknown reasons. Whether this was a business
exclusivity deal or technical issues, no one knows.  All that matters
is this cult smash hit will be playable by PlayStation-only people now
and this is a good thing.  I remember thoroughly enjoying BG&E
for its relatively unique mix of mechanics and interesting story and
cast of characters back in the PS2 days, and yes like all the other crazy
gamers I’m still waiting for those gosh darn Ubisoft people to stop
obsessing about Italians who like to poke things and give us more sweet
sweet Jade and Pey’j action in awesome modern form.

Dungeon Siege 3 PS3 Review

Dungeon
Siege 3 is the latest release in the Dungeon Siege franchise and it
marks the first time the series has ever made an appearance on
consoles. It follows the story of the 10th Legionnaires as
they seek to rebuild after the fallout of a civil war with the tyrant
Jeyne Kassynder. Unfortunately, the story is largely uninteresting
and dull. The game never does a good job of making you really want to
get revenge on Jeyne and for the most part, it feels like a series of
abstract events that reach a conclusion that very loosely gives you a
purpose to move forward. The specific story elements and reasons for
doing what you are doing are never explained very well and it all
feels rushed as area after area passes by with no real story
development of any kind – just constant reminders that you must stop
Jeyne Kassynder, a villain that is impossible to form an opinion on
as she is never encountered for almost of the entire game.

Free Motorstorm: Apocalypse DLC Released

Free DLC for Motorstorm: Apocalypse has just been recently announced on the Playstation Blog. Originally stated for release tomorow, it has been changed to today. 

The DLC will include a brand new day-and-night track called The Rock,  expansion of the games special events, all new weekly challenges, a re-tuning of vehicle performance that will apparently be most noticeable for the superbike, dritbike and supercar classes, aswell as improved game servers and connectivity to ensure a smoother online experience.

Dungeon Siege 3 PS3 Review

Dungeon Siege 3 is the latest release in the Dungeon Siege Franchise and it marks the first time the series has ever made an appearance on consoles. It follows the story of the 10^th Legionnaires as they seek to rebuild after the fallout of a civil war with the tyrant Jeyne Kessynder. Unfortunately, the story is largely uninteresting and dull. The game never does a good job of making you really want to get revenge on Jeyne. For the most part, it feels like a series of abstract events that reach a conclusion and very loosely gives you a purpose to move forward. The specific story elements and reasoning behind why you are doing what you are doing are not explained very well. It all feels rushed as area after area passes by with no real story development of any kind; just constant reminders that you must stop Jeyne Kessynder, a villain that is impossible to be opinionated on, as she is seldom encountered over the course of almost the entire game.

Metal Gear: Where Do We Go From Here?

The Metal Gear franchise is without doubt one of the most iconic and individual in the history of gaming. From it’s very first iteration on the MSX2, Metal Gear has contained a kind of atmosphere and tone that simply cannot be found anywhere else. Outlandish characters and incredibly intricate and ludicrous story lines are staples of a series that has done incredibly well, with it selling over 25 million copies worldwide. This makes it one of the most successful of all time, but the duration of development and its costs have increased dramatically, with MGS4 costing an estimated 70 million dollars and taking about 4 years to complete. Granted, MGS4 sold over 4 million copies, but it left the series at a crossroad.

MGS4 ties up pretty much all the story threads that were created throughout the Metal Gear Solid series. The very fact that it is most probably Solid Snakes’ last adventure, it garners the title a lot of attention. Kojima is now faced with a difficult task of replacing one of gaming’s most iconic figures and creating a story that is as off the wall and can command the same amount attention as MGS. While there are no real casualties at the end of MGS4, Solid Snake is obviously on the way out. Yes, Kojima could conjure up some horribly contrived reason to keep Snake around or even go back to an unseen adventure featuring Big Boss, but for the good of the series I think all of remaining cast at the end of MGS4 need to be left as they are and a new one to be ushered in. The only acceptable reason to have a game featuring Snake is probably in a remake of the two original MSX2 Metal Gear games. Not many people will have played either game, so there is potential to reinvigorate the stories of both games to keep them consistent with the Metal Gear cannon. It will give players a chance to experience the earliest incarnation of Solid Snake. It would only be suitable to bridge the gap between whatever the next innovation for the series will be.

Alice Madness Returns PS3 Review

Alice
Madness Returns is a delightfully imaginative journey back to American McGee’s
take on the weird and often creepy fantasy world of Wonderland. Although
technically
a sequel, I found myself easily understanding what was going on
fairly quickly despite having never played the original game.  A free
copy of which comes with new purchases of Madness Returns.

Killzone 3: “From the Ashes” DLC Preview

The
latest map pack for Killzone 3 has been unveiled and is
scheduled for release on June 21. This pack dubbed “From the Ashes”
will feature 2 brand new Guerrilla Warfare and 2 Warzone maps and
will cost only $4.99 at inception. The developers have stated that
the new DLC is provided to reinvigorate the KZ3 online experience
with maps that are both “fresh and familiar” to users. The new
pack is also being bundled with the previous DLC content “Retro”
pack and “Steel Rain” pack as well. The bundle will cost only
$9.99 and will allow new KZ3 players, along with those who may have
missed out, the chance to get up to speed with DLC at a reduced
price and will contribute to a total of 8 multiplayer maps available for
the game. More details regarding the newest maps will be released
soon, but Guerrilla Games has already showcased a couple of their
latest creations in a set of videos on the game’s official site.