Have you ever wanted to learn more about the gaming industry and the people who help it run? Then you are in luck, as PlayStation LifeStyle is starting up a brand new feature called Industry Spotlight, where we hand pick an elite member of the gaming industry and force them into answering some extremely tough questions. To be honest the questions aren’t that tough.

Our first victim, I mean guest speaker, is Ryan Phillips of NIS America fame. We recently sat down with this Prinny lover to see just what he does for NIS America and what it is like working in the gaming industry.

PSLS: What is your title and job description at NIS America?

Ryan: My current title here at NISA is PR/Marketing coordinator. For the PR side, a great deal of it entails maintaining contact with all our current media/press to make sure they all get review copies, press releases, new game shots/videos, etc. for the US & Europe. Another part of the position is to attend conventions ie. TGS, E3, GDC, Anime Expo, so traveling is part of my job too. The social element of the position is pretty fun, as you get to interact with a lot of people in the gaming/anime industry. Marketing-wise, we work to help expand our fan-base by designing magazine/online ads, publishing our company newsletter, and making promotional bonus items for our online store. Other things that I handle are the logistics of setting up Anime Expo in Los Angeles each year (including driving a gigantor 24’ truck), footage for our games, working with vendors for our online store bonus items, and anime convention contact.

How long have you been working in the game inudstry?

Next month will be 2 years in the industry. I started at NISA as a game tester mid-2010 and then moved on up into my current position in our marketing team soon afterwards. I previously worked in the finance world, but this industry is incredibly more interesting and happy on the whole. I’m here to stay!

What is an everyday shift as a PR Coordinator like?

To be honest, every day is a new adventure at NIS America. We publish a lot of titles and anime, so we constantly have a lot of projects going on at the same time – which means that the things I work on change constantly from day to day. However, each day I usually spend a small portion of the morning responding to press emails for both games and anime. Outside of that, I publish the company newsletter multiple times weekly, so usually I will work on the graphic text/coding and prepare it for publishing. On top of that, if we are announcing or having a title launch, I will work with Nao to make a press release to include in the newsletter and to send to press. Lately it’s been approaching Anime Expo, so I’ve been working with contractors to help build our booth. Next month is also E3, so we’ve been slowly making plans to meet up with various media on the floor to showcase our titles once the event begins. Lastly, one of the things I really like to do is to work with the marketing team to think of cool new bonus items for our online store – some of the funniest and most random ideas get thrown out there in the meetings!

What is the coolest event you have ever helped set up?

Last year we rented out a large movie theater in downtown San Francisco to announce a bunch of new titles (Bleach: Soul Resurrección, Atelier Totori, Disgaea 4) and we had Bleach playable on the bigscreen! It was really cool to rent out a whole theater, but being able to play games on the bigscreen was a pretty awesome experience. I’d have to say that event, or last year’s Anime Expo were definitely awesome events. It is a lot of planning and work, but once it happens, it’s amazing!

What is the best game you have ever helped promote?

I was pretty green to the Disgaea universe when I joined NIS America, however, after a few years I really do have a deep appreciation for not only the games, but for the fans that support the series. Disgaea has a huge following worldwide, so being able to help promote Disgaea 4’s release was a pretty intense/awesome experience.

I am sure you give out a lot of swag.  What is the coolest piece of it you have ever handed out?

Bar-none it’d have to be the Prinny panties for our PSP release of Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, dood. We had a fan-submitted contest where they submitted designs of what the panties should look like, and the winning design was printed onto a thong. The winning entries received it, along with some of our media. It’s definitely my favorite so far!

The Disgaea series has been a huge cult classic for NIS America, what character from the serious is your favorite?

Hmm, this is a tough one. If I had to go with just one, I’m going to have to the Prinnies. They really provide a lot of the punchlines for a lot of humor in the series, and I find myself rooting for them all the time. Working with the newsletter a lot, I’ve used Prinnies to really help add just the right touch or angle to complete the comic and or graphic. Plus, exploding penguins are just about the best things ever.

What games are you currently playing?

Lately I’ve been checking out early builds of our upcoming title Legasista (PS3) and also Mugen Souls (PS3). One of the perks of the job is to play the games way ahead of time ^^. Both will be out later this year so I’m definitely excited to begin promoting them in the upcoming months!

Who is the coolest person you have met so far working in the industry?

Everyone I’ve met so far in the gaming & anime industry have been absolutely awesome. One person that I did get a chance to meet through work and hang out with for a bit was Daisuke Amaya (Pixel) who created Doukutsu Monogatari (Cave Story). We published Cave Story 3D, so when we were in San Francisco for GDC in 2011 with Nicalis, we got to have lunch with him and had some time to chat. He’s an incredibly interesting and approachable person!

What advice would you give to someone looking to get their foot in the door?

I entered the industry via QA with game testing, so I’d have to say this is a definite way to get your foot in the door. It allowed me to get to know the people in the office/company, and gave me a lot of insight as to what happens behind the scenes with video games. I definitely encourage anyone who is interested in joining the industry to give testing a go, as for me it was a rewarding experience and gave me a deeper appreciation towards video games.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us

We have a bit of sad news to report today as NIS America have announced that Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland has been delayed, but only by a week. Originally set to release on May 22nd for the PlayStation 3, this RPG will now be releasing the following week on the 29th.

The delay according to NIS America is due to a delay in the manufacturing process. This small delay is for the U.S. market only, as the game will still be releasing on its original May 22nd date in Europe.

Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland follows the adventures of Princess Meruru as she becomes an apprentice to Totori Helmold, and sets out to use her new-found Alchemy skill to help expand the small town of Arls where she lives. The game features a ton of character cameo’s from previous Atelier games and a load of improvements, such as a development system.

Even though a delay sucks, thankfully it is a very short one. Keep checking back for our review of the game in the coming weeks and let us know in the comments if you plan to pick it up.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

Strategy RPG Rainbow Moon, in development by SideQuest Studios for the PlayStation 3, has received a new batch of 45 screenshots showcasing the final build on the game. Set to be released in June or July of this year, the game looks to bring about a fair bit of strategy and character development.

In these final screenshots, we get a great look at the colorful world of Rainbow Moon; a place where players find themselves lost. Now, they must seal a dimensional gate and return back home, which is where the journey for those who pick up the game begins.

Rainbow Moon looks to have a very kiddie approach to graphics, similar somewhat to Free Realms. Environments and people are very colorful, but so too are the special attacks in the game which look pretty crazy.

Rainbow Moon is currently set to release sometime this June or July for the PlayStation Network. Stay tuned for more information on the game as it releases.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us

If you were one of the many people who were getting excited over the possibility of a TimeSpliters 4, you might want to tap on the breaks and turn down the excitement, as Crytek UK, who used to be known as Free Radical, has responded to new rumors surfacing about the game being in development.

Speaking to CVG, a company spokesman has denied the claim that TimeSplitters 4 is in development, joking that they “spent all of the development budget on buying monkeys.” When pushed for a clear and serious answer, they simply stated that the game was not in development.

This is sure to be a buzzkill for all of us looking forward to the game and we can only hope that the game will at some point see a release. The series hasn’t seen the light of day since 2005, when TimeSplitters: Future Perfect released on the PS2, Xbox, and the Gamecube.

Do you think we will ever see a new TimeSplitters? Let us know in the comments.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The world of Naruto and his fellow ninjas is an expansive one, with over 800 episodes and chapters between the manga and anime. With its unique cast of characters and out of this world moves, the series has translated very well to video games. Enter developer CyberConnect2′s latest effort, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. While the game does carry over a lot of what has made the series great, especially the Ninja Storm part of the series, there are some big changes in store this time around.

The story of Naruto is that of growth, friendship, and war. Unlike past iterations of the Ninja Storm series, Generations takes out a single point of view for the story and instead goes the route of multiple short stories. There are over a half-dozen of these isolated stories that allow you to see the story of Naruto from multiple different points of view. All of these stories do in some way relate to Naruto and his friend/rival Sasuke as they clash at several points in their respective journeys. What the game loses here though is the adventure aspect of the previous games, as there is no world to explore or interact with.

Thankfully, Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is one of those fighters that not only boasts an impressive combat system but also a great story. In the game, the story is told through animated cut-scenes and story-board dialogue, with up to 65 minutes of unique content not found in the anime. Each story mentioned above has its own animated story, along with the story-board parts to bridge the gap to each fight. Generations does a great job of summarizing some of the major points and characters of a massive story in a way that is inviting for people new to Naruto along with those revisiting it.

Generations is a fighting game that looks complicated at first glance but is actually a lot easier to pick up than you think. In the game, two combatants duel in a good size arena where the entire space is open game to jump around like any good ninja would do, throwing daggers or pull off up-close combat moves. All combat in the game is done with the face buttons and there are really no complex combos to be found in the game. Players can build up Chakra during the battle or pick it up from fallen enemies, then use it to pull off special moves. The game boats an impressive roster of over 72 characters, so there are plenty of very unique and super fun special moves to pull off.

Added to the fighting this year is the addition of a substitution meter, limiting players times that they can substitute themselves out and escape a strike. The meter caps off at 4 and, once depleted, will take a little bit of time to refill. Also added is an awakening mode, that can be activated towards the end of the battle to try and give players a last-ditch effort to swing the tide. The changes, especially with the substitution meter, might not be for everyone as it will force players to really pay attention to that meter. Once it depletes, you will want to step back and put some distance between yourself and your enemy, which is where the depth of this fighter really takes shape.

What you have with Generations is a fighter that focuses a lot on learning the art of positional strategy over complex combinations to pull off certain moves. Fighting in the game moves at an extremely brisk pace and forces players to read and react the situation quickly. Knowing when to throw down a trap or pull back and play defensive is a must and being able to react to changes, such as a player rushing quickly to meet you as you back up. It is through all of this that the game provides you will a very deep and rewarding battle system that will hook you in from the first battle.

The depth and fun to the gameplay doesn’t stop with the story mode as the game boasts a very deep and rewarding online component. Ranked and custom matches are here, but so are four and eight player tournaments, endless assaults and Ninja Info Card Battles. On the card battles, players may assign themselves a card before matches, and their card will then face-off against their opponents before the real fight. The winner of this card battle will then be granted the bonus specified on the card before their battle. Yes, it’s a gimmick but it’s a good one that adds some pop into each online battle.

Throughout the multitude of story and online modes to be found in the game, you will find all sorts of unlockables to keep you busy. For those who have played past games in the series, most of these will ring a very distinctive bell. Along with having to work to unlock all 72 playable characters, players can use in-game currency that you win after matches to buy ninja tools, character images, movies, titles, and more. There is nothing major here to unlock, such as characters or levels, but for those completionists out there, you will find plenty to save up and buy. Plus, it is always fun to unlock new titles for you online character, such as The Sound Village’s Novelist, though that’s my title so don’t even go there.

Although the levels in the game are beautiful and allow you to move around them freely, they are actually fairly bland in the end. You never really interact with the environment and it would be nice to see some levels with a bit more depth, maybe some different layers to it. Also, many of the grand, epic battles of the earlier games and anime are somewhat absent in the game. Even the bigger battles that do occur don’t feel as epic as they have in past. It might have also been nice to see real team battles in the game instead of limiting your partners to strictly assist moves.

Developer CyberConnect2 should be commended for do such great justice to the world of Naruto yet again. The subtraction of exploration for a more fighter feel might annoy some, but it does not detract one bit from the story and the gameplay. A tight and energetic fighter becomes so much more through the beautiful cutscenes and fantastic story. Fans of the series will no doubt be picking this up, even if they are completely up-to-date with all things Naruto. However, newcomers to the series shouldn’t hesitate due to their lack of knowledge towards the franchise. Generations will bring you up to speed in a way that won’t make you feel in over your head with the immense world of Naruto. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is a fighter that does a bit of double dipping, giving players a satisfying fighter with a moving story of youth and the changes that they can bring.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score +Fluid and strategic combat are top notch +So much story recapped to perfection +/-Lack of story exploration but more online options

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

It’s been a few years since gamers last saw Raccoon City. The tables have turned, though, as instead of battling Umbrella, players will take to the battlefield as members of the infamous organization. With this new take on the series and changes behind the helm, this could have been a great change of pace for the series, yet sadly falls extremely short.

Things in Raccoon City are going smoothly until the Umbrella Corporation discovers that one of their own, Dr. William Birkin, is planning to sell the G-Virus to the United States government. You join up with a group of the Umbrella Secret Service and are tasked with going into Raccoon City and securing the virus. Of course, things go horribly wrong, one thing leads to another, and now the virus has made its way into the sewer system and infected the entire town. Now your mission dramatically changes, as you are tasked with hunting down any survivors and silencing them before the story is leaked and Umbrella is tied to the town’s issues.

The story in Operation Raccoon City takes place during the 2nd and 3rd games of the series, so you will see aspects of those games popping up during the story and cameo’s from some of the series staples such as Leon Kennedy. It is cool to come at the story from a new angle and influence things such as whether Leon lives or dies.

The game is a third-person squad based shooter from SOCOM: Confrontation developer Slant Six Games. Operation Raccoon City features a main campaign that can be played with a mixture of four online teammates or AI-controlled squadmates. You can select one of six character classes to play as, each with their own abilities. One character has the ability to throw up radar to spot enemies within a set radius while another allows you to heal your teammates. As you level up your character and gain XP, you can purchase new abilities, both passive and active to use in the game. XP can also be used to buy new weapons, ranging from assault rifles to shotguns, with a fair bit of selection.

Split up into chapters, Operation Raccoon City allows you to traverse the landscape of Raccoon City, moving between checkpoints and cutscenes, fighting anything along the way. The cool thing about the campaign is fighting not only the zombies you encounter along the way, but also U.S. soldiers who are also fighting off the zombies. As you move through the levels you will find some of the signature door opening moments that have become staples of the series. There really is nothing like opening a door and having a pack of zombies lunging right at you. Other staples of the series return, such as Green Herbs and anti-virus sprays that magically cure your blood-thirst. If you take too much damage though, you will turn and ravage your fellow teammates until you are put down.

The problem with the campaign is that if you are not playing with human players, it is extremely flawed. Inconsistent teammate AI (hello Shiva!) are found throughout the game. Try to heal your fellow mates only to have them run away; yet try to run through a doorway to escape and watch the same squad members stand still, blocking your path. In fact, for the most part, the AI teammates are best used as meat-shields to keep the major bad guys off your trail. The game also introduces a new cover system where simply running up to the cover forces your player behind it. It rarely works the way you want, as you often take cover when simply trying to run past something, or whatever you have run up to isn’t actually something you can duck behind. What’s even worse, almost 75% of the time, the game has a weird habit of not letting you aim down your cross-hairs unless you are at the exact right spot of the cover.

Another big issue is one we have come to know with the series and its the spotty controls. It is in fact a SOCOM game with zombies, which can be a real issue as your characters turn with the ability of a half-dead terminator, meaning if you get caught in a narrow corridor with a quick opponent, it’s going to get frustrating. One thing is better though, as you are actually able to move and shoot, which adds so much depth to the combat that has been missing for some time in the series. The game also sports rather weak Close Combat. Going in close on zombies is a little fun at first but really lacks impact as your attacks don’t seem to do enough.

Once you get done with the five to six-hour campaign, it might be time to dig into a few of the online modes the game offers. Heroes mode sets you as either one of the games heroes or a member of the U.S.S. As the hero you must survive attacks from fellow players and zombies. Once you die, you spawn as a member of the U.S.S and try to hunt down the next player who assumes the role of hero. Survivor has two teams of four fighting off each other and monsters to try and secure a ride on the lone helicopter in town.

Team battle has two teams of four facing off against each other and zombies, with each kill your team makes adding to your meter. First to fill up the meter is the winner. Last is a mode where two teams of four try to collect vials of the virus and bring it back to base. These vials appear randomly and both teams must fight each other and zombies to secure them.

All of these modes are actually a good deal of fun off the bat but are far too similar as they all are basically two teams facing off against each other and zombies, with some of the conditions having minor changes. Things grow a bit stale as you progress and its very difficult to find other people online to play with. The majority of the people I found online were playing the radiation mode, with the rest being very difficult to find enough people in. What keeps these modes interesting are the inclusion of zombies, as no matter where you go in the multiplayer, you will be getting attacked by something. It creates a beautiful explosion of chaos throughout the maps, which are pulled from the campaign and there are not near enough of them, which adds to the whole getting stale thing.

Graphically and presentation wise, the game is a mixed bag. The animations in the game are severely lacking and there are not enough character models, as you see the same four zombies far too often, making it feel as though this is a town full of twins. The environments are also rather bland and the level design could use a little bit of work, but Raccoon City still feels very much alive… or dead I guess I should say. On the audio front, you get a few characters who sound very believable and some that are down right scary with how bad their lines are, such as the Russian character Spectre, who has some serious issues making a sentence.

After you have cleared the town of zombies, you will find Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City to be a game that leaves so much potential on the table. The chance to see the city from a new perspective is ruined by terrible AI, a wonky cover-system, a distinct lack of memorable moments, and a very short story. In fact, if not for the online experience adding some much-needed spike to the punch, this would be a completely stale and dull game. It is a great idea and should be commended for trying something new with the series. However, after a quick detour into Raccoon City for a weekend, it will be time to move on to something better.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score - And you thought AI-Shiva was bad? Wait until you meet your new team. +/- Interesting online but modes are far too similar, maps are too few. - New view of Raccoon City is marred by a rather ugly environment.

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us

For gamers outside of Japan, it has been almost seven years since Namco Bandai last gave us a Tales game on a PlayStation console.. That has now changed with the release of Tales of Graces F, a port of a Wii game released back in 2009. Things haven’t changed much over the years in the Tales series, and that turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. Will a blast from the past be just what the doctor ordered? Or is this series in desperate need of a make-over?

Tales of Graces F places gamers in the shoes of young Asbel Lhant, the son of the King and heir to the Lhant Kingdom. As with most any young kid in power, Asbel shows almost no desire to run the show one day, and is constantly getting into all sorts of trouble. Through these adventures — with his shy and well-mannered brother Hubert — you stumble onto a girl named Sophie who has lost her memories. From here, a whirlwind of twists and turns begin, sending the story and its characters into opposite directions. If all that wasn’t enough, tack on seven years to the story and you will get to see how events early in the game have changed the characters and world itself. Just as you would expect from the Tales game, the story is a focal point and is expertly told through the characters and their bonds.

The problem you will find with the story and its characters, is that it feels like we have seen this group before in earlier Tales games. Taking a look at Asbel, its hard not to immediately think of Luke from Tales of the Abyss. No matter though, as the development team does a great job of making you care for the characters in new ways and to take notice in the bonds of friendship. The narrative never gets too crazy, playing it fairly safe for a Japanese RPG, but it does take some time to get going and the extremely slow dialogue does the game no favors in getting revved up. No joke – half the characters talk as if they are on downers early in the story.

Moving on past the story and characters, one of the real shining points of the game is its fast-paced, action-oriented combat system. For anyone who has picked up a Tales game in past or even Star Ocean, will feel right at home. Battles take place in a circular arena, where you combine Assault and Burst Artes to take down your enemies. Each attack consumes a set amount of Chain Capacity points, meaning the more you have, the more attacks you can chain together. Guard or stand still to regain these points, but make sure you are always high on them because with your gauge full, you are more apt to land critical strikes or special attacks.

The real name of the game in Graces F is your ability to feel out your opponent and take the initiative. Watch their movements closely and choose the correct time to guard or dog, then counter-attack to land big combos. The dodging system is a piece of cake to learn and works extremely well, with quick dashes from side-to-side and back steps. Battles are triggered when you approach an enemy on the field and they start out pretty easy until around level 15-20, where things seem to ramp up a bit. Thankfully, the game sports tons of save points and an auto-battle option for when you get stuck somewhere and want to be a backseat driver for a bit.

Like most RPGs, the game features a system to learn and level up skills, though, in Graces F it is not done through typical leveling up, but through the changing of your characters title. Each title you unlock consists of five skills that you can learn and master, with the SP you earn in battle going towards the next skill on your equipped title. The whole title system can become a bit too much, as you are given far too many titles to keep up with. However, once you learn a skill and equip a new title, you will still posses the skill you learned from that previous title. There is a lot to work here within this system, and while it can become a bit much, it is never to the point of being overwhelming or cumbersome.

The combat system is a lot of fun, but can really become a bit repetitive. You go from town to town, fighting enemies along the way. Then you visit a dungeon, defeat a boss, then repeat. Often times, the game has you revisiting locations multiple times, creating some rather boring trekking over familiar landscape. It also hurts to retrace your footsteps only to be given an extremely minor plot point, then having to track back to the place you started. Dungeons are also nothing to write home about, as they lack a lot of depth to them, with far too many simple puzzles and not very much exploration. However, we have seen far worse in this generation of JRPGs.

To try and break up some of the monotony, the game does include a crafting system called Dualizing. Throughout your travels you will stumble upon ingredients, materials, and shards that you can combine to create new items, weapons, and armor. You can also take the collected shards and combine them with your armor and weapons to enhance them. The system can become addicting as you combine different materials to try and make something new to use. The game also sports a system called the mixer, where you can place an item you wish to replicate inside of it and as you travel, there is a chance that the item will be created again and stored in your inventory. It’s a nice way to earn new useful items while you travel from town to town without breaking the bank too much, though you do have to pay to refill the mixer.

From a production value standpoint, it is fairly obvious at times that this game is, in fact, three years old. The environments aren’t terrible but are not really over memorable. The port is crisp, with some nice cell-shading, but never overly impresses. Although, the menus looks very clean and pretty, as do the character models during cutscenes. Audio wise, the game is started out with an amazing opening track, only to be cursed by terrible voice acting to begin the game, though it does get better as your characters grow up. The rest of the tracks after the opening score are good, but do very little to keep the momentum created in the beginning; which is something happening a lot with recent RPG releases.

When the story ends in Tales of Graces F, what you have is a well-made JRPG that never strays too far from its series roots. It would have been nice to see the team try a few new things to spice it up, especially with the character design. The extremely sluggish start to the story and its dialogue are easily overshadowed a few hours in as the story and its characters mature. Sure the series hasn’t changed much since we last saw it rock a Sony platform, but who cares. With a combat system that you can’t get enough of and plenty of depth, this is an RPG you can easily sink 30+ hours into without thinking twice.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score +Sticks to its well-established roots and why not? It works +Combat shines brightly from start to finish -Wake me up 3 hours into the ride

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us

It’s been close to four years since EA Sports last released an entry to the FIFA Street series – a more stylistic, small-minded approach to Soccer which resembles indoor Soccer.  Now, with the series being rebooted, EA Sports has thrown all the cards in, with the EA Sports FIFA development team working on the series for the very first time.  With a new team behind the helm and a less arcadey feel to the game, is this a successful one-on-one deke, or is it back to the bench feeling embarrassed?

One of the first things you needed to realize about the street games, especially if you are coming over from the traditional FIFA franchise, is that while this is a team game, it is also very much a one-on-one skills competition. Whether its pulling out ankle-breaking moves or over-the-top juggling combinations, this game is all about that feeling of making the opposing player seem utterly helpless.

In order to carry out this feat, the team has added a whole new level of ball control that allows you to stand still and move the ball around like it was on a rope, picking out just the right moment when the defender lunges in to put it through his legs or flick it over his head. Iif only the list of game modes available to the player matched the amount of knee-buckling moves that you can perform. The movements of the players are incredibly fluid and pulling off each move feels right and gives you a huge rush of excitement. Even the passing is a stylish display of skill, with every little saucer pass looking great.

Hit the Streets is a basic exhibition mode where you have four preset options or the ability to customize your game and then get on the field and play, picking teams from all over the world and from all different leagues. The amount of teams to choose from is actually very impressive and should give everyone a great choice of selection. There is also an online option that sees a huge boost from the FIFA development team, giving you a plethora of options to choose from. You can either take to team play and join up with fellow footballers around the world or you can play in 10 game seasons, where you earn points to try and move up through the 15 divisions. If any of those don’t interest you, gamers can also take their created team online and take part in tournaments. The online adds a lot to the game and players extremely smooth, with lag only popping up when an American like myself takes on someone from Europe.

The bulk of FIFA Street will be spent in a mode called World Tour, where players will have the ability to create a custom team from scratch. Pick out your logo, jerseys, team colors, country, and nickname before creating custom players or recruiting from teams you have played. After creating, you will take your team on tour to play a variety of tournaments and events held all over the world. There are six different match types that you will play and each time the rules might be slightly different. One time, you might be playing a Last Man Standing match where after a goal scored, you lose a player, then the next match it might be a 5v5 match where every time you make someone look foolish, you gain points – with the winner being the first to 2500. All of these world tour matches give you the option of four different difficulty settings, and the prize your team will win various on what difficulty you choose. Say you select the hard setting and win, then you will unlock every prize from the hard down to easy. The 4th difficulty is to actually play the event online against a real opponent.

Throughout every game, you will earn style points for the moves your perform and the goals you score. At the end of the game, each player on your team will have their points totaled up in an effort to level up. As you gain levels, you will unlock points that you can add to the players on your team. These points can be put towards speed, offense, defense, dribbling, and more. They can also be spent of goal celebrations and new moves to try out on those dim-witted defenseman that dare to try and stop you. The points spent really make a difference, as you can notice things like a higher defense helping you win more tackles or increased shooting helping you pick the corners. Also customizable, are things with your player such as shoes, shorts, shirts, and some accessories like glasses.

As you move throughout the World Tour, you will unlock new teams and venues, with each of the two feeling fresh, with new faces and a lot of color to each new area. You will find yourself playing on basketball and tennis courts, or outside on street courts. Each of these feeling very colorful and alive. Some modes and arena’s will also drop the walls, taking away the wall pass but giving you kick in’s and corner kicks. It is a truly rewarding experience overall, taking your rag-tag team of nobodies and building them into a kickball powerhouse.

One of the big knocks on the mode, and really the game in general, is a clear lack of a tutorial. With a game based so much around skill and flashy maneuvers, players are left with a practice arena to try it out the moves on their own. While none of the moves are extremely difficult to learn, and as you unlock new ones they are usually easy to pick up, it still would have been nice to have a good tutorial to start out with. Another problem with the game is the lack of attention paid to the goalkeeper. When their only job in the game is to make a save and they have issue even doing that, it can be a bit of a problem. Goalies in the game for the most part are extremely slow to move and react to the play. You can call out the keeper to attack the defender, though, this has a huge chance to backfire most of the time, as he makes the save, but the ball bounces past him and is an easy tap in.

Once you get past these two minor missteps, you have plenty to like about the game and its bevy of modes. There really is something for everyone here, from your basic 6v6, to a fun mode where pulling off successful dekes earns you money in your bank. Build up the money and then put the ball in the net to cash in for a multi-point score. Each of the different modes offer something different and do so with two players sometimes or four, even five. The real way to the game though is with friends either online or locally, as it is a much more chaotic and beautiful experience with human players who actually move, compared to your AI teammates who sit by and watch you do it all.

Graphically the game is not a powerhouse but does very good to keep pace with recent entries into the main FIFA series. Player models are very well done with plenty of attention to detail in the faces and the way each player moves. On the pitch everything is extremely crisp, with each stadium and environment looking the part. On the audio side, each game is filled with cries from teammates and your opponent, screaming for a pass or telling you good job for a successful move. The voices really add to the overall experience.

The reboot of the FIFA Street series is a successful step in the right direction, as the team has ditched the wall-climbing arcade antics in favor of a fluid experience of fancy footwork and jaw-dropping displays of skill. The World Tour mode gives you a lot of satisfaction in building up your team, but can become a bore at times due to some lackluster AI. Thankfully, most of the events can be played online, as playing with real people makes this a game of street Soccer that you will not want to pass up. Lace up your favorite kicks and grab your friends, it’s time to take someone to school.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score +Through the legs and score; ball-manipulation is sick +Game works great locally or online with friends -Teammate AI and slow-footed keepers are a pain

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

This week sees the third release for Commander Shepard, along with a killer double player combination, and a crossover that won’t be holding any punches. Read on below to find out exactly how to use your wallet this week.

PS3

• Major League Baseball 2k12
• Mass Effect 3
• MLB 12: The Show
• Street Fighter X Tekken

PSV

• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• MLB 12: The Show
• Unit 13

Of course, the big title that most people will be talking about is Mass Effect 3, and rightfully so. The game should feature another compelling chapter for Commander Shepard along with some brand new multiplayer options. MLB 12: The Show has proved itself in past to be one of the best sports games around, and this year it ups the ante with cross-platform saves between the Vita and PS3, allowing you to take your Pro anywhere. For those with a Vita and a shooting fix, you might want to keep their eye on the Zipper Interactive developed Unit 13, which had a very impressive demo.

Check back here every week to keep up to date with all the releases coming in the week. Also, make sure to check out our Release Dates section for a look at everything releasing now and down the line.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

With the Vita having just released and money being a bit tight, we’ve teamed up with the great people at Ubisoft for a killer giveaway of each one of Ubisoft’s Vita launch games – that’s five fully fledged games.

We are running a separate giveaway in four different places, giving people of all social medias a chance to win the bundle, which is comprised of Rayman Origins, Asphalt Injection, The Michael Jackson Experience HD, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance, and Lumines Electronic Symphony.

First up is Facebook, where winners can visit our Facebook Page and leave a comment on our wall telling us how much you want to win. Be sure to also like the page to enter.

Secondly is Twitter. You must retweet the following tweet and of course be following @PSLifestyle and @Ubisoft:

RT and follow @PSLifeStyle and @Ubisoft to win a bunch of PS Vita Games! http://bit.ly/wZKHwz #PSVita

The third way is to enter our podcast competition – go here to see the details.

Finally, the last chance to win is to simply leave a comment below telling us how much you want to win these games.

All of the contests will run until Thursday the 8th at 5 EST, except for the podcast giveaway, which will end the day before.  All the codes are for the US PSN, but everyone is more than welcome to the this a shot, so hurry up and hit up the the giveaways and good luck everyone.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 93 comments | Add to del.icio.us

The announcement of Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2, a sequel to the extremely underwhelming original, brought about a lot of mixed emotions in RPG lovers everywhere. On one hand many, including myself, were less than enthusiastic about the sequel after being disappointed with the first. However, on the other hand, there is nowhere to go but up. Right? Thankfully I can say with confidence that MK2 takes some huge strides forward and improves on a lot of what people gripped about on the original.

Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 takes place in the land of Gamesindustri, a world-sized parody on the Japanese gaming industry and the console wars. Players take control of Nepgear, Neptune’s little sister, as she and many of her friends from the original game try to free the world from the grasp of ASIC, who are attempting to take over Gamesindustri. The game starts off with Neptune and the other CPUs from the original game being captured and now three years later, Nepgear and friends must try to fix everything.

The great thing about the game is the huge collaboration between big RPG developers and characters in the game are representative of the companies. IF and Compa, who start out with your party, represent developers Idea Factory and Compile Heart. Add in the character Gust, based off the company of the same name and Nisa, who represents NIS America, the publishers of the game. The towns that you visit in the game are also based on things from the game industry, like Lastation (PlayStation) and Leanbox (Xbox). These lands and their CPU counterparts are made up to fit the console and company they represent.

The biggest issue people had with the original was the gameplay, which took a simple thing like healing and made it ridiculously frustrating and, to put it nicely, stupid. Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 does away with the horrible percentages and really streamline gameplay. The game does a great job of giving players the same customization options from the first but makes the combat a lot easier to dive into an enjoy.

The combat system is turn-based and is a strong point to the game. Each turn, players will be able to move a character a set distance based on their MOV stat. Once you get close enough to an enemy, a number of attack options come available on the face buttons. Each button has a different attack mapped to it, and through different varying combinations of buttons, you can pull off more powerful combo attacks. The different attacks come in the form of quick dash attacks, powerful attacks, and your basic strike. Each attack cost a set number of AP or Attack Points, so players will want to pay attention to this as they pick and choose which attack to perform. As you continue to damage an enemy in battle, his guard points will diminish and when at zero, attacks will do more damage.

In the battle you will also be responsible for SP or Special Points. This gauge of points will increase during battle when dealing or taking damage and at the end of your characters turn. These points are used to cast skills such as healing your teammates, curing status effects, and some powerful attack techniques. The abilities in here that do damage can take a lot of SP to use but are extremely helpful in boss battles.The great part here is that each characters’ special skills are different from the rest, giving each character a very unique feel and use on the battlefield.

Your party starts out as three members but quickly grows past that to get up to eight. Once you get to a point where you have more than four characters in your party, you can partner two people together, setting one in a support role. This person in the support role is not able to fight in battle, but they do provide passive abilities to their partnered character. These abilities are unique per character and range from increased damage to + magic defense. This big party and the ability to set up support characters is very nice, especially considering that the game has 13 playable characters.

The combat works very well and is very easy to pick up, but it is also just plain easy. Nothing here will take you that many attempts to clear, instead pushing you quickly to the story which can be good and bad. The positives here are that the overly lengthy dungeons are gone, replaced by quick hitting dungeons that briskly move you through the game. This allows players to pick up the game and complete a few quests in a short amount of time, allowing for quick gaming sessions. Enemies appear on-screen and give players the option to run past them or try to get in a preemptive strike and take to the offense first. If an enemy is too weak though, the preemptive strike will destroy them off the bat, taking out a lot of unneeded combat. The dungeons you will find yourself in do a better job than the first of providing some variety but there are still a few repetitions of palettes.

The big problem to be found is that the combat is built to push players towards the story with extreme force, but the story just isn’t good at all. A lot of the humor that made the first game shine has been forgotten, leaving players with a story that does not do much to get you interested and characters that somehow didn’t improve from the previous game. In fact, the best thing about the story is the fact that you can press a single button to quickly progress through loads of completely useless dialogue and get back to the combat and everything else that this game has to offer. For players like myself, who have played the original, the story somehow takes a step back.

Thankfully, there are other things to do outside of the story and combat which add some nice depth to the game. Players have a ton of cool customization options on players, especially when it comes to outfits and weapons, although a few too many of the weapons are recycled from the previous game. Players will be able to gather ingredients and plans throughout the dungeons to synthesize new items and weapons, as well as take quests from the town to complete at your own leisure. Also, by completing quests, players can change the shares of the world, increasing support for one faction while decreasing it for another. The results of changing the shares has a direct result on the ending you will have in the game, along with how many CPUs will come to fight alongside you. Each quest is also repeatable, so if you so wish, you can replay the quest as many times as you want to increase or decrease certain shares. Also added is a mock of Twitter called Chirper. Each town has its own network and here you can go to interact with different citizens of each town, along with your party members. You can also view events here, which can have a direct result in your relationship with your fellow party members. Affecting this for the positive can open up new combo possibilities and support abilities with a given party member.

As has become the norm with almost every Japanese RPG that makes it way over, the presentation is a bit of a mixed bag. The visuals are a slight step up over the previous game, but still fail to really capture what the PlayStation 3 is really capable of. It is disappointing to see the very meager step forward this game has taken in this aspect, especially compared to some of the other games released in the past year, such as Ar Tonelico and the Atelier series. Enemy models are extremely well done and unique, with a ton of really cool looking baddies to fight. The dungeons also look good but not overly great, with some fairly rugged textures to be found.

On the audio side of things, well it could be better. The voice work receives a passing grade, but only barely, as too many characters are just downright annoying, no matter the language. This becomes a really big issue during battles, as the same annoying voice says the same annoying battle cry 3 or 4 times per battle. Not all the characters are bad and there are a few real standouts, but they seem to be overshadowed by the bad. The main theme song of the game is great and the rest of the game’s music score is good but not overly great.

At the end, Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 makes some great improvements over the first and is by far the better game, but not as much better as we would hope. The gameplay takes a huge step forward to provide the fun, albeit easy, combat that the first game lacked. However, the story takes a huge step back, making even the game of golf seem interesting, which becomes even more frustrating with the quick and small dungeons that push you quickly back to the story. The game is a bit short for its genre, clocking in right around 20 hours, but even with the shortcomings of the story, the easy but fun combat, along with item and party customization options, should be enough to keep you interested for the 20 hour trek.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + Combat is fluid and fast paced fun - Blah blah blah, the story is just boring +/- Graphics take a step up, audio drags it right back down

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

FIFA 12 on the consoles has become the top-selling sports game of all time, so EA Sports had big spikes to fill in bringing it to a handheld. Filling those shoes comes with added difficulty when considering that this handheld version of the game is a year old, running off the engine and build of FIFA 11. Even so, this is a great experience for those ready for a bit of footy on the go.

It is hard to look at this game running on the Vita and not be completely impressed with its visual flair. All of the console’s quality aesthetics carry over, perfectly preserving the EA Sports feel that we’ve come to love. The amount of detail both on and off the pitch is to the level you’d expect from a retail release. The game imports the easy-to-learn button layout from the consoles, making this an easy transition for those who have picked up a copy on a big boy console.

However, with all that said about a smooth transition, for those who were starting to get used to the nuances of the new FIFA 12 engine, this will feel like a bit of a step back. Players will not be able to stop their dribble on a dime with precision dribbling, as this is not found in the Vita version. This all might bug some of you out there looking for something with the latest and greatest, but this is a small sacrifice for a port this smooth. In fact, if any of you out there didn’t like the changes that EA Sports made with 12, you might find a lot of satisfaction in this game.

As far as the modes go, a few staples make an appearance in the game, such as Be A Pro, Practice Arena, and the Manager Mode. Career Mode is also there but takes a few steps back as it lacks the scouting department feature, making it hard to bolster your youth squads. More noticeable absences include Ultimate Team and EA Sports Football Club. Online play is rather meager, with only a basic two-player, head-to-head match available. This works fine, but as the only multiplayer option, might leave some wanting more. It’s somewhat expected for the game to skimp some features from the main games, so keep some of your expectations to a minimum.

As expected with a Vita release, there are some features and controls specific to the handheld. Having touchscreen controls is a good idea in theory, but in practice, they feel very hit or miss…mostly leaning towards the miss part. Players will be able to pass the ball, throw it in, or take free kicks all by a tapping the point on the screen where you want the ball to go. This is a really cool idea for throw-ins or free kicks when everyone is standing still, but trying to pull off this high risk maneuver in the middle of a game is suicide and doesn’t feel very natural mid-run to try to touch the screen.

The rear touch pad provides players with a different way to shoot the ball on goal, but like the front touch controls, it only works the way you want it to about half of the time. In some situations during Be A Pro or the Practice Arena, this is easy and fun to use, as you simply touch the back pad on the place you want to shoot, and your player will do so. Problem here is that the back touch controls are far too sensitive and you will find yourself accidentally shooting from midfield as you tried to comfortably relax your fingers on the back on the Vita. Thankfully, these features can be turned off from the options menu inside the game, so you don’t have to worry about it you don’t want to.

All in all, FIFA Soccer is a solid example of what sports games can do on the Vita. It would have been nice to see the team at EA Sports put a bit more time into refining the engine and bringing over a larger bulk of the game modes. It would have also been nice to see the touch screen controls used a bit better, and the back touch pad’s sensitivity turned down. Nonetheless, with the crisp controls and great visuals, this is a great buy for someone looking for a bit of kick ball on their train ride to work.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score +Great presentation and crisp controls -A few modes have gone missing on the trip -Motion controls add very little and often get in the way

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | No comments | Add to del.icio.us

Developed by Entersphere and published by RPG giant Square Enix, Army Corps of Hell brings players back to the days of Pikmin and the Gamecube, as you take your talents of command into the depths of the underworld. As enjoyable as a trip to hell might sound, is the game a trip worth taking? Read on to find out.

In Army Corps of Hell, you take control of the King of Hell, who has fallen from grace, been stripped of his power and is now a mere skeleton corpse. Said corpse is not without his power of persuasion as you will find plenty of simple-minded goblins who will fight any battle you send them to. Through your victories and corpse looting, your power as king and your army will start to gradually increase.  The game plays very close to 2008′s Overlord, except that your minions have less functions but you can control far more of them. Perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that in Army Corps of Hell your ‘overlord’ is not able to attack at all, and can only direct his followers. However, they share some close similarities with spawn points through the levels and the use of red orbs to restock your minion pool during the level.

Gameplay here in hell is rather simple but effective, as you hover around each level, sending your goblins after every demon that you face. Commanding your troops to do your bidding is done with the simple press of a button while facing your intended target. Your first goblin of choice is the soldier, who jumps on its prey, jabbing it with his sword. On the bigger enemies, a counter will appear above then and once you reach a certain number, you will be able to pull off a special attack with your soldiers.

As you progress in the game you will unlock Spearmen and Magi goblins to give you more options in battle. Spearmen will attack in a straight line, taking a jab at your opponent and then running back into formation. Magi’s can charge up their attack and hit enemies from long range. Through time you will be able to increase the number of units you can control at a given time, picking how many of each of the three you want to have. It’s unfortunate that you don’t have more options but the game does a great job of creating situations where you must think hard about which one to use.

There is a bit of customization in the game as you are able to upgrade your forces by looting your enemies and then using Alchemy to mix the ingredients and turn it into a new piece of armor or weapon. Each type of goblin can have their weapon and armor upgraded. You can also use alchemy to make items to use in battle, such as healing items and ones to increase your goblins attack power. Looting becomes a necessity in the game to upgrade your armies and while it is cool at first seeing your minions eat away at corpses, it quickly becomes annoying. At times you will try to attack an enemy but since a corpse is in your way, your minions will first go after that, causing a delay in your attack.

On the presentation side of things, there are some things to like about the game and a few things that could have seen a big improvement. From the very first menu of the game through all the fighting, players will be serenaded with heavy death metal, fitting of a game that takes place in hell. It is actually kind of refreshing to play a game with such a heavy soundtrack. The visuals are not the best that the Vita has to offer, but do a good job of selling the whole underworld to the player.

The biggest thing holding back this Army is the extreme repetitiveness of really everything in the game. Full of about three colors, the game never does anything to differentiate each level from the next. Each level breaks down into a bunch of small square islands that connect to each other by bridges that only appear after beating up every enemy on your block. Add in that battles start out fun and engaging but quickly run out of steam, as the strategy starts to wane. Soldiers for up-close, spearmen for distance, and magi for the rest. Fight, then repeat. Very rarely you will need to use an item which involves tapping or strumming the back touch screen, but for the most part you are mashing the R button to attack. The only break from this is the boss battles, which are fairly challenging as you progress, though it is disappointing to see bosses recycled through the levels.

Ad-hoc multiplayer is included with the game, allowing for up to four players to either work alongside each other or competitively, taking on the enemies as a group or stealing each others troops during battle. The online works well and does a good job of trying to break up the monotonousness nature of the game.

Army Corps of Hell is a game that starts you out with a bang from the very first menu, but starts to fade down the stretch. The bland environments, serious lack of depth in the enemy department, and the repetitive nature of the combat don’t do it any favors either. Online adds a slight change of pace but not enough to really make much of a difference and at $40, the price is a bit steep. However, even with all these negatives, the game presents some fast paced action and enough blood to make you sure of the fact you have stepped through the gates of hell.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score +Fast paced action laced with death metal +/-Engaging combat that wanes a bit with age -Hell is far too repetitive for its own good

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

We take a look at the upcoming game releases for this week across all Sony platforms with our weekly feature “On the Horizon”. In this week’s edition we join up with a Syndicate, get extremely angry, and go on a bit of a handheld binge. So sit back and take notice of the games to look forward to this week.

PS3

• Asura’s Wrath
• Syndicate

PSV

• Touch My Katamari Read review here>>
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus Read review here>>
• Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen Read review here>>
• Dynasty Warriors Next
• Army Corps of Hell
• Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack Read review here>>
• Hustle Kings
• StarDrone Extreme

Hardware

• PS Vita 3G/WiFi System
• PS Vita WiFi Only System

This should be an extremely good launch week for the PlayStation Vita, with a lot of variety in the lineup and some really good games, coupled with the releases from last week. PS3 owners also get a bit of love with Syndicate and Asura’s Wrath hitting store shelves. For those of you picking up a PlayStation Vita this week, what do you plan to grab from this long list of games and why?

Check back here every week to keep up to date with all the releases coming in the week. Also, make sure to check out our Release Dates section for a look at everything releasing now and down the line.

© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Years before developer Naughty Dog started treasuring hunting with Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series, they brought gamers a funny tale of two friends, Jak and Daxter, and their adventures through four main games on the PS2 and two spinoffs. Now, Sony has enlisted developer Mass Media Inc. to give us an HD collection that consists of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3. The games were incredible when they first released, but can they stand the test of time?

The first title in the collection is Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Released back in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, The Precursor Legacy introduced gamers to Jak and his best friend Daxter, who we find out are no stranger to breaking the rules. As the two sneak off to Misty Island, they get into all kinds of trouble and Daxter is transformed by Dark Eco into a hybrid of an otter and weasel. The two are now on a mission to find the Sage of Dark Eco who can change Daxter back into his old body. The game takes place in the village of Sandover and it’s outlining areas, as the two of you battle monsters, collect precursor orbs, and the all important power cells. Jak is able to double jump, use two different attacks and has some serious dance moves when he does discover a power cell.

Next up is Jak II, which released back 2003, also for the PlayStation 2. The second game picks up right after the events of the first, in a city called Haven City. Here the world is under the control of Baron Paraxis and Jak and Daxter have just broken out of jail and are looking for a way out of Haven City. Jak II sees some big changes from the original, as now you are equipped with various guns, such as the blaster and scatter gun. The game adds in vehicle control as you can hover around the city in Back to the Future II style and brings in Dark Jak, a dark side to Jak that has been unlocked after many experiments performed by the Baron. When you transform to Dark Jak, you have new abilities that you can use and unlock throughout the game.

Lastly we have Jak 3, again for the PlayStation 2, which released a year later in 2004. It has been about 300 years since Jak and Daxter fought in New Haven and takes place in Spargus City and a vast desert. Characters from Jak II make an appearance here in the game and so do many of the gameplay changes, but are expanded here. There are two more weapon types and now there is a Light Jak to counter the Dark Jak, very Star Wars like. There are also different kinds of vehicles in the game this time around, like sand buggies and yoshi-looking creatures.

Each of the games present a good mix of platforming, vehicle racing, and material collecting. The platforming still holds up today, with plenty of different missions to complete, and a good bit of variety to the levels. The characters are well fleshed out, with great dialogue and voice work complimenting a fun and exciting story. It is easy to see after playing this collection why the Uncharted series and developer Naughty Dog are the definition of top-notch. The first game suffers from not having subtitle options but thankfully, for me at least, the 2nd and 3rd remedy this.

All of the titles in the collection have full trophy support with each game receiving its very own platinum trophy, making this a great buy for those trophy lovers out there. The games look great in high definition (considering their age, and obviously cannot compete with current-gen games) and the gameplay makes a smooth transition, though it is not without hiccups. The camera angles are absolutely terrible, with things becoming very rigid in close quarters and the camera never seeming to do what you want it to do. The jumping mechanic also feels very sticky, leaving for plenty of frustrating moments where you swear you have double jumped but the game refuses to agree. These issues can be overlooked however as the comedy is still hilarious and the games are extremely addicting and fun to play. The HD revamp also includes 3D support, which is solid, but doesn’t add much to the game.

In the end, The Jak and Daxter Collection is yet another successful trek into the world of High Definition Collections being released on the PlayStation 3. It is a bit frustrating to not have the entire series added in, especially Lost Frontier from the PSP, but the set does not lose anything by just having the first three games. Aspects of the series also feel dated, but that is really the only bad thing you can say about this collection, which is a testament to the quality of the original games. Both newcomers to the series and those who have played every game will find yourself enthralled with the great voice work and laugh out loud comedy of these classic games.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score + Get ready to laugh a lot + Jak and Daxter Look Good in HD - Things like jumping and the troublesome camera feel dated

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© Cameron Teague for PlayStation LifeStyle, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us