Playstation 3 Highlights - May 2007
Who wants to go to the movies? No really...movies? That's the theme for this month's PS3 releases. We've got four games to cover, and three of them are based on movies : Surf's Up, Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End, Spider-Man 3, and capping everything off with a day at the ballpark and MLB The Show 07.
Spider-Man 3 - Well let's kick things off on a bad note, and maybe things will get better as the post goes on. Most people complain about the Spider-Man 3 movie and how horrible it was. So let's just say that the video game version is exactly on par with the movie. The game happens to expand on the movie a bit, bringing in other elements from the comic books and other sources in the Marvel Universe (pre-Ironman). All that really adds up to...is more bad. In addition to the super-villain storyline, there are three new gangs terrorizing the city, but Spidey quickly lays waste to them as, unbeknownst to him, Harry don's the guise of The New Goblin, a meteor crashes into Central Park with the symbiote that everybody knows is going to turn into Venom. As Spidey, you get to web-sling throughout the city with various power-ups, and the game is actually specific enough that you need to be below building height if you want to be able to web swing, so your web has something to attach to.
Worth it? Like I said, we're starting things off on a bad note. If all you're looking for is a video game version experience of the same movie, then sure this one will be worth it. But as far as gameplay goes, while it's cool getting free-roam over the entirety of New York City, and the city itself looks pretty good. It's Spider-Man who suffers greatly in this game. His controls feel painful to manage at times, and the combat system doesn't seem to work the way they intended it to. If I'm being completely honest about this one, I barely lasted playing this one for an hour, and afterwards I just felt dirty having played something so horrible. There are great Spider-Man games out there, but this is not one of them.
Value : $10 (somehow $20 still at GameStop)
Surf's Up! - Now we move from the skies (and ground) of New York City to the ocean. Surf's Up is about a penguin who wants to be a surfer (and everyone laughs because hello...Antarctica?) But he follows his dream to a tropical island where he's again made fun of until he locates a famous old surfer and trains to become a pro and voila! Dream come true. When I first bought this game, I wasn't sure what to expect. If it was going to follow the movie itself, or just be a cartoony surfing game? Well it's the latter. This game takes you to the tropical island from the movie with a number of different locations to surf around in. Each level comes with the wave you must follow and ride, while guiding yourself through gates and picking up collectibles, and using the wave itself to get some air and bust some fancy tricks. You're able to use a number of characters from the movie, but most need to be unlocked by working through the game. The levels all have a few requirements, like gaining a certain score, hitting a certain number of gates, collecting a certain number of the collectibles, and each one of these you complete gets you an additional trophy which goes towards unlocking further levels and such. Also, while in the surfing levels, you have a special meter that fills up based on the tricks you perform, and when you activate it after it's full, it opens up a temporary time to do even bigger tricks. Outside of the main championship mode, you have a multiplayer mode and Leaf Sliding which takes you into one of the volcano's tunnels and...well you go sliding down on a leaf. The only requirement for these is just surviving to the bottom, but you have an optional objective of beating the record time.
Worth it? One thing there isn't a lot of in the video game market is surfing games. Granted this one isn't a legit one, being based on a cartoon movie, but it still proves to be entertaining. There's enough of a challenge in each level with obstacles to surf around that Surf's Up doesn't just feel like a throwaway title. This might be better suited in your household if you have kids to enjoy the game, as for adults it can run dry pretty quickly. But, if you've seen and enjoyed the movie, you might have some fun with this one. Either way it's not expensive at all and it's fairly easy to find.
Value : $5
Pirates of the Caribbean : At Worlds End -
Off to the seas! At World's End actually encompasses the stories of the 2nd and 3rd PotC movies. For most of the game you play as Jack Sparrow, sailing around to different locations, finding the different pirate lords to inform them of the meeting about to go down at Shipwreck Cove. The game adds in some extra missions for bits that aren't featured in either movie, but for the most part it follows what you see on screen. You'll come across numerous types of enemies that you can battle with your sword or flintlocks. You'll also be faced with some platforming and puzzles to solve along your journey. If you get lost or can't find your objective, Jack's compass is positioned in the top right of the screen, pointing you in whichever direction you need to go. The combat is fairly simple, you just need to whack your opponents with the sword a few times and they go down, but you also have your non-sword hand that you can use to punch people if you so choose. Lastly, scattered throughout the game are chests that contain health, money, flintlocks, and lost letters (the games collectible). They're not required to find these chests, but they are everywhere around you just in case you need them.
Worth It? What could have been an amazing game falls so short of that capability, simply because of the fact that it limits itself to the movies. Everybody loves pirates, and when Disney started pumping these movies out it was no surprise when they blew up. Bringing that theme to video games would have blown up too, and could even have included characters from the movies off on other adventures. Instead you're stuck recreating the journey that you've already watched. Every element of this game is too simple and easy and takes away from what little enjoyment you could have gotten from playing this game. If you're okay with seeing most of the same stuff all over again, then you'll be okay with picking this game up, otherwise just keep sailing.
Value : $8
MLB The Show 07
Capping things off with a yeared sports title that doesn't leave much to say. The Show makes a jump to the next generation with this game, complete with updated rosters, better graphics, and some new behind-the-scenes features for the player to experience. A new view mode allows players to view the action either from the plate or from the field, allowing you to get a sense of what the actual players see and deal with in real life. Also new to the game, a new interface in which the catcher will call for your pitches dependent on which pitcher you have, how they perform with each pitch type, and whatever the situation is in the game itself at that time. You can also improve your pitching stats by throwing pitches that might need some work, as each type is graded in a comfort system, from the ones your pitcher feels more confident in throwing to the ones that he's not so confident about. When you're at bat, you get a chance to reveal where the pitch will be, since you can guess not only the pitch type but also the location. If you can get both of these, setting yourself up for a homerun becomes incredibly easy.
Worth It? It's a yeared sports title, so it's worth almost gets thrown away every year when rosters get updated with trades, retired players, or brand new rookies. It's a dirt cheap game now, so the only question to ask really is if your favorite team had any players at the time that are now gone and you want to play as them. If the answer to that is no, then you also have your answer to whether or not you should grab this game, as a later addition to the series will have much better improvements. The Show (at least this release of it) doesn't offer any fun extra mini games either, so this is a straight up baseball simulator, through and through.
Value : Less than $5 (most retro stores sell outdated sports titles for only $1 or $2)
Final Thoughts
Well it's not the greatest month of releases. To me personally, none of these are extremely worth picking up, although I still stand by what I said with Surf's Up being the best of the bunch with not many surfing games to compete against it, and honestly I can't think of any surfing games period I've seen for the console other than this one. Next month, we get a few more options with a total of six games released. Much like this lineup, there's there movie based games (Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Transformers, a baseball game (The Bigs), and two additional games that will break the rhythm set by this month's releases : The Darkness, and Rainbow Six Vegas.
See you next time with some more PS3 Highlights!
HG
Surf's Up! - Now we move from the skies (and ground) of New York City to the ocean. Surf's Up is about a penguin who wants to be a surfer (and everyone laughs because hello...Antarctica?) But he follows his dream to a tropical island where he's again made fun of until he locates a famous old surfer and trains to become a pro and voila! Dream come true. When I first bought this game, I wasn't sure what to expect. If it was going to follow the movie itself, or just be a cartoony surfing game? Well it's the latter. This game takes you to the tropical island from the movie with a number of different locations to surf around in. Each level comes with the wave you must follow and ride, while guiding yourself through gates and picking up collectibles, and using the wave itself to get some air and bust some fancy tricks. You're able to use a number of characters from the movie, but most need to be unlocked by working through the game. The levels all have a few requirements, like gaining a certain score, hitting a certain number of gates, collecting a certain number of the collectibles, and each one of these you complete gets you an additional trophy which goes towards unlocking further levels and such. Also, while in the surfing levels, you have a special meter that fills up based on the tricks you perform, and when you activate it after it's full, it opens up a temporary time to do even bigger tricks. Outside of the main championship mode, you have a multiplayer mode and Leaf Sliding which takes you into one of the volcano's tunnels and...well you go sliding down on a leaf. The only requirement for these is just surviving to the bottom, but you have an optional objective of beating the record time.
Worth it? One thing there isn't a lot of in the video game market is surfing games. Granted this one isn't a legit one, being based on a cartoon movie, but it still proves to be entertaining. There's enough of a challenge in each level with obstacles to surf around that Surf's Up doesn't just feel like a throwaway title. This might be better suited in your household if you have kids to enjoy the game, as for adults it can run dry pretty quickly. But, if you've seen and enjoyed the movie, you might have some fun with this one. Either way it's not expensive at all and it's fairly easy to find.
Value : $5
Pirates of the Caribbean : At Worlds End -
Off to the seas! At World's End actually encompasses the stories of the 2nd and 3rd PotC movies. For most of the game you play as Jack Sparrow, sailing around to different locations, finding the different pirate lords to inform them of the meeting about to go down at Shipwreck Cove. The game adds in some extra missions for bits that aren't featured in either movie, but for the most part it follows what you see on screen. You'll come across numerous types of enemies that you can battle with your sword or flintlocks. You'll also be faced with some platforming and puzzles to solve along your journey. If you get lost or can't find your objective, Jack's compass is positioned in the top right of the screen, pointing you in whichever direction you need to go. The combat is fairly simple, you just need to whack your opponents with the sword a few times and they go down, but you also have your non-sword hand that you can use to punch people if you so choose. Lastly, scattered throughout the game are chests that contain health, money, flintlocks, and lost letters (the games collectible). They're not required to find these chests, but they are everywhere around you just in case you need them.
Worth It? What could have been an amazing game falls so short of that capability, simply because of the fact that it limits itself to the movies. Everybody loves pirates, and when Disney started pumping these movies out it was no surprise when they blew up. Bringing that theme to video games would have blown up too, and could even have included characters from the movies off on other adventures. Instead you're stuck recreating the journey that you've already watched. Every element of this game is too simple and easy and takes away from what little enjoyment you could have gotten from playing this game. If you're okay with seeing most of the same stuff all over again, then you'll be okay with picking this game up, otherwise just keep sailing.
Value : $8
MLB The Show 07
Capping things off with a yeared sports title that doesn't leave much to say. The Show makes a jump to the next generation with this game, complete with updated rosters, better graphics, and some new behind-the-scenes features for the player to experience. A new view mode allows players to view the action either from the plate or from the field, allowing you to get a sense of what the actual players see and deal with in real life. Also new to the game, a new interface in which the catcher will call for your pitches dependent on which pitcher you have, how they perform with each pitch type, and whatever the situation is in the game itself at that time. You can also improve your pitching stats by throwing pitches that might need some work, as each type is graded in a comfort system, from the ones your pitcher feels more confident in throwing to the ones that he's not so confident about. When you're at bat, you get a chance to reveal where the pitch will be, since you can guess not only the pitch type but also the location. If you can get both of these, setting yourself up for a homerun becomes incredibly easy.
Worth It? It's a yeared sports title, so it's worth almost gets thrown away every year when rosters get updated with trades, retired players, or brand new rookies. It's a dirt cheap game now, so the only question to ask really is if your favorite team had any players at the time that are now gone and you want to play as them. If the answer to that is no, then you also have your answer to whether or not you should grab this game, as a later addition to the series will have much better improvements. The Show (at least this release of it) doesn't offer any fun extra mini games either, so this is a straight up baseball simulator, through and through.
Value : Less than $5 (most retro stores sell outdated sports titles for only $1 or $2)
Final Thoughts
Well it's not the greatest month of releases. To me personally, none of these are extremely worth picking up, although I still stand by what I said with Surf's Up being the best of the bunch with not many surfing games to compete against it, and honestly I can't think of any surfing games period I've seen for the console other than this one. Next month, we get a few more options with a total of six games released. Much like this lineup, there's there movie based games (Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Transformers, a baseball game (The Bigs), and two additional games that will break the rhythm set by this month's releases : The Darkness, and Rainbow Six Vegas.
See you next time with some more PS3 Highlights!
HG
