Singstar Vol. 2

So I've been playing SINGSTAR for ps3 for quite a while now and recently just got VOLUME 2. Now you ask me, whats the difference? Nothing really. You have the same online modes (store + profile) and some new wallpapers. You also get 30 new (and can only be found through volume 2) to add to your collection.

The songs are fairly good, I know quite a lot of them, but I would LOVE to see some bigger songs. I'm still waiting for "WOMAN" by Wolfmother found in the original trailer...but thats just me.

All you need to know about this game is that if you liked playing the first, your going to equally love this one. It's more like a track pack that you buy for 40 dollars than a new game.

Also, thanks to their new feature where you can eject the disc during the game, it makes the game ever so sweet and I would definitely recommend you buying it if you liked singstar.

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OVERALL SCORE: 7 /10

ISSUES: No new features from previous game

* No Trophy Support
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Super Stardust HD

Now, before I begin, I want to let everyone know that I have NOT played the original so there will be no comparisons between the two. Anyhow, these game is mostly like all dual-analog shooters. You shoot with the right, move with the left. Pretty simple. You got the speed boost (L2), bombs (R2) and cycle through weapons (L1 or R1). Sounds real easy don't it? Actually, you couldn't be more mistaken.

This game is actually one of the hardest games I own. But of course, that's not a bad thing. Hard games means it's more challenging for people so you need to become better and better. And eventually I did. I BEAT THE FINAL LEVEL! Back on point, they did eventually add an "easy" mode, but for whoever likes there games hard and enjoyable, please, do pick the "normal" mode.

The game covers 5 levels. I forgot the names, so I'll leave it up to you. As you play through each level, you come across "phases" and there are 5 of these in each level. Each phase gets harder as do the levels. As well, each phase contains new type of "rock" or "gold" or "ice" for you to blow up. You keep playing and playing until you get to the end.

Let me tell you this now: the game sounds and looks AMAZING. It plays in pure 1080p and looks spectacular. Nothing for what I expected for a downloadable game. The music is great and you get the option of what type you want and you can also pick a song...whichever you prefer, of course. This game even has trophy support!

So where does this game fall? Well, the gameplay is pretty much like all dual-analog shooters and if you have played one before (or a lot) then you won't get much new gameplay elements from a game like this. Besides that, this game is PERFECT.

By the way, this game also has 2 add-ons. One multiplayer and another single-player, adding a lot more modes and options and some are quite fun (such as survival) and if there is one game you should buy on the psn store, I think this should be it.

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OVERALL SCORE: 9.7 /10

ISSUES: NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MOST DUAL-ANALOG SHOOTERS

* TROPHY SUPPORT (No Platinum)
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Siren Blood Curse

Another full game you can download on the PSN Store...what else is new? Well this game is not like ANY OTHER GAME I have ever played. This game has a unique story and the original idea of "Episodic Content" (each "area" is episode, and inside each episode contains chapters). Enough of that now, let's explain how this game is different than every other game out there.

The main thing is that THIS IS A DOWNLOADED GAME. I haven't seen games that you can download be this long, intense story, and interesting (unless you include the HALF-LIFE series as a part of this...) But besides that, this game includes a very unique play style which varies from almost every other game. You get to play as (or around) 5 different players. Each player sees things differently than the next. So the story goes something around like this:

***SPOILER WARNING***
The game starts off with (what I considered) the main character. He is of young age and has no clue what is going on. Guess what, neither do I. As you go a long, you come across many "zombie-like" badies but the main question is this: WTF? What exactly was going on during this story. I mean, this is more insane than silent hill and I played origins 3 times just to TRY and understand. You have the "zombie-enemies) and they apparently cannot be killed. I mean, it looks like you can, but no you can't. They just get back up. So these enemies are pretty much invisible for the most part.
***SPOILER WARNING OVER***

This game, like most horror games now a days, include a dark (very dark) atmosphere with little to no light at all times. This does add to the feeling of this game but it could have been a little bright. However, I'm not going to lie, I almost $hit myself every time I came near an enemy and the heart-beat went off. This game IS IN-FACT SCARY and pulls it off great. The game has parts where you wish you could just run but half the time you are weapon-less and need to sneak around. Oh yea, thats what makes this game good - it has stealth. Unlike most games today where you "super-human" and can kill just about everything that moves, in this game, you are not. You will find yourself getting f**ked over, time and time again. Stealth aspect let's you walk around, you know, doing your thing and when you come up to enemy from behind, you can take them out quickly with little effort. Very useful.

The game sounds great too, lots of good music to keep you entertained at all times and great sound affects too. The game's graphics are quite impressive for only a 9.8GB file (downloadable too) and overall, I really enjoyed this game and would recommend to anyone who is looking for a good horror game and one that may continue on with new episodes. One issue I did have was that why allow all episodes to be downloaded at once? Not to mention I was lost the entire game.

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OVERALL SCORE: 8.0 /10

ISSUES: CONFUSING STORY LINE, NOT ALL-THAT EPISODIC

* No trophy Support
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Bionic Commando: Rearmed

So what makes a game good after it came out almost 10 years ago? Well, Bionic Commando did exactly what was right so let's see.
From the beginning, your not playing a "3d version" of what came out. Your playing what you think you should be - a side-scroller similar to the original.
But what it does from there is what makes this game one of my top games to buy on the PlayStation Store.

To begin, this game has all the great (and wierd) ideas that games back then had: weird nazi-like bad guys, even weirder story, you can't jump.
Now, the fact that you can't jump doesn't take away from the game, but adds to it. Suddenly this game becomes A LOT harder. Also, you get what feels like an arcade game that you would have played (except for better graphics, of course). This game also has some of the original (and maybe not so original) music found in the Bionic Commando games. Yes, the music is retro like.

The graphics do play in HD and what I like most of this game is when one person strolls of to one side of the screen: in ACTUALLY splits in 2 screens. Does it get any better than that?

Well, you can play this game co-op split screen OR co-op online. Not many games even have co-op, not to mention both.

So overall, I think this game is near perfect except for the fact that is VERY hard on co-op modes and although there are lives, they don't do anything. I'm pretty sure were past the life system now....even for a re-make of an arcade game.

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OVERALL SCORE: 9.0 /10

ISSUES: HARD, LIFE SYSTEM

* No trophy Support
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Silent Hill Homecoming

So let's start this review by saying one thing: silent hill homecoming is not like any other silent hills. You no longer have the traditional tank controls or the little to no combat mechanics. This game, DOES have the things silent hill's had been missing...but does it make it better? Time to find out.

Now, the combat system has been much improved to prior games. You can now dodge, power up attacks, and lock onto enemies. Only problem is the dodging. As with most games that have dodging (or at least some), it's not very clever to make your character get stuck when trying to dodge into other enemies. This leads to problems as you can become frustrated and easily want to turn the damn ps3 off and wish you hadn't turned it on. But that's not the real point - see, even though 50% it works against you, the other 50 works completely in your favor. It's a great idea, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't done right.

Since this is 2008 and we should be seeing good graphics, what happened with this? I have NEVER seen this bad of water physics ever. I mean, can the water at least move when you walk through it? If graphics and such don't bother you (as they don't bother me), then this shouldn't bother you. Just a lil upgrade from 2006 would have been nice.

The game does sound great with the tones of music that just makes you creeped out as you go a long. With all great original music that you loved from silent hill games, they are back. No problems with music or sounds at all.

The good thing about this game is that it sticks to the story and dept that all silent hill's have had (even this being American) and actually found myself enjoying it a lot, as I played through it twice. What I did like about it also was that, unlike almost all silent hill games, you actually know what the f**k just happened. I mean, at the end - for once I wasn't so lost it's not funny. All the extras were there too: more than one ending, unlockable extras, etc.

In the end, I think it sticks to true to the SILENT HILL name and if you liked silent hill as I have, then you will defiantly like this game.

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OVERALL SCORE: 7.8 /10

ISSUES: DATED GRAPHICS, UNREALISTIC WATER, BAD COMBAT SYSTEM

* No trophy Support
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Blu-ray Remote

This one won't be long because, well, what are you going to really talk about when it comes to remotes?
Anyhow, I thought I'd start off by saying that if you dislike - or your family dislikes - the standard playstation 3 controller, than this is perfect. It has everything you need: play, pause, rewind, skip, etc, etc. Now, if you don't use your PS3 for movies, than why waste the money? I watch a lot of DVD's and BLU-RAY's on my PS3 and this thing is way more useful and easy to use than the standard controller. The ONLY issue I had with this remote is this: where's the lights? I can't see any of my buttons in the dark. For a product that came out for 29.99 (I believe it is now 19.99 or less), it should defiantly come with some back lights of some sort.

Good features it has too is that it will automatically "disable" when not used in a long time (so no need to always replace batteries) and since it comes, like all ps3 products, blue-tooth ready, you don't necessarily need to be directing it towards your ps3 for it to work. Also, all you need to do to make it work is go to your ps3 and scan for it - no extra work involved.

So, as I said, buy it if you like movies and watch a lot, if not, there's no need.

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OVERALL SCORE: RECOMMENDED [TO WATCH MOVIES]

ISSUES: NO BACK LIGHT

* Supported By ALL PS3's.
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Fallout 3

Fallout 3 pulls out what every game coming out needs - a compelling single-player story, great side quests and all the badies you can find. And, when looking exactly like oblivion, how can it not? The only good side - I prefer sci-fi shooters to medieval sword battles.

Now, of course - this game also has the problems games should not. To begin with, it has issues with "freezing when someone signs on". Now, I'm not entirely sure WHY this happens but it can be prevented. Just disable notifications. DONE. Next few problems include frame rate drops and the occasional freeze. Not too bad though but defiantly should not be in a "complete" game. (maybe a beta, but defiantly not a complete).

Back to the good aspects of Fallout. Fallout is at least 100 hours long (when including side quests) and without the "run to" part of it, you can make that into 40000 hours easily. There are TONS of side quests, from completing a book for the supply shop owner to finding partners. And these partners all range from dogs to humans to robots. There's lots of variety in clothes, weapons, etc....

The only thing that bothered me with the game (and although this does not affect the overall aspect of the game), I didn't really enjoy that guns would break. Like, I found the FATMAN and after using the god-damn thing only 3 times it broke on me - sucks, I know. But what are you going to do? Well repair it of course.

What really caught me into the game is the little things that tie the whole thing together. Now, the music may sound old but when your fighting off those mutant zombies and all you hear is "mighty mighty man" going off, you can only enjoy it. Not to mention the entire "caps" idea. Yea, thats right - bottle caps are your money.

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OVERALL SCORE: 8.5 /10

ISSUES: FREEZING, FRAME RATE

* No trophy Support
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