Category: Playstation 3

Review: Mass Effect 3

mass effect 3 review

Mass Effect is a series that took all of us by storm, drawing us in with its unique, deep sci-fi world and the hook of making your own Commander Shepard with your own story. The first game had a few issues but BioWare kicked Mass Effect 2 into overdrive, giving us a competent shooter/RPG hybrid that garnered numerous Game of the Year awards.

The third game in the series has raised the stakes, bringing the series big bad the Reapers into the galaxy, plunging every race into a war for survival. You’re tasked with bringing together all of the different races under one banner and taking the fight to Earth. Does Mass Effect 3 manage to tie everything together? Continue reading Review: Mass Effect 3

BioShock Infinite Delayed to 2013, Begin Your Weeping

bioshock infinite delay

As much as it pains me to post this, GamerSushi’s preemptive Game of the Year 2012 BioShock Infinite has been delayed in 2013, Take Two Interactive revealed today. The new release date is February 26.

In addition to this sobering news, the game will be skipping all the major events for the remainder of the year including E3 and Gamescom. There’s no official reason behind Infinite’s delay, but Ken Levine did give a statement regarding the move:

When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing. Since then, we’ve uncovered opportunities to make Infinite into something even more extraordinary,” said Irrational Games Creative Director Ken Levine. “Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need to deliver the best Infinite possible, we’ve decided to move the game’s release to February. That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box. Preparing for these events takes time away from development, time we’re going to use instead to get the best version of Infinite into your hands in February

Nothing too world-shaking there, but at least we know that Ken Levine is commited to giving us the best version of BioShock Infinite that he can, publisher pressure be damned.

What do you guys think of the delay? Has this changed your fall gaming plans?

Source – Joystiq

Assassin’s Creed III Gets First Gameplay Trailer

I can’t help it. I love a solid, good old-fashioned look at some gameplay. While these kinds of trailers are few and far between for the gaming industry these days, every now and then we’re given a treat of several minutes of footage that actually gives us a glimpse of what a particular title is going to look like.

Enter the world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed III trailer, which does just that. Here, we have small snippets of everything Ubisoft has been declaring about the game for the last month. Shots of epic battles, tree climbing, seasonal effects and combat against numerous firearm wielding opponents all abound in this new video, designed to get our taste buds ready for yet another entry into the Assassin’s Creed franchise. And dare I say, I’m excited about it.

What say the fine folks at GamerSushi? Yay or meh? Go!

The GamerSushi Power Rankings Update, Week 2

Trials Evolution

One of the newest features of GamerSushi would be the Power Rankings page, wherein we pit the games of 2012 against each other every few weeks or so, in order to see who is leading the chase for that coveted top 10 spot. We’re pretty excited about updating this regularly, and we think it’ll be fun for you guys to get involved. Heck, your comments might even sway our rankings for the next go around.

Anyway, we’ve just given the page its first update, and there is already some moving and shaking going on. Continue reading The GamerSushi Power Rankings Update, Week 2

How Mass Effect 3’s RPG Heritage Made Co-op Work

mass effect 3 multiplayer

Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer was a surprising success, something we’ve been going on about ever since the demo for the game dropped way back in the grey blanket of February. A horde mode experience at heart, Mass Effect 3’s co-op mode drew on the backstory set up by the single-player games and gave players the opportunity to take control of the various alien races we’ve been interacting with as Shepard ever since Mass Effect one.

It’s this sort of legacy that gives the co-op in Mass Effect 3 its longevity, at least according to Rowan Kaiser over at Joystiq. He says that, because we’ve spent so much time with Urdnot Wrex and his krogan brethren, seeing and using a krogan in multiplayer taps into the narrative investment we have in those characters.

The multiplayer mode is an extension of Commander Shepard’s mission in the main game: uniting the various alien species of the Galaxy to take the fight to the Reapers, Cerberus and the heretic geth, throwing it in together as one force. While the multiplayer mode itself is very light on story, there’s such a link between the visuals and everything that we’ve learned about the universe of the game that we create all these threads in our mind that gives the co-op such gravitas.

The article goes a bit more in depth about how the mechanics work into the equation but the part about the aesthetics creating a bigger impression of the mode is definitely true for me. Mass Effect is so well designed from a fictional standpoint that every little thing has meaning for me whether it’s a krogan Vanguard charging into a mess of Cannibals or doing a biotic combo in conjunction with another player. What do you guys think of the article? Are you hooked on ME3’s multi and is the universe a big part of that?

Source – Joystiq

Behind the Demise of Free Radical

free radical haze

One of the biggest stories in gaming over the last few years was the closing of Free Radical, the studio behind the TimeSplitter series, Second Sight, Haze and the oft-rumored Battlefront 3. The studio had a tumultuous time transitioning from the PS2 generation to this one, and their final game, Haze, received a pretty harsh critical reception.

Free Radical went silent after that, working away on Battlefront 3 for LucasArts. That game suffered through a turbulent development and was eventually canned by LucasArts. Screenshots and videos of Battlefront 3 keep coming out, and by all accounts it looked awesome. So what happened?

Eurogamer recently had an in-depth interview with Steve Ellis and David Doak, Free Radical’s two co-founders where they detail the journey of the studio all the way from splitting from Rare after GoldenEye to the problems with Haze’s development. It also explores the issues they had working with LucasArts on Battlefront 3. It’s only one side of the story, but given what the Free Radical guys say, they were hard pressed to find even a basic working relationship with the folks at LucasArts.

It’s a really good article, and I suggested you give it a read. It’s a bit lengthy but it gives a lot of background into the fall of one of the studios that gave us some of the best games of our youth. TimeSplitters is a franchise that I used to love back in the day and I remember being really disappointed by Haze when it came out. I didn’t play it, due to lack of funds at the time, but I wanted it to be a success. I just remember being really drawn in by the premise and the design of the main character.

What do you guys think of the article? Are you impressed that Free Radical lasted as long as they did? What do you think of their time with LucasArts? Go!

Source – Eurogamer

Required Reading: Designing Shadow of the Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus is heralded as one of the greatest games of last generation, if not one of the greatest games of all time. That piece of information is of course nothing new to anybody here, or anybody that has played games, for that matter, but it’s still something that is understated due to the emotional impact that it had on so many. Part of what really made Shadow of the Colossus shine was its superior art design, which went above and beyond what many expected out of the PS2 hardware. It just goes to show that great art trumps a massive amount of polygons, and continues to be a stunning example of atmosphere and design to this day.

In some newly translated interviews with the creators found in the official guidebook to Shadow of the Colossus, Team Ico boss Fumito Ueda and the game’s artists discuss the creation of SotC’s world and the ideas behind its design. Both of these articles give a fascinating look into the minds of a truly remarkable video game, and what drove the decisions they made in development. Of particular note is a section where they talk about how the artists and the environmental guys had to work together to create the Colossi arenas, since the way the Colossi functioned hinged so tightly on the arenas themselves.

Anyway, it’s hard to do the damn things any kind of justice, but I know that so many of you are interested in game design. I’ve got a new kind of respect for Ueda after reading both of them. And this is also making me want to put in the Team Ico HD Collection in the worst possible way. So yeah, what are you guys waiting for? Go!

Source – Siliconera and Siliconera

Review: Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal, one of the most iconic franchises of the PS1 era has returned with great fanfare. But after giddiness subsided, everyone had the same question: can a car combat game succeed in today’s world at a full $60 retail price? David Jaffe, creator and Internet instigator, clearly thinks so, as the addition of online multiplayer just might allow Twisted Metal to enter the current generation with guns blazing. Continue reading Review: Twisted Metal

The GamerSushi Show, Episode 47: Getting the Band Back Together

Hello Sushians, it’s podcast time! Episode 47 is upon us as we inch ever closer to the big five-oh. It’s kind of crazy that we’ve managed to put out more than a few of these things, but such is our dedication. Who’s to say what exactly will happen in Episode 50, but drinks will be consumed.

Speaking of drinks being consumed, this episode is kind of an accidental drunk cast as Jeff and I imbibed a few beverages before and during the recording, as you will be able to tell. Nick also joined us for the first time in over a month and brought us a game of Buy or Sell! We also talk FEZ, Trials Evolution and get down and dirty with a few trailers. Listen. Rate. Live long and prosper.

Link dump:

Trials Evolution Limbo level.
Trials Evolution Inception level.
Trials Evolution intro music.
Video game rock medley.

0:00 – 2:43 intro
2:45 – 7:50 God of War trailer
7:51 – 13:04 Dishonored trailer
13:05- 24:15 FEZ and the Return of the Beard
24:16 -30:35 The Indie free pass
30:38- 42:40 Trials Evolution
42:43 – 48-28 Mass Effect 3 multiplayer
48:29 – 48:50 GAME TIME (Buy or Sell)
48:51 – 58:22 Will the Halo movie get made?
58:23 – 1:05:45 Do you want wearable computing?
1:06:11 – 1:13:15 Is Prey 2 delayed or canceled?
1:13:16 – 1:16:43 Outro

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

Skyrim Dawnguard DLC and Black Ops 2 Revealed Updated

call of duty black ops 2 screenshot

These two bits of news are kind of small so I’m smushing them together to get a decent sized post out of them. Hope you don’t mind.

In news that will surprise no one, Activision has announced the existance of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which will finally make the long rumored jump TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW. More like 10-15 years down the line, but still. Yes, this Call of Duty will take place in the future, as the second Cold War makes its way to Los Angeles. There’s a trailer tonight airing during an NBA game but the leaked screens show tiny quadrotor remote control helicopters and a trooper in a full-face helmet with a big old gun (looking very Battlefield 2142 to me). Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will apparently be out November 13. The trailer is out now:

Continue reading Skyrim Dawnguard DLC and Black Ops 2 Revealed Updated

Freddie Wong Is a Skyrim Badass

Freddie Wong is at it again, but this time he takes his hijinks to the wonderful world of Skyrim. Imagine if the game allowed you to pull off some sweet finishing moves, dragon headshots and dap it out with your foes. Basically, if the game allowed you to be a badass. I really shouldn’t introduce it anymore. You should just watch it.

As you guys know, I’m really not a huge fan of the viral video/effects showcase formula, but Freddie Wong is on a different plane than everybody else trying to do it. He’s clever, fun, produces tons of content and knows how to keep the gags simple and sweet without overstaying his welcome. In short, he’s awesome, and this is one of my favorite sketches of his yet.

What are your thoughts? Is Freddie Wong a Skyrim badass? Go!

The Great GamerSushi Review Round-Up

Bastion

Ahoy, gents and lasses of GamerSushi! I’m writing to you from the ridiculous world of fatherhood, some bizarre alternate reality where the universe felt that I was somehow fit to be entrusted with the care of a little girl’s life. It’s just a bit of an adjustment, which is why I haven’t been posting at all this week. In the meantime, Mitch and Anthony (and Jeff!) have been rocking it out with some great content. I’ve found the tiniest bit of equilibrium over the last couple of days, and hope to be producing more of that myself shortly.

But first, I wanted to draw your attention to the newest batch of reviews. In the GamerSushi update post, I promised that we’d been awaiting the debut of our new grade chart to post a few outstanding reviews, and for once I wasn’t a dirty liar. Here are the reviews we’ve posted in the last week, with more coming all the time:

So far, I’m really liking the way the updated review system has translated into actual grades. It seems a bit more balanced to me, and doesn’t give us quite as many A and S scores. Other reviews coming soon: Journey, Twisted Metal, Portal 2 (that one is super late), Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more.

What are your guys thoughts on the new review system? Have we completely lost our minds? Go!

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Trailer is Smashing

The long-rumored Sony version of Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers was announced on GTTV last night and the PlayStation blog put up a short trailer explaining the game. Called All-Stars Battle Royale, the game will feature Sony characters (including some third-party characters as revealed last night) duking it out on a variety of themed stages. Check out the game in action below!

The game is a little too similar to Super Smash Bros for my taste, but for some people this will be right up their alley. The characters confirmed so far are Kratos, Parappa the Rapper, Sweet Tooth, Fat Princess, Colonel Radec from Killzone and Sly Cooper. More will be revealed at E3, so stay tuned for that. Personally, I’m curious to see if Solid Snake will be coming back after his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and what the third party characters are. What do you guys think of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale?

Reveal Your Shame: Games You Never Finished

games you never finished limbo

While it’s true that the majority of the video game playing masses don’t even come close to finishing games, I think it’s a point of pride among some sections of the population to finish every game we come across. Indeed, I’m kind of infamous around the GamerSushi offices for getting 100% completion in almost every game, so it shames me to say that there are some games I don’t manage to beat.

My most embarrassing failure is Limbo: that’s right, the amazing downloadable game from 2010 is on my list. I got to the tire puzzle in the industrial section of the game and got stuck there long enough to lose my flow and stop playing. Along my gaming career there have been plenty of other games but this is the most egregious.

What about you guys? Any games you didn’t finish? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Dream Playstation All-Stars Roster?

Dream Roster

Well, it’s been a rumor for many years and as of this writing it still technically is, but it has been all but confirmed that Sony is working on their own version of Super Smash Bros, but with Sony characters, naturally. The announcement has been teased and hinted at by many sources and should be confirmed tonight. Even if it isn’t a real thing, it’s still a fun thing to think about.

So that begs the question: who would you put in a Playstation All-Stars game? Obviously, Nathan Drake, Cole from Infamous, Ratchet (Captain Qwark? PLEASE???), Jak, Sweet Tooth, Sly and Kratos are the easy ones. But dig deeper than that. Who else would you want to see? Parappa? Gex? Maybe Solid Snake, since he became synonymous with Playstation? Let’s hear your dream roster!

Source: VG 24/7

Ken Levine Talks BioShock Infinite and Promoting Games

bioshock infinite

One thing we talk about a lot here on GamerSushi is the gaming hype cycle, the constant stream of pre-release materials that we get inundated with before launch. We’ve constantly tried to avoid being buried by weekly dev diaries and all that other stuff, but what do people inside the industry think?

Penny-Arcade’s new gaming news site The PA Report sat down with developer luminary Ken Levine to talk about BioShock Infinite and the way that the game is being promoted before release.

Ken got pretty candid at some parts, pointing out that Infinite was revealed before he thought it was ready, so he had to get out ahead of all the marketing in order to insure that people got their first glimpse of the game in the right context.

There’s also a lot of talk about the drip-feeding of short videos every week and the article brings up the “Heavy Hitters” video segments which highlights a new enemy every week. Even though the hardcore gamer can get frustrated with seeing this stuff all the time, Ken Levine says that he trusts the auidence to be able to filter this for themselves.

It’s an interesting article and I suggest you give it a read. What do you guys think of this? I know we’ve talked about this a few times, but this is the first occasion I’ve seen of a guy on the inside opening up about this and letting us know how he feels. Go ahead, comment!

Source – The PA Report

The Uncharted Series, Edited as Feature-Length Movies

So I’m posting this from the hospital, where my wife and I await the impending arrival of our daughter. Kind of crazy.

Fortunately, as this whole waiting process can stretch on for a day or so, I’ve had a bit of Uncharted to help pass the time tonight. And I don’t mean playing Uncharted in video game form — I mean watching it in movie form.

You see, Reddit user morphinapg did something that I’m surprised nobody has done up until now — he edited all three Uncharted games into feature-length films, with each one clocking in at about 2-3 hours. He did this by taking the games’ cut scenes and stringing them together with the minimal amount of gameplay necessary so as not to create plot holes. The result is a pretty entertaining trilogy.

More links after the jump. Continue reading The Uncharted Series, Edited as Feature-Length Movies

Prey 2 Delayed, Devs Slammed by Bethesda

prey 2 delayed

Prey 2, the “sequel” to the 2006 sci-fi FPS (has it really been that long?) has been in hiding for a while, having not come up for air ever since the Bounty trailer dropped almost a year ago at E3. There were rumors floating around a couple of weeks ago that the title went gently into that good night, but a statement from Bethesda confirmed that the game is alive and well, and will be released next year.

That’s not all though, as the remarks from Bethesda lean a little heavy on blaming the developers flat out for the delay. These types of PR statements are usually pretty flowery and try to make the problem seem like it’s not a big deal, but Bethesda gets a little brutal. I may be reading into it a little bit, but you can judge for yourselves:

“Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned. The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards. Prey 2 has shown great promise and we regret disappointing our fans. We have made a substantial investment in game development to deliver the experience fans want. We are determined only to release the AAA game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule.”

The part about game development not progressing satisfactorily is what makes the message sound a little hostile to me. Again, I may be off in my assumption, but it sounds like Bethesda isn’t too happy with Human Head Studios. What do you guys think of Prey 2’s delay? Does this delayed release date bode ill for the game? What do you think of Bethesda’s comments? Pray tell, dear reader.

Source – RPS

God of War: Ascension Trailer Goes Back to the Start

Strange how these trailers come in waves; first we had the Dishonored trailer and now God of War: Ascension (which was leaked early, to no big surprise) is making its landfall. Ascension apparently tells the story of Kratos before he became the Ghost of Sparta.

I’m not the biggest fan of God of War, but I know that it’s on the most widely-praised character action games of the last couple of generations so any news about a new title is a big deal. Are you guys excited about God of War: Ascension? How do you feel about it being a prequel?

Dishonored Debut Trailer Is Best Served Cold

It’s been a while since we’ve heard about Dishonored, Bethesda’s steam-punk stealth title, but the debut trailer just dropped so we’re getting our first glimpse at the game’s direction and style. There’ plenty of mystery in this trailer, along with rooftop running, sneaky kills and cyborg skull masks. Check it out:

Pretty cool for a pre-rendered trailer, and it also gives us an idea of what the game will be about. The art style is very reminiscent of the Combine from Half-Life 2, which isn’t surprising, considering that one of the lead artists from that game is now working on this (if I remember correctly). What do you guys think of the trailer? Is your interest piqued? Do you want to see some actual gameplay?