Filed under: Reviews

For a relatively new genre, Tower Defense games have become incredibly popular. Among the PS3 crowd this is in no small part thanks to Pixeljunk Monsters, but that hasn't stopped other developers trying their hand at competing. For Tower Defense fans variety can only be a good thing, but how do they stack up against each other. Savage Moon has a very different aesthetic to Pixeljunk Monsters, but is difference in gameplay worth the purchase?

The gameplay follows the same basic principles of every other Tower Defense game. Your base is at one of the level and beasties (in this case, Insectocytes) approach from the opposite end. It's your job to build a series of gun towers in their path to prevent them from reaching and damaging your base. Simple stuff, on paper. Not so easy in practice.

Savage Moon builds you up and, to begin with, lulls you into a false sense of security. The first few levels will train you up via an extensive tutorial, which is necessary because the game is slightly more complex than most in the genre. As usual you'll spend money on different sorts of towers and you'll receive money from each individual beasty you kill. The levels are laid out so that there are areas of rocky mountains, level ground and lava. Lava cannot be built upon and usually marks the Insectocytes' pathways. Towers can be built everywhere else but are much more protected when on large rocks.

GameTrailers.com member GooseGoose has scanned a new issue of Maxim, the leading authority on video games. In it, the reviews crew reveals that the new 50 Cent game barely outdoes Killzone 2. Sony's upcoming FPS is "the hottest girl at the ball," but that can't compare to "a Wanksta-proof gem." Street Fighter IV also falters, lacking "old-school soul."

Discuss.

[Thanks, Mads K.!]

Amid a sea of Resistance 2s, LittleBigPlanets, Dead Spaces and Mirror's Edges it's easy to miss out on some real gaming gems. Titles that don't immediately spring to mind when you think of 2008's must-have games, but which are nonetheless worthy of your attention. Valkyria Chronicles is one of those games and I'm putting my cards on the table in this, the review's intro paragraph, so that there's no ambiguity; Valkyria Chronicles is an amazing game. Here's why.

Valkyria Chronicles is a Japanese Strategy RPG set in a fictional Second World War. You take control of Squad 7 of the Gallian Militia in order to prevent the evil Empire from invading your home country. The game places a lot of stock in its story, with many cutscenes throughout.

The first thing you'll notice about the game is how beautiful it is. The overall anime style may be familiar to you, but you've never seen it done like this before. A textured overlay makes the game look like a watercolor painting on stretched canvas. An effect heightened by the very edges of the screen, which have been left blank and uneven. As if the artist has not painted all the way to the edge.

It's very rare to pick up a game and think to yourself "this is the beginning of a new genre." But, that's exactly what Mirror's Edge is. It wasn't too long ago EA and DICE unveiled the game with a stunning gameplay trailer that had us all asking: "is this really possible?" The answer is a resounding "yes."

Mirror's Edge has almost everything going for it. The innovative first-person parkour gameplay, meshed with a distinct high-contrast style, makes it look and play unlike anything before it. To think, only a generation ago, we touted Metroid Prime on Gamecube for its ability to successfully present first-person platforming. Mirror's Edge goes even further, offering a system that's far more complex, but at the same time, deceptively intuitive.

Neverland Card Battles merges the strategy-RPG genre with the core gameplay mechanics of a trading card game. It's a card game first, an SRPG second, and this is clearly evident after having played and finished the title this past week. We know that a good number of our readers have read our preview from last month and have kept interest in the title. With the game releasing today, we know you all want to know: what's the final verdict? Read on after the break to find out.

Almost two years ago, during my vigil outside the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in New York City, I awaited the chance to buy a PS3. At that time, I wasn't thinking about a game like LittleBigPlanet. In terms of future titles, my friends and I were anticipating the next Final Fantasy, the next Gran Turismo or the next Tekken. None of us knew that a game like LBP was poised to become what Sony expects to be the biggest PS3 game ever. Naturally one would want to know; does it live up to the hype?

Dead Space is a survival horror title developed by EA's internal Redwood Shores studio, a new IP from a studio with (and I say this with no malice intended) a mediocre pedigree. The odds were stacked against Dead Space being a good game. Instead, it emerges as one of this year's must-have gaming experiences.

From the moment Dead Space begins, you're thrust into a highly stylized and great-looking game. The opening cutscene sees you, Isaac Clarke, and your team respond to a distress call from mining vessel USG Ishimura. As the Ishimura comes into view, the light from a nearby sun bounces off it. The use of color is stunning. This is the first of Dead Space's "wow" moments.

From the get go, my graphical expectations of the game were raised -- and Dead Space doesn't disappoint. The texture work is excellent, lending to the creepy atmosphere with blood stains and wall scribbles. "Cut off their limbs" and "evacuate this area immediately" appear to be scrawled in blood. The Ishimura is well realized thanks to this level of detail. For example, every door has an LCD ticker above it, telling you the next room's name. Character models look good and move well, with impressive animation throughout.

RPG fanatics have probably heard this tale before, but there's a bit of history behind the very first Star Ocean game. Back in 1995, a majority of the team that created Tales of Phantasia (which was released stateside on the Game Boy Advance back in 2006) left Namco due to creative differences. The team moved onto Tri-Ace, whose debut title was Star Ocean. One of the last games for the aging Super Famicom, the RPG pushed the console to its limits in terms of the cartridge size and graphics. The game even had limited voice-acting, which was unheard of (no pun intended) in those days. The question is, does this remake of the first game in the classic franchise have what it takes to stand out in the portable gaming market?

The PS3 has firmly entrenched itself as not only a games console, but a fully fledged multimedia device. It features blu-ray, media streaming, a web browser and image viewing and printing. Now, with PlayTV, the PS3 adds television to its repertoire. Sony could easily have released a simple TV tuner with only the most essential features, but instead they've developed a product that's incredibly feature rich and integrates itself into the PS3 experience seamlessly.

Setting up your surprisingly light PlayTV box is simple and painless and requires nothing more than plugging an aerial in one end and a USB cable, connected to your PS3, into the other. Once this is done you need only load up the accompanying disc software, which will install the PlayTV client onto your XMB and guide you through the simple setup. After this, you'll have a new "TV" section on the XMB. PlayTV takes advantage of Freeview in the UK, a set of free TV channels and radio stations. Load up the client and you're off.

The emphasis has clearly been placed on being user friendly. The first time you enter any section of the software a splash screen will show you the controls. These can be reviewed again in the help section, along with more in-depth guides. If you'd rather use a remote control than a SIXAXIS controller, your Blu-ray remote will work just fine and PlayTV even comes with an overlay which can be stuck on top to show which buttons do what.

It's amazing to see how far Buzz! has come. The popular PS2 quiz game makes an incredible leap onto the PS3, with great success, in Buzz! Quiz TV. Quiz enthusiasts and newcomers alike will find a lot to appreciate about Buzz's first outing on the PS3. The intelligent organization of topics, new online functionality, quickened pace and very easy-to-use wireless buzzers all make Buzz! feel like a new game in the "next gen."

In preparation for the PS3 game, we familiarized ourselves with the earlier PS2 versions of the game. While they were fun party games, we hated the frustrating process of detangling all the wires from our PS2 buzzers. Thankfully, we're able to get rid of those tacky peripherals with this new package. Simply open the Buzz! box, insert the wireless dongle into the system and put AA batteries (not included) into your buzzers. What we really appreciated was how quick the installation process was. The buzzers are already synced to the system, making it quite possible to start a game within just a minute or two of opening the box. When you want to jump into a party game, that kind of speed is quite important.

There's been a lot of buzz around WipEout HD. The headlines of the game's epilepsy-inducing delay, combined with its genuinely good looks have created the perfect environment for hype to thrive. The long-delayed futuristic racer is the PlayStation franchise's first foray into the current generation, and it looks absolutely stunning. The bargain basement price point of $20 makes it an easy purchase, especially for those on the fence.

However, we wonder who WipEout HD is trying to target. There are three types of people in this world: those that love WipEout, those that are horrible at it, and those that simply haven't tried it yet. For those that love the franchise (us included), WipEout HD is perhaps, a bit too familiar. True devotees of the franchise have already played the sublime PSP games, Pure and Pulse. To find that every single track and every single song in the game comes from these two titles is a little disappointing. They're certainly great choices, but the wondrous effect of nostalgia doesn't kick in so soon -- Pulse came out less than a year ago. Instead, we're left with the feeling of "haven't we been here before?"

The second group of people -- those that are horrible at futuristic racing games -- won't find WipEout HD any different than previous iterations of the franchise. And the third group of people -- those that haven't ever played a WipEout game -- may very well find themselves displaced to the second group once they get their hands on this ferociously fast and relentlessly difficult racer. Sure, the new Pilot Assist feature will help beginner players steer away from the walls, but without the honed reflexes of a veteran, the game's learning curve is surprisingly steep.

Have you ever seen the game show Temptation? Probably not. It's a game show with an incredibly low budget -- so low, in fact, it doesn't have a studio audience. Prizes are worth only a few thousand bucks at best, and it's syndicated on stations that used to be the UPN. If Buzz! Quiz TV on PS3 is "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" then Buzz! Master Quiz on PSP is "Temptation."

Unfortunately, PSP isn't very well suited for a Buzz! game. The franchise is best in front of a television with three of your friends. However, Master Quiz simply can't offer the same kind of competitive spirit, especially on a system like the PSP. It's not to say the developers at Relentless Software didn't try -- there are a number of creative multiplayer modes included. However, they're ultimately unsuccessful in emulating a fun Buzz! experience.

This used to be a GBA game? That's what you'll think to yourself after only a few hours with Yggdra Union. While the map sprites are taken directly from the GBA original, everything else about this PSP remake shows incredible polish. The redrawn high-res sprites used in battle and story sequences look sharp on the PSP screen. But what really steals the show, on a technical level, is the impressive amount of voice acting. Nearly every important story sequence is voiced in both English and Japanese, which makes for a really immersive experience.

Of course, a game needs to do more than look and sound pretty to be good -- and thankfully, Yggdra Union offers tons of gameplay. In fact, it may offer too much with an adventure that clocks in at about 30 hours. The lengthy story is far from original, but a growing cast of likable characters and a few nice plot twists make it an enjoyable adventure that kept me chugging through the lengthy story.

At its heart, Yggdra Union is an epic about underdogs that overthrow an empire. Your starting cast of a group of bandits and an exiled princess is severely outnumbered in an obviously one-sided battle. As such, players shouldn't expect a cakewalk through the game. Yggdra Union can be a relentless difficult game at times, so much so to the point of frustration. However, the challenge only emphasizes how important a solid strategy is when approaching each situation. Players must understand the importance of character placement and card selection -- a single error can lead to game over. However, the game's greatest hook comes from the exuberant ability to seize victory in a rather dire situation. Each battle is hard fought and incredibly rewarding.

Beneath its simple exterior lies a cruel, sadistic gaming beast. N+ is known for its brutally simple, addictive, ninja-inspired platforming. The goal of the game is ridiculously simple: get to the exit. However, each level in this challenging title will test your nerve and will push you to that strange land where frustration and euphoria meet.

There are a number of obstacles that can get in your way -- all of them deadly. Whether it be explosive mines, homing missiles, or heat-seaking lasers, death lurks in almost every inch of N+. The combination of clever level designs and obstacle placements make each level like a puzzle: players must think of interesting ways to get to the goal. Players will be able to perform incredible feats of acrobatics, bouncing off walls, racing past rockets, and jumping past deadly lasers. Players must learn how momentum works, as many of the levels require pixel-perfect jumps.

We have to applaud the fine folks at Insomniac for trying something new on the PSN. Somehow, they've managed to bring out a brand new Ratchet game, just one year after the release of the first PS3 incarnation, Tools of Destruction. Quest for Booty is a direct continuation of the previous game, but can be played without any experience with the franchise at all. The developers have promised 3-4 hours of gameplay, at a budget price of $15. However, is Quest for Booty worth your hard earned cash? Depends on how much you like the Ratchet franchise.

Although it may have a budget price, the presentation easily matches any full-priced console game. The visuals of Quest for Booty are actually superior to the ones found in last year's game. The water, for example, looks far more captivating in this installment. The lighting seems to be enhanced, and the lush color palette found for most of the game really looks quite stunning in HD. The voice actors all make their return, and Ratchet and friends are animated just as sharply as they always have been.