Reviewed on Playstation Vita and PS3, Official Website
Rated “E” for Everyone, All Ages
There are some games that, when you finally get around to playing them, you literally ache with a vague, persistent worry because you might have missed this game. That, of course, underlies a sublime, barely constrained joy that you didn’t miss this game.
Reviewed on Playstation 4, Official Website
Rated “T” for Teen
Being a huge fan of the first two “InFamous” games (my review of “InFamous 2”), I was incredibly anxious for this. It was, in fact, the first disc-based PS4 game I purchased. I played it, I loved it, then promptly forgot about reviewing it. With the release of the first DLC for the game, inFamous First Light, I decided to rectify that.
My son, who’s much more into the Wii U than I am, is trying his hand at blogging and has started with Mario Kart 8. Why not give him a visit and see what the target audience thinks?
“Metro: Last Light” Official Website
Rated “M” for Mature; Reviewed on Playstation 3
This is the 2013 sequel to the 2010 game, Metro 2033, which was based on the novel of the same name. While the first game closely paralleled the novel, the sequel presented an original story that picked up a year after the events of the first.
Model: CUH-1001A
Website: http://us.playstation.com/ps4/
MSRP: $399.99
In Part 1 of the review, I focused on the hardware and controller of the PS4. Here I’m going to dive into the operating system and online features.
Model: CUH-1001A
Website: http://us.playstation.com/ps4/
MSRP: $399.99
The Playstation 4 is, of course, a Playstation 3 plus a Playstation One. Or two PlayStation 2’s. You get the idea. It’s the new one. I got the system on day one, despite the fact that I had no interest in any of the launch games. So instead of reviewing a system I wasn’t really using I decided to wait for a few months, get a couple software updates under my belt and maybe wait for a game.
I’ve already given some initial impressions, and a small gallery of photos, in my day-one article, “PS4 First Impressions“. In the first part of this review, I’ll focus on the hardware. Part 2 will focus on the system interface and software.
Rated “T” for Teen; Reviewed on Playstation 3
Many successful indie games feature a novel game play mechanic (or several). The world-revealing ink splatter of “The Unfinished Swan” [Our Review] is immediately understandable and visually stunning. The “light equals existence” rule of “Closure” and the shadow-play of “Contrast” [Our Review] need a few moments of experimentation, but quickly become second nature. Indy games excel at exploring gimmicks.
“Bioshock: Infinite” Official Website
Rated “M” for Mature; Reviewed on Playstation 3
A spiritual follow-up to 2007’s critical darling Bioshock, this first person shooter replaces the story of the original while maintaining many of its gameplay mechanics and flair for drama. As usual, I will keep story spoilers to an absolute minimum.
With the simmering success of the Occulus Rift, Sony’s announcement of their “Project Morpheus” device for the PS4 and persistent rumors that Microsoft is doing something similar for the XBox One this definitely seems to be the year when head-mounted VR will make its push into our living rooms. What people forget is that this is far from the first time that this has been promised.
As I posted about before, I won part of the PlayStation 4 “Greatness Awaits” contest. In a stroke of pure-freakin’-genius this contest allowed fans to leverage their gold trophies as entries to win props from the awesome “Perfect Day” PS4 commercial. I won the Dagger from the Elder Scrolls Online segment.
The dagger, based on designs by Bethesda and ZeniMax Online Studios, looked awesome but wasn’t very “presentational” so I spent the last couple of weeks creating a suitable display plaque inspired by those in the “Hearthfire” add-in in “Skyrim”. (Here’s hoping the design is reused for Elder Scrolls Online!)
I’m extremely pleased with the results. I’ll be posting more images and a project walk-through soon, but for now I’m happy to simply present the final product. I was also lucky enough to be a beta participant for Elder Scrolls Online (on the PC) and while I can’t offer specifics, I am enjoying myself! Here’s hoping I’ll be able to use a virtual version of my actual dagger at some point!
