Welcome to the honeymoon trap.

In most single player games while the second playthrough can never recapture the thrill of discovery and the novelty factor of the first playthough, if the game has good moment-to-moment gameplay that can be enough to keep you going beyond the honeymoon period. If it does not have quality moment to moment gameplay, its stock will drop like a rock on the second playthrough.

No game that I can think of illustrates this better than Batman: Arkham Asylum.

With really good single player experiences, the second playthrough reinforces my high opinion of the game in the first playthough– but with Batman AA I felt like the second playthrough exposed the lack of substance behind the shiny veneer of the first playthrough.

Don’t get me wrong, Batman Arkham Asylum is a really good game and is clearly the best Batman game ever (which is not saying a lot) — but it’s still overrated. However it’s not easy to see why until you make it past the honeymoon period of the first playthough.

A game needs some freedom/leeway in the gameplay to really keep bringing you back– and this is the main thing Batman AA is missing.

Here are some examples of what I mean:

JUMPING

In Super Mario Bros. basic jumping was fun because you completely control the height and direction of Mario’s jump and a mistake can kill you.

You can also do stuff like slick jumping turning hit the ground and slide type moves because of that leeway in the gameplay. And stuff like that is what keeps you coming back (and not the harrowing tale of rescue of the damsel in distress).

In Batman, if you want to jump over a ledge just hold ‘X’ and forward and Batman automatically runs toward the ledge and jumps over it perfectly every time — there’s no technique to employ– no timing, no lining up the jump, no skill necessary.

CLIMBING

Take a game like Infamous. When I climb a building there’s a million different ways to climb the same building (including wrong ways that can result in you falling all the way back to the bottom and thus making you pay attention) — I can climb up a ladder, shimmy across a ledge until I find a handhold to climb up, climb a pole, climb up windows, ect– thus climbing is fun.

In Batman, if I want to climb I need to find a designated spot that allows me to look at it and be prompted to press R1. When I press R1 and Batman shoots his grapple hook thing, he’s always going to climb up the same way– seen it once, seen it a million times.

Thus climbing in Batman is not fun– it’s not annoying either– but not fun– just meh. It’d be nice if there was more variety to it somehow (and/or if they found some other area of gameplay to flesh out to make up for this lost ground).

FIGHTING

In Batman AA, there are a lot of offensive attack moves that are “hotspot” oriented– ie. the vertical takedown, the crashing through the glass, the simplified fighting scheme– that reminds me of Def Jam: Fight for New York.

In Def Jam Fight for New York there was a bunch of “hot spots” (ie. if you press a certain button when the enemy is near a car you’ll do a prearranged sequence where you smash their head in the door of the car) — it was awesome the first time you see each hot spot move but it gets more and more boring and you yearn for the variety and complexity that earlier incarnations of the Def Jam engine (ie the AKI wrestling titles) had.

Likewise in Batman the fighting is fun but you eventually yearn for the added complexity of fighting in games like God of War and Ninja Gaiden.

To be fair, there’s plenty of variety in the gameplay itself, but the problem is the lack of any one gameplay mechanic that by itself is fun to do over and over. The fighting comes closest to this, but it’s not quite up to par with some other games.

To make an analogy– take MLB the Show. The default batting mechanic makes you as the batter have to locate the ball as well as time it to get a hit. If you want to make the game really easy to play so your little sister can play it, you can alter the settings so that all you have to do is press X at the right time– thus making it all timing and taking away the skill in recognizing pitch location.

In Batman, it’s like it’s set up for your little sister with the way that the reversals are all pure timing based (tap triangle and Batman does the rest, no matter where the enemy is), and the striking is all button mashing based. There’s a little bit of skill involved in fighting guys with knives or stun batons in that you need to either hit them with a batarang and then press R2 and triangle to ground and pound, or press x to jump over them and attack from behind, but that alone falls short of gameplay that would keep me coming back.

So a lot of things feel like auto-pilot (ie. the Batarang is auto-aim, reversals are all pure timing as I stated above, the jumping and climbing as stated above).

Like I’m playing Gran Turismo with all of the assists on– which is fine for people that like that, but I wish there was an option to turn these assists off.

It feels like the gameplay in this game is halfway between a game like KOTOR (where it looks like I’m really playing and swinging the lightsaber but I’m really just supervising) and games like Super Mario Bros and Infamous and Twisted Metal 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (where I really am in full incremental micro level control and not just macro level control).

CONCLUSION

Too many single player games are like a disposable razor: use once and throw away. Granted, lots of games offer things like trophies, treasures, branching paths, ect, to give you a reason to come back and play again, but that stuff, while appreciated, only serves to kick the can down the road. The big factor that extends a game’s replay value indefinitely, the renewable resource you’re left with when the fossil fuels of story and presentation are exhausted, the thing that separates the games that come and go from the true classics is the  gameplay. In Batman AA, the basic moment to moment gameplay isn’t enough by itself to keep the game entertaining– the greatness of the game really depends on the story and presentation and atmosphere (which all lose their novelty on the second playthough) combined with the deceptively shallow, automated gameplay (the shallowness of which becomes much more apparent after you’ve beaten the game).

All the most memorable stuff that happened in my experience with Batman AA was scripted– in a game with deep gameplay you should be able to create your own memories via creative stuff that the game allows you to do– and the prospect of creating new experiences like that on the fly is what keeps you coming back.

What I remember about Super Mario World was how much different stuff Mario could do with a turtle shell (ie. carry it around, kick it up in the air, kick it forward, have Yoshi eat it and gain powers, ect). It’s not the story that sticks out in my mind, it’s the gameplay, and how little things like playing with a shell were fun.

A mega hyped, shiny new video game is like a hot woman in a dark nightclub who starts sweet talking you while you’re drunk– you might be head over heels in love that night– but you don’t really know what you have until you see what you wake up next to in the morning.

Image credit: Tony J. Case

Although Tanner has the ability to roam freely around the streets of San Francisco, this latest installment of Driver will focus on the movie style car chases. Reportedly, there will be upwards of 100 vehicles to chose from, and plenty of road to keep the chases flowing. There will also be a large amount of classic vehicles thrown into the action, and this should make for some never before seen chases.

This latest version of Driver will also include the option to play online. This mode will offer fans some pretty exiting chases as well. The screenshots from Driver: San Francisco detail some excellent graphics, and these new added features will offer some unbelievable game play. Driver: San Francisco will be available for Playstation 3, X-box 360, Wii, PC, and Mac.

Driver 2 was an early precursor to the Grand Theft Auto series, which went on to become more successful then the Driver series. Hopefully Ubisoft, the publisher of Driver 1999 will be able to capitalize on their latest endeavor. Like many other fans of the Driver games, I have always anticipated the next installment. Ubisoft revolutionized the video game industry with Driver 2, but was unable to capitalize on the concept they created.

The trailer for Driver 1999 looks great, but it doesn’t showcase any actual game play footage. As of now, the features that are offered by Driver 1999 are sketchy. Ubisoft will be offering new details this coming week at E3. I hope that the publisher can revive the Driver franchise. Fans of the series have been awaiting the release of a new Driver game for years now. Only time will tell if the wait was worth it. Zippygamer will be following Driver 1999 during E3; we will keep you posted as these details become available.

Teaser Trailer

This has been an exciting week for Mortal Kombat fans. On Tuesday, a video that seemed to be a trailer for a new MK movie was uploaded to YouTube by a user called MortalKombatRebirth. The almost 8-minute long trailer was like nothing we’ve ever seen in the Mortal Kombat universe before. It was a darker, more realistic with a Saw feel to it. The video starts out with officer Jackson “Jax” Briggs as he begins to interview an inmate named Hanzo Hasashi. He begins to tell him about the backgrounds of known serial killers such as Reptile and Baraka. But these aren’t the same fighters we all grew up with.

Reptile was born with a birth defect that gave him scaled skin and inverted eyes, much resembling that of a reptile. Oh and he’s also a cannibal. Baraka was once a surgeon who accidentally killed a patient which gave him a thirst for murder. He then performed various operations on himself, altering his appearance. Officer Briggs brings up how the police hired the washed-up actor, Johnny Cage to go under cover and dig up all of the info he can on these psychopaths. After a 2-minute fight scene between Baraka and Johnny, Baraka ends up decapitating the action star. Jax continues to mention a mastermind behind these killers, Shang Tsung. He doesn’t say much about him other than he holds an underground tournament where the world’s deadliest killers fight to the death. We aren’t really told if he is an immortal or not.

Jax goes on to make an offer to Hasashi that he can go back out on the streets, but he must find out where this tournament is being held. Officer Briggs continues to tell him to kill all of the others and win the tournament; but the prisoner has no interest. Soon after, Officer Sonya Blade enters the room with files on Sub-Zero. We soon learn that Hanzo Hasashi was once the greatest assassins in the world. Sonya then tells him that he killed Sub-Zero’s brother and the real Sub-Zero is still very much alive. By this point, we start to realize who this Hanzo Hasashi really is. (If you didn’t already know.) This little bit of information get’s Hasashi interested and he gets up in a rage and walks to the door. As Jax calls his name, Hasashi turns around and states that Hanzo Hasashi is dead and demands to be called Scorpion. The trailer ends with the classic Scorpion catch phrase, “Get over here!”

Now I was very excited upon seeing this trailer. Mainly because I thought it was for an actual movie. But according to Jeri Ryan, the actress who played Sonya Blade and from Star Trek: Voyager fame; the trailer was nothing more than an idea from director Kevin Tancharoen. The trailer was made as a pitch to Warner Brothers, but we are not yet sure if they have accepted it or not. As a long time fan of the series, I really hope they do. I’m sure will make quite a few Mortal Kombat fanboys pretty upset, but I think a reboot is just what this once great franchise needs.

Check out the video for yourself!

A New Game

Speaking of Warner Brothers and Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has acquired the rights to the franchise and plan to bring it back to it’s former glory. The new game, simply titled Mortal Kombat is scheduled to be released in 2011 and is being developed by series creator Ed Boon with the newly named NetherRealm Studios. The new Mortla Kombat is said to be “the most brutal installment of the landmark fighting game to date for release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,” and it will have a Mature rating said to be pushing the boundaries just enough to keep from receiving an Adults Only rating.

The new Mortal Kombat is going back to the series’ 2D fighting roots with a brand new graphics engine. The game is said to have even gorier Fatalities than its predecessors and even Tag Team play as well as other yet-to-be-announced gameplay modes. This new chapter is also said to feature a deeper Story Mode than any other fighting game to date.

Official Quotes About the Upcoming Game

“We are bringing the Mortal Kombat franchise back to gamers with the talented NetherRealm Studios team creating the game fans long to play,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Re-establishing the brand with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Mortal Kombat innovates on past games while staying true to the brand’s legendary characters and fighting style.”

“We can’t wait for players to get their hands on Mortal Kombat,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “This game really is a response to what players have been demanding: mature presentation, reinvented 2D fighting mechanic and the best, most gruesome fatalities ever!”

Confirmed Characters

• Johnny Cage
• Kung Lao
• Mileena
• Nightwolf
• Raiden
• Reptile
• Sektor
• Shao Khan
• Sub-Zero

And I’m sure there’s many more to come.

Announcement Trailer

The Handheld Battle

It seems so long ago, but in the 8-bit era we were lucky to have the LCD dot-matrix Game Boy. No one was crazy about monochrome, but it worked. The competition’s handheld gaming used a static, painted backdrop.

We saw pre-molded LCD caricatures in which movement was defined by disappearing from one part of the screen to appear on another part; comparatively, the 8-bit yellow-and-green dot matrix LCD screen of the Game Boy worked.

Not only did we now have a handheld video game system that actually created its own backgrounds and allowed for actual fluid motion, but we got a handheld that had interchangeable games (as novel as that sounds)!

Still, it was only monochrome, or as Sega called it in their Game Gear ads, “creamed spinach-colored”. So, many of us – myself included – could only wonder what Super Mario Land would’ve looked like in color form on our NES.

We waited, hoping Nintendo would be generous and give us an enhanced port of the game, but it was for naught.

Sega ramped things up substantially when they delivered their Master System in the form of a handheld: a device known as the Sega Game Gear. Full color and a built-in backlight! Sure, it sacrificed battery life, and ni-cads offered HALF the life of alkaline batteries, but it was full-color.

16-bit Era

The years moved on. Nintendo moved on from the NES to SNES, and Sega moved on from the Master System/Master System II to the Genesis. The handheld market stagnated. So many systems fell by the wayside. Among them were the Turbo Express, Atari Lynx, Neo Geo Pocket, and ultimately, the Sega Game Gear.

In 1998, Nintendo decided to take a big leap forward. Even though they had total dominance over the handheld market, they recognized the need for handheld gaming to go live with color. The GameBoy Color came into the world.

It was fully backwards-compatible with all previous GameBoy games, allowing button-combinations to change screen pallet color, and boasted a specially light-reflective screen. Unless you were in total darkness, chances are you could easily see games on your GameBoy Color screen without much trouble.

Nintendo also gave new life to two classics: Super Mario Bros. and Link’s Awakening in the form of Super Mario Bros. DX, which had some additional content added rather than a straight port of the old game, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, which added new content and was backwards compatible with the old Gameboys!

Nintendo Innovations

Nintendo wasn’t done yet. Far from it, in fact. Just a few small years later, the GameBoy Advance came to life. Yes, it was incredible. SNES graphics in handheld form. In fact, it was so incredible, even Nintendo didn’t realize its full capabilities! Around its release, Nintendo stated the system was lacking the Mode 7 technology and wouldn’t be able to handle 3-D graphics the way the SNES could.

They had to admit they were wrong when games like Star-X, Top Gear Rally, and Hotwheels Stunt Challenge came to be. Star-X came very close to Nintendo’s Star Fox. The graphics were quite close. Actually, one who didn’t pay attention to the fact none of Nintendo’s trademark characters weren’t anywhere to be seen could think it was Star Fox.

Alas, time marches on. While the GBA could give gamers SNES-level graphics, Nintendo moved from the Nintendo 64 to the GameCube, Sony moved from the PSX to the PS2, and Microsoft unleashed the XBox. Some looked at the GBA as being “antiquated”.

Whilst the consoles were boasting the fully 3-D Grand Theft Auto III, the GBA could only replicate the old-style top-down GTA gameplay. Some of us didn’t mind; we liked the classic “back-to-your-roots” gameplay. Others weren’t so pleased. It seemed that as with previous eras, no handheld could ever come close to console-level graphics. It was like the comparison of a home console to arcade machines in the 1980’s. It seemed as though every time a new console hit the market, the arcade world just reached its next level.

Dual Screen’s Bring New Success

It was time for a revamp to the handheld market. At E3 2004, Nintendo unleashed its “third pillar” known as the Nintendo DS. Not so much a “handheld portable” as a system that just simply did more than previous handhelds had done.

With dual-screen action, a touch-screen, a microphone, and Nintendo 64-quality graphics all made this a system worth looking into. I remember watching Nintendo’s press conference at E3 2004. While I was also quite excited about the new games they’d shown coming to the GameCube and GBA, I was mostly excited about the DS.

I didn’t know what was bubbling down below in the Sony world. It would be the biggest change to hit conventional handheld gaming since the original GameBoy: the Sony PlayStation Portable, or PSP. It wasn’t an alternative, per-se, to the DS, but an augmentation.

I’ve always felt that, to get the most out of handheld gaming, one must own both a DS and PSP. The DS provides a unique gaming experience, whilst the PSP can emulate the console experience, albeit a little stripped-down in some cases. The PSP has managed to pull off a solid replication of console gaming. It’s not perfect, but many of the current-generation games released for the PSP have come off without a significant hitch.

The Sony PSP

In the year of the PSP’s launch (2005), Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories came into being. It actually looked like Grand Theft Auto III and, more importantly, it manged to play like Grand Theft Auto III.

Since this time, the PSP has had many more multi-system games released on it, and in more faithful translation than previous handhelds. Resistance: Retribution is remarkable. It puts the game in third-person view instead of first-person, and it’s not a “port” as a parallel story to the PS3 games. Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines has a few minor flaws because of the lack of a right analog-stick, but it holds up in gameplay.

Even more incredible is Dante’s Inferno; the maps are identical to the console version’s maps. The layout is exactly the same. The only difference being the PSP game’s gameplay graphics are a little stripped-down, and the non-playable cutscenes have been simply recorded, and play in a digitized manner instead of relying on the system’s hardware to render the cutscenes, resulting in a small loss of quality and the inability to perfectly segue from gameplay to cutscene and visa versa.

There’s No Time Like The Present

So, here we are now. The DS is an excellent system, and I recommend it to all, but for anyone looking to capture the world of console gaming in handheld form should really give the PSP a try.

Sony has some excellent bundles on the market, and included in said bundles are all the things you’ll need to get started. Standard bundles usually include: game (based on your bundle), 1GB memory stick, a special-edition PSP, and the essential AC adapter and rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

The only DS bundle that is currently on the market is the DSi bundle which includes a white DSi and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.

How do YOU feel about the progress of handheld gaming? Discuss it below in our comments section!

[Editor's Note: If you liked Bone Meal's short history on the handheld, read his Top 10 Games for the PSP.]

Image credits: Damien Lopez, broccoli, cinefil, xcassiegotto, diodoro

Buxom, upper-class brunette lady looking for a smart, attractive and eligible male.

My hobbies include: scuba diving, archaeology, gymnastics, globetrotting and slaughtering endangered wildlife.  I have been through some tough times over the last 10 years, but I’m back on form again recently and I feel ready to explore again.

Devoted single father with a large build looking for a woman to share my life with.

Interests include swimming, aquatic life, power tools and self-defense.  I share a wonderful property with a few oddball characters that are always arguing but it has a great ocean view.  Love of children is important, because as part of my job I am always looking after them. E-mail steve@rapture.com

I’m a 30-year-old, sunglasses wearing, 6ft tall,  ripped guy.

I’m a big fan of kicking ass and chewing bubblegum (but sometimes I run out of gum). I have a hatred for pigs who dress like police officers and extra terrestrials as a whole. Looking for a woman who doesn’t mind if I start something and never finish.

Chubby Italian plumber, 29 years of age.

I run my own plumbing business with my brother.  Looking for a blonde lady I can treat like a princess.  My old GF was constantly leaving me for the slimy, cold-blooded sort.  Hobbies include go-karting, golf, and basketball. I’m very open minded am willing to try any activity at least once. Please send all correspondence to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Spiky, blue hedgehog looking for a new group of friends to hang out with.

My current group is a bit of a handful.  I’m looking for friends with attitude that won’t run from a fight – I have a bit of a beef with a  morbidly obese egg-shaped man.  I enjoy sports and I’ve recently started racing cars with my workmates.

Abused and exotic yellow-coloured creature looking to be rescued.

My current master is a right bastard and pits me against other animals (well at least until I faint). He fights against anyone who looks at him funny and I’m at my wits end.  I am kept in cramped conditions against my will and only let out when he needs me.  I have an electric personality and just looking for a new owner so I can grow and evolve.

Overworked and underpaid South American currently working for the US government.

I’m looking for a new job because my current workload is too chaotic.  I get to travel all over the world and get to meet some very interesting characters.  Seeking a new career as my co-workers are obnoxious and I don’t think my insurance covers all that my job requires of me. I’m desperate for a new job. I could even do window cleaning too because I’m quite good with heights.

The trailer comfirms that the Hulk, Iron Man, Ryu, Morrigan and a certain character from Resident Evil. Watch the trailer to find out who it is.

Marvel VS Capcom 3

“Marvel vs. Capcom 3″ will be announced in May. According a confident “leak” by a poster named Henaki at Team Spooky. Henaki also claimed that a PC version of “Super Street Fighter 4″ would be unveiled sometime soon. He may be believable on both fronts, as he leaked the entire “SSF4″ fighter roster before it was public.

Team Spooky is a video game based blog that often runs live stream events. A few days ago, Team Spooky were posting news and stories from Capcom’s yearly event known as “Captivate”, which is used to distribute information to the press and takes place in Hawaii. Currently the editor or Marvel.com is in Hawaii on business. This only makes the earlier leak about Marvel VS Capcom more believable. Team Spooky also claim that Capcom sent out a few letters to specific venues after the leak, telling them not to post anything.

To top this rumour off, Capcom have apparently bought a new sub domain at VSCapcom.com. Also just recently, the official Marvel VS Capcom Twitter page went active with updates after going months without any updates at all. Team Spooky also claim that, there will be one new character from the Resident Evil franchise in this game.

Official Story:

A new Marvel VS Capcom game would be great and would be what many fans would love to see. However its really hard to confirm if all of this is true or not. Henaki leaked the Super Street Fighter 4 character roster before it was made public and his information was correct. So he is a reliable source of information. The Captivate event and what happened there, only adds strength to the rumour. Then with the added Marvel VS Capcom twitter page getting a bunch of updates and Capcom buying a new sub domain all points to its going to happen. The only thing I’m not entirely sure on is the news about a new character from Resident Evil. I’m going to bet my money on that this is true and we can look forward to a new Marvel VS Capcom game very soon. Keep your finger’s crossed fighting fans. In fact watch out for the next few days, as this is when Capcom will be announcing new games and information to the press.

UPDATE: Capcom have comfirmed Marvel VS Capcom 3. It is reported that it will be a classic 2D fighter with improved visuals. A couple of old favorite fighters are confirmed for the 3rd installment. They are Wolverine, Hulk, Magneto, Spider-Man and Storm. Capcom said they will be blowing fans out of the water with the sheer number of characters that will be in ‘Marvel Vs Capcom 3′. Expect more news to follow.

Portal 2 for PS3?

So I’m in my local supermarket browsing the magazine section, when I spot a certain UK PS3 magazine, called “PSM3”. On the front of this magazine, I saw the words “Portal 2”. Now where as the first Portal, which was included in the Orange Box was ported from the PC to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, I do recall reading that Portal 2 was only stated to be on the PC, Xbox 360 and Mac(which valve are now fully supporting).

Since Valve’s last games, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 didn’t make their way onto the Playstation 3. It looked like Portal 2 wasn’t it to make it onto the PS3 either. Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve has stated many times before in the past about the problems with the platform’s Cell processor being difficult to work with and outsourced PS3 porting duties for the Orange Box to publisher Electronic Arts.

Well now it seems EA are also going to be publishing Portal 2 onto the Playstation 3; at least according to “PSM3” anyway. Portal 2 is listed on the front cover of the magazine under “36 must-play PS3 games” along with Fallout: New Vegas, Brink, Crysis 2, and the Medal of Honor reboot.

Official Story:

I asked Valve and sadly the Valve spokespeople had nothing to say. I didn’t hear back. I doubt Portal 2 will be on the Playstation 3, especially since Gabe Newell dislikes the console so much. But at the same time, six months ago, if you would have told me that Valve will have a fully working Steam and games running on a Mac, I wouldn’t have believed it. So perhaps there is just a slight chance that PS3 owners wont be missing out. As to why “PSM3” had it on their cover…well who knows. There could be many reasons why, false information or perhaps a simple typo. PS3 owner’s, don’t hold your breath for Portal 2.

BioShock: The MMO

According to a “mysterious source”, game site Destructoid is reporting that 2K Games is working on a massively-multiplayer online title based on the world of BioShock. This rumour has popped up briefly before. When 2K made interest in the past of the MMO genre. Bioshock has been named as a potential franchise candidate for exploitation before.

Official Story:

Sadly, this is all the information I could dig up on this rumour. Since it’s from a “mysterious source”, we don’t know how reliable it is. So for now, take it this as just a rumour. Sadly, I’m going to guess that the only people who know if this is true or not are 2K Games themselves.

Sonic 4 and Dreamcast Games for Xbox Live Arcade

Someone has been a bit naughty and leaked a few unreleased Xbox Live Arcade games out onto the internet. Including Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. The good news however is that we get to take a little peak at the new upcoming games for Xbox Live. The following games have been confirmed by the leak:

• Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
• Sonic Adventure
• Crazy Taxi
• Metal Slug XX
• Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
• Raystorm HD
• The King Of Fighters 2002 Unlimited
• Quake Arena Arcade
• Hydro Thunder Hurricane

As you can see, some of these are Dreamcast ports, which is great news. Also it’s rumoured that there’s a few other games yet to be leaked.

Official Story:

True, we just don’t know when Microsoft are planning to release the games to the public.

However, come Spring 2008, I bought another PSP. Since 2005 some very great – and even epic - PSP games have come along. Thinking of getting a PSP? Already own one, but don’t know what games to get? Zippy Gamer is here to help!

Here is our list of 10 essential PSP titles no PSP owner should be without.

Super Stardust Portable

Perhaps it was inspired by Asteroids or maybe it’s a completely different game. Any way to look at it, this game comes straight out of classic arcade-style gaming. The premise is quite simple, really. You use the PSP’s analog stick to control your ship and the face buttons to fire at an assortment of rocks, ice, and enemies who will be more than willing to return fire.

At the end of each planet’s stage, you will take on a boss. In the tradition of classic arcade design, bosses become more difficult as you progress through the game. The game features the standard Arcade Mode, Survival Mode, and some more unique game modes. The graphics are crisp and explosions are magnificent. The game is modestly priced for download exclusively through the Playstation Store.

Resistance: Retribution

You may think “it’s a third-person shooter! It’ll never work on a single-analog PSP!” However, if you thought that, you’d be wrong.  Retribution maps turning and looking around to X, Square, Circle, and Triangle, but it is also generous with a refined auto-target assist. Running alongside the storyline of its console counterparts, Resistance: Retribution brings the same gritty story-telling and action to the PSP.

You play as James Grayson, a quick-witted Brit who was serving as a soldier for Britain, but after being court-martialed he’s joined up with the French. Although he does his duty, he doesn’t spare his allies his silver tongue. The gameplay shines brilliantly, taking all that is good about the game, and packing it into a single UMD. You’ll have an arsenal of weapons including shooter staples such as the machine gun (with attached grenade launcher), shotgun, rapid-fire energy weapon, an RPG, and many other weapons. There is action at every turn, and if you don’t keep your eyes peeled, count on repeating much of the game.

God of War: Chains of Olympus

Taking place before the original God of War for the PS2, this game thundered its way onto the PSP in Spring 2008. Of course, you play as Kratos, but not with the intention of going after Aries or trying to ascend as a god. Your quest is to find out what has submerged the land into darkness. The gameplay and graphics match the console games pound for pound. You start out with the Blades of Chaos, and as you progress through the game, you will learn various spell attacks. Just as in the games, you will earn red orbs by killing enemies, opening red orb chests, and breaking anything… breakable.

As previously, the red orbs allow you to upgrade your weapons, giving you more combo attacks, and also upgrade all spells you’ve learned. You will also find Gorgon Eyes which will increase your health bar, and Phoenix Feathers which will increase your magic bar. The game can seem a bit more tedious, as it requires you to hold L+R buttons to evade attacks, but it will become second nature quite quickly. The key to success is to know when to block and when to attack.

Twisted Metal: Head-On

The same great action, brought to you by the same developers of Twisted Metal, Twisted Metal 2, and Twisted Metal: Black, made its debut on the PSP without sacrificing any of the high-energy gameplay of the aforementioned games. As it was a launch title, Head-On didn’t really demonstrate what kind of graphics the PSP could produce, but it certainly wasn’t ugly. Giving you a wide array of vehicles/characters to choose from (plus unlockable characters), Twisted Metal: Head-On puts you right into the action with its various game modes.

There’s the Tournament Mode, which takes you to various locales the world over to battle with other vehicles, Challenge Mode which allows you to pick a character, stage, and your enemies, and Survival Mode which will pit you against one enemy at a time in a location of your choosing for as long as you can stay alive. Also, as with previous Twisted Metals, every character has opening and ending movies, all of which are viewable after completing the game with said character.

Coded Arms

This game slipped under most PSP gamers’ radar too easily. This FPS puts you into a computer-generated world in which you must eliminate enemies in a bizarre simulation. Hacking files is done by exploring every section of the digital world and killing virtual enemies. As with Resistance: Retribution, Coded Arms uses a generous auto-target system that will aid you, but never makes the game overly easy.

That being said, with the sniper rifle you must aim manually. Over the course of the game, you will receive different types of guns and grenades that can be upgraded by finding upgrade icons, which will spawn after killing enemies. The analog stick is for walking forward/backing up and strafing, while the face buttons are used for aiming and turning. L is used for jumping, and R, of course, for firing.

Afterburner: Black Falcon

While maintaining the game’s classic action-shooter arcade roots, Afterburner: Black Falcon puts you behind the controls to take to the sky, while destroying air and ground targets. What is really compelling is the fact the game uses officially licensed jets from Boeing, Hughes, and other manufacturers. Each plane has its own strengths and weaknesses and the game will give you a suggestion of which plane is best for that particular mission. Though, don’t think you don’t have to work for it. You will start out with only one plane, and as you earn money via completing missions, you can invest in different planes as they become available to buy. You can, however, replay any mission you want to as many times as you want. Planes can also be upgraded in terms of gun power, missile payload, and missile enhancements.

Additionally, planes can be upgraded visually with different paint schemes and a few structural features. The only real downside of this game might be there’s just not enough to love. It would’ve been even better with more levels. Still, the ability to replay any mission whenever (and wherever) does add replay value.

Daxter

At last, he finally got his own game! Daxter resurrects many facets of what made the first game so lovable. The original PS2 game was light-hearted enough, but since then the games became too dark for their own good, losing their charm. Of course you play as Daxter, Jak’s furry sidekick throughout the series. Jak gets arrested and it’s up to Daxter to get to the bottom of things in this colorful PSP platformer.

The game holds up well visually and in terms of gameplay. Daxter must collect various types of Eco Orbs just like in previous games, and he also gets to pilot various hovering vehicles akin to Jak II. Daxter is one platformer no PSP’er should be without.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

What can I say, I am a sucker for the classics. Based around Grand Theft Auto III, Liberty City Stories turns back the clock to tell Toni Cipriani’s story back in 1998. You play as Toni, and up-and-coming gangster, working for various iconic characters from GTA III, like Salvatore Leone and Donald Love. The layout of the game reflects Liberty City (in GTA III form) with perfection, while making a few landscape changes – purely to show the city’s progression over the years.

The gameplay is perfect and visuals look like a carbon-copy of GTA III. It is obviously inspired by movies such as The Godfather, Italian Job, and a little bit of Scarface; GTA:LCS maintains that familiar feel of its PS2-based bigger brother. While some would prefer Vice City Stories, Liberty City Stories remains a personal favorite as it was one of the first games to show the PSP wasn’t graphically the “Playstation 1.5.”

Killzone: Liberation

This is not what you would expect after having played the first Killzone. Rather than being a first-person shooter with World War II-inspired gameplay, this game is an isometric third person shooter. Somehow it feels quite natural. You move your character with the analog stick and use face buttons for things like firing guns, throwing grenades, and interacting with the environment.

The action is quite intense and you only have one gun to use at any given time. Still, as you progress, you will have a wider range of weapons to choose from before starting a mission. During missions, you will come across chests that contain anything from health packs to different main and secondary weapons. Some missions even give you control of tanks to drive through the rugged terrain and battle enemies with.

Gran Turismo

I feel I can say that I’m saving the best for last. For a long time this game really felt like vaporware. Originally named Gran Turismo 4 Mobile, the game turned into a no-show for years. Then, throughout 2009, it was mentioned again. It was being developed and fans of the series finally got some glimpses of gameplay and features. It was unleashed on October 1, 2009. I chose to download it to my memory stick, as I wanted it that bad. Built from the ground up for the PSP, the newly-titled Gran Turismo provides a staggering amount of content for any portable racing game and even some console-based racing games. There are over 800 cars and plenty of race tracks of varying types (asphalt, dirt, snow) which will surely please anyone looking for a solid racing game. The graphics are incredible and gameplay is more accessible than in previous games.

There are no license tests, you just race to earn money to buy any car you want… when available. Yes, I said “when available” as only four dealerships are available at a time and for only two days at a time. So, if you want a Jaguar XJ220 LM-edition race car, you’d better get behind the wheel of your best car and earn some cash. Luckily, if you don’t mind an automobile version of level grinding, you can race the same track over and over without exiting to the main menu, and there will be no time progression. This might sound like a bad thing, having to wait for a particular make of automobile to become available, but it actually adds replay value. What if you wanta Formula 1 Ferrari which costs 8,000,000 credits. Well, until Ferrari becomes available again, you can keep earning money for it (as 8,000,000 credits is quite a bit to earn). Although there are no license tests, there is Driving Challenge Mode. This will allow you to hone your driving skills and earn some cash. They are what license tests would be, but they are a side-option. You don’t have to complete them, unless you want to listen to your own custom music on the memory stick. If you want custom soundtracks, you must clear the lowest wrung of challenges.

The bottom line: all tracks are available to race on virtually from the beginning. Your “default” car can’t run on off-road tracks. Though, there is a “car pack” available for free via the Playstation Store. Included in this pack is a Nissan GT-R Spec V in Metallic Blue. This car can run on all track surfaces and, pound for pound, give you a good competitive edge. Some fans are disappointed by the lack of a career mode, but this is a “portable” game. To streamline it, making easier to play on the go, the career mode was not included. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar, this game delivers the most incredible auto racing experience ever on a portable system!

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Heavy Rain is the latest release by Quantic Dream, the game developers who brought you the equally story heavy game “Fahrenheit” (or “Indigo Prophecy” for our American Readers). The experience isn’t your standard gaming fare and instead opts to be an “Interactive Movie” with a strong focus on characters and emotional manipulation. The method Heavy Rain uses to achieve this is very reminiscent of two currently existing genres, the “point and click” adventure games of the 90’s and Quick Time Events. The “point and click” parts are sequences which involve marching your characters around environments looking for clues progress the story and these sections tend to be the slower, less interesting parts. Not only that, but they control horribly, instead of simply moving your character with a joystick as you would expect to, you instead sort of aim your character and then press R2 to move them. Why? I have no idea. It’s fortunate then that these segments are merely looking about and not action based, but even simple actions like walking to the correct locations can be tricky. It can break the immersion in a second, which is a shame because Heavy Rain does a lot to make to make the experience as atmospheric as it can be.

This FBI agent serves as the games main investigator. Oh, and he's a junkie.

The quick time events, on the other hand, are definitely more exciting and interesting; what is most interesting about them is that you can’t exactly “fail” them, if you don’t press the button in time there’s no “Game Over” screen, the sequences just carries on. I won’t disclose any specific events or actions in this review (that would only ruin some incredibly brilliant and startling moments) but suffice to say some made me physically flinch in disgust or jump in surprise. Yes, Heavy Rain did manage to get me to “feel” like I was part of the experience. Except it didn’t make me feel like the characters, it made me feel like a movie director. Instead of asking myself “Should I kill this man?” it became “Would he kill this man?” I don’t know if this was Heavy Rain’s intention or a misstep by the developers, but I can truly say I’ve never had an experience anything like it. Perhaps it’s a testament to the characters development; they feel incredibly real and trying to project yourself onto them feels almost impossible. At least three out of the four main characters, that is. The female character, Madison, serves no real purpose to the plot. She just turns up in the story and suddenly wants help the main character and most of her segments are stupidly dull. The developers should have either made her interesting and relevant or just cut her entirely. I’d actually favour cutting her entirely; Heavy Rain is an incredibly interesting and gripping experience, but it doesn’t half suffer from excess fat.

Heavy Rain’s biggest flaw is that the developers like their ideas just a bit too much. The opening sequence is probably the most self-indulgent and excruciatingly dull moment in a video game ever. I do not want to brush my teeth, I don’t want to have to find the plates, playing with my kids is not something I wish to simulate. What is even worse is that the opening segment plays no role in the overall plot, you can spend a good half an hour opening cupboards and sitting on chairs achieving nothing… it’s frustrating. What’s worse is that the pointless actions aren’t restricted to the opening segment; you might have returned to the police station to investigate clues, but then for some reason you can sit on a desk, go for a pee, or just stare out a window. I don’t want to do this stuff; I just want to move on! Do these actions serve the plot? No, all they do is slow down the narrative. Quantic Dream should have trimmed the fat; remove the trivial interactions. I get that they were trying to make the game feel “realistic” but it just frustrates the player, nothing more.

Why are you in this?

Now that I’ve told you about the gameplay in Heavy Rain, I would like to talk about the story. I would love to discuss the games “big twist”, but really it’s kinda difficult without giving away stuff. Suffice to say, I didn’t see it coming. But that isn’t necessarily a mark in its favour, if anything it’s a quite a damning statement; one of the great qualities of a detective story is to let the viewer try to make their own connections and decisions. For the most part Heavy Rain is excellent at doing this. I played this game with my friend Chris (from the podcast) at my side and we were constantly talking and theorizing about who we thought the murder was. So when the final moments of the game came about, and the curtain was pulled back, I felt almost betrayed by the developer. Almost all the major clues that pointed at one character were discarded and replaced with new evidence to convict another. There is one major plot point in Heavy Rain that is never explained and if you try to read anything into that point you’ll definitely feel mislead by the end of the game. Not only that, but on an entirely personal note, I didn’t want that character to be the bad guy! To me it didn’t fit.

So what to make of Heavy Rain? Well, I liked it a lot. The plot is disappointing towards the end and the opening is almost a test to see how dedicated you are to the idea of an “interactive drama,” but the main bulk of the game is both interesting and enthralling. I was with my friends almost everyday insisting we push on and got to the nub of the case. One of the biggest features Heavy Rain boasts is perhaps one of my favourite; the new video game craze of displaying that actions have consequences. This is one I hope never goes out of style. I can definitely see how my decisions affected the narrative, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I made different choices throughout the game. Sadly, I haven’t had the opportunity to go back and replay some of these segments. However, for what it’s worth, I can definitely vouch that the game makes great use of its scenarios to dictate a series of consequences.

Scott Shelby is by far the most likable character in the game

Heavy Rain is a fascinating and unique experience that I recommend for those with the patience and interest for an “interactive drama”. It’s definitely a unique experience, but it’s not without its faults. Characters look great, but objects look dreadful. At best, voice acting is inconsistent; whenever a child talks you just want to cry with frustration. Additionally, the sound suffers from some glitches and will cut-out at times. It’s a shame, as the music in the game is moody and perfect for each setting. Overall, Heavy Rain may be the start of something wonderful, but it is not the peak of it. It’s a fantastic and daring concept that, ultimately, is let down by its developers focusing in the wrong areas. The next time we see a Heavy Rain-esque game we might have a more streamlined experience with more plot and, hopefully, better voice actors. I look forward to that day immensely. For now, we have this flawed master piece, this imperfect storm, this… Heavy Rain.