All PS2 Previews

Obscure II hands-on (Obscure: The Aftermath)

May 9, 2007

Survival horror can be a lot of hard work, especially when there's no light relief to break up the gore-filled barrage of trouser-filling frights. So just as the movie world has Scream and The Faculty to have fun with the formula, so gaming has Obscure - and we've been given hands-on access to a nearly finished PS2 build of its sequel, Obscure II. The game's unique in that its co-operative two-player mode runs for the entire game. We were impressed with the sheer number of dialogue lines as ...

Okami hands-on (Okami)

Aug 16, 2006

Some games, like Shadow of the Colossus or Ocarina of Time, have that intangible "something" that makes them more than just a bunch of polygons thrown up on a screen by a wheezing plastic box. Add one more game to that list. In our eight transcendent hours with Okami, we're already convinced this water-colored adventure will rank among the most unique, beloved fables on the PS2. Okami will affect your life. But this gushing praise wasn't our first impression. You're awoken as a goddess that's ...

Okami impressions (Okami)

Jul 19, 2006

Capcom stopped by yesterday to give us another taste of Okami, its stunning-looking Zelda -style adventure game for the PlayStation 2. We've already covered the general gameplay elements and story (you're a goddess in the form of a wolf, trying to bring back life to a world soaked in darkness), but this time, we were able to get a better look at one of the game's most potentially exciting facets: its boss ...

Okami (Okami)

Apr 13, 2006

Thursday 13 April 2006 We're hungry like the wolf for exciting, original ideas and Okami is one of the most exciting and original PS2 games since Killer 7. Originally announced almost a year ago, Okami's unique visual flair and brilliantly bizarre world is now well on its way to hitting PS2 in the autumn, so we got our hands dirty with an early version of this brilliant-looking title. In Okami you play a wolfish embodiment of Amaterasu, an immensely powerful sun god. A legendary and ruthless ...

Okami (Okami)

Mar 13, 2006

A few years back saw the dawn of cartoon-like cel-shading, which was as nifty as it was soon overused. Now, Capcom is pushing gaming's visual boundaries once again with Okami, a beautiful game that resembles "sumi-e," an ancient Japanese art form. It's one of those cases where we didn't know we wanted something until we saw it, and now we really, really want it. Okami means "wolf" in Japanese, and so you play the role of a white canine who's actually the earthly incarnation of the sun god ...

One Piece: Grand Adventure hands-on (One Piece: Grand Adventure)

Aug 11, 2006

The comic has driven Japan mental for almost a decade. The show has ping-ponged around the US cable networks as the comic is published in the nation's most popular anthology, Shonen Jump. But the bizarre saga of the Straw Hat Pirates... well, maybe it should be played to be believed. For those who've somehow avoided the phenomenon, One Piece is a long-running series that takes place in a steampunk-style world of endless oceans. The Age of Piracy is at its peak, and One Piece follows the ...

Pre-E3 06: One Piece: Grand Adventure (One Piece: Grand Adventure)

May 9, 2006

Pretty soon, you'll be able to play the entire Cartoon Network lineup of new-to-America anime. Granted, many of these games aren't too hot (Inuyasha, for one), but the last One Piece game surprised us all by being a mindless-but-fun pirate ...

One Piece: Pirates' Carnival (One Piece: Pirates' Carnival)

Apr 10, 2006

One Piece must be a charmed series. Most anime-based games rely so heavily on their source material to make them interesting that anyone who doesn't, say, fall asleep clutching a life-size Inuyasha pillow will be clawing their eyes out within moments. Not so with last year's fun fighter One Piece Grand Battle, and the same is holding true with Pirates' Carnival. Its screwed up cast and simple minigames should appeal to just about anyone who can stand the idea of sitting down in front of a ...

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams (Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams)

Feb 24, 2006

Capcom once swore up and down that the Onimusha series would end with the third installment, but that didn't stop it from blatantly setting up a sequel at the end of Onimusha 3. And sure enough, it's not even two years later and we're only weeks away from the release of Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams. In a sense, though, Onimusha as we knew it has ended. None of the old characters are coming back for the sequel (at least not in playable form), and the old "samurai Resident Evil" approach has finally ...

OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast)

Apr 14, 2006

You won't find any metal-munching car wrecks or realistic control in OutRun 2006 Coast to Coast. Hell, there isn't even a reason why one track bleeds into the next - it just does. You'll go from the pyramids to San Francisco to Easter Island in just under six minutes. Thing is, there's so much burning rubber in between each of those stops that you won't even notice how little sense they ...

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast)

Mar 9, 2006

Sick of the relentless realism, turbine-upgrading and constant bodywork-pimping of current racers? Are you eager for a nostalgia trip, free from lame decals and tacky spoilers? Then keep your eyes peeled for OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. Blue skies, palm trees and the most arcade-style handling you've ever experienced await in OutRun 2006. Going back to glorious basics, accelerator and brake buttons are all you need. Forget handbrake turns, crash-breakers and ramps that have you flying through ...

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast)

Feb 23, 2006

Sick of the relentless realism, upgrading turbines and constant bodywork-pimping of current racers? Fancy a nostalgia trip, free from naff decals and tacky spoilers? Then keep your eyes peeled for this - another OutRun game for the current generation. Blue skies, palm trees and the most arcade-style handling you've ever experienced await in OutRun 2006. Going back to glorious basics, accelerator and brake buttons are all you need. Forget handbrake turns, crash-breakers and ramps that have you ...

Over the Hedge (Over the Hedge )

Apr 21, 2006

We've been manipulating furry little critters in video games for years, so how come playing third-person platform actioner Over the Hedge didn't hit us as an exercise in boredom? The short answer: multiplayer. The slightly longer answer: a decent sense of humor. Over the Hedge takes its characters from an upcoming Dreamworks animated feature (code for "kiddie cartoon") in which a bunch of woodland creatures mount an assault on suburbia. As you can imagine, the idea is that hilarity then ...