All PS3 Previews

Backbreaker football wants to crush you (Backbreaker)

Aug 23, 2007

Aug 23, 2007 The comedian George Carlin has a now-classic routine comparing the differences between football - a game of conquest in which the goal is to invade the enemy's territory - and baseball, a decidedly non-contact sport in which the entire point is to go "home." It's not only hilarious, it drives home a very important point: football is a vicious, violent game played by mountain-sized men who think the best plays are those that teach lessons in basic anatomy. Such as, "What color is ...

The 6 best moments in Baja (BAJA: Edge of Control)

Jun 16, 2008

If you’ve no idea what Baja is, our first preview covers the basics: it’s deserty, it’s off-roady, and it involves racing. It’s brown, with cacti, and mesas, and cloudy skies. It looks a bit like Pure, MotorStorm, Colin McRae Dirt, MX vs. ATV, and the others.

But having been done before isn’t a reason to avoid a genre – at no point in the near future do we expect Epic and Bungie to call it quits on ...

Baja - hands-on (BAJA: Edge of Control)

Apr 4, 2008

The Baja 1000 hosts some of the most hardcore off-road racing imaginable. In the marquee race, million-dollar cars battle for over 1000 miles, and each year there are reports of booby traps and spectator-created jumps and obstacles - built for their amusement. There are no closed streets - no, these madmen race through civilian traffic.

Just as Baja racing is the ultimate in off-road racing, the MX vs. ATV team is building what they'd ...

Battle Fantasia hands-on (Battle Fantasia)

Jul 2, 2008

With publisher Aksys prepared to announce a US release this weekend, we thought the time was right for a hands-on with this fantasy-themed fighter from the minds who created the Guilty Gear series. Battle Fantasia is a hodgepodge of fairytale characters living in a magical kingdom and beating the stuffing out of each other. Think of what it might be like if your favorite cutesy RPG characters had a big meeting and decided they'd rather be in a 2D face-basher like Street Fighter - that's what it's like. The sixteen fighters come straight out of a storybook, including a rabbit dressed as a wizard, a cat-girl, several sorceresses, one big, round Viking and at least one pirate. ...

Battlefield: Bad Company - updated hands-on (Battlefield: Bad Company)

May 13, 2008

With Battlefield: Bad Company, the big question is whether or not the series’ trademark multiplayer action can be translated into a single player campaign. At EA’s Spring Showcase, we got the chance to play Battlefield: Bad Company’s final single-player mission, Ghost Town and see for ourselves.

This mission is the Company’s final run at the elusive mercenary gold they’ve been chasing. As the ...

Battlefield: Bad Company (Battlefield: Bad Company)

Feb 22, 2008

While we generally lavished praise on the last Battlefield, Modern Combat, we had to admit to being slightly disappointed that the single-player game amounted to nothing more than an aperitif for the very, very tasty multiplayer main course. This has always been Battlefield’s intention though. Bad Company, on the other hand, has been built from scratch with DICE’s brand new Frostbite engine, which not only significantly ups the ...

Battlefield Bad Company - first look (Battlefield: Bad Company)

Jun 20, 2007

The newest Battlefield game doesn't seem like a Battlefield game at all. Luckily, that's exactly what its creators had in mind - something different. To begin with, this entry in the acclaimed multiplayer-focused series is much more interested in single player. Everyone knows Battlefield can handle intense online competition, which is why the makers of Bad Company are eager to prove that it can also excel at storytelling and characters. Soldiers at your control aren't generic avatars anymore. ...

First details on Bayonetta, MadWorld, and Infinite Line (Bayonetta)

May 15, 2008

Publisher Sega just delivered the first scant details on MadWorld, Infinite Line, an unnamed game, and Bayonetta, the first four projects from new developer Platinum Games Inc. And yes, new games are announced almost every day, but this is special. Why? Because Platinum Games is made up of the men who invented cutting-edge classics like Resident Evil, Okami, Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, and the mech-tacular Steel Battalion. Simply ...

First online with Katamari, Ace Combat (Beautiful Katamari)

Aug 23, 2007

Aug 23, 2007 Plenty's already been said about Ace Combat 6 and Beautiful Katamari, but until this week no one had seen a drop of full-on multiplayer action. Both games promised the feature, and had been explained through text, but now we've finally spent some quality time with two of Namco's biggest hitters. Oh, and we dabbled with Tekken 5's new online mode on the PlayStation Network, but more on that later. Being the insatiable Ace fans that we are, Fires of Liberation was our first stop. ...

Beautiful Katamari - hands-on (Beautiful Katamari)

May 25, 2007

Three years ago the world was treated to a deviously simple idea that erupted into a worldwide gaming phenomenon - roll a sticky ball over stuff until it grows so large that it usurps everything from ants to clouds to islands. Since that fateful introduction, the Katamari series has seen a new game each year and commanded a strong, faithful audience despite each release handling just like its predecessor. So what's all the excitement about then? How can people consistently go crazy about a ...

Beijing 2008 (Beijing 2008)

Apr 4, 2008

Sega snapped up the license to print mon... er, develop a game based on… well, a load of Olympic events, plainly. Beijing 2008 is set to feature no less than 35 events, including (deep breath, and in almost alphabetical order) diving, swimming, archery, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, field hockey, Judo, pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, table tennis, ...

Beowulf - first look (Beowulf: The Game)

Jul 31, 2007

Right off the bat, publisher Ubisoft's adaptation of Beowulf - based on the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film, which in turn is based on a centuries-old epic poem - commits an unpardonable sin in the eyes of literary types. You might already be familiar with the story's progression: Beowulf, a mighty Scandinavian warrior, battles and slays a man-eating monster named Grendel with his bare hands. He then beheads Grendel's vengeful, horrific mother and - finally - dies fighting a dragon some 30 years ...

Bionic Commando - hands-on (Bionic Commando (Next-Gen))

Jun 3, 2008

It's impossible to watch the robot-armed Nathan Spencer swing from crippled building to dangling highway overpass without immediately comparing his journey to Spider-Man's acrobatic stylings. Problem is, that's not a fair comparison; Spidey's all grace, agile and swift as he cartwheels between buildings without a care, whereas Nathan's bionic appendage weighs him down considerably, making each moment you spend at the apex of a swing both liberating and frightening. ...

Bionic Commando - first look (Bionic Commando (Next-Gen))

Feb 21, 2008

It's taken 20 years, but the beloved NES classic Bionic Commando is finally getting a real sequel. Whether it'll live up to the expectations that nostalgic gamers have for it is anyone's guess, but this week's Game Developer's Conference gave us a chance to see it up close. At first glance, it looks a lot like every other prettied-up, current-gen, third-person action game out there, but there's a lot of potential here, and not all of it is in ...

Bionic Commando: First look (Bionic Commando (Next-Gen))

Oct 19, 2007

Oct 19, 2007 Remember the NES Bionic Commando from the '80s? It doesn't matter, in all honesty. This next-gen update might retain the heritage (particularly the bionic arm with helpful wire attachment) and take place 10 years after the original 2D scroller, but it's a whole new game. We were treated to an extended demo of Bionic Commando in action, during a recent Capcom event, and it's looking solid. What we were shown was basically a 'proof of concept', being little more than a small ...

Bionic Commando Rearmed - hands-on (Bionic Commando Rearmed - PS3 Network)

Feb 21, 2008

For every new game concept that arrives (Gears, Lost Planet, etc.), there's usually at least one classic franchise reboot the same year. Updating lost loves like Metal Gear, Ninja Gaiden and Rygar has been extremely profitable for all involved, so it's no surprise that finally, with hardly any NES properties left to mine, Bionic Commando gets a chance to be reborn. But before we take control of a grappling-hook-armed soldier in 3D, we'll all ...

BioShock - first PS3 look (BioShock)

Jun 5, 2008

BioShock is a game about choices. Sure, it’s about how you’ll tackle those giant men in the metal diving suits (Big Daddies), but there’s more to it than that. It’s about dealing with problems however you like - with brains, brawn or a fistful of cash. It’s also about what you’ll do to become a more efficient murder-machine - whether you’ll sacrifice your looks, abandon your humanity or attack a ...

BlackSite: Area 51 (BlackSite: Area 51)

Jul 25, 2007

BlackSite: Area 51 is an amalgamation of everything we've seen a million times before. It's got aliens invading our planet. It's got beefy soldiers running around and shooting those aliens. It's even got the generic desert landscapes on which such clichéd action invariably unfolds. So why, in a holiday season packed with triple-A marquee shooters, are we still so excited to play it? The answer is buried beneath the game's testosterone-laced surface. Despite all the sci-fi military ...

BlackSite: Area 51 - updated impressions (BlackSite: Area 51)

Jul 18, 2007

Harvey Smith, famed for his work on Deus Ex, sits on the edge of the stage as if about to talk about some new theater production. In fact hes getting comfortable in a Soho cinema and talking to us about BlackSite: Area 51- the Unreal 3.0-powered squad-based shooter and increasingly distant sequel to the inexplicably popular Area 51. Astonishingly, the BlackSite team has opted to have “seamless drop-in drop-out” co-op throughout the single-player game. “At every turn co-op has ...

BlackSite: Area 51 (BlackSite: Area 51)

Jun 13, 2007

Its a breath of fresh air to see a next-gen FPS that doesnt use Modern Historys favorite bad guy - the Nazi - as rifle-fodder in war-torn Europe. What about the war thats been raging ever since little green men invaded our turf in 47? We all believed that Will Smith landed a decisive victory for mankind - as seen in political documentary Independence Day; but it seems the aliens have returned for vengenace in Midways BlackSite: Area 51. BlackSite eschews the camp of the original, going the ...