Playstation 3

Why I Like Single Player Games

My brother has almost exclusively played sports games in the last decade, although recently he has started playing other kinds. A couple weeks ago he bought Call of Duty: Black Ops, and after playing a few story missions he’s been pretty exclusively playing the online with his friends. There’s nothing wrong with this, but he made a comment I disagreed with, to the effect that playing with your friends is much better than single player. I’ve seen even more extreme versions of this idea in posts on the Internet, going so far as to say even including an offline component in an online-focused game like Call of Duty is pointless. I’m not actually worried about developers abandoning single player modes in games in the future, but I thought I’d explain why I think it’s an important part of gaming and why I like them so much.

Store and PSN Releases For The Week Of 23/11/10

Without any doubt this weeks’ PS3 chart will be dominated by the release of Gran Turismo 5. For those who may have been living under a rock for the last five or so years, the constant delays for the releasing of GT5 only seem to have increased the anticipation for this huge and deep racing sim. Other than GT5, the stand alone Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Collection should be worth picking up for anyone who enjoyed Ded Dead, or has a love for all things Zombie related.

“Stock Up for Winter Sale” On PSN

Sony are gearing up for the holiday season with a week long sale on the Playstation Network. Their “Stock Up for Winter Sale” is available from November 23 through to November 29, and has some surprisingly good deals

Sony Announces LittleBigPlanet Spin-Off

A new stand-alone LittleBigPlanet game has been announced for PSN. Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves will be a 10 level game with a dinosaur theme. It will play in a similar way to the platform style of the original full game, will be set in a tropical jungle, and will have the player dodging erupting volcanoes and other environmental hazards.

Portal 2 Delayed Yet Again!

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood PS3 Review

The first Assassin’s Creed was an ambitious experiment from Ubisoft that divided gamers. The game granted players unparalleled access to their environment, but conversely restricted the actual gameplay to a handful of restrictive mission types. Two years later, the second game in the series released and ruthlessly eliminated many of the issues that plagued the original release. Better in almost every conceivable way, Assassin’s Creed 2 was a huge leap forward for the franchise that set the bar for action games just a little bit higher. Now, only a year later, Ubisoft has released a third Assassin’s Creed game. Does Brotherhood mark another step forward for the franchise, or is it content to tread water?
Honestly, the answer is a little bit of both. While there are many facets of Brotherhood that feel progressive and unique, the core of the game still revolves around taking missions from various NPCs, building up your city with merchants and brothels, and of course assassinating the bad guys. These pillars of gameplay feel almost the same as they did in AC2, but Brotherhood skirts any feelings of repetition by executing its set pieces on a much grander scale. The opening missions of the game, for example, introduce the combat and horse riding mechanics against the backdrop of a frantic siege. This focus on grand action complements the social-stealth gameplay of past games surprisingly well, and it goes a long way towards making Brotherhood feel as much like an interactive movie as a video game.

Prince of Persia Trilogy Coming to PSN

Prince of Persia Trilogy, which is a compilation of three Prince of Persia games originally from the PS2, will be coming to PSN in the U.S. The three games included will be Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. All three titles will be reworked in HD with improved textures.