Thursday, August 30, 2007

Valkyrie of the Battlefield: New Screenshots & Scans


Here, we have some new images of the PlayStation 3 title, Valkyrie of the Battlefield. The style in the game looks like it's from an anime or a manga. All in all, this looks like a great game, enjoy the screenshots.



We also are lucky enough to have two new scans of the game straight from Famitsu:



Heres some background information on the game. The main character is the brave, yet not very soldier-like platoon commander Welkin Gunter, with platoon member Alicia Melkiott being the game's female lead. The duo finds itself in the middle of the Second European War between the Empire and the Federation. The story of this war, which has engulfed the whole of Europe, is being told from Welkin's perspective.

System-wise, Valkyrie of the Battlefield combines third person shooting and strategy RPG elements. In command mode, players will watch a map and then decide how to proceed, whereas in action mode they will have direct control over their characters. Each character has a certain amount of Action Points (AP) assigned to him or her. These AP are required to move around and execute commands.

[Via NeoGAF]

Lair Is On Sale Now!

Despite it's September 4 release, the anticipated PlayStation 3 title, Lair is now on Sale. EBGames and GameStop managers have received e-mails to put the game on sale, such as other multiple sources. I called up my local Game Planet (open till 11 due to feast) and they also had Lair in stock.

If you get the game, drop by onAXIS and give us a quick review, lets hear what you got to say, because the reviews have been going up and down.

[Via PS3Forums]

IGN: Lair Scores a 4.9/10

IGN reviewed Lair today. They gave it a 4.9/10 with the opening headline of "Look up in the sky -- it's a SIXAXIS suckfest!". I'm not too disappointed, I wasn't really looking forward to the game, I will try out the demo when it is released though. Heres their starting:

It was somewhere in the neighborhood of my fourth pass over a bridge filled with two warring factions and a bunch of evil rhinos that I went from thinking Lair wasn't that bad to wondering if Lucifer himself pressed this Blu-ray disc in the pits of hell.
Read the rest at the read link.

[Read Lair Review]

US PlayStation Store Update August 30, 2007

Wow, this seems to be the biggest update we've received yet. Check out the newest content we received.

Games
  • Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix ($9.99) w/ demo
Add-Ons
  • Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online ($9.99; with game $29.99)
Demo
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 (free)
  • All-Pro Football 2K8 (free)
  • NASCAR '08 (free)
Video
  • Heavenly Sword "Episode Four: The Sound of Combat" making-of video (free)
  • Heavenly Sword "Episode Four: The Divine Birth" animation (free)
Trailers
  • Folklore "Surviving the Netherworld" (free)
  • Clive Barker's Jericho (free)
  • Beowulf (free)
  • Bee Movie (free)
Seems like a great update to me. But where is skate and Stranglehold?

[Via PS3Fanboy]

1UP: Heavenly Sword Scores 8/10

1UP has reviewed Heavenly Sword and has given it an 8/10. They start off their review:

If you were to look at Heavenly Sword in a series of glimpses -- or, say, videos that appeared online prerelease -- you'd be forgiven for not knowing exactly what kind of game it is. Clearly, it's "action" and features a lot of fighting, but is it a God of War clone? Is it a Dynasty Warriors clone? A Sniper Elite clone? In short, yes. But the long answer is a little more complex....
Read the full review at the link.

[Read Heavenly Sword Review]

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix in Today's US Update

Loot-Ninja received a press release today confirmed Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is being released PlayStation Store today:

"Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo® HD Remix is now available on PLAYSTATION®Network for $10.00. One of the most addictive games of all time has just gotten better! Capcom’s incredibly popular puzzle game is updated for the new generation with newly created 1080p HD graphics, several new games modes, improved game balance, new stage background courtesy of Udon Entertainment, online play and more.

In Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, players compete in intense versus battles of wit and speed. As a linked pair of gems descends from the top of the screen, players move and rotate them to form groups and piles of the same color. By destroying these groups of gems with either a crash or rainbow gem, players can send counter gems to fall onto their hapless rival. When the opponent’s screen is filled up and no more moves are available, the player wins the game."
[Via Loot-Ninja]

Mafia vs. Mafia II Graphics Comparison

German PC Gaming site, PCGames.de compared the graphics of Mafia and Mafia II. See how far the graphics of Mafia has evolved since 2002. If you ask me, the evolved very much.



[Via PCGames.de]

IGN: Haze Co-Op Driving Hands-on

IGN has a hands on of the Haze Co-Op Driving where one guy drives, one guy kills. They start off the hands-on with this:

Part of Haze's appeal lies in the game's drop-in, drop-out 4-player campaign play. On the Quarry level (squished in between the Mantel and Rebel sections of the demo), this was best demonstrated with the two Trooper Carriers situated in the opening bay area of the level. Free Radical, the game's developer (and masterful team behind the Timesplitters series) have taken the right approach to what is essentially cooperative multiplayer mayhem in a story-driven mission.
Read the rest at the read link below.

[Via IGN]

Japan PlayStation Store Update for August 30, 2007

Well, today Japan received their update. They got 14 new PSone games. Here is the list of content they received:

PSone Games
  • Ape Escape
  • Athena –Awakening From The Ordinary Life-
  • ECHO NIGHT
  • Crash Bandicoot 2
  • Gakkou de Atta Kowai Hanashi S
  • King's Field 2
  • Major Wave Series : The Conveni 2
  • Major Wave Series Arcade Hits: Sonic Wings Special
  • Memorial * Series: Sunsoft Vol. 2: Route-16 Turbo & Atlantis no Nazo
  • Ore no Ryouri
  • Prismaticallization
  • Sanyo Pachinko Paradise 5
  • Shinsou Kaiten: Wanwan Umi Monogatari: Sanyo Pachinko Paradise DX
  • WipEout
Downloadable Content
  • Ninja Gaiden Survival Mode
  • Folksole DLC
  • My Summer Vacation DLC
Thats their update, pretty good one I must say. Why don't we ever get any PSone games?

[View PSone Game Screens]

Newest OPM Scores October 2007

We have the latest Official PlayStation Magazine UK scores here thanks to NeoGAF:

PS3 Reviews
Lair - 6
Heavenly Sword - 7
Stuntman Ignition - 7
Stranglehold - 8
Singstar PS3 - 9
Warhawk - 9
Colin McRae Dirt - 8
NASCAR 08 - 4
All-Pro Football 2k8 - 7
NCAA Football 08 - 8
Gauntlet II PSN - 2

PSP Reviews
Crazy Taxi Fare Wars - 7
Worms Open Warfare 2 - 8
Tony Hawks Project 8 - 7
PQ2 Practical Intelligence Quotient - 6
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 - 7
Final Armada - 2

PS2 Reviews
Singstar 90s - 7
Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s - 7
Obscure II - 6
Premier Manager 08 - 3
Seems like Lair & Heavenly Sword have been canned again. The reviews we've been seeing for these two games have really been going up and down, right? But look at that, SingStar on the PlayStation 3 received a 9/10. Thats amazing. I'm looking forward to this, as long as it has rap.

[Via NeoGAF]

Square Enix: No Kingdom Hearts PSP for Now

Lately it seems everyone has been about Petitions, whether it was Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil, or this new one. One petition is about getting a Kingdom Hearts title on the PlayStation Portable, Square Enix responded.

According to petitioner Rafael Bernard, he sent Square Enix an email the other day and pointed out to the company the online petition he started. Currently, the total number of signatories is around 1,700 but Bernard mentioned that he is planning to gather some 18,000 more. He got a reply from a Square Enix representative:

Our parent company, Square Enix of Japan, has no current plans to create a sequel to Kingdom Hearts at this time. This is not to say that it will never happen, it's just that their development teams are currently focusing on numerous other projects, Namely Final Fantasy: Crisis Core and a few others.
Just on another Kingdom Hearts note, at this years Tokyo Game Show, Tetsuya Nomura will be revealing the next Kingdom Hearts.

[Via DCEmu]

Killzone 2 to Have Extensive Multiplayer Features

Killzone 2, a much anticipated upcoming PlayStation 3 title, has been in development for nearly three years. Killzone games have been released on the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable and were very successful. What does that mean? Killzone 2 has a lot to live up to.

Mathijs De Jonge, Killzone 2's director confirmed today that Killzone 2 is going to be getting multiplayer features. They were very secretive about it for a while.

For those of you who want co-op may be sad to hear this "Co-op we're not talking about at the moment. We will have extensive multiplayer features. We're saving that for later". Just kidding, he said at the moment, so it's probably going to come.

As of now, there is no definite release date for Killzone 2, all we know is it is just coming sometime in 2008.

[Via QJ.NET]

Warhawk Now Released In Europe

Warhawk is now available to download on the European PlayStation Store and retailers. The price is £19.99 and it is 798MB in size. So if your reading this in Europe, stop reading, and go play some Warhawk!

[Via PlayStation Store]

PlayTV Gets Estimated Price in Europe

In the latest issue of UK's Official PlayStation Magazine, gamers are given an estimate of the price you need to pay to get one of these nifty PlayTVs.

'While you could easily sink £60 - 100 each on a Freeview receiver, PVR and Sling Box, the rumour is that Play TV will cost around £70'
[Via TechDigest]

EuroGamer Reviews Warhawk 8/10

EuroGamer has reviewed Warhawk and has given it an 8/10, not bad, not bad at all. They start off their review with:

Let's be honest here. WarHawk owes more than a small debt to Electronic Arts' supreme Battlefield series, its premise being very simple: get a large bunch of gamers into a huge virtual warzone, give them a range of weapons, vehicles and bases and essentially let them blast the living daylights out of each other. Sure, there's a whiff of strategy about it, and a well-organised unit is going to wipe the floor with a bunch of out-for-themselves mercenaries, but the core experience is very similar. It's all about the experience of being one man caught in the middle of all-out carnage.
Read the full review at the link.

[Read Warhawk Review]

New Japanese Lair Trailer

Heres another trailer for Lair, this one being Japanese. Factor 5's Rise of Lair (Japanese Lair title) is looking pretty good in this CG video. But we need gameplay, thats where it's all at. Enjoy the video.

[Via GameTrailers]

CVG Reviews Warhawk 9/10

"PS3's best online game is a bargain price essential" is how CVG starts the review. They reviewed the game at a 9/10. They had no downs, just ups:
Some of PS3's best graphics
Enormous levels
Loads of customisation options
There final verdict was "
Overall The perfect showcase for the PlayStation Network. Rich, rewarding and exciting." To read the full review, visit the read link.

[Via CVG]