First 5! Dynasty Warrior: Strikeforce

How do you review a game such as this which has a few incarnation in the past and has yet to change its concept after so long? I am at my wits end when I thought of the idea that there is another Dynasty Warrior game that is coming out.

But funny thing is, they changed this particular game concept. Well it still have the similar hack and slash everything that you see but this one is a bit akin to ARPG such as Monster Hunter. In fact, veteran of MH will see the similarity of both games in term of concept but every other similarity ends there.

Gameplay

Its Hack and Its Slash.

Dynasty Warrior is well known not for its elaborate text and storyline or its complicated strategy and abundance of planning of every step. Dynasty Warrior is  a game of hack the first guy you see, slash the second unfortunate fellow standing behind him.

True to its nature since the dawn of its time, Strikeforce's immediate gameplay did not change but there are significant improvement done to the game. Instead of getting handed with big weapons drop and ability to purchase bigger badder weapons, Strikeforce tweaked it into making and customizing your own weapons.

Want a brand new twin blade? You got to collect a set of materials dropped by enemy or found throught the map which can then be used to create new weapons.Want your attack to hold more damage then hack and slash? You gotta buy orbs which can be equipped to your leg or hands, transforming your attack to add extra damage. You can also equip orbs to make you jump higher, move faster and various other things. This gives you a lot of customizable moves based on your preference!

Now then, the second coolest thing has got to be the "Awakened" form. While fighting, you will slowly collct fury which will is below the life gauge, once it is filled, you can trigger your "Awakened" form which allows you to go Super Saiya! In this form, your fury bar will slowly deplete and your damage will be higher, you can also activate musou attack which deals devastating attack to whichever unfortunate soul infront of u.

Then there is the weapons, each character can equip 2 set of weapons. Pressing O will trigger weapon change, your type of attack also changes on the type of weapon you use. To put it generally, you can forget what Dynasty Warrior used to be and concentrate on the fact that Strikeforce is something brand new.

Did I also mention that the bosses are no pushover? The final boss of Chapter 1 has me panting by the end of the fight due to the sheer amount of craziness attack they had over you and the amount of air battle that goes on. This brings me to a problem that Strikeforce has. The camera. It sucks.

Half the time you have no idea where the hell the attack is coming from due to the bad camera angle. The only saviour for this problem its the map function that pin point exactly where the enemy are. Without that, you will have a hard time knowing where the hell the fellow you are supposed to kill is located.

Graphic

The graphic is in one word, fairy tale like. Its very pretty and has a twinge of misty effect to it, masking part of the area that might look pixelated while turning the game into the right atmosphere for the era.Beyond that, I have absolutely no idea what to say about the graphic. Its erm... Cool?

Conclusion

 This game is set to be one of the best game available in the market for PSP now, if you have loved monster hunter or loved hack and slash, get it. It is worth buying. It is very worth buying. With its mistified graphic,customizable attack type character, level based play style. Dynasty Warrior: Strikeforce is set to be in your PSP for a long time.

P/S: Did I mention that there will not be any partner available to back you up in a fight? Your only option is going multiplayer if you need help. This of course makes it more fun to play as a game are made more enjoyable with friends curses and laughter while slashing your way through history. 

Get your copy of Dynasty Warrior: Strikeforce for only US$ 44.90 at over HERE

-Because I Can-

2 PSP game for Super Bargain Price

If you like DJ MAX portable or those rhythm based game, you might want to purchase this game called Pump It Up EXCEED Portable + Pump It Up Zero Portable Bundle. The game revolves around dancing and basically has the same mechanism as any other rhythm game that you have seen or played.

Available at only USD19.90 for 2 games, you might want to purchase this!

More purchase information available HERE

-Because I Can-

Review: God Of War Chain of Olympus

Well, this is more of a review of the DEMO for GOW. Chain of Olympus. The demo session last only for 2 mini bosses but enough to get you heat up on whats coming soon in March this year and after only 2 minute of this demo, I can't wait for the real deal to come out.

The fighting is resorted to only 3 buttons, there is light attack which you can combo endlessly, heavy attack which can only combo a few times, grab where you grab onto your opponent and shred him to pieces and lastly the jump button. Simple and easy.

The graphic is not half bad, granted you can see that the graphic is stressing the limit of PSP to the edge by being shredded on certain aspect, to counter that there is a certain hazey feel to it is added onto the graphic, making the graphic and scene slightly blurry. Which in certain aspect is a refreshing things to see. Anyway, There is not really much things to judge for this game except for the fact that it is SUPERB in demo.

What we can do now and wait for the game to launch in march. Together with Crisis Core.. Hoo boy.. that month is going to be painful..

Do make your preorder now at HERE

-Because I Can-

Review: Wipeout Pulse

So, Wipeout.. After hearing so much about it, how futuristic the race it, the break neck speed and the killer power ups, I finally got my chance of playing the Wipeout series last week. But how do I define the series then? Well, let me put it in this terms. Playing Wipeout for the first time is like given the key for a Jet fighter with no instruction booklet while your commander pats you on the back and says,"Don't worry, there is an eject button somewhere in there. So go crazy"

My first 15 minutes of Wipeout is mayhem,crash and burn race. I had absolutely no idea how to break, use power ups, absorbs power up or even turn sharp corners! The break neck speed on where you are going does not exactly help either but 15 mins later I manage to find the break button, find out how to turn sharp corners and absorbs power. Winning though is a totally different matter altogether.

You starts off the race at always the position of number 8 (last) even though on by the 3rd lap you would still be on the last position, a proper speed and boost at the right amount would propel you to the 1st position. This of course apply the same to the AI where they can unexpectedly zoom by you in the matter of seconds! The tracks are designed with curves and turns where the first few time you are running through it you would be embracing the wall as if you have missed a long lost lover, kissing the wall every few yard and going straight into their embrace. So worry not if you would have to go through a track more times than you can count.

I have to admit though, most of the time I have been ignoring the sound track while I concentrate my best to steer clear off the walls embrace and keeping myself centered onto the track. One of those rare moments when I can actually listen to the soundtrack, I am bombarded with techno musics which hypes up all the futuristic race feeling. Granted, if you prefer Mozart while racing, Wipeout Pulse allows you to play your own tune from your memory card.

To advance to the next level, Wipeout Pulse comes in a grid system which is in the form of hexagonal beehive kind of thing. By playing through one grid, you will unlock the next adjacent grid and so on and hence forth eventually unlocking the whole grid. Each grid features different type of race, there is the time trial, zone (where you need to stay alive as long as possible while the speed increases slowly), tournament and the age old Elimination which takes the meaning Wipeout to the next level. In normal elimination level on every other racing game, the last racer in every track is kicked out. In Pulse, elimination requires you to wipeout the other racer using the power-up provided in track. Death Match on Track! Cool eh?

Wipeout Pulse takes on a whole new meaning of futuristic racing for those that are not familiar with this series, it reaches into your brain and gently squishes all thoughts out of you as you concentrate and let your instinct guides you through the next level. Turns and hairpins are abundance as you try your best to remember which turns are best taken without break and which turns ends with a straight strip where you can speed up and overtake everybody else. For those that love racing this is one racing game that you should not miss. The graphics are superb but does not really matter when you are trying your best to steer clear off the walls, the music gets your heart pumping and the AI try their best to outrun and eliminate you.

Truly, Wipeout Pulse is an experience to behold.

To purchase Wipeout Pulse, head to HERE

-Because I Can-

Diner Dash DS and PSP Preview!

It's been a while since I last posted eh? Well a lot of crap happened since a week ago. First off, I went for a vacation at Cameron Highland. A superbly beautiful place! That is if you want to get away from modern life and also join in on some flower sniffing. I took a huge amount of picture that I wont be posting here due to the fact that this site is supposed to be a gaming blog. Although I only cover DS games :P

That aside, lets get back on track. There is a few things I want to highlight but today I will highlight this first. Diner Dash! Diner Dash first emerged in 2004 in the form of downloadable games published by PlayFirst. Diner Dash was so succesfull, It was ported to cel phone, retail, online and now, PSP, GBA and NDS!

The focus of our topic today is Diner Dash NDS version. I played it and boy do I love it. The game is a simple mechanism where you are supposed to control Flo the main character of the game to Order,Serve,Clean and take care of a restaurant. Its a simple no brainer game, but thats where the beauty lies in. As the game progress further and further the customer that Flo tend to starts to overflow and each customer has different type of personality. Some wants their service fast, some don't mind doing it nice and slow while some might create trouble for you.

As simple as this sounds, the game is superbly addictive. I played the Online version of Diner Dash before and I loved it. Now that Diner Dash is here in DS, you bet I will be running my restaurant while on the run :D

Diner Dash DS can be found HERE as Pre-Order

Diner Dash PSP can be found HERE as Pre-Order too!