Store Detectives: 28/11/08

Hello again, and it's quite a big store update this week, so let's get going:

There's both a demo and full release for Capcom's Age of Booty. My advice is most definitely to get the demo first, because as much as the game intrigues me from what I've played, you'd need to really like it to justify the £8 price tag. But, if you feel like a gamble, there are much worse games than this on the Store. AREN'T THERE GTI CLUB? Yes, yes there are. I was willing to give the Club the benefit of the doubt at Eurogamer seeing as it was quite fun, but from reviews and the demo now available on the store, I would like to admit I was wrong (hear that women?), and in fact, the game is quite shit. There's also a Dead Space demo, which I downloaded, and which also only confirmed that I quite want this game.

Syndicate Wars is a difficult game to talk about. Before you ask, I haven't downloaded it and here's why: it's not the sort of game that ages well. Admittedly the same could be said on less of a scale for Crash Bandicoot, but Syndicate Wars, although being pretty amazing in scope and gameplay for its time (and the series still has a great plot), it doesn't hold up at all nowadays. Which is sad, because it was an awesome game. Good point: great quotes. Bad point: the story doesn't make sense because the original wasn't available for PlayStation and so isn't on the Store. Get it if you want, but my recommendation is to avoid.

To add-ons then! The LBP Chimera costume is awesome (although why its 60p more than the MotorStorm one, I don't understand) and if wandering around with a giant turkey on your head is your thing then go ahead and grab this weeks freebie too. No other content for any of the games we have this week, my copy of FarCry is only borrowed, but for the amount of stuff in the expansion, it seems well worth it. And did anyone genuinely buy G1 Jockey 4? Why is there even a 4?

Oh, guess what? This week's Tomb Raider video is still shit. And the fact it is labeled "Enemies #1" scares me into thinking there'll be more next week. I'm pretty sure everyone that wants the game now has it, although with the amount of 360+Underworld advertising going around, I don't even know if people are aware its out on PS3. The two Resistance videos (one the regular TV spot, and one a new action trailer) really sum up the atmosphere of the new game in comparison to the old. Basically, less British. As much as I loved the original, the sequel seems a bit generic in amongst all the new and interesting games this month, maybe I'll pick it up later on. The Naruto trailer interests me even less - it looks just like all the other anime-based games around.

Oh Shoot, why must you ruin it so quickly? After a fantastic film last week, this weeks (by a Frenchman - double gah) is pretty rubbishy. Here's hoping for next week eh? Oh and the HVB theme is ugly as sin. Don't Sony realize people only use nice-looking themes?

PSP-wise there's the marvelous LocoRoco 2, continuing Sony's promised streak of Store-released new games, and Super Stardust Portable also appeared earlier this week.

Okay...so this week my recommendations are: the two LBP costumes of you have that game (if not, why not?), the FarCry content if you've got that, the Dead Space and Age of Booty demos, Resistance action trailer, and if you've got a PSP, both of the new full game releases.

Eurogamer Expo: Crash Commando

It seems a little blasphemous to be sitting here typing up a hands-on for Crash Commando with that bulking header staring at me, since before the day I sat down to play it, I had not heard of the game. I don't know whether that was coincidence or there just wasn't much news on it beforehand, but besides perhaps a brief mumbling mention of the name in passing by some speech impedimented traveller, I was none the wiser.

Which is why I left the booth feeling pleasantly surprised. I'm one always up for a quick, frantic shoot-em-up of any kind, one that doesn't take months to master and Crash Commando fit that niche perfectly (as you can see in the video embedded below, my utter astonishment when I accidentally complete a mission within seconds; deceptively simple at first).

In the demo I braved, I took control of an anonymous guy, donned in anonymous gear, equipped with an anonymous gun. I was then prompted to kill other anonymous guys (okay, perhaps not anonymous, but names like 'Steve' and 'Brian' didn't exactly tell me much about their characters, and they didn't seem to be the most interesting guys anyway), and by prompting, I mean I was shot at and had to therefore try not to die. Gameplay is established on a 2D plane, where you run left and right, with the capabilities to fire in a 360 degree area, leaving no man safe. Guns are plentiful (if a little overpowerful) and it's nice to see that vehicles like tanks and jeeps have been added to, though in some cases are stuck on rails.

The only real twist is that there are essentially 2 battlefields on a single map, back-to-back, like two sides of a piece of paper, where switching between the two is a simple as walking through a door. Not much of a twist, but it's enough, as this ends in classic moments with people trying to escape their predator momentarily, only later to be cornered at the other end of the map by the same guy, but in a tank. Good times.


As I said, this game pleasantly surprised me. It's a buy for me at least, and when it comes out (there's no official release date) on the PSN, I guess we'll find out how much the online community (oh yes, online multiplayer) fares against my unstoppable beginners luck!

AW