PS3: Valkyria Chronicles Review

Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical strategy RPG set in a conflict setting which resembles Europe. It was released on 24 April 2008 in Japan. Europe and US versions follow after it on 31 October 2008 and 4 November 2008 respectively.

You play as Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, son of a previous war hero. As Welkin you are in command of squad 7 of the militia through varies mission setting from thick jungles to the harsh desert wasteland.

The game looks gorgous with SEGA shader technique that makes CG movies look like it was a water painted scene with ingame graphics using Cell-shading.

Valkyria Chronicles manages to combine turn-based strategy elements with real-time gameplay into the combat system. Missions move in rounds and player and enemy takes turns to control their units. Apart from that you have to control the units yourself, for instance as a sniper you would have to aim for a head shot to ensure maximum effectiveness.

The strong points of this game is gameplay and the character involvement. Many of the dialogues are voice over, and you can choose to have japanese voice over with english subtitles.

The weak points of this game has to be that the story moves very slowly, and it may sometimes feel like a drag. However, the story is amazing storyline with some twist.

I am not a big fan of turn-based strategy RPG as they are usually slow, but Valkyria Chronicles kept me hooked till the end. It is probably one of the best strategy RPG I have ever played.

Final score: 9/10

PS3: Killzone 2 Review

The long awaited sequel to the first Killzone is now out on the PS3.

Story 9/10

Killzone 2 continues the story from the initial Killzone from the PS2 and Killzone: Liberation on the PSP. You play as Sergent Sev and now you take the fight to the home planet of the Helghast, Helghan. I played through this game without prior knowleadge of the Killzone background. It is not a relatively complicated story to understand. Two faction, different agenda, War… The campaign will take you about a solid 7 hours with the ability to choose difficulties.

Gameplay 8/10

Killzone 2 follow traditional FPS game controls and mechanics. Mainly you regenerate your health when you get hurt similar to Call of Duty series. Although the controls may need to be get used to, it will easy into you. If you love COD4, you will probably love killzone 2. I have some issues when playing the single player due to the abilty to take cover but you will get used to it.

Graphics 10/10

Killzone 2 is one of the best looking games on the PS3. Not just in terms of the overall appearance, but also the attention to details in the environments. Smoke particles from rockets, character details and animation are photo realistic.

Sound 9/10

There are variety of weapons in Killzone 2. All of them sound great and provides the rush. My favourite sound in the game has to be the *beep* sound when you killed an enemy in an online game.

Final Note 9/10

Killzone 2 will stay with me for awhile. It is somewhat disappointing that the campaign has no coop feature. After completing the campaign, I have been spending alot of time online unlocking the badges. There are thoughts of adding vehicles in the online mode, so look forward to that.

PS3: Bioshock Review

After a year of the original release of Bioshock, it has finally been release on the PS3. The game takes place around the 1940s at an underwater city called Rapture.

Story 9/10

The story in Bioshock is dark and twisted. It is perhaps the reason I would recommend others to play it. The story will play with your emotions and makes you think about your every action in the game as there may be consequences later in the game. The game has alternate endings based on the players’ choices made during the game.

Gameplay 8/10

This is not your usual first-person shooter game. The pace is much more slower as it tries to involve the player in a journey of discovery. It was an awesome journey for me to uncover the history of Rapture and what actually happen to this underwater city. There are elements of RPG where you can manage your character’s growth.

Sound 9/10

Audio in the game complements the theme well. From the different cries of the splicers to the roaring of the Big Daddy, with the Little Sisters childish voice singing is great.

Overall 9/10

Bioshock provides a good single player experience that should not be missed. Storytelling and audio is the strong point of this game and it will leave you thinking about your morality of your choices. Good experience playing it.

IAP end, FYP start

My attachment has ended. Starting next week will be Final Year Project (FYP). My IAP was between 1st September 2008 to 21 November 2008.

Another event I was fortunate to attend during IAP was iPhone Tech Talk World Tour Singapore. It is a whole day conference on the different aspect related to iPhone. There are talks for programmers and designers alight.

I have bought a few games recently and I put up a review in due time. Anyway, tomorrow is back to campus day.

GCA 2008

GCA2008 – 18 – 20 September 2008

Day1:

I went to suntect around after lunch time. Went to managed the company’s booth which was in the business section. I walked around the public area for awhile throughout the day and played a few games. I was definitely interested on the recently released Star Wars: The Forece Unleashed.

At evening, we attended a dinner at Param Hotel. I talked with Mr Robin who used to teach me my Game Engine module while I was in semester. I receive some more insights on the current situation on the game industry especially in Singapore. Later I talked with Mr Choo, a business associate of Mr Robin. I learnt quite a few things just by listening from him. He provided some ways on how to proceed from where I am now.

Day 2:

I went to the GCA for the second day. I did a presentation on a project I am currently working on. I watched the rockband competition which was being held.

Day 3:

Went to GCA on the third day with poly classmates. The main attraction was the cosplay. Me and three others sign up for the rockband competiton on stage.

Overall It was interesting to see the different things going on the event. I wished I had attended more of the conference that was being held. I believe it was informative.

Industrial Attachment Programme

I am assigned to Personae Studios LLP for my IAP. A studio that have been working on iphone games and application. My IAP will be from 1 September 2008 to 21 November 2008.

Speeding Dolphin

This game is an improved version of LRM but with a ocean theme. There is some form of level design but does not include a graphical level editor. This game was completed on 6 August 2008, using actionscript 3.0. Sprites are credited to spriter resource web site.

Web Games 3

Currently working on my third web games. This game will be based on my previous game engine “LRM”. Improving be made on UI and packaging. Working screenshots will be up soon.

LRM – Web Game

A left to right dodge flying side-scroller game. Dodge the enemy to reach the boss at the end of the stage. The player controls a missile through wireless. Getting hit by the enemy ships will cause a virus within the system and it will become harder to see the screen as it will be filled with a red marker. I am to come up with a side-scroller game. This game idea was not the original plan however the game idea was scrapped due to time constraint.

Duration: 4 weeks

Rez – Web Base Game

Navigate the red box collecting the yellow circles while avoiding the blue circles. Reach the green tile to clear the level. Hitting the enemy will resets the player the starting point (yellow tile). This is my first attempt in using actionscript3 to create a game. I think it came out quite well with all the features I had planned to include like collision and tile maps.

Duration: 3 weeks