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Took me a while to get my hands on the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum on PSN as I kept on getting error when trying to download it. So I finally managed to get it and I was excited, because this game might actually be a comic-movie-cartoon video game that will not disappoint, unlike the rest of the movie games (ahem….G.I. Joe anyone?). So is Batman: Arkham Asylum worth buying?

I have mix reactions actually because the demo is rather short, you can easily finish it within 15-20 minutes, if not shorter. Then again it is not a race and you are suppose to appreciate the game by walking around, flying around with your trusty grapple hook. And due to the length of the demo, I’m not sure if I will get bored of some of the features of this game or not. For one the combat system is….ok, animations are smooth but nothing amazing, in my opinion. You basically throw punches, counter your enemies and try to knock them down for good. While hanging upside down or using the glide kick to take out your enemies is fun, I have a feeling its just one of those “its fun while it lasts” kind of thing. On the rather positive side, I do like the fact that you have different choices to choose from for taking out your enemies.

The detective mode looks interesting as well, you get to check what weapon each person (friends and enemies) is carrying, their status, be it calm or nervous, check where you can fly up using the grapple hook or weak walls where you can blow it up using explosives. Again the demo is rather short so that’s all I got to see and experiment.

The graphics look amazingly detailed, from the textures of the asylum to the characters that you play and/or interact with, specially the main characters like Batman, Joker and Harley Quinn (her outfit is pretty detailed!) for example.

Honestly after playing the demo, although I’ve always been a Batman fan, I am really not sure if I should get this right at the release date. And there isn’t a multiplayer mode, which is understandable, this game is at best, a rental for me. Unless you are a fanatic and/or you absolutely loved the demo, I don’t think you should buy it right away, wait for a price drop in about 6 months time or look for a second hand on ebay. I wish the demo was longer, then I would have a better idea. Right now it feels like I’m one of those crooks and left hanging upside down by Batman.

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I saw the trailer about a month ago and was really impressed, then again, its only a trailer and probably not the PSP version. I took some time to play around with the PSP version of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and I was not impressed. Another disappointment. Again for the PSP version and does not necessary imply the PS3 and the XBox360 versions are just as bad.

You start off at the top of some building, typical. You will basically be swinging around from left to right or right to left, occasionally you will get inside some buildings, you have your basic punch combos and kick combos by repeatedly pressing square for punch and triangle for kick. You shoot out your web by pressing x, as well as holding a direction and press R to perform web swinging. You can also walk on walls and I had experience a buggy situation where Spidy was literally flying up instead of walking up vertically along the wall.

  

Overall the graphics are…well…pass, I think Lego Batman has better graphics than this game. So far I have only seen 3 to 4 variations of enemies PLUS Venom, which is the boss for first level. Oh yea after defeating Venom, you also get infected by the black matter and you can now turn toggle between original Spidy and black spidy with different abilities / attacks by pressing select. And basically you are just moving vertically and horizontally.

  

After the first level is complete, you can purchase new skills by spending you good Spidy points and bad spidy points, you can’t purchase good Spidy skills using bad Spidy and vice versa. Now how do you get Spidy points? When you interact with people, you get to choose good answer or bad answer, obviously good answer will give you good Spidy points and bad answer will give you bad Spidy points. You will get more by accepting quests from people that you encounter as well to gain more Spidy points.

  

So far that’s all I have discovered after playing Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, it was too linear and down right boring after a while that I’ve decided to turn off my PSP. Oh yea did I mention the voice acting is bad as well? I suggest sticking to the PS3 and/or the XBox360 versions. Or better yet, rent to see if you like it or not.

5/10

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August didn’t have alot of games that interest me, except Siren: Blood Curse. But end of this month, we can expect two good games being released and at least three more next month (based on my preference of course, you might find these games boring). With all these great games coming out, for sure I will be broke in the next few months.

I will now briefly write about each one.

 

 

 

 

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
I have never heard of the Disgaea series before, apparently its a Japanese anime style with 2d sprite characters turn base SRPG game. I’m a big fan of this type of RPG, aside from the sprites, the environments are in 3D, the special effects are amazing as well. And I’m always attracted to number games and this game definitely caught my attention with its million point damage! From the trailers, it has many different combo attacks, 100+ hours of play time (not sure if that is actually a good thing though, unless it is really that fun) and over 270 customizable characters!
Expect a review once I get my hands on this.

 

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Ever since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, I haven’t really paid attention to other first person/third person shooter game, well of course except Metal Gear Solid 4. Mercenaries 2 lets you play the main campaign with your friends. It offers a wide range of vehicles to take control and you can earn money to purchase gears as well. I’ve also checked out some trailers but I found the computer constantly calling for backup and saying the same thing over and over again which was annoying. But overall this game should be fun for those that enjoy blowing up stuff!

 

And coming in September:

 

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
One of most anticipated games this year is finally here in September. A lot of trailers have shown what the impressive Havok Physics™ system can do when Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice, your character, uses the “force” on enemies or on non-living objects like boxes or even a large ship. Graphics are impressive as well and makes the gameplay even more enjoyable in combination with the physics engine and other new technologies that are introduced for the first time. Demo will be available on August 21st. I can’t wait til get my hands on this one.

 

LEGO Batman
Ahh need I say more? LEGO Batman. You can never get enough of LEGO, anything with LEGO is almost a instant win. LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones were/are pretty popular. There is a lot of replay value in all the LEGO games because you can unlock characters each with his/her own unique ability which will allow you to go to places you previously couldn’t. And don’t ever think the audio and graphics are childish either, they are amazing as I’ve seen from the LEGO Indiana Jones demo. I’m actually curious why the demo was released after the full version.

 

Silent Hill Homecoming
I’m a big fan of survival horror games like Resident Evil, Fatal Frame and Siren. I feel that every new series gets nastier and each with a more twisted storyline. If you are a fan of past Silent Hill, you should not miss this one. And this game isn’t for everyone, if you can’t handle the “sickness” and the “twistedness” from the movie, (I think I just introduced a new word there) then this game isn’t suitable for you. For those that are a fan of the deadly but sexy nurses, they are back!

I would like to hear your must-buy list!