PlayStation LifeStyle » Cameron Teague

PS3 Review – Jak and Daxter Collection

Cameron Teague — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:12:35 +0000

Years before developer Naughty Dog started treasuring hunting with Nathan Drake and the Uncharted series, they brought gamers a funny tale of two friends, Jak and Daxter, and their adventures through four main games on the PS2 and two spinoffs. Now, Sony has enlisted developer Mass Media Inc. to give us an HD collection that consists of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3. The games were incredible when they first released, but can they stand the test of time?

The first title in the collection is Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. Released back in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, The Precursor Legacy introduced gamers to Jak and his best friend Daxter, who we find out are no stranger to breaking the rules. As the two sneak off to Misty Island, they get into all kinds of trouble and Daxter is transformed by Dark Eco into a hybrid of an otter and weasel. The two are now on a mission to find the Sage of Dark Eco who can change Daxter back into his old body. The game takes place in the village of Sandover and it’s outlining areas, as the two of you battle monsters, collect precursor orbs, and the all important power cells. Jak is able to double jump, use two different attacks and has some serious dance moves when he does discover a power cell.

Next up is Jak II, which released back 2003, also for the PlayStation 2. The second game picks up right after the events of the first, in a city called Haven City. Here the world is under the control of Baron Paraxis and Jak and Daxter have just broken out of jail and are looking for a way out of Haven City. Jak II sees some big changes from the original, as now you are equipped with various guns, such as the blaster and scatter gun. The game adds in vehicle control as you can hover around the city in Back to the Future II style and brings in Dark Jak, a dark side to Jak that has been unlocked after many experiments performed by the Baron. When you transform to Dark Jak, you have new abilities that you can use and unlock throughout the game.

Lastly we have Jak 3, again for the PlayStation 2, which released a year later in 2004. It has been about 300 years since Jak and Daxter fought in New Haven and takes place in Spargus City and a vast desert. Characters from Jak II make an appearance here in the game and so do many of the gameplay changes, but are expanded here. There are two more weapon types and now there is a Light Jak to counter the Dark Jak, very Star Wars like. There are also different kinds of vehicles in the game this time around, like sand buggies and yoshi-looking creatures.

Each of the games present a good mix of platforming, vehicle racing, and material collecting. The platforming still holds up today, with plenty of different missions to complete, and a good bit of variety to the levels. The characters are well fleshed out, with great dialogue and voice work complimenting a fun and exciting story. It is easy to see after playing this collection why the Uncharted series and developer Naughty Dog are the definition of top-notch. The first game suffers from not having subtitle options but thankfully, for me at least, the 2nd and 3rd remedy this.

All of the titles in the collection have full trophy support with each game receiving its very own platinum trophy, making this a great buy for those trophy lovers out there. The games look great in high definition (considering their age, and obviously cannot compete with current-gen games) and the gameplay makes a smooth transition, though it is not without hiccups. The camera angles are absolutely terrible, with things becoming very rigid in close quarters and the camera never seeming to do what you want it to do. The jumping mechanic also feels very sticky, leaving for plenty of frustrating moments where you swear you have double jumped but the game refuses to agree. These issues can be overlooked however as the comedy is still hilarious and the games are extremely addicting and fun to play. The HD revamp also includes 3D support, which is solid, but doesn’t add much to the game.

In the end, The Jak and Daxter Collection is yet another successful trek into the world of High Definition Collections being released on the PlayStation 3. It is a bit frustrating to not have the entire series added in, especially Lost Frontier from the PSP, but the set does not lose anything by just having the first three games. Aspects of the series also feel dated, but that is really the only bad thing you can say about this collection, which is a testament to the quality of the original games. Both newcomers to the series and those who have played every game will find yourself enthralled with the great voice work and laugh out loud comedy of these classic games.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

+ Get ready to laugh a lot

+ Jak and Daxter Look Good in HD

- Things like jumping and the troublesome camera feel dated

Famitsu’s Most Wanted List Littered with Sony Platform Releases

Cameron Teague — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:14:11 +0000

The latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu has released and with it an updated look at the 30 Most Wanted games in the land of the rising sun. The list is extremely Sony heavy, with 19 of the 30 releasing on one of the three Sony platforms. The biggest honors go to Dragon’s Dogma on PS3, which took 2nd on the list, and Persona 4: The Golden on PS Vita, which ranked in at 4th. One of my favorite series, Suikoden, comes in 27th with Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki on the PSP.

The full list is as follows, along with the number of votes for each game:

01. [Wii] Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online (Square Enix) – 716 votes
02. [PS3] Dragon’s Dogma (Capcom) – 632 votes
03. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom) – 459 votes
04. [PSV] Persona 4: The Golden (Atlus) – 403 votes
05. [PS3] One Piece: Kaizoku Musou (Namco Bandai) – 400 votes
06. [3DS] Animal Crossing 3DS (Nintendo) – 310 votes
07. [3DS] New Love Plus (Konami) – 292 votes
08. [PSP] Shining Blade (Konami) – 284 votes
09. [PSP] Super Robot Taisen Z (Namco Bandai) – 256 votes
10. [3DS] Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (Square Enix) – 212 votes
11. [PS3] Asura’s Wrath (Capcom) – 209 votes
12. [PS3] Final Fantasy Versus XIII (Square Enix) – 204 votes
13. [PS3] Binary Domain (Sega) – 200 votes
14. [PS3] 2nd Super Robot Wars OG (Namco Bandai) – 196 votes
15. [PS3] The Last Remnant (Square Enix) – 190 votes
16. [3DS] Fantasy Life (Level-5) – 186 votes
17. [3DS] Hatsune Miku & Future Stars: Project Mirai (Sega) – 154 votes
18. [PS3] Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Konami) – 166 votes
19. [PS3] The Last Guardian (SCEJ) – 159 votes
20. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D (Square Enix) – 156 votes
21. [PS3] The Witch and the Hundred Soldiers (NIS) – 151 votes
22. [3DS] Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) – 133 votes
23. [PSP] God Eater 2 (Namco Bandai) – 126 votes
24. [PSP] Yakuza: Black Panther 2 (Sega) – 122 votes
25. [3DS] Fire Emblem: Kakusei (Nintendo) – 119 votes
26. [NDS] Pokémon + Nobunaga’s Ambition (Tecmo Koei) – 115 votes
27. [PSP] Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki (Konami) – 111 votes
28. [PS3] Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (Capcom) – 105 votes
29. [PS3] Persona 4: The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena (Atlus) – 101 votes
30. [PSP] Nendoroid Generation (Namco Bandai) – 99 votes

Let us know in the comments if you are surprised by any of the games on the list and which ones you are most excited to see release in North America or Europe.

Warriors Orochi 3 Slashing its Way to Western Audiences

Cameron Teague — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:52:03 +0000

Tecmo Koei has announced that it will be bringing it’s hack n’ slash Warriors Orochi 3 to North American audiences on March 20th and to Europe on the 30th. Known as Musou Orochi 2 over in Japan, this cross-over features over 120 playable characters, with some major cameo’s from Ninja Gaiden, Warriors: Legends of Troy, Bladestorm, Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll and Dead or Alive.

In the game, you play as a large group of brave warriors who must travel back in time and recruit an army to fend off an eight-headed hydra to save their world. The game will feature an all new bond system, which allows characters bond’s to increase through different kinds of interactions.

Players will also be able to enjoy three-character tag team battles, two-player split-screen co-op, a two-player online Story and Free mode.

To get players ready for the game, Tecmo Koei has released some great looking screenshots of the game which you can check out below. Make sure to let us know in the comments what you think and if you plan on checking out the game when it releases March 20th in North America and the 30th in Europe for the PlayStation 3.

RPG Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 Gets Dated

Cameron Teague — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 11:08:35 +0000

NIS America has announced that their upcoming RPG sequel Hypdimension Neptunia mk2 will be releasing on February 28th in North America and the 24th in Europe. The game released in Japan back in August of last year and is co-developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, with assistance from NIS, Gust, 5pb, and Comcept.

Hypdimension Neptunia mk2 puts you in the role of Nepgear, UNI, Ram, and Rom, the younger sisters of Neptune, Noire, and Blanc. The young sisters are on a quest to save the goddesses after there defeat in the year 20XX. The game features newly formatted dungeons, no more random encounters, and actual HP and MP displays for enemies. Perhaps the biggest change comes with the ability to actively heal members of your party with skills, unlike the first game which used percentages and situations in battle to determine if you character “might” heal.

With these and a slew of other new additions, this should be an RPG to look for come February 28th. The question is, will you be picking it up when it releases?

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD to Grind Through Seven Confirmed Levels

Cameron Teague — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:07:32 +0000

Activision has revealed new screenshots of the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD, which is set to release on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live this summer. The screenshots showcase some of the riders in the game, such as Rodney Mullen, Nyjah Huston, and of course, Tony Hawk himself. In these we also get a good look at the ‘Warehouse’ level as well a glimpse at the ‘School 2′ level.

With the screenshots, Activision has also confirmed seven of the levels from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater & Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, which will make their way into the game. The levels are Warehouse, School 2, Mall, Phoenix, Hangar, Marseilles, and Venice. Early screenshots of this HD remake look to do great justice to these old school levels and finally take the Tony Hawk series back in the right direction after Ride and Shred failed to impress.

Let us know in the comments if you plan to return to Tony Hawk’s old skating grounds.

THQ Denies 2014 Lineup Cancellation Rumors

Cameron Teague — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:44:31 +0000

The twitterverse was on fire today with a rumor from IGDA mobile SIG head Kevin Dent, who claimed that publisher THQ dropped its entire 2014 games lineup and has put itself up for sale to “Asian firms” in an attempt to increase value. The publisher has now officially denied the rumor.

Dent has also added:

Word is spreading that THQ has returned IP to Disney AFTER paying the advance, with no refund.

THQ later responded to the claims, which included suggestions that the MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online had been cancelled:

THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up, and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO. As part of the ongoing review of our business, we have made decisions to ensure that the company is strategically addressing the most attractive markets. As we have previously announced, we have dramatically reduced our commitment to the kids’ boxed games sector which leads to a significantly more focused release schedule moving forward. Our slate for calendar 2012 and beyond is focused on high-quality core games and continues to build our digital platform and business. We are excited for our pipeline of original and high-quality content along with our relationships with some of the best talent in the industry.
Additionally, we are thrilled with the great performance of Saints Row: The Third, which on a like for like period in North America has tripled in sell-through from Saints Row 2. In addition, WWE ’12’s worldwide sell-through sales are up almost 40% year-over-year for the same sales period with fewer platforms. According to NPD, for the month of December and the 2011 year, THQ was the #5 publisher overall, #4 third party, with reported sell through growing over 18% in a market that was down almost 6%. And coming up next, we have two great titles for the first half of the year including UFC Undisputed 3 and Darksiders 2.

Although the rumor now seems to be false, the reasoning behind it probably stemmed from the publisher’s poor 2011. The company closed five different studios and made various staff cuts due to lackluster sales for some of their games, while the uDraw Game Tablet failed to capture much of an audience on HD consoles, causing the development team to be sacked.

[Via]

Naruto Series Has 10 Million Reasons to Smile

Cameron Teague — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:14:20 +0000

Namco Bandai has announced that games in the CyberConnect2-developed Naruto series, based on the very popular anime and manga of the same name, have surpassed 10 million copies shipped worldwide. The series started in 2003 and spans 15 titles, with the copies shipped per region coming out to 1.9 million in Japan, 4.3 million in North America, and 3.8 million in Europe.

Yusuke Sasaki, Producer at Namco Bandai Games had the following to say about this great achievement.

We’re very glad and proud to have achieved 10 million units worldwide on the Narutofranchise, and we promise you that we will keep working very hard on this important franchise to carry on exciting all the fans around the world. Thanks again for all of your support, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you all at the upcoming Paris Manga event. I wish you all the best for 2012!!

The latest in this series is Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, which is set to launch on March 13th for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Namco Bandai has released new screenshots of the game, which you can view below.

PlayStation Vita to Get its Gears Moving with Huge UK Marketing Push

Cameron Teague — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:37:27 +0000

If there is one thing that we could point to as an issue with Sony and the launches of their blockbuster titles or hardware, it’s their extreme lack of marketing. The guys in charge over at Sony appear to finally be noticing, and are placing all of their eggs in the Vita basket. In other words, Sony has revealed that the Vita will receive the biggest marketing push ever seen by the company.

Speaking to MCV, UK marketing manager Mark Bowles had the following to say about Sony’s plans for the Vita when it releases in North America and Europe on February 22nd.

The PS Vita launch will be supported by the biggest campaign we’ve ever executed, and this level of activity will continue throughout 2012, reflecting our confidence in, and commitment to the platform long term.

He then spoke on what style of marketing the mega-push will entail.

In terms of media focus, due to the connected nature of the Vita and the behaviour of our target audience, our campaign will have a strong digital backbone, supporting a heavyweight TV, press, outdoor and retail presence.

It will be great to see what Sony plan to do to get their new handheld moving off store shelves. Just please no weird babies Sony, some of us are still experiencing vivid nightmares.

Amy Sees Her Price Dropped, Gets a Small Delay

Cameron Teague — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:01:56 +0000

Lexis Numerique and VectorCell have finally made their decision about the price of their upcoming adventure-horror title Amy, dropping the price of the game on the PlayStation Network. The drop is from the original $12.99 to a much friendlier $9.99, the same price as the Xbox Live version.

Along with the drop in price, Amy will also see a delay from its original January 10th release to January 17th, allowing for the price to get properly adjusted. All of this change comes after Lexis Numerique put out a poll on their Amy Facebook page asking gamers to choose between the $12.99 price, or the reduced price and a slight delay. 70 percent of the people who voted chose the 2nd option.

With the price back down to $10, it should help Amy bring in more potential buyers. Will you be one of the people picking up Amy when it releases on January 17th? Let us know in the comments.

Square Enix and Scarygirl Bringing Tentacles to the PSN

Cameron Teague — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:22:13 +0000

Square Enix has announced today that it is bringing a new game to the PlayStation Network titled Scarygirl. This action-platformer is based off the graphic novel of the same name by Nathan Jurevicius and will be making its mark on the PSN later this month, but until then why not enjoy the trailer and screenshots provided below.

Scarygirl centers in on an orphan child who is not only alone, but also happens to have a tentacle for an arm. Add to this the fact that the child dresses like a pirate and you have a very unique lead character. Dreams of a strange man haunt the lead character and they set out into the world to discover the meanings behind the dreams.

The game will feature a new storyline that is separate from the graphic novel, along with new weapons, moves and upgrades. The game will also feature local two-player co-op so you can enjoy the game with a friend. Enough talking from me, go ahead and check out the screenshots and trailer below, then look for the game on the PSN January 24th or Jan 18th for Xbox Live.

Biggest Disappointment of 2011

Cameron Teague — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 02:45:22 +0000

PlayStation Move

2011 was a year in which the PlayStation Move could have made strides to cement itself as a must-own peripheral for the PlayStation 3. Unfortunately, when the dust settles and 2011 comes to a close, it’s not hard to see that the Move was the most disappointing thing for the year. If you look back to the original announcement, there was a mountain of possibilities available – and the tech to back it up – to add a new crowd to the PS3. And, while the Move has sold well, it’s been mostly relegated to nothing more than a side-dish for most of the AAA titles in Sony’s lineup. The few games released solely for the Move failed to leave much of an impression. Titles such as Medieval Moves and EyePet & Friends were less than impressive. A 2011 launch of the widely anticipated Sorcery might have helped, but this goes beyond a one game fix.

Runners Up:

Duke Nukem Forever
L.A. Noire
RAGE
GoldenEye 007: Reloaded

Fight Off Enemies in the New Amy Video

Cameron Teague — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 04:22:32 +0000

Developer Lexis Numerique has released a new trailer for their upcoming horror game, Amy. The new video shows off the enemies that you will encounter while playing the game, so check it out below – but beware, it might give you a scare!

The video discusses when the main character Lana should avoid combat and when she should get to swinging. It also goes into detail about tactics for staying out of sight and a bit of detail into the abilities of Amy. The trailer shows that there is a good amount of tactical strategy to the game; like trying to decide whether you should hide under a table to avoid an enemy or make your way past a heavily equipped guard.

Amy is due out next month for both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. Let us know in the comments whether you plan on picking up this title or not.

PS3 Review – Carnival Island

Cameron Teague — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:24:35 +0000

Have you ever been sitting in front of your gaming console and had the desire to visit the carnival, only you didn’t want to leave the house? Sony might just have the solution for you, with the Move controlled game, Carnival Island, from developer Magic Pixel. The PlayStation Move has just passed its first year on the market and Sony is trying its best to win over the family crowd, however this might be a bit lacking to provide enough staying power in the home.

Playing the game as a pair of mute siblings, you stumble across two lost tickets and from there the magic begins. You will now be tasked with reviving the magic of the carnival and its cast of lovable pets that inhabit it. There is no narrative to push your through the game but the cut-scenes featured throughout are beautifully done and give the game a fair amount of charm. With the game essentially boiling down to a set of mini-games, the story aspect wasn’t really needed but did breathe a little fresh air into the game.

In the story mode, you will find yourself in a carnival that has four different sections to play through, with each section featuring four different booths to visit. Two of the booths in each area will feature a collection of mini-games, while the other two are inhabited by a balloon vendor and a nice old granny selling prizes. The areas are each unique and well done, with more life coming to them as you play through the games available. Each game booth houses five games to play, with each game featuring around nine challenges that you can try to compete.

The games featured are what you would expect from any sort of state fair you might have been to. This is the coin toss, ski-ball, basketball hoops, and plenty more. Each of these games are extremely easy to learn and the motion controller works great, with the movements easy to handle for kids of all ages. While it is nice that the games are so easy to pick up and play, it would have been nice to see a bit more difficulty with some of the Hero level challenges. The good part is, the mini-games are extremely quick, so you never feel like you are stuck on a particular game for too long, which is a great thing for kids. However, for those people a bit older, the games can feel a bit void of any depth, with some of them growing old fairly quickly.

To add a bit of depth to the game, you can unlock tickets as you complete the games and various pets. The tickets can be used in the game to purchase different animal balloons or prizes for your character to carry around. Unfortunately, all you can do with these purchases is carry them around the park, giving players literally no need to collect them, other than to collect some easy trophies. The pets you unlock also serve very little purpose other than trophies and some quick cuteness factor for the kids, as you can collect over 20 pets but only a set of 9 can be picked from as “your” pet when you start the game.

Aside from the story mode of the game, which can be completed in around 2 hours, the game also features a party mode. Here, you can have 2-4 players going at it with either one or two move controllers. You only have two options in this mode; either pick and play, where you select the 5 games you want in your playlist, or just play, where the game randomly selects five games for your round. A tiny cool feature here is that when you pass the move controller to the next player, the wand changes color for that player, creating an easy way to remember whose turn it is. Also, if you play two players with two motion controllers, you get to play all the mini-games side by side, adding for some very fun competitions. The party mode is really where the game does shine, as it is quick hitting and fun for the whole family. It also helps that everything is unlocked for the party mode, so if you don’t want to do the story mode, you don’t have to bother.

The presentation in the game is great, from the sexy looking cut scenes to the simple and easy to use interface. The menu throughout the game never feels too cumbersome and with a quick click of a button, you are in a game and playing. Load times are there during the game but are minimal, with the time loading between islands lasting 10-15 seconds as the most.

Overall, the game is too short, even for a minigame, but each minigame is rather enjoyable – especially for younger children. Good presentation and an easy menu, make it a decent bargain bin Move game, even if you will be left feeling like half the game is missing.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

+ Quick and Easy to Pick up and Play

- Lack of Difficulty or Depth

+ Smooth Motion Controls

Tales of Graces F Localization All Done

Cameron Teague — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:12:13 +0000

Tales of Graces F has completed its localization process and is prepped and ready to be released to western audiences – all we need is a date. That’s according to the 8-4 podcast, which was responsible for translating both the audio and text for the upcoming PS3 exclusive RPG.

The company responsible for doing the localization speculates that the game should be releasing around January or February 2012. This is all just guesswork as publisher Namco Bandai have not released any information on when the game will release out west. Tales of Graces was first released exclusively for the Nintendo Wii back in 2009 and than ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2010 as Tales of Graces F. The game features more content than the original Wii release and did very well in Japan when it came out.

[Source]

PS3 Review – EyePet & Friends

Cameron Teague — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:19:31 +0000

A little game called EyePet made its debut in 2009, bringing a cute little pet to households everywhere. The game stuttered a bit at launch due to some major flaws but was fixed up a bit with the Move Edition that released later. In the latest sequel, EyePet & Friends, two people can take multiple pets and have some fun.

The big difference this time around is the fact that two people can now take control and hatch their very own pets, hence the “ & Friends” part of the title. You begin the game by naming your pet and then going through the process of having your egg hatch and then showing your newly born pet that it can trust you. Once this is completed, you are on your way to feeding, bathing, and playing with your pet in a series of different environments and activities. The game uses the PlayStation Eye and your carpet to bring the pet to life, so make sure you have a fair amount of space available in front of your TV and a good deal of light available.

The name of the game in EyePet & Friends is playtime, and there is plenty of it to be found. Whether your teaching your pet how to do the moonwalk with the trick stick, building blocks for it to climb on, or having it chase around your laser pointer, there is all sorts of fun to be had with the furry little guy. Just like with the previous games, the motion controller can be changed to suit different toys and is easy to use, making it easy for kids to pick up and play with their pets. There are also tons of different challenges to take part in, whether alone or competitively against your friend and his/her pet. These challenges include things like using a digger to put basketball goals in a net and abducting aliens with a UFO. Each game is easily controlled with the motion controller and surprisingly, a lot of fun, no matter what age group you fall in.

Not everything is about playing though, as gamers must keep the needs to of their pets in mind, such as the need to eat and take regular showers. Luckily you can’t starve your pet, but the little guy will let you know when he needs something. Just in case you miss his hints though, there is a handy health monitor that tells you the pets status and provides a suggestion on what activity to take next. Your pet needs are broken down into four different categories; food, bath, heart, and muscles. It will be up to you to keep the pet happy on all fronts, though it’s not really that hard to do so.

Where this game really shines is the amount of customization. Not only can you change the fur on your pet, but also his shirt, hat, pants, and even a mask. Nothing better than a hockey-playing monkey with steam punk goggles if I do say so myself. The fur can be set to different patterns and colors, even the length can be adjusted to make this pet feel unique to you. Along with the pet, players can also customize building blocks and one of 6 different vehicles to be found in the game, adding stickers, colors, and even your own doodles to make for some interesting rides. The options here to customize are good, but it would have been nice to see a bit more freedom, especially when creating blocks, as you can only change the aesthetics of the block, and not the actual shape. All of these ways of customization can be saved at anytime and used elsewhere, or loaded back up when you want to make changes. All of this customization is handled through pet tokens, which you collect through various activities. These tokens can then be used to buy new outfits, stickers, and block themes.

The game and customization go online as well, as you can transfer vehicles and clothes online with friends or you can upload them to your Pet World portal, where anyone can take a gander or borrow your creation. You too can flick through tons of public uploads and take anything that looks good into your world. Don’t worry parents, there are some strict parental controls to be found, allowing you to completely block the Pet World portal. A rating system is in place to put the best stuff first and inappropriate items can be reported, allowing for the community to police itself.

All this good but we would be wrong to not mention some of the huge misadventures that this game brings with it. By far the biggest issue to be found in the game is the lengthy load times between tasks. This is not just in the first load of any given event, but every time you switch from a bath, to feeding, or to the creativity center. These load times can be a bit outrages and it is asking a lot of some kids and adults to sit through loading screens every time you want to give your pet a treat. In fact, I clocked some load times at between 30 and 45 seconds, which is a bit much for a game that is all about freely playing with a pet.

Another issue is the excessive and annoying voice work that the game employs. There is no trial or error in this game, as every time you load up an activity for the first time, you are greeted by a voice telling you exactly what to do. The problem here is that the voice is always extremely delayed, giving players a good 10 seconds of freely trying to do the task, only to have their progress stopped by a pop up displaying what to do and a voice. This all is especially frustrating at the beginning of the game, when you haven’t gone anywhere and every two seconds it feels as though you are prompted with new instructions, causing the opening bit of the game to stutter a bit. You can skip past the guy’s voice at any time, but it’s still annoying and something that could have been remedied with on-screen prompts that still allowed players to move around.

A few more issues will eat away at the overall enjoyment, as the game tends to have some slight technical snags and lagging when going for the two-player experience. There are recognition issues when you get multiple hands trying to handle the pet and the creation options tend to have some issues chugging about when two people are playing. At times, the loading screen even has some issues, with a few times in particular where the entire load screen froze up. The pet also has a few issues, with some messed up textures flickering about, especially when you put on clothes. None of these issues kill the overall experience as they don’t happen that often, but when they do, it can take some wind out of your sail.

EyePet & Friends adds a wealth of new creative options to the brand while leaving intact the stuff that made the original so well received. The biggest addition, adding another pet on-screen, is a big boost for those with a multiple kid household, but it would have been nice to see a few more interactive options between the two pets. Kids and adults should find plenty of family fun here, with plenty of mini-games, horsing around, and one or two cute pets to raise as your own. The game doesn’t come out unscathed, as the long load times kill much of the flow in the game and could leave some of the more impatient kids/families searching for something else to do. This, along with other minor technical issues hamper this game from realizing its full potential. If you can get past that though, this is a game that is sure to keep you and your family entertained and coming back for more.

PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score

+Plenty of Options to Customize

+Addition of Second Player Works Great

-Is it Still Loading up the Next Activity?