Review: Fez

Ever since I first saw Fez I was always jealous about it not being on any PlayStation platform. I almost resorted to digging my Xbox360 out of the depths of my cupboard just to play Fez. Therefore I was over the moon when it was announced that Fez would be coming to the PlayStation world and more specifically the Vita.

Fez is and old-school puzzle platformer with a few twists which make it something really unique. The main feature is being able to rotate the 2D world which makes Fez a sort of 3D/2D hybrid. It really adds a new puzzle element to the traditional 2D platformer and opens up a whole new world of possibilities for puzzles and tricky jumping sections.

The name of the game is to collect cubes whose pieces are strewn all across the worlds, some in plain sight, others in hard to reach places. There are also anti-cubes which are much harder to find and usually require some sort of puzzle to be solved, some of which are really quite tricky and involve some unique ideas.

The graphics are cute and pixelly in a way that perfectly suits the gameplay. I don't think a flashy HD graphics version would work as well as this does. The Vita screen size is a perfect match too, I can't imaging playing Fez on a 50" plasma after playing on the Vita. It is also the perfect game to pick up for a few minutes here and there when you have some spare time, which is what the Vita excels at.

I was hanging out for this game to be released on the Vita and I wasn't disappointed. The unique gameplay elements mesh perfectly with the retro graphics and the cute storyline ties everything together. It's definitely worth the small price of admission.

PS+ Update April 2014

This month Playstation Plus is dishing out some more quality games to fill out your library.

North America:

- Stealth Inc.: A Clone in the dark
- Velocity Ultra
- Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD

EU/Australia:

- Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
- Hotline Miami
- MotoGP 13

Not a bad mix of titles there. I'm in the EU so I'm a bit bummed that I already have MotoGP 13, but it's a quality game so you should check it out.

Review: MotoGP 13

I'm a huge motorcycle racing fan so whenever a new bike racing game comes out I'm always so excited and full of hope. However I'm usually left disappointed about how bad the controls are or how generally half-arsed the game is. Granted, translating the controls of a motorbike into a control pad is much harder than a car but none have quite felt right. As I handed over my money for MotoGP '13 I was filled with both anticipation and dread for what I might be in store for.

Rider select screen

 Early signs were good, the menus were easy to navigate and after a short free DLC download I had all of the correct bikes and riders for Moto1, Moto2, and MotoGP classes. The fonts and styles are all the same as the official MotoGP television broadcast which gave a very professional feel to the game.

On the grid

 Finally onto the action and......YES! I'm not saying it's perfect but it is easily the best handling motorcycle racing game I've played. The combination of the game design and the Vita's control made for a very easy to use and precise control scheme. Tipping into corners felt as natural as can be expected on a console and bike behaved as you would expect. The system of riding aids ensures that there is a difficulty level to suit everyone, from almost un-crashable to the slightest error will put you on the deck.

Career mode sees you work your way up from a wildcard entry in Moto1 all the way through to a factory MotoGP ride. You can actually feel the speed and handling differences through the different classes which gives the game a little bit more longevity. You can continually adjust the rider aids to suit your skill level as you get better.

The online aspect of the game was also very stable and enjoyable, if somewhat unpopulated at times. The game is free for PS+ subscribers (EU) in April so maybe the numbers will pick up. I found evenings central European time the best time to find a game. Most of the players appeared to be Spanish.

There are a few gimmicky things such as gaining fans which unlocks certain things, but this can be ignored and will come naturally with no extra effort.

There is minimal grinding required to obtain the Platinum trophy and I found I wasn't sick of the game when I had the Platinum and still continue to play off and on. You will need a network connection as there some online trophies including one requiring 3 hours of online play.

Overall this is one of my favourite Vita games. Of course my love of motorcycle racing in general played no small part in this, but fans of car racing games will also get many hours of fun out of MotoGP 13. Highly Recommended.

Review: Zero Escape - Virtue's Last Reward

I'd seen people on forums hyping this game for a long time but I was always hesitant to play because I don't typically enjoy games which are too story heavy. However on a recent train trip from Munich to Berlin I had some spare time to give Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward a fair go.

First impressions were good, the initial story sequence looked interesting and I really enjoyed the first escape puzzle. Maybe I was about to open up a whole new genre of gaming?

Alas, things started going downhill during the first novel sequence. The interesting story started becoming more tedious with every dialogue box and it just dragged on far too long between the action. After 5 minutes I wasn't even reading the dialogue and was just mindlessly clicking through as fast as I could. Short attention span maybe, but I just found the delivery way too stop-start and slow moving.

Stop talking now

Mercifully I made it through to the new escape puzzle which again was very enjoyable, and tricky enough to provide a challenge. Each room has a safe which will provide the key to escape the room and move on. There are numerous sub-puzzles and clues that you must complete to get to the final solution. The interface is slightly clunky and requires quite a bit of time to adjust and play smoothly.

As you work through the game, your "flow chart" will keep expanding and it allows you to jump to other parts of the game, which you will need to do as there are 20-odd different endings to the game including one "true ending". Thankfully you can skip dialogue if you have already seen it before.

The Flow Chart

This is an easy (but not quick) platinum trophy as just completing the game fully will deliver the bulk of the trophies, just make sure you find all of the hidden files along the way to save yourself from having to re-do too many parts.

The safe where you input an unlock code

In conclusion I found the puzzles and escapes themselves to be great fun and if they could remake the game sans-dialogue then I would highly recommend it. As it stands I can only recommend Virtue's Last Reward if you enjoy games with long story sections. To be fair the story is actually quite good, however the delivery method is so drawn-out, tedious and repetitive that I found it a real chore to complete. 

Review: Unit 13

Unit 13 has been in my pile of shame for some time now since getting it free via PS+ a while back. I was reluctant to play it because I dreaded it would be yet another poorly executed COD clone. Despite the storyline following the well trodden path of an elite group of soldiers fighting nondescript Middle Eastern terrorists, the gameplay manages to feel fresh.

There are four types of single player mission: stealth, direct action, timed, and elite. All require a different approach and these differences break up the game nicely so that you don't get sick and tired of doing the same old thing. There are 36 single player missions which unlock as you progress. The scoring system grants points for kills, mission objectives, etc along with bonuses for stealth, speed, and kill streaks. There is also a multiplier system which rewards chains of point scoring. Of course you also gt points for completing objectives. These points covert into a star rating at the end of each level from 1 to 5 stars. Earning stars unlocks so called "High Value Target" missions in which you hunt down a wanted terrorist.

Single player mission select screen

I found the control system very intuitive and easy to use and it is similar to most other shooters. There a a few touch commands you will need to use, but they are always located at the edge of the screen within easy thumb reach and become second nature after a few missions.

The graphics are great as we've come to expect with the Vita and Unit 13 is on par with it's competitors. I didn't experience any graphical glitches, tearing, or framerate slowdown whatsoever. I did however have more crashes than I can remember having with any other Vita game, maybe 6-8 over the course of finishing the game.

High value targets are unlocked in single player missions

The trophies for this game are reasonably straight forward, albeit will require some skill to 5-star every mission which is required to unlock all of the High Value Target missions. Apparently these can also be unlocked using near but I can't confirm if this works. I found that a little grinding was required at the end to level up all of the characters but it was relatively painless. There are two or three online trophies so you will need to be logged into PSN a least for a short time. 

Speaking of online, the co-op missions seemed to work fairly seamlessly with the only problem being finding someone to play with who complements your play style. If you like stealth and they run in with all guns blazing then it's a tad frustrating. There is also a daily mission which you can complete once only and update your score to the leaderboards. 

I enjoyed playing through this game and the variety in the missions kept my interest level up even though the maps are recycled fairly frequently. I would rate it as at least on-par with COD Black Ops: Declassified which I'd say would be it's main competitor. If you have a PS+ subscription then you most likely have this game, so if you haven't given it a try yet do yourself a favour and play it.

PS+ Update March 2014

More great games from PS+ Instant Game Collection coming this month with the following titles available in your region:

North America:

- Unit 13
- Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite (PSP)
- Thomas was Alone (cross-buy)
- Lone Survivor: Director's Cut (Cross-buy)

EU/Australia:

- Pixeljunk Monsters Ultimate HD
- Smart As

I'm feeling a bit short-changed here in the EU :)

Review: WRC4

The latest installment of the WRC series from Milestone is now on the Vita and it delivers a solid follow-up to the previous titles. They have stuck to the already winning formula and released an evolution of the series rather than a revolution.

Standard rally game HUD is customisable

Quick rally mode does what it says on the tin throwing you straight into the action with a minimum of fuss.

Career mode is where most players will spend their time. If you have played MotoGP '13 then the format will be instantly recognisable. You start of with a wildcard drive for a WRC Junior team and earn reputation points from results to work your way up through the classes. 

You can adjust the difficulty in the main settings anywhere from a walk in the park to a genuine challenge. The different road surfaces actually feel different and you will notice the change in grip at different rallies, and the bumps really make life difficult for example in Argentina.

Another feature which is carried over from WRC3 is the rewind system. This lets you undo any time sapping mistakes you might make and gives you a chance to do better. The number of rewinds per stage can be changed in the menu settings.

The co-driver can get a little lost on occasion when there are many corners in quick succession,  but you can adjust the timing to be earlier or later if you wish.

One bugbear I have is the loading times. I can't decide if they are longer than usual or if they are just more frequent than other games, but it seems like about 20% of your gaming time will be spent looking at a loading screen.

Get used to this screen....

In terms of performance I experienced some frame rate problems occasionally, usually during Rally Australia. In places it resembled a slide show which makes a reflex game such as this quite difficult to play. Thankfully these incidents are very isolated and don't detract from the overall experience. 

The multiplayer feature is fine when it works, however I have had more than my fair share of connection problems and dropouts. I have tried in 2 different continents and get the same issues, so it doesn't appear to be a localised problem. This assumes of course that you can find someone else online which sadly is a problem for many Vita games.

Nothing new on the car repair screen

For the trophy hunters out there, nothing here is an insurmountable challenge. Most time will be spent in career mode in which you will earn the bulk of the trophies. The only grind will be the online trophies, which due the the aforementioned connection problems and lack of players may prove frustrating. 

Honestly if you already have WRC3, you aren't missing out on much if you don't buy WRC4. Aside from the updated cars and teams it doesn't feel like there is a huge leap forward in terms of graphics or new features. However if you are a fan of rally games or racing games in general this certainly won't disappoint.