Canabalt (PS Minis) review

Canabalt is now available on PS Minis, which means you can enjoy it on your PlayStation 3, Vita, or PSP. Being able to use actual face buttons to jump is great, but there are a few shortcomings. The first is the lack of a leaderboard. You can't upload your longest run, and you can't see what other PlayStation fans have accomplished in the game. Instead, the game simply autosaves your best session. This is Canabalt in the barest sense, which is to say that it's still really good, but not as gripping as its browser and mobile counterparts.

Still, even despite the lack of a leaderboard, Canabalt for PS Minis is still a fun and exhilarating adventure across the rooftops of a crumbling city. This is the same game we've seen before. Your character — dressed in his finest business attire — runs automatically, and he has to jump across gaps onto other buildings, billboards, and scaffoldings. Canabalt is a one button game, but every press is pressure sensitive, so you really have to time your jumps properly and tap the jump button with just the right amount of force. I can't express the utter disappointment I felt whenever I stupidly tapped a button too hard and witnessed my character bonk his head on an obstruction, only to plummet to his death.

Canabalt is a lovely game to look at. The graphics feature a toned down minimalist art style that consists of several different shades of gray and blue. The whole thing has a nice pixelated look to it that any fan of retro games is sure to enjoy. Additionally, while the soundtrack may not be vast, the few songs that you can choose from prior to any of your runs are all created by Danny Baranowsky of Super Meat Boy fame.

While the PS Minis version of Canabalt may suffer from a lack of leaderboard integration, I found that it's quite enjoyable when played with another person. I sunk a bunch of time into the game while playing with a buddy — much more than I thought I would, actually. We took turns attempting to one-up each other, shooting for the highest score every time (we called it quits after I hit 17,000+). While I'm well aware that this is probably an odd way to play Canabalt, I found it to be an effective way to enjoy the game more. It added to that competitive vibe that's missing due to the lack of leaderboards, and I can only imagine how raucous things could get with a group of friends watching and taking turns playing.

Basically, I created my own competitive element for this version of Canabalt, and I thought the game was much more enjoyable that way as opposed to playing by myself. The "one more try" element really pushes the addictive nature of the game, and if you've got some buddies around, Canabalt is a great pass-the-controller affair. If not, it's still a neat little time waster that you can spend small chunks of time playing. It also costs, $3, which is pretty damn affordable and well worth it. So is this the definitive version of Canabalt? Probably not. Is it still one hell of a good time? Definitely.

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Via: Canabalt (PS Minis) review

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Resistance: Burning Skies review

The game’s events actually take place before other games in the series, so don’t go looking for Nathan Hale.  Instead, you’ll control firefighter Tom Riley, who becomes an unlikely hero battling against the first invasion wave of the Chimera.  After seeing his family off to safety and barely surviving an encounter, he finds himself teaming up with a rebellion faction to strike back – while at the same time striving for an opportunity to reunite with his loved ones.

While the campaign doesn’t tell the most compelling of stories, it does set the stage for plenty of firefights with Chimeran soldiers and big, bad enemies strewn throughout.  And though it lacks the tank and turret sequences of previous games, there’s no shortage of action in Burning Skies.  You’ll get a feel for the familiar weapons in mere seconds, switching through them with a helpful weapon wheel, so you can always have something on the draw.

The gameplay teeters between typical function with the dual sticks and face buttons and the touch sensors on the Vita.  Controlling your character with the sticks is quite smooth, and the face and trigger buttons react with very few problems.  As for the touch stuff, it’s a little tricky in spots.  Having to tap the touch sensors on the back of the system to run is kinda weird, though understood since Nihilistic, the game’s developer, didn’t want to clutter the main touch screen with too many functions.  Also, grenade throwing takes getting used to, as you have to drag the grenade icon to the trajectory you want to throw the grenade.  In the heat of battle, this might prove a little more difficult than it looks.

Other than those minor issues, the touch screen controls work great.  The melee function, which uses a cool fire axe, makes for perfect one-hit kills on Chimerans, and some of the weapon effects are cool, like having to wind up a crossbow with an explosive charge or using the Bullseye to lock onto an enemy.

Once you finish the campaign (which will take a few hours), you can log on to the PlayStation Network for online competition, in the form of deathmatch and Survival sessions.  Deathmatch is okay, but if you want pure excitement, go to Survival, as you’ll find the odds turning against you as fellow soldiers fall and turn into Chimerans.  If you survive the match, you win, plain and simple.  While there are hitches in frame rate and the time it takes to start a match, the online battles run efficiently enough that it shouldn’t be too much of a bother.

Visually, Resistance: Burning Skies may not have the muster to live up to previous PS3 efforts (it is a different development team, after all), but there are moments of sparkle that really light up the Vita screen.  Some of the weapon effects are outstanding; bigger Chimeran enemies really stand out; and explosions rock the screen.  Some of the human models could’ve been done better, but overall, this is a fairly good 3D shooter that holds its own on the platform.  If there’s any sort of problem, it’s with the audio, as the weapon effects aren’t as meaty as they could’ve been, and some of the dialogue is a bit weak.  On the bright side, the soundtrack is quite good.

Resistance: Burning Skies may not live up to the high standard of the original game, and does offer quite a bit of change from what Retribution did on the PSP.  But despite its flaws, it’s a pretty good debut for the genre on the PS Vita, and a precursor for better things to come, in the form of new Call of Duty and Killzone games.  If you’ve got an itchy trigger finger, these Skies should fulfill the need.

Via: Resistance: Burning Skies review

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