Rejected Gamer » PSP

Review: Fly Fu

MrB4 — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:59 +0000

Apparently when flies are not being swatted at or stepped on, they are using kung fu moves to destroy an evil army of insects in order to save the ones they love. Fly Fu is a simple, yet fun beat em up that does nothing new to revolutionize the genre in any way shape or form whatsoever. Sure, it is probably one of those games that most people will look at and go “what the hell is that”, or “how can a fly possibly know karate”, but sometimes a strange idea could possibly end up being a good one. Can killing other insects while playing as one be as fun as it sounds?, read on to find out.

Developer/Publisher:Invictus Games
Genre:Side Scrolling Beat ‘Em Up
Platform(s):PSP Minis, IPhone, IPod Touch, and IPad
If you like:Seeing limbs of insects breaking apart, a fly who wears boxing gloves, and fighting in a paper cutout world.

Here’s the deal, Mcfly Moth’s girlfriend Kate Moth (No Joke) has been kidnapped by the evil Queen Overseer, and is now a prisoner in a dark attic in the suburbs. Marty must now destroy the queen’s minions and save the girl. The story is played out through paper cutout cutscenes, which were funny, but could have been better if some subtitles were thrown in to help explain what’s going on. Since the idea here is to keep things simple and effective, it ends up working for the most part.

One of the most intriguing things about Fly Fu is it’s design. Every level is hand drawn, full of detail, and looks absolutely beautiful. The designers did a great job in making it look like we are seeing the world from the flys point of view. All of the enemies, including Mcfly himself, look pretty decent, and have an impressive amount of animation to them. Each sound effect really packs a punch(no pun intended), and the background music is basic and stereotypical, usually revolving around rapid drum beats, high pitched flutes, etc.

Each stage has a certain amount of enemies that need to be killed in order to fight the boss at the end. Your main objective here is to take them all out, defeat the boss, then move on the next area. Mcfly has a few moves at his disposal to make this job a little bit easier. He can use a kick or a punch, flip backwards and forwards to dodge attacks, pick up items to deal some extra damage, jump to avoid smaller creatures, and use the berserk maneuver to perform one hit kills (this was my personal favorite). Performing each and every one of these moves felt tight and responsive.

Most people will finish the main story in about an hour or so, leaving them with little to no incentive to play through the game more than once. Sure there is a survival mode to take a part in, but since there are no online leaderboards, the appeal of this feature diminishes rather quickly. The lack of a versus multiplayer mode doesn’t make things much better. Not sure if any PSP Mini games have trophies, but this certainly seems like the type of downloadable title that is screaming for them to be in there.

Fly Fu is an enjoyable experience while it lasts, but it doesn’t last for very long. Those looking for something a bit unique may want to give this one a chance. (B-)

- Matt H.

P.S.-In case you were wondering, the version I played was the PSP Minis version.

Paper Wars coming to PSP

MrB4 — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:28:59 +0000

Not sure why the developer changed the name of it, but oh well, here’s the announcement anyway. Developer Ifun4All has announced today that they will be bringing an updated version of their IPhone game Crap of Defense to the PSP Mini Store later this month.

Their going to call it Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder, and it will include an entirely new campaign, and over a dozen new levels for each of the older campaigns as well. Other updates include a variety of new powerups, enemy types, shooting modes, and hundreds of different achievements that the player will be able to unlock.

That is about all of the info I can give you on this one as of right now. Be on the lookout for a full review of Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder in the upcoming weeks right here at rejectedgamer.com. Here are some screenshots, and a trailer to hold you over until then. The trailer can be viewed at the beginning of the post, Enjoy!

E3 2010: GOW: Ghost of Sparta Trailer

MrB4 — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:49 +0000

The only game that I actually finished in the series, God of War: Chains of Olympus, is finally getting a sequel. While the hack and slash gameplay might be old news to some gamers out there, there is no denying that these games are alot of fun to play. Ghost of Sparta is set to release in the fall of 2010. Enjoy the Trailer!

E3 2010: Sony PC Highlights

MrB4 — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:34:16 +0000

Even though it went for just a little too long (around 3 hours or so) there were still plenty of things to enjoy about the Sony press conference. Die hard fans of a certain series are finally getting the game that they have been waiting for, a release date for a popular racing title has been announced, an epic speech was given, a popular puzzle game gets released onto the PS3, and even the PSP gets a new peripheral. Keep in mind that I missed some parts of the show due to the lag of the online feed for certain websites. Nevertheless, let’s take some time now and look at some of the highlights from the show.

1. A powerful speech from Kevin Butler

As funny as it was, the speech that Kevin Butler (Jerry Lambert) gave at E3 was absolutely amazing. Instead of saying that Sony was the most dominate force at E3, or the winner out of the E3 conferences, he said it was about one thing, the gamers. Whether it was fully heartfelt or not, it was definitely entertaining to watch. The commercial he did for the PSP was very funny as well, but that speech was one of the best parts of the show, kudos Kevin.

2. It is good to be back

Quite possibly one of the most popular Sony franchises of all time, Twisted Metal hasn’t seen a sequel on a Playstation console since 2001. When I heard that there was one more surprise in store, and saw the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Truck drive onto the stage, something inside of me went “Oh S***T, a new Twisted Metal game is coming to PS3″. The trailer was funny and action packed, and the demo gameplay of the new multiplayer mode nuke gave me goosebumps. The saddest part about it is that we will have to wait until 2011 to get in on the sadistic fun, but i’m sure this one will be worth the wait.

3. Portal 2 coming to the PS3

Despite some negative comments made by the co-founder of Valve Gabe Newell on the PS3, calling it a “disaster on so many levels” , he came out onto the stage during the press conference to announce that Portal 2 will be coming out for the PS3. This had many game journalists confused, but the mood lightened up a little bit when he said that Kevin Butler named him VP of Sharpening Things, so it’s all good. The trailer shown was exciting, and that’s all that matters. Fans of the series will have to wait until 2011 to get their hands on this one, however, but in the meantime, they can sharpen up their problem solving skills with the original.

4. Gran Turismo 5 gets a release date

After being in development for four years, the fifth installment in the Gran Turismo franchise finally gets a release date. On Nov 2nd, 2010, the fancy car racing will be available to all North American PS3. I have to confess something to all of you right now, i didn’t hear the announcement during the live feed, or see any trailer for it because the streaming quality of the website that I was watching the event on froze and lagged out for a good five minutes or so. That is also the reason why no mention of Infamous 2 will be in this post, and I am truly sorry about that. Don’t let this get you down, and i’m sure the game will be great when it comes out.

5. PSP gets a Camera

This might be a lame thing to get excited about to some of you, but the PSP hasn’t had that much in the way of peripherals since its launch. The component cables to connect it to your TV were cool, and the headphones were alright, but a camera is something that could bring a ton of interesting and unique ideas to the platform. Wish more games that will be compatible with the device were shown, but that’s just me. No nude pictures please, man boobs are not my thing.

That about sums up my thoughts on the E3 2010 Sony Press Conference. Did you agree with my picks, or did you feel like I left something out?. Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Preview: Half-Minute Hero

MrB4 — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:25:35 +0000

I enjoy Role playing games as much as the next person, but let’s be honest, most of us do not have enough time during the day to sit down and play through one of them. Earning money, level grinding, and epic boss battles just take so much time to complete. Wouldn’t it be nice if it could all be condensed down into little segments that we could pick and play at a moments notice? Well look no further, Half-Minute Hero has you covered.

What’s so refreshing about this game, from what I’ve played so far, is how it can still maintain the idea of an RPG, but at the same time keep the player moving along at a pace that never feels boring. Here’s the just of it, the game is broken down into a certain amount of quests, in which all you have to do is get from the beginning of the stage to the castle at the end, defeat the boss, and that’s it. You still have to upgrade weapons, heal yourself, and all of that good stuff, but its streamlined into going into a village, buying an item, then leaving it. Fights are also condensed into short bursts, in which all you have to do is move from left to right. If you’re low on time, you can always pray to a statue to rewind it, I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it comes in handy quite often.

That’s all i can really say about Half-Minute Hero for right now, as I haven’t played through much of the game up to this point. As blah as this whole idea might sound to some people, for those of us who have busy lives, its the perfect type of RPG to play. It’s deep and rewarding without being too frustrating. Be on the lookout for a review of this one right here at Rejected Gamer as soon I get the chance to complete this, and the RTS and Shoot-em up gameplay modes.

Week in Review: Jan 3-9, 2010

Rejected Gamer — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:59:54 +0000

It’s 2010, and with that comes more episodes of Week in Review. This week’s topics include: Spyborgs, Half-life 2, Little Big Planet PSP, Ikaruga, PulseMan, Bayonetta, Dante’s Inferno, Tvshowking, & Space Invaders X2

Intro music performed by: Qualitybeats; Outro music performed by: Necro off 2002′s NonPhixion album “The Future is Now”.

Week in Review Direct Download [right-click, save as]

Listen! Comment!

Week in Review June 27- July 3, 2009

Rejected Gamer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:40:12 +0000

Now that the Fourth of July weekend is past us, some of the Rejected Gamer crew return to give their thoughts on the games they played the past week. With a short week for most, Mike, Jeff, and Matt had a fairly easy, laid back discussion. So sit back and enjoy! Make sure to check out the reviews and leave us feedback.

Reviews:

Xbox 360: Portal
PSP: Rockband Unplugged
Xbox 360: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
WiiWare: Swords and Soldiers
Xbox 360: Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Thanks for listening, Please leave us a comment on the show or send us an e-mail at: feedback@rejectedgamer.com

Direct Download (right click, save as)

PSP Review: Rock Band Unplugged

MrB4 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:41:05 +0000

I am as much of a fan as anyone else when it comes to games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band on the 360 and Wii, but let us face it, the handheld versions of Guitar Hero just are not really all that fun. The idea of a new peripheral for a handheld rhythm game might sound good in theory, but the one made for Guitar Hero failed in the execution department. Not only did the peripheral feel uncomfortable to use, but the lack of ability to able to download songs did not help much either.

Then comes along a game like Rock Band Unplugged that forgets about trying to sell you on a new peripheral, and focuses on a concept that makes a game that is not only easy to understand, but a lot of fun to play.

Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: EA
Genre: Music, Rhythm
Rating: T (Teen)
Price: $39.99
# of Players: 1

I think we all know the concept behind Rock Band at this point. You are a band trying to make it big, and are performing at different venues, collecting stars and cash so you can upgrade your crew, gear, etc. The idea is all the same, the only thing that is different here is the gameplay concept, which I will explain later. All of your regular modes are here, Quickplay, Tour, Training, Band Survival mode (pick your own phrases), etc. You can play each mode in one of four levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert), but other than being able to play some songs on the go, there is not much else to do, so most of your time will be spent in the Tour mode.

Rock Band Unplugged for the most part looks ok, the character designs, stage lighting effects, and crowd all look like they were scrunched down to fit on the PSP, so you can tell where some corners were cut in order for all of this to fit on the miniature screen. The crowd basically looks like cardboard cutouts, your band mates look like PS1 versions of band mates. None of this will matter however, since most of your time will be spent switching from side to side, and tapping buttons to hit the notes in each instrument (Vocals, Drums, Lead Guitar, and Bass Guitar). All in all, the game looks ok, but does need much improvement if this game ever gets a sequel.

As we all know, music and sound is the area of this review that matters the most, and for the most part, it is really good. There are over 40 tracks, all of which are master recordings, and include bands such as 3 Doors Down, Nirvana, Weezer, The Who, Foo Fighters, and even the Jackson 5. A headset is required to enjoy these songs in all of their glory, because some of the songs will sound either choppy, or out of tune without them, and that is unfortunate. The sound is great with headphones, and terrible without, so listener beware, the choice you make might just ruin the entire experience for you.

Rock Band Unplugged uses a unique control scheme that sets it apart from it console counterparts. Instead of just playing one instrument, you are in charge of playing each and every note from every instrument in your band (Drums, Guitar, Vocals, and Bass). As hard as this sounds in theory, it really is not as hard to accomplish as you think, and that is where this game shines in my opinion. All of the instruments are presented left to right, and will have notes appear in segments, you play the notes in the segment, and then they will disappear for a few seconds, another set of notes appears in another instrument appears, you play the notes, then rinse and repeat until the song is over.

You switch from instrument to instrument by pressing the left and right shoulder buttons on the top corners of the PSP. Then you wait for the notes to appear, and press the up and left buttons on the d-pad for the red and yellow notes, and the triangle and circle buttons for the blue and green notes. You can change the control scheme if you want in the options menu, but honestly, the main control scheme they give you works out quite well. There are long and short notes, overdrives, and solos you can play, just like in all of the other rock band games, so you will feel right at home with this setup, as it just changes how you play the song, and not the overall concept of this game in general.

Simply put, Rock Band Unplugged is a fun, yet challenging, portable music rhythm game. The idea of switching between instruments, hitting the notes, then moving to your next instrument in just enough time to play the next set of notes adds a unique amount of challenge and depth to a game that has already established the fun concept on home consoles.

There is some replay value to be had with the option of being able to download songs through the PSN, but the lack of even local multiplayer support still baffles me as this was a game that prided itself on both a fun single player and multiplayer experience. Still to its credit, Rock Band Unplugged is a fun portable game that fans of the series will love, and is also a great game for those who are on the go, but still want to rock out to their favorite tunes. A must buy for rockers of all ages. (B+)

- Matt H