Web Exclusive: PS2 titles overachieve, PS3 titles underwhelm
Tom Bennett
Issue date: 5/19/06 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 3 next >
Running with the success of God of War, Sony announced God of War II at the 2006 Game Developers Conference. The game was playable on the E3 show floor, and was clearly just more of the same game play from the original. More likely than not this is a good thing, given the phenomenal gameplay of the original. Only minor enhancements seem to have been implemented, such as new weapons, including a large axe, and more magical attacks, such as the wind bow. The new grappling feature was fun to use, and given the original's superb platforming, it should be expected to have some decent game mechanics based around it. Still, I feel less inclined to pick this up, since God of War was an excellent standalone game that did not seem like it could continue much in terms of story and game play.
Gamers should get prepared to rock out in November, as Guitar Hero II will be released around then, and it looks like it will be even better than the original. The sequel will provide several modes severely missing from the original, most notably varying difficulty levels in multiplayer. Just as important is when gamers can expect to play, as players will no longer be forced to take turns throughout the song. Instead, player one will play lead guitar while player two will play rhythm or bass, depending on the song that is chosen. Since the two rockers will be working together, they share the same score and the same multiplier, meaning that the moment one person screws up the multiplier, it's lost for both. The "star power" ability, which doubles the multiplier, will require that both players activate it by tilting the guitars 90 degrees at the same time. A total of about 60 songs should be playable, with 20 indie songs and 40 licensed tracks (re-recorded by WaveGroup Sound as in the original). So far, the following tracks have been confirmed: "You Really Got Me," by Van Halen; "Strutter," by KISS; "Who Was In My Room Last Night" by Butthole Surfers; "Warpigs," by Black Sabbath; "Arterial Black," by Drist; "Psychobilly Freakout," by Reverend Horton Heat; and "YYZ," by Rush.
Gamers should get prepared to rock out in November, as Guitar Hero II will be released around then, and it looks like it will be even better than the original. The sequel will provide several modes severely missing from the original, most notably varying difficulty levels in multiplayer. Just as important is when gamers can expect to play, as players will no longer be forced to take turns throughout the song. Instead, player one will play lead guitar while player two will play rhythm or bass, depending on the song that is chosen. Since the two rockers will be working together, they share the same score and the same multiplier, meaning that the moment one person screws up the multiplier, it's lost for both. The "star power" ability, which doubles the multiplier, will require that both players activate it by tilting the guitars 90 degrees at the same time. A total of about 60 songs should be playable, with 20 indie songs and 40 licensed tracks (re-recorded by WaveGroup Sound as in the original). So far, the following tracks have been confirmed: "You Really Got Me," by Van Halen; "Strutter," by KISS; "Who Was In My Room Last Night" by Butthole Surfers; "Warpigs," by Black Sabbath; "Arterial Black," by Drist; "Psychobilly Freakout," by Reverend Horton Heat; and "YYZ," by Rush.
is a member of the 
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Anonymous
posted 5/21/06 @ 9:49 PM EST
God of War II and Guitar Hero II are NOT PS3 titles. They're both slated for release on PS2 this fall. Get your fact straight. Thank god for your sake this is a "web exclusive" and wasn't sent to print like that. (Continued…)
Post a Comment