HALFBRICK PLAYSTATION MINIS REVIEW ROUND-UP
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AGE OF ZOMBIES (PSP/PS3)Developer: Halfbrick.
Released: 2010. Genre: Shoot 'em up. Posted 7th December 2012. By Tom Clare © 2012 |
Just as you thought zombie games had been done to death, along came Age Of Zombies to render them er, un-dead, I guess. A fantastic advert for the minis range, Halfbrick’s shooter makes a potent combination of its amusing dialogues, attractive animated visuals and strong fun factor to deliver a must-have title.
Playing as the brilliantly non-PC Barry Steakfries, the concept is devilishly simple; keep the zombie hordes at arms-length by manoeuvring with the left stick/D-pad, and make use of eight-direction blasting with the face buttons. You’ll need to navigate tightly-spaced surroundings, recognising the perimeters and where the next wave of foes will emerge from, and risking all to snag that all-important weapon power-up. Among other locales, AOZ time-hops between feudal Japan, 1930s Chicago and the Pyramids, all the while gleefully sending-up national stereotypes and generally having a bonkers good time.
Playing as the brilliantly non-PC Barry Steakfries, the concept is devilishly simple; keep the zombie hordes at arms-length by manoeuvring with the left stick/D-pad, and make use of eight-direction blasting with the face buttons. You’ll need to navigate tightly-spaced surroundings, recognising the perimeters and where the next wave of foes will emerge from, and risking all to snag that all-important weapon power-up. Among other locales, AOZ time-hops between feudal Japan, 1930s Chicago and the Pyramids, all the while gleefully sending-up national stereotypes and generally having a bonkers good time.
Never a truer word written
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Grenades are handy room-cleaners if you can get the zombies to bunch
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The wealth of neatly animated and surprisingly varied zombie types (mummies and gangsters amuse) coupled with some marvellously destructive weapons like the eye-watering gatling gun and handy bazooka, help make for an impressive, engaging and refreshingly immediate gameplay experience. Barry’s a great lead protagonist, pausing just long enough on his blood-thirsty rampage to reference Stargate, Resident Evil and Samurai Champloo in a wealth of chuckle-inducing cultural nods. Like the game itself, Steakfries is silly, but almost impossible not to like.
And whilst Barry jokes about running out of decent dialogue, the game never comes up short on the ideas front. Whilst the core play remains much the same throughout, there’s enough to keep you guessing. The bosses are a highlight; particularly Zombie T-Rex, the Mafia Car and the final boss, for they all bring something a little different to the table. It also shows great technical surety, remaining smooth even as scores of zombies pile in after Barry; you’ll love the ‘squish’ sound of taking out a horde of them with a handily-placed SMG nearly as much as he does!
Responsive controls, top-class visuals and the rapid-paced music are all peachy, whilst the brevity of the story mode is offset by the high-score heaven that is the Survival mode. Pitting you against an endless sea of flesh-chompers, Survival gets a little tougher, and a little faster, with every wave that passes. The longer you survive, the bigger the points-per-kill, whilst multipliers add further interest – it’s compulsive stuff. With around fifteen short stages and only the two modes of play, there’s a tendency to look at Age Of Zombies as a fairly insubstantial game. The proof of the pudding however is in the number of times it has snuck back on to my PS3 and PSP in the last couple of years. If you’re after some brain-on-hold blasting, it’s absolutely essential.
And whilst Barry jokes about running out of decent dialogue, the game never comes up short on the ideas front. Whilst the core play remains much the same throughout, there’s enough to keep you guessing. The bosses are a highlight; particularly Zombie T-Rex, the Mafia Car and the final boss, for they all bring something a little different to the table. It also shows great technical surety, remaining smooth even as scores of zombies pile in after Barry; you’ll love the ‘squish’ sound of taking out a horde of them with a handily-placed SMG nearly as much as he does!
Responsive controls, top-class visuals and the rapid-paced music are all peachy, whilst the brevity of the story mode is offset by the high-score heaven that is the Survival mode. Pitting you against an endless sea of flesh-chompers, Survival gets a little tougher, and a little faster, with every wave that passes. The longer you survive, the bigger the points-per-kill, whilst multipliers add further interest – it’s compulsive stuff. With around fifteen short stages and only the two modes of play, there’s a tendency to look at Age Of Zombies as a fairly insubstantial game. The proof of the pudding however is in the number of times it has snuck back on to my PS3 and PSP in the last couple of years. If you’re after some brain-on-hold blasting, it’s absolutely essential.
AERO RACER (PSP/PS3)
Aero Racer (briefly Rocket Racer) is a distinguished futuristic racer that sees up to four hovercraft racers battling to reach the chequered flag first on short, sleek raceways. Though there’s a few discrepancies and it isn’t for the faint of heart, Aero Racer taps into the bite-sized spirit of the range whilst still providing a fairly heavyweight campaign.
Indeed, the Challenge mode is an ideal fit for a minis title. The player faces a raft of tasks that include time-trials, races, multi-race series’, one-on-ones and drift challenges. They’re really good too, far from a walkover but with the immediacy of the ‘retry’ option and events typically lasting between 10 and 60 seconds, it’s good for gaming on the go. 
It’s a little disappointing that AR’s presentation is so anonymous, with drab grey loading screens making for an unflattering contrast to the gorgeous, shiny tracks that are littered with neat details (including some fun, cheeky track-side advertising) and run incredibly smoothly. Elsewhere though, the four ships (named after the colour of their livery) offer little more than cosmetic variance, which makes it feel a touch cheaper and less creative than it actually is.
Aero Racer’s biggest innovation is the wall-drift, and it adds a fiendish facet to the racing. Powerslide around the outer perimeter of a corner and you’ll gain a slingshot of speed, and this encourages a completely different approach when considering racing lines, making it unique amongst its peers. However, the drift’s highly unforgiving nature (aim slightly wrong and you’ll smack a wall and lose all momentum) coupled with unflinchingly efficient A.I. means the challenge may come to overwhelm the majority of gamers long before beating the Challenge mode. 
Still, Halfbrick should be commended for a racer that offers much more quality than its relatively meek competition. Naff loading screens aside, it remains one of the prettiest minis around and offers encouraging signs that core games with real challenge can be made to play well in bits. If you fancy a retrofied take on WipEout or F-Zero, then you could do a lot worse.
Presentation: 8/10 Gameplay: 7/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 7/10 |
ECHOES (PSP/PS3)
Echoes is a cracker; a puzzle game well worthy of its modest price-tag. Where Age Of Zombies is brash and fun, Echoes is elegant and cerebral. It’s a top-down puzzle game that challenges you to collect a set number of crystals in order to complete a level, the catch being that every time you pick one up, an ‘echo’ forms and proceeds to mimic your previous movements. Collide with too many, and you’ll have to restart and rethink. Doesn’t sound too difficult, but just wait until you’ve got thirty of them criss-crossing, that’s when you’ll truly have become your own worst enemy.
Understandably given its origins, Echoes does have a whiff of iPhone to its presentation. That said, it upscales beautifully on a PS3 with pin-sharp, attractive levels. The controls are also fairly flawless, equally good on a handheld or PS3, and it’s an innovative concept that’s effortlessly realised. The twenty-something levels aren’t going to last much more than an hour for most gamers, but things open up with the addition of three additional modes: Jackpot, Survival, and Clockwork. 
All three offer a nice spin on the core mechanic, but Clockwork stands out as a masterstroke of puzzle game design. Every time you collect a crystal, a stationary echo appears at the position you last collected one; you can move them back and forth through their route with the shoulder buttons. This shows off the game at its best, as when the screen starts to get crowded with dozens of the blue swirls, you’ll be desperately plotting a course, holding X (and your breath) as you brush past into another pocket of space, finding ways to keep your chain building.
There’s a good mix of levels, and they gel nicely. Ranging from the shape of a guitar, Australia, a crow and a maze, they’re all completely absorbing brain-teasers, and Echoes as a whole is deliciously moreish. The beauty of Echoes is that it appeals to a really broad demographic; whether you’re a serious gamer who’ll see it as a breath of fresh air in light of all the Bejeweled clones doing the rounds, or a casual who’ll be drawn in by the concept (my other half doesn’t play much, but got hooked in no time), there’s a little something for everyone here.
Presentation: 6/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 7/10 OVERALL: 8/10 |
