Review: Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)

Street Fighter IV came out of nowhere, riding high upon a strong wave of retro-themed revitalisation, and reconnecting with the gaming public in a way absent from the series since the likes of Street Fighter Alpha on Saturn and PSone. The game managed to bring the franchise into the next-generation like no other 2D beat’em up has done before, combining lavish 3D visuals with old-style 2D collision box based gameplay, at the same time redefining just what this series was about. Capcom had succeeded in bringing back the series into the limelight when pretty much most of the community thought that they would fail to do so, and in a way that did the long running series proud.

Super Street Fighter IV then, isn’t so much a sequel or drastic upgrade to last years game. But instead delivers a small bag of tweaks and subtle rebalancing, along with a host of new and returning characters. New faces are joined with new backgrounds, special moves, and the most accessible, and in-depth version of Street Fighter IV yet. It’s no surprise that SSFIV isn’t a brand-new game, but merely an enhanced version of last years popular re-birth. And whilst many hardcore fans will be drooling over its release, everyone else may be left wondering what all the fuss is about.

However, it doesn’t really matter, as either way you slice it, SSFIV is perhaps the best game in the series since the hardcore Street Fighter III Third Strike, or for me, since SF Alpha 2 and 3.


Upon starting up the game, the first thing you will notice is the lack of that ‘indestructible’ theme tune (for better or worse?) along with a brand new intro sequence and cool looking ‘super’ title screen. The entire presentation has been given a lift despite being very similar to latest year’s original SFIV, with influences from past games showing themselves in the various menus and the ‘character select’ screen. This screen in particular, now looks like a cross between the one found in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, with the art direction of SFIII Third Strike, whereas in SFIV this very same screen seemed to be based on Alpha 2 and vanilla SFIII.

The small tweaks and homage’s don’t end there, with all the intro and ending movies for every character being completely redone from scratch, looking like they fit in a lot more closely to the actual character art used throughout the game. Their actual content though, is somewhat shorter, with each character’s story only giving you a glimpse at what is really going on. Of course the SF series has never been about the story, but instead the accessible and completely in depth gameplay, which has been a constant focus for all those who continue to be involved with the series.

All the biggest changes to Capcom’s latest are concealed largely under the hood, with various character specific tweaks and crucial balancing to ensure that no one fighter stands to have an overall unfair advantage against another. Sagat for example (SFIV’s highest tier character), has had his Tiger Uppercut damage reduced and has been made more of an ‘execution’ style character, reducing his overall top tier status inline with someone like Akuma, who has his easily exploitable ‘LP’ into ‘LK’ loop removed; Ryu has had his Shoryuken adjusted, now performing two hits instead of one when activated with a ‘heavy punch’; and Rufus has had his ‘EX snake’ damaged reduced.


There are many more things that have been changed, such as each character having two ‘Ultra moves’ instead of one (though some have three or four even), whilst reducing their overall damage done, in turn making the match less about building up to a giant combo-based endgame. Also of the two ‘Ultras’ that you have available (you can only select one for use in the fight), one is a longer-range offensive type, and the other is more for close-quarters use, mainly I suspect for defence or countering. The new cast of characters also are largely more offensive in their play style than many of the ones found in SFIV, creating a balanced roster of offensive and defensive types.

From these and the other subtle tweaks, you get the idea that, as a game, Super SFIV is the most finely tuned and well-balanced instalment in the series so far. Sure there might be a few fans who think their favourite character is a little underpowered or low down the rankings, but by and large there is at this point in time, very little to complain about. Also, from the dozens of matches that I’ve played online, I can solidly say that the few complaints about some of the characters exploiting certain moves for a guaranteed effect is no longer an issue, instead being more about your own ability to deal with them.


Coming to the fray, a total of ten new characters have entered the world of SFIV. Two of which are completely new creations for this game, whilst the other eight are pulled right out from previous instalments in the franchise. Taking the spotlight is both Hakan and Juri, new to SFIV; backed up by Makoto, Ibuki, and Dudley from SFIII; Guy, Cody and Adon from SF Alpha; and lastly T. Hawk and Dee Jay from SSFII.

Every one of these characters are pretty much unique creations which play differently from the rest of the cast. Although some comparisons can be made between, for example, Dudley and Balrog are both boxers, but with very different styles that are instantly apparent when you see them in motion. The good news is that unlike in SFIV, all of these and the original cast are available right from the get go.

Out of all the new additions, it’s Hakan and Juri which are of the most interest however, especially Hakan, whose fighting style is unlike any other I’ve ever encountered in a fighting game, 2D or otherwise. Hakan is the video gaming worlds first Turkish oil wrestler, a slow beast with the ability to quickly slide around the ground smashing into his intended target, before then squeezing every last drop of life from their lungs. Everything he does is at first the cause of much hilarity, although he can be deadly in the right hands.

The second newcomer, Juri, a quick and very nimble fighter, is also somewhat different from what we’ve had before. Plenty of aerial kicks and multi-directional fireballs make up her arsenal, many moves being well suited for quick countering potential. In particular her entire repertoire seems to be based upon the game of surprise, with her moves making it difficult for her opponents to know what to expect. Her fireball, for example can be stored after being activated for later use against an opponent. All you need to be able to do is to keep one of the ‘kick’ buttons held down, and then unleashed that little present for your opponent.


There’s no need to explain the rest of the bunch, as I suspect that anyone reading this should be familiar with past Street Fighter instalments. If not, then I’ll just say that you have here some of the most diverse and most rounded bunch of characters to appear in a fighting game. Each one seems to have been well balanced against the rest, and some who were a little too powerful in SFIV have been toned down, just ever so slightly, making things even more level than before.

With 35 characters in total, there’s plenty of familiar faces and some newcomers to learn and master, all of which should keep hardcore fans playing for a long time online, and casual gamers at with a lot of variety to hold their interest.

Other than the inclusion of new characters and a re-balancing of the underlying game engine, the biggest change comes in the same of Super SFIV’s online modes, and ranking points system. In the original SFIV your overall rank was determined by how many battle points you had, and this went up or down depending on if you were winning or losing matches regardless of which character you decided to choose. Whilst it easily showed off who was the overall best at the game, it also meant that a huge amount of people playing online never changed the character they were using. Instead people refused to experiment online, and that resulted in many fights against similar characters in most ranked matches.


For Super SFIV Capcom have introduced a dual points system, one tied directly to individual characters (Battle Points) and one used to determine the players overall skill level (Player Points). This means that although your ‘Player Points’ changes when you win or lose with different characters, your ‘Battle Points’ for other characters does not, allowing you to experiment knowing that your best characters will still have their high ratings but simply at the expense of your overall player rating, if you aren’t so good with some of the others.

Put simply, this new system works brilliantly and certainly gives you the opportunity to try out different characters online against other players without ruining all of your ratings. Both ‘Player Point’ and ‘Battle Points’ are visible on the game’s leaderboards, letting you see how you fare against others, whilst also providing a solid system for high-level players to keep track of how well they are doing. It’s a system which feels like a natural progression from the one started in SFIV, and the best to grace any fighting game to date.


There is of course, a lot more to Super SFIV’s online game than just standard ranked matches, you also have the option of Endless battle and Team Battle too, both bulking out the non-ranked match options available. The Team Battle option sees you matched up for some 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 action, allowing you to watch the other opponents matches as you wait for yours to arrive.

Endless Battle on the other hand, basically replaces the Player Match option from the last game, instead queuing you up with a series of other players in a ‘winner stays on’ type scenario, just like if you were waiting inline in an actual arcade for a match. As a replacement for the standard Player Match option though, it’s mildly disappointing as you have to wait for a few other matches to finish before you take your turn, making this a poor substitute for online practice before going into proper ranked battles. It is pretty cool however, if you want to observe other players and learn more about the game engine, seeing how people play characters in a completely different way to how you expect.

Also, for those of you who like to watch a bit of SF rather than just playing all the time, there is a fully featured Replay Channel option available, which gives you access to loads of online match replays from round the world. Everything from high ranking matches to beginner bouts are available, complete with the ability to slow-down the replay speed and the option to display damage numbers to get an idea on which moves and combos are most effective in high end battles. This of course completes and complements the more developed nature of the online modes in Super SFIV, though strangely the rather excellent Championship Mode from the original SFIV is missing, with Capcom instead electing to deliver a Tournament Mode of sorts to Super SFIV later next month (15th June we have been told).


Outside of the online modes and play, you also have Arcade, Versus, Training and Challenge Mode. Both Survival and Time Attack are noticeable by their absence, although instead, you can now play both the car and barrel bashing bonus games in a separate mode selectable from the main menu screen. Other than that, there is little for the solitary player to do outside of the Arcade and revised Challenge mode. Instead, it certainly seems that with these changes, that Super SFIV is definitely calling you into its world of fast-paced online action. Now that’s not such a bad thing, since most of your time spent will be playing against others online, and really, this multiplayer focus has always been the series meat and potatoes.

Lastly, you might also be wondering about the bonuses that Capcom had promised for players that purchased last year’s SFIV and this new ‘Super’ instalment. Well, this basically amounts to two different special effect costumes available for use on any of the characters to be found in the game. Rather than kitting out the fighters in new threads, these options make the character models look a lot more the ones seen in the game’s intro sequence. A nice touch, but we could have expected at least a little more, like extra ones of those pre-order costumes that will no doubt be available for purchase later on down the line.


With all that said and done, thumbs blistered, arcade stick broken back in again, Super Street Fighter IV is perhaps the best fighting game available this generation, 2D or otherwise. It is easily accessible to beginners and casual fans, whilst being filled with enough depth to allow a degree of mastery that only a select few players around the world will ever reach. You only have to look at the huge list of unique characters, lovingly crafted visuals, and beautifully polished game engine to know that Capcom have once again come up with something special.

However, what we have here isn’t a completely new game, and many casual owners of last years SFIV are unlikely to find enough new content to justify its purchase. That of course was always going to be the case. But whereas last year’s SFIV was squarely aimed at everyone, with the hope of bringing back the franchise into the limelight, Super is aimed at the regular franchise devotees and casual fans looking for more traditional 2D beat’em up action – and boy do they get it.

Overall, Super SFIV doesn’t redefine the boundaries of modern day 2D fighters like the previous release did. Instead, Capcom have gone back and subtly re-worked what many consider to be modern day pinnacle of the genre (myself included), and have created what can only be described as the most finely tuned, well balanced, accessible and wholly exciting fighting game available on any of today’s current crop of consoles. Street Fighter IV was merely the catalyst, an opener to restart the mighty Capcom fighting game production line. Super SFIV is the continuation, and an essential purchase for fans, hardcore players, or anyone who missed out on the previous release.

VERDICT: 9/10

Review: After Burner Climax (PSN & XBLA)

Before wanting to be a videogames journalist, or before that a palaeontologist, I have always wanted to become a fighter pilot, shooting down those pesky Migs just like in the 1986 movie hit Top Gun. No rules, no regulations, or training required, just some awesomely cool dog fighting action. As it so happens, I got my first taste of this first-hand in one of my local seaside arcades when I was about five or six years old. I had encountered Sega’s mid-eighties spectacular After Burner, a jet fighting, rip-roaring, aerial action game complete with a really, really, cool moving cabinet.


I only had one go. That was all I was allowed. But it would be an experience I would never forget, a rush of excitement and exhilaration that few games today have delivered in such a concentrated dose. And despite never making it past the first stage, I yearned for more, not ever having the chance to properly sample delights of such similarity again… until now.

In 2006, Sega unleashed upon a dying arcade world the little known After Burner Climax, one of their first next-generation arcade outings. Running on their newly formed Lindbergh arcade board, it brought to the screen fast-paced aerial action and a hint of 1980’s excitement, all at the pre-requisite sixty frames per-second with a slew of smoke and particle effects. Finally my chance to sample once again my childhood delights had arrived, except for the fact that a scarce one or two go’s would be my only chance of salvation. As per usual, Sega had decided it seemed, to completely overlook such a title for an early next-gen console launch, instead relegating it to the ranks of forgotten arcade gems.

Today, all that has changed, and Sega, in combination with Sumo Digital (their usual porting house) have seen fit to release this nearly forgotten arcade non-hit to both PSN and XBLA. Get Ready to re-enter the danger zone, Kenny Loggings style!


Graphically the game is pretty much arcade perfect on both platforms running at the expected 60fps, featuring basic but fairly detailed texture work, with bump-mapped and shiny (specular and diffuse effects) surfaces, and plenty of smoke and particle effects expected for a 2006 game. As with Virtua Fighter 5 on PS3 and Lindbergh, no AA is present on the PS3 version although at least 2xMSAA is used on the 360, but then again, the game does render in 720p on both formats.

The 360 version however, seems to feature slightly better lighting than the PS3 one, matching the arcade version like for like, whereas on PS3 the lighting is ever so slightly less intense. It’s not even an issue for me, and despite with myself being just a little bit of a graphics whore, decided to make my final purchase of the game for my PS3, to go along with OutRun Online arcade and Tekken Dark Resurrection (amongst others) in my growing collection.


The premise of the game is the same as in the 1986 original; flying around at varying speeds above and below the clouds, you are tasked with blasting enemy planes and ground vehicles into obliteration, whilst relying on just a few well-aimed missiles and an unlimited use of a paltry machinegun to get the job done. Along with your limited assortment of weapons, you also have the ability to out-manoeuvre enemy craft using the series trademark ‘barrel roll’, mixing it up between all out shooting, and cleverly skilled avoidance of the impending doom heading your way.

Did, we also mention, blue skies, bright white clouds, and a variety of different environments, each making little sense in the grand scheme of things when it comes to aerial combat. But they sure as hell look really cool, an infusion of colour in an increasingly drab modern videogaming world, just what we need to see a lot more often.

The dossier on the game reads something like this: three selectable aircraft, check; skilful but simplistic gameplay; check; cheesy 80’s rocking arcade soundtrack, check. And so on. It’s After Burner through and through, and one of the last truly decent games created by Sega geniuses at Sega-AM2, minus Virtua Fighter 5 of course.


Staring off by selecting one of three planes, the F/A-18E, F14D Super Tomcat and the F-15E, and then choosing the colour, the game has you flying through a multitude of different, beautifully colourful environments, barrel-rolling and blasting your way through hordes of enemy aircraft and resistant ground forces. Twice along the way the game’s stages branch off to create two separate routes to take, each with new stages and a different second set of routes to take. Should you meet hidden objectives set out for you by the game, you might also encounter a secret stage or two, usually absent from your somewhat short progression to the end.

The experience as a whole is pretty short and really very linear, much like Star Fox 64 or any on-rails shooter worth it’s salt. There’s not much more to do once you’ve completed all the routes available and seen the end credits a handful of times, not even all that much in the way of added depth, or hidden skill to master outside the basic ‘roll and shoot’ and ‘Climax Mode’ mechanics.

However, mastering the basics (is there anything beyond?) isn’t quite as easy or straightforward as it might seem, though lacking the depth of say, OutRun or Sega Rally, but having more to do than the likes of Virtua Cop, or Ghost Squad.


Your basic machine gun fires off rapid shots used to take down most close range enemy aircraft, whilst your missiles are used primarily to initiate an early strike against forces yet to reach your position. Missiles have to be locked-on, much like in the movie Top Gun, and you can target up to a handful at any given time. For each one to be launched you have to push down on the fire button, rather than hold, hit, and fire, which simply will leave you firing off a single missile against one target instead of the group you’ve just locked-on to. This, along with the game’s titular ‘Climax Mode’ brings some much-needed depth to the experience, regardless of how light it actually is, making you learn and remember enemy attack patterns, before blasting them down seamlessly for that barely obtainable ‘100% rating’.

Movement, as with most on-rail shooters, is restricted to flying around between all for corners of the screen, flying into the screen and the oncoming environments and enemies. It’s possible to perform a ‘barrel roll’ using a quick flick of the analogue stick in the opposite direction to which you are moving, whilst the camera automatically pushes you down a fixed course.

Unfortunately, I found it all too easy to accidentally initiate the ‘barrel roll’ whilst attempting to quickly move and target enemies on the opposite side of the screen, rather than change direction and shoot em’ down with some missiles. Maybe it would have been better to have a ‘button and stick movement’ system to activate such a move, thus avoiding the issue from ever coming up. Saying that, the current control set up does make the game feel more like you are flying an unwieldy fighter jet at a fast and frenetic pace, for better or worse.


Moving on, the titular ‘Climax Mode’, activated when the ‘Climax Gauge’ fills up to its maximum position, basically slows down time Matrix stylie, allowing you target and takedown a multitude of enemies far more easily than at high speed. A small counter also appears telling you the amount of enemies that are on screen, which if you manage to destroy all at the same time, you’ll receive an added increase in your score outside that given for simply taking down enemies.

It’s all as simplistic as it gets, with most of the depth and replay value coming from trying to get a perfect ‘takedown’ rating, or by achieving the highest score on the leaderboards - the game’s only online option. It’s also pretty hard, and very chaotic at times, sending a screen load of adversaries at you at any one time, repeating the process over and over until the game ends. Certainly you can tell, that like the 1980’s original, this next-gen sequel was also designed specifically to keep you pumping 50p pieces into the machine.

Challenging, and sometimes unfair, especially later on, is how I would describe After Burner Climax, though never to the point where the wild ride on offer becomes just another bag of stress rolled up and ready to be thrown across the room. Authentic, yes, but expected all the same. After all it’s in the series heritage to be this way.


If you are finding the whole experience a little to hard for your liking, then the game features what can only be described as a ‘dip switch’ style ‘EX Options’ mode, in which you can customise everything from the amount of continues on offer, to powering up your weaponry and allowing an auto lock-on function. It is also possible to change the parameters for how the game’s scoring system works making it easier to gain higher bonuses and other such extras. These ‘Ex Options’ only work in the game’s ‘Arcade Mode’, leaving ‘Score Attack’ free of any unwanted tampering for competitive online play, or rather rankings, as there is no multiplayer on offer.

After Burner Climax is a rather short but reasonably sweet dose of vintage arcade gaming, delivering the quick thrills and spills of such great 1980’s hits like OutRun, Space Harrier and After Burner long since forgotten by the general gaming public. It is also extremely short and pretty repetitive compared to the likes of OutRun 2, in which mastering your drift, and replaying every route in the game can become an obsession. Still Climax offers you a similar feeling, just in smaller doses and with unrelenting fury, without the substance inducing style addictiveness to be found in Sega’s 2004 drifting arcade smash.

Sadly, it also seems like part of the experience is missing without ‘that’ trademark hydraulic cabinet so firmly ingrained in our minds from twenty years ago. Surround sound we may have, and that works brilliantly, but really, having the full-on moving cabinet throwing you all around was part and parcel of the enjoyment behind the game.


For anyone looking for a slice of childhood gaming goodness, or those who perhaps spent too many hours playing through Panzer Dragoon, OutRun or even Star Fox on the N64, will find a highly enjoyable albeit short slice of aerial action, let down by its lack of additional modes, and its strict devotion to its late 80’s roots. For me, and I suspect a few others at least, After Burner Climax could be one of the most played PSN or XBLA releases this year, drenched in blue skies, beautiful artistically designed environments, and quick-fix shooty action.

This game is probably the last solid arcade title to come out of Sega’s dwindling development studios since OutRun 2, and the continuing instalments of the Virtua Fighter series. It’s not perfect by any means, being a little too short for its own good, and rather chaotic, but worth picking up for fans, and perhaps people longing for some more arcade action.

VERDICT: 7/10

Sony Revises Slim PS3 Internals

Over the last two months or so there has been a growing worldwide shortage of PlayStation 3 consoles. Most people that I have spoken to seemed to have believed that this was due to the increasing demand for the machine whilst Sony struggled to make enough to go around, especially in lieu of their hard hitting ad campaigns for both Heavy Rain and God Of War 3.

However, like with most hardware shortages there is something else at work behind the scenes. In this case an internal revision of the insides found in both the 120GB and 250GB model slim PS3’s. First discovered at a site called PocketNews, we lay out the info for you right here at IQGamer.


The latest revision of the console, which should come with the CECH-2100A model number, features a new 45nm size RSX GPU shrunk down from its existing 65nm production node, and keeps the existing 45nm version of the CELL CPU from a previous process reduction. With this also comes a smaller cooling solution, and a lighter power supply unit, which naturally draws less electricity to match the reduced power in put required by the internals.

In addition to these changes, the system’s traditional use of four separate 64MB XDR RAM modules has been replaced with two 128MB versions instead. Again keeping overall costs and complexity down. The motherboard has also seen a reworking in order to accommodate these new components, being simpler to construct, and cheaper as a result.

With all the changes at hand inside the machine, it makes this latest revision of the slim PS3 the cheapest, coolest running, and most power efficient version of the console yet. This should translate into an increase in revenue made on each console, maybe even allowing a route to another price drop further down the line. Seeing as both Natal and PlayStation Move being launched in fall of this year, Sony are clearly positioning themselves to allow a better degree of flexibility on both machine pricing and maximising their revenue stream, with an eye, no doubt, into closing the ever smaller gap between both PS3 and 360 consoles.

Now that these new PS3 slims are rolling off the production line and into stores, there should be an end in sight for the shortage that has hampered PS3 sales recently. I expect there to be an abundance of shiny new consoles at your local retail outlet in the next couple of weeks. If not, then shortly thereafter.

Update: It has since been confirmed by Sony that the process node used for the new RSX inside these latest slim consoles is in fact a 40nm one, and not at 45nm as originally thought. This is rather surprising news, seeing as nobody thought that Sony would be using its 40nm fabrication process for its PS3 GPU. It was original going to be used for memory components only.

Sony Outlines 3D Plans

Today at the 3D Gaming Summit in Los Angeles, Sony’s David Coombes (Platform Research Manager) discussed plans for the upcoming 3D enabling PS3 firmware update, talking about how it will affect the machine’s performance in actual game scenarios, whilst also detailing ways to curtail certain issues using a game’s existing engine, and code base. Specifically he mentioned using an existing split-screen game engine as the base for rendering the two separate images required for 3D to be displayed, as the extra work has in theory been mostly carried out already. But more on that later.

Coombes specified that the firmware responsible for delivering 3D content via the PlayStation 3, would be released in two separate waves. The first allowing the option of playing 3D enabled games on the system; and the second, to allow the playback of 3D Blu-Ray movies, which should arrive soon after the initial update. Part of the plan is to have the PS3 at the forefront of the 3D home revolution, or so they hope, along with their flagship range of Bravia 3D ready LCD TVs coincided for release at around the same time as the firmware update.

In terms of game development in 3D, Coombes confirmed that for a game to be playable in 3D it would have to have been coded and designed for the medium in order for it to work. Meaning that unless a game is specifically written to take advantage of the 3D technology, it won’t be displayed in 3D. Sony will not be providing any kind of post-process 3D conversion software into the firmware update, stating that whilst it would be possible, they are leaving that for other TV manufacturers to do.

Instead Coombes proposed a series of solutions in order to help ease the performance burden of having to develop with 3D in mind. For example rendering a scene in 3D takes roughly twice the computational power than that of rendering in traditional 2D, with each frame having to be drawn twice. However not all aspects of the scene need to be handled this way. Coombes gave the example of shadows, which are generally flat, and could easily be shared between left and right frames used to make up the 3D image as a way of rendering certain objects only once for each frame. These objects, or graphical effects, would have to be made up of ones which have no-3D information, or rather, no depth buffer, in order for the process to work. The savings however, can lead to a performance boost or could be used to leverage the remaining GPU power for other optimisations.


Some games though, are already ripe for an easier 3D conversion process. Coombes highlighted titles which featured a split-screen two player option as having most of the graphical optimisations already needed for a quicker route into rendering in true 3D. Essentially 3D works by rendering two individual frames, one for each eye, and uses shutter glasses to alternate each image to for form a single frame displayed to the user. With split-screen rendering the engine is basically drawing everything on screen twice, requiring very few optimisations in order to work in the context of creating a 3D image. Using this as a starting point, it could allow developers to better optimise their titles, keeping higher framerates and more detail that otherwise might have been lost.

PS3 3D games, and 3D Blu-Ray movies will be compatible with all 3D enabled HDTVs that meet the HDMI 1.4 standard. The ‘3D Ready’ official standard in the UK also means that TVs displaying the slogan will be compatible with all PS3 games and Blu-Rays that are available in this format. Also, in terms of scaling, it was reaffirmed that the PS3 would scale the 3D output to whatever resolution was supported by the users HDTV (720p, 1080i and 1080p), depending on which check boxes have been ticked in the ‘Display Settings’ menu in the XMB.


Lastly, Sony revealed that final 3D software development kits have been in developer’s hands since January this year, and announced that they would be showing off a whole host of 3D enabled titles at E3 later on this year. Along with this, Sony reiterated the list of known compatible titles including PAIN, Wipeout HD, and Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

With 3D being the buzzword of the moment, and with gaming potentially leading the way on early uptake of this latest display technology, we at IQGamer will be following its development very closely.

Revealed: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 Is Coming!

If you thought that Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom represented a hardcore comeback for the ‘Versus’ series then you ain’t seen nothing yet, as for yesterday in the early hours, Capcom officially announced the arrival of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The game pretty much is the first proper instalment in the original ‘Versus’ series since Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was released some ten years ago, and is one of the most exciting things to come out of Capcom’s Captivate 10 games event.

Like with Street Fighter IV and Tatsunoko, MvC3 is coming to both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in all its 3D high definition glory, packing an estimated 30 or more characters – the amount depends on how much Capcom get done in the time limit they have – and all the series hallmark off-the-wall, hyper intense, super-combo busting action you’ve come to expect from a franchise with such larger than life icons.

So far Capcom haven’t disclosed the whole line up of characters that will make it into the game, although we do know that this bunch will at least be making an appearance. Confirmed via the trailer of the game and additional promotional art, faces shall include Ryu, Wolverine, Iron Man, Hulk, Morrigan and Chris Redfield. Whilst the artwork hints at the inclusion of Chun-Li, Captain America, Super Skrull, Deadpool, Felicia, Dante, Frank West, Mephisto, Black Widow and Doctor Doom. We have also been told to expect an end boss that Marvel says fans will appreciate.



With plenty of new franchises released between MvC2 and this game, it will be interesting to see how many new or unusual faces make an appearance in the game. Hopefully there will be some really cool surprises in the way of hidden characters, or supped up ‘evil’ versions so popular with fans with the ‘Versus SNK’ series of games. Perhaps we’ll find some of the lesser known, but far darkly and intense Marvel characters rarely seen outside the comic book universe. That would be an awesome treat for us 2D fighting fans.

MvC3 will see the return of the tried and tested system of ‘hyper combos’, ‘aerial raves’, and the return of the 3-on-3 tag-team mode that powered MvC2 all those years ago, along with new moves and another combo system. Capcom are calling it the "Evolved VS. Fighting System", although we think that its naturally par the course for a series such as this, and we expect some of the most successful elements from Tatsunoko to be included in this system as well. Capcom have also said that they haven’t quite decided on whether the main game will use and 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 system for the main game, and that way the assists work is still being tweaked.

Currently there’s no word on how simple or complicated the control set-up will be, how many buttons will be used, or whether a system similar to TvC will be in place. Seeing as this IS the next fully featured ‘main’ instalment of the original ‘versus’ series I would expect there to be a four or six button system of either light, medium and heavy, or light and heavy, punches and kicks, in additions to specials, hypers etc.

That game will fashioning the latest in Capcom 3D inspired 2D fighting, using what they are calling a "living comic-book" art style, which apparently will blur the lines between 3D and 2D graphics in a way which SFIV never could. From the trailer it looks like the series will feature a slightly more realistic and shiny look to the characters, stylised with the painted hand drawn effects used for SFIV. Different then, from both SFIV and Tatsunoko, whilst being a faithful re-envisioning of the franchise classic animated look, brought fully up to date.

The series will also mark the first time that a Capcom 2D fighting game has used their proprietary ‘MT Framework’ engine featured in Dead Rising and the original Lost Planet, and not the MT Framework 2 used in Resident Evil 5. The engine has been modified for use specifically for this game, and was no doubt chosen over the one used in Street Fighter IV in order to allow that ‘living comic-book’ style hinted at earlier on. I guess it would be easier to adapt an engine with certain features they are interested in using rather than to rework and incorporate them into the simpler one behind SFIV.

With regards to the artwork, it looks like the main cover-art for the game is being done by Shinkiro, which bares a striking resemblance to the one used for TvC, whilst the overall character art, which you can see on this page, is being done by the same artist responsible for SFIV and SFIII Third Strike. It’s not yet known just who will be providing the in-game artwork for the title, though I’d wager that the SFIV artist will be used for most of it, with perhaps Shinkiro being reserved for the box art and instruction manual work. At this point however, this is all speculation and we won’t really find out until the first playable build of the game, or gameplay trailer arrives.

All the music and sound effects are being updated, with the music in particular getting a full reworking, starting from scratch and avoiding the jazz-infused eclectic nature of the score behind MvC2. Taking you for a ride, not this time I’m afraid. Instead we’re hopeful that Capcom will take inspiration from the first three games in the series, bringing together that feel of Marvel, Street Fighter, and that uniquely stylised sound from hits such as Mega Man and Bionic Commando, all blended into one seamless ‘clash of the heroes’ type musical mash up.

Lastly, it is promsed that a more prominent storyline shall feature in MvC3 compared to previous games, which always were lacking in that department. We don’t for one minute expect a deep or epically driven narrative, but we are getting proper endings for all the characters in the game, along with SFIV style introductory cut-scenes.



Capcom will be showing off much more of Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 at this years E3, which runs from 15 – 17 June at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We are expecting the first proper gameplay trailer, or hopefully an early playable build sampling the delights of the new engine.

IQGamer will be covering the event in as much detail we can, and of course will be bringing all the latest on MvC3 from the event.

Review: Final Fight Double Impact (360 & PS3)

Two retro themed reviews in as many weeks, eh, not something you’d expect from a site calling itself IQGamer. However, I thought that it would be a nice alternative from the sometimes non-stop barrage of technically charged writing which can usually be found here. Also both titles were not only recent releases available on either Nintendo’s, Microsoft’s, or Sony’s online networks, but also franchises which we at IQGamer have fond memories of. So it made complete sense to cover them. Of course we’ve still managed to put in a little technical charm here and there, so overall it’s not without relevance.

Our latest retro escapade takes us back into Capcom’s world of street pugilism and swords and sorcery for Final Fight Double Impact, an XBLA and PSN release of both the original arcade version of Final Fight, and a little known title called Magic Sword, which explains the swords and sorcery bit.

The collection not only features both titles replicated arcade perfectly, minus unfortunately the original rendering resolution, but also comes complete with various display modes and online network options bulking out a rather basic arcade package.


When you first start up the collection you are presented with an online mode by default, it’s actually the standard mode of play just like in a real arcade. Although you can obviously start off by playing a game by yourself another player can randomly join in at anytime, just like if they were to plunk in a couple of pence into the local arcade machine. If you’re not a fan of this wholly arcade free-for-all nature at hand, then you can customise the game to allow for a single-player only experience. Or matches via invites only, like a private game session just for friends.

The arcade experience is pretty cool either way you slice it, and makes the package really feel like a proper arcade conversion in the home.


Another thing, which does just that, are the opening menu screens you are presented with for both games, which show off the games original arcade cabinet along with some artwork created for this XBLA and PSN release. When you go to play the game for the first time the camera zooms in on the cabinet with the screen becoming the central 4:3 picture, and the artwork on the cabinet becoming the boarders that usually fill out a widescreen picture for these old titles. You can of course start playing right away, with the screen warped like an old arcade CRT monitor and the game upscaled within that screen. In addition this mode also creates scanlines and a fake monitor glow to make it look like your playing the games through a camera filming the action or something.

Whilst being pretty cool, it is possible to select a whole range of image options to change the way these games look; from soft focus upscaling, to a nice sharpening effect much like in the XBLA and PSN release of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, or even have the visuals untouched in what can only be described as a basic pixelated upscale. Personally, the full-screen ‘original’ option looked the best on my Plasma screen, and on my old Sony CRT (240p/480i native) in 480i looked the most faithful, although for LCD screens the games ‘sharp’ scaling option would clearly look better, as it does also on progressive scan HD CRTs.

Unfortunately there is no option to play either game in the original 240p resolution supported by standard def CRT TVs, and the Nintendo Wii for VC games. Neither the 360 nor the PS3 can output something that low, with PSone games on the PS3 via scart being interlaced out at 480i instead, just like what happens here with Final Fight DI. It’s not a major issue, but purists like myself will certainly feel like they’re not getting the entire experience as it should be.


Like with most Live and PSN releases of classic titles, there is an unlimited save anywhere option along with infinite credits also. This does take away most of the challenge from the game seeing as you respwan at exactly the same point in which you died when you choose to continue. It would have been better to have started off with something like five credits and having to earn more via playing the game repeatedly instead of giving infinite lives by default.

Alternatively it would a been a good idea to grant the option of infinite lives, but with fixed respwan points through the levels, making you do a bit of backtracking when you die. This wouldn’t have been ‘as in the arcade’ though, so it’s understandable why the option isn’t there. Also in Final Fight, it’s pretty damn clear as day that certain parts of the game was designed intentionally to suck up the last of any spare change you might have had. Not something that bodes all that well for a home conversion.


In terms of the games themselves, the first one on this collection, Final Fight, needs no explanation. It’s a side-scrolling 2D beat’em up, in which you walk along a path both horizontally and vertically through varying locals punching, kicking and smashing your way past a range of thuggish enemies, and tough end bosses. Weapons can be picked up and used, such as lead pipes, swords, knives etc, and health is obtained via eating turkey legs scattered around on the floors on each level. It’s basically just like Streets Of Rage or Double Dragon, but with a different cast of characters and better graphics.

Magic Sword on the other hand, is slightly different. The game is a weapons and magic based platform action game, stroke beat’em up, owing more to the likes of Shinobi than SOR or Final Fight. Using your trusty sword, you slice and dice through various enemies such as dragons, the undead, mummies etc, whilst throwing a few magic fireballs to even up the odds. As you progress along any one of the game’s 51 stages you pick up keys that free the many prisoners to be found locked away in the game. After they have been released they join you on your quest, helping out in taking out the hordes of monsters that lie in wait. Each of these prisoners has their own unique abilities useful against certain types of enemies, however you can only have one in your party at any given time, the last one that you freed.

It’s Magic Sword which proves to be the most interesting game of the collection, not least of all because this is the first time that I’ve played it – a rarity seeing as I’ve played most Capcom arcade titles released over the years - but also because Final Fight is a game that has been seen far too many times in the past, and Magic Sword is a refreshing discovery of an old style gameplay design so popular back in the 16bit 2D era. Both are completely worthy or your attention, Final Fight is still an excellent scrolling beat’em up, though not as accomplished as the last two SOR games, and Magic Sword is something different, but nicely familiar all the same.


Final Fight Double Impact is one of the best XBLA and PSN releases of a classic arcade or home title. A wealth of display options are available to suit the majority of tastes (again, sorry purists no 240p), along with a fully customisable online mode and a unique approach at recreating ‘that’ arcade atmosphere from some twenty years ago in your living room. Sure we have seen one of the games a little too much in the last ten years or so, a bit like with Street Fighter II on those many retro collections and VC releases. However this ranks up there as the most complete conversion yet, and comes packaged with another great title lost in the history of time, available for the first time at home.

If you’re looking for the definitive home conversion of Final Fight, and are intrigued by the inclusion of the unrelated Magic Sword, then this downloadable release is certainly worth picking up. Purists like myself might object to the lack or original resolution support, whilst everyone else will be more than pleased to see a fan favourite given so much care and attention. Playing side by side with a friend, or over Live or PSN, on games like this is a rarity, and one which Final Fight Double Impact does so well.

Resolution and slight display issues aside, there’s no reason not to recommend picking this up. Both games are as fun to play as ever, and the co-op online system is a great inclusion. More retro re-releases should be produced with this much thought and attention to detail in mind.

VERDICT: 8/10

IQGamer's Top 5 Tech Titles For 2010

Over the next couple of months this generation is set to witness another wave of technically proficient and defining titles, following on from last year’s Uncharted 2, this year’s God Of War 3, and Crysis, from a few years back. It’s for this reason that IQGamer has presented you with our top five titles to look out for on a technical level. Games which potentially, will not only push the barriers of what is possible on their respective platforms, but that will also showcase the perfect blend of art and technology fused together for outstanding graphical excellence. Some of these of course will transcend that notion, being as relevant for their gameplay as well as their graphics.

1: Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment’s unique take of the survival horror genre has been in development for six long years, and in that time scarcely anything has been seen of the title. The recent trailers however, have shown that those six years could well be worth the wait, with an eerie, Stephen King meets Silent Hill style approach to the mood and atmosphere, and a action focused, episodic style of gameplay which looks set to bring freshness to a somewhat worn out genre. Visually, the game looks like being the poster boy for lighting for the 360, with some of the most impressive dynamic lighting seen outside of PS3’s God Of War 3, whilst also providing a range of post process filters, and some amazing texture work.



2: Halo Reach

Microsoft’s 360 exclusive sets to re-write the rulebook of just what is possible on their white box of tricks in the eyes of rabid PS3 fanboys. In reality the 360 has always been capable of such graphical feats, but having a title display them all at the same time is a welcome sign that developers are finally trying to seriously push the machine. ‘Reach’ is one of the first titles to be pushing up too 40 lights sources on-screen at once, from the glow given off from firing your Plasma rife, to the reflections shining off the surrounding lights. In addition, a healthy use of normal-mapping combined with improved texture detail, gives far more depth to the various surfaces found in the game, whilst a higher rendering resolution and trillinear filtering brings up the image quality significantly from Halo 3 and ODST.

There’s more of course, but for now why not check out the impressive gameplay video below, which showcases exactly what we mean.



3: The Last Guardian

More of an artistic inclusion that a purely technical one, but a game nevertheless that has the potential to truly blend artistic beauty with awe-inspiring technical brilliance. We’ve already seen the wonderfully smooth and completely natural looking animation from earlier trailers, which by far moved me in a way most games routinely fail to do, ‘feeling’ alive rather than just looking like it. A mixture of detailed texture work, painted textures, hand drawn inspired main character model, and lovely HDR lighting effects combined with ‘that’ animation make this one to look out for. More intriguing though, will be the bond between the boy and the creature, and the unique gamplay mechanics it could bring to the table. This is easily one of the most exciting titles for us at IQGamer, regardless of any technical merit that might be bestowed upon it.



4: Lost Planet 2

Capcom’s sequel to the 2006 hit is looking every bit as sweet as the first game, with bigger and badder enemies, huge screen-filling bosses, and some of the best particle effects we’ve seen so far on both PS3 and 360. More detailed texturing, improved lighting, better filtering and an overall higher image quality is just some of the things this sequel brings to the table. The first game however, introduced us to much of this anyway, so it will be far more interesting to see how the co-op campaign works out, and how the collecting of alien residue is still required for survival. Despite not being high on many people’s hype list it is right up there on our radar, and we’ll be sure to be taking a long hard look at the game upon its release.



5: Crisis 2

Maybe this one should be higher up on the list but you will find out why not in just a moment. The first game is still, by a long way, the most technically accomplished game ever made. If you have the PC to run it Crysis will push around on ‘enthusiast’ settings pretty much every graphical effect buzzword known to man. And at 1080p 60fps for a short while, if you’re lucky. ‘Crysis 2’ is attempting to do exactly the same thing but with a strong focus on consoles this time around.

The game already seems to be implementing ambient occlusion, along with simulated god-rays, dynamic lighting, volumetric effects and various specular and refraction techniques also. Not too mention particle effects and an impressive real-tie physics system. Sadly, it all currently looks rather poor when shown in high definition on the consoles, with low resolution textures, bilinear filtering, no anti-aliasing, and slightly sub 720p rendering res. These two screenshots here and here show what were talking about, whilst the vid below shows how impressive it can look in motion.



So there you have it, IQGamer’s top five technically advanced titles to look forward to. All of those are definitely no-brainers in terms of graphical might and technology, but some of them might also genuinely take their respective genre’s in altogether different directions, doing for gameplay what others have done for graphics. Or maybe, some will in fact do both, proving we have lots of power and imagination left to be gleamed from the current batch of consoles. Either way you can expect us to be providing our flagship tech analysis on at least three of those above five titles, and most likely full reviews for all of them too.

Lastly, you might be wondering why there aren’t any Wii titles on that list. Well, seeing as it IS a list of the most technically advanced titles coming to consoles, we didn’t think something that can push Nintendo’s little white slab to its limits quite justifies a place amongst titles running and competing on superior hardware. Artistically speaking, both Metroid Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are certainly candidates for the race of ‘best visuals’, just not in the overall technical sense. Although, you cannot deny that both games are technically beautiful, working in and around the constraints of the aging Wii hardware.

Review: BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (PS3)

Can you believe that it’s been nearly six months since BlazBlue first hit stores in the United States? And in that time we’ve had a string of high profile, hardcore fighting game releases. On the list is a failed attempt to recapture the pure hand-drawn 2D market; a haggard old 3D fighter trying to carve out a new path in a ever increasing landscape of FPS’s and Western RPG’s; and lastly, a 2D fighter with authentic gameplay, wrapped up in lavish polygon graphics in a 3D visualised return to greatness.

I imagine any connoisseurs familiar with the genre will be able to name all three, but only one of which was worthy of your unrivalled attention. The rest you could leave bleeding out on the side of the street, or better still, decline the challenge altogether, as they represented a failure to not only capture, but also understand their audience. A shame if you ask me, since the genre needs more one-two-punch strikes of greatness to really bring it back solidly into the limelight. BlazBlue is one of those titles, and despite the fact that it lacks any recognised characters or fighting styles, does well to prop up the rising one-on-one beat’em up once again.

BlazBlue (BB) for the uninitiated is the latest glossy, hand-drawn 2D fighting extravaganza by ARC System Works, the creators of the Guilty Gear franchise and its long line of sequels (I’m looking at you X2). It feels very much like a spiritual successor to that franchise, with over-the-top combos, fast-paced aerial strikes, and a range of impressive counter moves, supers, and no less than three ways of guarding against attack. In short, BlazBlue has pretty much everything that Guilty Gear had, topped off with an increased simplicity whilst actually being deeper at the same time. There’s no doubt in my mind that giving Guilty Gear a rest, and instead starting a whole new saga with BlazBlue was the right thing to do.


The basic fighting engine is pretty straightforward, easy to learn but with loads to master and sink your teeth into. Essentially there are only four basic attacks to learn, A B C and D, which are light medium and heavy respectively, with D standing for a ‘Drive’ attack, which is specific to whoever character you are playing as. Most of the light and medium attacks correspond to either a punch or kick for most characters, whilst heavy is usually reserved for weapons, and drive, for a combination of all three – depending on the character - in a form of special move.

Basic moves can all be used to chain into combination attacks, or combos if you will. Done by pushing a series of light, medium and heavy attacks, along with the drive attack to build up a long and impressive offensive of moves. However, the larger the combo, the lesser the damage it will do, giving the opponent a fair chance at retaliation. Holds can be integrated into combos by pressing the B and C buttons together, then followed up, or finished off with either normal attacks, specials or even Distortion Drives, BlazBlue’s equivalent of Supers.

Using a combination of these moves, along with the obligatory SFII-esque quarter-circle special moves will only get you so far though. You would be missing a whole part of the game without at least stumbling into some of the advanced techniques that ARC have based the game around. The various Cancels, Drives and Finishers all use something called the Heat Gauge, which is basically the BB version of SF’s Super bar. Each of the different techniques use different amounts of the bar, labelled in percentages to make things easier, but also to allow a greater range of option.

Hitting A, B and C together during a move unleashes a Rapid Cancel, which stops the animation of your current attack returning your character to his or her neutral stance, and allows them to immediately execute another move to integrate into an existing combo. Useful if you know that the move you were doing would effectively end a combo. Alternatively, whilst the heat Gauge is filled to certain levels it is also possible to perform Distortion Drives (character specific Super moves) or something called an Astral Finisher, which is move that results in a single one hit kill if it connects.

Pushing back on the d-pad whilst holding A + B together performs a Barrier, a stronger version of your regular guard. A Barrier cannot be broken, but can only be held for a limited amount of time indicated by the Barrier gauge. If it empties whilst blocking the player will receive 150% damage until the gauge becomes at least half full during regeneration. You might also consider performing a Barrier burst if you’re being hammered constantly by your opponent in a corner of the screen. It’s a move which repels the opposing player across the screen, giving you some room to compose yourself and then retaliate. However the penalty for such a bail out is pretty severe, requiring you to not only forego the use of your Barrier Block, but also making you take 150% damage for the rest of the round. So you’d better know what you are doing when you use it.


Lastly, it is also possible to counter your opponent’s attacks by striking them at the same time as they attack, cancelling them out and opening them up for a combo.

Of course, you don’t actually have to use any of these techniques, instead sticking to basic attacks and specials. However the game is more difficult as a result, especially online, in which the rather niche nature of such a title quickly breeds experienced players. Thankfully the inclusion of the character specific Drive attacks negates this to some extent. Drive attacks are basically one button special moves which can be factored into any basic combo, or used on their own, giving inexperienced players or button mashers a chance to have fun with the game.

There are a total of 12 unique characters in BlazBlue, each with their own strange design and set of moves. Everyone of the fighters in BB is pretty different to most of the fighting games I’ve played before, being more off the wall, or bizarre than even the ones in Guilty Gear. Some of the characters even have specific attacks or functions, which are completely absent for others, and fit outside the standard range of moves. For example, Rachel has a separate gauge which controls how many times she can control the blowing wind in each stage, which is pretty cool, but also provides a greater level of depth than most fighters. Many of these individual nuances are tied into character specific Drive attacks, but not all, giving players much to learn.


Each of the character designs are typical ARC System Works creations. From silver haired, gothic-inspired ‘Ragna The Blood Edge’, to the giant red Hellboy look-alike ‘Iron Tager’. The style can be described as post-apocalyptic neo-punk, meets Victorian-gothic, steam-punk influences. It’s pretty weird to say the least, but will be familiar to anyone whose played Guilty Gear before. The mixture of darkly, eclectic character designs, cute and psychotic personalities are incredibly well designed, and bring an altogether different feel to most recently released 2D beat’em ups. Though Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is the exception to that rule.

Visually, BlazBlue is a lavishly designed mixture of hand drawn 2D sprite work and 3D backgrounds, with painted textures. All the game’s sprites are drawn in 720p, unlike in KOFXII, and have been intricately detailed. Shadows are cast on characters when moves are performed; clothing sways to and fro during battle; and lots of subtle details are visible on all aspects of the characters, from facial animation, to the small pins located on a character’s belt buckle. The backgrounds are proper 3D creations, complete with dynamic lighting effects and painted textures, which match the art style used for the characters and interlude artwork.

There’s no doubt that BB is the best looking 2D sprite-based fighting game available. It’s a truly beautiful game to behold. Sure it doesn’t feature the Disney quality animation of KOFXII, or the precision mapped, pixel perfect shadowing and shading on its characters. But then again, it doesn’t really need them, showcasing a lovely mixture of both 2D and 3D graphics; all polished in high definition with a finished and succinct art style. If anything, SNK could learn a thing or two from theses guys.

In terms of modes, BlazBlue provides you with the usual, Arcade, Versus, Training, Replay, Gallery and Online. There is also a ‘Story Mode’, which fleshes out each of the characters, and contains quite a well thought out, albeit confusing narrative. Playing through this mode with all the characters unlocks more of each character’s story, and slowly fills in all the gaps, explaining what the hell is going on. Short animated cut-scenes, and hand-drawn stills, break up the battles, complete with voice acting and text dialogue.

The Online Mode, touted on the back of the box as being ‘lag free’, comes dangerously close to doing just that. Even on my 1 Meg broadband connection (I still haven’t been upgraded yet) there was virtually no lag in most of the matches I played. Quite often I would encounter some slight lag at the beginning of a match, for only the game to seem to catch up with itself providing a responsive environment in which to fight. Occasionally I did encounter some laggy matches, but nothing to the extent of what I’m getting in SFIV at the moment, in which there is hardly any players with a good connection available. BlazBlue seems different in this regard, and is a welcome proposition considering the disappointments with other profile fighters in this area (yes, I’m talking about you Tekken 6).

One thing that is disappointing about the game though, is that after waiting for the best part of half a year for it to arrive on UK shores, we haven’t received any of the extra characters than we were promised. Instead ARC SW is including them in a sequel of sorts with the release of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, which I guess is the updated game we were expecting to get in the first place. Continuum Shift will be available on import this summer in Japan and the United States. Expect us Brits to be waiting a lot longer for it to arrive over here.


As you can tell, I rather liked BlazBlue. The mixture of gothic, neo-punk art styles, the in-depth combo-based gameplay, steeped in simplicity, and beautifully created 2D/3D combination of visuals. Really, it is one of the most refreshing beat’em ups I have played in a while, adding TvC to that list from back in February, and one which any self respecting hardcore fighting fan should at least check out.

Granted the game isn’t quite as accessible as the likes of Guilty Gear, featuring more bizarre fighting styles, and unusual characters. However there is plenty to play through and master, and once you get acquainted with a character you like, then your enjoyment of the title will really pick up. Getting to that point however, will take a few hours of well-versed gameplay. Learning some of the advanced techniques - which aren’t that hard to pick up at all - whilst coming to terms with the fact that with BB ARC have purposely created designs and play styles which are meant to be different from those of regular weapon-based 2D fighters.


BlazBlue is a great addition to the 2D fighting game roster, and despite its initially unfamiliarity and somewhat bizarre nature, is well worth picking up for any hardcore fighting fan. Not everyone will like the off-the-wall fighting styles, and I for one, found it much harder to get into than Guilty Gear, Last Blade or TvC. However that shouldn’t deter the die-hards out there, who like to get lost in learning the ins and outs of whichever character they choose. Certainly, as a hardcore player myself, I did enjoy what the game had to offer, especially online against a range of players, both ones mediocre in their delivery, and some which are arguably so much higher in their game than me.

VERDICT: 8/10

A Limited Edition of BlazBlue is available in small quantities at launch for the same price as the standard edition. It contains a two-hour long combo training DVD, with character specific strategies, showcasing many high level moves and specials; a 96 page full colour booklet, with art and illustrations from the designers at ARC System Works; and the regular version of the game. This is the version we picked up at IQGamer, however our review and score is based solely on the standard game, and not the extra content contained within the Limited Edition.

Review: God Of War 3 (PS3)

Very rarely am I sucked into the hype machine, often remaining sceptical or decidedly unimpressed unless something awe-inspiring happens. Be that extraordinary visuals, a captivating story, or simply, a game in which through sheer polish and exemplary development becomes something much greater than it ever was before.

With God Of War 3 I was unimpressed from the very beginning. The initial teaser trailers didn’t look particularly great from a graphical point of view, and the gameplay seemed to be more of the same, something I never really took to when playing the first game some five years ago. My hands-on with the E3 demo both at the Eurogamer Expo and on PSN, completely failed to change my mind.

The final game, however, is a different beast altogether, delivered with such finesse and a sense of grandeur that it can only be described as one of the most intense, and visually alluring games yet to come out of a Western development studio. GoW3 is not only one of the most graphically impressive videogames I have ever seen, blending in both great art and benchmark technology. But it’s also the first time I have thoroughly enjoyed a God Of War title, being one of the most epic thrill-rides to grace the current generation of videogames consoles. It isn’t a perfect game however, and suffers from at least one gameplay quirk that threatens to break an otherwise awesomely fun, massively epic adventure.

This particular issue has to do with the control scheme, or more specifically, with how the game has you double jumping into a glide when leaping of the edge of a platform or ledge. More on this later on in the review but suffice to say that it isn’t enough to bring down the game, especially after a few hours of play in which you should have the mechanic mostly oiled down to a tee.

Other than that reasonably minor issue - seeing as you spend most of your time fighting hordes of Zeus’s minions rather than attempting to become the Greek equivalent of Lara Croft - the rest of God Of War 3 provides players with a solid and absolutely epic experience. One which presents you with more enemies and larger than life set pieces. If you thought the scenery destroying, screen-filling bosses of Bayonetta were impressive, think again, as God OF War 3 ups the ante even further along into chaos.


The beginning of the game alone is focused purely on a huge boss battle between a giant stone Titan (Gaia) and the ocean god Poseidon, with Ktatos having to jump back and forth between Mount Olympus, which the Titan is climbing, and Gaia, where the main battle takes place. All through this encounter you have to fend off waves of Zeus’s minions, before having to scale up the giant Titan to begin the final assault against the ravenous ocean god. All of this plays out like a blood soaked version of Shadow Of The Colossus, featuring huge characters making up what can only be described as an actual level itself, along with some of the most intense and downright impressive QTE action sequences in the entire game.

It’s a pretty incredible opening, which not only showcases the enormous sense of scale and epic gravitas the game provides, but also its insanely good looking graphical prowess, which stands right up there against both Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 for one of the best looking games this generation. Indeed GoW3’s recipe for success is not only making things look great, but also making every large encounter feeling very much like one giant endgame.


In terms of actual gameplay, not much has changed from the demo we played both at Eurogamer last year and the PSN download we locked horns with last month. However, the execution is far slicker, and the visual upgrade creates a smoother more responsive game outshining the demo in every single way. Whereas the demo ran mostly at 30fps during any combat or action scenes, the final game hits 60fps for the majority of its encounters, and only drops down to the 30fpos mark in the biggest of battles. In most heavy scenes through the game, 45fps is commonplace, and is still smooth enough to keep the controls responsive and the visuals suitably polished.

Like in the first two GoW games, the combat still hinges on you mixing various moves and specials together, changing weapons to deal with different enemy types and varying boss encounters, whilst having to dodge and counter numerous attacks and obstacles. But you now have the ability to change weapons on the fly, integrating different moves from different weapons all into the same combination attack. In addition a few new moves have been added making it easier and more enjoyable to take on the increased amount of enemies at any one time.

Whereas before there would have been a dozen or so enemies, now comes two or three times that, followed up with some of the largest bosses to feature in the series so far. At the same time the game gives you all the tools you need to deal with such adversaries. Which is a good thing too; as there are bloody loads of them to deal with, many of which are twice your size and capable of slicing you to pieces given the chance.


Thankfully, having the ability to change weapons mid-combo effectively allows you to take down larger foes without taking a massively long time to do so. For example, Kratos can use the Cestus Gauntlets to break through an enemies shield, before switching back to his trademark Blades of Chaos to finish them off with some prolonged combos and special attacks. You can of course, simply, just continue to use the Gauntlets for the entire battle, seeing as they are so powerful, but you then run the risk of being overwhelmed by many weaker enemies as a result.

This change makes the game feel far more varied as a result, especially when it throws at you bosses or creatures, which require specific weapons in order to defeat them. You will find that the game transcends its initial button bashing nature by making you think about what you’re doing, and how you go about doing it. It makes a great change from the grating nature of continuously pounding the ‘square’ and ‘triangle’ buttons in the hope of success, whilst also allowing you to experiment beyond using basic magic or shooting the odd arrow here and there.

Special weapons also have regenerative abilities now. Whereas in GoW 2 they would expire after a certain amount of usage, they now occupy the yellow bar below your health meter, which refills itself within a few seconds or so of you not using a special weapon. This means that weapons such as the Bow of Apollo, can be used continuously through the game, and can always be counted on for additional support knowing that it will regenerate a few seconds after being used. Occasionally you will find that it is pretty easy to exploit this trait by simply firing off ten shots or so, dodging any attacks while the yellow bar fills up for a few seconds, before once again repeating the process. This even works on bosses, though not all, and attempting to kill them this way takes ages compared to using the multitude of weapons at your disposal. However, it does make things easier for less confident players without compromising the challenge and integrity of the game.


To top off the game’s already polished combat system, GoW3 also speeds up the previously slow heavy attacks, now allowing them to be used in combos as a starter, or even mid way through. Using them in all situations is no longer a death sentence, but now becomes just another way of dealing with the increasing amounts of enemies being thrown your way. The result is that the overall game is far more fluid than any of the previous instalments, something more akin in some ways to Japanese style hack’n’slash titles like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry without loosing its trademark feel in the process.

Of course, GoW3 isn’t about all the gut wrenching and killing that comes with being a fallen god with a taste for revenge. There are a number of slower, more sedate parts throughout the game, with lesser amounts of enemies and more controlled aggression directed your way. These sections are home to the series trademark puzzle solving elements in addition to upgrading your skills through finding abilities, as well as gaining new weapons and magic.

Unlike GoW2, the puzzles in GoW3 are smaller in size and are altogether much simpler. They rely on the same box-pushing, lever pulling scenarios present in the last game, but are at the same time slightly easier to figure out, with solutions being down to common sense logic rather than anything cryptic or obscure. They also seem to span across one or two large rooms at the most compared to the long and sprawling puzzles laid out in the second game.


I didn’t find any of these to be problematic, instead feeling that they made the whole experience a far more interesting one. You could say that they made the sense of adventure surrounding the Greek mythology and architecture quite captivating at times, whilst also breaking up the button mashing nature inherent in other parts of the game. For once, during an action-based game, I actually really enjoyed and appreciated these thinking man’s moments, with only a few times in which I remained stumped – even then it was only for a few short minutes.

In addition to throwing a puzzle or two at you, the game also features some rather frustrating platforming sections, let down by the overly picky jumping system. Basically, most of the jumps in these platform sections need almost complete precision in order to be tackled successfully, relying on both your timing of the glide and double jump moves, while also giving you no leeway for any mistakes.

Jumping and gliding in itself isn’t particularly difficult. However, in GoW3 you seemingly can only perform the higher jump when there is solid ground below you, and not as you are throwing yourself off a ledge in order to leap across any pitfalls below. At the same time, having you glide by holding down the ‘cross’ button in the same button press required for the double jump feels particularly unnatural, being different from pretty much every game released that relied on such a technique.

This aspect of the game does much to potentially spoil the experience, and I often found myself frustrated at my repeated failed attempts to progress in these sections. Had the jumping and gliding mechanics been a little easier or more conventional in their execution then I wouldn’t have has many problems, and these parts of the game would have been another highlight. As it stands, they serve only to disappoint and take away some of the finely polished nature of the rest of the game.


The rest of the game doesn’t suffer from these problems, and is of course pretty awesome as a result. In my humble opinion it could well be described as the western equivalent to Platinum Games Bayonetta. GoW3 has all the tried and tested gameplay of its prequels down to a fine art, an art made even finer by the changes to the combat system and the epic scale of pretty much most things in the game. Everything from the boss encounters to the puzzles are extremely well done. And if it weren’t for that stupid jumping mechanic, there wouldn’t be much left to criticise at all, except for the fact that Kratos, as a lead character, is nothing more than a rancid, vile jock, who is in desperate need to be put out of his misery.

Even though I haven’t played through all of God of War 1&2, I would have at least expected his character to have developed from the mindless rage he displayed in the last two games. Instead, we simply see more of the same, with only a small glimmer of redemption later in the game. Even then, his anger and rage still shine through more than any other trait, making it hard to feel anything for him, except maybe disgust or distain.


Visually, God of War 3 succeeds on two levels, both artistically and technically. The art design whilst being a mixture of dark and uninviting colours, is never drab or unappealing, and in some scenes has a distinctly hand painted look residing over it. The backgrounds are a perfect example of this, in which the lush, hand-painted sky and distant horizon blends in perfectly with the painted textures of the environments and characters.

Technically, God of War 3 stops short of perfection, but still manages to define just what we should be expecting from these current-gen gaming consoles. Textures are incredibly detailed, clean, and extremely clear. And whilst they aren’t all as detailed as the ones found in Uncharted 2, they represent the art style chosen for the game almost perfectly. The lighting and showing system is another showstopper. It’s all completely dynamic, reacting with everything from the characters and the environments. Shadows move and lighting is cut off when something passes through it; Kratos’s weapons, when used, casts a short lasting glow which lights up the surrounding environments and enemies, with metallic objects reflecting the light back out into their surroundings.

The Anti-Aliasing on show is also something which needs to be seen to be believed. There’s no doubt in my mind that Santa Monica Studio’s implementation is the most accomplished form of AA in any console game to date. Much of GoW3 has very little, to next to no jaggies whatsoever, sans on a few distant background objects and scenery. Everything remains nice and sharp despite the high levels of AA on offer, and the areas which do suffer from jaggies, have much smoother edges than in other games which have little in the way of AA.


For me though, the real triumph isn’t the glossy visuals, the epic scale, or even the gameplay, but how they all come together to form a complete package which in the face of a few small flaws, easily stands up there with Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 as one of the defining titles on Sony’s machine. From the moment I laid eyes on that opening battle scene between the Titan and the giant God fighting it out over Mount Olympus, I was convinced. Then, just a few hours later, most of the things that I was unsure about from playing the last two games had been alleviated. Almost completely, with the exception of the game’s platform sections being the only blemish on an otherwise superbly crafted experience.

God Of War 3 might not be wholly original, or particularly different from previous instalments, but it is a far more polished affair, and one which does enough to rise above from being just a great game, becoming instead a genre defining one. It is a title which I was expecting nothing more than a rehash of previous games, and although arguably that is exactly what it is, it’s done with so much flair and attention to detail that it certainly doesn’t always feel that way. In that respect, God Of War 3 is exemplary, blending an established formula with some new found refinement and polish, both of which go a long way to making this pinnacle of the genre.

VERDICT: 9/10