PlayStation2 Previews

            Around the time in which Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend was released, Eidos spoke about the possibility of a remake of the original title heading towards the PlayStation2 at some point in the not-too-distant future. Originally in development by Core Design, the project was cancelled mid-production. However, Eidos then decided to hand the project over to the developers of Lara Croft’s back-to-form release, Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend, Crystal Dynamics. Now, Eidos have chosen to reveal all the details about Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Anniversary in an attempt to garner the after-Christmas flush and build-up anticipation for it’s early 2007 launch. Hitting only the PlayStation2, PSP and PC, many fans of Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend may feel Eidos are missing a great opportunity by restricting the title to the last generation of hardware – especially given the title is built upon the same Engine used in the first Tomb Raider title to hit a Microsoft console.

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            Of Capcom’s PlayStation2 titles on show at this year’s E3, none are more anticipated than Okami and the newly announced God Hand. Not due for release until early 2007, there’s still plenty of room for expansion and tightening of the title – not that the Preview Code really demonstrated too much need. Read More…

            The Street Fighter franchise was blown out-of-all-proportion in the late nineties, with Capcom trying to cling onto the diminishing fanbase whilst not upsetting the fans. Unfortunately, many releases just further distanced the franchise from the brutal simplicity that once made it great. Read More…

Scarface is soon to arrive on the PlayStation2 and Xbox, and was shown at E3 but unfortunately was not playable. Everyone should know the film and the game continues from the films finale in the mansion which gets stormed by loads of guys with guns to kill Joey Montana, played by Al Pacino, and where he utters his famous phrase “Say hello to my little friend” before blowing the door into pieces with a Grenade Launcher. Now for those who don’t know, Montana is killed shortly after – and this is where the game comes-in and puts you in full-control of Pacino’s character – and now there is the small matter of getting out alive (watch the film to find-out how he dies, in order to help prevent it). Read More…

There are many inspirations for First-Person Shooters. Obviously shooting aliens and winning World War II are clearly the most common, but mutant killing, assassination and robot driving still hold sway the hearts of many-a-gamer. Policing First-Person Shooters, championed by the S.W.A.T. series amongst others, seem to take a back seat in comparison to the more popular themes. This being said, policing is the premise of Urban Chaos: Riot Response, although it bears little resemblance to the tactical non-lethal approach of most police games. Read More…

For all the fans of the Final Fantasy series here comes the latest instalment, two years after originally scheduled, on the PlayStation2 in the form of Final Fantasy XII. Anyone and everyone who likes videogames has probably come cross the series at some point, and seen its development from 2D Turn-Based combat to now full 3D characters and environments, trying to give players even more immersion into its world. Read More…

            Okami is a title with which has a great following in PlayStation2 circles. Announced over three years ago, each playable variation has revealed little more than the last. Being developed at Clover Studios – the same studio responsible for the surprise-hit (but worthy) Viewtiful Joe series – is unique visual style comes as no surprise. Read More…

It’s fairly unlikely that any buccaneer-based game will ever surpass the outstanding gameplay of Sid Meier’s Pirates! series, but that doesn’t mean that pirate games don’t have a lot going for them, think of them like Grand Theft Naval. And, as pirate-brands go, the hugely popular Pirates Of The Caribbean series of films are about as strong as they get. Well, you could see it coming. They’ve made another Pirates Of The Caribbean game, except this time they are the esteemed Bethesda Softworks and the game; Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Legend Of Jack Sparrow, isn’t strictly a direct film tie-in. Now that was slightly harder to predict, wasn’t it? Read More…

Perhaps it’s just the general moral decay of society, or the fact that most people like to do things in games that they can’t realistically do in real life, that makes titles involving crime amongst the most popular releases around. Hoping to ride the trend like so many before it comes Yakuza, a game based around the Japanese organised-crime syndicate of the same name. Read More…