So, what’s up with the PS2?
Posted: May 19, 2001 @ 04:07AM - By: ivan

The PS2 had a surprisingly strong lineup. Check it out, or scroll through for some of my general opinions about the system's showing.

• Dead to Rights: A highly impressive third-person action game from Namco done John Woo style. This badboy was only 20% complete but was so solid and slick that it totally put the Max ”We ain’t all that now that there’s competition” Payne video to shame. Basically you run around and use guns and hand-to-hand combat to put down the baddies. So, it’s like Oni then, eh? Oh, lordy no. This game trounces Oni in every single department. The control is simple and intuitive, you move via the left analog stick and the camera follows you around appropriately panning, zooming, tilting, and rotating (it can get a little jumbled at times, but the game is so early and it happens so little that it’s totally forgiven). There is no looking up or down in normal play, unless you’re specifically aiming, as it is not necessary. So without aiming like a normal first person game on a console where the analog stick looks and something else moves you have to have another way to get your targets in sight; this is done through an auto-lock feature so that once you hit the right shoulder button the thing locks on to an enemy. Once locked on you can start shooting, laying waste to people; the character animation and physics are beautiful, with every shot causing an appropriate reaction. If you pick up another weapon you can go two fisted. Once you jump and start shooting it goes into a slow-mo mode, but this is not just for aesthetic purposes, as it allows you to lock onto multiple targets while in the air killing three or four people in a single jump (very satisfying). Once you run out of ammo you can go hand-to-hand with some rudimentary combos going on. The animation here remains as impressive as the shooting sequences with enemy’s knees buckling with a sweep kick and their heads jerking to either side with a good hook or cross. The coolness doesn’t end here though as you can steal weapons and kill the person from which you took them Trinity style a la the lobby scene where the chump SWAT guy loses his shotgun. And yet there is still more coolness; you can actually grab dudes and use them as human shields as you blast your way through the masses. Yes, that’s right, shoot and hold people at the same time, and when you’re done with them you can execute them right there on the spot. The gore is at a Goldeneye level with no decapitations or dismemberment it looks kind of odd shooting a guy in the face at point blank range and not seeing any damage other than a blood spurt, but who really cares. As I mentioned, the game was still very early, but already it ran at a phenomenal clip and portrayed virtually none of the PS2 symptoms of poor graphics such as jaggies and low-res textures. At one point I even commented that the game had that kind of pristine crisp look of a Model 3 or even NAOMI board arcade game, and I was agreed with. It was to early to tell how good the A.I. would be, but as I was playing I didn’t notice any problems with it as enemies reacted well enough. As early as it was it was still extremely impressive. They could have released it as is and it would still be one of the best action games on the PS2. It was very, very cool and is definitely a candidate for game of show.
  
  
• Half-Life: Very depressing. Sure the models and such may have been of a higher quality, but the low-res graphics and textures coupled with a very inconsistent framerate were not at all impressive. It didn’t help that right next to it was Blue Shift on the PC complete with the HD pack enabled running at a ridiculous resolution and framerate.
  
  
• Batman: Vengeance: Another remarkably impressive game, especially considering how early it was. The game itself is based after the animated series (when batman switched to a black insignia and the new, younger Robin was introduced) where you take on the role of Batman and try and rescue Batgirl from Poison Ivy (I think it was Poison Ivy). Robin does not appear in the game and you solely control The Bat. It’s basically a 3D fighter/adventure game with vehicular elements thrown in. The style is dead-on with the series and although it doesn’t use the now popular cell-shading technique it manages to convey the universe brilliantly, probably because this is the same team that brought us Rayman, from which technique, code, and experience were drawn. Your character automatically locks on to the closest enemy and you start in with the fighting mode, where it essentially turns into a 3D fighter where you can strafe around the enemy and whatnot using a bevy of fighting moves that are a combination of punch and kick buttons as well as grappling. If there are multiple characters on screen at any given time only one will attack you while the others circle you with great apprehension (very cool). Vehicles include driving around via the Batmobile and flying via the Batwing. I got a chance to play the batwing stage which was kind of like a Starfox deal where you’re on a set path like that. They had me chasing Mr.Freeze between buildings, it was very hard and a bit touchy, but was beautiful and generally cool. The sound, voice, style, characters, and environments were straight out of the cartoon and were slicker than grease. The game, like I said, is still very, very early and has some jaggie and animation transition problems, but J. F. Vallet (French, so pronounce appropriately you goons) an actual developer on the game, and not some PR person, assured me this would all be fixed and I totally believe him because homeboy was cool, sincere, and just as excited as I was. Besides, this is the team that worked on the outstanding Rayman 2, so you all had best recognize. Watch out for this one boys and girls because it’s another ivan candidate for game of show.
  
  
• Smackdown 3: Just Bring It: I was very briefly with this one. Basically, it uses the same Smackdown fighting system from the PSOne games with a significantly upgraded graphics engine. I thought it all looked good, but I didn’t think it was vastly superior to like the Royal rumble arcade game done by Sega. The characters looked good, but animation and movement was a bit stiff. There were no jaggies and it was smooth. I wouldn’t know about the modes and such, but off hand as a total package I’d say Raw is War looks to be the one to watch out of the two.
  
  
• Red Faction: Let’s make one thing clear. The final rocks harshly over the demo. Let’s say that again boys and girls… The final rocks harshly over the demo. If you have a PS2, buy it. If you don’t have a PS2 and don’t have the PC thing going for you then there would be no better time then now to check out Sony’s baby. RF will get its own preview aside from this so check it out when you see it.
  
  
• GT3: A-Spec: The I-link mode is a ton of fun, and I can only hope more people take advantage of this because imagine having LAN parties without any of the hassles of a LAN party. The game is graphically very good although it can be a bit sparkly at times (not as bad as Sega GT though). I don’t really need to say much about it. Project Gotham was technically superior, but it doesn’t have the feel and comprehensiveness of GT3. There’s not really much point of talking since you all know you’ll get it no matter what I say, and probably rightly so.
  
  
• Drakan 2: A sequel to the original PC version, this one has very crisp graphics, sweet lighting, and surprisingly good textures. It’s the same dragon/walking action kind of game. I didn’t get too in-depth with it, but it looked promising.
  
  
• ICO: An action/RPG played from a roaming isometric kind of perspective (at least from what I saw). It was pretty cool, but I sadly didn’t get as much time with it as I would have liked. It had a strangely bright lighting style to it that kind of reminded me of certain scenes from the movie Three Kings.
  
  
• FFX: It’s pretty, but it’s really not the best graphics on the PS2 (unless you count the CG cutscenes). It’s just your single character running around environments when the screen will randomly shatter like glass and you’ll materialize in a fight scene, which is also pretty, but again, not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I thought a lot of GCN, Xbox, and even other PS2 titles such as MGS2, Devil May Cry, Drakan, and GT3 all looked better. I don’t know what else to say because I don’t know much about the FF series and am not too keen on RPGs in general, so I wouldn’t really be able to give a fair comparison. I’m sure the story is typical Square stuff and if you like Japanese style turn-based RPGs, including the previous FF games, I’m sure you’ll also love this, but I honestly don’t see how you’re single character running alone through some level can be considered the best graphics ever, it really wasn’t all that, in the visual respect at least. I’m honestly being as unbiased as I can be too.
  
  
• Agent Under Fire: A first person shooter set in the James Bond universe outside of the storyline or constraints of any of the movies. It combines a driving element from the creators of Need For Speed and a FPS element that utilizes a modified Quake 3: Arena engine. The FPS graphics were very sharp and the textures were appropriate, but nothing spectacular. The game felt like it was essentially Goldeneye, but much, much prettier, and had animation on par with or better than that found in Goldeneye or Perfect Dark. Unfortunately, the control scheme they had setup was the stupidest I had ever had the displeasure of using. It was totally crazy; the face buttons shot and performed necessary actions, the left analog moved forward and back and looked left and right, while the right analog looked up and down and moved left and right It was completely impossible to shoot and strafe at the same time and a real chore just doing basic movement and firing. The worst part is there wasn’t even a control setup option. Everyone who stepped up to the plate was completely baffled by it. The driving element was earlier on in development than the shooting phase and was thus subject to some problems, but it was still loads of fun. The car was for the most part responsive and you could shoot and do all kinds of things with various weapons. The point of the level was chasing down a van and disabling it with an electronic pulse. The environment was a city that was quite vast. It really was pretty exhilarating skidding around a corner firing a missile at a car while darting through traffic trying to keep up with this van. It was like Need For Speed with Twisted metal action elements blended in. You cannot switch between driving and shooting in a single level due to engine constraints, so it’s like one level is shooting and the next is driving, but it’s still cool. There is also an on-rails shooting element that’s thrown in for good measure and is like the helicopter scene at the opening of Sin or SoF 2’s ROAM terrain based levels. I didn’t notice any “deformable” environments and the A.I. seemed standard but nothing special. In the end this game looks pretty shui indeed.
  
  
• Blood Omen 2: An action RPG that’s a sequel to the original Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain where you once again control Kain, a vampire. Total crap beyond all crap. I was wondering why the kiosks were empty when I approached, and I soon found out. The control is like Tomb Raider where forward and back move forward and back but left and right turn your character left and right without actually moving in that direction. The only problem was it was so stiff and unresponsive that it became an impossibility to play let alone enjoy. Everything else about the game is just bleh anyway, so there’s no real point of playing it despite the controls. The animation is weak and the combat is substandard. I don’t care how much they improve it unless its cleansed by fire and rebuilt by the same people who made the 6 million dollar man it’s going to suck big sweaty goat balls. All hype and no bite.
  
  
• Aliens: Colonial Marines: A first person shooter set in the Aliens universe, this game may not be what you think though. So, you know how certain games have a distinct look and feel and you can say game “A” feels and looks Unreal style while game “B” feels and looks Quake 3 style, but that doesn’t necessarily determine what type of game either is? Well, let’s say Quake 3 is like Elite Force, and No One Lives Forever is like Aliens Vs. Predator 2; then, Aliens; Colonial Marines would be like Swat 3. It has that same kind of photo look to it, and everything seems bigger and closer, it jus looks very similar and the pacing seems to be the same. The environments were pretty killer and everything was very well detailed but the animation was pretty stiff and the game didn’t seem nearly as scary as the original AvP. Aliens actually looked kind of goofy standing completely upright and fumbling toward the marines. The marines looked equally goofy stumbling into one another stiffly as the aliens approached. Still, if they improve some of the stiff animation and crank up the fear factor this could be one killer game. It’s worth looking out for, but is not as initially impressive as red Faction or even it’s PC counterpart AvP 2 (although that’s a bit unfair to compare).
  
  
• Project Eden: A first person shooter developed by Core (original Tomb Raider and Fighting Force) that’s kind of like DX meets Rainbow Six. You can control a squad of guys possessing each individually or dispensing basic orders provided you’re in close proximity to them (stuff like follow me or whatever). The portions I played made it seem as though the game were more focused on puzzle solving and environment interaction then all out action. The graphics were decent although its PC counterpart totally put it to shame with high-res graphics and silky framerates. You can’t jump, but you can see your own feet, which actually works pretty well for them. The game looks pretty good, but I’d say it might be a bit hard controlling everything with the analog stick especially since you really have to point at a lot of stuff (think DX style highlighting of items and such). On the plus side, it has full split-screen coop play for the single player story and the guy hinted to me that they really want to try and implement i-link coop, which would be just killer. Although, I have to say that this is a time where I’d unconditionally recommend the PC version over the console one because it can really be difficult using the analog sticks in this fashion. Well, I don’t want to be misleading because it’s hard but it’s not like it’s completely impossible; it’s just that the PC version is so much easier that it makes the PS2 one rather tedious. Definitely worth giving a closer look.
  
  
• Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies:The fourth in a series of prestigious air combat games by Namco, the first of which was originally an arcade game and then subsequently a PSOne launch title (which used to be ironically called Air Combat). This installment appears to be a very crisp, solid game. It seems to have a better flight engine than its opposition on the Xbox, Air Force Delta, although its graphics aren’t quite up there, in comparison, and that’s kind of odd to say because the Ace Combat graphics are really damn good. The only problem is that when you fly close to the ground they can become rather blurry and smudged. If you liked any of the previous incarnations you’ll love this one.
  

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