Watch the entire event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA.

It’s hard to say exactly why this game is so good because everyone is going to be in one of two categories: the long time fans of the series that already love the game and the people who can’t understand why this series is so popular. This game wraps up the Metal Gear Solid storyline perfectly. There may be more Metal Gear games, but it closes Solid Snake’s part of the series.

The stealth action continues to get better. The already good controls have been tweaked to near perfection. Although it takes several button presses to do a simple action (like aiming your gun), the scheme is so intuitive that it quickly becomes second nature.

The aiming moves a bit slower than I liked and it lead to some confusing moments during some of the more intense battles. Many people won’t like the game’s slow pace, but that is exactly why I loved it. Waiting for the perfect moment to pop out and quietly take down one guy is so much more rewarding than mowing down a hundred enemies while running through a level at full speed. Instead of having to switch camouflage like in the last game, you get a new suit that automatically takes on the pattern of anything you lay down on or lean against. This makes sneaking around a bit more fun, but still keeps the challenge because you will have to be extra careful when going through an area with several different floor patterns. It is also much easier to run and gun in this game than past ones, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. In addition to monitoring Snake’s health, you now also have to keep an eye on his stress level. Actions like getting shot at, being spotted by the enemy, or even just walking around in the open will raise his stress. If Snake gets too stressed, he will not perform as well in combat.

One of the reasons it is a bit easier to get away with not sneaking is the addition of the character Drebin (and his always entertaining hairless monkey with a soft drink addiction). He is an arms dealer that you meet early in the game who will allow you to buy weapons and ammo from him using Drebin points. You can also automatically sell any weapons you find to him as soon as you pick them up as long as you already have another one in your inventory. This adds a new, unexpected aspect to the game. After watching a squad of rebels get mowed down by the enemy, I would debate whether or not it was worth it to expose myself to gather their weapons or just play it safe and move on. By the end of the game, it is possible to have so many points that ammo will never be an issue. Some players will like this, while others will feel it isn’t really faithful to the series since in every other game, you had to work so hard to conserve ammo.

The boss battles are hit and miss. Some are a ton of fun and quite memorable while others are completely lame. All of the bosses are named for the bosses in the first metal Gear Solid and are a bit similar, but still unique. The Screaming Mantis battle was awesome and reminiscent of the Psycho Mantis battle. I can’t really describe it without ruining it for you, so you will just have to take my word for it. The Crying Wolf fight, however, was disappointing. The series is known for it’s sniper boss battles, so I was ready for a long fight. I ran to a tank to hide under it and was able to see the boss. I shot her with my rifle which caused her to run around looking for me. When she was done running around, she returned to the same spot and I could shoot her again. After repeating this several times, I won the battle. Even though this fight was a little boring, it doesn’t even begin to compare to how bad the final fight is. The final boss battle is a fist fight and the controls are completely changed. I had to die a few time before I even got the feel for how to fight. Even once I got the controls down, the fight is so poorly constructed that I died several more times. The hit detection basically doesn’t work and always seemed to favor your enemy. I would throw punches and my hand would go right through them. They would swing at me and clearly miss by a couple of feet but it would still register as a hit. During the fight, Snake only takes small steps and cannot run at all, making avoiding attacks near impossible. After an insane amount of practice, I got to the point where I can win the fight most of the time, but I still hated it.

The cutscenes, as always, are top notch. Every camera shot and angle is Hollywood quality. Although they are impressive, many of them drag on way too long. It will take more than a half hour from the first time you put the game in your PS3 to the time you actually start playing. There are a few scenes that are about forty five minutes long. The final movie, including credits, is almost an hour and a half. You can pause during these movies, but you cannot save and quit. If you don’t have more than an hour of free time, you might as well play something else and wait until you have some more time on your hands, because you won’t get anywhere with this one. The game took me about eighteen hours to complete, but I would guess that less than ten was actual gameplay.

Even though the scenes can be lengthy, the story is amazing. The main purpose of the plot is to explain all the past games, so newcomers will easily get lost. Just about every question you ever had is finally answered. What happened to your allies from the first game? Why is Snake so old? Why can’t Vamp seem to die? Hell, they even go as far as to explain why the guard in the first two games had stomach problems that made him go to the bathroom so much and tie that into the story. How’s that for closure. Almost every character from the series makes an appearance (some only in flashbacks) and everyone has an impact on the story in some way. I can’t think of a better way to tie up the story I have been following for ten years and three console generations.

This is the just about the perfect end to the Solid Snake saga. Aside from a few poorly designed boss fights, I loved every bit of this game. Finally, there is a reason to own a PS3.

Watch the 1up Show’s Ryan O’Donnell, Matt Chandronait, & Nick Suttner share their impressions of Q Games amazing Pixeljunk Eden coming soon to PSN for the PlayStation 3.

Eric Lempel is back with part two demonstrating the new features coming soon, July 2nd, to PSN.  This time he will show us the new Trophy system and explain it will work.

List of games that support Trophies:

• BUZZ! Quiz TV
• LittleBigPlanet
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift
• NBA 09
• PAIN**
• PixelJunk Eden
• Resistance 2
• SOCOM: Confrontation
• Super Stardust HD**
• Warhawk**
• Bioshock
• Novastrike

** Requires game update to install Trophies. (And requires you to play again to unlock them.)

Watch Eric Lempel, Director of PlayStation Network Operations, show off PlayStation 3 in-game XMB feature that will be available with the upcoming v2.40 firmware update.

After viewing the trailer you may be itching to see Resistance 2 in action. Watch the first gameplay footage of Resistance 2 that shows off multiplayer & single player gameplay featuring the Chicago and Grim levels.

Read the rest of this page »

Metal Gear Solid 4 is now in available in stores, you may be wondering if the game living up to all the hype. Well so far Snake Solid’s latest adventure is one of the highest rated games ever (94 metascore) here are some excerpts from a few of the major video game sites:

Here is updated list of the most recently released PlayStation 3 games, listed from best overall reviewed to worst reviewed from data collected from Metacritic. 98 Grand Theft Auto IV
85 MLB 08: The Show
84 Devil May Cry 4
83 Warhawk - Operation: Broken Mirror
82 Echochrome
82 Condemned 2: Bloodshot
81 Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
81 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
80 Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
79 UEFA Euro 2008
74 Army of Two
74 Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
72 Club, The
72 Dark Sector
67 Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
67 Dark Mist
67 Major League Baseball 2K8
67 Turok
66 Sega Superstars Tennis
65 Viking: Battle for Asgard
63 FIFA Street 3
59 Dynasty Warriors 6
58 Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
56 Haze
53 Lost: Via Domus
53 NBA Ballers: Chosen One
51 Conflict: Denied Ops
44 Iron Man
42 Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
42 Go! Sports Skydiving
37 History Cha

Activision just released this new trailer featuring their upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour which will add vocals and drums are added to the mix - allowing you to play and record your own tracks. The video uses real kid actors pretending to be in concert instead of real game footage - but the drum kit shown does looks does look pretty cool. Price hasn’t been announced but expect a price tag similar to the Rockband bundle that retails $150-$170 this fall when released.

1up’s Thomas Puha posted the following preview of LittleBigPlanet, one of those rare games both young and old can enjoy, online or offline, up to four people can share in the fun simultaneously come this October excusively on the PlayStation 3.

You start out in your space pod — a personalized hub of sorts. On one end lies a massive Sixaxis controller (or is that the DualShock 3?); through the windows, you can see a huge planet, which is where you’ll access the game’s story mode — though much of the details are still under wraps. So far, we know that the story mode will provide ways to unlock new items and act as a tutorial for creation techniques. Next to the planet is a small moon where you’ll build your own levels.

The creation tools are incredibly simple, yet powerful. You literally drop into a level, for which you can preselect a theme, and then off you go. (Expect to see some familiar Sony franchise-based themes, like Killzone.) The pop-up interface is simple to use, with numerous options to scroll through split into manageable categories. While it’s easy and fun to simply mess around and create an object here or there, you’ll want to take the time to plan out your designs in the long run. And though the amount of flexibility you have can be daunting at first — each object even has its own physics, and you have tons of building tools — Sony is banking on people investing time and creativity to share their creations with the LittleBigPlanet community.

As further evidence to LittleBigPlanet’s flexibility, the PlayStation Eye camera can snap photos for you to use in-game, where you can then manipulate the shots: Blow the photo up, draw on it, and then attach it to an object. You can put a cardboard box on your character’s head and then map a photo onto the box. (Go for those bunny ears you’ve always dreamed of.) And since every object has its respective physical property, a flower attached to a character’s head will bend as it hits a sturdier object.

Want to create a spider monster? Find a spider sticker from the image bank, slap it on a wall you just drew, and then use the cutting tool to extract the spider. Here’s where it gets interesting: You can attach a small “motor” to objects, adding movement. So, you attach the engine onto the spider, which makes it move, and then put it a bin that the player can fall into. Finally, you grant the spider player-damaging attributes, and voilà — a spider monster.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can attach sound effects (and music) to your objects. Enhancing your newly made spider monster with a creepy sound effect is practically a given, but there seem to be plenty of sounds to choose from. LittleBigPlanet’s music library ranges from eerie Danny Elfman-esque themes to mariachi tunes. To avoid cacophonous levels, it’s thankfully possible to set the music so it triggers based on a player’s proximity, as well as mute channels if you want to get rid of overly bombastic percussion.

It’s frankly mind-boggling what you can create in LittleBigPlanet. We saw a huge wooden fire-breathing dragon chase the cute characters in one demonstration’s premade levels and a racing grounds in another. And players can seemingly reproduce any of those creations using the in-game tools, provided they have the motivation. Several types of “gameplay kits” will allow you to build levels around mechanics such as racing, which basically requires you to set the starting and ending points. You can also designate which objects in the level are collectable for points. Developer Media Molecule’s 20-year-old Swedish designer created a skipping game in which you drop off a plank and jump over a spinning rope that twirls faster and faster. The longer you can hold on, the more points you’ll score.

What you use the kits and tools to make is up to your imagination — and that’s where LittleBigPlanet’s community features come into the picture. Through the game’s sharing functionality, you can download user-created objects and levels to either learn from them or to modify and repurpose them for your own uses. Sony tells us the system will work similar to YouTube, with users rating and therefore governing the content, theoretically allowing the most creative pieces to rise to the top. Each piece will clearly denote its creator and even allow you to search for more pieces from the same player. If you find someone whose work you admire, simply “heart” (yes, you read right) the profile to bump up its community visibility. We’re certainly anxious to see if LittleBigPlanet earns hearts come October.

[source]