Toronto Thumbs

SONY HOLIDAY EVENT
SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Impressions

So we’re coming up on another holiday season which always means big games being released in a small timeframe. This also usually means that a gamer’s wallet is running pretty empty during this period, which is exactly why it is our responsibility to go to events like the Sony Holiday Preview event and let you know which games should make it into your budget planning.

While at the event, Our faithful Editor-in-Chief and I had the chance to try many of the games that will make it into our living rooms in the coming months. There was a tonne of great games to play, but there was one that surprised me more than just a little: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009.

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Posted in Canada, Events, Features, PlayStation 3 | 1 Comment »

Sony Holiday Event
Prince of Persia Impressions

The first title we spent some time with upon entering the Sony Holiday Event was Prince of Persia. The game was just to the left of the main entrance and we arrived fairly early and thus avoided having to wait to play. As soon as we looked over at it, Michael was handed the controller and away he went.

All the leaping, bounding, and wall hanging you could ask for is in this game, and more. For the first time we’re presented with a more open world to explore. The hero moves with fluidity and grace, and in the demo we played was accompanied by a sidekick character, Elika, who offered assistance by helping complete jumps across larger chasms as well as saving the player when a jump fails.

When you fall, a brief cinematic is shown where Elika reaches her hand down to grab yours. The game then immediately drops you back to the start of the jumping puzzle you just failed with no load time. While some might see Elika’s assistance as a cop-out, her presence really comes in handy and allows for some more sophisticated jumping puzzles in-game, and by that token problem solving on the player’s part.

Leaping quickly requires precise timing in order to keep your character’s momentum up. Unlike previous games like this, the leaps and landings are not automated. Although novice players will want to take their time hopping about, it’s entirely possible to blaze through areas if you have the right rhythm down. This usage of rhythm is carried into the battles as well. In the one boss fight we engaged in, it wasn’t about mashing senselessly on the buttons. The boss was covered in a protective goo (for lack of a better word) and it was through using Elika’s special abilities in conjunction with the main character’s attacks that we were able to wear the boss down. There are also some quick-time events where you have to execute a correct button combo to keep the enemy at bay.

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Posted in Awesome, Canada, Events, Features, PlayStation 3 | 7 Comments »

Sony Holiday Event
Sonic Unleashed Impressions

Sonic Unleashed must be using the newest form of Blast Processing known to mankind.

Sonic the Hedgehog was Sega’s mascot that at times managed to make Mario look uncool. He was edgier, meaner, and just plain faster. He carried with him a full-scale assault on Nintendo’s Super NES in what was probably the fiercest console battle of my lifetime.

Recent Sonic games have put less emphasis on Sonic’s speed in favour of more traditional platforming elements such as exploration. Thankfully, Sega’s taken the series back to its roots with a balls-out approach to putting naysayers in their place. Namely: Speed, and lots of it.

No, not the kind truckers take. That stuff is bad for you. Sonic moves so fast in Sonic Unleased that at times he makes WipEout HD look slow. The game was demonstrated to us by Sega of America’s Ken Balough, who also boasted that he had held the record for the fastest time for the first stage among SoA employees. Me? I hobbled through the first stage mostly due to the fact that there was one jump that kept defying me. I cleared the stage in around seven minutes. Bugsy cleared it in four (after he learned what not to do by watching me, I might add).

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Posted in Features, PlayStation 3 | 2 Comments »

Sony Holiday Event
Mirror’s Edge Impressions

Sony held a great big holiday gaming event last week in Toronto, and Bugsy and I got more than our fixes of upcoming games from the biggest publishers in the industry. Unlike a lot of expos I’ve been to, most of the publishers had setups involving couches and Surround Sound systems. Some even had extra kiosks near their main “living room” setups for maximum floor space usage.

The wide range of titles available to play in addition to the great usage of space made it feel less crowded than it actually was. Towards the end of our time at the event, Bugsy and I headed over to EA’s area to see and play Mirror’s Edge (this after I barely played through Costello’s “Pump It Up” on Expert drums in Rock Band 2).

Now if you haven’t heard a lot about the game, Mirror’s Edge is an intense first-person adventure title which places more emphasis on evading and incapacitating enemies than it does on killing them. In fact, you start off without any weapons aside from your acrobatic prowess.

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Posted in Features, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | 4 Comments »