Alex:
I will admit, I was quite curious when I first heard
about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
I had been wondering if another of the big three companies could bring a
collection of mascots together and somehow merge them cohesively into a single product,
whether as a fighter or otherwise.
Having played some of the game at New York Comic Con, I have to say it
does a good job of making a competent fighter, with a couple concerns here
and there.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a mascot fighting
game in which up to four characters known to the PlayStation brand fight each
other in order to be the best mascot around.
These characters range from the heroes on the original PlayStation
(Parappa the Rapper and Sir Daniel Fortesque) to the newest characters on
PlayStation 3 (Cole and Nathan Drake). A
multitude of third party characters are also in the roster, including Raiden
from the Metal Gear Solid franchise and the new Dante from DmC: Devil May
Cry. Those looking to see Kratos and
Nariko finally get into an all-out brawl will get their wish with this game. The playable characters are not the only ones
fighting for supremacy, too; the environments usually feature two worlds blurring
together in the most cataclysmic ways.
Who wants to see Hades’ underworld lair become colorful and attacked by
Patapon warriors? I know you do.
What makes Battle Royale so different compared to other
fighters is how points are calculated in-game.
No player has a hit-point bar, but instead, each character has a power
meter which fills as the he or she lands attacks and collects items
on-screen. When the meter is filled up,
the All-Star can use a special attack, and anyone who is hit with said attack
will be defeated, earning the character a point per opponent felled. Those who want to get points quickly can use level 1 special attacks, but as the power level rises, the attacks become much more destructive to ensure more points in the end! My concern with this score system lies with balance of the special attacks, but I suspect the guys at SuperBot will be able to wipe this away when the final game arrives.
In my playtime, I got to try out Sir Daniel and Parappa, and
both felt fairly different. Sir Daniel’s
sword attacks and alternative weaponry felt slower compared to the more active
Parappa's punches and kicks. At times, it
felt like the attacks were a little slow, making
landing them a little less effective, but when I got a few good hits in, the opponent was definitely feeling it! Furthermore, fighting characters whose
special attacks were at-the-ready made me a bit paranoid; what a worse way to
go than have someone use a special move just as you are about to make a move on
them. Hitting characters with the special
attacks themselves required a bit of timing and precision, too, because if you
are hit mid-attack, you lose the ability to use it again until you fill the
power meter once more. Needless to say,
halfway through the match, strategies have to change from straight brawling to
tactical fighting. All the while, the
background shifts and occasionally attacks the stage, and even with only a
handful of items, there is quite a bit of activity to be had.
There were a couple issues I had in-game that might go away
with future playthroughs. I was too used
to pressing up to jump that on more than one occasion, I ended up punched in
the face as a result. Also, using items
did not really have much impact in a match as I expected, and the button
placement for using said item seemed oddly placed. Then again, with three face buttons dedicated to
various attack styles, I can see how it ended up on a shoulder button. Also, I feel that the presentation of the
game is a little too simple for a game featuring everyone from the PlayStation
world in it. Perhaps when I see the
final release I will shake that off, but right now it feels a little patched
together for one reason or another.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale comes out this November,
and I look forward to having my rear-end handed back to me by Kratos again and
again.
---
Tony:
Being the first massive crossover
fighter using PlayStation franchises, I knew I had to try out PlayStation
All-Stars Battle Royale for myself at Sony’s New York Comic Con booth. Playable for
both the PlayStation Vita and the PlayStation 3, I choose to play multiplayer
on the PS3 version. For my hands-on with the title, I chose Uncharted’s main
man, Nathan Drake.
The game has a number of
similarities to Super Smash Brothers. Besides the crossover of characters,
All-Stars is also a 2D fighter where up to four players battle each other using
special moves, items, and the environments themselves. However, All-stars also changes up
the formula resulting in some major gameplay changes. The biggest change being
that instead of getting points by knocking the opponents off the stage, players get points by hitting other players with special moves, which were acquired by doing
damage in combat. These special moves come in three different power levels.
While a level 1 special move might only strike right in front of the player, a
level 3 special might instantly kill everyone on the screen, although it takes
a lot longer to reach that level. Since it takes time to fill the power bar, players must decide whether it is better to use more low-level powers
or save up to reach more devastating attacks higher up. Each of these
moves varies from character to character; for example, Drake’s level 2 special
had me push over a large column, which defeated anyone crushed beneath it while
Parappa’s level 2 had him riding on a skateboard along the stage. This new game mechanic forces
players to rethink their battle strategies as you need to battle in order to
increases your specials while avoiding other people’s specials. It
definitely changed my battle strategy.
Besides the special moves, there
are also the normal moves needed to increase one’s power level. Having three
buttons and four joystick directions, each character has an abundance of moves
that reference their respective titles. Some of Drake’s moves were rather basic
like throwing a grenade or shooting a handgun. However, there were also more
unique moves such as Drake falling through ruin floors and having it collapse on
the people below or going across a zip-line, shooting an automatic weapon along
the way. The multitude of moves added variety and creativity in battle, but it
also meant it was more difficult to learn the new move sets. Also, depending on
the move or character, sometimes the moves seemed to lag or lacked the umpf one
would expect from the attacks. Drake’s punch seemed to hold back a moment
before actually hitting the other players. This might be because of character
animations or it might be a way to create balance between the fast, weaker
characters and the slow, strong characters. Since I only got points for
specials, in the heat of battle it was difficult to tell if I was even making a
dent against my opponents. This is something that more playtime might overcome.
The stage I battled on was LittleBigPlanet’s Dreamscape stage which started out empty and flat but quickly
added platforms, trees, and other elements together, making the battle much more
interesting. One unique feature the stages of Battle Royale have is the mix-up
mechanic in which a stage is infiltrated by another franchise's characters or world. Once the LBP stage was
filled, the announcer from the Buzz! series appeared in the background and
asked us a question. We then had to stand in the right place on the battlefield
corresponding with the correct answer, and although I got the right answer, I could not
figure out what my prize was. This mixing of franchises has me intrigued to see
what other mix-ups happen on the other stages.
Everything in the game runs
smoothly and the animations are handled nicely as well. The only thing that
stands out is how separated the characters and stages feel. Since PlayStation
franchises range from fun and colorful to dark and dreary, placing them all
together creates a sense of disconnect between them, but that might be what
they wanted to evoke, in the end.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
has obvious similarities to Smash Brothers, but with a completely new roster of
characters, moves, and levels along with a completely different goal to
victory, it comes out acting like a different title entirely, as it should. The mixed-up
stages and multitude of special moves should allow for All-Stars to create a
unique experience for PlayStation fans everywhere. The only issues are that some
moves feel slower than they should and it is hard to tell if you are
doing anything in combat when the only thing that matters was using your
special moves. A unique premise, I would like to see how it turns out when it
comes out on November 20, 2012.
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