Quantcast
PSNStores Games & Shames: October 2011 | PSNStores

PSNStores Games & Shames: October 2011

Posted by on November 1st, 2011 | 4 Comments | Tags:

Back again with another month of PSNStores editor picks. Not really much of a consensus on the Game for this month. Almost everyone had something different that they thought stood out. But it sadly seems that Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone is one to avoid. With three editors marking it down as the Shame of the month. So what do you think? What were your favorite games from the month of October?

Game: Payday: The Heist

(Review)

I love a good heist and Payday: The Heist is just that. This was pretty much my default choice for my game this month, as it has been the game that I just couldn’t put down. Even after my review was posted, I found myself trying to make time for it. As of right now I have just over 13 hours played, and I hope to get some more in when the title releases in Europe this week! I only have one request of players who are down to heist… please use a headset. There aren’t many games where communication is so critical to the success of a mission. The price point may be a little steep, but if you have a core group of friends would are down to play, I don’t think there is a better shooter on PSN.

Shame: Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone

Man, I really don’t know what to say about this one other than I really didn’t have any fun playing it. Curtis, Brad and myself all hopped on one night and tried to power through it. We couldn’t even do that do to a bug. The gameplay is stale, levels have insane difficulty jumps part way through them, zombies seem to teleport across the screen, and the voice acting, wow. I had to turn it off at one point because the pure pwnage guy was so grating. Friends don’t let friends play Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone. You surely will if you play this game.

Game: Dungeon Defenders

(Review)

If you haven’t read my review, it’s a great place to start. It’s a lot of text, I know, but I actually left out some of the things that make Dungeon Defenders my pick for October’s #1 game. There’s a lot going on in Dungeon Defenders. If it weren’t for the smart design choices, it would be a lot tougher to play. The mini-map shows so much information that the game could almost be played with it up at all times. When loot drops, you have the ability to immediately equip it if it’s better than what you have on. The game suggests that you do just that by outlining the item in green and assigning a small green thumbs up next to it. It also brings up the stats of your currently equipped item and shows both items side by side. This is useful because the game may weigh something like weapon damage higher than something like knock-back. The build wheel along with the massive number of button mappings makes most actions take a matter of seconds. Once you’ve completed a certain task (repairing or upgrading a tower, for example) two or three times, chances are you’ll find a quick route of fast inputs to repeat said task in a minimal amount of time. Dungeon Defenders is top-notch gaming; I’m looking forward to DLC and community events in the future.

Shame: Okabu

(Review)

Two cloud-whales have fallen from the sky because their world has become too polluted. A machine-obsessed race of monsters known as the Doza are ruining the pretty colors of cutesy tribesmen known as Yorubo. The Yorubo can’t do anything for themselves, so it’s a good thing Kumulo and Nimbe show up before they go extinct. The bulk of Okabu is spent completing menial tasks such as putting out fires and saving fisherman from touching water. I understand that these tasks are meant to be a tutorial on how to use the X and O buttons, but after a few stages, I had enough of the game holding my hand. Okabu, however, didn’t want to let go. I love Okabu’s art style, which is why I found the game to be especially frustrating. Movement isn’t always easy, something that got to me because I’m playing as a cloud…whale. The companions are a great idea but are also a pain in the ass when you’re required to overuse them. I finally stopped playing Okabu when it hardlocked my PS3 at the end of a long level. Don’t judge Okabu by its cover. Play it first, and if you can deal with the things that got under my skin, maybe you’ll find an enjoyable game here. I can’t see myself picking up the fight against unwatered plants anytime soon.

Game: Okabu

(Review)

It’s bizarre how joy filled an experience playing Okabu actually is. This PSN Puzzle game from HandCircus really is something to be experienced by everybody, with a vibrant world and killer soundtrack playing host to some incredibly entertaining puzzles, the game comes alive in the best way posible. There’s a simple pleasure to dousing robots with a light drizzle, and Okabu understands those simple pleasures perfectly. Go on, give it a go.

Shame: Sideway: New York

(Review)

Like Bloodrayne before it, Sideway is a platformer with imprecise controls, and that’s more than enough to relegate it to the space in my brain solely designed solely for rage induced rants. A cool art style and interesting soundtrack isn’t enough to save this game from mediocrity. If you’re going to make a game where you jump, do the jumping right.

Game: Payday: The Heist

(Review)

One of the few games we see ourselves still playing regularly after the review.  This game is probably one of the best cooperative experiences you can have on PSN.  Even when we fail the mission (which we do regularly) we have a great time and try to change our strategies.  Some of the gameplay tweaks employed keep later replays fresh, causing you and your team of heisters to plan for the unexpected, like when your helicopter decides to drop your C4 charges into the alley instead of on the roof where everyone was expecting to pick them up.  With some crazy difficulty ramp ups and a soundtrack that keeps your heart pumping this is great time.

Shame: Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone

1 <3 PWNING Z0|\/||3135!!  THIS GAEM r0xx0rz my b0xx0rz LOLE.  With BRILLIANT dialogue and a heartfelt story, Zombie Apocalypse is the most state of the art video game as of 2003.  Being both Modern AND Relevant, Zombie Apocalypse is packed with over 4 types of enemies and over an hour of never-aging, timeless gameplay and dialogue.  I’ve never seen so much 1337 PWNAGE. Zombies, and the games they appear in are a plague.

Game: Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken

(Review)

Rocketbirds is just a fantastic game. It’s so easy to get pulled in on the visual style alone but the gameplay is just as good. Shooting up evil penguins is good fun and using mind control to solve puzzles and take out enemies never gets old. The soundtrack is awesome and seeing everything flow together perfectly just makes the experience that much better. If nothing else check out the demo, you won’t be disappointed.

Shame: Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone

As tired as I tend to get of zombie games, I can usually at least expect some level of fun to be had from them. Such is not the case with Zombie Apocalypse. Aside from boring gameplay and some of the worst dialog I’ve ever heard in a game, Zombie Apocalypse feels utterly broken. Zombies appear to teleport across the screen, literally fly into view and sometimes outright vanish from the game with no explanation. During one particular multiplayer match a few of us played; when the host lost connection we were dropped into some sort of limbo between single player and multiplayer that allowed us to continue communicating to each other while persisting in alternate realities within the game world. The time spent playing Zombie Apocalypse brought me back to the feeling I had playing Ghostbusters earlier this year and that’s not a feeling I ever want to experience again.