Hate Home? FreeRealms might be your ticket-
Beta testers warned that it was a vapid 3D chat room. (we tried at least)
No one listened…
What few people seem to talk about is the actual PS3 MMO Social RPG FreeRealms. It actually is supposed to be all the things that Home was hyped to be: A Social Community AND an MMO at the same time.
I have no clue what so ever if it’s going to be good or not, but those of you who wanted that massive online world aspect to Home could have a nice substitute for that in FreeRealms!
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Originally Posted by PS3Fanboy.com
Sony Online Entertainment has promised a number of MMO games that will appear on PC and PS3. However, none of them have come to fruition quite yet. The most likely candidate for release appears to be FreeRealms, SOE’s innovative MMO game. The game is almost reaching beta on the PC, and from what we’ve seen so far, it’s shaping up to be a fun way for casual gamers to jump online into a safe online world. Best of all, FreeRealms’ big gimmick: it’s free.
This isn’t meant to be a World of Warcraft-killer, and we think that’s a good thing. By aiming for younger players (and their families), FreeRealms has crafted an intuitive, easy-to-read and use interface that looks charming. The UI takes advantage of easily identifiable icons, and the screen real estate is wisely used. This is great for the console player too: the large icons can be easily selected with a PS3 controller. For better or for worse, FreeRealms tries to appeal to many by featuring a variety of mini-games. Unlike other MMO games, your character isn’t tied to one class. You can be a Ninja, Explorer, Wizard — whatever you want. In fact, you can change your class at any time, so that you’re able to tackle each situation appropriately. The freedom to change classes gave the development team at SOE the opportunity to create a wide variety of gameplay modes, from racing to combat, to card battling and cooking. A universal experience points system makes it so that doing anything in the game will let you level up any aspect of your character, in any class mode. Those that want a casual, family-friendly experience in FreeRealms will get it easily. There are tons of places to go to, each with unique gameplay modes that don’t involve any combat, PvP or against AI. However, those that want to go fighting can do so in self-contained instances scattered throughout the game world. The developers note that the battle system will most likely be very different between the PS3 and PC versions: the PS3’s input will make it more of an action game, where the face buttons will directly correspond with the actions you perform on screen. This should make it more engaging for console owners. FreeRealms is the first fully 3D MMORPG that’s being made available for free — with no monthly fees whatsoever. The gameplay will be supported by in-game advertising, and sponsored in-game items (a Mountain Dew potion, perhaps?). While it may not appeal to the hardcore with its cutesy art style and gameplay, we think casual gamers will love the number of options available to them. Unfortunately, although the PC version is getting prepped for beta release, PS3 owners are going to have to wait much longer for the eventual port. Regardless, we can’t wait to find out more about SOE’s upcoming PS3 endeavors. |
First Killzone 2 review…
From the TeamXbox Forums:
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Figured I would post this months issue. Killzone 2 - 5/5 "The buddies alongside you in each battle have been expertly tuned to provide just enough cover and support to actively get your back on occasions, while never making it feel like they could acchieve every objective alone." "…the believability and consistency are hallmarks of the Killzone 2 expereince. None of the circumstances, weapons you find, locations you visit, or frankly any of the details in the world feel arbitrary. The world is consistently realized in its unappealing flavor." "…filled with moments that can handily be described as inspiring awe" - bots in offline multiplayer "perform pretty well" "Without a doubt Killzone fans, action, and shooter fans of any stripe will isntantly tag this sequel as a powerful contender for teh best game of 2009" The review started off by calling the first game mediocre by the way. Which I agree with. SF IV 5/5 |
Other scores from OPM for comparison:
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift 3/5
Resistance 2 4/5
Uncharted 4/5
Heavenly Sword 4/5
Warhawk 3.5/5
GT5 Prologue 4/5
Haze 2.5/5
Lair 2.5/5
Annoyingly, they gave MotorStorm 2 it’s lowest score, a 6 out of 10. This score forced the game’s GameRankings average down to the very low 8s.
This is a great score fo Killzone 2, however.
PS3 on Dell 2408 HD problems.
Bit of a frustrating problem this.
I have my PS3 hooked up to my Dell 2408 pc monitor running at 1080p (apparently!)
The PS home page where you check settings/browse the PSN store looks fine as if it were running at 1080p.
When I launch COD 5 the intro sequences for the missions look like they are high def.
But when I get into the game it is more like a PS 2.5 than a PS3 game.
As you can see in this pic my PS3 is outputting at 1080p - Dell monitor says it can support 1900 x 1200 - PS3 is outputting at 1900 x 1080 but that should still look ok I would have thought.
But as you can see in the above pic given the photo cant truly tell the story you can get a rough idea of the quality I am getting.
Textures look dull and there are alot of jaggies.
I ran a blu ray (Casino Royal) which was slightly better than DVD quality but only marginal at best.
When I hook it up using a different cable even at 1080i - 720p it is all the same.
I have had the console + cable games and blu ray running through my Panasonic 32 LCD and it looks lovely.
Have ordered an HDMI - DVI cable just in case.
Perhaps monitors are not the best form of display for PS3’s etc but I really do not want to spend £500 on another tv for the office just so I can get what I thought I should have in the first place.
All I want is high def - :suicide: 
Any comments or thoughts welcomed.
Cheers,
Muzzy :thumbsup:
P.S on a unrelated but equally frustrating note I am now all of a sudden no longer able to get any audio through HDMI - despite being able to do so. Speakers work fine as have tested them with mp3 player.
Amazing Killzone 2 singleplayer footage now live!
Comments from the guy who captured the videos:
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[Aside from] Some slowdowns/frame drops aside and other minor issues which are clearly going to be fixed (like voice over), Killzone 2 is a rollercoaster of a shooter. What I liked the most (technicalities aside as vids speak for themselves) is how non-linear the approach to firefight is. On the one side, you have the AI acting unpredictably so everytime you re-do the same fight, it actually plays out differently (Video 01 shows this quite clearly when I repeat the last section after dieing). On the other side, levels are designed so that you can change approaches to the same confrontation quite radically. You can see this in one of the Welcome vids when I go upstairs while Garza stays down near the stairs. I have three options there. Shooting from above. Use the turret. Turn the corner ahead and go down the stairs to hit the HGHs from behind. There are many situations with such tactical freedom. I also liked the Lean & Peak mechanics and overall controls. Coming from two online beta phases I got used to the standard configuration and it kinda makes more sense with the L&P mechanic in place. Anyway, L&P works pretty well. You push L2 to crouch, and if you are close to something, you stick to it as long as you keep L2 presses. What I liked about this is that you never feel "trapped" when you are behind cover. On the one side, you are free to slide and peak in any direction you want. But you can also rotate 360° no problem (gun automatically points ahead when there is no wall). So I don’t feel too "scared" about being attacked from the side. And being it a Hold rather than Toggle thing, you cannot **** it up when detaching yourself from cover to get behind another one. It works really, REALLY well. To the point that I seriously think I wouldn’t mind having the option to use it online as well. What I liked the less are changes occurred to some levels. Especially how Visari Square looks now. IMO, it’s too bright and colorful. Blue pavement, orange lights and greenish structure in the background? I liked the darker version more. I hope GG is not too afraid of the B/W stigma and adding colors to avoid it. As for my "quick fix", I’d suggest adding more flying drones. They are criminally underused IMO. In the first 6 levels at least. In Resistance 2, flying drones are very cleverly used to spice things up and force you to swap from ground-to-ground to ground-to-air combat. And move from cover to cover. Not so in KZ2. In the preview code levels. Perhaps **** hits the fan later. |
Some shots from the footage:
IGN: Playstation Q&A
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The PlayStation Q&A November 25, 2008 - This year has been pretty sweet for Sony fans. The PlayStation 3 saw cross platform hits such as GTA IV and Dead Space as well as exclusive juggernauts like LittleBigPlanet and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Meanwhile, the PSP killed in Japan and got Patapon and Chains of Olympus along with the redesigned PSP-3000 in the United States. Forget all that, though. We’re videogame fans; we look forward and not backward. A new year of games, accessories, and crazy PlayStation announcements is just around the corner, and we here at IGN didn’t feel like waiting to get some answers. Where do you go when you want to know if the PSP is dead, where the hell Home is, and what year three will mean for the PlayStation 3? Easy, Sony Computer Entertainment America Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller. Recently, IGN got a hold of Koller and put him under the PlayStation spotlight. |
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/933/9338…0&RSSid=933815
It’s mostly about the "imminent" HOME launch and PSP/PS3 integration. Good read.
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Where do you guys see the blueprint for taking the system forward? |
