Sony Reviews

Ghost Recon on the PC was perhaps the best game of 2001, with its realistic battlefield techniques and intriguing story line. PC to console games does not always translate into great games. Most of the time the console version is a big disappointment. Is this game different? Read our review!

With extreme sports games making a splash in the console market, Activision has decided to take the biggest step my adding the first online Extreme Sport game entitled “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4â€?. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 was the disputed heavyweight champ for best sports game of 2002 for any console. Although Tony Hawk’s 3 featured an online component it was not as nearly deep as Tony Hawk’s 4 online component. Activision seems to be getting it right time after time.

Back in 1997 I entered the world of MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) with a little title known as Ultima Online. Little did I know that all of my time would be consumed within this game. While I moved away from UO eventually, soon gamers all around the world became just as addicted to the game that would draw many away from UO EverQuest. Sony Online Entertainment try to recapture the magic and excitement that made the original EverQuest successful in the first MMOG released in the US for the PlayStation 2. Yes, that is right--the biggest online game for the PC has arrived for the PS2 and it comes with many elements that made the PC so popular. Unfortunately, that means the monthly playing fee comes along too.

Just a little under a year ago Midway released their first arcade-style baseball title--MLB SlugFest. In its sophomore release, Midway tries to add several new elements to the game. These new elements--along with the core gameplay that already exists make this one of the best baseball titles of the year.

When Dark Cloud was released, it was greeted with mixed reviews. Although it had a few problems, I found the game to be a fun action/adventure PS2 title. Not being content to just rehash the same game, developer Level 5 went back to the drawing board and mixed in some new ideas, cel-shaded graphics, and a lot of fun in one of the best titles of 2003--Dark Cloud 2. And while the game does bear some striking resemblances to the Zelda franchise, DC2 has enough charm of its own to stand alone.

Primal is a tough game for me to review. At first glance, it is a fun and exciting Action/Adventure title with realistic graphics and a great story. While all the elements of a great game are present, it appears that Sony's Cambridge Studio (Sony of Europe) got a bit sloppy when working on Primal or was forced to cut the development time short. While the end product doesn't live up my high expectations, it may still have the elements you are looking for.

Everyone knows that there are good fighters, and then there are great fighters. Well, there are crap ones too, but֠I digress. Fortunately, the latest title in the Guilty Gear series finds itself firmly in the 짲eatategory. Not since SF II hit the arcades for the first time have I been so attached to a 2D fighter. Guilty Gear X2 is truly a great game, and should be considered a mandatory purchase if you're a fan of the genre.

When most people think of the music genre for videogames, a game like Parapa the Rapper or Dance Dance Revolution come to mind. While both of these games are fun in their own right, they are not even close to matching the greatness of the Harmonix's latest outing.

989 delivers in their latest title--World Tour Soccer 2003. In the second incarnation of the series on the PlayStation 2, 989 picks up where they left off last year and delivers a good, solid soccer experience.

Considered by many to be the best baseball game on the PlayStation, this franchise has been strangely absent from the PS2 lineup. It is no secret that 989 Sports has gone through some tough times as of late. With delays to their PS2 games, the decline in quality to their recent releases, and an incredibly crowded market, unless 989 can get their titles back to the level they were at during the early PlayStation days, the days of this company could be numbered. Can anything save them? A renewed emphasis on quality has seen this year’s lineup of titles to be much better than in recent memory. And despite a few problems, the first PS2 version of MLB 2004 is a solid outing.