Monster Hunter Freedom

When the original Monster Hunter was announced for the PS2, many people’s expectations soared. In-depth character customization, online multiplayer, and hacking away at gynormous monsters to sell their bones and skin, what could go wrong? Try everything. Though the game was well designed and the idea had merit; the controls, camera, and overall execution were pretty weak. Like all games, Monster Hunter has it’s cult followers, but it didn’t live to the hype. Capcom wishes to change that with the new Monster Hunter G, the currently Japanese-only sequel. Monster Hunter G is aiming to be everything the original should have been and more. Along with Monster Hunter G comes the simultanious release of Monster Hunter Freedom for the Playstation Portable.

The basics remain: First you must create a character from scratch by picking hairstyle, color, face, voice, etc. After your little humble hunter as been made you’re given a hut in a small town. Like most roleplaying games, the town is the game’s center. This is where you’ll get yourself together or sell some monster hide to earn some extra cash, which is used to buy armor and weapons. Weapons range from axes, to swords, to crossbows, and all have thier strengths and weaknesses in different situations. After your character is right and ready to go, you must set out to one of the many environments in the wild. Scout different locales and climates from deserts to woods and plains, looking for giant beasts to slay.

 

Monsters range in size from horse-like to, “Man, that’s pretty big”. Most resemble dinosaurs or dragons, giving the game a Final Fantasy meets Jurassic Park type of mood and atmosphere. The new cats that run the town resturants and such help out that image, constantly reminding me of those darn FF moogles. Slicing and dicing is not only what you do in Monster Hunter. Often you’ll have to go Emeril-style and start barbecuing that dragon you just beat down. The chirpy music during these little scenes can turn some people off, but others may actually appreciate the break from the action.

 

Monster Hunter Freedom could prove to be a vital addition to the Playstation Portable’s library.The graphics may yet prove the, “as powerful as a PS2″ slogan. Character models and creatures look good enough to eat, environments promise to be wide and epic. If this one can do what it’s older console bro could not and live up to the hype, don’t be surprised if this one turns out to be the real killer app for the system. Check back at Club Skill for more info closer to release.

NFL Street: Unleashed

Nothing feels greater then going outside with your homies and whipping out a can of you-know-what in a game of football. EA’s NFL Street franchise helps you do exactly that, without always yelling “Car!” and avoiding Mrs. Johnson’s daisies.

NFL Street is from EA’s side-division Tiburon, who also makes the reigning and no longer defending champs of football sims, Madden. Just like the basketball NBA Street franchise it thrives on fast gameplay, pick-up-and-play controls, new school meets old school players, and crazy tricks needing huge combos, which is why it would never work on a handheld. Until the Playstation Portable. Since the PSP has the controls and graphics of a PS2 the flowing gameplay can finally be translated.

NFL Street: Unleashed looks beautiful on the handheld. Taking advantage of the huge screen, The player can easily see the entire field in front of him which is a must for this lateral heavy game. The graphics are a matter of opinion, Some say it matches the PS2 and some say it’s a little weaker. From the looks of this first demo it’s a little weaker, but that can be changed in the future. The speed of the gameplay can suffice, but it’s not to par with it’s older console brothers

The game takes the PSP’s WiFi and multiplayer capabilities into consideration with some new modes. Street Slalom which is an obstacle course, Style Stand-off which has you breaking down in endzone like T.O. with a Dance Dance Revolution flair, and Style Point Challenge which puts you in a variety of different challenges like timed and a certain amount of yards etc. These can all be played through WiFi or normal multiplayer.

These and all of the features from the consoles are available. Be prepared to be scaling walls like the Spiderman to get those few extra yards. This is an early version of the game, and it already looks worthy of the NFL Street franchise. Heads will be smashed, tricks will fly, and endzone dances will be danced. NFL Street: Unleashed comes out March, with the PSP’s release.”

Death Jr.

“Death jr. was the first title ever announced for the PSP. The game is a platformer where you go around with your little scythe controlling the son of the Grim Reaper and slicing up baddies. It’s on the lines of last year’s Jak 3 and Ratchet & Clank style of platformer’s though, rather then the traditional Mario and Crash Bandicoot-esque titles. Your scythe works as a multi-function tool and weapon. Grab on to ledges, spin it like a helicopter to hover, and bounce around on it like a pogo stick; the list goes on and on. But what makes the game interesting is that it’s not just a hack n’ slash, but also shooter as well.

Grab up tons of guns and you can light up goons with the old favorites like machine guns and flame-throwers, or weird variations similar to those in Ratchet & Clank like the R4 Hamster. Death jr. uses a combo system if you mix up weapons and attacks to kill multiple enemies. Fill up your combo meter and you can do a special attack to kill all the small enemies in a room and start a slow-mo bullet time sequence so you can kill bigger monsters that didn’t get hurt.

The graphics in this game don’t blow you away like the other PSP titles do but they are good enough to make you wanting more. Huge levels and things like explosions and shadows are noted, and because the game environments are nearly destructible you can blow everything in your path and watch things fly. Death jr. is going to be the game for all those Sony platformers out there waiting to take their game on the road. Be prepared for some baddie killing mayhem. Death is set to launch with the PSP next month.”

Metal Gear Ac!d

“After the immensely popular Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater release on the Playstation 2 last year, it is no surprise that Sony plans to release a Metal Gear of the PSP. What is a surprised is that they have ditched the traditional sneak and move gameplay to add a new turnbased card-game style. You use the cards to do many different things. You can attack, move,and equip items. There’s also ration, bandage,status cards. All cards allow you to move, but specific move cards give you a greater distance. The attack cards can either be guns and such, or they may be physical attacks.

You start each stage off with six cards. Each card has a cost value and whenever you use it, it’s added to Snakes cost total. This total depletes slowly while it’s the enemies turn. So if you give him too many cost points in one turn he will not be able to use his turn until they are all gone, giving the enemies more moves. You must also worry about loosing all of your cards. Once Snake gains the ability to use a number of multiple cards in a turn you have to manage your cards wisely. Every turn if you’re not satisfied by your hand you can skip your turn and substitute two cards. After each stage you’re taken to a deck editor where you can arrange the cards in your deck. Each level beaten gives you more cards that you may add with thirty being the maximum you can have at one time. If you don’t want to build it yourself you can use the game’s automatic deck builder.

Usually when you see a turn-based game you instantly look the other way, but with success such as Kingdom Hearts for the GBA everyone can find something in them. Metal Gear: Acid is shaping up to be a great portable title and we’ll be looking out for it in the future. Expect release early this year.”

Ridge Racer

“High speed action. Racing on a half arcade, half simulation style. These are the traits of the famous Ridge Racer series. Now the racing game is coming to Sony’s Playstation Portable, and from here it looks great. First of all, it is well known that Ridge Racers is the Hummer of the PSP. Big time guzzler, Ridge Racer takes a lot of battery life from the system. At a full charged battery you could play Ridge for about four hours. So what, that means the graphics are outstanding right? Yeah, for a handheld of course. The graphics are better then Playstation, not as good as PS2, yet amazing none the less.

As stated earlier, since the beginning Ridge Racer has been known for it’s fifty percent arcade, fifty percent simulation gameplay. It resembles a simulation because it doesn’t have F-zero or Burnout type gameplay. It rides easily and controls similarly to car, though not as exact as a game by the likes of Gran Turismo. It shares traits with arcade games though with a new feature this time around. Nitrous. Your car has a nitrous meter that builds when you loosely break on turns. With a maximum of three you can boost for a few seconds at a time.

The A.I. is challenging because your opponents can use the meter as well, adding to nice depth of the game. The sound’s of RR mixes old and new. The traditional Ridge announcer is also in the background adding his comments now and again.

Ridge Racer is a very impressive launch game. Any video game fan who thinks simulations are too slow, or any racing fan who thinks arcade games are too fast, Ridge Racer is the one for you. Be sure to pick this one up along with your PSP. The green flag waves mid 2005.”