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Review: Daxter [PSP]Platform: PSPDeveloper: Ready at Dawn StudioPublisher: SonyAfter Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was released for the PlayStation 2, Daxter's name mysteriously disappeared from the two later titles in the trilogy. Perhaps to appease a sulking Daxter, Ready at Dawn Studios, in collaboration with Naughty Dog, has developed Daxter for the PlayStation Portable. The game lives up to its name by presenting the same humor and antics that fans of the series know Jak's furry sidekick for coupled with the solid platforming action we've come to know and love. For its first foray into the industry, Ready at Dawn has not only created one of the most visually stunning PSP games, but also a game with smooth gameplay and an overall level of polish that should please anyone who enjoys playing video games in general.
Daxter takes place in between the first and second Jak games from the console series. The story begins where the Precursor Legacy left off, with Jak and Daxter arriving in Haven city only to have Jak arrested by guards and thrown in prison. Two years later, Daxter is given a job by a local exterminator by the name of Osmo. Throughout the game you'll take up various pest-control missions from Osmo and move through the game's story. The storyline in Daxter isn't quite as strong as that in the console games, but a series of well crafted, and often humorous, cutscences help to establish the existing plot while maintaining the light-hearted nature of the game.
Daxter isn't too lengthy of a title, clocking in at about 8 hours to finish the main story mode, but there is a reasonable amount of replay value to be found in the game. Each of the areas Daxter visits throughout his travels can be revisited and feature plenty of collectable items such as caged bugs to be unlocked for the game's Bug Combat mode, more on that later. As it stands, Daxter's story mode is long enough to require multiple gaming sessions to complete, but not so long as to consume too much of your time. For a handheld title, Daxter feels just about right in terms of its length.
Bug Combat, which can be played competitively through a wi-fi connection, is a Pokemon-esque minigame which pits two rival bugs against one another. Each turn, you choose one of three basic attacks for your bug to use against its opponent. There is an added level of depth to Bug Combat in that you're able to apply various special attacks and power-ups to your bug before the match. If anything, Bug Combat is a simple diversion from Daxter's main mode and could take up a few hours of time should you become involved in what it has to offer.
Aside from Bug Combat, Daxter also features several "dream" sequences which play out as simple minigames. These minigames consist of timing button presses with the appropriate on-screen indicators and are another fun little way to kill time. Each dream parodies a memorable movie moment from films such as Braveheart and The Matrix, all of which should be instantly recognizable. After completing each of the dream minigames Daxter will learn a new move which can be used in the game. This gives the player extra incentive to collect the eggs strewn throughout each environment in order to unlock all of the dream sequences.
By far the most impressive aspect of Daxter and one which should become apparent within the first minutes of gameplay is that there are no visible loading times in the game. As soon as the opening movie has finished you are immediately thrust into the world without any hesitation whatsoever. The lack of loading times in itself is a true testament to the skill and ability of those behind the development of Daxter. Equally impressive is the fact that Daxter takes place in one continuous, streaming world. While you may be transported through portals to reach some of the areas in the game, there is no break in the action. As soon as Daxter jumps through a portal gate, he almost immediately emerges on the other side in a new area. Not even Liberty City Stories, as technically impressive as that game was, could accomplish such a feat.
Visually, Daxter is a treat. The textures are sharp and crisp, the lighting in the game is fantastic, and the level of detail throughout the environments is unbelievable. Daxter himself is immaculately animated. Details such as the character bounce slightly when he jumps on a chair or sofa highlight just how intricate the detail in Daxter is. Most satisfying about the graphical beauty of Daxter is the fact that it does not come at the cost of gameplay. The framerate remains smooth throughout and rarely chokes up, which is even more of a feat considering the lack of load times and the enormity of many of the game's environments.
In terms of control, Daxter handles itself well. Movement feels tight and responsive while jumping, attacking, and crawling should come as second nature to anyone who has played a platformer recently. Camera control is fairly simplistic yet incredibly well designed with the right and left shoulder buttons panning the camera from side to side. While such a system is nothing new to PSP games, Ready at Dawn has perfected the responsiveness and speed of camera movement. As with all great platform games, the camera is paramount to Daxter’s success.
In terms of difficulty, Daxter isn’t an especially challenging game although things can become a bit tricky in certain spots. Thankfully, checkpoints are placed intelligently throughout each of the levels and prevent the game from ever becoming truly frustrating. There are also several puzzle sequences throughout Daxter. These puzzles usually occur towards the end of the level and must be completed in order for Daxter to unlock a door or disable some sort of device. The puzzles use the same button press system as the dream minigames and will take several attempts to complete, but won't generate frustration on the level of a game like Smart Bomb. All in all Daxter does a good job of keeping the game enjoyable yet challenging for players of all ages.
The voice acting in Daxter is masterful. During the game’s many cutscenes, all of the characters, which should be recognizable from the cast in the Jak series, add a level of immersiveness to the story. As mentioned earlier, Daxter maintains the light heartedness of the game with his many witty remarks. The musical score is also well put together although there isn’t anything especially memorable about the music and you might
not even notice it unless you stop and listen. Daxter is a game designed from the ground up for the PSP and it shows. The handy save anywhere feature allows for gaming on the go while the length of each of Daxter's levels is suitable for a bus ride to school or work. Daxter’s graphics and gameplay are unmatched on the PSP and contribute to what is a truly exceptional game. Gameplay: [9] Graphics: [10] Audio: [8] Replay: [7] Overall: [90%]
Raf has released PSPRadio 0.38.12, and it has been patched to work under the DevHook environment on firmware versions 2.+.
As many of you already know, PSPRadio allows you to stream music and listen to Shoutcast servers (WiFi Radio) from the comfort of your PSP.
According to the changelog, these are the changes since PSPRadio 0.38.11:
What's New for PSPRadio v0.38.12:
(sandberg) Core: Implemented a direct VRAM version of Danzeff for use in Links2.
(raf) Core: Now root of /PSP/MUSIC is also used in the local files screen. (It is shown as 'MUSIC')
(mbf) Core: Patched to run under devhook
BUG FIXES:
We have two files available for download: Static and Dynamic. The Dynamic version includes Retawq and Links2 and PSPTris plugins. If a plugin stops responding, you can try L+R+START to take you back to PSPRadio.
Download PSPRadio v0.38.12
There's so many racing games on the PSP, it's not even funny. We can't even remotely guess the exact number anymore. Anyway, it's our job to preview upcoming games. The one in question here is Ford Street Racing: LA Duel. Alright, so the name can use a bit of work, but then, it would be the last of our worries if we're making a game. What matters is gameplay and replayability. And the creators can only hope that they have enough of it.
“Ford Street Racing: LA Duel on PSP is where it belongs, on the move and on the streets. With Wi-Fi multiplayer and even more performance Ford cars to choose from, this is the ultimate Ford Street Racing experience,” commented James Spice, General Manager of Xplosiv, the game's creators. Now that's a big claim, we hope they can fulfill it.
Looking at the name, it's most likely a Ford-only racing game. Now we've always loved Muscle cars, so that's one point. And there's loads of 'em cars, new and old. Here's the complete list:
1962 Thunderbird Sports Roadster – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
1968 Mustang GT
1969 Mustang Boss 302
1970 Capri Mk I RS2600
1970 Mustang Boss 429
1971 Mustang Mach 1 – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
1973 Escort RS2000
1975 Gran Torino Sport
1985 RS200
1987 Sierra RS500
1992 Escort RS Cosworth
1995 GT90 Concept
2000 SVT Cobra R
2002 Focus RS
2004 Bronco Concept – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
2004 Fiesta ST
2004 Mustang GT-R Concept
2004 SVT Lightning
2005 Ford GT
2005 Mustang GT
2005 Shelby GR-1 Concept – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
2005 SVT Sport Trac Adrenalin Concept – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
2005 Thunderbird – EXCLUSIVE to PSP
2007 Shelby GT500
And they got the GT90 concept among that list, one of our favorite cars. Many of you might remember it from Need For Speed 2, about a decade ago...Apart from it, there's a lot of other cool cars in there too.
Now let us run you guys through the features of the game:
- 24 officially licensed Ford vehicles
- 6 exclusive to PSP Team Racing: Race a team of 2 cars switching between them and issuing commands to gain a positional and tactical advantage.
- 7 brand new tracks to the PSP making 37 richly detailed tracks based around the streets of Los Angeles.
- 6 solo and 11 team race game modes.
- Wi-Fi Multiplayer – Solo and Team Wi-Fi multiplayer action featuring Team race.
The tracks include the Los Angeles River (Downtown), Downtown Railroad, Pacific Parkway (Santa Monica), Venice Riviera (Venice Beach), Hollywood and Sunset Heights (Sunset Boulevard). The team racing looks something like what Need For Speed: Underground Rivals offered. Nonetheless, it will be interesting. The graphics look like staple fare, just like we've come to expect from the rest of the games. The gameplay is where it will have to score big time.
Screen's coming up later.
A confirmation, by top PSP homebrew developers, proclaiming that the recent investigations in an exploitation for the PSP, currently possible for firmwares 2.0/2.01, and possibly, in the near future, 2.5, 2.6, 2.70, 2.71, and 2.80 firmwares for PSP has been a success, so far. NOPx86, the one who discovered the initial vulnerability on PC, and the works of Skylark and psp250, who together researched the capabilities of the exploitation on the PSP, alongside the contributions of a dedicated team, including Fanjita (developer of the GTA-based eLoader), have confirmed that there is a lot of possiblility that the TIFF-based exploitation may, in fact, become the next big 'thing' for the PSP homebrew scene, and offer homebrew possibilites for all firmwares 2.0 to 2.80.
Fanjita states: "Alright, time for a brief update with the facts so far. This exploit is definitely genuine, and usable.
It's unclear exactly which firmwares it will be usable on, but so far 2.0 and 2.01 should definitely work. 2.5 and above are significantly harder to research. 2.7+ will take longer still. The signs are that it may go up as far as 2.8, but that's not proven.
Just to put things into perspective, a combined team has spent at least 60 intensive hours working on researching this so far, and we're at the point of being able to confirm that it will work.
It will take longer still to convert it into something that is actually in a demonstrable form, such as Hello World.
Credit so far goes to NOPx86 for discovering the vulnerability and proof of concept on the PC, and Skylark and psp250 for researching it on the PSP. I've helped a bit too, but those guys have done the bulk of the work."
Though the findings are not at the "Hello world" stage, a landmark which defines that an exploitation flawlessly runs unsigned code, there is a lot to expect from the work, and hopefully, in the near future, we should see a lot of additional news be released on the work. Great work guys, it's great to see there are still dedicated developers that are spending hours of hard work (over 60 hours on this project alone, as Fanjita states), to bring homebrew to all.
E3 2006 Hands On Impressions
With Square churning out Final Fantasy titles like they were going out of style recently, Valkyrie Profile may already seem like a distant memory to most people, since it came out for the Playstation in 2000 and was largely ignored. Therefore, it makes a certain amount of sense for Square-Enix to bring the game back to players via the PSP with the upcoming port of the game, titled Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth.
Telling the tale of a valkyrie named Lenneth (obviously), Valkyrie Profile makes good use of Norse mythology and slick artistic direction to bring this adventure title to life on the PSP, though the new game does not take advantage of the superior hardware in any way. Much like Square's tendency to port older SNES Final Fantasy titles to the Nintendo GBA and DS without any graphical upgrades, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is essentially a strict port, at least visually speaking.
The game may not look great by today's standards, but the actual gameplay still holds up, with a rather original story and satisfying combat and puzzle solving elements. Lenneth, servant of Odin, is sent to Midgard to recruit warriors to aid in the "sacred war" between Aesir and Vanir, and in the process players controlling Lenneth will undergo lots of random battles, with a bit of platforming and exploration thrown in. Most of my time with the demo was consumed by story elements, but when I was finally able to get into battle, it was most satisfying. In battle I was able to chain together attacks to create impressive combos, and each character in my party was assigned their own face button making switching between party members easy and efficient. Combat wasn't terribly complex, but it was fun nonetheless.
The overall feel of the game is more in line with Square's older Final Fantasy games, at least in terms of presentation, so any fans of old school RPGs looking for a good PSP title can probably scratch their roleplaying itch later this summer. I will post some more pictures soon!
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