Grave Gamer News & Views — ps3

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn Brings an Endless Waltz of Hack n’ Slash to the West

My childhood appreciation for the piloted mechs of Gundam lore combined with my weakness for repetitive hack n’ slash combat against massive hordes of moving fodder has allowed Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors: Gundam crossovers slip right past my usually unrelenting wall of cynicism.

But after buying into three below average games trickled with modest, barely-an-inch-forward improvements? …Good Gundamn am I ready to do it all again! Call it a guilty pleasure, if you want. I’m not here to excuse myself. Take this old adage to heart if it helps you understand: I likes what I likes.

This summer brings Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn, the fourth installment in Japan’s Gundam Musou series, to Western shores. Not without some shake-up’s in its release format, be warned. Gundam Reborn is dropping exclusively for the PS3 – no Xbox 360 counterpart this time – and it will only be made available as a downloadable title on PSN.

The fact that anything Gundam doesn’t find the same widespread appeal stateside as it does in Japan probably explains why we’re not getting a physical release (North America, after all, has far less to-scale Mobile Suit replicas dotting our parks than Japan does). Worse news hits the handheld community, as the PS Vita version of the game, including its cross-play functionality, is not being ported overseas.

If, however, you’re in the qualifying bracket to attain the game, the good news is that you can expect to man over 100 Mobile Suits along with the ability, for the first time ever, to pilot gigantic Mobile Armors. It’s a mecha wet dream turned wet reality.

The returning Official Mode centers on the Universal Century timeline, which spills across the continuity of eight different Gundam animes and features actual footage from the shows. Ultimate Mode, however, is a cross-dimensional free-for-all that sees you hacking through mechanical hordes using a mixed stable of Gundams from every timeline. But it just ain’t a mobile infantry without friends, though. Fans can also expect split-screen and online co-op to make a return.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn for PS3 will release digitally in the Summer while Europe can expect both retail and downloadable copies near the same time.

Naughty Dog Lowdown - Uncharted PS4 + The Last of Us Story DLC

The famed Santa Monica based developer came at us last night with updates on two of its most coveted, Sony exclusive IP’s. Let’s dig into the less enigmatic of the two announcements:

Undoubtedly my favorite title of the year, the third-person apocalyptic heartbreak simulator, The Last of Us, has had story DLC quietly in the works over the last several months. Now we finally know the name: Left Behind.

A prequel to Joel and Ellie’s giraffe filled adventure, Left Behind focuses on Ellie and Riley (first depicted in the comic American Dreams), a rebellious teen whom Ellie befriends within the military operated boarding school she attends. Spoiler alert: Expect your emotions to be damaged.

Priced at $14.99, Left Behind will hit PSN early 2014. Watch the teaser trailer hereabouts (light on the “trailer,” thick on the “teaser”).

And now for something cryptic. Naughty Dog announced a new Uncharted game! Annnnd… That’s it. ND swears there’s revealing hints to be found in this trailer, but it takes a better fan than I to be able to spot the bastards.

What’s certain is that it’s setting course exclusively for the PlayStation 4. What’s uncertain is everything else: Is Nathan Drake back? What’s the official title? When does it take place? Is the love of my virtual life Elena back?

Nothing official has been plotted, though rumors are already suggesting Sir Francis Drake may be the protagonist, making this Uncharted a period piece. More on this diddy as it develops, folks.

Grand Theft Auto V: New Gameplay and Screens Winning Me Over

Yesterday Rockstar pried open the seal on their upcoming mega-blockbuster, GTAV.

Now, I’ll be honest with you since I like the cut of your jib: I’ve fallen out of love with this crime-centric, do-anything-you-want open worlder in recent years.  I was there for GTA in its top-down days when vehicular manslaughter meant flattening tiny sprites.  And I was right there in its golden age when Rockstar brought the concept to the three-dimensional plane and, soon after, worldwide infamy.

But this generation GTAIV – and its DLC extensions – failed to win me over.  It could’ve been the open-world genre had become commonplace by then, with some direct rivals owning better ideas than Rockstar’s once untouchable franchise.  It could’ve been the disconnect between me and the surly war veteran I controlled, Niko Bellic, as he begrudgingly (if not reluctantly) submerged himself in a life of petty crime.

But GTAV…The initial story trailers have all kept the status quo – violent, comical characters engaging in capers that satirize pop culture and society.  Pretty standard fare for this series.  But then there’s this goddamn gameplay trailer which has me sold on the game ten times over.  The notion of switching between three separate characters on the fly is exciting on paper, but watching it implemented seamlessly into the flow of an action thick mission glued my eyes to the screen.  For a “Do Anything” series, there’s always been a forced rigidity as soon as you picked up a mission.  Effortless, real-time character swapping looks to body this complaint head-on.

My other perpetual bone to pick with these games, the combat, has also been banged out and shaped into a beastlier form, perhaps borrowing from the publisher’s experience on Max Payne 3 (kudos on the weapon wheel, Rockstar).  Throw in a gigantic Los Santos with more depth and opportunities for interaction than this franchise has ever seen, mix that up with a slew of customization for your trio and the vehicles they acquire (see: steal), and layer it all with Rockstar’s now unmistakeably signature style.  When September 17th rolls around, I doubt there’ll be any hesitation in the nerve bundles between my brain and wallet.

The Last of Us is Selling Like There’s No Tomorrow

For a game that many admit makes them cry within the first fifteen minutes, it is surely putting up its dukes at retail.

With 3.4 million boxed and digital copies sold in the three weeks since its release, Sony confirms The Last of Us is the fastest selling PlayStation 3 title of 2013.

I’m incapable of being surprised by this news.  I’ve quickly called it one of my favorite games of all time and a modern masterwork of interactive storytelling.  Naughty Dog, I even picked out a plump box quote from my review for your inevitable Game of the Year Edition: “It’s fucking awesome.  It’s really just so very fucking awesome.”

‘Course, the end of the world is far from over as the game’s newly formed legion of instant fans still have story-based DLC roving their way in the near future.  Plus, with numbers like that, you can bet Sony isn’t keen on letting The Last of Us stand alone for long…

Naughty Dog: “There Are People in the Studio That Would Love to Come Back to These Characters”

So.  What does having one of the most widely beloved and critically acclaimed games of this generation get you?  “A sequel,” screamed every publisher on the face of the planet loud enough to sunder it.

That’d be the traditional school of thought.  Like Hollywood, the gaming industry no longer puts their chips behind one-off, difficult to market affairs.  Every time a new IP is born, publishers typically bank on it becoming an overnight franchise.  But The Last of Us isn’t your typical IP.  I saw something incredibly special and engrossing in the game and, more than apparently, I’m not alone.  It’s a unique title with an ephemeral quality I sincerely doubt a sequel could replicate.

But does developer Naughty Dog feel the same?  The game’s creative director and scribe, Neil Druckmann really doesn’t mind if a follow up never gets off the ground.  “We were very conscious that we didn’t want to leave this story dangling,” said Druckmann to PlayStation blog.  “If we never do a sequel, we’re okay with it because we told the story we needed to tell.”

Fair enough.  A masterpiece usually doesn’t finish with “To Be Continued…” (unless we’re talking about Back to the Future, but I shouldn’t even have to spout such universally known facts).  Speaking to Kotaku, however, The Last of Us sounds more like a misnomer than anything, with Druckmann stressing that this one journey – referring to the central plot set up in this game – is complete for Joel and Ellie, yet the rest of his team isn’t against further Cordyceps-tactular misadventures.

“…As far as whether we come back to Joel and Ellie or not, or whether we come back to the world or not, that’s all up in the air,” said the writer.  “I can tell you there are people in the studio that would love to come back to these characters, but the only way we would do it would be if we had something new, something meaningful to say.  Because the last thing we would want to do is repeat ourselves.”

I found the end of Joel and Ellie’s narrative deeply satisfying, but truth be told – and this is a lightweight spoiler – the finale does leave a wide enough door open for a continuation.  Does it need it?  Hell, no.  Would I be against revisiting two of the most roundly developed and engaging characters in video game history?  Hell, no.

Until The Next to Last of Us is a reality, fans of the instant classic are able to look forward to single-player DLC focusing on a side-story that Naughty Dog assures us will reveal more about the characters and the post-apocalyptic world they struggle to stay alive in.