Still a consumer whore…
June 30, 2008 – 4:00 pmI thought I would give you an update on my experience with my shiny new Playstation 3 so far:
The games: I own two games right now: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. I’m impressed with the latest installment of the Metal Gear Solid series. It brings together the best in each game. I am starting to learn about what happened to some characters from earlier games (Meryl, wtf?). MGS4 is also slightly more open than previous games. While the game stages are pretty linear, requiring you to get from point A to point B, you have the option of deciding just how you will do so. While the game still focuses on sneaking, you can sneak any way you please, including my favorite method of sneaking: blending in with local militias. It’s easier to clear a path that way. The latest installment of Ratchet and Clank doesn’t do anything new to the franchise, but it’s still very enjoyable. It’s considerably more difficult than previous games (maybe I’ve just lost my edge), and platforming action has been reduced. This game makes me wish the platform was less powerful. One of my fondest memories of this franchise on the Playstation 2 was blasting the hell out of enemies while watching my frame rate stutter as the massive amount of bolts come flying toward me. It’s more rewarding than it sounds.
I rented Burnout Paradise from Game Fly. I’m a big fan of any game that promotes reckless driving. Online play is great, too. It’s a seamless transtition from cruising the game world offline to cruising it with several other players. Everything bonuses you find in online play gets saved locally. It’s really like you haven’t made any transition. I’ll probably keep this. Next up on Game Fly is Resistance: Fall of Man. All things considered, the PS3 is starting to develop a respectable software library
The interface: The homescreen is intuitive and simple, even if it has a terrible name (Xross Media Bar…I can’t pronounce that). I would like to see the XMB (similar to the 360 dashboard) in game and easier access to the Playstation Store. I think it’s all being adressed in the next update.
Visually: I play the system on my LCD computer monitor. It may be tiny, but I want to play it in HD, and the monitor can push it up to 720p. The last few nights, Dan’s and my parallel gaming nights, where we each play an MMO at his house, have been replaced by me bringing the PS3 down to play on his 1080p capable LCD HDTV. It looks amazing.