Planet Minigolf Review

ZEN studios welcome us in to a great new game with the release of Planet Minigolf on the Playstation Network. ZEN studios noted for their fun loving ZEN pinball game, has introduce us in to a great new world of minigolf that allows you to have fun, listen to your music, and even create your own levels to share. Planet minigolf takes you to some wonderful worlds with some of the most wicked courses and holes you may ever see.

Single Player

Single player take you though a few courses from around the world, the courses are based off the location. For example Buccaneer’s hideout is based on an island and is surrounded by pirate boats and other things based on the location and name of the course. When you first start the game you get to pick your character and do very light customization to him or her as you need to unlock more clothes, and accessories though playing the game and earning badges. Badges are awarded to the player for doing certain activities like getting a hole in one or using a trick putt to sink a ball in the hole. The game does allow you to customize the way you play for instance the way you putt you have three options from Direct where you pull back on the left analog stick until you feel you have the perfect power and then let it follow though, Easy for easy you press and hold the X button until you reach the perfect power you want then let go, and three click in this one you use the X button three times here one is for the shot setup then the power level you want and then finally at the right time to release it for a perfect putt. The style you wish to putt at is in the options menu and is accessed by pressing START on your controller note you can’t change your putt style while in mid-game you have to do it before you start a game up. Well the courses are broken down into five ranges Warm-up, Pro, Extreme, Wacky and Custom. Warm-up is the first one in the line and has to be completed before moving on to the next one and so on, custom is holes and courses the community has made and published for all to play. Along with all that is option to YouTube upload your footage of your game, you had a great run on a hole and want to show others well now you can with the inclusion of the YouTube upload feature in Planet Minigolf. The game is quite rewarding to most and does have a difficultly level that most will find both easy and at times beyond hard to throwing the control in a fit of rage. As it takes a while just like with most ZEN games to get use to and feel out the controls and difficultness of the game, some of your putts you will power whack the ball and it feels like you barely tapped it at all and other times you light putt and it feels like your character just smashed it with a baseball bat. Well what is a good game without power ups, in Planet Minigolf you have a wide range of power ups that you can use to help you sink that putt or add more style to your stroke. The power ups for example the Guided controller one allows the player to use there sixaxis controller to control the ball’s direction and help you make that birdie. In addition to just the single player you can if you’re tired of playing the holes and courses in the game make your own as the game allows you to access all the options and choices that are in the game to make the sickest, coolest, badest hole or course you want. The options for making your own creation are limitless and are only limited by your creative juices.

Multiplayer

Well from a great single player game it has an amazing multiplayer mode for users to either go online or local with others in your room. In Local you can play with up to six players in certain game modes, allowing you to team up or just see who the best in your group is. Game modes for local are one on one, singles, doubles, and teams. All of these modes offer you the ability to adjust the level as you want and set up your own rules for the game. Allowing you to make the most fun for all involved and have a truly unique time with the game. If you don’t have anyone around then take it online, you have two choices online from ranked games and casual games, the difference being that in ranked you can’t change or mod the rules of the course as it are set to make things fair for all. After you choose which one you want you again have the same four options for match types as in local multiplayer.

Visual and Audio

The visuals in the game are very well done and make each location have its own feel and texture to it. Like when you play buccaneer’s hideout the graphics are really nice and rich and make you feel like this is so great of an idea for a course. The game does suffer from some glitch graphics at times pending on where your ball is and your putting other than a few times does it happen and other times your camera will somewhat lose focus but beyond that the graphics are dead on for this game. The character customization is simple but does the job for your character as you progress you can unlock new items for them that can show off some wild ranges and deck them out with custom putter and balls. Soundtrack in the game is not the best in the world and at times gets on your nerves a lot, but never fear as you can use your own music. Yes customizable soundtracks this game has, I would suggest make yourself a nice playlist and then load up the game and let your music take over. Another kind of annoying aspect is the announcer’s commentary at times is just either annoying or not even needed, no fear you again can turn off the commentary though the options menu at anytime.

Final Decision and Score

Score is 7 out of 10

My final thoughts on this game is that it is a great game to play and have others play with you, in fact more and more you will have more fun playing the custom levels others create then the ones in single player aspect of the game. The difficulty is on par for a ZEN game but at times will make so people just so angry that your character can’t put it right that you will throw the controller or just quit the game midway through a hole or course. The ability to make and publish custom levels and have your own soundtrack is right on awesome for this game, but the difficulty and at times glitching graphics do mark the game down a bit. The price is not bad at ten dollars but I fear some players that are not use to ZEN studios games will have buyer’s remorse. It is a great game for those seeking a difficult and fun loving game and are tired of the easy ones.

*BTW: I created a hole entitled F1rst Course, please take a look at it and have some fun with it and let me know what you think of the hole. If you can’t find it under that name just search my PSN ID in the search area for hole and you should find it then.

 PLAYSTATION Network Card

Red Dead Redemption Reviewed

Rockstar Games introduces you to the Wild West in their latest game Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption starts you off as John Marston looking for an old friend. But finding him and getting to him is not going to be an easy journey. Beyond the main story missions of you tracking down your old friend(s) and helping out those that become close to you, is a massive open roam world that only Rockstar Games could do. The games storyline is very rich in context and makes you feel at times like what are you doing and are you really making a difference or just helping in the destruction of certain regions of the game. Can you really change? Can you ever be freed from your past? All questions the game asks you, and in the end you learn the truth of the matter and then you truly get the meaning of the word Redemption.

The gameplay takes a moment or more to get used, as you will have several ways to handle certain things or tasks in the game. Getting to know your controllers accurately is critical in later parts of the game along with accuracy. After you learn your controls you will experience a lot to do in all three areas of the game from New Austin, Mexico and West Elizabeth. The open roam feel of the game will be normal for players of any of the Grand Theft Auto games in the past, but in Red Dead you will spent a lot of time searching around and exploring the elements of your environment. Searching your environment and getting to know it well is very important to later challenges and adventures you will be on. Outside of the main storyline missions are a lot of addition challenges and rewards to do. There are Tailors’, Doctors, Gunsmiths and General stores. Remember to check them out periodically as new weapons, clothes and items do come available as you make progress thought the game. Additionally you will be able to switch your outfits in the game, as you do certain missions you will be able to unlock new outfits that will give you advantages in the game. As a matter of fact here is a full list of things you can do outside of just the story missions.

Bounty hunting - A bounty is placed on a man’s head and you can accept to go for it, catch him alive or dead. Alive bounty fetches more than a dead one.

Horse breaking Jobs -At different ranches you can accept to break in new horses, trick is to keep your balance without getting bucked off.

Horseshoes – Simple game of horseshoes, get close enough to make a ringer.

Arm wrestling – Test your strength and win some money against others in a simple arm wrestling.

Poker – Play Texas Hold’em style rules poker.

Blackjack – Good old blackjack.

Liar’s Dice – Each player as a cup with five die in them, you job is to bet how many of a certain die are on the table and to call out the bluffs. Trick is to not lose all your dice or else you are out.

Hunting – There is plenty of wild animals and they fetch some good prices they do, trick here to sell certain animals in different regions for higher prices.

Duel – Well in every town there is someone to challenge you to a duel, pick your timing and placement and show them who the fastest gun in the west is.

Five Finger Fillet – Put your hand on the table and try not to cut it.

Gang Hideout Clearing – There is gang hideouts though out the game, clearing them out rewards you with new weapons and money.

Stranger Missions – Were there is a wide range of different people you will meet in the game; you can complete these missions at any time during the game. The missions can be as simple as gathering flowers or tracking down pieces of a map or horse.

In addition to all those challenges, come the ambient challenges to master to become a true legend of the west. These challenges are Survivalist, Master Hunter, Sharpshooter, Treasure Hunter to master them you must rank them up to level 10. The early challenges for them are simple and very easy and grow tougher and tougher, for insentience the treasure hunter challenge you gather maps in the first few maps it almost spells out where the treasure is, later on you will have to almost to guess as the clues get very few. All four of these challenges unlock more stuff for you and makes your gameplay experience easier too. Another thing you will have to watch is your honor and fame rank, as you honor raises the more people will respect you and things will cost less and with your fame rank your name will get more and more known. The higher these levels are the more law enforcement and regular folk will just look away to your minor crimes like horse stealing and so on. Your honor rank is impacted by how you act in missions, meaning if you do the right thing and not kill innocents or steal you rank will grow positivity as if you do something wrong or decide to go into business for yourself.

With all that and a very rich multiplayer that is packed with up and coming challenges via Rockstar Game’s Social Club makes the single and multiplayer version of this game a must pick up for any gamer. The multiplayer modes include Free Roam, Free for all, Shootout, and capture the bag.

Graphically speaking the game is awesome with getting the time period and landscape to look so rich and beautiful at times, like when the sun just rises over the crest and breaks the horizon makes you feel like you’re almost there. The character design is quite rich too, getting the cuts on faces and the look of despite or despair on others is quite rich. The game does not handle in a full HD resolution but it seems not to hurt the game at all. In fact it helps makes the game feel more of a rough and rugged feel but still play just as smooth. If you watch your screen as you are following a train or being shot at you will see as debris will cover your screen at times and impact your vision. The level of detail is even noticeable on the animals, if you look closely at them you can see as they look almost realistic and the sounds they give off even can make the hair on your neck stand up as if a wild cougar is in the house with you. Graphics and sound is spot on for this game makes the experience ever richer for the gamer.

Over all this game is awarded a 9 out of 10 score, a great game with minor glitches and errors here and there but nothing that can’t be fixed with a simple patch. The game allows players a wide range to do and offers a wide replay value with the option to re-play any mission again to get a higher rank as well. The minor glitches and technical issues that do come up here and there keep it from reaching a full ten out of ten score. Lots of room for addition DLC (Downloadable Content) for both the single player and multiplayer along with the social club challenges makes this game so rich that playing it over and over is a joy.

Updating the Blog

I decided as of today to retool and reinvent my blog as it. During the next week or so I am gonna try out some new things and add and remove stuff as I like or what seems to fit best for the site.

I plan on rolling out more stuff related to gaming and electronics, this means more reviews, previews and my views in general on stuff.

I will update all my info in the bio and add more links to find me around the net. For now if you have a comment or advise please leave it. *UPDATE* I am writing up my review for God of War 3 as I am updating the blog hope to have both up by Monday.

Thank You


James