Trash Panic

The official score for this game is: 7/10

Trash Panic is a simple and frustratingly addictive puzzle game, where you must fit as much trash into your can without spilling any over the edge.

The game features several different modes and local multiplayer; however there are only 5 different levels with three different difficulty settings.

The main mode will present you with Trash that you must fit into your trash can, you can choose to smash the trash downwards hopefully breaking it (or something else) or simply drop the item of trash which is often wise to do if you have something like a football (as it is unlikely to bounce out.) You have the option to place items on hold which it handy if you have something huge that you cannot fit into the can at that given point, this hold area is also useful if you wish to save something for later. As special items go, occasionally you will get fire, decomposition balls, bosses, Mottaina and bombs. Fire will spread throughout all flammable items in your can helping you rid it, similiarly decomposition balls will rot neighbouring items when added to water (often found by smashing barrels or toilets), bosses require you to smash them within ten seconds otherwise the level is failed. Mottaina are special items that if left and reach the bottom of your can, will be exchanged to provide you with a useful item in your hold area. Finally bombs will explode the entire contents of your can if they are heated up.

The graphics for this game are rather fetching, the music is addictive but the learning curve is rather steep. Local multiplayer can be a lot of fun, and is essential the same as single player but if a player is doing rather well the contents of his or her can will be emptied into the opponents can and vice versa. Also the hold area is shared, so anyone can access the item hanging there.

Mission mode is worth mentioning, as it provides you with challenges such as smashing a set amount of logs, but again these are rather difficult.

Trash Panic is a good value for money, a will be entertaining if you can overcome the frustration of the learning curve.

Inferno Pool

The official score for this game is: 7/10

Inferno Pool is a solid pool game, it is infused with a slight retro twist such as cheesy voice over's and a 16 bit type music score, however all the mechanics are there and the ball physics are actually rather good.

Complete with 8 Ball, 9 Ball and Inferno pool the basic modes you would expect are present. Local play and online play with up to four players are present and trophies do make an appearance.

Inferno Pool (the mode) is an action based version of pool where you must pot as many balls as you can before the time runs out, sound easy, but to make it more of a challenge balls will appear back on the table at given intervals, so it's really a game of how long you can last.

The visuals are okay, nothing special, and with Hustle Kings just around the corner this game is more of an interim solution. It is fun for a while, and will last longer if you have someone to play against, with the small price tag it may be worth a punt, but overall this game wreaks mediocrity.

Noby Noby Boy

The official score for this game is: 7/10

The Playstation store is where innovation and creativity seems to breed, but has Noby Noby Boy gone too far, and what the smeg is it all about?

Let’s get something straight first, this title is classed as a game loosely in my mind, much like the recently released Flower. I suppose there is an ‘interstellar’ objective but the game is meant to be enjoyed, if you try this title with the frame of mind of seeking out all of the objectives and hidden gems you won’t enjoy yourself, this title is meant to be experienced and your brain is not required.

You control ‘Boy’ who looks like two gobstoppers connected via a stripy scarf, using the analogue sticks you can control each end of ‘Boy’ making him stretch, contract or wrap around objects. Be careful however as soon you could end up with ‘Boy’ wrapped and twirled around every object on the map in one big stringy mess. The bottom shoulder buttons allow for the corresponding end to grab the ground as the floaty gravity can often prove troublesome, tapping these buttons will do the opposite and make ‘Boy’ jump into the air and float.

Every level is randomly generated and filled with creatures, plants, tress, objects and other random shapes. If you fall of the edge of the level you will be reborn from the house out of its chimney, if you visit this said house a new level will be randomly generated. A lot of this game seems to be random, as it any given moment the creatures in your level may choose to hitch a ride on your back, chase you or run from you in terror, or just ignore you all together. The creatures that at present in the levels (again it is random every time so you may just have nothing but trees) range from cows and pigs, to lions and even Egyptian looking Sphinxes. There are no tutorials other then basic controls so when you find out a hidden little piece of the puzzle like you can force animals together and create a new one, like a penguin-lion hybrid you really start to see that there really is no limits to this game; the main reason I say this is because as more people play this game the longer ‘Girl’ gets. ‘Girl’ stretches in proportion to all the players in the Noby Noby universe and how they are doing, when ‘Girl’ reaches the next planet the game levels change (or so we are told as she still has to reach the moon).

If you relax and can get over the colourful graphics you may find this game is just fun to play, it doesn’t matter there are no set objectives it is pure game play, pure entertainment which is not tainted  by forced goals.

With screen capture and video capture utilities and the inclusion of trophies you will soon be looping through doughnut clouds to mix a lion and a cow together while carrying a few cars on your back before the T-Rex gets in the way, now that’s not a sentence I think I would ever say.

Overall this game won’t be everybody’s cup of tea as some people cannot live without rules, however it is different, fun and again shows the unique titles we receive as Playstation users.

Savage Moon

The official score for this game is: 8/10

Savage Moon is a variation on the tower defence genre injecting a sci-fi theme with RTS style upgrades and strategy management.

The basic concept of the game is that you must defend mining operations on planets from the local inhabitants; these being super-sized alien bugs. Through the construction of towers you must fend off wave after wave of hostile bugs until all the waves have been destroyed or your mining centre has been destroyed (although you can repair your mining operations at any point if you have enough credits). This is the easy bit to the game; the tricky part is managing all the other factors you must take into account on every level at every wave.

Firstly you are only allowed to build a certain amount of towers per wave which makes choosing the correct tower at the right time critical. You can choose to build towers on cliffs which makes them safe from alien melee attack (not long range attacks) on stable patches of ground putting them at high risk of alien melee attack or on solid concrete next to your mining operations (again at risk from melee attack). Most of the time you will try to build towers on safe cliff tops, but you can choose to build 'blocker' towers which are large square pieces of concrete designed to force the alien bugs to use a different route marauding around the cliffs in a different direction (however a lot of the time they will just attack these too.)

You are also blighted with the fact that every tower costs credits which are earned by killing the alien bugs. These credits can also be used to upgrade existing towers making them more powerful in respect of firepower, reload time, range or splash damage. While thinking about this you must also decide if you wish to undertake research to create a new version of an existing tower in your library or develop a new type of tower all together.

You have the ability to adjust command points which will also greatly affect the outcome of the level. There are three different groups to assign command points within, credits, armour or firepower. You can put all of your points into one of these groups or split your points between two, however doing this will make the remaining group(s) less effective; for instance if you put all of your points into firepower all of your towers will do more damage, but they will have less hit points and you will not earn as much credits for killing aliens.

Because all of this is a lot to get your head around here's what you need to consider with every wave:

• Should I build a tower and where
• Do I need to repair my base
• Should I upgrade existing towers
• Should I conduct some research
• Should I give up and play PixelJunk Monsters
• Should I adjust my command points

Savage Moon is certainly not an easy game, it can be very frustrating and can take many hours just to figure out how best to complete one level, so this game is only really for hardcore tower defence fanatics. The difficulty curve is very steep, however the assortments of towers are pleasantly surprising, and everything from towers that lay mines to particle cannons can be researched and built. The graphics are good, not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but adequate for this game.

In summary if you are a tower defence addict or love a challenge this game is for you, otherwise get PixelJunk Monsters instead.

Wipeout HD

The official score for this game is: 9/10

Quite possibly one of the most gorgeous games to grace the PS3 system and the first game that could not be ported directly to another console in this generation due to a technology known as a variable frame buffer, Wipeout HD brings speed and elegance to the system in never before seen full HD graphics.

Wipeout HD is a racing game where you pilot anti-gravity ships around a course and have the ability to pick up weapons or power-ups and also glide over boost pads for that extra burst of speed.

With various modes to play ranging from a standard race against seven other opponents and zone mode where each zone you complete increases velocity of your ship, Wipeout HD has a great mix of high speed delight.

Although the tracks have been taken directly from the latest PSP version (Pulse), each track has been lovingly re-crafted for maximum high definition as well as all the ships, weapon effects and scenery, nothing graphical wise seems to have been imported, and it shows.

The game features online competitive mode, custom sound tracks and the ability to take screen shots at any point. The game also features six-axis support but for a change, it actually works and well. If you manage to master the six axis flying skills, then you will win every race purely because you can control both the tilt and pitch as well as steering in one movement which gives you the distinct advantage of having a silky smooth ride.

Wipeout HD really does give you an immersive sense of speed, it will show of your HD TV in all its glory and is a great deal of fun to play. Don’t expect to get all the trophies any time soon however as the trophies in this game are acclaimed to be the hardest to obtain in full for any PS3 game.

If you like a precise racer and speed a plenty this game is your ideal choice.

Magic Ball

The official score for this game is: 7/10

Magic Ball is a tried and tested formula of breakout meets top notch graphics, so does this iteration bring anything new to the table?

For those who have lived under a rock since 1976; breakout is the classic arcade game that sees you bounce a ball against bricks without letting it fall of the screen. You control a 'paddle' with left and right movement to bounce the ball upwards defying gravity until it ricochets off either a brick which it destroys in the process or a wall ensuring it always bounces back at the angle you most didn't want it to. The game has been keeping people addicted for hours due to the simplicity and requires nothing more than good reactions and the ability to calculate angles, quickly.

The game has seen many variations over the years on varying platforms and Magic Ball continues this trend. The game has been given a complete HD workup this time around, complete with a full physics engine, special power ups, multiplayer action both online and offline and themed levels.

The game has two main visual themes, pirates and knights and has more levels that you can shake a paddle at. Each level has been rendered in gorgeous HD using fully 3D rendered objects and characters with bright and vibrant colour palette.

Everything reacts perfectly thanks to the physics engine whether this be toppling towers of cards or the grass swaying in the wind. The levels can be very tricky but you are helped with the generous supply of power-ups which can do anything from fit your paddle with machine guns for a limited time or cause a destructive earth quake. They can however do bad things like shrinking your paddle or killing you instantly!

The game features voice support and trophies allowing you to have a lot of fun with your friends online in either the cooperative or competitive mode both of which can be played offline also.

More than one game mode could have helped this title even it was simply 'survivor' and 'limitless' and custom sound tracks would have been nice for this type of game as pirate melodies can get tiresome.

This title however is a great deal of fun and can become very addictive and although it can get frustrating at times it is very satisfying to reduce even the tallest castle to rubble.

Crash Commando

The official score for this game is: 7/10

There's no story or continuity just guns and Commando's but is that a bad thing?

Crash Commando brings me back to the days I spent playing my Amiga 600 on games that had no real point but were tremendous fun. Crash Commando encompasses this feeling with a nice HD polish showcasing the unique titles we receive on the PlayStation store nicely.

Crash Commando is a 2.5D shooting game (yes I do mean 2.5) where you play either a red or blue Commando depending on what team you fall into. You movement is restricted to one plane in which you are able to ascend thanks to a fitted jet pack. There will also be doors in which entering will take you to the other side of the map in affect the background becomes the foreground and vice versa; it makes for a very nice touch as you can see what is happening on the flipside of the map.
Shooting is handled by a helpful guide line which you can position independently of movement and a range of six weapons and three secondary weapons ensure the right mix for any player, all of which are unlocked from the word go.
As you play each round you will also have the ability to activate special power-ups by staying alive and performing kills for an extended period of time, choosing the right power-up at the right time can help you out a great deal and a player with all three on does have an advantage over other players. Vehicles do make an appearance in the game in the form of a jeep and tank both equipped with their own vertical jet propulsion and both able to ride specific rails up hills and vertical climbs, however the vehicles only really give you the opportunity to run over other players as their weapons are quite often difficult to aim. A few special weapons and amour pickups scatter the battlefield and only respawn at specific intervals providing you with superior firepower for a limited time or an amour value. Gun placements are also found which allow you to take shots at players on the reverse side of the level but while using them you are vulnerable to players taking you out on your own side.

Although there is an offline mode to complete it is very short and against bots; in affect it’s just a way to practice and couple this with no split screen and you can see this game wasn't really aimed for offline play. However online play is a lot of fun and can get quite addictive, with no noticeable lag, up to 12 players online and a few game modes this game is great for fulfilling the urge to explode other players into bursts of blood for no reason. An assortment of trophies ensures you keep playing until you master your way up the ranks, and for the price it is great value.
It would be easy to foresee add-on content coming for this game, having a few more features such as custom song tracks and a full single player campaign would have helped this game but none-the-less Crash Commando is still great fun.

Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom

The official score for this game is: 6/10

There have been many Mahjong games so you would have thought there would be a cookie cutter template for these things, yet somehow 'Creat Studios' have got it wrong.

The game is as expected and features a standard story mode of five different tile sets each with nine different layouts which follow the rules we have all come to know and love. Between each completion of a layout you are given a cut scene in the style of hand drawn art.

As well as the story mode the game also features 'infinity' in which there are layouts with three times as many tiles as normal, 'motion' mode where it is given an action twist by making you use tiles that are pushed around the board, before they meet their fiery doom plus the addition of 'special' tiles. Also featured is two player online competitive matches. All of this sounds good on paper, so how did they mess it up I hear you ask.

First of the controls are incredibly annoying even with the cursor speed turned up to the maximum setting, you will constantly find yourself clicking the wrong tile or the cursor will unhelpfully clip to a tile you didn't intend. The cut scenes look as if they have been drawn by a GCSE Art student on a bad day and even the voice over that accompanies these scenes have been botched in that the volume is erratic and seems to echo intermittently and for no reason the voice over artist seemingly changes his mood from super exciting to depressingly sad from layout to layout.

The multiplayer simply does not work, if you manage to find another lonely soul to play against there is so much lag that it is unplayable. Trophies and custom sound tracks are present which is a small plus, however many of the trophies entail multiplayer interaction which means these are going to be quite impossible to obtain. The trophies are also ridiculously time consuming; for example one trophy specifies you must complete one hundred layouts on 'infinity' mode, with each layout taking on average twelve minutes to complete you would need to spend twenty hours to receive one silver trophy.

Moreover the overall art style is horrible, the interface looks as if it has been pulled from a SNES game, the tiles are difficult to read on a standard definition TV and price does not reflect the value of the game.

Everything about this game is cheap and badly executed and how this game passed through the normally high quality control of the store is a mystery.

Overall even if you are a die-hard Mahjong fan you will be far better of finding a Flash version online and saving you money for far superior titles.