A load of balls coming to next-gen consoles!

Japanese games magazine Famitsu have confirmed that Katamari Damacy will be making its PS3 and Xbox 360 debut sometime this year. We're sure that the mad as a bag of ferrets humour and soundtrack will return in addition to a load of new stuff to roll up. Although what else Namco can add to the outstanding PS2 version, we're not too sure, but we're racking our brains. Just give us crisp HD visuals and count us happy. Apparently the game will feature more than 50 of the Prince's cousins to find and control which should mean a lot of challenges to play through. As always keeping the King of All Cosmos happy will be a must or else expect the usual laser-eyed fate. We want to be able to use the Sixaxis on PS3 to roll around please.

In other related ball-shaped news and although not yet officially announced, a sequel to arguably the best game on PSP, LocoRoco may appear on PS3. We seriously hope this happens because we loved LocoRoco and the PS3's Sixaxis would be a perfect fit for LocoRoco's colourful, tilty world. Make it so, Mr. Sony.

Review: Okami. (PlayStation 2. Clover Studios, Capcom.)

Wearing its Japanese heritage on its flea collar, Okami is a game that casts the player in the role of the sun god named Amaterasu who also happens to be a white wolf. Still reading? Good, because Okami is truly unmissable. What you may not realise is that Okami is actually a unique and involving RPG, possessing all of the requisite depth that you’d expect with a healthy side order of invention. Some might argue that Okami borrows heavily from the Zelda series, especially GameCube classic Legend Of The Wind Waker. Take the ability to summon winds and change the time of day as just two examples, that we’re sure are just affectionate homage and not lazy rip-offs, but you get the idea. Forget all of that though because Okami stands out as yet another beautiful and majestic game worthy of mention in the same breath as Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus.
What strikes you about Okami is its unique look, like a watercolour painting comprised of elegant brushstrokes, it’s a treat for the eyeballs standing up as one of the most beautiful games on PS2.
Kicking off at a sedate pace, you’re tasked with assisting the inhabitants of the cursed Kamiki village. Involving anything from drawing a washing line for an old washerwoman to stealing turnips (!), Okami’s errands are amusingly varied. Drained of colour and life by the presence of demons, it’s Amaterasu’s job to restore the land to its former glory. Throughout your journey you’ll regain all of your lost powers, eventually transforming Ammy into an omnipotent being capable of all sorts of cool and useful stuff.
Okami’s much vaunted innovation is Amaterasu’s weapon of choice, the Celestial Paintbrush. Holding R1 temporarily freezes the in-game action making the screen your canvas. Using the left analog stick with  you can then scrawl a variety of different shapes to achieve accompanying effects. A deft flick of the stick to paint a line will cleave an enemy in two for instance.
After a good few hours, you’ll be able to blow stuff up with cherry bombs, draw lily pads to traverse rivers and lakes, even cast vines to swing up to certain inaccessible points that were previously out of reach. You’ll need all of these abilities as the action kicks up a gear after extended play, casting you deeper into its quirky universe, quickly evolving into a sprawling and immersive game that will eat up your time without you even realising it.
Our only tiny criticism would be that the dialogue, which consists primarily of incredibly high-pitched, helium-squeaky voices can grate after a while and to a cynical spectator it can look like you’re playing a kid’s game. But then, really who cares? Okami is both original and enormously playable. Highly recommended. Chances are that you won’t play a better game on PS2 this year which is why, for us, Okami is to be The Shed’s PS2 swansong. And we can’t think of a better way to end a magnificent, incredibly gratifying and fulfilling seven-year relationship. Woof. Blissful.
Bite: 9/10

Review: Virtua Tennis 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. SEGA.)

Since the days of heavy set, polygamous kings, tennis has always been a noble sport. Favoured by royals, toffs and rich people alike, tennis has always had a stuffy image. Strangely, having Cliff Richard as an ambassador hasn’t helped to dispel the stereotypical representation of tennis and to this day tennis struggles to be regarded as cool. In our opinion the only thing that has come close to helping tennis gain even a modicum of credibility in the cool stakes is videogames. Virtua Tennis, along with Namco’s Smash Court series have arguably managed to elevate the status of tennis, proving to be essential purchases on consoles and a notorious devourer of pound coins in the arcades. Virtua Tennis 3 is no exception, proving to be undoubtedly the best in the series thus far, serving up acres of game for your bucks.
First in VT 3’s set of aces is its generous roster of 20 pros, ranging from the lesser known likes of James Blake and Nicole Vaidisova, to the world conquering Roger Federer, shrieking siren Maria Sharapova and serial disappointer-crashed-out-in-the-first-round-again ‘tiger’ Tim Henman.
VT 3 boasts a raft of options and features including an in-depth World Tour mode where you begin by creating your own potential tennis champ, training him or her via a series of bizarre, surreal training mini-games and then taking your creation to the top. Becoming the no. 1 seed will take you a hell of a long time as you gradually enhance your character in training, playing matches, stopping to periodically rest and recharge. All of these events are attached to a running calendar, so managing what events you participate in and being ready and rested for them is important if you want to be in tip-top shape come game time. Within your first couple of hours you’ll have levelled-up a fair bit and you’ll quickly be mingling with the pros, eventually presented with your pick of the top players to become your doubles partner. Hint: Federer is normally a safe bet. Disappointingly, player creation options are fairly limited and the inability to engineer gangly-limbed tennis mutants comes as a bit of a letdown.
Virtua Tennis 3 is a joy to play being a smooth, realistic tennis game with a slight arcade bent. It’s fast and accessible, a true pick up and play game where any newcomer with even a rudimentary understanding of the sport, or Pong for that matter, will be absorbed in a matter of seconds. Our only criticism would be that some games can turn into farcical leaping sessions, where your player becomes constantly stretched, activating the dive animation to bound around the court in order to return difficult shots. In multiplayer, this can prove to be pretty comical and was a running source of mirth for The Shed during protracted hours of play. Equally ridiculous is the PS3's Sixaxis control, which is simply far too unwieldy to be of any use, and stands only as an experimental diversion. Trust us; stick with the traditional control method.
As always, Virtua Tennis succeeds in being an entertaining, indispensable multiplayer game that really comes into its own with four players scurrying around the court. Being a graphically accomplished title with incredible (albeit slightly waxy-looking) player likenesses and spot-on TV-style presentation doesn’t hurt the overall experience either. Unfortunately, PS3’s lack of online features is a huge missed opportunity, but 360 owners can get the most out of VT 3 on Live.

So, turn off the music-which sounds like someone let a pack of rabid baboons loose in a music store-get some mates round and you’ve got yourself a near flawless tennis game, which also happens to be one of PS3 and Xbox 360’s most essential sports games. Game, set, match to Virtua Tennis 3 (bet you never saw that coming).

Seed: 9/10

Review: flOw (PlayStation 3 EDI. thatgamecompany, Sony).

If someone attempted to describe flOw to you and you knew nothing about it, you’d be forgiven for not being immediately hooked on the idea of playing a game starring an illuminated series of dots with a mouth. The sole objective of flOw is to evolve by munching plankton like particles whilst fending off larger predators by eating them too. It’s (sort-of) Pac-Man for the 21st century.
Anyone who watched David Attenborough's outstanding Blue Planet extensively will know that there's some weird stuff lurking in the murky depths. Glowing, wormy, microbe thingys, nasty looking toothy fish and so on. Watching these surreal, glittering aliens of the deep is perfect preparation for playing flOw, just don't expect the soft, seductive voice-over. (Did we just say Attenborough’s voice is seductive?!)

flOw appeals to every gamer’s not-so-secret obsession with collection giving you a bunch of different organisms to evolve and subsequently unlock. You can than store them at the game’s title screen and pick and chooses which one you’d like to use for your next relaxation session. Each one has a distinctive structure, moving in their own unique way with their own colour scheme for their level.
There’s an indescribable, calming quality to flOw, perfect for winding down after an intense session on Resistance or MotorStorm. It’s a hypnotic, stress-relieving experience that acts as the ideal antidote to PS3’s eye-watering torrent of stunning next-gen gaming. This is undoubtedly the best game to utilise the potential of Sony’s much-criticised Sixaxis controller. In flOw it initially feels wrong, taking some grappling to get used to. Give it time though and it feels like an extension of your arms, becoming so instinctive that you’ll forget what you’re doing and become fully absorbed in reaching your life form’s ultimate evolutionary conclusion.
flOw is the first essential EDI game to grab from the PlayStation Store and at only £3.49 there’s really no excuse not to download it. Go ahead, better yourself, evolve, you won’t be disappointed.
Evolutionary Scale: 8/10

Review: Genji: Days Of The Blade (PlayStation 3. Game Republic, Sony.)

Onimusha was a fantastic series of games. An ambitious, epic narrative, grand scale, high production values, it was a joy to play. Dynasty Warriors was not so great. A repetitive hack and slash chore, it was enjoyable only in short bursts. KOEI milked this cash cow for all it was worth until they were churning out the same game for countless instalments. Really not good. Combine the two and you get Genji, a great looking but ultimately shallow swords and samurai game set in feudal Japan (isn’t it always?) You’d think the love-child of Capcom’s epic demon slaying samurai epic and KOEI’s slicer and dicer would be something to shout about and initially Genji does impress. However, it only impresses in the same way a stereotypical supermodel might. Stunning to look at to begin with, but delve a little deeper and you’ll eventually discover a hollow, vacuous void. This sums up Genji perfectly. It’s a dull, hackneyed slog savaging endless waves of identikit masked demons, stopping only to find a certain key for a corresponding door in order to progress. Game Republic have vainly attempted to inject a little variety into the turgid combat with the bullet time (yawn), button matching (yawn, again), mini-game Kamui system which can be employed upon filling a bar to dispatch multiple enemies. Again, it’s another visually accomplished touch, but it takes place in a swooshy, multi-coloured environment detached from the rest of the game. In other words, it’s a poorly implemented feature that adds very little to the overall experience.

Being able to switch between different characters – fat, slow strong one, quick, lithe lady assassin, nimble, young hero etc. – is a nice touch, but you’ll quickly find your favourite, which means you’ll probably only ever use the others as extra lives. Each character has a host of different weapons to wield, but when all you’re using them for is cleaving through unrelenting hordes of monsters then it’s all gravy.
Genji is a pretty unsatisfying game and is one that provides early promise with stunning graphics, rich design and lush detail, but ultimately it fails to deliver. Movement is slow and shoddy, combat is stilted and repetitive, puzzles boil down to simple find-key-to open-door fare and the use of Sixaxis is both badly executed and pointless.
So, all in all, Genji is not the best game to feed into you PS3 disc slot if you’re looking for a positive next-gen encounter and just doesn’t sit well among the other stronger launch titles currently available. If however you’re a big enough fan of the genre, you may be able to look past Genji’s numerous gaping flaws and you may even find something to like here if you’re willing to spend the time looking hard enough. But you’ll have to look very long and hard. We tried it finding that it’s just simply too boring to love and there are better games out there. Fancy a slash? No thanks, Genji.
Edge: 5/10

Review: Resistance: Fall Of Man (PlayStation 3. Insomniac, SCEE)

Jaffa Cakes are pretty addictive. You open a pack and you can be sure that they’ll be gone in a matter of minutes. Sometimes we wish we just had more self-control. The same can be said for our gaming habits. As soon as the console begins to whirr into action you can wave goodbye to a good few hours of your life.

Resistance: Fall Of Man is the kind of game that is compulsive enough online that it will draw you in and even if you’re losing constantly you’ll still go back for more. Call us suckers for punishment but online Resistance has become something of an addiction for The Shed and boy, do we suck. But that’s another story. The bottom, line is Resistance is addictive, pick-up-and-play accessible and a ton of fun.
Starting with the story campaign – which can be played alone or with a friend co-operatively - is the perfect way to get into Resistance. There’s a moderately engaging storyline, with you assuming the role of the uncharismatic American (what else?) hero, Nathan Hale on missions. Taking you on a tour of the UK from Grimsby to London is a welcome change to the usual military facilities and endless corridors of other first person titles. Oh, wait a minute. Resistance has a lot of those too as after a promising start the narrative eventually descends into predictable territory presenting you with underground bunkers, alien structures and hackneyed corridor shooting. Fortunately, this only makes up a relatively small middle portion of the game and doesn’t prove to be detrimental to the single player campaign as a whole. Fighting the Chimera – the alien/human hybrid creatures that act as Resistance’s monstrous enemies – is always a joy, since shooting ugly monsters never grows tired, especially ones as frightening and intelligent as the Chimera. We’d even go out on a limb and say that they’re a cut above The Locust from Gears Of War, but only just. Their AI provides a decent enough challenge as they actively seek out cover, never queuing up like imbeciles to be picked off one-by-one.
The mixture of 50’s Britain, scarred by impressive, towering Chimeran architecture lends the landscapes some welcome variety, seamlessly switching between the familiar, the sci-fi or a combination of both. It all blends to create a chilling atmosphere, scary in a ‘what if this actually happened?’ kind of way.

<~ Resistance is full of "Holy Crap" moments like stumbling upon this imposing conversion facility here.

Missions are injected with a little extra variety in the form of heavy vehicular mayhem. Ragging the LU-P Lynx jeep through Cheddar Gorge is a genuine thrill as is navigating the M-12 Sabertooth tank through war-torn London. It’s not exactly Halo, but hey, it’s a start. But the real stars of any FPS are its weapons and Resistance is no slouch in the hardware department. Insomniac’s previous experience on the Ratchet & Clank games is strongly evident in the game’s arsenal of inventive, exotic artillery. All fictional, the weapons are a blend of human-developed automatic weapons like the usual sniper rifles and such, advanced rapid-fire weapons like the meaty Hailstorm gun and futuristic alien pieces like the plasma spewing Arc Charger. Our personal favourites are the Bullseye, which allows you to tag enemies and then fire laser-flavoured death around corners and the Auger, which lets you shoot through walls at unsuspecting Chimeran scum.

Aforementioned online play offers a series of modes, including the standard deathmatch fare alongside some newer modes available via a quick update. This offers near infinite longevity, especially if you, like us enjoy dying every five seconds. Maybe, unlike us you may actually be rather good and climb the online leaderboard, which you can find at www.myresistance.net
Either way, it’ll rapidly evolve into an obsession as you climb the ranks and assemble a clan. Ours is The Shed of course, currently three members strong. (Whoo!)

While playing Resistance however, you can’t help but consider its rivals. Halo, Gears Of War, Half Life 2, the forthcoming Quake Wars and Bioshock all offer more accomplished shoot-‘em-up thrills. What Resistance does have is enormous potential and you can tell that developers Insomniac are going to deliver on all this promise and produce something that will not only rival, but may even surpass its contemporaries. No matter how great the sequel might be however, there will be one simple truth that will forever remain. We’ll still suck.
Ammunition: 8/10

Look out for redriceman82 and LandonGarrett sucking and dying online now.

Review: MotorStorm (PlayStation 3. Evolution Studios, SCEE)

Gamers are an aggressive, pushy, destructive and just plain malicious bunch. We’ll shoot anything without question; pummel an opponent into submission forgetting to maybe talk things through first and drive over an innocent pedestrian whilst cackling maniacally. Fortunately, the majority of players confine these activities to their games, keeping their virtual insanity just that: virtual.
We’d like to think that were we to participate in a huge dirt track event that involved jostling for position amongst a variety of different vehicles, we would be careful not to kill ourselves, driving responsibly, considering the safety of others.
Adopting such tactics in MotorStorm is a sure recipe for disaster. Races are all about unleashing the aggressive gamer within, not thinking twice about callously ramming a bike into a canyon wall in a bloody huge big rig. Take even a split-second to consider the racers around you and you’re mincemeat.
MotorStorm’s tracks are intense and unforgiving with constantly changing terrain, destructible obstacles and sheer drops off treacherous cliff edges. It takes every ounce of concentration coupled with a honed instinct to best MotorStorm’s increasingly challenging events, especially online against other actual, sadistic gamers just like you. Leave your conscience to one side while you play MotorStorm because you don’t want to feel guilty about nudging the race leader into a chasm, sniggering to yourself like an idiot. MotorStorm makes you work for victories and when you do win you really feel like you earned it.
Arguably, your most merciless opponents in MotorStorm are the eight gruelling courses. Navigating potholes, muddy furrows, rocks and burnt out cars isn’t easy and watching in horror as your car flips over in a shower of twisted metal, losing precious seconds can become a frequent heart-in-mouth moment.
Forming part of PlayStation 3’s launch line-up, MotorStorm is not just an amazing console exclusive, it’s PS3’s first truly essential game, edging out global bestseller Resistance: Fall Of Man for sheer thrills. Instant gratification is what MotorStorm is all about. It’s the perfect game to keep ready in the disc slot, ready to quickly fire-up and grab a quick hit of eyeball scorching, next-gen excitement.
Visually, MotorStorm is like nothing else on current hardware offering attractive desert vistas with terrain that transforms with each lap. Developers Evolution have worked miracles with a palette of colours that are essentially all differing shades of brown. Wet mud glistens in the sunlight, dust kicks up in a vehicle’s wake and the surrounding scenery is breathtaking. Unusually for courses comprised of only mud and dust, they boast heaps of character and are individually recognisable, boasting their own unique challenges and traits. MotorStorm’s tracks with their towering rock formations and buzzing atmospherics invoke a sense of the epic, instilling an impression that you’re involved in something big.

Taking a peek under MotorStorm’s bonnet reveals an eclectic array of rag-tag vehicles, designed for the sole purpose of churning up mud and creating chaos. Each machine has its own strengths and weaknesses that you’ll come to learn and developing a favourite won’t take long, since there’s something to suit every taste. Bikes are vulnerable, twitchy and nimble able to take narrow short cuts whereas at the opposite end of the spectrum, big rigs are slower, heavy and able to effortlessly smash through barriers and rivals. Between these two extremes are ATVs, rally cars, buggies, mud pluggers and racing trucks each possessing unique individual characteristics. Each ride has its own set of physics making them either bouncy or weighty, suited for ploughing through sludge or flying off strategically placed ramps. Part of the fun is finding out which vehicles are best for certain routes and surfaces.
An element of strategy comes into play when boosting by holding the X button. Ideally it’s best to boost out of corners and down long straights but boosting, as in Burnout, rapidly becomes an art and can become pivotal in grabbing wins. Boost too much and your boost meter will flash just before your engine blows, sending a flaming wreck soaring through the air. Incidentally, it’s a laugh to try and time an engine eruption just before the finish line to triumph in style. Like Burnout, crashing has a starring role in MotorStorm doling out instant retribution for the reckless player. Crashes rarely frustrate however as they look spectacular, accompanied by a shower of sparks, flame, debris and an ill-fated, airborne rag doll driver. They’re always fair too and it’s your own fault if you tear nose-first into a rock. Less acceptable are the indiscriminate AI bullies, who relentlessly shove until you meet a fiery demise, but it’s all part and parcel of the game and against online players you’ll quickly form grudges. MotorStorm is an essential racing title for PS3 and a must have for all the aggressive, nasty gamers out there desperate to get down and dirty. That’s everybody then.
Filth: 9/10