Tag: reviews

Review – Grand Theft Auto : Vice City Stories (PSP)

Anticipation : 10
Expectation : 9
Initial Reaction : 10
Overall : 9
Genre : Third-Person Action/Adventure

Rockstar has released their second GTA themed PSP game. This time the action takes place 2 years prior to Vice City for the PS2. If you played GTA:VC, you’ll be familiar with the look and feel of GTA:VCS.

But there’s more. Rockstar has added a ton of additional content. From swimming to empire building, there’s something here for everyone. Empire building allows you to take control of 30 different sites, building businesses such as protection rackets, prostitution, and drug smuggling. Each evening, the day’s pay comes directly to you, infusing you with cash. As an added bonus, each business has a save spot, allowing you to quickly find a place to save when you’re in a pinch.

The mission structure is slightly different as well. Each mission tends to be a little longer than the previous games. Some missions have a single objective, while others have multiple ones. This makes the gameplay a little more interesting as there are longer periods of action. However, if you die, or fail the mission, you need to start from scratch. Unfortunately, that means you’ll need to travel to the mission start again, but if you’re also empire building at the same time, chances are there’s a save location nearby.

Rockstar also added some other small additions. For instance, you can show new items on the map such as your empire locations, as well as some of the “secret” items that you’ve discovered. These include the red balloons and insane stunts. As with previous games, you can zoom in and out and mark locations on the map. Also, you’ll see cops riding motorcycles. Unfortunately, the police cycle is rather slow, although it does have the siren and lights.

The game does have some bugs, however. For instance, I have been completely unsuccessful in getting the garage at the first safehouse to work. I can store cars there, but as soon as I load a game, the car disappears. This, of course, is incredibly annoying. I have seen this problem reported elsewhere, but it seems to be a hit and miss type of bug.

Other bugs include some clipping problems, detail popping, and some small AI flaws. For instance, a rival gang tried to attack my building, but kept getting stuck on the building in front of it. Not a huge issue, but distracting nonetheless.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the game. I love the GTA series in general and this game keeps that spirit alive. I would recommend it to any fan of the series.

Geek Reading List

Wil Wheaton (Wesley from ST:TNG) writes a weekly column for Suicide Girls (NSFW). In a recent article, he writes about 5 books every Geek should read. He has some pretty good picks, but I’d like to add some more. Keep in mind though, I’m nowhere near as eloquent as Wil is.. :)

Diamond Age

Author: Neal Stephenson

Published: 1995

This, for me, was one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. In the future, where nanotechnology is the norm and matter compilers offer the basic necessities of living for free, a young girl is given a unique gift in the form of a book. But this is no ordinary book. This is the Young Ladies Illustrated Primer. What follows is a whirlwind of activity as the true nature of the primer is discovered, the balance of power is shifted, and a new class is formed.

The Illuminatus Trilogy

Author: Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea

Published: 1975

The ultimate conspiracy theory. From beginning to end, Wilson and Shea wrap theory after theory together creating, at times, a semi-plausible theory about the government and who truly runs it. Complete with Atlantis, Nazis, and even Shoggoths, this story will keep your head spinning. This is definitely not a tale for the faint of heart!

Discworld Series

Author: Terry Pratchett

Published: 1983 – Current

A flat world held up on the backs of four elephants, all standing on the shell of the Great A’Tuin, the star turtle. Enter hilarity. These are some of the funniest books I’ve ever read. If you like Douglas Adams’ novels, then you’ll love Pratchett. A mixture of magic, stone age technology, and general mayhem is presented in each book of this massive series. From the wizard Rincewind to Death himself, there are characters for every occasion.

The Lord of the Rings

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Published: 1954-1955

Tolkien is commonly known as the “father of modern fantasy”. This three volume series continues where The Hobbit left off, following the tale of the Ring as it passes into the hands of Frodo the hobbit. Frodo’s task is to take the ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. A journey of epic proportions follows as Frodo becomes the center of a battle for Middle Earth.

Book Review : Pro PHP Security

I just finished reading Pro PHP Security by Chris Snyder and Michael Southwell. I’m always looking for ways to improve my programming skills and security is an area I try to focus on. Secure web applications are becoming more important every day as more and more of our lives are placed online. With that in mind, I purchased this book to increase my PHP skills.

Overall the book was quite good. The book is broken into four parts. Part one is a general overview of security and it’s importance. Nothing really new here, but a good introduction nonetheless.

Part two delves into server-side security, outside of the realm of PHP. This includes shared hosts, firewalls, software installation, and more. None of this is really PHP specific per se, but still important topics. There is a decent introduction to encryption and it’s importance in security. There are a few PHP examples throughout these chapters that show how to handle SSH, SSL, hashing, and general encryption using the mcrypt() function. Part two concludes with an overview of authentication, permissions, and restrictions. There is a decent example of a single sign-on system, as well as an overview of PHP safe mode.

Part three covers more in-depth PHP programming practices designed to prevent many of the more common security problems. This section starts with a chapter on input validation, a very important topic indeed. The authors explain what input validation is and how to accomplish it. There are several examples that show how to validate the data you need and ensure that it’s safe to use throughout your program. Subsequent chapters cover SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting, Remote Execution, and Session Hijacking. Throughout each chapter are dozens of examples showing how to handle each situation.

Finally, part four covers user interaction with your programs. Since the majority of the web applications you will write are intended to interact with users, this is pretty important.  The authors cover ways to ensure that your users are, in fact, human users and not scripts.  Identity verification is covered with methods ranging from simple email response to SMS messages.  And once you’ve determined that your users are real, you’ll need to provide them with a list of actions they can perform.  The authors show how roles-based authorization can help with this and allow for a scaleable system that can be extended in the future.  In the next few chapters, the authors cover data loss, safely executing system commands, and handling RPC calls.  And finally, the authors explain the value of Open Source software and the advantages of peer review.

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Overall this is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.  While this book is geared towards PHP programming, it does cover a wide variety of topics that are not strictly PHP specific.  While I was aware of many of the topics covered within this book, I did learn a variety of new tricks for dealing with security threats.  If you’re interested in learning more about security and how to secure your programs, I definitely recommend reading this book.

Review: Star Wars Battlefront II (PSP)

Anticipation : 7
Expectation : 7
Initial Reaction : 7
Overall : 7
Genre : Third-Person Shooter

Star Wars is a franchise near and dear to my heart, having grown up the the original three. (Let’s not delve into the recent three) Battlefront gives you the ability to immerse yourself in that universe and wage war using the weapons and vehicles seen in the movies.

 

The PSP version of this game is merely a port of the PS2 version with a few extras thrown in. Unfortunately, the controls seem to be a little lacking. They definitely tried to get creative, using the S/C/T/X buttons as camera controls. But, overall, the controls seem a little lacking. Or maybe I just haven’t played enough to find the right combination. Without fine camera control, hitting some of the enemies is a little tough, even with the auto-aim feature enabled.

 

The graphics are basically the same as the PS2 version, just on a smaller scale. The actions is intense and fast paced. Overall, it’s a great game and lots of fun to play. I recommend it to any Star Wars fan, or any fan of shooters in general.

 

Review: Daxter (PSP)

Anticipation : 9
Expectation : 9
Initial Reaction : 10
Overall : 10
Genre : Third-Person Action/Adventure

 

To say I was expecting a lot from Daxter would be an understatement. I wasn’t aware of Daxter as a title initially, but I became aware of it when the Big Boss at Ready At Dawn spoke out against other PSP Devs. Bold words, so I had to check out the game..

 

The premise is pretty simple. Daxter is in town, not working with Jak at the moment. He boasts a bunch at a bar and an elderly exterminator hires him to kill bugs. Ok, it sounds kinda corny, but it’s actually a pretty decent game. I’m not too far into the story, but it’s pretty decent so far.

 

The gameplay is top notch. Your primary weapon, at least to start, is a glorified bug swatter, electrified of course. Then comes the canister of bug spray, and then.. well, you’ll see. So far most of the game is on foot, but there are some vehicle sequences. There are some dream sequences too, but I’ll leave those up to you to find. They are interesting though.. :P

 

You have the choice of using the D-Pad or the analog stick to move Daxter, and the left and right shoulder buttons to spin the camera. Very effective, and nothing new. I’ve seen it used in other games, so I don’t think there’s anything new there. It works though, and very effectively on the PSP.

 

The RaD boss was right. Just because it’s a handheld, or only has one analog stick, doesn’t mean it can’t have good games. Daxter is excellent and I highly recommend it.

Review : SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo (PSP)

Anticipation : 7
Expectation : 6
Initial Reaction : 9
Overall : 9
Genre : First/Third-Person Tactical Shooter

 

About a year ago or so I tried out SOCOM for the PS2. The game was simply incredible. But, I never purchased it for PS2. Basically, I just don’t have time to play my consoles.. :( Flash forward to today! PSP.. Best thing ever. I get to play games now! :)

 

Anyways, back to the review. I wasn’t really looking to get this title. It was on my wish list, but only as an interest. Not really a “must have” title. I received it for Christmas and it’s been sitting around since then, waiting for me to open it. (Lots of GTA:LCS play lately) … Well, I took the plunge the other day and I must say, I’m quite impressed. First person shooters on consoles aren’t really my thing. I prefer a mouse and a keyboard. Quick reflexes, ability to spin quickly, etc. But, with a tactical shooter, it’s a little different. It’s definitely a slower pace, so the need to spin around isn’t as prevalent. I wish the reticle in sniper mode moved a little faster, but I can live with it the way it is..

 

Overall I’m pretty happy with the game. The graphics are excellent, the gameplay is smooth, and online play is actually a lot of fun.

 

Speaking of online play. THANK YOU ZIPPER! WPA support. *phew* I didn’t think WPA support was something that was that difficult, and it bothers me greatly that it’s not included in Madden ’06.

Look, I’m a programmer, and as a programmer, I tend to look at things a little differently. I understand the technical challenges that game developers have to overcome, and I understand why some features work the way they do. But, for the life of me, I cannot figure out why Madden does not support WPA. Let’s look at this from an API/framework view. I’m Sony, and I have an API for my PSP. My API has basic features, and an entire network featureset. I include some hooks to make it easier to deal with the network stuff. For instance, I may have a “startnetwork()” routine. I probably have a “senddata()” routine, and so on. In version 1.0, I have support for wireless, and just WEP at the moment. Of course, I’m all about future upgrades, so when 2.0 comes out and I support WPA, I build that into the existing commands, letting all the existing software take advantage of it. Right? Well, maybe. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the PSP’s API, but it makes sense. So why doesn’t Madden support WPA? Good question.. :(

 

But, SOCOM does. So that’s at least one game I can play at home on my WPA protected network. Madden, no. (Not that it matters, EA has my copy of Madden at the moment. Hopefully they send me a “fixed” version soon)

 

Overall I think SOCOM is pretty decent and I’d definitely recommend it. I’m pretty impressed so far, and I’m definitely willing to continue playing it!

Review – Grand Theft Auto : Liberty City Stories (PSP)

Anticipation : 10
Expectation : 8
Initial Reaction : 9
Overall : 9
Genre : Third-Person Action/Adventure

 

Grand Theft Auto. One of my favorite PS2 games… I’ve been looking forward to this game since it was announced! I initally harbored some reservations about the controls for the game, but it seems that Rockstar did their homework. The controls are excellent and you can *almost* forget that there’s no second analog stick.

 

My first impression of this game was extremely positive. The game loaded just like the PS2 versions do. Cut scenes are excellent. The voices are a little tinny, but not too bad. The graphics are amazing and easily match Grand Theft Auto III. From what I’ve played thus far, it looks like the entire city is virtually identical to Liberty City from GTA3. Rockstar did an incredible job on this game.

 

So, gameplay. So far I’m pretty impressed. There are a few glitches with the camera, but that’s almost to be expected with a “free” camera that follows the character. Camera issues aside, the game is smooth and fun. The first few missions are pretty simple, but engaging. Jacking cars, crashing them all over the place, etc. is as fun as ever. The game seems to flow naturally and keeps the player engaged.

 

Overall, I’m incredibly impressed with this game. And Rockstar has since announced another GTA title headed for the PSP. They claim it’s a new property, so perhaps we’re looking at a completely new city and storyline?

 

I highly recommend this game to all fans of the series.

Review – Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex (PSP)

Anticipation : 7
Expectation : 6
Initial Reaction : 7
Overall : 6
Genre : First-Person Shooter

 

I’m a big fan of the first Ghost in the Shell movie. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. So, it stands to reason that I would be interested in a game related to the movie.

 

I received GS:SAC as a Christmas present and eagerly started the game. My first impression of the game was pretty positive. It starts out with some story elements and then moves on to the mission map and character selection screens. Character selection is interesting. You can choose from 4 major characters in the movie. Motoko, Batou, Togusa, or Saito. In addition, you can choose one of 4 different Tachikoma to assist you. Think of the Tachikoma as a big robotic spider with 4 legs. You can customize the characters with 3 weapons, and the Tachikoma with up to 5.

 

This is the first FPS I’ve played on the PSP and the controls are quite good once you get used to them. The analog stick is used for moving forward and back, and sliding left and right. The square and circle buttons are used to turn left and right. The right trigger button is used to fire. The D-Pad is used to change weapons, reload, and some other stuff. Overall, I think these controls work out very well despite bad reviews from other sources. I think those bad reviews come from being used to using 2 analog sticks to control the action on the PS2…

 

I’ve played through a few missions thus far and I’m still pretty impressed. The missions, so far, have been pretty short and to the point, but fun nonetheless. I wouldn’t put this in the same category as something like Half-Life or Doom 3, but still pretty fun.