[Arwin]

Reviewed on Eurogamer, 9/10:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77354

(and yes, the review contains the words 'Geometry Wars')

[inefficient]

"best use of 1080p since Ridge Racer 7"

drool... I want this game!

[Shifty Geezer]

Stardust was an awesome Amiga game. It was great to see demo sceners use their trickery in a game. the end result was stylish, simple, engaging, and suitably varied (asteroid, tunnel-shoots, and bonus aqua zones). The ending was good fun too.

The pics look way too cluttered. I'd need a movie to know if I'd get confused or not.

There's some clearer pics here, and a more informative write-up : http://www.pro-g.co.uk/ps3/super_sta...hd/review.html

Edit : Vids at GameSpot
http://uk.gamespot.com/video/939277/...meplay-movie-2

[cthellis42]

Sounds good. ^_^ One hopes it will continue to perform, and not get completely underrated like Blast Factor.

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

Sounds good. ^_^ One hopes it will continue to perform, and not get completely underrated like Blast Factor.

Blast Factor is a great game, but also an example of how important getting the difficulty ramping up in a proper line is. There's a big spike at some point, which is a shame as I think that's a big part of what is holding the game back ...

[cthellis42]

Originally Posted by Arwin

Blast Factor is a great game, but also an example of how important getting the difficulty ramping up in a proper line is. There's a big spike at some point, which is a shame as I think that's a big part of what is holding the game back ...

The game allows you to continue as much as you want, though, so unlike other games (in the vein of Ikaruka), the spike doesn't have as much impact. You can keep replaying in the area you're not use to yet to work out the patterns and strategies; you just go back to the beginning if you want to work up that score.

The only real complaint I have about it is that the SIXAXIS tilt detection is not all that brilliant, and takes some getting used to to properly use it when it's clutch. Otherwise, the game has excellent graphics, art, and presentation, doesn't chop, and has extra layers of strategy to plumb than others of its' kind.

[Truespeed]

Online play would have been nice, but perhaps an update will follow to allow this. This looks to be yet another winner on the PSN.

[betan]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

The only real complaint I have about it is that the SIXAXIS tilt detection is not all that brilliant, and takes some getting used to to properly use it when it's clutch. Otherwise, the game has excellent graphics, art, and presentation, doesn't chop, and has extra layers of strategy to plumb than others of its' kind.

I assume you have a copy already. Is motion control mandatory?

[cthellis42]

I don't have a PS3 myself, actually, but I've played a lot of the game over at a friends. I'm pretty sure you ARE forced into the tilt control, but I don't recall ever checking to see if I could change the control options for "using other buttons" or "turning off tilt," as I wanted to get used to the method.

In the beginning it can be VERY unwieldy, and sometimes if you whip the controller about, you end up triggering it going the other way you intended it to, instead. It takes some patience and finesse to get it down properly, and even then if you're stressed and trying to whip it out to save your butt, you may end up doing it improperly again.

That, and the rather annoyingly-generic bosses, are the only real downsides to the game. Otherwise, I find it to be a better-looking, better-moving, more-in-depth-tactically shooter of this sort. The multi-player add-on is fun, too, where you and some friends can either play co-op, or try to use your waves and blasts to knock stuff out of YOUR way, and into your opponent's, all competitive-like.

[tha_con]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

I don't have a PS3 myself, actually, but I've played a lot of the game over at a friends. I'm pretty sure you ARE forced into the tilt control, but I don't recall ever checking to see if I could change the control options for "using other buttons" or "turning off tilt," as I wanted to get used to the method.

In the beginning it can be VERY unwieldy, and sometimes if you whip the controller about, you end up triggering it going the other way you intended it to, instead. It takes some patience and finesse to get it down properly, and even then if you're stressed and trying to whip it out to save your butt, you may end up doing it improperly again.

That, and the rather annoyingly-generic bosses, are the only real downsides to the game. Otherwise, I find it to be a better-looking, better-moving, more-in-depth-tactically shooter of this sort. The multi-player add-on is fun, too, where you and some friends can either play co-op, or try to use your waves and blasts to knock stuff out of YOUR way, and into your opponent's, all competitive-like.

Completely different game my friend.

[inefficient]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

I don't have a PS3 myself, actually, but I've played a lot of the game over at a friends. I'm pretty sure you ARE forced into the tilt control, but I don't recall ever checking to see if I could change the control options for "using other buttons" or "turning off tilt," as I wanted to get used to the method.

In the beginning it can be VERY unwieldy, and sometimes if you whip the controller about, you end up triggering it going the other way you intended it to, instead. It takes some patience and finesse to get it down properly, and even then if you're stressed and trying to whip it out to save your butt, you may end up doing it improperly again.

That, and the rather annoyingly-generic bosses, are the only real downsides to the game. Otherwise, I find it to be a better-looking, better-moving, more-in-depth-tactically shooter of this sort. The multi-player add-on is fun, too, where you and some friends can either play co-op, or try to use your waves and blasts to knock stuff out of YOUR way, and into your opponent's, all competitive-like.

I think you are talking about Blast Factor. Different game. It has been available since launch day. I think most people agree it's a mediocre game-- except for a few people who actually like it and swear it's under rated.


BTW. I love the old school midi tracker sounding music in Super Stardust

[cthellis42]

Originally Posted by inefficient

I think you are talking about Blast Factor. Different game. It has been available since launch day. I think most people agree it's a mediocre game-- except for a few people who actually like it and swear it's under rated.

Well aren't you the clever one! Did you get that from my first post?

The game, I think, is notably better than Mutant Swarm (though I can't vouch for the comparative "worthyness" of the lengths of the games [Mutant Swarm can be played much longer, through hundreds of levels, but does so at an extremely leisurly pace], Blast Factor is more tactical, less sillified [indescernable arena reshaping, indeterminable length, and such], and looks, sounds [effects-wise at least, as BF has no soundtrack to speak of, which is fine by me. I have plenty-enough games where music is a driving force, that it's a nice change to have one that simply has pleasing effects instead of loud ones, and let me hunker down with the gameplay], and animates way better), and only not "better" than Geometry Wars for merit of it being styled differently, where instead playing through an unrelenting crush of progressively crazier foes, it's styled in more "Ikaruka-like" fashion, with specific enemy spawns, reactions, and tactical board-beating, where the drive is not to "live as long as possible" so much as "work out the best way to kill them quickest, to hit the hardest boards and score the most points." Since there's very little in the way of powerups, it's all skilled shooting and tactical maneuverying and positioning (both of your craft and of your foes, tossed about by your your waves and blasts) to try to clear the boards as quickly and safely as possible. I know how much Ikaruga tends to get revered, and I don't claim the comparison lightly; Blast Factor (as with all games of that sort) is too hectic to get the true precision and skill you apply in a game like Ikaruga, but even still you find that the more you play it, the more invested you are in memorizing waves and working out how to be as tactical and efficient as possible. (The one thing it does lack is Ikaruga's "continue only so many times, then BACK TO THE START FOR YOU," which was rather an irritation for me with Ikaruga. Certainly it made the game harder--but I wanted to be able to practice the parts and work out my combos without having to play for half an hour first, each and every time.)

The game is indeed notably underrated, in my book. What I get out of most reviews is a sense that they played until they ran out of stock, then slowly "continued" their way through the rest, and judged it against a palette of what they felt they should be playing. The game, however, doesn't strive to be intense (born up by the lack of soundtrack, IMHO)... it stives to be tactical and perfectionist.

[tha_con]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

Well aren't you the clever one! Did you get that from my first post?

The game, I think, is notably better than Mutant Swarm (though I can't vouch for the comparative "worthyness" of the lengths of the games [Mutant Swarm can be played much longer, through hundreds of levels, but does so at an extremely leisurly pace], Blast Factor is more tactical, less sillified [indescernable arena reshaping, indeterminable length, and such], and looks, sounds [effects-wise at least, as BF has no soundtrack to speak of, which is fine by me. I have plenty-enough games where music is a driving force, that it's a nice change to have one that simply has pleasing effects instead of loud ones, and let me hunker down with the gameplay], and animates way better), and only not "better" than Geometry Wars for merit of it being styled differently, where instead playing through an unrelenting crush of progressively crazier foes, it's styled in more "Ikaruka-like" fashion, with specific enemy spawns, reactions, and tactical board-beating, where the drive is not to "live as long as possible" so much as "work out the best way to kill them quickest, to hit the hardest boards and score the most points." Since there's very little in the way of powerups, it's all skilled shooting and tactical maneuverying and positioning (both of your craft and of your foes, tossed about by your your waves and blasts) to try to clear the boards as quickly and safely as possible. I know how much Ikaruga tends to get revered, and I don't claim the comparison lightly; Blast Factor (as with all games of that sort) is too hectic to get the true precision and skill you apply in a game like Ikaruga, but even still you find that the more you play it, the more invested you are in memorizing waves and working out how to be as tactical and efficient as possible. (The one thing it does lack is Ikaruga's "continue only so many times, then BACK TO THE START FOR YOU," which was rather an irritation for me with Ikaruga. Certainly it made the game harder--but I wanted to be able to practice the parts and work out my combos without having to play for half an hour first, each and every time.)

The game is indeed notably underrated, in my book. What I get out of most reviews is a sense that they played until they ran out of stock, then slowly "continued" their way through the rest, and judged it against a palette of what they felt they should be playing. The game, however, doesn't strive to be intense (born up by the lack of soundtrack, IMHO)... it stives to be tactical and perfectionist.

I'm guilty too, I didn't read your first post

But I agree with everything you've said.

[cthellis42]

Not only that, but you guys skipped over Arwin's reply, too. AND the reply of his I quoted in my NEXT post!
Oh, oh yes, AND ignored the fact that I could hardly play an unreleased game over at my friend's!

But hey, other than that...

[zed]

wow looking like a game i wanna play.
curious about a couple of things
A/ does the planet underneath rotate around, eg if the player flys north, does he stay on the planet shields surface with it rotating to the south. ie its true 3d
B/ does the planet at all feature in the game, ie bases on it to be destroyed etc, or is it background scenery

bummer the planet shield looks like mine

[slider]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

Not only that, but you guys skipped over Arwin's reply, too. AND the reply of his I quoted in my NEXT post!
Oh, oh yes, AND ignored the fact that I could hardly play an unreleased game over at my friend's!

But hey, other than that...

Maybe they thought you were an *drumroll* insider... Or your uncle "works for Sony"?

Any news on release date? I didn't see any mention in the Eurogamer review.

[xmu]

ThreeSpeech said it's out on the 29th. Tomorrow the first PS1 titles should arrive, and .. Calling All Cars too I think.

[crazygambit]

Any word on the price? I'm thinking I'd gladly pay $5 for this, but it's probably gonna be ten. Also has anyone noticed the price change on some games or was it just my eyes playing tricks on me? I could've swear Flow was $4,99 but now it's like $7,99, weird. Prices should be going down as the game gets older, not up And how about those prepaid cards? How do they expect me to buy this stuff? It's like Sony doesn't want my money for some reason, they must be doing really well that they don't need it...

[Todd33]

I think Flow was $7.99 at release, the $4.99 might have been a special.

[Arwin]

A lot of the titles have been at a reduced price the first few months after launch. It was the same for Europe.

[Todd33]

IGN UK 8.5/10:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/797/797927p2.html

[inefficient]

I've got the game now. And it really is damn good!

Damn hard too. Took me a few tries just to clear the first planet. There is so much going on the screen sometimes that it takes some getting used to. Training your eyes to filter out all but the most relevant targets even with thousands of objects seems to be the key.

My only complaint right now would be that the music is a little too repetitive and I wish there were more tracks.

[Gradthrawn]

Originally Posted by inefficient

I've got the game now. And it really is damn good!

Damn hard too. Took me a few tries just to clear the first planet. There is so much going on the screen sometimes that it takes some getting used to. Training your eyes to filter out all but the most relevant targets even with thousands of objects seems to be the key.

My only complaint right now would be that the music is a little too repetitive and I wish there were more tracks.

I'm having an extremely hard time distinguishing between rock and gold. I'm still on the 1st planet and have only played through about 2 or 3 levels, so I'm not sure I'm actually seeing anything besides Gold (or maybe its actually rock) and that the other types will be introduced later.

[inefficient]

Originally Posted by Gradthrawn

I'm having an extremely hard time distinguishing between rock and gold. I'm still on the 1st planet and have only played through about 2 or 3 levels, so I'm not sure I'm actually seeing anything besides Gold (or maybe its actually rock) and that the other types will be introduced later.

Ya, I was confused by that too. Basically the first planet is all ROCK. You don't see real GOLD until the next planet. And when you do see it, it should be obvious.

The next planet is mostly gold with some rock mixed in toward the end. I only made it to the boss and then died so I didn't get to unlock the 3rd planet yet. But I am assuming thats where ice comes in.

[betan]

Originally Posted by inefficient

Ya, I was confused by that too. Basically the first planet is all ROCK. You don't see real GOLD until the next planet. And when you do see it, it should be obvious.

The next planet is mostly gold with some rock mixed in toward the end. I only made it to the boss and then died so I didn't get to unlock the 3rd planet yet. But I am assuming thats where ice comes in.

Yes it is. And the smarts white rocks of second planet may also be ice, I mostly use gold weapon there.

Interestingly, I noticed Ice Splitter defaults to twenty something percent if you start from third planet. though it is the effective weapon. So using Rock Crusher (around 60%) and trying to level up splitter looks like a good strategy. (edit: no it's not)

At first I thought the game was just a 2.6D Asteroids clone, which I don't like much myself.
The only reason I bought the game was to have a quickie for a few minutes time to time. Unfortunately that failed. I know better now.

I wonder if it will have online co-op later.

edit: Man, people are crazy, highest score was 150 million last time I checked. And it was just a day after. Those ranking boards remind me how old I become, very discouraging.