It’s here. At the end of last week, Sony’s answer to the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft’s upcoming Kinect technology, the PlayStation Move, brought motion-control technology to the PlayStation 3. Working in tandem with the PlayStation Eye in order to track the movement of the glowing, fleshy orb at the tip of the device, Sony promises true 1:1 motion-tracking to the player and brings the obvious benefits of HD gaming and Trophy support to the table.
So, is it any good? Here at infinitecontinues, we picked up a PlayStation Move and put all the available demos on the PSN Store through their paces, just like any regular punter would, to see which ones were worth exploring further. You can find out what we thought of these below, including our no-nonsense guide to whether they are worth picking up on the strength of their demos. Alongside that, we’ll also let you know what the optimum control setup for each game is, as well as impressions on the Move itself. We are so good to you.
The controller
The PlayStation Move is a handsome piece of kit. Its curved black exterior is very ergonomic, much more so than the rather angular nature of the Wii Remote, and fits snugly in the hand. The Move button on the top is big enough for your thumb to comfortably rest over its entire surface, and the face buttons are positioned well around this. Of these, only the Square button, situated in the upper left of the cluster of buttons, is slighty tricky to reach, but even this is not a game-breaker. The T button (the trigger on the back of the Move) feels very responsive to trigger-happy rampages. The orb at the top of the Move glows brightly too, and changes hue depending on certain situations in-game; for instance, a two-player game in Tumble denotes whose turn it is by turning the orb red or blue to suit. Overall, it feels like a very slick piece of kit, and seems suited to lengthy play sessions without causing any discomfort.
The demos
Tumble
A downloadable puzzle game from the PSN Store, Tumble looks a lot like its Wii counterpart Boom Blox at first glance, but it soon becomes apparent what the distinction between the titles is. Whilst Boom Blox primarily tasks you with knocking down existing structures, Tumble insists that you build them instead, stacking variously-shaped cuboids of differing materials as high as you can in order to win bronze, silver or gold medals. Other game modes do (inevitably) involve destroying structures, but instead of requiring that you pull every single muscle in your arm by hurling an imaginary ball at the screen, it asks that you gently place mines in strategic locations in order to topple as much of the structure as possible.
Presented in bright and crisp aesthetics, with appealing visual flourishes throughout, Tumble controls really rather well. Its training levels run through the basics, encouraging the player to twist a wrist and push towards the screen in order to fit blocks through holes in order to get a feel for the Move’s responsiveness. Stacking blocks requires a steady hand and no small amount of patience, much like a game of real-life Jenga. The different materials, ranging from metal to wood to glass, add an element of strategy to proceedings, and bonus medals add more longevity to a cleared level. The demo contains the tutorial levels, a few building levels and two destruction levels before requiring the full game unlock.
Beautifully presented, and quirkily engaging, this £7.99 downloadable title could be PlayStation Move’s first killer app.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Buy it.
echochrome ii
The most unique Move demo by a long stretch, echochrome ii tasks the player with using the controller as a torch. Seemingly random patterns of blocks are then projected onto the wall behind as shadows which the little marionette can then traverse to reach the goal, and thus complete the level. The tutorial is long-winded and laborious, but echochrome ii’s game mechanics demand a little clarity. Actual levels in the demo are at a minimum and a touch on the easy side, but hint at a greater difficulty in later levels. If the M.C. Escher-inspired original is anything to go by, this will throw up moments of difficulty which will make your brain melt.
Slow-paced and wildly different, this will be an acquired taste for many. Much like marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it. For those with a more thoughtful bent, echochrome ii will provide a quirky and innovative challenge, and an oasis of calm in a videogame landscape of guns and gore.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Buy it.
Beat Sketcher
We’re not sure what to make of Beat Sketcher. If its demo is anything to go, it can’t even be classed as a game. There are no objectives, no rules, no challenge. As far as we can tell, there is no winning or losing. There is only a canvas – in this case, a live feed of the player in front of his TV set – and the ability to using the Move to draw scribbles over this canvas. In the background, annoying music loops continue ad nauseum, punctuated every time the player drops down more paint. A menu brings up different implements with which to get creative, and there are other colours to choose from apart from the default black. Similarly, the player can choose different instruments to produce music with. But, frankly, what’s the point? If the purpose of a demo is to intrigue a player to a game’s full potential, Beat Sketcher fails miserably. If there is a game hidden underneath those annoying music loops and strange gestural paintings, we’d be none the wiser.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Leave it.
Sports Champions
The most high-profile of the Move launch titles, mostly due to the fact that it’s essentially the PS3’s version of Wii Sports. Only two of its six events are available in the demo – the player gets to play two rounds each of Disc Golf and Table Tennis. This seems a bit of a mis-step. A quick go on each of the six events would be a much more persuasive sell to interested consumers; instead the playable events are a mixed bag. Disc Golf is excellent fun – a hybrid of Wii Sports Resort’s frisbee toss and a session on the fairways. The disc responds exactly as you would imagine, responding to increases in power and elevation beautifully. The objective is to get to the basket in the same number of strokes attributed to the course, exactly the same as a round of golf. Table tennis is a little less entertaining, however. Whilst still retaining the same level of responsiveness as Disc Golf, matches quickly devolve into long rallies of identical shots, rarely allowing the opportunity to send in a backhand or smash. Whether this is due to the level of the opponent for demo purposes is currently unclear, but this event could do with more dynamic matches.
The presentation of the package is uniformly excellent however, and presses home the advantage that the PS3 as an HD console has over its Wii counterpart. Character models are brimming with their own personality, even spilling over into how they throw in Disc Golf, and the environments are lushly detailed. If the four other events are as good or better than Disc Golf, Sony could have a quiet smash on its hands with Sports Champions. Although never likely to reach the monstrous sales figures of Wii Sports (although it can thank being bundled with the Wii console for that) it could perhaps provide a bit more longevity.
Setup: One Move controller, although we’re told that some events are enhanced by using two. Verdict: Buy it.
Kung-Fu Rider
The launch title we were keeping an eye on the most, mostly due to its high ‘WTF’ factor, we desperately wanted Kung-Fu Rider to be brilliant. If its mediocre demo is anything to go, it isn’t. The setup is interesting enough – take control of a white-collar office worker or his secretary as you try to escape the Mafia… by riding on an office chair. Slalom this make-shift vehicle down hilly backstreets whilst dodging all many of obstacles to arrive safely at your mobile office (a van, essentially) and complete the level.
The sheer insanity of the game – you won’t be surprised to learn that Kung-Fu Rider is of Japanese origin – is sadly undermined by its clumsy controls. The tutorial levels bombard the player with a bewildering array of moves, each button seemingly being utilised, but none feeling particularly intuitive. The end result is a blind panic when faced with an obstacle as you try and remember what button you need to press to safely traverse it. Jumping is also fundamentally broken. Shaking the Move up and down builds up speed, whilst a sharp upwards motion is supposed to result in a jump, but oftentimes the game fails to register this input. No matter how oddball its subject matter, and what hidden depths it may contain with bonus challenges, money collection, and the occassional martial arts attacks, the broken controller setup will always let it down.
Kung-Fu Rider is a Move-only game which feels like it would work better with the Dualshock gamepad. As such, its a missed opportunity and a bit of a shame.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Leave it.
Start The Party!
If Sports Champions is the PS3’s Wii Sports, then Start The Party! is its Wii Party; a collection of throwaway minigames designed to deliver short, sharp gameplay experiences in a small period of time. Only two of these minigames are available in the demo. One is a strange colouring game, in which a shape will appear on screen, and the player’s task is to fill in as much of it as possible with the Move against a time limit which becomes ever more punishing. The result of these quickfire doodles is a finished drawing, in this case a strange alien-type thing which plays out a little animation as a reward for the budding artist.
The second game has a more traditional feel. The aim is to eliminate the bugs that fly across the screen, the globe on top of the Move becoming a fly-swatter on the screen, which is tracked in perfect 1:1. Swat as many bugs as you can, avoid the red ones, and try and catch the bonus one. Simple and effective, playing a lot like Whack-A-Mole games at funfairs, its the kind of throwaway minigame first seen back when the EyeToy was released for the PS2 all those years ago. Whether there is enough variety and fun in the full package is another thing, but there are glimpses of promise in what’s available here.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: On the fence.
The Shoot
If there is one thing that motion control feels tailor-made for, it’s on-rail shooters. The Wii is well-served in this department; Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Dead Space Extraction and House Of The Dead: Overkill are all excellent games. The Shoot is the Move’s take on the genre. The premise is simple; shoot your way through cardboard cutout enemies on a movie set, in the case of the demo, a Wild West stage. The controls are very responsive, and feedback is satisfying.
Achieving headshots unlocks several different power-ups, activated using different gestures. Spinning on the spot slows down time, for instance. There is also the option of activating rapid fire also. Although the full game is likely to be fairly short and straightforward, these kind of games have been popular over the decades for a reason, and this won’t disappoint fans of quick pick-up-and-play shooters. If the multiplayer is as fun as the single player, The Shoot could be an early must-have title when it releases next month.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Buy it.
TV Superstars
Having known absolutely nothing about TV Superstars, we perhaps unsurprisingly expected a TV-based quiz show in the same vein as PS3 smash Buzz. How wrong we were. TV Superstars is squarely aimed at the casual crowd, and could possibly achieve the rather dubious honour of being the first shovelware for the PlayStation Move. The demo comprises of two fake TV shows. One is Frockstar, a turgid attempt at a dancing game. The moves are tricky to pull off, exacerbated by the fact that there is no real positive feedback until each move has finished. An overly-camp presenter screeches banalities at you, as the ‘dance’ wears on and on, seemingly never likely to end.
The second mode has more of an It’s-A-Knockout vibe to it. This time, you strap yourself into a giant slingshot and aim yourself at painted targets, each of which bear a silhouette on them. The aim is to twist the Move round to get your character into the required shape, but again the feedback is spotty at best. The silhouettes are full-body affairs, and would seem to be a better fit for Microsoft’s Kinect functionality, where the camera can (in theory) track every limb. Here, the result is like fitting a round shape into a square hole.
If you are in any way a dedicated gamer, I can safely assure you that TV Superstars is not for you.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Leave it.
Racket Sports
As the title suggests, Racket Sports is all about sports that can be played with a racket; five of them to be precise. Whilst the full game boasts Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Table Tennis and Beach Tennis, thankfully only Tennis and Badminton modes are available in the demo. Whilst the environments are well-presented (the Chinese temple is a highlight) the motion controls instantly let the title down. Any finesse you try to put into your shots, perhaps as a legacy from the tennis game in Wii Sports, don’t translate to your character at all. Try smashing a backhand across the court for example, and more often than not, your shot goes down the line. Badminton is, somehow, even worse, making an already floaty shuttlecock feel even more insignificant. Sports Champions bundles a Table Tennis game in with the rest of its offerings, rendering Racket Sports’ included mode redundant, even though we’ve yet to try it. For the others, either get outside on the real courts, or pick up Wii Sports for a few pennies – judging by comparison with this demo alone, the Wii launch title is still vastly superior, despite its age.
Setup: One Move controller. Verdict: Leave it.
Summary
Launch titles are always a mixed bag, and the Move’s initial lineup is no different. Sadly, there is no stand-out title, perhaps highlighted by the fact that the controller itself doesn’t get bundled with a full game, only a disc containing the demos above. There are some potential gems here, however. Sports Champions has the best chance of doing well, and Tumble is an engaging and slickly-presented download title that deserves some attention. But others will hopefully die a premature death, and bring an end to shovelware on the system before it has a chance to rear its ugly head. Regardless of these launch titles, the Move is a very sexy piece of kit, and the potential for innovative gameplay features is huge. Now it’s just down to developers to take a few risks in bringing these new experiences to our consoles.