8.5 - Great: 8s are great games that have something holding it back from excellence, or some features aren't as polished. The game is still extremely worthy of playing, but it may not be the most impressive.
Want to buy PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale? Click the Amazon link on the right side of this page!
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PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was reviewed on PS3 and Vita by Ben Singer. Ben originally joined the staff while still in high school, and has been studying film since the age of 10. His first video game was Sonic the Hedgehog. On the PC, of all things. Aside from being director and co-star of DEATH BATTLE, he writes, edits, and performs for various productions. He also has a terrible addiction to Dr. Pepper! |
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» Tagged In: #Ben, #Playststion All-Stars Battle Royale, #PS Vita, #PS3, #PSAllStars, #Superbot Entertainment
g1 DISCUSSIONS
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Want to buy PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale? Click the Amazon link on the right side of this page!ChatRandom
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sao
This information comes from the New Zealand app store already making it available on iOS, so the official announcement has yet to be made. Courtney
Alondite
I really can't enjoy this game. After years of playing Smash Bros. I can't help but draw comparison, and this doesn't compare favorably. The engine is very limited, the interplay is shallow, and there's really no emergence. I doubt this game will have a strong competitive following, because the gameplay just isn't very good.
SideSmash
Bonus points for mentioning the how PHENOMENAL the opening theme is, which is "Finale" by Madeon.
Ellanie
No Spyro? That... actually hurts me.
GoldenCat12
i blame activision
los_angeles
BEATS!!! BEATS!!! BEATS!!! BEATS!!! BEATS!!! BEATS!!! BEATS!!! REASON REFILLS!!! The ia entertainment group from los angeles is coming out with a talkbox and hip hop reason refills. This shit is gonna be a hit! I'ma gonna check it out when it comes out!
The Street Fighter
Its a fun game all in all maybe some DLC can add more modes and playable characters but it feels nice seeing some old school games fight new school.
GoldenCat12
would of been a great review if wiz and boomstick were there
GunnarrGoran
meh I am sticking with ssb
Kolonel Grotsnik
I love this game, but I feel it's 1 Bandicoot away from complete awesomeness!
AngelCam7
Anyone else found it ironic that Ben reviewed this game? I'm just saying, for a brief moment, I thought Wiz was doing special commentary for the game. XD
Still though, awesome game. Played the GameStop demo and now my desire to get a PS3 has grown even more! As much as the Wii U! And that's saying a lot. XD
Amazing how awesome exclusive fighting games seem to be the draw to get a game system. It did work for Nintendo and Smash Bros. =D
Also, I am still keeping hope alive that Crash and Spyro will be DLC in the game...
DaRuckus
Great review, Ben.
Bit Bytes
If anyone is interested to play a match someday message me on my wall :D
SuperSmashDan
Fantastic once again Ben, thank you
werdman24
Excellent review Ben. I might get it.
Rayacuza
The visuals and sound of it seems good, however the gameplay and lack of a decent story mode makes me doubt the worth of getting this.
alondite345
But does a party-style fighting game really need a story?
Tsubori
Yes it should have a story. The most acclaimed fighting game made, Super smash bros (Still maintains 95% reviews) has a fantastic story mode. You can't get more "Party style fighting game" than SSB.
Rayacuza
If other party style fighting games can do one, then this one should be able to do one aswell.
Axelhander
I'd argue: does ANY good game really need a story?
(I'd answer that as a big fat no, with the caveat that a good story is definitely gravy.)
screwuser999
depends on the genre
alondite345
It depends on the game. Like an RPG game or an adventure game might need a good story, but a game like Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, or this doesn't really need it.
Axelhander
With respect, I disagree. An RPG is still a game; I expect it to be a game first. I expect it to have mechanics and interactions that are engaging and deep and fun and all that goodness. If the story is good, or if the story weaves into the mechanics in an interesting and unobtrusive way, that's definitely "nice to have" but not mandatory.
alondite345
It isn't necessary true, but it does give it extra points. An example of an RPG to not need a good story is Secret of Mana(i honestly didn't give 2 shits about the story, it was just fun to play).
Grog the Slinger
Story is extremely important in games, although it plays different roles depending on what kind of game the developers are making. Story gives context and meaning to what you're doing. Even Space Invaders has a story; without it, the game would just be a triangle shooting at squares...not very interesting or fun. That's a very short-sighted comment to say games as a whole don't need stories. I'd argue story is essential to games moving forward as an art form. Although, I would agree a party fighter doesn't need to worry itself too much on story.
Axelhander
Geometry Wars is just shapes shooting at shapes. And it's stellar.
Games as a whole don't need stories, though they're nice to have. Games are an art form because of their engaging interactivity, not because they tell stories. The expression in, say, Gears of War, the art, it isn't in the story of Sera; it's in the cover mechanic, the health system, the need to plan or improvise your way out of the encounters. That's the "art."
Tsubori
I'll have to disagree with you. Games with a lack of story are actually the main thing holding the Game Design field back. Story may be the most important drive in a game, because if you don't have an emotional goal, you won't get nearly as much out of the game, If story wasn't important in Gears of War, we wouldn't have felt so bad for people like Dom, the Carmines, and Marcus. Story is the main foundation of any game.
Aazdremzol
Nice review Ben, I kinda want to get this game now....
Aazdremzol
I will say this as bluntly as possible, because saying that Video Games are art because of only visuals and mechanics is just...absurd. You are wrong. That being said, Video Games are an art style now because they are one of the only things that stimulate almost all of your senses. You can practically feel the environment that you are in, and you can see the beauty or grotesqueness of it. You can hear the sounds of these worlds, and you can now even talk in these worlds. Although it is still prototype stages, it still counts. The only sense I could possibly think of that doesn't get stimulated in a good game is smell, and they are working on 7D games already so I won't be surprised if it get's to that soon.
What you say though is partially right though, Video Games do not need stories. But stories help give you reasoning behind your actions. Say you beat the last boss in the game and you know you saved a world by doing this, you should feel pretty proud of yourself. You did it, good job, go get a cookie. This helps people in a psychological level feel accomplished that they did something of great importance. It's what drives most gamers to play a game, and without a story behind to give you reasoning, it wouldn't be as satisfying.
Axelhander
Allow me to be equally blunt, but, unlike you, also right: you are wrong. Let's talk about why.
First off, I said games are art for their mechanics and interactivity. I didn't throw visuals in there, because I don't have to; the visuals have to either support the mechanics and interactivity or just not get in the way. As games are challenges with rules and goals, the whole idea that what defines them is "absurd" is itself monstrously absurd.
This isn't to say a game can't immerse you in a visually beautiful, engaging environment. But if all a game is doing is presenting some sort of mildly interactive screen saver, it's failing as a game.
To presume gamers need some sort of virtual "cookie" to encourage them to play is Shinx levels of stupid, sorry to say. Actually I'm not sorry: it's Shinx levels of stupid. Don't be Shinx levels of stupid; that has to cause some sort of chemical imbalance in one's brain.
Well made games, games where the interactivity, where the mechanics, where the whole act of taking your on-screen avatar -- regardless of its shape -- and overcoming hurdles while testing the boundaries of those rules is thoughtfully engaging; those games are rewarding in and of themselves.
The idea you need some aesthetic payoff is the reason Halo 4 has "grinding for perks," the reason there are actually gamers who think unlockable characters in fighting games is good design, the reason achievement whoring exists. And yes, all of those are Bad Things™.
If you need a narrative to make a game satisfying, you're doing the "gamer" thing wrong. Disclaimer: that doesn't mean a narrative in a game can't have a satisfying payoff, as you're no doubt about to assume I'm saying.
Aazdremzol
I said that you didn't need a story, but it would all around be better to have a story. If you don't know what you're doing, or trying to achieve you would be feeling a little less satisfied. (As I stated before)
Now, the mechanics can go ahead and be all around sh*t for all I care. You do, however, need to be immersed in the world in some way. That way it doesn't feel like a "screen saver" (As you stated) but an interactive environment. You are looking at Video Games (or games, as you state them) like normal games.
Video Games are much more than board games or something like rock-paper-scissors, Video Games are sending you to a whole new place to move around in. They don't need to have an objective, technically speaking, or even a story; but they do however need to send you to a new and more unique place.
Mechanics have nothing to really make a Video Game, a Video Game, but more or less making the game move accordingly to how they want it to move, it's everything else that makes the art. I can say that interactivity is something that will make it more like art, but old school Video Games didn't have much interactivity so I will not.
P.S.: A comment on the unlock-able things in Halo 4...ya, all that reduced customization for the player and reduced the interactivity of the over-all game.
P.P.S: Tacos....Rule....
Ben Singer
I completely agree with you on this, Axelhander. Stories are nice to keep the player interested, but if someone is playing a game for the story before the gameplay, the game has failed and the player should just watch a movie instead. I guarantee there are plenty that are VERY similar to the aforementioned video game "story." This is why I can't get into many of today's RPGs, because they forget that they are a GAME. If I get to a point where the gameplay just seems like a bunch of crap I need to wade through to get to the next cutscene, something is really wrong. That being said, when a story is interwoven into the gameplay like Mega Man, Star Fox, or the obvious example Mass Effect, it works extremely well.
Using Space Invaders as an example doesn't work. Nobody cares about the story of freakin Space Invaders. Story is not essential in video games to be an art form, because video games are GAMES before ART. They are art in the same way chess or basketball are. Which isn't to say they aren't, because both games and sports (one and the same) can be considered art, but not through story, because the interactivity must come first. Otherwise, it's no longer a game. Come on, does Go Fish need a story? Of course not. So why does Galaga? Saying Space Invaders needs a story is like asking which lake all the fish came from in Go Fish. It's worthless.
Everyone always compares video games to film, and they shouldn't. Instead, they should be compared to sports. Yeah. Sports. They are EXTREMELY similar. And no, that does not mean stories are completely irrelevant. Look at wrestling.
Of course, I think Rayacuza was more concerned about lack of "single player" features rather than specifically a story, which PSABR does have an issue with.
Axelhander
Oh, I realize he was criticizing the non-story elements of the game too. I just wanted to respond to the other part of the criticism.
Re: story in games. I will admit some of my favorite fiction came from games I don't personally feel are mechanically strong. Final Fantasy 6 is like crack cocaine to me... but if Square called me up, said "yo baller wutz up whatchu wantin' to remake FF6?" I'd have a mountain of changes to recommend almost entirely based on gameplay issues, from the challenge that starts strong then drops off to the lack of story and direction in the game's second half. Anywho, point is, I love that game... even if, as a "game," I feel it has room for much improvement.
But I still stand by games being art for their mechanics and interactivity first and foremost, and I agree with your comparison to chess/basketball. Sports are art too, and a close analog for games.
Monderetro
Grrr....I wanted to response to this WHOLE...list of responses, but NOOOOOOOO. I have to pick just one. I really don't think anyone else complained about this because it wasn't really a problem. Same for me. Until now. Make note Screwattack, but don't take it to top priority if you honestly feel it's not a major issue. Again, I just realized this at this very moment.
Anyways, while I will agree that gameplay comes first, the story can still be the central...star of the game. Using a more modern example, L.A. Noire's main draw is the excellent story. Or so they say, as I haven't played it. Still, even if the actual story isn't strictly necessary, what IS more or less required for an excellent game is at the very least context. I'm talking about setting and scenario. Create an excuse plot if you must, but at the very least provide some sort of "Why". Some of the greatest games of all time live of with only the most minimum amount of context, and it umps them to the top. The only exception I can think of is Tetris. That's gameplay in its purest form, right there.
Anyhow, about the agree to disagree thing (See? This is why I wanted this response to be on multiple replies. Oh well.), how does that solve anything? Especially with the way you worded your response, you talk as if they were facts, and anyone else that "disagrees" (in your eyes) is WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!?
Axelhander
I disagree: LA Noire's main draw is being a key player in that narrative, and the interactivity with which you engage that world. Without that, you'd be watching a film. And if a game dev is more interested in telling a story than making a game, well, there are mediums for that (novels, films, television, etc.).
And no, for reasons already stated, an excellent game doesn't need a story. An excellent game can have one -- and that story can itself be excellent, or it can even be so bad as to overshadow the mechanics -- but it's not necessary. As I told the other guy, if you need an "excuse plot" to justify playing a game, you're doing the gamer thing wrong.
As for your last paragraph, here's the thing: I don't feel every opinion is worthwhile, nor do I feel every opinion stated as such as actually one. Maybe this'll rub you the wrong way, but if I think you're saying something that's either a) objectively wrong or b) subjectively but poorly thought out, I'm likely not going to reply in a manner you'll enjoy. Just a thought.
Grog the Slinger
Then we'll have to agree to disagree. Mechanics, Aesthetics, Technology, and Story are all essential to game design as a whole.
Axelhander
Misleading at best. Mechanics and interactivity are essential. Technology yes, for crafting video games requires it. Story isn't essential; this is just outright, objectively, verifiably incorrect.
If a story is included, it definitely is essential to ensure it either ties into the game's mechanics (e.g., Final Fantasy 6) or at least stays out of the way (e.g., Jamestown's stays out of the way, Other M's is so deplorable it actually hurts to sit through despite MovieBob's accusations of strawman arguments while perched atop his mountain of strawmen).
But its presence isn't essential. You can tell yourself otherwise, but it doesn't matter.
Tsubori
Let's bring up Mass effect. And hell, any bioware game, really. The main force of any bioware game is the story and characters. Personally, (Meaning you can't tell me I'm wrong on this) if I play a game and the characters are all unlikable and the storyline is haphazard at best, I put the game down. In my opinion, the order of importance goes Story, Characters, mechanics, interactivity, then graphics.
Dark Magician
It actually looks badass.
res20stupid
Please note that while think Sony should've tried to reach out and get Cloud in the game... I highly doubt that they can get Crash or Spyro simply because they don't own the franchises anymore. Which is a shame because Crash has recently... crashed... and burnt
DaBlaze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o
Nuff said...
res20stupid
That was actually pretty funny, actually.
baltzman
As a smash bros. fan, and as someone who initially disliked the battle concept for this game, I have to admit, it is really fun and addicting. I've had it since day 1, and I love playing online matches. Admittedly, the arcade mode is REALLY lacking, I would say even more so then the original smash, but I feel as though this game was meant for online play. While some characters' supers are just overpowering in certain modes, primarily time and kill goal, the stock mode (I find) rectifies this. And if we're going to continue to compare this to smash, that's the only mode my friends and I ever play in brawl. Also, the super system is not something you'll get the hang of coming straight from brawl. It takes practice and eventually feels very rewarding. However, because of this, people may be turned off, since smash, I would argue, is much easier to jump in and play.
As for this game being a clone, I wouldn't really say so. True, it's a mash up of characters from Sony, but the gameplay works differently enough that it is not a rip off of Nintendo's baby. Play it, and you'll know this. That being said, I won't deny they modelled certain aspects after Smash's gameplay.
What really stands out for me is the online features. The online is almost seamless, with problems really only occurring when the host leaves. On top of this, their are DLC stages and characters on the way. So, while I agree that it is disappointing to see Cloud, Spyro, and Crash (especially) excluded, there may still be hope. Regardless, I don't think this should deter anyone that it are remotely interested in this game.
All in all, I give an 8.5 as well. I recommend everyone a fan of 4-player brawlers try this, and don't be discouraged if you lose, getting better is part of the fun for this game.
Enchilada645
Got to admit although the roster is not that great and unbalanced, it is still a fun party game for you and your friends. If I have to say anything is that this game is better than all the other Smash Clone games before it, probably the most effective of pushing itself a bit away from Smash Bros.