PlayStation Move Heroes PS3 Review

Publisher – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe – Developer – Nihilistic Software – Genre – Action – Players – 1-2 – Age Rating – 12+ – Other console/handheld formats – N/A

Jak & Daxter, Sly Raccoon and Ratchet & Clank are three games series’ that helped define the PlayStation brand, beginning back on the PS2. But sometimes famous characters are undeservedly placed into games that are just not on the same level as the titles that made them famous, PlayStation Move Heroes is one such release.

The story is basically an excuse as to why these six PlayStation heroes are now in the same universe as one another. It’s witty enough and there’s some nasty aliens behind it all, although there’s really not much there to speak of, with the basis being that all the characters are sucked into a portal along with portions of their worlds.

Forget the platforming that can typically be found in each series, this is instead a rather limited mini game collection. True, they’re not mini games in the sense that they’re over in no time at all, but they are few in number and it’s not long before they’re repeating over and over.

The graphics are attractive enough, with the majority of the environments being inspired by the worlds of the featured characters.

There’s no doubt about it, PlayStation Move Heroes is initially a lot of fun. There were moments where the game seemed unresponsive to my Move controller, but the controls do mostly work – tossing and controlling a bowling ball or a disc, wielding whips and guns and dodging out of the way of enemy attacks are actions that largely work as they should.

There are six playable characters: Jak, Ratchet, Sly, Daxter, Clank and Bentley. You can take your pick from Jak, Ratchet or Sly, or from Daxter, Clank and Bentley during some of the other games. But being that the likes of Jak and Daxter are a team, it’s also possible to team up with another local player, in which they can assist in attacking enemies with their own Move controller. It’s basic at best and could have certainly done with being better fleshed out than it is.

So, the game goes like this: there are little purple creatures to be found, rockets to be launched, fans to protect, enemy waves to be defeated and cages to be destroyed. The gameplay mechanics are liberally used throughout, meaning that you may have to destroy a number of cages within a specific time limit with a disc, while another one may have you obliterating the cages with a gun. But five game types is not enough to keep PlayStation Move Heroes feeling fresh, which is a real shame and could have been easily remedied if there had been more tasks to better mix things up.

Your performance in each game will earn you a medal if you’re good enough, and if you’re really good you’ll get access to the tougher diamond challenges by amassing a big number of gold medals. If you can tolerate its repetitive nature, then PlayStation Move Heroes may take quite some time to fully master. There’s also high scores to chase in order to be sitting nicely on the online leaderboards, if you’re looking for even more longevity from the game.

The combat is decent fun, with both the shooting and melee combat being quite satisfying. Each character also has an ultimate ability, in which, when activated, will help you take down your alien foes. Sly’s ability slows down enemies for example, Jak turns into Dark Jak and Ratchet causes his enemies to dance, making them easy prey. When playing in cooperative, there’s even some team up attacks, which have you bumping your motion controllers together. It may sound silly, but it does actually work.

Don’t get me wrong, in no way is PlayStation Move Heroes a terrible game – it does offer bouts of fun, but it’s certainly one that could have done with some additional content. With more variety, this could have been a lot more likeable, but the lack of it certainly soured my opinion on the game. These PlayStation Heroes certainly deserved to be less neglected than they have been here.

5/10