PS Vita demo round-up

by Dr_Worm on Mar 3rd, 2012

Sorry about the long delay between this and my Vita review, but finally here are my opinions on some of the actual games the PS Vita has to offer.

Vita Augmented Reality Trio

There are three augmented reality games available for free from the PS store – they’re not actually demos, but they essentially act as demonstrations of the Vita’s AR technology. You play them with the 1-6 AR cards that come included with the Vita and the rear-facing camera, just like the 3DS’s AR games. Speaking of, the Vita’s AR games feel much easier to use, possibly due to the fact that camera picks up a wider angle than the 3DS’s, so you don’t get “too close” or “too far” errors nearly as frequently. However, they aren’t pre-installed on the system’s on-board storage like the 3DS’s because the Vita has no non-rudimentary on-board storage. Graphics-wise, the effects are practically the same, where parts of your table or floor sink in, or things pop out of the AR cards, but the Vita is obviously has more detail.

Anywho, first up is Cliff Diver, which is arguably the best out of the three. That’s not saying a whole lot though, since it’s basically just a quick-time event game. You “control” a cliff diver, the stereotypical surfer-dude Diver Dan. Cliff Diver introduces new mechanics and challenges as the game progresses. At the start of the more advanced levels, you get Diver Dan’s adrenaline going by tapping the rear touch panel at the right timing. Why they chose the rear panel for this is beyond me, it could have just as easily been any other button or control. After Diver Dan is pumped, he runs toward the diving platform where you have to press the X button when he’s close to the edge, then hold it to get him to dive accurately in the water. In mid-air, Dan dives through hoops that correspond to specific buttons which, you guessed it, you have to press at the right time.

The more accurate your timing in every aspect of the dive, the higher your score, which accumulates with all the other levels and dives. Reach a high enough overall diving score and you unlock the next level. As monotonous as it is, Cliff diver at least has a sense of progression with goals to reach, and the gameplay, though simplistic, can be a little addicting. Not much to complain about considering it’s free.

Fireworks is a much more arcade-style game than Cliff Diver. The general object is to tap the fireworks in the air at, yet again, just the right time – the better your timing the higher the score. Miss a firework, and you lose a life, lose all your lives and you know what happens. Fireworks has three modes. Tabletop uses 1-3 AR cards as plots for buildings. The more cards you have on-screen, the more difficult the game becomes, which is a cool idea actually. In Infinite mode, you’re introduced to chains and powerups, and you don’t need the AR cards to play it, meaning its difficulty is locked. Challenge mode is just as you would expect, a bunch of challenges that get more difficult the more you progress. Like Cliff Diver, it’s just as addicting, just as monotonous, and just as free.

The last AR game, Table Soccer, I couldn’t play because I couldn’t get through the interactive tutorial above. It was going through the methods of passing, and no matter how many times I tried to do as it was showing me, I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I don’t know if you can skip it, but frankly, I didn’t care enough at the time and don’t care enough to find out now. The controls I did get through felt convoluted, using the touch screen to do everything. Besides, hardcore footy fans could just play the Vita version of FIFA instead.

Rayman Origins

I never played Rayman Origins, but if I asked someone who did how good it was, I assume their answer would be “really fuckin’.” From what I can tell of the Vita demo, they’d be right. Rayman returns to his PS1/PC debut, 2D-sidecrolling roots. Again, I haven’t played the console version of Origins so I have no idea how the Vita version compares, but I’m willing to bet it’s a complete port. You run, you jump, you punch, you collect, it’s all good. This game has the best use of the D-pad I’ve seen so far on the Vita. Yeah, it’s just for movement, but using the D-pad just feels so damn good, it took me a minute to realize I was using it naturally and not having any problems with it. That’s a feeling I haven’t had in a long time, if ever. For a port, the graphics are nice and colorful, but Rayman might be a little too small on the Vita’s screen. Thankfully you can zoom in and out with the touch screen. The music is just as good, but some of the voice acting I just couldn’t stand, thankfully the vocals don’t go far beyond some yeahs, yays and singing.

Rayman Origins’ PS Vita version is more expensive than the console counterparts as well as the upcoming PC iteration, but I’m a strong believer in paying extra for convenience, this case being portability. If you’re the same way, and you haven’t played Origins yet and you’re getting a Vita soon, or if you’re looking for a strong platformer for Sony’s new handheld, then this might be a good choice for you.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

…Hoo boy. I really, really hated this demo. I didn’t like the Uncharted series before, but after this game demo, I downright hate it. To those who are somehow unaware of one of Sony’s biggest franchises, Uncharted is your typical action adventure game, but since I haven’t actually played the PS3 versions it would be unfair of me to describe the gameplay beyond its similarities to Tomb Raider. Golden Abyss may or may not be much different, but I had an awful experience with this demo.

The first level (of two) has the series protagonist Drake waking up in a burning building. To escape, you have to traverse a linear obstacle course of pipes, boxes and support beams. Basically everything you can climb on, interact with, etc, will shine a gleaming light, as if they weren’t painfully obvious enough. There’s also a part where you hack down a tarp with a machete (hanging in a doorway). You have to swipe in specified angles on the screen, like you’re swiping your machete. That’s fine and all, I mean I’d just hack through it too if I was in a hurry to get out of a burning building, but after you do that context-sensitive quick time event, it shows additional animation of Drake slashing away at the tarp. If the game wanted me to feel like I’m tearing down the tarp, why does it cut to an animation showing the character do it? Where’s the immersion?

The second level is where the shit really hit the fan. You have to protect some girl whose name I can’t remember as she runs through gun fire. You get to use a sniper rifle, but the right stick feels really awkward, and I don’t think it’s the Vita’s fault – the game lets you use the Sixaxis controls to aim, like Ocarina of Time 3D, which feels better with the right stick, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t botch the controls to make gyro aiming the more viable option. When what’s-her-face makes it to you, you have to fight a group of… soldiers(?) firing a furious tidal wave of bullets at you. Of course, you have a little wall of plywood to cover behind so you’re safe. Then, it happened – after trying to pop up and shoot and ultimately getting nowhere for around 10 seconds, the game goes to a cutscene where what’s-her-bitch blatantly points out that there’s a truck next to the soldiers filled with explosives, and as she says that, the camera zooms in on the truck as the cover flies off, revealing the already mentioned explosives.

Wow.

Giving such a mind-blowingly obvious hint is one thing, but having to stop the game to show me is just plain offensive. I’m not five years old. This game made me perhaps the most angry I’ve ever been about a game’s design, and it’s just a demo. Incredible. I have the compulsion to rent this game… does that mean I literally hate it with a passion?

Asphalt Injection

From my understanding, Asphalt Injection is part of a series available primarily on mobile phones. Thankfully, you don’t control the game via tilting, you can use the analog stick. Asphalt Injection plays much like Burnout or Ridge Racer – its controls are arcade style, drifting earns you nitro, and you can eliminate other cars by ramming them into the edge of the track. Throughout the game, you unlock cars and tracks – it’s a really basic racing game. I guess Asphalt Injection is fine for a phone game, but it’s nothing special in the slightest on the Vita. I’m pretty confident Wipeout 2048 is a better option.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance was made by Gameloft, the same company that designed Asphalt Injection. As such, this is also part of a series available on mobile devices. Also as such, it’s not a very original game – Dungeon Hunter is an action RPG that plays just like Diablo or Torchlight. The controls and graphics are alright, but its story and gameplay are absolutely generic, there’s really not much else to say about it. Unfortunately, the PS Vita version is a fully priced game, so compared to the $15 iOS price, that’s highway robbery. Considering the price and superior alternatives, give this one a pass.

Hustle Kings

It’s pool on the Vita. Seriously, I don’t have to say much more than that. There are multiple game modes like 9-ball and Cutthroat, and the controls are alright. This is one of the few PS Vita games that currently support cross-platform play (not to be confused with remote play), which allows you to play with players who have the PS3 version, and if you buy it once, you can play it on either the PS3 or Vita. I haven’t actually bought it, so I can’t confirm how well this works or go into detail on the cross-platform functionality, but for $10, it’s pretty tempting.

Little Deviants

Little Deviants is one of the more unique games available for the Vita. Its primary game mode has you controlling your rolling ball character via the rear touch pad, which juts a section of the terrain out from the ground. Controlling your deviant requires precision and patience, which is a good quality of any game. To complete levels, you need to pick up a key and travel to an end portal, all while avoiding obstacles like robot enemies and electrified gates. It’s not bad, sort of like a cross between Loco Roco and Super Monkey Ball, and it takes advantage of a unique feature of the Vita, so that gets a thumbs up from me. If only the characters weren’t so damn obnoxious looking.

There are also mini-games, but the only one I tried (which is the only one you have access to) was an AR game, much unlike the main game mode, and not unlike the 3DS’s Face Raiders. It takes place in a first-person perspective, and you have to protect multiple deviants flying around on rockets from more robot enemies by shooting rockets at them. Again, it’s not bad, just don’t play this game sitting down, because you need to look around in all directions to play it effectively. Overall, due to the family-friendly nature of the game and the variety it provides, Little Deviants is probably the best family game among the Vita’s launch library.

Lumines Electronic Symphony

Ubisoft’s puzzle-rhythm game iconically sold on Sony platforms returns for the Vita’s launch. Like Uncharted, I haven’t played any games in the Lumines series prior to this demo, so I can’t identify any new features this edition has. Lumines’ gameplay involves matching colored tiles in at least 2×2 rectangles. When the white beam crosses over any tiles that meet that criteria, they disappear and add to your score. It’s frantic, original, fun to play, and perfect for handhelds. Again, I can’t confirm if this game is any different than others in the series, but it doesn’t feel like it’s much different. It’s like Tetris – every iteration is seemingly identical. In that case, it’s hard to recommend it when you can likely get a cheaper version on another platform.

Unit 13

The final PS Vita demo is the kind of game many people are expecting – a console shooter experience on a handheld. Unit 13 fits the bill adequately, but like many other Vita launch games, is pretty generic. At first, using the dual sticks to move and aim felt awkward, but after changing the sensitivity to my tastes it felt pretty damn good. Unit 13?s mainly uses the face buttons for controls, but some features, such as throwing a grenade and obtaining objective items, required using the touch screen. The graphics are some of the best on the Vita, and there’s plenty of missions for you to do, including downloadable missions that release on a (presumably) regular basis. There are online leaderboards, and you can also play co-op online, but these features weren’t available in the demo. If you can get past the genericness, it’s not a very bad game, but I still don’t think I can completely recommend it.

In conclusion, the PS Vita’s launch library is nicely varied, but many of the games are ports of console games or, to reuse a word thrown around a bit in this article, generic. And as I said in the Vita review article, the retail games are fairly expensive. There’s still a good chance that there’s at least one game available that’s right for you, it all just depends on if you’re willing to shell out the cash for them.

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