PlayStation Move Heroes Review

The idea of putting Sony’s biggest mascots – Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank, Sly Cooper, and Bentley – into one mash-up party arcade game, seemed like a dream come true for fans of the games. PlayStation Move Heroes is a game that puts these characters from three of Sony’s best franchises into one game that to utilizes the PlayStation Move controls on the PlayStation 3. While Nihilistic’s idea is the same ones we’ve seen in Nintendo’s list of cross-over games like Mario & Sonic Olympus, is PlayStation Move Heroes good enough to have its own franchise of cross-over characters from the PlayStation platform?

Since the debut of the PlayStation Move last year, I have yet to play a Move title that impresses me. For those who own the PlayStation Move peripheral, does PlayStation Move Heroes justify your purchase? Let’s take a look in the HOTs and NOTs of PlayStation Move Heroes.

HOT

Impressive Visuals and Presentation
The visuals that the PlayStation Move Heroes has to offer is stunning. Each of the characters’ home environments are vibrant and rich in color. The character designs of Ratchet & Clank are visually impressive as they are exactly the same renders that Insomniac created for its respective games on the PlayStation 3. For the other characters, fans of their games will be pleased to find out that they are designed incredibly as well for games that haven’t appeared yet on the PlayStation 3. The different level designs of the three worlds that will be featured in the game will be pretty much the designs on their own respective worlds. When it comes to the voice acting- the actors who gave life to these six characters are all back.

Use of the PlayStation Move Controls
This is what PlayStation Move owners have been waiting for – a game that will use the motion controls of the peripheral. For those of you who own more than one Move controller, up to two players can join the fun in solving challenges that will involve you swinging the motion controller, using it as a discus and a lot more. To truly maximize the fun, a Navigation controller is recommended for easy controls when playing the game. Expect to do a handful of challenges throughout the game as this is what the game is basically all about. After the completion of each challenges, the player will be rewarded with medals and based on the medals you get, the players will move onto the next round. The challenge that I find satisfying when playing PlayStation Move Heroes was the bowling challenge as it reminded me of the Bowling motion controlled games I’ve played, and the discus where I have to control it using the Move Control to hit a specific type of object.

NOT

Weak Plot
PlayStation Move Heroes doesn’t have the plot that will please the fans of these iconic characters. In their own respective games, they have an amazing story to tell but in PlayStation Move Heroes, prepare to suffer to its weak and shallow storyline. The story of the game starts off with Ratchet, Clank, Jak, Daxter, Sly, and Bartley doing their own thing in their own world when suddenly a wormhole appears and drags them into a planet where two aliens telling them that they’ve been chosen to participate in a tournament. Without knowing why whatsoever, the six iconic characters quickly agree to participate and so the tournament begins. This is basically the story throughout the game. Sorry, no mischievous plot whatsoever in this title.

Repetitive Gameplay
While using the PlayStation Move’s motion controls adds innovation to the game, it incredibly fails into giving the players a challenge that gets old too quickly. In the different worlds and challenges that players will have to go through, the game has five basic type of challenges- shooting sequences, whip-slash fighting, bowling, and disc challenges. These challenges will recycle throughout the game and as players spend an hour at least playing it, players will find themselves bored. This kind of game could be fun for younger audiences but not for anyone who seeks a decent PlayStation Move title that can give them the satisfaction they seek in a casual gamer.

Annoying Camera and Controls
Another annoyance that players should expect is the annoying camera. There will be challenges in the game that you will have to keep positioning the camera. In order to aim or play bowling, you must first move the camera to the location you want the ball to go to. While it can be easily turned with the Navigation controls, it gets annoying when you have to do it every time the challenge starts. In addition to the camera issues, the controls in the game can become unresponsive at times. There will be times you will find the controls to be complicated when you have to control the discus using the Move Controller. It takes time to get used to it but it’s something to practice.

Lack of Characters
The total number of characters that are playable in PlayStation Move Heroes are only six. For a cross-over type game, you would expect at least ten and the variety of characters is always a plus. If a sequel is planned for this IP, I would expect more characters to appear.

VERDICT

At $40 value, PlayStation Move Heroes does what it promises to do – a fully motion controlled game that offers a variety of mini game challenges. The game may appeal to younger audiences but for gamers who are seeking an epic adventure/platformer game, don’t expect to see any of that in PlayStation Move Heroes. The game is too shallow and gimmicky for any gamer over the age of ten to enjoy fully. Let’s hope that Sony’s next cross over title will involve an adventure/platformer gameplay rather than dull and repetitive gameplay seen here with PlayStation Move Heroes.

[Editor’s Note: PlayStation Move Heroes was reviewed on the PS3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]