PlayStation Move Heroes
| PlayStation Move Heroes | |
|---|---|
 Official North American Box Art | |
| Developer(s) | Nihilistic Software |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Writer(s) | Micah Wright |
| Composer(s) | David Bergeaud |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Co-operative Multiplayer (Up to 2 players) |
PlayStation Move Heroes[1] (known in Japan as Gachinko Heroes (ガチンコヒーローズ Gachinko Hīrōzu, Hardcore Heroes) is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 video game console utilizing the PlayStation Move. It is a cross-over of the Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper franchises to form a total of six main characters. The game has been poorly received.
Gameplay
The game features both single-player as well as two-player co-operative multiplayer[2] as players traverse through a series of levels in a style similar to Super Mario 64. The game features six playable characters (Ratchet, Clank, Jak, Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Bentley). It also features a total of 50 levels, which can be categorized into five "archetypes", five weapon classes and four environments namely Paris from Sly Cooper & Bentley, Metropolis City on Kerwan from Ratchet & Clank, Haven City from Jak and Daxter and Planet X which is an original environment created for the game.[3] Players can choose which character they want to play as on each level, each character will have a different gameplay style and may have advantages on certain levels. Co-operative play allows the second player to play as the first player's sidekick character for example if the first player selects Jak as his character, the second player will automatically be assigned Daxter.[3]
The five weapon classes are mainly Disc, Whip, Bowling, Projectile and Melee. The disc is thrown in a similar fashion to a frisbee, once thrown players navigate it around the level remotely using the Move controller to achieve objectives for example to hit moving targets. The whip is controlled by the Move controller via 1 to 1 movement. Bowling acts similar to the disc where the player throws the bowling ball and subsequently guides it with the Move controller. Projectiles involve the use of mainly guns as well as other weapons such as grenade launchers. Melee uses each character's iconic weapons such as Sly's cane; Ratchet's wrench or Jak's gunstaff to hit enemies in a fashion similar to their original games.[3]
Plot
A mysterious alien duo named Lunk & Gleeber has swept through the galaxy, fiendishly snatching entire chunks from the worlds of Ratchet, Jak and Sly Cooper to create a ring around a mysterious planet in the galaxy. After being abducted to this new world, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly and Bentley are invited by their alien hosts to compete in a friendly, yet challenging competition to test their extraordinary skills and determine who the best hero duo is. The heroes discover that all is not as it seems as Gleeber and Lunk have made the Whibbles (a race of small floating aliens) their slaves and forced them to mine their planet hollow (to build what appeared to be a gun which was later revealed to be a teleportation device). The heroes soon find themselves joined together in the ultimate battle to protect the Whibbles and themselves from Gleeber and Lunk and their evil Lunk heads. They end up defeating the three cities' challenges and complete the game's hardest challenges. While completing the challenges, the heroes also find out Gleeber and Lunk had been recording their adventures in order to go to each of their universes to take their places (after killing the heroes) and take credit for their actions. After beating all of the levels and a suspicious tower hiding the Main Evil Lunk Head with the help of the Whibbles, Daxter destroys the rest of the Evil Lunk Heads and throws a disk at the large head, destroying the power source for the teleporter so Gleeber and Lunk could not complete their plot. The heroes and Whibbles apprehend Gleeber and Lunk (after they put up a pathetic fight) and send them into space using one of the evil duo's own rockets. Afterwards, the Whibbles power up the teleporter and open a portal to each city. After saying a final goodbye to each other, the heroes returned to their individual points in time in which they were first teleported. However, each pair of heroes had a communicator in order to keep in contact with the others, except Daxter, who slipped his and Jak's behind a rock and relaxed.
Development
The game was first announced as Heroes on the Move for the PlayStation Move during Sony's Press Conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010. The title was later changed in October to its current name, PlayStation Move Heroes.[1] None of the developers of the original three franchises, Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, or Sucker Punch Productions, were working directly on the game.[2]
Release and marketing
On January 14, 2011 it was announced on the US edition of PlayStation Blog, PlayStation Move Heroes will be released in North America on March 22, 2011.[4] On February 9, 2011, Sony released a story trailer for the game, which confirms that all the original voice actors return to reprise their roles and brought all of the original personalities that the characters are known for.[5] On February 18, 2011, Sony released a developer diary featuring the lead designer and lead programmer, which explore how PlayStation Move Heroes was built from the ground up, specifically for the PlayStation Move. It also feature how excited the developer are to give fans an opportunity to experience some of their favorite PlayStation characters in a whole new way through the precision and accuracy of the PlayStation Move system.[6]
Sony has worked with Nihilistic and several retail partners for an exclusive skin pack featuring Pirate Sly, Freedom League Jak and Trillium Armor Ratchet. It is included as a free pre-order bonus at participating retailers, included Amazon.com and GameStop.[4] The skins have since been made available to all via the PlayStation Store, bundled together with additional skins for Clank, Daxter and Bentley.
Alongside the standard edition, the game also comes in a bundle with PlayStation Move, which includes the game, a PlayStation Eye Camera and a PlayStation Move Motion Controller. The PlayStation Move Heroes bundle is only available in North American Toys "R" Us stores.[7]
While announcing the exclusive North American PlayStation Move Heroes bundle, Sony confirmed that there would be a demo of the game on the PlayStation Store. The single player demo was released early in March in the PlayStation Store, while PlayStation Plus members had access starting March 1.[6] On February 16, GameStop gave away 5,000 voucher codes for early access to the demo.
Reception
PlayStation Move Heroes has received mixed to negative reviews. On Metacritic it holds a score of 53/100 based on 39 reviews.[8] IGN gave the game a 5.0/10, commenting on the lack of a decent story along with the "boring mini-game collection with spotty controls".[9]
References
- 1 2 Matt Bertz (October 8, 2010). "Sony Renames Heroes On The Move". Game Informer. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
- 1 2 Sony Computer Entertainment Staff. "Heroes On The Move - Games & Media". PlayStation.com. Sony Computer Entertainment. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- 1 2 3 Frank Cifaldi (October 7, 2010). "Heroes on the Move is a "Second-Gen" Move Game". 1up.com. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
- 1 2 "PlayStation Move Heroes Shipping March 22nd, Pre-order Bonuses Detailed". Playstation Blog US. 2011-01-14. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- ↑ "PlayStation Move Heroes: Watch the Story Trailer!". Playstation Blog US. 2011-02-10. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
- 1 2 "PlayStation Move Heroes: Built for Precision". PlayStation Blog US. 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
- ↑ "PlayStation Move Heroes Getting A Demo". TheSixtxAxis. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
- ↑ "PlayStation Move Heroes". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ↑ DeVries, Jack. "PlayStation Move Heroes Review". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved February 22, 2013.