PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal
By KamiKaze Dee

Gameplay

If you love fun and party games then this is a must have for you, Although it is not a game I can sit and have a marathon session on I am happy enough to pop it in a few times a week and play right through one characters Solo campaign. The variety of characters means the All Stars has something for every gamer.

The easier setting make this game accessible to everyone you can team up with a friend, Child or any Relative and have a fun session, With so many characters everyone can find something they like, be It Nathan Drake with all his Guns of Sackboy with his Pop it each character brings a different element to the Gameplay.

Some characters move faster than others, for instance Nathan Drake can be slower while using weapon where if you use one of the smaller character you can get in there and get some quick combo’s going. Each Character has 3 Super powers you can choose to save up the Power meter getting you to level 2 or 3 which are 99% of the time guaranteed Knockouts or keep hammering with your level 1 power which maybe 10% of the time will get you a kill if you are in the right position. The level 2 and 3 powers really are where it is at and really do show what each character can do, for example at Level 3 Sack boy turns all character into orbs and then goes on to collect them each time you collect a character orb you get a kill. I strongly suggest holding out to get the Level 3 powers as it can be what wins the game in the end.

Levelling up you character’s does not seem to do more then give you unlocks, you can unlock costumes, backgrounds and Icons for you player card and also team titles. Some of their unlocks will look near impossible unless you are a hard-core fan and can get all the character up to level 300.

Graphics
The setting of the levels are taken from each character games and the all look exactly like they have been taken straight from there full games, The character models are excellent they look clean and smooth. Cut scenes are more of a Comic style with still Pictures and a voice over but they still look amazing.

Sound

There is a Great soundtrack as you play each level, you can unlock music from each character game so can customise the music around a bit to suit your character. The sound effects are spot on and clear, very crisp and great when turned up loud with a lot of base… It feels like Fight club in the Basement!

Voice acting is right out of each game, they sound like who they are supposed to be and they say what you would expect them to. You will get the classic one lines and can customise what they say during before and after fights as you level up.

Controls Interface

A well rounded control system that can vary in style from character to character, Moves are easy to pull off and remember and the Button layout is easily accessible. Some moves can be more tricky then others and with so many different moves you will find yourself doing the wrong ones but once you get use to the character it all comes together.

I did notice an Arcade setup in the control scheme so am not sure whether this mean you can plug in an arcade stick but I do see this as something that would work exceptionally well in this game.

Story Presentation

Pretty simple, run through each Solo mode with your character fighting everyone, they can come at you in groups of 1 – 3, and then you take on a big boss which is pretty easy. It is a basic story line being what it is but you get the cut scenes which can fill you in on the character if you are not too familiar with them.

The more characters you run through on solo mode the more you will get out of the stories, but you can always skip the cut scenes if you just want to get right in there and start the fight.


Multiplayer

Multiplayer is both hectic and fun and a great laugh, You can play from 2-4 players it is better with 4 but probably also best to be one to play with friends as the search tend to put you in games with red bars against Americans. 50% of the time I have found myself disconnected form the server after the match started due to excessive overseas lag, which is a shame. I have looked for local search options but so far have not found anything hopefully this will be sorted soon.

Overall

This game is the perfect addition to any PlayStation fan its every Sony Exclusive rolled into one, a great game to play with friends online and at home. I highly recommend it to every gamer out there. My overall experience has been pleasant and have not found myself to get a Rage meter going as of yet, when knocked up to the hardest difficulty you really will start to feel the challenge but it is worth it.

Ratings

Gameplay 9.5/10
Graphics 8/10
Sound 9/10
Controls Interface 9/10
Story Presentation 8/10
Multiplayer 8.5/10
Overall 9/10