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It's been a bumpy road for the Vita, but this year the PS vita celebrated its 3rd birthday. Whilst the Vita has good games, many of them are ports of successful games on other platforms rather than original IPs which doesn't entice many to go buy a vita. Gravity rush is special being one of the few games that's an original IP exclusive to the PS Vita. What's more interesting is that it was directed by Kiichiro Toyama, the creator of the silent hill series. The game has received a mostly positive reception and was even nominated for best handheld game at 10th annual spike awards. But is Gravity Rush really worth playing?
The game follows the story of Kat, who awakens with memory loss in the city of Hekseville apparently arriving by falling from the sky. Bewildered by her new surroundings and with no past to return to, she has little choice but to set up home in Hekseville using her gravity powers to make a living. Players will guide Kat through her adventures to rise from powerful misfit to heroine of Hekseville. what starts off from lifting furniture into her new home quickly escalates into recovering parts of the city, catching a master thief, rescuing school children and eventually saving the city itself.
Gravity rush is elegant, it's game aesthetics and presentation are impressive with care and attention evident throughout the game. Even the box cover is a work of art. Its eye catching, unusual and captures the very essence of the game all in one. The cell shaded anime art design of the graphics lends itself well. The frame by frame comic book style to progress the story is well implemented. The floating city of Hekseville is beautifully designed. Exploration of the city is exciting and visiting new areas is an enjoyable prospect. Starting off in old town, Kat's adventure will take players to explore the entertainment/education, factory ,commercial and parts unknown of Hekseville. Each district has its own unique fashion style and architecture with a wide variety of interesting landmarks ranging from old stone churches to vast skyscrapers. The mood/atmosphere for each area is captured brilliantly, from the complementary use of lighting and accompanying music choice. Even the smaller details like the bill boards, poster, flying cars and tv adverts are interesting to look at making environments that more interesting.
Although players will find it hard to criticize GR's presentation, the same can't be said on the games more important gameplay aspect. Outside of progressing the interesting main story missions, there's very little else to do beyond attempting various unlocked challenges, collecting additional experience to level up or searching for the travelers to listen to their tragic story. Whilst the limited content is a concern, it does mean that GR never outstayed its welcome. Should gamers yearn for additional content, Gravity rush does have 3 DLCs at £3.49 apiece offering more costumes, challenge maps and side missions that are unrelated to the main story. A bigger problem, one that 's a real killjoy, are the control issues. Gravity Rush's unique feature is that Kat has the ability to (unsurprisingly) manipulate gravity. This gives her the advantage to travel vast distances but more importantly walk on any surface regardless the angle. Gravity is easily manipulated with the use of the buttons, the touch screen and motion control.
In fairness, the game mechanics mostly do work, being perfectly adequate (and not to mention, incredibly fun) to zip across the city at high velocity through the air or the ground. The problems arise during combat with the inky adversary; the Nevi. Although not game breaking, the controls at times feel restrictive and sluggish thanks to the game's tank like start/stop gravity mechanics. It's a constant chore needing to make adjustments mid flight to get at the Nevi's weak spots. It's not helped how slapdash fights can become because of other minor niggling issues compounding the problem. The normal kick attack works fine especially coupled with evasion and counter moves, it's extremely deadly. Except most targets fly or too tall to attack normally so other attacks need to be utilized. Kat can pick up and throw projectiles, but she floats on the spot aimlessly leaving her vulnerable wasting precious seconds as players change/reset gravity to get moving again. The gravity kick, the main method of attacking ground and air targets alike has a handy lock on feature to facilitate easier targeting of Nevi weak spots. In the right hands, players can chain attack targets wiping out multiple weaker enemies or severally damage stronger Nevi. But the feature is prone to malfunctions, especially against larger targets or bosses, causing Kat to hurl past targets even when locked on. In these situations, players are advised to spam Kats special attacks to either smash or blast it out of the sky.
[final thoughts]
Despite its control issues and lack of content , Gravity rush was enjoyable to play. Strong art direction and interesting story coupled with the fun (yet flawed) gravity manipulation helped to maintain the motivation to continue playing. In the games defense, with a bit of practice and upgrading Kat's various gravity skills, it's possible to overcome all these minor niggles and nuisances concerning the controls. But GR really could have done without the problems that prevent the game being scored higher. The game won't convince gamer's to go out and buy the PS Vita, but those who do own a PS Vita, it's certainly worth a purchase especially how cheap the game is nowadays. Recently, in Sony's PS Vita anniversary sale, it went for less than £6. How much mileage players will get out of the game will depend on how forgiving they are to its problems . Give the demo a try, if you give the game a chance and are able to overlook or overcome its shortcomings, Gravity Rush is a likable game that's an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
7/10
The game follows the story of Kat, who awakens with memory loss in the city of Hekseville apparently arriving by falling from the sky. Bewildered by her new surroundings and with no past to return to, she has little choice but to set up home in Hekseville using her gravity powers to make a living. Players will guide Kat through her adventures to rise from powerful misfit to heroine of Hekseville. what starts off from lifting furniture into her new home quickly escalates into recovering parts of the city, catching a master thief, rescuing school children and eventually saving the city itself.
Gravity rush is elegant, it's game aesthetics and presentation are impressive with care and attention evident throughout the game. Even the box cover is a work of art. Its eye catching, unusual and captures the very essence of the game all in one. The cell shaded anime art design of the graphics lends itself well. The frame by frame comic book style to progress the story is well implemented. The floating city of Hekseville is beautifully designed. Exploration of the city is exciting and visiting new areas is an enjoyable prospect. Starting off in old town, Kat's adventure will take players to explore the entertainment/education, factory ,commercial and parts unknown of Hekseville. Each district has its own unique fashion style and architecture with a wide variety of interesting landmarks ranging from old stone churches to vast skyscrapers. The mood/atmosphere for each area is captured brilliantly, from the complementary use of lighting and accompanying music choice. Even the smaller details like the bill boards, poster, flying cars and tv adverts are interesting to look at making environments that more interesting.
Although players will find it hard to criticize GR's presentation, the same can't be said on the games more important gameplay aspect. Outside of progressing the interesting main story missions, there's very little else to do beyond attempting various unlocked challenges, collecting additional experience to level up or searching for the travelers to listen to their tragic story. Whilst the limited content is a concern, it does mean that GR never outstayed its welcome. Should gamers yearn for additional content, Gravity rush does have 3 DLCs at £3.49 apiece offering more costumes, challenge maps and side missions that are unrelated to the main story. A bigger problem, one that 's a real killjoy, are the control issues. Gravity Rush's unique feature is that Kat has the ability to (unsurprisingly) manipulate gravity. This gives her the advantage to travel vast distances but more importantly walk on any surface regardless the angle. Gravity is easily manipulated with the use of the buttons, the touch screen and motion control.
In fairness, the game mechanics mostly do work, being perfectly adequate (and not to mention, incredibly fun) to zip across the city at high velocity through the air or the ground. The problems arise during combat with the inky adversary; the Nevi. Although not game breaking, the controls at times feel restrictive and sluggish thanks to the game's tank like start/stop gravity mechanics. It's a constant chore needing to make adjustments mid flight to get at the Nevi's weak spots. It's not helped how slapdash fights can become because of other minor niggling issues compounding the problem. The normal kick attack works fine especially coupled with evasion and counter moves, it's extremely deadly. Except most targets fly or too tall to attack normally so other attacks need to be utilized. Kat can pick up and throw projectiles, but she floats on the spot aimlessly leaving her vulnerable wasting precious seconds as players change/reset gravity to get moving again. The gravity kick, the main method of attacking ground and air targets alike has a handy lock on feature to facilitate easier targeting of Nevi weak spots. In the right hands, players can chain attack targets wiping out multiple weaker enemies or severally damage stronger Nevi. But the feature is prone to malfunctions, especially against larger targets or bosses, causing Kat to hurl past targets even when locked on. In these situations, players are advised to spam Kats special attacks to either smash or blast it out of the sky.
[final thoughts]
Despite its control issues and lack of content , Gravity rush was enjoyable to play. Strong art direction and interesting story coupled with the fun (yet flawed) gravity manipulation helped to maintain the motivation to continue playing. In the games defense, with a bit of practice and upgrading Kat's various gravity skills, it's possible to overcome all these minor niggles and nuisances concerning the controls. But GR really could have done without the problems that prevent the game being scored higher. The game won't convince gamer's to go out and buy the PS Vita, but those who do own a PS Vita, it's certainly worth a purchase especially how cheap the game is nowadays. Recently, in Sony's PS Vita anniversary sale, it went for less than £6. How much mileage players will get out of the game will depend on how forgiving they are to its problems . Give the demo a try, if you give the game a chance and are able to overlook or overcome its shortcomings, Gravity Rush is a likable game that's an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
7/10
Gravity Rush was actually a PS+ free game for about a year and a half, ever since PS+ came to PS Vita, alongside Uncharted. Was supposed to be a rolling game, but they never bothered rolling those 2 and they just stayed part of the offering. Not that this is a bad thing as it meant many more people have had a chance to grab the game.
It's been a bumpy road for the Vita, but this year the PS vita celebrated its 3rd birthday. Whilst the Vita has good games, many of them are ports of successful games on other platforms rather than original IPs which doesn't entice many to go buy a vita. Gravity rush is special being one of the few games that's an original IP exclusive to the PS Vita. What's more interesting is that it was directed by Kiichiro Toyama, the creator of the silent hill series. The game has received a mostly positive reception and was even nominated for best handheld game at 10th annual spike awards. But is Gravity Rush really worth playing?
The game follows the story of Kat, who awakens with memory loss in the city of Hekseville apparently arriving by falling from the sky. Bewildered by her new surroundings and with no past to return to, she has little choice but to set up home in Hekseville using her gravity powers to make a living. Players will guide Kat through her adventures to rise from powerful misfit to heroine of Hekseville. what starts off from lifting furniture into her new home quickly escalates into recovering parts of the city, catching a master thief, rescuing school children and eventually saving the city itself.
Gravity rush is elegant, it's game aesthetics and presentation are impressive with care and attention evident throughout the game. Even the box cover is a work of art. Its eye catching, unusual and captures the very essence of the game all in one. The cell shaded anime art design of the graphics lends itself well. The frame by frame comic book style to progress the story is well implemented. The floating city of Hekseville is beautifully designed. Exploration of the city is exciting and visiting new areas is an enjoyable prospect. Starting off in old town, Kat's adventure will take players to explore the entertainment/education, factory ,commercial and parts unknown of Hekseville. Each district has its own unique fashion style and architecture with a wide variety of interesting landmarks ranging from old stone churches to vast skyscrapers. The mood/atmosphere for each area is captured brilliantly, from the complementary use of lighting and accompanying music choice. Even the smaller details like the bill boards, poster, flying cars and tv adverts are interesting to look at making environments that more interesting.
Although players will find it hard to criticize GR's presentation, the same can't be said on the games more important gameplay aspect. Outside of progressing the interesting main story missions, there's very little else to do beyond attempting various unlocked challenges, collecting additional experience to level up or searching for the travelers to listen to their tragic story. Whilst the limited content is a concern, it does mean that GR never outstayed its welcome. Should gamers yearn for additional content, Gravity rush does have 3 DLCs at £3.49 apiece offering more costumes, challenge maps and side missions that are unrelated to the main story. A bigger problem, one that 's a real killjoy, are the control issues. Gravity Rush's unique feature is that Kat has the ability to (unsurprisingly) manipulate gravity. This gives her the advantage to travel vast distances but more importantly walk on any surface regardless the angle. Gravity is easily manipulated with the use of the buttons, the touch screen and motion control.
In fairness, the game mechanics mostly do work, being perfectly adequate (and not to mention, incredibly fun) to zip across the city at high velocity through the air or the ground. The problems arise during combat with the inky adversary; the Nevi. Although not game breaking, the controls at times feel restrictive and sluggish thanks to the game's tank like start/stop gravity mechanics. It's a constant chore needing to make adjustments mid flight to get at the Nevi's weak spots. It's not helped how slapdash fights can become because of other minor niggling issues compounding the problem. The normal kick attack works fine especially coupled with evasion and counter moves, it's extremely deadly. Except most targets fly or too tall to attack normally so other attacks need to be utilized. Kat can pick up and throw projectiles, but she floats on the spot aimlessly leaving her vulnerable wasting precious seconds as players change/reset gravity to get moving again. The gravity kick, the main method of attacking ground and air targets alike has a handy lock on feature to facilitate easier targeting of Nevi weak spots. In the right hands, players can chain attack targets wiping out multiple weaker enemies or severally damage stronger Nevi. But the feature is prone to malfunctions, especially against larger targets or bosses, causing Kat to hurl past targets even when locked on. In these situations, players are advised to spam Kats special attacks to either smash or blast it out of the sky.
[final thoughts]
Despite its control issues and lack of content , Gravity rush was enjoyable to play. Strong art direction and interesting story coupled with the fun (yet flawed) gravity manipulation helped to maintain the motivation to continue playing. In the games defense, with a bit of practice and upgrading Kat's various gravity skills, it's possible to overcome all these minor niggles and nuisances concerning the controls. But GR really could have done without the problems that prevent the game being scored higher. The game won't convince gamer's to go out and buy the PS Vita, but those who do own a PS Vita, it's certainly worth a purchase especially how cheap the game is nowadays. Recently, in Sony's PS Vita anniversary sale, it went for less than £6. How much mileage players will get out of the game will depend on how forgiving they are to its problems . Give the demo a try, if you give the game a chance and are able to overlook or overcome its shortcomings, Gravity Rush is a likable game that's an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
7/10
The game follows the story of Kat, who awakens with memory loss in the city of Hekseville apparently arriving by falling from the sky. Bewildered by her new surroundings and with no past to return to, she has little choice but to set up home in Hekseville using her gravity powers to make a living. Players will guide Kat through her adventures to rise from powerful misfit to heroine of Hekseville. what starts off from lifting furniture into her new home quickly escalates into recovering parts of the city, catching a master thief, rescuing school children and eventually saving the city itself.
Gravity rush is elegant, it's game aesthetics and presentation are impressive with care and attention evident throughout the game. Even the box cover is a work of art. Its eye catching, unusual and captures the very essence of the game all in one. The cell shaded anime art design of the graphics lends itself well. The frame by frame comic book style to progress the story is well implemented. The floating city of Hekseville is beautifully designed. Exploration of the city is exciting and visiting new areas is an enjoyable prospect. Starting off in old town, Kat's adventure will take players to explore the entertainment/education, factory ,commercial and parts unknown of Hekseville. Each district has its own unique fashion style and architecture with a wide variety of interesting landmarks ranging from old stone churches to vast skyscrapers. The mood/atmosphere for each area is captured brilliantly, from the complementary use of lighting and accompanying music choice. Even the smaller details like the bill boards, poster, flying cars and tv adverts are interesting to look at making environments that more interesting.
Although players will find it hard to criticize GR's presentation, the same can't be said on the games more important gameplay aspect. Outside of progressing the interesting main story missions, there's very little else to do beyond attempting various unlocked challenges, collecting additional experience to level up or searching for the travelers to listen to their tragic story. Whilst the limited content is a concern, it does mean that GR never outstayed its welcome. Should gamers yearn for additional content, Gravity rush does have 3 DLCs at £3.49 apiece offering more costumes, challenge maps and side missions that are unrelated to the main story. A bigger problem, one that 's a real killjoy, are the control issues. Gravity Rush's unique feature is that Kat has the ability to (unsurprisingly) manipulate gravity. This gives her the advantage to travel vast distances but more importantly walk on any surface regardless the angle. Gravity is easily manipulated with the use of the buttons, the touch screen and motion control.
In fairness, the game mechanics mostly do work, being perfectly adequate (and not to mention, incredibly fun) to zip across the city at high velocity through the air or the ground. The problems arise during combat with the inky adversary; the Nevi. Although not game breaking, the controls at times feel restrictive and sluggish thanks to the game's tank like start/stop gravity mechanics. It's a constant chore needing to make adjustments mid flight to get at the Nevi's weak spots. It's not helped how slapdash fights can become because of other minor niggling issues compounding the problem. The normal kick attack works fine especially coupled with evasion and counter moves, it's extremely deadly. Except most targets fly or too tall to attack normally so other attacks need to be utilized. Kat can pick up and throw projectiles, but she floats on the spot aimlessly leaving her vulnerable wasting precious seconds as players change/reset gravity to get moving again. The gravity kick, the main method of attacking ground and air targets alike has a handy lock on feature to facilitate easier targeting of Nevi weak spots. In the right hands, players can chain attack targets wiping out multiple weaker enemies or severally damage stronger Nevi. But the feature is prone to malfunctions, especially against larger targets or bosses, causing Kat to hurl past targets even when locked on. In these situations, players are advised to spam Kats special attacks to either smash or blast it out of the sky.
[final thoughts]
Despite its control issues and lack of content , Gravity rush was enjoyable to play. Strong art direction and interesting story coupled with the fun (yet flawed) gravity manipulation helped to maintain the motivation to continue playing. In the games defense, with a bit of practice and upgrading Kat's various gravity skills, it's possible to overcome all these minor niggles and nuisances concerning the controls. But GR really could have done without the problems that prevent the game being scored higher. The game won't convince gamer's to go out and buy the PS Vita, but those who do own a PS Vita, it's certainly worth a purchase especially how cheap the game is nowadays. Recently, in Sony's PS Vita anniversary sale, it went for less than £6. How much mileage players will get out of the game will depend on how forgiving they are to its problems . Give the demo a try, if you give the game a chance and are able to overlook or overcome its shortcomings, Gravity Rush is a likable game that's an enjoyable and worthwhile experience.
7/10