The PS3 and 360 are quickly fading into the our collective memories. As the new consoles take over, stores have to shift their stock to Xbox One and PS4 games. This leads to steeply discounted last generation games. I thought, why not pick up a few of these dirt cheap games and see what they are all about. Having picked up 6 different games for only $3 a piece, I figured I could give some of them a chance to shine. The three games in this review series were all supposed to be a big deal at one time or another, now they are discount bin fodder. Let’s see how good they are.
First up is Playstation Move Heroes. I vividly remember this game being announced during the height of the motion gaming craze. Known by the much better name Heroes on the Move during pre-release, this game pits 3 of Sony’s most popular hero teams against each other in a series of motion controlled Playstation Move mini-games.
So, right out of the gate it already has 2 strikes against itself: 1. Motion Controls, 2. Minigame Collection. Luckily the cast of characters is strong. During the PS2 era, Sony had Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and the Sly Cooper series all aimed at the exact same market of gamers, young teens. The games were similar enough, that if you were a fan of one you were a fan of them all. This makes it very convenient to throw them all into one big cross-over game.
There’s a few problems with that though. The game isn’t very big and rather than feeling like a proper crossover, the style of humor just makes it feel like Sly, Bentley, Jak and Daxter just invaded a Ratchet game. Also, let’s look at the target audience here. The core trilogies of these three properties were released from 2001-2005. Meaning that a kid that started playing these games at 13, in 2001, in Middle School, is now a 23 year old college student.
That couldn’t have helped the sales. This is NOT a college student game. Those kids in 2001 were probably playing Call of Duty or Gears of War in 2011. As for the game, its functional and cute, but shallow and easy. I don’t recall, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this title was released at a budget price point ($20-$30). Fun can be had with it, but anyone looking for this to be a tent pole Move release, needs to look elsewhere.
If you have the Move hardware, is it worth $3? Absolutely! I was able to sink about 5-6 hours into it before finishing the game and the charm from the characters is very much on display. When discount gaming, its not about how good the game is, its about the value proposition. Looking at the 53 Metacritic score, its clear Playstation Move Heroes is not a fantastic game.
Next up…Let’s go Modracing?
