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I recently finished the main story of Red Faction: Guerrilla on the PS3 and found myself suddenly relaxing, as if unwinding from a tension I'd been holding onto while playing. It took a little while of motoring around Mars and cleaning up various leftover missions before it fell into place in my head. I'd been waiting for the single player game to start sucking, and it never happened. The pieces were there, the potential to fall apart, but it never did fall down like that. So thank you, Volition, for not screwing up this game. How could it have gotten messed up? Just three ways to start with: plot, trophies, and the last mission come to mind. Please note that talking about these below obviously deserves a Spoiler Warning! Read more »

The comparisons between Saints Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV are numerous, at least in the press, but Volition has crafted a game that stands apart from the GTA games in several ways, at least in the ten hours I've spent with it so far. First off, the time has flown by and I've spent most of it doing side missions and just running around, trying things out.

The game definitely plays to its M rating but unlike the most recent GTA this game doesn't take itself seriously. On the contrary, it goes so far off the deep end in being raunchy, silly, and violent that you can't help but laugh at all of it, and occasionally be a bit surprised at how raw the in-car or on-radio dialogue can get.

It's not all wine and roses, though. The rough edges of the physics engine magnifies the element of chance in sandbox games. I spent over an hour and a half playing the Escort side missions in one neighborhood alone last night trying to get past the 4th and 5th levels. When I finally did pass the 5th level it was with flying colors -- I'd simply gotten lucky taking turns that stymied the camera men pursuing the VIP who was busy with his companion in the back seat of my car. The randomness of some things gives the game a bit more challenge than you'd expect at times, but I can live with it. Read more »

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Despite talking up possibly having PS3 Trophies different from the Xbox 360 achievements, this IGN review noted no Trophies. This raised many an internet-watching eyebrow and now Volition has come clean and said uh, yeah, about those, um, they, uh, *cough* didntmakeitinkthxbye. Read more »

Just over two months after Grand Theft Auto 4 showed up on April 29th Sony rolled out firmware 2.40 for the PS3. Once the firmware showed up the forums echoed with the statement that it sure would be nice if GTA4 got a Trophy patch, wouldn't it? Read more »