While the MySims franchise is not a new series, MySims SkyHeroes is the first title from the series to be released on the PlayStation 3. The game is developed by The Sims Studio and published by none other than Electronic Arts. The game focuses on taking Sims into flight, allowing for a fully customizable aerial battle. But how does the first installment hold up on the PS3? Is it worth the price of admission?
The main draw for this series is the level of customization that can be put into, not only the main character, but also the plane that will be taken to the skies by the player. Everything from hair down to the glasses can be customized on the character. For example, if the gamer feels the need to wear a frog hat with 3D glasses for goggles, it’s whatever floats your boat. When it comes to creating the aircraft, this is another thing that EA left up to the player. Upgrading every aspect of the vehicle, all while giving it a personal touch with the looks, gives the gamer a great sense of ownership with the level of customizations that have been included when creating the Sim.
After creating a character, players may jump into the story mode, taking players head on with the main villain, Morcubus. Morcubus runs a company known as MorcuCorp, who has literally taken over the skies. Players are simply an unknown pilot at first as a member of SkyForce, led by Justice. SkyForce is a rebel faction with the intent of making the skies free once again. At the beginning of the story, you are unsure of who you are because your plane was found crashed, leaving you washed up on a beach with a lost memory. Advancing through the story allows players to discover who they really are. As you progress through the story, many more weapons, abilities, and customizations will unlock, allowing you to become even more skilled in the skies.
Besides the aforementioned story mode, players can also enjoy an included multiplayer component that the title offers. Multiplayer, lets players choose whether they want to play in a race or a dogfight. These options are available for both the local and online multiplayer. Sadly, these few modes are all the game has to offer.
Within the multiplayer mode, all stats are accounted for between five different stat columns: experience, race skill, dogfight skill, average final position, and kill-to-death ratio. One huge problem here, though, that is not necessarily the developer’s fault, is that there is literally no one online to play. Granted, this is most likely due to the fact that not many people own the title as of yet, but the current player count can still predict that it will be hard to play online with so few active users. Though the local co-op works well when having people over to play, it would still be nice to be able to hop online with the title on-demand. I personally literally left the queue on the “waiting for more players screen” for over an hour and not one opponent even popped up to join the match.
Gameplay is below-average at best. Players go around the maps picking up powerups and using them on opponents. There are a variety of powerups available but over time it becomes a very repetitive experience. The maps are rather large and offer differing challenges each time they are played, so overall there is just not a lot of variety within the title. Seeing as how you are a part of the SkyHeroes team during the campaign, you will find yourself playing many dogfights or races (these are the only two modes within the entire game). Some missions will find you working with your squad mates and others will have you against them. The problem is that it is essentially the same thing over and over at the end of the day.
Graphically, the game is definitely not a powerhouse. As mentioned, it is a MySims title, so the graphics are pretty much the same as in previous installments in the series. Given the audience it is aimed at, it works well, though. There were no major problems with either audio or framerate while playing the game.
Overall, MySims SkyHeroes is just another game out there that does nothing special in it’s delivery. The customization is one of the big positives for the title. As mentioned earlier, gamers can customize pretty much anything with both characters and vehicles but this experience alone does not make the game a huge blockbuster. The lack of variety and depth hurts the game a lot. In general, there is nothing that makes this game a huge, worthwhile experience. Sure, for what the SkyHeroes offers, it is done correctly, but between the repetition and simplistic play, it is hard to recommend this game. Yes, the title is aimed at the younger audience and would be enjoyable for that age group but there are so many other titles that offer so much more for the same, high pricepoint.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
– Online may work, but no one is actually on to experience the two modes that are available to play. – Lack of variety and depth lead to a lot of repetition. |
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