Where Qore Episode Two stood high and mighty, representing the potential of the downloadable moving-pictures-magazine, Episode Three falls flat on its super-hero-heavy face. With a lineup of awesome games like DC Universe Online and Lego Batman accompanying Baja and NBA 09, it’s a wonder how drearily dull this edition is.
At least you’ll earn access to the Resistance 2 beta with a purchase.
But therein lies one of Qore’s problems: it’s constantly charging you to access games that aren’t available. In three Episodes, we’ve been offered two access downloads in the form of SOCOM: Confrontation and this month’s R2, and considering that neither are available for at least another month, August’s edition of Qore is literally worthless until you can gain the goods you really want.
The most prime example, however, is the downloadable theme for Home, Sony’s upcoming social networking service for the PSN. But like everything interesting in this Qore release, it’s not available for a good amount of time.
Try not to get too excited.
The videos for DC Universe Online showed gameplay footage, but it still isn’t anything we haven’t seen; details about the pricing structure are vague, gameplay details are standard marketing-spiel fare, and a far-from-entertaining look at concept art results in a dull look at what could be a great PS3 exclusive.
Lego Batman details were equally uninteresting, and with unskippable Burger King ads (they’re baaaaack) inserted between menus, it’s an excercise in frustration to get to the 30 seconds of old, recycled footage that plays on loop as hostess Veronica Belmont chats up developers. With an emphasis on an improved combat system and better puzzles, the skinny on the upcoming Dark Knight-centric game was canned and something we’re not only expecting from the game; we’re demanding it.
Baja, while looking like a great Motorstorm-alike desert racer, looks like it might have a few issues. Ms. Belmont was seated behind a panoramic set of three televisions that displayed a 180 degree view of the game –the developer mentions how common LAN parties are, and that people are always bringing their PS3s to each other’s places, thus making it easy and practical to hook up a trio of console’s and HDTVs together, right? Ugh– and while the game looked fun, her grimacing and abundant frowning while the game was off screen wasn’t exactly a warming indication.
Finally, the NBA stuff was as bland and PR-speak-filled as everything else, and I’d hate to mention anything else about the upcoming hoops game, lest you think that I was suckered in to the shill enough to actually care about another annual generic-o-sports game.
Worse than the disappointing first episode, the August edition of Qore isn’t worth your money, time or thoughts. Avoid it at all costs if at all possible, regardless of the Resistance beta entry; there’s going to be plenty of free ways to gain access.
Take a pass on this annoying-to-peruse Episode. Please.
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