I’ve been back and forth like a pendulum with Qore. On one side, you’ve got a really great edition with tons of useful info and great interviews to go along with the videos and artwork, but when it passes the equilibrium it’s a package of total garbage with lame promotions and horrifically boring chats. September’s edition of Qore is of the former type.
The LittleBigPlanet vids — including a great tutorial given to hostess Veronica Belmont — and an amazingly cute theme to get you even more hyped for the most creative game ever made, are some of the coolest available. Showcasing how the PlayStation Eye and construction system works (it looks incredibly intuitive and fun to use) the lengthy featurettes will have you dying for the make-your-own-game game. Interviews with developer Media Molecule give further insight in to the development of the game, and the team expects the unexpected from the community. You can feel their love and passion for the game, and when they are explaining why it’s so great you’ll never get the feeling like it’s being shilled.
Another game that gets a huge spotlight shone on it — complete with multiple interviews and an artwork section that defines why we should be able to save these images for wallpapers — is the insanely gorgeous and Nukoda previewed Prince of Persia. Ubisoft’s latest looks as smooth as one could expect and with a stellar art style to boot, it’s hard not to get captivated by it. Ben Mattes of Ubisoft Montreal, who demoed the game at PAX, gives an outline of the story and justifies why the series is getting rebooted instead of sequeled.
Now where’s our demo for PoP?!
There’s no demo for the action platformer as of yet, but included with this “issue” of Qore is a free, early-access demo for the MotorStorm sequel, Pacific Rift. The jungle racer is significantly more environmentally expansive than it’s predecessor, but retains great features like land deformation and holy crap that’s hot graphics. New vehicles and unique drivers are also a bonus, but the way the entire thing is presented feels pretty canned. Interviews feel scripted and little new information is dished out, and though the demo is set up for players to download, they can’t actually get it until the 11th. The fact that Qore is still promising things like this without allowing immediate access is friggin’ infuriating and makes us wonder “why bother?” The early access is certainly appreciated but using demos and betas as promotional points is shallow when you can’t actually access them.
What’s left is either old or stale. The BioShock stuff with 2K Marin is definitely interesting if you’ve never experienced the game, which is likely for a lot of PS3 owners, but the entire thing has been done for PC/360 gamers. Still, it’s there for you if you’re stoked about its upcoming release. The list of upcoming games and Blu-Ray discs are helpful, though bland. There’s nothing cool about it’s presentation and the intermitent unskippable ads still drive me up the wall.
Overall this issue is solid. It’s probably not really worth money yet, but it’s reassuring if you were suckered into subscribing. The MotorStorm demo is totally hot, and if you’ve GOT to play it, it might be worth dropping the couple bucks — but you’re a chump for paying for a demo.
Said the subscriber.
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