Retro|Spective 213: The Final Tour of PlayStation Vita

[Neon Ignition]

The next thread begins and we return to the handheld days of Sony with their ill-fated second device:


Retro|Spective 213: The Final Tour of PlayStation Vita


From the outset the handheld made a strong impression both in its physical looks and with its display. Furthering the aim of taking the big screen console experience and placing it in the palm of your hands, the device was much anticipated following the success of its predecessor but a series of decisions by Sony compounded difficulties the device already had in a market that was already being attacked from several sides. It's demise brought an end to Sony's handheld days and also a locked environment for some titles that remain tied to it to this day.



Game 01: Bullet Girls 1 & 2
A trilogy of games were made for Vita but with the final entry also launching on PS4 the first two remain tied to the device. Action shooters both, the games fall within the fanservice titilation bracket that was rising in popularity at the time with other releases such as Senran Kagura. Taking simple gameplay and throwing a number of scantily clad school girls into the mix, the games did well enough to see the series run for a while in Japan and score reasonable reviews.




Gunning For Your Attention?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 02: Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified
It was supposed to be a huge moment, finally bringing the popular franchise to the palm of your hands. When the game emerged though it was clear a lot a compromises had been made. Bugs, poor AI, weak touch control integration and a campaign that failed to match the bombastic experiences on console. The key area, multiplayer, only offered 4v4 at the most for players and a measly seven maps which have led to the entry being a notable one shot.




Better Being Redacted?

[Asura]

I do feel that the COD game being bad was a major problem for the Vita, bigger than some realise.

The Vita was the first handheld with proper twin-stick controls, so people had really high expectations for it. I honestly think this being bad caused a lot of mainstream users to write it off.

[QualityChimp]

I don't have many games for my Vita, so I'm not sure how much I can add to the thread, but I'll be looking out for any gems I missed!

[wakka]

I've written about my annoyance and disappointment with this game on here before. I wasn't doing great generally at the time that came out and I had been really looking forward to it. News, previews and footage beforehand were highly limited if not non-existent, which didn't bode well. I picked it up on release day from HMV and when I stuck it on later that day I was absolutely gutted.

The graphics were terrible, and the tiny, limited campaign levels were nothing like the ones in the full console releases. They were like someone had made a ****ty low budget CoD clone for mobile*. The multiplayer was just as bad, with minuscule nothings of levels, little in the way of progression and laggy gameplay.

It was absolutely a game that represented bare minimum budget and bare minimum effort. It was frankly insulting. I returned it the next day to HMV and gave the old 'I got this as a present for someone and they already had it' excuse and the staff kindly let me exchange it for store credit.

It was such a shame. As Asura points out, the opportunity both for the quality of the game and for the platform to offer this unique (yet familiar) portable experience was absolutely massive. It could have been amazing. Before release, I was envisaging daily deathmatching on the bus by tethering to my phone, a proper portable CoD with the full fat multiplayer experience.

It was all possible, but they chose to half arse it. If you ask me, Sony should have stepped in with this and supported/forced Activision to make it as good as it possibly could have been.

*I actually had a lot more fun with the CoD clone for mobile, Modern Combat, which had released a year or two earlier for the iPhone and was much better made

[Asura]

*I actually had a lot more fun with the CoD clone for mobile, Modern Combat, which had released a year or two earlier for the iPhone and was much better made

That's partially because that game existed because of a personal vendetta; the other Guillemot brother (related to the Ubisoft guy) formed GameLoft and went to a bunch of companies and offered to make mobile versions of their games. When they refused, he said he'd make his own versions with blackjack and hookers

[wakka]

That is very interesting! I didn't know that.

I haven't played a Gameloft game for many years now but I remember them as pioneers in mobile gaming in the 2000s.

Back in the Java and Symbian days I felt they definitely made some of the best games, so I wasn't too surprised when I saw their logo appear at the start of some of the most ambitious efforts on the early App Store.

[Colin]

I'll keep this short, COD on Vita was utter dog ****.

[phillv85]

I haven't played many Vita games but I have played that CoD game and it's terrible. I only paid a couple of quid for it, if Id bought it new at full price I'd have been very disappointed.

[Brad]

I quite fancy a vita again. That or a psp go. Or a 3DSXL. An old handheld basically!

[QualityChimp]

Sorry, Brad!

If it helps, I played a truckload of Vita last year when I got into Darkest Dungeon - it's such a good game and perfect for the platform.
I am still appreciative of your generosity.

I know COD is supposed to be a good fit as the Vita has the twin sticks like its bigger brother, but I've found stuff like DD and Broken Sword are much nicer together.

[wakka]

Vita did do some good renditions of 'full size' games, too, but there aren't all that many of them. I loved playing through MGS 2 HD on it. For some reason the collection with MGS2 and 3 was released at an absolutely bargain price of about £20 too. I don't think it has ever gone below that on Ebay since release and usually circles around £30 to £40.

Gravity Rush was also great. I picked that one up on release day. It wasn't a perfect game - the combat was way too simplistic, you basically were best off just spamming the homing 'Gravity Kick' over and over - but the world and the originality of the design for navigating it were superb. It was such a cool feeling to flip the gravity's orientation and soar through the air, especially on a handheld at the time.

One of my other fonder memories is playing through the port of Jet Set Radio that it received. It ran brilliantly and the graphics looked incredible on that highly saturated OLED.

[Neon Ignition]

Game 03: Freedom Wars
An action RPG, the game is set in the future were prison cities wage war on each other. The game was the second highest selling game on the system in Japan, a huge hit, and included online multiplayer. Launching in 2014, it proved popular enough that the servers for the game didn't shut down till 2021. Despite this success, Sony abandoned it along with all Vita era titles and no sequel was ever made.




Hidden Great?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 04: Killzone: Mercenary
Picking up the baton that Call of Duty had dropped, Killzone brought a high level visual FPS to Sony's handheld in which players select their loadout and mission aiming to meet the requirements of the contract. Including online multiplayer, the game met with universal acclaim and at the time was considered the benchmark for how to deliver an FPS experience on handheld.



Killing It?

[Neon Ignition]

Game 05: Modnation Racers Road Trip
Following up on the PS3 version of the game, this handheld entry offered much of the same with track creation and online racing a large part of the core. A loose Mario Kart clone at heart, players can level up weapons by collecting them repeatedly without first firing them. The game scored average reviews, some technical strains costing it points but aggressive rubber banding proving a critical blow. Never the less its servers ran for seven years.




An Aggressive Mod?