The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
Today, we gear up for an alien invasion in the movie tie-in Battle: Los Angeles.
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Developer: Saber Interactive
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1
Movie cash-ins are common as muck these days and have been so for over two decades. Hardly a surprise, then, that big-budget alien blaster Battle: Los Angeles has received the videogame treatment following its assault on cinemas last month. Taking the form of a first-person shooter, this eponymous game adaptation adheres to the events of the film fairly accurately, right down to the movie’s length – you should be able to blast through the entire thing in just a couple of hours.
Anyone who has even read just a snippet about the movie’s plot should have an idea of what to expect: aliens are running amuck throughout LaLa Land, and it’s up to you and a bunch of military grunts to unload copious amounts of lead at them in the hopes they’ll bugger off. Bish bash bosh. The narrative unfolds via comic-style panels with speech bubbles, so don’t expect anything too flash here as far as cinematic storytelling goes – it’s all a strictly barebones affair.
Players have access to a rudimentary batch of weapons, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, rocket launchers as well as numerous explosives such as grenades. No points for originality there, but your arsenal is more than adequate for dealing with the perennial stream of alien hordes you’ll encounter as you venture down war-torn streets and wrecked bridges. Most of the environments are destructible to boot, and can prove useful tools for aiding you in combat. As for your foes, they’ll typically fall like a sack of potatoes to a well-placed headshot, though can take a surprising pasting in other regions of the body.
You’ll take plenty of flack yourself, mind, with damage represented via a decolourisation process and distorted sound effects. Elsewhere, while there’s no multiplayer up for grabs, Battle: Los Angeles still offers plenty of incentive to continue the war against the alien scum. For one, there’s Trophy support on offer, as well as the chance to unlock various goodies including images and videos. Multiple difficult levels are also available if you fancy a greater challenge later down the line.
Check back again tomorrow as PSU takes another glance Inside PlayStation Network.