From the Vault — originally published June 18, 2011. Some links, videos or prices may be out of date.
Here are my impressions and a few notes on the PS Vita games I was able to play at this years E3 2011.
Uncharted Golden Abyss: All you need to know is that this is Uncharted. Ok, well in this game drake has a backpack but it all looks great. When using the traditional controls it felt perfect. I do wonder and did ask if they plan to include any portable multiplayer functionality though nothing has been announced. The demo highlighted the touch controls that include sliding your finger across the screen to move drake along ledges and tilting the device to aim grenade arcs. Although neat I didn’t find any of the new touch functionality anything I would end up using. The one feature that I felt like I may use is the touch sniper rifle controls. You pinch in or use two fingers to zoom out with touch to zoom in or zoom out with the rifle scope. You also move the whole PS Vita in your hands to control the scope. A pretty interesting use of the device functions and it was confirmed that you will be able to turn it off your a control traditionalist. The sections of Uncharted Golden Abyss on display felt more like Drakes Fortune than Among Thieves but it looked and felt right.
Little Deviants: A collection of minigames is pretty much what Little Deviants is and its certainly a game for casual players. It has a “Cut the Rope” or “Angry Birds” feel. One stage had a buidling with windows and as the windows open you either have to touch the screen in front or touch the back panel if they are on the back of the building. Not my cup of tea and about two minutes in I was ready to move on to the next game.
Virtua Tennis 4: I actually had been playing this game on PS3 leading up to E3 and I must say it looked almost identical on PS Vita. You could play with the traditional controls or move your finger along the screen to move your character in place to hit the ball. This game proved to me that the Vita could really push games that were on par with their PS3 counterparts.
Little Big Planet: This game looked really nice on PS Vita though if you are opposed to touch you will have problems with the PS Vita Little Big Planet game. There are green items all over the stages that you must move, crank or swing into place with your finger so you can platform and navigate your sac person through the stages. This will be loved and hated for sure. The physics and controls seemed identical to Little Big Planet 2.
Sound Shapes: An abstract game in a similar vein as Everyday Shooter another game from the studio. As you platform and collect items you create sounds add instruments and the tempo of the stage music changes. Very interesting game and if you loved everyday shooter you will also love Sound Shapes.
