Hello everyone to another edition of the LoCo Gaming Update. This week I review the demo of the spiritual successor to Strider, Moon Diver & and a HD sequel to an old Konami title.Demo Review: Moon Diver
Release Date: Out Now (PS3)/ TBA (Xbox 360)
Developer: feelplus Publisher: Square Enix
Platform(s): PS3/Xbox 360
Format: Digital Downloadable Title
ESRB rating: E 10
Price: 1200 MS Points ($14.99)

I was excited when I heard about Moon Diver the spiritual sequel to one of my favorite 16 bit video games, Strider. And while the Moon Diver isn’t bad, it does have its fare share of issues that stop it from being great.
For those who are not familiar with Strider, it was an old action-plat former set in the future where you play as a ninja fighting against the Russian Army. Moon Diver takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where you play as one of four super ninja fighting against.some evil force that enslaved humanity. Unlike Strider, Moon Blade is supposed to be a four-player co-op title.
Graphically, Moon Diver looks (mostly) good for a downloadable title. Characters animate well, the lighting effect look great, and it doesn’t even suffer from frame rate slowdown. Unfortunately, the hud is too small to be legible, at least on a standard definition TV.
The gameplay seem to be fine, even if its fairly repetitive. Your player character can double jump, use magic, slide, hang for the ceiling, and even use charged attacks. Most of the time, simple melee attacks will be enough to take down most enemies. Unfortunately, the laser turrets can almost instantly kill you, which wouldn’t be so bad if each level had checkpoints. Also, unfortunate are certain sections, here on referred as brawler sections, in each level where you are locked in one particular area to fight wave after wave of enemies, which disrupts the pace of the game too much. The game can fairly chaotic to the point where it’s hard to tell where your character is on the screen, especially when during co-op.
The music did fit the game pretty well despite it being a little cheesy.
Overall, Moon Blade is not a bad title, but it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

3.0/5.0 (DECENT)
+ Good music
+ Emulates from a great platformer
+ Four-player co-op
? Overpowered laser turrets
? Repetitive “brawler sections”
? No checkpoints
? Hud is too small for SDTVs

Demo Review: Rush N’ Attack: Ex-Patriot
Release Date: Out Now
Developer: Vatra Publisher: Konami
Platform(s): PS3/Xbox 360
Format: Digital Downloadable Title
ESRB rating: M
Price: 800 MS Points ($9.99)

Rush N’ Attack: Ex-Patriot is-unlike the original game that’s available on Xbox Live Arcade-a 2D stealth-action title. The main goal of Rush N’ Attack: Ex-Patriot, here on RNA, is to escape from some Russian prison while trying to liberate your military comrades.
Graphically, both the Xbox Live and Playstation Network versions look somewhat similar. While the XBLA version looks crisp, the PSN version suffers from having a noticeably lower resolution, which makes that version more fuzzy and ugly. The PSN version also has (slightly) less readable text during cut scenes. Both version, however, suffer from texture loading, an issue I’ve noticed with many Unreal 3 engine-powered games.
While not problematic, I’ve also noticed that the game will momentary freeze at checkpoints.
The gameplay fares better, depending on how you approach this title. You have a strong and light, but the combat mechanics are initially limited. Later in the demo you’ll unlock more abilities and attack strings for your character, although it is unclear how these abilities are unlocked.
You can perform stealth kills by either hanging from a ledge or getting behind an enemy and press either attack buttons. The game does give the player a multitude of ways to avoid detection by being able to hide in ceilings, floors, and doors.
The AI fare pretty well. For an example, when you’ve been seen by one of the guards, they’ll attack you even if you hide in one of the hiding spot (unless they don’t see you enter that hiding spot).
Apparently, the game tries to take its story and dialog seriously. And while the dialog isn’t bad, it’s not very interesting; it’s a good thing that there’s skip button for those cut scenes.
Overall, espionage fans might get a kick out this title, but everyone else may want to wait for it to go on sale.

3.5/5.0 (GOOD) Xbox 360/

2.5/5.0 (AVERAGE) PS3

+ Good AI
+ Skip button for cut scenes
? Shallow Combat Mechanics
? Texture loading issues
? (PS3) Graphically Inferior to other platform(s)