EyeToy: Play

"It was too hyped..."

At last, though at the time of this review being made, EyeToy: Play, STILL wasn't released in the US, it is still out in Australia and the UK.

EyeToy: Play is a whole new technology, using a sweet little PS2 mini-replica as the camera that you stick on top of the TV (or underneath) and let yourself interact with twelve different games and other features.

But EyeToy: Play was way too hyped, and as soon as it came out, this showed as about 2 of every 3 people who bought EyeToy: Play, came back a day after buying it and getting a refund, it wasn't too good.

Gameplay: 7/10

Complete and utter arcade fun, there is no storyline behind anything, just straight-forward ''I wanna beat your high score'' arcade... how you should say, fun.

There is twelve games, each with some portion of fun in it, but still flooded to the eyeballs with problems, below is a mini review on two of the- in my opinion -best games on EyeToy: Play.

Kung Foo- 8/10: This is probably one of the best mini-games on the EyeToy disc... you slap, punch, headbutt... and if you can, kick away ninjas, evil chinese soldiers, babies with rice dishes on their heads and evil Wonton warlords on floating clouds (CAN'T FORGET THE MALLET WIELDING SHEEP!!!) as they attack you, on Easy mode it is ridiculously easy and to just get hit once is laughable, Normal mode is okay, with some challenge in it, and Hard mode is just over the top, the break the boards bit, I will applaud you if you break one because unlike Normal and Easy, if you hit the sides, it doesn't break, you have to hit it EXACTLY in the centre of the boards, not to mention in Hard mode you must take on Wonton in a boss fight that is impossible to win.

Boxing Chump- 9/10: Okay, this is the best game on the disc, providing me with a great deal of fun, it is basically a correctly simulated boxing match (with the exception of a killer robot being your enemy), you must keep on your toes and duck away from punches and if you come close enough to the robot, you have to break, there is body part sensing so if you hit the head, the head is punched and takes the correct response, if the gut is punched, the robot will grab his gut for a second, and the whole match is determined to the person who empties the other's health bar twice in a single round, it is almost impossible to beat your opponent in round 1, and round 2 is won only by masters who play this one alot... and I'm only talking about Easy mode, Normal provides... like other games, a stimulating challenge, but Hard mode is pretty much unbeatable, your opponent ducks and wheeves your punches like crazy and lands very well aimed punches of his own... move over Ali! It is pretty much impossible to beat him and each punch you manage to get on him takes almost nothing away from his health. The only gripes I have with this one is that you can't block like yer opponent can, put your arms up in front of your face and let him punch you, you get hit, and you get hit bad.

Graphics: 6/10

All I need to say is the little characters that help you along and all the decorations and guys you beat up and stuff are N64 graphics standard, poor, but the only thing that keeps the visuals up is the fact you're in there... unless you're ugly, ;) just kidding.

Sound: 5/10

Nothing makes me more sick than people with a ridiculous English accent telling you how to play a game in such ridiculously childish poems/phrases. No offense, England, just saying ;)

Control: 8/10

Now this is a change, talking about control as your body? Nope.

Thing is, the control wasn't thought about, on occasion, it gets annoying because when you're trying to confirm something, your head might be touching the cancel button and therefore canceling what you're doing, that is pretty much the only annoying thing about the controls though.

Overall: 7/10

It says it in the tagline, and I'll say it again, it was too hyped, and this technology is not being used right, if they can get a boxing match simulated almost perfectly, how about maybe a pro wrestling simulation or something, this technology is just being used for a very cheesy series, with EyeToy: Groove coming soon, not many have the heart to say this, but I do, STOP AIMING THE GAMING BUSINESS AT THE CHILDREN!!! Look at what happened to the GameCube, worst game console of the year, almost fully pushed out of the console war with PS2 rising up top with XBox close behind, not to say PS2 will die with this, but if anything, they need to use EyeToy for more mature audiences, and don't think taking your high score picture naked and leaving porno video messages is mature, that's just stupid, I'm talking more complicated storylines, ACTUAL STORYLINES, and less arcade gameplay with childish games (see Wishi Washi).

EyeToy: Play, disappointing.

But there is always room for improve, improve, London Studio, or you're going to suffer.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/03