EyeToy: Play

"Its does get points for innovation but its still rather overrated."

The Eye Toy, Sony's attempt at a innovative video game is where you play little games based on what the new PS2 mini-camera sees as you are shown on screen doing the actions required with your hands. Nowadays this has been very frequently hailed as one of the most innovative games in years. And while it may not be up to the "Godlike" status of titles such as "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" its far from a slouch in getting praise. Though the question in hand is this, is this TRULY one of THE most innovative games in years as it has been said? Is this truly a triumph in breakthrough gameplay? Well actually to be quite honest... ehhh... no.

Now don't get me wrong its a good unique game that'll probably give you some fun but its just not exactly the "Revolutionary Gem" its been said to be. There is a pretty decent variety of games in this title with different pretty good objectives such as Window Washing, Chinese Kung-Fu Midget smacking and more. The responsiveness in this game is generally alright and it generally doesn't feel too hard either. So mainly the structure of this game is genuinely competent.

However it steps into the common problem of just about any style of entertainent which is not doing anything all that truly wrong but not doing anything all that truly right. Graphics are just simply decent and its rather subpar in the audio department. But its really just not that addictive for a simplistic game. Now I like simplistic games, trust me I do. But in all honesty it just doesn't really give that much more to give to truly substantiate its replay value. It feels more like its just a simply a decent little gimmick rather than the great innovation it supposedly is. Remember the "Gameboy Camera" back in the late 1990's? This is basically it but in full color, clearer picture and some mini games added in while doing it on your TV. Now granted it COULD be much more of a innovation in later sequels so this could just simply end up being another "outdated debut" game in a few years or so. So basically if you can its more recommendable that you try it as a rental first BEFORE you think about buying it.

But still overall its a pretty good unique title even if it is a considerably overrated one. The Eye Toy is certainly no insult to the good name of the Playstation 2 but its not one of its greatest games. And for now its another one of the many games for the system that you can easily find on the shelves of the various game retail stores. So basically its a good try at being truly original its just not quite there yet...

+ It does have a pretty innovative concept of a more "visual" style of gameplay with the PS2 camera
+ The variety of stages are pretty good
+ Responsiveness is alright
+ Challenge level is not too high
+ Rarity is NOT thy name Eye Toy (well for now at least)
- Gameplay concept may not be of the "Same Old, Same Old" but its not all that incredibly addictive
- It feels more like a decent gimmick rather than a true genuine revolutionary innovation
- Audio is unmemorably innocuous
- If you can you should probably rent it first
- This is a good PS2 game but the system has had better games than this rather overrated title.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/04