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Eye Toy: Play Review
TVG Staff
30/06/2003
Time to open your eyes to a new way of playing games - SCEE have created the finest party game known to man...
OK Iâll admit it, we made a serious error of judgement with SCEEâ latest title â“ EyeToy. Having cringed at the first demonstration, dismissed it as nothing more then a gimmick at the second appearance and completely blown it off by the third; now weâve actually played the âgameâ and found ourselves inexplicably addicted to waving our hands in the air like a Scouse scally at a 1986 barnyard rave.
For those that havenât actually heard of EyeToy yet, the loosely termed âgameâ comes equipped with a USB camera, which is plugged into your PS2 and placed atop of your TV to capture you and place you within the games. The camera captures your actions and movements and allows you to interact with the onscreen action â“ thankfully you donât have to wear a ping-pong suit to play it!!!
Whilst itâs not the best camera weâve seen, the quality is comparable to high-end web-cameraâs and resembles a mini PS2 complete with blue & red lights and the familiar black design. More importantly Sony are bundling the device along with the game at an impressive £39.99 (£34.99 at the TVG Store), easing the high cost fears of other peripheral games that have sunk without a trace at the market.
The main game consists of 12 different mini-games, which usually require you to swing your arms and body around in a chaotic fashion. Each of the games are fundamentally based on achieving top scores, and allows up to four players to battle against each other â“ party heaven.
In a nifty little feature, each player can create his/her own profile, asking you to enter a name and pose âhappyâ, âsadâ and âsillyâ for a set of photoâs used to determine your place on the scoreboard. Whenever you score enough points to gain first place on the scoreboard, the game asks you to pose for a âwinning photoâ that is displayed on the Top Score board. Itâs these little touches which truly add to the enjoyment gained by EyeToy; if youâve got any sense of âfunâ youâll be splitting your sides when you first turn it on and play.
EyeToy Games
Beat Freak
Choose your track and then use the flying CDs as a guide to hit the loudspeakers in time with the music. Itâs accuracy that youâre after so try and hit each loudspeaker when the CD is right in the centre.
Kung Foo
Use any technique you know, as you take on a relentless wave of martial art opponents. Whether they come running along the ground or leaping in from the top of pagodas, youâll have to react quickly to stop them getting through your defences.
Wishi Washi
Wipe your way through a series of windows, cleaning off all the soap suds to progress on to the next level. Youâll have to scrub a bit harder if you come across a patch of bird poo and look out for bonus water droplets along the way.
Keep Ups
Stop the ball from falling off the bottom of the screen by doing âkeep upsâ with your head. Youâll have to deal with various characters appearing throughout the game. Avoid the good ones but hit the bad with the ball if you can.
Boxing Chump
Itâs time for the main event and you have to take on Big Robo Bro. Youâll have to try and avoid your opponentâs guard if you want to land a proper punch but remember to keep moving so you donât become an easy target.
UFO Juggler
3, 2, 1, Blast Off!â¦Take control of the UFOs as they emerge from their launch bays and give them enough spin to fly off the top of the screen. Youâll have to be careful not to overdo it though, and you better keep an eye on the weather.
Slap Stream
Watch carefully as a sequence of characters pop out of the four clouds. All you need to do is hit the evil ratmen while avoiding the bunny girls. The faster you get them, the higher your score.
Plate Spinner
Try to keep the plates spinning on their poles. Itâll start with just one but soon youâll have four on the go. Keep and eye out for the evil monkeys; theyâll try and knock the plates off if you give them a chance.
Boogie Down
Select your track and then watch Qt as she pulls off some funky dance moves, by triggering a combination of five disco lights. Now itâs your turn to repeat the moves in time with her. The more accurate your timing, the more points will be awarded.
Ghost Catcher
Spot the ghosts as they appear from the graveyard and try to pop them before they escape off the top of the screen. The ghosts will certainly keep you busy but youâll need to watch out for bats as well; theyâll suck your points away if youâre not careful.
Mirror Time
Burst the good bubbles and avoid the bad ones as a series of four appear on screen. Sounds easy. Unfortunately, not only do the bubbles start shrinking as soon as they appear but youâll have to contend with a rotating screen as well, just to make things that little bit more difficult.
Rocket Rumble
Make your selection from the rockets fired onto the screen and then hit the detonators to set off spectacular explosions. Link together chains of like-coloured rockets to open up the special ones, allowing for even more stunning, and higher scoring, displays.
Whilst some of the games are certainly better then others and everybody will have their own favourites, Team London have certainly created a wide range of games which require an assortment of techniques to master; from the mad antics of window washing along to George Fornbyâs timeless classic âWhen Iâm Cleaning Windowsâ, to the more refined âMinority Reportâ hand movements needed in the âFantavision-esqueâ Rocket Rumble.
More importantly it actually works; itâs simple to install, the games are all self-explanatory yet frustratingly addictive, and thereâs never any issues about the technology letting you down â“ when you throw a punch in âBoxing Chumpâ itâs depicted on-screen perfectly, despite the fact youâre just punching into air. More impressive is the fact that the camera will pick up anything in its view and transfer this to the game; so two players can join in the same session and play âKeepy Upâ or perhaps interfere with a friendâs carefully spinning plates in âPlate Spinnerâ.
Thankfully because of its British origins, the actual content and dialogue throughout the game is actually enjoyable and doesnât grate quickly like countless other âmini-gameâ titles. Using a Japanese styled presentation, which will keep fans of âBanzaiâ and âTakeshiâs Castleâ happy, the production throughout the whole game is impeccable from the short movie that teaches you how to use âEyeToyâ to the one-liners used throughout the game.
In addition you can also use the camera and a memory card to store video messages for other people to use. Currently you can only view these when you boot-up âEyeToyâ, however presumably they could be quite easy to send over the net with a Playstation Network Adaptor hooked up to your PS2.
Because the games and the product in general is of such high quality we were left wanting even more; thankfully weâve been assured that future developments with the peripheral are planned and that other third-party publishers have expressed their interest in developing software to support the peripheral â“ âEyeToy Games Pack 2â wonât be too far away weâre hoping and weâve already heard talk of a rhythm/action game titled âGrooveâ, which is currently in development at Team London to support the device â“ those who think this is a one-trick pony had better think again, Sony have some big plans in store for this little beauty.
