Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> EyeToy: Play 3

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Review:

15th November 2005:
EyeToy: Play 3
The third time is usually the lucky one. Is that the case here? Read on to find out...
Posted by Chris Barnett - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe

For those who own the Eyetoy peripheral on their PlayStation 2 it is a rare occasion for a game to be released with the device as the key component. It seems that most developers integrate the device in ways that a PC webcam is often used (face mapping most commonly), but Sony themselves have full understanding of the device's capabilities. That is certainly the case with the third in its Eyetoy series.

As you would expect in an update, everything has been given a lick of paint. The device is as easy to calibrate as ever (read: no calibration trouble at all) and you are playing a game within seconds - often with four players. Since everything is so smooth and quick it is easy to pass by each game as if it was a round in a quiz show, and that's a good description of the game. The whole package is varied beyond belief and the individual games appeal to all tastes possible.

The best games will remain with you for a long time as they can be played again and again with different results. The most obvious of these is the beauty salon where you can groom your own face to any style or look. Whilst this may sound limited in short, it is quite involving when you realise the different styles you can apply. We could easily see girls and women using the mode to see what they would look like with 'that hair' or 'those eyelashes'. Men will likely just draw a 'Hitler' moustache on themselves or simply play the bowling game.

The other styles of game apart from the image manipulation ones are those that borrow from other games, usually in a very simplistic way. Since the controls for an 'eye game' have to be easy and accurate there is a limit to the kinds of game that will work. This would probably be followed in this review by a criticism regarding this, but the selection of games is made well so that they all work on a very high level.

The 10 pin bowling allows you to carefully guide a ball along an alley with crazy-yet-manageable controls. This is backed up by the ability to print your picture on the bowling ball too, just to add to the presentation of the whole thing. This touch is quite small but shows how the whole thing is about personality. You always feel as though you are playing a buddy game. You see your friends and family on the screen and it feels special, like a game show (hence our earlier analogy) or an arcade on holiday. The whole idea of playing a game that feels so 'game like' without being tacky is appealing to even us as this requires hardly any thought or worry at all. The manual that comes with the game will never be needed for any of the games.

The other really appealing mode that we must mention is the DJ mode. This allows you to scratch records exactly as you would expect, but the audience in the game actually react to your performance. This makes the whole experience feel even more involving, especially as a good 'session' sounds good too. You can actually feel like you are doing well without need for high scores and on screen displays. You can feel a little bit of atmosphere so to speak.

As you can gather, we do like this game due to its simplicity and universal appeal. There is literally NO PERSON who would hate this, and that is a great acclaim for anything in this world. So it will not have you playing for hours on end in one session, and some of the games are not as good as others. But then the whole thing is about you and your family and friends. You don't play when you don't want to, not do you need to play the games you hate.

If you have this in your PlayStation 2 this Christmas then you will have a better chance of staging a great party. Even if the game is just used at parties it is worth it.

Chris Barnett

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Review Summary:

A game for everyone in the family (even a dog could play it if he could see the screen) and ideal for parties. It does everything you could want from a party game. Just don't show it to 'cousin RPG/strategy' at any parties!

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EyeToy: Play 2
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