The Shoot - Move Required (PS3)

Bought this for the kids after finally getting 'Move'ed up on the PS3.
This really is a good fun game, but as said, there's 1 big flaw....
The kids sit down with their guns all ready. The game loads (which does take a long time!)
The screen appears, but where is the multiplayer?
You have to perform a training exercise, which is OK, for 1 person, to teach you the controlls and special moves.
OK, that's out the way, now let's play!
But again, where is the multiplayer?
The big flaw is, until 1 person completes a mission, there is no multiplayer.
So you have to finish the western game, then both can play.
Not the biggest dissapointment in the world, but it felt completley needless. Why not just let 2 people shoot it out from the start?

Thi is excellent game for anyone who wants to spend time with family (and PS3 of course). Because there is no real violence it can be played by very young kids and I even convinced my wife (who hates playing console games) to try it and she was delighted.

Of course it is not hard core game or very long but it is excellent if you want to relax and have some good time.

For many The Shoot has to go down as a rental. Such an opening statement shouldn't be considered a damning indictment of this rail shooter's quality, though. For a genre whose natural home is the arcade, most rail shooters are a rental at best and over the years there have plenty undeserving of even that. The Shoot absolutely is deserving of an early Move adopter's attention and I wouldn't discourage first-time buyers from considering going the whole hog and adding it to a family Christmas PS3 bundle. It's good old-fashioned wholesome fun, to the Move motion controller what Duck Hunt was to the NES Zapper.

Central to these family leanings are the wooden cutouts you spend the entirety of the game shooting. No blood and gore, no profanity, just a good slice of humour and a surprising amount of character in the wooden targets. As for that age rating, it seems that PEGI wasn't quite sure whether to rate the game a 3+ or 12+. In the end it settled on 12+, which is a shame because, although there are props of zombies and robots loosely based on the Terminator franchise, The Shoot is best appreciated as a light-hearted party experience for all ages.

The action takes place on movie sets. A director calls the shots as you take them. If you do badly, he'll make you retake the scene. If he's impressed by your acting (i.e. the star quality of your shooting) he'll offer you further roles, which leads to one of the game's failings. You don't move on to the next film set just by completing the last one, you have to do it in style, something that can and probably will become frustrating later on to the casual players that the game wants to attract.

The Western from the Move Starter Pack's demo is followed by sci-fi, mobster, horror and deep sea 'shoots'. The graphics, therefore, serve up a good deal of variety and fresh ideas as you progress. The gameplay, however, remains largely identical throughout. The shooting itself benefits from a quick and easy calibration process. After two quick shots in opposite corners of the screen, you're up and running and you always feel like you're aiming at the targets on the screen, even if you have the PS3 Camera off to the side of the TV. It feels as close as possible to the proper lightgun games of old, but to get the best experience, you really do need to buy the official gun attachment for the controller. It instantly makes the game more satisfying.

Putting together combos opens up special abilities that require motion gestures to initiate. All the way through you'll be physically ducking and dodging and even pirouetting your way to a Ballerina Trophy (or, if you have the knowhow, conning the game with simpler gestures that make it think you're doing those things - something that Move gaming was supposed to leave behind with the Wii Remote).

Another big plus is that this, to the best of my knowledge, is the first game of its type to include Trophies/Achievements (with Time Crisis: Razing Storm following closely behind), which adds a good deal to the replayability if you enjoy collecting such things. Earning the Platinum will extend the game's life and challenge while still being obtainable during that aforementioned rental period. Trophies and the thoughtful implementation of them will be a huge boon for this genre. With The Shoot, much like everything about the game, it's off to a solid start.

The main campaign's lack of a two-player mode is the biggest bone of contention. You're restricted to unlocking the shorter Score Attack mode when ganging up. Loading times leave a lot to be desired as well. For what is a party/arcade game, the levels like to arrive fashionably late as you wait at lengthy static screens. Likewise, the director's commentary can begin to grate. Among other repetitive lines, your gunslinging skills are frequently rewarded with yells of 'this is the dawning of awesome!'. I'm inclined to agree with him on that one. The Shoot feels very much like the dawning of a rosy future for Move.