PS3's Blast Factor

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:18 am

What do people think of Blast Factor? So far I really like it, but I've only had 20 mins. or so with it. Looks great, controls great, nice gimmicks w/the sixaxis. Very fun, but very shallow.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:48 pm

Moved to its own topic on Shmups Chat, since we don't have a thread for this shooter yet...

postman · Post by **postman** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:38 pm

I thought the demo was cool, but when I read about the full version, it seems very short, and they mention you fight the same boss every level.......it that true?

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:35 pm

Same boss every level could count as a complaint, unless the bullet patterns are drastically different each time.

You should know better than to listen to people complain about shooters being too short. Every shooter ever made gets the "too short" complaint by SOMEBODY. It's inevitable, since they just don't understand shooters =P

Sonic R · Post by **Sonic R** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:35 pm

Its a pretty decent game. I've made it to the 4th specimen and have fought the same boss every time. Only difference is its speed and the lasers it projects as well as the number of enemies.

The game used a chaining system - something reminiscent of Every Extended Extra.

The thing I have to get used to doing is when using the sixaxis is returning the controller to the "home position" I cant count how many times I pushed everything right into me

Is someone willing to start a hi score thread? I think I'm ranked in the 1300 neighborhood right now with other online users.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:39 pm

I wish it was out on PC, as well! Dunno if you can play it on a demo PS3 at stores, but it does look pretty awesome!

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:51 am

Sonic R wrote: I've made it to the 4th specimen and have fought the same boss every time. Only difference is its speed and the lasers it projects as well as the number of enemies.

That's pretty good. Level 3 is hard for me so far. I haven't seen level 4 yet.

As Sonic R noted, the boss is the same through the first 3 levels. Not ideal, but it is a very fun boss.

So far I like this just a bit better than Geometry Wars Evolved because I like having the separate stages with different challenges. I think both will become more interesting as I figure out the scoring mechanics. Both games look great-- slight edge to Blast Factor generally, though GWE is spectacular when things really get going.

GeniusFurrball · Post by **GeniusFurrball** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:44 pm

I've completed Specimen 7; it can get pretty freaking hard. My high score is something the order of 11.7 mil or some such. I'll check again tonight.If we add each other as friends on the PSM we can compare our scores directly to each other. =) Worth doing I think. If you guys wanna add me my name is Razgreiz. Just shoot me a request. I'd love to have more people to score chase with in Blast factor. =D

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:40 pm

GeniusFurrball wrote:I've completed Specimen 7; it can get pretty freaking hard. My high score is something the order of 11.7 mil or some such. =D

Wtf? So you've completed the game without continuing, then? Are you playing on steroids? Nice work. I don't think I'll have the time necessary to play this game well, but my user name is GradiusV.

GeniusFurrball · Post by **GeniusFurrball** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:07 am

lol No continues, and no steroids, but a ton of practice.

Spent the first 5 or 6 days of having my PS3 after launch playing nothing but Blast Factor and Resistance when I couldn't take anymore BF. I even took a week off from work to play it. =D One thing that you notice as you get better though is that 11.7 mil for completing Specimen 7 ain't nothin' anymore. I think the high scores are in the order of 33 mil right now. =( I used to be top 10, but haven't been able to play much at all since then.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Sat May 19, 2007 10:15 pm

An add-on expansion pack has been announced for Blast Factor, titled "Advanced Research"

Gaming Age wrote:The fierce microbial war against deadly viral swarms continues in Blast Factor Advanced Research Add-On Pack. Players immerse themselves in a true High Definition (HD) microscopic world with seven new specimens, 11 new enemies, seven new bosses, and seven new high-adrenaline music tracks.

(link with screenshots)

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat May 19, 2007 10:30 pm

Thunder Force wrote:An add-on expansion pack has been announced for Blast Factor, titled "Advanced Research"

Gaming Age wrote:The fierce microbial war against deadly viral swarms continues in Blast Factor Advanced Research Add-On Pack. Players immerse themselves in a true High Definition (HD) microscopic world with seven new specimens, 11 new enemies, seven new bosses, and seven new high-adrenaline music tracks.
(link with screenshots)

Thanks for sharing those, TF; that looks beautiful-and fun as heck!!

Motorherp · Post by **Motorherp** » Sun May 20, 2007 8:49 am

Personally I'm really enjoying blast factor. Perhaps if it was completely stand alone I might not be so interested since I dont usualy go for arena shooters, but having a shared online scorebored really made it for me since you can challenge your mates directly. The only thing that really annoys me is the left/right sloshing move which requires you to jerk the pad. Maybe I just hanvn't got the technique down yet but it doesn't seem very reliable to me. Wish they'd let you assign it to the shoulder buttons instead.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:17 pm

fyi, a trailer for the "Advanced Research" add-on pack has premiered on the US Playstation Store.

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:38 pm

Interesting.

A game that is currently out for PS3 that I'd actually buy...looks fun, however, I doubt its worth the price of the system (just to play it).

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 1:43 am

Developer has stated this week, that when the Blast Factor Advanced Research expansion/sequel is released soon, there will also be a free patch made available for the original Blast Factor game.

The patch will include several improvements including a fixed motion sensing algorithm for the Sixaxis wave-causing effect (which currently many players have trouble deploying effectively.)

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:32 am

Developer announcement today from the Official Playstation Blog...

We’ve just put the finishing touches on the Blast Factor: Advanced Research expansion and we’re stoked to see what you guys think of it! We got a lot great feedback on Blast Factor, and we’re implementing a lot of that into Blast Factor: Advanced Research, there’s SO much cool new stuff! Seven new specimens, eleven new types of enemy, two new bosses, monthly online high score tables, new practice mode, remixed sound effects, eight new music tracks and dynamic lighting. Man, we need a vacation!

The new expansion looks amazing, brand new visuals for each specimen, super detailed and each with its own theme. We’ve added dynamic lighting, new water, new particles, new camera, all running at a silky smooth 60fps at 1080p.

New audio too, Steve Johnson at Sony Sound worked like crazy going through every sound effect in the game, tweaking and enhancing each one. Turk Dietrich and Joshua Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv) created 8 kick-ass music tracks for the levels. You’ll be cranking up the 5.1 for this.

Finally, the gameplay - we’ve taken the enemy and player interactions to a whole new level. There are new enemies that suppress chaining, enemies that create huge explosions for big combo scores. The new BouncerEx_AR and Platelet_ATR enemies (seen in the specimen 6 boss fight video above) really lay the smack down if you’re not smart about using the tipper and repeller. There are cool tertiary enemy interactions and the new BigRepel turns all your abilities against you, chain/tip/repel this guy and he’ll trigger a reaction sending other enemies screaming towards you. It’s a real challenge, and something people have not seen before in shooters.

Blast Factor: Advanced Research will be out in the PSN store soon with a demo so you can check it out. Hope you guys enjoy it!

GeneralWong · Post by **GeneralWong** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 3:39 pm

Arvandor wrote:Same boss every level could count as a complaint, unless the bullet patterns are drastically different each time.

Even than, it's just lame. It comes across as just wanting to drop the product ASAP, no love behind it.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:31 am

Just a heads up for European gamers, that this week the Blast Factor Advanced Research expansion is finally for sale on the EU/AU Playstation Store.

The inexplicably long delay in releasing this much needed expansion pack in EU/AU has probably hurt this game's already marginal fanbase a lot though...

Inkvisitor · Post by **Inkvisitor** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:39 am

I'm in EU but why should I care? I got the Blast Factor bundle from US store a long time ago. Anyone can set up a US account and almost everyone can set up a JAP account.

The game is pretty neat. Especially in hybrid mode, that way you get a lot more variation.

Thunder Force · Post by **Thunder Force** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 5:04 am

Just fyi, the final Blast Factor patch which was released to NTSC regions last year (including trophy support), was finally released to multiple global PAL territories recently. Now everyone (hopefully) who owns this shmup can finally update your game.

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PS3's Blast Factor

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