• June 7, 2007    Home > Game Reviews > Verdict

    The Con

    We find out if this new take on the fighting genre packs a punch or robs your mobile.
    Version
     PSP    		Developer
    Think and Feel    		Publisher
    SouthPeak    		Genre
    Fighting

    Page:1  2 

    By Dominick Hardy

    When you have a menu system with two possible choices (yes or no, new or continue, on or off) and they just change the colour to indicate which option is currently selected... this has to be one of my gaming pet hates. If 'yes' is yellow, is it currently selected? Or is it when 'yes' is white? The Con falls into this trap right from the start when it asks you if you want to create a save game file (hint: white is the selected option). You know what they say about first impressions...?

    "If you haven't already guessed, this is a beat-em-up with a difference - many differences actually."

    But this is The Con! Maybe first impressions are wrong - maybe it's lulling us into a false sense of insecurity, leading you one way and then, with a sprinkling of misdirection and a quick one-two, pulling a rabbit out of the hat with some deft sleight of hand. To be fair, as well as changing colour, the text size also increases and becomes highlighted against a black background, though it's not obvious enough. But hey: if The Con can bend the rules - taking and faking punches to increase your betting odds, before knocking your opponent out - then so can this review!

    If you haven't already guessed, this is a beat-em-up with a difference - many differences actually. The only tradition adhered too is that each round is a three bout fight. However each bout is fought using a different fighter from your three man tag-team. Initially you start with just one fighter though, until you learn the ropes and work your way through the tutorials. This fighter can be chosen from any of the pre-defined characters or you can choose to create your own from scratch, using the extensive character editor - fast becoming a standard feature in beat-em-ups these days.

    "Each character has their own fighting style, chosen from one of street boxing, jeet kune do, wrestling, tae kwon do and kickboxing."

    Each character not only has their own superficial look but also their own fighting style, chosen from one of street boxing, jeet kune do, wrestling, tae kwon do and kickboxing. These have a real effect on the moves on offer and those which become available as you work your way up the ranks.

    Once the tutorials are out of the way you can select two other fighters to join your team and it's into the game proper. Another break from tradition is the league structure - starting at the bottom of the D-rank you must work your way up to the top, fight the boss team and move onto the next higher league. Fighting is a one-on-one brawl affair; there's no control over the movement of your fighter as they automatically close in on your opponent.

    The d-pad (or analogue nub if you prefer) controls the ducking and diving, face buttons provide for left/right high/low attacks and right shoulder button is the block/parry. Left shoulder button is where the fun begins, allowing you to perform a fake attack which inflicts lower damage, or a con and lean into an oncoming attack for maximum damage. These will affect the fight odds and thus the amount you can win.

    Page: 1  2 

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