Hardware Online Arena - PS2

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Viewed: 3D Combination Genre:
Combat Game
Shoot 'Em Up
Media: CD Arcade origin:No
Developer: Sony Soft. Co.: Sony
Publishers: Sony (GB)
Released: 7 Nov 2003 (GB)
Ratings: PEGI 7+
Accessories: Memory Card
Features: Vibration Function Compatible, Analogue Control Compatible: analogue sticks only
Connectivity: Network Adaptor (Ethernet) compatible

Summary

Shooting. The mainstay of videogames. Its bread, its butter, its rock, its best friend.

Shooting stuff is ace, everyone knows this. Shooting computer-controlled stuff is quite good, but we all know that shooting at human brain-controlled stuff is even better.

So that’s what Sony Europe has delivered: Hardware Online Arena is a game made specifically for shooting at people. What more could you ask for?

Another well known fact is that the tank is one of the best things for shooting ever invented. It has huge caterpillar tracks and a big angry gun. It moves, it shoots, job done.

So again Sony has taken this into consideration and delivered a game, in which you shoot at other people in tanks all over the magical data transporting device that is the Internet.

Surely this is the world’s greatest ever videogame?

Hardware Online Arena is alarmingly simple to play and is one of those games that is accessible from the outset. Moving around, shooting at targets - people have been doing this for decades. Imagine the Atari classic that is Combat, just with polygons. The fact that the gameplay has not evolved at all, only its execution has changed, is testament to the fact that a winning formula is immune to technical progress.

As is obvious from the title, Hardware Online Arena is an online game, offering little offline. Without an Internet connection, Hardware is merely a practice mode for online play.

Sony is also implementing a fully-fledged, clan-driven game area, enabling gamers to meet, plan and take part in competitions and online tournaments. The winners of these competitions, we are led to believe, will be showered with riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Expect big tellies, robotic dogs and the usual Sony fare. Or maybe not.

If you’ve got a PlayStation 2 hooked up to the outside world, take this one up early, as it’s always the early-adopters who reap the rewards.

Artwork

Hardware Online Arena - PS2 Artwork