PSP

Chili Con Carnage

Chili Con Carnage is a great game on many levels. It's moderately challenging as far as gameplay goes, and the storyline is very entertaining. The only fault is that it's over all too soon. A game that leaves you wanting more is definitely the sign of a good game, and it's also the sign of a perfect rental.

It's not often that I get excited about handheld games, particularly handheld action games, but Chili Con Carnage has completely blown me away and changed my view on what Sony's handheld is capable of. Total Overdose might have gained little in the way of critical acclaim, but Chili Con Carnage deserves to be a big hit. As an action packed shooter it's far and away the best the PSP has to offer, and there's enough depth hidden away to keep you playing for months.

There is a lot to recommend in Chili Con Carnage, its bright, bold and not just in a graphical sense (in fact I've not even mentioned the graphics, they're nice in that slightly sub-PS2 way that PSP games often tend to have) and it lets you have a huge amount of fun with it if you get into the spirit of the thing. There are faults too of course, it doesn't really offer much new after the first few levels other than changes of scenery and some bigger weapons and the slow motion action can get a bit old hat after a while, but they never detract much from the game as a whole and ultimately if you play it the way that it's clearly meant to be played, as opposed to just blasting through the levels as fast as possible, then you'll be rewarded with one of the best action games on the PSP. Just don't let that title put you off!

Overall, Chili Con Carnage is a good game that makes a worthy addition to your PSP library. The relatively fluid controls and frantic, run-and-gun gameplay more than make up for its shoddy multiplayer and stereotypical depiction of Mexican culture. As decent action games tend to be few and far between on PSP, CCC is definitely worth a second look.

Sie sind jemand der in einem mexikanischen Restaurant das Chili extra scharf bestellt und dazu noch nach einer Extra-Flasche Tabasco verlangt? Wenn Sie diese Frage mit „Ja“ beantworten hat das zwar rein gar nichts mit Chili Con Carnage zu tun, aber zumindest sind sie schon mal fast so cool wie Held Ram. Dagegen bietet das Spiel selbst leider nur altbewährte, strikt lineare Actionkost, welche aber dafür mit einer witzigen Inszenierung im perfekten Mexiko-Style mit zahlreichen überzeichneten Klischees entschädigt. Scharf, würzig, leicht verdaulich, aber leider viel zu kurz und mit fortschreitender Spieldauer etwas zu eintönig - eine etwas größere Portion Chili hätte ausgehungerte PSP Actionspieler für längere Zeit satt gemacht, so bleibt es lediglich ein Leckerbissen für Zwischendurch.

The conclusion is simple: Chili Con Carnage is a good and funny game for those that love action, action and... more action! With beautiful, atmospheric graphics and good sound the only downpoints are the relatively short lifespan and somewhat chaotic controls.

Fortunately the action remains as fresh as it was two years ago and, more importantly, it sparkles on the PSP. It's part shooter, part puzzle game as you race around levels trying to chain every attack together. Inevitably you'll fail which means every level or challenge can be replayed infinitum. Of course, the big disappointment is that it doesn't offer much that's different to the PS2 game, though having seen so many games lose much of their magic on their journey to the PSP perhaps we should be thankful for small mercies.

Chili Con Carnage is a good deal of fun. It's chaotic, funny and unlike just about every other action game out there. The control issues hamper the experience a bit, but don't keep it from being an overall worthwhile experience. There's lots of stuff to go back and do to keep you occupied, so it'll stay in your PSP a while as well, just so long as you don't get bored of shooting dudes in the face.

Chili Con Carnage occasionally feels like a mess of a game, largely due to the controls, but it's a darned fun mess of a game, and anyone into arcade-style blastathons will find a lot to like.

White trash hillbilly shooting has never been so much fun. Yeah, the game will get stale after a few hours of repeating the same mechanics, but there's a good amount of content to tackle, as well as local area multi-player. You don't even need a friend with a PSP, as you can take turns in the Hangman mode to see who gets the highest score. Generally speaking, Chili Con Carnage is an interesting arcade-style shooter (in that you kill things endlessly) that I would recommend to PSP owners once it reaches the $20 mark.

By trimming the fat and ramping up the ludicrous factor, Chili Con Carnage does what Total Overdose couldn't, and creates a wildly over-the-top action game that's not only bizarre and funny, but also fun to play all the way through. The multiplayer maybe isn't as good as you'd hope it would be, and you won't find a ton of content to play with in the single-player modes, but brief as it is, Chili Con Carnage does what it does well, and it's precisely the kind of cockamamie fun that Total Overdose ought to have been in the first place.

Chili Con Carnage is een erg luchtige game met een pittig Mexicaans pufje erbij. Het uitspelen van de game moet iedereen wel lukken, maar een gouden medaille voor je score in iedere level zal een erg pittige uitdaging blijken. Heb je daar even genoeg van dan zul je je over the top moves ook gewoon even lekker kwijt kunnen in alle challenges die je tussen de levels voorgeschoteld krijgt. De game is echter zeker niet perfect door de controls en in mindere mate het leveldesign, maar het is zeker een erg lekkere game voor tussendoor. Wil je een zomerssfeertje creeëren tijdens een druilerige lentedag, dan is deze game voor jou!

CCC is a fun shooter romp for your PSP. If you can look past its faults, there is a lot of fun to be had here. There's plenty to see and do, and even if you only play through the main story, you'll find plenty of fun within the game's seven to eight hour running time. Besides, driving a car through a gate, diving out in slow motion and scoring three headshots is undeniably exhilarating. CCC is just a whole lot of mindless fun that is likely the only title to ever feature explosive poultry. Turn off your brain and enjoy.

Overall, Chili Con Carnage is a fun game. It is easy to pick up and play, which is something I really enjoyed about it. The game's fast paced action with the shootdodge provides a game that is more than a mere button masher, although at times it feels like it as the missions have little variety in objective. Still, "Carnage" provides a fun game that has a humorous aspect and it comes with a fairly low M.S.R.P.

Chili Con Carnage est un agréable divertissement, un jeu pop-corn qu'on traverse avec plaisir mais qui ne laissera sans doute pas de marque indélébile dans le cerveau du joueur. Ode à la baston stylée, aux poulets qui pullulent dans les niveaux et au grand n'importe quoi, le titre de Deadline Games se prend en main immédiatement mais se lâche peut-être un peu trop facilement.

There's a lot of content here, even if you don't end up taking advantage of it. Challenge levels are unlocked in between regular levels, and ask you to perform specific moves or keep a combo going for a particular amount of time. They're definitely challenging, but the game kind of falls apart when it gets too difficult; the speedy pace just isn't as compelling when you're attempting the same thing over and over, especially when the mechanics periodically flake out. There's even local multiplayer if you can find another buddy with a PSP and a copy of the game (or feel like trading off in Hangman mode), with deathmatch variations on the combo-scoring portion of the game. It's certainly not the best action game on PSP, but there's still enough silly violence and instant gratification to warrant a look.

Chili Con Carnage is a fair bit of fun but never amounts to much more. It'll effortlessly hold your attention with endless exploding Hispanics for the whole duration of your bus ride but you'll never find yourself upset that you've reached your stop. Maybe if the developers had taken a risk and gone for more polish in the combo system and great level design instead of loads of game modes this could have been something really interesting. But amigo, if you're content with the game equivalent of a bartender that'll flash you a grin minus a few teeth and slide over a big glass of cheap tequila, Chili Con Carnage will make you one very happy gringo.

Chili Con Carnage is a game that doesn't take itself seriously, which is definitely a good thing. The problem is that the slipshod controls make you not want to take the entire package seriously. When 90% of your game is about shooting, the shooting and aiming mechanics had better be dead on target. There are a handful of game modes in Chili Con Carnage, including a kind of timed mission mode, but the bad controls render it nearly unplayable. It's an uphill struggle to make the game work the way you know it should, which means that it's also an uphill struggle to enjoy the game and its quirks. Chili Con Carnage is a clear case of "almost, but not quite."

Chili Con Carnage is an unfortunately named game that could have been something special had it done more with the excellent shooting mechanics and solid graphics engine. The storyline is laughable and not always in a good way. On the other hand, you get a pair of entertaining multiplayer modes to entertain those friends with a single PSP in addition to those with a network connection and a system of their own. How many games allow you to carry two guitar cases into a shootout and then unleash a rain of bullets on everything in sight? If you've ever wanted to send in a masked Mexican wrestler to do your dirty work, and aren't ashamed of yourself for saying so, then this is the game for you.