Fans of some of the less popular games on PlayStation 3 are probably going to be saddened to hear that they are going to be taken offline in less than a month. Sony today confirmed that that PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, the crossover fighting game that the company released with Superbot in an attempt to emulate Super Smash Bros., will be going offline on October 25.

Sadly, it’s not the only PS3 game going offline on that day— David Jaffe’s failed attempt at a Twisted Metal reboot on the PS3 is also having its servers taken down on that day, as will Warhawk, which saw its significantly less popular spiritual successor Starhawk go offline recently as well.

It is important to note that you can still buy and play these games, even after October 25– all this means is that you won’t be able to play them online. Now, for a game like Warhawk, that is admittedly an issue, but for something like PlayStation All Stars, it should be fine, since there’s a substantial single and local multiplayer component to it.

May Sony’s multiplayer servers for their PS4 games last longer.

However, let’s get one thing out of the way first- PS All-Stars Battle Royale is actually very different from Smash Bros. Yes, Battle Royale brings together Sony mascots and pits them against each other in a wacky, charming kind of way (or at least attempts to) just as Smash Bros. does with Nintendo, but as a fighter, at its core, in the gameplay aspect, Battle Royale is actually more of a true, tactical fighter.

There’s a slew of options in Battle Royale to choose from. You can attack other characters using three of the face buttons, and change what the attacks result in by adding direction to them with the left analog stick. Add in elements like rolling, blocking, jumping, supers, combos, throws and so much more, and Battle Royale actually gets a bit too complex.

Now, don’t take this as some sign of me being a novice when it comes to fighters. I’m the kind of guy who loves playing games like Super Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom 3 for hours at length, but the thing is, being complex just doesn’t suit Battle Royale, and somehow, it doesn’t pull it off very well. The tutorials are all really good, but the game does have a steep learning curve. If this were just any other fighter, I’d have no problem with that. Hell, I’d expect it to have a steep learning curve.

But Battle Royale is, on the outside, a charming, accessible, fun, pick up and play fighter, boasting of the brand of fighting that would appeal to all crowds at the same time. The deep complexity of the hardcore fighting genre does not belong here.

What does belong is a great character roster, no matter what kind of fighter the game is. Unfortunately, Battle Royale’s roster is a hit and miss. While it includes some very lovable Sony characters like Nathan Drake and Kratos and Sackboy and even Fat Princess, the roster is small at just around twenty characters, and notable Sony icons like Nathan Halo or Sev are missing. And who’s to say you can only have the main Sony guys? I’d love to play as Sully or Ares or Captain Qwark. There are a few third party entries here, since, let’s face it, Sony’s character lineup does not (yet) have the depth that Nintendo’s does, and you’ll be seeing people like Raiden from Metal Gear Solid and Big Daddy from BioShock on the maps often.

And again, the problem arises- none of Sony’s characters are as iconic or as recognizable as, say, Mario or Pikachu. None of them have the rich history to themselves as Link does, and none of them has yet achieved the mysterious heights of Samus. It’s unfair, really, to criticize Battle Royale for something like this, but given its competition, it’s a necessity.

But make no mistake- once you see Kratos and Drake and Ratchet and Dante battling it out in PaRappa the Rapper’s dojo house, you’ll forget how not-so-iconic these characters are, because let’s face it- who doesn’t want to see Dante’a ass getting handed to him by Kratos, or Ratchet burying his weapons in Drake’s backside? Once you crank up the difficulty and actually get the hang of the controls and how to chain together some sweet combos, you actually start having fun.

When that starts getting repetitive- and it does, after a while- you can always jump online and beat the hell out of friends in local multiplayer or strangers around the world. Multiplayer, of course, is a hell lot of fun, and just like any other fighter, it’s in the multiplayer that Battle Royale’s strengths truly lie.

And the maps that we fight on are good enough to support all that crazy, chaotic fun- even enhance it. Maps, as you may have expected, are dynamic. So while in the middle of  fight, you’re probably worrying about your foes’ attacks and Level 1, 2 or 3 supers, you might also have to worry about the creepy huge girl in the background shooting huge, nuke sized missiles at the entire map to take out entire sections, or worry about disappearing and animating platforms. It’s really, really fun to see how the maps change and how you have to interact them to maybe even use them to your benefit. And getting to see maps from old games we love (or not so old games) and ones that haven’t even come out yet (BioShock Infinite’s Columbia) is always a treat.

It’s a shame, then, that the visuals can’t help these maps transcend to an all new level. The visuals, while perfectly serviceable, are rough and messy, and character models don’t look all that good. The soundtrack, too, is largely mediocre, with few memorable Sony themes recurring here.

In the end, nothing really works out well enough for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale to achieve the heights it aspires to. Cross platform play between the Vita and the PS3 are neat and interesting mechanics, but none of what All-Stars does ever exceeds a level of mediocrity, and it always feels flat and… soulless. So while in technical terms, there’s not much wrong with Battle Royale, in the end, as a game, it fails to impress you.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.

The Trophies list for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has been revealed. Some of them are given below. Have a look:

All-Star Legend – You’ve Only Done Everything
You have successfully earned all other trophies in the game. Congratulations!

Trial Combatant
Complete a Combat Trial

The Legend
Complete Arcade Mode on Legend

Fundamentals
Complete the Basic Tutorial

Character Mastery
Complete a Combo Tutorial

Showing Off
Show off your Minion during a game

Triple Kill!
Earn a Triple Kill in a match-made online game

Team Sweeper
Earn a Double Kill in a 2v2 match-made online game

We have Overtime! – Working Weekends?
Enter Overtime!

3x OVERTIME!!
Enter 3x AP Overtime!

Champion
Win a Versus Match against a team of three AI opponents

Combo King
Land a 50+ AP Combo in Practice Mode

Combo Virtuoso
Land a 70+ AP Combo in Practice Mode

Ultimate Power
Perform a Level 3 Super Attack

Two for One
Earn a Double Kill with a Level 1 Super Attack

Three for One
Earn a Triple Kill with a Level 1 Super Attack

Check out the entire Trophies list here.

On Kratos, he states:

We wanted to pay proper homage to Kratos, so the approach we took was to have his playstyle reflect some of the most iconic weapons in God of War, such as the Blades of Chaos and Apollo’s Bow. His supers revolve around his ultimate weapon, the Blade of Olympus, and we even have him grow in size to pay homage to his initial transformation in the original.

For Radec, Kendall states:

We designed Radec’s gameplay around the idea that he’s this character who controls certain spaces very well; namely, the entire horizontal space in front of him as well as the diagonal spaces in front of him. His VC32 Sniper Rifle (Forward + Triangle) and his VC21 Boltgun (Neutral + Circle) are two of his main weapons for controlling space far out in front of him.

Information circulating indicates that characters and minions (possible term fo support characters?) like Athena, Dollface, Dante, Ratchet, Sackboy and many more are appearing in the upcoming crossover fighting game, said to be in the same vein as Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros series.

It’s highly possible it’s all bunk, but news in the grapevine is now indicating quite a bit of truth to it. Reportedly, three voice actors playing the “leaked” characters confirmed that it’s true. They’ve also expressed surprise at the amount of dialogue in the game.

Of course, their names are not revealed, given the nature of non-disclosure agreements. Nonetheless, we dont see SCE or SuperBot denying everything outright. Stay tuned as Playstation All Stars-gate continues.