All posts by Brendan Griffiths

Action, PC, Platformer, Platforms, PS4, Reviews, Xbox One

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (Review)

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lego-batman-3-boxPlaying Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham after Lego Marvel does little to hide the comparative paucity of star power in DC’s lineup. Beyond the Batman and Superman universes, you’re almost constantly left shrugging your shoulders at the characters on your screen.

This is notable from an early cutscene with a selection of naughty Lanterns messing about in space, which will have all but regular DC readers shrugging their shoulders with indifference until the Joker and Lex Luthor show up to add a bit of class to the villains stable. Continue reading Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (Review) →

Features, PC, Platforms, PS4, Xbox One

Are Ubisoft Taunting Gamers With Female Assassins in Unity?

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Are Ubisoft Taunting Gamers With Female Assassins in Unity?

Remember when Ubisoft said they didn’t have the resources to include female character models for the co-op mode Assassin’s Creed Unity? Well, Ubi, what the hell are these two doing? I’m pretty sure those are boobs.

It would seem Ubisoft found enough ‘resources’ to include a bit of eye-candy around the Brotherhood. To be fair, it doesn’t look like these two are using the 8000 animations that apparently would have been required to include female character models in the co-op mode.

Continue reading Are Ubisoft Taunting Gamers With Female Assassins in Unity? →

Features, Platforms, PS4, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Assassin’s Creed Unity Survival Tips

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assassins_creed_unity_survival-tips-guide

Assassin’s Creed Unity is seriously tough. Even when the various glitches and bugs aren’t making Arno’s life hell, there are plenty of other factors that make pulling off hits an unforgiving gauntlet of snipers and swordsman. We feel your pain though, and have come up with seven top tips to put you on the right path. And no, one of them isn’t buy Assassin’s Creed Rogue instead. I eventually came up with a seventh in the end. Happy hunting!

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Assassin’s Creed Unity Survival Tips →

Action, PC, Platforms, PS4, Reviews, Xbox One

Assassin’s Creed Unity (Review)

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Brought a Knife to a Gunfight

Assassin’s Creed Unity marks the series’ true ‘next-gen’ debut as the game is only available on the newest consoles (and PC). With Black Flag performing so well on all formats last year, you’d think that Ubisoft were set to hit the ground running with their latest title that sees the series make the jump to Revolutionary Paris.

The modern day part of the story plays a back seat this time, which is a shame after the interesting Abstergo mole activities of Black Flag. In 18th century Paris, you play as Arno, one of many Parisians without the faintest trace of a French accent (everyone’s moved from Yorkshire and Gloucester apparently), who is suddenly thrust into the life of an Assassin with very little explanation at all. To be fair, Ubisoft is probably sick of setting up new Assassins by now.

Continue reading Assassin’s Creed Unity (Review) →

Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Improvements for the next Call of Duty

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The Sunday Seven: Improvements for the next Call of Duty

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has been a fantastic return for the mega-selling first-person-shooter franchise. In my review I heaped praised upon both the campaign mode and the fun multiplayer options, mainly because of the excellent shift in style afforded by the exoskeleton. All in all, it’s the best Call of Duty game in years. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. There are still ways in which Call of Duty could blow away the competition and here are seven ways they could do it.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Improvements for the next Call of Duty →

First Person Shooters, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Review)

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Call-of-Duty-Advanced-Warfare-PS4Before Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare landed on our doormats, this has been a year to remember for the first person shooter. The likes of Titanfall and Destiny have made vital efforts to push the envelope in terms of what we can expect from a shooter.

Titanfall has been a fun-packed title with awesome mechs, jetpack parkour and some decent DLC, despite server issues that made the early months a little rough. And Destiny, well the jury’s still out a little there as Bungie’s MMOFPS has been a little light on content for many gamers, but there’s a solid foundation. It’s been a year where developers have attempted to shake things up, and for that they should be applauded. And let’s face it, the sequels could be incredible if they take the feedback on board.

Continue reading Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Review) →

Action, Platforms, PS Vita, Reviews, RPG

Freedom Wars (Review)

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freedom-wars-reviewOh Monster Hunter, why hast thou betrayed us so? After starting life with PlayStation, Capcom’s hit series has gone on to become a huge seller exclusively on Nintendo platforms, particularly the handhelds, leaving Sony desperate to come up with a similar winning formula for the PS Vita.

Last year Soul, Sacrifice made a valiant effort and in many ways succeeded, although it was a little too niche for its own good. And boy was it all sorts of brown. So step forward Freedom Wars, a futuristic take on the genre that sees players trying to work off larger chunks of a 1 million year prison sentence by slaying monsters and harvesting resources for ‘the greater good’. The world is ravaged by war and hunger and broken up into separate cities or Panopticons, with any child born beyond the strict family quotas imprisoned to earn their way back into society via this obscenely long sentence.

Continue reading Freedom Wars (Review) →

News

The Morning Papers – Prey fails to Evolve

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It’s time to forget about that dream of the Blade Runner/Mirror’s Edge hybrid that was Prey 2 as Bethesda has finally admitted the long-troubled title has been canned. Enjoying the Evolve Alpha this weekend? Not on PS4 your not as it’s been postponed due to apparent compatibility issues with the console’s new 2.0 update. Oh well, the recent issues and the DriveClub omnishambles hasn’t stopped Sony shifting 13.5 million consoles in the last 11 months. Enjoy the latest odd trailers for the likes of Far Cry 4 and Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Don’t forget to check out our links to our features yesterday too.

In Case You Missed It…

News

The Morning Papers – Gongs and fear

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Last night saw the annual dishing out of the Golden Joysticks Awards, where games of the last 12 months and beyond (we’ll never understand the reason the awards encompass 18 months of games) rack up some Trophies of their own. While not as trailer packed as the VGAs, Bloodborne at least got a pant-filling new video along with a release date. Elsewhere we’re stoked to see new reveals for Outlast 2 and the Micro Machines-flavoured Toybox Turbos. Last up, check out the PS4 Share Play tutorial, it’s going to be a big deal next week. Links are included below, along with links to our features and reviews from yesterday.

In case you missed it

Platforms, PS4, Racers, Reviews

DriveClub (Review)

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driveclub-reviewDriveClub’s online issues have been well documented since release, and it was only fair that we held off publishing our review until Evolution had time to iron out the kinks and we could actually play it online. Two weeks since release and it’s ‘pencil’s down’ time.

First up, single-player. The campaign is a lengthy selection of events in which you earn fame points that in turn level you up, unlocking more events and faster vehicles. The events themselves have a heavy reliance on time trials over multi-vehicle racing, making it seem like a very lonely game at times. There are drift events too, but the less said about those the better. There are three star awards for each event based on criteria like finishing position, clean laps, lap times or beating racing line or drift challenges.

Continue reading DriveClub (Review) →

Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Why Far Cry 4 is Set to Own 2014

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The Sunday Seven: Why Far Cry 4 is Set to Own 2014

With one short month to go before Far Cry 4 lands, we take a decisive look at all the available evidence, including our very own hands-on sessions, to make the case that we could be looking at a Game of the Year contender here. So dive into this week’s Sunday Seven: Why Far Cry 4 is Set to Own 2014.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Why Far Cry 4 is Set to Own 2014 →

News

The Morning Papers | More 2015 recruits

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Morning, folks! Here’s a link to some of the larger stories of yesterday for some breakfast reading. Although, we’re beginning to think that DriveClub not being online is starting to become the status quo rather than news. It seems like everyone had a rough day though with delays for our favourite upcoming racer and the latest Hitman movie. I’d clear some hard-drive space on your XO too, as Master Chief seems to have put on a bit of weight.

In Case You Missed It…

Hands-on previews, Platforms, Previews, PS4, Video

Bloodborne (Hands-On Preview)

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Chances are, you’re either a big fan of the Dark Souls series or you just can’t be doing with their brand of no-nonsense difficulty and downright unresponsive controls.

Me? I’m not a fan and haven’t been since I played the original Demon’s Souls. So why am I the one talking to you about Bloodborne, a game by the same devs and seen as a potential killer exclusive on the PS4 for fans of From Software’s series? Well, after trying out the recent Alpha, I’m thinking maybe Bloodborne will be worth a look after all and those of you that aren’t fans of the Souls games probably shouldn’t dismiss it so soon.

Continue reading Bloodborne (Hands-On Preview) →

Features, PS4

The Sunday Seven: DriveClub’s Ups and Downs

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The racing game PS4 owners have been waiting for since launch is finally here and it’s facing a hell of a lot of pressure after a prolonged development that has seen some mixed messages emerge during the course. It’s not been the smoothest of launches either, with the online side of the game being blocked off to most gamers. So, let’s have a look at some of the highs and lows we’ve experienced in our first four days with the game.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: DriveClub’s Ups and Downs →

Action, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Review)

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With the Hobbit movies proving to be one of the longest train wrecks in recent memory, it’s a relief to see developers looking elsewhere for inspiration of doing Tolkien’s world justice. So, to fill the gap between the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we find ourselves deep in the heart of Mordor.

Enter Talion, a ranger working on the Black Gate who, along with his family, is killed almost immediately by invading Uruks. Luckily (sort of) for him, an Elven Wraith spirit invades his body just before death. Meaning that a short while later he is resurrected and will continue to do so each time he is killed.

Continue reading Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Review) →

Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Shadow of Mordor Tips

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We’ve been playing a lot of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor here at tower Dealspwn and have frankly been loving it. As keen Tolkien geeks, the Mordor setting provides an intriguing look at an area of Middle Earth for so long trapped behind those daunting Black Gates. Taking place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is a great idea and rich with potential. Monolith tells how the one ring was forged and how a solitary ranger can play an important part when paired with an elven wraith. I’ve put together a few tips to get you started. As ever readers, be sure to share any you might have too.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Shadow of Mordor Tips →

Hands-on previews, PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Evil Within (Hands-on Preview)

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Remember: Burn After Bleeding

Today’s session sees our detective leading man making his way through a sinister mansion full of strange noises, tortured sobbing, wet ripping sounds and a host of nasties sporting dead-eyed barbwire couture. Forget any concerns about the ‘haunted mansion’ cliché, this is the sort of nasty setting we’ve missed in recent years. And don’t forget, this is just one stage of Shinji Mikami’s blood-soaked love letter to the genre he helped to define.

It’s also the first decent taste of horror on new-gen hardware and it suitably impresses on the graphical front from the start. It’s the shadows that really put you on edge though. Be it the flickering shards emitted by your gas lamp as you edge down a dim corridor, the light behind a sheet betraying the twitching silhouette or the gradual pouring of light into a dark room as you slowly creak open a door into the unknown.

Continue reading The Evil Within (Hands-on Preview) →

Hands-on previews, PC, Platforms, Previews, PS4, Xbox One

Project Cars (Hands-On Preview)

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“Try to catch that car in front or just bring it back in one piece.” These are the deflating words of my pit manager when skidding around in last place on the final lap in Project Cars.

Project Cars is tough. With no driving aids turned on for my first play session with the new racing IP, I can’t help but feel the pressure mount as every time I look up in the Bandai Namco offices, I see a Dark Souls II poster – judging, mocking and not helping my blood temperature one bit.

Things improve though and despite the harsh challenge, which comes mainly from the handling rather than the AI (but more on those guys later), I found myself keen to iron out my racing sim wrinkles and lose those pesky kart racer habits. To be fair, it’s not like PS4 is exactly packed with skill-honing racing sims right now.

Continue reading Project Cars (Hands-On Preview) →

Film

From Bedrooms to Billions (Review)

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This year’s hottest ticket at EGX (formerly the Eurogamer Expo) was for the premier of From Bedrooms to Billions, a documentary on the birth of the UK gaming scene and its rise from hobbyist beginnings to world leader and to the shape of things today.

The entire film is told by industry figures giving anecdotes on their memories of how it all began. Chances are, the older a gamer you are, the more you’ll be able to relate to the film. The amount of time dedicated to the Sinclair ZX80s and Commodore 64s vastly outweigh any given to later consoles. This is mainly due to the heavy focus on the British perspective of the industry, where the arrivals of the Japanese machines from Nintendo and Sega are painted in almost villainous colours.

Early on, the anecdotes feel a little dry as the talk is all about programming, entering lines of code, hobbyist meets and so on. This is a film clearly aiming for the nostalgic feelings of those involved in the scene, further carving the film into an even tighter niche and alienating everyone else.

Continue reading From Bedrooms to Billions (Review) →

Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Destiny Strike Tips

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I’ve had Destiny for a week now (thanks to Royal Mail’s usual shoddy service) and have been hitting the modes pretty hard to level up my gear enough to take on the upcoming Raids that are only open to level 26 and up. So, we imagine that you too are going to be putting a lot of time into Strike missions to get in some essential practice for Destiny’s tougher journeys. Well Guardian, you’re not going to last two minutes in the Raids if you don’t take these tactics into your Strike missions.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Destiny Strike Tips →