Category Archives: Features

Features

Top 7 Gaming Features We Need In Real-Life

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Games are great, they really are. They allow us to do things that science, reality and the like are probably never going to allow. It’s not just the glory of stabbing dragons in the face, or the elation of winning the world cup that we wish would spice up the real world every now and then though.

There are lots of little features in gaming that we take for granted, but would be incredibly helpful in the real world. Here’s seven of the best. Don’t forget to let us know some of your own too! Continue reading Top 7 Gaming Features We Need In Real-Life →

Features, PC, Platforms, PS4, Xbox One

Battlefield: Hardline Top 5 Survival Tips

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It’s ok, I know your pain. You promised yourself you’d put a bit of time into the likes of Battlefield 4, Destiny or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in order to get your online multiplayer skills up to scratch, but where has that time gone.

If you signed up to the new Battlefield: Hardline open beta you might be having a bit of tough time getting back into the swing of things. I can’t stop people shooting you in the back half a second after respawning, or offer any logical advice on how to fly a helicopter, but here are five survival tips that should make life less difficult. Continue reading Battlefield: Hardline Top 5 Survival Tips →

Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Video, Xbox 360

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | Combat Playthrough

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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | Combat Playthrough

Only a few short weeks to go now before the concluding part of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and we’re celebrating with a video playthrough to show you the new combat system. The apparently not backwardly-named Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, has ditched the stale combat of the last two games by assigning various attacks and spells to the face buttons of your controller.

Customisation is back in style too as you can enter battle with three different Schema, each with their own set of skills to give you extra combat options. With around 70 Schema to choose from in the final game -each of them customisable too- the depth on offer is looking absolutely huge. For the most part, Lightning will be on her own, but the Schema changes give the game a quasi team-based feel and the slicker combat feels like Square Enix could be onto a winner. Plus, Lightning is easily the best member of the XIII cast. Continue reading Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII | Combat Playthrough →

Features, Platforms, PS4

The Order: 1886 – Another ‘next-gen’ letdown or a victim of poorly chosen demos?

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There’s something not quite right with The Order: 1886. It’s undeniably gorgeous, a testament to the power under the hood of the PS4, but having played it at expos and press events and watched extra footage, many are struggling to form an attachment to the game.

Where there should be a giddy urge to have the game in our lives as soon as possible, which should be a part of any AAA console-exclusive, we find ourselves struggling to gather much enthusiasm for Sony’s first big game of 2015. Given the rather lacklustre gameplay scenes we’ve seen so far, we can’t help but think that Sony has decided on some oddly dull demos to try and hook us journos and gamers in. Are they avoiding spoilers, or does The Order: 1886 just not have that much to show? Continue reading The Order: 1886 – Another ‘next-gen’ letdown or a victim of poorly chosen demos? →

Features

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Game Publishers and Devs

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In recent years we’ve written numerous New Year’s Resolutions articles on things we, as gamers, can do to make the most of our gaming. 2014 saw lots of publishers and development studios being rather naughty though. So, just in-case our delivery of coal didn’t drive the message home, we have ten New Year’s Resolutions that developers and studios should follow. Continue reading 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Game Publishers and Devs →

Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS4, PSN (PlayStation Store), XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox One

7 Ways to Stop Hackers Ruining Your Christmas Gaming

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Hacker losers have once again screwed over gamers by hacking into PSN and Xbox Live just in time for one of the busiest times of the year. Sure, the hackers think they’re punishing the big companies, or ‘sticking it to the man’, but in fact, they’re affecting regular folk who want to enjoy a bit of online gaming with friends over the holidays before heading back to work. Let’s face it, Destiny is more useful as a coaster when offline. Rather than list the painful punishments we wish on the hackers, we’ve come up with seven things to do with your consoles that the hackers can’t interfere with.

Continue reading 7 Ways to Stop Hackers Ruining Your Christmas Gaming →

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

The Sunday Seven: How Assassin’s Creed Rogue smashes Unity

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Assassin’s Creed Rogue has been living under the shadow of Assassin’s Creed Unity since it was announced that both games would be sharing a release window. When both were moved to the very same day, faithful and eager new-gen fans of course opted for Unity. Sadly, that loyalty was rewarded by a broken and oddly dull entry. But now that we’ve had time to play through both games, it’s clear that Ubisoft has released a fantastic Assassin’s title this year, but one you’ll have to dust off the PS3 or 360 for. So then, here are seven reasons why Rogue has absolutely smashed Unity.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: How Assassin’s Creed Rogue smashes Unity →

Features, Platforms, PSN (PlayStation Store)

The Sunday Seven: Top 7 Influential Brands on PS1

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Earlier this week, the PS1 (or PSX for our US readers) turned 20 years old since its Japanese birth in 1994. Think about that, we’ve been playing PlayStation for 20 years. There have been some incredible innovations and games from the multiple generations of PlayStation. But let’s take a look at seven of the most influentialbrands that shaped the original PS1’s success and turned the gaming world upside-down.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Top 7 Influential Brands on PS1 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, PS4, Regular previews, Xbox 360, Xbox One

The Sunday Seven: Under the Radar Releases This Xmas

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The Christmas release line-up has a long tradition of being ridiculously packed every year. After one of the driest gaming summers in recent memory, this is all the more frustrating. The big publishers will often drown out the marketing efforts of any releases that aren’t Call of Duty, FIFA, Halo or other major console branded spots, so this list is for seven games that deserve a little boost and ones we hope won’t get brushed aside in favour of the usual suspects. Keep your browser aimed at Dealspwn as we’ll be aiming to review the lot of them.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Under the Radar Releases This Xmas →

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

The Sunday Seven: Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition Adventure Mode Starter Tips

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If you patiently waited all that time for the new-gen version of Diablo III you may be wondering what all the fuss is about Adventure Mode. Well, after you finish the campaign mode, you’ll be wanting to bag some serious XP and loot to keep the game feeling fresh and getting to Level 70 so you can explore the Paragon system and maybe start on a few new characters to share the additional benefits of your first demon slaying hero. So why not take a look at this week’s Sunday Seven which has a few starter tips to get you going on the next part of your quest for epic loot in Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition. Naturally, we’d love to hear any hints you’d like to share too.

Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition Adventure Mode Starter Tips →

Features, Hands-on previews, Platforms, Previews, PS Vita, PS4, Video

Opening Scenes: Velocity 2X – 27 Mins of Gameplay

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Opening Scenes: Velocity 2X - 27 Mins of Gameplay

The PS4 offerings for PS+ have been a bit too niche for their own good in recent months, but Velocity 2X is a stone cold classic. This newly released title is available for free to anyone on Sony’s subscription service and is out now on both PS4 and Vita.

Today we have 27 minutes of gameplay footage for you, captured from the PS4 version as I play the game for the first time. Velocity 2X is a hybrid of retro shooter and 2D platformer and works best when played at full tilt. The video shows off how effortlessly the game switches between the two genres to become one of the best releases of the year so far. We’ll have a review for you soon, but for now check out what you’re missing, then go and download it. Continue reading Opening Scenes: Velocity 2X – 27 Mins of Gameplay →

Features, Platforms, PS4, Xbox One

The Grass Is Always Greener… I have a PS4, so why do I really want an Xbox One?

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The grass is always greener on the other side. Early on in a new generation of consoles, you usually have to pick between two big rivals. It’s been like that throughout all of my formative gaming years. Sega vs. Nintendo. Nintendo Vs Sony. Sony Vs Microsoft. Whatever side you choose though, chances are your console is going to have a slow start during the first 18 months, especially with development time of the big Triple A titles getting longer and longer.

As a PS4 gamer I’ve had plenty of games to enjoy since launch from exclusives like Infamous and Killzone to the compelling third-party efforts like Assassin’s Creed IV, Wolfenstein the Lego games and more recently Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition. After E3 and Gamescom though, I have to admit I’ve been getting itchy feet and the feeling that I’m missing out by not having an Xbox One, like I said, the grass is always greener and all that.

Continue reading The Grass Is Always Greener… I have a PS4, so why do I really want an Xbox One? →

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

Let’s Play… Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition – Adventure Mode

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Let's Play... Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition - Adventure ModeThe new Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition has been devouring our time lately. After getting back from my hols I’ve finally been able to finish the campaign mode which, as players of the original version will know, has meant the Adventure mode has finally unlocked.

This part of Diablo III’s end-game sees you tasked with bounties or killcount targets to bring in some seriously fat XP and gold rewards, not to mention all sorts of shiny loot. Blood Shards are rare rewards too and also a new currency that allows you to gamble for some exceptionally rare items. Continue reading Let’s Play… Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition – Adventure Mode →