The announcement of this standalone expansion prequel to last year’s excellent Wolfenstein: The New Order was an excellent surprise and the news that it was only going to cost about £15 was even better. Fast forward a few short weeks and you can pick up a copy for about a tenner. You’re looking at the best bargain of 2015, folks.
While the majority of the last game was set in the alternative version of the 1960s where the Nazis won WWII, The Old Blood takes place towards the end of the war in the mid 40s. You’re attempting to infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein, an enormous fortress built into the side of a mountain. The word ‘imposing’ doesn’t really do it justice as you approach it via cable car. Continue reading Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (Review) – “Ein Hotdog!”→
Next month’s PlayStation Plus games have just been announced and it looks like the lineup has stepped things up a little after a few thoroughly average months. Or has it?
If you’ve already bought Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes during one of it’s many placements in the PSN sales, then you could argue that you’re looking at another decidedly indie lineup. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (ok, not very indie) is certainly worth a look if you didn’t play it two years ago. The remaining titles range from the vaguely familiar (Cloudberry Kingdom) to the incredibly vague (Super Exploding Zoo).Continue reading PlayStation + June 2015 lineup back on track?→
Today, Capcom announced that they are working on Resident Evil 0 HD, a remastered HD port of their 2002 GameCube exclusive. While some HD ports/remasters feel like opportunistic cash grabs, we like to think that this one is a good thing; not just for us eager gamers, but for Capcom and the Resident Evil series in general. Here’s why.
As fondly remembered as the GameCube was, the fact is it got hammered by the competition. Capcom were easily the most supportive third-party though with the original Resident Evil remake (or REmake), Resi 0 and of course, the incredible Resident Evil 4. Continue reading Why Resident Evil 0 HD is great news for the series and gamers→
Season Pass content can be tricky to navigate, especially when you’re not sure how a piece of paid content is going to work out. At Dealspwn we always advise waiting for some coverage or reviews before putting any extra cash down, especially for season passes. We really enjoyed Mortal Kombat X at launch and have been impressed with the variety of characters already on offer. So how about the DLC ones? Well, here’s our review of the first to arrive, the infamous, Jason Voorhees.
The indestructible star of the Friday the 13th movies (yes, except the first one) initially seemed a rather odd choice for the series, as he’s never been known for his pace and the idea of him performing combos seems a bit absurd. Thankfully, NetherRealm have given him a generous injection of pace and a decent skillset with linkable moves, while maintaining his sinister style. Continue reading Mortal Kombat X Jason Voorhees DLC (Review) – This is why they run→
Coming in late? Be sure to check out my spoiler-free reviews of Episode 1 and Episode 2.
I expected the dramatic conclusion to Episode 2 to be the catalyst that would drive the series’ pace forward with a much needed boost. More so with questions about the events at Arcadia Bay’s school and the strange events around town being no closer to getting answered.
The first part of Episode 3 starts with Max and Chloe breaking into the school Principal’s office. To get through the locked door, you have to sneak through the school at night to find a few items. It feels a bit by the numbers really, with only bonus photo maintaining my interest. Continue reading Life is Strange Episode 3 – Chaos Theory Review→
As expo season hurtles towards us once again, Sony’s PS4 has a comfortable lead over Microsoft’s Xbox One. But Microsoft’s console has a premium Christmas lineup of mass appeal console-exclusive titles including Halo 5, Forza 6, Gears of War Remastered (probably) and Rise of the Tomb Raider. Expect them to market Call of Duty: Black Ops III so heavily as to make it look like an exclusive too.
Microsoft will splash the cash on an intense marketing barrage on our TV, laptop and tablet screens over the all important Xmas holiday season with this selection of familiar brands. As things stand, Sony’s Christmas lineup so far is certainly lacking titles to resonate with masses. But this could all change by the time Sony leaves the stage at E3 2015. Continue reading Pressure mounts on Sony for this year’s E3→
What is Rocket League? Put simply, it’s football/soccer with large remote controlled cars, and it’s kinda brilliant.
I’ve been getting stuck into the new beta and Rocket League is already shaping up to be an essential PS4 multiplayer title. There will be local multiplayer options in the final game, but this beta has focussed on the online matches and is already showing huge potential. Continue reading Rocket League Preview | PS4’s hottest new exclusive?→
Wulverblade remembers the good ol’ days of playing side-scrolling beat ’em ups with friends on consoles like the Sega Mega-Drive and wants to bring that feeling back to modern consoles. At the Play Blackpool retro gaming expo it’s finding a lot of new fans, as many attendees were brought up on the likes of Streets of Rage and Double Dragon, so have no problem diving straight into Wulverblade.
Unlike many modern titles leaning on the nostalgic angle, you won’t see Wulverblade sporting a pixel art style or looking like it could have run on a console twenty years ago. Instead the art direction shows a stunning cel-shaded style more akin to Castle Crashers. But with additional limb-lopping. Continue reading Wulverblade Preview | The beat ’em up is back→
With Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate finally officially revealed after months of speculation and leaks, it’s good to see what this year’s entry in Ubisoft’s series is shaping up like. Can it repair the damage done by last year’s Unity though? Take a look at what we think were the most important elements to take away from today’s official reveal. Continue reading Why Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate already looks better than Unity→
Over the course of the recent Play Blackpool expo, I was able to get my third hands-on experience with the Oculus Rift. It was the first time I’d been able to test the latest Crescent Bay model and earlier today we learned that the consumer model will launch in the first quarter of 2016. But is Virtual Reality ready to compete in the world of gaming? Can it be the next big thing? Let’s look at the latest evidence via hands-on experiences and by examining the VR climate.
With the ever-growing list of headsets being announced, there’s no denying the industry giants believe Virtual Reality has a large part in the future of gaming. In addition to the Oculus Rift, we have Sony’s Project Morpheus and the HoloLens from Microsoft. More recently we’ve seen Valve/HTC enter the fray with Vive, which could possibly arrive later this year, beating Oculus to the punch. Continue reading Can Oculus Rift and VR become the future of gaming?→
When playing a game for the first time at a gaming expo, often with fellow gamers looking over your shoulder, you want it to have that essential pick up and play feel where you can settle into that groove of having a great time and looking like a badass all at once. Gunnihilation is that game.
Playable on PC at Play Blackpool, but using an Xbox One controller, this twin-stick shooter has classic retro visuals paired with vitally responsive controls as you combine shooting with platforming to enormously satisfying effect. It’s also playable in co-op, which is even better. Continue reading PREVIEW: Gunnihilation | Bullet Ballet Bloodbath→
Earlier this week, DriveClub’s new director Paul Rustchynsky responded to comments about the PS Plus Edition of the game to give readers some much wanted details about the upcoming racing game. When asked how the full-priced retail edition and the PS Plus version would differ he said: “The difference is that you only have 10 cars and you can only race in one country (which gives you access to 5 tracks with 11 distinct variants).”
It wasn’t long before disgruntled gamers started to question the rather thin nature of the release, especially seeing as earlier interviews with Sony and Evolution implied that the PS Plus Edition would appear, by most standards, to have content akin to that of a full-sized game and the full-priced version was going to be more of an extras-packed version, something more like the special editions we see ahead of other releases. Continue reading Is Sony Slapping PS Plus Members in the Face with DriveClub?→
NetherRealm Studios come to their tenth canon Mortal Kombat release after the rather excellent Injustice: Gods Among Us. Working on the superhero title seems to have strengthened their resolve to come up with one of the best games we’ve seen in the long-running, face pummelling series.
The Story mode is a good place to start for any rusty brawler fans. You’ll control a set character for four fights before being put in the shoes of a new combatant. By the end of the story you’ll have played as most of the 24 strong cast and you should have an idea of which characters you’d like to develop your skills with and those you never want to see again. Continue reading Mortal Kombat X (Review) – Gore galore→
White Night blends classic themes that sound fantastic on paper. It’s essentially a survival horror/adventure title hybrid, inked with a gorgeous Sin City-esque graphic novel style, toned with a classic 1930s detective noir vibe. I already want a film version.
We begin the tale with a car accident, which sees our protagonist hobbling towards a nearby mansion for help. And boy do I mean hobble. I’ve never endured such a slow opening 30 minutes in my life. I plodded up to the gates when the camera eventually let me see them, then up to the porch, then around the graveyard until I found the key, and then around the house for ages until I found the first save point, a couch. Thankfully, when our hero awoke, his injuries were healed and I was treated to a run button too. Continue reading White Night (Review) – A noire in the dark→
Just watched the Just Cause 3 gameplay trailer? Excited? We’re pretty sure you are. As if the trailer wasn’t enough, we’ve dug out some extra details -including a few surprises- that will make the wait until ‘Holiday 2015’ seem even further away. So here are the Top 7 reasons to be excited about Just Cause 3.Continue reading 7 reasons to be excited about Just Cause 3→
Hunter’s gather! Bloodborne is now even better thanks to today’s 1.03 patch. Despite it being all sunny outside, I was tasked with stapling the curtains shut and checking out the new patch’s performance. A surprisingly large 2.75GB download later and I was able to do just that. What I found not only improved the game, but made failure that little bit easier to bear.
The new loading times are indeed much improved, with most now twice as fast. Before the patch, I’d typically expect a wait of around 40 seconds after death or nipping back to the Hunter’s Dream for fast travel or to spend some Blood Echoes. Today, respawning after death was a brisk 17 seconds and multiple trips back and forth from the hub world were also about 17 seconds. The only time it was any longer was when choosing to fast-travel to a location far away from my last one. Continue reading Bloodborne’s new loading screens are a godsend→
Have you recently heard rumblings a new version of the PS Vita handheld could be in the works? While only a few diagrams have appeared, the validity of which are highly questionable, it got me thinking that maybe a third version of the Vita could be third time lucky for Sony. Here’s how they could turn things around.
Of course, the Vita’s ‘success’ so far is a divisive topic. Gamers expecting a handheld that pumped out AAA titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss on a regular basis feel understandably short-changed as Sony and third-party developers never really supported the Vita with any true ambition. Continue reading PS Vita Version 3 – Third time lucky?→
Don’t take that title as a slur on Rocksteady’s excellent work on the Arkham series of Batman games, or as an ill-judged prediction that Arkham Knight is going to be anything other than brilliant. Far from it. Batman: Arkham Knight could be the crowning achievement of the trilogy, the realisation of years of hard work and the culmination of efforts and ideas that were finally allowed to exist as gaming hardware caught up to Rocksteady’s lofty ambitions.
So why so keen to see them let the Dark Knight go after June 23rd (well, after the inevitable expansion packs at least)? Rocksteady have proved themselves to be an excellent studio and it would be cruel to tie them to making one franchise over and over again. Let’s see them and Batman go out on a high, before ideas become stale and before the studio becomes fatigued trying to come up with fresh ideas in order to better their own impossibly high bench marks. They’ve been working on Arkham games nonstop since 2007! Continue reading Why Rocksteady quitting Batman after Arkham Knight is the right choice→
Looking for cheap PS4 hard drive deals is incredibly daunting. I’ve just spent hours browsing through loads of different sites and whittling through scores of drives to ensure these are the best prices and that the drives are compatible with a PS4 console. If you feel like browsing yourself, or double checking any deals below, here are some important specs you’ll want to ensure a hard drive has. If it’s not listed, try to contact the seller or don’t bother.Continue reading Cheap PS4 Hard Drive Upgrade Guide→
Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths
The No Sleep Gamer 