After years of waiting, the PS4 and Xbox One are now unbearably close. However, let’s take some time to make sure we’ve planned ahead for the perfect launch experience on the day. You may have more left to do than you think. So don’t get caught out on launch day, check out our 10 Top Tips for Preparing for Your Xbox One or PS4. Then we can all go back to staring at our calendars.
Continue reading 10 Top Tips for Preparing for Your Xbox One or PS4
Infinity Ward’s latest shooter, Call of Duty: Ghosts, hit the shelves this week and has again proved a big success, although not to the same degree as previous titles. There’s been a drop in sales, albeit one which could be explained by players waiting for next-gen versions later this month. The critical reception has taken a hit too though as the series dips into the ‘dreaded’ yellow zone on Metacritic with a current average of 75 instead of the usual 80-90 range.
Much of the criticism has been aimed at the game’s single player element, which is surprising, given that Infinity Ward should know what they’re doing by now. Have they become lazy? Are we expecting too much? Have our tastes changed? Or do we just want to get on with the multiplayer?
Well, today let’s tackle the single player side of Ghosts, by looking at what’s strong and what’s wrong with it. My experience and thoughts are based on my recent complete playthrough of the campaign on the PS3.
Continue reading What’s Right and What’s Wrong with Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Single Player
With the arrival of the PS4 and Xbox One being unbearably close, we’ve decided to try to calm down for a few seconds to make sure we’re prepared. As it turns out, we still have lots to do and we imagine you do too. So, don’t get caught out on launch day and check out our 11 Essential Preparations Before You Buy a PS4 or Xbox One. Then we can all go back to staring at our calendars. Continue reading 11 Essential Preparations Before You Buy a PS4 or Xbox One
It’s always exciting when games pop through the letterbox, but a few years ago, I was sent Sony’s DanceStar Party for the PS Move. I was dreading it, but ended enjoying it a lot more than I expected. So, when Just Dance 2014 turned up one bleary-eyed afternoon with its neon-nightmare box art, I knew it was that time again. Time to close the curtains. To apologise to the cat in advance. Time to move the sofa too close to the door. Time to stretch. Time to have a beer. Oh, and time to borrow a Kinect.
This is the fifth full game in the series, which has become frequent enough to ditch the numbered sequels and stick a year on the box. You’d be forgiven for thinking not much has changed; the art style is largely the same with real-life dancers on-screen painted in thick bright colours. Steady improvements have been made to the game itself though. Admittedly, the series started on the Wii with a motion controller that wasn’t up to anything more complex than bowling.
Guerrilla Games know they’re up against it when competing for our time in the busy arena of FPS multiplayer games. How do you encourage gamers to give you a fair shot when Call of Duty and Battlefield are so dominant? How about unlocking all the core features from the start?
All weapons and class abilities will be available without the usual grinding; enabling you to try everything and discover what combination works best for you. This is a great idea and allows for a more even playing field for newcomers against players that have been living in the servers since launch day.
Continue reading Killzone: Shadow Fall (Multiplayer Hands-On Preview)
There are a lot of racing games on their way, perhaps too many for those of us planning to splash out on a next-gen console soon. So which of them are shaping up to be worthy of your attention? I endured the queues and hardware crashes of the Eurogamer Expo to tear around various racetracks to bring you my impressions of five of the most anticipated racers of the future on both existing and next generation platforms.
Earlier this week, Sony took to the stage at the Tokyo Game Show to announce the excellent-looking PS Vita TV micro-console, which will be released in Japan later this year. Sony haven’t announced anything about a Western release beyond “stay tuned”, but considering the high interest the device has received from this half of the world, we’re expecting to get our hands on it early next year at the latest. We can’t complain really, especially as Japan is getting the Vita TV device instead of the PS4 this year. I bet they’re furious deep down, but in a really polite way.
So, is Vita TV really just a consolation prize for gamers in Sony’s homeland? Far from it, in fact, I really want one. Is that because I’ve been told I can’t? Very possibly, but here are another seven reasons why I’m crossing everything in the hope we’ll soon be plugging the little white box into a nearby TV.
Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Reasons to be Excited about PS Vita TV
Last week, I looked at how Microsoft could come out on top in the next-gen console wars despite their initial self-inflicted setbacks. So it’s only fair that I give the same treatment to Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4. Both consoles are going to release around the same period, just in time for the Christmas madness. We’ve not had consoles launch head-to-head for generations, which means we’re going to see a real fight between the two. Ring that bell Mr. Shopkeeper. It’s so on.
Continue reading The Sunday Seven: How the PS4 Could Win Next-Gen
A few weeks ago, Microsoft were fighting a losing battle against the PS4. Every time they said anything via statement or twitter, gamers would become enraged and bewildered at why the company seemed determined to alienate consumers around the world. But then they sobered up ditched the two features of the Xbox One that may have handed an early victory to the PS4 – pre-owned blocking and daily online requirement.
However, is the damage already done? We’re far from writing off the big company yet, just look at how many times they’ve screwed up Windows and survived. So here’s our Sunday Seven on How the Xbox One Could Win Next-Gen.
Continue reading Sunday Seven: How the Xbox One Could Win Next-Gen
UPDATE: We can confirm via a press release that the game will indeed be a reboot origins story: “The new Mirror’s Edge reboots the franchise for the next generation with advanced visuals and an all-new origin story for Faith.”
EA and DICE have just announced at E3 that we are finally getting a new Mirror’s Edge game. A new trailer even shows us some early gameplay using a new engine.
What is also interesting is how we see Faith getting her trademark tattoos for the first time. The star over the eye and the weird grid thing on her arm are getting inked onto her inbetween the action shots in the trailer and the one her face looks like it’ll be stinging for a while. Rather than keep it out of the sun though, we’re sure she’ll be running around crisp, bright and clean rooftops again soon.
Another hint that it’s not a direct sequel, at no point do they call it Mirror’s Edge 2, even in the small print at the end. We’ll keep you posted.
Continue reading New Mirror’s Edge Game Is Officially A Prequel
I recently took advantage of Game’s extensive The Last of Us lock-in event tour (dates still available) to get some hands-on experience with the game. Naturally, I left wanting the game more than ever. Naughty Dogs’s post-apocalypse survival adventure looks set to offer so much more than the never-ending line of zombie games and shooters out there. So, I felt it deserved the Sunday Seven treatment this week. Here are seven reasons you should really want to get your hands on The Last of Us. Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Reasons You Want The Last of Us
Last week finally saw HMV find a new buyer, ensuring one more traditional bricks and mortar business would enable gaming to have a high street presence alongside Blockbuster and Game. With most of us using online retailers to buy and pre-order games nowadays, you may wonder why we still need video games to be represented on the high street.
As this console generation winds down, we’ve seen a steep decline in game sales across the board. In 2012, retail sales were hit the most and dropped by over 20%. Game, Blockbuster and HMV barely survived, as gamers’ attention wavered. The original Wii’s bubble burst and there was a lack of any serious mass appeal products to renew lapsed players’ (read: more casual than you and I for example) interest. The numbers for Call of Duty are down and we’re repeatedly hearing of sequels selling only a shadow of what the previous game did – hello DMC.
By now I’m sure you’ve all heard that Sony has a big reveal lined up for a PlayStation Meeting on February 20th. We don’t think Sony would have the nerve to announce anything other than their Next Generation console at the meeting. Next gen rumours are at their highest point and it’s about time we got some answers and not something like PS Move+.
So, assuming Sony don’t just show us a console shell on a podium before cheerily bidding us goodnight and promising a second date at E3, I think we’ll be shown a few more things on February 20th. Don’t forget we still have a big year of gaming ahead of us regardless of the PS4 and Sony will be keen to avoid accidentally killing off the market for the PS3 and Vita by announcing their new machine alone. Instead, I think they will want to strengthen their brand to ensure they move onto the next gen leaving the best final impression of this generation. But yes, we think they’re going to show us some jaw-dropping new stuff too. I’ve already gone into detail about what they should do to rebuild their controller, so here’s my list of seven other things I think we may see at the meeting. Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Sony’s Other Big Reveals for Feb 20th
Sony’s PS4 reveal event this week gave us lots to look forwards to and get excited for over the coming months. Unlike Nintendo, they revealed the system specs straight away, which in the long run could be a big boost in gaining support from third-party developers at an early stage -the same area that is killing the Wii U right now.
We were always going to have questions left unanswered by the event though. Some for obvious reasons, like Sony themselves not even knowing yet, others a little less clear. We’ll be tapping Uncle Sony on the shoulder for info and leaning heavily on known squealers until launch day, so keep an eye on our news section for all the updates. For now, here’s what I thought were the seven most important items missing from the meeting.
Continue reading The Sunday Seven – PS4: What We Still Don’t Know
Scouring through patents, blueprints, rumours and ‘twitter leaks’ (aka bollocks) has put us on a seemingly endless chase in recent months for information about what we’re getting from the next-generation of consoles. With the Wii U sitting uncomfortably between two generations, Sony’s task of judging where to go next with their controller in an unenviable one. Do they once again add minor tweaks to the DualShock, an iconic controller that’s dutifully served them and millions of gamers for over a decade, or move forwards to keep up with what may turn out to be the popular trend in years to come?
There were undoubtedly some tough choices made at the drawing board, or perhaps nothing is set in stone yet, the rumours of a March reveal simply digital whispers and Sony will be gluing together a prototype minutes before this year’s E3 presentation. Fingers crossed they don’t try anything like that ridiculous bananarang redesign that they tried for the PS3. Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Steps to Rebuild the PS4 Controller
How do you make a game of the megabucks-making gorno series? Well developers Zombie ran into trouble when their original publisher went bust, but Konami swooped in and picked up publishing rights and seemingly had an influence on the game itself too. So we’re left with this inbred Silent Hill knockoff with more torture scenes and poor hand-to-anything coordination.
You are Detective Tapp (played by Danny Glover in the first film) who after his injuries has been nursed back to health by Jigsaw purely for the purpose of f**cking him around in his own purpose built asylum. Jigsaw’s lair is suitably littered with dozens of his victims’ destroyed corpses in various devices you’ll recognise from the movies. Jigsaw’s game is to try and convince Tapp to forget his obsession with catching him (this’ll help). Continue reading Saw Review – Pure Torture
The No Sleep Gamer 