We’re getting a new Hitman game on December 8th. Usually, this would be cause for celebration. But instead, we’re very concerned about what is could mean for gamers and the way video games are released. If you hadn’t heard, Hitman will only release digitally this year, at the full price of $60/£40. However, it won’t be a finished product, not even close.
IO Interactive said: “What we release on December 8th is not the full game. It’s a sizable chunk of it. Throughout 2016 we’ll release more locations and missions until the story arc is done and finished. All of that content is included in the $60 price.” Continue reading Hitman’s segmented release is anti-gamer→
Game Freak (of Pokémon fame) have developed this stampeding platformer under Sega’s gaze, and it would seem they’ve opted for an unlikely platform hero in the shape of an elephant in order to bring the classic platformer back. Seeing as Sonic’s now the Reek to Mario’s Ramsay Snow, I was certainly willing to give Tembo a shot.
A new controller may well be on your shopping list soon if you’re planning on getting through Tembo the Badass Elephant though. This retro 2D platformer is one of those games I like to refer to as Bastard Hard. I’ve called it much worse over the last few days, but I’m probably not allowed to print such tirades. Continue reading Tembo the Badass Elephant (Review)→
We’re half way through the year and about to enter the usual summer draught before the manic Christmas season. But if you have a PS4, there has already been loads of great games. But what’s been the best? It’s a seriously tough call, but we’ve put our heads together to come up with the Top Ten best games of the year so far on PS4. The list includes a healthy mix of exclusives, multi-plats, indies and big-hitters. Put simply, you can’t complain about the draught if any of these are missing from your collection. Continue reading The Top 10 best PS4 games of 2015 so far→
The departure of Amy Hennig from Naughty Dog in early 2014 was one of the saddest surprises in Uncharted 4’s development history. Hennig had been creative director at the company and had written and directed large parts of the trilogy. Essentially, without Hennig, the world of Nate, Drake and Sully would be very different indeed.
Naturally, concerns for the health of Uncharted 4 arose when Hennigs’ departure was announced and we’ve just heard via Nathan Drake’s voice actor, Nolan North, speaking at Metrocon [thanks Gearnuke] that eight months of story scenes they’d shot we’re thrown out. But does that mean that Uncharted 4 could be a very different game with someone else writing the story and directing the actors? It could, as the new leads will want to leave their mark, but on the other hand, it might not be the huge shift in tone that we initially feared.
This is the end folks. Rocksteady’s last Batman game. As we saw with Warner Montréal’s Arkham Origins, you can’t just ask another studio to copy the formula and come up with the goods. Wipe away those tears though and step into the world of Batman: Arkham Knight.
This final adventure sees Batman finally playing on home turf in the expansive Gotham City. A dream come true for gamers, but the Scarecrow wants to make it everyone’s worst nightmare. He’s been cooking up a small ocean of his trademark fear toxin to make a whole city lose its mind and tear itself apart. Continue reading Batman: Arkham Knight (Review)→
So, I’ve just spent my first night tearing around Gotham in the Batmobile. Rocksteady have taken their time recreating one of the most iconic cars of all time and the pressure was certainly on to do it justice as their trilogy of Batman games draws to a close with Arkham Knight. My review is coming later this week, but in many ways, the main question we’re asking is, how’s the Batmobile? How does it handle? Is it an empowering blast and buckets of fun? Or do the tank-like transformations betray Batman’s Legacy? I’ll tell you.
From the first time you unleash the Batmobile on the streets of Gotham, there’s a volatile burst of aggression that makes it almost intimidating to handle. Steering can be very sensitive, resulting in much more fish-tailing than I’d care to admit. It got to the point where I was getting quite annoyed actually. Continue reading Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile – Brilliant fun or a legacy betrayed?→
Hands up. Who’d given up on ever seeing a Final Fantasy VII remake? I certainly had, especially after reading one interview with Square-Enix a while back where they said they wouldn’t even consider it until they’d made a game as good as FFVII. Considering the XIII trilogy (they made three!) exists, it didn’t look good.
Now that all the E3 2015 press conferences are finally over, I’ve been able to take a much-needed step back and reflect on the games that have really stood out. And The Last Guardian stands out in way that few others did.
While we had explosive blockbuster displays and epic reveals from the like of Horizon: Zero Dawn, Fallout 4, Halo 5, Doom and many more, nothing really formed an emotional bond as much as the reappearance (demo video below) of The Last Guardian. But why? Continue reading Was The Last Guardian the real star of the most explosive E3 yet?→
Frankly, it’s a surprise it’s taken this long for the team at Traveller’s Tales to get their hands on the Jurassic Park license. But on the plus side, it’s meant they have managed to squeeze the brand new Jurassic World entry into the game alongside the original trilogy.
In fact, if you want to dive into the new movie straight away, you can after the prologue level. But if, like us, you love the original movies, you’ll want to play through from the very start. By now, TT are seasoned pros at reproducing iconic moments from films into family-friendly games. They’ve had their work cut out for them though as the original movie is surprisingly violent, so the game has been heavily reimagined or cut. So nobody really dies, goat spines don’t land on sunroofs and you certainly won’t be seeing Samuel L. Jackson’s severed arm flopping onto Laura Dern’s shoulder. Hell, even Dennis Nedry has even been slimmed down (because Lego doesn’t do fat). I’m surprised (disproportionately outraged) the electric fence scene has been completely cut though. Continue reading Lego Jurassic World (Review) – Closed for maintenance→
A reliable sign you’re playing an absorbing game is how it makes the time fly. I was constantly interrupted by my TV’s two-hour auto-shutdown notification throughout my time with The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Geralt’s adventures will cut through the days and nights so fast it’ll shock you.
The Witcher III marks the series’ debut on PlayStation and as such will be played by many gamers unfamiliar with the past games. There’s no getting around the fact that you’re going to be at a loss just diving in, I’d seriously advise reading a few wiki summaries of past events and brushing up on some of the main characters so you won’t feel too left out. Continue reading The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (Review) – An unpolished classic?→
UK Beta users of game streaming service, PS Now, have reported that the new prices that have been added to the service and they’re pretty outrageous. How Sony expects to succeed with such high prices for rentals is beyond anyone’s imagining, especially seeing as many titles can be bought outright physically for similar prices. There’s a lot of work to be done, if PS Now wants to survive beyond launch. Continue reading Sony’s PS Now UK Rental Prices are taking us for chumps→
We’re a lucky generation. It’s never been cheaper to buy behemoth-sized TV screens and the visuals for games and movies have never been clearer thanks to the rapid dominance of HD screens and the success of the Blu-ray medium for the movie industry and as a physical media for console games. But there’s a tiny issue spoiling games today. One so small, you’ll probably have to squint to see it.
It’s all in the small print. Why, with these massive screens and crystal clear pictures, do we constantly have to squint or move closer to read the text in video games? The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is another in a long line of big-name games that should really know better. Continue reading Witcher III and many others are being spoiled by a tiny problem→
If ever a PS4 game deserves its own extensive strategy guide, it’s Bloodborne. Sony’s PS4 exclusive by From Software has rapidly become the PS4’s most essential title, adored by fans of Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls series, as well as a fair few new fans, myself included.
I know what many of you are thinking, ‘why do I need a guide book, when the internet is out there?’ It’s a fair point and one impossible to ignore during this review. But having browsed multiple online wikis and read the weighty 550 pages of this guide with official information gathered from the devs themselves, it’s clear that this hardback guide is an essential purchase for fans of the game, whether they’re just getting started, looking for ways to finish off those last few bosses, master the incredible depths of the Chalice Dungeons or discover new weapons and how to use them. No stone is left unturned. Continue reading Bloodborne Collector’s Edition Strategy Guide Book (Review) – A light in the dark→
So, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is finally official. Sony confirmed the PS4 remaster of the trilogy this morning with an announcement trailer, but we’ve been running cheap preorders since yesterday. It would have been nice to have seen some actual gameplay in the reveal trailer but it’s a safe bet that’s being saved for their E3 show.
New-gen remasters are a source of controversy amongst many gamers, and we’ve certainly seen a few dubious ones ourselves. But rather than judge them as a whole. we like to think we examine each one on it’s own merits. So let’s take a look at Uncharted and try to establish if this is a quick cash-grab while Sony treads water or an essential purchase. Continue reading Uncharted PS4 Collection – Treading water or essential purchase?→
You’ve all seen the new Fallout 4 trailer right? Go on, we’ll wait. Well it’s time to gauge the reactions of gamers around the world by examining one of the hottest trending topics we’ve seen in a while.
Hands up. Whose PS4 or Xbox One is completely full already? Quite a few of you we imagine, especially seeing as most games seem to move in with about 40GB of space on your hard-drive.
Today we’ve heard leaks about a new 1TB hard-drive PS4 model and the rumours of an Xbox One slim with a bigger drive have been doing the rounds too. Of course, PS4 owners can buy their own 1TB drive and install it and there was briefly a 1TB XO (the COD model), but why the hell has it taken Sony and Microsoft so long to wake up to the fact the 500GB drive is a joke? Continue reading 1TB PS4 and Xbox One models are appallingly overdue→
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→
Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths
The No Sleep Gamer 