After a successful Alpha test last month, we’ve been itching to play more Destiny and have been all over the new Beta which launched earlier this week. Our first video of the new build includes the opening cinematic and the entire first mission. Continue reading Opening Scenes | Destiny Beta Gameplay – First 15 Mins on PS4
It’s always amused me just how much people hate Michael Bay. I mean, it’s a film about toys. Of course it’s just robots hitting each other and stuff exploding. Don’t like it? Well stop paying a fortune to watch it at the cinema thus encouraging him to make more. Seriously, I had to delete one person from facebook because they were complaining about how awful the film was despite them paying to watch it twice.
Personally, as an effects fan, I quite like the films (not seen the new one yet though), but wish they were about 45 minutes shorter. I approached the latest tie-in game with low expectations, but with a willingness to be pleasantly surprised, despite High Moon Studios -whose Cybertron series has been widely praised by critics and fans alike- not being at the helm. Fingers crossed they get to work on a brand new entry to the series once they’re done with helping out on COD: Advanced Warfare.
Continue reading Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark (Review)
Better than a bullet in the nadsSniper Elite III has opted for a change of scenery for its latest long-range melon buster and visits the sandy vistas of Africa during World War II. Unlike most WWII games, there’s a surprising lack of Nazis, instead you’re generally shooting Italians with ze Germans apparently not being fans of the searing heat.
Scenery change aside, it’s business as usual, shooting Axis soldiers from oh-so far away, with gruesome slow-mo detail accompanying most shots. The series’ stable gore looks more grisly than ever on the new consoles. Skulls explode, teeth smash from jaws, bones snap, insides are ripped through and of course testicle shots are back. On the default settings, I soon tired of these slow-motion killshots that follow the bullet from your gun right up to its messy destination. I’d advise dipping into the options to turn down the frequency of them as they lose their impact by the end of the first stage otherwise. They also make it difficult to keep track of nearby enemies between shots.
Games are expensive. Add in the fact that new-gen games are £10-£20 more expensive than they were on PS3/360 and it’s not surprising that many gamers opt to trade in their games as soon as they’re done.
With multiplayer orientated titles like Battlefield or Titanfall, they may keep hold of them a little while longer if they’re still fun or reliable online. The promise of extra maps to download further down the line make trading them in a risky proposition, after all nobody wants to miss out.
But what about games like Infamous: Second Son? With no multiplayer component and a Platinum Trophy available over two playthroughs through less than 20 hours of play, there isn’t much reason to keep the game. It makes much more sense to trade it in or make even more money back by listing it on eBay. Even if you really enjoyed a game, it’s worth noting that you could sell for a high price soon after launch and then buy again for a quarter of the price in a few years’ time when you fancy reliving the experience.
Continue reading Standalone DLC Like Infamous: First Light Must Become The New Norm
An Essential JourneyWith a World War I setting, Valiant Hearts: The Great War explores relatively unfamiliar ground for gaming, or even movies to be honest, as it was generally WWII that inspired so many films and games. It’s hard to believe that the human race had the capacity for war again after the events of WWI and Valiant Hearts plays an important role in showing us that this was one of the darkest moments of humanity’s very chequered past.
Unlike most war games though, Valiant Hearts isn’t another one-man-army first-person shooter or a strategic tactical sim. It’s a heavily story-driven experience with puzzling and old-school adventuring at the core of the gameplay.
Watch Dogs is a game based around exploiting the possibilities made available by hacking our increasingly digitally reliant world with an exceedingly smart phone.
There is a story, based around revenge and private company conspiracies, but it’s simply filler material between missions. The lead character, Aiden Pierce is a moody git with a gravelly voice where you might usually find a personality and he comes across as rather unlikable. Thankfully, the supporting characters, including his sister and the (Lisbeth Salander rip-off) hacker Clara, do their best to give you someone else to listen to occasionally.
After the lengthy presentations on day zero of E3 concluded, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there really wasn’t much to look forwards to in the next few months. Every exciting trailer or tantalising CG reveal blasted the same message: come back and see me in 2015, Brendan.
This would seem the case for most console owners, be it PS4, Wii U or Xbox One. As a PS4 owner though, I felt there was that little bit less to look forwards to though. Sitting through the Microsoft presser and watching them make it all about the games, there was no getting around the fact they were having an amazing show.
I’ve never been a Halo fan, but for those that are, the lack of many new games to play at Christmas doesn’t seem too bad when they get to replay their old favourites with a next-gen lick of paint. Perhaps, it’s just the lack of interesting Holiday exclusives that are getting me down.
It’s hard to feel bad about England’s early stumble in the World Cup when we’ve been able to play the Alpha test of Destiny all weekend. In short, it’s been tonnes of fun and it looks like Bungie are onto a winner. Naturally, there’s a lot to like about the new shooter (like being able to aim down the sights right, Bungie!), but we’ve also comes across a few things we’d like to see sorted by the time the full release touches down in September.
Continue reading Destiny Could Own 2014… If It Fixes Some Problems
Despite what seems like the entire internet trying to get the Battlefield: Hardline beta at once, after multiple login attempts, I managed to snag a PS4 code. Absolute win-sauce! So, here’s our exclusive first attempt at Heist mode, on the wrong side of the law with criminals facing off against the coppers.
All you need to know is that I nail someone with a motorbike. We’ll have footage from the coppers side of the game soon. Stay tuned at Dealspwn for more exclusive playthrough videos of one of the hottest upcoming shooters. Continue reading Battlefield Hardline: FIRST LOOK Criminal Gameplay – Heist Mode Beta
Having a cheeky pre-E3 holiday was a great idea. Well, aside from the lack of internet, being awake for the last 36 hours, still having sand from the Aegean in my hair and suffering from regular twitchy lucid flashbacks of that spider that invaded my apartment one night.
But it’s the day before the biggest day in any gamers’ calendar and now that I’m no longer at the mercy of Wi-Fi powered by stray cats on a treadmill, I thought I better chuck in my Day zero predictions as the rest of the team have done for Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA and Ubisoft at E3 2014. Enjoy! I’m off to check my bed for spiders as big as my face. Continue reading E3 2014 Predictions: Brendan’s Last Gasp Picks
We’ve been having a blast all week here shootin’, stabbin’ and stranglin’ Nazis with Wolfenstein: The New Order. Did you also know that there’s a bonus stage which old school gamers will most certainly get a kick out of? I’ve captured some footage, so take a look. Feel free to let us know what you think of the game if you have it already or ask any questions. But yeah, you should buy it. Continue reading VIDEO: Wolfenstein: The New Order Retro Bonus Level
Grudging Through Another No-Flair Witch ProjectHorror games have seen something of a resurgence in recent years on the PC platform, while the genre has slowly bled out on the consoles. But with the renewed indie focus on the PS4, perhaps the things that lie in the shadows and lurk under our beds are set to make a return.
Recent PS Plus freebie Outlast may have been a repetitive effort, but there was no denying that its first-person viewpoint, jumpy moments and sickeningly foreboding atmosphere were excellently put together. You’d certainly be forgiven for confusing it with today’s game, Daylight. Hell, until this arrived on my desk, I’d mentally absorbed it into the same game as Outlast. However, despite the hospital setting and first-person perspective, this is a very different game. And not in a good way.
Not long to go now before gaming’s Superbowl lands in LA and we all go crazy for the latest new games, exciting demos and those massive revelations. Sony are going to have a hard time topping last year, where they delivered some heavy blows to their rival Microsoft, who stuttered their way through the Xbox One’s build-up campaign.
This year’s E3 is all about maintaining the pace and staying ahead of the Redwood company, especially now the two consoles are similarly priced. So, here’s seven ways for Sony to win E3 2014. Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Ways for Sony to Win E3 2014
Webbed Wonder or Missed Marvel?
Developers have been left fruitlessly chasing the ghost of 2004’s excellent Spider-Man 2 tie-in, with each of the releases since fixing and breaking things in equal measure. We’ve had cool cel-shaded art makeovers, noir and future settings to change things up, but we’ve also seen devs knacker the web-swinging and flush us down more sewer pipes than we’d care to remember.
Despite the numerous letdowns, I’ve been cautiously optimistic about Spidey’s next-gen debut, although this is more of a port rather than something purpose built for the new machines like Infamous: Second Son.
RPG games are usually big-budget epics with the promise (threat?) of at least forty hours running time. Ubisoft’s Child of Light is here to change that assumption by providing a low-priced downloadable alternative.
Others have failed quite miserably (Hello, Mars: War Logs), but ze Germans made a solid effort with the tough Rainbow Moon. But with Ubisoft providing genre classics in action, shooters and platforming (Assassin’s Creed IV, Far Cry 3 and Rayman Legendsif you’re asking), we can’t wait to see how they handle an RPG.
The first thing we all noticed about Child of Light was of course the visuals -and they don’t disappoint. Using Rayman’s UbiArt engine, Ubisoft have this time favoured a watercolour approach to the visuals instead of bright colours and cel-shaded lines. This has resulted in a classic fairy tale aesthetic that gives the game its own unique endearing personality throughout the ever-changing landscapes.
Traveller’s Treasure or Witless Worm?
Yes, this is a review, not an advanced preview for a game which (with any sense) wouldn’t see a release until December when the final Hobbit movie hits cinemas. Instead, this Lego title encompasses the first two films with the third to be added as DLC later this year.
It would take the most upbeat of optimists to suggest that WB will do the right thing and release the add-on (the rest of the game) for free, but my cynical nature tells me to expect something around £15.99 –an oddly specific guess I admit. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see this game re-released complete with the remaining content in December for the same price it is today. So, I guess the only real question left, is how many Lego games do you need in your life? With Lego Marvel and the Lego Movie tie-in released just five and two months ago respectively, you have to wonder why WB didn’t wait.
As an industry fuelled by both fans and media constantly looking forwards to the future of the big games, it wasn’t long after finishing Infamous: Second Son, that many minds started to wonder what the future held for the Infamous series. Strong sales so far suggest that a sequel is highly likely, as Sony will want to strengthen the brand into a PS4 front-runner along with their critically acclaimed Uncharted series.
If the Infamous series is to continue though, it will need to evolve in order to remain a relevant IP. Second Son was a solid next-gen debut, but it could be argued that it was a remarkably safe entry. For a sequel, players will be expecting Sucker Punch to push the boat out and get creative, as (graphics aside) there was little to differentiate the latest game from the old ones. Sucker Punch has hit the ground running on the PS4 and proved that they have no problems getting some gorgeous visuals from the new hardware, but what else can we looked forward to in the fourth Infamous game?
TowerFall Ascension is all about traditional local multiplayer. So much so, there’s no point even reading the rest of this review if you’re not likely to invite friends round to your house to play with you. Still here? Did I mention it would help if your friends were regular gamers with a fondness for pixelated sprite-art games that could have run on a Sega Master System without breaking a sweat? Try not to make too much noise on your way out. Ok you two, thanks for staying.
This multiplayer-focused game features screen-sized arenas to duke it out against each other in 2-4 player deathmatches / team deathmatches or you can play 1-2 player co-op against waves of monsters over multiple maps.
Despite critical acclaim two years ago when released on XBLA and PC, Fez has taken its time to come to the PlayStation Platforms. Rather than a discount for its tardiness, the asking price of £7.99 gets you a cross-buy copy of the game that you can download to your PS4, PS3 and PS Vita complete with cloud-based cross-save functionality.
For those of you new to the world of Fez, allow me to catch you up. This is a puzzle platformer that opts for an 8-bit retro style. What’s decidedly not retro though (unless you count Echochrome and Crush as retro) is the rotating mechanic adding depth to the 2D platforming. With a tap of a shoulder button, the whole game world rotates 90 degrees. This begins simply enough when you’re just navigating a singular structure, you could even be forgiven for thinking it’s just a gimmick as it’s essentially a traditional flat 2D stage that you push forward with these ‘rotations.’
The first massive exclusive on the PS4 since launch day’s Killzone: Shadow Fall is finally here. The adventures of the lightning-powered Cole in the first two games were well received by PlayStation gamers, so it’s fair to say the pressure’s on for Sucker Punch’s debut PS4 game.
The story is set in a world that’s been reeling since Conduits -people with super powers – started appearing seven years earlier, causing widespread destruction and paranoia across America. Since the events of Infamous 2, Conduits have been branded Bio Terrorists and rounded up by the DUP -the Department of Unified Protection. The DUP is run by a sadistic turncoat Conduit Brooke Augustine, who has an ability to create concrete structures or painful torture spikes at will. This earned her a feared reputation amongst both Conduits and regular citizens. There are dark shades of McCarthyism and the similarities to the early X-Men movies or TV’s Heroes are plain to see.
The No Sleep Gamer 