If you’ll be needing an Xbox Live Gold account top-up in the next few months, or you know someone that will, this is one of the best prices we’ve ever seen for a year long subscription. It’s better than half price compared to the RRP. Don’t forget to use the discount code.
Continue reading Get a year of Xbox Live Gold for $27.89 / £18.89
With gaming’s busiest season well under way, there’s every chance you’re in the market for a new 12 month subscription for your Xbox Live Gold account. Don’t miss out on this excellent deal that’s the cheapest by miles for US and UK gamers. Grab a 5% discount by going to the seller’s Facebook page and clicking the link.
Wow, that’s just $2.53 / £1.74 a month! You’ll need a sub to play online multiplayer in the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Halo 5, Need for Speed and Forza 6. You can also look forward to some free games via the Games with Gold program. Just like the ones below. Continue reading Xbox Live Gold account 1 year sub only $30.39 / £20.89
Missed the earlier episode reviews? Use these links to get to Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3. Unlike the previous episodes, I’ll be putting a score at the end of this one that reflects the complete Season Pass / retail release.
This is it then, the finale to what has been a very encouraging episodic series debut from Capcom and the Resident Evil series. This is where we find out what happened to Claire and Moira as they make their way to the top of the tower and we’ll find out if Barry and Natalia can catch up with them and get some answers of their own. Continue reading Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 4 – Metamorphosis Review
Missed the previous episode reviews? Here you go: Episode 1 | Episode 2
Capcom’s penultimate episode to Resident Evil: Revelations 2 edges us ever closer to what has so far been a very successful experiment for the series as it tries out an episodic model with four episodes over as many weeks.
Like previous episodes, you’ll control Claire and Moira for the first part and Barry and Natalia for the second. Given the ending of the last episode, you may be desperate to find out what happens to the latter pair, but you’ll just have to wait. Continue reading Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 3 – Judgement Review
Here’s a link to our review of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 1 – Penal Colony
After a hugely promising opening episode, I couldn’t wait to get into stuck into the next one this week. It looks like the new series has some staying power as Capcom have delivered again with the episodic model looking like an increasingly natural fit for the series.
Again, the episode is split in two with the first half following Claire and Moira and the second continuing from where we last left Barry and Natalia. Claire and Moira come across another group of survivors and they team up to find some helicopter parts to make an escape attempt. Nothing’s ever that easy, especially when a hoard of infected lay siege to your safe house. It’ll be very familiar to Resident Evil 4 fans and is a fantastic scene as you defend multiple windows while the hoard attempt to smash through. Continue reading Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 2 – Contemplation Review
Episodic titles have proved to be a big success for games like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us and more recently, Life is Strange. But how will the episodic model fare with a genre like survival horror? Well, if Episode 1 of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is anything to go by, it could go rather well.
Unlike the aforementioned episodic titles, Revelations 2’s four episodes will be released weekly instead of every six weeks or more that we’re used to seeing. The benefits of this are obvious to everyone involved and it keeps the episodic/TV ideology plausible.
Continue reading Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 1 – Penal Colony Review
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
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.
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.
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.
After not getting around to finishing the final version of the original Vita release late last year, I was delighted to see that Blackgate was making its way to the main consoles in a similar manner to Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD. Keen to fill the long gap between now and Rocksteady’s next-gen Arkham adventure I dove in with both feet -but sadly without a cape.
Blackgate takes place three months after the events of Arkham Origins, making its original simultaneous release a little odd. But now we’ve had time to finish the console game, we don’t have to worry about spoilers; although I’ll not give any away today.
Continue reading Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition (Review)
Releasing at the busiest time of year, Liberation went largely unnoticed when it released towards the back end of 2012 on the PS Vita. So when Ubisoft announced they would be polishing it up for a downloadable release on PSN and XBLA it was collective high fives all-round. Sorry Vita, but the big TV wins again.
So often, I cringe when I see the prices of digital games or HD remakes, but Liberation’s £15.99 asking price is very reasonable. Mainly because the original Vita version costs more and the visual upgrade is huge. Some of you may be disappointed to hear that the multiplayer options have been ditched, but this makes sense really. Why would Ubisoft want to dedicate resources to keeping more servers alive when they know most fans will be enjoying the superior multiplayer offerings of Assassin’s Creed IV?
Summary of the News articles I posted at Dealspwn.com in December 2013 as Weekend Editor.
Continue reading My Dealspwn.com News Posts Roundup – December 2013
For years, PSN and XBLA gamers have been enviously staring at the generous offerings PC gamers can gorge themselves on via sites like Steam, GOG and Green Man Gaming. The ever-increasing number of sites sees regular price war over these digital titles, leaving PC gamers the clear winners for cheap games.
For console gamers, it’s been a very different story as PlayStation and Xbox gamers have been left with one first-party option for a digital game store on their console. With only one option available, this has of course meant that there is no need for competitive prices or discounts bar the odd sale.
Continue reading Consoles Doomed to Pay High Digital Prices Forever?
Like any good zombie attack, you never see it coming and How to Survive will sink its teeth into your nights if you let your guard down while patiently awaiting the arrival of your shiny next-gen console.
EKO Software’s game is a top-down action-RPG that can be loosely compared with the likes of Diablo III or Dead Nation. After crash landing on a zombie-infested tropical island, you’ll need to scavenge for salvage and build weapons and armour to hold off the infected masses. The overall aim is to make a series of vehicle repairs via completing fetch quests. Ok, so not exactly a revolution of new ideas, but once How to Survive gets going, it’s hard to put down.
Contrast has been thrust into the limelight of the PS4’s launch thanks to its inclusion as a free game for all PS+ subscribers. And given that said subscription is required to play the PS4 online, it may be getting a bigger audience than it expected on opening night. No pressure then.
The game’s setup is an unusual one from the start as you control the odd pairing of Didi -the young girl- and Dawn, a female stage performer. More unusually, the other characters in the game don’t seem to see Dawn, and they only appear as shadows. This is the norm though as we see Didi talk with her parents in their shadow form throughout.
Bioshock Infinite’s first DLC surprised many of us when Irrational announced it would take place in the original game’s underwater city of Rapture and not in the floating city of Columbia. Surprised? Yes. Disappointed? Not one bit.
With Bioshock Infinite indicating the many possibilities of alternate universes, the concept of taking (a version of) Booker and Elizabeth to one of the most inspired locations in gaming history is one that pulls you in from the start, more so after teasing us with the idea in Infinite.
Continue reading Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode 1 (Review)
A Better Reflection
The 3DS was always going to struggle with the ambitious graphics in Mirror of Fate, but we no longer have to fend off its ugly with a crucifix, because Konami have unleashed a HD makeover on the PS3 and Xbox 360 digital stores and at a bargain price of £9.99.
For those of you who missed the 3DS version, the game ditches the 3D action feel of Lords of Shadow for something more in line with the classic 2D Castlevania games. So expect lots of platforming, exploration and fending off opponents from both sides.
Rolling back the clock with the haunted house of mouse
Following the recent retro remake of DuckTales, we now get to see how the classic Mega Drive game, Castle of Illusion scrubs up by today’s standards. As a big fan of the 90s original, I had my fingers cautiously crossed for a nostalgic blast.
The story remains true to the original, with Mickey setting off to rescue long-time sweetheart, Minnie from the evil witch, Mizrabel. Rather than animate some traditional Disney-style cartoon scenes to set up the game, Sega Australia have gone low-budget and opted for some mildly animated illustrations.
The No Sleep Gamer 