In a recent interview with MCV, CD Projekt Red visual effects artist Jose Texeira said: “Cyberpunk is far bigger than anything else that CD Projekt Red has done before. Far, far bigger.”
The first thought that may pop into the head of any Witcher III: Wild Hunt player is probably going to be ‘how?’ Closely followed by anyone that had to review it with a cry of ‘WHY?!’ Witcher III is geographically massive. Made up of multiple maps that expand for miles, often requiring a boat to travel to until you unlock fast travel checkpoints. I’ve still not seen all locations in the game and I’ve put close to fifty hours in since release. And CDPR are expanding upon it again with the Hearts of Stone DLC later this month. Continue reading Cyberpunk 2077 may well be ‘bigger’ than Witcher 3, but not in the way you think→
Far Cry: Primal wants to shake things up. For once, we’re seeing an established IP trying something far removed from why it became a success in the first place. The change to a Stone Age setting could be just what the series needs while it takes a break from modern times and guns. In fact, taking the guns away from Far Cry could allow the series’ strengths to shine.
Even the way the game was revealed is new for the series. Gone are the E3 demos or year-long waits (or longer). Instead, after a rather dull live stream of a cave painting (which we ignored until it became something to actually talk about), Ubisoft just went ahead announced the game and showed it in action via a new trailer yesterday. The biggest surprise though, was that it will be coming in February next year, just four months from now. Continue reading Why you won’t miss guns in Far Cry Primal→
Well, that’s more like it Microsoft and Square-Enix! The new extended gameplay demo of Rise of the Tomb Raider is a considerable improvement over the arguably dull E3 2015 appearance. So much so, it’s hard to imagine why Microsoft went for the video they did for their on-stage gameplay reveal over the new one released over the weekend.
The timed Xbox exclusive is one of the year’s biggest releases and the gameplay reveal at E3 was one of our most anticipated parts of Microsoft’s show. But then it happened and they turned E3 into QTE3. It wasn’t a bad demo by any means, but there was a heavy focus on quick-time-events and climbing rather than showing us extended on-foot scenes. Tomb Raider scenes. Continue reading Did Microsoft choose the wrong stage demo for Rise of the Tomb Raider at E3?→
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?→
The consumer model of the Oculus Rift has just been unveiled via a live stage show broadcast on Twitch. Here are all the updated details about the Virtual Reality headset that you’ve been waiting for along with the new game announcement details and some incredible details about TWO new controller input options that have just been confirmed.
Coming in Q1 2016, the Virtual Reality headset has been eagerly awaited for the last few years since smashing its kickstarter goal and more recently, being acquired by Facebook for millions. And we’re edging ever closer to making Virtual Reality an actual reality. So how about some details about that consumer model headset? First up, it’s no longer this awkward, large and bulky set of boxes and straps. The ergonomics of the headset have been tweaked over the years to create a lightweight unit, that can be put on with the simplicity of a baseball cap. Continue reading Oculus Rift rundown of new details and new controllers→
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→
The Christmas release line-up has a long tradition of being ridiculously packed every year. After one of the driest gaming summers in recent memory, this is all the more frustrating. The big publishers will often drown out the marketing efforts of any releases that aren’t Call of Duty, FIFA, Halo or other major console branded spots, so this list is for seven games that deserve a little boost and ones we hope won’t get brushed aside in favour of the usual suspects. Keep your browser aimed at Dealspwn as we’ll be aiming to review the lot of them.
Hellblade was announced to be in development this week during Sony’s Gamescom presser. All we had to go on was a brief trailer (see bottom of article) with no signs of gameplay. But the short reveal was enough to get gamers thinking that the new Ninja Theory game was the long-awaited Heavenly Sword sequel. Join us for a deeper look at what we know so far and we’ll examine the connections between the two games.
The exoskeleton is out of the bag folks, Activision has finally shown off the eagerly awaited multiplayer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. It’s time to take a look at the five most exciting things unveiled by today’s live stream. As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the new-look multiplayer too.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is going to be big news come November 4th. No surprise there, but could this year’s title be a game changer for the series? As enjoyable as COD has been in recent years, there’s no denying that recent entries have played things a little safe and not attempted to push any large scale changes. Well, apart from seeing a dog take down a helicopter, which was all sorts of stupid, or awesome, I’ll never be able to decide. So, unless the series is going to feature a cat taking on a submarine there will have to be other ways to get us psyched for the new game. Thankfully it would seem there are quite a few reasons; here are seven of the best.
It’s been widely understood for ages that Rocksteady have been secretly working away on a next-gen Batman game for a while now, but that doesn’t mean that yesterday’s announcement hasn’t got us wildly excited for the Dark Knight’s debut on the PS4 and Xbox One with Batman: Arkham Knight. So let’s dive into what we’ve been able to find out about the game since its reveal.
We’re used to all the big games coming out in the months leading up to Christmas and this year is certainly no different. However, many of our most wanted titles slipped into the 2013. Many of them are coming out in the first quarter, essentially giving us Silly Season Part 2. We’re still trying to get this year’s line-up finished but next year looks set to be even busier. Hopefully, we’ll actually have something to play in the summer next year instead of everything bookending the release calendar.
We’re sure most of you are planning on picking up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on Tuesday. If you’re still on the fence though, we think you should take a look at our new Sunday Seven feature that gives you our Top Seven reasons to buy the game. Even if you already have your pre-order down, take a look and join in the excitement for the year’s biggest shooter. Don’t forget to sound off in the comments section with your own reasons for or against the game too.
NetherRealm, the studio formed from the remains of Midway, have been one of the few developers outside of Japan that haven’t given up on providing us with beat ‘em up brawlers over the years. Most famous for the Mortal Kombat series, their last title Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe, whet our appetites for more from the DC collection as the two worlds didn’t quite connect as gamers wanted. Mainly because DC won’t let you gut DC characters in the way Mortal Kombat games are all about.
Now we’re free to play as these classic DC characters in a manner much more suited to their elaborate comic book backgrounds. The fighting style and feel may initially seem similar to Mortal Kombat, but it isn’t long before we start to see why this game is standing out from not only Mortal Kombat but other big name fighters too.
Painkiller Hell & Damnation wants to rock it old-school and we’re more than a little up for that in the midst of all the identikit military shooters. Brash and often ridiculous weaponry complimented by simple ‘kill everything’ gameplay is just what the FPS world needs write now. While usually the domain of the PC gamer, the game will be coming to Xbox 360 alongside the PC release, with a PS3 version to follow in 2013.
The game is actually a HD remake of the original Painkiller and the Battle out of Hell expansion pack. Thanks to the polish added by the Unreal Engine 3, the game is looking pretty impressive, although we’re only shown a brief stage in a night time graveyard and the opera house.
Frogwares have been providing Sherlock Holmes titles for years now on the PC with only Sherlock Holmes Vs. Jack the Ripper making its way to a console. But keyboard-loathing point and click adventure fans will be pleased to hear that the latest case to crack will be tri-platform, coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. The developers and publishers are keen to expand the Sherlock Holmes brand and bringing their games out on all three platforms, specifically the consoles, is key to that goal.
Influenced by the movies from the 60s rather than the ridiculous Guy Ritchie eyesores, the experience will be a traditional one, instead of something that’ll have Arthur Conan Doyle spinning in his grave. For the first time in the series, we’ll be seeing a very dark side of Sherlock Holmes. The trailer even goes as far as to make him look like a murderer so we’re intrigued to see how events will play out. During the course of the game, we’ll be playing as both Holmes and Watson. Our money’s on Holmes being a bit murdery on the side. Look at his evil face! He totally did it.
Thefirst gamewas a surprise hit from the Vigil Games team. Despite being an original creation, the world felt so lived in and like it had a deep past with plenty of scope for further stories, making for a world we’re eager to dive back into.
For the sequel, you play as a different Horseman of the apocalypse, Death. Rather than joining your bother War, immediately after the events of the first game, which would have been a great starting point given the tantalising conclusion, your adventure will run alongside that of your brother’s. This parallel story may throw up the odd familiar face, but we’re told to expect plenty of new locations, which is definitely better than going through all the old ones with everyone telling you that you’ve just missed your brother.
Now I’m not saying looks are everything, but after slumming it through the grey roughness of the original Metro 2033 game, it’s amazing to see the difference in Metro: Last Light. This game looks gorgeous. Yes, it still has a bit of a grey fetish, but like Killzone, it’s made pretty work of some of the colour palettes old-timers. And the game’s still only at pre-alpha code level, so it could get even better.
Those of you that played through the original game will find that the story of Last Light follows on from the (SPOLIER) ‘bad’ ending where you did launch the missiles to destroy the Dark Ones. So it would seem that your initial fight will be against human enemies, we’re sure there’ll be a few mutants along the way too. We’ve already seen those winged gargoyle-like arseholes (they pissed me off a lot last time) flying about in one of the trailers. Towards the end of the presentation, we also saw some large troll/gorilla-like creatures that featured some astonishingly slick animation and textured rocky skin that almost distracts from them trying to rip Artyom’s face off.
Just looking at the Suda 51 name and Juliet Starling’s outfit, you know this is going to be another bat-shit crazy game from the Japanese auteur and Grasshopper Manufacture. What I didn’t expect to see at the developer walkthrough with Producer Scott Warr at Warner Bros Interactive’s Gamescom HQ was some of the most engaging action of the week.
You are high-school cheerleader Juliet Starling who forgoes further extra-curricular activities in favour of a spot of vampire zombie slaying and it looks like they’ve chosen her 18th birthday (cutting it close, Suda-san) to come and find her at school. We’re not asking why zombies are there; let’s face it, if no film in history can give us a decent explanation, why should we expect any more from Suda 51’s pigtails-and-chainsaw vision? Juliet attends San Romero High, an on-the-nose reference reference to the classic zombie director, who still manages to get his dues despite his last few films being absolute shite.
The No Sleep Gamer 
