News

Halo 4 Spartan Ops Episodes 6-10 Trailer

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Tomorrow Halo fans. That’s when Episode 6 of Halo 4’s Spartan Ops DLC is coming. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of the series after its Christmas hiatus and we have a brand new trailer showing we have plenty to look forwards to.

Despite fans generally enjoying the first five Episodes, there’s a general feeling that the maps have been a bit small. We’re hearing this has been improved and the action ties into the story better too. This makes sense seeing as the developers have been able to dedicate more time to them compared to the last lot, which were developed alongside the main game. Importantly, don’t forget it’s FREE! Clearly, 343 have some dirt on a few high ranking Microsoft execs. Continue reading Halo 4 Spartan Ops Episodes 6-10 Trailer →

Platforms, PS Vita, Puzzle, Reviews

Lumines: Electronic Symphony (Review)

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lumines-vitaIf it wasn’t for the Lumines games on the old PSP the underperforming handheld would have faded into obscurity and the back of our cupboards much sooner than it sadly eventually did. As the Vita approaches its first birthday with a distinct lack of killer apps, I’ve been looking over its back-catalogue, desperate for something to justify charging the thing up more than once a month. Now available for under a tenner, Lumines: Electronic Symphony seemed like a good place to start and certainly better value than its initial £35 price tag.

Lumines is a block-puzzler but one that bears little resemblance to games like Tetris andBejeweled 2. By rotating falling blocks of four squares you must create patterns of like colours in 2×2 or bigger blocks. These blocks will then become highlighted and the constantly sweeping timeline comes and clears them from your pile.

Continue reading Lumines: Electronic Symphony (Review) →

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PS3 Finally Getting Skyrim DLC in February

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Usually, Microsoft have to get their wallets out to ensure timed-exclusive DLC for the 360, but thanks to Bethesda’s poor PS3 development skills, they got the Skyrim ones for free. PS3 fans can now stop feeling so left out though as Bethesda have recently confirmed that all three packs –Dragonborn, Hearthfire and Dawnguard– will be coming at some point in February. There’s even more good news for the beleaguered PS3 gamer too…

Continue reading PS3 Finally Getting Skyrim DLC in February →

News

See Sad Kratos in New God of War: Ascension Story Trailer

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Ha ha! Kratos has feelings, what a lady! Joking aside, see a softer side to Kratos in this story teaser trailer for the upcoming God of War: Ascension. Then watch him stab up a few massive beasties including the Elephant-man (no, not that one) and a previously unseen Kraken-esque sea-beast.

March can’t come soon enough for Kratos’ next adventure as we’ve all but forgotten our initial apathy towards the game upon hearing it was another prequel. For any PlayStation Plus subscribers out there don’t forget you can get free access to the game’s online multiplayer beta right now.

Continue reading See Sad Kratos in New God of War: Ascension Story Trailer →

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$2.3 Million Raised By World of Warcraft Players for Superstorm Sandy Relief

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The World of Warcraft community have raised a mightily impressive 2.3 million dollars for the American Red Cross’s relief efforts for the victims of Superstorm Sandy. The storm ravaged America’s West coast late last year, leaving many people homeless, without food and with huge costs to rebuild their homes. Continue reading $2.3 Million Raised By World of Warcraft Players for Superstorm Sandy Relief →

News

Sly 4 Pulling the Heist Trailer

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The release date still hasn’t been nailed down, but we’re expecting the game around March. In the mean time, check out this new trailer which shows off the various parts that make up a mission for Sly and his fellow thieves.

Sly will be getting new skills depending which time period he’s visiting, here we see him don a shogun-samurai suit of armour. Fans of the series will know what to expect as they go through Bentley’s extravagant list of tasks before taking on the final heist mission for each area. Murray usually does the driving and muscle work, but his latest skill seems to involve enticing guards away with his feminine ways. Wait.. what?

Don’t forget, buying the PS3 game gives you free access to the Vita version too, which supports cross-saves. Check out the trailer after the jump. Continue reading Sly 4 Pulling the Heist Trailer →

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McLovin’s Far Cry Adventure Video in Full

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Back in November we posted an amusing live action video starring Christopher ‘McLovin’ Mintz-Plasse shooting a promo for Far Cry 3 that suddenly got very real. Think Tropic Thunder and you’re on the right line. Well, after that teaser, we’ve found a video compiling all the episodes of The Far Cry Experience. Michael Mando (the voice of Vaas) stars in the video and steals the show, also proving he’s a shoe-in if anyone decides to make the game into a proper movie.

Continue reading McLovin’s Far Cry Adventure Video in Full →

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Resident Evil Revelations: Unveiled Edition Leak

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Back in November we heard Korean rumblings about console versions of the 3DS title, Resident Evil Revelations. Well, the evidence is mounting up again today despite no official word from Capcom. Exophase appear to have obtained a full list of the game’s Achievements for the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Continue reading Resident Evil Revelations: Unveiled Edition Leak →

News

Far Cry 3 Outpost App Now Live

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Ubisoft have released a new free app on the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android-enabled devices. If you play Far Cry 3 online competitively or in co-op -and you really should- this is an essential tool. PC users can also gain access to the Outpost here.

Co-op players will be familiar with decoding found DVDs, data sticks and so on to unlock mods and boosts. Thanks to the app, you no longer have to be playing the game while they decode in the background as this allows you to decode and collect the rewards on the move.

Continue reading Far Cry 3 Outpost App Now Live →

Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Reviews

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (Review)

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The Ratchet & Clank series has been somewhat unpredictable in recent years as it seems to be trying to reinvent itself with the last few games despite a strong following and decent review scores. Its blend of planetary exploration, platforming and fantastically fun weaponry was a hit every time, culminating in the excellent A Crack in Time in 2009.

In 2011, the series delved into co-op gameplay and despite dumbing down the controls to remove manual aiming and allow all players to share a single screen, the game was an enjoyable blast with the usual polish we’ve come to expect from the series. It was surprising to hear the studio was working on yet another R&C title after announcing the multi-platform Fuse. We were hoping for something along the lines of A Crack in Time again, but alas we have a PSN tower-defence download title. Wait… what?

Continue reading Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (Review) →

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One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 Trailer

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The original One Piece: Pirate Warriors may have passed you by late last year, but maybe it’s time to check it out as the sequel is on the way for the summer. Think Dynasty Warriors, but you actually want to keep playing after five minutes because you control a mentalist pirate with stretchy, rubbery limbs.

Battling against hundreds of enemies with these fantastic abilities made the original game a lot of fun to play. Some boring secondary characters and a jittery nonsense story made it occasionally frustrating, but fingers crossed these things will be improved for the sequel. Take a look at the first trailer after the break.

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Features

The Sunday Seven: Gaming New Year Resolutions

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Seeing as the apocalypse couldn’t quite be arsed turning up, it looks like we better shape up and carry on with the tradition of making up New Year’s Resolutions that we have no intention of keeping. Or maybe not. While eating five fruit and veg a day and swearing less is a distant and obscene pipe dream, there’s plenty of room to improve our gaming time with some healthy steps to enjoying our favourite past-time to its maximum potential.

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Aliens: Colonial Marines Story Trailer

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Not long to go now until the February 12th release of Aliens: Colonial Marines. Sega and Gearbox’s game is following up directly after the events of the Aliens movie, meaning we’ll be revisiting the Sulaco and the apparently still quite infested planet below.

Check out the brand new story trailer after the jump to hear more, including some details from the briefing of the new grunts.

Continue reading Aliens: Colonial Marines Story Trailer →

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Edge of Twilight Is Alive and Coming Summer 2013

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Don’t worry, it has nothing to do with horrendous acting and glittery vamps. Instead, Edge of Twilight is an unreleased steampunk action-adventure title that’s been missing since 2009. Developers FuzzyEyes laid off most of the workforce a few years ago, but a few remained along with a few new hires and it would seem development continued as they have just announced the game will be ready on PS3 and Xbox 360 in summer net year.

The fantasy steampunk setting will feature day and night worlds, both with different civilisations to explore. Using the main character, Lex, you will be able to switch between night and day at will. There’s little other information available at this time, but take a look at this trailer from 2009 and think of all the extra polish that has been potentially added to what was looking like an already promising prospect. Think a Dishonored-esque setting paired with something like God of War. Continue reading Edge of Twilight Is Alive and Coming Summer 2013 →

Beat 'em up, Party, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Reviews

PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (Review)

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Requested and rumoured for years, we finally have a game putting together a rich collection of the finest PlayStation-exclusive characters along with some top names from third-party brands for a mighty punch-up. The comparisons to Nintendo’s Smash Brothers are obvious, as they always were going to be, but I’m here to review the game on its own merits.

Buying the PS3 game also gives you access to a free download of the Vita version and I’ll go into details about the portable options later on. Let’s get stuck into the game itself on PS3 first.

Continue reading PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (Review) →

Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, PS Vita, PSN (PlayStation Store), Wii U, XBLA, Xbox 360

Game of the Year 2012

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What with the gaming industry still being keen to strangle itself every year by releasing all the good games at once, I’m going to be playing catch up on some of the great titles long into next year. This might even give me something to do next summer if the lineup for the ‘sunny’ bit of the year is as grossly thin as it was this year.

I’ve played some great stuff this year though, many of them get a mention below, but a few other honourable shouts go out to Dishonored, Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, Black Ops II,Sports Champions 2 and WipEout 2048 and Virtua Tennis 4 on the Vita.

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News

The Phantom Pain Trailer Fools Nobody, Reveals Metal Gear Solid V

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The video premier from the VGAs showing the debut trailer for the ‘new game’, The Phantom Pain, essentially outs the Metal Gear Solid V. The internet took no time in dissecting the trailer that’s packed with references to the Metal Gear series.

The protagonist crawling along the floor is clearly sporting an eye patch and bears a similar scar to the poster image for Snake in the upcoming Ground Zeroes game. But it’s the end of the trailer with various angled lines above the logo that can clearly be pencilled in to reveal a logo for Metal Gear Solid V.

The company apparently developing this new game, Moby Dick Studios, seems to be made up and their CEO is one Joakim Mogrim, a name that can be jumbled up to produce Kojima (MGS creator and director) and it also contains the name Ogre, a long-standing codename for Kojima’s next project.

The more we watch the trailer it looks increasingly likely we’re watching some sort of playable dream sequence. The giant flaming whale probably nudged us that way. Volgin from MGS3 shows up too.

What is more exciting though is the atmosphere built up during the trailer that is unlike any other Metal Gear game. There’s more of a survival horror vibe, which is an unlikely direction for the series, but nonetheless, we wouldn’t mind playing through something like this for part of the game.

Take a look at the trailer and gear yourself up (sorry, had to) for what could be something very special.

Thanks to the posters at NeoGaf for pointing out some of the MGS references.

Continue reading The Phantom Pain Trailer Fools Nobody, Reveals Metal Gear Solid V →

News

South Park: The Stick of Truth Trailer 2

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Now that the possessive minions have stopped deleting videos from Youtube we can bring you the remaining trailers from last week’s Spike VGAs. First up is the long awaited new trailer for South Park: The Stick of Truth.

The eagerly awaited THQ and Obsidian RPG is looking like a decent tie-in for a change. The crappy 2D animation has been left intact, rather than force the game into an unnecessary 3D model. The traditional turn-based battles draw from the frequently obscene history of the series to provide spells and summons that feature lots of familiar characters doing some nasty, nasty things. We’re looking at you Mister Slave.

Cartman is the star of the show once again and provides a bucket of laughs during this all too brief two minute look at the game. The game is currently pencilled in for a March release next year, we’re keeping our fingers crossed it won’t see any further delays.

Continue reading South Park: The Stick of Truth Trailer 2 →

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PSN Store Website Now Live

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It’s taken long enough, but you can now access the PSN Store as a regular website instead of only via your PS3. This new service allows you to buy games and DLC or pick up free demos from your PC, laptop, netbook, smartphone or tablet. You can also access your account history to check previously downloaded items and add funds to your digital wallet. While a similar service has been available for years on the Xbox 360, Sony have been a little slow off the mark.

When buying items or grabbing demos they will be added to your download list, which you access on your PS3 either in the Store or under Account Management and manually start the download. It would have been better if it downloaded automatically the next time the PS3 was online to be honest.

Continue reading PSN Store Website Now Live →

First Person Shooters, Platforms, PS Vita, Reviews

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (Review)

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Nihilistic’s first Vita game, Resistance: Burning Skies, proved that first-person shooters were a suitable match for Sony’s dual-analogue sporting handheld. Admittedly, the game was a bit basic, a bit ugly and rough around the edges, but compared to using the face buttons instead of a second analogue stick like we were forced to on the PSP, it handled like a dream.

On learning that they’d be handling the Vita’s first Call of Duty title though, I was a little concerned as I thought development would go to someone with a more impressive CV. But hey, I was probably worried when Sony gave a little known studio called Ready at Dawn the reigns to create aGod of War PSP game and they utterly nailed it.

Continue reading Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (Review) →

Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths