The Sunday Seven: Far Cry 3 Survival Tips

Far Cry 3 is a hot contender for Game of the Year and should be on any FPS fan’s Christmas list. The postcard-perfect tropical location is fraught with danger though so you’ll want to take note of our handy survival guide before you pack those grenades, assault rifles and sun cream. These seven tips will make your life much easier and allow you to enjoy the game to its maximum potential. Feel free to add in your own tips in the comments section or anything cool you may have come across in the game.

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Dark Souls II Announcement Trailer

Masochists, assemble! Dark Souls II has been announced at this year’s Spike VGAs. The previous game and Demon’s Souls are legendary for their unforgiving difficulty and we’re sure Dark Souls II will be just as much a big huge massive bastard to play.

This first trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, but the mix of CGI and live action does paint a foreboding picture for the latest adventure. So, abandon all hope, stock up on despair and buy a very large swear jar.

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Explosions, Snow and Samurai in New Tomb Raider Trailer

Another VGA trailer for you of the mightily impressive-looking Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics. Half of the material is stuff we’ve already seen to be honest, but there are enough new elements to make it worth a watch.

It begins with Lara climbing a tall radio antenna on a snowy mountain, which seems to be a new location. There’s a lot of bow action too, it’s getting hard to see how far we’re expected to go along with the notion that we’re getting a new Lara who is going to be a more vulnerable character when she’s leaving such a huge body count behind her. Everyone has their breaking point I suppose.

Enjoy the trailer and look out for the quick glimpse of a bloody massive samurai. Don’t think an arrow to the kidneys is going to be enough for that guy.

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New Bioshock: Infinite Trailer from VGAs 2012

As per tradition, the Spike Video Game Awards came and went leaving us with a new collection of world premier trailers. Hopefully we won’t see one for Bioshock: Infinite the same time next year, as we’re pretty hopeful the game will be out by then. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

The latest footage shows Booker DeWitt meeting Elizabeth for the first time and you can see her with longer hair and different clothes than previously, possibly indicating a longer passage of time for the game’s events.

After that, there’s a large amount of gameplay footage of an extensive gunfight with some new enemy types to take on along with an appearance from a Handyman robot. Interestingly, the Handyman can be seen smashing an enemy airship before coming to fight you, which shows off the battle between Columbia’s two factions. It’s a shame that it appears that they both want you dead. Good thing you’re tooled up with tonics (i.e. plasmids) that send swarms of birds at your enemies and Elizabeth is providing backup by bringing you ammo. Apparently, you can use the Skyhook at a messy melee finisher too.

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The Last of Us Trailer Confirms Release Date

May 7th. That’s the date to officially drop everything for Naughty Dog’s next adventure. The date will technically be for the US release, but we’d expect the game to be out the following Friday in the UK, possibly beforehand as we’ve seen multiple mid-week releases over the last few months for bigger titles like Black Ops II and Resident Evil 6.

We have the new trailer from this year’s Spike VGAs for you after the break. There’s a mix of action and dialogue to digest with the introduction of a few supporting characters too. They seem to be friendlies compared to the usual bandits keen to rob and murder you.

Joel seems to be arguing with everyone and there seems to be tension building even with Ellie. You’ll also see glimpses of in-game footage of Joel taking on infected humans for the first time. We still want to see more, but it seems that a close-range shotgun blast to the face is a good place to start when taking them out.

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The Spike VGA 2012 Winners Are…

For those of you not willing to sit through another awful video games award ceremony with ‘hilarious’ humour and continuous disconnects from your live stream, we’ve compiled a handy list of all the winners from this year’s Spike VGAs show.

The ceremony is less about the awards to be honest, as gamers mainly see it as a platform for some juicy new trailers and this year was no different. We’ll bring you the best of those soon later on too.

There are quite a few surprises in the winners list, so let us know what you would have chosen instead or if you think there are some worthy winners in there.

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Lego The Lord of the Rings (Review)

One brick to rule them all? Or in the laziness bind them?


Despite being released nine years after the final film, the memories are still strong enough to make the latest tie-in feel like a relevant entry to the series rather than a late cash-in. I’m sure the upcoming release of the first Hobbit movie has nothing to do with Traveller’s Tales and Warner Bros. Interactive waiting this long. Ok, so maybe a little.

Since the Lego series began, we’ve seen it grow in terms of production values. The graphics have been steadily improving and the recent Lego Batman 2 introduced fully voiced characters for the first time, which allowed the series to portray a proper story and a damn amusing one at that.

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Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (Review)

Join Brian and Stewie in their dimension-hoping adventure as they use the Multiverse remote to stop Bertram, Stewie’s evil half-brother, who plans to use his own remote to build an army and destroy the Quahog duo’s Universe.

This gives the game a chance to provide a wide range of settings. From Amish farms, Santa’s weapon workshop with inbred elves, to a world populated by the handicapped and so on. Bertram has convinced everyone in these universes that you must be killed, so in turn you’re shooting pretty much everyone in sight. Be they Amish farmers, jocks, cripples on crutches or small homicidal alien chickens.

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The Sunday Seven: 2013’s Most Wanted Games

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.

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Rabbids Land Trailer Brings the Mental to the Wii U

Of course there’s a Rabbids game to go with the Wii U launch. The Rayman spin-offs were a huge success for Ubisoft on the original Wii and we imagine they’ll do well on Nintendo’s new console too with their demented selection of minigames. As much as we’d like to dismiss this as a kid’s game, it does look like a fun way to get to know your new console.

From what we can see in the trailer, you’ll be able to use the game pad (the one with the screen) and an original Wii motion controller to play these games and they’ll support up to four players. Parents are advised to hit the mute button though as the gibberish chatter from the Rabbids will drive you insane in minutes. Continue reading Rabbids Land Trailer Brings the Mental to the Wii U

The Sunday Seven: Top PS3 Exclusives

The PlayStation 3 has just turned 6 in the USA, so what better time to give it The Sunday Seven treatment and put down a list of the Top 7 PS3 Exclusives. Frankly, in terms of the number of high-quality exclusives, the PS3 is a tough machine to beat. Looking through the long list of PS3-only releases, I instantly regretted setting myself a lowly target of seven instead of at least ten. It may be a while before I’ll be able to forgive myself for leaving some outside. I’ll be taking a look the top PSN exclusives in the near future too, so keep an eye and we’ll see if I have the guts to put Calling All Cars at the number 1 spot.

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Black Ops II Patch 1.03 Released on PS3

Rise and shine soldiers, Activision have dispatched a patch for your PS3 copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Patch 1.03 is aiming to fix the game freezes and connection issues many gamers have been experiencing.

As I mentioned in my review yesterday, I was managing to get into multiplayer matches without issue after struggling for the first half hour at some point on launch day. Zombies mode however greeted me with regular freezes, making it practically impossible to play.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Review)

Subtle is never a word I thought I’d use to describe any element of a Call of Duty game, but the pre-title cutscene that paints a picture of how Black Ops II’s villain was formed is beautifully put together, in no short thanks to an excellent song choice with Elbow’s ‘The Night Will Always Win.’

The emotional reactions from most COD moments are usually sudden violence, be it first-person execution, slowly dying in a nuclear blast, the death of a child and so on, it’s never had anything like this. After this strangely heartfelt and sympathetic opening, subtlety kind of goes out of the window as it’s all slit throats and shotguns to the knees for the other scenes. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. After all, we’re here to blow shit up.

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The Sunday Seven: Reasons to Buy Black Ops II

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.

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Amusing Lego Lord of the Rings Trailer

We always knew that the team behind the Lego Lord of the Rings game would be able to find plenty of fun to poke at the movies and this glimpse into the game’s cutscenes doesn’t disappoint. Enjoy snippets from the three films as they’re given the Lego charm makeover. Is it just us or are the Lego Orcs a bit on the sinister side for Lego? Gollum on the other hand, is just adorable.

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Until Dawn Halloween Trailer

Sony has released a new Halloween trailer for their upcoming PS Move horror title, Until Dawn. The game was revealed at Gamescom in the summer and we’ve not seen much from it since, but hopes are high as it looks to be packing in the atmosphere and frankly, we’re desperate for a decent Move title that isn’t a minigame/sports title.

For more information about the game check out Matt’s preview. Check out the trailer after the jump and see if you can spot which film series has inspired this scene. It’s not hard.

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McLovin Stars in Far Cry 3 Live Action Miniseries

Christopher ‘McLovin’ Mintz-Plasse is starring in a new mini-series to promote Far Cry 3, the Far Cry Experience. This live action miniseries injects as dose of humour to the series as the Superbad / Kick Ass actor is put on a tropical island to promote the game before suddenly, shit gets real, Tropic Thunder-style.

Funny throughout, we can’t wait to see if Chris and his cameraman can survive the inevitable confrontation with Vaas, who has recently become a fan of chaining tourists to rocks and firing rockets at them. The little scamp.

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When Vikings Attack (Review)

Picking a simple premise for a game can be enough to make the most basic of efforts entertaining for hours. Just look at Angry Birds, Plants Vs Zombies or Calling All Cars – the latter being the best PSN game you’ve never played.

When Vikings Attack comes at us with its own simple mechanics aiming to be easy to pick up for the masses. Throw in multiplayer, cross-play with the Vita and extra characters to unlock and it’s clear that the developers think the game has a shot. These ambitions spiked my interest and after five minutes, I thought this could work. Sadly, after 15 minutes, it got boring. Half an hour later and it felt like all possibilities of enjoyment were driven from my very soul.

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Limb Lopping Returns to Ninja Gaiden on the Wii U

Have you been looking at the Wii U line-up and thinking there aren’t enough titles that let you hack people’s limbs off? Well, you might have a few issues, but at least Tecmo Koei want to indulge you, as Ninja Gaiden Sigma 3: Razor’s Edge brings back the butchery after the PS3/360 versions were criticised for toning down the violence. As well as being a bit rubbish.

Ryu will be getting a host of new weapons in the Wii U version including a heavy staff and a demented new fangled weapon that from what we can tell (it moves very fast) is something sharp and nasty on the end of a chain. Ayane makes an appearance too as an exclusive playable character with her own missions.

Despite the game being a launch title in the states, we won’t be seeing it until January 11th. Looks like we’ll have to settle for Zombi U for our launch day bloodletting. Check out the new trailer for Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge after the break.

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New PSN Store Makes a Mess of Things

The recent 4.30 PlayStation 3 patch included a complete overhaul for the PSN Store, which now resembles the clunky setup on the Xbox 360. I’ve been waiting for a few days, just in case any tweaks were made, but now it seems this is what Sony are happy with. So how does it compare with the old store?

Well, I’ve logged on a few times since the re-launch, at different times of the day, and I’ve waited on average about 40 seconds each time to get the store to load up. The previous version usually took under ten.

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Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths