News

Sony E3 2011 Conference | New Move Title: Medieval Moves

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This new action adventure game, Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest, is from the talented folks behind the excellent Sports Champions. If anyone can make another decent game for Sony’s motion controller it’s these guys.

The action sees you controlling an adorable skeleton in a suit of armour, mainly from a first-person perspective. From here you can use a sword, a bow, throwing stars and more to bash goblins, skeletons and other medieval monsters. The weapons can be accessed without going into an inventory screen. Just simply ‘reach’ for them as if they were equipped on your person and the Move controller will work with the PS Eye to equip what you want.

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First Person Shooters, Platforms, PlayStation 3

Sniper: Ghost Warrior (Review)

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After being released on 360 and PC to scathing reviews you have to wonder how much twelve months of bad publicity affects the decision to release the same game on PS3. Especially seeing as PS3 gamers are more used to quality 360 hand-me-downs like Bioshock and Mass Effect 2.

Let’s give this a fair go though. It can’t be that bad, maybe the devs have fixed the problems since the original release. The schizophrenic AI that went from blind to instantly knowing where you are and telepathically informing every soldier on the base being one of the main complaints. Well that’s still there, so not a great start.

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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise (Review)

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This is what we’d like to see more of, good Wii games in HD, instead of violating our beloved HD screens with scart leads. The series has already had its second game on the Wii, but this is just the first game polished up. So don’t fret if you’re new to it, but perhaps feel a bit annoyed they didn’t put both titles on one disc for the asking price.

The story in this bizarre beat em’ up is one of an assassin named Travis Touchdown (see how close they came to making Travis a cool name?). Not happy with always being strapped for cash, Travis decides to take out the Top 10 ranked assassins to become the new number one and score with a hot French chick. Kill Bill, meets Highlander with Suda 51 refereeing if you will.

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Features, First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Killzone 3 Multiplayer Round-up

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We’ve had plenty of time to get stuck into Killzone 3’s multiplayer since release although the PSN crisis interrupted our play for a while. Since then there’s been a patch to tweak gameplay and multiple double XP weekends to tempt us back. Missed out? Then check out what you’ve been missing online and offline.

The 32-player multi-mission Warzone matches from Killzone 2 return and will be very familiar to series fans. Newcomers will probably recognise the contents from other shooters. However, unlike the competition, you’ll play all the following modes in one match. With the winning team being those who can win the most modes or ’rounds.’
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Platforms, Reviews, RPG, XBLA, Xbox 360

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale (Review)

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The legendary Dungeons & Dragons universe has never really had the game to stand tall in its legacy. While the more popular brand, Games Workshop, has the Dawn of War games and soon the very tasty looking Warhammer 40K: Space Marine to keep gamers coming back. So it’s about time D&D had another roll of the dice with us.

Daggerdale takes the Warcraft route for its XBLA/PSN debut and be warned fellow-console gamers, it’s a bit PC-beardy. The best way to go would have been to try to replicate a slick combat title like last-gen’s Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance as this slow style of combat is always going to feel a little stale on consoles.

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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

SOCOM: Special Forces (Online Multiplayer Review)

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I recently enjoyed the single-player side of SOCOM: Special Forces and gave it a shiny 8/10 for its efforts. Now the PSN is finally back online I’ve had a chance to get online with the game and see if the multiplayer was worth the wait.

Matches can feature up to 32 players, but many match-types seem to limit the action to 20. Even so, there’s no sign of lag at all, even during busier matches. I suppose the servers get a break seeing as there’s rarely a full field of players alive at once, someone’s always a wrong turn away from having to respawn. At least you only have to wait a few seconds to get back into the fight.

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Platforms, Racers, Reviews, XBLA, Xbox 360

Sega Rally Online Arcade (Review)

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Not the best time to release a rally title as Dirt 3 is power-sliding into stores on Tuesday. But if you can’t afford that right now Sega hope you might drop a few points for their bite-sized rally release.

This really is a small game though. Five tracks are all you’ll find here, along with 13 cars and modes. The initial tracks are a tropical jungle with mud and sand, a canyon with dirt and tarmac, and an alpine mountain pass with tarmac and snow sections. The time limit between sections returns, but never actually presents anything resembling a challenge, unlike the older games.

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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews

SOCOM: Special Forces (Single-player Review)

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After a brief dalliance with the FPS genre for the 256 players and 5 minutes of fun MAG, Zipper Interactive return to their long-running third-person military shooter series.

Thanks to the recent PSN crisis I was afforded more time to play the single-player side of the game. It was a great surprise to find that there’s a great campaign to be played through along with some addictive stand-alone solo levels.

The last game, which barely made it to UK PS3s, was online only and was the sort of game you were relieved you only rented. Back on the PS2 the first game had too many squad commands, with dodgy voice-commands if you were foolish enough to trust the headset and was a very dry experience for only the most patient gamers. But respect where it’s due, SOCOM was an early success on the PS2’s babysteps into online gaming.

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Platforms, Racers, Reviews, Xbox 360

MX Vs ATV: Alive (Review)

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These games keep surviving, despite never really amassing much acclaim, even after merging the two world of motocross and ATV quad-bike racing, which at least saved fans of both a bit of money. So is there enough here to warrant a purchase rather than another indifferent shrug two laps into the demo? Let’s find out.

There’s no a typical career mode in place, either by label or structure, which is initially off-putting. But at least there’s no terrible story. You can choose to ride an MX (bike) or ATV (quad) around a small handful of tracks while earning experience points for yourself and for each vehicle.

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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews

Thor: God of Thunder (Review)

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I wanted one thing from this game: for it to be better than last year’s Iron Man 2 game that I gave a 5/10. Thor needn’t worry though as this is a much better tie-in.

Rather than follow the earth-bothering, flannel-shirted nature of the movie, this game simply takes place in the fantasy realms of the Thor universe in a separate story-line, which turns out to be a good move.

Famed comic book writer (and unfortunately the scribe of the afore-mentioned Iron Man game), Matt Fraction, has penned a very basic plot, but it is at least unobtrusive. We’ll presume he saves the compelling material for the comics.

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Platforms, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Move, Reviews, Sport

Virtua Tennis 4 (Review)

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After not quite doing the job Henman and Murray style with Virtua Tennis 3 and VT2009 on this generation’s consoles can Sega’s arcade tennis classic still cut it? Thanks to a long awaited upgrade to the World Tour career mode, they’re in with a fighting chance.

Before getting stuck into the World Tour mode you might want to warm up with a few exhibition matches. The leading names of modern tennis are all present except for one of the Williams sisters for some reason. The PS3 has a few exclusive classic characters too, leaving the 360 version with a comparatively small roster. There isn’t particularly much scope for extra players via DLC either as the favourites of Nadal, Federer, Murray, Sharapova and so on are all present and tennis isn’t exactly brimming with superstars like the WWE.

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Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store)

Top 10: Ways To Cope With Your Offline PS3

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PSN will be back online any day now (well… fingers crossed), but we need a back up plan for how to cope in-case this happens again. Ten important steps to safeguard us from making crazy decisions like going outside, getting sunburnt, or even staying home pressing the ’sign-in’ button, hoping it works for so long that you forget to get your girlfriend an Easter egg and end up getting a kitten from the farm down the road because it’s closer than Sainsbury’s. Her name’s Kairi by the way.

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News, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store)

News | Sony: PSN potentially repaired this week and with free gifts

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Sony today announced the most encouraging details so far on when we can expect PSN to be up and running again. That’s great news, but we were more enticed by this statement:

“Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

That sounds like free awesomeness. Click through to read the rest of the story and see what you’re getting and how the PSN will be turned back on.

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News

Sony: PSN potentially repaired this week and with free gifts

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Sony today announced the most encouraging details so far on when we can expect PSN to be up and running again. That’s great news, but we were more enticed by this statement:

Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.

That sounds like free awesomeness. Click through to read the rest of the story and see what you’re getting and how the PSN will be turned back on… Continue reading Sony: PSN potentially repaired this week and with free gifts →

News

EA Announce Need For Speed: The Run

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Popular online retailers ShopTo.net have leaked a trailer for EA’s new racer, Need for Speed: The Run. Realising it would be hard work denying the project with a EA-stamped trailer zinging around the internet, EA were quick to confirm the game’s existence. We’ve even got a release date of November 18th.

The trailer shows that we might be in for a more story-driven experience than the recent NFS titles like Shift 2 and Hot Pursuit. All we know is that your driver is called Jack and he looks like he’s about to come to a messy end, thanks to the train that’s speeding towards his overturned car. If the story involves gaining the trust of an underground racing team as a cop or someone looking for an estranged relative, EA should get re-writing that now. Continue reading EA Announce Need For Speed: The Run →

News

Binary Domain | First Gameplay Trailer

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After revealing the game with a cinematic trailer last December, Sega have finally given us a look at actual gameplay footage for Binary Domain. Now that we’ve seen the game in action, we have to say we’re much more interested. Well, as interested as we can be considering the game won’t be here until 2012 and it’s not called Bioshock 2.

This sci-fi third-person shooter favours a more sedate (no rocket-assisted power-sliding to cover) angle than last year’s 9/10 scoring Vanquish. It shares the all-grey look though. The cover-based shooter looks to be supported by vehicle sections and hopefully some co-op action as you look to be a part of a four-strong squad.

So what will we be blasting to bits come 2012? Cyborg robots, naturally. Red-eyed, self-aware robots. Initially created for service, a sinister corporation gave them a few firmware upgrades including ego and emotion so they could be slyly integrated into powerful positions within society. We’re presuming that bit them on the arse pretty sharpish. Android drones will be supported by larger mechs and if Sega know what’s good for them, some really, really big ones. Hint: just make Vanquish 2 please.

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News

UPDATE: PlayStation Network Worldwide Crash

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The PSN is out of action once again, with the Sony tech team working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Usually, when Sony have had scheduled maintenance to do, they have been quite specific with communicating the downtime. This is not a scheduled session though which means there’s no clear time-frame as to when we can expect to get back online. Worryingly, this is affecting the servers worldwide.

So what problems will this cause you? You can’t sign-in to the PSN (you’ll be greeted with the error code: 80710A06), so you can’t get access to the PSN Store or the Qriocity service. More importantly, you can’t play any games online, particularly annoying if you’re in the middle of reviewing SOCOM: Special Forces. If you have any pending downloads they will at least carry on downloading, handy if you’re trying to download that 870MB Battlefield 3 video.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360

Red Faction: Armageddon (Infestation Mode Multiplayer Hands-on Preview)

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Red Faction Armageddon’s multiplayer is going for a co-op angle this time around, similar to the Horde mode in Gears of War. Teams of four players will face off against 30 stages of enemies for each of the eight maps. Expect lots of tighter arenas compared to the last game’s open multiplayer deathmatches on the surface of Mars. We’re going to miss those epic jetpack battles.

The main map we got to try out was the underground Black Market. For the most part this level was made up of fairly narrow tunnels with low ceilings, making for some claustrophobic chaos. There’s a small square decorated with lots of neon signs which all too often distracts you from looking out for the alien’s bioluminescent glowing parts. The area of play seems to loop around in a circle. With the terrain including slopes and staircases.

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Hands-on previews, PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, Xbox 360

Duke Nukem Forever (Hands-on Preview)

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Release date: June 10th 1998 2011

This isn’t the way it was supposed to be. I was psyched to hear I’d get to play Duke Nukem Forever at Gadget Show Live at Birmingham’s epic NEC venue, but I left the Duke’s area and its collection of PR girls in schoolgirl outfits feeling empty and confused.

If Duke Nukem Forever is released after 13 years of development in the condition I played it on Tuesday morning, there’s going to be a backlash of epic proportions. Hopefully the recent delay is seeing Gearbox adding a few buckets of polish to it.

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Gaming reviews, previews and features by Brendan Griffiths