Tag Archives: Dealspwn.com

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.

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Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The Sunday Seven: Far Cry 3 Survival Tips

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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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Action, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (Review)

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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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Features, PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, Regular previews, Wii U, Xbox 360

The Sunday Seven: 2013’s Most Wanted Games

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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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Features, Platforms, PlayStation 3

The Sunday Seven: Top PS3 Exclusives

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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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First Person Shooters, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Review)

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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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Features, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Regular previews, Xbox 360

The Sunday Seven: Reasons to Buy Black Ops II

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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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Action, Party, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PSN (PlayStation Store), Reviews

When Vikings Attack (Review)

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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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PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Racers, Reviews, Xbox 360

WRC 3 (Review)

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I’d never make it as a WRC driver. Mainly because my first thoughts to hearing the words “Don’t cut” from my co-driver are “why not?” Which makes the rewind feature an invaluable tool in the boot of my rally experience, as once again Milestone encourage me to take my favourite Colin McRae inspired approach to rallying: “If in doubt. Flat out.”

Milestone has produced two of the best rally experiences I’ve had on this generation of consoles. Admittedly, WRC 2 was something of a version 1.5 over its predecessor, but the vision of the series has always been pure rallying, which is more than can be said of Codemasters’ recent efforts. Codemasters took the great Colin McRae series and produced the first impressive Dirt game before absolutely nailing it with Dirt 2. Then they got a big old man crush on Ken Block and started to make us drive our cars like poledancers. Sad times.

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First Person Shooters, Platforms, PlayStation 3, PSN (PlayStation Store), Puzzle, Reviews

The Unfinished Swan (Review)

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Sony’s PS3 continues to lead as a platform striving to offer as many diverse experiences as possible. Admittedly, most have them have come from That Game Company in the shape of Flow, Flower and Journey. So it’s good to see a new studio emerge from under Sony’s wing to show us such a visually arresting game.

While the game is a first person title, I’d hesitate to class it as a first-person shooter, although it handles that way. There are no bullets here though, only paint and a few platforming sections.

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Interactive Drama, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, Reviews, Xbox 360

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (Review)

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The traditional point and click style adventure game is dead and buried as far as consoles are concerned, which makes Frogwares decision to bring this series to PS3 and Xbox 360 a brave one, but we’re certainly up for giving it a go.

Instead of the usual lever-pulling puzzles we’re used to, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes will require a bit more brainpower to proceed. Solving gruesome murder mysteries is the most enticing prospect and when you’re investigating a crime scene, the game really stands out. As with many of these games though, there tends to be a reliance on bizarre puzzles too. More on those later.

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Platforms, PlayStation 3, Previews, Regular previews, Xbox 360

Injustice: Gods Among Us (Preview)

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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.

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Beat 'em up, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Review)

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Accessibility and new fans. That’s what Namco would have you believe are the targets that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is aiming for as one of the most respected names in the fighter genre returns. Getting new players used to the basics of the series has always been an obstacle many fighting games so anything that seeks to address this is going to be well worth a look.

The Fight Lab is Namco’s attempt to ease-in new players and get them used to Tekken’s basics. Basics that to outsiders make the game immensely difficult to pick up and play with the same level of success as the Street Fighter or Soul Calibur titles. Button bashing in Tekken games will generally get you nowhere, thus making it less enjoyable to crack out at parties for anyone that hasn’t played them before.

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Hands-on previews, PlayStation 3, Previews

Dust 514 (Hands-On Preview)

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How do you take on the mighty big guns of Call of Duty or Battlefield? Giving your game away for free isn’t a bad place to start. We’ve seen the free-to-play market really boom this year, a trend further enforced by the large presence of many free-to-play titles at this years’ Gamescom Expo in Germany.

To be honest though, those hungering for ‘proper’ games haven’t had anything to match the core experience offered by bigger premium games. CCP would like to change that attitude though with their new PS3 title, Dust 514, an MMO first-person shooter.

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PC, PlayStation 3, Previews, Regular previews, Xbox 360

Painkiller: Hell & Damnation Preview

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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.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, Previews, Wii U

Batman Arkham City: Armoured Edition (Wii U Hands-on Preview)

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Wii U versions of core multiplatform titles are going to play a big part in the console’s future. Nintendo wants to compete directly with Microsoft and Sony this time rather than settle for a casual market. The Wii versions of regular titles always felt like poor ports, so what better way to convince gamers you’re serious this time around than starting with one of last year’s biggest action titles, Arkham City.

Our hands-on demo begins during the Ra’s Al Ghul section of the game where Batman has been poisoned and he’s tracking down a ninja to try to find the antidote. This session served the purpose of showing us a broad selection of the unique Wii U features.

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Action, PC, Platforms, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360

Darksiders II (Review)

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After the first game where War -one of the Four Horseman- jumped the gun a little and brought on the apocalypse and wiped out humanity, we get to step into another rider’s shoes. Running parallel to the events of the original game, we’re now playing as Death.

Death is eager to clear his brother’s name and if possible, restore humanity to Earth. For the most part of the game though, we won’t be going back to Earth. Instead we’re exploring several large open maps of typical fantasy fare – forests, canyons, ice worlds, hell and any other staple you could care to remember.

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

Far Cry 3 (Hands-on Preview)

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After sitting through so many presentations at Gamescom, it was a relief to see that I’d actually get to play Far Cry 3. The recent E3 singleplayer stage was available as was a round of multiplayer. I’m eager for something a little different than another military shooter and Far Cry 3’s tropical paradise setting is one hell of a place to start. Console gamers missed out on the first game and the dull African setting of the last game left a lot to be desired for many, so expectations are high for Ubisoft’s title.

The start of the single-player stage began on a cliff-top across from an island. Using the bow, I took out the guard far in the distance. The arrows realistically drop over longer distances, so it took a few attempts as my first shots landed in the water just in front of him.

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Hands-on previews, Platforms, Previews, Wii U

ZombiU (Hands-On Preview)

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If ever a console needed a title to appeal to regular gamers rather than small children and fitness-obsessed parents it’s the Wii U. After the relentless shovelware from the original Wii, Nintendo have a lot to prove to get us onboard.

It’s not a great start for Ninty at Gamescom 2012, as they couldn’t even be bothered turning up in first-party form. Thankfully Ubisoft have stepped up -hot off the heels of a hella-strong E3 showing- to get gamers onboard, with Rayman Legends and the much bloodier ZombiU.

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