ps3
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Review (PS3)
February 15, 2012
Naughty Dog have really set the bar with the Uncharted franchise, starting with Drake’s Fortune and the critically acclaimed sequel in the form of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The storylines are like Hollywood blockbusters and the gameplay is second to none. So people were yet again expecting something special with Drake’s Deception. But have Naughty Dog been able to deliver yet another classic?
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
January 13, 2012
Our old friend Ezio Auditore is back for one final romp, and this yearly dose of conspiratorial frolics is getting somewhat perplexing. Surely such a hasty turnaround should result in shoddy and rushed sequels? But I think it’s safe to say last year’s Brotherhood proved us all wrong, with a healthy measure of new content and logical improvements. The question is, as we close Ezio’s chapter of the story, has Ubisoft’s army of international studios pulled it off once again?
Revelations is the first game to tie all three existing protagonists together, exploring both the twilight years of ancestors Ezio and Altair (the 12th century Syrian assassin), and fleshing out present day Desmond’s troubled past. Now here’s where I have to blurb the “previously on Assassin’s Creed..”, but to tell you the truth, it isn’t exactly straightforward. Not that the esotericism is necessarily detrimental to the franchise, but it does make it a tad impenetrable to newcomers.
Continue reading »Jak and Daxter HD Collection Announced
November 12, 2011
As you may know, I have quite a love for the Jak and Daxter franchise so you can only guess my excitement when the Jak and Daxter HD Collection was finally announced.
Ever since I played the first Jak and Daxter game back in 2001, I’ve been completely hooked with the loveable duo and have bought ever iteration of the game since. I was quite disappointed with The Lost Frontier which was released on the PSP and ported over to the PS2 and wasn’t a proper Jak and Daxter game in my opinion. I’ve been dying for Naughty Dog to bring us the sequel we’ve all been screaming for, and this goes some way to filling that void.
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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Review (PC/Xbox 360/PS3)
August 30, 2011
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a hefty weight on its shoulders: the expectations and apprehensions of thousands of fans of the original Deus Ex released in 2000, a highly acclaimed RPG whose levels of complexity in both gameplay and narrative are a force to be reckoned with. But in another respect, it’s almost a new franchise that needs to win over a new generation that doesn’t necessarily remember PC games of a bygone era. Either way, half-baked isn’t going to cut it. Fortunately, the game has spent at least four years in development, showing Eidos is committed to giving the franchise a prequel it deserves.
Story
You play as Adam Jensen, a former cop who works as a security specialist for a bio-mechanical augmentation company known as Sarif Industries in 2027. These augmentations are the powerfully divisive preoccupation of the age, raising tensions in society and exposing the disparity between the have’s and have-not’s. The corporations bill them as the next stage of human evolution and a chance to better ourselves, while anti-augment groups are concerned over both philosophical issues, such as playing god, and inequity problems.
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F1 2011 Game Preview (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
June 30, 2011
F1 finally came back to the PC and major consoles last year in the form of Codemaster’s F1 2010 video game and, the occasional AI and pit-stop bug aside, it certainly lived up to the hype receiving widespread critical acclaim including a gaming BAFTA for best sports game.
However, whilst the game created a solid base there was still much room for improvement and so this year’s version of the franchise aims to build on the successes of last year whilst learning from the mistakes, and all indications suggest that there have been some substantial leaps forward in F1 2011.
The first major change in the game mirrors those occurring in the sport in real life: the rules. DRS (which stands for ‘Drag Reduction System’) and KERS (‘Kinetic Energy Recovery System) have both been introduced into the sport this year as a way to increase the excitement of races; the former opens a rear-wing flap reducing drag (and thus increasing speed) whilst the latter gives a speed boost from a battery charged under breaking. Both of these technologies along with the new Pirelli tyres have proven very effective at creating interesting races in real life, and there is no reason given that they are present in the game that they will not do the same.
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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Trailer Released
June 22, 2011
It’s been a while since Deus Ex was first released. 11 years in fact, and I never actually played the original but I did hear that it’s quite an impressive game. Well now the long awaited action-RPG sequel is upon us which has pricked up my ears and made me pay attention. Just see what we thought of it when we were at E3 2011 in our Day 2 review.
From what I’ve seen of Deus Ex: Human Revolution so far, I’ve been quite impressed and I’m looking forward to seeing some more of the gameplay footage. The story follows an ex-SWAT specialist named Adam Jensen in the year 2027 who is hired to defend a biotech firm in America. Jensen is then badly injured during an attack on the biotech facility and is augmented with cybernetic technology against his will. Jensen then travels the globe trying to unravel to truth to a major conspiracy and not knowing who to trust.
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LA Noire Review
June 1, 2011
L.A. Noire. The game that promised so much, the hype almost became unbearable, and the wait even more so. Having pre-ordered the game a couple of months back, May 20th just couldn’t come fast enough for me and as I scampered home on that bright spring afternoon, carefully peeled away Amazon’s stress-free packaging, and with bated breath waited for the seemingly eternal installation. There was only one question on my mind: How good will it be, being the good guy?
This is new territory for Rockstar, with previous esteemed titles such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption providing hour upon hour of sometimes hilarious criminal escapades and proving so popular, it’s certainly a bold step to adopt the same system with a complete role reversal. The problem is for me, that whilst street shoot-outs, car/horse-jackings and driving motorcycles from the top of the empire state building is unquestionably entertaining in the aforementioned titles, sprinting through the streets of LA armed with not a lot more than a pencil and a little black book isn’t quite so enthralling.
But, what we’ve got with L.A. Noire is quite the mixed bag.
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Brink Review (PS3)
May 30, 2011
Yet another first-person shooter (FPS) game hits our shelves. It seems to be that the majority of big titles released these days are FPS, with none of them really standing alone with something slightly different to make it stand out from the rest. But does Brink break that mould and bring us something new?
Most FPS games allow you to be pretty much a solo player, running around and doing your own thing, killing anyone that stands in your way. There’s been plenty of times when I’ve single handedly won a Deathmatch on Call of Duty doubling my entire teams score (I’ve also been on the other side) as you can work individually. This isn’t the case with Brink however, as it’s vital that you work as a team to achieve your goal, otherwise you’ll find it rather tricky to achieve any objectives.
Continue reading »Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Review (Xbox 360)
April 4, 2011
Because I was born in the eighties, I’ve always loved Ghostbusters. I was too young to see the first film at the cinema, but did manage to see the second film on the big screen as well as watching the cartoons. You can see from my review of Ghostbusters: The Video Game that I was impressed with the game, so I was hoping for something to match it. The game starts, the eerie Ghostbusters theme tune kicks in…but that’s where the fun stops. Unfortunately Sanctum of Slime falls short.
The story follows on from Ghostbusters 2 with Janosz Poha being sent to the nut house after his possession by Vigo, and in there he meets another minion to a wanna-be God. He then gets duped into collecting a stone for the bad guy. So in come the Ghostbusters to save the day.
The time then moves forward to the present day, but it’s not the original Ghostbusters this time around as they’re too old and tired with all the ghost catching they’re having to do. So they take on a group of rookies to help out, one of which is the nephew of Janosz Poha.
Continue reading »Free Realms PS3 Release Date Announced – Free Console MMO Gaming!
March 13, 2011
It’s been almost two years since Free to Play MMO Free Realms was released on the PC, and it’s finally coming to the PS3 on the 29th March this year according to the Playstation Blog.
Free Realms is aimed more at the younger audience with visuals very similar to World of Warcraft with it’s bright, vibrant colours. Players will be able to jump right in by playing mini quests, themed events, features for social networking and the ability to upload videos to YouTube. You can get involved in combat if you want to, but that’s up to the user and you can also make your way through the many quests available in the game.
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Bulletstorm Review (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
March 13, 2011
In the school playground of shooters, Bulletstorm is the sailor tongued big kid whose motivation for the next wedgie lies more in the prospect of beating his personal record, than in any angsty hatred. People Can Fly’s new shooter is brazen and unabashedly brutal, but does the sci-fi butcher-fest successfully make its retaliation to the ubiquitous Call of Duty and its wannabes, and more importantly, is it the romp one hopes it to be?
Bulletstorm follows the exploits of space pirate Grayson Hunt and the, well, storm of bullets that ensues when a bid for a revenge against his former general lands him and his friend Ishi, in a giant, vicious-alien-filled, torn and ruined resort on a strange planet.
Development and marketing (see Duty Calls) has been keen to show the world that this is no run of the mill, stale first person shooter and perhaps the most prominent feature is the points system, which overtly awards the player for “skillshots”, flares of creative execution, in big flashy letters. This arcade-inspired reward system essentially underpins the main premise of the game, which is expertly calculated hyperbolic violence.
Continue reading »PS3 To Get Online Storage With Firmware 3.60 Update…For Playstation Plus Subscribers!
March 9, 2011
Sony have announced that they will be releasing a nice little extra with firmware update 3.60 which is to be released tomorrow (10th March 2011), which will be the PS3 online storage. But you’ll only be able to take advantage of this if you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber.
So just how will the online storage work? Well each Playstation Plus subscriber will get 150MB of space so they can upload saved game files to access at a later date, and with each save roughly around 1-2MB it gives users plenty of space available to them.
Users will then be able to access their saves on any other PS3 with an internet connection by logging in using their account and going to Saved Data Utility to find the save files. However you will need to wait 24 hours before being able to use the save file on another PS3.
Continue reading »Battlefield 3 Gameplay Trailer Released
March 3, 2011
Whilst there have been quite a few COD: Modern Warfare 3 rumours flying around, today EA and DICE released the first actual gameplay trailer for Battlefield trailer today, and to put it succinctly it looks nothing short of amazing.
Of course it does look a little too good for real gameplay footage from a game about 10 months away from release, but if the finished article looks anything like this it will put some serious pressure on the more established shooters out there.
Continue reading »Can The Sony NGP Be A Handheld Gaming Success?
February 15, 2011
The Sony NGP (PSP2) has been announced, but will it end up being successful? When the original PSP-1000 hit the market in September of 2005, the world let out a simultaneous gasp of excitement as to the future of the portable gaming industry.
Never before had anyone actually provided a viable gaming alternative for those who aren’t buying into Nintendo’s ever present novelty take on how gaming should be. Never again would mobile gaming just be about 2D horizontal scroller titles, such as Mario or Sonic, is what we thought, at least. And to be fair, the original Sony PSP, and the subsequent refresher models, the PSP-2000 and 3000 were a runaway success, selling 62 million units worldwide as of late 2010.
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Little Big Planet 2 Review (PS3)
February 1, 2011
In the wake of the roaring success of Little Big Planet, Media Molecule stated that there was no need for a sequel, only content updates through DLC, due to the extensive toolset offered in game. Nevertheless, last week saw the release of Little Big Planet 2, which we were assured, was in fact worth the effort, and not simply developed at the behest of the money men at Sony HQ.
Having exhaustively fiddled, tweaked and tinkered with MM’s sequel since before Little Big Planet 2 was announced, I can safely say that this is no cash grab (not that such thoughts usually enter the mind when thinking of Media Molecule regardless), rather that under the surface, this is a whole new kettle of tweedy, cuddly fish.
Continue reading »Final Fantasy versus XIII Trailer Released
January 19, 2011
Looks like Square Enix are releasing them thick and fast now. Following the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-2, a trailer has been released for the PS3 exclusive (for the time being) Final Fantasy versus XIII.
From what I’ve seen in the trailer, I’m quite looking forward to seeing how different this game will be. As part of the FFXIII umbrella, it’ll be interesting to see what direction they’re going to take and if it will link up with the FFXIII story and come to one climactic game.
Continue reading »Final Fantasy Type-0 With Dual UMD’s Announced
January 19, 2011
It feels like Final Fantasy day today, what with the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-2 and the new gorgeous looking Final Fantasy versus XIII trailer. So what’s one more. Square Enix has announced that the previously named Final Fantasy Agito XIII will be re-named to Final Fantasy Type-0.
The reason for the name change was apparently because Square Enix say FF Type-0 isn’t like Final Fantasy XIII. Not only that, but this will be the first PSP game to be spread across two UMD’s which makes me think the size of the game is going to be huge.
Continue reading »Final Fantasy XIII-2 Announced With Teaser Trailer
January 19, 2011
Now this was something of a surprise. Square Enix has announced that there will be a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII which is aptly named Final Fantasy XIII-2, the second time that a Final Fantasy game has been given a sequel with the last being Final Fantasy X-2.
Tomb Raider Gets The HD Remake Treatment On PS3 – Xbox Gamers Miss Out On Lara’s Facelift!
January 10, 2011
Tomb Raider is the next game franchise to get the HD upgrade. Square Enix has announced that Tomb Raider Legend and Anniversary will be getting remastered in HD with the third game of the pack being Tomb Raider Underworld, which doesn’t need the HD upgrade as it was released on next gen consoles..
The trilogy pack will be released in the UK on the 25th March this year with the US getting it 3 days before us. Also Xbox 360 users will miss out as this is a PS3 exclusive as with the other HD upgrades like God of War and Sly Cooper. There’ll be some small extras added into the pack with a Tomb Raider theme, a few making of trailers and a couple of Home avatar outfits.
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The Sly Collection Trilogy Review (PS3)
January 3, 2011
It’s good to see another PS2 collection converted over to HD after the succes of the God of War Collection and now we have Sly Cooper and his gang the latest to get the makeover.
I did play the originals back on the PS2 and quite enjoyed them, but playing it again the second time around in the form of the Sly Collection (Trilogy) seems to have made them slightly better.
Sly Cooper is a master thief and is joined by his best friends Bentley who is a genius and Murray who is the brawns of the group. There’s also Sly’s love interest Carmelita Fox who is a cop and always chasing Sly down and trying to arrest him, but of course it’s just a flirtacious encounter between the two throughout with the majority coming from Sly. It’s a love hate relationship it seems.
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