You could be forgiven for giving this return to the Wild West a wide berth in the wake of 2011’s downright dreadful The Cartel. But while nobody could accuse this £11.99 PSN offering of being smart or original, like a fancy-dress night out in an animal onesie it still provides plenty of act-first-think-later thrills.

Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger PS3 review

Ex-bounty hunter Silas Greaves is regaling a crowd in a bar with the tall tales of his notorious past, when he clicked spurs with the likes of Billy The Kid and Jesse James, and his narration provides the excuse for multiple pleasing snippets of shooty gameplay. Your path through the comic book-esque landscape is linear as a ruler, but this isn’t a game deeply rooted in exploration.

No, this is about making the bad cowboys go dead in satisfyingly squelchy fashion with Dynamite, functioning as old-school grenadesDynamite is also in there, functioning as old-school grenades. Levels are essentially shooting galleries, with scores of pop-up goons in Stetsons to nail with headshots, and combos to help you rack up high scores.

Concentration mode – activated with a tap of R2 – is Dead Eye by another name, but duels do add some enjoyable originality. Using the right stick, you keep a reticule centred on your foe’s face to zoom in, while the left has your hand hovering in prime position over your boomstick. The split-second your foe reaches for their weapon (but not before, lest you want to be branded dishonourable), draw and blast them. And after all, the Milkybar Kid would be so ashamed of you if you lost your honour. Just imagine how sad that would be.

Accurate depiction of the American West it may not be (although finding Nuggets Of Truth uncovers fact cards, so, y’know, education) but simple, arcadey fun is on offer if you approach this on its own, rather silly terms.

Here are the first fleeting glimpses of PS4 revealed in Sony’s new “PlayStation 4 See it First at E3″ teaser video. The images suggest a similar form to the PS3 – black textured plastic and metal effect grills.

PS4 revealed (in bits)

Just to add some confusion there are pictures of the controller and the camera by the looks of things, although this big round thing is really weird. If anyone wants to try and piece it all together then be my guest.

[Update: here are all the individual PS4 shots showing the console's form.]

Sony has released a teasey, flashing trailer with a distant square box and snatched images of grills, corners and big 4. Somewhere in all that jumble of flash frames is the PS4‘s final console form.

PS4 console reveal due June 11th 1pm GMT

Just to throw you off the scent there’s a few bits of the new controller in there and some sort of circular grill that really doesn’t seem to fit anywhere. I’ll get all the shots out once I’ve gone through it frame by frame and well see if we can’t piece it all together.

The full reveal is due June 10th at 6pm PDT which will make it 1am June 11th over here.

There’s more info here.

Anyone want to see a five minute CG trailer of Batman Arkham Origins? This is probably for you then. The new five minute video shows the young Bats going up against Deathstroke in an extended fight sequence that ends… well, let’s not spoil it.

The extended trailer’s accompanied by some new Batman Arkham Origins screens with the Joker appearing for the first time and final confirmation of Batman Arkham Origins’ voice talent.

Here’s a bunch of new Batman Arkham Origins screens including laughing boy up there looking younger and lot healthier than the end of Akham City. We also finally know who’s voicing him.

New Batman Arkham Origins screens Joker & gadgets revealed

Stepping into the Joker’s vocal shoes is non other than Bioshock Infinite and The Last Of Us‘ Tory baker.    Batman’s talking duties are taken by Roger Craig Smith, the voice of Assassin’s Creed 2′s Ezio Auditore and Resi’s Chris Redfield from Resident Evil. Confusingly the old voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, has claimed he’s working on Origins after Warner Bros claimed he’d been dropped in order to give Bats a younger feel. Could there a split timeline in the game?

There’s also a first look at the new grapple gadget that enables the Dark Knight to attach and smash objects and enemies together. Here it’s being used to introduce a goon to a gas tank. It probably won’t end well for either.

Thanks Joystiq for the voice info.

Talk about the littlest supernatural hobo. Ms Holmes can tap into the paranormal ether and communicate with the dead, sure. But that hasn’t stopped her from living like Oscar The Grouch. We don’t yet know the plot details that make Beyond: Two Souls’ leading lady court her inner homeless Sesame Street character. What we do know is David Cage’s latest interactive drama handles with a confidence far beyond anything in Heavy Rain.

Beyond: Two Souls gameplay

We recently played one of PS3’s hottest exclusives at developer Quantic Dream’s Parisian headquarters, where two things quickly became clear. Firstly, Beyond reaches near-PS4 levels of wolf whistle-courting prettiness. Just as importantly, it’s also a far more seamless experience than Cage’s occasionally clunky hunt for the Origami Killer. It’s thanks to a more intuitive user interface that lends the Ellen Page-fronted adventure – which now features a speccy Willem Dafoe – an unexpected sleekness.

The hands-on starts with a bang… literally. After an explosion rips through a medical facility, a posse of police quickly cordons off the surrounding area, although none dare enter the burning building. Where the boys in blue are too scared to tread, our Jodie bravely sneaks in – and it’s here we take control of Beyond for the first time. Unlike in Heavy Rain, you no longer feel like you’re trying to steer an unruly cruise liner around a tiny room. Rather than hold R2 to walk, you just control Jodie with the left stick. It’s a simple tweak, but a game-changing one.

As we steer virtual Page through the burning bowels of the hospital, people in white coats stumble about. This isn’t like a normal ER, though. Instead of gorgeous George in scrubs there are mysterious rooms littered about the halls, many sporting suspiciously bolstered doors and the sort of circular windows you’d expect to see on a submarine. Of course, this being a game where you can lay a telekinetic smackdown on a SWAT squad, we shouldn’t be surprised at the suspect goings-on.

Most inputs are now contextual, elegantly handled by pushing the right stick towards objects you want to interact with

Equally eyebrow-raising were Cage’s comments on QTEs. Beyond’s creator suggests the game will ditch the quick-time control system that proved so crucial to both Heavy Rain and Farenheit’s play. Turns out, he’s fibbing… kind of. It’s true most inputs are now contextual, elegantly handled by pushing the right stick towards objects you want to interact with. A small white dot helps with this, giving you a reference point of where you need to guide Holmes’ inquisitive hands. That said, Mr Q to the T to the E is still very much in attendance – he just hides his presence more gracefully this time.

Beyond: Two Souls Tribeca trailer . Subscribe for more PS3 & PS4 videos.

An example: you often have to react speedily to set-pieces. In the demo, this occasionally involves knocking objects over to clear a path. When this happens, a small silhouette of the DualShock flashes across screen and you have to repeat the thrusting gesture. You’re still essentially playing a virtual Simon Says, then. Just a Simon that’s less obtrusive than the one that demanded all those finger gymnastics in Heavy Rain.

You’ll notice we’ve yet to address the Dumbo sitting in the room. Just how does Jodie’s spectral pal Aiden figure into all of this? Well, in the section we played, you put Jodie’s Casper-chatting powers to use while fixing a crocked elevator. Following a quick perspective switcheroo you take control of the floating spook in first-person. Although disorientating at first it quickly feels natural, and soon Aiden is zipping down the lift shaft where you use his paranormal powers to clear the elevator’s doors of the container that’s blocking them.

When you’re not playing as said supernatural entity, some of the narrative devices the game deploys evoke the last two Uncharted titles. Not only is Jodie plagued by hallucinations, but one moment in particular will remind you of the (spoiler) unsettling yeti reveal from Among Thieves. Hey, if you’re going to crib from other games you may as well set your sights on the best.

Our time with Beyond is full of pleasant surprises. Be it a combat system that mimics a simple Fight Night (you control Jodie’s limbs with the right stick in slo-mo moments) to the unerring authenticity the scarily fluid mo-capped animation provides. Even more exciting is a revelation from Quantic Dream’s Guillaume De Fondaumière. During our chat, the co-CEO is glowing in his praise for Sony and hints that the studio’s exclusive relationship with PlayStation will continue to be in place for years to come.

“As long as we can create the games we want to create, we’ll stay with Sony,” he reveals. With Two Souls shaping up beautifully ahead of its release in October and the studio already working on an untitled PS4 project, the future is blindingly bright for fans of Cage’s thoughtful storytelling. We’re Beyond excited.

Three minutes of new Gran Turismo 6 footage has arrived and it is full of cars. Unlike the last GT 6 trailer which zipped through everything super fast this takes a bit more time to look at the vehicles and tracks.

New Gran Turismo 6 footage emerges

If you want to know how it plays then we went hands on with Gran Turismo 6 last week in our preview.  There’s also a few GT 6 screens which are similar to the video but don’t move as much. And for the die hards among you we take a look back at some of Gran Turismo’s best tracks.

Thanks AGB.

Here’s a new The Last Of Us trailer showing new gameplay as Naughty Dog discuss the crafting system and the choices it forces you to make. Mainly whether to kill or not.

New The Last Of Us trailer

You can find out more about that in my hands on The Last Of Us preview. The need to scavenge bits of rag, blades and sticks to make weapons does really force you to think about what you do in the world. I found myself, on several occasions, getting into danger in the hope of finding just few more bullets.

Ask yourself this: are you afraid of jelly? Not even the ones with the little chunks of fruit? Then it’s unlikely you’ll unburden your pantaloons while fighting the stowaway Bio Organic Weapons aboard the Queen Zenobia. Benign blobs with the occasional protruding claw, the Ooze won’t follow Nemesis or Dr ‘Chainsaw Death’ Salvador into any game baddies hall of fame. A pity, because poor enemies aside this is the purest expression of survival horror Capcom has put out in years.

Resident Evil Revelations PS3 review

A spruced-up port of last year’s Nintendo 3DS frightener, the work that’s gone into revamping Resident Evil: Revelations for an HD console release is admirable. Cutscenes have been completely reworked from the cramped, artefact-plagued cinematics of the original, while textures have been buffed to the point that the game arguably looks better than the murky Resi 6.

Speaking of Leon, Chris and Jake’s muddled misfire, Revelations sheds almost every awkward design decision that made the ambitious sixth outing ultimately directionless. Jill Valentine’s adventure is happy to set sail for uncomplicated scares that usually find a port. This is how PS1 used to serve up frights: in great, steaming bowls of carefully paced horror.

The majority of Revelations takes place on a gargantuan luxury liner that would make even Roman Abramovich’s sapphire-encrusted wallet blush. Although the action briefly jumps to messy undead husky-slaying in Finnish mountain ranges, the decision to ground the majority of the game in the Zenobia’s claustrophobic confines proves a strong one. Whether cautiously pushing forward through a mist-filled banquet room or battling zombie carp in the fountains of an on-deck casino, there’s a surprising amount of consistently creepy variation to this versatile haunted house on the sea.

Whether cautiously pushing through a mist-filled banquet room or battling zombie carp in the fountains of an on-deck casino, there’s a surprising amount of creepy variation to this versatile haunted house on the sea.

Like one of nature’s colossal ice cubes trying to crash poor Leo and Kate’s trip, Revelations sadly hits a stumbling block. In one key area, the action has unforgivably regressed from 2005’s Resi 4. Specifically, enemies now barely react to your bullets. Rather than buckle convincingly when you pop them in the knees (à la Los Ganados), the Ooze instead trudge forward with a blind ambivalence. It’s a decision that neuters the tense tactical payoff seen in Shinji Mikami’s masterpiece. Thankfully, there are enough chills and thrills in exploring Revelations’ evocative location to keep you aboard.

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Solid Snake – Metal Gear Solid

While your everyday shooter protagonist is never happier than slitting the throat of an unsuspecting mercenary or mulching a Russian infantry battalion to slurry from the gunner seat of an attack helicopter, too much trigger-happiness from Metal Gear Solid’s Solid Snake makes stagger about, chundering all over the floor like an embarrassing dad trying to keep up on a stag night. Sounds grim, but completionists should note that lying down in the resulting puddle is the only way to unlock the special vomit pattern for Snake’s Octocamo suit.