Video Games

Battlefield 4 confirmed?????

2012-07-16T13:25:00.003-07:00

Since-removed listing on EA Origin online store reveals pre-orders for Medal of Honor: Warfighter grant access to Battlefield 4 beta.

A fourth entry in the core Battlefield shooter series is on the way, it appears. A listing on Electronic Arts' Origin online store (which has since been removed, but not before being captured by VG247) indicates those who pre-order Danger Close's forthcoming Medal of Honor Warfighter will receive access to a Battlefield 4 beta.

Sound familiar? EA held a similar promotion with the predecessors in both franchises, offering those who pre-ordered the original 2010 Medal of Honor reboot access to the Battlefield 3 beta

As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

The existence of Battlefield 4 comes as little surprise. Battlefield 3 arrived in October 2011 to a warm critical reception and shipments of 15 million units. Additionally, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau said in November "there is going to be a Battlefield 4."

Battlefield 4 may not be the only new franchise entry in the works. A report from May suggested series developer DICE was at work on a new entry in the spinoff series, Battlefield: Bad Company 3.

The full story can be found at gamespot

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2

2012-07-15T12:30:00.002-07:00

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 is an upcoming first person shooter with elements of stealth and hand to hand combat.

It is a sequel to Sniper ghost warrior. It is due to be released for Xbox 360 and Ps3 on the 9^th of October 2012. The game is being published and developed by City Interactive.

The player takes control of Captain Cole Anderson who is a private security consultant. Missions will take place all over the world and in different environments. Players will Control Anderson in the jungles of Burma, urban fighting in Sarajevo and the mountains of Tibet.

In sniper ghost warrior players will have to use stealth hand to hand combat and sniping techniques to complete the task. While sniping players will have to take in to account wind direction, distance and drop to get that perfect head shot. Ghost warrior 2 is built using cry engine 3 just like Crysis 3. When players get silent kills they are awarded with a brutal kill animation and even limb dismemberment from high calibre guns and explosives. Players will also have to work with your spotter to get the job done.

The game will also feature multiplayer modes and a 2 player co-op mode. This game sounds real good and could be the best sniper game of the year; it has to be better though than the last sniper ghost warrior as that was very poor.

The Walking Dead Game

2012-07-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is getting another game adaptation.

IGN is reporting that Activision is following up on Telltale Games' episodic adventure spawned by the comic series with its own first-person shooter based on the AMC TV series.

The game will be set in rural Georgia and center around brothers Daryl and Merle Dixon, and recap their journey to Atlanta through the zombie-dotted countryside. Players will be able to choose whether to confront the undead head-on or attempt to avoid detection and minimize the number of fire fights. The latter approach may be beneficial, as proper rationing of food and ammunition will be a consideration for players.

This is not the first time Terminal Reality has made a game with undead adversaries. The studio was previously responsible for Atari's Ghostbusters: The Video Game, as well as Majesco's BloodRayne and Blood Rayne 2. Its most recent release was April's Xbox 360-exclusive Kinect Star Wars.

Activision's The Walking Dead is expected to launch next year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The orginal article can be found here at ign

Microsoft Secures ‘Xbox 8’ Domains

2012-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has secured ownership of multiple domains related to the term Xbox 8.
Back in May, Microsoft filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum to gain control over sites owned by a Chinese citizen named Cheng Juan. Now, Microsoft has won the dispute, giving the company control over Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org, in addition to various other Xbox related domains: XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com and XboxCompanion.com.

Xbox 8 was previously rumoured as a potential name for Microsoft’s next-generation console, joining codenames Loop and Durango.

Xbox 8 is an especially plausible name for the console considering Microsoft’s aggressive expansion of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Another oft-rumoured Xbox codename -- Xbox Infinity -- could also tie into the Xbox 8 name, as the symbol for infinity is, of course, an 8 on its side.

For now, Xbox 8 is nothing but a rumour, and it’s worth noting that Xbox8.com is currently held by a Chinese citizen and Microsoft has not yet attempted to obtain it.

We reached out to Microsoft regarding the domains and received the following statement: “Microsoft often acquires various domain names as part of its ongoing business strategy, but beyond that we have no comment.”

This orginal article can be found at game news

Dust 514

2012-07-06T08:58:00.003-07:00

Dust 514

Dust 514 is an upcoming free-to-play video game developed by CCP Games. This first person shooter is set in the EVE universe. Dust 514 will be connected to the massive EVE universe and will also use the same currency.

Whatever one player does in Dust will affect both political and economical status in Eve and vice versa .The game will be available for Playstation 3 only and the release date is yet to be revealed, but has been confirmed to be released sometime in 2012. For gamers who want to play it earlier there is a closed beta that you can receive a key through the Playstation home, however I am not too sure how long this is there for.

Fight and win wars to gain control of land, gain wealth and build up an empire to become a major power in the massive EVE universe. In the game you can customise every aspect of your character including your characters weapons, equipment, skills and even the vehicles they drive.

The game is free to play and can be downloaded on the Playstation network. When starting the game you have to choose which race you are you can either pick from the Caldari, Amarr, Gallente or the Minmater. Each race has their own territory.

Dust 514 will give players a sense of loss when one of your tanks get destroyed as they will be lost and you will have to try and buy another one so if you’ve saved up to buy a tank and it gets destroyed you will have to start saving again. This game looks and sound very interesting as you feel your battles mean something if you win and also if you lose.

Mega Drive Part 2

2012-07-03T11:19:00.002-07:00

This is part 2 of the Old Games post, I will continue with the last few games I had play.

Batman

Batman Arkham city Ps3/Xbox360

Madden NFL

Madden NFL 12 ps3/Xbox360

Aliens

Aliens colonial marines Ps3/Xbox360

Now I don't have the new Aliens colonial marines but it will be one that I will be getting for defiantly after doing my recent review of the game.

So there they are my old games for the Sega Mega Drive in which I have for either the Ps3 or Xbox360.

Please leave a comment if you have games you also may of had for both Sega or Ps3/Xbox360.

Found my old Sega Mega Drive

2012-07-02T08:02:00.000-07:00

Old Sega

This post is not just entirely about PS3 or Xbox 360 but also about my first Console the Sega Mega Drive.

So yesterday I was sorting out my house and found my old Sega mega drive with a bunch of games for it, so of I went and started to mess around with them to see what worked still. To my surprise all the games and the Sega still worked and I spent the entire day playing all the games. It was some fun playing all the old games, but got me thinking after all those years how my taste in games has not really changed. Here is a list of the some games I had for the Sega and either the Ps3 or Xbox 360.

The first game I started Playing was,

Spiderman Vs The Kingpin:

The Amazing Spiderman Ps3/Xbox360

Next on the playlist was,

FIFA International Soccer

FIFA 2012 Ps3/Xbox360

Mortal Kombat 3

Mortal Kombat Ps3/Xbox360

To be continued :

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

2012-07-01T05:17:00.002-07:00

Medal Of Honor: Warfighter

Medal of Honor: Warfighter is an upcoming first person shooter video game for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

It is being developed by Danger Close Games and published by EA. Warfighter will be the 14th instalment of the Medal of Honor franchise and will be released on the 23th of October 2012 in North America and the 26th of October in the UK.

The game will be a direct sequel to the 2010 Medal of Honor game. Missions will be based off recent events, and Players will go from rescuing hostages in the Philippines to attacking a pirate camp in Somalia. The game tells the story of tier 1 operator Preacher as he returns home and finds his family torn apart from years of deployment. When an explosive called PETN penetrates civilian borders Preacher must go in with the rest of the tier1 team and solve the problem.

The game will feature the frostbite 2 engine like Battlefield 3. During multiplayer you can play as 12 playable tier 1 Special Forces units from 10 different countries. Countries which have their own Special Forces include United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Russia. A special military edition of the game will be available to active, reserve and former US military personnel and US government employees. In conclusion I think this game is going to be realistic action shooter from EA and Danger Close Games, but will it be enough to beat both Battlefield and Call of Duty to the top shooter game!!!

2012-06-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 is an upcoming open world first person shooter video game for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, the game is being developed and published by Ubisoft.

The game is being released on the 29th of November 2012 in Europe and the 4th of December 2012 in North America. Far Cry 3 takes place on a tropical island and the main goal of the game is to escape the islands as there will be a couple of islands grouped together.

Players will play as Jason Brody who is a tourist who is stranded on a tropical island which is engulfed in local violence for years. Jason is separated from his girlfriend and to find her he must battle through the island and its inhabitants. In the short trailer that we seen we see Jason interacting with a character called Vaas who ends up trying to drown him. Jason is a skilled combatant and survivalist and this gives him some hope of getting off the island alive. The game is to be emphasized more on Jason being a man out of his element who just happens to be caught up in the islands chaos.

New features in the game will include a new takedown system which will let players to perform takedowns from above or crouched .The story map will be around ten times bigger than its previous games. Players will be able to plan out attacks with stealth takedowns and also use his camera to take pictures. The game will feature a sandbox editor.

At E3 2012 it was said that there also will be a co-op campaign that will have its own characters and storyline. It will be available to play with 2 players on split screen and up to 4 players online. From learning about this game I think that it will be much better than the previous Far Cry’s as I found that the second one was poor.

Skyrim Dawnguard

2012-06-27T06:49:00.003-07:00

The Elder Scrolls: Dawnguard is an add on to the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim which is developed and published by Bethesda.

It has been announced that it will be released on the 26th of June 2012 for the Xbox 360 and the release date for Playstation 3 is yet to be confirmed but reportedly it will be released about a month later than the Xbox 360.

The story of the add on is that a vampire lord named Harkon has returned and plans to end the tyranny of the sun to do this he tries to use the powers of the elder scrolls. The dovakhin or Dragonborn can either join the vampires or a group of vampire hunters named the Dawnguard.

Depending on which side you chose you can get different weapons and abilities. If you side with the vampires you get new powers like transforming to a vampire lord and transforming into bats. You also get granted access to castle Volkihar. If you side with the Dawnguard you get new armour and weapons including a crossbow. As with the vampires you also gain access to fort Dawnguard which is a large keep hidden in the forest.

Two new perk trees will become available which are a werewolf tree and a vampire tree. They are a number of new additions to the combat and there is an inclusion of dragon bone weapons as well. New dragons are now included as they are harder to kill. In conclusion I think that Bethesda are bringing out this DLC at the right time as people want a reason to get back playing the game and having new missions can only improve an already brilliant game.

Hitman: Absolution

2012-06-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

Orginal Picture

Hitman: Absolution is an upcoming stealth/third person shooter video game.

The game is being developed by IO Interactive and is being published by Square Einx who are also publishing Tomb Raider. The game is being released on the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. It is the fifth instalment of the Hitman series. The game developers have said that this instalment of Hitman will focus more on action and gunplay. On the 20^th of November 2012 the game will be released.

The story line follows Agent 47 as he is betrayed by the people he once trusted and as he is hunted by the police. He finds himself at the centre of a dark conspiracy and must journey through a corrupt and twisted world. The game will take place in the USA and at least one part of the game will be in Chicago.

The game will feature an online option and the game will feature an instinct mode which allows agent 47 to predict the guard’s patrols much similar to games like, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. The game will not be set in a specific timeline in the Hitman series but confirmed details in the plot sees agent 47 assassinate his former international contract agency handler Diana Burnwood early in the game.

All I can hope for is that this Hitman game will be a bit more gunplay and not just about sneaking around trying not to get caught.

Callof Duty: Black Ops II

2012-06-25T13:07:00.001-07:00

Orginal picture

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is an upcoming first person shooter video game for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

The game is developed by Treyarch and published by Activision. It is set to be released on the 13th of November2012.The game is the ninth instalment of the call of duty franchise.

Black ops 2 will be set in two different time periods and are connected to one and another. One will be in the near future in 2025 and one will be set in the1970s and 1980s. In the 70s and 80s section of the game players will return to play as Alex Mason while in the 2025 section players will play as Alex’s son David. In the near future section of the game a new cold war has started between China and the United States of America. Raul Menendez tries to create a full blown out war between the two superpowers.

There will also be strike force missions which will be offered to players during the storyline. What happens during those mission’s can affect the current storyline mission and in turn the overall campaign. What happens in this mission’s can even affect the plans of the story’s main antagonist, Raul Menendez.

Some of the old characters from the first black ops will return while we will also see new ones. Alex Mason will return and so will Frank Woods even though he seemingly died in the last one. Alex Mason will be once again a main character and maybe Frank Woods will have apart in the past missions. Among the new characters are David Mason the main protagonist and is Alex Mason’s son and Raul Menendez is a terrorist and the main villain. There will be a host of new weapons and new vehicles in the game with a lot more put into the robot side of warfare.

The famous zombie mode will again be included in Black-Ops with its own campaign. This will be the third time it has appeared in the call of duty games but will be the first time it will get its own campaign. It has also been confirmed it will support 8 player co-op, unlike previous games which only allowed 4 player co-op.

The Amazing Spider-Man.

2012-06-23T11:56:00.001-07:00

Orginal Picture

The Amazing Spider-Man is an upcoming open world action/adventure video game.

It is being developed by Beenox and Activision the publishers. The game is going to be released in North America on the 26^th of June 2012 and in Europe on 26^th of June 2012 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

The game is set after the events of the film as the new Oscorp chief executive is planning to create new cross species using the Lizards research. The experiments escape and cause mayhem in Manhattan in a bid to stop this; the chief executive creates a group of robots but ends up doing more damage to the city. It’s up to spider man to save the city and he will face enemies like Rhino, Iguana, Scorpion and Vermin.

This year the game will have an open world/ free-roaming concept, meaning you can explore the Manhattan city more by climbing buildings and swinging from them and also gives you the opportunity to do side missions away from the main storyline. The game will feature a ‘’Web Rush’’ mechanic which allow's Spider-Man to transition better while swinging.

Some gamers will be familiar with the combat system as it is the same system that is used in the Batman game series, which will allow a free flow design and counter attacks which will make for some very good fight scenes.

Also during the game players will be able to find vintage comic books such as the Amazing Fantasy.

Short review of Aliens: Colonial Marines

2012-06-22T14:25:00.005-07:00

Orginal Picture

Aliens: Colonial Marines is an upcoming first person shooter and survival horror video game for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

The game is being developed by gearbox software and Sega are the publishers of the game. ACM is based on the characters and creatures of the Aliens franchise. It is to be released the 12th of February2013.

Aliens: Colonial Marine’s takes part after the 3rd alien film. The story is told through a colonial marines eye’s as he is part of a search and rescue team in search of Ellen Ripley and the rest of the missing marines on the U.S.S. Sulaco.

The enemy’s player’s face are the xenomorphs. Players also face human enemies in mercenaries. The places that were in the Aliens film will make reappearance like the derelict alien spacecraft, the Sulaco and LV-426.

In ACM players gain experience points by completing certain objectives and killing enemy’s which can be used to purchase upgrades for weapons and allow players to customize their character. These experience points, customizations and upgrades can be carried over to other gameplay modes. When playing online players can either play as the Aliens or colonial marine. During online play Aliens can get a player controlled Queen which is much harder to kill.

Sleeping Dogs

2012-06-21T06:31:00.001-07:00

Orginal Picture

Sleeping Dogs is an open world crime drama video game for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.The game is developed by United Front Games in partnership with Square Einx London Studios and is being published by Square Einx.

It is being released on the 14th of August 2012.The game is situated in Hong Kong, China. Sleeping Dogs was originally named as True Crime: Hong Kong, but as Square Einx purchased the publishing rights they renamed it Sleeping Dogs.

The game is set as you are an undercover agent who is infiltrating the Sun On Yee triad organization. During the game you will play as Wei Shen a detective and martial arts expert. Throughout the game Wei is torn between his loyalty to the badge and a criminal code of honour and trying to keep his cover as it can be blown at any time.

When players are not doing storyline missions they can get involved in fight clubs, karaoke, stealing cars or betting on cockfights. There won’t be any online multiplayer but there will be leaderboards and stats that you can share online with other players and friends.

Much of the game-play is based on hand-to-hand combat and dramatic executions involving your environment. There is also a free-running element to the game as it is easy to vault over objects grab a gun and jump on top of a car to hijack it. If the player is riding a motorbike, Wei has the ability to jump onto a moving vehicle. Wei can drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats and motorbikes.

The game will feature a reputation system called FACE. Face gauges the respect Wei has both to the police and the triads. With this XP system you will unlock more abilities and equipment. Wei can purchase clothes, vehicles and accessories which have an effect on non playable character reactions. Different clothes influence the differentXP you get as suits add face XP police gear adds police XP and gang attire adds triad XP.

Fifa 13 news

2012-06-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Orginal Picture

So with all the action on T.V with Euro 2012, I decided to have a look at EA sports upcoming game FIFA 13 which is due out 28 September 2012. So what can you expect from this year’s game:

1^st Touch Control

This feature makes ball control ultra realistic. Players will control the ball fine if it’s a good pass and if they are not under any pressure, but might take a bad touch if the pass is poor and there’s an opponent close by- just like in real footy!

Attacking Intelligence

This makes your AI-controlled players even smarter! Now they make better runs, curve there movement to stay onside and make bursting runs into the penalty area.

Complete Dribbling

Thanks to complete dribbling, you can face the defender while changing direction, similar to the way you dribble in Fifa Street. Your players will also turn or burst away faster.

Tactical Free-Kicks

Attacking teams are now able to create loads of different moves from free-kicks, like dummies or fake passes, and defending teams can add more players to the wall rush the kick-taker and even creep the wall forward! That’s just brilliant.

Player Impact Engine

The new player Impact engine lets players battle with and without the ball. You can use your body to block runs and win the ball back, plus you can push and pull off the ball, but that’s only as long as the referee doesn’t see you.

(I hope they really improve this part of the game as I have seen so many times players getting stuck beside each other and players just running into each other and falling really badly.)

I have also read on other sites that if you swear at the referee you will get in trouble as per real life, but I am not too sure how true this is but hopefully it will be.

Worst Games Ever

2012-06-16T04:05:00.003-07:00

What was your worst game ever for PS3 or Xbox 360

So I guess we all have being in this position of waiting for a game to come out only for it to turn out a stupid game completely.

So this got me thinking about what games have being a big letdown after a lot of hype before release date.

Maybe we can all try and make a list of the games here and upon completion I can make as we can do a vote and find out what was the worst ever game, should be a bit of fun.

Ps4 or Xbox 720

2012-06-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Orginal Picture

Ps4 (Orbis) or Xbox 720 (Xbox loop)

With neither Microsoft or Sony saying anything about the next gen consoles at this year’s E3 event I am just wondering like most people when will these 2 giants of console makers make a move and tell of a release date, it seems like they are both waiting on each other to make a move.

PS4 (Orbis)

Some idea about the PS4 have been leaked saying it will be released Christmas of 2014, with games like Uncharted 4 and The Elder Scrolls 6, however nothing has yet been confirmed.

The PS4 hardware is rumoured to be AMD x64 cpu and AMD southern Island GPU.

However PS fans won’t want to hear is that the Ps4 won’t even bother with backwards compatibility for PS3 games meaning you can’t play PS3 games on Ps4 system L and some sort of anti-used game features.

Xbox 720 (Xbox loop)

The rumour about the Xbox 720 is that it will be released before Christmas 2013 however this is not confirmed.

The Xbox 720 could be powered by a PowerPC CPU that is married to an ATI Southern Island GPU.

Rumours were that the new Xbox 720 would not come with a DVD drive instead the games would be sold via download or bought in a memory card format, this in turn would vastly reduce the overall weight of the Xbox 720 and save power consumption. I could not see this happening as people still always want to buy the game on CD.

Some talk was that Microsoft would use Kinect feature as the controller but I can’t see them getting rid of the trusty hand controller.

There is a lot of talk about an anti-used feature just like the PS4 on the new Xbox 720 meaning no more trading in old games for the purchase of new game, with also Xbox demanding always-on internet connection which would be very annoying for us.

There is not much news about games other then the possible release of Timesplitters when the Xbox 720 is released.

Can you think of any good names for the PS4 or Xbox 720 let me no below also if you have any idea of games also let me no.

Ps3 Trophy Hunting

2012-06-13T14:28:00.001-07:00

I have been trying for the last 3 months to get a platinum trophy in Fifa 12 with a little bit of success.

Normally I don’t try and get Trophies in games but when I looked at Fifa 12 trophy I seen I only needed 4 more for the platinum trophy which were,

1. Get a ultimate team value of 85,000,000

2. Open 100 gold packs

3. Upload my own music

4. Play 50 hours of Fifa 12

So away I went on my quest to do these, it all started grand did the upload my music then after a while (and a few €s) I had opened 100 packs and got my club value up past the 85million mark.

But after playing almost 200 games of the ultimate team I found out that these games do not count towards the Fifa for life trophy (play 50 hours) which is stupid, as far as I can remember I was playing Fifa 12 even do games in head to head season count.

Now to this date I have 250 games played and hoping I am getting closer to that Trophy once and for all so I can have my first platinum trophy in a game. :)

If anybody reading this please leave a comment and let me know have you got any platinum trophies and in what games have you got them in.

Skyrim Dawnguard beta keys given to under 1 percent of applicants

2012-06-13T10:46:00.005-07:00

Orginal picture

Gamers who applied for the Xbox 360 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Dawnguard beta period will want to do two things today: check their inboxes and cross their fingers.

Bethesda Game Studios has announced that it has admitted .005 of applicants, with successful gamers receiving their invitations to try out the new downloadable content today.

Lucky gamers can try out Dawnguard today.

Writing on its official blog, Bethesda said an "overwhelming" number of gamers applied for the Skyrim Xbox 360 beta, and as a result, the company was only able to hand out codes to half of one percent of applicants.

Those accepted into the beta will receive an email bearing an Xbox Live redemption code for Dawnguard, as well as information regarding how to take part in Bethesda's private feedback forum.

No mention was made if a beta for the DLC will also come to the PlayStation 3 or PC.
Gamers who didn't score early access to the Dawnguard content for Skyrim may be able to try their luck again with a future DLC release for the role-playing game. A statement on the blog teases, "And for those that didn't get in, we plan on doing this again."

Skyrim's Dawnguard is scheduled to arrive on the Xbox 360 on June 26. No price for the DLC has been announced, and no mention has yet been made concerning a release for the PS3 or PC. For more on Dawnguard, check out GameSpot's E3 2012 stageshow demo with Bethesda, embedded below.

Separately, Bethesda announced that Skyrim's 1.6 update for PC is now available to download through Steam. This update adds mounted combat to the role-playing game, as well as a host of bug fixes. Information regarding update 1.6 for consoles will be announced at a later date.

The orginal post can be found Here.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future soldier

2012-06-12T03:58:00.001-07:00

Orginal Picture

The decades to come may be full of unknown potential for wondrous inventions, but in the gaming realm, the future is old hat. Invisibility, X-ray vision, and miniature floating cameras are modern marvels that have long since become familiar.

Though these tools are potent in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, there's precious little novelty in your futuristic arsenal, and this can make you feel like you're undertaking missions you've run many times before. So is Future Soldier just another by-the-book third-person shooter?

Fortunately not. Though there's plenty of familiarity to be found here, Future Soldier's brand of stealthy action and streamlined teamwork gives it a distinct appeal. The lengthy campaign lets you wield your AI allies like autonomous weapons; their guns are yours to command, but they handle their own maneuvers, pushing the action along at a slick pace. Replacing them with your fellow humans brings its own challenges and rewards, as does facing off against said humans in the lively competitive multiplayer modes. Though it's more of a product of the past than a vision of the future,

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is a robust package that provides plenty of satisfying ways to exercise your itchy trigger finger.
In the campaign, you play as the ghosts, a four-man team of elite soldiers. Cutscenes and mid-mission dialogue combine to create a nice sense of camaraderie among the crew, and hackneyed archetypes are downplayed in favor of more understated characterization. Personalities are colored in during small moments, like a song streaming out of earbuds, a fleeting facial expression, and a conversation about used trucks. Interactions with other military personnel reveal how isolated the ghosts are from the soldiers they break bread with and how oblivious those soldiers are to this fact.

This segregation creates a connection among the ghosts that is a refreshing change from the familiar "bonds forged on the crucible of combat" trope.

Line 'em up and knock 'em down.

On the field of battle, the ghosts try to emulate their namesakes, moving silently with the aid of slick optical camouflage that dissolves if you jog, sprint, or fire your weapon. Staying stealthy is often a mission requirement, and even when it isn't, avoiding detection gives you a distinct advantage. It's easy to maneuver unseen, and you spend a lot of time silently eliminating foes. Stealth melee kills and suppressed weapons are your basic tools, but the key mechanic is the sync shot. Spotting enemies through your scope or tagging them from aloft with your aerial drone, you can designate up to four targets for you and your squad to eliminate in one fell swoop. To execute, simply open fire on your own target, or issue the command with a press of the right bumper.
It's a neat trick, and the seconds of slo-mo that follow are a welcome flourish that allow you to silently mop up more than the few targeted foes.

Using sync shots to eliminate enemies is pleasing and relatively easy, thanks to the array of detection methods at your disposal. Drones, sensor grenades, and a few flavors of optical gadgetry give you plenty of ways to detect nearby foes. As long as no one sees the dead bodies, no one gets suspicious, and many situations lay out foes in discrete, easily sync-shot-able groups.

Only in later levels do you encounter larger groups that put your coordination skills to the test. You must now take into account multiple lines of sight and interlocking movement patterns, as well as calibrate the exact speed at which you can tag and take down a new set of targets. Methodically carving your way through these scenarios is very satisfying, and you might even find yourself choosing to reload checkpoints when you are discovered, even if you aren't forced to. Though an alert doesn't always bring your mission to a close, challenging yourself to maintain stealth is usually more engaging and fun than blasting your way through.

Aside from sync shot orders, your AI allies are mostly autonomous. They follow your lead but move, take cover, and engage alerted targets on their own. They are very reliable, but they are prone to a number of unrealistic behaviors that can hamper your immersion. Shooting effectively through multiple thick walls, sprinting past enemies while maintaining camouflage, or failing to acquire a marked target in line of sight are all intermittent AI oddities.

Fortunately, these AI issues rarely have an adverse effect on your progress. Yet regardless of how careful you are, things are going to get loud. Open firefights provide good opportunities to use non-suppressed weapons like light machine guns and shotguns, as well as deadly ordnance like frag and incendiary grenades. The AI is aggressive, but not reckless (to borrow a phrase from the ghost leader), and they throw grenades, flank, and suppress your position with vigor. The latter action can trigger a disorienting camera movement that temporarily prevents you from returning fire, a nice change from the clouded field of view seen in other shooters.

As long as you stay behind cover, dodge grenades, and shoot sharply, you can progress through these encounters without too much hassle. The suggested weapon loadout is always up to the task, though Future Soldier does offer an extensive weapon customization mode before each campaign mission. Almost every part of the gun can be analyzed and swapped out for another that favors different attributes, though it takes some time to unlock the more intriguing hardware. Each component is rendered in loving detail, and it's fun to watch the gun spring apart into fragments and then reassemble. You do all this tinkering with the controller or with the Kinect, though the latter is strictly a novelty and almost no help at all when it comes to testing your weapon on the firing range.

Out in the field, your guns fire with realistic reports and bullets impact targets with a squishy thud. Yet while the gunplay is competently put together, the cover-to-cover firefights rarely coalesce into something truly exciting. There's a workmanlike quality to the action that makes you yearn for the thrill of a sync shot, though some set-piece moments help liven things up. Slow-motion breaching maneuvers and on-rails hostage extractions add some dramatic flair, and the mission with a donkey-sized robot (the Warhound) provides some explosive kicks.

Each campaign mission presents four challenges to overcome in order to unlock extra weaponry, and striving to achieve them is a good way to keep things more interesting. You have to tweak your arsenal to pull some of them off, or just bring a few friends along to help your cause. In fact, some seem to all but require additional human players, and you can have one local or up to three online teammates.

Coordinating sync shots and advancing on enemies is more enjoyable with a human crew, and there's also a horde mode in which you (and up to three friends) must defend an outpost from waves of enemies. Escalating weapon loadouts, wave perks, and a variety of gear help you make your stand as things get tougher, and the higher waves pose a stiff challenge to even the sharpest ghosts.

There's also a lively challenge to be found in competitive multiplayer, in which two teams of up to six players can compete in a variety of modes. As in the campaign, you can die quickly if caught out, so cover is a powerful ally. But with the exception of the one-life-per-round Siege mode, respawns happen frequently enough that the penalty for death is not very severe, which allows for more brazen tactics. This gives things a more hectic feel, especially in Conflict mode when the objectives regularly shift the focal point of the battle.

Your firearm skills serve you well, but so does reconnaissance. Stunning an enemy instead of killing him and then hacking his data feed may be risky and time-consuming, but the resulting reveal of enemy positions is a very potent reward, especially in the bomb-transporting Saboteur mode. Using your tech to gain an advantage is gratifying, and success in multiplayer earns you levels and new gear for whichever of the three classes you are playing as at the time.

The competitive action evolves as more players bring more
gadgetry and guns into the fray, adding some nice diversity, and even the lengthy campaign provides some good reasons to return to it after you've seen it through. Though the standard gunplay isn't very exciting, stealthly skill shots and diverse combat scenarios provide a lot of entertaining and satisfying moments. The action rarely transcends present-day standards, but Ghost Recon: Future Soldier proves that there is still a lot of fun to be found on the battlefields of the future.

The Good
Pleasing sync shot mechanic
Lengthy campaign is great in both solo play and co-op

Enjoyable competitive multiplayer modes.

The Bad

Numerous AI oddities

Unremarkable firefights.

Score

8/10

The Orginal article can be found here

Idea of Timesplitters 4 under way

2012-06-11T11:52:00.002-07:00

Crytek is evaluating whether there is still scope to develop a new TimeSplitters game, the company's chief executive has told CVG.

Cevat Yerli said that, although Crytek isn't currently working on the highly acclaimed shooter series, he personally wishes the company would, although a retail release is out of the question.

"Look, I wish we were working on it. I will say that," he told CVG in Los Angeles last week.

"I think hopes are high, but change has to happen in the platform space. I'm very excited potentially about the idea of a TimeSplitters for G-Face.

"The thing with TimeSplitters is, if we made a sequel to TimeSplitters, nobody would accept this apart from some fans, and we don't know how big the fan community is unfortunately.

"And we don't want to design this as a packaged goods game that launches on a console, and even if we wanted to I don't think publishers would like the idea. That is the truth, and that was the truth even before we bought Free Radical."
Crytek acquired Free Radical, the Nottingham based developer of TimeSplitters, in February 2009. Since then the company has faced persistent requests to return to the franchise.
Former Free Radical MD Steve Ellis previously said he shopped around the idea of Timesplitters 4 to publishers and "nobody was interested" - a fact Yerli backed up.

"The concept behind TimeSplitters was pitched around before we took over and Free Radical had no luck. We think even on CryEngine and with Crytek behind it there would be fundamental issues with the concept," he said.

"However, TimeSplitters had one of the most fun multiplayer games ever, and G-Face is a social entertainment platform - it's about online gaming. I love the idea of a TimeSplitters for G-Face.

"I love the idea, and I wish we'll work on it, but currently we are not working on it."
One potential avenue for getting the game off the ground is the crowdfund platform Kickstarter, but Yerli expressed concerns over whether it would be appropriate for such a large company to call on fan funding.

"I've been asked this question internally and I said, 'how can we do a kickstarter? It wouldn't feel right.' I suppose if someone really, really wanted to...

"I guess the other issue is this; the reality also is we're quite a large company, but also we have capacity limits and we don't want to hire 15 people just to do this game. Kickstarter is a concept we thought about seriously... we'll see. Time will tell."

Story courtesy of Timesplitters 4

The best of E3 2012

2012-06-07T14:22:00.001-07:00

E3 is done and dusted for another year!!!

So what was the best of the show? Both the Sony and Microsoft had good displays with some very good looking games. Let’s have a look at Some games for both PS3 and Xbox 360

THE LAST OF US (Ps3)

From the crowd that brought you the Uncharted series (Naughty Dog). The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world where you control Joel on his journey to survive he is followed by Ellie a 14 year old girl which is controlled by the computer.

It will involve both gunfights and close combat fighting where you have to kill and scavenge to survive. In the first few videos that have been released so far you will be fighting the infected people and other survivors. The game seems to give you that feeling of the end of world scenario the reason being is you will have a low amount of ammo in whatever guns you can find, Ellie wont just stand there getting shot she will take cover and help as much as she can like throwing things at people if you have to reload.

Assassin’s Creed 3 (Ps3,Xbox 360)

Assassin’s Creed 3 is a historical action/adventure game. The game will be set before, during, and after the American Revolution 1753-1783. It will follow the life of Ratonhnhaké:ton (a.k.a Connor Kenway) it is set in colonial America, the assassin templar has somehow become involved in the American Revolution. Connor is drawn into battle when his home is attacked by colonists you will also meet some historical people such as King George III, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and many more.

As the game is based in the American Revolution you will spend a lot of your time in forests where that will be the biggest change from previous games of being in built up cities.

The biggest test that Assassin’s Creed 3 will face is it will be the ability to move around vertical in this new environment as the climbing up walls and jumping from building to building was a big hit with previous Assassin Creed games. However you will still encounter cities such as Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

Halo 4 is a first person shooter it will be the eight instalments in the Halo franchise and is developed for the Xbox360. Halo 4 is set to be the start of a new trilogy of Halo games. The game starts some time after the ending of Halo 3 and marks the return of Master Chief and Cortana

In the ending of Halo 3 Master Chief and Cortana find themselves adrift on-board the wreckage of the UNSC. They find themselves close to a mysterious planet called Forerunner.

The story of Halo 4 will focus less on the straightforward first person shooter genre, instead it will be relying more on mystery, exploration and discovery. The Halo 4 developers also suggested that the game will reveal how the UNSC and humanity have changed and how they have adapted to the worlds after the end of the war against the Covenant.

Tomb Raider (Ps3,Xbox 360)

Tomb Raider is a Third person action/adventure game with role playing elements, it is the fifth Tomb Raider franchise.

The game will explore the intense and gritty origin of Lara Croft and her journey from frightened young women to hardened survivor. As Lara sets out to make her mark the ship she is travelling on is hit by a massive storm and split in two, Lara and many other survivors are stranded on an isolated tropical island in the dragon’s triangle.

She awakes inside a small coastal cave beside other corpses; while se try’s to escape she gets wounded. Lara must try and find food and water to survive, and also fight of the island dangerous animal inhabitants trying to find other survivors.

But things seem to get harder for Lara as a group of mercenaries who seek to kill her and the other survivors, so Lara is forced to harden herself against killing people.

PS3 YLOD :(

2012-06-05T10:22:00.001-07:00

Today the unthinkable happened I got the YLOD on my ps3 with my game insideL. My PS3 is the phat 60 gig model and it is out of warranty. I tried things like unplug my ps3 and wait for a few hours or so but still no look. I didn’t want to send it back to Sony as I will lose all my saved data almost 5 years of games.

So I decided to do the job myself so I started searching the web for answers before I found this handy video

So away I went to fix it thinking I will never get it going again, after about 2 hours of following the video and doing what I was told to do I started to put my ps3 back together again..

So the moment of truth time to power up my PS3 which to my surprise WORKED I quickly got my Fifa 12 game out J and started to get my saved files copied as I didn’t know how long the fix would last but then it crashed againL.

Back to the drawing board and looked for more answers which I found. What I didn’t know was for the fix to last longer than it did I should have used something called ’’ Lead free flux no clean’’. I then started to use the flux first

After doing the fluxing 1^st then cleaned the terminal paste and reheat the board the Ps3 powered up for me again. I again started to copy my saved files as this was most important to me when this was done and the ps3 was still working I decided to try and transfer all my data to my new PS3 slim.

The PS3 was going for 5 hours transferring almost 50 gig of data with no problems

So as you can guess I got to keep everything including at least 60 hours of SkyrimJ.

Please follow these steps:

1. Watch both videos first before you do anything

2. Make sure you have these items

· Heat Gun (temperature controlled)

· Isopropyl Alcohol

· Vacuum Cleaner (to clean of dust from ps3 fan)

· Philips screw driver

· Slotted torx bit

· Lead free FLUX NO CLEAN

3. Get the PS3 opened using the top video (you will have to maybe visit YouTube for other parts of the video.

4. Then watch the second video on this page and do as he tells.

5. Then watch all the top videos to complete the fix.

6. MAKE SURE WHEN YOU START TO PUT THE PS3 BACK THE LITTLE RIBBON CABLE CONNECTING THE POWER/EJECT BUTTON DOES NOT GET CAUGHT BETWEEN THE Motherboard AND STEEL PLATE.

7. If it doesn’t show red power on light u must have damaged the ribbon cable look at the cable you should see a small crack in the copper pins. This happened to me all you do is locate the break in the ribbon cable and cut 1mm from that end that fixed it for me.

I hope this guide helps you get you PS3 data back as nobody wants to lose all that hard work.

Please if it does help you leave me a comment below.

Max Payne 3

2012-06-05T09:21:00.001-07:00

Review and Gameplay

Max Payne 3 is developed by Rockstar Studios the guys that brought games such as (Grand Theft Auto and L.A Noire). It is available for Ps3 and Xbox360. It cost about €45 in most game shops but in some stores the cost is almost €60.

The game is a third person shooter in which you can see the Character with over the shoulder camera unlike (Call of duty games which are FPS). The biggest thing I liked about the game is the return of the bullet-time. Nothing better than Busting into a room and seeing exactly where all the bullets are going. A new thing is the Last man standing which give you a second chance as when you lose all your health you can use painkillers to regain your health.

The Famous Max Payne dives look much better this game, for example after you make your dive you can stay grounded after dive and then shoot 360 degrees around. Max Payne 3 looks a lot more realistic than the previous Max Payne games.

New to the series are cinematic action movements, interactive cut scenes which transition seamlessly into continuing gameplay. Moreover there are no loading screens across gameplay and cut scenes.

Multiplayer

The online mode is not to bad but I just found it hard to get kills I just don’t like playing Third Person Shooters online that much, however the maps do seem to change dynamically change within a match.

Conclusion

So all in all the game is fairly good as the story seems to be very well played out and the controls seem to be easy to get the hang off.

Score 8/10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne_3