There isn’t really any new information disclosed in it, but it is incredibly awesome to be sure especially since we get to see Shepard jump through the air and punch bad guys. And it definitely makes that wait until March 6th all the more difficult. Here’s the trailer, and be sure to check the official site for more information. The extended version of the trailer has been released, which adds on a good minute.

The games are going to be equipped with GPS tracking devices that fans can use to track the copies with on the games official site. Wherever the copies land someone will be able to pick up the game almost two weeks early, and even better have a copy that’s been in space.

Mass Effect 3 hits stores on March 6th. Be sure to check out the demo if you haven’t which is out right now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

For those lucky enough to be within range of one of the eight Vita Hill Social Clubs, you will have the opportunity to play the full game even earlier, starting on Monday, the 20^th. At the event, players will not only get to experience the entire game for as long as they can, but if you can place high enough on the leaderboards, you will eligible for prizes based on your performance. Unit 13 is due for release on March 6^th, 2012.

A console version of MMO Guild Wars 2 is “in the preparation stage”, NCsoft has said.

Speaking in a financial conference call today, reported by Guild Wars Insider, NCsoft executives appeared to confirm – for the first time – a console version of the epic MMO. Yes, that’s right! we console gamers might be able to play Guild Wars 2!

In response to an analyst question about console versions of its games, NCsoft replied: “When it comes to Guild Wars 2 as we have announced already, we are in the preparation stage.”

Speaking to Eurogamer, a representative of NCSoft had this to say:

“Currently ArenaNet is focused on making GW2 the best PC MMO ever released.”

“Currently…”

While a console version of Guild Wars 2 now seems certain, a launch alongside the PC version – due out some time this year – seems unlikely.

“Realistically speaking I don’t think it would be likely that we will be launching the console version [and the PC version] together,” an NCsoft executive said on the call.

The PC version’s release date will depend on the results of the large scale beta test, currently scheduled for some time in March or April, NCsoft said.

Syndicate was first released in 1993 by Bullfrog game studios who were also responsible for great games like Theme Park and Theme Hospital which while I’m thinking about it, were great games and definitely need an HD remake! Anyway, Syndicate first saw a release on the Commodore Amiga and PC (using MS-DOS) but was subsequently ported across a wide variety of platforms, however it wasn’t without it’s share of controversy when it released with some gaming magazines and newspapers saying that the violence and use of a drug to control the agents in the game would influence the children of the day into taking drugs and turning to a life of crime themselves, so in that respect it was a little like GTA is these days. Needless to say that those thoughts were completely unfounded and as far as I’m aware, children didn’t start taking drugs and turning to a life of crime as a result of playing the game. I know I certainly didn’t!

Teamwork has always been a big part of Syndicate

Syndicateput you, the player into the shoes of the corporation in a not too distant future cyberpunk style world, and had you controlling 4 cyborg agents sent on missions including assassination, infiltration, theft and persuasion. The persuasion missions were always my favourite as it meant I got to use the fabulously named persuadatron which was basically a gun which would ‘persuade’ people of importance to come with you so you could capture them and use them for the corporations own evil deeds! The object of the game was to establish world dominance one territory at a time whilst battling with rival syndicates. The game view was from a fixed isometric viewpoint which allowed you to see most of the level you were on and where your enemies were, making it easier to come up with the right tactics to use to enable you to take out the enemy cyborgs.

As you progressed through the game you had to tax citizens of territories that you had already taken over so you could get money to manage, research and develop weapons and armour so you could be sure you had the best tools available to carry out your evil deeds and carry on drugging your cyborgs but you had to be careful not to tax your citizens too much, otherwise they would revolt against you and start trying to take you down. All of these additions added some depth and some great tactical elements to the game.

So the original Syndicate game had everything you would want from a game, a lengthy campaign mode combining a shooting game with a city building type game and giving you great depth with the R & D and the tactical side of the game.

Of course inevitably Syndicate didn’t just stop with one game, it did of course spawn an expansion pack called Syndicate: American Revolt. American revolt took place in the 22^nd century after the events of Syndicate, where the entire world is controlled by a mega corporation called Eurocorp who have become mega powerful thanks to the invention of ‘The CHIP’ which is a cybernetic mind control implant capable of altering the perceptions of people and basically the object of the game was take control of Eurocorp’s cyborgs and battle against the revolting citizens who have become tired of the dystopia around them and are hoping to bring down the very corporation which put them there…Eurocorp! This later saw a release together with the original Syndicate game and was called Syndicate Plus.

There was also a sequel called Syndicate Wars which saw a release on the Sony PlayStation (it was also developed for the Sega Saturn console but never saw a release on the console).  Syndicate Wars was produced by Peter Molyneux (yes that Peter Molyneux) and took place after the events of Syndicate: American Revolt where Eurocorp has achieved it’s goal and now has worldwide dominance, however not all is good in the world of Eurocorp as a virus known as the Harbinger has broken out causing damage to the mind control microchips implanted in citizens brains thus threatening the very existence of Eurocorp. Citizens whose implants were damaged by the virus (known as unguided citizens) were rising up and trying to bring down Eurocorp by building an army. In early missions, the unguided were merely an annoyance and appeared as random antagonistic elements but after only a few missions they quickly formed a deadly militia who were more than capable of bringing down the 4 cyborgs you the player were in control of! So this really forced you to think more tactically right from the offset. And the game wasn’t afraid to let you fail (something modern games seem to not like doing as they hold your hand through the game) for if you found yourself surrounded by a lot of enemies it was a bit like bringing a knife to a gunfight, in other words, pointless and you were going to die! But it was that very danger that kept you going and made you want to keep pushing forward to complete the mission.

Syndicate Wars also preserved the isometric viewpoint while playing but Bullfrog added some new controls and camera view’s enabling you to pitch and rotate the screen so you could now see even more of the game world opening up even more tactical options. You were also able to get into vehicles in Syndicate Wars and drive or fly (yes they had flying cars like the Jetson’s!) to a location of your choice allowing you to quickly get somewhere close to your objective while avoiding unnecessary fights. Aside from the addition of a few controls and flying cars the missions in Syndicate Wars remained largely unchanged, in fact the mission’s were still had the same basic objectives – assassination, infiltration, theft and persuasion but it was the level map designs which really changed with the layout and architectural differences between each city often being fairly significant and often having many unique parks and buildings.

So the original Syndicate games were games which seemed to almost shape a generation, in fact when I was at school, it seemed that almost everyone was playing it or at least had played it and it should be one of those games which goes down in history as one of the best games ever made and one that everyone should play.

And it seems it still is!

Will EA’s re-imagining be as good as the famous original games? Well judging by the demo it’s difficult to tell as it was only a multiplayer demo, but the fundamentals of a great game are certainly there, however, fans of the original game will be in for a bit of a shock as the famous isometric viewpoint of the original games has been replaced by the all too familiar first person view and they have turned the game into a first person shooter, which although the game still relies on 4 characters working together to get through the level, having to wait for your team mates to revive you will no doubt mean that if you are playing with random people, unless your extremely lucky, the chances are you’ll be waiting an eternity for a team mate to reboot your chip implant so you can carry on.

I for one am looking forward to the release of Syndicate and the decision that EA will not have an online pass for their new game only compels me to get the game even more.  However, I have a love for retro games so I would also love to see the original Syndicate or at the very least Syndicate Wars have a full HD remake made available through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace or at least available via Steam.

Syndicate is releasing on February 24^th (UK) and will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Happy Persuading!

Soul Calibur V doesn’t revolutionize the series; it’s merely an evolution.  The designers at Project Soul have not chosen to break new ground. Instead, they’ve chosen to refine what came before.  Their goal was not to make a new game but to make a better game.  In most respects, they have succeeded.  What they’ve created is arguably the best Soul Calibur game since the second.

The most noticeable thing about SCV, apart from a gameplay perspective, is how much faster things have gotten.  Soul Calibur has always been rather frantic and more about action than methodical planning but the fifth game takes it to the next level.  Every single character, from the nimble Kilik to the slow, lumbering Astaroth, has had both their movement and attack speed increased.  In general, attacks are much more damaging and battles are over with lightning speed.  In past games of the series, it was not uncommon to have the round end due to time running out if both players were defensively minded.  In Soul Calibur V, I have yet to see this happen even between two players imitating brick walls.  Combos appear with much greater frequency and even the smallest ones can devastate a health bar.

As you’d expect, Soul Calibur V doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it takes inspiration from other games, most notably Street Fighter IV.  For years now, the Street Fighter franchise has contained a super meter, a small meter that powers up as you take damage and allows you to unleash a powerful super move.  Street Fighter IV, among other fighters, took this one step further with the concept of cinematic supermoves that temporarily stop the action and focus on one character’s incredible attack.  Soul Calibur has finally borrowed this mechanic in the form of the “Critical Edge” system that – much like its Street Fighter incarnation – takes the form of a small gauge that fills as you take and deal damage.  You can use this stored energy in two ways: By expending a portion to unleash a “Brave Edge”, a powered up version of a normal attack, or drain the entire thing to fire off a “Critical Edge” cinematic attack that can drain up to ¾ of your opponent’s health bar.  While this does is bring Soul Calibur‘s gameplay closer to that of other fighting games, it’s not a bad thing.  The fact that these attacks are almost always blockable means that they aren’t always a complete changer but merely just another tool in the player’s arsenal.

It’s a vast arsenal.  The Soul Calibur series has always had a fairly complex and in depth fighting system but SCV is the ultimate evolution of this.  While the game is rather welcoming to beginners it’s clear that it was built for the professionals.  The quick speed of the game means that every hit counts while guard impacts, just impacts, just inputs, and a wealth of other terminology and techniques ensure that high level, tournament play will be kept alive until the next installment.  At its higher levels, the game becomes very technical and timing intensive.  The frame counting, obsessive types of fighting game fans will be the only ones able to truly appreciate just how deep the engine goes.

The real hump for beginner players is that a lot of the content contained in the game simply isn’t made for them.  The single player mode is rather anemic.  There is a story mode but it can be completed after only an hour or two and the story itself is on par with the stories of most other fighting games (that is to say, nonsensical tripe).  The only other modes available are either your standard arcade mode (with a few variants and difficulty levels) or quick match mode where the player can fight hundreds of customized characters that very quickly rise in difficulty.  There’s also a “Legendary Souls” mode, which is a series of incredibly difficult battles meant for expert players.  Additionally, the game doesn’t do a very good job of teaching players how to play beyond the basics (BlazBlue this is not) and to get the most out of single player mode requires picking a character and practicing extensively. This all merely serves as training as Soul Calibur funnels you towards its online play.

Luckily, the online play is wonderful.  In the previous game, the online implementation was somewhat of a mixed bag.  When it worked it worked well but, more often than not, it turned into a laggy mess where a player spamming a single quickfire move became unstoppable.  Soul Calibur V is much, much better.  Lag is far less prevalent – even when playing with someone across the planet – and thanks to some magic on Namco’s part, even complex moves and combos are easy to pull off with the correct timing.  In fact, I can’t sing enough praises for the game’s netcode.  It’s probably the smoothest, best experience that I’ve ever had with a fighting game.

However, Namco didn’t just improve the technical aspects.  The entire online experience has been reworked.  In SCIV, you were limited to simply choosing between Player Match, Ranked Match, and Private Match.  Soul Calibur opens this up considerably.  In addition to everything from IV, you also have the “Global Collosseo”, a series of lobbies for local areas where you can play people close by or even set up tournaments.  Even searching is improved; now you’re able to select the general skill of the player you’re looking for, the location, connection quality, and a multitude of other criteria.  Even the online lobbies have seen an improvement.  Just like in IV, multiple people can join a single game and rotate around arcade style (winner plays the next person in line).  This time around, everyone else can choose to watch the match in full screen, windowed, or not at all while they chat through voice or text with everyone else waiting to play.  You can even register players as rivals to follow their progress and compare it to your own. Namco certainly went all out with the online implementation of Soul Calibur V and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that it’s easily the best online system that I’ve ever seen in the genre and among the best of the best for any game ever.

Soul Calibur has never been a franchise that skimps on production values and this edition is no different.  Frame rates are completely rock solid (an absolute must for a fighter) and the animation is stunning.  Combat flows smoothly and feels believable. Hits look like they hurt and characters have all the appropriate wind ups and tells before they launch a move. Models are high poly and there’s not a blurry texture in the entire game.  Even more impressive is just how varied the graphical landscape is.  Stages range from dark, grim battlefields to colourful Chinese festivals and the colour palette never stays in one place for too long while characters range from the subdued colour scheme of Zwei to the light blues and varied purples of Lexia and Nightmare.   Too often in the genre (and gaming in general), the developers will stick to one particular mood and have the color scheme of the whole game match (hence the widely said jokes about a “brown next-gen”), which makes the vibrancy and variety of Soul Calibur V a visual treat.  The sound, as well, is top notch and my only complaint is that – at times – the announcer is a little too quiet to be heard. Soul Calibur V is easily the best looking, and arguably best sounding, game in the entire series.

Characters, much like the rest of the game, follow the same path of evolution from IV.  Most characters return and keep their former movesets, while others are replaced with similar looking and playing clones that provide a nice mixup for the longtime fan.  Many new characters also join the fold and play totally unlike anyone else (characters being a little too similar has been a Soul Calibur problem before).  Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed makes an appearance as a guest character and fits in much better than any other guest character in the series’ history.  Not only does he look like he belongs with the rest of the fighters but his moves are neither over nor underpowered and he has a unique fighting style that makes for interesting, fun battles.  He fits in so well that if you’ve been living on a small, deserted island and had never heard of Assassin’s Creed, you’d swear he was a Soul Calibur original.

Finally, the character editor makes a return.  Introduced in Soul Calibur III, the character editor has now undergone its second jump forward and it’s never been better.  The customization options are nearly endless, allowing you to not only change your character’s armor and appearance, but also everything from the tone and pitch of their voice to the effects that appear when their weapon connects.  Every single colour  and every single pattern for every single piece of equipment is customizable.  There’s even the option to apply different tattoos and baubles to your characters and move them around to any spot on their body.  You even have the option of creating a custom portrait and choosing from dozens of backdrops and effects.  In Soul Calibur IV, the options were much more limited and equipment actually affected your characters, which meant that most characters ended up being variations on a limited set of archetypes.  The character editor in V is incredible.

Evolution is the name of the game for Soul Calibur V.  In a broad sense, it does nothing different from Soul Calibur IV.  It’s only once you get closer that you realize how much the game has improved.  The fighting engine looks similar but is deeper and more refined.  No characters have undergone any sort of radical change and have only transformed where they’ve needed to. Even most of the stages are structurally similar in appearance.  Every aspect of the game, from the story mode to the character creator to the online play (especially the online play) has been upgraded and followed a logical path of evolution.  Professionals get the most in depth, technical fighter yet seen in the series and the rest of us scrubs get a visually exciting, entertaining brawler.  While there may not be enough changes for some and a few too many changes for the purists, Soul Calibur V is certainly the best Soul Caliburgame that we’ve had in a long time.

Title : SOULCALIBUR V
Format : Xbox 360 / PS3
Developer : Project Soul
Publisher : Namco Bandai
Release Date : 01/31/12

How to enter? Simply post your Xbox LIVE gamertag and/or a comment below! Be sure to leave a valid e-mail address so we can contact you, if you win.

You can also enter to win by RT’ing the following on Twitter :

“RT & follow @slimgamer for an entry in the Win The Darkness I & II giveaway http://bit.ly/zZ9TY1 #sgGiveAway”

*If you RT an entry on Twitter, be sure to follow @slimgamer, so we can contact you, if you win

The contest will be open for roughly a week and the winner will be chosen from a random integer generator. Winner will be contacted within 72 hours of entry deadline.

Restriction : Due to the ESRB ‘M’ Rating, you must be 17 years of age or older to enter.

Winner / Prize: (1) Winner will receive The Darkness II Limited Edition on Xbox 360 and an Xbox LIVE redeem code for the full version of the original The Darkness video game.
How to Enter: Post Xbox LIVE Gamertag and/or leave a comment in this thread, or RT the above message on Twitter.
Deadline for Entry: February 24th 2012 – 10:59PM PST

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Official Rules can be found here

The V.I.P. case, in this case meaning ‘Very Important Player’, is modeled after familiar looking glasses cases, is colored black and silver, and is meant to look aesthetically pleasing. The S.P.F case, for ‘Special Player Forces’, is certainly modeled after military equipment for heavy-duty use, also has black and silver, and it meant for rough terrain with above average shock resistance. The third case, features the same design as the S.P.F case, but instead of black and silver, offers UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss themed colors and Nathan Drake’s stamped dog tags embedded on the top cover.

All three cases are scheduled to be available on February 28, 2012 for $24.99, $29.99, and $34.99 for the V.I.P., S.P.F., and UNCHARTED models respectively. For more info on these and other Thrustmaster products, visit their official site.

Okay, so at the DICE summit recently it was revealed by Todd Howard – Bethesda’s Game Director – that for one week after the completion of Skyrim, the development staff were allowed what is referred to as ‘Game Jam’ this is essentially where they would make up whatever they wanted to and throw it into the game to see if it works.

Anything you can think of (and a couple of things you can’t!) were made during this week, as the following video will show.

As a massive Skyrim fan, I can only hope that some (if not all) of these can come over to consoles as free (or paid) DLC in the future.

This news comes as absolutely no surprise, but during their 4th Quarter earnings call, Activision officially announced that there would be a brand new Call of Duty title in 2012.

This was expected seeing as every Call of Duty release sets a new entertainment record, but Activision hadn’t officially confirmed anything yet.

There still is no information on what the new game will be, although previous rumors said that Activision may be prepping Black Ops 2. It is also known that Sledgehammer Games has been hiring for a new Call of Duty. And Infinity Ward is reportedly working on a next-gen Call of Duty.

It probably won’t be too long until we find out what the new game is.