The Last of Us News

Naughty Dog has just announced that their first new franchise since the release of Drake's Fortune in 2007, The Last of Us, will feature a multi-player mode. Though they haven't verified what it would be like, there are preorder bonuses at Gamestop that are related to multiplayer, such as items, skins, and bonuses.

Along with this, a new trailer was aired at Spike's Video Game Awards. This trailer shows insight into what the plot of the game will entail.

This game releases May 7, 2013 and offers a new start for Naughty Dog and their fans.

PlayStation All Stars: Battle Royale Review

Nintendo has had great success from their crossover fighting franchise, Super Smash Brothers. This title features everyone's favorite Nintendo characters doing battle in bouts of up to four opponents at a time. Now, Sony has decided to create their own game as such, and released PlayStation All Stars: Battle Royale. This game features your favorite characters from franchises like Killzone, Twisted Metal, Bioshock, InFamous, and many more, taking part im matches us gamers have only dreamed of before.This game provides seeming endless entertainment for you and your friends to take part in. The amazing cast of characters, dynamic maps, and diverse items always make the game interesting.

Don't knock over his ice cream.

The best part of this game is the cast. I really enjoyed battling my way through the PlayStation universe as Cole McGrath, Kratos, and Ratchet. Rivalries are formed between characters, such as Sly Cooper and Nathan Drake, or Parappa the Rapper and Ape Escape's Spike. The battles lead to a story that, though interesting, leaves to be desired. The best example of a story is Drake ending up with a few pages of the Thevius Racoonus, prompting Sly to take them back. The worst is Jak pulling a gun on Ratchet because Ratchet looked at him funny. Some of them are even comical, such as Kratos knocking over Sweet Tooth's ice cream cone.

Bioshock's Songbird firing at the plane from Uncharted 3

The maps in this game are fantastic, and adds new layers to the story. Sometimes you get to see Chop Chop Master Onion kick a Chimeran Goliath so hard that it collapses. Other times, your Uncharted 3 cargo plane will get shot down for flying too close to the sky city Columbia. It is worth it to play all of the maps just to see what happens next.

One of the games downfalls is the unbalanced characters. Some always land hits and gain AP incredibly quickly, while others are easily avoided and take awhile to level up. Some level 3 supers are difficult to use and don't guarantee kills, while others allow up to six and guarantee three. Another problem is the noncompetitive challenges to be played alone. The game lays out several difficult tasks that are too be completed whilst battling three opponents. The third difficulty I had was how characters tended to be unnecessarily aggressive to each other, such as Spike attacking Parappa for scaring away a monkey, but this was only a minor issue.

I would strongly recommend this game to anyone who likes their PlayStation exclusives, Smash brothers, or fighting games. Its better than any Smash Brothers game that I've played, and its something that's been a long time coming.

9.5/10

Assassin's Creed III: Liberation Review

The PlayStation Vita since it launched has been in need of a massive system seller, so along comes Assassin's Creed liberation trying to fill that void. Now your wondering if Liberation is the game you've been waiting for to jump on the Vita bandwagon, I however am sad to report that it is most certainly not a must own. This is not to say that the game is bad no not at all it's just that minor flaws keep it from true greatness.

The first thing that you'll probably notice is that this game is gorgeous from the city streets of New Orleans to the Murky swamps this game is astounding to look at. And that is a true feet for a game world this vast and filled with things to do. For that is really where this game succeeds, for the first on a handheld I felt like I was in a living breathing world.


But after that things start to go down hill starting with the uninteresting story. Throughout my time with the game I never had any reel connection with the games protagonist  Aveline or her plight against the Templars. I never got a good sense of who she was because unlike other protagonists in the series I never got to spend enough time learning about her back story or motivations.

And then comes along the actual gameplay which when it works it's incredibly fun, but that the problem it only works about sixty percent of the time. From the unresponsive free running which constantly had me fumbling around and falling off of building and out of trees. Plus once in open combat the buttons feel unresponsive. Leading to me feeling that most of my deaths were not because I screwed up. Not to mention some of the worst Vita specific controls I have ever seen. From paddling the boat with the rear touch to controlling a ball through a maze all of the Vita gimmicks feel totally and completely broken.

The game also includes a completely useless asynchronous multiplayer mode. In which you will pick a side in the war between Assassins and Templars and position troops to defend your base whilst also sending troops to attack others bases, but it really doesn't matter because it's pointless and uninteresting. 

Even though this game comes up short on some key things I am still looking forward to what assassin's Creed's future will look like on the Vita. But as it stands now I can only recommend this to die hard Assassin's Creed fans. 


7.5/10             

Halo 4 Review

Master Chief, A.K.A. John 117, was the hero of the Covenant Wars and responsible for the destruction of the Flood. Halo 3 left him floating through space while fans busied themselves with Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, Halo: Reach, and the anniversary of Combat Evolved. Now, five years after Halo 3, 343 studios takes over the Chief’s story in Halo 4.

The game begins four years after the events of Halo 3. The Chief awakens from cryosleep as his AI, Cortana, wakes him up frantically, saying that there are intruders on board their ship. Chief takes almost no time to prepare and goes to investigate the disturbance. Cortana and Chief are both puzzled by the appearance of Covenant Grunts, Elites, and Jackals. Chief fights through the ruins of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn to repel the Covenant forces. They discover that the ship is orbiting the forerunner shield world known as Requiem. Both the Forward and the attacking covenant fleet are pulled out of the sky by Requiem’s gravity. Whilst on the planet, Cortana intercepts a signal from the Infinity, another UNSC ship approaching Requiem. Now racing to prevent Infinity from suffering the same fate as Forward and the Coveys, Chief discovers a more personal problem: Cortana is beginning to malfunction, and is becoming increasingly insane. Soon, Chief encounters the Prometheans, a new enemy race that is primarily AI and native to Requiem. This engrossing story follows Chief and Infinity’s struggle with the Prometheans and Covenant, all the while trying to get back to Earth, where Cortana’s creator, Halsey, is currently located. The story is interesting, action packed, and pretty sad. Master Chief seems like an actual human for the first time, showing real emotion (as much as someone can through a helmet). The antagonist, Didact, was a better antagonist than Truth, Gravemind, and Guilty Spark.

The gameplay was great, but there wasn’t much change from previous installments. Sprint is now a standard ability to be used along side your armor effect. The sound effects were much better than the other games, such as firing a gun actually sounding like a real gun. The graphics were the best I’ve ever seen. During one scene between Halsey and an unnamed interrogator, I actually believed that the characters were actors, and had to look closely to realize that it was animated.

Of course, the main selling point of Halo has always been the multi-player. The leveling, loadouts, and lack of preset weapons in maps warned of a possible Call of Duty-like experience. So far, this is not true. I did not get a COD feeling at all from the competitive multiplayer experience. In fact, the competitive has mostly improved from Reach’s. Instead of whichever jerk spawning closest to the rocket winning, now it’s whoever has better actual tactics. There are plenty of new, interesting maps to explore. Flood, however, is lacking. As promising as the idea of playing as a Flood for infection mode is, this game ruined my favorite game mode. Playing as an infected was difficult before, their only saving graces being the one hit kills and the evade ability. Now, the evade is replaced with thrusters, which isn’t nearly as good. It emits a light that the Spartans can see from across the map, and has one use before stopping to have to recharge. With evade gone and no worthy replacements, being an infected has become even more difficult.

The Spartan Ops mode has replaced Firefight. Though this game type will be missed, the Spartan Ops seem to be killing wave after wave of Covenant with purpose, which cannot be said for Firefight. Spartan Ops are entertaining both alone and with friends, and it almost seems like an extension of the campaign to be visited and revisited.

Overall, this game has an incredible story, great multiplayer, good gameplay, good graphics, and a new game mode that promises to entertain long after the end of the campaign. The only issues with the game are the downgrade from Infected to Flood and the slow servers experienced by some players opening week. I believe that this is an effective changing of hands from Bungie to 343, as well as a great sequel to one of my favorite games. I look forward to what else 343 has for Halo and its fans in the future.

9.5/10

Halo: Forward Unto Dawn

Forward Unto Dawn is a live action, 5 part mini-series that covers events leading up to the beginning of Halo 4. It follows Commander Thomas Laskey of UNSC Infinity as he picks up a distress signal from the Forward Unto Dawn. The series is mainly Laskey’s flashbacks to his time in Corbulo Military Academy at the start of the Covenant War. This is an incredibly interesting story, laying a background for Halo 4 as well as the conflict with the Covenant. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in playing Halo 4, or in general anyone who wants a good, action packed story. Anyone can access it for free via Halo Waypoint or on the YouTube page:.Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.

Assassin's Creed III Review

Assassin's Creed was the story of Desmond, a subject in a modern day research facility using advanced technology to relive the experiences of his ancestor in the crusade era: Altair. This game had a good cast, but was overall repetitive and frustrating. Assassin's Creed II introduced Ezio Auditore, an new assassin in Renaissance Italy, in areas such as Florence, Venice, and the Apennine Mountains. The games characters consisted mostly of famous Italian figures, most notably Leonardo da Vinci. It also provided the redemption most people needed to stick with the series. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood followed Ezio into Rome while he and his new partner, Niccolo Machiavelli, tried to free Italy from the corrupt Borgia family. This game was great, my personal favorite, with good gameplay and story. Finally, there was Revelations. This game was well hyped as Ezio travels to Altair's home in Istanbul, where both their stories concluded. Unfortunately, the new frustrating enemy types and game modes ruined this game for me and several others.

News of Assassin's Creed III came about, and though I was still weary after Revelations, I gave the game a try. The opening scene follows Desmond and his friends into a strange cave clearly built by the First Civilization. They are greeted by a massive blue gate and a message from the FirstCiv, Juno: Find the key. Desmond and the team resolve to return to England to Desmond's ancestor, Haytham Kenway. Haytham steals an amulet during an assassination, and his commanding officer sends him to a new colony to find the gate that the amulet opens. The game continues through the stories of Haytham and his son Connor. Figures such as Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, George Washington, and Ben Franklin appear  throughout as Connor fights through the American Revolution. Periodically, Desmond's friends wake him up to do a few missions in present day, in places like Manhattan and Brazil.

I really enjoyed this game. Many put-offs from previous games are faded or gone. The story was engrossing and interesting, and the characters were generally likeable. The gameplay was enjoyable and the missions were fun. Particular events such as the Boston Tea Party and Battle of Bunker Hill make the experience more fun for history enthusiasts. The world was vast, and had plenty in it, but travelling from one place to another was a time consuming task, especially when the player gets distracted by the interactive objects, characters, and missions along the way. The hunting engine proposed a fast and entertaining way to earn money. The naval battles were epic and fun, providing something completely new to the series. I found myself devoting all my funds to upgrading my ship to give me the edge the next time I faced a pirate.

There were some drawbacks to the game. The story did take a few hours of gameplay to get truly interesting. The free running, though upgraded, had Conner running off into the forest at random because there were no straight paths. This only posed a problem during winter, when the snow was too thick to walk through. On occasion, your missions were thwarted by a glitch or two, such as an ally who fell off the roof but isn’t programmed to climb back up. A few times, I dived from a cliff, only to discover that the water didn’t reach the whole way to the cliff, and all I can do is watch Connor bounce down the rocks like a ragdoll.

The online multiplayer shows major improvement, and I enjoyed it way more than Brotherhood and Revelations. The competitive modes were very entertaining and ran smoothly. They still represent the basic wanted and team manhunt modes used in previous installments. The cooperative mode was fast paced and action packed. This mode, called Wolfpack, consists of up to four players trying to locate and eliminate targets. This calls for less stealth by far than the other modes due to its lack of intelligent opponents and brief time limit. My friends and I play online for hours at a time.

All in all, this game is fantastic. Despite its few faults and slow start, Ubisoft Montreal has impressed me yet again. I look forward to returning to this game to complete all of the side missions and trophy challenges.

9/10

Dishonored Review

Dishonored is one of the best gaming experiences you will find this year or any other year. Dishonored places you in the role of Corvo Attano a man falsely accused of assassinating the empress, trying to prove his innocence and save empresses daughter Emily, the rightful ruler of Dunwall. Dishonored is also one of the most gorgeous games I have seen not in terms of how many textures on screen but in its stunning art design and simplistic visual style that looks like an oil painting in motion. that is kind of like a steam punk City 17. But the real charm of this game is that it drops you into large open sandbox levels for you to explore and go about your objectives in which ever way you please.

 You will be thrown into massive areas with near limitless ways to go about your objectives. Whether deciding to take the stealthy root or the extreme violence root you will never have a bad time. You are given a bunch of different powers that range from giving you the ability to teleport (the only power you are required to get) or bring about a plague of rats that will devour your enemies, you will also be given plenty of gadgets to work your way through the games like the spring razor that you will set on the ground and when an enemy walks over it they will be brutally rip it apart.  In one mission you will enter a room with to glasses of wine one being poisoned you will be given multiple choices of what to do either being able to knock the glasses over, switch the glasses around, or mix them both together. Hell you can even play the game all the way through without killing anyone.  That is where this game really shines in its ability to give the players choice. the only real complaint that I have is that the ending is incredibly anti-climactic.

 Whether looking at the beautiful visuals or experiencing the game play you need to own this game. Even though the ending missed the mark but the real draw of this game is the game play not the story. This game is by far and away one of the best games of this generation, you deserve this treat yourself.


9.5/10

Double Dragon: Neon Review

Double Dragon: Neon shows that things that you loved as a kid don't necessarily hold up when you go back to them. Neon just like the original game has Billy and Jimmy Lee going to rescue Marion, this time taken by the evil Skullmagadeon.

In your quest to get Marion back you will punch and kick your way through 16 frustratingly old school levels. which is the biggest detriment to the game the fact that Wayforward refused to bring Double Dragon to the modern era of game design. This game is so firmly stuck in its roots that they didn't include a bevy of things that people have come to expect such as checkpoints. Which means that every time you die you will start at the beginning of the level and fight your way through the same 3 lame enemy types over and over again. Also the 3D character models look incredibly low quality.

Neon once in combat becomes even more frustrating where you will consistently struggle to line up attacks. Making combat even more frustrating however is that whenever a new enemy is introduced a massive name bar pops up blocking a good portion of the screen.

This game isn't all horrible though one positive is that the game has a wonderful soundtrack that captures the tone of the 80s incredibly well. Plus the multiplayer makes the game slightly more entertaining, because beating the same generic enemies up is always more fun with a friend. Although not including online is a big let down.

But even with the great soundtrack and enjoyable co-op this game still has no reason to exist other than to grab money from those who have incredible nostalgia for the 80s.

5/10           

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time preview

As a long time fan of the Sly Cooper trilogy, I was ecstatic when I heard about Thieves in Time during E3 2011. Now seven years since the release of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, another installment of the franchise is well past due, and fans are eager to continue adventures with their favorite band of thieves. Because Sucker Punch has moved on to games such as the Infamous franchise, developer Sanzaru Games is taking point for Sly 4, and has big shoes to fill. Set for release in early 2013, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is highly anticipated by fans and other members of the gaming community.
    A demo for Thieves in Time has been released exclusively for owners of the Ratchet and Clank collection, and I took a look to see what Sanzaru had to offer for the game. The first thing I noticed was the new art style and graphic quality utilized by this game. The character model for Sly is the same model used for PlayStation Move Heroes and the upcoming PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale. The game play begins in a massive circus tent, where Sly can truly put his tightrope-walking skills to use. But first the player is expected to use a new ability: a Robin Hood costume with which Sly can fire roped arrows into the next platform and tight walk over. Throughout the next 2-5 minutes, the player faces fire traps, trapeze swings, and some witty banter between Sly and Bentley. When the player reaches the far side of the tent, they meet Sir Galeth Cooper, Sly's ancestor in Medieval England. Galeth has been imprisoned and forced to become a performer for the circus, and when Sly rescues him, Galeth seems eager for vengeance. The demo ends with Sly and Galeth walking out of the tent side by side.
    This demo has only raised my interest in the game. Though the art style leaves me a bit weary, I understand that the jump between systems will cause a remodel, and it didn't really seem to effect the game's dynamic. All in all, I look forward to the return of the Thievius Raccoonus in the upcoming year.

Killzone Mercenary announced

Sony has announced at Gamescom the long awaited Killzone Vita now known as Killzone Mercenary. The game is being developed by Guerilla Games with no release date announced. Sony is promising a "First person shooter not possible on any other platform." 

Portal 2 Level Creator gets Co-op

Valve has updated the level creator to allow people to create co-op maps. This update also allows players to play the top rated maps in multiple different categories. along with this update Valve is giving Portal 2 owners on Steam a coupon to give to a Steam friend, for their own copy of Portal 2 at 75% off. 

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows - Mirror of Fate Delayed

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate which was scheduled to come out later this year on the 3DS but has been pushed to 2013. Konami has not given any specific reason for this delay. Mirror of Fate takes place 25 years after the original and follows Trevor Belmont and Simon Belmont the game will also include the likes of Alucard.

Battlefield 3 Premium has 1.3 Million Members

Ea has announced that 1.3 million people have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. This news comes during EA's 2013 first quarter earnings call.

Old Republic Has Dropped Below 1 Million

In EA's 2013 first quarter earnings call they revealed that subscriptions for the Old Republic have dropped below 1 million. EA didn't reveal specifics but noted that it is still well above 500,000 subscribers. This comes after the reveal of the Old Republic going free to play. 

Star Wars the Old Republic Going Free To Play

This Fall the Old Republic is getting a free to play option. This free to play option will allow access to the full story plus all current classes and races, players will also be able to go up to the current level cap of 50. Some content however will be restricted to those who pay a $14.99 subscription fee or using an upcoming form of in game currency called "Cartel Coins".

Benefits of being a subscriber including monthly allotments of Cartel Coins, new high level content, and new features. Also unlike free players subscribers will get unlimited access to PvP warzones. Free players will also have a limited number of bank slots, and will have to pay for new content.

Bioware GM Matt Bromberg has stated in an interview with IGN that this is not about subscriber loss.

"There has been some decline in our subscriber numbers, but I wouldn't say that's what's driving the decision...what's happened in the marketplace is that free-to-play has really become the market standard for MMOs and we felt like there were both potentially millions of new players who were Star Wars fans who never tasted the game because the subscription was a barrier. Our research also told us that a lot of the folks who we had earlier on who left the game would like to come back and try some of the new features and content that we've put into the game since they've left if the subscription wasn't a barrier. So we feel like the market and our players are telling us that greater access is what they want and so we're really responding to that."

EA and Bioware have also said that this will allow them to release content more regularly. With the first of the new content to come in August, then Bioware hopes to release new content every six weeks.

Battlefield 4 announced

EA has made an official announcement of Battlefield 4, In the shape of a beta for pre-ordering Medal of Honor: warfighter Linited Edition. Frank Gibeua, President of EA Labels said "Though Battlefield and Medal of Honor Warfighter each offer players a completely unique experience, they are united by their underlying technology base- Frostbite. These are two of the hottest shooters, coming together to deliver a one- two punch of action, intensity and shooter entertainment."Access to the bata will begin in Autumn of 2013

New Characters Announced For Playstation All-Stars

Jak from the Jak and Daxter franchise and Cole from the infamous franchise have been announced as playable characters for Playstation All-Stars. They will be joining the previously announced Nathan Drake, Big Daddy, Colonel Radec, Kratos, Sly Copper, Fat Princess, Parappa the Rapper, Sweet Tooth, Heihachi Mishima, and Toro. 

Battlefield 4 Beta

A posting on Origin revealed that by pre-ordering Medal of Honor: Warfighter on PC shall get you access to the Battlefield 4 beta. This post was later removed, although a sequel to Battlefield 3 wouldn't be surprising seeing as how it continues to sell well and Battlefield Premium has 800,000 subscribers.

Deadpool Game announced

Everyone thought it was Hit Monkey but it turned out to be Deadpool. The game is being developed by High Moon Studios, who are currently developing Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. although not mentioned it appears that Nolan North is the voice of Deadpool.

Fortnite will be the first game built on Unreal Engine 4

During a panel at SDCC today Cliff Bleszinski revealed that the upcoming release will be the first game to be built on Epic's new engine. More interestingly is that the game will be a pc exclusive, Bleszinski noting that "Next-gen is here. It's a high-end pc."

Injustice gets new characters

The likes of Cyborg and nightwing have joined the ranks of Injustice. They will be joining Batman,Superman,Flash,Harley Quinn,and Solomon Grundy.

Kid Icarus Dev shutsdown

Kid Icarus Uprising dev Project Sora has closed its doors. According to their website the closure happened June 30th with their website to follow on July 3rd. Project Sora was founded in 2009 and Kid Icarus was their only game

Old Republic Free Trial

Bioware has announced that starting today people can start a free trial of Star Wars the Old Republic. The trial has no time limit and will last until the player hit level 15. Players will get to pick from all eight character classes and explore the characters starting world. This triaL is open to anyone who has never had an active account.