The Last Of Us – Review (PS3)

The Last Of Us takes place 20 years after the outbreak of a fungal virus that wipes out most of mankind. The virus is a brain parasite that turns it’s victim into a violent psychopath and then eventually mutates them beyond recognition.

As you might imagine, it doesn’t take long for the world as we know it to disappear. Bands of survivors stick together and are either on lockdown in heavily militarized camps or left to fend for themselves outside of the quarantine zones.

You play as Joel who, along with his associate Tess, smuggles goods between the zones – for a price. When a deal goes south and the only way to rectify it is to take on another job, Joel and Tess end up being asked to smuggle a 14 year old girl, Ellie, out of the zone and to a resistance group.

And I will leave it there story-wise so as not to spoil anything. The Last Of Us has a fantastic story with lots of great twists and turns. Some I saw coming but the majority had me picking my jaw up off the floor when they hit. I would strongly advise not watching too many trailers if possible so you don’t ruin the game for yourself.

The Last Of Us is a third person game but beyond that it’s difficult to give it a genre. Stealth? Definitely. Action? Definitely. Survival Horror? Definitely. I think the main thing to keep in mind is that this isn’t a game for the faint-hearted. This is a visceral, at times disturbing, beast so if you’re not of strong stomach then it might be best avoided. Which would be a real shame because this is a truly exceptional game.

I came out of each play session feeling drained – physically and emotionally. The emotional side was obviously down to the story, superb script and fantastic voice work. The physical side is something that is much harder for game makers to provide, usually done by using jump scares and creating an atmosphere (see Dead Space).

In The Last Of Us enemy encounters are so tense that even just a couple of opponents was enough to bring a feeling of dread. The amount of times I got through encounters by the skin of my teeth with almost no health left was high and it really gave the game a realistic grounding.

Holding down R2 activates Joel’s listening ability, essentially giving a sonar ping and identifying enemy locations, even through walls. However it only shows enemies that are moving so while very handy it doesn’t give you all the info you need, ala Batman Arkham City, which I think is a good thing. It can also be switched off if you want more of a challenge.

So you’ll hear them coming, take cover, activate listening mode and then formulate a plan. And you have lots of options. While scavenging you’ll find lots of items that can be picked up and eventually put together a different number of ways. Health packs, Shivs, Molotov Cocktails, Smoke Bombs and more can all be crafted to help you out of a jam.

But you better find somewhere safe to craft them because it’s done in game. The action doesn’t pause as Joel bends down and the crafting menu pops up on-screen. Thankfully crafting itself is just a case of choosing what you want to make and holding X for 4 or 5 seconds until it creates it. 4 or 5 seconds is a long time during a firefight though…

As you progress through the game you encounter different enemy types. Sometimes it’s the infected, which also come in different stages of infection: Runners are newly infected – screaming, lunging balls of fury and madness. Clickers are stage two – without sight but with super sensitive hearing, these guys will kill you in one hit if they get too close. Stage three is… well, I’ll let you find out yourself. Other than infected you’ll meet other humans: some military, some fellow scavengers – all doing whatever it takes to survive.

Graphically the game is outstanding, easily one of the best on the Playstation 3, and just goes to show there is life in the old dog/console yet. Some of the scenery had me just wandering, looking. I don’t recall the last time I played a game at such a slow pace, desperate to drink it all in. I thought I had played Bioshock Infinite that way but compared to this, I was much quicker through Columbia than the wastelands of The Last Of Us.

The audio design is truly fantastic – it has to deliver for the combat to work and boy, does it. The score is wonderful and used superbly. The world feels real because of the great sound work here. Aside from the noise of the world and the sounds of you breaking/using things just the horrible noises that accompany the melee attacks… at times it was almost too much.

And let me touch on that quickly because I feel, while it is a conversation for another day, that The Last Of Us has a very interesting message on violence and delivers it in probably the most mature and subtle way I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s one of many themes throughout the game and they all add up to a great narrative experience.

But it isn’t all about the story with The Last Of Us. A robust and, most definitely, different take on the usual gaming multiplayer offerings is included. Can the sheer terror of the solo experience be replicated online?

Indeed it can. Naughty Dog have created a really tactical, challenging multiplayer offering. This is definitely not anything like Uncharted online. Here you choose a side to fight for and play through the in-game equivalent of 12 weeks (you can quit out and come back, you don’t need to play it all at once), scavenging for supplies – either from looting objects or the bodies of your victims.

It’s certainly very tactics based as (a limited) version of Listening Mode is available to all and makes for some very tense encounters. I can see myself playing this a lot because it isn’t like much out there in terms of multiplayer. The closest I can think of is Assassin’s Creed and even that isn’t really too similar.

Overall then, in case you couldn’t guess, I can’t recommend this enough. If you’ve been following any of the game press recently you’ll have seen The Last Of Us get a perfect score from almost all of it reviews. I did wonder whether it really could be that good? The answer is yes.

Rating: 10/10

Tomb Raider – Review (PS3)

It’s not often I find myself in a position to make a u-turn on my feelings for a game when I’ve already played some of it and wasn’t keen.

Here’s the main part of my comments on Tomb Raider having played a section at the Eurogamer Expo last September:

“I know I joked about it previously but if you only have an XBox 360 and haven’t played the Uncharted games then you’ll love this. Sadly for me, while it plays well, Tomb Raider is just a clone of Uncharted. Hopefully the story will lift this above that status.”

Perhaps a busy exhibition floor wasn’t the most suitable place to experience the game because within 10 minutes of starting Tomb Raider at home I was impressed.

Graphically the game looks pretty amazing, with good character models and some great lighting and fire effects. Lara’s movement is fairly smooth and animations for both the good guys and enemies are nicely done.

Crystal Dynamics have delivered on their promise of a reboot for Lara Croft. Gone is the Lara of old with the wonky body shape and in her place is a more realistic Lara, both in terms of appearance and character. As a wannabe archaeologist Lara is not a trained hunter/killer and is still wet behind the ears after coming out of college/university.

The opening few hours are definitely the strongest here – Tomb Raider is at its best during tense moments with just one or two enemies. With Lara coming to grips with the fact she’s going to need to do whatever it takes to survive. It’s been talked about a lot but her first kill is handled perfectly.

Unfortunately it doesn’t take long for Lara to start mowing down 10 or 20 enemies at a time. And it jars more here than it does with something like Uncharted. Possibly because of the tone of the game, I’m not sure but I think if they could’ve found a more creative way to deal with this it could’ve made this one of the best games out there.

The answer isn’t immediately apparent – maybe keep adding new enemy types to keep things fresh but keep the fighting to small skirmishes with just one or two enemies. And then keep that 25 enemy fight for the end of the game? Possibly they could’ve incorporated the great optional tomb puzzles as main quests?

Regardless, on a personal level at least, using the bow for the most part (Lara had studied Archery) and guns as a last resort enabled the disconnect to not be too serious for me.

Jason Graves (of Dead Space fame) delivers once again with the score and incidental music – this is one of the better scores I’ve heard this year so far. The voice acting is strong and it’s nice to hear so many different local UK accents in one place!

There will no doubt be the inevitable comparisons between Tomb Raider and Uncharted but I think they are different beasts – for now at least. Lara’s origin story is gritty and harrowing. For the most part she is alone, fighting to get her friends back. Nathan Drake spends a lot of time with Sully/Elena/Chloe and that brings with it the opportunity for a few wisecracks and conversation.

In fact the part of the game that felt like Uncharted-lite was the multiplayer – not bad in any sense but the addition of traps isn’t enough to differentiate this from Naughty Dog’s superb online offering. As I said at the top there, if you only have an XBox then you may love this online as it’s different to most stuff out there on the 360.

Overall though Tomb Raider is a fantastic game. There are a few annoying difficulty spikes here and there but that’s par for the course in most games. Lots of action packed set pieces and climbing/falling moments raise the bar but it’s the quieter moments in Lara’s journey that really struck a chord with me. Considering I wasn’t massively psyched for the game it’s nice to genuinely recommend it as one of 2013′s best offerings so far.

Rating: 9/10

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – Review (PS3)

It has to be said that a lot of people were wondering whether Naughty Dog would be able to improve on the superb ‘Among Thieves,’ a game that walked away with awards for ‘Best Voice Acting,’ ‘Best Graphics,’ ‘Single Player Game Of The Year’ and the biggie – ‘Game Of The Year’ in my end of year round up for 2009.

Where both ‘Drake’s Fortune‘ and ‘Among Thieves’ concentrated more on the relationship between Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher, this instalment focuses on Nathan and Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan. As a big fan of Sully that’s a plus in my book.

The gameplay is as fluid as ever although the same gripes from the second game do raise their head. The main one being when certain gameplay parts flow (such as a chase or escape scene) they *really* flow but if you fail the section and have to re-do it a few times it totally breaks the immersion for a bit.

This isn’t indicative of Uncharted specifically, any game that is scripted this tightly (for example the Call Of Duty games – in particular I had this issue with the snow sled escape in MW2. I’m sure it was amazing if you got through it in one go – not so much when having to re-do it) often have this problem but it feels so much more harsh here because the game does such a good job of dragging you in.

The banter between characters is fantastic and it is one of the few games I found myself chuckling along with. You can tell these actors have known each other a long time and worked together to build these character relationships.

The gameplay itself isn’t anything new, a mixture of climbing, shooting and solving puzzles but after the success of ‘Among Thieves’ refining rather than changing was probably the best route Naughty Dog could’ve taken.

The plot is great and throws up a few curveballs but nothing like the backstabbing double-crossing of the last game. ‘Drake’s Deception’ is the story of Nate and Sully and it was great to find out more about their relationship.

I wrote a detailed look at the multiplayer experience during the early access we had (which can be found HERE) and thankfully not too much has changed. Multiplayer really has improved from the last game and the whole experience feels a lot deeper – the medal kickbacks and power plays add a tactical element to proceedings and allow players to quickly escape a sticky situation if they’ve earned the right to.

I’ve seen some reviews of the game picking holes in ‘Drake’s Deception’ and while I admit it doesn’t have the same impact as the last game (how could it?!) Naughty Dog have done a great job on tightening things here and there to deliver a stellar title. We have been spoilt with the last two games in the series, which is why I think some people are a bit down on the game.

For me this is another complete package – the best third person multiplayer on the market coupled with a great story and the best character design you’ll see in a game. While watching the last cut-scene of this campaign I actually had goosebumps – surely the sign of something special.

Rating: 10/10

Top 50 Single Player Games: Part Five (The Top 10)

So we’re finally here – the Top 10 single player games. The cream of the crop.

If you’re just tuning in here are the previous entries:

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PART ONE (50-41)

PART TWO (40-31)

PART THREE (30-21)

PART FOUR (20-11)

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Which brings us to the final part of the list. The last two times I did these single player lists the Uncharted games had a strangle hold on the top two positions… has anything come along that could dislodge them?

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10. BIOSHOCK (8)

Bioshock has a great story to tell and it does it well with some interesting objectives and brilliantly designed levels.

There are several twists and turns in the plot, most of which are not obvious and it’s no surprise to me that a film version is in the works (although I believe currently suspended due to budget concerns).

Dark worlds like Rapture aren’t to everyone’s tastes but you really would be missing out on an awesome story if you decided not to book a trip to the underwater city.

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9. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV (7)

One the biggest selling games of this generation GTA IV features the fortunes (and lack therof) of Niko Bellic – an immigrant arriving in the US at Liberty City to find empty promises and broken dreams from his cousin Roman.

As you work your way up the criminal ladder you’ll encounter all sort of dodgy characters and befriend even more.

Liberty City is a wonderful, if run down, place and Niko Bellic’s story is one you will enjoy playing through so make sure you pick this game up as soon as possible.

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8. MASS EFFECT 2 (NE)

Mass Effect had always been the one XBox 360 franchise that I’d wanted to play – Gears Of War? Alan Wake? Halo? All good games I’m sure but not tempting to me. Mass Effect? Yes please 

I won’t discuss the story at all as I don’t want to spoil anything for people that haven’t played it yet. Needless to say it’s your standard save the universe fair and with the game set in space that’s literally the universe you’ll be saving!

I can safely say Mass Effect 2 is one of the deepest games I’ve played. In much the same way as Fallout 3 plays out different for each person that plays it, this is a game where your overall story will be the same but the variables between start and end are numerous. It says something that I had minimum frustration and didn’t really get bored at all with a game that clocks in at over 32 hours.

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7. FALLOUT 3 (6)

After a tough few hours at the start you will find yourself rewarded greatly for sticking with this awesome FPS / RPG.

The story line sprawls across the world depending on your actions and you’ll find yourself taking a break from main missions to explore the wasteland or help out other characters.

I could go on and on about various things that happened and how cool it was, how great the story was or whatever.

But Fallout 3 is a game that needs to be experienced first hand and your story will no doubt play out differently to mine.

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6. METAL GEAR SOLID 4 (5)

Hideo Kojima’s tale of Solid Snake’s final mission is a brilliant showcase of the Playstation 3′s power.

This is a game that often gives you three or four different ways of approaching things – whether you realise it or not.

Metal Gear Solid 4 rewards those patient enough to stick with it by giving them a great gaming experience, with some memorable boss battles, that they won’t forget.

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5. HEAVY RAIN (4)

Heavy Rain is the spiritual successor to Fahrenheit, a fantastic PS2 title, and it’s creators have used the lessons from that game to help form the experience that is Heavy Rain.

And I say experience because Heavy Rain is unlike anything I’ve played before.

Telling the story of the Origami Killer, who kidnaps young boys and drowns them in rain water, Heavy Rain sees you controlling four main characters and through their actions – whether everyday stuff like carrying in the shopping or a frantic fight for their life – you get a real feel for the characters.

It says a lot that as soon as I finished this game I wanted to play through it again straight away. I want to give the characters a slightly different personality, experiment to see what happens and find out how it changes the story.

Heavy Rain is by no means perfect but it brings a whole raft of new ideas and innovation to the table.

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4. DEAD SPACE (3)

Coming on somewhere between Event Horizon and Aliens, Dead Space is a third person survival horror game.

You take on the role of Isaac Clarke, a ship engineer who finds himself trapped onboard a stricken spaceship infested with an alien outbreak which is threatening to take over the ship.

This was one of the best games I played in the year it was released and it’s use of sound is immense. The fear of the unexpected they create is awesome.

I am not a big fan of horror movies or being made to jump all the time but Dead Space kept on the right side of all that by being unpredictable enough to be enjoyable as a ‘horror’ experience.

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3. UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE (2)

Uncharted maps the journey of Nathan Drake as he tries to find the lost treasure of El Dorado encountering, among other things, rival treasure hunters and mercenaries.

The graphics are unbelievable and the gameplay is well paced and well thought out. The characters and story and really well conceived and Nolan North, who voices Drake, is absolutely spot on with his irreverent humour and wisecracks.

At its heart Uncharted is an action adventure game much in the vein of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider but, and I say this as a fan of both of these, it is better than either of them.

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2.  UNCHARTED: AMONG THIEVES (1)

Uncharted 2 is a complete gaming package. There is plenty of taking out bad guys, lots of puzzles and some wonderful dialogue.

Naughty Dog really have done a great job on the voice acting and the expressiveness of the character models. It is easily the best I’ve come across (though Heavenly Sword was a close second).

I won’t spoil the story but for those who don’t know, Nathan Drake gets pulled back into that murky world of treasure hunting for hire. I loved the story of this game – with a few twists I saw coming and a few I didn’t.

If you own a PS3 there is no reason not to own this game – if you only have an XBox 360 or Wii then get yourself a PS3 Slim and enjoy one of the most finely crafted games I’ve ever experienced.

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1. RED DEAD REDEMPTION (NE)

Red Dead Redemption tells the story of former gang member John Marston and how he is forced onto a quest to track down his old ‘buddies’ on behalf of the US government.

I don’t recall a sandbox game with such a fascinating and well realised world. The way the world around you continues regardless is reminiscent of GTA games but everything here just makes you feel a part of something larger.

The positives are numerous, for one the story, voice acting and characterisation in Red Dead Redemption is fantastic. This is up there with the Uncharted series for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

There is so much to do in the world that it is crazy. There are a whole host of side missions to undertake and mini games as well. I’m not a big player of cards but I found myself spending 40/50 minutes at a time playing poker or blackjack. Or horseshoes. Or arm wrestling. The list is huge.

It has been a while since a game had me smiling, eyes wide and with goosebumps on my arms at what was unfolding in front of me but Red Dead Redemption managed it. This for me is the best game I have ever played – not an accolade that I use lightly but one that is fully deserved.

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Well, it was always going to take something special to knock Nathan Drake and co. off of the top spot and cowboy John Martson takes home the plaudits this time around.

There have been some great games released even since I started compiling this list, with plenty more to come later in the year and beyond. Perhaps one of those will edge it’s way to the top next time.

Let me know if any of your favourites were missing from the list. Do you agree on Red Dead usurping Uncharted? Was there anything you were surprised made the Top 10? (or even Top 50!)

As always thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment.

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Uncharted 3 – Multiplayer Beta Impressions (PS3)

As a big fan of the Uncharted series I’m really excited to play the third instalment, Drake’s Deception, which hits in November later this year.

Although that’s still a little way off, the guys and girls at Naughty Dog have given us a taster in the form of an online multiplayer beta.

While the Uncharted games are renowned for their awesome single player campaigns, when multiplayer was added to the second game it turned out to be a solid, well rounded addition.

So I was there as the clocked ticked over to 10pm and the beta was released. I downloaded it no problem but unfortunately so did the rest of the world and it was nigh on impossible to get on for the first few days, with various connection errors etc.

Thankfully it settled down and I was treated to a tour de force of online action.

There are two maps (with a third having arrived this week that I haven’t had a chance to play yet) Airstrip and Chateau – both visually great and a whole heap of fun to play.

As with the previous game you’ll be climbing all over the place and the maps have various vertical levels for you to use.

Airstrip even starts with one team in a plane and the other chasing on jeeps for the first few minutes. The entire thing is a sight to behold and after a couple of minutes a cut scene signifies you’re onto the Airstrip itself to battle it out.

You can customise your characters in a big way and even design a logo that will appear through the map if you’re the best player.

There are now different loadouts (though changing between them in game costs medals), weapon mods and a new system called Medal Kickbacks. As you collect medals during the game they stack up until you can activate your kickback. So one might spawn an RPG into your hands or another will let you disappear in a puff of smoke and respawn somewhere else on the map

In addition to those, Boosters return from the second game but seem a lot more effective and rounds now feature Power Plays – basically a shot in the arm to the losing team. So the losing team may be able to see all of the winning team’s locations on screen.

These are great because it can help swing a match back in the losing team’s favour but also because the winning team get a boost as well, such as double cash for each kill during the power play. They last a minute and don’t happen too often to cause any problems.

The game modes are as expected, with some nice additions: ’2v2v2 Team Deathmatch’ does what it says on the tin but adds a new dynamic to proceedings and ‘Objectives’ has now morphed into ‘Warzone’ from the Killzone series. A selection of random game types within one round – great stuff.

Uncharted 3 plays like the previous games and I think refinement as opposed to change have benefited the game greatly.

Sure it still takes a lot of bullets to down an opponent but it takes him the same amount to kill you so all’s fair, right? The main thing I took from this beta is that it was fun, first and foremost. It’s certainly not realistic but it makes a change to the more po faced online shooters we’re used to (which I also love but that’s beside the point).

Uncharted 3 is shaping up to be a great multiplayer experience and with what we’ve seen of the single player also looking stunning, could Naughty Dog bag another heap of Game of The Year Awards? I certainly wouldn’t bet against it.

Hacksville: Population 70m+

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last three weeks you’ll have noticed that the PS3 has been without it’s online component, the PSN.

Someone hacked into the network and stole users personal data so Sony shut down the entire online aspect of it’s service to investigate.

It took a week or so for them to fill gamers in because they were waiting for the investigation to be completed by a third party. Once they had the confirmation they let us know the following day.

Online is a big part of the gaming experience for a lot of people.

This is apparently standard procedure (see here for more details) but it was the announcement that the hackers could also have got hold of users credit card details that ruffled feathers.

It usually takes something controversial for gaming to appear in the mainstream news, let alone make the headlines, so the theft of over 70m users credit card details was just what the media ordered.

The truth of the matter is that, at present, Sony has nothing to prove that credit card details were taken and no-one has reported any unauthorised activity on their cards.

Killzone 3 was a recent flagship online game for Sony, will people return to it or play fresher titles?

From a personal perspective I immediately cancelled my card and ordered a new one. Any concerns from my end were then finished.

Sony vowed to increase security and apologised for the breach. They have also offered some compensation in the form of some free games and a month of Playstation Plus for free.

As time rolled on and a few days turned into a week, which turned into two weeks… gamers seemed to be getting overly irate.

What impact will the outage have on the sales of a game heavily based around multiplayer, like Brink?

Now I accept that Sony has to shoulder some blame for this but someone breached the security they had in place and attacked them. I’m presuming this was a data theft issue because any group, such as anonymous, that attempted this to inconvenience Sony will have lost any support from PS3 gamers.

In terms of getting back online I would much rather the PSN was down an extra week or two now with better security than have it back up and running now, only to see it taken down again a few weeks later with problems.

Sony’s initial response was by the book according to people in the know, so waiting until the investigation was complete before commenting was ok with me. But the handling of it over the last few weeks has been ridiculous. The phrase ‘a few more days’ has been wheeled out at every opportunity, when realistically they must have known they were looking at weeks rather than days.

Were some gamers really desperate enough to play Call Of Duty that they would trade in their PS3?

There have been plenty of claims of people trading in their PS3 for an XBox 360 so they can play online, which I find hard to believe. Buying a 360 as well? Can see that as an option for people with the cash to do so. But trading in your PS3? What about the exclusives coming up such as Infamous 2, Resistance 3, Uncharted 3 or the just announced Starhawk?

The time the PSN has been down has been a blessing in disguise for me as I’ve knocked out a huge chunk of my single player backlog before the arrival of L.A Noire.

Over the last three weeks I’ve made my way through Bulletstorm, SOCOM 4, the first episode of Back To The Future: The Game, Stacking, Crysis 2, Portal 2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Not to mention throwing countless hours into Mass Effect 2.

The outage meant I cleared a big chunk of my game backlog.

I rediscovered my love of single player gaming. With the PSN showing signs of life this week it might be time to rediscover my love of online gaming.

What did you guys so in the downtime? Play much? Turn to other pursuits? What did you think of Sony’s handling of the situation – from the actual security itself to the response and release of information?

Dead Space 2 – Review (PS3)

As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the first Dead Space, despite not being a fan of jumpy horror stuff, I was really looking forward to the follow up.

Continuing the story of Isaac Clarke it picks up three years after the first game was set, with Clarke now finding himself as a citizen on the Sprawl – a huge space station development on one of Saturn’s moons.

Sadly for Clarke he has no knowledge of the last three years and discovers a situation has arisen that only someone with his expertise can deal with.

The game itself plays similarly to the original but Visceral have upped the pace slightly, which make sense because not all of the Sprawl is as narrow as the Ishimura was.

Dead Space 2 starts with one of the most impressive openings I’ve seen in a while – I remember feeling the same way about the first game.

As you get to grips with everything that is going on around you there will be twists (some I saw coming and a few I didn’t) and plenty of scares.

Visceral continue their great job of creeping you out by NOT throwing stuff at you – I would’ve liked to have seen slightly more of the insanity that featured in NPC’s during the original game but on the whole the Sprawl is definitely somewhere you wouldn’t want to find yourself.

The combat remains the same, with a few new weapons thrown in. Essentially the aim is to dismember as opposed to going for headshots on enemies.

Playing through the first half to two thirds of this game I was certain Visceral had topped the original, such was the craftsmanship on display. A strong story, coupled with superb graphics and atmosphere had me immersed completely.

Unfortunately it seems the developers threw everything into that part of the game as Dead Space 2 loses steam in a big way – resorting to cheap design in the shape of large open areas where you face off against a much bigger number of enemies. While this is called for on one or two occasions due to the plot, it really does become tiresome and frustrating at other times.

Thankfully it picks up again in the final few chapters and finishes with a flourish.

One of the questions when they announced Dead Space 2 would have multiplayer was ‘does it need it?’

The answer is no.

We’ve seen predominantly single player games include multiplayer in impressive and interesting ways (Uncharted 2 and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood to name two) but Dead Space 2 tries to moves the single player to multiplayer – giving one team the human experience and the other team the necromorph experience. It doesn’t really recreate the feel of the single player.

Let me just clarify – it’s not that this is a bad multiplayer, it just feels unnecessary and I suspect the free 48 hour trial will be more than enough for most people.

As a package Dead Space 2 is a slightly lopsided beast – on the one hand you have a bloated but generally excellent single player and on the other an average multiplayer experience.

Despite the fact the single player loses its way for a spell, with a better implementation of online this could’ve been a 10/10 game.

Rating 9/10

GregHorrorShow’s 10 Games That Should Be Announced For The NGP (PSP2)

With the official announcement of Sony’s NGP (Next Generation Portable – a working title if ever I heard one ) the gaming world (mainly) rejoiced at what appears to be a gaming handheld for the hardcore market.

Regardless of whether you’re looking to your handheld to extend your PS3 experience or not, you can’t deny that a line up featuring original games (not ports of existing titles) from the universes of Uncharted, Killzone, Resistance and Call Of Duty to name a few is targeting a specific market.

For me there were immediately a whole host of game series swimming around my head that I’d love to see on this new device.

And just to clarify I’m not talking about ports of existing games – what I want to see are fully fledged spin offs or games that bridge the gap between a PS3 game and it’s sequel.

In no order whatsoever -

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BORDERLANDS

Borderlands was a fantastic game. With it’s cell shaded style and outrageous weapons you couldn’t help but be impressed. I know Gearbox has released a whole heap of DLC for it so some people may have had their fill but I’d love to see a version on NGP.

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EA SPORTS

Football? Yep. Hockey? Yep. American Football? Yep. There was no point trying to choose a specific sport here – needless to say with twin analogue sticks sports games should be able to step up to the next level on NGP. (Also on a side note… EA surely must be supporting the NGP and yet there was no sign of them at the announcement? Perhaps there will be a big EA reveal at some stage – I certainly hope so.)

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DEAD SPACE

The Dead Space universe is well fleshed out with books and films as well as the games. I would love to see an NGP game with an existing character that somehow ties into the main game series. There is certainly enough material to work with.

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BATTLEFIELD

With Killzone and Call Of Duty confirmed the shooter genre is fairly well covered on the NGP but that doesn’t stop me hoping to be able to play Battlefield on the go. C’mon DICE tie it in nicely with Battlefield 3 and we’ll be up and running!

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FOOTBALL MANAGER

 

As much as I love Football Manager on the PSP it is pretty limited and the makers have said they have reached breaking point on the current hardware. I’d love to see you be able to run a full reserve team, work on your team’s ground and have more detailed interactions with the media/fans/players. The developers recently said they were looking into making a console version of the game so I’m crossing my fingers.

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FALLOUT

Can you imagine a game like Fallout *in the palm of your hand* Probably nothing else would get played as I ploughed hour after hour into it With the games being as buggy as they are anyway surely they’d be no problem bringing a new tale from the Capitol Wasteland or New Vegas to the NGP.

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ASSASSIN’S CREED

Yes, yes after two games in two years (and another one in 2011) some of you will be sick of stabbing people with the hidden blade but there is real potential here for a full Assassin’s Creed spin off with an entirely new ancestor instead of Ezio or Altair. Sheesh I’d even take a modern day take with Desmond that features proper action/stealth. Maybe breaking into Asbergo etc.

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SYPHON FILTER

Syphon Filter was a great little PSOne title that spawned a sequel or two and then branched further on the original PSP with two more games. Held back by the lack of duel sticks and some questionable A.I could the NGP see the return of Gabe Logan?

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BIOSHOCK

I’m talking Bioshock Infinite as opposed to Rapture, despite the fact I enjoyed the first two games. It would be great to have a handheld game that could maybe set up some of the story for the forthcoming game. I wouldn’t object to a title set in Rapture (perhaps during it’s heyday?) but that world needs to be done a little differently to avoid feeling stale.

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BATMAN (OR SPIDERMAN/INSERT HERO NAME HERE)

Come on you know you’d love to see this. At this stage I’d even take a Robin spin off After Arkham Asylum and the upcoming Arkham City, Batman is definitely back in vogue and perhaps a darker grittier version of another classic hero (Spiderman? Superman?) could also work. There are a wealth of comic characters out there if the feeling is that Batman has been over saturated.

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So there you go – food for thought on the NGP front. Would welcome any comments or games you guys would like to see on the NGP. Or even just to know if you’re gonna pick up an NGP?

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Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare – Review (PS3 DLC)

Following on from the stunning Red Dead Redemption, which took home my Game Of The Year award for 2010, Rockstar Games have served up Undead Nightmare – a large enough slice of downloadable content that it warranted it’s own retail disc release as well.

But isn’t Undead Nightmare ‘just another Zombie mode?’

In a way it is but at the same time it’s the best produced and enjoyable DLC I’ve encountered for a while.

A lot of DLC that arrives these days is for use within the multplayer part of the game – for example Battlefield: Bad Company 2′s Onslaught DLC or Killzone 2‘s map packs. That isn’t the case here as Undead Nightmare also features an impressive single player campaign to boot.

In my playthrough I finished all of the main missions and side missions but certainly didn’t make it through all the challenges and other fun stuff there is to do. My finish time was a little over 7 hours, which actually puts a few other main game releases to shame.

The style of this DLC is very much tongue in cheek and is set up almost like a B-Movie in tone – with a wonderfully creepy voiceover and some great music.

The campaign finds John Marston trying to help find a cure for a plague-style disease that has hit the area and is turning the deceased into flesh eating Zombies.

This all takes place in parallel to the story of the main Red Dead Redemption game and I won’t be discussing anything else story-wise for fear of giving anything away. All I will say is that it was great to revisit some of the characters from the main game and that the campaign’s story was a lot of fun.

As Marston you’ll be tasked with helping out troubled towns as well as completing story based missions. When you first arrive in a town you’ll need to help the survivors fight off the Zombies before being able to use it as a save point and fast travel destination.

From time to time a ‘safe’ town will be struck again by Zombies and you’ll need to get back to help them out – once a town is overrun (all other survivors die) it is gone forever, so it is worth giving them a hand.

Speaking of overrun the online part of this expansion, Undead Overrun, is truly panic inducing. I thought Seige mode on Uncharted 2 (in which you face wave after wave of enemies) was tough but my word, Overrun tops it. More for the sheer mental torture it inflicts as between four players you try your best to survive as long as possible.

Different types of Zombie come after you and at times there can be 20 or 30 of them chasing you. It really is tense stuff.

If you buy the retail disc or the full Undead Collection DLC you also get the previous few DLC packs which are strictly online but give you access to new gang hideouts and the ability to play poker and liar’s dice online (both brilliant) and also take part in horse races, along with a new territory based Free Roam game called Land Grab.

Overall then Undead Nightmare is a must buy if you loved Red Dead Redemption. You will easily get your money’s worth from the campaign alone but the multiplayer additions are definitely worth checking out – killing Zombies has never been so much fun!

Rating: 10/10

GregHorrorShow Game Awards 2010

Well it’s that time of year again and 2010 has seen some immense games roll around – as well as continued support via DLC for some of 2009 biggest titles.

Sadly I didn’t have time to play every game that was released so if I’ve missed anything worth checking out shout me in the comments and if it’s not already in my ‘to play’ pile I’ll get it added.

Right, let’s go!

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BEST GAME INNOVATION

WINNER: Destruction 2.0 (Battlefield Bad Company 2)

This was a tough one to call this year but I definitely think Destruction 2.0 is something that has helped put Battlefield head and shoulders above most other shooters out there. Enemy hiding in a house? Just blow the wall up in front of them and it’ll leave a nice big hole to shoot them through. Or just blow the building up completely and have it crush them to death.

RUNNERS UP:

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (Online Assassination Multiplayer)

Modnation Racers (Easy Track Creation)

Playstation Move

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BEST DLC (CONTENT)

WINNER: Undead Nightmare (Red Dead Redemption)

 

No question of the winner here – with around 6 hours of single player and the fantastic Undead Overrun & Land Grab online modes, Undead Nightmare packs a lot of bang for your buck. This is one of the more comprehensive DLC packs out there and if you liked Red Dead Redemption then this is a must have. Props to Uncharted and Battlefield though – two strong modes added there but Undead takes this one.

RUNNERS UP:

Heavy Rain: The Taxidermist

Uncharted 2 Seige

Battlefield: Onslaught

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DOWNLOADABLE GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Dead Nation

I honestly didn’t see anything taking this award away from the excellent Joe Danger and then Housemarque’s Dead Nation arrived at the beginning of December. Dripping in HD visuals comes a twin stick shooter that makes you think about your every move. When to use the SMG and how much Shotgun ammo to conserve become regular questions. Your score gets added to total score for your country and you can keep a tab on which country is the best at fighting the Zombie invasion. Very cool indeed.

RUNNERS UP:

Joe Danger

Shank

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

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MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF 2011

WINNER: Killzone 3

Wow, this was a tough call – it had to be Killzone 3 or Uncharted 3. I’m sure Uncharted 3 will be awesome but having played Killzone 3 I can’t wait for this to arrive in February. Continuing the story from the second game and adding substantially to the multiplayer, I think this could be a game of the year contender.

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BEST GAME TRAILER

WINNER: L.A Noire

The standard of trailers has been so high this year I’ve decided to pop the runners up on here as well for you to have a look at. L.A Noire takes the crown though and man, those Rockstar guys know how to make a trailer! Another contender for most anticipated, L.A Noire sees you take on the role of Cole Phelps, a detective in 1940′s America. Great stuff and the trailer really captures that feeling of the time.

RUNNERS UP:

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Spec Ops The Line

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Vietnam

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PSP GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to pick up God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta yet so that hasn’t made the cut. I’m sure it would’ve been a close call regardless as Metal Gear also oozes quality and is such a deep game that there is always something different to do. Whether it’s going on missions or recruiting more soldiers for your army, Peace Walker will keep you entertained for hours. My play through clocked in at 16 hrs, which puts a fair few PS3 titles to shame.

RUNNER UP:

Half Minute Hero

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BEST SPORTS GAME

WINNER: FIFA 11

FIFA 11 is more of a refinement than anything else but it’s amazing the difference the changes make. While FIFA continues to dominate it’s interesting that PES gets a nomination this year – it shows that the series has made great strides this year to try and close the gap.

RUNNERS UP:

Formula 1 2010

Modnation Racers

Pro Evolution Soccer 2011

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BEST GRAPHICS

WINNER: Heavy Rain

No doubt on this one as Quantic Dream’s stunning thriller has some of the best motion capture and facial animation ever seen in a game. Whether it was evading masked men as Madison, talking down a robber in a shop with Shelby or shouting ‘JASON!’ repeatedly in a mall as Ethan, Heavy Rain looked gorgeous. Gran Turismo 5 certainly deserves a heads up in this category as when it all comes together it looks stunning however Heavy Rain was far more consistent.

RUNNERS UP:

God Of War 3

Red Dead Redemption

Gran Turismo 5

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BEST STORYLINE

WINNER: Red Dead Redemption

Unexpected. Not a word you’ll often type when talking about the story of a game but that’s what you get with Red Dead. John Marston’s story of gunslinger gone good who is brought in by the government against his will to track down his old gang trundles along at a pace and has plenty of stand out moments but it’s the final third of the game that stands out as some of the best I’ve played in a game. Not to mention the ending, which is one of the most impressive I’ve ever experienced in a game. Genius.

RUNNERS UP:

God of War III

Mafia II

Heavy Rain

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BEST SOUNDTRACK (SCORE)

WINNER: God Of War III

The final part of Kratos’ epic trilogy hit PS3 owners with everything it had back in March and as usual Gerard K Marino’s score didn’t disappoint. Dipping and soaring in the right places this was the perfect accompaniment to the on screen carnage. The score really does push the story on and is definitely well suited to Kratos’ character.

RUNNERS UP:

Heavy Rain

Red Dead Redemption

Bioshock 2

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BEST SOUNDTRACK (LICENSED)

WINNER: Mafia II

The music in Mafia II is a huge part of what makes you feel like you are actually back in that era. I remember the first car I got into had “At The Hop” by Danny and The Juniors playing. It was one of the coolest things I’d had happen in a game for ages. A wonderful selection of old tracks that are well worth checking out in their own right but that combined with gameplay help make for a memorable experience.

RUNNERS UP:

Bioshock 2

FIFA 11

Call Of Duty: Black Ops

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BEST VOICE ACTING

WINNER: Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar usually deliver on the voice front with the GTA titles and Red Dead Redemption certainly doesn’t disappoint. Every character feels well rounded and has a voice to suit them perfectly. Even the supporting cast: Bonnie McFarland, Seth, Irish and, of course, West Dickens. This was a strong category this year with Mafia II in particular impressing but with such strength in depth it has to be Red Dead Redemption.

RUNNERS UP:

God Of War III

Mafia II

Heavy Rain

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SINGLE PLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption tells a well crafted story in a beautifully rendered environment. There is so much to do and see that I still don’t feel like I have fully explored the world of the wild west. Rockstar have created a varied and expansive playground with enough going on to keep even the most hardcore of gamers entertained for hours and hours.

RUNNERS UP:

Heavy Rain

Mafia II

Alpha Protocol

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MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

It was nice for me personally that my most anticipated game of 2010 lived up to expectations and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 nailed team based multiplayer like no other game I’ve ever played. The sense of satisfaction at winning a tense round of Rush and the feeling of being part of a bigger team is hard to beat. With the upcoming Vietnam expansion pack this game will only get better and better.

RUNNERS UP:

Modnation Racers

Red Dead Redemption

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

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GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Red Dead Redemption

There could really only be one choice this year, with Rockstar’s Western epic taking the title of Game Of The Year. With a brilliant single player campaign and an ever improving multiplayer mode, Red Dead Redemption is a title that will keep you entertained and provide you with plenty of value for money. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 comes a close second as that has been my most played multiplayer title but overall Red Dead pips it.

RUNNERS UP:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Heavy Rain

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

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So there we go. Another year of gaming done and dusted with Red Dead Redemption taking home an unprecedented FIVE awards!

Some great games didn’t even make the nominations – that’s how tough it’s been to make decisions.

The likes of MAG, Bayonetta, Just Cause 2 and Vanquish unfortunately didn’t make the grade but goes to show how strong the line up of game releases has been in 2010.

So what games would you guys have given awards this year?