MOST WANTED 2014 – PS3 / PS VITA EDITION

Well it’s already February and it’s been a tad quiet on the game release front so far. But fear not! There are plenty of great games coming soon(ish) so here’s a look at what you should be keeping an eye out for.

Originally this started out as an article covering all formats but there was just too much stuff! So first up will be PS3 and Vita, with PS4 games coming in the next installment.

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PS3

Well there isn’t a massive amount for Playstation 3 that’s on my radar to be honest, so this will be a shorter section than the Vita one! I’ve already shelled out for the entire Second Season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead (above pic), we have had one episode so far (Clem – yay!) and I can’t wait for the rest. Aside from that I’m interested in Persona 5 but my main question on that is whether to wait for a Vita ‘Golden’ version. Not much is known about it but I loved Persona 4 Golden so much I will definitely play this at some stage!

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VITA

There is still a misconception that the Vita doesn’t have any games – I busted that myth a while ago and it looks like 2014 is set to give us some real handheld treats. Some of these may have appeared on other systems before but I’ve never played them so I’m keen to try out the handheld version!

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Fez

Fez is a puzzle/platform game in which you rotate the world to progress. It has a fantastic art-style and is recognised as a top quality game by everyone that I know who played it. The player character, Gomez, has his world turned upside down when he receives a fez that allows him to manipulate the world around. Fez seems like a great game to play on the go.

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Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number looks set to continue the overkill of the first game, which was a fast paced bloodfest that required sharp reflexes to get through. Hotline Miami was one of those games you just couldn’t put down and you can expect more of the same from the sequel. Wrong Number takes place before and after the events of the original Hotline Miami so will tie in nicely with the storyline and will further flesh out the back story of ‘Jacket’.

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Velocity 2x

Velocity 2X is a sequel to Velocity Ultra and gives us a chance to get out of the spaceship we’ve been flying in previous titles to kick some ass on foot as well! You play as Kai Tana, who blacked out while traveling through a wormhole in space. Unfortunately she’s stranded somewhere inhabited by a race called the Vokh. The gameplay is as you’d expect for the flying sections and the on foot stuff is just as slick. We’ve been promised moon bases, space stations and alien planets. Bring it on!

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Volume

Volume is a tactical stealth game in which you play as Locksley, a vigilante who uses distraction and sneaking to commit his crimes. The game is a retelling of the Robin Hood story set in the near future and it looks fantastic. Mike Bithell’s previous game ‘Thomas Was Alone’ is awesome so this is definitely one to watch out for.

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Gravity Rush 2

I really enjoyed Gravity Rush, it remains one of the best exclusives the Vita has to offer. So I was most excited to see a follow up game teased. Kat awoke with no memory but had the ability to influence gravity. It looks like she may have some new powers judging by the trailer above and I’m keen to find out where the game is heading story-wise.

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Hyper Light Drifter

Hyper Light Drifter doesn’t seem like the sort of game I would usually get super excited for. But I thought this looked really cool as soon as I saw it. A 2D action role-playing game that sees you playing a character that has a mystery illness. As you search for a cure you’ll be using technology that only you have access to in a bid to defeat enemies and save yourself. Just look at that art-style… superb!

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CounterSpy

CounterSpy is a stealth game that is played from a side scrolling, 2D perspective. Taking place during an alternate history cold war (!), this game sounds super cool. The developers have some background as well – while this is their first indie game, some of them previously worked at LucaArts and Pixar.

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Murasaki Baby

This one looks dark as hell, no surprise I suppose given the game director’s history of working on titles like Killer7, No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned. You play as Baby, a little girl who has a mouth (complete with sharp teeth) on her forehead. You’ll be guiding her through a world full of children’s nightmares. Again this is another Vita title with an excellent art direction and one I’m looking forward to playing.

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Rogue Legacy

Rogue Legacy was a bit hit last year and is set to hit the Vita sometime in 2014. The game is a platformer in which you must explore a randomly generated dungeon. It’s a bit like the excellent Spleunky but here when you die your abilities are passed on to one of three random ‘heirs’ who you control on the next run through. An interesting idea for sure and apparently very addictive.

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Frozen Synapse: Tactics

Frozen Synapse: Tactics is a turn based strategy game that sees you as part of a resistance, taking on a corrupt government in a dystopian, cyberpunk future. Which sounds pretty excellent to me. This isn’t a fast paced action title though – you’ll be carefully planning moves for your soldiers in advance and watching how things pan out in skirmishes between resistance and the government.

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Football Manager 2014

As much as I’m looking forward to Football Manager on Vita I’m also a little apprehensive that it was swallow up hours of my gaming time. This a much more in-depth version than the previous PSP titles and as usual I expect to have great fun guiding a lower league club to the very top! This also has cross-save with the PC version of the game so you can play wherever/whenever you want.

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Freedom Wars

Freedom Wars is a battle action, co-op focussed game which takes place on Earth in the year 102013 (!). Humans now live underground and anyone arrested for a crime is presumed guilty. Prisoners can reduce their sentence by fighting giant monsters up top. If it plays as fun as it sounds this could be a real blast to play with friends.

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Helldivers

In Helldivers you’ll be battling the alien enemies of mankind as part of an elite government unit. The game is a top down shooter with procedurally-generated battlefields, so you won’t come across the exact same level twice. Helldivers features a single player campaign and (up to) 4 player co-op content, so this could be a title to grab with friends and get yourself online.

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Persona 4: Dancing All Night

As it says in the title this is a dancing rhythm game for the Vita. Not usually my cup of tea but I’ll play anything that furthers the story/world of Persona 4. Seems like you’ll still be fighting demons but this time by dancing as opposed to hitting them with blunt/sharp objects. Oh and Atlus, please sort getting Persona 4 Arena onto Vita soon. Or, like, now.

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So what do you think folks? Which games have your interest for the year ahead?

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Eurogamer Expo 2013 – Round Up

The Eurogamer Expo grows in size every year and 2013 is no different, with over 70,000 people attending over four days. That is a LOT of people, which also explains why I spent most of the day in queues rather than playing games.

That’s not to say it wasn’t still a blast but by choosing to queue for Titanfall and Battlefield 4 (about 2hrs of queuing between them) we gave up time we could’ve spent queuing for less busy games.

Anyway, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give Titanfall a shot – that and Quantum Break are the only two games of interest to me in the XBox One launch line up (although Titanfall doesn’t arrive until 2014).

So here is my round up of what I got hands on with at the Expo:

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Titanfall

First up was Titanfall, voted by most critics as the best thing at E3 2013. Even while we were queuing I was finding it hard to get overly excited – it’s just Call Of Duty with double jump and mechs. Right? Wrong. The game itself is great fun and it was easy to get straight into the action. Movement felt fluid and wall running was easy. I liked the heft of the weapons and the fact they seem to have taken a leaf out of Resistance‘s book with some of the weapon design. I see no reason this won’t come to PS4 further down the line, with the developer already mentioning that a PS4 version is ‘definitely not out of the question’ so I will be picking this up for sure then. But it’s not worth the price of an XBox One for me just to play this. * ‘TITANFALL’ : GREGHORRORSHOW’S MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE – Eurogamer Expo 2013*

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Battlefield 4

Next up was Battlefield 4 and as a big fan of the series I was looking forward to seeing what improvements had been made. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Battlefield has never been ‘pick up and play’ and I spent the first three or four minutes of the demo sorting out the sensitivity on the sticks etc. I don’t think having to stand so close to the screen and use an XBox pad did me any favours either but I didn’t enjoy the demo. Recoil on the guns felt insanely over the top, I shot a few guys three or four times without killing them and the map looked similar to some of the stuff on BF3. Of course it’s an alpha build and it was only one round so, recoil aside, it could’ve been bad luck. Nevertheless after queuing for so long this one left a bitter taste in my mouth.

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Killzone Shadow Fall

I’d played Shadow Fall previously but that was the single player component so I was excited to try the mutliplayer offering. Shadow Fall delivers a refined Killzone experience and I can see this being my go to shooter on the PS4. The weapons felt great and the game looked fantastic. At one stage I managed to get behind the enemies and brutal melee’d three of them in a row… the stuff of dreams 😆 It felt competitive and it seems there will be even more depth with the new class abilities. * ‘KILLZONE SHADOW FALL′ : GREGHORRORSHOW’S BEST IN SHOW – Eurogamer Expo 2013*

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Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Octodad is a wonderfully absurd game in which you control an octopus trying to maintain his life pretending to be a man. In this demo I was tasked with getting him ready for his wedding and making sure he gets down the aisle in one piece! Octodad’s legs aRE controlled with L2/R2 and the left stick. When you need to switch to his arms you press L1 and then you move the sticks to control his arms, with R1 picking things up. The tricky controls and crazy animation of Octodad make this a very fun game. Definitely recommended.

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Warframe

Warframe has had my interest since it was announced for PS4 as a free-to-play title. At the expo we were sampling co-op mode, which was a horde mode affair with three of us combining to protect an item in the middle of the map. The game is fast paced and moves smoothly – you can aim and shoot with L2/R2 with R1 bringing out your samurai sword for close encounters. L1 allows you to slide on your knees in the same style as Vanquish. I’m not sure how much more effective that was but it sure looked cool 🙂 You also have special abilities which are triggered by swiping the touchpad on the DualShock 4. We had no problem dispatching wave after wave of enemies and soon the demo was over. I had a couple of issues where it felt like the camera couldn’t actually keep up with the game but hopefully that will be ironed out by launch.

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Velocity 2x (Vita)

I enjoyed Velocity as a mini on my Vita and I have Velocity Ultra (courtesy of Playstation Plus) but haven’t fired it up yet. So when I saw Futurlab were back with another Velocity title I was hoping they’d mix things up a bit. And they certainly have. As well as the spaceship flying that made up the original title we will now be treated to some platforming goodness as well. The game looks and feels fantastic. It’s easy to control and has a really cool style. This looks set to be a masterpiece on Vita (and PS4) when it arrives next year.

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The Crew

Lastly I played The Crew, Ubisoft’s next gen racing offering, and while half the time I didn’t have a clue what was going on (not helped by the game randomly cutting to a title card in amongst everything) it was great fun. This is a more arcadey racer, with nitrous boosts and drifting the norm. We were given a few minutes to drive around before being entered into a race (individually – we were all in a different race in a different part of the gameworld) and then assigned a target car for the four of us playing to take out. Much crashing and hilarity ensued – if they can polish up the presentation angle of the game this could be a great addition to the racing genre.

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While I didn’t get to play them (as they were on PC and I’m not a PC gamer) I also watched people playing Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number and Volume – both of which will be coming to Vita next year. And both of which looked excellent. Hotline Miami 2 seems to be more of the same which is fine with me and Volume looks like a super interesting take on the stealth genre. Here’s a trailer for that:

So overall it was a good Expo, although the queues seemed to have doubled in size from last year. I suspect next year you might need two days to actually get round and see a decent amount of games. For the most part queuing wasn’t too bad – Titanfall had the nice idea of seating the next batch of people to play in front of a video about the game and Sony‘s booth had content on a big screen that didn’t loop for the entire hour we were queuing.

Did anyone else go this year? Would be good to hear what you played and what you thought of the Expo.

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