Things aren’t looking great for the nameless sorcerer in the beginning of Soul Sacrifice. Imprisoned in a hellish cell, and having witnessed another man eviscerated at the hands of the sorcerer Magusar, it’s only a matter of time before the same fate befalls him. And yet there is a glimmer of hope. A book. A talking book at that, but one that may just provide the key to salvation if its secrets can be unlocked.

Soul Sacrifice is the brain child of Kenji Inafune, of Mega Man fame, but is as far from the iconic character as one could possibly be. The book in question resembles the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead movies, and the same aesthetic carries across the entire work. There’s a demonic look to Soul Sacrifice that I would liken to the Dark Souls series with monsters appearing suitably grotesque. Librom, as this incarnation of the book is known, acts as the central point of focus from my time with Soul Sacrifice. By reading its entries, the player is able to relive its tales as phantom quests and take on the beasts described. As well as that, the book provides access to character customisations, magic upgrades, as well as pages and pages of back story on the individual beasts and lore of the game world. There is a wealth of information to be devoured. Not all of the book is available from the off, and progressing through the quests reveals more and more pages.

Once a quest is chosen, combat switches to a third person perspective. It’s clear where the comparisons to the Monster Hunter franchise have come from. At a very basic level, each quest comes down to a team of players (in this case, sorcerers) taking on a giant beast. Yet that is where the similarities both begin and end. Each sorcerer has a palette of 6 abilities, referred to as offerings, available to him/her. These are mapped to the square, triangle and circle buttons in two banks of three (which can be switched between with a press of the right bumper). These abilities run the spectrum in regards to function, ranging from up close melee and elemental attacks, to long range projectile fire and healing spells. Each ability has only a certain number of uses before it ceases to function, meaning it’s not possible to spam a single attack, although there are ways to recharge your offerings. Your sorcerer also has “black rites” available to him. These attacks are extremely powerful, but require your sorcerer to give up a part of himself, an effect which carries over across quests. For instance, the “Infernus” rite engulfs the enemies in flames, but must be paid for with your own skin, reducing your damage resistance by half.

Once you have slain your enemies, you have the ability to either save them, or sacrifice them (giving the game its name). Save a foe, and you’ll receive upgrades to your life force and defensive capabilities. Sacrificing them, on the other hand, gives more power to your attacking abilities. It’s hard to tell if this mechanic will have more influence beyond the black or white effect evident currently, but it provides an interesting nuance in the heat of battle. This element of sacrifice also applies to your own comrades as well. If an ally, or indeed you yourself, fall in battle, you can choose to revive them at the cost of your own health, or use their essence to launch a devastating attack but making them unavailable for the rest or the quest.

Outside of combat, the absolute wealth of options is staggering. The abilities assigned to your sorcerer’s palette can be completely customised, enabling players to shape their avatar to their own playstyle. Each offering can similarly be boosted, providing the player has the necessary materials, allowing for increased damage output or increased number of casts before the offering stops. New offerings can also be fused by combining several existing offerings. There’s a whole meta game here that isn’t fully reveled in the build I played, but should become more clear in the full game.

From what I’ve gotten my hands on, I’m optimistic about Soul Sacrifice. What I’ve played wasn’t perfect – I had some camera issues that had me wrestling for control on occasion, however that was mostly mitigated by the lock on function. Also, if the preview did represent the beginning of the game as I suspect, it points to the need to grind for experience right from the get go. Yet, the gameplay on offer was satisfying and well developed, and the sheer depth of customisation on offer has me excited to get my hands on the full game in a month’s time.

The four new maps include Vertigo, Encore, Magma and Studio and the add-on also includes a “zombie adventure” called “Mob of the Dead”.

Regarding the maps: Vertigo takes place in a futuristic high-rise in India, Encore is set in the aftermath of a London music festival, Magma is a Japanese village beside an active and menacing volcano, and Studio is an updated version of Firing Range from the original Black Ops.

The zombie content is set in Alcatraz prison during prohibition years, features new guns, and voice work from Ray Liotta, Chazz Palminteri, Joey Pantoliano and Michael Madsen.

You can expect to pay 1200 Microsoft Points for the DLC or it will be free if you’ve already purchased the season pass. The content should be on PC and April in mid-May.

Source: The Examiner, Official Web Site

It turns out that the title was registered on the off-chance that the studio would use it but instead turned into an April Fools joke. A rather obvious one.

You can watch the full mock reveal video on Joystiq, in which the developers discuss the importance of 8-bit pixelation in portraying the correct tone for Deus Ex.

EA announced today that Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 14 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 14:The Masters Historic Edition have shipped in North America and will be available worldwide starting on March 29. Both editions pay homage to golf’s rich history and legendary golfers through an all new game mode, Legends of the Majors featuring six different eras of golf and period specific equipment, night golf and for the first time in franchise history the chance to go for the Grand Slam by playing historical events in all four majors.

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 has generated early accolades by enthusiast press. According to @Gamer Magazine, “EA clearly isn’t resting on its laurels, despite the knowledge that it’ll sit atop the leaderboards for another year.” The game is available on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, including support for the Kinect™ for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation®Move.

“We wanted to celebrate the world of golf in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 and give gamers and golf fans a chance to learn about the amazing legacy of the sport of golf through legendary players and iconic moments in majors history,” said Brent Nielsen, Executive Producer of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14. “We are excited for gamers to start taking down legends and earn their seat at the table of golf’s greatest players.”

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 also features 20 on-disc championship courses, over 35 playable golfers representing both the PGA TOUR and LPGA, deep and innovative online connected experiences and a host of community-driven gameplay enhancements that closely mirror what a PGA TOUR golfer sees out on the course.

In addition to all the content available in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14: The Masters Historic Edition allows gamers to step back in time and experience the 1934 layout of famed Augusta National Golf Club, its famous Par 3 Course, Augusta National Golf Club’s Tournament Practice Facility, an authentic Green Jacket Ceremony, as well as four additional championship courses for a total of 25.

The Game is out in Ireland this Friday

The last time we’ve seen Sly Cooper and his lovable crew of eccentric thieves they were putting their criminal days behind them. Nearly eight years later, the gang is back for another round of hijinks and deception with Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, a new adventure that taps into the nostalgia of the series from the PS2 era.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is the first entry in the series to be developed by a team other than Sucker Punch. With Sanzaru Games proving their passion and respect for the lore when handling the HD collection, they scored a chance from Sony to pick up where the last entry left off. A new villain has appeared named Le Paradox, a thieving skunk who has targeted specific items throughout history. Causing a ‘butterfly effect’, his actions are causing the pages from the Thievius Raccoonus — the legacy of Sly’s thief family-line, to vanish. Sly and his team catch wind of this, and with the help of Bentley’s new time machine, must travel back in time to eras based on the Ice Age, Medieval England and Arabia, Feudal Japan and the Old West. The story and settings doesn’t alter the dynamics of the genre, but each character is superbly voiced and the cheesy writing will remind you of a Saturday morning cartoon.

For those unfamiliar with the Sly Cooper formula, Thieves in Time present a very easy to ingest, explore an assortment of lavish, detailed sandbox hubs while completing various jobs tied into progressing the story. Within each hub is the Hideout, a place where all the characters congregate and you are presented with a range of options to choose from like playing ping pong, browsing through treasures, change a character, and purchasing upgrades from Thief-Net. Outside the Hideout are various jobs that range greatly depending on the character that you are currently controlling. The jobs associated with Sly are easily the most fun as they focus on stealth; infiltrating buildings, stealing keys, pickpocketing, etc. Bentley’s jobs usually involve hacking into computer systems and using his tech to get him into places. While most focus around fun mini-games, the ones that require motion control are dull. Finally, Murray’s jobs are my least favorite because they are based on beating up bad guys or destroying equipment, but Sanzaru makes up for this simpler gameplay by placing him in outlandish situations.

As Sly travels back in time, he will come across his ancestors that occupy each era. Each has their own special ability like Sly’s Japanese ancestor Rioichi Cooper, can bound across distances with a grace of a ninja or the outlaw Tennessee Cooper can transform the family’s signature cane into a pistol. Sly will eventually be able to equip these costumes, each one providing him with different abilities to interact with his environment and solve various challenges along the way. These new costumes provide you with satisfaction of approaching enemies from different angles, as well as the option of revisiting time periods to access previously unobtainable areas. Thankfully getting each location is a breeze, as the controls are extremely smooth and accessible to newcomers, while fans of the series will feel right at home.

Each aspect of Thieves in Time’s presentation has been polished to take advantage of the PS3 with the inclusion of massive draw distances and greatly improved facial animations. The cel-shaded graphics are great, and you still got the same cartoon styling, just with a lot more color depth and minor touches like Sly’s fur looking fuzzy. All of the songs are perfectly fitting with the levels and the sneaking sound effect/music mix that plays when you’re moving is still a joy to hear. On the other hand, it’s also not entirely stable in the performance department. There are moments of slight lagging in the framerate, and excessively long load times. Every time you start a mission, finish a mission, load a save or enter a new space, you’re hit with a loading screen that runs closely to a full minute in length. Though they’re not a crippling hindrance, just more of an annoyance, the constant break does take some of the shine off the presentation.

In addition to completing jobs, there is a plethora of collectibles to keep you busy. Bottles litter each region, and collecting all of them in a chapter unlocks a safe with a special prize. The game does a nice job of opening up and letting you explore past areas to collect all the items. But if it’s a challenge you’re looking for, you’ll only find it here in small doses. Checkpoints are frequent and forgiving, and a handful of the mini-games actually surpass the core combat in terms of sheer difficulty. What challenge there is usually occurs in the boss fights, which tend to demand perfectly timed uses of Sly’s costumes. Figuring out the pattern of attack/defense can result in defeating each boss and you’ll need your platforming prowess now and then to be victorious.

In the end, fans of Sly Cooper will enjoy Thieves in Time, but it feels like it could have existed on the PlayStation 2. Sanzaru should be commended for providing fans with a enjoyable Sly Cooper game, but after waiting so long to step back into the cunning raccoon’s shoes, this entry feels like a missed opportunity to expand the franchise. A very enjoyable game though, that Sly fans will Really Enjoy!

What better way to celebrate the launch of the new Gears of War Judgement from Microsoft than with a delivery of Pizza to Techtv101′s offices from @edelmanireland! The game is out today on the Xbox 360, check back with us over the weekend to see what we thought of the game!

Volition have announced that Saints Row IV will be released on August 20th in the US and August 23rd everywhere else. It will launch on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

“Saints Row IV lets players delve into an arsenal of alien weaponry and technology that will turn each Saint into an ultimate entity of destruction. Utilize out-of-this-world superpowers to fight all the way to the top. With intensified action and enhanced customization, players can use their newfound superpowers and leap over buildings, outrun the fastest sports cars, or send enemies flying with telekinesis in the greatest, most insane installment of Saints Row yet.” – Official Blurb

Deep Silver purchased Volition Inc. and, separately, the Saints Row IP in the THQ administration auction in January this year. Saints Row IV will also feature DLC content from Saints Row III’s “Enter The Dominatrix” add-on that was canned after Deep Silver took over publishing.

In “Double or Nothing”, Big Boi and B.o.B step into their in-game roles as T.W.O. operatives Charles “Chuy” Rendall (Big Boi) and Anthony “Baker” Barnes (B.o.B) and blast their way through Mexico’s most dangerous cartel. The video features live-action heroics of Big Boi and B.o.B and gives a sneak peek of the explosive, blockbuster action with in-game footage from Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel.

In Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel, players find themselves on the war-torn streets of Mexico as Alpha and Bravo, two operatives working for Tactical Worldwide Operations (T.W.O.), fighting for justice against a dangerous drug cartel. Featuring both online and split-screen co-op, Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel gives players the chance to distinguish themselves from their friends by providing a deeper and more advanced upgrade and customization system.

Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel launches on March 26 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. Fans who pre-order the game from GameStop will receive the exclusive Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel Hit-Makers Kit, giving them access to a one-of-a-kind T.W.O. Contract mission that will allow them to play as Big Boi and B.o.B’s characters, as well as custom masks and weapon skins designed by the artists themselves.

For more information, please visit http://armyoftwo.com. For the latest updates check out www.facebook.com/armyoftwo or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/armyoftwo.

Journey has picked up five BAFTA awards at this years ceremony, the short but sweet mystical co-op adventure game, dominated proceedings, leaving many somewhat shocked it didn’t also pick up best game overall. The Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Online, Original Music and Game Design awards were all handed over to producer Robin Hunicke and other members of the Thatgamecompany development studio.

Other notable successes were the cartoonish but emotionally sophisticated zombie survival game The Walking Dead, which picked up awards for Best Story and Best Mobile/Handheld game, and Giant Sparrow’s PSN title The Unfinished Swan, which was awarded the Game Innovation and Debut Game prizes.

A notable theme of the awards was its domination by digital distribution-only titles, with Journey and The Unfinished Swan both being PS3-only PSN titles. Meanwhile The Walking Dead is available as an app for mobile devices, online or through the various console’s digital networks. Of the 18 awards in total, only four went to retail boxed games. Perhaps not a definite sign of things to come but a clear indicator that a game doesn’t have to be a AAA title to pick up the prizes.

Winners in bold

Best Action Game
Far Cry 3
Hitman: Absolution
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Halo 4
Mass Effect 3
Borderlands 2

Game Innovation
Fez
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Wonderbook: Books of Spells
Journey
The Unfinished Swan
Kinect Sesame Street TV

Artistic Achievement
Journey
Halo 4
Borderlands 2
Far Cry 3
The Room
Dear Esther

Best Mobile and Handheld Game
LittleBigPlanet (Vita)
New Star Soccer
Incoboto
The Walking Dead
Super Monsters Ate My Condo
The Room

Audio Achievement
Far Cry 3
Beat Sneak Bandit
Halo 4
Assassin’s Creed III
Dear Esther
Journey

Best Online Game
The Settlers Online
SongPop
Merlin: The Game
Runescape
Amateur Surgeon Hospital
Dick and Dom’s HOOPLA!

Best Online Multiplayer
Assassin’s Creed III
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Journey
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Halo 4
Borderlands 2

Best Original Music
Diablo III
Assassin’s Creed III
Thomas Was Alone
The Unfinished Swan
Journey
The Walking Dead

Best British Game
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Forza Horizon
Dear Esther
Super Hexagon
LEGO: The Lord of the Rings
The Room

Best Games Performer
Nolan North (Nathan Drake) – Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Danny Wallace (The Narrator) – Thomas Was Alone
Melissa Hutchinson (Clementine) – The Walking Dead
Dave Fennoy (Lee Everett) – The Walking Dead
Adrian Hough (Haytham) – Assassin’s Creed III
Nigel Carrington (The Narrator) – Dear Esther

Best Debut Game
Deadlight
The Unfinished Swan
Forza Horizon
Dear Esther
Proteus
The Room

Best Sport/Fitness Games
Forza Horizon
F1 2012
Nike+ Kinect Training
New Star Soccer
Trials Evolution
FIFA 13

Best Family Game
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
Minecraft: XBOX 360 Edition
Just Dance 4
Skylanders Giants
Clay Jam
LEGO The Lord of the Rings

Best Story
Journey
Far Cry 3
The Walking Dead
Thomas was Alone
Mass Effect 3
Dishonored

Best Game Design
Dishonored
Far Cry 3
Journey
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Borderlands 2
The Walking Dead

Best Strategy Game
Dark Souls: Prepare To Die
Diablo III
Great Big War Game
Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai
Football Manager 2013
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Best Game
Far Cry 3
Journey
Mass Effect 3
Dishonored
The Walking Dead
FIFA 13

Watch the 2013 BAFTA Video Game Awards tonight right here on Techtv101. The event is being held at London Hilton, Park Lane, and will be hosted for the fifth consecutive year by comedian and gamer, Dara O’Briain.

The video Stream will begin from 9PM

Watch live video from bafta on www.twitch.tv

Irish PS Fans can rejoice that there are three new PS3 game and two for PS Vita in the line-up for March.

Leaving PS Plus in March:

• 6th March: Sleeping Dogs
• 6th March: Vanquish
• 6th March: LIMBO
• 13th March: Wipeout 2048
• 20th March: Lumines Electronic Symphony

Entering PS Plus in March:

• 6th March: Mass Effect 3
• 6th March: Dead or Alive 5
• 6th March: Joe Danger 2
• 13th March: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
• 20th March: Puddle

In the US, March’s PlayStation Plus update is a big one, offering subscribers a collection of five new games to add to their Instant Game Collection. This month’s PS3 title is the third-person shooter Spec Ops: The Line, with PSN games Joe Danger 2: The Movie and The Cave, as well as Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention and Tekken 6 for the Vita making the cut.

Look for this week’s offerings to be available once the weekly PSN update goes live tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday we posted an interview with Jim Brown about the new Gears of War:Judgement and how the game has progressed from the last games, and now we post part two of the interview where Jim tells us what to expect in the latest addition to the GOW series and also in multiplayer.

Q. What can you reveal about the story of the campaign?

A. Gears of War: Judgment takes you back before the events of the original Gears of War trilogy to

the immediate aftermath of Emergence Day. Judgment is set 30 days after the events of E-Day.

E-Day is the time when the Locusts emerged from underground and started ravaging the planet

Sera. The game follows Kilo Squad led by Damon Baird and Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole. At

the opening of the game, Baird is facing a military tribunal, and players get to experience the

individual squad members’ story in a series of “flashbacks”. As each character gives testimony

to the tribunal, players will get to live that story in real time. And let’s face it – the story

wouldn’t be much fun if there weren’t at least a few surprises in there!

Q. Why was Emergence Day chosen as the setting for Judgment?

A. Again this came from the fans. It was natural for us to go back so far in the timeline prior to the

original Gears of War. We already had explored the timelines of the first three Gears titles, so

we just wanted to go someplace different. Earlier made a lot more sense than later, but one of

the most noticeable things that it allowed us to do was show the planet in a much different

state. It allowed us to convey different emotions. The first three titles were all visually based

around a theme of Destroyed Beauty. You saw everything just ravaged and war torn, now that

the conflict is so fresh it feels much more alive. There is a feeling of life, people living and

moving around the city when all of a sudden that sense of security was ripped away because of

the Locust invasion. You will see this throughout the game, places where suitcases are strewn

around as people didn’t have time to grab them in the midst of a rapid evacuation. Buildings are

still burning and crumbling down, the battle rages throughout the city. It is a really interesting

visual and emotional change for the series.

Q. How does this campaign differ to previous Gears campaigns?

A. It really has been streamlined and plays a lot more intense. We really wanted to get back to our

roots and focus on core gameplay rather than elaborate storytelling. We still tell a story, but we

rely a bit more on the player and the events of the game to convey that story rather than

creating two hours’ worth of movies that play throughout the game. We didn’t want to turn

focus on a million different things, instead we wanted to make a really intense experience, one

that will challenge gamers, make them think a bit about the best way to progress through the

game. We built some new gameplay systems to support that. We have introduced a little bit of

Horde Mode into the Campaign too with sections that are built to be defensive scenarios. All of

that was crafted to give gamers an intense, challenging game and something to make your

palms sweat a bit as you play.

Q. Why was Baird chosen as the lead character for Judgment?

A. We ended up focusing on Baird as the main character pretty easily. For us, he is a really

interesting character who never got his moment in the sun. We obviously explored Marcus and

Dom, Cole even got a moment in Gears of War 3 with his own mission. But players did not know

a lot about Baird. We then also received some survey data that showed Baird is actually the

most popular character in the series. After every game release, Microsoft puts out a customer

satisfaction survey and they did one for Gears 3. One of the questions was “Who is your

favourite character?” You had a choice between everyone who was in Delta Squad, as well as

some other supporting characters and Baird was number 1. Marcus was like four or five. So

when we settled on going to a prequel, we knew Baird had this interesting backstory. After that,

we were set on using Baird as the main driver for the story, telling his story on how he was once

an officer and what happened in his life to set him back to being a Private in the army.

Fans will notice a slightly different Baird. He is still the wisecracker that everyone loves, but as

an officer, he is just a little bit more serious sometimes too. The writers did a great job of

making some subtle changes so we could be sure that he was interesting enough to carry the

story on his shoulders, yet not to change him too much so that he would not be recognizable to

our fans.

Q. Can you reveal any information about the support characters, Garron Paduk and Sofia

Hendrick?

A. Let’s start with Sofia Hendrick, out of the four members in Kilo Squad she’s the only one who is a

real COG soldier and firmly believes in the cause. Sofia’s been to the Onyx Guard Academy and

was trained as a media, in contrast, squad leader Baird’s a rich kid and Cole is a celebrity

thrashball player.

Kilo Squad’s fourth member, Paduk was fighting for the other side Union of Independent

Republics up until a month ago when the Locust attacked. He has a totally gloomy Soviet

perspective on everything and gives us some insight into what the UIR was like.

 Q. What can you tell us about the new enemy, Karn?

A. Karn is the unstoppable locust general who’s leading the invasion of Halvo bay. Although Paduk

has experience with Karn from his years as a UIR solider, this locust general is new to the COG

military leaders who underestimate his lethality. Karn rides his mount, Shibboleth, and has a

number of weapons available in his arsenal in addition to being able to both burrow and climb.

 Q. Can you reveal any details of other new enemies in Judgment?

A. The Rager is a new locust enemy who at first sight, appears to be a locust foot soldier, but

damage him and get him mad, and he’ll drop his weapon and transform into melee rage mode.

Take him out with a headshot before he rages, or be prepared for some close quarters combat.

Q. Why did you introduce Declassified Testimony? What will this add to the Gears experience?

A. Those came about as a way for us to add replayability. We wanted people to be able to go “Oh, I played through this one this way, how can I play through it a little bit differently?” We actually tried several different things and settled on this as being the most fun. You can try it with different weapons, environmental conditions and time limits – just different variances that make it a little bit more challenging for you.

The important thing is, it’s your choice. You don’t

have to do it if you don’t think it sounds like fun. However, if you want that extra challenge then

go for it and we’ll even give you some benefits for doing so, you’ll earn stars faster which in-turn

unlocks stuff. We also tied it into the fiction with the marshal’s testimony. People never tell the full story

when they’re in court and testifying, so thought wouldn’t it actually be cool if you could play

through the things they didn’t say?

 Q. Can you provide further detail on any new weapons?

A. One of the new characters we talked about earlier, Paduk is a UIR soldier so that gave us the

opportunity to create some UIR-based weaponry. The two that you will see the most are the

Markza and the Booshka. The Markza is a long range precision weapon, comes with a scope and

features a single-shot, semi-automatic rate of fire. It’s very useful for targets that are a little

farther away. The Booshka is a grenade launcher, it fires a projectile that is almost like a pipe

bomb that will bounce around the environment until its timed fuse runs out and it explodes.

Q. Can you tell me a little more about the Smart Spawn System?

A. Our AI has been improved even further for Gears of War Judgment, and specifically tuned to

support all our new game modes. The AI knows how to use all the new weapons, and the tactics

necessary to defeat the new Locust enemies. Our new Smart Spawn System (S3) responds to

the way you play, and readjusts the number, types, and tactics of enemies you encounter to

ensure that every replay is a unique experience.

 MULTIPLAYER

Q. What aspects of Judgment multiplayer make it the most exciting version over any previous

Gears title?

A. When you look at the trilogy and take what was there, it was a little too clunky. We simplified

that down and a lot through a new control scheme, which made things more streamlined.

Changing the control scheme was probably the biggest, boldest move we’ve made while

developing this game.

At its core, Gears has always been a game about co-operative gameplay. You rely on your squad

mates in the campaign, and your teammates in multiplayer. And with Judgment’s new Overrun

game mode, co-operation is even more important as the entire gametype is built around class

based systems. Everyone (on both the COG and Locust teams) will need to work together and

find the right combinations of weapons and abilities to tackle the unique situations that evolve

through the course of the game and from session to session. Our goals were to simplify things

and make them fast paced.

Q. What key changes were made to multiplayer following feedback from fans and why?

A. The multiplayer in Judgment has been given a real overhaul: it’s faster, sleeker, and more

approachable than ever before. We pulled back the curtain and went to the fans to see what

improvements they wanted and really took feedback to heart. We’ve streamlined the controls,

and opened up freedom of movement across all modes so players have more exciting and

interesting options in every encounter. We’ve added some fan requested game types, like our

new Free-for-all mode, and an all new class-based mode called Overrun which takes the best of

both Beast and Horde and pits the COG army (soldiers, medics, scouts, and engineers) against

the full brunt of the Locust Horde in objective-based gameplay. The response so far has been

overwhelmingly positive and we can’t wait to play online with our fans!

Q. What new multiplayer modes are there?

A. OverRun is brand new to Gears. It started off with us saying “how do we make a Horde vs. Beast

mode?” That was something the fans wanted in Gears of War 3 and something that we would

have loved to have done, we just didn’t have the resources at the time. Judgment gave us the

opportunity to explore it. In OverRun, you have two teams that compete against each

other. You start out with one team playing as the human COG, and one playing as the

Locust.

The COG’s goal is to defend a series of objectives, each time they lose an objective, they

fall back to defend the next one. The Locust role is to attack those objectives and destroy them

as quickly as possible. Once the Locust have destroyed all three objectives, they switch sides and

do it all over again. The team that destroys the objectives the fastest wins the match.

We’ve added in some additional layers of depth; the COG side is all class-based. You have an

Engineer who repairs and deploys sentries, a Soldier who can feed ammo to teammates, a

Medic who can heal, and a Scout who can deploy a beacon that spots the enemies for their

team. Each one of these classes has a unique setup and ability to use against the Locust. When

you are on the Locust side, there are eight different Locust to choose from, each one with their

own unique abilities. All the way from the Ticker, who is the size of a medium dog, up to a

massive Corpser. It takes a lot of teamwork to figure out the right combinations of COG and

Locust to take into battle. It sounds really simple, but ends up with a ton of depth and it’s

definitely a ton of fun to play.

Q. Can you tell us a little more about Free-For-All?

A. Classically, Gears has always been a team-based game and we always liked that aspect of it. You

can get tied to doing certain things when you’re dealing with a trilogy, like certain ideals and you

want to stay true to that. When Gears 3 was over, we wanted to do something new with Gears

Judgment, we were like let’s really dig down deep and look at what can we do to make it cooler

– what can we do to provide something that the fans would want.

Free-for-All is something that fans have always asked for and with Judgment being a totally

different game, we thought it made sense to introduce it and created some maps that would

work for free-for-all. People no longer have to worry about finding teams to go up against and

they just go in all by themselves and hold their own. Free-for-All wasn’t something we were

used to and the old control scheme was just slow and clunky, so changing it helped to give this

mode the right feeling too.

Q. How many maps will there be for multiplayer? How do they differ in size and style?

We have eight multiplayer maps in Judgment at launch: four maps that are shared between

Team Deathmatch, Free for All, and Domination. An additional four maps are unique to OverRun

and Survival, our class-based multiplayer modes. The maps have a wide variety of sizes and

styles, but all share a fast pace, increased density, focus on verticality and the ability to climb

and drop down, and many have interactive elements for you to discover.

Q. How do you go about creating a multiplayer map?

A. Epic uses a very iterative design process: we start with a basic gameplay idea and build it in

rough form to test (or fail!) as quickly as possible. These rough designs or “gameplay shells” are

never pretty or meant to be final in any way, they are meant to be flexible and easily

updated. We test them thoroughly, running through test after test, and gather feedback and

opinions on the gameplay after every trial. Once we’ve repeated the process enough times so

that we feel the gameplay design is as fun as it can possibly be, we begin the process of adding

the layers of visual detail and polish. When the visuals are as strong as the gameplay, we make more gameplay passes to ensure that everything is still fun and engaging. A final pass is made to ensure that the map meets all memory, performance, and gameplay requirements, and then it goes off for yet another round of testing. At this point, if people are generally having more fun than “working” while testing, then we’re confident the map is nearing completion.

Q. What are some of the best weapons for multiplayer?

A. Gears of War: Judgment introduces some great new weapons as part of the player’s standard

load-out. They can choose to play a more aggressive short-ranged game with the all new Sawn-

off Shotgun, or focus their skills with the longer ranged and more accurate Markza scoped

rifle. More powerful weapons, like the Booshka grenade launcher have to be earned on the

battlefield, and their locations are sure to be hotly contested points in combat. The tried and

tested Lancer assault rifle still comes equipped with a chainsaw bayonet, of course, and it just

doesn’t get much better than that.

Q. How have you made each environment different? How interactive are they? I hear you can

climb buildings?

A. Each individual multiplayer map represents a different environment, ranging through different

times of day, multiple weather conditions, and unique locales. Some, like the Library, take place

indoors, while the Estate map sends you running through a muddy riverbed while the tide is

out. Each map also features its own special form of interactivity: ride a Raven helicopter in Rig,

crush enemies in a giant trash compactor in Junkyard, and kick out windows to create all new

paths (or jump off of buildings) in Streets. Every map has a special surprise to keep things fresh

and encourage some player-driven emergent gameplay.

The Paladin Edition of Splinter Cell: Blacklist comes with a remote control airplane modeled after Fourth Echelon’s mobile base. To assure gamers that this plane can actually take to the skies, Ubisoft has released a video of a test flight.

The C-147B Paladin plane has two engines and can reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. It can fly up to 250 feet away from the remote. You’ll get up to four minutes of flight time until you need to recharge battery.

Instructional videos will help you build, operate and maintain the plane. Parkflyers RC will provide customer service and sell you replacement parts if need be.

Pricing for the pack has yet still to be announced and This bundle also includes two co-op maps and two in-game items. Ubisoft has also thrown in a poster and graphic novel.

This week Crysis 3 is hitting stores throughout the world. The reviews are in and it looks like the game could be a winner for shooter fans.
The Metacritic rating for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game are all hovering around 80. For basis of comparison, Crysis 2 had a average Metacritic of about 85. It seems like the core gameplay is wearing a bit thin. PC Gamer said the game is closer to “Crysis 2: Episode 2” than Crysis 3.

Here are ten interesting reviews of the game from throughout the web, but you will have to make up your own mind when you play the game

Joystiq – “Crysis 3 succeeds not only as a shooter, but as a stealth game too. It’s entirely possible to sneak through the game and minimize casualties, and doing so is challenging and incredibly rewarding (should you succeed). The same goes for players who prefer to quietly assassinate every enemy one-by-one. The inclusion of the bow – a silent weapon that doesn’t force you to break your cloak when you use it – is a big boon to the stealth experience in Crysis 3.”

Shacknews – “AI impressed me, especially on higher difficulties. Silly mistakes, such as coming out of stealth too soon, become quite difficult to recover from. I had to constantly monitor my energy meter or tag new enemies as they showed. Otherwise, both CELL and Ceph troops would easily overwhelm me.”

PA Report – “Crysis 3 is an enjoyable game, but it’s lost much of what made the first two games special. It’s not bad by any means, but you can see hints of a much better game peeking out through the cracks. I don’t mind the time I spent playing through the game’s single-player campaign, and I had great fun during a few sequences, but it feels like the features of the first two games have been eroded, not improved.”

OPM UK – “I clocked the campaign in exactly four hours, 55 minutes and 40 seconds, making Crysis 3 shorter than the offspring of Danny DeVito and Wee Jimmy Krankie (what a looker that kid would be). Even briefer than Black Ops II, it’s hard not to feel slightly short-changed by Prophet’s brisk jaunt through the Big Apple.”

1UP – “If you go in understanding that Crysis 3 delivers blockbuster entertainment and multiplayer that iterates on Call of Duty’s perks system, you’ll be fine. But if you want Crysis to stake a claim all its own, you might be disappointed. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying a solid action sandbox like this one. Crysis 3 might not reinvent itself into a grander vision, but like a good Hollywood sequel, it sticks to what it does well and iterates its formula into an impressive video game.”

VentureBeat – “Crysis 3 is the strongest entry in the franchise. The puzzle-like combat scenarios have never been better with its suite of gameplay options and opportunities while the engaging narrative urges you to see Prophet’s journey through to the end. And if you’re a console owner, you can rest easy knowing that it still looks great on seven-year-old hardware.”

PC Gamer – “The déjà vu of handling the same weapons is offset by Prophet’s newfound ability to wield Ceph guns. Each of these devastating power weapons pulls from a single, small magazine of ammo. They’re intentionally disposable; as long as you don’t mutilate an alien with explosives, you can steal their flamethrower, lightning sniper rifle, or absurd plasma minigun that transforms into a wide-firing plasma shotgun. Firing each of these produces the same pleasure I felt when I first fired the Combine Pulse Rifle in Half-Life 2: giving enemies a taste of their own medicine.”

IGN – “The online side of things does a commendable job of appropriating the Call of Duty class/load-out/perk systems, but works best in the modes that leverage the Nanosuit powers. This is particularly exemplified by the new Hunter mode, which pits two cloaked hunters against a team of CELL troopers. Each trooper killed switches sides and becomes a hunter, until there’s one trooper left to nervously twitch and shoot at shadows. It’s genuinely intense stuff, and well worth investigating once you’ve polished off the campaign.”

MTV – “With a poweful graphics engine alongside pretty fun gameplay, EA and Crytek definitely have a good game here despite a rather short (roughly 12 hours across 7 missions) and lackluster story about humans fighting intergalactic aliens. The real fun is in its deep, engaging multiplayer that should keep you engrossed for months to come. In spite of more than a few troulesome issues, if you’re a die-hard shooter fan you could do worse to pass on “Crysis 3.”

GameTrailers – “As much of a visual showpiece as a restoration of the series’ ideological roots, it represents an impressive return to form for the series once synonymous with high-end PC gaming.”

So Sony announce the PlayStation 4 without actually showing the console. They unveiled the controller we have all seen and talked about for the last while and they Sony did drop some hints about the system’s specs, but one thing they wanted to make clear was that in a few departments the PS4 outshines aspects of the leaked specs for the Xbox 720.

They’re also using a new combined GPU and CPU shared architecture with supercharged speeds, and the GPU that can topple 2 teraflops. What’s more is that the PlayStation 4 is running an x86 CPU system based on PC architecture with eight-cores, meaning that the PS4 is also an octo-core console.

What does all this mean? It means that both the rumoured specs for the Xbox 720 and announced PS4 are almost equal, but the PS4 may have slightly better specs than its console rival.

Regardless, the consoles are about close enough that there’s certainly not going to be a hardware gap between the PS4 and Xbox 720 the way there was a gap between the Xbox and PS2 and the PS3 and Xbox 360. This next generation will truly be defined by the software and that’s the most exciting part about this upcoming rivalry.

Sony also wasn’t shy about showcasing the new controller for the PS4 with touchscreen capabilities, a sensor bar on top and a home button for easy network and social access. Camera’s in the controller also enable for some truly unique possibilities with the hardware.

Sony has not yet revealed the system’s pricing or availability, but the news is expected to arrive at this year’s E3.

If you missed the live stream, check out the replay below

Something lurks in the dark corners of space, something powerful enough to kill a Reaper. Shepard must discover the most closely guarded secret in the galaxy before the Reapers silence it forever.

There is no war, only the harvest.

Earlier this week the guys over 343 Industries released a new Halo 4 trailer, which shows off the how the 343 team came out in force for San Diego Comic Con with playable War Games on the show floor, celebrity signings, and panels with brand new info on the Halo universe.

The team have also released some promo imagery for the Limited Edition copies of Halo 4. The snaps picture the casing as well as the contents which include art cards and a slick-looking poster.

In case you’ve been living in a black hole for the last few months and didn’t know Halo 4 launches worldwide exclusively on Xbox 360 on the 6th of November, 2012.

If you’ve been feeling cramped or claustrophobic in the smaller-than-usual Battlefield 3 maps in the Close Quarters DLC, then fear no more as Armoured Kill is released in September and you can check out its debut trailer right here.

The trailer shows us Bandar Desert which is the largest map in Battlefield history as well as Alborz Mountain.
Armoured Kill will introduce new elements to EAs biggest shooter including an air gunship and rocket artillery (the latter is new to Battlefield 3 but these were in Battlefield 1942).

This DLC will also include a new mode called Tank Superiority where tanks will be the main focus of the fighting to control the map, as the name implies.

Battlefield 3: Armoured Kill will release in September and two weeks early for Premium Members (Whom it will also be free for).

If you have to bail from your vehicle in the middle of these maps, prepare for a long walk.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.