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.

Kratos returns with huge fanfare, after his illustrious trilogy of games, to his beginnings and what brought him to defy the gods in the first place.  The story this time isn’t the best of the series but does carry you along at a ripping pace of colossal set pieces and intimate fights.  It starts off huge and never really lets up with relentless bloodletting which will make even the most hardened gamer look away in disgust.

Ascension begins with just such a gruesome scene, protagonist Kratos, chained atop a stone column, is being tortured by one of the Furies, a repugnant netherworld goddess who slashes at our hero before seeping attack bugs from her pores.  Once you break free of her grip and it’s mythology as usual as you’re propelled through the world, dissolving grunts into a crimson mist with your Blades of Chaos.  Larger foes are dispatched with a series of divisive QTE finishing moves plus you can haul yourself through the scenery by latching onto the glinting hook points.

All of this seems like business as usual but Ascension refines the old dynamic with subtle refinements, the QTE events pop up not only the symbol you need to hit but also show them in the corner of the screening where the buttons appear on the controller, making it that little bit easier to see them and make your move.  This time you can counter enemies also and take their weapons to use against them which is a nice addition too.

This time Kratos only uses the Blades of Chaos rather than discovering new weapons along the way.  It’s no great loss though as  instead the variety comes as you absorb different powers into the Blades along the way, the Fire of Ares torches enemies alive; Ice of Poseidon freezes foes; Lightning of Zeus delivers a vicious electric attack and the Soul of Hades calls upon the undead for help.  This really elevates the battles as you can switch between them at will, utilising them differently throughout any skirmish.  Using the different blades of chaos abilities also gives the player varying rewards, if you use lightning you’re rewarded with magic-restoring blue orbs, do the same with the Soul of Hades and green health-giving orbs are yours for the taking.  All of this adds an increasing amount of depth to the game.

The magic system has changed slightly with the super-powerful magic attacks being locked away further down the weapon upgrade tree, meaning you cannot rely on them as heavily as you might’ve done in previous games.  It’s a positive step because it really encourages you to think wisely about where to allocate experience points from the beginning. It’s at these moments when Kratos is overwhelmed with enemies that magic provides his only lifeline.

Difficulty throughout is, for the most part, balanced and well-considered.  Although some difficultly spikes can be quite annoying, this is slightly waylaid with checkpoints being more commonplace this time around so it softens the burden a little.  But at times Ascension takes challenge to the next level by throwing so many bad guys on screen it’s hard to actually figure out what’s going on.  Dying in these situations feels cheap and frustrating.

New to the GOW world is the inclusion of multiplayer and it is here where Santa Monica Studio hopes to make up the thrill shortfall from the single player campaign.  Far from a half-hearted add-on, Ascension’s multiplayer component is weighty and distinguished, and the battle system’s range and flexibility shine in this competitive context.  You begin in the Rotunda of Olympus, where you must select an allegiance to one of the four gods, essentially choosing a character class: Warrior, Stealth, Mage or Support. Each class has its own intricacies and winning matches will earn experience points which can be used to acquire better equipment.

Favour of the Gods is the most enjoyable of the modes on offer, with two teams going toe-to-toe to catch the eye of Olympus’ elite.  It’s essentially a high-score race, with points awarded capturing bases, opening chests, collecting valuable items, and of course killing your opponents.  Then you’ve Match of Champions which is a free for all death match, Trial of the Gods has you fighting hordes of opponents and capture the flag does exactly what it says.

While multiplayer has its moments, the combat doesn’t really offer the depth to make it a truly engaging experience.  In fact, the only real way to prove your dominance in multiplayer is through the countless unlocks and weapon upgrades available but with XP being dished out so generously there’s no real reason to  play skilfully.  Because of this, multiplayer feels more like a curiosity which provides a few hours of enjoyment rather than being an essential addition.

So God of War: Ascension is an adequate game with some truly mesmerising visuals and heart racing action beats but lacks depth and the staying power of the series previous iterations, hopefully the inevitable next game will bring something different and innovative to this failing franchise or Kratos will have a new enemy to bring to his blades of chaos.

So Need for Speed is back with it’s annual installment of break neck speed and gorgeous cars but this time we see it making it’s way onto the Playstation Vita. This is the first game in the franchise to be on the handheld and it really is an impressive portable racer. This is NOT a skimmed down version of the console version of the game and has a incredible amount of features packed in.

The game sees a welcome return for developers Criterion who developed the NFS hit that was Hot Pursuit two years ago. The studio were in charge of developing the console versions of the game and decided to develop the Vita version in-house as well to make sure it was as good as it could be. As I mentioned earlier, this game is not a skimmed down version of the console game. This is an amazing achievement. To have what basically is a full console version of a game in your pocket and being to jump into any of the races whenever you want is brilliant.

NFS: MW is set in the fictional town of Fairhaven where you are the new guy in town who must race his way up the list of ‘Most Wanted’ racers to become king of the streets. For anyone who has played Burnout Paradise from a couple of years ago and also coincidentally from the same developer, the gaming mechanics are very similar (this is most certainly not a bad thing!). You have the entire city to race around in and can start a race whenever and wherever you like and must race to a certain location however you like with a variety of other race types included as well.

One problem people have with reviewers saying it’s a direct port from the console version is that the traffic on the streets is noticeably less and you can only race up to a maximum of four races. Now, I feel, is actually a good thing as the screen on the Vita is only so big and if all the traffic was on there, you would never be able to see and dodge every car so you would crashing everything five seconds and cursing the game. This, to me, was a good decision or perhaps a technical restriction due to the Vita’s processing power that worked in favour of the developers.

The gameplay is also brilliant, as you’d expect from a developer like Criterion. The cars’ handling is finely tuned but you still get that great arcade racer feel. You have the obligatory addition of nitrous which really adds excited you each race when used the streets of the city are varied enough so as it doesn’t get boring during a race.

The games looks stunning on the Vita’s screen. Each of the cars are beautifully recreated and all have their handling characteristics. The game also has a very impressive day to night cycle which adds even more to the gameplay and when you decide to take on one of those more difficult races.

The game includes the Autolog system which lets you log into your Origin account and clock up speedpoints whilst you’re out and about and if you come home and have the console version of the game, the points you’ve earned will be there when you log in. I really liked this system and really made me want to gain as much points as I could.

Overall, this really is an extremely impressive handheld racer which has almost all of the features of it’s bigger brothers whilst also having it’s own Vita exclusive content.

If you have a Vita, you really should give this game a go. It’s one of the best titles to hit device since it’s launch.

So here is our very own hands on review of Assassin’s Creed III. This game is undoubtedly one of the biggest games to launch this year. It marks the biggest progress in the series since the jump from ACI to ACII. Developed by Ubisoft, the original creators of the franchise, ACIII stays true to form whilst adding new life to this extremely popular universe that is Assassin’s Creed. This is one game you really shouldn’t miss out on!

The game continues the story of Desmond Miles who in this game, gets to take part in the birth of the American Revolution. Rather than going into the finer details of the story and possibly revealing some story spoilers, all I’ll say is it a fantastic storyline which is thoroughly engaging right from the start.

The setting is simply fantastic as you get to take part in many of the famous battles of the American Revolution such as the ‘Boston Tea Party’. The attention to detail from the team at Ubisoft is simply astounding with fantastic recreations and interpretations of famous American cities such as Boston and New York as they were during the Revolution.

The gameplay has also been nicely refined and Desmond, or whichever character you have taken control of, has been even more fluid and agile in his rooftop escapades. With a lot of missions in the game taking place in the open rugged wilderness of North-West America, the introduction of trees and cliffs have added an extra dimension to Desmond’s free running and the mechanics used to allow him to move so effortlessly through this rough terrain is extremely impressive. Dual wielding of weapons has been implemented, while fighting and stealth have been completely overhauled with new features, such as “double-counters,” “multiple takedowns,” and chain kills. You will go into battle with a wide variety of weapons at your disposal, including two hidden blades, a tomahawk, flintlock pistols, rope darts, and a bow and arrow. The second Hidden Blade can also be ejected and used as a dagger.

The game looks and sounds beautiful. As I mentioned earlier, the many different settings, from the old towns of Boston and New York to the wild North-West, the game really does feel like a living, breathing world. The seasons also play a big part in the game and are also beautifully recreated with heavy snow blanketing the world in Winter to a hot and stuffy feel to the game in the Summer.

The multiplayer side of things also stays true to previous iterations whilst adding new flair. You’ve got your wide array or different types of games from simple deathmatch to a new game called Wolfpack where 2 to 4 players are tasked with killing certain NPCs during a time limit, through a sequence of 25 stages. Another feature which is great fun is Domination. It is a team mode where players of the Animus games console will need to capture areas of the virtual map they are designated, before protecting them from the opposite team.

In the end, this game may not be the monumental leap in the series some people were expecting but it’s an evolution on an already fantastic franchise. The game plays, looks and sounds fantastic and will more than satisfy lovers of the series and new comers alike with it’s wide array of varying missions and other little gameplay additions. Assassin’s Creed III is a game not to be missed!

Am I a Halo fan? No, no i’m not. I did love the original, but all the ‘sequels’ just felt more of the same to me with little to no improvements on the graphics. When there were games out there like Gears of War wowing us with such mind blowing graphics, Halo just felt dated to me. Thankfully, not so with Halo 4. This is a BEAUTIFUL looking game. One of the best looking I’ve played in a while. The landscapes and just the general size of the locations are awe inspiring. You really have to play it to see what I’m talking about. It just feels epic. I was alway looking about at all the details. Even up close the textures held up amazingly well.
The cut scenes is another area where massive improvements have been made. There are basically 2 types, one that uses in the ingame graphics engine. These are stunning. The lip sync, eyes and facial expressions are all incredible. It’s the best in game cut-scenes i’ve seen since LA Noire.
Then there’s the pre-rendered scenes. These are movie quality scenes that are really engaging and just draw you further into the game in my opinion.

As for the story in the campaign. Lets just put it like this. I picked up the game and got home at 3pm. Next thing I remember it was 8pm and I needed dinner. After dinner, the next thing I remember it was 1.30am and bed was needed. Basicially, the story just makes you want to keep going. I just wanted to see what was next. It’s an incredibly engaging story and my hat is off to 343 Industries for doing such a brilliant job!

Just touching on sound for a moment, it as well got a complete overhaul from 343 Industries. The weapons just sound more real, more beefier and just better. The sounds of the world are also amazing. It really needs a decent 5.1 system to experience the world of Halo 4 to it’s full potential.

So, the multiplayer. If I’m being honest, I’m not a massive online gamer. I did dip my toe in the multiplayer aspect of Halo 4, but we will definitely be coming back to this in the next couple of days to detail this a bit more. Given that I’m not a huge online gamer, the fact I enjoyed my time online with Halo 4 is a good thing. My experience, and one of the reasons I don’t play online more often, was hampered by the fact the way I have my TV set up gives me a 152ms delay, and well, leads me to being killed more ofen than I’d like (thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ).  It’s not just your ‘generic’ online multiplayer, there’s also the episodic co-op ‘Spartan Ops’ missions. These are weekly missions that 343 will be releasing for the next 10 weeks to extend the life of the game. There’s also “War Games’ mode which I had fun in!

I’m not sure what else I can say about Halo 4 without ruining the story or some other element on you. Do come back in a week or so to see our updated review where we’ll be talking much more about specific story elements and more on the multiplayer. If there’s anything you’d like us to cover in particular, just get in touch and we’ll be sure to include it.

To summarise:
Should you get this game? Yes, if you have an Xbox 360, this is a must own title
Is it good? It’s not just good, its absolutely fantastic.

Go get Halo 4 now if you haven’t already, you won’t be disappointed!

Forza Horizon is here! Created by the brilliant minds of Playground Games and series creators, Turn 10 Studios, Forza Horizon creates a beautiful mix between the racing simulation experience of previous Forza titles and an open world inspired by the varied landscape of Colorado.

The game is centered around the fictional racing and music festival, the Horizon festival. Like many games, you start off as the up and coming new guy (sorry girls) who must race his way to the top and gain as much popularity along the way. The games main antagonist is racer Darius Flint. A 3 time Forza Horizon festival winner and the guy you must beat to win it for yourself. With many of the minds who created this game from previous racing titles, you can see a nice mash up in features and events spread through out the game.

Forza Horizon is absolutely beautiful. If you have played any of the previous Forza games, you’ll know just how impeccable their attention to detail is and this game is no different. As I mentioned earlier, this game is set in a fictional world inspired by the varying landscapes of Colorado. You got stretches of highway, slow mountain ascents and dusty desert back roads. The map itself is huge and simply cries out to driven around. The cars themselves are gorgeous creations with each one offering a meticulously recreated cockpit view. Each car also has it’s own handling characteristics which can be seen to have been carried over from the likes of Forza 4. Each car really does handle differently and one of the joys of the game is getting to learn the intricacies of each one.

The games is structured in a tier like system. Pretty straight forward with  you being asked to take part in events of varying difficulty. Each event earns you points and after collecting a certain amount, you get promoted with a new wristband which lets you enter even more difficult events. The difficulty curve is steady and consistent enough but there is always to option to increase it if you like.

The multiplayer aspect is also very well thought out with you being pitted against your friends in a variety of different challenges. A nice touch is also the Speed Camera challenges in the single player mode which records your speed as you pass one and compares it to your friends helping created some healthy rivalry. There’s nothing like firing the game up to see that one of your friends has just beaten one of your times and all you want to do is try and gain the best time again as soon as possible.

I must also give special mention to the amazing collection of music used in this game. There are 3 varying fictional radio stations to choose from with each one offering up different genres. You’ve got your dubstep station, your more chilled dance music station and a rock music station. The variety really is great and there are some real corkers to be found.

The game also has Kinect functionality which lets you speak to the device to set up your next race are event. It works really well as expected and very hand if you’re flying down the highway at breakneck speeds and want to line up your next race without having o pause the game.

Forza Horizon is a welcome alternative for those who aren’t into the extreme depth and simulator aspects of previous Forza titles. It’s setting is simply beautiful and I for one am completely hooked on this game. It really does show other racing game developers how open world competitive racing should be done. I highly recommend this game!

Here’s the official gameplay trailer for the game.

Well it’s been almost 9 years since the last installment in the Max Payne franchise and Rockstar games wasn’t going to make those fans wait any longer. With the release of Max Payne 3, Rockstar aim to start a new chapter in Max’s life but he has a lot of work to do to get himself out of the gutter.

Max Payne 3 is an ‘over-the-shoulder’ Third Person Shooter and brings back the now infamous ‘Bullet Time’ but more on that later.

The game is  set in São Paulo, Brazil, where Payne is working in the private security sector for a wealthy local family, set eight years after the events of the second game. Max Payne now works in executive protection for the wealthy Rodrigo Branco in the hopes of escaping the memories of his troubled past. When a street gang kidnaps Rodrigo’s wife, Max is pulled into a conspiracy of shadowy, warring factions threading every aspect of São Paulo society in a deadly web that threatens to engulf everyone and everything around him.

Rockstar really seem to have gone back to the drawing board with this one and rightly so. With almost a lifetime in gaming years past, Max’s gaming mechanics had to be built from scratch so as to use the full power of the current generation of consoles. The best way I can put it is that Max feels grounded in the world. There’s a weight to his movement, the recoiling of a freshly fired gun throws Max off his stride a little and when those bullets hit, the enemy’s crumbling body shows how much it hurt. I love just how realistic the character actions and reactions are and with the revamped bullet time, deciding to fling yourself into the air through a shower of bullets is a decision not to be taken lightly.

The game’s setting of Sao Paulo also feels incredibly believable. It gives the sense of a city that has lived long before Max’s arrival and will continue to do so with his departure. The graphics are, at some moments, astounding, and at others, extremely impressive. The team really have pushed the boundaries for not only a Rockstar game, but for most Third Person Shooters in general.

The whole game has a very strong film noir style, paying homage to the previous games in the series. With slick cutaways and a frequent use of picture-in-picture, the overall effect is very engaging way of storytelling.

The multiplayer side of things is almost a complete game in itself. Everything you can do in single player can be done in multiplayer. There’s a vast selection of different game modes as well and a tonne of extras to unlock. I’m not a massive online multiplayer kind of person but this game really had me coming back for more.

I did have one or two gripes with the game though. For me, there was just one too many cliche and cheesy one-liners and quite a good bit of exposition, as in, Max telling exactly what he’s going to do with a voice over. These are little things that take very little from how good the overall game is.

I, for one, am glad to finally see Max make his big return. This game has so much going for it and with the hope of future installments in the series, Payne has never felt so good!

4.5/5

Game: Max Payne 3

Developer: Rockstar Games

Console: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Rating: 18+

Release Date: May 18 2012

After playing Trials HD a lot I really expected a love hate relationship of me loving how much fun the earlier tracks are and hating how difficult the difficulty ramped up. This is still the case with Trials Evolution but it is more subtle this time around. The difficult tracks comes much later than I anticipated, and this meant that I got to enjoy a majority of the game without shouting swear words at my television and eventually giving up on the whole thing. Trials Evolution presents so much content that I feel like I got my money’s worth just out of the first tier of tracks offered, but just talking about the brilliant track design is the tip of the iceberg for what Evolution offers its players.

The tracks range from outdoor environments filled with trees and abandoned automobiles, to indoor areas resembling the first Trials title. The variety of what you see in Evolution is what really impressed me the most. It not only opened up the game to more impressive looking visuals, but it allowed the game to feature more hazardous obstacles and things to jump over. To give you an idea, there is a level dedicated to the XBLA smash-hit Limbo and I can’t forget the D-Day inspired track that ends with bombs being dropped on your rider which is pretty ridiculous. So saying that Trials Evolution is “over the top” would be an understatement at this point.

The game also brings a sandbox style track editor that has allowed for some of the most creative user-created content since Little Big Planet.  The line between user-created content and content created specifically for the main game is blurred by just how intuitive the in game editor is. This leads me to believe that this editor may have been used to actually create some of the tracks in the main game. Whether or not that is true, no one can deny how amazingly creative the community has been so far with the tools presented to them and it is safe to say that the track editor has been my favorite part by far. So good in fact that it is worth the price tag alone.

Not only did the variety of creations impress me, but the functionality of how one can get said creations was extremely well done. In less than 30 seconds I could find out what tracks are popular, download them and jump right in to playing with no issues. This sleek and speedy interface is to applauded for its accessibility and ease of use, but we will see if it holds up when it has to sort through the thousands of tracks that are sure to be edited and uploaded in the coming weeks.

The visual presentation of Trials Evolution is also pretty great. I didn’t experience any frame rate issues or slowdowns during the main game at all. Everything from the way the bikes look to the backgrounds have a almost “gaussian blur” effect on them that really makes the gave easy on the eyes.

Not since the addictive nature of Super Meat Boy have I been obsessively banging my head against trying to finish a level. Trials Evolution captures that frustrating fun and more. I would say that this game is an easy recommendation once you actually get your hands on it, because describing this to someone as a dirt bike-platformer doesn’t really sound too enticing. Luckily there is a demo available to folks and it is sure to hook you in once you get a small taste of what all of this fuss is about. If you are looking for a inexpensive way to have fun by yourself of with friends, Evolution has it all. Even if you have friends that are not “hardcore gamerz“, you may be able to turn them on to the Trials experience. This game proved to be one of my favorite Xbox Live Arcade experiences ever and it is certainly a game of the year contender for me.

I give Trials Evolution 5 out of 5!! Brilliant and well well worth it!

Unlike many of you, I never really played much Minecraft outside of a couple of play session and a little bit of the mobile version on my iPad. Hearing that this game was coming to the Xbox Live Arcade meant nothing to me in terms of excitement but I knew that this release would be a big deal. In the months leading up to it I started to get the Minecraft-bug. I somehow felt compelled to check it out, then Like a small child I jumped right in to the game trying to build ridiculous “forts” and “bases” for my block-dude that I call Barney!

To be honest, if you play Minecraft religiously you may not find any value in dropping $20 more dollars into this game, especially since it is not updated to the latest version and modding is not even plausible. But if you are the least bit interested you should hear me out.

Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows you to survive in the open wilderness by using the earth’s elements to craft whatever you mind can conjure up. It uses a block based building system to build structures that resembles giant pixels or you can think of everything as giant Lego blocks. The game has a day and night cycle that creates a bit of tension due to the fact that you will face off against zombies, spiders and other scary creatures when the sun goes down. Luckily once you get your crafting wits about you weapons are made available to fend off those creatures but in true video game fashion, they will eventually break. Resources are plentiful in the world of Minecraft and having a great inventory system is key to managing all of the resources you have and this game does a great job of keeping it simple. You have a row of inventory that will be on screen at all time that represents items that you have on your person. Switching between thee items requires use of the LB and RB buttons respectively making it easy to cycle to the next object you need. Your character also packs an inventory system that you bring up with the X button that keeps all of your items at your disposal. Switching back and forth and swapping items out was really easy but when you jump into the proper inventory screen it doesn’t pause the game. There were a couple of times that I found myself getting attacked while trying to equip my sword and that kind of stinks.

In the inventory system you get to look at your items and see what each item can be turned into. For instance, you can make sticks out of wood block, or you can combine blocks of sand to create sandstone. Creating a crafting table out of wood blocks in essential in the world of Minecraft, because at these crafting tables you open up more items to create including vital parts of the Minecraft experience such as the pickaxe. Progression is gradual and requires some exploration to find certain rare elements in the world. It is a simple yet satisfying experience once you learn how the core game works, so it should lend itself to any casual gamer as well as the hardcore folks. There is little else as far as game play goes in Minecraft, it is basically a sandbox for you and friends to play around with. Speaking of friends, the Xbox 360 version touts up to 4 player slit screen co-op and online play through invitation only. It may not be up to par as far as its pc counterparts, but offering local co-op has its advantages.

Overall the experience is really unique and something that embraces the sheer creativity of its players. Build, destroy and rebuild are key concepts to the fun in Minecraft. Creating anything from a castle to an amusement park. The sky (and invisible walls) are the limit to where you can go in this universe. There are not too many things that I really didn’t like about the experience except its 1600 Microsoft Point price. I feel that the experience is unique and something that console fans were waiting on.  If money ain’t a thing then you should feel very pleased with your few euro purchase. For the veteran Minecrafters this may be too much of an investment for less features. Whatever your exposure to the experience, there is no denying the amount of fun that is to be had. I am just hoping we get some updates to add to the value of this version.

Overall I Would give the game 4 out of 5, losing the 1 point for the limitations of map space and items to play with but apart from that its awesome!

With the plethora of World War II shooters out there, like Call of Duty: World at War, the Medal of Honour and Brothers in Arms franchises, you have to wonder why 505 Games and Rebellion decided to reboot Sniper Elite?

The game, Sniper Elite V2, like its predecessor is set during the closing days of WWII. As an American sniper (an OSS agent) you’re dropped into Berlin in the last phase of WWII, with orders to either extract or kill scientists working in the Nazis’ rocket research program. As with any good story, things don’t go as planned and you have to improvise… A LOT.

While Sniper Elite V2 looks a bit rough around the edges, don’t be fooled, there’s a gem of a game underneath full of headshot-tastic and gratifying moments.

Firstly – This is not a first-person shooter. The game predominately takes places in 3^rd person, aside from when you’re sniping. This moves the emphasis of the game to tactical stealth and long-range attacks. As Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion, said in a recent interview: “This is no run-and-gun shooter, it’s an authentic sniping experience – rewarding stealth, forcing the player to use their brain as well as their thumbs.”

The beginning of each mission starts out the same – stealthily. You’re behind enemy lines, and your only allies are the weapons and munitions you carry with you. You can carry the typical WWII weapons; a sniper rifle, a submachine gun, and a sidearm. Aside from your rifle, the most crucial weapon is your choice of explosives. Trip wires, land mines, dynamite, and grenades all blow up in different ways, and having enough firepower to set an extra trap or take out a cluster of advancing enemies can be the difference between life and death.

But by far the most effective form of taking out the enemy is your sniping abilities. As you scan the battlefield tagging your enemies using your binoculars, you need to consider your upcoming shot. Before taking the shot, you have to account for bullet drop, wind strength and the effect of holding your breathy when making the shot. Successfully shots brings a very nice prize with it, the celebrated “kill cam” – Skilful shots are rewarded with slow-motion sequence of the bullet running its full trajectory in graphic x-ray detail, showing the bullet entering the body.

The missions play out in properly acted voice-overs and interesting cut-scenes, which all provide a welcome respite and backdrop for your missions. The solid level design makes good use of the setting, as bombed-out buildings and barricaded streets provide lots of nice hiding places for a lone sniper. Obviously, PC players get a much-better-looking version of ruined Berlin, enjoying crisp details and lovely skies while Xbox 360 owners deal with softer, more muted and moodier visuals.

The games campaign is lengthy by FPS standards, clocking-in at just over 10 hours long, and it can be played cooperatively online. There are also some other game types for two players, including Kill Tally and Bombing Run. These offer the same co-op fun of the two-player campaign missions, but Overwatch provides something a bit unique. In Overwatch, 1 player is the sniper, confined to an elevated position, and the other is a foot soldier, carrying out objectives on the ground and spotting for the sniper.

As a whole Sniper Elite v2 has some big points in its favour and these are big enough to make you forget the rough graphics. The game truthfully does a really good job of the main business: sniping.

All-in-all, if you relish a good headshot, Sniper Elite V2 has got you covered.

Final Score – 4/5

UEFA EURO 2012 marks the first time EA has released a FIFA tournament tie-in as downloadable content and not a fully-priced and boxed version.

The game allows you to lead your country to UEFA EURO 2012 glory as it attempts to recreate the passion and rivalry of the official tournament. So whether you want to relieve some of the moments from real-life matches as the tournament plays out or build and manage your dream team as you try to conquer Europe in the all-new Expedition mode.

The main draw for the game is of course the tournament, which can be attempted with any one of the teams that made it to the finals. (come on you boys in green) Players can also participate in online tournaments, which once the tournament begins are bound to be aplenty, by playing through the different rounds against opposition from across Europe.

The Expedition mode enables you to build, manage and compete with a customised team against other European counties as you attempt for European domination. Gamers will choose their favourite European player or FIFA 12 Virtual Pro to captain their customised team, win matches to earn better players from defeated nations, and then defeat the best nations to earn the best players in a campaign quest to defeat all 53 countries and complete the journey to conquer Europe.

EA will continue to add to the game through its “Challenges” mode, which enable gamers to relive real-life scenario’s that can be submitted by and voted for by fans. EA’s “Challenges” mode kicks off on the 27th of April and will be updated with new content until the  5th of July.

Gameplay in UEFA EURO 2012 is much as it ever was back in FIFA 12(click here for the review). Passing is still as fast paced, as you  nail an indefensible through pass or completely miscue a pass and leave yourself exposed to a counter attack. Control and dribbling feels like they have been refined a bit, giving better accuracy but this may be just the reviewer. Defending is just as tactical as it has been, with containment the name of the game.

At EA’s April Showcase in London this year, we chatted to Sebastian Enrique, Producer for EA Sports, about the  newly released FIFA 12 DLC, check it out below.

All in all, EURO 2012 is a worthwhile purchase for anybody really excited by this year’s tournament but can’t wait for the activity to begin. The availability of the game as DLC is also a very welcome change of tact by EA. Here’s hoping for more like this.

UEFA EURO 2012 is available now on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and will set you back €19.99, 1800 MS Points or 2,500 FIFA Points on the PC.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is the lower-end model in Nokia’s Lumia range (not counting the Lumia 610 which isn’t available just yet) and Nokia are hoping will appeal to first time smartphone buyers or consumers less worried about specs or big brand names.

Nokia need Windows Phone to survive and it could be said that Microsoft need Nokia for Windows Phone to be successful.
We love Windows Phone, despite its shortcomings and we loved the Nokia Lumia 800, so how does a weaker and cheaper Lumia fare in the big bad mobile world?

Hardware

It’s inevitable that we’re going to compare the Lumia 710 to the Lumia 800, as although they’re in a different price range they are in the same family of devices. The Lumia 710 definitely does feel cheaper than the 800, it’s noticeably lighter and has a more plastic feel to it, but when the cheap, plastic feel of the Samsung Galaxy range is factored in, the 710 can be excused.

The screen is a 3.7” TFT LCD screen with Gorilla Glass protection, a stark contrast to the ClearBlack AMOLED screen found in the 800.

Whether or not you consider LCD better or worse than AMOLED is a matter of personal choice, AMOLED screens produce much more vivid colours and extremely deep blacks, the Lumia 800 in particular sometimes makes it hard to tell where the screen actually ends, however they have trouble displaying whites properly, often resulting in a whites with a green or blue tint.

LCD screens can display whites much more efficiently, but the colours can appear washed out or dull, although they arguably produce sharper graphics.

The 710s’ screen quality is really nice, as expected, we would love a higher resolution but as mentioned in our HTC Titan review, Microsoft restrict every Windows Phone device to the same resolution, until the Apollo update later this year.

We did notice a strange flicker on the 710 when scrolling or typing and usually only with a white background, we’re not sure if this issue is wide spread but there seem to be some folk on Nokias’ Support Forums complaining of the same issue and it has been noticed in other reviews.

Build quality overall is quite good for a lower-end device, but as previously mentioned does feel quite cheaper than an iPhone 4s or the Lumia 800.
This is partially due to to the back cover being changeable to different colours, almost as if Nokia can’t let go of the past.
It’s a nice touch all the same, and should satisfy folks who want something other than dreary black found in almost every device we use on a daily basis.

Below the screen on the bottom of the phone are the mandatory back, start and search (Bing only, naturally) but unlike the Lumia 800, or indeed most Windows Phone devices, they’re physical keys rather than touch capacitive buttons.

This took some getting used to on our part, the keys are a bit too hard to push with one hand and have you straining to hit them properly, imagine the iPhones’ home button if it were almost completely glued down – not pleasant to use.

However they do protrude from the face of the phone which makes them easier to find and press, and one small upside to them being so hard to push is no more accidental Bing searches while in the middle of an app or a game.

Also strangely absent is the ability to wake the phone up by using the physical start button, iPhone users will find this especially frustrating.
The voice mic is below these buttons.

On the right side is the camera shutter key, which when held down can wake the phone up from lock and go straight to camera – really handy when you need to snap something ASAP.

Higher again is the volume rocker which has two small, separate ‘nubs’ that make them extremely easy to find and press when the phone is in your pocket or simply without even looking.

Down the bottom we have a small loop for attaching phone charms or wrist holders or the like.
Nokia kept the left side clear, the same as all other phones in the Lumia family.
Up top is a micro USB slot, 3.5mm headphone jack and the power/lock button. The latter is where we find a fault in the 710s’ hardware.

The lock/power button is almost perfectly flush with the phone and thus makes it incredibly hard to find at the best of times, making a simple task such as unlocking the phone more of a chore.

This would be but a minor gripe if the physical start button could wake the phone up but as previously mentioned it doesn’t, the power button up top is the only way – annoyingly.

The phones’ rear houses a 5mp shooter with an LED flash up top and the speaker down the bottom.

Overall the design of the Lumia 710 is nice, easy to hold and although it’s clear that Nokia has put far more TLC into designing the Lumia 800 and 900, the only faults we have with it are minor.

Inside

There’s not much to say about the inner workings of the Lumia 710 that haven’t already been said in our previous Windows Phone reviews, especially the Lumia 800. Both phones have the exact same amount of RAM (512MB), the same Snapdragon CPU – 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor although the 710 only has 8GB of internal storage while the 800 has 16GB.

The entire Windows Phone experience is the same as what you’ll find on other devices rocking Microsofts’ mobile offering, although included here (as with other Lumia devices) are Nokia Music, Nokia Transport, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and App Highlights to name but a few Nokia exclusive apps.

We love the entire feel of Windows Phone in general the animations and design are stunning, our gripes with it remain relatively unchanged from previous reviews - the multitasking again isn’t the most comprehensive solution to multitasking.

That’s not saying it’s bad but it could definitely be better, another thing we have hope for in the Apollo update.

Internet sharing is said to be on its’ way to all Lumia devices in a coming update too, so you’ll be able to use the Lumia 710 as a personal hotspot before long.

Camera

A 5 megapixel shooter on the 710 is partnered with a single LED flash but sadly there’s no sign of the infamous Carl Zeiss Tessar optics that Nokia love to talk about so much.

The camera here is nothing to write home about, the lack of Carl Zeiss innards and the fact that it’s a now-industry standard 5MP instead of 8MP, gives the Lumia 710 an average image quality.

While it’s not an amazing camera by any means, the pictures it produces can be quite impressive. They don’t seem to suffer the same slightly washed out look that some shots from the Lumia 800 can be.

The Lumia 710 also shoots 720p HD video which as you can see from our sample video, is more than adequate for a lower end device.

Software and Apps

Windows Phone hasn’t changed from our review of the Lumia 800, apart from some small Nokia-only updates, what you get in the 800 will be the same here, and indeed the majority of the software will be the same as all other Windows Phones, sans the Nokia exclusive apps.

We had nothing to say on Nokia Music in the past, but since then it has become available here in Ireland and the short answer is – it’s really good.

There are set playlists inside the App called ‘Mixes’ that are updated and changed by Nokia on a regular basis and the app allows you to skip 6 songs an hour due to radio licensing laws, but we’ve found that this just makes us discover amazing bands/artists that we would have otherwise missed.

Nokia Music alone is enough to warrant getting a Nokia Windows Phone over other Windows Phone offerings.

The Windows Phone Marketplace has recently reached over 80,000 apps – up 20,000 from just back in February. It’s officially the fastest growing smartphone app store in history.

This means that while some big apps such as Draw Something or Instagram are still missing from Windows Phone, essential apps like Netflix, Sky News and even Dominos Pizza are here.

Battery

We were a little disappointed with the battery life to be quite honest, the HTC Radar would be the equivalent mid-range Windows Phone device and we were really pleasantly surprised with how long that could last without a charge.

The Lumia 710 averages a day, give or take.

As we always like to do, we’ll stress that you most likely will have to charge all smartphones on an almost daily basis anyway.

Call Quality and Antenna Performance

We have no complaints with call quality or performance here, calls on speakerphone could get a bit harsh-sounding but otherwise it’s spot on, we had no dropped calls or major loss of signal.

Issues

We don’t have much in the way of issues with the Lumia 710, other than what we’ve already mentioned, such as the bare-bones 8GB of storage and annoying physical front buttons.

Wrap Up

Nokia may have put far more love and attention into the Lumia 800, but the 710 is still a fine piece of hardware containing an extremely fresh and fluid OS inside.

If you can look past the cheap, plastic feel and lack of front facing camera, the Lumia 710 is a really good choice for those who want a cheaper alternative to an iPhone or Android device.

Nokia Music is a great bonus, which helps put the 710 on a higher platform than the HTC Radar or any other similarly specced devices.

Did we mention that you can change the back cover to 5 different colours?

That nostalgia counts for a lot.

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

Does the latest instalment of this long-running franchise come out swinging?

PGA Tour 13 is the latest work from the EA Tiburon and comes jam-packed with a host of new modes but in all honesty, these tweaks won’t have you shouting from the rooftops instead the new gameplay mechanics will.

The swing physics in the game have been altered, changed and beautifully refined to allow players really connect and give further input into their shots.

Some of the game’s new features allow players to setup their shots with a host of new options including: tempo, swing plane and shot power controls. Take for example the tweaked “swing arc” function that shows you how to hit the optimum shot with your chosen club.

A new addition to the game, gives players the option to, change the position of their feet so to manipulate the flight of the ball, fine-tune the exact point you hit the ball and an even open or close your stance to create “fade or draw”.

One piece of gameplay I couldn’t of survived without was the caddy, who was always there to dole out helpful hints and tips on the best way to approach a shot.

For those of you using playing the game on an Xbox 360, PGA Tour 13 is the first game EA Sports game to give motion control a huge part of the game. Full body movements are tracked beautifully with the Kinect and create, in my opinion; the most advanced and authentic swing to date in a simulated golf game. Using the Kinect and a host of voice commands provide truly unique gameplay, not seen before in a sports sim.

Being the latest in the series, all the current favourites are available on the roster including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Ricky Fowler, Jim Furyk and Bubba Watson to name but a few.

For any die-hard golf fanatics, EA have thrown in the Legacy Mode, which thrusts players into the role of Tiger Woods in various stages of his career – from playing as toddler Tiger, to him chasing his 19^th major tournament.

Now to the graphics of the game; EA have long won the awards for beautiful looking games and PGA Tour 13 is no exception, each of the courses are masterfully created, players are near photo-realistic and the improved weather engine brings a touch of realism we haven’t seen before.

All in all, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is fun, challenging and in-depth golf sim and a must buy for all golf fans.

Right off to practice my swing!

4 out of 5 Stars

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The Game

It’s the Vita’s first major foray into Third Person Shooter with Unit 13 –

Unit 13 is the 1st fully-fledged third person shooter for the PS Vita and in my opinion one of the few, which fully embraces the capabilities and software of the PS Vita. Developed by Zipper Interactive, the studio best known for its SOCOM franchise of games, I was interested and truthfully had some high expectations.

You take on the role of a member of the highly specialised military and intelligence group known as “Unit 13″, you choose from one of six operatives as you attempt to complete and master a series of action-packed missions.

There are four main “mission types” that you will engage in – covert, direct action, deadline, and elite. And you can tackle each of these missions in your own style, rescuing hostages, assassinating enemy VIPs, disarming explosives, capturing intel and engaging in heated fire-fights. Mission types include: Direct Action – Infiltrate the enemy stronghold and complete the objectives at any cost. Deadline – Time is of the essence – Infiltrate the mission area and complete the objectives before the clock runs out. Covert – Stealth is the name of the game here. Enter the zone and complete the mission objectives without being detected by the enemy. Elite – Only the best of the best will make it out alive. The player’s health does not regenerate, there are no checkpoints and the enemies are deadlier than ever – basically your standard hard mode for any game.

In the game, you control a squad of 6 characters, each with their own special skill be that stealth and sniping to massive machine guns. Of the 6, you get to choose one of the guys to take into a mission with you – the game will tell you who is recommended for a mission, but you don’t need to listen to that and in most cases it aids your leaderboard score as you’ll earn more points.

The game offers multiplayer co-op and as any of those missions can be completed cooperatively which makes things a bit easier on the harder ones. In co-op, if your partner goes down you can revive them, which helps you to not fail missions as easily. With the PS Vita, you don’t need any special headsets to communicate to your teammate either since every Vita has a built in mic. This makes playing co-op really the preferred way to go through the game (you get bonus xp for playing online as well).

The Good

• The variety of mission types is good and the open-ended elements of the levels mean you can complete them in a number of different ways. Personally I spent a lot of time on the stealth missions, hacking back to days of Syphon Filter on the PlayStation One and Two.
• The constant need for caution and vigilance makes missions pretty suspenseful and you won’t be dashing through the game.
• Good variety of mission types.
• Scoring system and leaderboards encourage you to perform skilfully and with friends using the online co-op systems.

The Bad

• No competitive multiplayer is a severe loss for this game.
• Elite missions can be overly punishing, in that the difficulty can be inconsistent where “easy” missions are harder than “hard” ones.
• There’s no real story to the game, which some people will be upset about.
• The enemy AI is occasionally erratic and can lead to annoying shootouts where the enemy runs into walls.

The Wrap-up

Unit 13 give you a fair amount of content to work through but the 90% predictable enemy behaviour and easy shooting, can sometimes kill the action a bit. Add to this that some missions will see you die several times and some players may find this game a bit frustrating. However, the ways in which the game rewards your skills and requires you to take a tactical approach to most of the game. All in all, if you like third person shooters and own a PS Vita, this game is really a no brainer. Everything about Unit 13 screams quality; it is a shame about no competitive multiplayer though.

80/100%

Back in 2007, when BioWare announced it was producing a series of RPG’s that would change the face of games, most of us rolled our eyes to the skies and judged it as simple marketing ploy. The company claimed that it was to produce a trilogy of games in which the storyline carried over the actions of earlier gameplay choices. But truthfully upon reflection BioWare has done just that…

The first Mass Effect was like nothing ever conceived, an almost perfect western RPG that pulled you in from the first line of dialogue, mind-blowing action and a crazy experience. Then the second Mass Effect was released and it dramatically built on the first and gave an all-round stunning experience but still couldn’t reach the coveted 100% review mark.

Last week, the third and (perhaps) final game in the trilogy landed on my desk. Within hours the game was in my console and it has yet to leave it. From the first graphic of the opening scene you know you’re in for an amazing journey. BioWare have out done themselves, with what I can only call their masterpiece. The game is the perfect combination of exploration, progression and combat in a vast universe.

The story for this instalment is simple; playing as Shepard you must fight back against the Reapers, who have made it to Earth and launched a devastating attack on the planet, killing millions. For those of you yet to play the original two games, the Reapers are an advanced mechanical race who, every 50,000 years or so, wipe out all organic life in the universe and their first stop on the campaign is Earth.

Side note: if you have yet to play the first two games in this series, stop what you are doing and go get them. Why? Well, because they are brilliant.

Like oh so many good RPG’s, there are six different character classes, each focusing on a different set of tactics, weapons and each with their own special skills, ranging from an Adrenaline mode for the Soldier, to a Tactical Cloak for the Infiltrator or the Biotic Charge for the Vanguard.

The good news for those you who have lost hours honing their Shepard’s skills/character from the first two games, you can still import your profiles again and this time, your previous choices have a huge bearing on how the game and story plays out. If this is your first time, you’ll get a set of choices that the studio has deemed the key decisions but, for the greatest experience, (last time preaching I swear) it’s probably for the best to go and play through the last two titles before going through this new one.

Nearly everything in the game is improved. The graphics are sharper, and so are the enemies. Levelling up is slightly more flexible, and weapons are vastly more customisable. Customization has been brought back from the first Mass Effect and now plays a heavy role when configuring on your armor and weaponry, as you find different add-ons on your missions that offer a variety of bonuses that perk your health, shield power or shield regeneration, melee damage, and even stuff that will make you a better sniper.

Mass Effect 3 delivers an almost flawless gameplay experience, as you’re presented with all sorts of missions and side-missions (many which you can get by simply jogging past the relevant conversation), whether they’re related to the story or just secondary in terms of importance, and the action is neatly structured so that you don’t get the feeling you’re overwhelmed by all sorts of things, all at the same time.

The tedious planet scanning and mining of Mass Effect has been replaced with the gathering of war assets and a “galactic readiness” meter.  This is the element that ties it everything together, the ongoing challenge that sees everything from a unit of Marines to an entire space fleet helping you in your final showdown against the Reapers.

One new element to the game is the co-operative multiplayer. RPG’s and multiplayer games don’t usually go hand in hand but strangely this new element of gameplay proves to be the perfect side dish. Made up of 10 wave survival matches, which can be played across six sprawling maps and even allows you play as races other than humans, with Krogan, Turian and Drell forces each adding their own unique flavour to the battle. A four-player skirmish with experienced players is amazing to watch, as biotic and tech abilities smash into brutal firepower for some spectacular showdowns.

All in all this game is a sum of its parts and is gaming on a grand scale. It’s truly a magnificent finale to Shepard’s epic saga. Apart from some slight graphic slips and lips being out-of-sync, everything about the game is astonishing, as full story lines and loose ends are tied-up, long running comrades return and there are still some significant surprises.

Mass Effect 3 is simple a magnificent game and one gaming experience you can’t miss out on. Think of Mass Effect being the Star Wars of this generation’s grown-ups.

Goodbye Shepard and I hope we meet again sometime in the future.

98% / 100%

The Games:

These are the games we know and love from the PlayStation 2! Included is Jak and Daxter:The Precursor Legacy, Jak II and Jak 3. All come on a single Blu-Ray Disk under the “Classics HD” Range. I’m not sure what else to say about these games. If you’ve played them, you know how good they are, if you haven’t played them, well, why not? You really have no excuse now! How you’ve managed to avoid playing them since 2001 is beyond me, but take it from me, they are worth your time. They all have great stories, great characters and some amazing voice acting. Start with The Precursor Legacy on The Old World and move on from there. While some aspects of the games have slightly dated now, as a whole they’ve held up remarkably well to the test of time and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing them over again!

The Good:

It’s Jak and Daxter in 720pHD at 60fps!! And there’s even the option to play in Stereoscopic 3D! Naughty Dog have also added support for Playstation Network Trophies, which is a nice addition. It’s nice to see such great, memorable games looking so well and playing just as good as they did back in 2001-2004 when I would have played them originally. The controls are still as sharp, though it’s nice not to be tethered to the console this time round! Finally, we’ve still got the same great voice acting and story to replay over again!

The Bad:

While the resolution has been increased, the textures are still very PS2 quality and really jar a little when you’ve just moved from the like of Uncharted 3! Though, I do like the style, I can’t help but just want more. Gamer tastes have evolved and while these are some great games and the first title is definitely a classic in my book, 2 and 3 just never lived up to the original (as is the way so may times).

Wrap Up:

If you liked the orginals, or missed them first time round, then I can heartly recommend this. If you didn’t like them first time round, then nothings going to change there. The resolution and Frame Rate bump is nice (even if the textures aren’t up to modern standard) and the addition of the 3D is a fun element. Overall, given that I like them first time round, it scores a 3/5 from me!

The Game

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a fantasy roleplaying game from Big Huge Games, the studio behind PC RTS smash hit Rise of Nations and a lesser-known developer, 38 Studios.

A new IP from both studios under the umbrella of EA, Reckoning feels like a strange hybrid of a lot of RPGs from the past.

Reckoning was always going to have a hard time convincing consumers to part with their cash, coming not too long after the enormous Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* and just before Mass Effect 3 – it would seem even the most demanding RPG fan would have their plate full.
Read on to find out how Amalur and its’ fantasy setting fared against these RPG juggernauts.

*Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning actually has Elder Scrolls designer Ken Rolston on board.

The Good

Fans of the ‘traditional’ RPG setting will feel right at home in the world of Amalur, both developers have done a good job in setting the atmosphere around the player, if you’re familiar with Lord of the Rings, The Elder Scrolls series or any similar game/movie, you’ll settle into Amalur easily and quickly.

The visual style is very nice, it’s simple and almost cartoonish but works well, the environment is colourful and easy to navigate around, and enemy design is typically fantasy yet fresh and new at the same time.

Combat is something of a mixed bag, deciding if it’s good or bad is mostly subjective – a lot of players will find it enjoyable and easy to master while others may find it quite repetitive and boring.
If you’ve played Fable you’ll know what to expect, X/Square controls your primary weapon, Y/Triangle controls your secondary weapon, B/Circle for a combat roll and Right Trigger combined with a face button will spit out a spell.
Simple and potentially enjoyable, again depending on the players’ preference.

The Bad

There are specific combos to learn in your start menu, but they ultimately boil down to a slightly more advanced version of button-mashing, a problem which plagues the combat of the entire game.
Ever battle seems to be the same, melee – roll – arrow – magic, rinse and repeat.

Map/World design is quite a let-down, especially given the scope and setting of the game, each section of the world tries to give you the impression of freedom but each one is actually very linear and sparse.
Some worlds just feel completely out of place too, the arid desert is a prime example, it just doesn’t look right to watch our Hero fully clad in steel plate armour while running past a cactus in the middle of the desert – it breaks the immersion and looks ridiculous.

While we did love the overall setting and atmosphere of Amalur, the story itself feels quite generic and uninspired – like it could have been ripped from any fantasy novel or movie.
We find it hard to care for the characters and even though the quality of voice acting wasn’t bad, no character felt well and truly fleshed out the way we would have liked.

Camera control is also a nuisance, the camera seemed to have a mind of its’ own at time and it proved frustrating to have to adjust it constantly.

Wrap Up

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a decent foray into the Fantasy RPG world, while it has a nice yet shallow world, a Fable-esque combat system and a generally forgettable story, it’s not a bad game and would make a perfect gateway-game for anyone who wouldn’t normally be an RPG player.

For most though, we don’t think there’s enough here to warrant a purchase – a rental or bargain bin is the best option for Amalur.

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

SSX is back. With a slightly darker tone and set in real locations this time round, as opposed to the previous titles of the series. Thats not to say that it has lost its arcade style fun and colourful madness. If thats what your into. This time round SSX is jam packed with content. There are over 150 deadly drops on 9 real life mountain locations worldwide. So your going to be at this one for a while.

The Game

EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis 2 is the latest iteration in the massive EA Sports stable of games and the sequel to the Wii-only Grand Slam Tennis released in 2009.
It’s one of the few dedicated tennis games on the market at the moment, with most tennis games now taking the shape of mini-games in Kinect Sports and similar party games.

The Good

If you’re serious about your tennis, and we suspect you are if you’re reading this, you need to get a copy of Grand Slam Tennis 2.

The game boasts a new ‘Total Racket Control’ mechanic that allows the player to use your controllers’ thumbstick almost exactly as you’d expect it to work with a tennis game.
Put simply, this is how a tennis game should play with a controller – not waggling it around.

The attention to detail is very impressive, from Roger Federer to Maria Sharapova and even retired legends such as Pete Sampras, you won’t go want for iconic players to play as.
Alternatively you can create your own character using a fairly good character creation tool and assign stats to set him or her to certain tennis play style.

The official tennis courts and competitions are present and detailed too, along with ESPN Grand Slam Classics sets of scenarios that allow you to play historic matches in real-life tennis history as they were or change the outcome if you wish.
The ESPN-branded instant replay is also a cool feature.

Online multiplayer is implemented well too, it works seamlessly and doesn’t even require an Online Pass “due to technical reasons with our code registration system.” according to EA.

The Bad

The game can get very repetitive, very fast.
This is to be expected given the nature of the game and if you’re a massive tennis buff then this shouldn’t be a problem, much like soccer fans can play FIFA for months on end but for the more casual tennis fan, repetitiveness may well hamper your experience quite quickly.

Some of the animations can be quite blocky at times too, given that the players are the focus of the entire gameplay, this is disappointing at best and downright annoying at worst.

The two commentators are constantly repeating themselves from match to match and sometimes even during the same match, a minor gripe but annoying all the same.

Wrap Up

EA Sports Grand Slam tennis isn’t for everyone, which is hardly surprising.
If you’re not a tennis fan then it’s obviously not going to be your game of choice.

That said, you don’t need to be a hardcore tennis-buff in order to enjoy it and even if you’re just slightly interested in tennis overall, do yourself a favour and give Grand Slam Tennis 2 a try.

We don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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