New Releases Week of 27/11/11

Here are this week's new releases:

02/12/11

• Puss in Boots - Wii, PS3, Xbox360
• Power Rangers Samurai - Wii
• Now That's What I Call Music: Dance & Sing - Wii
• Assassin's Creed Revelations - PC

New Releases Week of 21/11/11

Here are this weeks new releases:

25th November 2011

• Zumba Fitness 2 - Wii
• WWE 12 - Xbox360, PS3, Wii
• Winter Stars - Xbox360, PS3, Wii
• Tekken Hybrid - PS3
• Singstar Party Pack - PS3
• Sherlock Holmes: The Secret of the Silver Earring - Wii
• Rayman Origins - Xbox360, PS3, Wii
• Move Fitness - PS3
• Lord of the Rings: War of the North - Xbox360, PS3, PC
• Kirby's Adventure - Wii
• King of Fighters Xiii - Xbox360, PS3
• Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 5 - Wii
• Ben 10 Galactic Racing - Xbox360, PS3, Wii
• Batman Arkham City - PC
• ABBA You Can Dance - Wii

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Today saw the release of the next instalment in the Elder Scrolls series of games, Skyrim.  The Elder Scrolls series of games are considerably popular but are often considered to be for 'nerdy' types who play World of Warcraft, have no normal friends and spend there free time dressing up as Orcs and Elves.  While a select few do fall into this stereotype, most are not like this and more likely are serious gamers who treat fantasy games as guilty pleasures.  Oblivion managed to persuade many gamers that the Elder Scrolls games were awesome games and put the series on the commercial map, with the anticipation of Skyrim appealing to an even wider audience. This, I believe is because I am confident that every man has a deep childhood love for Dragons and the wish that they could fight them.  It was this and the much improved graphics, gameplay, animation and a host of new features that has lead to Skyrim being a hugely anticipated game.

The opening sequence/tutorial mission where you are a prisoner and escape is a staple of the series.  Morrowind had you on a prison boat, Oblivion had you in the Imperial Prison escaping through the sewers/secret tunnels under the city.  Skyrim has taken this staple and revved it up with more action, more detail and given it a feel very close to cinematic feel.  Having played the openings of all three games, the Skyrim opening beats the other two hands down.  I'm not going to tell you what you have to do because this is really something you need experience and go through yourself.  Once this quest is finished you are left looking out into the pure beauty of the land of Skyrim.

The level of detail and realism in the environments is verging on ridiculous, with everything from grass, trees, mountains, changing weather, rivers and creatures that inhabit the land, nothing has been left out or been given a below par look.  The pure beauty and the feeling that you're in a world that feels alive and real is what makes you lose yourself in this hugely immersive world and to say the world is huge is a massive understatement.  Skyrim has over 350 primary locations which is over twice as many as Fallout 3, and over 200 secondary locations which won't show on the in-game map.  The amount of towns, caves, dungeons and outside places you can explore will keep you exploring the land for months to come, if not years.

Exploration isn't the only thing to do to pass your time in the game, there's cooking, blacksmithing, tanning, smelting, reading books, get married or the usual fighting any creature or person you so happen to come across.  Although some of these new features might not have been considered as needed, they are a very welcome addition to the game.  These features allow for an even greater level of immersion into the world letting you make your own armour or jewellery to keep or sell off, or cooking foods to create food that give a greater benefit to you compared to if the food was raw.  Another new feature has been the changes in the combat system.

I will admit that as exciting as the new dual wielding combat system was, I was unsure if it would be as good as it appeared.  Even with a world as big and detailed as this, a rubbish fighting system is all that's needed to drag a game down from good to terrible.  I can happily tell you that the new system works and brings a greater level of satisfaction when you kill something.  If you want to be a true mage of the realm then you can dual wield the same spell to make it stronger or a fire spell in one hand and a shock spell in the other for example.  If you want to be a crazed warrior then you can dual wield swords, axe's or even a sword and an axe but it comes at the price of being unable to block.  The combat system takes a little getting used to at first but once you get the hang of it you'll find the set up that works best for you and you will be on your way to becoming the most dangerous person in the whole world.

I could spend an age writing about Skyrim and all the new features but I think it's best if you find out about them on your own esteem, because it feels so much better when you discover something for yourself.  I will however say that if you are looking for a truly magical, diverse, immersive videogame experience where you get to fight creatures, people & dragons with swords, arrows or magic then this is the game for you.  Be aware that if you do venture into the land of Skyrim then you can kiss goodbye to many months of your life and more over, your social life.

One last goodbye to Cyrodiil

With the release of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim less than a few days away, I thought it only fitting that I take one last trip into the lands of Cyrodiil and Oblivion and charted my goings on in this blog.  To set the picture for you all I normally play Oblivion as the good guy, the hero of the land but we all know that a blog about that would be a tad boring.  So with that in mind I will be logging my exploits as 'Skullcrusher' the most feared fighter in the Arena, and his fall from grace into total bloodthirsty madness.  So what are we waiting for, let's begin with the awakening of a new day in Anvil.

It's 6:05 am on Loredas and the day that would mark the end of Skullcrusher and a very black day for the whole of Cyrodiil.  Fully laden with my Armour and Weapons of Madness I set off to Harcane Grove to begin my murderous rampage by killing the purest of creatures, a Unicorn.  After nearly a days ride I found the grove, where the Unicorn was being protected by 3 Minotaur's wielding War Hammers.  After a 3 on 1 Handicap match I stood victorious and was left with just me & the Unicorn.  It was at this point that I'd decided that the Unicorn would meet it's death at the hand of my enchanted Warhammer 'Nerveshatter'.  A few heavy swings later, a bloodied Unicorn lay dead with a head resembling some kind of Red Skull looking horse.  It was getting late so I decided it was time to wipe out the residents of Leyawiin as they slept, but Bravil was on the way so I would visit the Tavern for a celebratory drink.



Once in Bravil I entered 'Silverhome on the Water' in the hope of alcohol but the inn keeper had none for sale, which only fuelled my blood lust because I could see loads on the shelf behind him.  In my rage I shot the inn keeper dead in the face with an arrow and he fell, his blood splattered on the wall behind him.  The patrons of the inn didn't take to kindly to my act of violence and decided they should take me down, this decision resulting in 3 more bodies accumulating on the Inn floor and a further spraying of red that added a bit of colour to the dingy cesspool.  Whilst studying the wine on offer a guard entered the Inn and studied the latest victim.  Noticing that the body was still warm, he announced "there's a killer on the loose" before running off to check another victim at which point he deduced that I (the only person in the Inn), was the killer.  Foolishly he tried to arrest me but only succeeded in increasing the body count on the Inn floor.

After enjoying a bottle of Ale it was time to move on, leaving the Inn to face the wrath of the city guards who wanted my head.  Countless Guards and townsfolk fell to my Madness blade but I had to flee the city after meeting my match with a villager who couldn't be killed and possessed weapons far greater than myself.  I left the city with Leyawiin in my sights but not before killing another guard and a horse on my exit from town. Damn I hate those Paint Horses.  On the way I found Water's Edge a small settlement that was soon to become another crime scene.  Once the residents were dispatched I continued South and to Leyawiin, where it seemed news of my crimes had travelled because I was accosted by the guards as soon as I entered town.

After killing all that came near me and taking my body-count to about 40, I quickly become bored.  There was only one place to go, one place to re-invigorate my blood lust and that was the Imperial City Palace, home of the Elder Council and my last stop where I would fight to my death.  I dispatched 5 guards outside the palace, repaired my armour and healed myself up ready for my last big hurrah into the history books of Tamriel as one of the most prolific serial killers in the land.  Before I entered it was time to dispatch of my Adoring Fan, the man who'd followed me throughout my rampage, like my Apprentice in the ways of the Sith.  He tried to run but my arrow was much quicker than him and he fell, face first onto the stone stairs leading down from the palace.

Upon entering I encountered heavy opposition against some of the lands best Guards, killing around 7 before attacking High Chancellor Ocato and making my way up to the next level where with little health and help from conjured creatures I managed to hold out for another 5 minutes before falling to my death.  My reign of terror and fear was not a long one but caused enough Bloodshed to put a bounty on my head even I couldn't pay.  The people of Cyrodiil & even Tamriel will be talking for years about Skullcrusher & how the People's Champion of the Arena descended into madness and rage, talking over 50 innocent lives with him.  Well all innocent except one, who was a Mythic Dawn Agent so she got what she deserved, the stupid wench.

New Releases Week of 06/11/11

Here are this weeks new console releases:

8th November 2011

• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 - PS3, Xbox360, PC

11th November 2011

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PS3, Xbox360, PC
• Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 (Kinect) - Xbox360
• We Sing Rock - Wii
• Spongebob Surf & Skate Roadtrip (Kinect) - Xbox360
• My Self Defence Coach (Kinect) - Xbox360
• Move Mind Benders - PS3
• Motionsports: Adrenaline - PS3
• Monster High: Ghoul Spirit - Wii
• LA Noire - PC
• Get Up And Dance - PS3, Wii
• Eyepet & Friends - PS3
• Dodonpachi Resurrection: Deluxe Edition - Xbox360
• Black Eyed Peas Experience - PS3, Xbox360, Wii
• Big League Sports - Xbox360

Goldeneye 007 Reloaded Review

If you are a Gamer of a certain age then I don't need to say much about the original Goldeneye game for the N64.  If you're a little on the younger side then you should know that it was the first console based FPS to rival it's PC counterparts in it's day and regularly voted as one of the best First Person Shooters of all time.  What would follow would be a huge amount of legal to-and-fro action leaving the game rights and legal status of the first game still unsure of today.

This legal state of confusion and developer Rare jumping ship from Nintendo to Microsoft, has meant that no direct sequel or re-release has ever or probably will ever happen.  After a failed attempt by EA Games to cash in on the name with Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (which lead to mediocre reviews), it  was Activision & Eurocom who took up the reigns of giving the classic N64 game a modern day re-imagining.  Goldeneye 007, released for the Wii last year proved a critically acclaimed success and it was only a matter of time before it was re-tweaked and released on consoles.  So now we have Goldeneye 007: Reloaded but does it have enough to become a classic like it's predecessor?

The basic layout of the previous game are all here but the story has been edited and changed slightly from that of the film.  Pierce Brosnan has now been replaced by current Bond Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench continues her role as M (as the only returning member of the original cast).  Other characters within the film have been changed; 006 is no longer Sean Bean & Valentin Zukovsky no longer looks like Robbie Coltrane instead he is slim, toned and covered in tattoos, to name a few changes.

There are however some key moments and lines from previous game/film that have been kept in: for example the first mission remains the infiltration of the Dam and the drop from the Ventilation shaft into the toilet cubicle remains the same.  You'll come to find that when you encounter these moments a little feeling of happiness and nostalgia enter your mind and you'll forgive the fact that certain changes have occurred.  The one change I personally can't overlook is replacing the totally brilliant Tina Turner version of Goldeneye with the ear-shriekingly annoying warblings of Nicole Scherzinger, but that's just me.

The game has more of an emphasis on all out fire-fights but if you would prefer to sneak around the locations, learning how the enemy patrols move around then that option is often available to you.  The single player also includes some vehicle based action sequences where your shooting skills whilst in a moving vehicle are put to the test and there is your smartphone which fills the gap of mandatory gadget, which you use to take photos of  a helicopter in the first mission to collect intel on it.  Some of the levels within the game are re-workings of the old classics while some are completely new but the balance and style of the gameplay make it feel similar and as if you have been here before.

The graphics within the game look good but are not as good as some other games in the market.  Despite being a new engine built specifically for this game it can't help feeling a direct port of the Wii version but with just a little more shine added to it.  It's never going to be the best looking FPS out there but it does the job required of it in giving the game a nice shiny, new high definition experience.

A new addition to this version is the MI6 Mode, which is basically a copy of Spec Ops mode from Call of Duty.  This mode consist of 40 different missions focusing over 4 styles of gameplay (Extraction, Assault, Stealth, and Wave Defence) which add a certain level of longevity to the game.  The unusual aspect is that this new game mode is only single player which will more than likely result in it being forgotten about after a few swear-induced failed attempts.

The online multiplayer now supports up to 16 players and has new maps and weapons from that of the Wii version but all in all it is very much the same.  The multiplayer is where the game feels the most similar to the original, with a wide range of modes and customisations, many taken from the original game (paintball mode anyone?) and the ability to play as many Bond villians.  The online suits the needs but I can't see it steeling too many people away from games such as Call of Duty: MW3 or Battlefield 3 but it's the split-screen with a group of friends where most of the fun will be had.

This re-imagining isn't going to be great for everyone and if you're looking for a game as classic as the original then you'll be disappointed.  If you are looking for a exact carbon copy update of the original then you'll be disappointed.  If you are instead looking for a good, fun, homage to the original then this is what you are after and if you liked the original then by all means I recommend that you pick this up and relive some of your youth.

Grand Theft Auto V trailer revealed by Rockstar.

As teased last week, today saw the trailer for the next instalment of the GTA series go live, simply called Grand Theft Auto 5.  If you've not already seen the trailer then check it out below.



Rockstar are renowned for being very reluctant with the information that they release concerning new Grand Theft Auto games, and as good as this trailer is we are still none the wiser on definitive facts.  We know that the game is set in an area based upon Los Angeles, what we don't know is whether it will specifically be the Vinewood Area (GTA's take on Hollywood), The Los Santos region from San Andreas or whether it will encompass the entire San Andreas area from the game.  Personally I can't see them doing the whole region & suspect (from the sprawling mountains & run down looking districts) that GTA V will feature the regions of Los Santos and Red County from San Andreas.  There's also the words Los Santos graffiti'd onto a wall of a raised road.

We also know that the main antagonist of the game would appear to be a retired criminal who has moved to a new town in the hopes of raising a family but ends up being dragged back into his old life (very Red Dead Redemption *wink wink*).  The trailer also encompasses some classic GTA moments including car chases, a man being chased down by the Police and a Police helicopter and a hooker plying her trade on the streets.

There is one thing that can't be denied and that is that Grand Theft Auto 5 looks beautiful.  From the opening shot of a couple and a dog (a new addition perhaps?) walking down a sun-kissed beach to the hikers standing in awe of a huge mountain range, this game looks to be so much more beautiful with greater levels of detail than GTA IV that it seems unfathomable.  Oh and there seem to be quite a couple of shots of planes in the trailer too and a very prominent shot of one at the end, does this signal the return of flyable planes??  

New Releases Week of 30/10/2011

Here are this weeks new console releases:

2nd November 2011

• Uncharted 3 - PS3

4th November 2011

• Sonic Generations - PS3, Xbox 360 
• Just Dance Kids - PS3, Wii, Xbox360 
• Hasbro Family Game Night - PS3, Xbox360, Wii 
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 - Wii 
• Grease: Kinect - Xbox360 
• Blackwater: Kinect - Xbox360 
• Goldeneye - PS3, Xbox360
• Wii Go Vacation - Wii
• Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It - Wii
• Nickelodeon Dance - Wii
• Monopoly Collection - Wii
• Rabbids Alive & Kicking: Kinect - Xbox360

Skyrim News

The wait is almost over and we are only a little over a week away from the release of one of the most anticipated games of the year.  I will be posting a review of the Skyrim a day or two after it's release but until then check out these links with the latest news and previews.

http://www.elderscrolls.com/skyrim/ - The Official Skyrim page with all the latest news and updates

http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/gametrailers-tv/137?ch=1 - The Skyrim Special Episode of GTTV

http://www.oxm.co.uk/ - A very good and funny preview of Skyrim detailing an alternative playthrough of Skyrim.

http://www.facebook.com/TheElderScrolls - Finally if you are on Facebook then this is a page you should like.  They post the latest news & items of interest.

Doritos Crash Course

If you've not heard of Doritos Crash Course then where have you been for the past year?  I'll give you a quick history lesson to get you up to speed.  The game was released by Wanako Games for XBLA in December 2010 as part of the Doritos sponsored "Unlock Xbox" competition, which at the end of the month it was announced the winner ahead of Harm's Way.  In the month that it was released it was downloaded around 1.4 million times which begs the question of just how you might have missed it.  I think that's enough of the history lesson for now so let's get down to the game itself.

Crash Course is a side-scrolling game where you take your Xbox avatar through an assault course in the quickest time possible.  Anyone who has seen the English/American show Total Wipeout will know what to expect from the game; lots of crazy obstacles where failing to progress pass them will result in an untimely drop into a lot of water.

There are 3 main locations within the game (Europe, USA & Japan), each with 5 levels.  The obstacles become harder to avoid and tougher to navigate as you progress throughout the levels, Europe being the first location & Japan being the last location consisting of the most difficult levels.  The kind of obstacles you will face range from Conveyor Belts and Swinging Hammers to Paintballs being fired at you to slow you down.

The gameplay itself is very simple and so easy to just pick up and play which only make the game that little bit better.  Doritos Crash Course is a game that will suck you in and grab a hold of you as you desperately try to beat that Gold medal time, leading to many trips to the cold depths and copious amounts of foul language.  The single player is fun enough on its own but when you get a couple of friends online is when the game excels.  The multiplayer is exactly the same as the single player but the added incentive of beating your friends to the finish line really make this game a brilliant multiplayer game, even if you can't push your friends avatar into the water. 

All in all I would rate this as one of the best XBLA Arcade games available, a brilliantly complete singleplayer and multiplayer game.  Oh and did I mention that it is completely FREE to download so what are you waiting for, get it on your Active Download list now.

Images from xbox.com

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few months then you will be more than aware that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is very close to release.  It has been a little over 5 years since the release of it's predecessor The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, so with that in mind Bethesda studios has recently released a 5th Year Anniversary edition of Oblivion, but is it worth the money?

Oblivion is a brilliant game set in the huge & expansive land of Cyrodiil (A province of Tamriel).  Even though looking at the screenshots and videos of Skyrim make Oblivion look dated graphics wise, it is still one of the best looking games around considering the size of the game itself and how much the game has to load.  I still highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it but if you are a fan of the game like myself, chances are you have already played it/owned it.  So what makes the anniversary edition so special compared to the other versions already out there?  The honest answer being a DVD with behind the scenes footage & bonus material.

The anniversary edition comes with the main game on one disc and the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine downloadable content on another disc.  The game also comes with a full map of Cyrodiil and the Shivering Isles.  This content minus the DVD is exactly the same content that comes with the Game of the Year Edition that was released in September 2007.  So as the Making of Oblivion DVD is the only new thing in this package (except the new grey cover), what is on the DVD.

Well you have the obligatory trailers, one for Oblivion and one for Skyrim.  You also have a few galleries showing some concept art and design drawings of the world, the Armour, the creatures and so on.  The galleries themselves don't consist of that many pictures which I felt was a bit of a disappointment as I expected a lot more.  So onto the actual making of Oblivion film which also, for me, is a bit of a let down.  The film is 40 minutes long and follows the Bethesda Softworks efforts in getting the game made/ready to demo and unveil at the 2005 E3 convention.  Although you get to see how certain elements of the game are made, the production process and some of the people who make the game it doesn't feel like the complete making of documentary that you'd expect to be included in an anniversary special edition.

Overall I felt that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition was a rush job, released at the right time before Skyrim to fully attain the most amount of last ditch revenue before Oblivion is fully cast into the land of memories.  If you have never played Oblivion before and want to know why there is so much hype around the release of Skyrim then I recommend buying this release of the game.  If on the other hand you are a fan of series and are tempted by this I would honestly recommend you give it a miss and hold out until Skyrim's release.

Picture via Bethesda Softworks

Batman: Arkham City

When Batman Arkham Asylum was released back in 2009 it proved to be a surprise hit, finally providing gamers with a game that made you feel as if you were Batman complete with a good story.  Batman Arkham City has a huge weight upon its shoulders in not only living up to the expectations set by Arkham Asylum, but exceeding them.  It would have been all to easy for Rocksteady to rest on the laurels of Arkham Asylum and set Arkham City in a new location, thrown in a few new characters, a new story and released it.  Instead they have taken the already concrete system used within Arkham Asylum and improved upon it.

Arkham City takes place a year after the end of Arkham Asylum.  Quincy Sharp has become the Mayor of Gotham and deemed Arkham & Blackwater Penitentary obsolete and unsuitable for the criminal and insane of Gotham and set up Arkham City (several boroughs of Gotham converted into a maximum security prison island) to house them.  The new super prison is run by enigmatic Doctor Hugo Strange who is merciless in his treatment of any criminals who try to escape the island but seems unconcerned with the goings on within the City.  This lack of concern in the goings on of the prison has allowed the so called Super-Criminals of Gotham to enlist criminals into their gangs and run certain areas of Arkham City leaving the city in the midst of gang turf wars.  Suspecting that Strange might be up to something a little shifty Batman heads into Gotham City with the intention to find out just what is going on.

Rocksteady have put a lot of effort into creating Arkham City and it shows.  The city is dark, dingy and looks run-down with a genuine Gothic feel that you would expect from the world of Batman.  As you travel through the streets or glide over the rooftops, with the shadow of Gotham City lurking in the background, you get the feeling that you are in a war zone and a location that is rife with crime at every turn.  Whether it's cries of assaults as you swoop over alleyways or the instant cries of "Batman's Here" followed a gang of criminals setting upon you, the instant realisation of a crime infested jungle that you're in becomes all to real.

Players of Arkham Asylum will all too familiar with the free-flowing combat system in the game, which Rocksteady have further improved on with new fighting moves and gadgets to use.  Fighting and defeating criminals, as well as completing quest, finding Riddler Trophies or completing Riddler Challenges will earn you XP which you can use to upgrade your Batsuit or purchase new moves/gadgets to further help you defeat the criminal scum within the City.  That said there are a considerably large amount of Batman's gadgets unlocked and usable from the offset allowing you to instantly feel like you are Batman, ridding you of the long winded process of spending half the game unlocking everything.  The way the Dark Knight moves around the skies has been tweaked too, allowing you to dive bomb and pull yourself back up to let you glide for longer which is very useful considering the distances you now have to cover.  You are also granted the ability to use your grapple gun to boost yourself into flight from the top of a building once the ability is unlocked.

The bread and butter of any Super-Hero game is its villains and once again Arkham City excels here.  There are the main stay villains of the Batman Universe with The Joker and Harley Quinn making a return, with the Penguin, Two-Face and Riddler making appearances among many others who turn up through the course of the game.  Filling a game with lots of main enemies can often be a bad point and drag a game down, making it seem overfilled but this doesn't become a problem.  The pure size of Arkham City helps to enable plenty of space with which to place these villains.

Along with a fairly lengthy main storyline there are a considerable amount of side missions, alongside the seemingly hundreds of the Riddler related trophies and quests.  I will say now that if you're not a fan of collectibles then this will be a major hinderence to you.  The Riddler quests are made a little more complex now, with many requiring puzzles to solve in order to obtain them and some that can only be obtained from the use of gadgets unlocked later in the game.  It is these quests coupled with the 'New Game +' mode (which allows you to start a new game with all your unlocked gadgets and on a higher difficulty), and the combat/predator challenges that give the game a large amount of re-playability even after you have finished the main storyline.

All in all Rocksteady Games have far exceeded the expectations that were set by Arkham Asylum.  Instead of sitting on a tested game formula, they have taken that formula and upgraded it, improved it and came out of it with a game that is now the new king of Batman games and a serious contender for game of the year.