Reaction: The day Microsoft stole Lara

If you haven't already heard the big news from today's Microsoft conference, brace yourself.

The next Tomb Raider game is an Xbox One exclusive!

This news made me go through a range of emotions from disgust to anger, but eventually I settled for disappointed. You see I have played Tomb Raider on PlayStation for many years. Even the latest reboot I played on PS3. To know that my PS4 is not going to see where the reboot goes next is sad.

It's no surprise that Microsoft have gone down this route. They need something to go head to head with Uncharted 4, particularly when they could both be heading for Holiday 2015 release dates. Sony have had a strong start and Microsoft are feeling backed into a corner and they have taken aggressive action to try and boost their console. It's a gamble that will hopefully pay off for them.

I had really hoped that this new generation of consoles would see an end to these kind of tactics from the big boys. Sony have showed the merits of their console through first party exclusive titles like Infamous Second Son, The Last of Us Remastered and the myriad of Sony funded indie titles. Microsoft have pooled all of their internal resources into Halo, Forza and Gears of War. They need something else and this move makes sense for them.

While this is going to be a sore point for many PlayStation owners for a while. The Sony conference later in the day certainly put the wind back in my gaming sails.

DayZ on PS4! Hell yeah! Thanks Sony, you win me over again.

Playstation Plus - March 2014 Update

This months PlayStation Plus update has seen a few people start to freak out a little bit. Sony left it quite late in the month to announce what we are getting this on 5th March. The advantage to this is that PS4 owners now get this game on the same day as everyone else. Which is nice if you one (It's my birthday this month...hint hint). So what can we expect this month. Will it match the quality of the last couple of month offerings?

Tomb Raider - Review (PS3)

Due to scenes of brutal violence, this game in not for Little Gamers.


Tomb Raider is one of gaming's great franchises. In the Nineties, the emergence of Lara Croft was especially important for me. It was the game that I got a Orchid Righteous 3D card for. It allowed me to lord over my common PlayStation owning friends with the superior looking Lara. How times have changed, as I have just played through the newest Tomb Raider game on my PlayStation 3, whilst my friends all played on the PC version and told how much better it looked on the PC.

Tomb Raider - Reborn Trailer

The Tomb Raider bandwagon is gathering steam ahead of next weeks launch. Now we have the launch trailer, which features a selection of gameplay footage and a bunch of people describing their experience of being Lara.

Tomb Raider - First reviews

Tomb Raider is back! Released next Friday, it sees a gritty reboot of the franchise. Gone are the tight shorts and huge boobs of the old Lara. This Lara Croft is meant to be more fragile, more human and the overall feel of the game is one survival. Earlier this week, The embargo lifted and the reviews started flooding out.

E3 - The Hot List

So E3 is over and now comes the wait for the games that have blown you away. So what was the greatest games from E3. Here is my own personal top 5.

5. Dishonoured - Bethesda

Bethesda's Cyberpunk stealth em up wins the award of E3 for most bizarre power. Fish Possession! Yes possess the body of a fish to infiltrate installations and then revert back to your human form. Weird!

Apart from the incredible power set, this shaping up to be a Jules Verne inspired, First person, Assassins Creed/ Thief em up. Take a look at the gameplay trailer below.



4. Assassins Creed 3 - Ubisoft

I have loved this franchise since day one and it carries on to great new heights with the story of Connor. Set during the American revolution, you can guarantee that all the Templars will be British Officers. A larger world with a emphasis on the Frontier lands and using Connors survival skills to hunt down prey and the occasional patrol. The main E3 trailer focuses on the one gameplay aspect I cannot get my head around. How does a stealthy assassin operate in the middle of a open battlefield. Well, by all accounts in the trailer below, pretty bloody well!



Also, here is a gameplay video, featuring the frontier area and some more of Connors new skills and abilities.



3. Assassins Creed 3: Liberation - Ubisoft

A spinoff game to Assassins Creed 3 to be released on the same day. Except it is handheld game and features a female assassin that no one has heard of before. Thank the lord of gaming!

It was top of my Vita want list, Portable Assassins Creed. Fantastic! Take  a look at the trailers below to see the game in action, the brand new crystal white Vita and a closer look at
 Aveline and her arsenal. Once again, its going to be a stabby Christmas in the Gamer HQ.



There aren't many more details to go on at the moment. Ubisoft are taking the Assassins Creed franchise on a huge step forward this year, so the secrecy shields are running at full power.



2. Tomb Raider - Square-Enix

Lara Croft, a British institution in the classic sense. Started off to tremendous praise and public adoration. Then slowly lost her way and eventually she turned into some what of a British disappointment. Luckily, she was rescued by some talented Americans. They nurtured back to some resemblance of her glory days. Things were looking good for Lady Croft and then Nathan Drake turned up.

The Uncharted games took the Tomb Raider premise and turned the action-ometer to 11. Also, Nathan was a better realised character as was the rest of his ensemble across 4 titles. Lara needed to rise to the challenge and this is what we saw glimpse of last year.

It is the video game equivalent of the Chris Nolan's Batman films. Reboot the franchise and start it again but more real than before. This Tomb Raider sees a young girl fighting to survive in a hostile environment. Desperate to find her crew mates before the inhabitants of the island find them or kill her.

The trailer below is the most stunning trailer of E3, watch and enjoy!



Watch out Nathan, Lara's back!

1. Watch Dogs - Ubisoft

The best realised game of E3. The plot embraces the fears of the future we actually face.
The gameplay demo to me was wondrous display of everything I want in an open world game.

This is the game Syndicate should of been.

First, here is an introduction to the world of Watch Dogs



Pretty interesting stuff! So, take a look at game in action.



Despite mumblings that based on this PC based demo the game was being developed for Next Gen consoles. Ubisoft have confirmed that Watch Dogs is coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

So thats E3 done for another year. Maybe in 2013 I can get a ticket! (anyone??)

E3 - it's the most spectacular time of the year! - Part 1

Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. Once a year gamings best and brightest gather at the Los Angeles convention centre and reveal to the world what we can expect to be playing with for the rest of the year. This year rather than flying out to LA myself and report live from the show itself. I decided it was easier to stay here in the UK and celebrate The Queens Diamond Jubilee. I mean who wants the hassle of flying all the way over the LA.

So lets go over the news and announcements straight out of E3 2012.

Microsoft


Microsoft got the ball rolling this year and it was a run of the mill affair. With no new console or hardware to announce, the main focus of the press conference was on media integration and which exclusives can we expect on the Microsoft powerhouse. Lets cover the things that caught my attention.

• Smart Glass - This new system allows the gamer to use any SmartPhone or tablet as a second screen in games (Hi Nintendo!). The demo showed how you can use Smart Glass in Madden 13 to pick plays and monitor the movement of your players. You can also use your tablet or phone to control your Xbox dashboard experience as well.

• Internet Explorer for Xbox - Just what the Xbox needed. I mean there are times when I down on the couch and realise that I can't find my phone, iPad, laptop or Vita to access the web. So at least now I can spend hours shouting at the TV. "Xbox... Internet... Google... No, Gooogle.. G O O G L E!

• Xbox Music - Zune failed and they need something to compete against Sony Music Unlimited

• New TV and Film channels are being added to increase the home viewing experience (in North America)

Thankfully the rest of the presentation focused on what we all love, the games.

Halo 4

Master Chief is back and this time He has dug up a evil more ancient than convenent, The ForeRunners. Audiences were treated to a 5 minute gameplay demo which introduced to the new world and creatures and some of the new toys that Chief gets to play . I love the way that 343 Studios has taken the Chief predicament at the end of Halo 3 and reunited with the UNSC. This should be a belter of a game and Microsoft know it.



Gears of War: Judgement

Bit of a surprise this one. A new Gears game set before the original and featuring Baird as the main character? Alot of the series fans are not too happy about this. Although, this could be very interesting for the franchise. Epic have handed this game over to BulletStorm developers, People can Fly. Looking at the humour they injected into BulletStorm, then a Baird based Gears game could be quite special.



Resident Evil 6

Capcom demoed Resident Evil 6 and I think it is now clear that the days of survival horror are long gone for this series. There was more action in their 5 minute walkthrough than in the first game. Zombies (yes proper ones!) everywhere. Explosions and fire everywhere. Helicopters falling out of the sky, exploding freeways full of cars. The trailer introduces new characters and plots at an alarming pace. I think this game is going to be a full on, adrenaline fuelled, action-fest.



Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Ubisoft demonstrated the new Splinter Cell title. After his spell as Jason Bourne in the last game. Sam Fisher is back and in charge of the new Fourth Echelon. Which means back to sneaking around military camps and cracking the necks of a few terrorists. The stackable execution mode from Conviction is back and expanded, now allowing for moving executions. Ubisoft can do no wrong in my eyes the last few years and 2012 looks like to be another great year for them.



Tomb Raider

Square-Enix showed some gameplay from the new Tomb Raider reboot. It looks incredible! Nathan Drake had better watch his back, because Lara wants her Crown back as Queen of the action games. Some very intense action sequences and some genuine moments of terror and survival horror going on as well. The E3 trailer expands on what is going on a little and it is all a bit Lost. I think this could very well be my game of the year.

Also they announced that all Downloadable Content will be available exclusively on Xbox 360 first.



Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

Right, look here Activision! I fell out with you and promised never to buy another Call of Duty game ever again. How dare you then go and make Black Ops 2 not only look amazing, but also the best Call of Duty game to date.

The demo takes place in Los Angeles,2025, just after terrorists have launched an attack on the US using their own unmanned drones and weapons. It follows our hero as he attempts to escort the President to safety through the chaos. The look and feel of the game appear to be different from previous COD titles. Things appear to be more open and far less corridor driven. Treyarch look like they are about to emerge from the shadow left by Infinity Ward.



So, at the end of the first day. Microsoft had a pretty quiet press conference. All of the new announcements regarding media and tablet integration are nice, but not as nice as a new Xbox announcement. The games though look great and remember, its all about the games!