Assassin's Creed Unity - Review (PS4)

I had it all sorted this Christmas. I asked for Dragon Age: Inquisition for Christmas,  knowing that it would be the perfect time for me to throw myself into a 50 hour game. So imagine my surprise a month later that I am still only 4 hours into it. The reason for this may shock you and I feel like I should be ashamed of it. I am playing Assassin's Creed Unity and I like it.

Watch_Dogs - Video Highlights

Watch_Dogs has been out for almost a week and somehow I have managed to find the time to play the game, record some footage and edit it all together for your enjoyment. As per usual when a big title I have been anticipating finally comes out, real-life steps in and does its best to keep me away from my console.

This video just shows off some of the games features in action like hacking and how that works in various scenarios, combat and driving. Also, I found a little Easter Egg in a shop that I have put at the end. It's worth the wait

Why I Love Watch_Dogs

Two years after its stunning unveiling at E3 2012 ushered the first glimpse of the next generation of gaming. Ubisoft's cyber crime open world game, Watch_dogs was released this week. I was there at my local branch of Game at midnight, ready to embrace this on my new shiny Next Gen platform, the PS4. There is a part of me that can't believe that I am actually getting to play this on Next Gen kit. I had expected to still be rocking the PS3 when this came out.

7 Second Unboxing - Rayman Legends (PSV)

I love this time of year. Three games in four days. This greeted me on my doorstep tonight when I got home. Making sure that commute to London is going to be great.



Now I just have to decide between Killzone Mercenary and Rayman Legends for my morning gaming session.

Expect a full review of Rayman Legends very soon.

Watch 14 Minutes of Watch_Dogs

With Watch_Dogs only a few months away (launching on the same day as Xbox One hits the UK), the veil of secrecy is slowly being lifted by Ubisoft and we are finally getting to see more of Aiden's world. Today, Ubisoft have released a 14 minute gameplay demo video, which shows off the single player and multiplayer functionality.



Watch_Dogs will be available in Europe on the 22nd November 2013 on current gen and next gen platforms

The Smurfs 2 - Review (PS3)

The summer holidays are here and for thousand of parents across the country comes the challenge of how to keep the kids happy and entertained. Luckily, the cinema is full of blockbuster films for all the family to enjoy and this year sees the sequel to 2011 hit, The Smurfs.

E3 - Tom Clancy's The Division

Ubisoft seem to make a habit of stealing the limelight at E3. Last year it was Watch_Dogs and this year they have done it again with a new Tom Clancy title out of the blue. The Division is set in a post pandemic New York City, 3 weeks after a lethal virus was released. The President has initiatedPresidential Directive 51, and The Division, a top-secret unit of self-supporting tactical agents, is activated.These agents lead normal lives, but are trained specifically for this kind of crisis situation. Have a look at the breakdown trailer to understand  more of the situation in the game.

Watch_Dogs - Trailer, Release Date + Editions revealed.

Ubisoft have announced the release date for the anticipated open world hack em up, Watch_Dogs. 22 November see the game released on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC. Currently, the only word on firm next generation versions is that the PS4 version will be available at the launch of the console. Expect a firmer details on Next Gen Xbox release after Microsoft's big reveal in late May.

Assassins Creed IV - First Gameplay Trailer

Ubisoft have unveiled the first Gameplay footage for Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag today. The trailer features two minutes of gameplay showing off the game world and further introducing Edward Kenway.
Seeing as Kenway is a pirate, it is no surprise then that the trailer features the sea quite heavily. Along with several beautiful shots of your ship at sea, the updated naval battles are on show here. Its not all life on the high seas though, as it shows off some of the underwater exploration and deep sea diving (including shark punching!).

Far Cry 3 - Review (Xbox 360, PS3)

Due to violent nature, depiction of drug usage and colourful dialogue, this game is not for little gamers.

Late last year Ubisoft came out of nowhere and catapulted Far Cry 3 from a game I was not really interested in to my personal game of the year. This review has been a long delayed one, partly in fact to a platform change from Xbox to PS3 over Christmas. So here goes, lets take a look at my time in the Rook Islands.

Far Cry 3 - Out Today!

Far Cry 3 is released today on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. This game has shot out of nowhere for me. After being a huge fan of the original game (made by Crytek before Crysis), Far Cry 2 was overall disappointing. The move from lush jungles to the deserts of Africa was too much of a change for the series. The open world seemed too vast and littered with enemy check points that re-spawned soldiers making progress very annoying. Whilst, Far Cry 2 has it issues it also introduced some very cool new features. Hacking into mobile phone antennas to get new missions, Safe houses and Upgradable weapons, and the way they introduced a levelling system through recovering from Malaria. The world itself was beautiful and the added wildlife made it into a wonderful ecosystem simulator. The main feature though was fire. Far Cry 2 had the best fire system in the history of gaming. I spent hours in the bush lands setting fire to grass and trees just watch how it spread. If anything it was too ambitious and it failed to find an audience.




Due to the disappointment of Far Cry 2, I had expected the same with Far Cry 3. So imagine my surprise when last week Eurogamer gave it 10 out of 10! Now, having spent 3-4 hours playing the main campaign I honestly think that not only could this be the game of 2012, it could very well be one of the greatest games of this generation!

Ubisoft Montreal have taken all of the best parts of Far Cry and mixed them up with the best bits of Far Cry 2 and the result is gaming heaven. Firstly the game is beautiful on the Xbox, I just wish that my PC was up to the job of running this at Ultra detail. As for the game play, well let me tell you a tale from last nights adventures.

I was driving along in a Jeep and I came across an abandoned farm house. I stopped and inside I found some crates of loot. On my way out, I took a couple of shots at a passing pig, as I needed the pig hide to craft a new weapon holster. As I skinned the pig, I heard a strange sort of growl from the long grass ahead of me. Almost immediately, I was attacked by a bloody 6 foot Komodo dragon. Panicked  I dashed back and riddled the bastard with a full clip of machine gun fire.

Unfortunately for me, a passing enemy patrol was passing nearby and pulled up to investigate the gunfire. The soldiers opened fire on me, as I took cover behind a rock. They soldiers took cover near the farmhouse, only to be savaged by two more Komodo dragons,hiding in the grass. I shot the giant lizards, skinned them and took the patrol Jeep, just as reinforcements turned up to investigate.

This led to chase through dusty jungle roads, which only ended when I ditched the Jeep in the sea and stole a nearby jet ski. Evading the soldiers, by speeding into a series of underground caverns and emerging the other side into freedom. Jumping off the jet ski, I swam for shore and I as pulled myself up on to the beach...

I was attacked and killed by a passing Crocodile.

All that happened in just five glorious minutes.

If that isn't recommendation alone to get yourself down to the game shop at lunchtime and pick up a copy, then there is always this....

Did I mention the Shark punching?

Assassin's Creed III - Pre-Launch hype trailer

 



With only a few hours to go until we can get our hands on not one but two games in the new chapter of Assassins Creed series, I thought I should post one more video to get everyone in the mood for Ubisoft's epic American Frontier chapter in the franchise.

 

I found this on the Russian Ubisoft YouTube channel, simply called "Epic Pre-Release Trailer" and epic is the only word to describe it

Assassin's Creed III - Launch Trailer

The next chapter of Assassin's Creed is out next week. So let's celebrate with a launch trailer!

Ready... Go!



Cannot wait for the 30th (North America) or 31st (Europe) or indeed the 1st November (Actual date I will get it as I won't get to the shops in time on the 31st).

I have some good news for my fellow Englishmen. Although we are going to have stomach being the "Bad Guys" in AC3, we are not the enemies of the Vita exclusive AC3: Liberation. That honour falls to the Spanish.

Assassins Creed III: Liberation - Extended Reveal trailer

Ubisoft have released an extended version of the E3 reveal trailer for their Vita exclusive Assassins Creed title.



This version has, well more.. erm Jumpy climby than the last one! Including Jumpy climby in a cave.

Still looks awesome and is my most anticipated Vita title. It is just a shame my Vita is broken now with no display.

Happy Independence Day!

To celebrate Independence Day, Ubisoft have released a live action trailer for Assassins Creed III.
Stirring music and slow motion close ups are the order of the day. It actually makes me want to go and kick some British ass...

Wait a minute! We are the Bad guys in this? Well, I am just stunned!

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??)

Assassin's Creed III - Debut Trailer

There has been lots of speculation where the next Assassin's Creed would take place... Revolutionary France, Victorian England and even suggestions that it would just be a modern fay setting entirely.

Well the wait is over, as Ubisoft revealed last night with the first details and Debut trailer for Assassin's Creed III. It is set in during the American Revolution. By the looks of it, us Brits are the bad guys and certainly seem to be paying for it in the trailer.

This new assassin (called Ratohnaké:ton, or Connor) favours a tomahawk and looks quite handy with it too. His father was an English colonist and his mother a Native American. i can already see how this could place Conner right in the middle of the English and Colonial forces. How the Templars fit in to the scenario though I am not quite sure. I assume they will be behind the English forces and Connor will fight alongside the Colonists.



The trailer focuses on two major elements of the new game. First, the frontier. A vast area of countryside and forest larger than the map of AC:Revelations. Second, battlefields. The new engine behind AC3 is reported to be able to handle large numbers of enemies. Rumours even indicate fights with a thousand enemies involved. Will it be more Dynasty Warriors or Total War? Lets hope it is something new and exciting.

More details as they come out. Looking good though for the October 31st.

Rayman Origins (360) - Review

A long long time ago, back in the mid nineties. I had abandoned consoles, for a PC with more mature and fantastical gaming. I spent my days revelling in Doom 2, Rise of the Triad, X-Wing and Wing Commander. I remember that what I was missing during those days was a decent console platform game like the Sonic games I played so much previously. Then, I was introduced to Rayman on the PC an enhanced version of Sony PlayStation game released in 1995.

I fell in love with the game straight away - the art style, the level design and the gameplay. Most of all, it was the character of Rayman himself. He was so full of expression and life. The game itself was pretty unforgiving and one of the hardest platform games I remember persevering with. The game was a success on all platforms it was released on. The second game jumped into the 3D platform genre along with it's contemporaries. It also raised the bar for 3D based platform games at the time as well.

The years passed and Rayman seemed to become a back seat passenger in his own franchise, with the introduction of the Raving Rabbids. They took over and soon Rayman had disappeared altogether.

Well, I am happy to report that.... He is back! In his own game and going back to his roots as a 2D platform game. The game is set as a prequel to the other games and details how Rayman got all of his powers. His friend Globox is on hand to help.. and they set off to fight the Darktoons, evil Mr Dark and the Livid Dead. Rayman must travel across the land collecting Lums and Electoons in order to defeat the Darktoons and help the Fairies of the Forest restore order to the land.

The first thing that grabs you right from the start menu is the amazingly beautiful and vibrant graphics. The wonderful hand drawn characters and art are incredible to see in motion. The game feels more like a living cartoon rather than a video game. Every level is a visual delight and contains a strong theme in each. The game starts in the Jibberish Jungle which is very similar to the opening level of the original Rayman - A mixture of lush green plateaus and Rushing waterfalls. As the screenshots show it looks amazing, but to see the game move at the pace that it does is incredible. The game moves to the deserts littered with musical instruments and notes. My favourite level has to be the Frozen Tundra complete with Icebergs containing various frozen food stuffs. Halfway through the level you descend underground to a Lava world complete with Mexican cooking theme.

After each world ends Rayman has to travel to the next land. This involves jumping on the back of a friendly mosquito and enjoying a quick shoot em up level. For every Medal you receive at the end of a level for rescuing Electoons and collecting lums. you open treasure levels that let you chase a living treasure chest down in order to collect its prize Skull Teeth. Collect enough of these to unlock the final secret level.

It all sounds bizarre, and it is, and that is part of the charm of the game. It is off the wall and highly entertaining. The music and sound effects are really good and really help the games character. The actual game itself is a very quick paced classic platform affair. It doesn't innovate the gameplay as much as the earlier Rayman games, but it almost a celebration of the classic platform games.


More importantly, Rayman Origins allows for co-op play for up to FOUR players. This has meant for the first time ever my eldest gamer, LadyBG has been playing on the Xbox. She has played the game with me and on her own. She loves the game and the characters. Although, the difficulty is a little steep for a four year old and I do have to help her out. Past the first main world though, we only play in co-op (with Daddy doing most of the work). It has been really nice for us to play on the Xbox together and I think we shall be playing this for a while. It makes her laugh and that always makes everything worth it.

This is easily the best looking 2D game on the current generation and possibly the best looking platform game ever. It is really worth a look as the game is just fun on a disc. If you have kids it is a must have game. just make sure you take the time to play it with them.  Rayman Origins is going to be memorable game for me, just as the first one was all those years ago.

This time though, it is because it is the game in which my eldest little gamer unlocked her first ever achievement! Sniff, sniff... it was an emotional moment for this gaming Dad, I tell you!

Verdict: 8 out of 10






Thanks to Emanate PR for the review copy.

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - 3DS Review

Recently something very rare happened to me: Someone offered to take the kids away for the weekend - A whole three days! Within an hour of this, my wife, not wanting to waste the opportunity of a child-free weekend, had booked us on a ferry to Calais and into a hotel in Brussels.

Ah, Brussels! The home of Pralines, Beer and...sprouts? Also, the home of Belgium's most famous reporter, Tintin. So what better place to be to review the new Tintin game for the 3DS? Whilst my wife took in the sights and perused the many chocolate shops, I was at the Grand Place snooping around Marlinspike Manor and sword fighting Red Rackham's pirates in the Tintin Boutique. I even managed a quick blast in the Belgium Comic Strip museum (well worth a visit).

Onto the game though... This is a tie-in with the recently released Spielberg/Jackson film. Normally as many gamers know, movie tie-ins are generally to be avoided, but sometimes, a real diamond will appear in the sea of quick cash-ins. I first got to grips with this title back in September at the Eurogamer Expo. Tucked into the corner were a few demo pods running the PS3 version. The demo was a section of the old school platforming levels and it was a treat. In fact, it was one of the highlights of the expo for me. I knew then that if Ubisoft kept this home console format on the 3DS, it would be amazing.

So, was I right?

I am happy to say that not only was I right, but it was so much better than I expected. The game features flying sections, platforming sections, sword fighting, naval battles and even Snowy sections (as in the dog, not levels in snow). The mix of gameplay here is astounding. One minute it features side on platform levels, then it switches to a 3D on rails sword fight using stylus swipes and taps for combat. It could be said that this is just a collection of themed mini games, but at no point does it feel that way. You never know what the game is going to throw at you next and the introduction of a large dog fighting section (as in planes, not Snowy) towards the end of the game really impressed me.

Ubisoft have managed to keep the graphical style of the film in game, whilst telling the between level plots via animated comic panels. This game is a big hit with my eldest daughter, as she likes to follow my progress and so we use the comic panels as a storybook. The 3D effect is really put to good use here as well with the game constantly shifting perspectives. Highlights include the escape from a ship corridor filling with raging water (very Titanic). Some levels seem underused and the Snowy sections are essentially the same routine of bark at rats, dig through tunnels and unlock the door. During the platform levels, Tintin leaps from ledge to ledge with the grace of the Prince of Persia. He can deal with guards using Stealth or via straight up fist fights. The combat is really entertaining: making a deep sea diver skid on spilt oil and slide into a wall never gets old for me and always brings a smile to my face. Additionally, the puzzles are not too taxing and help keep levels varied.

It has been a long time since I played a game that is just so much fun to play. The Adventures of Tin Tin is charming and really captures the Boy's Own adventure feel. It captures everything that I loved about the books as a child and has also helped me to introduce these fantastic characters to my children. It all adds up to a very slick package.

I am happy that I chose the 3DS as the platform for this game as it seems to suit it perfectly. I would go as far to say that at the moment this is the best Uncharted/Indiana Jones style adventure on the 3DS.

Verdict: 8 out of 10

Also, Brussels is beautiful and a lovely place to visit for a long weekend away. Verdict 9/10