Alien: Isolation Preview

Alien: Isolation is almost upon us, but we managed to play a quick demo in London that took us through a Survival Mode challenge. Separate from the main game, we were put in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, given a goal to reach, a timer and a flamethrower, and sent out on our way.

Within seconds the fear set in. Entering the dark grey hallways of the Ridley Scott Alien-verse with only the footsteps of the titular Alien thundering into your ears is an intense experience, and there is clear evidence that Creative Assembly are trying to add to and improve upon the horror conventions established in Amnesia and Slender.

Take for example the tried-and-true locker hiding scenario. In most horror games, you simply wait in the locker for your enemy to leave, but in Alien there are a few mechanics which add to the tension greatly. When you’re in the locker and the xenomorph comes to investigate, you’re prompted to hold L2 which makes Amanda hold her breath. After a few seconds, the alien is still staring right at you through the bars, and you have to pull back on the analog stick. At this point the screen is flashing red as Amanda starts suffocating, and with the creature now staring you down, real tension finds you as it finally moves on, allowing you to let go and exhale (both in-game and in real life).

The motion tracker from the first Alien film and its crude representation of your surroundings is also the perfect fit for a horror video game. Holding R1 brings up the tracker (there was a bonus objective which was to complete the mission without using it), which has a limited battery life, so the idea that it could run out at any moment was always with me during the playthrough. The screen’s depth-of-field effects take over when you hold up the tracker, blurring everything on screen but it. This simultaneously draws your attention to the tracker and makes it so that you can’t just constantly use it. This limitation falls perfectly in line with the horror theme as the odds are stacked against you, allowing only brief glimpses of the tracker.

Turning a corner to see something like this is filled with tension. Then of course it turns around gives chase.

Seeing the blinking light on the screen but nothing in front of you terrified the Nostromo crew, and to experience the fear that those characters went through is an amazing thing. Alien: Isolation also captured its namesake very well, as isolation is exactly what you feel when exploring the cold corridors of the game.

The sheer level of unease and anxiety you get when playing Alien: Isolation is through the roof. Even in the brief challenge we played, there were some hair-raising moments that emerged naturally from the mechanics and level design, as opposed to being scripted. Once, when the alien spotted me, I naturally turned tail and ran, but the panic was too great and I lost all sense of spacial perception. I ran through a door, then through another (both of which had the genius inclusion of a 1-second opening time for maximum panic), then through another… until I opened one more door and there it was; staring me right in the face. Game over, man. Game over.

Sound played a big part in the creating the atmosphere. There was in fact very little in the way of sound, save for the ambience of the space station, but when the alien was near, screeching violins and the sound of its breathing and footsteps combined to truly unsettling effect. Even when the xenomorph wasn’t on screen it had presence due to a combination the sound design and motion tracker. This achieves the same thing the movie did: making the monster scary even when it wasn’t seen.

Use of the flamethrower managed to get of the alien to disappear for a bit, but not from the motion tracker. Using the ventilation to escape, it’s still around up there, somewhere, so you still have to vacate the area and move on or hide before it shows up again. Crucially, it was unkillable. Alien: Isolation lives or dies by its ability to keep the tension high and the scares potent, but not necessarily frequent. Being able to kill the alien would cheapen this idea, and it’s commendable that the developers are pitting you against an invincible enemy, simply tasking you to survive.

Alien: Isolation is so far looking like the best Alien game we’ve ever seen. An emphasis on horror, and of de-powering the player as opposed to empowering them, allows Isolation to reach levels of fear that could be a huge leap forward – not just in the genre, but in how immersed you can become in videogames.

FIFA Bans Luis Suarez in FIFA 15

Football fans all over the world tuned in to watch the world cup this summer. 

One of the more memorable and probably the most controversial moment was during the event when Uruguay striker Luis Suárez took a bite out of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. Resulting in a 4 month ban from all football activity, which was later softened down to just the competition matches after he attempted to appeal the ban at the court of arbitration for sport. 

FIFA has now implemented this ban in great detail for the release of their FIFA '15 title. 

Players starting the "career mode" as FC Barcelona, the new owners of Suárez after his transfer from Liverpool, will get a message from the Chief Executive saying: "Please be aware that Luis Suárez is currently serving a suspension and will not be available for selection until 26 October 2014." 

Players looking for Luis on the transfer market of FIFA Ultimate Team will get no results for their enquiry. 

Lots of football players are big fans of the FIFA games themselves. Belgian striker Eden Hazard for example as a fan of the FIFA series is extremely proud to be on the cover of the '15 release, together with Lionel Messi. So, whether this measure to ban Luis is just for accuracy, or meant as a stab from FIFA to Luis Suarez is unsure.

Pro Evolution Soccer Looks To Dethrone Fifa This Year With a Much Better Product

Year after year Fifa has dominated the market when it comes to soccer, or football, games around the world. This year is different though, it looks like a much better game is on the horizon and should give Fifa a run for its money.

Pro Evolution Soccer, or PES for short, has been around for some time. PES has been hanging back in shadows known only by hardcore gamers as the better experience, with controls that are detailed and very complex. A lot of emphasis has always been put on the overly complicated controls that PES has put into its games, while Fifa has catered to a more simplistic control scheme that doesn’t make the gamer feel overwhelmed. I remember the first time I picked up a controller and tried out PES I was confused right away. Simple one two passing took several different combinations of buttons and joysticks as well as precision timing. Most of the time my efforts were in vain to do even the most basic tactic to advance the ball down the field. After a while I found myself playing boom ball and simply kicking the ball down field and running after it. After that experience I wrote off PES as a game that was just trying to hard to be complicated for no real reason. So naturally I turned to Fifa and stayed with Fifa up until this year.

PES 2015 looks like a whole different game compared to Fifa 15. The graphics are the first thing you will notice with a much more detailed pitch and more attention to detail with the players on field. Check out the video below.

You can clearly see the difference between the two games graphically. Here’s the kicker, PES 2015 is promising 1080p at 60FPS on the PS4 which matches Fifa 15.

Now graphics are great and everything, but what about the controls? Thankfully after spending a few hours with the demo and playing countless matches I can safely say that the game is much more approachable now. Gone is the reliance on skill moves to win and now the emphasis is much more on keeping possession and setting up teammates for through balls. Defense plays much better as well since the skill moves don’t hold the same weight, it’s much easier to defend against a single attacker if you are smart about defending the pass lanes and playing containment.

Fifa will still sell more copies, it’s only natural since Fifa is still held in high regard among gamers and it’s what they know. Despite Fifa’s popularity, I hope gamers give PES 2015 a shot, I think Konami did a really good job with making the experience better with smoother controls and much more realistic graphics. PES 2015 is due out November 11 for Sony and Microsoft systems as well as PC.

Battlefield Hardline "Will Work" at Launch, Says Visceral

At the Tokyo Game Show, I had a chat with Ian Milham, creative director for Visceral Games, makers of the upcoming Battlefield: Hardline.

I expressed concern over the game's ability to fully function at launch, as it seems every big launch these days comes with problems, shooters among the most common offenders (including the most recentBattlefield game, though that was developed by DICE).

My question about the launch stability didn't surprise Milham. He readily answered:

"What you're basically asking is, 'Is you're game going to work?' and the answer is yes, it's gonna work. We actually started on this more than a year before Battlefield 4 came out. We've been working with the DICE guys for a long time; some of our engineering work is actually in Battlefield 4 and things they've been doing since then. It's in pretty great shape now and all that work is gonna come into what we're doing.
We already had one very successful beta, we're going to have another beta on every platform we ship on. We take shipping a working game pretty seriously. So, yes, the game will work."

He added that there will likely be some hiccups, because the game is large and will appear on five platforms, but overall he and his team are very confident in Hardline's ability to avoid major problems at launch. He pointed to the many hours the game has been running at trade shows without crashing as fuel for his confidence. At TGS, the game was being played in rounds of eight-versus-eight multiplayer matchups. While I was run over in cars being driven by my teammates more often than I would have liked, I can't really blame the programming for any of that.

We'll find out everything about the Battlefield: Hardline launch for ourselves in 2015. The game was at first thought to be a title for late 2014, but it was pushed back into 2015, despite publisher EA not being cool with the delay at first.

Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare Could Sell Millions Less Than COD: Ghosts

2014 could be another down year for Call of Duty. Research firm Sterne Agee is projecting Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare to sell millions of copies less than 2013 release Call of Duty: Ghosts. 

Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said this week that they expect Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare to ship 15% fewer copies than Ghosts in the fourth quarter of the year. That means that they're expecting 17 million shipped instead of 20 million. 

Bhatia cites a few reasons for this pessimism:

• Gamers might be skeptical of Advanced Warfare because they were disappointed by Ghosts. This may lead them not to purchase Advanced Warfare unless word-of-mouth or reviews are strong.
• PS3 and Xbox 360 software sales are down 50% and 46% this year, respectively. This doesn't bode well for a mass-market, cross-gen title like AW.
• Many consumers are still considering whether to upgrade to PS4 or Xbox One. They're not going to buy the game until they decide on a platform.

These factors have resulted in lower pre-orders for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfarecompared to Ghosts. That's a good indication that the game won't sell as well, at least at launch. 

However, Bhatia admits that there's a chance Advanced Warfare could beat the odds. He points out that pre-release buzz has been very positive. This enthusiasm could result in better review scores than Ghosts. 

That's a fair point. A lot of the gamer fatigue with Call of Duty stems from how similar each new game is to the last. The exoskeletons and other futuristic technology available to players, however, make Advanced Warfare look noticeably different than its predecessors. Everyone seems a bit less weary with this game than Ghosts. 

Sterne Agee says that the lack of direct competition for Advanced Warfare may help the game as well. More specifically, there's no Battlefield launching this fall thanks to the Hardline delay. I wouldn't say there's a lack of "direct competition" - Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Destiny could siphon off some potential sales from shooter fans - but the absence of COD's biggest rival will help. 

If Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sells less than Ghosts, that would be the second year in a row that COD has declined in sales. Activision attributed Ghosts' underperformance to the console transition. We'll have to see whether sales rebound once a majority of console players have switched over to PS4 or Xbox One.

In spite of Call of Duty's recent decline, Sterne Agee is optimistic about Activision in the long run. They point out that the company's software is becoming more diverse thanks to Destiny, Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. The launch of Call of Duty Online and Diablo 3 in China could be a long-term boost for the company as well. 

"Our point is that Activision, which was primarily known for Call of Duty and World of Warcraft in the past, now has a much stronger and diversified portfolio and has a presence on more platforms (iOS and Android) than ever before." 

Visceral Had to Convince EA to Delay Battlefield Hardline

Believe it or not, it took a bit of convincing for Electronic Arts to delay Visceral Games' upcoming first-person shooter. 

According to Battlefield Hardline creative director Ian Milham, the team really wants to do its fans right and make a quality product, so the studio went to its publisher and worked to get EA to allow them more time. Apparently Visceral's request was met with a bit of friction.

"I mean we just want to make cool games and that's all we care about or want to do. And there is a whole universe of other stuff going on: What other things does EA have coming out? What other games are coming out?" he told IGN.

"Like this had nothing to do with release windows or competition or any of that kind of stuff. But those are things in the world," Milham added. "So of course there was a lot of ‘Grr, well I don’t know we got to figure this out, this is a pretty big deal are you sure?’ But as we talked it out, it became pretty clear that it was the right thing to do, so they were onboard."

Battlefield Hardline was supposed to launch in October, but has since been pushed to 2015.

Review: FIFA 15

Don’t be surprised if this is one of the best-selling FIFA iterations yet. Not because of anything it does, mind you, but simply because in the twelve months since the last entry, football fever has swept the nation. The 2014 World Cup saw record viewership amongst yanks, many clamoring to be involved with the sport like never before. Sure, many of the “fair-weather fans” have likely dropped off since the other football started last month, but there’s undoubtedly a legion of new soccer (which we’ll start referring to it as “soccer” to not confuse our readers more inclined to Madden) fans champing at the bit to get their hands on a video game featuring the best and brightest stars they witnessed in the World Cup. Perfect timing, then, that this also marks the first game in the franchise built from the ground up on current-gen consoles. With practically everything going for it, allFIFA 15 has to accomplish to be a success in our neck of the woods is a solid game of soccer and a retention of the modes that’s made the franchise a winner.

FIFA 15 is all about intelligence. For the first time ever, the emotions of all twenty-two players on the pitch have been modeled, allowing them to recognize situations that trigger an emotional response and react naturally. Situations include decisions, missed chances, goals, bad tackles, injuries and more. There are over six hundred potential emotional reactions that could play out over the course of the game. The emotional intelligence is fairly groundbreaking in that there hasn’t been a sports game that has displayed this level of emotion before. As anybody who’s ever watched a soccer match knows, it’s arguably the most emotional game. If anything, players routinely exaggerate, so seeing a near nervous-breakdown after missing a goal is commonplace. As such, a soccer game devoid of any realistic emotion instantly seems unnatural, so FIFA 15pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the field adds a whole new layer of believably to the proceedings.

Lending more realism is the dynamic match presentation, which adds region-specific behaviors to arenas, allowing crowds to cheer with specified chants and act unique to their region. Fans of Leeds United at Elland Road will act and look unique to fans at Anfield in Liverpool, for instance, and the commentators will even comment on it. Unfortunately, the Manchester United theme song is not included. Adding more stadium realism are new bench reactions, ball boy animations and ten player goal celebrations.

Back to intelligence, goalkeepers have been rewritten to look, move and think more like their real world counterparts, now better anticipating shots and passes. There are still occasions of funky behavior from keepers, so they don’t yet feel perfect, but there’s noticeable improvements — primarily in responsiveness — that can be seen on both sides of the ball. Another neat addition is that of improved team tactics. Instead of players focusing on simply running up the score, they will now adjust their tactics depending on the situation. For example, if an opposing team is beating you with minutes left to go, one of their players might decide to sit back with the ball and burn down the clock. You’ll see more conservative plays like this when a team is winning and more risks when team is playing from behind.

Thankfully, all of the modes featured in FIFA 14 return this year including FIFA Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Club Seasons, EA Sports Football Club, Skill Games, Match Play, Online Play, Co-op Seasons, Practice Arena and more. Unfortunately, besides some minor tweaks and redone interfaces, they remain practically the same in functionality as FIFA 14. This is because the developers focused their time building and optimizing the game on current-gen consoles, however, and the fact that they weren’t removed à la NHL 15 is cause for praise.

Unlike its American football counterpart, FIFA 15 has consistently featured fantastic soundtracks and this year is no different. Perhaps it’s because it’s a series that appears to a world audience which appreciates more indie-leaning music, but there’s always been a fantastic mix of emerging artists — some of which have been featured in the game before reaching indie circles (for instance, Jungle and Broods have just weeks ago begun to garner attention and I have yet to hear FMLYBND outside of Soundcloud). FIFA 15’s soundtrack is jam-packed with great artists, including Magic Man, Vance Joy, Tune-Yards, Tensnake, Kasabian and many more. There’s a great interface including album cover art to show the full 40+ song soundtrack, allowing players to turn songs off they aren’t partial to.

Closing Comments:

After a serious misstep with NHL 15, FIFA 15 is a leap in the right direction for EA Sports. Shrewdly taking advantage of current-gen’s capabilities with added emotional intelligence and improved animations, this is easily the prettiest EA Sports title this year. Unfortunately, game modes remain relatively unchanged, but if optimizing for current-gen currently means choosing between re-skinning them or omitting them entirely, we’ll gladly take the former. The expansive soundtrack is again of the best licensed ones of the year, crowds are more dynamic than ever and general production values are impressively polished. Thanks to the sport’s sudden increased popularity in the United States, we have a feeling this will be the introduction to the series for many gamers, and it represents it well.

                                     Reviewed By: HardCoreGamer

Review: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The exploratory high-story, low-traditional gameplay narrative-driven genre is rapidly evolving. Entries like Dear Esther and its semi-random senility-touched and highly linear ghost story to recent (optionally) mind-bending puzzle-heavy iterations like Ether One adopt a first-person perspective and three-dimensional movement instead of point-and-click mechanics typically associated with adventure games. With The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, this derivative genre is brought to new cinematic heights. While perhaps not the epitome of the genre, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an exciting and unarguably high-quality exploratory experience with stellar visual and audio design in spite of its flaws.

In The Vanishing, players see through the eyes of paranormal investigator Paul Prospero. An unrivaled detective of all things extradimensional and inexplicable, he is drawn to Ethan’s home of Red Creek Valley after receiving fan mail from the teen detailing bizarre going-ons. It appears that some kind of being has been awakened as a result of the teenager’s adventuring, and is wreaking havoc on the minds of his family. Gifted with a particular form of perception allowing him to visualize past events once the relevant elements are in their “correct” place, Paul explores the string of murders as well as the eponymous vanishing of Ethan Carter.

This element-placing comes in the form of walking around somewhat aimlessly, seeking rocks, daggers or what-have-you, identifying their rightful home then placing in chronological order a series of events surrounding a death. Unsurprisingly, everyone you encounter is recently deceased in some brutal and/or unseemly manner. Players are greeted straight out the gates by a pair of disembodied legs on a railroad track, setting the tone for the grim story that unfolds over the course of the game’s duration.

Paired with this series of unfortunate expirations is a heaping dose of weird fiction, from pulpy science fiction to clearly Lovecraftian tangents. The bizarre stories, parallel with the slayings, provide fantastical and surrealist moments of pause. Each foray into the explicitly strange is accompanied by revelations about Ethan’s family and bits of fiction crafted by the teenager. While the murders themselves will elicit cringes and groans, these bits will introduce more unknowns, fueling the inquisitive fire that will accompany players throughout the story.

Unfortunately for the narrative, what initially comes off as extremely well-designed open-world exploration paired with some moderately difficult puzzle solving (less than a handful to speak of in the entirety of the game, with only one requiring excessive cognitive input) is revealed all too late as being an extremely linear adventure. Every tangent and its respective puzzle or discoverable must be unearthed to finish. Should players be extremely diligent – and not accidentally come across a game-breaking bug or two – they won’t have to encounter the extreme displeasure of either running back an earlier part of the game or restarting altogether in order to actually complete the story. This is a somewhat poor decision as Vanishing would have been a more rewarding experience if it made these story-revealing side-bits optional and only available to the intrepid. Additionally, the ending is guaranteed to leave some with a sour taste, though it will likely be a satisfying and closure-granting experience for most.

Narrative gripes aside, the game looks absolutely amazing. There aren’t adequate words to explain what the Astronauts team accomplished in creating The Vanishing. Using photogrammetry, they were able to import wholesale from the real world weathered and highly detailed models that actually feel and look real. Avoiding the use of tiled textures and stock models for the vast majority of the game creates a world that is incredibly beautiful, immersive and tangible. It’s beyond awe-inspiring to travel through a town that feels as though it was taken straight from some forgotten corner of America and digitized. Each area is distinct and beautiful. Paired with this is ace sound design in the form of ambient strings and digital chirps that amplify the dark and creepy tone as well as superb and engrossing environmental sounds. The voice acting is a touch lacking, which is a bit of a disappointment in light of all the effort and talent put into the rest of the game, but it’s forgivable.

Closing Comments:

Despite a few issues that prevent the game from being a wholly immersive open-world exploratory experience, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter packs an impressive punch. The four to five hour long game’s world is aesthetically perfect, the stories are equal parts fascinating and bizarre and it’s a hell of a ride from beginning to end.

                                              

                                    Reviewed by: HardCoreGamer

Assassins Creed Unity Season Pass Takes Players To The Great Wall Of China

Ubisoft has blown the lid off its Assassin’s Creed Unity season pass, revealing we’ll finally be able to experience China in the 16th century, although the standaloneAssassin’s Creed Chronicles: China adventure isn't necessarily what most of us were expecting.It’s not the only thing to be included with the Season Pass though, as Ubisoft also announced Assassin’s Creed Unity Dead Kings, a brand new story campaign taking place after the events of the main game, while a host of additional missions, weapons and customisation options will be hitting the streets of Paris as part of the bundle.

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China stars female assassin Shao Jun, the last member of the Chinese brotherhood (sisterhood?). Unlike traditional Assassin’s Creeds, AC Chronicles: China will be a 2.5D brush painting-inspired campaign, where players will be able to perform parkour on the Great Wall of China, as Shao Jun uses the skills she’s learned from legendary assassin Ezio Auditore to perform lethal takedowns and strike swiftly from the shadows. If Ubisoft’s legacy with Prince of Persia is anything to go by then this could well be worth keeping an eye on.

Dead Kings meanwhile is a new story campaign taking place after the events of Assassin’s Creed Unity, in which Arno leaves the confines of the Parisian city centre for the commune of Saint-Denis. In this self-contained act there will be new missions, treasure hunts, contracts, murder mysteries and even the new Guillotine gun to play with.

Ubisoft is aiming to launch of all the DLC, including the standalone Chronicles: China by early 2015.

WWE 2K15 apparently coming to the PC

In news that’s potentially of interest to PC owning fans of WWE, it appears that 2K’s WWE 2K15 will be heading to our platform. As spotted by somebody watching the WWE Network earlier today, and screencapped by this helpful chap at the 2K forums.

I suppose it’s possible this is all a big hoax, but I’m not sure who would bother going to the lengths of photoshopping a PC version of WWE 2K15 and then getting a bunch of other people to say “yeah, I saw that box art too!”

2K have not confirmed a PC version yet, so I guess the possibility of simple error can’t be ruled out either. It is a bit weird that the image is missing the (confirmed) PS4 version. Maybe it was animated and the boxes were cycling or something.

If the game is coming to PC, the question of whether it’d be the latest version or a port of last year’s version with a new roster is also unanswered. Still though, think positive and focus on how many fantastic mods could appear for this title.

The console versions of WWE 2K15 are scheduled for release in November, but since the existence of a PC release hasn’t been officially acknowledged yet then it’s hard to say whether it would get a concurrent launch.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Rumoured To Feature First-Person Mode On PC And Current-Gen

According to a recently discovered cached copy of a support post on the Rockstar website, Grand Theft Auto V may be going all Doom on us, introducing a first-person viewpoint for both driving and on-foot sections.

The information was inadvertently published on September 12th, the very same day the remakes’ release dates were revealed, before swiftly being swiped away from Rockstar’s website. We’ve seen it before with some ever-so-slightly-shoddy mods created for GTA IV, but this is the first time Rockstar itself has ever attempted such a feature.

"A brand new first person mode for vehicles that shows the interior of the vehicle, including working speedometers, tachometers, dash lights, and more," the posting reads, going on to say it also features a "brand new first person mode while on foot." Don't get your hopes up just yet because this could well just be a work-in-progress document that doesn’t indicate its inclusion in the final game, but a first-person GTA 5 is certainly a tantalising prospect.

Whatever the case it certainly won’t be the only addition to the Grand Theft Auto 5 remake, which will feature massively overhauled graphics, improved character models, new foliage and wildlife, massively improved draw distances, and denser traffic for a touch more carnage.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is out on November 18th for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, before arriving on January 27th 2015 on PC.

Batman: Arkham Knight – 10 Things We Can’t Wait To See

With just less than another year to wait until we finally get our hands on the new Arkham game from Rocksteady, it’s prompted everyone to don their thinking caps and ponder on exactly why they had to delay it in the first place.

Could it be to add a super special layer of Bat-polish to everything? Perhaps to add another playable character to proceedings like we got back with Arkham City and Catwoman? Whatever it is we’re just hoping to any and all that’ll listen that the delay doesn’t turn into a Watch Dogs-style scenario, where on the other side of it everything either looks exactly the same as (or worse than) it did before.

The level of fervour around proceedings is akin to when Christopher Nolan was wrapping up his version of the Batman mythos back in 2012, and judging by how divisive that turned out being, it’s safe to say that whatever happens, Rocksteady’s magnum opus will be going down in the history books regardless.

So far the latest word from the team is that they “develop [each game] as if it’s their last” which going off their previous track-record, means even despite the amount of coverage we’ve seen so far there’ll still be plenty of secrets, hidden gems and worthwhile content to lap up come release.

10. The New Batmobile

Revealed earlier this year, the new version of the Batmobile is taking a page out of the Nolan-style ‘Tumbler’, albeit with a wider overall frame and a few more gadgets.

It’s not just an aesthetic change though, as the ‘Batmobile trailer’ shows we’re getting a whole host of weapons to try out. Sure they’re non-lethal, as even the Joker-killing Rocksteady don’t have the stones to let Batman break his one rule. Even if you try to permanently take a perp down in-game by running into them at speed, the Batmobile will automatically shock them instead.

Apparently playing like Burnout Paradise in terms of speed and feel, you’ll also be targeting unmanned drones with some armour-piercing cannons and finishing off any straddlers by launching some ‘slam rounds’ from a riot gun, which we don’t know about you, but they sound mighty sweet.

9. The New Fear Takedown

So far what we’ve seen of Arkham Knight is testament to the fact that in the canon Batman is a much stronger, wiser individual than he was before the events of Asylum and City. One of the newest additions that solidifies this is the Fear Takedown; something that the creators have said you can execute if you get the heart rates of three nearby guards simultaneously racing.

Beforehand there wasn’t a whole lot of point to scaring the crap out of people outside of then dropping down in front and finishing them off with a few punches and kicks, but now Rocksteady have added this lightning-fast animation that sees you dart from one to the next, leaving them all in one pile of broken bones and groans.

In addition, as Warner Bros. took over the reigns for Origins and fleshed out the backstory of the Bat whilst also letting us play as the Joker for a strange trip into his mind, it’s original developer Rocksteady who are the ones to introduce and revolutionise gameplay with new animations and moves.

We saw a huge step-up in terms of the amount of combat options you can use in City; from punching straight through shielded perps to disarming gun-toters, as well as adding a handful of other finishing moves – so it stands to reason that alongside this new Takedown we’ll see a bunch more animations to use in general combat too.

8. A Hugely Expansive, Open-World Gotham

Will there be anything better than dispatching a few teams of thugs only to call your Batmobile as you walk away and burn off into the night towards the next situation that needs your help?

The Arkham series has always done a fantastic job at making you feel like Batman in every aspect except that of just prowling through the night, zipping from one crime to the next, foiling them all with only the sense of style and punishment-doling justice that The Dark Knight can deliver.

Although City gave us a section of Gotham to play around in it didn’t really feel like a living, breathing city, and although in Arkham Knight it seems the pedestrians have been evacuated, we’re set up to see far more evidence that the whole place was thoroughly lived in not hours before your time on the streets.

From neon lights to steam grates, shop fronts and a dominating skyline, perching on the edge of any high-point before diving off down into the depths and letting your cape flair and catch you at the last minute will surely be of the defining aspects of Arkham Knight.

7. More Memorable Fights With Iconic Villains

We’ve gotten a taste for how the lineup of villains is going to go, but as was the case with City there were far more people involved in proceedings that what we initially thought.

Nobody knew of the reveals of people like Clayface or Ra’s al Ghul until the exact moment Rocksteady wanted them to. Therefore we can only hope that although there’s been a confirmed list of a few familiar faces – Two-Face, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, The Riddler and the Arkham Knight himself – there’s still plenty more waiting in the wings to get stuck into.

Some of the most memorable missions in the second instalment weren’t necessarily those that were story-heavy, instead it was tracking down Deadshot by analysing his bullet trails, or discovering the sick reality of what Hush had been up to, that stayed with us. Hopefully it was just a hint at some darker subject matter, the expansion of which with the right villains means nobody will see them coming until the last minute.

6. How They Handle The Joker’s Absence

Of course we’re having to dig deeper into the list of Batman villains sheerly because the main antagonist in his mythos is nowhere to be found.

Last seen being carried out of the Arkham City prison by the Dark Knight himself after accidentally smashing the antidote to his own poison, we’re all but sure we’ve seen the last of the Mark Hamill-voiced maniac.

Rocksteady are staying pretty tight-lipped on the whole thing too, occasionally breaking silence to confirm that he’s not in the game, although ardent fans simply refuse to believe them, as after the ‘Joker was Clayface’ reveal in City, anything’s possible.

It marks a strange correlation to the Nolan movies, as now both titanically huge franchises are going into their third and final acts without one of the elements that made the second so appealing. Only time will tell if the Clown Prince does make another appearance, but it’s up for debate whether or not he should stay dead throughout or not.

5. A True Next-Generation Experience

Although we’re finally starting to see some games emerge that look like when you put them in will actually elicit a response of pure excitement rather than disappointment, the majority of titles we’ve played that are of any worth on our new machines are either re-masterings of old titles or indie titles that could easily have been made two generations ago.

For the most part it’s not a knock against the quality of the titles that are out so far – although Watch Dogs seems to have become the industry’s whipping boy – but the real brass tacks of the matter is that many of us had our hopes pinned on Arkham’s original October release date and were looking forward to it being the first big title they could get stuck into.

Since that date is no longer in motion we can only assume it’s due to Rocksteady upping the ante on the project overall, utilising the tech they’ve already been using for two years to fully deliver an experience that’s worth the wait.

4. Kevin Conroy’s Return

Although we’re pretty sure Mark Hamill won’t be returning as The Joker (although to be honest Troy Baker’s performance blew us all away), one of the main reasons long-time fans of watching Batman on screens of all sizes are hyped beyond belief, is the return of Kevin Conroy.

Now 54, the ageing actor’s potentially croakier pipes will suit the character perfectly, and unlike how in Metal Gear Solid we’ve seen franchise Snake voice actor David Hayter totally shafted, Conroy gets to continue taking up the cowl himself, hopefully playing the character as the older, wiser badass we know he is.

Another great point is that Troy Baker will be returning to once again play Two-Face – which certainly means he’s on-hand if Rocksteady need him for a Joker spot, following how Hamill has vowed that he’ll never voice him again. Here’s hoping.

3. The New Suit

We’ve seen the Batmobile and we’ve seen the potential for a whole horde of villains to take on, but what good is it if the Batman himself isn’t encapsulating the total unbridled bringer of justice we’ve all come to love?

In the Nolan trilogy many thought that the change from having a cowl to that of a moveable neck-piece made the costume look a little strange; like a suit of armour with a slightly-too-big headpiece. Here however the Bat-silhouette is in perfect form thanks to striking a better balance between the two.

In addition the costume itself does take on the aforementioned sense of being a suit of armour, but it’s great to see Rocksteady taking a page out of ‘rival company’ flag-flier Iron Man’s book, creating a costume that’s less made of flexible material, and more of many smaller interlocking parts.

Even the bat symbol seems to fragment and move independently, which in of itself makes for a wedge of processing power dedicated just to making sure Bats moves and walks like a ninja in a high-tech billionaire’s suit would – which we can’t wait to see in motion.

2. The Identity Of The Arkham Knight

One of the biggest questions going still revolves around the identity of the titular Arkham Knight, with everyone from Bruce’s father Thomas Wayne, to the Joker and even Harley Quinn being tossed around as potential candidates.

Our bet is that this is the one ace-in-the-hole that Rocksteady are keeping tighter to their chest than Tony Stark’s chest-magnet (last Iron Man reference we promise), as forgoing any unwanted leaks that may arise between now and release date, this is a huge selling point for fans new and old.

We know he can best Batman as we’ve seen it in the trailers released so far. We also can assume he’s male based off his stature, but aside from that there’s not been any information revealed in terms of motive or even reason for being in Gotham at this point in time.

Could it be the Joker, Deadshot, a venom’d up Riddler? Let us know in the comments what you think, as in addition to this what we’re really excited for is…

1. A Ballsy Ending To The Arkham Series

Now this is the real test of how much creative control Rocksteady can exert over Warner Bros.

We already know they let them kill Joker in part two (as long as he stays dead that is), but as was the general notion in regards to Batman potentially meeting his maker as we went into Dark Knight Rises, there’s an encroaching feeling that this could be the final entry in the Arkham series too.

Why? Because Rocksteady have confirmed this is the last one they’re ever going to make, which means Warner Bros. will once again get handed development rights to pick at story threads if they want to continue. Again if Joker stays dead, that means we’re going to have a long-running Batman franchise with one of the main villains down for the count, which any fan of the many stories they’re yet to pull from will tell you, is a bad idea indeed.

Many say Christopher Nolan should have ended Rises just as Alfred looks at the camera, before the reveal that Wayne was still alive came in, thereby leaving his own stamp on how things played out and allowing the fans to decide for themselves just what he was looking at. But alas Bruce was revealed and a wave of fanboy-hell was unleashed forevermore.

This time however we’re living in a world where this backlash is well known, and going off how well Rocksteady know the mythos along with the decisions they’ve made so far, we can’t wait to see what their final scene is going to be.

Rockstar Explains Why GTA V PC Is Delayed, Needs More Development Time To Be Amazing & Polished

Ah, the delay of GTA V PC has sparked lots of discussions about it. And contrary to what most people believed, Rockstar went ahead and officially explained why the PC version has been delayed. According to the company, this particular version needs more development time in order to be amazing and polished as possible. Yeap, you read that right: Rockstar is talking about optimizations, and that’s obviously a good thing.

As Rockstar claimed:

“We’re glad to see so many of you are excited for the upcoming release of the new versions of GTAV and we look forward to sharing more details with you soon. We are also incredibly excited to be bringing GTAV to the PC, but the game requires a little more development time in order to ensure that it is as amazing and polished as possible.”

For what is worth, Rockstar’s game testers have been testing the PC version on Steam yesterday and today. It appears that every week these two game testers are testing the PC version, so hopefully more of them will get to test it once the current-gen console versions are out.

GTA V is coming to the PC January 2015.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more!

Grand Theft Auto V Release Dates and Exclusive Content Details for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto V will arrive on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 18, 2014 with the PC version to follow January 27, 2015.

Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC will feature a range of major visual and technical upgrades to make Los Santos and Blaine County more immersive than ever. In addition to increased draw distances and higher resolution, players can expect a range of additions and improvements including:

-       New weapons, vehicles and activities
-       Additional wildlife
-       Denser traffic
-       New foliage system
-       Enhanced damage and weather effects, and much more

Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC will also feature enhanced radio selections with over 100 additional new songs and new DJ mixes from returning DJs across the game’s 17 radio stations.

All players who pre-order the game will get $1,000,000 in-game bonus cash to spend across Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online (GTA$500K each for your Story Mode and for your GTA Online in-game bank accounts).

A host of new, exclusive content also awaits for players returning from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions including rare versions of classic vehicles to collect from across the Grand Theft Auto series such as the Dukes, the Dodo Seaplane and a faster, more maneuverable Blimp; activities including wildlife photography and new shooting range challenges, new weapons and more.

Enhancements to Grand Theft Auto Online include an increased player count, with online play now for up to 30 players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. All existing gameplay upgrades and Rockstar-created content released since the launch of Grand Theft Auto Online will also be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC with much more to come.

Existing players will be able to transfer their Grand Theft Auto Online characters and progression to their choice of PlayStation 4, Xbox One or PC. For more info about gaining access to exclusive content for returning players, please visit rockstargames.com/V/bonuscontent.

Stay tuned for a brand new trailer coming at 9am Eastern today – and for now, enjoy these sixteen new screenshots taken from the PlayStation 4 version of the game.

                                         From - Rockstar Games