Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance tries not to waste a moment of your time. In the 4-6 hours required to complete its campaign, you’ll cross the globe, have sword-fights with skyscraper-sized mechs, team up with an A.I. dog, explore a science facility with a remote-controlled robot, leap over missiles to chop up helicopters, and fight a metaphor for American evil. Rising is as silly as it sounds, and it knows it.

Developer Platinum Games accomplishes a lot in a short period of time, and while it sometimes gets in its own way, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a tight action game whose campaign moves as quickly as its excellent combat. It’s all killer, no filler, with more than enough incentive for repeat play-throughs.

The most consistent issue in Rising is its cutscenes. To its credit, you’re rarely made to watch what you’d rather play, but the story bits, interesting though they are for fans, ultimately intrude on the fast-paced flow of combat. The convoluted plot starts as lucidly as the series has ever been, but spirals out of control almost immediately: the assassination of a recovering country’s leader sends Raiden, a cyborg ninja, after a terrorist cell that’s kidnapping kids and infiltrating America’s political infrastructure.


The only thing that really holds back Rising’s combat is the secondary weapons. Killing bosses allows you to acquire their staffs, sais, and swords, but switching to a secondary tools come with a catch. Alternate weapons replace one of your two normal attack buttons, which neuters katana combos. On top of that, alternating between two weapons doesn’t flow together as well as the evolving sword strikes. Switching from one to the next in the middle of a combo has a disjointed feel, a bit like interrupting yourself, as though your new blade wasn’t built to work in tandem with the sword. Despite the cumbersome transitions, these extra weapons strengthen Rising’s variety. The say, for example, doesn’t deal much damage, but it disrupts cyborg A.I. functions, giving Raiden the opportunity to obliterate a stunned opponent.

The erratic camera poses additional issues as well. Rising is such a fast-paced game, with wild combat that encourages unpredictable attack patterns, that it can’t always keep track of Raiden in the thick of battle, especially when large-scale bosses eat up most of the on-screen real estate. Unless you’re acutely aware of your next move, Raiden can get lost in his own chaos from time to time. Having to come to a complete stop before changing from grenades to a rocket launcher, or a heavy blade to a faster crowd-control weapon is another inconvenience that’s antithetical to Rising’s go-go-go mentality.

Even with the original release and early release in Japan they cancel the Xbox 360 version also with some other games. And now in 2014 they are coming out with this game in PC. I know i will be in line for this game when it comes out for PC.

Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman’s always made the shadows his ally, but in Batman: Arkham Origins, he finds the shadow of his own previous games impossible to escape from. It’s as good as Batman: Arkham City in most ways, having inherited an outstanding combat system, but it lacks interesting ideas of its own, and it’s missing the polish and attention to detail that makes Arkham City and Arkham Asylum great action games.Its name, “Arkham Origins,” is a flagrant misnomer - it may be a prequel, but this story is neither about Arkham, nor is it an origin story in any significant way. It’s more of a traditional Batman plot that retreads some of The Dark Knight’s most familiar themes over its roughly eight hours of main story content: a self-destructive insistence on working alone, and how far he’ll go to avoid taking a life - a concept the final battle cleverly toys with. It’s a respectable plot that even concocts a plausible reason for Batman to face so many villains all in one night – a $50 million bounty on his head. But it’s the kind of prequel that screams “What were we thinking when we killed off that incredibly popular character? Undo! Undo!”Meanwhile, in the stealth fights where Batman picks off armed thugs one by one, there’s another somewhat dirty-feeling win button: a remote grapple that strings up thugs without them even having to walk under a gargoyle. I found myself deliberately avoiding either of those gadgets, because I’m not in this to not fight criminals.Even so, I could live in the challenge rooms for days, trying to string together the ultimate, uninterrupted flow that includes each of the dozen or so moves and gadgets in Batman’s arsenal. With the gamepad in the right hands (which every so often, mine are) it looks like elaborate fight choreography. And Predator still makes me feel like a ninja, particularly when playing in challenge mode where I can disable certain gadgets or enable other handicaps.

Out in the expanded and snow-covered open world, I found Gotham City beautiful but lifeless. In Arkham City, the excuse is that this part of town has been walled off and given to the criminals. Without that (admittedly far-fetched) scenario, the absence of any hint of civilian life makes Gotham feel eerily barren, especially next to Origins’ open-world peers and their populated streets. It may be the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, but streets teeming with nothing but decidedly un-jolly criminals are still weird.

The northern half of the map, which is largely recycled from Arkham City, is connected to a new southern island by a tediously long bridge that your quest marker will frequently make you cross as you chase the next mission waypoint. The bridge stands out as crumby and inconvenient map design and I rushed to skip it with fast travel at every opportunity. Gotham is also full of annoying blockages that seem like Batman should be able to easily grapple or climb over, yet prove frustratingly insurmountable. Also, the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U versions all suffer from framerate problems while gliding around the city. Those slowdowns are most pronounced on the Wii U, where I also ran into mid-game loading pauses. On PS3, I encountered audio glitches that got worse the longer I played – most noticeable during fast-travel animations.

Theif 2014 Info

There is a rising tide of fear in The City. Hatred saturates every stone and whilst the rich prosper, the less fortunate face misery and repression. Ravaged with sickness and famine, they wait for something to change.

Into this shadowy world steps Garrett, THE Master Thief in 'Thief', a reinvention of a franchise that helped define an entire genre of games which is being developed by Edios Montreal. This first-person, stealth, adventure features intelligent design that allows players to take full control, with open sandbox missions/levels that allow players the freedom to choose their path through the game's levels and how they approach and overcome each challenge.

Square Enix has been listening to fan feedback during the development phase. So far, Square Enix has removed QTE's and the XP system. It has also been stated by the developer that the UI and HUD will all be editable and can be disabled to allow for a more realistic experience.

Thief is set to release on PC, PlayStation 4 & PlayStation 3, and Xbox One & Xbox 360 in February, 2014.

Players control Garrett, a master thief, as he intends to steal from the rich. Similar to previous games in the series, players must use stealth in order to overcome challenges, while violence is left as a minimally effective last resort.

Gameplay is choice-driven, with players having a number of possible paths and approaches in a given level. Players may use the environment to their advantage, as well as pickpocket characters. As Garrett attempts to steal in levels, guards and other non-player character (if they are aware of his presence) will try to flush him out and kill him. Different NPCs may use different means to find him, and the game's artificial intelligence will be aware of the level design, and therefore, know of potential hiding spots.

Players may enter a "Focus" mode, which provides several advantages. It enhances Garrett's vision, highlighting pipes that can be climbed, or candles that can be put out to make the area darker. Focus can also slow down time, so that Garrett is able to steal more effectively while pickpocketing. Garrett can also use Focus to push enemies or perform debilitating attacks. It can be further upgraded over the course of the game.

Garrett carries a blackjack, used to knock guards unconscious; a collapsible, compound bow, which can be used for both combat and non-lethal purposes such as distracting guards; and a claw, which can be used to grapple. Players may use money to purchase supplies and equipment at the end of missions.

An EXP system for the in-game growth of the character was meant to be used in the final game, but was later scrapped due to negative fan feedback, and to reflect the fact that the character was already an experienced thief.

Tomb Raider

 We’ve seen Lara Croft in many forms over the years, from busty action-heroine to Atlantean explorer to wise-cracking aristocrat. But we’ve never seen her like this before. Crystal Dynamics' new Tomb Raider sees a young Lara on her first expedition, shipwrecked and stranded on an island bristling with danger, pushed to the limits of her ingenuity and will to survive. Over the course of the game we see this intelligent, resourceful young woman become something closer to the Lara Croft we know, fearless in the face of danger. It is a greatly successful origin story, a series reboot that feels both authentic and hugely exciting.


Tomb Raider is a little self-indulgent at the beginning – the first hour is a sequence of carefully scripted set-pieces and, yes, a cavalcade of button-mashing QTEs. But it's all for the sake of character development, and Tomb Raider is so good at this that you'll forgive the strict direction – especially after the game opens out past the 60-minute mark and lets you loose on the island. Camilla Luddington's performance as Croft is impressively convincing, and throughout this adventure you'll really feel for Lara – she is just not having a good time out there. It is a compelling reading of the character; we see Lara's vulnerability, but she is never disempowered, and never less than totally capable in extreme danger.



The supporting cast is less developed, though. Lara herself is so well-realised that her friends and enemies feel two-dimensional by comparison. Lara is shipwrecked alongside a crew of friends, and her guilt over bringing them along on this expedition provides much of the plot’s emotional thrust, but it’s difficult to feel as much for them as you do for Lara. Thankfully, this doesn't rob the plot of impact. There are a few jaw-dropping moments in this story, which develops quickly from survival-struggle into action epic.




that moment, though, the game quickly moves on thematically; the transition from terrified survivor forced to take a life to headshot-happy killer is jarringly instant, and this is the narrative’s only significant weakness. One minute she's retching over a corpse, the next she's skewering five guys through the neck with arrows, which leads to a period of narrative dissonance as you adjust. Lara has to get used to killing quickly, and so does the player.






Combat has never been the strength of Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider games, but the developer has finally nailed it here. Whether with a bow, a shotgun or a pistol, fighting is fun, and crucially there's not too much of it (though the body-count is certainly high). Lara periodically discovers new weapons, injecting the combat with fresh novelty every few hours. I gravitated towards the bow – there’s something vastly more satisfying about being a hidden assassin than leaping into the fray with a shotgun or hiding behind a wall with an assault rifle, though the game necessitates all these approaches and more in different situations.


Building Lara’s skills and upgrading her weapons with salvage proves unexpectedly gratifying. By the later stages of Tomb Raider’s story her arsenal rivals that of a small guerrilla army, and she’s equally deadly in hand-to-hand combat. But for most of the game, Lara has to work with what she’s got. Though survivalism is one of the plot’s dominant themes, if anything it’s under-used in the gameplay; hunting and foraging are introduced in the first twenty minutes, but then quickly abandoned.




Climbing, meanwhile, is masterful. Lara moves naturally and confidently in her environment, but it still feels excitingly dangerous. Leaping across cliffsides with a climbing axe never quite loses that heart-in-throat feeling. Croft has been to some really impressive places in her day, and happily this island is among them. It is stunningly beautiful, and the game gives you plenty of opportunities to admire it from cliff-sides, misty mountain outlooks and precarious climbing ropes. It’s also rich with detail and tightly designed, and as Lara masters the skills of survival and picks up new tools along the way, you can venture further into its hidden crevices. It makes you feel like an explorer.


Croft’s Survival Instincts vision – which, at the touch of a button, helpfully highlights things like climbing walls, flammable objects and rope surfaces you can attach to – makes navigating the island and its puzzles easier, and thankfully is completely optional after it’s first introduced. It’s most useful when you’re hunting for collectibles, but otherwise I played the rest of the game without using it. The game is well-designed enough that you can read the environments perfectly well without it.


Tomb Raider has definitely taken inspiration from the other great action games of this generation. There's an escaping-from-a-burning-building scenario, and more than one sequence where you're skidding at speed down a waterfall. But even when Tomb Raider falls back on action-game cliché, it does so with such confidence and aplomb that you don't mind – in fact, that burning-building sequence is one of the game's most breathlessly exciting moments. Once it gets going, Tomb Raider is high-octane and squeezes your adrenaline gland dry, but it's also got great variety and pacing. There are quiet, tense moments inbetween the combat-heavy setpieces, and you're never in the same place doing the same thing twice.


The Tomb Raider heritage shows itself in the game's secret tombs, which are secreted around the island for you to discover. These are self-contained one-off puzzles that lead the way to treasure, and they are frequently ingenious, challenging enough to make you feel properly clever when you find the solution. This traditional Tomb Raider exploration takes a back seat to the storyline in the main campaign, so it's great to see it shine in the secret tombs. Lara's love for archaeology and geeky fascination with ancient civilisations shows through when she's poring over relics and ancient structures, despite the hardship she has to endure.Tomb Raider

Diablo 3 DLC

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is the first major expansion pack for Blizzard's blockbuster dungeon crawling RPG. The Prime Evil rages within the Black Soulstone, its essence screaming for vengeance and release. Before the artifact can be sealed away forever, Malthael -- Angel of Death -- manifests in the mortal realms with a deadly new purpose: to steal the Black Soulstone and bend its infernal power to his will. So begins the end of all things...

The first expansion for Blizzard’s Diablo III is now officially scheduled for release on March 25, 2014. On its own, the expansion will run $39.99, but there will be two special editions as well: the Digital Deluxe Edition for $59.99, and the retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition, according to Blizzard.


The expansion introduces a new Act V that puts players up against Malthael, the former Archangel of Wisdom who accepted a new job as the Angel of Death. Malthael is a go-getter in his new career, and he obtains a magical artifact containing the essence of the Prime Evil.


The expansion also introduces a new character class known as The Crusader, that is reminiscent of a tank class with a handful of support options. Reaper of Souls also introduces new item-crafting abilities, a new artisan known as the Mystic, a new level cap of 70, and more.


The standard expansion will run $40, while the next step up, the Digital Deluxe Edition, will run you $60. For the extra money, you’ll receive exclusive helms and weapon transmogrification recipes, a spectral hound, three additional character slots, an in-game Treasure Goblin companion pet forWorld of Warcraft, and a slew of decals and Battle.net portraits.


For $80, you can pick up the retail-only Collector’s Edition that offers everything the Digital Deluxe Edition offers, as well as a Malthael mouse pad, a hardback Collector’s Edition art book, and a behind-the-scenes Blu-Ray/DVD. If you want to buy the standard expansion and then upgrade to the Deluxe version you can do that at any time for $20, but if you want the Collector’s Edition, there are a limited number hitting retailers.

Battlefield 4

From the beaches of Kharg Island to the hills of Damavand Peak, Battlefield 3's multiplayer maps provide an immediate sense of scale. Everything about their design screams size, personalization, and the need to take creative initiative to succeed. Choose to pop headshots from the prone position, spin barrel rolls in a jet outfitted with personal unlocks, or see how many dog tags you can knife from your opponents; Battlefield 3's multiplayer is about the freedom of choice. The online fight feels like a geography lesson (in a good way). Depending on the game mode, each map utilizes a different area or shifts wider and wider as gameplay progresses. You might not see half of a map like Caspian Border or Seine Crossing during your first few Rush matches. To accommodate Xbox 360's 24-player cap, each map has been modified slightly -- mainly by drawing spawn points closer to the action and limiting Conquest-match points to three (as opposed to PC's five). Where many online shooters teach you the nooks and crannies of every map, Battlefield 3 is a wide sandbox that encourages variety and exploration. 

GTA 4

 Criminals are an ugly, cowardly lot more worthy of pity and disdain than admiration. This is what you'll learn playing through the single-player campaign in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV. The series cheered (and criticized) for glorifying violence has taken an unexpected turn: it's gone legit. Oh sure, you'll still blow up cop cars, run down innocent civilians, bang hookers, assist drug dealers and lowlifes and do many, many other bad deeds, but at a cost to main character Niko Bellic's very soul. GTA IV gives us characters and a world with a level of depth previously unseen in gaming and elevates its story from a mere shoot-em-up to an Oscar-caliber drama. Every facet of Rockstar's new masterpiece is worthy of applause. Without question, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You play as Niko Bellic, an Eastern European attempting to escape his past and the horrors of the Bosnian war. He arrives in Liberty City to experience the American dream, only to discover his cousin, Roman, may have fibbed a bit in his tales of success. Starting from nothing, Niko makes a living as a killer and enforcer, a amazing foreigner who appears to have no morals. The longer we stay with Niko, the more we see that there is a broken human being inside, one who would give anything to escape the person he once was.