And come Game Developers Conference (GDC), at the GDC Choice Awards which happens on Wednesday, March 19th, 2014, at 6:30pm at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Ken Kutaragi will be awarded with a lifetime achievement award for his work.

Short Biography of Mr. Kutaragi While At Sony

As a Sony engineer, Ken Kutaragi’s first contribution to the world of videogames was the creation of the SPC700, the sound chip within Nintendo’s Super NES console. After the success of the SPC700, Kutaragi began an ambitious project to create Sony’s first videogame console, and in 1994 Sony released the PlayStation to the public.

As the lead engineer of the PlayStation, Ken Kutaragi helped ushered in an era of unprecedented growth in the world of videogames. With powerful hardware and a robust library of games, the PlayStation became the first system to sell over 100 million units. Its successor, the PlayStation 2, went on to become the best-selling console system of all time with 155 million units sold. 

The PS4 is launching in two days (depending on where you live), and the next PlayStation Plus update is the first to include PS4 games. And boy, does it continue to go strong.

Resogun, the impressive PS4 indie launch title will be free for subscribers. Could you imagine that a 2D side-scroller would be a showcase of next-gen console power and steal the spotlight from AAA titles?

Next up for the Ps4 is Contrast, a stylish platformer that lets you switch the world from 3D to 2D and make it your playground as a young girl’s imaginary friend.

For the PS3, the games on offer are no lightweight contenders, either. GRID 2 will spin you round and round, being one of the finest modern racers and made by — who else — Codemasters. Blending realism with arcade, precise controls and tons to do, GRID 2 is a must-have.

The next game is Guacamelee!, a 2D Metroidvania platformer that lets you assume the role of a luchador with access to the “other world”. Strong combat, open-world, quirky art style and Mexican myths and folklore combine to make Guacamelee!, which is also cross-buy for PS3 and Vita.

Lastly, Vita owners will receive Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, a pretty addictive love letter to SEGA’s franchises through the kart-plane-boat racing genre, with characters and tracks that span series and generations.

And truly last, but certainly not least, is Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. A pretty impressive PSP title for your PSP or Vita which carries everything its console brothers do. Don’t underestimate this one; it’s GTA in your pocket.

Summarizing:

Leaving PS Plus:
27th November: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance
27th November: Jak and Daxter Trilogy
27th November: MotorStorm RC
27th November: Oddworld Strangers Wrath

Entering PS Plus:
29th November: RESOGUN
29th November: Contrast
27th November: GRID 2
27th November: Guacamelee! (Cross Buy)
27th November: Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed
27th November: Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories

The next Lord of the Rings game, as shown for Game Informer’s cover reveal today, is called Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. An open-world action game, set between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Not based on any of Tolkien’s works, this will explore brand new ground. Developed by Monolith (makers of Guardians of Middle-Earth, the MOBA), the game will be published by Warner Bros. for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. The January issue of Game Informer will have more info.

Meanwhile, a Warner Bros. press release described the game:

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, a next-gen, third-person action game set in the legendary Tolkien universe of Middle-earth. In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, players explore an original story of vengeance and redemption as they take control of Talion, a ranger whose family is murdered at the hands of Sauron and his army the night they return to Mordor.

Developed for next-gen consoles, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor introduces the Nemesis System, a powerful and dynamic gameplay mechanic that allows players’ actions to shape enemy relationships and characteristics to create personal and unique story and gameplay arcs that are persistent even after death. Players experience a unique game every time as the dynamic world reacts and adapts to their choices.

Unexpected, albeit pretty welcome, news. How do you feel about it?

During November 7th, or N7 Day for Mass Effect fans, BioWare employees tweeted a series of pictures that show their work on Mass Effect 4 (yes, they don’t want it to be called Mass Effect 4, but until we’re given a title, this is it).

Without much more bore, quench the pictures:

The next chapter of Mass Effect is upon us!! #N7Day13 pic.twitter.com/OxKudy2Wo9

— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) November 7, 2013

…with new characters to fall in love with… #N7Day13 pic.twitter.com/pdIDR4xRCG

— Yanick Roy (@YanickRRoy) November 7, 2013

…new enemies to encounter… #N7Day13 pic.twitter.com/sTkBoCeVcm

— Gary Stewart (@Garymaphone) November 7, 2013

…and new worlds to explore! #N7Day13pic.twitter.com/5uC5fPXeI4

— Manveer Heir (@manveerheir) November 7, 2013

An exciting tweetfest, and makes me wonder: is an announcement close? Hopefully, yes. The next chapter in the Mass Effect saga will break free from Shepard’s story whatsoever, and will be powered by the almighty Frostbite 3 engine — yes, please.

Loot-centric Action RPG Diablo III, one of Blizzard’s titans, has sold over 14 million copies on all three platforms it’s available for: PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the publisher announced.During an investor call last night, Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime said:

Were you hoping for an Assassin’s Creed game set in modern times? Bad luck, then. Assassin’s Creed IV lead writer Darby McDevitt, during a  Reddit AMA, said that “I doubt we would do a modern day AC.”

“There are just too many mechanics we would have to develop to make it believeable [sic] … vehicles, plausible modern cities, a huge array of ranged weapons, etc. The modern day will most likely remain as a “context” for all future games, something to tie them all together.”

When asked if the Assassins vs Templars battle would ever be completed, McDevitt said it’s like the “deep philosophical conflicts” that rage forever.

“As for the Assassin Templar storyline resolving, I don’t think so. Its been going for 80,000 years already. Why stop it now? There will certainly be a resolution to the most recent plot developments, but the overall conflict will probably rage forever, just like most deeply divided philosophical conflicts…

While not in the AC universe, I think Watchdogs will scratch the itch for a modern day AC. Just wait…!”

To me, a modern-day game would be obsolete; wouldn’t be believable anyway, and the gameplay would be broken due to today’s technology (how would they justify not using a ton of guns?). Watch_Dogs will fill that “void” perfectly fine.

Meanwhile, I’m having mad fun living the pirate life of Black Flag, and I’d like to review it within the week!

When delivered at the turn of a generation, franchises often have to be memorable, so that they’re not lost in the transition. But Ghosts, albeit a good shooter on its own, doesn’t achieve that. When the gimmick named Riley the German shepherd dog is what I found most memorable during the campaign, you understand that it hits a new low.

For me, the lowest point for the series was Modern Warfare 3. Bland, unimaginative campaign, with no gimmicks to keep you going. I’m not even going into Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2; the first reinvented the FPS formula, and the second was more than memorable and stood on its own legs. World at War introduced gibbing and the last hurrah for the WWII setting, while Black Ops was fresh with its offerings and unique (for Call of Duty standards) story premise. Black Ops II introduced branching paths and different endings to the series. Modern Warfare 3 did nothing new, and Ghosts follows suit. As much as I know the hate around the franchise, I love it — countless hours poured into Call of Duty 2 to boot — and I mostly look forward to each game’s campaign more than the champion-level multiplayer. But Ghosts disappointed me so bad, even if it was a bit better than Modern Warfare 3.

In the 8-9 hours you’ll need to finish the story (maybe the longest in recent Call of Duty games), you can expect all the over-the-top silliness of the franchise — underwater shooting, space shooting, ultra-powered organization that levels whole cities at will with a super-weapon, treachery, hotel break-ins through rappelling. It’s all there; but the player is a ghost in the whole affair. What irritated me the most was that every single piece of the campaign’s rollercoaster ride through corridors is so scripted that it takes the whole spectacle away. So what if you shot through 30 nameless grunts in a few seconds and reached the point you have to before your comrades? They will move only when the scripting kicks in, and at such a pace that you could go take a shower to clean the blood of your enemies off of you and they’ll still be on their way. Your super-effective soldier is no match for a door; your teammates must come and open it, because, somehow, you can’t. This is not much different from the countless complaints of invisible walls artificially limiting people in other shooters. It’s just that, in this case, they’re not invisible, they’re just walls or doors. Any attempts at feeling anything for the characters are quickly washed away, due to the constant changing of setting and the amount of interaction between said characters… which is tiny, if not non-existent. After finishing the campaign, I can say I felt nothing for the Ghosts as a faction, nor the evil Federation; the former had cool masks, but that’s where “memorable” ends. There’s a plot twist I wouldn’t want to spoil, but even that could be seen coming from five planets away, and it’s still not delivered in any jaw-dropping fashion. The voice actors try their best, but I’m split between two thoughts: either they’re not good enough, or the script is bad. I’m leaning towards the second.

You’re so passive for the whole campaign’s length that your job is to strictly shoot baddies. To spice it up, you will sometimes be asked to open a hole in a reinforced window with a torch or hack a computer, but even then, the action’s scripted! You have to press the buttons and the player character will simply make the hole, with no further input whatsoever to make you feel like you’re doing something else than shooting dummies, even if for a second. Dummies is a good choice of a word to describe the enemy AI: it will go for the nearest cover, and pop out at regular intervals to shoot. That’s a letdown, considering how smart the Squads’ AI is (more on it later). And what’s worse is that some of the mission gimmicks are under-developed to the point I wish they weren’t there at all. Flying a helicopter simply by tilting the left analog stick, and having it automatically jump over buildings turned me off big time. It’s at this point where I’ll say what I haven’t thought I would say before: I think I enjoyed Battlefield 4′s campaign more. And if the day that Battlefield, the game that started as a multiplayer-centric title and only recently included campaigns in its games, trumped Call of Duty’s campaigns, the series that started as a historical shooter with fantastic and awe-inspiring storylines, has come then I feel bad for what’s to come. Granted, Call of Duty is far from giving up its throne yet. But I think Activision should take a page from EA’s book; a page named “Titanfall”. Yes, it has been in development for long, but that’s the point! Give Call of Duty a rest, and come back in 2-3 years with an overhauled game and philosophy that will ruin your opponents. As things stand, Titanfall’s Spring 2014 release in the middle of Ghosts’ life (we all know a new Call of Duty will come in November 2014) could steal lots of sales come November 2014, provided it’s content-heavy and fine-tuned enough to go head-to-head with the colossus.

All that said, there’s still hope for Ghosts, even after Infinity Ward killed the campaign, and one of Call of Duty’s finest offerings, for me. Multiplayer is where it’s at for most of the franchise’s fans nowadays, and that’s thankfully refined and as good as you would expect. One thing we all have to give credit to Infinity Ward for is the elimination of quick-scoping: forget sniper users abusing the game mechanics to take you down easily and trash talk you through messages afterwards. Okay, just forget about the first part, gamers will always be an obnoxious bunch. Tweaks to the scoping action window make it impossible to perform such a feat, and where in Black Ops II the name of the game was SMG’s, now it’s “everything”. Given, it’s still very early in its life to judge, but from what I’ve seen and played, I’m pretty confident balance will not be an issue, whether it means in perks or weapons. Speaking of which, the Pick 10 system from Black Ops II returns, and the already deep customization is further expanded upon. For the first time, you get to Create a Soldier (sort of a loadout, apparently), and personalize them however you want: from heads, headgear, uniforms and sex, soldier customization is a feature we all welcome, and wonder why it took them so long to get it inside, since you can’t really deviate very much from the team colors/setup, so identifying your teammates and enemies wouldn’t be an issue. Nontheless, while present customization options are good, surely more will be added through DLC (such a pack is also given upon purchase for Season Pass holders).

More subtle changes include the addition of sliding instead of jumping to prone (present in Black Ops and Black Ops II), which is way more valuable and useful. Vaulting over low obstacles is also possible, and adds to the fluidity and twitch-fast gameplay the series is known for. Challenges and unlocks are there, giving you an incentive to push forward as you keep unlocking stuff, but I must say I was a little disappointed by the lack of Patches (replacing Emblems) — Backgrounds, though, are there and aplenty. A big addition is the hybrid of P2P and dedicated servers, as Activision says, which I must say, works. During my time with the game, I haven’t encountered a single “host migrating” case, nor severe lag — and I even tested the game in a strict NAT for this very reason, only to be positively surprised that one of the multiplayer’s woes are (at least seemingly) gone.

Modes include regulars like Team Deathmatch and Domination but Search and Destroy is absent, with Cranked and Blitz being the newcomers. What’s disappointing for almost every mode, though, is that player count can only go up to 12 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U (some allow up to 8). As a result, some of the bigger maps sometimes feel barren, something that will surely be battled on the PC and next-gen versions that allow 18 players per map. And since maps are brought up, the new “dynamic” element some of them feature is very under-developed. Much smaller in scope compared to Battlefield 4′s dam breaking and skyscraper razing features, some maps allow for minor landscape changing triggered through force (like missile firing) or playing with gates and traps. While fun in the very short term, they don’t seem to impact gameplay in meaningful ways, and I hope it is expanded in further maps/games — I generally need Call of Duty needs some additions to remain the king of the genre.

Squads is a new mode that replaces Ops, and in it, you can take your created Soldiers (from Create a Soldier) and go to war against the AI with them.  This adds a tactical layer to the mix, as you can equip your different soldiers as if  they were you, and thus, complement your strength and weaknesses with their perks and weapons. Players can occupy their spaces, but even if the seats don’t get filled, you can duke it out with AI inhabiting their heads. If anything, it’s a very good start before going online and against other players. Enemy AI is not cheating-difficult, but no shooting gallery either; it’s perfectly fine for a workout. Squads Modes include classics like Team Deathmatch, variants of Horde, and more. What’s good for the generation-shifting players is that progress can be carried over to your next-gen console from your current-gen one. Also, all your XP and progress is counted for in the unified XP system Call of Duty is known to use.

Then, we have Infinity Ward’s take on Zombies; the Extinction mode. Were you guys mocking Call of Duty in space? Well, Call of Duty delivers on two fronts: the space mission in the campaign, and the invaders from outer space that you are called to eliminate. Carrying a drill around to bust their hives and setting up on-the-go defences is constantly keeping you at the edge of your seat. The new alien enemies are fast, agile, and intimidating, plus they come in many variants that serve different purposes in battle. A variety of objectives through the course of the session, player upgrades and equipment found on the ground require tactical coordination to avoid overloading the same item and bleeding other items. Pretty fun and, while not necessarily original, it’s a nice break from the zombie craze of late years. And the alien race design is cool!

But, but, but. You still manage to disappoint, Ghosts. Inexplicably, the player count has been shrinked to 12, as noted higher up, whereas some modes allowed for 18 players and absolute chaos. I say “inexplicably”, because the graphical quality doesn’t look like it was something that needed sacrifices to happen. World and soldier textures often look muddy, the screen in general looks fuzzy, and gun textures are pretty bland and simple. Dynamic maps don’t justify the compromise either, so why this happened is beyond me. Stress-testing both the campaign and multiplayer with explosions and tons of movements on screen at once, I saw that some slight framerate drop (I predict around 4-5 fps) occured, but only momentarily, and only in the campaign (note: PlayStation 3 version tested). Save for a very few moments, the game ran at its standard 60fps rate we all know and expect.

Conclusion

Look, Ghosts isn’t a bad game. It’s a great entry point for the series, or a great point to start from if you’ve kept away from recent entries. Players that buy each year’s iteration, though, will not be amazed to say the least.  Call of Duty’s biggest enemy is itself; the fear of moving forward and trying something new, and the fear of laying off the scene for a year or two, to allow for significant improvements to the engine and formula. I understand, you don’t play too much with the industry’s top-winning formula; but compare Ghosts to Modern Warfare, and you’ll see the lack of innovation, save for small (often ignored due to their nature) changes.

Should we blame Ghosts’ failure to impress to the generation shift? Was Activision too afraid to play with the franchise’s relevance at  such a time? Whatever it was, Ghosts is a mixed bag. Multiplayer is as good as ever, there’s a ton of content to keep you and your friends occupied for months, but the recurring motif here is one: it’s like it was. What it “was” is still great, but when the quality stagnates or even dives, you start to question why you should stay faithful to the franchise, as I am. I have faith in Activision, and only a fool would think they would drive the industry’s (if not the world’s) most lucrative franchise to the ground so easily. But with the competition around evolving and adapting, Call of Duty is like that weird guy you had in the school days: you know he has a good heart, but he’ll never go out of his waters, even if it was for the sake of fun, while all his friends move forward and climb to victory.

Prestige Edition: Being the guy I am, I pre-ordered the Prestige Edition as soon as it was up. Even though the game ultimately let me down, I don’t regret my purchase. The Season Pass included is a great addition ($50 on its own), and the Ghosts paracord wrist strap is great and authentic — it’s like the one I made myself back in the army days. The big player, though, is the Tactical Camera. Based on a camera the Ghosts use in-game, it allows for 1080p and 720p recording, with various attachments that allow multiple positions to use it from. Good quality plastic, water-resistant and shock-proof, it’s a neat thing to use, if not just collect. Activision also threw in a 4GB micro SD card for it to get you started, which I found pretty handy. Lastly, it contained a collectable steelbook case for the game, a digital soundtrack (which I found pretty forgettable overall) and an intimidating box to place it all inside. All in all, money well spent on my side, and it’s sitting next to the night vision goggles of Modern Warfare 2′s Prestige Edition.

Eager to play Kojima’s next chapter in the Metal Gear saga? You’ll be (kind of) relieved to know the “prologue” is coming out in Spring 2014, both in digital and physical form, for current-gen and next-gen systems. It’ll cost $19.99 digitally and $29.99 in retail for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and $29.99 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (only digitally).

Konami’s offical press release is as follows:

After much backlash involving the use of Uplay Passport for some singleplayer content in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Ubisoft posted on the UbiBlog to reveal that the company is done with it.

Every Black Flag owner, who buys the game used or new, is now entitled to a free Uplay Passport download for the game. You can now access the companion app and some side-stuff in singleplayer, as well as the whole multiplayer suite, for free with the game.

Ubisoft’s statement reads:

“The Uplay Passport program was initiated as a means of giving customers full access and support for online multiplayer and features, along with exclusive content, bonuses and rewards.

“However, games today are blurring the line between offline and online, between what is ‘single player’ and what is ‘multiplayer.’ Based on that and on the feedback we received from you, we recognized that Passport is no longer the best approach for ensuring that all our customers have the best possible experience with all facets of our games.”

Are you glad it’s gone?

Remember Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z? That cel-shaded spinoff in the ultra-difficult Ninja Gaiden series? Team Ninja and Keiji Inafune’s creation is coming out on March 4, 2014 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Oh yes, I know I’ll get it!

Given it will even get its own Dark Horse comic, the game sounds promising. The anti-hero ninja with the robotic arm, plus the cel-shaded look that always get me, are what sold me the game. Check out its E3 trailer:

Here we are, waiting for the next generation of consoles to come into our hands, or at the very least, discuss the many topics that can be started over them. And if Battlefield 4 is anything to go by, I can say the timing for a new generation couldn’t be better.

To kick off, I’m picking arguably the most improved aspect of Battlefield 4: the campaign. Believe it or not, this 7 hour long trip is more than just a very good tutorial mode for the franchise’s main subject, multiplayer. DICE looks like they learned from Battlefield 3′s mistakes, and proceeded to fix them with the sequel, or at least tried to. Enter Tombstone Squad, what starts as a 4-man team of Marines on a top priority mission that goes awry. I appreciated the new direction the story took; unlike Battlefield 3, I can say this time it felt like being a soldier and not just a spectator that happens to hold a gun. You’ll visit many different locales, from the intimidating city of Shanghai to a huge warship, and from prison slums to a snowy mountain. Every level is connected, making the story feel like a chain, something Battlefield 3′s campaign structure failed to achieve. In general, you’ll encounter everything (hence “perfect training for multiplayer”): you’ll drive a tank, a boat and you can play around with a ton of weapons and attachments. Speaking of which, a new game-changing feature (for the campaign) is the inclusion of weapon crates across the map. Interacting with them lets you change your loadout completely; two weapons, and two equipment pieces. For example, for the biggest part of the campaign’s length, I rolled around with a carbine or assault rifle, a sniper rifle or a shotgun, and whatever equipment the mission asked for: from rocket launchers to C4.

What starts off as an interesting story for a military shooter with some twists, though, quickly stumbles on its own weight. After certain events, you’re appointed the leader of Tombstone Squad, and can order around your squad (which is very handy in enemy-heavy situations). But even then, you’ll encounter no shortage of “hey, open this door” while the supposed lower ranking members just sit on their asses and order around their leader. But at least, they’re not dead weight. Performing actions such as killing or ordering your squad for a kill and them successfully pulling it off awards you mission points. There’s three medals to be won through point accumulation for each mission, and they grant you new weapons for use in the campaign. Furthermore, you can search around the map for collectables, which unlock goodies like exclusive dog tags that can be used in multiplayer. I’m now wearing a Shakespeare dog tag alongside the Hellenic flag, which is titled “Good Play”. It’s almost as awful as my puns, so I loved it. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable rollercoaster ride, and serves its purpose well.

And with that said, we’re now getting to the meat of the Battlefield series: multiplayer. Ditching the unsuccessful co-op mode of Battlefield 3, you can only play competitively now in a slew of modes. A new, slicker and streamlined menu allows for easy and quick navigation, even in the server browser with its many filter options. Pick one of the seven modes, old and new, and start the battle. Whether you pick classics like Rush or Conquest, or new modes like Obliteration and Defuse, the fundamentals are the same. Battlefield always revolved around team play, so having the highest kill count can easily get you on the bottom of the scoreboard if no objective points were awarded. To spice up the formula, DICE introduces Levolution — as you might understand, this combines “level” and “evolution”. How does this translate into the game? In every map, there’s at least one building or point in the map where you can destroy it (given enough firepower) and completely change the course of the match. The most famous instance of Levolution hails from the beta map “Siege of Shanghai”, where the players can demolish a skyscraper that houses one of the objectives at its top. When it’s one with the ground, obviously the objective has become neutral again, and is in a completely different spot — adapt and you can win. This can completely alter the flow of a battle, and change the tides to your favor (or the enemy’s). Sadly, it’s not always as “wowtastic” in every map, and given the amount of time and firepower it needs, it’s a bit of a letdown when you don’t get something spectacular. Nevertheless, let’s not forget it’s debuting here, and DICE can further refine it in DLC maps and subsequent games based on feedback.

Another feature that debuts in Battlefield 4 are the Battlepacks. Earned through levelling up and through paying real money, they come in three tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and unlock different stuff each; in the vein of Mass Effect 3. Having purchased the Deluxe Edition, I was entitled to three Gold packs, which unlocked camouflage patterns, attachments and dog tags, as well as timed XP boosts; nothing huge. If this is any indication of the nature of the unlocks, I don’t think they will prove to be harming the game’s delicate balance. After all, everyone has access to them through simply levelling, so “pay to win” claims hold no water anyway.

The other half of Battlefield’s multiplayer DNA is the class and progression system. Actions like suppressing the enemy or healing and providing ammo to your teammates earn you points, apart from FPS staples like killing and assisting kills. These work your XP bar up, and with each level (general soldier level or class-specific level), you earn new attachments, perks and weapons. It’s amazing how much stuff there is to combine in Battlefield 4; guns, multiple attachments, player skills, camouflage, dog tags — there’s no shortage of rewards in this progression system. The four classes — Assault, Engineer, Support and Recon — are very versatile and can accommodate various playstyles. For example, the Recon class is not limited to long range sniper rifles anymore, and can equip shorter range weapons to complement its gadgets, the stuff that defines each class. You can get up and close for recon using your Recon tools, and are no longer restricted to fighting with a sniper rifle against a shotgun, should the occasion arise. There’s also the fact that knife attacks from the front allow the opponent to counter-attack, whereas backstabs net you the usual dog tags as a reward. And speaking of guns, I will need some of your opinions: I believe the gun sounds are the most fantastic a Battlefield game has had so far, and might I say, some of the most impressive sounds in any FPS. Would you agree?

What defines Battlefield, though, is vehicular combat combined with infantry battles. In the course of one minute, you can literally fly a jet, jump off and parachute to the ground, ride an ATV, reach and swap it for a tank, and invade the enemy objective. It will bring some smiles to the faces of seasoned players to hear that aerial combat is now more balanced out. Given that each class has access to weapons that can, given enough effort and support, bring down a helicopter, spawn camping with a chopper is no longer viable unless your team hands down allows it. Refined controls allow for better control of vehicles and foot soldiers, and I can say I adopted DICE’s new control scheme and haven’t looked back since. Having the “Spot” ability set to the R2/RB, for example, allows for much fluider spotting as opposed to the old scheme where the button was set to “Select”, and wanted me to let go of the left analog stick. The new, more convenient scheme lets you pull off Battlefield classic crazy stunts better than ever before, chaining the actions that lead to parachuting through a window or dropping to the ground to deploy your bipod for quick suppression more easily.

The re-introduction of Commander Mode allows tablet users to jump in the battle and aid their teammates, should they prove effective enough, as it all depends on trust, relationships and team coordination. As a Commander, you can perform feats like sending in UAV’s, which can prove invaluable. How the Commander handles the flow of the battle from above earns or loses the trust of their teammates, and can allow them to kick the Commander off his seat. And as far as new modes go, Obliteration involves bringing a bomb to the enemy’s objectives and defending it until detonation, and repeating this step three times. Defuse is, basically, a 5 vs 5 Counter-Strike mode, where everyone has one life and attackers defend a bomb the defenders have to… Defuse. Domination is Conquest bar vehicles, which adds an interesting twist to the usual Battlefield formula, though for me, Battlefield means vehicles and infantry. Lastly, a Test Range is also in place, a much requested addition that allows you to experiment with weapons, attachments and vehicles without having your teammates pray to God when you try to fly a helicopter, for example. But still, from my experience so far, some people neglect it and proceed to learn how to do basic things like driving during ranked matches.

However, it’s not all rainbows and roses. New modes like Obliteration are not always at home in every map, since most of them feel like they’re designed around signature modes Conquest and Rush. Plus, it’s disappointing that current generation consoles can only handle 24 players at most and in some modes only, and thus the maps feel awkwardly big at times. Couple that with many graphical shortcomings and glitches, and the overall graphic quality, and you know that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360′s age shows very much. By all means, though, Battlefield 4 is not an ugly game. But keeping in mind that PlayStation 4 and Xbox One can accomodate up 64 players max in the corresponding modes, you understand where the need to upgrade stems for. Aliasing is also an issue, with textures sometimes looking not much different than Battlefield 3′s, even though the Frostbite engine running Battlefield 4 is an upgrade.

Conclusion

So, summing up: the campaign is a step up from the previous game, but nothing spectacular, although still great training for the multiplayer part, which also includes a training mode for the first time. Maps and modes are great, old and new, but they don’t always match up so good. Tons of stuff to be earned through levelling up, and Battlepacks can make it easier for dedicated players. But technical shortcomings on the consoles’ side, while not breaking the experience, it doesn’t allow it to shine through.

Does this all mean the game is bad on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360? Hell no, it’s probably in the top three Battlefield games ever released, combining aspects from nearly every Battlefield game to date. But if you’re going for it, and want to get the most out of it, you might want to do so on a PC or next-gen. Keep in mind, upgrading your Battlefield 4 game from a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version (respectively) will cost you $10, so you can just as well buy it for your current-gen console and upgrade once you get your hands on the next-gen console of the same family. And if you like shooting games in general or just Battlefield, you will want to play this series’ love letter sooner or later.

Deluxe Edition: Buying the bigger Battlefield 4 edition will net you access to the China Rising expansion pack that will release soon, three Gold Battlepacks, and a neat steelbook. For just $10 more, if you’re not the type of gamer that spends tons of money on games each week like I am, I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to go for it. If you’re lucky, you might even get some good stuff through the three Battlepacks.

Namco Bandai kindly shared a host of new screenshots from their upcoming big release, Dark Souls II. Bigger and bolder, the game is coming out in March 2014, and for the first time, will launch simultaneously on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Grand Theft Auto V doesn’t just shoot records down; it does so with a nuclear rocket launcher and then spits on their bodies.

Rockstar parent company Take-Two revealed today that the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series sold 29 million copies. In six weeks. Twenty nine million.

There’s really not much more to say, at this point it might even be the most successful game ever on all fronts.

Is there anything to say at all? Replacing Zombies, Extinction will see you with up to three other friends take on aliens, horde-style.

Young Justice: Legacy has been cancelled for the Wii and Wii U, as developer Little Orbit and publisher Warner Bros. confirm. On the game’s Facebook page, it’s stated “several factors” are responsible.

Based on several factors we’ve had to cancel the Wii and Wii-U versions of Young Justice: Legacy.

We regret that this decision will prevent some fans from playing the game and the finding out what happens in the story. There were a number of reasons ranging from quality issues to lack of retailer support, but know that we didn’t make this decision lightly. We are a fairly new company, and unfortunately both of these platforms presented challenges we couldn’t overcome.

Please accept our sincere apology.

The game is still due for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, 3DS and PC/Steam. Though far from a system seller, the Wii U could benefit from additional games.