However Command & Conquer 4 does bring a new and interesting story to the series in a style that none have previously done as well as brilliant visual detail, as well as a clean and slick menu system to the RTS genre. This isn’t the game Command & Conquer you know, it has evolved into a better Command & Conquer game but a worse RTS title.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight brings the end of the series along with a few changes to the RTS formula, changing things many normally associate with the Command and Conquer games.

Instead Tiberian Twilight follows Relic’s entry into the RTS genre, mostly Company of Heroes mixed in with some Dawn of War 2, allowing you to choose what sort of class you want your ‘hero’ to be, just replace hero with MCV (Mobile Construction Vehicle) or as the game now calls them ‘Crawlers’.
 You can choose Assault, Defence or Support, which depending on which class you chose, allows you to create units in that category.


Assault has Tanks, Defence has troops (as well as defence towers), and Support has planes (and special abilities). Each of these has a limit of use, you can only have a certain number of units on the battle, with bigger and better troops/vehicles costing more points, and this also applies to defensive buildings.

From a multiplayer perspective this works well as it stops players spamming or rushing their enemies’ base, but from the single player it just is frustrating to face all the enemies on the screen that can quickly overwhelm you because of your limited number of troops.


What I worked out however, it’s best to set down your Crawler to next to the enemies’ Crawler and spam as many troops as you can, as there really isn’t any cost to you for doing this, this will then destroy their crawler and you can just rinse and repeat.

The games graphics have also vastly improved, and somewhat remind me of the look of Tiberian Sun, with great character/vehicle models, although unlike Company of Heroes you can’t zoom in to see the detail, the game presents a bigger scope with bigger units similar to Supreme Commanders.

This often makes them feel to big, which ends up making you feel like you need to zoom out a bit to get a better look at them and all of your units.

However there are excellent visual effects upon building/vehicles/the ground exploding and a smooth clear frame rate as well as excellent visual and audio cues telling you what needs to be done and where with the use of a slick and clean, almost minimalist, look to all the menus including the in-game and play menus.


It’s really hard trying to explain this about Command & Conquer4 as everything works and feels responsive, but getting back to the start menu it’s probably like nothing I’ve seen before, as soon as you login through the game you’re immediately also within a gaming lobby allowing you to speak to other players and instantly join them in an multiplayer match. It’s also slick and easy to use, maybe not from the first use as it’s something completely new.

What is left here isn’t the ultimate end of the series, instead it leaves a few things open, probably for that expansion pack 6 months down the road, sure the game ends and it leaves you with on canonical ending, a massive departure for the series, it just feels alot of things truly were left unanswered. From Kane’s appearance in Command & Conquer Red Alert (1) to how he has actually lived for so long and why he can’t die.


The production values have greatly increased for everything, the story is mostly affected by this presenting a story, a heck of a lot stronger and different than the previous Command & Conquer titles.

This is probably down to the story being far shorter than any of the previous and all that money for the production hasn’t been wasted on “big” actors.

The live action scenes have now probably reached B-movie class with good set design, brilliant lighting and some pretty good acting from all the cast, especially Joe Kucan (playing Kane).


The game presents a whole new look and feel to the Command & Conquer series, which makes the game feel more like a reboot than an end to a favourite series of mine since first playing Command & Conquer Red Alert, which is a little disappointing at this point as I feel the developers need to be asked a question; Why change the series now, when it’s the end?


The gameplay of the previous titles worked fine, for a single player experience, so why now end the title on a gameplay system that limits the player, by splitting elements into different classes.

I know this system now simplifies things for the general/new audience that may have never played Command & Conquer until now but why then is the story clearly for the long time fan.
 Ultimately as a Command & Conquer game almost everything, bar the gameplay, is brilliant and is as it should be, the gameplay from a long time Command & Conquer fan is quite disappointing as it heavily borrows from other titles.

However I must say for anyone who likes RTS’ in general, I seriously recommend this title has it has a good strong, engaging story as well as solid gameplay that holds up strong against any other RTS title.


For the Command & Conquer fans out there, I would still recommend this title as it has everything Command & Conquer fans want just disappointing gameplay from their perspective.

The visuals for the game are quite nicely detailed if not overly dark, making you wish some more light was shed on this but overall I found the game to be enjoyable along my journey through hell and look forward to more games based on the Divine Comedy.

A lot of people have compared it to God of War and to be honest they’re not that far off the mark. There’s a lot of things Inferno does that are similar to the GOW games but it also does a few things differently that helps distinguish it’s self from Kratos’ epic adventures.

Unless you know ‘The Divine Comedy’ you might get a bit lost within the story of Dante’s Inferno. I found however if you’ve managed to play a bit of Assassin’s Creed you might be able to understand more of the Crusader time-line and who some of the big wigs were at this time, whereas without it the game doesn’t give the beginning any context. 



Short after the opening Dante is stabbed in the back as the Grim Reaper himself comes for Dante’s soul. After defeating Death himself, Dante returns home to find the impaled body of his love, Beatrix, as her soul’s dragged to hell by Lucifer. And here begins the game’s descent into being more enjoyable with a tale of love and redemption, as well as truly horrific creatures in stunning detail coming to give you a big hug and where the game presents a few changes to the hack and slash genre.


For one Dante has a secondary attack weapon, sure he may not have any other actual weapon then Death’s Scythe but the Cross, at the best I can describe it, the Cross acts like a shot gun, sending out a holy cross across the level heavily damaging enemies all around.

Secondly is the way in which you make Dante more powerful. Unlike in God Of War where you power up only weapons or magic, Dante’s offers a bit more control over what you spend your souls on but first, there are two sides to Dante, Holy and Unholy.


Holy has upgrades for Cross attacks and Unholy has upgrades for Death’s Scythe.

To level them up you need to find crying glowing sprites, which as it turns out are some historical figures, that once you collect them you can Punish or Absolve.


Punishing them will kill them and damn their soul for eternity, Absolving them will activate a mini game which allows you to gain extra bonus souls, and free their soul to enter Paradiso. 
Upon levelling up these areas, it allows you to spend those souls on Magic upgrades, New weapon attacks, Mana or Health upgrades.


The Mini game can ultimately be annoying specially since it slows down the gameplay to match buttons to the falling sins, and if you were to die after Absolving them the game doesn’t autosave or create a check point, which I found out on a number of occasions. So instead you must go back to your last save, or checkpoint, to get to them again and most likely just Punish them as it’s quicker.

Unlike every other game that has quick time events though this game gives you a slight heads up telling you when these events are about to take place, with the screen slightly desaturating. However the game sometimes doesn’t give you heads up with death traps, one such instance is when I was on an elevator that’s falling and suddenly I died, leaving me there with a “Wait, I was supposed to do something their?” look on my face.


Apparently, I was meant to jump off as it passed an open corridor, but the game left me indication of this with the game being so dark it was hard clearly point this out to me, but this also showcases another problem with the game, it’s graphics.



The graphics, as in textures and lighting, for the game are often too dark not allowing you to see alot of the levels clearly; sure hell would be a hard place to explain sunlight. But the developers in the game basically admit this themselves by have a bright yellow object glowing on a wall that is climbable, but without it you wouldn’t have known.


As all textures within the game present a dark human flesh like appearance, as do the climbable walls.
Saying that though, everything is beautifully presented with a slick 60FPS, highly detailed characters and monsters (some rather disturbingly so such as the Glutton creature and a certain someone’s penis.) Brilliant animation for all characters shines through as does great facial animation, although shadows upon faces can look a little messy.

Some levels even have huge vistas, or just as big enemies, in the game, which makes you wonder how did the team keep that impressive 60fps, with all kinds of visual effects, animation, detailed characters, sound effects, lighting and post processing without dipping in the slightest.

Don’t get me wrong the journey through hell is enjoyable; it just feels like it plays it too safe and therefore has a lot of missed opportunities. Such as having the player collecting coins that don’t do anything and down playing alot of moments that could of been truly epic, which ultimately makes the game feel like the developers were ticking a check off box or rushing rather then make a fun title.

Saying that though I enjoyed my journey through hell and look forward to more games based on the Divine Comedy.

Along with this to celebrate the road to launch, Ruffian Games have released a first video documentary, titled “Fun with Friends,” from a three-part series exploring different facets of Crackdown 2.

It will be released on Xbox Live on March 30th for an exclusive amount of time before being released to PS3 and PC owners, no price has been confirmed as of yet.

Here are the map descriptions:

• Bailout – Multi-level apartment complex
• Storm – Open industrial park littered with heavy machinery
• Salvage – Snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars.
• Crash – War-torn urban environment (CoD4)
• Overgrown – Features a massive dry creek bed (CoD4)

There is some great action sequences to compliment how gorgeous this game really does look, as you will see their friendship isn’t very brotherly.

With the release of the Gold Edition, an all-in-one package cataloging Resident Evil 5 and all its additional content released since launch at a budget price, isn’t it about time you ventured to Kijuju?

Resident Evil 5’s story picks up with former STARS recruit Chris Redfield, now a member of an anti-terrorist group called the BSAA, who is on a journey to Africa to find out about some mysterious goings on caused be a black-market salesman known as Irving.

Joined by local operative Sheva Alomar, things get out of hand quickly; all back up or contact support breaks down and within minutes of their arrival and every resident in Kijuju wants to machete the duo down into little chunks.

Spanning six action filled chapters with plenty of throwbacks to the series wealthy history; returning heroes and villains are in healthy supply and the dialogue is as memorable as it is cheesy. Couple that with a soundtrack that’s entirely fitting to the games atmosphere and visuals which still look great over a year after its release, Resident Evil 5 is still a solid package.

Purists will say that the game is more action than it is survival horror and whilst there’s some truth to those statements there’s no denying that Resident Evil 5 is a great action game that still retains some minor spooks and overall the adrenaline pumping moments are some of the most intense in a Resident Evil game to date.

There are notable flaws particularly that the single player experience is considerably more unbearable than it should be. Not only is the need for a human partner strengthened by the AI’s lack of common sense often shooting bullets faster than she can get her grubby mitts on them, but in comparison, it’s just a rather hollow play-through. It holds up but it’s recommended that you don’t go it alone.

On top of the core game, The Gold Edition comes packaged with all the released downloadable content to date including any costume packs, addition characters for Mercenaries mode and more importantly, the two episodes ‘Lost in Nightmares’ and ‘Desperate Escape’.

Lost in Nightmares picks up some years before the story of Resident Evil 5 where Chris and Jill explore a deserted mansion in the hopes of finding the missing head of Umbrella Ozwell. E. Spencer. It’s a nice change of pace encouraging strategic thinking over the shoot first ask questions later mentality of Resident Evil 5’s campaign.

On top of that, seeing the mock up of the original Spencer Mansion should be a generous throwback to anyone who has been a long time fan.

Desperate Escape by comparison is a polar opposite. Picking up the story in its closing chapters, Jill Valentine and Josh Stone must escape the Tri-Cell compound in a visceral non-stop assault as you gun your way to an escape helicopter.

There’s not much to break up the constant stream of bullets whizzing through the air and into the skulls of your foes which seems pretty consistent throughout the hour long chapter but it as intense as it is monotonous.

To top it all off, Versus and Mercenaries Reunion are essentially multi-player adaption of the Resident Evil 5 game play pushing you to slaughter waves of Majini whilst working against the clock.

Gold Edition adds a handful of new characters to the mix including Excella Gionne and Josh Stone from the games story as well as classics like Rebecca Chambers and Barry Burton. If that was enough then there’s a fine selection of hilarious outfits for Chris and Sheva that are worth a chuckle.

It should be noted that a lot of the bonus content is only unlockable after progressing through the story so if you’re getting back into Resident Evil 5 with Gold then make sure your save file is intact.

One year on and Resident Evil 5 remains one of the best co-op experiences of this generation. Whilst the single player experience might be lacking in comparison, nothing quite matches slaying Majini with a friend to watch your back. If you are yet to make a trip to Kijuju then make sure it’s all-expenses paid one and go gold.

In fact the only addition is support for standard USB microphones, albeit limited support as you won’t be able to use the motion sensor features. So, if nothing’s changed what is the point?

The issue I had with the last edition of Lips, Number One Hits, was that it felt like a cash in on the Christmas season. The songs weren’t particularly special and the game lost its sense of karaoke. What gives this iteration an edge is that it reads like a list in a karaoke bar.

This add on doesn’t contain warbling ballads or soulful tones that people will struggle with, this disc really would suit any party.

There’s no Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis or Touch My Body by Mariah Carey, but there’s plenty of YMCA by The Village People and I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. These really are party tracks, these are songs that the ones that you would choose should you stumble into a pub and want to deafen the locals.

I’ve complained previously that these add on discs seem a little pointless and I still stand by that, there still seems little point in releasing this disc for such a price when it could be released as downloadable content through Xbox Live. Regardless of how this content is delivered to fans of the series, it is easily the best moment of the franchise.

Older fans will enjoy the new songs of course, but this is a great jumping on point for newcomers. The well known and “easy to sing” song list will encourage those people to sing and invite friends to do so, whereas other songs have been a little off putting. Yes, this may be a similar release as Number One Hits, but this edition has more passion.

• X360 was severely impacted, and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely.
• PC had an outage, but the service is offline currently and the service is being restarted. It should be back online and we are monitoring closely. We will then start checking the quality of the customer experience to determine possible next steps.
• PS3 appeared to have a brief outage, but has quickly recovered and the services is functioning properly at this time.

All teams are working on diagnosing and re-mediating the issue, including adding additional servers to help alleviate the load. The EA team sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience and I’ll continue to provide you with further updates on the latest developments as they are occur.

Heavy Rain will be a flagship title for the PlayStation 3 for quite a while as Quantic Dream have created a game that can only be summed up with words such as ‘bold’, ‘innovative’, and ‘immersive’.

Let me say straight out of the gates that I agree with the praise that this game has acquired. Heavy Rain is the quintessential adult gaming experience. Laced throughout the story are elements of sex, drugs, depression and violence. Never has a game felt so much like a movie or television show.

The game-play is rather hard to explain as the controls are bizarre and new; requiring the player to do maneuvers similar to how you’d guide your hand, except of course with the analog sticks (where pacing is important). Sometimes you’ve even got to utilize the PS3’s Sixaxis by thrusting the controller in the air, downwards, left and right, and even tilting it to recreate a steering wheel.

The pacing is slow at times as you’ll be doing mundane tasks such as shaving and cooking dinner, to using the washroom. Then, periodically coming from nowhere, there are intense moments where you’ll literally be white-knuckled, clutching at the controller—staring at the screen (sans blinking) with sweat trickling down your brow as you desperately try to not mess up!

A mess up may potentially result in the death of a character, and in this game there are no redos or second chances after crucial moments. You will have to live with your decisions and actions, so be sure to choose wisely.

You take control of four characters in Heavy Rain. There is Ethan, a man and father of miserable consequence. Ethan is the focal point of the game as all characters are intertwined into the story of saving Ethan’s son who is the latest abductee of the Origami Killer. He finds himself questioning his sanity and his innocence, as did I as the player. (I’ll touch upon this later.)

Next there is Madison, a sexy biker chick looking for—well, peace. Suffering from insomnia, Madison too becomes a victim of consequence as she is drawn into the problems when she encounters Ethan.

Finally you have Jayden and Shelby. The first a drug addict, FBI agent, while the latter a private detective with a shady past and a bad case of asthma.

Allow me to note here that Jayden may be the most bad ass character I’ve ever had the opportunity to control. Equipped with a special FBI Glove and glasses (ARI), Jayden is able to create synthetic environments, play games when bored and is able to examine records and information merely by touching an object of interest in a crime scene. Quantic Dream, please make this man the star of a new adventure.

To avoid any spoilers of the story, I’ll simply say that it is interesting and dark. Dialogue is very well done, and the writing flows perfectly throughout the game.

Now, to get to the bad. The story. I had contemplated deeply about whether or not the story was being affected by the choices I was given–and I began to wonder if I should be given choices in the first place. In brief, each character in Heavy Rain are damaged, and fully designed characters.

As I briefly touched upon in Ethan’s description, when playing the game I was manipulating characters to best serve my needs, often damaging the overall quality of the story–an opposite effect of what the developers had planned. I never was doing what was best for Ethan to see his son again, I was doing whatever I was looking to experience in the game.

I had also questioned for the first third-or-so of the game as to whether or not my mess-ups and choices WERE in fact influencing the big picture. I had never felt punished for missing a timed button command, and in addition to that problem, I rarely felt rewarded for successfully completing a given task (with the exception to the Origami trials). I merely floated through the game for a large chunk of the experience, essentially making it a 7-hour movie that is interrupted with mini games where I wash my hands and use the toilet.

A major disappointment in Heavy Rain is the high amount of times I had been frustrated with the game, not due to the level of difficulty, but rather the bugs and glitches! I see in front of me a beautiful and polished PS3 exclusive that is breaking down walls never before touched by other studios, yet I am having the game crap out and freeze multiple times during my play-through. This happened about 4-5 times in my 10-or-so hours with the game.

…Okay, so a frozen game isn’t going to majorly influence the final score, but what about the inability to continue progress due to a glitch? At one point I had advanced to a certain point in Heavy Rain (Chapter 5), and when I booted up my system to continue, I was confronted by a desolate black screen.

This is a problem that many people have encountered, but I’ve yet to read a response from Quantic Dream to anyone who’s suffered the same fate as myself. (It’s been brought to my attention this happens only after an online patch–well, guess what? I had never brought my PS3 online in my first entire play-through.)

In the conclusion of the story, my ending wasn’t a good one. In fact… I found it extremely dissatisfying, which again reiterates my main qualm with the experience; why give the player choice? Had I not had the opportunity to royally ruin the story, I wouldn’t have such a mixed reaction upon finishing the game.

Perhaps I’ll be the first to ‘Heavy Rain’ on the parade, but I had expected this game to shatter whatever expectations I had expected prior to picking up the title. It did not. Heavy Rain was a nice excursion and I will give it a recommendation due to the concept and beauty of the game.

Check below the email:

“By now you may have figured out the beta you will be participating in is Blur, the highly anticipated racing game from Activision. After further review, it was determined that one more day was needed to open the beta. Xbox tokens promised to be delivered March 1st will be delievered on Tuesday March 2nd. If you have a validation code you will be receiving your Xbox token Tuesday morning.

Apologies for the delay.

-Team FilePlanet”

Obviously, the band that never disappoints aims to make the year 2010 stay consistent with that trend by partnering up with experimental rock group, Isis.

A Tweet from Hydra Head Records, on February 19th stated the following:

Oh fuck, we forgot to mention [a] MELVINS/ISIS split 12″. If you rat us out karma will fuck you.

While the excuse I presently have for the delay in posting this news was the fact that the (Ve3tro) music site isn’t quite done yet… However, I take liberty in knowing that I have avoided karma’s wrath in my hesitance to post this announcement before other outlets.

Fans of both Isis and the Melvins have something quite interesting to look forward to.

Update: Our good friend, Matt Smith, has posted the recent tour schedule for the Melvins. You can find it on his website, FourthEye.net.

No mention of the publisher or the game, find below the contents of the email:

“FilePlanet subscribers get exclusive access to the HOTTEST betas”! We’ve been saying this for years. This time is no different. FilePlanet subscribers have the unique opportunity to beta test a game that is SUPER SECRET. We can’t even tell you who the publisher is BUT we can say, you’re going to LOVE it. This is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves!

There are a few requirements for beta participation:

• FilePlanet or Founders’ Club Subscriber
• Own an Xbox 360
• Active Xbox Live GOLD account
• Reside on planet Earth

To sign up and gain access to this beta you will need to be a FilePlanet subscriber, click here to participate or register an account.

In 2008 the Deftones were working on the follow up album to ‘Saturday Night Wrist’, in what was to be called ‘Eros’. It would later be announced on the band’s website; [that] “as we neared completion on Eros, we realized that this record doesn’t best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians. And although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach, and with Chi’s condition heavy on our minds while doing so.”

Unfortunately the worries of Chi’s Cheng’s condition were well warranted. Chi, the bands and bassist, was hospitalized in November 2008 after an automobile accident which placed him in a coma. The band temporarily disappeared from the music scene, before slowly resurfacing in 2009 with Sergio Vega taking Chi’s place.

Alas, a new album is announced. No, not Eros, but rather a new beast, Diamond Eyes which is slated for release on May 18th, 2010!

To celebrate the announcement of Diamond Eyes, the band have released their first single, Rocket Skates.

To download the song for free, visit the website gunsrazorsknives.com and click ‘Download Now’.

Watch the video (with lyrics) in HD on the official Deftones Youtube page… Or see it embedded below.

For more information on the latest music and tour dates for Deftones, visit their website – Deftones.com.

The game tells the story of Alan Wake who’s a bestselling author who hasn’t written anything in over two years. His wife Alice, brings him to the peaceful town of Bright Falls to recover his creative flow. When she vanishes without a trace, Wake finds himself trapped in a nightmare. Word by word, his latest work; a thriller he cannot even remember writing, is coming true before his eyes.

After having a hands-on session with it this week, I’m very optimistic that the game will be an exceptional title to land this generation. With a unique play style and story-driven episodic feel, you will come face to face with a mixed cast of characters, in a game that you won’t want to miss this year.

The opening scene has Wake driving through the lanes Bright Falls before pummeling into a mysterious shadow in his headlights. You then take control of the player and attempt to outrun this figure while being taunted from the shadows. While being in this “nightmare” it’s a good point in time for the level to teach you the game’s basic controls and tactics.

Fighting for breath, you awake and realize everything was a bad dream. You are introduced to Alan’s wife, Alice, who comforts you and mentions that your arrival at Bright Falls is minutes away. Alan then walks into a diner filled with an interesting set of people. Upon entry, people recognize him as a celebrity and the waitress boasts how she’s his biggest fan and even has a cardboard cut-out of Alan in the diner window.

You have the opportunity to wander about and meet other characters such as two old time rockers who are arguing amongst themselves about certain songs. Nonetheless, you are not there to entertain the die-hard fans but to meet with Carl Stuckey who’s waiting with the keys to his cabin down at Cauldron Lake.

You spot a long non-lit corridor; an alarmed elderly lady warns him before entering but Alan proceeds, ignoring her advice. Arriving at the rest room and knocking on the door to meet with Carl there’s no response. Instead a mysterious figure comes into view and tells him that Carl is ill, and she has the keys. Alan thanks her and proceeds but not without thinking something is wrong.

Arriving at the cabin triggers an event to take place which results in Alice going missing and a frantic Alan searching for her. The scene then drastically changes from this to finding Alan dazed in a car which has veered off course, with the blow to the head you find yourself in a state and wondering what has happened.

It’s dark, Alan’s alone and he must find help. Fleeing through the towering trees and moonlit path you see a light in the distance, you mark a start to get there quickly as you can. While on the way you find a flare gun, torch and a supplementary collection of batteries. Alan’s only defence, offense is the source of light and it becomes very limited through the level to it’s vital to search everywhere in order to survive.

When you reach the light source it turns out to be a timber yard, it’s quiet. No one is around, Alan needs to find a phone and call for help. As he approaches the cabin he spots an individual working in the distance, Alan keeps his distance as the figure is talking to himself and rambling on in gibberish. While approaching the character it gets spooked and runs off into the shadow but not without picking up a nice razor-edged axe.

This is where the action starts to kick in, casting your torch on the supernatural creatures – also known as The Taken. The Taken seem to be souls or something paranormal, not only can they take control of bodies but also objects, think of it as a poltergeist. Shooting with a firearm will weaken and eventually eliminate them, there is many methods in order to succeed such as shooting a flare at a group and watch in distress while they disintegrate in slow motion is impressive. The Taken use axes and other sharp instruments they can find, lunging themselves at you and throw axes and knifes.

As many of you know that Remedy introduced the feature of bullet time in Max Payne, Alan Wake also uses a similar style which can only be used when timing a perfect dodge. If successful time will slow down for a short period and allow you to re-adjust yourself to aiming with the gun or attempt to look for a clear exit.

You may also place flares and throw flash-bangs to keep a distance between yourself and the Taken while you pick them of one by one. Healing yourself was only possible to stand under a street light of some kind and allow the rays to regenerate yourself. There may be other options to healing but I did not see any.

Certain paths will be blocked and in-order to further you may need to access a generator or fuel pump. When you trigger these it will alarm for the Taken to rise or something worse, the same kind of way as horde the order become altered in Left 4 Dead when a car alarm goes off.

As you wander through this disturbing woods, you discover pages of a manuscript, a manuscript that has never been wrote only thought of in Alan’s mind. While picking these up it will hint of the upcoming portion you will be playing so you be more prepared but spooked. You finally reach your destination and call for the police, and the local sheriff arrives from Bright Falls. Alan decides not to mention what’s been happening but cries saying they need to find his wife.

The second part of the hands-on demo was part of a later level throughout the game which had Alan up on a music stage while music was pounding my ear drums. With Alan was his bubbly friend Barry who takes cover at while Alan fends of enemies. The Taken was approaching from every angle but with the use of flares, flash-bangs and the torch I could keep them all at bay whilst I picked them off from a distance with trusty yet limited shotgun.

Last I’d like to add that visually the game is magnificent, having Alan brush against a branches and bushes and watch it move realistically against the arms was damn superb, sunlight flowing through the trees as I proceeded up the hills to my destination made it all feel naturalistic. The use of light is done exceptionally well, the implementation of it against the enemies is second to none just like the use of bullet time in Max Payne, a simple but effective tweak which can make a game special.

I found my time with the game gripping and different, I wanted to know more answers, explore more into the story and find out who The Taken are, what has happened to Alice… and is everything Alan does actually happen or is it just in his mind. I like what Remedy has achieved and I’m sure the wait will all be worth it when it finally releases in May.

From February 27th to March 13th, Nintendo DS(i) and Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum Version owners will have the opportunity to bring their games to a participating Gamestop to download this little happy looking critter to their console!

Jirachi has the ability to grant any wish for just one week every thousand years and comes equipped with attacks such as Wish, Confusion, Rest, and the powerful Draco Meteor. What’s more, this Jirachi holds a secret that will be revealed in the upcoming Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version games! When you trade Jirachi into one of those games, you’ll be able to unlock a special Route inside the Pokéwalker accessory — a Poké Ball shaped pedometer that helps Pokémon gain experience and allows Trainers to encounter special Pokémon and find hidden items, all as a result of walking around in real life. Obtaining this rare Pokémon Jirachi distribution is the only way the Route map for Night Sky’s Edge can be accessed.

Pokemon fans have much more to look forward to, as Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver are slated for release on March 14th, 2010.

Of course, for more information visit www.pokemon.com!

The game – the first time the Monster Hunter series has come to Wii – will allow players to hunt and communicate together completely for free to become cunning, skilled hunting packs…tracking the fearsome creatures that share your world, and battling them in a quest for Evolution.

Players will be able to set up quests and join each other in the hunt online with just a few simple steps. If you meet a friend or someone you wish to hunt with, you can simply add them to your friend roster, following their mutual agreement. This makes them easy to find in the future, where a double click will take you straight to their quest if they are online.

The game is also fully Wii Speak-compatible, which will mean that you and up to 3 of your fellow hunters can share your online experiences in a whole new dimension.

Dedicated European servers will make the online multiplayer service fast and smooth. You will be able to keep all your attention and your wits fixed on the action – and you’ll need to, in order to succeed.

Limited quantities of Monster Hunter Tri will be bundled in with the new controller for a suggested retail price of $59.99.

Additionally, a playable demo and new pre-order incentive will be available via GameStop. Fans can get a taste of the demo when it releases on March 8th.

For a limited time only, pre-orders for the game will receive an exclusive collectible Monster Hunter Tri Points Card valued at 500 Points ($5.00) and available at time of pick-up, good towards the purchase of any content in the Wii Shop or Nintendo DSi Shop.

Set within the world of a fictional reality TV show, Split/Second players don’t just try to race to the finish line – they trigger explosive events that alter the track to take out opponents or create short cuts.

The game will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC. Winner of the prestigious Game Critics Award as Best Racing Game of E3.

Oh, it’s also priced at £42.99. Pretty amazing deal if you ask us. Below is the full list of extras which gamers will receive.

Hardbound in quality linen, the Alan Wake Limited Collector’s Edition is designed to resemble a hardcover book and will include:

• Game Disc in box with unique art
• Exclusive In-Game Audio Commentary and hints by Remedy.
• “The Alan Wake Files” a 144 page book that includes a short story written by Alan Wake and compiles the FBI dossiers investigating the events in Bright Falls.

Exclusive Xbox 360 bonus disc with special content:

• Exclusive Xbox Theme and Avatar
• A token for the first downloadable content available for Alan Wake through Xbox LIVE
• Video Documentaries/Behind The Scenes
• The Theme of Alan Wake
• The World of Bright Falls
• The People of Bight Falls
• Alan’s Missions
• Exclusive Audio Disc with Soundtrack and Score

For the next 10 days, Direct2Drive EU customers will now have the opportunity to pick up some classic Activision titles for half price, including open-world western adventure GUN, tactical shooter SWAT 4 and time-manipulating FPS.

The 50% off Activision sale will run for ten days from 23rd February to 4th March on Direct2Drive.eu. The complete list of titles included in the offer is listed below.

• 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
• Aces of the Galaxy
• Assault Heroes
• Caesar IV
• GUN
• Kings Quest Collection
• Police Quest Collection
• Space Quest Collection
• SWAT 4
• SWAT 4 Gold
• SWAT 4 – The Stetchkov Syndicate
• TimeShift
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

To see these deals and more click www.direct2drive.eu

After installing all three discs the total amount of space used up was 18.3GB’s, so it’s bad news for the (Arcade) 20GB owners. Even though the 20GB seems like it would meet requirements, the Xbox 360’s memory system actually reserves approximately 6GB of space for caching, backwards-compatibility and other game elements leaving you with roughly 14GB to play with.

Installation is totally optional.

• Disc 1: 5.9GB
• Disc 2: 5.8GB
• Disc 3: 6.6GB

The game is released in North America and Europe on 9th March, we will have our review up on the 5th of March when the online embargo lifts.

Wait, what? “That demo has been out since the beginning of February!” … I know, I’m fully aware of that fact. In all honesty, I’ve been purposely avoiding the title since I had seen it many months ago at the Sony Holiday Preview event in Toronto, Ontario.

It was the beginning of October and the hype for the big titles was overwhelming in the venue. In the corner of the room was a small LCD television proudly sporting a Sega banner; on its screen was a game starring some sort of green alien character which I had not cared to learn the name of. We shall simply call him ‘Gloopy’. Disinterested in the product (which I now know as Planet 51), I had quit out to the console menu to see what else Sega had to offer. That’s when I first encountered Sega and Sonic All Stars racing.

“Aw, what the hell”, I thought to myself as I selected it and loaded it up. Expecting the worse, I nonchalantly chose my character, who happened to be Tails, and then began my race. Within 5 seconds I was pulled away from the game as it was my turn to demo Activision’s DJ Hero. Not that I cared. I didn’t feel robbed of my time with Sega and Sonic Racers, and I was more than happy to move on.

A few months passed and I had wiped all memories of Sega’s kart racing title out of my mind. That is until RARE shot me a press release stating that the Xbox 360 version of the game will not only allow Xbox Live Avatars into the racing action, but also the beloved bear and bird combo of Banjo-Kazooie.

At this point I had done a complete 180; I began to show an interest in the product. Unfortunately, that was short-lived as I am a cynic by nature, and still expected the absolute worst of this game… I then continued to ignore mentions, emails and all news regarding the title.

Time Passes.

Then, whilst bored yesterday I downloaded the demo… and may I state here that it is freaking awesome!?

The demo environment is bright and colorful, well designed and easy to navigate. There are risky shortcuts to attempt to reach to save time, however doing so may often cause you to wreck your car–and ultimately your position in the race. The cars handle themselves nicely on the course, and are influenced by the terrain on which you drive. (Nothing new there, but the experience is tight and refined! ..A well oiled machine, if you will.)

An obvious move would to compare this title to the kart racing giant, Mario Kart. Guess what? I think this will be some major competition!

The character selection may be some of the best yet. Sonic, Tails and gang are of course there, but so are those pesky monkeys from Monkey Ball, Banjo-Kazooie, and if you’re me… this guy!

If you haven’t gotten around to giving Sega and Sonic All Stars racing a test drive yet, please go out and download the demo. You won’t be disappointed.

Happy vrooming!

This latest addition, Lost in Nightmares, sees Chris teamed up with partner Jill to investigate the Spencer estate, the location of the original resident Evil. It’s clear from the off that this DLC is 50% moving the story from the main game forward and 50% fan service. Fans finally get to retread those famous opening moments in glorious high definition.

This is the main pull of the DLC, playing through the new chapter with a friend is a treat as both of you fondly reminisce about the first game. Locations such as the dining room where Barry Burton famously discovers a patch of blood that he hopes isn’t Chris’ are included and although certain parts of the mansion have changed, there is still a feeling of video game history here.

Nothing has really changed in terms of mechanics and controls so picking up and diving in is simple enough, unfortunately while the controls haven’t changed, neither has the screen tearing, which is as horrible as before.

As with the idea, the design is split in two halves, with the first half dishing out cranks and crests allowing fans to have their moment and the second half becomes a trawl through underground locales setting traps and avoiding certain death from hidden terrors.

It would be a disservice to willing players of this great DLC to talk in depth about the plot and set up of the levels, as this would spoil the many highlights contained within the chapter.

The chapter itself is simple and enjoyable, whilst it only lasts around an hour there’s plenty of chance to replay it. There are plenty of jumps and scares along the way and you’ll yelp in fear and laugh in joy as bodies fall and make you or your co-op jump out of their skin. Replaying the mission will obviously lose some of that effect, but there are some great changes that will keep you going.

Changing the difficulty from Normal to Veteran will see more enemies coming after you and ammo levels drop, there will also be a few more scares as enemies appear where they’ve never been before.

Sadly, there is only one new enemy and although he is terrifying and very well designed, fighting the same thing over and over allows some of the charm to vanish. This gruesome baddie is also, the only enemy in the chapter too which is disheartening.

It’s not just the campaign included though; fans of the game’s mercenaries mode will be pleased to with yet more fan service, as the legend Barry Burton becomes a playable character alongside buxom vixen, Excella Gionne.

These may only small additions that they provide plenty of fun as we see Excella dispatch of majini with a swift kick to the family jewels or Barry unleashing the Burton Boot move to kick our brainwashed foes aside.

For a mere 400 points or $4.99, fans of the most recent game and indeed the history of the franchise will be over the moon with the content. There are plenty of achievements to keep you coming back and the nostalgia will keep you smiling throughout.

While we all know that playing Rock Band 2 in your house can be fun, imagine taking it to the next level. A superstar level! …You know, showing off your skills in front of a screaming crowd who will be chanting your name, singing, and jumping up and down along as you hit those green, red, blue and yellow buttons in perfect timing.

The thrill of performing in front of an audience can only be had at Rockie Raccoons and SemiSolidMedia’s Rock Band Jam Sessions!

Writers from your favourite sites are scheduled to show up, and even Ve3tro will be represented at the event. Despite being personally mediocre at the game (placing myself on an imminent path to public humiliation), it’ll be a fun time to drink, eat, meet new people and have a blast.

When – March 6th, 2010 at 9:00 PM.
Where – Toronto, Ontario, 2579 Yonge Street, 2nd Floor at Rockie Raccoons

For more information visit the Facebook Event Page and click ‘attend’… while you’re there, invite your friends so that you can confirm that you’ll be leaving the party as a part of the best fake band in town!

And of course, visit SemiSolidMedia’s website for more information on other Rock Band Jam Sessions if you cannot attend this one.

Fans will be able to meet Yoshinori Kitase, the producer of the game, and Isamu Kamikokuryo, the game’s art director and they will be available to sign games and answer questions.

Also for the first 50 people to attend the signing dressed in Final Fantasy costumes will be given a free FF XIII soundtrack and everyone who attends the launch will have the chance to win goodies.

Below are the details.

• Date: 9th March 2010
• Time: 5.30pm – 7:30pm
• Photocall: 6:05pm – 6:15pm
• Address: HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London, W1D1DJ
• Entry: Free to everyone