Category Archives: Gaming

Game Reviews, Gaming

Assassin’s Creed 3 Xbox 360 Review

Assassin's Creed 3 boxart
AC3: Game of the Year?

In his first foray into Ubisoft’s historical sci-fi series, State of Play’s new boy Grant Cheetham reviews Assassin’s Creed III on XBox 360. Take it away Grant!

Assassin ‘s Creed III is Ubisoft’s fifth major installment in the series. Having not played the previous games, the idea of starting this late in the series initially seemed daunting. Ubisoft however did a great job at welcoming new players into the series.

If you haven’t played an Assassin’s Creed game before basically you play as an assassin, a group of super freaky climbers who fight for freedom and peace. Their adversary, the Templars, seek order and control, mostly through morally questionable means. This game combines history and science fiction with a ton of conspiracy theories thrown in. The gameplay is that of an action-adventure with a focus on climbing and stealth. Continue reading Assassin’s Creed 3 Xbox 360 Review →

Gaming

Second huge patch to fix Assassin’s Creed 3 issues

 

Assassin’s Creed III: Fixed

Despite a large day 1 patch, Assassin’s Creed III was full of bugs on launch day. This was a bit of a shame for such an otherwise excellent game. When I started reviewing the game (which you should see posted on the Game Console pages of techday.com, here, very soon) I thought it rather strange that Ubisoft would choose to release one of their flagship games with so many problems.

Now, having finished the game, I think I know why they did. Continue reading Second huge patch to fix Assassin’s Creed 3 issues →

Gaming

Far Cry 3 Story Trailer

FarCry 3 Box art
Paradise lost

Far Cry 3 is the next big game release for me. And as if I don’t have enough on my plate right now. Hopefully you have been following the Far Cry Experience live web series and are getting a feel for what it is going to be all about.

Ubisoft have just released the Far Cry 3 story trailer. The game premise, a group of kids on a vacation that descends into hell sound a lot like the recent spate of “torture porn” movies like the Hostel and Saw series. It looks like it’s going to kick ass. Continue reading Far Cry 3 Story Trailer →

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed 3 Freedom Edition unboxing

Assassin's Creed III Freedom Edition
The Assassin’s Creed III Freedom Edition

The recently released Assassin’s Creed III marks a pivotal point in the award-winning series. For the last three games we have been following the adventures of Ezio Auditore as he battles the Templars and unravels the mystery of Those That Came Before.

To mark Altair – from the first game – passing the baton to Ezio, Ubisoft released special editions of Assassin’s Creed II, the black and white editions. These special editions contained a hand-painted statue of Ezio Auditore either in his white or his black garb. I published an unboxing article at the time for Game Console, which I’ve recently republished here.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations bought Ezio’s journey to a close. And to mark the occasion Ubisoft published another special version of the game, the Assassin’s Creed Revelations Animus Edition. This version of the game included a hardback encyclopedia covering all the first four games. I published an unboxing of this special version on this website, which you can find here.

For Assassin’s Creed III we are introduced to a new protagonist, Ratonhnhaké:ton (pronounced Ra-doon-ha-gay-doon) but better known as Connor Kenway. It is only fitting that Ubisoft celebrate the event with another statue-laden special edition.

The Assassin’s Creed III Freedom Edition is one of six premium versions of the game and comes complete with a host of goodies. As is fast becoming tradition on State of Play I bring to you, for your enjoyment, the Assassin’s Creed III Freedom Edition unboxing. Continue reading Assassin’s Creed 3 Freedom Edition unboxing →

Gaming

Melbourne Cup…I mean Halo 4 day in Australia

Halo 4 Box Shot
Master Chief is back!

The day that stops the nation, that’s what they say about Melbourne Cup Day here in Australia. Well I’m sure they do. But today a load of folks  at home and not to watch a load of old nags, ‘cos it was was also Halo 4 Day.

And for a lot of gamers, last night was a bit of a late one.

At one minute past midnight on the 6th November gamers across Australia were among the first people in the world (behind the Kiwis, of course) to get their hands on Master Chief’s latest outing. In Australia over 250 EB Games and JB Hifi stores remained open until the early hours so that fans could get their hands on Halo 4. Continue reading Melbourne Cup…I mean Halo 4 day in Australia →

Gaming, General

Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Assassin’s Creed 3 and Medal of Honor Warfighter

Vic B'Stard
Expectations and disappointment

I‘m currently reviewing two of the year’s triple-A titles, both of which seem to be garnering some negative press.

EA Games’ Medal of Honor Warfighter continues the series modern combat setting from 2010’s rebooted Medal of Honor. The follows the exploits of a group of elite “Tier 1” special forces operatives as they travel around the world searching for a terrorist leader known only as The Cleric. Their investigations take them to various combat hot-spot each of which ends up in a shoot-out. Continue reading Vic B’Stard’s week in review: Assassin’s Creed 3 and Medal of Honor Warfighter →

Game Reviews, Gaming

Retrospective: Halo 3: ODST Review

ODST logo
Halo spin off!

Although I enjoyed Halo 3, I found it to be more of the same. For me, as great as the story was, the gameplay was stuck in a bygone era when the likes of Quake 2 was still the height of cool. With Halo 3:ODST, Bungie went and did something a little different.

The end of Halo 3 saw the series protagonist, Master Chief, adrift in space and so they needed a new focus for this quasi-sequel. Enter the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, voiced by Firefly favorites Nathan Fillion as squad-leader Buck, Adam Baldwin as Dutch and and Alan Tudyk as Mickey. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer and fan favorite Nolan North also play major characters in the game. What more could you ask for? Continue reading Retrospective: Halo 3: ODST Review →