I’m back from an extended break part due to moving house, part due to getting wound-up by Telstra, and the rest down to having a break over Christmas. Things are getting back to normal, but first I’ve got to get something off my chest. I apologise as it’s a bit wordy and I doubt Telstra will be happy if I use their logo on what is effectively a rant.
It’s that time again. The end of an era and the beginning of another. As the sun sets on the Xbox 360 and it enters it’s end of life- out to grass on a diet of lighter, more mainstream fayre, we greet it’s successor, not it’s replacement: the Xbox One.
It’s a weird time for me. The Xbox 360 marked the beginning of my new life overseas in New Zealand. Whilst a year and a bit late, the Xbox One marks a similar milestone, this time my new life in Australia. The Xbox One will be the third of Microsoft’s consoles that I’ve had the pleasure of owning, each one purchased in a different country. Continue reading Xbox in review: out with the Xbox 360 in with the Xbox One→
There’s no doubt in my mind that FIFA 14 on the Xbox 360 is a superb game. It’s a series highlight that brings the action, excitement and emotion on the virtual pitch closer than ever to that of the real-life beautiful game.
For the Xbox One version of FIFA 14, EA Sports are promising an even more immersive experience that ever before. I recently got to sit down with Peter Trenouth, producer on the Xbox One version of FIFA 14 at a special media preview in Sydney. Continue reading FIFA 14 Xbox One- interview with producer, Peter Trenouth→
The moonlit strip of tarmac snaked off into the distance. I pushed the Aston as fast as it could go. The speed camera flashed. A new record.
Distracted by the distant thunderstorm I failed to notice the cop bearing down on me from the left, the flashing red and blue lights shredding the darkness.
At that point the heavens opened, the headlight illuminated raindrops swarming towards me like a thousand fireflies. Hardly able to make out the road through the downpour I approach the hairpin, gently tapping the brake to start a drift; but just a second too late.
As my car’s rear slid towards a boundary fence I expected to be stopped in my tracks; instead the wooden posts fractured into a million splinters, my car continuing its slide at breakneck speed away from the pursuing cop.
Since 2002’s Battlefield 1942 EA Games and Swedish developer DICE have been providing gamers with a unique multi-role first-person shooter experience. With Battlefield 2 they replaced the traditional WWII FPS setting with modern combat.
The more narrative-based (and console friendly) Bad Company spin-offs kept the franchise going for the six years until Battlefield 3. Two years later and we are returning to the battlefield with Battlefield 4.
Battlefield 4 has been built with the next-gen consoles in mind. The game’s creative director, Lars Gusavsson as good as told me that when I spoke to him last month. But it is also the product of community feedback – the addition of commander mode, for instance – and a chance to refine the living battlefield environment. Continue reading Battlefield 4 PC Review→
Whilst I should be reviewing games and writing up interviews, I thought I’d take a bit of a break to do an old-fashioned unboxing of the EB Games exclusive (well, here in Australia, anyway) Batman: Arkham Origins Definitive Edition.
I pre-ordered this special edition on Xbox 360 ages ago as I can be a sucker for fancy game packages. Ironically I’d been playing the PC version of the game for a week for my review on shanethegamer.com when I got a text from EB saying that the Definitive Editions had been delayed, but I could still pick up my game in-store and await the swag when it arrived. Continue reading Batman: Arkham Origins Definitive Edition swag unboxing (lite)→
It’s not long now until we get to experience the next game in the acclaimed Assassin’s Creed saga. Last year, in Assassin’s Creed 3, we followed Conner Kenway as he witnessed, first hand, the birth of the United States.
For Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag we travel back in time, buckle our swashes and dive headlong into the adventures of Conner’s wayward grandfather, the pirate Edward Kenway, as he pillages his way across the Caribbean. It’s an interesting and rather radical departure for a series that started out running long the rooftops of the Holy Land.
It has been two years since Battlefield 3 launched to critical and commercial acclaim. With huge maps crammed full of modern combat vehicles, the game was the most visceral attempt to bring open 21st Century battlefield combat to multiplayer gaming.
At the end of the month EA’s DICE studio will unleash the celebrated series’ forth incarnation, Battlefield 4, on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; with next-generation versions waiting in the wings for the new consoles’ launches in November.
