Coming soon to the Xbox live Arcade a New Post-Apocalypse Survival title from Ubisoft – I AM ALIVE!

Moving away from zombies and mutants (Huzza!) and into a story that will force players to consider the actions taken against other survivors and supply management in the harsh lands of a dying city. Using your brains as much as the equipment you are carrying will be the key to surviving and reaching your ultimate goal – finding your family. Players will be faced with situations requiring you to intimidate others, bluff their way out of a tough spot, or event take a physical approach to the other inhabitants in the city of Haventon.

Trailer:

Think you have what it takes to survive? Find out on March 7, 2012. I Am Alive will be available for download for 1200 Microsoft Points.

Screen Shots:

Well look no further we have organized them all for you, so you don’t need to waste anymore time looking for them. Enjoy!

Mass Effect 3:

The Last of Us:

Rainbow Six: Patriots:

Hitman: Absolution:

Alan Wake – American Nightmare:

Command & Conquer: Generals 2:

Tekken Tag Tournament 2:

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD:

The Amazing Spider-Man:

Fortnite:

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron:

Diablo III:

BioShock Infinite:

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance:

UPDATE 1.2 (all platforms unless specified):

• Improved occasional performance issues resulting from long term play (PlayStation 3)
• Fixed issue where textures would not properly upgrade when installed to drive (Xbox 360)
• Fixed crash on startup when audio is set to sample rate other than 44100Hz (PC)
• Fixed issue where projectiles did not properly fade away
• Fixed occasional issue where a guest would arrive to the player’s wedding dead
• Dragon corpses now clean up properly
• Fixed rare issue where dragons would not attack
• Fixed rare NPC sleeping animation bug
• Fixed rare issue with dead corpses being cleared up prematurely
• Skeleton Key will now work properly if player has no lockpicks in their inventory
• Fixed rare issue with renaming enchanted weapons and armor
• Fixed rare issue with dragons not properly giving souls after death
• ESC button can now be used to exit menus (PC)
• Fixed occasional mouse sensitivity issues (PC)
• General functionality fixes related to remapping buttons and controls (PC)

The Ancestors Character Pack will be available for download December 13 for $3.99 on the PlayStation®Network and 320 Microsoft Points on XBOX LIVE®. The first two downloadable content packs are available for pre-order today.

Today Microsoft and 343 industries announced the launch of the Halo Living Monument. The monument is a place where gamers can upload pictures of their favourite “Halo” memories and watch as they blend and merge into the the stream of images submitted by other fans from all over the world in an interactive, 3D mosaic image of Master Chief.

Catch the Trailer:

The Halo Living Monument was created in celebration of the 10th anniversary launch of “Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary” edition.

*NOTE: Halo Living Monument experience not available in Google Chrome.

In a way I’m sad to write this review, knowing that after the final moments in Gears of war 3 the Franchise will be forever changed. We fought hard people and paid a dear price, but in the end – brothers stood shoulder to shoulder and took on the challenge instead of rolling over and giving up all hope.

In the time between Gears 2 and Gears 3 a number of major events occurred in the world of the COG – many of which are hinted at during game play, but are detailed in the book Gears of War: Coalition’s End. If you haven’t read this book I’d recommend you head over to your local book store, or click the link and get it delivered, and pick up this book to fill in the missing details.

Putting aside gameplay for now, it’s the 3rd game and gameplay hasn’t changed from the first two, I’ll instead focus on the story-line (no spoilers promise) of Gears 3. Humanity is facing it’s darkest days and both the COG and the Locust have their hands full of with the Lambent right from the start of the game. Delta squad is once again called upon to face odds of epic proportions right from the start of the game.

Taking on the entire might of the horde is one thing, but adding in the explosive Lambent to this struggle for Humanity adds a new level of intensity to this story. New mutations, new tactics and new locations will draw players in, chew them up and spit them out on the other side. Adding in additional support for up to four players in co-op and competitive points co-op brings the comradeship of Delta Squad and the COG to life. While I believe the point system in the competitive co-op is a silly gimmick, and an unnecessary addition, finding a open game to join never seems to be a problem.

Players will also be introduced to a few new weapons, most notable include the Retro Lancer (with a giant Bayonet), the Digger (an underground popup bomb) and the one shot – one kill sniper rifle with an explosive kick. New turits, new shotguns and the new two person Vulocan Cannon will also be found along your journeys, but I’ll let you introduce yourself to these fun toys of destruction.

The voice acting and writing are both fantastic, including dialog from veteran voice actors like John DiMaggio (Marcus), Lester Speight (Cole), Fred Tatasciore (Baird), and Carlos Ferro (Dom). You will also encounter long time fan of the Gears series, Ice-T (Griffin) an unlockable multiplayer character and in game bad ass.

Taking players across the entire length of Sera by Sea, Land and air you will encounter a number of old friends and familiar locations, like Cole’s home town and place of worship – the Thrashball Stadium, and the famous Anvil Gate – a refuge for the last of the displaced citizens of the COG.

New multiplayer modes also enhance this title adding in game modes that allow players to take the roll of the Horde and attack waves of COG soldiers and heroes, play vs matches as either COG or Horde and the return of Horde mode for grinding out levels and kills. With new maps and a few throwbacks, plus the promise of future DLC, hours of game play are just waiting for you to plugin and log on.

Feed Your Console gives Gears of War 3: 9 out of 10.

Pros:

• Epic story line, providing many conclusions to series spanning story lines
• Fun new weapons
• Voice acting is top notch
• Multiplayer game play and DLC extends the value and fun

Cons:

• Point system in the competitive co-op is a silly gimmick
• It’s the last one in the series – all good things have to end

*** Potential Spoiler Alert! This review may contain some minor spoilers to game play, new skills and plot lines for Assassins Creed: Revelations ***

The story starts off retelling the main points of the previous games and mentions the mysterious Apple of Eden that was left behind by “the others”. Desmond is still in a coma and stuck in the animus. He wakes up in the animus on a beach surrounded by strange stone pillars. It’s explained to him by a previous animus user, who is also on “Animus Island”, that his mind is broken and that they’re in the guts of the animus. We learn that Desmond was placed there by someone, thus saving his life because his mind was fracturing blurring the distinction between his memories and reality.

From there we’re reintroduced to a much older Ezio who seems to be recounting his travels to his and the story opens up just as we saw him in the first major trailer for AC:Revelations, in the midst of a battle, surrounded he sees a vision of Altair and allows himself to be captured. His captors are preparing to execute Ezio high above the mountains with a noose wrapped around his neck – it’s here that Ezio performs his escape. Even in his much older state, Ezio still moves with cat-like reflexes as he shadows Altair’s shadow movements during the following tutorial.

Revelations takes Ezio to Constantinople which features 4 districts and Masayaf, the original game’s Assassin stronghold, as he attempts to retraces Altair’s footsteps in the search of a powerful artifact that was sealed away by Altair.  In between each major DNA memory segment, the game takes us back to Desmond in his comatose state on “Animus Island”. At times, dialogue is overheard from the real world explaining what is happening in the real world and through conversations with the other inhabitant.

Animus Island is also home to a series of gateways to Desmond’s mind. Each doorway is accessed only after acquiring a predetermined set of Data fragments found throughout the game. Once acquired, Desmond is thrust into a bizarre first person sequence which has him recounting moments long forgotten as he jumps over minor obstacles and builds paths to bridge the gaps in his memory.

Graphically the game hasn’t changed much aside from a few minor tweaks, some sharper models and smoother animations. The controls are exactly the same with only a few new minor additions, which, isn’t a bad thing because I always felt that the controls were fine the way they were. Much of the audio is recycled from previous titles so expect to hear a lot of the same dialogue from the townsfolk you’ve heard over the last few years.

Some changes to look to include a few new tricks which include crafting bombs, aerial kills with the use of a parachute and the new “Hook Blade”. Using ingredients like Lambs blood, Indian gun powder, sulphur and casings Ezio has a pretty wide array of bombs to build. For example, Cherry bombs create a loud noise and draw guards to the location of the sound while blood bombs give the enemy a sense that he’s been injured thus taking away his will to fight and running away. Crafting bombs require 3 parts – a shell, gunpowder and an effect. The crafting is performed at specific crafting locations peppered throughout the world.

Another notable change in Ezio’s arsenal is called the “Hook Blade”. The Hook Blade essentially makes it easier for Ezio to hit longer jumps or get to those slightly out of reach points by tapping the B button to hook onto the edge allowing him to pull himself up. The Hook blade can also be used to make the slip on your enemies allowing Ezio to hook their clothing and jump over them or create new combat combos.

Series favourites such as recruiting Assassins and purchasing shops are back. Recruiting new assassins to aid in the cause to overthrow the Templar’s control in other cities is both fun and rewarding.  Once these recruits have gained enough experience, Ezio can assign them as a ‘district leader’. These district leaders will also provide new quests to Ezio when he visits their areas. But beware! There are also rival assassins to be on the lookout for, on more than a few occasions, I’ve been attacked by other assassins and had to chase them down, which leads to the next logical question – Who hired them?

The multiplayer experience has also received some attention adding: new locations, characters and modes like Capture the Flag and a story oriented set of quests that reveal more background to the world of Assassins Creed.

Assassins Creed: Revelations is a lot of the same you’ve come to expect from the series. It has to be with the frequency of releases the series is getting, there’s just no time to flesh out anything new and groundbreaking to the franchise. That’s not necessarily a bad thing considering the big driving factor for me with the Assassins Creed series is the compelling story. The voice cast, townsfolk not withstanding, is still every bit as good as we’ve come accustomed to from the series. I will admit that I’ve grown tired of Ezio and would have preferred to do more with Desmond and/or Altair – I just don’t feel that Altair has been given enough respect.

Feed Your Console gives Assassins Creed: Revelations an 8.5 out of 10

Pros:

• The Story – The narrative is compelling and interesting
• Gameplay – More of the same in a critically acclaimed series can’t be all that bad
• Desmond’s Memory Sequences – Adds some interesting background to Desmond and gives a slower paced break to the game
• Altair – We haven’t seen/heard much of him since the original title. It’s good to go back to the beginning

Cons:

• Audio – I’ve grown weary of hearing the exact same audio from the towns folk for 3 years
• Online Death Matches  – I like the story mode multiplayer, but , I’m just not buying into the multiplayer experience.

Order Now Assassin’s Creed Revelations drops on November 15th.

Just a quick note to say that I have not yet finished the game and have only managed to get in about 30hrs of gameplay. I know I’ll get a lot of haters on this but seriously, the game really is that freaking big.

Oblivion burst onto consoles in the Spring of 2006. I remember being so amazed by the images I saw online and the intense hunger for a good long RPG, that I rushed out to pick up Oblivion the day it hit shelves. I was both impressed and unhappy at the same time. The Environments looked incredible but the characters all looked spectacularly brutal. I swear each character was only 2 generations removed from Apes walking upright. The gameplay itself was an RPG using a First Person Shooter Perspective which I found to be a little cumbersome, I was always getting lost and every single town I entered wanted me dead or to toss me in jail due to my own ignorance. The sheer size of the game also soured me on the whole experience because it was new and I had never before seen anything so big in a game….but after playing through Fallout 3 and New Vegas, I’m a new man and an old pro at exploring vast worlds…

***Possible Spoiler Alert – Scroll down to avoid***

The game starts off with a cart full of prisoners as they’re being taken to a fort to be executed. Once in the town, the player gets off the cart and begins their character customization. Right off the bat I noticed a remarkable improvement on the character models. From there we get to witness the execution of a prisoner when he’s laid down and beheaded with his head dropping into a basket and his lifeless body being kicked to the side. It’s now your turn to face the hold steel of the executioners blade when out of nowhere, a Dragon lands on a house and begins attacking and destroying the town thus leaving you to your own devices to escape and learn some of the fundamentals of the game which pretty well plays very similarly to it’s predecessor and the true beginning of your quest.

The story is not a direct sequel to Oblivion so much as it takes place a few hundred years later after the Empire began relinquishing territories to the Elven nations because there was no heir to the throne following the Emperors death. The player eventually learns that Skyrim’s civil war is last prophetic event foretold by the Elder Scrolls, which also speak of the return the Nordic god of destruction, Alduin.

Taking the form of a dragon, Alduin is prophesied to consume the world with his servants, the Jills (a race of black dragons). The player character is the last Doväkiin (Dragonborn), a dragon hunter anointed by the gods to help fend off the threat Alduin poses to Skyrim and Tamriel.

***End of Possible Spoiler***

***EDIT***Here’s an extra special follow-up post for all the people whose comments both made me laugh and shake my head. But let’s soldier on good reader. You’ve asked for more detail so here we go.

I will admit , that there is an aspect of the game that I found to be enjoyable though I’m not sure if it was a feature in previous games and I forgot to report back on it – Sue me I’m only human and do this for fun purely based on my love of all things videogames. That aspect of the game I speak of is called “Smithing”. Very early on in the game (right after the escape from the Dragon that’s destroying the town from the beginning***Ooops Spolier Alert!***) the player is introduced to Smithing of weapons and armor. Smithing requires a proficiency in working with various metals such as Iron and using animal hides to make leather in order to make repair, augment and improve weapons and armor. All it really requires are the right ingredients using the forge, the grinding stone, then applying augments to it(where applicable) on the workbench. A minor gripe I have with the Smithing is that it’s unfortunate that it’s not more like a mini-game or had some form of user creation tool to give each weapon/armor a personal touch. Off to the Gallows with me!

Next up is the control scheme – The controls are pretty well just like Fallout 3. Analogue sticks should be self explanatory – Push up and you move forward – Back and you move backward, Left and right strafe. The right stick turns the character. Press down on LS and you crouch, press down on RS and it changes the camera to a 3rd person perspective. B button opens the tree menu with skills, items, map and magic. The Skill tree is laid out as though looking at constellations – beneath each skill, the user can see the features of each skill and the path they take. IE: The first level of  Smithing starts off with proficiency in crafting with Iron as you progress and hone your skills, you’ll eventually be able to create Dragon Armor.  X button draws your weapon and puts it away. A button interacts with people or takes items and Y button jumps. Right trigger swings your weapon where the Left trigger guards unless you have magic equipped in which case, you can hold the left trigger to charge up your spell and release it to cast. LB sprints and only last as long as your Stamina will allow and RB shouts/power moves. Pretty standard fare.

As I said before, and was lambasted for, the map is huge. It very easily dwarfs Fallout. I haven’t yet even seen all of it and it appears to be considerably larger with more destinations to visit and it can take what seems like forever to go from point A to B. Thankfully there is a fast travel option as well as a stable you can go to and pay for a ride or…you can be a total bastard and steal a horse risking life, limb, gold and freedom in the process.

The graphics for Skyrim are a vast improvement over Oblivion and Fallout but still not on the same level as something like Rage’s iD Tech 5(which I find to be one of the sexiest new engines out there right now). The new “Creation Engine” is a variant of the same engine used for Oblivion and Fallout but it’s no slouch.  The environments are lush and lively as expected in this type of game, the animations are smooth and the characters look awesome, however, I didn’t care for how the horses looked while riding them to different locales. When walking over a rock, for example, the horse will just jump up over the rock and fall back down on the other side – I found it to look very unnatural. Surprisingly Skyrim all fits onto one disc and the load times are reasonably short (I can’t speak for the load times when running off disc)I love the way the weather systems look in this game. The weather effects in the game look awesome, in particular in the snowy regions though I did notice that no tracks were left behind. Aside from those minor complaints, everything in the world just feels to be more alive.

I actually encountered a bug when I encountered 2 different NPCs – When trying to interact with them, they don’t actually say anything and the subtitles I have turned on whip by without giving me the opportunity to read what’s going on. My immediate thought was my controller was acting up but, this has happened with 4 different controllers – it appears that this is not a controller issue. Time will tell if this is a common issue Keep an eye out and let us know if you encounter the same thing. Sad Bear face!

The audio is awesome – when I have the luxury of having it turned up loud (the man cave is below my daughter’s room), the bustling sounds of a city, the serenity nature and the ferocity of violent battles really adds to atmosphere. The soundtrack is fantastic, well timed and placed throughout.  As expected from Bethesda, there’s an  insane amount of spoken dialogue, some spoken by celebrities like Max Von Sydow, and Christopher Plummer.

The game is quite challenging especially at the beginning. I’m one of those guys that loves to run in guns-a-blazing (swords-a-swinging in this case) and as I quickly learned that’s just not how to play this game. This is an adventure game that takes it’s time to tell a story and build and I am taking my sweet time plodding through avoiding the main quest for the most part for the time being. I’ve put a great deal of emphasis on Lock picking for all the obvious reasons,  Smithing to have the best weapons and armor, Heavy weapons to deal the most damage and speech to help with persuading people and save some precious gold when buying items – Anything to try and help me get the leg up on this game.

This title is sure to eat up countless hours well into the new year.

In my previous post I stated that the amount of time I had with the game was extremely limited in the grand scheme of things and that I wasn’t a fan of Oblivion assuming you could read between the lines (I didn’t finish it even after repeated attempts – I disliked it that much) but it seems that’s not the case. Also, the hate I get for rating something a 9 out of 10 is staggering (I just might be Public Enemy #1).

Yes! Online is important to me and I would love to see co-op in a game f this magnitude- No it’s not a deal breaker. Yes those are my views and opinions – No it doesn’t make my opinion right. Yes I see your side – No it doesn’t make your opinion right. No I won’t be changing my original score.

It’s a 9 out of 10 game.

Pros

• Length of the Game – I’m 30hrs in and don’t see an end in sight.
• Replay Value – There’s just so much to do and see the game will no doubt warrant a 2nd or even 3rd play through.
• Sandbox games – I’m a sucker for sandbox style games. This one is huge.
• Graphics – the characters look cleaner and the environments have much more depth resulting in a prettier appearance.
• Sound design

Cons:

• No Co-op – I always get shit for this but I’m a huge fan of coop experiences. This game screams for it.
• Some glitchy animations
• Only encountered 1 bug on 2 different occasions and it did prevent me from understanding what was going on because it was tied to the main quest.

Available yesterday, Nov. 7, on Xbox LIVE Marketplace six new sports included in Challenge Pack #1 include:

• Baseball: Frantic Fielder – Oil up your mitt and get ready for action! “Frantic Fielder” for Baseball gives all new meaning to playing catch. Fielding an endless stream of balls from a lineup of mascots tests everything from hand-eye coordination to speed. The more you catch the harder it gets – three misses and you’re OUT!
• Darts: Smart Shot – Exercise the brain and throwing arm simultaneously with “Smart Shot” for Darts. If hitting the bulls-eye wasn’t challenge enough, try competing against the clock with mathematical puzzles that require a sharp mind and even sharper aim.
• Football: Crazy Kicker – As the star kicker in “Crazy Kicker” for Football, you’ll discover the challenge of making a 40-yard field goal with all eyes watching. Account for factors like distance and wind to line up your shot perfectly and score! The crowd and mascots will cheer you on with every amazing goal.
• Golf: Champion Chip – “Champion Chip” for Golf takes the short game to a new level. Chip shots become increasingly challenging from different surfaces, distances, and with natural obstacles like wind steering the course.
• Skiing: Cool Ringings – Swoosh down the slopes with a license for speed, dodging mascots and ringing the cowbells for extra points in “Cool Ringings” for Skiing. Five different courses help players build their ski legs just in time for ski season.
• Tennis: Rapid Returner – Breaking a sweat is easy with “Rapid Returner” for Tennis, where mascots serve up a variety of zingers at increasing speeds to the forehand, backhand, net and baseline. If you’re looking for the ultimate Tennis training game, grab your racquet for and get ready for action.

New game add-ons will be made available each and every month through Spring 2012, with each release including some kind of free content to keep you on the field and in the game.