Destiny definitely has a Star Wars vibe.

In preparation for its proper public unveiling at E3 on June 11th, Activision and Bungie have released new trailer for Destiny.

The live-action trailer directed by the fella behind Iron Man 1 and 2, Jon Favreau, doesn’t tell us much but it does give us an impression of the kind of team-centric experience Bungie are going for with Destiny.

Check out the footage below:

More information about Destiny will be revealed soon…

If you’re looking for something new to play this weekend, but your coffers are a bit low you’re in luck as Trion Worlds has announced that the PC version of Defiance will be playable for free this weekend, via Steam.

Shoot all the things!

Usually the one-time fee MMO is available for £34.99, but this weekend that price is being slashed to £24.99 to tempt potential new fans to get involved.

The free-to-play initiative was supposed to run from yesterday evening thru until Monday, at least according to Massively, but at time of writing the promotion has yet to appear on the Steam. No doubt that’ll change in the coming hours as the system gremlins are sorted out. Keep your eyes peeled on your Library within Steam, Defiance will appear within it shortly.

If you’d like to read more about Defiance, check out the very first issue of FirstLook magazine embedded below:

Electronic Arts has officially unveiled the next entry in the award-winning Need for Speed series today.

The next game’s full title is Need for Speed Rivals and will be powered by the nice and shiny Frostbite 3 engine. This year’s iteration of the annual racer is currently in development at new studio Ghost Games under the guidance of Most Wanted and Hot Pursuit developer, Criterion Games.

Here’s an official blurb describing the game, care of Rivals’ official website:

“Racers are lone wolves out for their own glory; driving agile cars built for high speed racing and epic chases. Cops work in teams to hunt down and bust racers using the full power of the police force.”

“Switch roles whenever you like, and watch the stakes grow through a new scoring system that puts your speed points on the line letting you push how far you’ll go for greater rewards.”

Certainly sounds a lot like Hot Pursuit to us, with exotic cop cars and super cars battling it out for some kind of Max Max-style four-wheeled supremacy. Here’s the teaser trailer to further dramatise matters featuring a Ferrari F12 Berlinettas and Koenigsegg Ageras:

Additionally pre-order bonuses have also been confirmed for this title, which will appear on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC this November with Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and are as follows:

• Exclusive access to the
• Nissan GT-R Black Edition
• Early access to level 2 gadget technology
• Exclusive livery options

Yeah not quite earth-shattering are they? Currently only EA’s Origin store are accepting pre-orders for this title, but when the offering is extended to other retailers we’ll let you know, via preorder-iq.com.

Today Relic Entertainment and SEGA have released a new trailer for Company of Heroes 2, but the kicker is the new footage is probably a lot different from what you’ve seen of the sequel before.

Previous trailers have focused on the tools of war wielded by either side, Soviets versus Nazis, whereas this one details the campaign’s focus on former Soviet commander Lev Abramovich Isakovich as he reflects on his experiences during World War Two. Check out the footage below, it’s surprisingly deep for a promo:

In this month’s issue of FirstLook magazine we penned our thoughts after spending hours with both a preview build of Company of Heroes 2 and the developers behind the game, Relic Entertainment. It’s fair to say we were immensely impressed with what we played and we came away surprised by just how much emotional resonance the campaign stirred within us. For more information about the campaign and a detailed interview with Company of Heroes 2‘s game director Quinn Duffy, check out the latest issue of FirstLook embedded for your convenience below:

Company of Heroes 2 will be released exclusive on PC, this July.

Rockstar has officially announced two new deluxe editions of the world’s most anticipated open-world sequel, Grand Theft Auto V.

According to Rockstar’s official blog, the game will be available in three editions; Regular, Special Edition and Collector’s Edition form.

Click the above thumbnail to see the contents of the Special Edition in all its glory!

The Special Edition has an RRP of $79.99 and includes the following:

Physical bonuses -

• Collectible SteelBook with Exclusive Artwork: This special SteelBook features double-sided, never-before-seen artwork of Michael, Trevor and Franklin. Custom color and metallic treatments bring out the detail of the artwork created exclusively for this SteelBook.
• Blueprint Map: This exclusive, additional 21.5” x 26.75” map displays a blueprint view of Los Santos and Blaine County. Cryptic markings indicate locations for fast cash and other points of interest for the up-and-coming entrepreneur.

Digital bonuses -

• Special Ability Boost: Michael, Franklin and Trevor each have a unique special ability. With this boost, the special ability bar will generate 25% faster.
• Stunt Plane Trials: Single player Stunt Plane Trials let you take on additional aerial challenges spread throughout Los Santos and Blaine County.
• Bonus Outfits, Tattoos and More: Michael, Franklin and Trevor get bonus outfits in their wardrobes, character specific tattoos at tattoo parlors, and special deals from shopkeepers across Los Santos and Blaine County.
• Additional Weapons: When visiting Ammunation stores in single player, merchants will have special weapons in their inventory available for free: the Pistol .50, Bullpup Shotgun and melee Hammer.

The Collector's Edition is expensive, but where else are you going to get a lockable zipbag?

The pricier Collector’s Edition (RRP $129.99) includes all of the above, as well as the following:

Physical bonuses -

• Grand Theft Auto V Security Deposit Bag with Logo Key: Inspired by the heists in Grand Theft Auto V, this custom 10.75” x 8.5” money bag features a pop-up style lock and laser cut logo key to secure important items. The reverse side features a pressed Rockstar Games logo on the security mount with a framed ID window.
• Grand Theft Auto V New Era 9FIFTY™ Snapback Cap: This exclusive New Era 9FIFTY™ cap features an embroidered Los Santos logo on the front, a stitched, black Rockstar Games logo on the wearer’s left side, a Grand Theft Auto ‘V’ logo applique on the opposite side, and snapback closure for an adjustable fit.

Digital bonuses -

• Custom Characters for Grand Theft Auto Online: Get classic Grand Theft Auto characters to use within the Grand Theft Auto Online Character Creation System, including Nico Bellic.
• Unique Vehicles and Garage Property: Players will instantly receive a garage to store custom vehicles. In single player, the garage will be stocked with the 1930’s style Hotknife hotrod and the CarbonRS sports bike. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players will get the high-end Khamelion electric car.

Currently these sets are exclusive to North America, but seeing as GTA IV’s Collector’s Edition was the same on both sides of the Atlantic, we suspect both of these sets will be confirmed for European release soon.

In addition Rockstar also confirmed that all those that pre-order Grand Theft Auto V before launch will bag themselves early access to a blimp vehicle in-game.

Grand Theft Auto V will be released worldwide for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on 17th September.

If you’re in any doubt as to just how successful Diablo III has been for Blizzard, keep in mind the following statistic; over 14.5 million have played the RPG sequel since it launched one year ago.

This interesting factoid is just one of many revealed in a new infographic released by Blizzard to celebrate Diablo III‘s first year anniversary, via the game’s official blog. Other revelations include how many times the complete gold yield from the previous twelve month’s questing would fill Scrooge McDuck’s money bin, just how many calories are spent in a single mouse-click (here’s a clue, it isn’t a lot) and how many trillions of monsters have been slain by Diablo III‘s community.

Our favourite statistic of the whole thing has to be the following though – on average 2.1 million have people logged into Diablo III every single day since launch. That level of activity is very impressive, especially for a game which had such a traumatic and controversial launch due to server problems and the implementation of the real money auction house.

A whole new audience will be introduced to Diablo III later this year, when the sequel launches on PlayStation 3 and 4.  We doubt the console audience will flock to this experience with quite as much loot lust as the PC crowd, but its continued popularity certainly won’t do it any harm.

Check out the infographic for yourself, below:

With the launch of End Game and other DLC packs, it's far to say that Battlefield 3 has altered significantly since launch.

Starts tomorrow, lasts until Monday.

DICE has announced that Battlefield 3 is getting yet another double XP event this weekend, via Battlelog.

The double XP rate is only applicable to ranked servers and will run for ninety-six hours beginning Thursday 23rd May at 10am BST, and ending on Monday evening. This event applies to all Battlefield 3 activity regardless of platform (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC), map choice or mode.

With all of the Battlefield 3 DLC out of the door, this weekend represents a good opportunity to hit max level and get access to every weapon before the community inevitably jumps ship to Battlefield 4 when it’s released this October.

Saddle up folks!

Cars, guns and cross-media synergy - what more could you ask for?

We’re still picking through all the details of Microsoft’s announcement of the Xbox One console last night, so we’re going to hold off on posting our official thoughts regarding the successor to the Xbox 360 until later today.

In the meantime check out all of the official announcement trailers from last night’s conference collated into a handy YouTube playlist.

There’s no fluff about “broadening the landscape and canvas for the storyteller” or the need to “break new ground in game creation and gameplay,” instead we just have the first footage of Remedy’s TV/game crossover Quantum Break, Call of Duty Ghosts (with dog of course) and Forza Motorsport 5.

Not too shabby…

This looks more than a little like the original Xbox to us...

Microsoft has officially unveiled their next console as the Xbox One. The successor to the Xbox 360 is jet black, built like a granite slab and boasts the following features:

• 8GB RAM
• USB 3.0 outputs
• Integrated wifi
• Blu-Ray
• Native 64 bit architecture.
• Silent operation, with internal power supply.
• New Kinect Sensor
• Upgraded Xbox controller with an improved D-PAD, rumble ‘Impulse’ triggers and internal battery.

At least the specs seem half decent.

In addition Microsoft confirmed during the conference that a Halo television series is in development at CBS Studios, Forza Motorsport 5 developed by Turn 10 Studios will be a launch title for the new console and that the Xbox One will have a whole mess of TV-centric features which most likely won’t work in Europe.

The Xbox One will launch worldwide by the end of this year. Expect more insights and opinions from the conference tomorrow

What kind of feelings and imagery does the term ‘corridor shooter’ inspire in your mind? Are you reminded of the mindless fiery joy of the likes of Doom, the manufactured Hollywood brass of Call of Duty, or the scope and variety of Half Life? Rarely and brilliantly Metro: Last Light possesses moments that are reminiscent of all three – be it trudging down a dark tunnel beset by giant spiders, taking out a whole room of enemies with silenced weaponry or deactivating a giant fan to allow safe passage another area – yet despite this variety there’s something amiss about 4A Games latest release.

Metro's world is beginning to recover from its forced nuclear winter...

Despite Last Light evolving Metro’s post-apocalyptic plot in daring and meaningful directions with players and the rest of the humanity restricted to Moscow’s hermetically-sealed underground system as a means to stave off their own extinction at the hands of mutants and radiation, in the sequel there’s definitely a feeling of been there, done that.

Aside from giving outdoor areas a new breath of fresh air and adding a few extra tools with which to take enemy forces out, Last Light feels simply like a refreshed and more accessible version of Metro 2033. Obviously that isn’t altogether a bad thing, especially as the first game in this series could never be described as a runaway hit, but for sequel which fans of the original will undoubtedly rush out and play there’s the definite niggle of familiarity while playing Last Light.

The Rangers will have to fight to keep D6 under their control.

It is possible to enjoy Last Light without playing Metro 2033, thanks to a lengthy opening cinematic retelling events of the previous game, but to truly get the context of this depressing yet atmospheric universe we recommend starting at the beginning.

The plot kicks off soon after the events of 2033 with Artyom becoming a celebrated member of the Rangers after successful nuking the antagonistic mutant force known as The Dark Ones in the previous game and discovering the soviet stronghold known as D6, which has oodles of supplies, weapons and munitions to secure the future of humanity’s continued underground for years to come. This giant treasure trove of pre-war tech forms the basis of the campaign as Nazi and Communist factions fight the Rangers and each other to take control.

Hidden notes are scattered throughout the world and pad out the game's fiction, while filling in the blanks of the previous game.

This political and figurative war becomes the most prominent thread of the campaign, with player character Artyom one moment being captured by the Nazis, making his way through underground concentration camps and witnessing new recruits getting mercilessly beaten, while the next our mute hero is making his way through communist quarters with generals extolling their want to purify the underground of dissidents. The narrative explores the ideological differences of these opposing sides of the political spectrum really well, with plenty of casual references to established ideologies of Lenin and co. These themes were present in the first game, but in Last Light they take centre stage and it’s often fascinating to watch the evil, treacherous ways of both factions unfold.

Every weapon in Metro: Last Light is modable, but opportunities to tailor your weapons rarely arise in the campaign.

Between these consistently intriguing narrative moments, like having to leave starving prisoners of war behind to prevent enemies learning of your presence or seeing memories of the old world bombard your conscious as you explore haunted ruins, there’s copious amounts of ranged gun-orientated combat against both human and aggressive mutant enemies. The latter enemy variety are still as stupid as they come, soaking up bullets like they’re Skittles and running head first into the end of your rifle, whereas soldiers are much more intelligent flanking players and calling in reinforcements when out-gunned. The often claustrophobic level design means that AI can occasionally do some rather silly things and get stuck on architecture, but then combat has never really been this series’ main attraction.

It's a bit crass to mention boob physics in a review, but Last Light's attempts to emulate the female form are genuinely hilarious. The term 'bags full of jelly' comes to mind.

Like in Metro 2033, players are still free to choose to either stealth their way through areas or go loud. Inevitably there are times when you try the former and end up with the latter, but there isn’t any penalty for that as guard alert status doesn’t persist from one area to the next. In one room you can mow down everyone with a shotgun and grenades, but when you wander into the next room separated only by a short corridor, enemies are completely oblivious to their comrade’s bloody and explosive downfall. For gameplay purposes it’s obvious why 4A Games have implemented ‘aggro’ system in this manner, as it offers players the most amount of flexibility the way they engage enemies, but it seems rather silly that there’s no conceivable difference or benefit in sneaking through a room skilfully versus between killing everyone Rambo-style. If anything the game encourages you to do the former as the loot bullets, weapons and air filters you can liberate from fallen soldiers more than repays any effort it usually takes to kill them.

4A Games never shy away from showing a little gore in their shooters.

Still there are some truly unique elements to Metro: Last Light that leaves other shooters in the shadows, like the harsh mechanical nature of weapons and equipment. Venturing overground still requires players to possess air filters and a functioning gas mask which makes these moments tense and assuredly alien as you hear the protagonist’s breathing quicken when enemies are engaged or seeing the digital wristwatch air-filter timer tick down. It’s these atmospheric touches, coupled with needing to wipe your gas mask manually when coated with enemy giblets or grime, that makes Last Light feel so rewarding and engrossing, as long as all the systems are working as they should.

The most emotional and touching points of Last Light's campaign are when players get to see how regular civilians are persevering with their existence underground.

4A Games also deserve credit for Last Light’s imaginative arsenal of weapons, with the devastating air-powered Pneumatic Rifle proving the star of the show. There’s also the option to customise weapons as well with scopes, silencers etc. as well which proves a nice touch.

All in all the latest entry in the now established Metro series is definitely an evolution on the original. There’s undoubtedly still some improvements to be made with regards to player AI and an over reliance on being walked around areas by NPCs, but many of the issues associated with the first game have been revolved. It’s a shame there aren’t more opportunities to walk around peaceful underground stations in order to get a proper glimpse of how the average survivor goes about their daily business, and the disconnect between the optional endings of the first game and the canonical one may upset those who played 2033, but these problems are small fry in the context of this largely successful sequel.

There is the option to tackle the campaign with either English or Russian dub. We recommend the Russian dub to be properly embedded in this engrossing universe.

Still there was a palpable feeling of familiarity while wandering Last Light’s desolate underground halls. From a story perspective this campaign goes in some really intelligent and rewarding directions, so it’s a bit of a shame that the linear and repetitive combat doesn’t follow the same way.

Last Light doesn’t reinvent the Metro universe or what you expect from the linear shooters in general, but it solves enough of the previous game’s issues and explores enough interesting themes to make it more than a worthwhile purchase.

Repetitive combat and persistent hand-holding doesn’t detract from what is a daring and intelligent story-driven shooter.

Verdict: 80%