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%

The time has come...

It’s been a long time coming, but Microsoft are finally set to reveal their console successor to the Xbox 360 today at 6pm (GMT +1), and the good news is the stream will be viewable in full via Xbox.com.

Will Microsoft simply call the new console the Xbox 720 or simply Xbox? Will Master Chief appear? Will a new Forza or Project Gotham Racing get announced in reply to Sony’s recently announced Drive Club and Gran Turismo 5? Will Kinect be included as standard?

All the questions will be answered in the livestream window.

Frankly all we want is lots of games, a name and maybe a look at the console itself.

To kill some time before today’s announcement, please check out the latest issue of FirstLook magazine below:

A flashy new CGI trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins has been released today, along with details of a new pre-order bonus to tempt potential players to put down their deposits early.

The five-minute long trailer features Batman going toe-to-toe with Deathstroke – a villain Teen Titans fans will be more than familiar with – and a short appearance from criminal mob boss Black Mask.

Some moody box-art.

All those that pre-order this open-world prequel, which details Batman’s rise to crime-fighting prominence, will receive Deathstroke as a playable character and the addition of two new challenge maps in addition to the standard set. Deathstroke has his own unique weapons, special moves and two different suits for players to choose from.

Now we like CGI trailers as much as the next specialist games website, but it would be nice to see actual gameplay of WB Montreal’s release. Yes we know E3 is only a matter of weeks away (June 11th), but seeing as the long time Batman stalwarts Rocksteady Studios, the developer behind Arkham Asylum and City, aren’t behind this year’s release it would be far to say that Arkham Origins has a lot to prove before it’s launched later this year.

Batman: Arkham Origins will be released on October 25th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and WiiU.

The more we learn about The Elder Scrolls Online, the more it seems like the MMORPG belongs in this series.

If you’re anything like us, your typical activity in the previous Elder Scrolls games mostly consisted of sneaking and stealing. It isn’t that we don’t want to work hard for our loot, it’s just that it’s a lot easier to get that special piece of armour or sword if the locksmith in question has his back turned.

Thankfully it seems The Elder Scrolls Online will offer similar windows of opportunity as the latest developer diary shows that the game world is full of items to plunder and utilise for new gear and items, as well as diaries and books to pad out the game’s bulky fiction.

Take a look…

Bethesda still hasn’t confirmed whether The Elder Scrolls Online will be a subscription-only release or free-to-play, but the MMORPG is expected to launch later this year. Players can still register to be part of TESO’s on-going beta by following this link.

Expect every character class in Diablo III to handle a lot differently with a controller.

Sony and Blizzard have released a new seven minute trailer discussing the exciting gameplay possibilities associated with bringing Diablo III from the PC to the PlayStation 3 and 4.

Various developers from the team talk about changes heading to the loot-driven RPG, including the inclusion of a dodge button to make combat feel more kinetic, the interface possibilities of the PlayStation 4 controller’s trackpad, local co-op, and how the new radial-style inventory and skills menu works.

Watch the trailer below:

Electronic Arts has confirmed to tech website VentureBeat, that they’re going to scrap their Online Pass system for all games going forward.

The system was designed to discourage players from purchasing games pre-owned, with one time use online activation codes only available with brand new games. Those who bought pre-owned could access these systems, but only if they were willing to pay a fee.

Pre-owned games for publishers and developers are a problem as they don’t get any slice of the sale value, instead that only goes to the retailer the product is purchased from, with pre-owned games usually only a few pounds cheaper than their brand new counterparts. EA hasn’t thrown in the towel in trying to fight against this trend, they’re just reconsidering their strategy.

Battlefield 3 was one of the last EA games to feature Online Pass functionality.

“Yes, we’re discontinuing Online Pass,” EA senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg confirmed to GamesBeat via email. “None of our new EA titles will include that feature.”

“Initially launched as an effort to package a full menu of online content and services, many players didn’t respond to the format,” Reseburg said. “We’ve listened to the feedback and decided to do away with it moving forward.”

“We’re still committed to creating content and services that enhance the game experience well beyond the day you first start playing,” he added.

What Reseburg is most likely referring to is Season Pass and DLC content, which encourages both new and used game purchasers to spend more money on a single product.

As far as publishers are concerned used games are still an issue which needs to be explored, even though much of the time the credit for trade-ins is used to purchase more titles, be they used or brand new.

The revenue mechanism which completely sidesteps this issue are digital and free-to-play releases, which we suspect EA in particular will utilise more readily sooner rather than later.