Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Dead Island: Riptide|
Cast / crew |
F1 2012 (2012) 10/10
This remains the best racing series of it’s generation and a number of small tweaks and the new Austin track enhance the experience yet further. The inclusion of unpredictable weather was a masterstroke and Codemasters have also made the evolution of the car throughout a weekend with it’s differing tyre and fuel components even more distinct than before. Harsh penalties are still a minor issue, though; AI cars cannot receive penalties and their mistake / mechanical issues do not scale for shorter races meaning they never make mistakes. F1 2012, astoundingly, remains the only major racing title to feature all the principle elements of racing: practice and setup, qualification and racing with pit stops; something Forza and Gran Turismo have ostentatiously failed to deliver in the 360 / PS3 generation.
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Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Bioshock InfiniteEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Tomb Raider (2013)Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Crysis 3|
Cast / crew |
Forza Horizon (2012) 8/10
The handling is exquisite, beyond anything yet experienced in an open-world racer, and the racing is challenging and fun (I love my Koenigsegg) but the environment graphics aren’t quite as good as they appear in screenshots. The colour scheme (all brown, unless it’s night when it’s all black, haven’t game makers heard of high beam), shallow view distance (good luck distinguishing concrete freeway off-ramp walls, junctions or even other cars during daylight) and forgettable scenery and roads even in daylight mean that, in motion, it is very challenging to remember tracks or routes or, on the freeway challenges, see far enough down the road ahead. It also has an excrutiating framework (a festival; think Motorstorm without the bravado but more voice-over), an embarrassingly cheating final race (when you get the car that keeps whupping you, it goes 40mph slower) and, appropriately for a Forza game, absolutely no heart. Also appropriately for a Forza game, the driving saves it.
This game contains sexual swear words in songs. |
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Dead Space 3
Metal Gear Rising: RevengeanceEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Aliens: Colonial MarinesEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed|
Cast / crew |
Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2011) Brought on as consultant with fellow treasure hunter Jason Dante, Nathan Drake is in a Panamanian jungle thinking he’s helping an buddy out but is about to find himself up to his ears in double-crosses, malevolent generals, gunfire and gold. So, after hooking up with an attractive female companion, very much business as usual. 8/10
This is a spectacular, beautiful, fun, challenging and addictive must-buy game. You’ll be wanting to play it when you’re not but not always when you are. The reason is the same as that which blighted Uncharted 3, particularly: the story and characters can’t support the killing – or defeating as the game’s trophies coyly, or deceitfully, put it – of this many bad guys. Still, the encounters are all exciting with well-judged difficulty, meaning forward momentum isn’t halted for too long. Some of Drake’s new investigative abilities are highly welcome. I loved the rubbing and jigsaws and using a real world light to see hidden symbols and the peculiar but charming way he claps his hands together after regaining his balance.
This game contains bad language and strong violence.
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Cast / crew |
Mass Effect 3 (2012) When the Reapers attack Earth, Shepard is pulled out of enforced retirement (thanks to her association with Cerberus) and reassured that she may have been right after all about this universe-ending thing. However, the universe hasn’t ended yet and Shepard isn’t ready to stop punching fate in the face. 10/10
One of the amazing emotions that a game can stir in a player is that of being a total hero. The first Mass Effect had it, the second didn’t (it was too mechanical), this third instalment of arguably the most ambitious video game project of all time does. It also entertains, thrills, intrigues and moves you. This is a terrific third-person shooter wrapped up in a terrific role-playing game wrapped up in a terrific universe and is absolutely a must-play.
This game contains very infrequent sexual swear words, bad language and violence, graphic headshot violence, gory and unpleasant scenes and potential homosexual and heterosexual sexuality.
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Toca Race Driver 3
Codemasters’ TOCA Race Driver 3 (TRD3) is a good-looking, good-feeling racer that offers thrilling and highly satisfying action aswell as a very accessible and generally convincing driving model. It does works on Windows 8 but the StarForce protection drivers installed alongside it will stop Windows 8 from booting.
To be able to boot Windows 8 after installing TRD3, you need to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement. (Now here I think I was lucky. I had just recently set up my system to dual boot between 8 and XP and this gives me a boot menu where I can press F8 and select Disable Driver Signature Enforcement. If I didn’t, I do not know how to access that boot option because all the pages talking about it presume you can boot into Windows 8. If you’ve installed TRD3, you can’t.)
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
DmC: Devil May CryEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Mass EffectEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and sometimes Wii U and PC.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Trine 2Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Far Cry 3
Steam now allows you to set custom images for all items in your library, including non-Steam games. Here are a few images I have made for myself derived from official artworks and images found on Google Image Search. If you are the copyright holder or original artist and wish me to remove an image, please contact me.
These are the latest updates to the full list of Steam custom images.
James Bond 007 Nightfire (cover)
James Bond 007 Nightfire (title screen)
Mass Effect 3 (cover)
Mass Effect 3 (logo)
Mass Effect 3 (Shepard silhouette)
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
Need for Speed: The Run
The Saboteur (cover art)
The Saboteur (gold)
The Saboteur (red)
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Hitman: AbsolutionEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and sometimes Wii U and PC.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Assassin’s Creed 3
Medal of Honor: WarfighterEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Doom 3: BFG EditionEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown|
Cast / crew |
Dark Souls (2011) Not living, not dead, not capable of dying (just becoming hollowed), you’ve been banished to a remote prison. One day, a knight peers into your cell from the broken ceiling and tosses in a cadaver bearing a key for your door. Who he is? Don’t know. Why he gave you a key? Don’t know. Why it had to be on a cadaver? Absolutely no idea. 10/10
I suspect any discussion between fans of the unendingly, intricately wondrous Dark Souls (no-one does boss entrances or location reveals like the Souls games) quickly turns to the most souls and humanity lost by not successfully returning to the scene of your previous demise (31,000 souls, 2 humanity – about 3 levels-worth at the time – later, 12 humanity thanks to Ceaseless Discharge unexpectedly coming to meet me; nobody does boss names like the Souls games, either). It hurts. Badly. But one of the coolest things about Dark Souls battles is that you always know why you lost and it’s nearly always your own fault (I dodged backward off a ledge; then muttered disconsolately for the next hour). You knew you wanted to be a higher level. You knew the bridge was narrow and the parapet was damaged. You knew you needed to run away and heal. You knew you couldn’t take two on at once. You knew you needed to dodge not strike. You knew your armour was too heavy to run fast. You knew your crossbow takes ages to reload. You knew you were using the wrong shield. You knew you had to be patient. You knew it would be worth it. It’s always worth it.
This game contains bad language and optionally gory violence.
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Cast / crew |
DiRT 3 (2011) Multi-surface racing against the clock and other drivers. 8/10
With handling even better than Dirt 2 and class-leading graphics, saying this is better than it’s only competitor – Milestone’s WRC‘s 2010 and 2011 - is giving it feint praise. An uninvolving Career mode (the original DiRT used a pyramid progression much more enticingly – the point of a pyramid is to get to the top, literally the point) means that it takes a while for the fun and satisfying driving experience to get it’s pleasure hooks into you. I didn’t like the Gymkhana events at all but the related at-your-leisure Battersea Compound Missions are a nice change-of-pace.
Links |
Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
DishonoredEvery so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Resident Evil 6Every so often, Eurogamer run a series of technical comparison reviews for games released on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
This is the latest update to the full list and you can hover over the publications icons for a very quick summary.
Borderlands 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
I wonder if Codemasters give the players a helping hand for the second half of the season as I got a far better result than expected last time out at Hungary and nearly repeated that here. However, high-speed Spa should be a circuit where the KERS-less HRT should really, really struggle.
For qualifying I went the Jenson Button 2012 route and eventually opted for a low downforce set-up (with my traditional camber alignment for the fronts set to -3.5). I settled on this after trying a slightly higher downforce setup and the cool thing was that there was a time difference between the two setups in each sector. Sectors 1 and 3 are largely full throttle while sector 2 is largely corners. With the lower downforce, I went faster in sectors 1 and 3 and slower in sector 2 than I did with the higher downforce setting. It is satisfying when something that is reported as happening in real life is repeated in the game but, of course, with you at the wheel.
Qualifying went really well and I ended up a surprise 5th. The qualifying results were a bit strange, though, as Jenson Button was one-and-a-half seconds ahead of everyone else in pole position.
Now here’s something spooky cool. The race start went jolly well and I was in third going down the hill toward Eau Rouge with Webber in close proximity to my left. Whereupon he only did the same maneuveur that he famously pulled on Alonso in 2011 and swept around the outside of me and shot off up the hill. Sweet. I overtook him again at the end of Kemmel Straight into Les Combes and accidentally gave him a little tap that put him into a spin. Well, he must have had his spinach this morning because just a lap later and he’s up the inside of me in Bruxelles after I outbrake myself slightly (I didn’t quite add enough distance to compensate for the full fuel load exacerbated by the downhill braking zone) and I’m in fourth.
If it had remained dry, I would have finished fourth. Sadly, it started raining a lap after my pitstop and rain only seems to really affect human players. This means that the AI drivers seem to have oodles more grip than me and as the weather worsens each lap, my lap time collapses. I would have missed the team objective whatever happened (they expected me to finish in the points) but coming around Blanchimont on the last lap in 11th I had my first unassisted accident for a while (the last must have been in Monaco, it always is) and span into the wall (like Raikkonnen did in 2008, that’s another real-life incident occurring in the race, cool). I crossed the line in 13th which is a good result but if it had been in the dry, it would have been better. Still, the higher placement than expected in the last two races may see me adjust an option or two to put me back where I should be. We’ll see.
Classified 15 by BBFC. Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over.
Classified 16+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 16 or over..
Classified Violence by PEGI. Game contains depictions of violence.
Classified 12+ by PEGI. The game is only suitable for persons who have reached the age of 12 or over.
Classified Bad Language by PEGI. Game contains bad language.