Just look at that. Ridiculous, yes. But also cool. Crysis 3 is due out later this year, and we have a first glimpse at the gameplay in this new trailer. It looks as though Crytek have decided to combine the best bits about Crysis 1 and 2 to make this threequel – we’re promised open world gameplay set within a bio-dome hub of New York city, now overrun with jungles and aliens. Click below to check it out.

If you take the art director of Half Life 2, mixed him with one of the game designers from Deus Ex, and slapped them into the team who made Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, you apparently end up with the wonderful looking steampunkish game Dishonored. Its looking very good, and is quietly creeping up my anticipation-o-meter the more I see it.

The visual design does indeed remind me of Half Life 2 – the car being driven by the uppity snob in the trailer looks vaguely similar to a Combine truck to me, and of course those ominous stilted dudes are reminiscent of the good old strider. Then theres the whole oppressed citizens in a run-down city theme. As grim as it looks, its most definitely a world I want to explore.

Also, you will apparently be able to possess rats for sneaking purposes. Oh, and fish. How can I not be excited for this game?

Resident Evil 6′s latest trailer is quite full of plot details. Trailer down there.

Ubisoft recently revealed their plans to do away with the horrendous ‘always-on’ DRM. We all remember that, right? It used to be that whenever you played an Ubisoft game, you’d need a constant online connection to play your game, even in singleplayer. Thankfully, Ubisoft saw the light and have scrapped the system altogether. However, there has been little news about what they are replacing it with. Until now…

The CEO of Ubisoft, Yannis Mallat made the announcement today at a press conference in front of hundreds of eager journalists. “At Ubisoft, we strive to be the best at what we do” he began. “We are proud of the way we get the most out of our developers.” He proceeded to explain the importance of hiring new talent from a diverse range of ‘ethnic backgrounds’ and ‘religious beliefs’ which has allowed them to develop a new Assassin’s Creed every year for the past three years. One journalist asked how well the developers were treated under the intense working conditions, but was quickly escorted out of the building by several large men in suits when the words “slavery” and “human sacrifices” were mentioned.

Mallat quickly changed the subject, and made the announcement everyone was there for. “We at Ubisoft pride ourselves on our innovation. And today, I’d like to share with you our greatest piece of innovation yet.” A small Asian man in a tuxedo somersaulted up onto the stage. There was a confused silence in the room. “Say hello to our new DRM! This state of the art cyborg is the latest prototype solution to the war on piracy and will ensure our legitimate customers can enjoy their game without hindrance or interference. We have already begun mass-production and plan to have one in every home across the world!” Mr Mallet was seen to be laughing nervously and developed a twitch on his face that got worse as the press release went along. Bewildered journalists sat and listened as Mr Mallat explained in great detail that billions of dollars of game sales had been invested in creating a new DRM system that is an Asian cyborg dwarf that stands behind you and watches you while you play. He watches you to ensure you don’t try playing the game with a no-CD crack. He turns your pc off if you even think about visiting a torrent website. And if you try playing the game in window mode with a gameFAQs walkthrough open behind it, he will take out a hammer and smash the game disc into dust (If you buy the steam copy, he simply breaks your legs). “Seriously, this is exactly what the games industry needs!” he shouted several times, pumping his fist triumphantly into the air on the beat of each word.

When asked if pirated copies of the game would also come with a Asian cyborg bully, Mr Mallat started muttering inaudible gibberish for a few seconds before rolly-pollying off the stage and into a limo.

So that’s what we have to look forward to as legitimate game purchasers. Will this new system prove to be as inconvenient as their last system? Will it put you off purchasing Ubisoft’s games in the future? How long will it take modders to turn the cyborg dwarf into a useful housemaid? What day is it today? All these questions, and more, will surely be answered at some point in time.

Mass Effect has been one of the best trilogies I have ever had the privilege to enjoy from start to finish, and so I thought I’d write about how it’s affected me. While I haven’t written any specific spoilers, you may still wish to avoid this article if you care about that sort of thing.

So it’s all over. The trilogy has come to a close and the epic finale has rounded up and packed in the conclusion to one of gaming’s greatest, most incredible experiences. Shepard has come a long way from his mission on Eden Prime, and the conspiracy that first drew him into this impending battle for humanity’s survival, and the 100+ total hours of time I must have devoted to the franchise has been incredible.

Over the last 5 years, we’ve met an amazing cast of characters, alien species and galaxy ravaging machines, had awe-inspiring moments, saddening moments, and even hilarious comical moments, and it all comes together gloriously in a three-part package that tells the story of one man and his journey to save the galaxy from it’s biggest threat, and makes us feel both truly small and yet absolutely integral to the fate of every living being in the game’s universe.

To say it’s been an emotional ride could be considered an overstatement, but throughout the adventure, much like in any film, I’ve grown fond and attached to certain characters in the story, and playing a part in whether they live or die, love or hate, and ultimately achieve their goals or fail entirely has made this connection to the characters ever stronger, upon each iteration of the trilogy. Whilst the conclusion to the trilogy has been widely considered ‘disappointing’, I was personally both thrilled and saddened to see it all come to a close.

To me, the ending couldn’t have been any more epic and enthralling, and whilst I sat there, slack jawed in absolute awe, experiencing what would be the final battle for mankind’s survival, I felt a mixture of happiness, sadness, closure and longing. Happy to have been a part of the story from the very beginning, sad to say goodbye to characters who truly gave the story life and emotional connection, closure for seeing everything wrapped up (though undoubtedly, there were some unusual plot-holes and events at the very end that didn’t make a whole lot of sense), and longing for the story to continue.

However, since the ending wrapped up the narrative very nicely, with an emotional and satisfying conclusion to the plight of the human race, it seems pretty clear to me that the story is over – and being a part of it has been one of the best experiences in gaming I have ever had the pleasure of putting my time into.

Enigmatic game designer David Cage has revealed what his studio is working on next, and it looks rather good. The developer of Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit did something similar a few years ago, releasing The Casting, which was a short tech-demo piece showing off the kind of experience you could expect from their first outing on the PS3. We can only assume the same applies here – Kara is not a game trailer, but a showcase of what advancements they have made and gives a feel of the new game they are working on. It involves robots!

We don’t know much more than that really. The game itself hasn’t been announced, but its comforting to know that there is a new game in the making. Quantic Dream are one of the more interesting developers out there simply because they are genuinely inventing the ‘interactive drama’ genre almost single handedly.

Eurogamer have a good article about it over here, or you can watch the video itself below.

Mashup of Mass Effect 3 and The Walking Dead results in this silly but fun image. What Shepard thinks he can achieve by charging a Reaper armed only with his omni-tool, one can only imagine. Click for big version.

7 years I’ve waited for this! Alan Wake was first announced way back in 2005, back when Remedy had only just finished Max Payne 2, but after 5 years in development and the horribly justified cancellation of the PC version, it came out as an Xbox 360 exclusive back in 2010. Now, 2 years later, we can finally experience it at its best.

It was released on Steam on February 16th, and within 48 hours had surpassed the development costs. Yes, PC games are profitable, though only a fool would think otherwise. Stop being dicks about releasing games for us, you big stupid moronic publishers. Anyway, I finally have my own copy on its way to me (I wanted the physical collectors edition which comes with an artbook, soundtrack and a few extra bits and pieces) and should be in my hands on March 2nd. I can’t wait to play through it in all its high-definition glory. It was always meant to be this way!

I am currently on a mad rush to play through Mass Effect 1 and 2 again in time for the launch of 3 next month. Thanks to a foolish reformat of the wrong hard drive last year, I have no savefile to import into the game. And I MUST continue the story with MY Shepard. I couldn’t bear it any other way. Meanwhile, there’s a new frankly excellent cinematic trailer out for the absurdly anticipated 3rd installment. Click below to see it.

Every year, Americans host a ‘big game’. Something about football, only played with hands, not feet? I don’t know, sport is something that my brain doesn’t understand any more. Still, the best bit seems to be when the two sides have a rest and watch 40 minutes of movie trailers. That actually sounds pretty good to me.

The Bourne Legacy

No more Matt Damon, but the new go-to action-spy-secret-agent-superhero-sniper man Jeremy Renner is in his place. Can’t deny the idea of a new Bourne film excites me.

The Avengers

Joss Whedon, do us proud. This surely has to be the biggest film of 2012, and so far, it looks fantastic.

The Amazing Spiderman

No Sam Raimi this time, but after the hideous mess that was Spider-Man 3, maybe it doesn’t matter. I’m a bit miffed as to why this even exists, but it does look pretty cool.

Iron Sky

Fairly certain this one was not shown anywhere near the superbowl, but….Nazi’s….from….the moon. Yes.

Guest Article : Steven Harbor. Steve now has a blog. Check it out here.

Near the end of 2010, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was announced to unfettered excitement at the Spike Video Game Awards. From the moment the title card showed up on that giant stage screen, Skyrim has had a red carpet rolled out for it in the gaming press every step of the way. It has always been a celebrity, a shining knight that has come to whisk us away on a journey to a far away land in the snowy peaks of northern Tamriel. Almost three months since the first sword was swung, Skyrim now sits high and mighty on its throne, having been adorned with many game of the year nods and near universal acclaim. Many who find themselves out of the loop probably scratch their heads trying to figure out why we spend hundreds of hours plugged in, worshipping at this game’s almighty altar. I have taken it upon myself to make sense of all of the fanfare, explaining in detail what this game does right, what it does wrong, and how it affects the video game industry.

As far as most people are concerned, there is an easy and obvious answer to the question of why the game is so widely cherished and loved. It’s not just a big playground, but a playground that tries to be everything to everyone. At no point in the game will you ever find yourself shoehorned into an archetype, or feel your own freedom of choice being taken away from you. It’s hard not to appreciate the fact that the creators of Skyrim not only made a huge world, but created it so that you will most likely never see more than a small portion of it. Only if you are a gamer that is truly dedicated to gaming as a hobby and spend more than 10 hours a week playing will you ever have a chance to see most of what Bethesda has to offer in this game.

For the past ten years I have watched as every game has been watered down, simplified, shortened, condensed, and packaged in a way that guarantees almost everyone who plays it sees everything the developer wants you to see, in the exact way that they want you to see it. It’s as if they are terrified of the idea of you making any attempt to go off the beaten path to explore, and never seeing the second half of the game. Take Call of Duty for instance. The average campaign of a Call of Duty game is around 5-7 hours long, contains checkpoints at almost every corner, minimal exploration, and achievements that pop up every hour or so to serve as a reminder that you only have so many chapters to complete before you complete the game. Gameplay is simple (point and shoot) and each section is expertly paced, always calculating the exact time your left thumb starts to get tired from making your character walk forward so that the game knows when to place you into a “turret in a helicopter” section. You do not play the campaign so much as you are shoved through it. This type of game development has become somewhat of an art form, with games like Uncharted serving as the front-runners of the pack.

In any other game, this might have been an inaccessible background object

Skyrim is the antithesis to this kind of game design. Bethesda never knew, as their creative teams meticulously placed every tree, rock, and dungeon in the game, when you were going to put the controller down. They never knew which weapons you would use or whether you would even read the game’s countless books. To a publisher like Activision which probably only cares about the bottom line, creating all of those trees, dungeons, and weapons would be seen as nothing more than a waste of development time. Why create something that the player will most likely never even see? The fact that there is so much there that few will see is the true beauty of Skyrim. Simply exploring the world feels like a reward.

There is a lot more still that goes into Skyrim’s success. One of the aspects of the game that I have observed while playing that is not very often described in reviews or the like is its sense of relaxation. Exploring Skyrim is a bit like exploring a vast vacation island where everything is catered to your needs. You feel no urgency to do anything. There are no business calls to answer, there’s no arrow pointing you to where you need to go, and ultimately there are no consequences for your actions. There is a main quest and it does have stakes, but those stakes can be placed on pause at any time so you can go become an arch-mage, or leader of the companions guild, or do nothing at all. That is the great thing about having no urgency. The game lets you do nothing, and more importantly, doing nothing is fun. Just imagine if, while playing a war game, you decided the narrow street you were walking down was boring, and the buildings off in the distance past the alleyway looked more interesting. What if those backgrounds, normally a facade meant to give the illusion of scale and chaos, were fully accessible and yet had nothing to do with the mission you were tasked with? This is the dream that Bethesda set out to accomplish, and despite rough spots here and there, they’ve managed to accomplish it.

Unfortunately for Bethesda, there are indeed rough spots. Skyrim is nothing if not incredibly ambitious, and more so than perhaps any other game, mistakes can fall through the cracks. Bethesda has a storied reputation of releasing games with very little polish. As far as glitches in general go, you can chalk them up to time constraints and not enough hours in the day. Bethesda is a big developer, but Skyrim is a bigger game. I imagine going through this gigantic game world they’ve created and trying to fix each and every bug, even with the help of many play-testers, would be like trying to scrape the gum off every surface in New York. Perhaps it is too much to ask that we receive a polished game, considering it is almost designed to be broken by the players. Even so, it is hard to escape the feeling that you are handling a fragile vase while playing. Any wrong move could cause the whole game to come crashing down like a house of cards, and you never know when the game might decide to collapse in on itself, especially if we are talking about the botched Playstation 3 version.

Some of the glitches are hilarious though

There are more problems than just glitches though. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released in early 2006. That was over five years ago, and with all of the time that has passed between titles, Skyrim’s combat system still manages to feel like it is from 2006. The chief issue with the gameplay is that it lacks structure. Skyrim feels like a numbers game. It’s always your numbers versus those of the opponent, and nothing more. The way you get these numbers is by repeating the same action as much as possible. Kill enough enemies with a one-handed sword and your one-handed numbers go up. Sneak around enough without getting caught and your sneaking numbers go up. The game has no way to predict how powerful you are or which abilities you end up favoring for your character, so you are never challenged to fight a certain way.

The decision of how to approach a quest rests on your shoulders, but because the game can never predict how you play the game, the visceral, strategic elements of the gameplay are stripped down to almost nothing. Enemies start to seem like nothing more than punching bags that hit back, each with their own health bar that gradually goes down as you bombard them with whichever tactic you prefer. The enemies will blindly attack you in the same way, hitting you with magic, swords, or arrows, and what results is similar to playing a game of rock-em sock-em robots. You just mindlessly hit the button until either of you falls and the other achieves victory. Stealth has a similar problem, as it is less about how well you maneuver through the shadows than it is about wearing the right boots, walking slowly, and leveling up until that magic number is reached and sneaking becomes a piece of cake. You will never truly feel like a ninja or a master assassin if the only tactic you have in your arsenal is to crouch and walk slowly behind enemies. The anything-goes approach ultimately robs the gameplay of finesse and polish, just like it does for many other aspects of the game.

Perhaps the biggest failure of Skyrim is its complete inability to react to the player’s actions. Todd Howard, the lead director of Skyrim, said in an interview for Game Informer that where he sees the most potential for growth in “the pure role playing game” is in character interaction. In his video interview Howard says, “I think the one thing that people are still pushing on, including us, is how the other characters act, how they respond to you doing something.” The reaction of NPC’s and the environment in general to your actions is an important part of making the game feel real, and it’s in this area that Skyrim falls short. While there are moments when characters will stop what they’re doing and stare at the dragon you just defeated, just as often if not more often you’ll find that characters pay almost no attention to anything you do, no matter how magnificent it should seem to them. Even after completing the companions guild and becoming the leader, I was still met with the same “you’re a newbie” comments from the other companions as I walked by them. This does a great deal of damage to the immersive feel of the game.

Skyrim exists to be the counter-argument to gaming’s current focus on cinematic flair. In the midst of all of the movie-like war shooters populating game shelves these days, Skyrim stands as an example of a game that strips all of that away in favor of absolute freedom. One of the biggest trade-offs in making an open-world RPG rather than a more linear affair is the pure spectacle of it all. Even Skyrim’s best attempts at providing epic moments, the dragon battles, cannot reach the visual heights of the train sequences and helicopter explosions of other modern blockbuster games. But what the dragon battles can do that those other games cannot is make you feel like it is really you that is fighting the dragons, and not a scripted event dictated by the developers. All of the choices you made in the game culminate into the ultimate standoff between you as a warrior, and the dragon. Skyrim gets that so right that it keeps you coming back for a hundred more hours.

Another year, another countdown. Click below to see the full list of our favourite games of 2011.