AWARDS SEASON: BEST GAME OF THE YEAR 2013

Overall winner

The Last of Us
As a game I feel GTAV is better, but the masterful story telling of The Last of Us deserves recognition.

Honourable mentions

Grand Theft Auto V

Tomb Raider

RATCHET & CLANK: INTO THE NEXUS (2013) REVIEW

An untriumphant return, but a welcome one.

PS3 exclusive.

Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus is a platformer published by Sony and developed by Insomniac Games for the Playstation 3.

GAMEPLAY
Quite fun, although I found the game a bit more clunky than the previous ones in the series, perhaps things like the switched buttons, where now you throw the wrench differently and unlike the last Future instalment it seems pretty redundant in combat. Things like strafing and auto-aim aren't as prominent either.

The game felt a bit like a love letter to Going Commando, with the return of  the jetpack and Thugs 4 Less, the upgrade system from Tools of Destruction also returns. The problem the game really has it that it doesn't really take any steps forward for the franchise, it only reintroduces elements that were dropped from it.

I also found this one to be much more pushed towards the shooter genre, as puzzles were rarely in the game outside the Clank sections, which are sparse as well as short.

STORY
I didn't really feel the story was very strong, it seemed pretty rushed, and while the humour was alright, I didn't find it as funny as A Crack in Time.

I'm glad they tried out some new antagonists but I didn't really find them very captivating.

I also found it a little odd how the game was promoted as the epilogue to the Future series, despite it not really having many connections to the previous games aside from a few references, mostly of which came in the museum level too. Especially as the previous Future games all rolled into each other.

GRAPHICS

Looks decent, although I preferred the character designs in A Crack In Time.

SOUND
Soundtrack is solid

VALUE FOR MONEY

The game should probably take around 5 to 8 hours depending on difficulty, I think the £20 price tag was a little steep, maybe cut it by at least a few pounds, although they did include challenge mode, which was absent in the other shorter Future game, Quest for Booty.

OVERALL
If you're a fan or the series, or a fan of platformers this game is worth a look, especially with so few in the market at the moment, but if you're looking for the best Ratchet & Clank has to offer you should check out Tools of Destruction or A Crack In Time instead.

ASSASSIN'S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG REVIEW

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PC version reviewed.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a game published and developed by Ubisoft for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC.

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GRAND THEFT AUTO V

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version reviewed.

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DIVINITY: DRAGON COMMANDER (2013) REVIEW

Awesome concept, average execution.

PC exclusive.

Divinity: Dragon Commander is a strategy game published and developed by Larian Studios for the PC.

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THE LAST OF US (2013) REVIEW

Often touted as the swansong for the Playstation 3, does it live up to the expectations?

Playstation Now version reviewed.

The Last of Us is a survival game published by Sony and developed by Naughty Dog for the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.

GAMEPLAY
Variety of ways to approach

Your allies actually help out

The enemy AI wasn't great at times, such as when they're trying to locate you in stealth mode, however the AI does actually try and flank you to draw you out of cover, so there are ups and downs.

A couple of bugs here or there, door not opening, shooting through walls, certain parts not responding

STORY
The story was fantastic and wouldn't have felt out of place in a movie, perhaps going through the form of a video game was the better choice though, as you get to go through many moments at a closer level of detail. The premise is pretty simple and something we've seen many times before, but this isn't just your standard post-apocolyptic game.

It is the characters, rather than the story, that what really makes this game stand out. Not only the interesting main duo of Joel and Ellie, but almost every other character you meet along the way are memorable and well written. Probably the biggest standout though is the development of Joel and Ellie along the way, usually shaped by the other cast members. The story is on a level above what you'd expect from the majority of games, and even some movies.

GRAPHICS

Naughty Dog don't ever seem to disappoint in this department and The Last of Us is one of the best looking games on the PS3. Characters look fantastic, as do plenty of levels.

SOUND
Voice acting was really good and the soundtrack was fine.

I did notice a few times that the sound for some more ambient sounds was a little bit off, at certain times you could hear water really loudly through one ear, then when you moved the camera slightly it sounded really quiet, it didn't happen very often but it was enough to pull you out the experience a bit a couple of times.

VALUE FOR MONEY

OVERALL
If you're a fan or character-driven stories then you need to own this game because this is probably the best I've ever seen in a video game. The gameplay is fine, if a little lacking, and while I feel it's worse than the Uncharted series, the variety of approaches you can take on in how to tackle the levels is a welcome upgrade and makes up for it to some extent - not to mention this game is supposed to be much more gruelling and survival based than Uncharted. The most important part of this game though is undoubtedly the story though as it really is incredible and sets a whole new bar for gaming.

LEFT BEHIND EXPANSION
The single expansion for this game was pretty impressive, while not the longest playthrough, it offers you more of what the base game did best - telling you stories about great characters.

CALL OF JUAREZ: GUNSLINGER (2013) REVIEW

A solid and at times innovative Western game.

PC version reviewed.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a first person shooter published by Ubisoft and developed by Techland for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

GAMEPLAY
I'll give them credit where it's due and commend them for trying a new and innovative idea, seeing levels be re-imagined while you'll going through them is a really cool concept and feels like something that really should have been done before.

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FAR CRY 3: BLOOD DRAGON

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version reviewed.

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DON'T STARVE

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PC version reviewed.

Don't Starve is a survival game published and developed by Klei Entertainment for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, PSVita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC.

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REIGN OF GIANTS EXPANSION


SHIPWRECKED EXPANSION


TOGETHER EXPANSION

TOMB RAIDER

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version reviewed.

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SLY COOPER: THIEVES IN TIME (2013) REVIEW

Return to the past.

PS3 version reviewed.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is a stealth platformer published by Sony and developed by Sanzaru for the Playstation 3 and Vita.

GAMEPLAY
Modernises the older gameplay

The cross-play with the PSVita is a really nice feature if you have one. Being able to pick up exactly where you left off is great and hopefully more games like this can use that feature.

Really long load times, it occasionally crashed too.

One of the bosses is just a quick time event, which was a bit of a shame. There's a similar fight in Sly 3, which was done much better, without the quick time stuff.

STORY
Whilst still not as strong as Sly 2's story, it wasn't terrible. Although at some points I found myself asking why some characters were doing certain things, some didn't really seem to act like the characters I thought I knew from the previous games. People who have played the game might think they know what I'm talking about, but I'm not talking about that certain character, I'm talking about all the main cast.

GRAPHICS
The graphics look decent

A lot of Sly fans will be familiar with the comic book style the old games went with. This game changes that style to a more cartoonist style, which in my opinion didn't look quite as good.

SOUND
Easily the best soundtrack of the whole series, and having the main cast (except Carmalita) reprise their roles was nice.

VALUE FOR MONEY
At around 12 hours I found the main story to be a little bit longer than Sly 3, although that may be because this one brings back all those collectables that were missing, it doesn't have as many co-op features though.

OVERALL
Personally I preferred this instalment to the series more than Sly 3, however I may be in the minority. It's certainly nice to see a new 3D platformer these days though, if you're interested in the genre I recommend the game, as we certainly need to see more of this genre again. However I don't think it reached the level of the first two games and still had some way to go before even being on that level, let alone even better platformers.