20great Xbox gamesyou never played− all under £20!

splintercell

CHILLINGEXCLUSIVE

DEADSPACE3

Fisher’s lethalnemesisexposed

720gamesexposed!Secretnext-gengamesnow

OCTOBER 2012 £4.99

EA’s frostyshooter returnsto…

stealth secrets

residentevil6:hUgehands-on

me3dlc:deBated

thetrUthBehindthehalomovie

dawngUard:15vitaltips

Flipto revealthe fullcover

Assassin’sCreedIII

22

assassin’screediii

The naval battle isn’tsubtle, but it shows offhow great AC3 looks

Connor is expert atturning his enemies’

weapons against them

Assassin’s Creed IIIdominated E3 in June.We saw hero Connor stab,shoot and sail his waythroughmasses of foes as

Ubisoft showcased the variety of thegame’s combat. But what doweknow about Connor? After all,Assassin’s Creed has always beenabout characters asmuch as killing.

“You’ll seemost of Connor’slife,” says creative director AlexHutchinson. “We really wanted toshowhis evolution from someonewho is not involved in either therevolution or the assassins, and tell

the story of how that comes togetherandwhy hemakes the decisions hedoes andwhy it pans out.”

Fromwhatwe’ve seen, Connorisn’t as charismatic as Ezio –more atoughened survivor of the brutalfrontier world he inhabits. He hunts,he kills, he loves justice, but will helovewomen? “Maybe,” saysscriptwriter CoreyMay, but herefuses to be drawn on plot.

Andwhat about the series’present-day star, Desmond?“Desmond is a key piece in this,”says Hutchinson. “In a lot of ways inmymindAssassin’s III is the end ofthe first arc, trilogy orwhatever youwant to call it of theAC universe.Wefeel obliged, aswe’ve stuckwith itfrom the start, to tie some things up.Desmond’s in there, he’smore activethan before, but I’m banned fromgiving any details.” ■

Anewheropromisestotieupsomeold looseendsintheACuniverseDE TA ILSFormat /Xbox 360Publisher /UbisoftDeveloper /UbisoftMontrealRelease / 31October

LATEST INFO

23

Blackops2

The Call Of Duty games areregularly criticised forbeing too linear. Inresponse, Treyarch haveadded an element of

choice toBlackOps 2. You can getdifferent endings bymaking certainlife or death decisions throughoutthe campaign.We’ve seenmajorcharacters die in earlier games, butnow their demise could be yourfault. It’s a welcome effort tomakethe game less of a shooting gallery.

The new strike Forcemodewillalso affect the outcomeof theoverarching story. These sandbox

missions are set in hugemaps, andsee you commanding battles fromatactical overhead view aswell asfighting in themyourself. Theoutcomeof these confrontationswillhelp direct the story, and, in Treyarch’swords, “shape the coldwar”.

sounds impressive, but we need tosee it in action beforewe get excited.Treyarch compare the branchingpaths andmultiple endings toMassEffect, but wewonder if they canmatch the emotional power ofBioWare’s RPg. As good asCall OfDuty is, it’s not known for nuance.

But Treyarch are to be applaudedfor trying something newwith theCallOf Duty formula – a series that hasn’treally changed, besides some addedbells andwhistles, since the first game.A compelling storywith branchingpaths could add somedepth to theslick, big budgetman-shooting.■

CallofDutydefies its linearheritage

This COD hasmultiple endings, afirst for the series

Community will be theonline focus via a newmode ‘Football Life’

Pre-order and you get areimagined version ofthe Nuketownmap

INFO BURSTtransformers:fallofcyBertrongoodnews if you likemassiverobotspunchingandshootingeachother. this third-personactioner is due to launchaweekearly, on24august.we’veplayed thisandhighmoonhavefixedmostof thecomplaintsfromthe last transformers, andthey’veaddedDinobots.

devil’sthirdafter the roughnews that thQhad removed thisbloodyactiongame fromtheir schedule,wehearValhallagames (frontedbyninjagaidencreator Itagaki) hasbeenhandedback the rights.heplans todistribute thegamedigitally acrossavariety ofplatforms, but it’s unclearwhatthismeans for the360version.

aug2012

tBC2013

DE TA ILSFormat /Xbox 360Publisher / ActivisionDeveloper / TreyarchRelease / 13November

NEW INFO

40

weaponofchoice

The Rumour Matrix

callofthestarsNeversoft are at work on a new CallOf Duty, believed to be the rumouredSpaceCOD. Activision have bound

Raven, Sledgehammer, Treyarch andnowNeversoft to the franchise,

which is eternal like Phillip Schofield.

wakeUpAlanWake 2 is set in a town called‘Ordinary’, says the game’s writerSamLake. In a tweet, Lake said, “it’shappening again. It’s happening rightnow,” and linked to amysteriousteaser blog at bit.ly/Lgybs2.

twicethesliceMGRising Revengeancewill get asecond playable character in post-release DLC in the summer of 2013.Original ninja Gray Foxwould be agreat fit, despite dying beforeRisingis set. Do flashback scenes beckon?

workingitoverOverstrike skipped E3 but only so itcould debut properly at the end ofsummer, says EA boss Frank Gibeau.We hear it’s good, but EA are unsureof how to sell it – theywant a new

Dead Space, not a newMirror’s Edge.

fireplanTHQhave filed a patent request for“1666”, believed to be the title ofPatrice Désilets’ new game at THQMontreal.Assassin’s Creed’s creativedirector left Ubisoft in 2010 to buildthe studio and newgame, rumouredto be set around the events of the

Great Fire of London.

JUstsayrowAVolition developer’s Linkedinprofilementions Saints Row4, indevelopment for next gen. It willalmost certainly come to both

current and next-gen platforms,and include the Enter TheDominatrix campaign.

The troublewithmassivedestruction is that it’s so, well,massively destructive. In the

brilliant and underratedRed FactionGuerrilla, Mason’s NanoRifle is theperfect weapon for picking apart

buildings one piece at a timewithnone of themess and horrific deathinflicted by less subtleweapons. Ashot from theNanoRifle dissolvesanything it hits, lettingMason chopnotches out of the biggest structures

till gravity does thework for you. TheNanoRifle got an extremeupgradeinRed FactionArmageddon, withextra nobbles and spiky bits, butretained the samebasic function in aless interestingworld.

halo5343 Industries are recruiting for a

newHalo game. Our sources suggest343 are pushing aheadwithHalo 5for release alongside the next-genXbox just one year afterHalo 4. TheReclaimer Trilogy is already plottedand 343 have themanpower for it.

hotdogsUbisoft are shopping aWatchDogsmovie aroundHollywood, despite

the gamenot actually existing yet. Ifthe contract is anything like the onecutwith Sony forAssassin’s Creed– giving Ubisoft complete creative

control – the filmmay never happen.

#14In a series of89,450,043

RedFaction’sNanoRifle

MANUFACTURERUlToRMAGAZINE SIZE 25RANGE loNgPRIMARY FIREMATTeR-devoURINgNANITesSECONDARY FIREN/ANICKNAME ThedIsINTegRAToR

likely

Unlikely

Spooningthehoneyoftruthfromahiveof lies

primerAnalysis /Opinion /Gossip

41

Flyingmounts arerumoured for future DLC.Imagine riding a dragon

Dragonmountsandaircombatcoming?

videohintsatnewskyrimdlc

Whenwork on TheElder Scrolls V:Skyrimwas finished,developers Bethesdahad aweek to create

whatever theywanted using thegame’s development tools. Theresult was a collection ofmods,tweaks and new gameplay features,the best of whichwere shown in avideo at the 2012DICE Summit bydirector ToddHoward.

Much of the content featuredhas already been created bymoddersfor the PC version, but due to the‘walled garden’ nature of gamesconsoles, we’ll have towait forBethesda to implement it themselvesbeforewe get to enjoy it on 360.

Interestingly, out of the 36examples shown, a handful of featureshave already appeared in the game’sfirst expansion,Dawnguard (review onp98). Thewerewolf perk tree, vampirefeeding animations, vampire lordalternate formand ghostlymount allmade it into the first wave of dlC.

someother featureswere alsoadded in patches, namely cinematickill-cams formagic and ranged attacks,mounted combat, and Kinect dragonshouts. This experimental ‘game jam’

was clearlymore than just a bit of funfor developers finally freed from thecrunch stage.

so it’s safe to assume that anyfuture dlCwill incorporatemodsfrom the video that didn’tmake it intoDawnguard – someofwhich are reallyexciting. Therewere a lot of relativelyminor visual tweaks including seasonalfoliage, flow-basedwater shaders,characters leaving footprints in thesnow, and enchantedmudcrabanimations (er, yay?), but it’s the

promise of newgameplay featuresthat have really set our fantasy-savouringmouthswatering.

First and foremost, we saw flyingmounts. Imagine being able to flyaround theworld seated on amightydragon. That’s exactly whatwe see inthe demo video, and it’s a thrillingprospect. excitingly, wemay be ableto capture and tame, rather thanheartlesslymurder, dragons; or (lesscosily) engage inmid-air combat.

We also saw some impressivestealth enhancements, including theability to track enemies throughwallswith ‘assassin vision’, and create yourown shadowby extinguishing torcheswithwater arrows –which guards canrelight, in a touch clearly inspired bythe Thief series. stealth in Skyrimwasalways a little flaky, but with thesetweaks it would become a great dealmore fun – and be the perfectfoundation for a new sneaking-focuseddlC questline.

modsqUadIn the demo videowe also see someother interesting experimentalmods:spear weapons, new followercommands, the ability to adoptchildren, building your ownhouse,combining spells to create neweffects, goblin enemies, fat giants,giantmudcrabs (please let this be asecret boss), ice and fire arrows, aterrifying looking ‘werebear’, and impminions for vampires.

With the codingwork in place, youcan prettymuch guarantee that someof this stuffwill make an appearancein the next wave of dlC. so you canlook forward to adopting your owngiantmudcrab baby soon.■

“It’s thepromIseofnewgameplayfeaturesthathasreallysetourmouthswaterIng”

Dawnguardwasconceived at ‘gamejam’. What else willcome out of it?

5656

FeATUreDEAD SPACE 3

5757

After its new ice planet setting andall-action E3 showingmetwith acool response, XBWgoes hands-onwithDeadSpace3 to answer thebig question… Is it still scary?

57

FeATUreDEAD SPACE 3

30303030

haven’t lost their touch – theprospect of having somethingwithmore than the regulation numberof limbs appear in the darknessand try to suck Isaac’s brain out theback of his head is a constantworry. Visceral have kept intacttheir ‘special trick’ ofmaking thesame six or seven gambits scaryevery time, somehow. Just knowingthat the scare is on itsway (or is it?)is the scariest part of all.

Thanks to the need to amputatelimbs to succeed, combat remainsfrantic and difficult.We’re told it’sstill possible to lob off a body part,freeze it with Stasis, and shoot itback into a necromorph’s chestusing telekinesis (especiallyimpressive during co-opmode) butinDS3 it’s hard enough fendingthemoff, let alone doing trick shotswith their pre-owned forearms.Stomping on awounded enemyand having it pop like awet pinataunder your steel-booted foot is stillsatisfying as hell, too.

We explore the ship,mostlyopening doors at range using ournewTorque telekinesis power; butwe have to fix one by solving avoltage puzzle to provide power tothemotors. There are six usableswitches of different power ratings:toomuch power and the dooroverloads, giving us a nasty shock;too little power and it just sits there.

Aftermuch singeing ofeyebrows,we eventually figure itout and it hisses open nicely. Onceinside, there’s plenty to find in the

way of health packsand ammo (ammo is

nowuniversal, rather than specificto eachweapon) and, of course,necromorphs. Necromorphseverywhere. Dropping fromthe ceiling. Jumping out of thefloor. Stalking the corridorshorrendously. It’s all too closefor comfort; mutated limbs andjagged bone spurs seem to appearfrom everywhere in this game.

ead Space is all aboutanticipation. Playersremember its hideouslyunpleasant enemies alltoowell, but − for us −the special horror of thegame has always comeasmuch from thesuggestion of ameetingwith the grotesquenecromorphs in somedingy corridor, as it has

from themoments of enthusiasticvivisectionwhen series hero IsaacClarke actually takes themon.

Setting is all –which iswhynews thatDead Space 3will leave thecramped spaceship behind hasbeenmetwith such scepticism.When you pluck Isaac out of theconfines of his craft, whack him onthe surface of an ice planet and givehim a gruff action hero to fightalongside, the concern is that youleave the horror behind aswell. Butthat’s where developersVisceralare hoping to prove uswrong.

hands-on,limBsoffOur hands-on picks up right afterthe harrowing events ofDeadSpace 2 – and before Isaac crash-lands on ice planet TauVolantis.Isaac hops across to a series ofabandoned ships he finds floatingin themiddle of nowhere, looking

for salvage, information, andsomething to shoot the legsoff of. Luckily enough for us,he finds all three.

This is classicDead Spacegameplay, and thestudio clearly

sgtJohncarverAmaverick soldier, who goes

rogue after his family is killed bynecromorphs. He looks like a

generic spacemarine and swearsa lot in the demo, but we’re toldhe has ‘complex issues’ that

emerge duringthe game.

isaacclarke

Originally an engineer on boardtheUSG Ishimura, Isaacwashaunted by visions of his deadgirlfriend, Nicole. During thesecond gamehewas forced to

survive a necromorphinfestation ofThe Sprawl.

“Stomping on a woundedenemy and having it pop likea wet pinata under your footis still satisfying as hell”

meetthe

heroes

Some necromorphs will sprout newmutations if you don’t finish them quickly.And then this kind of thing happens…

5858

303030303030303030303030303030303030

Wemake ourway past amassive electricity generator andlisten to amessage left by the ship’sprevious owners. Phrases like“barricades”, “we’re holding off aslong aswe can” and “they’re ontous” crop up. But preciselywho“they” are is the least of ourconcerns right now, because fatwhite spiders the size of a humanfist are swarming into the corpsesaround us and distorting them intohideousmonsters.

These arachnid spooks arecalled swarm infectors, and theyhaunt our nightmares. Afterfinding a body, they’ll get toworkon giving it some spare elbows

(extra pointy,mind) then set abouteating you at break-neck, judderingspeed. If you’re not fast enough onthe trigger, they’ll mutate into anevenmore dangerous form, forcingyou to rethink your tactics. It’s asmartway to keep action varied.

coldcomfortWeget away, in the end, and thedemomoves to a section a littlelater in the game. After crashing onfrozen TauVolantis, Isaac staggersfrom thewreckage and tries to findshelter. Sincewe’re in themiddle ofa blizzard visibility is low, andweget lost a couple of times.Much likethe threat of oxygen loss in

previous titles, you’ll sometimeshave to battlewith extreme coldandweather conditions that puta timer on your survival, butequipping protective gear (likethe retro-futuristic fur-linedsnow suit) can give you afighting chance.

We’re trudging through theknee-deep snowwhen areanimated lunatic in a parkalunges point-blank out of thestormwith a pickaxe aimedsquarely at our face, sowepanic-fire our assault rifle intohim (and the surroundingsnow) until he sprouts threetentacles in place of his upper

The first part of thegame takes place in‘familiar’ outer space

59

6060

3030303030303030303030

Caves are the new‘creepy corridors’ on iceplanet Tau Volantis

You can dismemberhumans in Dead Space 3.If you really must

Swat this guy away,or have your co-oppartner help you out

body.We finish him offwith theunder-slung shotgun.

Making ourway towards afriendly outpost, we come acrossour first big enemy – a crawlingspider-beast the size of a rhino.We’re promptly gutted by a singlebarbed tentacle, sowe decide thatthis is the time to give the newdrop-in, drop-out co-op gameplay awhirl and see if that can even theodds. Co-op players are only able toenter the game at a checkpoint, orfollowing the death of themainplayer, so our eviscerationwaspretty timely.

In co-op, the second playercontrols grizzledmilitary badassSgt JohnCarver, and this is anothercause of theDead Space faithful’sunease. On the standard shooterprotagonist trope scale, Carver

scores high. His hair is buzz-cut.His face is scarred. His attitude isstrictly no-nonsense, and his solemotivation is to kill the aliens onaccount of them (here comes thefinal part of the generic spacebastard puzzle) eating his family.It’s bargain-basement stuff, andgiven the sharp characterisation ofIsaac, it seems almost lazy. IfCarver is a box-ticking exercise,what does that say about thegameplay he’s bringing toDS3?

The co-operativemodedefinitely doesn’t seem tacked on,though. As the checkpoint reloads,we see a different,multiplayer-specific set of cutscenes as the twocharacters give each otherassistance and argue in equalamounts. Occasionally, they’ll talkto each other during combat too,

60

6161

FeATUreDEAD SPACE 3

“Chopping up enemies feels strangewhen they’re human, no matter how

evil the Unitologists might be”

There’s unparallelednecromorph variety inthis third game

which is nice – althoughwhen bothof themhave full-facemasks andsimilar voices, it’s often difficult totell who’s sayingwhat.

themonster insideAfter defeating themini-boss, wemeet our first human enemies: theUnitologists, a human sect thatworships the necromorphs and isstill hunting for Isaac. To help outwith the gun battles (whichmakeup nomore than a quarter of thetotal fights in the game,we’re told),Visceral have put in a subtle coversystem. Stand near a corner orcrouch behind a box, and Isaacwilltuck behind it; pulling aimwill pophim out for a quick shot. Thechange of enemy brings a change oftonewith it: chopping up enemiesand stomping on their corpses feelsstrangewhen they’re human, nomatter how evil theymight be.

The demo ends afterwe duke itoutwith a huge alienwhichmaulsus as it rears over a cliff edge andthen swallows uswhole so the fightcan continue, Jonah-style, from

inside. But instead of havingDivineIntervention to help us out of thebelly of the beast, we’re equippedwith guns that shoot buzzsaws.

Thewide variety of enemies iscommendable – big ones, smallones, some as big as your head(because they’re literally just a headon tentacles that eats other headsand then animates the bodies)– but the giant enemymonstersaren’t doing anything to lessen theinevitable comparisonswith LostPlanet 3. And perturbingly, nor arethey especially scary.

JUmpstartIf you’reworried about the horrorleavingDead Space, though, you canput yourmind at ease (or at least,as easy as you can feel when you’vejust been reassured that amulti-limbed grotesque is on itsway tomeet you). The cramped corridorsand terrifying surprises remain –instead of being on a space ship,they’re nowunderground, or in a

Steve Papoutsistalks terror

Are there any challenges you’ve had inkeeping players terrified?At this point we’re at the third instalmentand and the sheer shock value ofseeing our enemies, seeing thedismemberment, seeing some of thosethings that have becomebasicallystaples of the franchises – they aren’tgoing to continue to scare people theway they have in the past.

How are youmaking snowplanets asscary as corridors?The elements themselves are veryscary: if I dropped you in themiddle ofAntarctica now, it wouldn’t be awalk inthe park for you. You can’t see in themiddle of a snow storm. You never knowwhen a blizzard’s going to kick up. Younever knowwhat’s going to comeshambling out of themists towardsyou. And let’s not forget – just becauseit’s a planet doesn’tmean there aren’tenclosed areas.

Howhave you used co-op to reinforcethe scary parts of the game?Wewant a true co-operativeexperience that feels different whenyou play it with a friend.We don’t just

want tomake it so there’sanother character there –wewant tomake you rely oneach other.

What recent games haveinspired you duringDeadSpace 3’s development?I’ve been enjoyingBattlefield 3. There’snothing in particular inthere thatmakesmesay, “We need to do

this!” becauseobviouslywe’renotmaking a

similar game, butit’s got a veryaddictive quality.

Finally, isn’t using Isaac’sstrategic dismemberment

on humans (and stompingthem) a little bit grim?You don’t just have to shootoff their limbs, but if that’s thekind of thing you’re into, youcan certainly take their limbsoff and torture them. You caneven stompon them. But Ithink that really comes downto an individual’s playstyle,andmost importantly, ifthey find that to be fun.

cave, or as part of a research station:Visceral are still the best companyin theworld atmaking a game thatjumps out frombehind a cornerand shouts at you, over and over,until your nerves are shot.

Does co-op lessen that fear? Ofcourse. Having a friend to help youout (even against increased enemiesandmultiple objectives that areaddedwhen they drop in) is alwaysgoing to be calming, andwatching achumbash aliens away fromyou asthey try to eat your face is a

remarkably different experience topulling themoff yourself byfrantically hammering theabutton. The addition of Carvermakes any scene an action game.

But ultimately, that doesn’tmatter. Thewhole game has beendesigned as a single-playerexperience first, and a co-optitle second. You can still trekcautiously through derelictspaceships on your own, andstand alone against nightmarecreatures the size of abuilding. And then, onceyou’ve finished, youcan play it again on aharder difficultysettingwith a friend towatch yourback and help you out on thetrickier bits. Or not, if you’d prefer.

In terms of challenge, style andtoneDead Space 3 is almost twodifferent games, and one of them ismuch,much scarier than the other.For once, we’re happy to feel theimpending dread ofDead Space.■

The vice president of Visceralspeaks exclusively to XBW

104

The Amazing Spider-Manreview

7.7WebRushingmakesyou feel full-onsuper-powered.Although clumsyinterior sections dentthe illusion, this isalmost Spider-Man’sArkhamCity

verdict

“Beenox have nailed Spider-Man’s powers withWeb Rush”

ReviewerBenGriffin

DeTAiLS publisher Activision developer Beenox release Outnow price £34.99

This game complementsthe film, and expands on it,with villains like Rhino here

The key to a superhero ishis power. Batman isvulnerable in light andpowerful in darkness – ahard balance to pull off,

but oneRocksteadyweremorethan up to inArkhamAsylum andCity. The lesson?Nail the powerand you nail the game.

Beenox have nailed Spider-Man.His newWebRush abilityconveys superhuman speed andagilitywithout demandingsuperhuman players. HoldRB tomomentarilyfreeze time, pick aspot, then releaseto flip there in themost stylishwayimaginable. Your bog-standardweb-swinging’s similarly balletic,a close-up camera used toeye-watering effect as it shakesand blurs behind. You’ll damnnear need goggles to keep out thebug splats.

Beneath stylish newmovementmechanics, the gamedraws frompreviousmodels.There are side-missions (halt thegetaway carwith a street-sized

web, save girl from tough guys)collectible comics and charactermodels, and upgrade trees. Butthere are improvements too –hey, there’s no delivering pizza.

ace-leggedfreakGetting around asylums,research labs and secret facilitiesis somewhat clumsy, but levelsexpand intowide and high hubsfacilitating obvious aping ofArkham-style room-clearing. Itmakes sense to learn from the

best, but they’re not such a goodfit for Spidey as for Bats.

Despite all the spectacle,there’s zero tension – nothingstops you slingshotting anexplosive canister at a crowdthenWebRushing away. InArkham, armed goonsmadecareful planning a necessity.Here they’remore annoyances,even in combat sectionswhichsee you bashing in SWAT teams

at high speed.Momentummeters demand some skill, but itlacks Batman’s finesse.

Pinning together ten hours ofgame is a story that, were it aforumpost, would comewith abig old “SPOILER!” tag. It picksup soon after the film and in thefirst fiveminutes details the fatesof Spider-Man, the Lizard, GwenStacy andOscorp. Yes, it’s awell-told epilogue thatmakesroom for several familiar foes themovie couldn’t accommodate

(bad guys likeRhino, Verminand Scorpionhave beenreimagined as

cross-bredOscorp experiments),but all the same, you’d best savethe game for after the film.■

theamazingspider-manApesArkhamCity,but fallsshortofBatman’sbrilliance

what’sthestory?

set just after thefilm(makingspoilersinevitable, soapproachwithcaution), newoscorpexecutivealistairsmythecreatescross-specieshybridsusing the researchofDrCurtConnors (aKa thelizard).whaddyaknow,they somehowmakeanescapeand it falls toourfriendlyneighbourhoodspider-man toget themixed-upbeastiesoffthestreets

gameographyBeenox’slastthreescores

Spider-Man:ShatteredDimensions

GuitarHeroGreatestHits

Spider-Man:EdgeOfTime

76% 70% 57%