J4MES OX4D

Anyone interested in getting into DayZ will be pleased to know that there is a sale on Humble Bundle which can see you getting Arma2 Gold and access to DayZ Mod for as little as $6. This site is also a charitable organisation so any purchases away from Steam will be hugely beneficial. http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/entertainment/62849-new-humble-bundle-features-dayz The Standalone may have sold over 1m copies but is still at a very early stage with the game not expected to reach beta until 2015. The mod still has a wealth of active players and is by far a more complete version of the game. Bargain!

From what I've seen over the past few years; I have a lot more confidence in Treyarch's ability to translate a Call of Duty game. Credit to the new IW for coming up with the Strike Packages and Kill Confirmed but they have really shot themselves in the foot with many other design flaws and balance issues. The worst thing is; Treyarch lead by example but Infinity Ward seem to want to do their own thing which just harms the franchise in the long run. Both development groups should be sharing strategies to take the series foward yet everything seems to get lost in translation perhaps by the outlandish timeframes and development demands. Still, I'd expect better from IW in some respects.

Excellent video from Drift0r! He's hit the nail on the head with many points and lots that we have discussed and raged about on here. Nice to see someone on YouTube who has a strong connection with the brand being completely honest and not up the devs arse praising the game in every single video like TmarTn and Ali-A. Perhaps if more people who are close to the franchise provided more significant feedback like this; we wouldn't be lumbered with a disappointing game at the end of the day. Very pleasing to watch indeed and thanks for the link Spectre

Saints Row 4 £14.99 (+ free all weekend to play) - Season pass £3.99 Saints Row 3 The Full Package £6.24 Company of Heroes 2 free weekend or £10.19 for the full package + all DLC at reduced prices The Darkness 2 £4.99

I believe it was mentioned but there are no known games on the horizon with cross-gen compatibility it seems. The longer this gap expands; the less likely we'll probably see a major title although the indie/arcade sector could be an option in the future for this feature.

Anyone given this a go on the PS4? It's free!

RIP to Roger Lloyd Pack who died age 69 today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8SgaDOock Played Trigger to perfection!

MGS 5

Thief is currently £26.99 on Steam as a pre-purchase. I'm kinda on the fence with this reboot; it'll either be very good or painfully average. Eidos Montreal really need to get the stealth elements right for this game to work satisfactorily along with the core engine. They struggled with these factors in Deus Ex Human Revolution and with Thief being a forward-port onto the next gen and PC; I am fearing this could just turn out to be a decisively average old generation game. Only one month to go so we shall see...

Here's the PS3 patch notes released on the same day; Various fixes for improving general stability Fixed a player feedback timing issue where blood was appearing before other damage indicators, and before damage was actually done Fix for bug where it looked like soldier was dying with 1 health instead of 0 Fixed a bug where players’ rank icons on the scoreboard would not be updated Normalized repair rates across all vehicles. Vehicles with lower health points, like aircraft and transport vehicles, now repair more slowly than before Fixed problem with killer health in kill card not being correctly updated (showing 100% health even though he was just hurt) Fix for friendly marker not always showing when needed to, resulting in players shooting team members Fixed a bug where the M1 Abrams Coaxial HMG ammo box was occasionally blocking the driver’s camera Increased damage by 25% for the Stealth Jet 20mm cannons Stealth Jets now have more similar handling attributes to eachother. F35 & J-20 are slightly more agile, Su-50 is less agile Attack Jets now have more similar handling attributes to each other, and all 3 are now slightly less agile than earlier Fixed camera glitch when switching weapons while moving in crouch Fixed an occasional bug where players could experience intermittent engine sound dropouts when driving wheeled IFVs China Rising: Fixed animation glitch for motorbike passengers ocuring when aiming Fix for first and third person soldier animations being out of sync while doing transition changes. This could potentially make the player get hit while in cover behind a wall or other obstacle

I haven't a clue about LoL but I have found news of a patch that a few of you on here may find helpful http://uk.ign.com/wikis/league-of-legends/Patch_4.1

If you're planning to get it on PC jordie, DON'T! Apparently the PC version uses the old engine whereas alike FIFA 14 on the PS4, the next gen version has a completely new overhauled engine and is totally different. I was gonna pick it up in the Steam sale for £15 a few weeks back but there were quite a few negatives communicated so I didn't bother in the end. Looks bloody brilliant on the PS4 though!

All Levolution events within the core maps Caspian Boarder (Second Assault DLC) Kinda puts this shit to shame

Watch Dogs

DLC Pictures http://www.charlieintel.com/2014/01/14/9-new-official-screenshots-for-ghosts-onslaught-dlc/

What has made the series stale for me apart from the in-game issues is just the 'in you face' aggressive promotion and marketing strategy that Activision have adopted along with the substantial media interest and with gamers alike. The annual release has taken its toll but the way the timeframe works in terms of playing the latest game and a few months later being swarmed with the build-up to the next title; I just feel you can't escape the franchise. The DLC packets help keep players engaged but I just find the process a bit desperate now and it doesn't seem to grab me any more. I loved Black Ops 2 but I followed the development so closely and the leaks that when the game arrived; I felt like I had been playing it for months already and that I'd seen it all before. The game was fresh, innovative and original for a COD but it was marketed too strongly in my opinion. I'd love them just to have a break and spend a little longer developing a new game. I know it would cost Activision hundreds of millions in profits but just escaping the franchise and having a cooling period could generate a gradual interest over time to reach high anticipation. The franchise will have a bit of extra time to get into the growing generation and gamers will have a bit of peace to recuperate.

Jedi Knight Collection £5.55 Darksiders II £6.24 or franchise for £12.49 from £49.99 Hotline Miami £1.74

January 14 Battlefield 4 PlayStation 4 Patch Notes Various fixes for improving general stability Fixed flickering in map and minimap on Rouge Transmission and Operation Locker Fixed issue with player spawning under the map in Lancang Dam Increased damage by 25% for the Stealth Jet 20mm cannons Normalized repair rates across all vehicles. Vehicles with lower health points, like aircraft and transport vehicles, now repair more slowly than before Fixed a bug where the M1 Abrams Coaxial HMG ammo box was occasionally blocking the driver’s camera Fix for friendly marker not always showing when needed to, resulting in players shooting team members Fixed problem with killer health in kill card not being correctly updated (showing 100% health even though the soldier was hurt) EU Players: Fixed bug where game wouldn’t start when when the console was running in any of these languages: Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Czech, Brazilian Portuguese Fix for bug where it looked like soldier was dying with 1 health instead of 0 Fixed a player feedback timing issue where blood was appearing before other damage indicators, and before damage was actually done

Fog could be another Prison Break grass-campathon. Agree with Techno about the thermal and tracker sights potentially being rife

I don't think even the most perfect potential COD could generate my interest back in the franchise. A good game for me would surround: - Black Ops inspired maps with differing sizes and terrain - Pick 10 from Black Ops 2 - Scorestreaks that emphasize objective play as opposed to kills - A wealth or scorestreaks either in strike packages or from a wall where you can choose between support and assault - Proper scenery destruction and not lampposts falling over and doors blowing off hinges - Score limit modes as opposed to time-limit based games - Search and Destroy with alternating rounds as Euan mentioned - Better presentation in terms of visuals, the HUD and the menu - A decent and memorable campaign and not one-dimensional characters in a piss-poor story that lasts 4 hours - A detailed theater mode with direct upload to YouTube available - A combat record to the tune of Black Ops 2 and not some shitty barracks bollocks - Gimme fucking Headquarters again you wankstains - No French people

I think gun combat is more of a last resort in Watch Dogs from what I've read. The emphasis is more on technology, running, driving, stealth and a general adventure. I think there is typical fisticuffs fighting also!

You'll hate Watch Dogs then