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Nathan Drake is back and ready to lead the way on the PS Vita in an all new Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Maintaining the awesome visuals we have seen Uncharted have on the PS3, Golden Abyss is literally like playing the console version. From the way you scale walls using the sticks and buttons, to the way you stealthily sneak around enemies.

Of course since it has adopted the Vita as its new home, you can expect some phenomenal changes. Tilting will be used to jump from wall to wall and a touch melee system has been implemented to bring combat to life! Fighting using the touchscreen feature will basically transform the entire screen into a world of possibilities, allowing you to tap on the enemy to attack, and moving up and down just by dragging your finger down the screen.

Those of you looking to sink your teeth into what the Vita has to offer will benefit from a new change of pace. Yes, as I’ve mentioned you can use the sticks and buttons to traverse between platforms and walls, but you’ll also be able to use the touchscreen to navigate through the game. For example, you can run and jump to another ledge using the traditional controls, but why behave like a caveman when you can simply prod the ledge with your finger and have Drake automatically jump to it. Perks like this will make this game legendary on the console.

Much like other games in the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss will remain a mixture of  all-out shooting, stealth kill, platforming and solving puzzles. It will also come with a promising story set before the events of Drakes Fortune.

Coinciding with the European PSVita release, Drake will return in Uncharted: Golden Abyss on the 22^nd February 2012. You can also pre-order Uncharted: Golden Abyss here.

Video Games

Just when you thought you had seen the last of the 90’s, they come back in 2012 and slap you in the face with Top Gun: Hard Lock. Sadly, Tom Cruise doesn’t grace us with his voice acting skills in this game since it is set 25 years on from the original film. That’s okay though because he’s now been replaced with another loose cannon known as Spider and there’s a whole bunch dog fighting aviators fresh out of the Top Gun academy and ready for some action.

Edging away from your traditional flight simulators, Top Gun: Hard Lock’s main goal is to throw you into an up close and personal battlefield and use Michael Bay-esque slow motion camera angles and huge explosions and to wow the pants off you! Forget shooting at little targets in the distance as you’ll be face to face with some of the meanest jets of today.

The game moves away from first person view so players aren’t constantly disorientated and allows you to be immersed in an almost arcade style of game. The right stick takes care of all of your maneuvers such as afterburners, cobras and barrel rolls whereas the buttons take care of cluster bombs and missiles.

Spread out over 15 missions in the single player campaign with a completely new Top Gun story to unfold, Top Gun: Hard Lock is a game that I frankly just can’t wait for. Adding to the excitement is the opportunity to play through 4 player co-op missions as well as go head to head with pilots worldwide in 16 player deathmatches!

The game was initially set to be released February next year, but has since been pushed back with an official UK release date on the 9th March 2012. Top Gun: Hard Lock is also available to pre-order now.

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If there is one thing that’s looking really promising about the new PS Vita, it’s definitely the augmented reality feature. Using this feature to its full potential is the launch title ‘Reality Fighters’. As the name suggests, the aim of the game is to take you the player, and throw you into a world which has done away with your Ryu’s, Ken’s and Jin Kazama’s, ultimately allowing you to be the fighter!

Reality Fighters captures your appearance using the Vita’s built in camera and then allows you to fully customize your character’s physical appearance, right down to the biceps and everything else. After that, you’ll be given the option to choose your own unique fighting style as well as being able to set the stage using augmented reality. Just imagine using your insane drunken master fighting style against your opponent, whilst the stage is set in your very own shopping center, or even in the confines of your bedroom! You decide where the fighting takes place and you decide what your characters look like.

Of course you’ll also be able to seek out new fighters worldwide or challenge your friend’s fighters and see what they’re really made of – all in the palm of your hands. There is even the option to get creative. Why not steal your little sister’s magazine, take a picture of Justin Beiber, craft a character for the “pop sensation” and show him how you really feel about his 3D movie!

Reality Fighters rewards you for your creativity and whilst it might not be on the top of everyone’s PS Vita list, there is no denying that the innovative thought that’s gone into this game will provide you with hours of enjoyment! Reality Fighters will coincide with the PlayStation Vita UK release date on the 22^nd February 2012 and is available to pre-order now.

Video Games

Earlier on in the week you probably caught my post on the Playstation Vita and how the release will coincide with a few fairly anticipated games. I’ve told you about the action packed Unit 13, but what about the ever so promising Little Deviants?

Nodding its head to Raving Rabbids which was released by Ubisoft on the Nintendo Wii, Little Deviants is a fantastic mini game compilation with enough action to keep those fingers entertained for months on end! Using the front and rear touchscreens, as well as the camera and microphone, it seems BigBig Studios enjoys pushing a consoles features to the limits as we saw with Pursuit Force and MotorStorm: Arctic Edge. In fact the only features that aren’t required to play Little Deviants are the consoles buttons!

2011’s E3 saw Little Deviants being sampled by gamers everywhere, allowing to play four of the mini games available within the compilation. The most impressive was by far ‘House of Wax’. The aim of this particular mini game is to hit the deviant as it appears in front of you. So if he appears in front of you then you have to tap him using the frontal touchscreen and if he’s facing with his back to you then you have to poke him using the rear touchscreen. It starts off easy but it progressively challenges your mind as you play through the game. Other games such as Box Blast allows you to use the augmented reality feature whereas Depth Charge sees you physically moving the Vita to control your deviant.

Overall, Little Deviants is looking to be a superb launch title and plans to really show off the Playstation Vita’s capabilities. Much like the Vita, it’s release will be on the 22^nd February 2012 and is available to pre-order now.

Video Games

Mario’s notorious compilation of mini games plans to return next year for the ninth installment in the series exclusively for the Wii. Yep, Mario Party 9 will launch with bigger and better games than before and a whole new cast of characters to indulge in. So what exactly is there to look forward to?

Unlike other Mario Party games in the past, each stage will finish with a boss fight. This means that you’ll have to take down an enemy such as Bowser together with your competitors, whilst still trying to obtain an individual high score. This score can then be used to unlock items and features, giving you more reason to play. It would seem that Nintendo have realized that there are very limited routes to go down in terms of gameplay in a party game, so to capture fans both old and new they work their charm creating a compelling story mode combined with familiar elements from previous Nintendo games.

It has been confirmed that there will be 80 brand spanking new mini game modes for those of you out there who aren’t avid gamers with all the time in the world to spare. From platforming your way through the sky, to swinging your wiimote to launch a rocket, there will be so much to do for the whole family to enjoy!

Navigating from stage to stage has been given a fresh new idea. You and your friends will now hop in a car and drive to each level, assigning captain of the vehicle through turns and arriving at destinations through use of a dice! Sounds strange I know, but the idea is to incorporate every player in the fun to be had!

Overall, Mario Party 9 is looking to be an absolute blast and definitely makes a change from your typical Wii shovelware. It’s set to be released on the 11^th March 2012 in North America, so we can expect a UK release date around the same time period.

Video Games