Watch_Dogs

Morning,
Seems Ubisoft went to town last night and put up a new trailer for Watch_Dogs, if that wasn't enough they then showed off the four special editions for the game. I swear I might as well just give my wallet to them since I want three of those editions (not to mention there is three editions of Splinter Cell and three editions of Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags I want as well).

So let's start off with the trailer I was going to post up today from the PlayStation 4 reveal conference.



Another amazing game I want for my collection, that open few seconds as you walks down the street is just ... wow. I love how it just simple quick buttons to hack anything you want, blowing the power box in the chase. Lifting the street barriers to take out the Police car and then stopping the train to jump onto it, such small details can make such a big difference. Of course this trailer left me with lots of questions like what the hell is going on and who was hacking the cameras to watch him.

The new trailer that went up last night was just a quick two minute thing just confirming that the main character is a Vigilante and you after a group of people, from the looks they called a love one of yours. Still looks amazing and two minutes of plenty of actions finally with a release date and confirmation of the collector editions.



So lets get down to the main point of the post, well first the release date for North America is 19th November and 22nd November for Europe. Nice Christmas present right there for everyone folks, anyway lets talk special editions and collector editions.

Special Edition

First up is the box standard Special Edition, now folks I will be talking about the UK information mostly so don't forget to check your local retailers and online to see what your country is doing. Anyway first up is an exclusive to GAME in the UK, the special edition is the box standard game with a slight edition to the cover art to show that it comes with just one bonus mission. The mission is called the "Breakthrough pack" and rewards you the "_Vehicle Expert Perk"

So the information for this mission goes like this, there is a meeting going on in the city by a group called the "Chicago Club" and some corporate CEO's. Looks like a power play from the sounds of it and your job is to race around the city finding all the scramblers who are blocking anyone from being able to do surveillance on the meeting. Take them out so you can then photo this meeting to upload to the world to expose them. Sounds interesting and the reward is free cars from your underground contact and discounts, so the mission is worth doing.

Uplay Edition

Uplay is the Ubisoft online shop this is their exclusive edition, again you get everything from the Special Edition but this comes with a very nice steelbook. I love my steelbooks and I know quite few collectors, this will be a nice edition since I love how they done the silver background with colour for the character. You also get two extra missions in this edition on top of the Breakthrough, the Palace Pack sees a Police Raid on a Internet mogul who has a huge data bank of profiles in his home. One profile is yours so it's a race against time to get into the Palace to wipe the hard drives before the raid happens. You get two rewards for doing this which is a boost to getting more cash from hacked ATM's and a hacking boost which grants more opportunities to investigate in the network (not sure what that is about, guess we will have to wait and see).

The last mission is called "Signature Shot" and this time a Biometric weapon as been smuggled into the city for the leader of a gang called Black Viceroy's. This weapon will only work for the first person to use so you breaking in to get it for yourself. Of course the reward is the weapon it self, a Biometric Assault rifle and the gang's outfit for your collection.

Vigilante Edition

Now this is a collectors edition and you actually get the mask and cap with it. I know it sounds geeky but I really want this and yes I could see myself wearing those!

So yeah you get a very nice collectors box plus the cap and mask, also added is the sound track from the game. Disappointing though is you only get one bonus mission with this edition and that's the Palace Pack again. I would had really thought they would had included at least one more mission pack with this edition but oh well it's still pretty sweet.

DEDSEC Edition

The final collectors edition is the DEDSEC and like most of Ubisoft main editions it's the figurine again. The figurine is pretty sweet but I don't know, after the Black Flags one I don't think it comes close to the awesomeness. Would had been sweet if they had done a bonnet of a car with him jumping over it like you see in most trailers.

Anyway again you get a collectors outer box that it's store in, the soundtrack is once again added plus a map of the city. You also get a artwork book from the game along with a couple of pin badges and some augmented cards to play around with. The main cool stuff though is the steelbook which is the opposite to the Uplay edition, this time the background is back with a silver/little colour for the character. Add in all three missions as well and the figurine wraps up this edition.

By the way don't get me wrong I do like the figurine, it really shows off the main character with his phone but I do wish they had gone crazy like the Assassin's Creed one. So which one do I want you wondering? well I want the last three, I love steelbooks and collector items. Which one will you be getting folks?
~Iznic

BEYOND: Two Souls

Well I was about to go play some games and get on with same games after that last post but then I saw this trailer on the Sony Youtube page.



Even with the next generation consoles coming out the current generation is going out with a bang with some great games and the PlayStation 3 seems to be getting the best. Last of Us in June and now this in October.

It's been a while since the E3 trailer giving you that small tease but dang it was worth the wait, the graphics look amazing although there was a few moments where I though improvements could be made. But who cares the plot looks amazing! there is so much I want to know and my god why does it have to come out in October with so many other releases, I might as well not bother buying anything else.

 I can safely say I'm excited for this game
~Iznic

PlayStation 4 Games

Morning folks,
To start this weeks posts off I thought I would do a little post about some of the upcoming games for the PlayStation 4 which was shown on the reveal day. I would give them a post each but in the end I found them to be a really short post. So let's start with the new puzzling game, the Witness which looks to be a PlayStation Network game.



I'm a huge fan of puzzle games and stuff like Professor Layton and Portal are up there on my favourite list. This looks fun and pretty addictive, not much to say about the game though since the only information released is that you are on abandon island. Talk about being vague with the story but oh well least the puzzles look fun and I love the idea you get to explore the island, so no doubt I will be getting this on day one.

The second up game is Diablo 3 which I want to say I'm shocked to see coming to the console market but at the same time I'm not. There have been rumours for a long time now about Blizzard releasing a game so it was bound to happen. I own the PC version and I do have to say I do enjoy playing the game even though I'm not that far into it. Problem is the game had massive trouble at the start with online issues (needs constant Internet connection), graphics and lag issues. It kind put me off and I've not been back since, I do keep saying I need to go back and play but you know how it is.



I have my fingers crossed that the console version will have a lot less problems then it's PC counterpart. The game is huge and the maps are randomised so you might be exploring different dungeons each time you load up the same area. Plus plenty of loot to be add and I've heard now they done a huge levelling system after you finishing with plenty of extra hard bosses to fight.

Anyway next up is a new IP from Capcom called Deep Down, fantasy action adventure game that really does shown off the new graphics on the PlayStation 4.



Here is the thing though about this trailer, was that gameplay? because if you pay attention to the bottom left you will see a item menu select there. Of course this would not be the first time a fake ingame trailer is put together that looks amazing but turns out like nothing like the real product, but one can hope.

So on that note lets end the post with the Final Fantasy tech demo which looks beautiful and I really hope they will turn into a game.
~Iznic

Weekend Update

Afternoon folks,
Thought it would be a good time to update you on my week of gaming and it's been pretty much Hitman dedicated this week. As you know last week I clocked the Platinum trophy for Hitman Blood Money and was undecided on what to play next, well I stuck with the HD collection and picked Contracts for the next game.

It was one of my favourite games on my PC and I've still got in my collection somewhere but I forgot how hard some of the levels can be. Anyway I'm now starting my second play through which I'm hoping to get done by the end of the weekend and then just mop all the weapons as well, so fingers crossed for the Platinum trophy by tomorrow. A lot of people say you can do it with one play through and then mop up but my god you make it a lot harder for yourself doing it that way.

You have to beat the game on Professional then get Silent Assassin ratings on all the levels to get the bonus weapons for the collection trophies. That's hard enough but then you got to get the weapons on each level which usually means gun fighting off through the level so on Professional that's insane since NPC's have extra and deal a ton of damage.

I've gone with the first play through on Professional with the 5 Silent Assassins ratings so that nailed me six trophies since the difficulty trophies stack. Now my second run through is on normal and again all the way through getting Silent Assassin on every level then I can reselect the maps to pick up the missing weapons. A lot easier and overall probably not that much longer time wise as well.

After this game I'm probably going to work on Hitman 2 Silent Assassin but that will take me a lot longer since I've heard the difficulty trophies don't stack so you have to complete the game three times. Hoping to put some MMO time today at some point since I've not been on in the last week, Old Republic I've not touched in weeks and I'm not bothering to renew the subscription at this point since I'm just wasting money on it.

Anyway that's it for small update today and I'm going to head off to play some more games, I won't make a promise but I do want to get another post up later so check back to see but until then have a good one.
~Iznic

P.S. Just read that it looks like Activision will be announcing the next Call of Duty this week, looks like a Gamestop display instructions was posted up saying for the 1st May. Should be interesting to see what they say after that huge leak last with the box art.

Deoxys Pokemon Event

Starting 8th May and ending on the 31st May you will able to download Deoxys for the first time on Pokemon White and Black or White 2 and Black 2.

This is for the English versions of the games so North American and most of Europe, not much details have been announced yet on the Pokemon except it will be level 100. To get it just simply hook up your console to your wi-fi and download it by the start up menu like in the past.

Keep your eyes on serebii.net for more information like move stats etc once they announced, I will update once I find out as well but usually serebii.net is the best placed for Pokemon news.
~Iznic


Source: Serebii.net

Xbox Conference, E3, Nintendo and More

Morning folks,
Plenty to talk about this morning since yesterday was full of news, of course one of the biggest was the Call of Duty rumour leak which you can find on a separate post. First let's talk about the Xbox, well they have finally confirmed the 21st May date for the reveal of the next Xbox.

Need to look up the times for the UK since so far I've been given 3pm and 6pm, so not sure how they got those times. Anyway it's interesting word play with the "New generation" and not "Next generation" so I do wonder what they got up their sleeve. I was wondering though why do this announce so close to E3 when they could just wait the few weeks and do it then.

Well I'm not wondering no more because after the invite was sent out Major Nelson posted on the Xbox blog some details, link can be found here. This conference will cover the console and talk about the future then E3 will continue with more information and the games line up. So looks like Xbox E3 conference will be heavily software this year.

Not surprising since if you think about it every developer will be getting their current generation games out so they can switch over to next generation. Next generation launch lines up and future releases will be shown, so this years E3 could be amazing and probably kill my bank balance.

So anyway mark your calendars for that date and keep your eyes peeled to see what Microsoft have up their sleeve but now lets change the topic to Nintendo. Not sure what to think at this time about them, it was posted up they failed to hit their income target and that they had another annual loss. Wii U sales world wide not looking good and being one of the main reasons. But anyway I'm not here to talk about targets, money etc. what really shocked me and made my jaw drop this morning was they announced no E3 presentation this year.

Instead Nintendo Direct is doing it's job to communicate new information and that they will do a few smaller events around the time of E3 instead. Since this year for them it will be new software and not hardware it seems it be too much money to waste on a big event. Which in a way I could understand completely but it is still shocking to see Nintendo take a step back. Anyway the full details can be found over on MCV here. I've got my fingers crossed for some awesome games this year for the 3DS and Wii U. Really don't want to see losing Nintendo, they not my all time favourite console but I love the DS and 3DS.

Anyway that's it for news today folks and I'm off to work so catch you all later,
~Iznic

Rumour: Call of Duty Ghosts

Over the past few weeks the name Call of Duty Ghosts has been going around, claiming to be the next game in the series this year. Normally we don't pay too much attention to this but when several retailers make the mistake to put it up for order well then you have to take notice. Of course sometimes retailers do jump the boat a little early and put up preorders for games not announced that never happen in the end but in this case it's a little different.

Tesco not only put it up but with the box art picture as well, so this rumour is probably the real deal.

Boxart thanks to MCV

So it looks Modern Warfare has been dropped but its still being done by Infinity Ward, there was a date of 31st December but a second retailer let it slip as well later on with the date 5th November. So MCV believes the December date is a placeholder one. Either way so people made a big mistake to put this up, check out the link below for MCV story who first caught the details.

Guess we will find out more when E3 hits
~Iznic



Source: MCV Online

Defiance Ultimate Edition Unboxing

It's about time for me to start getting these Unboxing posts up so I decided to give it a crack this morning and I'm going to start with one of my latest collectors editions. Say hello to the Amazon Exclusive Defiance Ultimate Edition.

Outer box is huge

As you can see in the picture above the outer box is huge, a lot bigger then I was expecting but to show it off I did put my Gears of War in the picture to give you an idea on the size. To be honest I was just expecting some rubbish outer packaging to hold this in but I was surprised how much work has gone into the boxes. Anyway Defiance is a third person shooter MMO that ties in with the new Syfy tv series that started last week, both can effect each other. So what do you get in this box? well the ultimate edition contains the collectors edition (GAME exclusive) plus the season pass and a bag.

Bag and Collectors Edition

You can see in the picture to the left it was all neatly put away and I got to say the collectors edition box is amazing but I will go over that in a second. First let's talk about the bag you get which I was expecting to be really cheap but instead I got very nice high quality bag.





Defiance "Defi" logo is on the out side then plastered across the inside. Two clips plus Velcro fastenings to keep the bag secure. Inside there is slot pocket for paper and could fit a small net book but I would not go out the way for a laptop. Plenty of extra pockets and zip pockets for anything valuable as well. Honestly I was shocked how nice the bag and the material is the proper weather resistant stuff, in fact I've been using this quite a bit recently.

So let's talk about the collectors edition, this I was really impressed with since the box was made to look like a containment unit. You see the collectors edition comes with a figurine of one of the creatures from the game, so they decided to make the box the containment unit to hold it. Take a look below at it was done.

Collectors Edition

There was one problem with this box and that it was tight for the contents, if you take a look below when it's open you can see every fits in snugly. Trying to get the figurine out was a pain and you can hear the clear holding plastic scratching against the box as you pull it out. When trying to put it back in it also catches the opening windows, this could had been cut down slightly to fit better.

Handles on the side to carry it

This was also problem for the rest of the contents since there is a artbook at the bottom and to get it out I had to turn the box upside down and tap it to force it out. Little more thought could had gone a long way with this but I am happy with the effort gone into making the containment unit box, not many companies would spend time making the boxes look cool.

Inside the collectors edition

So in the collectors edition you get the figurine of course, the artwork book and a copy of the game. If you look in the picture below you can also see the soundtrack with some postcards and stickers. There was even a letter from the in game Professor who you start off with inviting you on the expedition that starts the game off with (nice touch). The game does have all the codes for the extra goodies, the season pass for the next several DLC. Extra armour and weapons for the game as well.

Collectors edition content

To be honest it's a box standard contents for a collectors edition. But I will see the artbook and figurine are really nice, I was shocked though since the figurine is not fixed to the base unit. It just sits on top of it so it can fall off if knocked, a clip to hold it in place would had been nice. But overall one of the nicest collectors edition out there and the game is getting better in my books.

Figurine

Inside the artbook

So I hope you enjoyed my unboxing blog post for Defiance, hopefully I will have a few more for you guys over the next few weeks since I do have plenty of collectors edition sitting around my room.
~Iznic

inFAMOUS: Second Son

Not sure what to think of this game personally since I do own the last two thanks to the PlayStation Plus but not played them yet. I hear some great things about them and that I should make them next on my list to play but with so many games to play, kinda bit difficult really but anyway the main trailer is quite short for this game. Mostly because most of the presentation was spent with the guy talking about how many cameras there are and how long people wait in que's for the Airport.



This could be a good game but I'm holding judgement, since one I not played the past games and two it's a cut scene trailer and no gameplay. They say the trailer was made using the game engine but I will hold off getting excited until I see some gameplay, too many times we have been burnt that way.

So we have a checkpoint with a massive amount of cameras everywhere and what looks a like a paranoid government, could be a very interesting game if done right. I guess should play the past ones but anyway again probably going to see more at E3 especially with this being a exclusive to the PS4.
~Iznic

Knack

I really don't understand why so many people I spoke to did not like this game, so what if it might just be a PSN game. It looks great and yes I know it looks similar to other series like Spyro, Jak and Daxter etc. but is that not the point of the game, to be a fun loving great platform adventure game.



Graphics look very good and I love the idea you can build the character up or down depending on the situation, it will be interesting to see what will the limits be in that regard.  Like if you down grade yourself how do you rebuild yourself, do you have to hunt around for certain material or does anything in the environment help. Guess we will have to wait and see what happens, probably at E3 this year to be honest but anyway personally I probably would pick this up on the day launch unless too much is coming out.

I say that because my guess is that this will be a launch title so it could be a expensive day. So my readers what are you thoughts on this game? not interested or does it look fun for you? drop a reply below. Plus don't forget there is a poll on the right about picking up a PlayStation 4, would love to see some more feedback and you don't have to register to vote.
~Iznic

Last Week

Morning folks,
Last week went really well for me in the ways of my gaming, in fact I clocked the story for Hitman Blood Money (PS3) at the start of the week. Then I spent the rest of the week doing all the extra trophies and playing through again to get the difficulty trophies etc so finally on Sunday evening I clocked the Platinum. Wish every week went that well but anyway that's one more game in my pile finished and since it was released at the start of the year it does bring my new release completed percent up to 50%. Also it's game sixteen on my complete list so it's going ok for the year, could be better in that regard.

Anyway it was not just Blood Money taking all my time, I did put some time into Pokemon Black 2 and finally got the fourth gym finished. Spent some time on the multiplayer for Tomb Raider with a friend clocking a few of the achievements. That was pretty much it for the week and oh I did buy some more games, I know I said I would not but when I say they was cheap I really mean super cannot say no cheap. Picked up Sniper Ghost Warrior, Kingdoms of Amalur and Disney's Brave for my collection, I did try Brave yesterday and it's very easy game. Game mechanics are nicely done and the levels are a decent length, plus a few puzzles thrown in and you got yourself a decent enough game.

For this weeks goals and further on in the month I'm aiming to continue to work on the Hitman HD collection, probably Contracts first but we will see. I've also had Lego Lord of the Rings for the PS3 sent as my rental, good game but very long and when I played it on the Xbox I had quite a few game breaking bugs/glitches so I'm praying I will be able to get through it. Other then that I will be just dabbling my game time here and there on a few games, just want to stick with the one game really with all my time.

Trying my best to work through my game collection before the next big rush of games come out, think we only have the Last of Us next in June. In fact it comes out E3 week so talk about making that week even more epic. After that I think it's August it kicks off with the releases, starts with Splinter Cell in my books but of course E3 announcements could change that. But at least got a few weeks/months before then to try and complete a good chunk of my games.
~Iznic

Killzone: Shadow Fall

When the PlayStation 4 was announced they hit the show off with the new Killzone 4 game, also known as Shadow Fall. It looked amazing from they showed off and it was even better that it was a level being played instead of just a cutscene trailer.



Looks amazing right? graphics are stunning and the gameplay looks brilliant, not a bad start for the PlayStation 4. Of course I am hoping this is the game and not just a quick high definition level put together to show off and get people interested. Then to find out it will have nothing to do with the main game, like some past gameplay trailers we have seen. So with high hopes resting on that, I should be picking this up on day one and it would be a great launch title. Still not played the played the past ones yet, well that's a lie since I have played 2 but not finished them yet.

So will you be getting this game if you pick up a PlayStation 4?
~Iznic

150,000

Not sure what time I hit it but on Saturday evening I clocked the 150,000 gamerscore milestone finally!

I did realise I had done it until Sunday morning when I loaded up Xbox Live to play some games and noticed my score flash up. According to my blog it was back in July 2010 when I hit 100,000 so it's took me nearly three years to get the 50,000. Talk about a slow progress but to be fair I do play other consoles and plus I don't chase achievements as much as I use too. I'm trying to play games for the story first, achievements last but of course now and again I do play a game just to hunt achievements. For example I finished Rise of the Guardians yesterday for the full 1,000 gamerscore, I did pick up the game for the story hoping for something good like Spiderwick Chronicles or Meet the Robinson's. Turned out to be a flop but the game play was not too bad so I stayed with it to get the achievements, takes about 4-5 hours easily since it's pretty much finish every level and collect a lot of stuff.

So my next goal? well I don't have one really since I would like to say I'm going for 200,000 but I'm not really. My main purpose now is to try and finish some of my games in the Pile of Shame that I've created over the years. Especially now with the new consoles on the horizon, I do wonder though if the next Xbox will continue with achievements and gamerscore. If they do will I still be able to use my profile on both consoles, food for thought and hopefully will get some answers soon.

Anyway so onto with what I'm up to, well with my rental game now finished I've decided to jump back onto the Hitman HD Collection. I'm currently playing through Blood Money on the PS3 and god did I forget how good this game was. I'm over the half way point now since I had a huge four hour session yesterday and once I've done the story then I'm going for the Platinum trophy. As to be done, it's Hitman! it deserves the Platinum. Not really playing anything else on the side yet, there are few games I would like to clean up and finish but I think I'm just focusing on Hitman for now.

That's it really for this week, work on Hitman and after that not sure but I will post up once I know so until then have a good one.
~Iznic

P.S. Woot!!! 150,000!!!

Batman Arkham Origins

I'm still shocked about this being announced since I was just not expecting it, I know there have been rumours of a new Batman Arkham game for a while now. Especially after a load of domains where registered with different titles, my favourite was Batman Arkham Universe but I was not expecting a new Batman game until next year. Thought they would save it for the next generation consoles to be honest, never would I had guessed they would announce for current and a 25th October release date.

So folks we have a new Batman game coming out and it's a prequel this time, starts off earlier on his career so expect first introductions for most of the super villains. Set on Christmas eve as well it seems Black Mask has put a bounty on your head and now everyone his out for your blood. Of course since it's earlier in Batman's career the Police force don't trust him and he's not got his skills 100% yet. This sounds so awesome for a storyline and if they pull it off right, could be the best game in the series by far.

May Issue of Gameinformer

The May issue of Gameinformer is meant to be jam packed with Lot's of details about the game plus screenshots, plus check out CVG's (Computer and Video Games) full article just here since they go into full detail about a preview demo they saw.

Another surprising bit about the announcement was that on the same day they will be releasing Batman Arkham Origins Black Gate for the PSVita and 3DS. That's right folks for the first time ever a handheld game for the series and it's events take place after Origins. Finally some love for the Vita, was really getting worried about the lack of games being announced. Hopefully we will see more information about the handheld games at E3, hoping they do something amazing with them.

So before I wrap this post up I do have a few worries, first of the fact it's getting release in Quarter Four with all the other new releases and possible new consoles. There is way too much coming out over those few months to keep adding more, I know it's the Christmas period and the best time for sales but come on! the consoles alone could kill peoples budgets. I hope the publishers know they might not be getting the best figures this year. although at the same time since everything is coming out on current generation it makes the choice of switching over harder. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 graphics are not that bad, yes the PlayStation 4 is amazing but when it's going to cost £300+ then £50 per game it really does kill the budget. Or you could save the money and use it on the lower priced current generation versions and get a lot more games for your money.

As I keep saying to everyone it will be a interesting year that's for sure, anyway that's it folks so have a good one! Really cannot wait for this game to come out now.
~Iznic


Sources:
Image - Gameinformer
Details - CVG

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag

It came to me last week that I never did a post about the full reveal for this game, I remember doing the rumour post for it and the confirmation that Ubisoft are in fact making it but when they did put up the details and the trailer I forgot to post. Since then there as been two trailers, information, collector editions and pre-order bonuses. So I've decided to go with a huge blog post dedicated to everything I missed about this game, you probably have read it elsewhere but who cares! Assassin's Creed rocks!.

So let's start with the announcement CGI trailer that came out on the Monday after the rumours.



Looks awesome right? I've been wanting a proper Pirate game in ages, well one that works anyway and this looks like it will hit the nail on the head. I love the fact we will be treasure hunting as well, soon as I saw the scene with the diving down to the sunk ship it was a must buy. Although to be honest it was a must buy soon as they said new Assassin's Creed game. Anyway it will be interesting how it will play out, I love the fact we have two cutlass swords and four pistols. Should be some amazing fighting combos with all those weapons, I bet the reload times will be a pain in the ass though.

I do have a few worries though, one is the story tying with the assassins. The new character has been trained by assassins and you do see a scene at the end of him taking someone out but I get the feeling he's more rogue then working for the Brotherhood. I'm just worried they will focus too much on the Pirate theme and forget that this games about the Assassin's vs. Templar. Anyway the second worry is that the game is coming out on current generation and next generation. I'm hoping the PS4 version is not just a current generation game with a patch job, especially with the rumour prices starting at £50 for the next generation games. If I'm paying £10-£15 over a current generation version it needs to be worth the money. Will have to see how things turn out over the next few months, expecting to see Lot's at E3 this year.

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So that was the announcement trailer and since then a lot of information has been announced, few weeks back they put up the Collectors editions for the game and just like Splinter Cell there are plenty to choose from. Before I go into this folks just a reminder that I will be listing the editions for the UK market, other countries might have different editions or being support by different retailers. Check out your local stores for information for your country.

To start with there is a special pre-order bonus with the retailer GAME, placing a deposit in store and you can get a Treasure map poster. Check out the picture below to see how awesome it is, the poster is nearly A3 in size and shows the in-game map off with four treasure locations. When you place the pre-order and get the map you also get a DLC code for the four treasure locations in the game, one of which is exclusive to GAME.

Andreas Island
Cage Island
Florida
Havana (GAME Exclusive)

Just an heads up the treasure map poster is for the local stores and if you order online you will receive a PDF version instead. With that out of the way let's talk special editions and collector editions, starting the basic one which again is a GAME Exclusive.

GAME Exclusive Special Edition

The Exclusive Special Edition is pretty much the same as the past years where you get a copy of the game with the cover slightly altered to say that comes with a few extra bonus DLC. In this case you are getting Captains Kenways Legacy which is bonus items for both singleplayer and multiplayer. Plus the mission Sacrificed Secrets where you chase after Captain Drakes treasure which includes a golden cutlass and flintlocks (pistols).

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Skull Edition

Say hello to the first collector editions which is the lowest price, this is the Skull Edition which most retailers will be stocking. You get a copy of the game of course plus a Jumbo steelbook with the new Pirate Assassin Logo on the cover. Still trying to find out what the Jumbo steelbook is meant to be, I'm assuming similar to the Mass Effect one that came out on the Xbox 360 but unsure at the moment. You also get the soundtrack and artbook like most collectors editions plus an art envelope containing two Lithographs. Finally in the ways of the DLC content you get the stuff from the Exclusive Special Edition (Sacrificed Secrets and Captains Kenways Legacy) plus a bonus singleplayer mission Hidden Mystery which takes you on a journey following Stede Bonnet's path to find his secrets when he adventures in St Lucia.

Interesting enough right now this edition is the same price as the Exclusive one above on the GAME website, so a bargain to be had here folks. Unless of course you want more in which case check out the next two editions.

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Next up is the Buccaneer Edition which is a GAME Exclusive collectors edition and one of the most coolest I've seen so far.

Buccaneer Edition - GAME Exclusive

So first you get a outer chest collectors box which looks awesome, reminds me of the AC3 one they did. I like it when Publishers put the extra effort into the outer box as well, shows me they do care and you know the product will be good quality. Anyway again you get everything that is in the Skull Edition well except the steelbook which is a shame really. This time though instead of the steelbook you get the awesome looking Captain Kenway statue, it's meant to measure at 45cm tall. I love the detail gone into it, the swinging pose and the Pirate flag on the mast is a nice touch. Instant buy for me soon as I saw it, I prefer the figurines with more of a diorama then a simple standing facing front.
Anyway one extra DLC mission is also included in this edition, the Black Island which has exploring the island to find Captain Morgan's sunken ship that contains legendary sailing equipment. So one nice looking collectors edition right? tempted no? price is currently set at £79.99 on the GAME website so not a bad price really since all the past big editions have been that price. But before you go running off to order let me show you one more edition.

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Say hello to the Uplay exclusive Black Chest Edition...

Black Chest Edition - Uplay Exclusive

This edition will cost around £120 depending on what format you have it on but you can see why the cost is so steep. The figurine is one of the best out there and my god do I want it for my collection, it stands at 55cm tall as well so don't expect a small thing to arrive. I love the detail gone into the front of the ship, this how all figurine should look. Anyway you also get the same DLC as the Buccaneer with several extra items, "Pride of the West Indies" "Trove of Mystery" and "The Castaway's Prize" which I cannot find any information about yet. Although if you read the image it says all pre-order bonuses so I'm assuming these are unannounced pre-order bonuses for other retailers.

Anyway you get a cool chest collectors box, world map, the same two lithographs again but this time you also get two canvas prints as well. Check out the top right corner of the image to see them, they look amazing and I've got to find some space on my wall for them. Steelbook as well is included but does not say anything about being a Jumbo one, but looks to be the same design though. Soundtrack and artbook from the other editions is also in there and finally you get Assassin's Logo flag! as I said earlier this image is one of my favourite new designs.

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So there you have it folks, a ton of collectors editions to choose from again thanks to Ubisoft spoiling us. Are you tempted by any of them? myself I have both the Black Chest and Buccaneer edition on order since I want both figurines, yes I know the Buccaneer is just a cut out of the Black Chest one but if you look it will be bigger version of Captain Kenway. Plus it looks like there are slight changes to the design but anyway you know me for my Collectors Editions, want them all! I also want the Skull Edition but waiting for more information to see what Jumbo Steelbook is. Anyway that's it for this post folks, thanks for reading and don't forget to drop a comment if you getting this game or any of the editions above.
~Iznic

P.S. one last thing, here is the game play trailer for your enjoyment!

Morning Thought's

Morning folks,
Thought I would pop on for a quick post before I start worrying about getting ready for work. Sunday was amazing in the ways of gaming, I finally got the last plant I needed mid afternoon so I'm now the proud owner of the Platinum trophy for Plants vs Zombies on the Vita. Second Platinum trophy for the year so getting there slowly.

On top of that I started back on God of War just for a level or two, which turned into just one more and then one more level until four hours had passed and the game finished. So that was game number fourteen for the year and also means all my new releases for March have been completed. Very happy with myself but now it does leave the question of what to play next, got plenty to choose from just not sure where to start.

From lovefilm they have sent me Rise of the Guardians based on the movie, now normally I hate movie tie-in games since they usually suck but there have been a few exceptions. Anyway I loved the movie so I thought I would give the game a chance, well so far it looks good and plays great. It's over the top camera with a four member team, reminds me heavily of Marvel Ultimate Alliance in the ways of controls. It's also pretty much following the film so it's not too bad with the story either and the achievements seem easy enough since the map shows all the collectibles and side missions.

Will be working on that this week but I do need another game to work on along side it, cannot let my rentals take over all my time. Thinking I could do with finishing off Pokemon Black 2 so I'm up to date for when Pokemon X & Y come out later this year. Also got the Assassin's Creed Anthology to work on, thinking start from the first and going all the way through the series. Plenty of choices and no idea where to begin, I will get back to you guys on what I pick.

Apart from that not much to say really, I still have plenty of posts to do it's just getting the time to sit down and write them out. Anyway on this note I do have to run or else I won't have time for breakfast, so have a good one folks and don't forget to drop a comment with what you been playing this weekend.
~Iznic

P.S. Don't forget the PS4 poll on the right, could do with some more feedback folks.

Easter Thoughts

Afternoon readers,

It's been a busy few weeks for me and I've not had really much time to blog or even game in most cases but fear not since it's my day off!. Now before I dedicate the whole day to gaming and blogging I cannot since I've got a lot of jobs to catch up on, no rest for the wicked that's for sure but I am determined to least get two blog posts up today. Plus hopefully a rough draft or two for this weeks posts that I have planned.

So where to begin well I've bought some more games again since there have been some awesome deals and sales going on. I think I posted up about Darksiders 2 and Skyrim Premium Edition PS3 both being £10 a few weeks back, well this week I picked up the Halo 4 Collector's Edition since GAME had knocked it down to £28 finally. Could not resist once I saw the steelbook inside which is one of the nicest steelbooks I've ever seen, plus having the season pass as well was the cherry on the top.

Of course trying to save some money this money went right out the window, especially when Amazon knocked the price of the Assassin's Creed Anthology Edition down from £99 to £48. All five games plus all the DLC for each game in a collectors box, steelbook and artcards. So I picked up the PS3 version since I've wanted to go through them again for trophies. Also means I've got plenty of Unboxing blog posts to do now, although I was already swamped with all the collector editions I picked up in March.

Anyway thank god it goes quiet for the next few months so I can start saving for the end of the year, it's going to kill me with all these new games being announced plus having new consoles as well. There is so much I want! I really have no idea where to start but I cannot wait! but enough about that let's talk gaming and what I've been up to.

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Well you will be happy to know that I've clocked Gears of War Judgement at the start of the week plus the Aftermath campaign was done as well. Was really pleased with myself since that means only God of War is left out of the March new releases, think that's the first time I've ever clocked all the new releases for a month. I'm also half way through God of War and so far I'm not seeing this really short game everyone was complaining about unless the next half goes real quick. I am disappointed with the game though since the camera is horrible in it, I know the game looks beautiful and the boss fights are meant to look epic but having the camera keep zooming out to show it off is a pain. Plus throw in the combat system that seems only want to work when it feels like it, well it's a recipe for disaster.

I'm hoping to put some more time into today so I can wrap it up but I do have a few games I'm currently working on. I picked up Defiance at the start of the month, so far I've only put a hour or two into it and well...it's kinda boring right now. The story is not dragging me into it and the quests are just repeating them selves, there is only a few different types that are just repeated over and over. Plus everyone looks the same! there is no really customisation to it yet at the start you spend ages making your character the way you want but once you in-game everyone is the same. 

Not going to condemn the game though yet, I'm only at the beginning and I need to pump some more time into. I picked up the Collectors edition so I really want to get my money's worth before I decide to give up on it, hopefully some patches will come out to spruce it up and with the TV show launching in about a week's time that might make it more interesting.

So yeah I will be putting more time into that this week and the final game I'm currently playing is Plants vs. Zombies on the Vita. Last time I posted I only needed one more trophy to clock the Platinum which is the Zen Garden, to get it I need all the plants in my garden is pretty much luck. I was annoyed because when I first checked out the trophy guide it just said that I needed to loot the plants and don't need to keep them but now it says all the plants have to be present at the same time in the garden for the trophy. So there's a lesson for you my readers and that's to keep checking any achievement/trophy guide for updates, it can cost you a lot of time if you don't.

Anyway I was down to eight plants left to get and yesterday out of no where I got six of the missing ones, then this morning the seventh one dropped finally so now I just need one more and that will be my third Platinum for the Vita. I expect to see me on this a lot the next few nights as I attempt to try and get it, fingers crossed it will drop in the next few days. 

So that's it folks for me now, I'm going to go and do some gaming then I will be back to write up another post I've been wanting to do. Until then have a good one and don't forget to comment with what you been up to.

~Iznic

P.S. to the right is a poll for the PlayStation 4, if you can spare a minute I would be very interesting to seeing how many of you will be getting it or not.

 

Xbox Live Sale

Tomorrow See's the end of the Xbox Live Spring Easter sale that has been running for the last week, so last chance to get some of those bargains. Why do I mention this? well the Skyrim DLC is currently 50% which is a bargain and must get if you have Skyrim. I've barely scratched the surface of the game but could not resist the discount so I've finally picked up the missing DLC.

Dragonborn was 1,600 Microsoft Points - Now 800 Microsoft Points
Hearthfire was 400 Microsoft Points - Now 200 Microsoft Points
Dawnguard was 1,600 Microsoft Points - Now 800 Microsoft Points

You can get the full list of sale items on Major Nelsons blog which is linked here for your convience. Other good discounts to mention is Walking Dead Episode 1 is free again and the rest of the episodes at 50% off (200 Microsoft Points each).

With the Spring sale ending tomorrow there will be a April's Fool Sale for one day only like last year. Again Major Nelson has posted a small tease of some of the things on sale tomorrow, mostly Fallout 3 DLC at 75% off. If this tease is correct the 33% off the Assassin's Creed 3 season pass is a good bargain and the 60% off Dishonored Dunwell Trials DLC.

Will be on Xbox live tomorrow to see what will be discounted and should be a interesting day to see what April fools jokes go up, I'm expecting lots of consoles pictures going around and crazy games.
 ~Iznic





Source: Major Nelson Blog

Battlefield 4 Reveal

Evening folks,
Happy Easter readers! sorry for the lack of posts recently but I've been very busy and not much time to do anything really (including gaming). Anyway I've got plenty to post about it so expect plenty this week as I try and catch up with everything. So to start things off let's talk Battlefield 4, for the last few weeks EA as been teasing with mini clips and images that a big reveal was coming. Then the website went live last week (or was it the week before, cannot remember) with a date marking the release of the trailer.



Well I was shocked that the trailer would be 17 minutes of game play footage, I was just expecting a mini thing saying the the launch window and consoles. The graphics look amazing but it as come out they was playing on a high-end spec PC but still should be good on the consoles. What did shock me though is that it's coming to the current generation consoles. Slight worry there because if they do announce it for next generation as well will it be just a port with a slight improvement on graphics yet a new console game price tag (extra £10-15).

Guess only time will tell and they probably holding off announcing the next generation versions since the new Xbox as not made an appearance yet. This game will be on my list to get since I love the Battlefield series, it's one of few games I actually like playing online. Lost count how many hours I poured into Bad Company 2 although to be fair I've not put the time into Battlefield 3 but the matches I did play was awesome.

Need to rectify that soon and start having a session every week, especially since I bought the premium service to get all the extra maps and modes. Anyway back to Battlefield 4, graphics look nice and the new story could be interesting so fingers crossed there. It's the one thing that usually fails for me is getting into the singleplayer story, Battlefield 3 was ok but could had been a lot better and the Medal of Honor series...well let's not go there.

Anyone else picking this up or is it not your cup of tea?
 ~Iznic

Minecraft Update 9

4JStudios have released a trailer for the upcoming update 9 which finally brings the Ender Dragon and "The End" to the game



You can find a patch note list just here on the Minecraft Wiki but of course this could change sine the patch as not been released yet. Most of the changes are bug fixes or improving new features, interesting to see the End since I never had chance on the PC to try it yet. Also it looks like they will be doing some changes for the console version, thing that stood out to me the most was an exit portal so I'm guessing you can still go back into your game once you done with the Dragon.

Anyway I really could do with jumping back onto Minecraft, got plenty of projects that I wanted to work on and I've not really been on since Update 8 which had creative mode. Plus seeing the Assassin's Creed and Claptrap skins just makes me want to go play right now, shame my TV has been taken over by the girlfriend.
~Iznic

Gears of War Weapon Skin

Evening folks,
Hopefully got a few posts for you tonight but will see how things go since so far everything I've planned this weekend keeps getting cancelled. This is a quick post about a free weapon skin for Gears of War Judgement, it is limited so don't delay it too long to try and get one.

Xbox is having a competition on their facebook where you given a chance to win a console, a Kinect and of course a copy of the game. You will need to login with your Facebook details but just for entering you do get the Window Web Skin for your lancer in multiplayer.

Link is here for the site or just check out xbox 360 on Facebook.

That's it for this post folks but stay tuned for a few more in a minute of too, by the way as anyone played the game yet? I loaded up mine at the start but had to rush out. Seemed ok but I'm not expecting anything amazing from it. Hopefully the game will surprise me and be great, anyway drop a line with what you think in the comments or on Facebook.
~Iznic

Meloetta Pokemon Event

Morning folks,
Just a reminder to any Pokemon fans out their in the UK, the Meloetta event will be starting tomorrow across the country. Pop into any GAME store with your DS and a copy of either Pokemon White 2/Black 2/White/Black to download Meloetta to your game.

As far as I am aware it will be the same one that America is currently doing so it should be level 50 with a PP Max. If you take it to Castelia City in your game it will be able to learn Relic Song which will allow it to change into it's Pirouette Form. Also been told in the versions White 2 and Black 2 it will unlock a FunFest Mission to play.

Check out serebii.net for all the details on how to do these unlocks and missions.


So don't miss out folks since the event will end April 19th 2013 so you have plenty of time to do it, for those in America the event is being run by Gamestop right now and ends on the 24th March 2013. Australia will be getting the event at EBGames starting April 19th with no information yet on end date, check your local store for information.

Will be popping in myself with all my copies of Pokemon tomorrow, still need to finish Pokemon Black 2 so really could do with adding it to my must play list. Oh by the way if you live in America did you see the good news about the Pikachu 3DS XL? yes you will be getting it finally, not information yet on which stores will be stocking it but I would have chat with your local retailers.
~Iznic



Source: GAME / Serebii.net / Official Nintendo Magazine (Picture)

More Collector Edition's for Splinter Cell Blacklist

Morning folks,
Last week Ubisoft announced several more collectors for their upcoming Splinter Cell game Blacklist, if you remember a few months back I did a post about two editions that had come to light which can be found here.

Well it seems the Paladin Aircraft Edition is looking to be a exclusive to North America now but the UK/Europe have their own edition now, The 5th Freedom Edition. Before I go into that let's start with the basic editions and move the way up, heads up folks this information is for the UK and I'm not sure on other countries but check out your local retailers to see if they have information for you.

GAME Exclusive Upper Echelon Edition

First up is the Upper Echelon Edition which is an exclusive to the retailer GAME, this is a basic standard edition with a few extra goodies. Of course you get the game it self with an edited slevee plus the extra bonus map Dead Coast for singleplayer and co-op mode. Gold nightvision goggles and the upper echelon suit for Sam, HK416 Assault rifle for the game as well. There is also one more item "Elite Digital Ghillie Suit" but as you can tell from the picture there isn't an image of it yet.

So not a bad edition if you not into your big collector editions but you will have a tough choice between this and Amazon pre-order bonus with the steelbook. Anyway onto the first big collector edition for us which is the Ultimatum Edition and every retailer should be stocking this since there is no exclusive rights on it.

Ultimatum Edition

How cool does the digital watch look? I love the fact it's based on the signature nightvision goggles, my only worry is if it's cheaply made but I've pre-ordered it anyway so hopefully I can check it out before I buy. Anyway back to what you get inside this edition, well first a collectors box to hold it all in. The watch itself of course plus a 96 page graphic novel which is meant to lead into the story of the game. Bonus content for the game includes two bonus maps for singleplayer and co-op, Dead coast again and Billionaire's yacht (Bourne Identity anyone).

Of course you also get the golden goggles and upper echelon suit which seems to be in every edition so far, plus an extra set of ghost boots. So there you have it for this edition and I like the looks of it, I like how much effort is gone into the outer box because normally means they have put the time into the rest as well. As I said before though I am a little worried about the watch but have to wait for August to find out.

So we have one more edition but it comes in two variants, this it the Europe version of the Paladin Aircraft Edition also know as the 5th Freedom Edition.

GAME Exclusive 5th Freedom Edition

This bad boy is another GAME exclusive in the UK market, you get the same graphics novel and two bonus maps. Different collectors outer box and you get the steelbook this time (funny since it was meant to be a Amazon exclusive), plus the awesome looking figurine for your collection. The digital content as also been increased with five different goggles, suits and weapons.

Now there is a second variant of this edition which is only currently being stocked by Ubisoft themselves on their site. The 5th Freedom Silver Edition which is pretty much all the same stuff except the figurine is silver with just the goggles being green, the steelbook is also lost most of it's colours and gone for the silver look as well. Also if you look closely at the image you can see the collectors outer box as a silver effect as well.

Ubisoft Exclusive 5th Freedom Silver Edition

So that's it folks for Splinter Cell BlackList and any of you tempted for any of these editions? I've got an order down for both the Freedom and Ultimatum right now but I am tempted for the Silver Edition as well. Doubt I can afford all of them since I would love to get all three, trade the extra games of course and just keep the collectors stuff.
~Iznic

March Boss Fight

Afternoon folks,
Well my boss fight is going...well I'm going to say ok because it was terrible but yesterday was good, anyway I bet you wondering what the title of the post means and what boss fight. I've been treating this month games as a video game boss fight, each release being a new stage in the fight. So phase one was Tomb Raider so I was up against Lara Croft herself, very tough fight thanks to the awesome graphics in the game that make you stop to take in the beautiful scenery. Then lets not forget the collectibles add more time to the game because you just want to go looking for them. A very difficulty phase in this epic boss fight and it went badly for me since I was only 36% completed when Phase Two started.

Phase Two saw Kerrigan joining Lara (Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm), strategy game means long times especially for me since I like to take my time to build my base up before charging in. Of course the story is pretty sweet and plenty of side stuff to do so this phase would be tough since the amount of time it would take to win.

Unfortunately for me lady luck was both on my side and not, Phase Three started several days early since I was not expecting Amazon to deliver God of War last Saturday since they had quoted this Wednesday to me. So now I've got Kratos joining the fight making it 3v1 and the odds are not in my favour, especially with the God of War franchise being known for long ass games with tough boss fights at the end.

But not all is despair folks since I was granted the awesome power up "Day Off" yesterday which allowed me to duke it for five hours with Kerrigan and it ended with me winning. Another game for the completion list finally, been a while since I had clocked a game and I really need to start catching up.

Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm is pretty sweet but I did find it a lot easier compared to Wings of Liberty, not sure if it was me improving my skills since when I played Wings of Liberty that was the first time I've ever tried a Starcraft game. Story was not bad either but it did feel slightly like a filler in some ways since this is the second game in the trilogy, felt like a bit more of the story could be focused on the main story arc instead of the Kerrigan revenge arc. But still I would give the game a solid 8/9 out of the 10 if it was to grade it.

So where does that leave me now? well I'm around 60% done with Tomb Raider and God of War Ascension is sitting sealed by my TV. Going to take some photos when I unpack it for a unboxing blog post since I picked up the collectors edition. Fingers crossed I can take down Lara Croft before the weekend since Phase Four will begin and Gears of War Judgement hits.

Don't worry folks my posts will turn normal again soon and expect two unboxing blog posts in the week, God of War and Starcraft 2 HOTS.
~Iznic

Games, Games and More Games

Good Morning Folks,
I know it's been a while since my last post but last week was nothing short of being chaos for me and what little time I had spare went to playing Tomb Raider and World of Warcraft. Currently sitting on 58% complete according to my save file for Tomb Raider and I got to say it's one of the best games I've played in a long time.

If you not picked up it yet then go buy it right now, this is one of those rare moments where I will recommend this game to everyone. The graphics, gameplay and story just work perfectly, it's like Batman Arkham Asylum meets Uncharted with a tiny bit of Assassin's Creed 3 all blended together to make this game great. I really want to finish it soon so one I've not got too many games on the go and two I really want to write out a review for it, I know shocking right? me writing a review. So I will go into more details about the game when I do the review, soon as I finish first and played some of the multiplayer. Not expecting anything great from that part and not really sure why they put in a multiplayer part.

Anyway other then Tomb Raider I have been doing the new daily quests in World of Warcraft for the Island of Thunder war effort. Phase two unlocked yesterday afternoon to my great annoyance, wanted to play Starcraft more but I had to get the quests out of the way first. As you can guess I did pick up Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm yesterday, so far it's brilliant but trying to get use to playing the Zerg since my play style is usually build a base then make a small powerful army to crush my foe. Zerg is more like making a huge army and swarming the enemy with numbers while their base engulfs the land. Think I'm getting the hang of it so far anyway, will post up a unboxing for it soon since I picked up the collectors edition which is very sweet looking.

So yeah my plans for this week will be those three games, Starcraft, Warcraft and Tomb Raider. God of War Ascension is out on Friday but Amazon won't be delivering mine until Monday-Wednesday due to the fact I picked the free delivery. Seems I have to pay extra to get it on day one, shocking since everyone will post it early to make sure it arrives in time. Shame Amazon was the cheapest for the collectors edition, got it a bargain price of £61 instead of the £80+ marker that it went too later on.

On that note I better go get ready for work since I only wanted to do a quick update for you folks, I promise I will try and get some more posts up soon but you know how it is with all these new games coming out. Hard to stop playing them but I will try my best for you and until then have a good one.
~Iznic

Patch Day

Morning folks,
It's been one of those week's so far but I'm thinking today will change that, well after I get out of work first since I got a huge list of jobs to do when I go in. Anyway you not here to read about that, your here for games! well welcome to the start of the March madness. How is everyone? did you pick up Tomb Raider? what a game and I've only spent two hours on it last night. Seriously folks this is a game you need to pick up, think of it like Uncharted meets Batman with a hint of Assassin's Creed 3. The game really does get to you and you cannot help but feel for Lara and this very bad day, poor girl should not had got out of bed that morning.

I am annoyed though because this morning I checked out the achievement list which is quite poor to be honest for such a great game, 50% multi-player, 30% collectibles, 25% kill x with Y, 4% other secret and only one achievement for the game it self which is finishing the story. Anyway I'm annoyed because I found out there are seven achievements miss able meaning having to redo the game again and I've missed the start of one already. With the others if you miss them you can just restart and not play the full game but this one seems I would have to redo pretty much the entire game. So I am thinking of restarting now while I'm still at the start, not sure yet but we will see later.

Apart from that not much to report in the ways of games, oh wait actually that is a lie since I did not come back on Sunday. Remember I planned that huge gaming day with lots of games, well the plan was scrapped. I decided to start with Star Wars Old Republic to give it another try since the time is running out this week, thought give it an hour then go onto World of Warcraft. Yeah well that hour turned into three, no idea what happened but I just could not stop playing. Was really getting into my Bounty Hunter with the main story, was amazed when I realised the time spent on it. So yeah I will be renewing the time card well if I can find one, if not I will just buy a month from the site. I checked out the difference between Free-To-Play and premium, it's not good. XP is halved, character slots down to two, loss of one of the crafting professions, no high end loot, restrictions on messaging and so on. It's like you only get 10% of the game and the rest you have need to buy, thought the Free-to-Play was meant to tempt people into the game but all that would scare me away if I've never played the game before.

After that I did do a small session on Warcraft then continued with two levels on Hitman Contracts HD, working my way through on Professional difficulty and getting Silent Assassin Ranks. Probably going to be shelving that for a few weeks since I suspect Tomb Raider will keep me busy this week then next Tuesday is Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm launch. I knew I hard forgot something this morning, it's patch day for World of Warcraft so 5.2 is going live. There is a huge quest based island being added where players take part every day with daily quests to help unlock further stages in the war effort, so for example first week you start the invasion and land on the island. Quests will be based on making a beach head, then after a week or until a certain criteria is meet the second stage starts which is the beach head made and progress into the island and so on.

I love these kinda of quests so I will be making sure to spend a session each night to do the daily quests and help out. Oh wow there is a single-player scenario added that lets you loot a tomb for loads of treasure, of course plenty of traps and a timer but sounds awesome. Second island nearby called the Island of Giants, lots of quests there to get awesome new mounts. Oh man this patch sounds awesome, think Tomb Raider will not be hogging all my time this week.

Reading through the patch guide on wowhead.com and I got to say there is too much to take in, so many changes and new things. It's like a whole new game as been added and I just realised how much there is to do at level 90, I had no idea there was legendary quest line and I had forgot about the pet battles (think Pokemon). Lot's of new achievements have been added as well and looks like some of the holidays will be upgraded for the new expansion which is good. Professions have a lot of new stuff as well, could do with working on those soon.

Right I better stop with this post now since I need to have breakfast and go to work, safe to say I will be busy gaming when I get back. Hope you all having a great week and enjoying all the new games, catch you soon!
~Iznic

March Weekend

Afternoon folks,
Well it's my day off finally so I'm planning to game all day with a few blog posts thrown in when I have a minute spare. Thinking it will mostly be a multi-player day today since I don't want to really get into any game right now since Tomb Raider should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday. Really excited to play it which I am shocked about since I've never really been a huge fan of the Lara Croft series. I only got into by playing Legends a few years back and Underworld which I still say is one of my favourite games.

So since I don't want to get into anything new today I will be focusing on games I need to clean up and playing multi-player matches later. Currently working on Hitman Contracts HD the last few days trying to get all the achievements, I just need two more Silent Assassin ranks on Professional and I will get two achievements for that (difficulty achievements stack). Will then continue my second run through on professional to unlock the last difficulty achievements and then that just leaves me with collecting all the weapons achievements. So I will be focusing on that at some point this afternoon plus I might jump onto Saints Row the Third for the PS3, last time I went on I had finished Act One and was part way through the second act plus working on the challenges.

For the multi-player games this evening I'm thinking some Battlefield 3 and Black Ops 2 matches for some fun, been a week or two since my last session. Very tempted to pick up the Black Ops 2 season pass lately since I was really enjoying myself and having some more maps would be great. Plus I've heard Microsoft are giving Microsoft Points away when you buy the season pass, 400 back so you could say it's on sale right now. See how tonight's session goes anyway before I decide to buy it.

Finally the major games I want to play today is the MMO's, World of Warcraft and Old Republic. Last week of my time card for Old Republic so if I don't get into it then I will not be renewing it and let it slip to free-to-play. I have picked up a new card for Warcraft so my plans for that today is to focus on the zones I've not quested in and start looking into upgrading my gear, plus I could do with levelling some of my professions.

It's safe to say I've got plenty to keep me busy with today so on this note I'm going to head off and start, oh by the way did any of you catch the Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags trailer yesterday? yeah it got leaked for like an hour. Really feel for Ubisoft right now since pretty much everything has been leaked about the game. But on the positive side the trailer was awesome and it's going to be a great game from the looks.

~Iznic

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags

Morning,
Well I was not expecting to come home from work yesterday to find Ubisoft had confirmed the rumours was true and that Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags is the next game in the series. The box art shown yesterday morning in my rumour post is the real box (see below) and that the full details will be out on Monday 4th March.

Interesting thing is the full box artwork that they put up did show the PS3 version will get an extra 60 minutes of game play like last year with AC3. Also they have confirmed it's for current generations since both artwork going around is for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Anyway the official Facebook page for Assassin's Creed confirmed late last night there will be a trailer on Monday for the new game.

So thing's will be exciting on Monday, cannot wait to see the new game. I've been wanting a great pirate game for a long time and the Assassin's Creed 3 naval combat features where the best around so this could be awesome on a new level. Any of you tempted yourself for it?
~Iznic


P.S. Rumour Alert - VG24/7 Just posted up saying there was a slip up on the official website giving a release date for the game as 29th October. But here is the interesting point though it says "Coming to next-generation consoles October 29th", so this could be on next generation consoles and we could be seeing the new consoles in late October? time will tell.

Check out the full story on VG24/7 right here.