NEWS: Microsoft Discuss Halo 2 Anniversary's Multiplayer

The multiplayer aspect in the highly anticipated Halo 2 remake would have "to be fantastic."

Speaking with IGN, Microsoft Game Studies boss Phil Spencer has highlighted some of the most important features which would have to be included in the Halo 2 remake. 

Spencer initially discusses important moments during the original release of Halo 2 back in November 2004:

"In this fiticious world where that game existed", he says whilst smiling according to IGN - "it's an easy answer: it has to be just the multiplayer experience that we all found in that first Halo 2 game. If you think about what happened in the franchise and what were the hallmark moments - when did duel wielding come in, when did another playable character that wasn't Master Chief come in?"

More notably, Spencer goes on to speak on the multiplayer:

"All of the things that you and I know about the evolution of the franchise, if you're going to say one thing about Halo 2, you're going to talk about real multiplayer. I think you just have to nail that in just such a fundamentally core way. Frankly [we'd have to do it] probably better than we did with Halo 1 Anniversary. I thought the multiplayer in Halo 1 Anniversary was good, but Halo 1 never had multiplayer in the truest sense, so it always was going to be something different."

Although Spencer only speaks in a way which indicates the anniversary remake is yet to be announced, Master Chief's voice actor Steve Downes recently said:

"What you can look forward to this year is an anniversary edition of Halo 2."

Halo 2 was one of the most successful titles to incorporate online multiplayer during the lifespan of the original Xbox - the servers were shut down April 2010.

NEWS: DICE Details Battlefield 4 Naval Strike DLC Maps

The latest Battlefield 4 DLC will include four new multiplayer maps.

Developer DICE has spoke in-depth on each map that is to be available in the upcoming Naval Strike DLC pack - a set of new multiplayer maps which are based on the ideologies behind naval warfare. 

Lost Islands

"Starting with Lost Islands, this map focuses around a crashed airplane located near the center of the map. The map itself contains several small islands surrounding the crash site that can be traversed using quad bikes around the whole map, or by using boats (including the new hovercraft) to take shortcuts across it. The key to master this map is to control the plane at the crash site, which can be blown open to give infantry some much needed cover. Another special area of this map is the cave blanketed by a waterfall, as it provides visual cover for patrolling boats and helicopters."

Nansha Strike

"Nansha Strike is a very boat heavy map with several bases spread out in the water to battle it out on, while at the same time allowing total infantry control of the middle areas. The central area provides a lot of cover for infantry and is a death trap for water vehicles if they try to enter it via the small rivers. The surrounding bases can be captured from the water, with some offering big bases in the middle of the sea for infantry. This is where the more powerful vehicles spawn, which makes them key to own and control."

Wave Breaker

"Wave Breaker has a unique submarine base hidden in the middle mountain which allows for tight close quarter combat, but it also has wide canals where it’s possible to do drive-bys with the attack boats to add extra mayhem to the mix. The middle area has many different Levolution possibilities. You can for instance bring down a submarine from its support and turn off the lights in the surrounding corridors. It’s also possible to stop boats from entering the area by closing the four flood gates and blocking the direct path from the bases on the two sides. The middle island will give players intense fights in Deathmatch modes."

Operation Mortar

"Operation Mortar is our vacation paradise turned into a war zone, with wooden huts surrounding the islands. There is an old fort on the top of the mountain, which provides a great overview over the whole map. It also gives the team owning it a fast way to capture the other bases on the main island. In Rush, this levels starts from the bottom of the islands and goes up towards the fort, providing interesting and fun vertical gameplay which will provide a big challenge for attackers."

Naval Strike will be available at an earlier date of March 25 exclusively for premium players, whilst April 8 marks the release date for general purchase. 

NEWS: Titanfall's Installation Differences Explained

Publisher Respawn Entertainment has given reasons why the PC version requires much more disc space as opposed to the Xbox One release.

Following the noticeable differences between the Xbox One and PC versions of Titanfall in terms of how much more disc space is needed during the installation, publishers of the game Respawn has spoke with Eurogamer to explain the reasons why the gap is so dramatic.

Xbox One users are required to use up 17GB of space, whilst those playing on PC need to use up a gigantic 49GB of space. It turns out the primary reason is due to audio of all things - lead engineer for Repsawn, Richard Baker, explains:

"We have audio we either download or install from the disc, then we uncompress it. We probably could have had audio decompress off disc but we were a little worried about min spec and the fact that a two-core machine would dedicate a huge chunk of one core to just decompressing audio."

"On a higher PC it wouldn't be an issue. On a medium or moderate PC, it wouldn't be an issue, it's that on a two-core [machine] with where our min spec is, we couldn't dedicate those resources to audio."

Titanfall was released today in North America on Xbox One and PC, whilst Europe has been given a release date of March 13, and will eventually hit shelves March 14 in the UK. The Xbox 360 version will be available March 25 in North America and March 28 throughout Europe.

NEWS: Titanfall Achievements Revealed

The much anticipated Titanfall has had its achievements reach the surface today.

Xbox Achievements - the website dedicated to helping players increase their gamerscores has posted all 35 achievements, making up for a total of 1000 gamerscore points. Titanfall is an online multiplayer first person shooter exclusively available on PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

EA confirmed a release date of March 11 for the PC and Xbox One release in North America and March 13 throughout Europe. The Xbox 360 version is to hit shelves March 25 in North America and March 28 in Europe. See the complete list of achievements below, including the requirements to earn them.

Best in Class (25G)

Finished as the to player on your team once.

All Charged Up (25G)

Killed 5 enemies with one Arc Cannon shot.

Pull! (25G)

Killed 10 ejecting Pilots

Pull Harder! (25G)

Killed an ejecting Pilot with the Plasma Railgun.

All The Cards (25G)

Earned 500 burn cards.

My Robot Army (20G)

Hacked 20 Spectres using the Data Knife.

Refuse (50G)

Survived an evacuation.

I Like A Challenge (50G)

Completed all challenges for a single weapon.

IMC Pilot (50G)

Completed the IMC Campaign.

Militia Pilot (50G)

Completed the Militia campaign.

My Generation (50G)

Became a second generation Pilot.

IMC Elite Pilot (25G)

Won every Campaign level as an IMC pilot.

Militia Elite Pilot (25G)

Won every campaign level as Militia pilot.

Death From Above (25G)

Killed 5 enemies by dropping a titan on them.

Build Yourself (15G)

Created a custom pilot loadout.

Customize Your Ride (15G)

Created a custom titan loadout.

Halfway There (25G)

Reached level 25.

Maxed Out (50G)

Reached level 50

Flag Runner (25G)

Won 50 Capture The Flag matches.

I Wore 'Em Down (25G)

Won 50 Attrition matches.

Pilot Hunter (25G)

Won 50 Pilot Hunter matches.

Captured Everything (25G)

Won 50 Hardpoint matches.

I Stand Alone (25G)

Won 50 Last Titan Standing matches.

I've Seen It All (25G)

Played every gameplay mode on every map.

Ride 'Em Cowboy (25G)

Rodeo-killed a Titan.

Like A Vacation (25G)

Completed training.

Look Around (10G)

Snapped the necks of 10 Pilots.

All The Hardware (50G)

Unlocked everything.

Vortex Volley (15G)

Caught a projectile shot from a vortex with your own vortex.

Frequent Flyer (50G)

Played 50 Campaign matches.

I Killed Them All (25G)

Killed all pilots during the evacuation single-handedly.

Freerunner (25G)

Wallran for 5 killometers.

Gen 10 (0G)

Reached the highest Pilot generation.

Superior In Every Way (25G)

Killed 1000 AI soldiers.

Titanfall (25)

Called in your Titan 25 times.

NEWS: Call of Duty Ghosts - PS4 Patch Released

Problems experienced on the PS4 version of Ghosts will hopefully be fixed with the newly released patch.

Since it's launch, people have been reporting numerous problems in Call of Duty Ghosts, such as spawn-killing exploits in the game's multiplayer, as well as performance issues. 

A patch released today should fix any of the mentioned problems, other updates include a XP reward increase in Operations as well as numerous weapon challenges. 

Leaderboards for the Search & Destroy gametype have now been implemented along with increased XP, and collision bugs which promote cheating are now fixed.

NEWS: PlayStation Plus Required for PS4 Multiplayer Games

New video highlighting the benefits of PS Plus on PS4  has been released, showing what there is to offer.

Sony have released a promotional PlayStation Plus video, heavily focusing on its uses for the upcoming PS4 console later this month.

Having a subscription of the service will now be a must if you're wanting to play PS4 multiplayer games - "Play incredible online multiplayer games on PS4."

Shuhei Yoshida, Sony Worldwide Studios boss spoke with Japanese magazine Famitsu earlier in the week to explain why the service would be required for online play:

"The main pillar for the PS4 will be online play. We're developing many new ways to play and connect which requires a large investment of resources."

"Considering the cost, to try to keep such a service fre and consequently lower the quality would be absurd. We decided that if that's the case, then it would be better to receive proper payment and continue to offer a good service."

The first free games for the PS4 will be Res0gun and Contrast - DriveClub was supposed to be on that list, but is now delayed until early 2014. 

Are you happy to pay to play online games or not? - Leave your comments below, and watch the newly released video.

NEWS: Battlefield 4 Achievements Revealed

Battlefield 4 achievements reveal both single and multiplayer accomplishments.

A list of Battlefield 4 achievements have made their way to the popular achievement site; Xbox 360 Achievements. The list contains single player and multiplayer achievements, with minor chance of spoilers, so browse at your own risk.

Total Gamerscore: 1,000

Storm bringer (25) - Obtain 20 000 points in the Singapore mission in the Campaign
A one-man riot (25) - Obtain 11 000 points in the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
Terror of the deep (25) - Obtain 11 000 points in the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
Gladiator (25) - Obtain 12 000 points in the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
Above and beyond the call (25) - Complete all Assignments in the Campaign
Demolition man (25) - Obtain 15 000 points in the Tashgar mission in the Campaign

Guardian of the fleet (25) - Obtain 6 000 points in the Suez mission in the Campaign

Full arsenal (65) - Unlock all assignments and collectibles in the Campaign

Fish (20) - Complete the Campaign on Easy
Dunn's pride (25) - Obtain 7,000 points in the Baku mission in the Campaign
Braving the storm (20) - Complete the Singapore mission in the Campaign
Wolves in sheep's clothing (20) - Complete the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
The fall of a Titan (20) - Complete the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
Dead by dawn (20) - Complete the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
Guns at dawn (20) - Complete the Suez mission in the Campaign
Fishing in Baku (20) - Complete the Baku mission in the Campaign
Antediluvian (20) - Complete the Tashgar mission in the Campaign
It was on the way... (20) - Find 6 collectibles in the Campaign
Took a casual look around (20) - Find 9 collectibles in the Campaign
Methodical search (20) - Find 15 collectibles in the Campaign
Done some searching (20) - Find 12 collectibles in the Campaign
No stone left unturned (20) - Find 18 collectibles in the Campaign
Every nook and cranny (20) - Find 21 collectibles in the Campaign
Stumbled over it (20) - Find 3 collectibles in the Campaign
Wolf (25) - Complete the Campaign on Normal
Tombstone (25) - Complete the Campaign on Hard
Recon (65) - Find 28 collectibles in the Campaign
Well placed (20) - Get 10 kills with C4 in the Baku mission in the Campaign
Wrecker (20) - Get 10 multi-kills in the Shanghai mission in the Campaign
Blood wake (20) - Get 30 headshots in the South China Sea mission in the Campaign
War turtle (20) - Get 15 kills with RPG in the Singapore mission in the Campaign
Infiltrator (20) - Get 10 adrenaline kills in the Tashgar mission in the Campaign
Shawshank (20) - Get 5 kills with Shank in the Kunlun Mountains mission in the Campaign
For tombstone (20) - Let the Valkyrie be destroyed in the Campaign
For the people (20) - Sacrifice Irish to save the Valkyrie in the Campaign
For the cause (20) - Sacrifice Hannah to save the Valkyrie in the Campaign
Patience is a virtue (20) - Experience all 3 endings in the Campaign
Turn around... (10) - Perform 5 dog tag kills in Multiplayer
Won them all (10) - Win a round of each game mode
.45 old school (25) - Perform 45 kills with the M1911 Handgun in Multiplayer
Bomb squad (25) - Deliver 5 bombs in Obliteration
Call me "Sir" (50) - Reach rank 25.

With that said, this list will be practically the same for PS3 trophies, however gamerscore will be replaced with bronze, silver, gold, and platinum trophies.

The game itself is really close to release now - October 29 in North America and November 1 in the UK, you can play the open beta right now if you want to get an early taste of what's in store, enabling you to play two game modes; Conquest and Domination on the map Siege of Shanghai. 

NEWS: Killzone Shadow Fall Multiplayer Trailer Released

New Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer trailer shows promising and exciting gameplay.

PlayStation 4 launch title Killzone Shadow Fall will initially offer players 10 multiplayer maps upon release, whilst further DLC maps will be released further down the line - Guerilla Games state that DLC will be completely free of charge, whilst expansion packs must be paid for unless you have a season pass.

A new multiplayer trailer was released today, showing off some of the game's maps and some pretty interesting weapons. Personally, I'm really excited for this game. Watch the trailer below and leave your thoughts in the comments.

FEATURE: Keeping Halo 2 Alive!

Halo 2 has played a massive part in my social gaming life, it was one of the first multiplayer games I truly got into, and it is something that has a special place in my heart. When I found out in April 2010 the servers were going to be shut down for good, I was devastated. My all-time favourite online game would no longer be available to play, I know most people will say oh it's only a game but I was genuinely really sad about this.

That was until I found out the game would be released as part of the Games for Windows scheme, but I didn't have the appropriate specifications on my system, so again - pure disappointment. However, since then I have been able to install it on a better system, and it runs perfectly. When I plugged in my Xbox 360 controller, it felt just like the original Xbox version, and I was playing online constantly, having so much fun and relishing in the fact I can play Halo 2 yet again without any of that annoying Xbox Connect nonsense. 

It was reported that the PC servers would also be shut down in June 2013, which made me feel the same anger and disappointment I felt with the original servers, however they are still online and a big part of that is the support of the community, who have contacted 343 Industries themselves in order to keep the servers online, and being a part of a community like that makes me feel good as not only a gamer but part of a team that loves Halo 2 and wants to play it for many more years to come.

So, what am I actually getting at here? I'd like you to help me along with many others to keep Halo 2 going, to do this simply buy the game or download it legally (wink wink), and come play with the community, it is generally cheap to buy either way. From personal experience, I had massive problems with the downloaded version, so I would advise to just buy the disc instead, much easier and less hassle that way. 

You do need an Xbox LIVE account but it doesn't have to be gold, you can play Halo 2 PC for free which is something I really appreciate since I don't have gold any more. If you decide to join the community, please leave your GamerTag in the comments below and I'll be happy to add you and we'll run some games together. Don't hesitate to check out my YouTube channel with a ton of clips and gameplay HERE

Join for forum that helped keep Halo 2 PC alive HERE, really great community with a lot of passion for the game still. Feature1