NEWS: Killzone Shadow Fall - Free Multiplayer For One Week

Players will be able to access the game's multiplayer experience for one week in celebration of its first free map release.

Bart Suichies has posted details on official Killzone website regarding a week's worth online gaming at no extra charge at all. The decision was made to coincide with the release of one of two free to download maps - Suichies said:

"On March 4th, we are making the acclaimed Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer available for free to all PlayStation 4 players for a week, starting 3rd of March 5PM PST. Best of all, you will not require PS Plus to play the Free Access client this week!"

Last month, the two free downloadable maps were revealed, but no release date was mentioned. Since it's initial release, Suichie says the multiplayer "has been going from strength to strength since its launch, with hundreds of improvements and constant balancing. There have been many new exciting developments including Clans, the First Killzone Invitational tournament, new Weekend Challenges, New Warzone options, expanded Personalisation options, and much more."

RETRO REVIEW: Duke Nukem 64

Whilst Duke Nukem 64 is essentially a port of the original PC release, it does offer some interesting and entertaining changes.

Nintendo 64

Duke Nukem 64 is one of the most polished and well-done console ports during the 90s first-person era, and doesn't disappoint.

Picking up directly after Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D takes a departure from the platformer genre and enters the realm of the first person shooter, giving one of the most memorable and iconic gaming experiences of all time. On a trip to Los Angeles, Duke is shot down by alien forces and quickly learns they are trying to take over the city through mutating former LAPD officers and using their own weaponry.

With not much story to go on, its ultimately your mission to destroy any alien that gets in your way whilst protecting Duke's precious babes, and eventually saving the world from total domination. This is done through over 30 levels, including special secret levels and boss encounters, complete with an incredible arsenal of weapons.

Its same to assume most of you have played the original Duke Nukem 3D, so lets get straight into the most important changes made to the Nintendo 64 port, the first thing you'll notice are the weapon redesigns - every weapon has been altered in some way, for example now you dual-wield SMGs instead of the chaingun cannon, and the original RPG is now a grenade launcher. There are now different types of ammo for both the pistol and shotgun - a stronger ammo type is available to blast through the pistol, whilst the shotgun welcomes explosive ammo, which can deal massive damage as well as easily committing suicide in close confined environments.

Most of the explicits have been removed - considering this was a Nintendo release, this should come as no suprise. Whilst Duke maintains some of his one-liners, the more crude ones have been taken away, and now the babes are dressed with more clothing as opposed to the original, in which they were practically naked. A nice feature put into this version is the ability to actually save babes scattered around each level - this, along with finding all the secrets, adds a lot of replay value, especially if you're a completionist wanting to 100% every level possible.

Unlike many console ports at the time, Duke Nukem 64 managed to play at impressive framerates, making for extremely smooth gameplay - this combined with the excellent level designs make for a fantastic experience. Although the controls take quite a while to get used to, once you get the hang of it, you should find yourself maneuvering at a comfortable pace - there are various control schemes available, and whilst neither really change that much from another, it's worth going through them all and experimenting which is best for you.

Whilst the graphics aren't quite on par with the original release, there are some nice improvements in some areas - explosions look incredible and feature some of the best polygonal effects of the time, and even more notable is the final boss (Cycloid Emperor), who now sports a fully-rendered 3D model as opposed to the original 2D sprite. Its a mix of both good and bad graphics, the new visuals are fantastic, but overall most of the textures are very pixelated and blurry, making it sometimes difficult to navigate certain parts of levels, especially if you're new to the game.

One of the best additions to Duke Nukem 64 are the multiplayer options, you can either rip aliens apart in co-op with a buddy or battle it out on the maps available, including Castle Dukenstein - a parody of Wolfenstein 3D. 'Duke Bots' can also be added if there aren't enough real players, making up the numbers for a healthy firefight.

This game is a must-play, offering the same incredibly well-designed levels from the PC release, along with some of the most unique weapons at your disposal to blast away those pesky alien maggots. retroreview

8/10

REVIEW: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Gunslinger should remind you shooters don't have to be about war all the time, just a good old fashioned cowboy slaughterfest.

Developer: Techland | Publisher: Ubisoft | Genre: First-Person Shooter

PS3 | Xbox 360 | Windows PC

Through a series of arcade-style missions and a generally unique narrative, you'll have a blast taking on various iconic outlaws.

The game starts in a saloon in Abilene, Kansas, which that looks like its straight from A Fistful of Dollars - here, a mysterious bounty hunter known as Silas Greaves takes a seat and is quickly recognised by a group of fellow drinkers known as Steve, Jack, and the teenager Dwight, who interrogate him on his past adventures. 

It's through these stories the adventure begins - however, Greaves is presented by a dime novel, which only semi portrays his encounters with famous outlaws, and its through both versions presented in the novel and Graves himself that the game is played. Each mission is greeted with a gorgeous cartoon look, which resembles games such as Borderlands and XIII, and its through these graphics that you get a sense of playing through a comic book - this is visually symbolic as it reminds you this game is meant to be played for fun and not to be taken too serious.

You'll often hear Greaves' voice describing certain events, whilst Steve, Jack, and Dwight question his actions as they will compare the situation to how its described in the dime novel - this makes for alternative narratives being played out, for example you might be respectfully asked for a duel by an outlaw in the novel, but the real events according to Greaves are that you were ambushed unfairly. You are able to play out both versions, which adds a sense of gameplay that's rarely seen in other games.

You'll gain experience by blasting enemies with typical western weaponry such as a revolver, double-barreled shotgun, a long-range rifle, and sticks of dynamite - this experience gives you the ability to improve skill trees, which are categorised accordingly to each weapon type. Different ways of disposing of enemies will alter the amount of experience gained, for example if you build up a combo, you'll get rewarded for it - types of kills include headshots, dynamite explosions, and so forth.

If you prefer using the rifle and taking out enemies from a distance, it'd be advised to use your skill points on that specific skill tree to gain additional abilities and unlock special weapons, or you could mix up your points into all three and experiment with all the weapons. Typically, at the end of a mission, you'll be given the chance to duel with a boss - if you've ever seen a western movie, there's usually a standoff between two people and its him who is fastest to reach his gun and shoot that wins, this is exactly what you do in the game through a series of quick mini-games such as keeping your concentration of the enemy whilst you position your hand ready to grab your revolver.

To add a little replayability, you are encouraged to seek out 'nuggets of truth', which are scattered around each mission for you to uncover, these pieces of information reveal certain narratives about some of the game's themes such as characters and famous events. You can also start a new game plus to fully max out your skill trees or go through the game again on an increased difficulty, these are nice features and should be utilized if you're the completionist type.

Making gameplay more interesting is the use of the concentration ability, which when used puts everything in slow-motion and marks all known enemies with a vibrant red colour, allowing you to quickly pop them off one by one at a leisurely pace - well, until the concentration meter runs out. There's also the 'Sense of Death' - this will automatically activate if you're low on health and an enemy shoots at you, time will once again slow down and you'll have the opportunity to dodge an incoming bullet, deeming you fit to carry on fighting, but if the meter isn't full, you won't the chance to live, instead you'll simply die and have to restart.

At its core, Gunslinger is your run of the mill shooter but manages to capture a sense of uniqueness through its extremely fun arcade-style gameplay and a narrative that is both hilarious and engaging. It acts as a refreshing breather compared to the more serious shooters out there, and shouldn't be ignored as it provides a ton of fun complete with some extremely well-thought out gameplay. review1

8/10

NEWS: Latest Battlefield 4 Update Will Fix Various Problems

The latest patch for the PlayStation 4 version of the game should take care of problems players have been experiencing of late.

A 600MB update has been released for Battlefield 4 on the PS4 - the announcement came from the Battlelog forum today.

Its purpose is to fix certain client crashes, audio drop outs, among other various issues. You may need to restart the game for the update to start.

Check out a detailed list of the fixes below.

• General stability fixes that should remove a large amount of the client crashes we are currently seeing on the PS4.
• Fixed the audio drop outs that could occur when playing on large maps. Typical maps affected was Golmud Railway in Conquest with 64 players. Ambient sound would sometimes cut out, like foley sounds from players running, vehicle engine sounds, vehicle movement sounds, and map ambient sounds.
• Removed the blur effect on soldiers that appeared when Commanders were using EMP attacks.
• Further reduced the probability of getting a corrupt save file by doing miscellaneous changes to the save file system. These include removing the save file saving again when quitting multiplayer.
• Fixed multiple crashes that could occur when bringing up the in-game Battlelog during round transition.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when using the BattleScreen.
• Fixed a random crash related to destroying vehicles.
• Fixed minor destruction issues in the terrain.