Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb summed the game up nicely in his review:

In very broad strokes, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is comparable to games in the Elder Scrolls series and, to some extent, games in the Fable series. It’s easy to want to think of it as “Oblivion but third-person with faster, more combo-oriented combat,” but that doesn’t quite fit. You’ll be able to call the names of other games out as you see the various things contained in Amalur, but it has a different style and scope than the games you’re most likely to compare it to. That’s just enough to give it a feel all its own.

Unfortunately my copy of Reckoning hasn’t arrived yet, so I’m forced to watch the launch trailer over and over again while I wait and/or cry a bit.

You can check out the trailer below or download it in full HD from 3FL (entirely quota free for iiNet, Westnet and Netspace customers).

The demo will include both single-player and co-op multiplayer (which unlocks on Feb 17) levels along with voice recognition using the Xbox Kinect. You’ll be able to shout commands like “Shotgun” to switch to a weapon or “LIARA MOVE YOU’RE IN MY WAY WHICH MAKES ME HATE YOU” to have Liara step aside. I’ve never considered buying a Kinect before, but being able to abuse my NPC characters for being useless could be a game-changer.

For PC players, Bioware have posted the minimum and recommended specs for the demo in a forum post on their website.

Check out the video below to see the Kinect voice commands in action, or download the HD version from 3FL entirely quota-free for iiNet, Westnet and Netspace customers.

Well, when it comes out in New Zealand since the game was refused classification in Australia because we still don’t have an R18+ classification. But hey, we get to check the demo out. So I guess that’s something.

Check out the new co-op trailer on Youtube below or download the full HD version from 3FL entirely quota-free for iiNet, Westnet and Netspace customers.

[Update] EA Australia have confirmed that the Syndicate co-op demo will not be available in Australia, only New Zealand. I wasn’t aware they bothered limiting specific Xbox Live/PSN titles to specific regions, other than whether it’s available for EU or NA (Australia and New Zealand both falls under EU). I guess we’ll find out later this month.

Woohoo, free stuff! Everyone loves free stuff!

Starhawk is the sequel to Warhawk, one of the first multiplayer PS3 shooters, known for its gyro-controlled Warhawk jets and combining solid team-based FPS gameplay with vehicles to really make the player feel like he’s in the middle of an epic battle.

The sequel kicks things up a notch by adding the ability to deploy buildings, defensive turrets and energy shields on the fly in the middle of a game and adding the ability to transform the jets into a rad looking mech while singing Robot Rock (at least that’s what I’ll be doing). It’s the sort of ambitious design for an online shooter that makes me wonder whether it’s going to actually work well outside the controlled environment of the developer’s studio.

However the video below has a lot of resounding endorsements, so it sounds like the new stuff really works. It even includes a few people who don’t have to big the game up just because they write for Playstation Magazine, so it’s probably reliable.

Besides, the game just looks like it would be a lot of fun. Check it out.

The game’s story is being written by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment (best known for creating Fallout: New Vegas) as a turn-based RPG for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The release date is currently aimed at the second half of 2012.

Players will assume the role of a kid in South Park who joins up with Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman to defend the town from the threat of Elves, Goth kids and Gingers if the screenshots are any indication.

Read on to check out the rest of the screenshots.

For those of us who don’t play it on PS3, we could either pass the time by telling the PS3 players how they’re all a big bunch of jerks or we could watch the new Wake Island gameplay trailer over and over. Personally I plan to do both and throw in few brief interludes of staring longingly at the classic BF2 weapons on the Battlelog’s DLC page. Soon, my pretties, soon we shall be together once more.

You can check out the new trailer below on Youtube or download the full HD version (and I mean full HD, the file is just over 1GB in size) entirely quota-free from the 3FL download vault.

*Youtube video content is not quota-free as it is not part of the Freezone

Head to our forums to discuss the trailer!

For those of you who haven’t read your emails this morning the Duke Nukem Forever Demo was released to all platforms – for First Access Club Members.

If you are a member of the First Access Club you should now be able to login to the First Access Club Website and be presented with your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC Demo Code which will allow you will be able to redeem either through Xbox Live, PlayStation Network or Steam.

Source: Duke Nukem Forever – First Access Club

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The patch was aimed at the multi-player component of the game, attempting to remove the ability to cheat during online games.

“The Modern Warfare 2 patch to address hacking is now live on PlayStation 3, Other platforms pending. Have any problems, please let me know.” – Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward

The hacking and griefing in Modern Warfare 2 has been around for a while, but when the PlayStation 3′s Internal Security was broken things just seemed to get worse.

Infinity Ward says it will be working with Sony and changing the way it handles its online security in future games.

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Sony have announced that they will be releasing a updated firmware for their PlayStation 3 console which has recently been opened up to custom firmware, hacks and illegal backups.

The news appeared on the official PlayStation blog and mentions there will be a new system update deployed soon that adds a security patch.

“A new PS3 system software update, v3.56, will be released soon. This is a minor update that adds a security patch.” – Eric Lempel, VP of Network Operations Americas

Unofficial sources suggest that Sony might be looking at assigning unique serial keys for each game it ships going forward.

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PlayStation 3 owners who purchase Valves soon to be released game Portal 2 will be eligible to download a free copy of the game for PC and Mac, providing they link their Steam and PlayStation Network Accounts.

A number of cross-platform features were also announced, which included Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Cross-Platform Chat, and persistent cloud-based storage of save games.

We designed the Portal 2 PS3 experience to be very straightforward for gamers, PS3 gamers will be able to simply drop the Blu-Ray disc in the PS3, link to their Steam account from inside the game, and all their Steam friends (on PC and Mac) will be visible and accessible for chat and game invites. – Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead

The game follows on from the events at the Enrichment Center and will see players once again facing off against GLaDOS. It will feature a single-player campaign, as well as a new multiplayer co-operative mode.

Portal 2 is scheduled for release on the 21st of April for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac.

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