Bored of the current batch of modern and futuristic shooters? If so, the latest Call of Juarez title is likely to sit nicely with you. Right here is the launch trailer, just in time for this week’s release for download. We’ve been playing it for our review (which will be online soon) so keep an eye out to see what we think!

Keeping an eye on Ubisoft’s next sneak-em-up? Well that’s good, because right here is the latest trailer featuring some great looking co-op action. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist offers a two player co-op mode with 4 mission types across 14 maps with 2 player split-screen.

Play as Sam Fisher or Isaac Briggs (a CIA operative) and work as a duo : help your teammate access parts of the maps you couldn’t access on your own, create your own tactics depending on your play style and watch each other’s back as you complete missions.

When I was a young kid I had one thing in mind when I played at being a soldier with my friends – loud guns, big explosions and generally being an over the top idiot. We’d leave the playground at school exhausted after throwing myself around, throwing pretend grenades about the place and getting killed in lots of very loud ways. It was great fun. With Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel we’ve got a game that works as a nice metaphor for those crazy 15 minute primary school wars that took place on a daily basis: loud, slightly excessive and not impressing those with something more real to play with.

This latest version of Army of Two hasn’t received a very warm welcome from several corners of the gaming world, and on the surface it’s easy to see why. The shooting action feels a little generic, the cover system is clumsy at times and once the main campaign is dealt with there’s not a great deal to keep you coming back for more. And yet despite this there’s something very pleasing about playing it: Army of Two takes us back to a time when games were designed for fun, not for profit.

In the main, Army of Two is a big game of chase. Your two main characters – Alpha and Beta – spend the whole game hunting down a bad guy who somehow manages to always stay a step ahead and escape at the last minute. Along the way a few other sub-plots crop up which, despite not being the most imaginative, are entertaining enough to keep you intrigued. There’s plenty of banter between the cast, with the two guys also keeping in contact with others over their headsets and throwing plenty of childish insults that, even though you know they’re quite cheesy and immature you can’t help but enjoy them. There are some fun comments about games too, such as one guy pointing out “red barrels always explode, have you never played a video game?”

Combat utilises a cover system, with destructible scenery which forces you to think about where you’re taking cover. Hide behind a car and you can guarantee the enemy will concentrate its fire on the vehicle and blow it up, knocking you for six in the process. Other objects hold up slightly better, but it’s rare to find something that will withstand prolonged enemy fire so keeping on the move is key. It can be tough though to accurately use the cover system, and it’s certainly not as slick as the likes of Uncharted or Ghost Recon in terms of dashing from cover to cover. It’s also incredibly easy to accidentally sprint to cover quite a distance away, leaving yourself open to getting shot at from other directions.

But it’s shooting at people yourself where the rewards lie, and being Army of Two there are extra rewards available for working as a team. Drawing fire for your partner to make the kills, flanking enemies, even taking enemies by surprise will earn you extra in-game currency. It’s a clever idea, but annoyingly it’s a clever idea that doesn’t work. While intentional acts go mostly rewarded (sneaking up on the bad guys is great fun) you also get credited for things you don’t actually do – how can I get a bonus for a surprise kill when the guy was sprinting at me at full speed swinging a machete at me? I guess he didn’t expect me to take the top of his head off, that’s the only explanation I can think of…

That said, however you kill people you start to fill up your Overkill meter. Both you and your partner have one of these meters, and activating a full one gives you temporary invincibility, unlimited ammo and as many grenades as you can chuck in the time given. Activating both characters’ meters at the same time gives you both an insane amount of firepower, shredding walls, sending enemies flying and generally causing explosive chaos in every direction. It’s impossible to resist the urge to sprint into the middle of a crowd of enemies, activate the Overkill and go nuts – and this is where the game is at its most enjoyable. It’s where the feeling of having done it all before subsides for a little moment and starts to feel exactly like what you imagined when you were lining up your playground friend before letting them have it with a barrage of imaginary gunfire.

But is that enough to make this a game you should rush out and buy? Possibly, but I’m not convinced. It’s quite a pretty game, especially when you enter a graveyard lit by candles and take a moment to look around and realise how impressive it all is, but again it won’t be winning any awards for that. If you’ve got a friend who will want to play through with you then it takes a step up in enjoyment (there’s even split screen play, something criminally missing from most games nowadays) and when you’re playing online there’s no obvious lag or other issues. Sadly if you’re playing an open game and someone tries to join you’ll be dropped back at the start of the level, so it pays to think ahead and arrange your games beforehand. Even without someone else your partner’s AI is pretty impressive, taking his fair share of kills and helping to draw fire from you when you’re in a bit of a tricky situation.

It’s a little awkward to sum up Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel. On one hand games like this are important, giving bursts of satisfaction rarely seen in more serious-faced shooters that we tend to see being released every 4 days. But for a game focused on co-op it seems odd that you can play much of the game forgetting you’ve even got a partner, and the scoring system for your amazing and utterly accidental teamwork becomes slightly farcical before too long. It’s an enjoyable game to play, but that’s mainly because of the numerous times you get to fire up your Overkill and go nuts by blowing up as much stuff as you can find in the space of 30 seconds or so. It nearly enough to forget about the fiddly cover system, and nearly enough to ignore the bizarre way online co-op is handled, but ultimately the fun from shooting stuff just about persuades you to play this through to the end. It probably won’t persuade you to go back and do it all again though, which when you think about the possibilities available to a 2 player co-op title is a huge shame.

Reviewed on PS3

We all remember Worms, it’s been knocking around since 1995. That’s when those amazing people over at Team17 came up with this great idea of having worms battle each other to the death, with all sorts of crazy weapons. I can still remember my friends and I huddled around my Amiga 500+, spending time picking names for our highly trained worm combatants, and then starting the game and trying to blow each other up, or if that failed, setting up guards to try and build shelters. I look back on those days with great fondness, and I’m very happy to see that as we moved forward so did the Worms games.  So we reach 2013, and what have those great people over at Team 17 done? They have only gone and released this great pack for Xbox called Worms: The Revolution Collection.

Not much has changed over the years to this winning formula. What you will notice when you first load the game up, is that on the disc is Worms 2 Armageddon with a supply crate full of DLC for your playing pleasure.  There really is a huge amount of extras to play with, more weapons to beat the living snot of your friends, or the AI and much, much more. To follow that, the lovely people at Team 17 have also put in Worms Revolution, which is a step up from Worms 2 Armageddon.  With all new HD graphics it’s displayed in a lovely 2.5D which really adds depth to the game and gives more interesting levels.  Once again it comes with a bucket load of DLC which brings even more life to the game with more maps and weapons. This truly is a great collection.  If you’re a big Worms fan like me, then this is a must have, not just for you but for your friends as well, the endless fun you will have will be crazy. In total you get 5 DLC Packs which is amazing, I don’t know many games that would give away that many extras. One thing I did really like was the physics that has been added to Worms Revolution, and also the puzzle modes, but what really makes it for me is the ability to get online and play with other people over Xbox Live. This really opens the game up and it gets better the more people you add into the mix. Let’s not forget though that these aren’t new games, and it’s not out of the question that you may have picked these up or played them some time ago.

Overall this is great for the price of £22.99.  If you have never played Worms at all, then this is a great place to start, even if a few of you might have played all of these before. These 2 great games on disc with all this DLC available in them will keep you playing for ages. If like me, you’re an old hand to the Worms franchise, then this will hold a special place in your heart. It’s so nice to see that in this day and age, this style of game is still being brought out and people are still enjoying it.

Reviewed on XBox 360

We don’t really need to say much about Assassin’s Creed IV by now, so I’ll cut to the chase and just tell you that the video below features some great looking boaty action, as well as a glimpse into some of the more land-based environments you’ll be finding. It’s safe to say this is looking pretty handy…

Want to know where you’ll be heading when GRID2 hits the shelves in a couple of weeks? Lucky you – we’ve got the full track list released today by Codemasters. Hooray! Not only that, there’s a new trailer below as well showing off some of the Asian locations including a rather lovely looking Hong Kong circuit.

Enjoy!

America:

Indianapolis:
- GP Circuit [Day]
- Infield Circuit [Day]
- Sport Circuit [Day]
- North Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- Oval Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]

California:
- Big Sur [Day]
- Big Sur [Night]
- Bixby Pass [Day]
- Bixby Pass [Night]
- Pebble Beach Drive [Day]
- Pebble Beach Drive [Night]
- Redwood Approach [Day]
- Redwood Approach [Night]
- Pacific Way [Sunset]

Miami:
- Causeway Approach [Day]
- Causeway Approach [Night]
- Collins Park Ring [Day]
- Collins Park Ring [Night]
- Downtown Speedway [Day]
- Downtown Speedway [Night]
- South Point Bay [Day]
- South Point Bay [Night]
- Art Deco Loop [Sunset]
- Ocean Drive [Sunset]
- LiveRoutes [Day]

Chicago:
- Lake Shore Point [Day]
- Lake Shore Point [Night]
- The Loop [Day]
- The Loop [Night]
- Underpass Ring [Day]
- Underpass Ring [Night]
- Wabash Run [Day]
- Wabash Run [Night]
- Marina City [Sunset]
- Riverside [Sunset]
- LiveRoutes [Day]

Europe:

Brands Hatch, UK:
- Indy Circuit [Day]
- Indy Circuit Reversed [Day]
- GP Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- GP Circuit Reversed [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]

Algarve, Portugal:
- Club Circuit [Day]
- GP Circuit [Day]
- National Circuit [Day]
- Sport Circuit [Day]

Barcelona:
- Columbus Pass [Day]
- Columbus Pass [Night]
- High Street [Day]
- High Street [Night]
- Marine Gate [Day]
- Marine Gate [Night]
- Memorial Gate [Day]
- Memorial Gate [Night]
- Columbus Bay [Sunset]
- Fountain Loop [Sunset]
- LiveRoutes [Day]

Red Bull Ring:
- North Circuit [Day]
- North Circuit Reversed [Day]
- South Circuit [Day]
- South Circuit Reversed [Day]
- GP Circuit [Day]
- GP Circuit Reversed [Day]

Paris, France:
- Arc De Triomphe [Day]
- Arc De Triomphe [Night]
- Avenue De New-York [Day]
- Avenue De New-York [Night]
- Circuit De La Seine [Day]
- Circuit De La Seine [Night]
- Pont De L’alma [Day]
- Pont De L’alma [Night]
- Champs Elysees [Sunset]
- Le Trocadero [Sunset]
- LiveRoutes [Day]

Cote d’Azur, France:
- La Turbie [Day]
- La Turbie [Night]
- Leopolda [Day]
- Leopoldar [Night]
- Route d’Azur [Day]
- Route d’Azur [Night]
- Saint-Laurent [Day]
- Saint-Laurent [Night]
- Cabrillo Highway [Sunset]
- Route De Corniche [Sunset]

Asia:

Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi:

- Championship Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- Championship Circuit [Night]
- GP Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- GP Circuit [Night]
- International Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- International Circuit [Night]
- Paddock Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- Paddock Circuit [Night]
- South Circuit [Day] [Pre-Order Bonus]
- South Circuit [Night]

Okutama, Japan:
- Mizu Mountain [Day]
- Mizu Mountain [Night]
- Tatsu Valley [Day]
- Tatsu Valley [Night]
- Tenshi Way [Day]
- Tenshi Way [Night]
- Shinto Shrine [Day]
- Shinto Shrine [Night]
- Sakura Pass [Sunset]
- Torii Rush [Sunset]

Dubai, United Arab Emirates:
- Al Sufouh Strip [Day]
- Al Sufouh Strip [Night]
- Gulf Approach [Day]
- Gulf Approach [Night]
- Jumeirah Beach [Day]
- Jumeirah Beach [Night]
- Nakheel Vista [Day]
- Nakheel Vista [Night]
- Hattan Way [Sunset]
- Orra Quay Loop [Sunset]
- LiveRoutes [Day]

Hong Kong, China:
- Kowloon Climb [Day]
- Kowloon Climb [Night]
- Magazine Gap [Day]
- Magazine Gap [Night]
- Peak Road Descent [Day]
- Peak Road Descent [Night]
- Wan Chai Gap [Day]
- Wan Chai Gap [Night]
- Ap Lei Chau [Sunset]
- Pok Fu Lam [Sunset]

Every so often something comes along that you just can’t resist taking on to review. The latest temptress comes in the form of a gorgeous 160-odd page coffee table book covering one of the most incredible gaming successes in recent times: Angry Birds. Hatching a Universe looks at the entire series of Angry Birds games, taking you way back to how the original idea came to light, through development and design and all the way up to the most recent games in the series with Angry Birds Star Wars. Totally devoid of screenshots or any kind of ego-massaging, even I was surprised with just how high the quality was throughout.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise really – the guys who have come up with these games are intent on flawless design, ticking boxes on the finer points in order to make sure their products are as amazing as possible. The contents of Hatching a Universe include sketches, cartoon strips, designs of stages and the world they’re from as well as a host of other goodies. Another nice touch comes with the attached extras dotted through the book – alongside several other goodies, sets of stickers (that are actually quite cool and retro-looking in parts), postcards and cut-out card nets of the birds for you to pop out and turn into throwable cubes are all present and correct, each one bring an “oooooh, aaaaaah” as you find your latest hidden extra.

On top of all this are your staff pieces, places where the guys behind the games explain some behind the scenes magic or share stories about how certain games, levels or characters came to exist. Some of this is genuinely fascinating stuff, giving an insight into just how much time and effort has gone into making the series so successful and enjoyed by so many. Those who assumed it was a simple game that had probably been knocked together in a few days will certainly find a lot to learn.

But this is, essentially, an art book. It’s a book to leave strategically hanging around when a few friends come over. This is unlike the art books we’ve seen recently with things like Dead Space and Halo which need a certain type of gamer to appreciate them – everyone knows what Angry Birds is, everyone recognises the characters, and pretty much everyone will reach for the book and flick through it. And chances are, when they do, everyone will learn something new each time.

I’ve taken a few photos which you can see on this page, and they do far more to explain the beauty of Hatching a Universe than I ever could using these word things. But even being a touch under £30 (which might widen a few eyes) it’s good value for money, and if you’re the kind of person who can’t sit still for 5 minutes without reaching for your nearest version of Angry Birds then you’d be a bit crazy to leave this on the shelf. An extremely impressive offering, and one I’ll certainly be showing it off whenever the opportunity arises.

Published by Titan Books (EU)
Price: £29.99
Release Date: 24th may 2013
Buy Now at Amazon

As Harold McMillan once said, fighting game fans have never had it so good. Well that wasn’t quite what he said, but if he had, he would have been absolutely right. There are currently more fighting games available than at any point since the boom of the early ’90s, and the difference is that this time, the vast majority of them are pretty brilliant. From remastered classics like Third Strike and Guilty Gear, to modern instalments of established franchises like King of Fighters, Tekken and MvC , to exciting new titles like Skullgirls and Blazblue, the genre has seen one quality release after another since the launch of Street Fighter 4 in early 2009. There have been occasional misadventures though, and worryingly, the highest profile of these was probably Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. It wasn’t a bad game as such, but mismatched battles (Superman vs Sonya Blade?), the toning down of the Mortal Kombat gore factor to fit in the DC characters and the general clunkiness of the gameplay meant that nobody really came away a winner. Which brings us onto Injustice, a DC Universe based fighting game from the creators of Mortal Kombat. Will it redeem the DC name among fighting game fans, or will it confirm the company as the black sheep of family?

Well, for a start, most worries have been put firmly to one side by 2011′s Mortal Kombat reboot. It was easily the best game in the long-running series and Injustice is built upon the same foundations as NetherRealm’s previous title. That’s not to say that it’s just Mortal Kombat with super heroes though, as there are some pretty fundamental differences that make Injustice a unique fighting game in its own right. Firstly, there’s no block button, with players now using the time-honoured tradition of holding back to soak up attacks. Players like myself who play a range of fighting games will no doubt welcome this move as blocking with a button is an annoyingly difficult habit to get into. In fact, the general button layout is radically different to most fighting games, and takes a little bit of thinking about, especially if you’re trying to configure a fight stick. Alongside your standard Light, Medium and Heavy attack buttons, you now have a Character Power button that produces a unique attack or ability for each character, a Meter Burn button that can allow players to enhance their special moves, and a Flip Stance button that doesn’t do a whole bunch on its own but is needed in collaboration with other buttons for other purposes. It’s nothing particularly complicated, but as throwing, stage interactions, tech rolling and super moves all need a combination of these buttons, some consideration is needed to avoid complicated finger positions and painful hand cramps. The game itself initially feels quite similar to Mortal Kombat, with moves linking together and being performed in a familiar way. But the more you play, the more different the game begins to feel. It feels less rigid than its bloody cousin, and you get the impression that there is an extra layer of depth here that may take some time to mine. I was surprised at how unique the game felt and it’s safe to say there really isn’t another game that feels or plays like Injustice does.

The roster draws from a wide range of DC franchises, with most of the obvious protagonists being present and correct. There is a slight over reliance on the Batman series, but there should be enough mainstream characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman etc) and more less known ones (Raven, Killer Frost, Lobo etc) to please casual and hardcore DC fans alike. DLC characters have already started being launched and it will be interesting to see how far and wide they’re willing to look for extra options. The thought of DC imprints like Vertigo being used to include the likes of V or Sandman is rather too exciting to think about. Everyone is pretty well presented, and there is a wide range of alternative costumes to unlock or buy that cover different iterations of each character. Similarly, the backgrounds are varied and recognisable, although again, gloomy Gotham gets rather more coverage than other places. One major selling point here is how much interaction the stages provide, from bouncing your opponent off passing helicopters, to pounding them through walls to receiving a trippy beating from the Arkham Asylum version of Scarecrow.  Interactable stages are an interesting and initially entertaining way of making no two games the same, even when playing the same player with the same character over and over, although some of the longer transition cutscenes (when a character gets smacked from one stage to another) can start to get a little tiresome after several viewings. Injustice is certainly a very good looking game , but a little more light to go with the shade would certainly help change things up a bit. If Mortal Kombat taught us anything, other than there’s more than one way to skin a ninja, it’s that NetherRealm know how to use sound to fully enhance what you’re looking at, and they’ve gone to town again here. The music is suitably epic, smashed bricks stay thoroughly smashed, and if you crank up the volume you could almost feel the thwack of fist on spandex.

Injustice has an excellent range of modes that will please both on-line heroes and single player loners alike. The story mode is both totally absurd and absolutely brilliant. Following MK’s lead, we’re taken through a narrative that involves all the heroes and villains from the game, and gives us a brief glimpse of their role and perspective of the story. It’s long, its thorough, its genuinely entertaining and I can’t think of any fighting game story mode that even comes close to how good it is. Battle Mode is basically a regular arcade play through, but allows you to unlock new circumstances to play through as you go. Training mode is simple but effective, and the S.T.A.R. Labs section allows you to play through over 200 character-specific challenges of different difficulties. Online modes again echo Mortal Kombat quite closely, with Ranked and Player matches being joined again by the excellent King of the Hill Mode which allows 8 players to watch and interact with matches whilst they wait their turn. Online play feels somewhat better than Mortal Kombat’s did, although it still doesn’t feel as solid as some of the more recent fighting game releases have. I may have been unlucky, buts it also taken me a while to find online opponents so it’s good there so many offline options to keep me playing.

So has Injustice done enough to keep its head above the increasingly deep fighting game water-line? The answer is a resounding “YES”. It would have been easy for NetherRealm to re-release Mortal Kombat, swapping Sub-Zero for Superman and Outworld for Metropolis, and it would still have sold loads and been a good game. But rather than do that, they have altered and elevated a winning formula into something bigger, better, and perhaps more importantly, different. It’s not perfect, and its unlikely to challenge the Street Fighters, King of Fighters, and BlazBlues of the world in terms of pure depth and balance. But that isn’t what Injustice is about, and the fact that it’s managed to find a unique space of its own in such a tightly packed genre is an achievement in itself. It’s big, loud, ridiculous and clever, and has finally provided DC with a serious rival for Marvel’s established fighting game franchise. DC vs Mortal Kombat 2 seems like an exceedingly good idea all of a sudden…

Reviewed on PS3

Another week, another GRID2 video, this time taking you to the Miami circuit where the folks at Codemasters take a Ford Mustang by the horns and take part in one of the standard races over two laps. With the game only a couple of weeks away, expect even more footage to show up soon!

The Last of Us isn’t too far away now, and Sony have started to drop little snippets onto TV sets in certain parts of the world. Right here we’ve got the latest trailer which shows just how incredible this is looking. We’re very much looking forward to this, so keep ‘em peeled for more details soon!