Given that I’ve never played a Dead Rising game in my life - not properly anyway - I was intrigued to see how I would take to the third game, and launch title with the Xbox One. With opinions wavering from person to person, I hoped my limited knowledge on the franchise would actually allow me to enjoy it for what it was, not for what it isn’t.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Even on Nightmare Mode, which is where the supposed ‘real’ Dead Rising experience lies, I was very entertained by Capcom Vancouver’s latest. It may not do anything drastically new, but given the amount of zombies that can be on-screen at any time (which makes it feel all next-gen), I think it’s pretty decent.
I also played Ryse. Everyone hates Ryse. I like Ryse...
I had a strong feeling this wasn't going to be good, what with a dearth of info and numerous delays, and it seems I was 100 per cent correct. Ashes Cricket 2013 is a horrible, money-grabbing mess of a game that was clearly months away from being finished. Having already missed the Ashes series that look place over the summer in good old Blighty, this game had to be released to coincide with the Australian series taking place right now, no matter what state the game was in at the time. It's an embarrassment that publisher 505 Games is asking cricket fans to pay for this, so I hope none of you do.
For more of my thoughts on Ashes Cricket 2013, head over to .'s sister site Sportra.
Of all the launch titles (on both consoles), these are the two that I've been having the most fun with. Dead Rising because it's an enjoyable interpretation of a series I've been a fan of for years, and FIFA because it's miles better than the current-gen version.
This makes me so mad at one time the Incredible Hulk told me to calm down after playing it. I was like 'come on mate, you're joking.'
NBA 2K14 was my most anticipated game on next-gen consoles. Ever since the OMG trailer, I haven't shut up about how pretty this game looks.
Having a chance to play the game, I'm glad to say my lofty expectations were more than met. Players look unbelievable and the increased animations make the game feel far smoother than the current-gen (previous-gen? HD-era? I don't know, we need to mark a date in the calendar where we stop with all this semantic nonsense).
2K's Eco-Motion engine is looking much sexier than EA's Ignite Engine as things stand with the launch titles. I've already raised my concerns over EA's approach to next-gen graphics, so we'll save that discussion for another day.
I have come across a gripe or two, though. My main issue with the game is all the narrative guff 2K has added to stop me from actually playing it. In my first two hours with the game, I only played one match and had about 15 minutes on the court. The rest of my time was spent having conversations with mimes able to communicate through subtitles without moving their lips. Some NPCs can speak, but for the most part, your character is the only speaker.
There's also a bug or two that I'm sure will be fixed in an early update, such as Doris Burke's interviews are with players stood yards away from the ESPN correspondent. Also, the fact that there is still only one voice actor for MyPlayer is poor.
But when all is said and done, it's the best game I've played so far on next-gen. I can't wait to dive into the MyGM mode and all the new online components, it just sucks that I have to start all my progress from scratch, as Brett Phipps on PS3 was becoming a star in the league for the Trail Blazers.
