REVIEWS

DARK SOULS 2

Dark Souls II feels like playing baseball with a familiar, worn-in, comfortable mitt, only the rules of the sport have been slightly tweaked. Anyone worried that the sequel might rein back on the difficulty in favor of targeting a wider audience can sleep easy tonight – Dark Souls II is every bit as punishing, demanding, and ultimately rewarding as its 2011 predecessor. Its new ideas for both single-player exploration and helping and tormenting others in multiplayer don’t always quite click, but enough do to make this an exceptional game and an irresistible challenge.

As a guy who earned both the "To Link the Fire" and "Dark Lord" endgame Achievements in the original Dark Souls, I have no shame in admitting that Dark Souls II put me down hundreds of times throughout the massive, 60-hour journey. But like the original, no death was ever in vain. Each moment of failure taught me more about how Dark Souls II works that helped me get better. From learning to exploit enemy attack patterns to picking up the signs of environmental traps, the high difficulty almost never felt insurmountable.
 say “almost” because developer From Software went a little too far with a penalty that decreases your max HP every time you die. This can be counteracted by using a Human Effigy, but those items are few and far between in the early half of the campaign. While undoubtedly a hardcore feature, I found it frustrating because it slightly stifled my urge to explore the world with a fear of being too harshly penalized for failure.

But I pushed through and was rewarded for it, because the sprawling and diverse world of Dark Souls II proves to be ripe for non-linear exploration. One of my favorite elements here is that you always have at least a handful of different routes through the world at your disposal. Stuck at haunted dock full of fire-wielding marauders? Well, you can work your way down a well and find a tomb full of talking rats. Can’t get past a particularly tricky boss? Maybe head down another path to the Shaded Woods instead, and come back once you've leveled up.

The world of Drangelic is massive and filled with a wide variety of different locales. You'll travel between crumbling seaside kingdoms to marshes layered with thick coats of poison to what feels like the bowels of hell itself. While the variety in places to fight and explore is great, the world of Dark Souls II lacks a certain cohesion that was present in the original. 2011's depiction of Lordran felt it made sense in a geographic sense -- no matter how fantastical the setting got, it all seemed to fit together naturally. With the variety here and the ability to fast travel on a whim, Dark Souls II feels more like a large collection of levels than one natural single world.

Despite this schism, it’s definitely a nice world to look at. Dark Souls II's updated engine emphasizes the role of lighting in exploration. The game looks gorgeous when you're roaming around outside in a naturally lit area, or carrying around a torch. At any bonfire, you can choose to remove your shield in favor of lighting a torch. Not only does having a flame in your hand illuminate dark corners, but some enemies will cower in fear before your light. A choice that makes such a visible impact is cool, but oddly enough, the torch creates a strange tradeoff. Do you want to play it safe and carry a shield, or risk death and create a more visually interesting experience?

But these lighting conundrums don’t take away from just how great it feels to play Dark Souls II. It builds upon the challenge, scope, and mystery of the original in so many different impressive ways.

One of the biggest changes to the way this world works is the expanded fast-travel system. While fast travel is available in original, you don't unlock it until well over halfway through. In Dark Souls II, fast travel between any bonfire you've kindled is unlocked right from the get-go. I can't emphasize how great it is to be able to hop around the map at my leisure. The one place it’s counterproductive is when you have to warp back to the hub area whenever you want to exchange souls for stat upgrades. That irritating and unnecessary step leads to a good chunk of wasted time. Some might like the fact that it feels like a throwback to the setup of the original Demon's Souls, but it definitely felt like one of those “two steps forward, one step back” moments.

Oh, and remember how awful the frame rate got back in the original when you entered Blighttown? Dark Souls II runs at a steady 30 frames per second throughout the entire campaign without a hiccup. Even in areas brimming with enemies and environmental interactions, the game never slows down, meaning that you’ll never have anyone to blame for a “You Died” screen other than yourself.

Linking up with other players online changes the dynamics of play in some really interesting and challenging new ways. Dark Souls II builds on the same excellent foundation of choosing whether you want to invade other players' games and troll them with nightmares, or take the saintly route and assist them in particularly tough battles.

The role of Covenants is also expanded and made good use of for multiplayer. For instance, joining the Rat Covenant gave me the run of an ancient tomb, including control of where to place poison pools, enemy rats, and other devious booby traps for the next non-Rat Covenant player that happens by to deal with. Think Tecmo’s Deception, and you’re pretty close to the new dynamics that From Software has created here. It’s an extremely satisfying way to express my inner evil genius.

Combat this time around is similar to the original – a strong emphasis is placed on patience, learning enemy tells, and being able to block or dodge at an instant’s notice. Minor tweaks are present – magic feels a bit underpowered this time around, and the timing necessary for parrying feels more strict – but fighting through the world is still an immensely satisfying experience. Every encounter is a miniature puzzle in of itself, and the enemies in Dark Souls II are some of the strongest stuff From Soft’s ever produced. Mummified knights who can actually guard and parry provide stiff early-game challenges. Massive armored turtles slowly stomp towards you with menace, forcing you to use your agility to combat their raw strength. And giant trolls with smaller creatures riding atop them necessitate keeping your distance and quick, calculated strikes. It’s chock full of challenge and variety.

Iconic bosses also provide a ton of memorable moments of pain and regret that eventually become triumph. They don’t have quite the same impact as those in the original Dark Souls, but to be fair, that’s probably because I was prepared for the kind of challenge they were going to throw at me. There are certainly standouts. The Mirror Knight, for example, is an amazingly tough battle set on a gorgeous tower, and features some super exciting uses of multiplayer and New Game Plus. They’re fantastic surprises I won’t spoil for you.

RESIDENT EVIL 6

Resident Evil 6, known as Biohazard 6 is an action-adventure third-person shooter video game and the ninth main installment in the Resident Evil series, developed and published by Capcom. Capcom defines the game's genre as "dramatic horror" however there is disagreement among reviewers whether this installment belongs in the survival horror genre. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 2, 2012 and for the Microsoft Windows on March 22, 2013.

The story is told from the perspectives of Chris Redfield, a former member and founder of the BSAA traumatized by a failed operation, Leon S. Kennedy, a Raccoon City survivor and agent for the U.S. government, Jake Muller, illegitimate son ofAlbert Wesker and associate of Sherry Birkin, and Ada Wong, a freelance agent framed for the bio-terrorist attacks by Neo-Umbrella. They must all confront the force behind a massive bio-terrorist attack with the newly developed C-virus in cities across the world.

Concept development began in 2009, with full development beginning the following year under Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who produced Resident Evil 4, and eventually grew to have the largest staff so far to work on a Resident Evil game. The game faced both negative reactions to the control problems with the demo and mixed reviews for the drastic shift in gameplay focus for the main game, being a point of both praise and criticism for different review outlets.

Resident Evil 6 allows players to select between four scenarios with connected storylines, each with their own intentionally different design. Each scenario follows one of four main protagonists - Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jake Muller and Ada Wong. The player characters from each scenario will have their own partners which are controlled by either the computer AI or another human player via local or online multiplayer. When playing in single player, the player can allow another player to join in online at any time and inventories are now kept separate from each other.^[5] The game also features the Mercenaries mode, where players fight hordes of enemies, and the Agent Hunt mode which allows players to take control of random enemies in other people's games.

Players can pick up items quickly and change weapons in real time. Players are also able to move while aiming their firearms. A new feature comes in the form of tablets, in which players can recover health at the push of a button. More tablets can be produced by locating herbs. By finding various herbs and saving them before converting, more tablets can be obtained from them. If one player runs out of health, that player will have a short time to try and defend him/herself while his partner attempts to revive them. If either player is killed, gameplay resumes at the last checkpoint. The game has several primary enemies, including zombies and the newly introduced J'avo. Unlike zombies, J'avo are able to interact with each other to plan an attack, use weapons, and heal themselves.^[6] Certain enemies drop skill points when killed, which can be picked up and spent on upgrades such as increased weapon effectiveness or specific ammunition drops. Players can equip three of these upgrades which apply to all the campaigns. There are set piece events that require different approaches, such as shooting at zombies, prying through a door, and attempting to locate keys in a vehicle.^[7]

On December 24, 2012, Jake Muller, a mercenary of the fictional South-Slavic Edonian Liberation Army and son of bio-terrorist Albert Wesker, flees from the authorities during a bio-terrorist attack. He partners up with Division of Security Operations (DSO) agent and Raccoon City survivor Sherry Birkin, who was sent to Edonia to ensure that Jake escapes safely from the country so his blood can be tested for anti-bodies for the newly developed C-Virus. At the same time, Bio-terrorism Security Assessment Alliance (BSAA) Captain Chris Redfield and his team, including sniper Piers Nivans and demolitions expert Finn Macauley fight against rebels infected with the C-Virus (referred to as "J'avo") and two large B.O.W.'s referred to as"Orgomans". However, they are attacked by a Neo-Umbrella agent that refers to herself as Ada Wong, who kills most of the BSAA members using a device that injects them with the C-virus turning them into monsters, except Chris and Piers. The aftermath causes Chris to go into self-imposed exile, being afflicted with post-traumatic amnesia. Meanwhile, Sherry and Jake's extraction from Edonia by the BSAA is sabotaged by a BOW codenamed 'Ustanak', forcing the pair to crash into the mountains, eventually leading to their capture by Ada.

On June 29, 2013, U.S. President Adam Benford has decided to officially reveal the truth behind the 1998 Raccoon City incident and the U.S. federal government's dealings with Umbrella, believing that it will curb the current resurgence in bio-terrorist activity. By the President’s side is his friend, DSO agent and Raccoon City survivorLeon S. Kennedy and United States Secret Service agent Helena Harper, but when the venue becomes host to another bio-terrorist attack, Leon is forced to face the infected and mutated President, and kill him. Helena leads Leon to the Tall Oaks Cathedral amidst the zombie outbreak to rescue her sister, Deborah. By the time the pair reaches Deborah, she had already been infected with the C-virus, and the pair are forced to kill her. Along the way, the two encounter Ada, and Helena then discloses to Leon that she was blackmailed by National Security Advisor Derek C. Simmons, into aiding the assassination of Benford. She also discloses Simmons's affiliation with Neo-Umbrella. Shortly after escaping the Cathedral, Tall Oaks is destroyed by an airstrike. Leon and Helena then decide to pursue Simmons into Lanshiang, China while faking their deaths with aid from Ingrid Hunnigan. Meanwhile, Jake and Sherry manage to escape captivity in Lanshiang after being held captive for 6 months.

At the same time, Chris returns to duty in the BSAA with Piers and a new team, arriving in Lanshiang under the threat of a bio-terrorist attack. Chris recovers from his amnesia and goes on a vendetta against Ada, resulting in mounting casualties for his squad. Chris and Piers corner Ada, until Leon intervenes. After being updated by Leon, Chris and Piers pursue Ada to an aircraft carrier, destroying cruise missiles laden with the C-virus, while an assassin apparently kills Ada. Leon, Helena, Sherry, and Jake confront Simmons over his involvement with the outbreaks, where Sherry covertly hands Jake's medical data to Leon in case of their captivity. Leon and Helena corner Simmons, who has been infected by a J'avo, atop a train, where he confesses to having killed the President to keep him from disclosing the truth behind Raccoon City, which would have led to the U.S. losing its authority. The two temporarily defeat a mutated Simmons while Sherry and Jake are captured once again. While attempting to leave the city, Leon and Helena are warned by Chris that a missile has been launched, but they are too late to stop it. Leon discloses Jake's real identity to Chris and has him rescue Jake and Sherry in a remote oil platform. With the assistance of Ada, Leon and Helena finally kill Simmons before escaping with evidence proving Simmons's crimes provided by Ada, exonerating Helena.

In the oil platform, Chris and Piers head underground, managing to free Jake and Sherry from captivity before preventing a large-scale BOW attack from the location. When they meet up briefly, Chris reveals to Jake that he was the one who killed his father, but Jake resists the urge to kill him, saying that there are more important things than his want for revenge. Jake and Sherry manage to finally kill 'Ustanak' once and for all during their escape, securing a steady supply of the C-virus vaccine while Chris and Piers fight the host BOW, Haos. Heavily wounded, and in a desperate attempt to save Chris, Piers injects himself with a sample of the C-virus to help turn the tide of the battle, temporarily defeating Haos before evacuating. Aware that the mutation would worsen, Piers sacrifices himself by pushing Chris to an escape pod and ensuring the destruction of the Neo-Umbrella base.

In Ada's story, it is revealed that the Ada Wong that interacted with Chris and Piers was actually a doppelgänger created by Simmons, a scientist named Carla Radames, and that the real Ada Wong was aiding Leon and Sherry while destroying the Neo-Umbrella lab in Langshiang. Although presumed dead after being shot by one of Simmons' soldiers, Carla tries one last attack against the real Ada, after having injected herself with a powerful dose of the C-virus, but is killed. After aiding Leon and Helena in their battle with Simmons, Ada reaches the lab where her clone was developed and destroys everything. She then receives a call from someone, accepting a new assignment. Meanwhile, Leon and Helena are cleared for duty; Chris remains with the BSAA in command of a new squad, overcoming his guilt; and Sherry continues her duty as a DSO agent, while Jake starts a new life fighting BOWs in an underdeveloped country with his real identity covered up by the BSAA.

Concept development of the game began soon after the release of Resident Evil 5, and began full development in 2010. Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi said that he considered a "completely new system" for Resident Evil 6, but later ruled out his involvement with the game. In March 2009, co-producer Masachika Kawata stated that the new installment was not decided upon, but that it could take Capcom four to eight years to develop. Sources familiar with the project indicated that the series would return to its roots and be "brutally scary." 

The development of the game was led by Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who is stated by Capcom to be aiming to "deliver the most impressive Resident Evil title ever both in terms of scope and production values." Capcom also noted that the game is meant to be "a giant stride forward in the evolution of the series." The staff wanted to give the game a new setting with director Eiichiro Sasaki wishing to place it in China. While the country of Edonia was not modelled on any country from Europe, it was given an Eastern European air. The character of Jake was also made to attract new fans. The game has a development staff of more than 600, making it Capcom's biggest production to date. In May 2012, Capcom announced they expect the game to sell 7 million copies by the end of this fiscal year. However they have recently lowered their expectations to 6 million due to the games reception.

An official trailer was released on January 19, 2012. On April 10, 2012, a second trailer was released which detailed the game's plot further, also revealed that the release date has been moved from November 20, 2012 to October 2, 2012. AtMicrosoft's press briefing at E3 2012, the first gameplay demonstration was shown, depicting Leon and Helena fighting zombie hordes in China. A playable demo ofResident Evil 6 was scheduled on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on September 5, 2012. Capcom later announced that the demo would become available for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners on September 18, 2012. Early access to the demo was included with Dragon's Dogma. As a result of criticism of the first demo, Capcom brought a different version of the demo to the San Diego Comic-Con2012, modifying various parts of its gameplay. A new playable demo was released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on September 18, 2012.

METAL GEAR RISING : REVENGEANCE ( by IGN)

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance tries not to waste a moment of your time. In the 4-6 hours required to complete its campaign, you’ll cross the globe, have sword-fights with skyscraper-sized mechs, team up with an A.I. dog, explore a science facility with a remote-controlled robot, leap over missiles to chop up helicopters, and fight a metaphor for American evil. Rising is as silly as it sounds, and it knows it.

Developer Platinum Games accomplishes a lot in a short period of time, and while it sometimes gets in its own way,Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a tight action game whose campaign moves as quickly as its excellent combat. It’s all killer, no filler, with more than enough incentive for repeat play-throughs.

The most consistent issue in Rising is its cutscenes. To its credit, you’re rarely made to watch what you’d rather play, but the story bits, interesting though they are for fans, ultimately intrude on the fast-paced flow of combat. The convoluted plot starts as lucidly as the series has ever been, but spirals out of control almost immediately: the assassination of a recovering country’s leader sends Raiden, a cyborg ninja, after a terrorist cell that’s kidnapping kids and infiltrating America’s political infrastructure.

The events of Raiden’s retaliation range from goofy and fun, stylish and cool, to overwrought metaphor. The geo-political lecturing seem engineered specifically for fans of Metal Gear Solid 4’s melodrama,

Developed through a partnership with Platinum Games and Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance aims to deliver pure, exhilarating action in the Metal Gear universe.

but it doesn’t connect well with the action. Ultimately, the conversations and character cameos are pure fan-service that everyone else can skip without missing a beat. The relentless act of actually fighting terrorists is what matters here, and there’s little need for motivation when the action is this fun.

Rising propels players toward a boss battle every 45 minutes, introduces new enemy types regularly, and unleashes waves of cyborg soldiers to slice with a sword. This is a tight action experience without an ounce of fat, and Rising’s pace is just as quick as its technical melee combat. The Metal Gear series traditionally relies on stealth and silenced weapons, but the moment-to-moment action of Rising is an aggressive and elegant alternative.

The light and heavy attacks have a natural chemistry that makes every sword slash feel empowering, so combat never feels like you’re budgeting quick but weak strikes vs. slow and strong ones. Each combo flows into the next with grace: lifts, knock-downs, stuns, spin-kicks, aerial juggles, and other specialized attacks feel as fantastic as they look. Raiden’s exaggerated acrobatics lend a hypnotic sense of style to each attack, especially as you unlock additional moves with earned currency. By the end of the campaign, and as I began my second run through it, Raiden felt like a balletic badass, using his heels as often as his hands to wield his weapon. Seeing that style is as much a reward as the satisfaction of brutalizing an enemy with a flurry of katana hack-and-slash, sliding underneath someone, redirecting attacks, canceling combos, or letting loose in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance’s hook: Blade Mode.

Rising is gorgeous on PC, and runs smoother than it does on console.

Once Raiden slays enough cyborgs, he can briefly enter the time-slowing Blade Mode and slice his sword in any direction, instantly killing (or severely wounding) nearly anyone with precision strikes. The results are often uncomfortable and/or hilarious. You can chop off legs (or one, if you’d rather), decapitate someone at the eyes, and turn weakened enemies into various, disgusting pieces with a swivel of the mouse or a flick of the right stick.

And on PC, you're going to want a controller. The mouse and keyboard controls, while serviceable, don't enable the melee combat's precision and finesse offered by a controller.

Blade Mode is a fun, sadistic parlor trick, but it’s more than a cheap and easy way to win. Slowing time plays a strategic role in combat. Bisecting cyborgs reveals their fuel-filled spines, which Raiden can rip out to replenish his health. Blade Mode also plays a defensive role, which turns a silly finishing move tool into something more skill-based. Cutting protects Raiden from incoming objects (choppers, missiles, other ridiculous things), and wrecking an enemy’s weapon prevents them from using it. Slicing certain special enemies’ appendages also plays into the upgrade economy, giving you bonus currency to unlock more health, weapon power, and more complex combo arrangements, all of which carry over into a new game plus that holds even more blade types, costumes, and other secrets to discover. Everything feeds into making you feel like a talented combatant who’s truly earned satisfying improvements.

The only thing that really holds back Rising’s combat is the secondary weapons. Killing bosses allows you to acquire their staffs, sais, and swords, but switching to a secondary tools come with a catch. Alternate weapons replace one of your two normal attack buttons, which neuters katana combos. On top of that, alternating between two weapons doesn’t flow together as well as the evolving sword strikes. Switching from one to the next in the middle of a combo has a disjointed feel, a bit like interrupting yourself, as though your new blade wasn’t built to work in tandem with the sword. Despite the cumbersome transitions, these extra weapons strengthen Rising’s variety. The sai, for example, doesn’t deal much damage, but it disrupts cyborg A.I. functions, giving Raiden the opportunity to obliterate a stunned opponent.

The erratic camera poses additional issues as well. Rising is such a fast-paced game, with wild combat that encourages unpredictable attack patterns, that it can’t always keep track of Raiden in the thick of battle, especially when large-scale bosses eat up most of the on-screen real estate. Unless you’re acutely aware of your next move, Raiden can get lost in his own chaos from time to time. Having to come to a complete stop before changing from grenades to a rocket launcher, or a heavy blade to a faster crowd-control weapon is another inconvenience that’s antithetical to Rising’s go-go-go mentality. The improved performance on PC, though, goes a long way. With sharper graphics it's visually superior on PC, while a stronger frame rate makes combat more responsive and run smoother. Additionally, the PC version includes all of the DLC costumes and story expansions in a great game that's a steal at $30.

source :  http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/10/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-pc-review

BLACKLIGHT : RETRIBUTION (Review)

It’s an obviously great-looking multiplayer shooter that is, admittedly, something of a rarity - a free-to-play shooter that aims to stay accessible to players of all skill levels.
On paper, it’s a simple shooter akin to Call of Duty, Battlefield, or just about any other "modern" warfare contender out there, with sprinkles of genius like mechs and Batman: Arkham Asylum-tinged modes that allow players to see through solid objects.
Scratch the surface and you'll discover that just beneath its deceptively shiny surface is a bullet hole-ridden experience that lacks polish where it counts, instead brimming with frustratingly slow level progression and an overabundance of pay requirements that you probably won’t want to delve into.

Chances are you've already played what this game has to offer elsewhere, and probably - despite its F2P status - for less money.
Still, for fragging your friends in style, you’d be hard-pressed to find a good starting point for your budding PS4 library.
A hearty number of game-types ensure that no matter the intent of the player, their specific play style has a place to flourish.
Still, even if you feel at home in a typical deathmatch or modes akin to Sabotage or Domination, it's prudent to purchase upgrades and grind out experience, which in turn means better munitions and armor.
And you'll need both if you expect to live for very long because you'll be dying. Fast.


Even if you don’t load up and roll out, you’ll still die often. Test plays found lag to be a significant factor in many painful deaths, even though peppering other players with ludicrous amounts of bullets was the strategy of the day.
The hyper reality visor, or HRV, which gives players the ability to see through walls and act essentially as a one-man UAV, tracking the electronics on others, is cumbersome - annoying, even, when others can locate you so easily.
However, grenades that serve as barriers to said visor offer an interesting twist. Get the other player before they get you.

There’s something very palatable about this mindset, and it’s easy to like Blacklight: Retribution for it. Don’t think, shoot - unless that doesn’t work, and then outsmart your opponents.
The meat of the game lies within its item shop, where you’ll be poked and prodded to spend real-world cash to customise your loadouts to an acceptable level that won’t leave you reeling after each match, moping about the fact that your opponents simply have the better gear.
That’s where the glossy mask slips, and you realize that real-world cash may not be viable for an experience that’s built around how much money you can drop on each purchase at a time.
You need a nearly exorbitant amount of XP to progress, and while there are short rental periods to try before you buy, there’s too much of a risk involved with how much money you need to spend potentially before deciding you’re satisfied with the gear you’ve chosen.
Blacklight: Retribution isn’t a shooter that’s difficult to recommend if you've already collected any number of first-person shooters, as it fits comfortably within the genre.
It isn't so much a bad game as a generic one that asks players to shell out more cash than they’re comfortable with, though it's hard to fault developer Zombie Studios ambitions for creating a F2P shooter that falls to the same pitfalls as its mobile brethren: they need to make a return on this game, after all.

GRAN TURISMO 6 Review....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gran Turismo 6 is the product of a singular vision, and that vision is Kazonori Yamauchi’s. It was Yamauchi who saw the potential of a more serious console driving game, and it is Yamauchi who has overseen the series as it’s developed from PS1 through to PS2 and PS3.

An infamous perfectionist, he’s always pushed for a game that replicates every detail of the driving experience, tweaking the tracks, the visuals and the handling until he gets the look and feel he’s looking for. When you play Gran Turismo, you always get the sense that he’s striving for the ideal Gran Turismo; not the one that’s running on your console, but the one that’s running in his head.


It’s an approach that has made Gran Turismo what it is today, but also leaves the sixth iteration in an odd situation. Gran Turismo 6 is simultaneously the best game in the series and slightly disappointing. While it’s getting ever closer to Yamauchi’s ideal, it’s also struggling to keep pace with its rivals in ways that affect your experience of the game.

It’s not that Gran Turismo hasn’t moved on. GT5 is better looking than GT6, has even more convincing handling and packs in more cars and tracks. It also has a new interface and structure which cuts down the stuff that used to get between you and the track.


A new UI doesn’t seem all that exciting, but it makes a world of difference. With all the different modes and features now arranged in neat vertical columns, you can flick differently from your career mode to the dealership to buy a new car, then to the workshop to add new parts and tune it up, then back to career mode to start a new event.

You can dabble in the arcade mode, or try special events at Goodwood Festival of Speed or on the moon, then save the game or change your options with a tap of the Start button. And where the interface of GT5 and GT4 was often confusing, this one is a model of clarity. All the content is there for you to see.

As to the career structure, well it’s still classic Gran Turismo. You’ll still be working your way through the different race classes, tackling championships and events in different cars. You’ll still be upgrading your motors when they prove insufficient for the job in hand, or buying new ones when you need something to tackle a particular event.

However, GT6 is more flexible than previous versions in what events you have to take and in what order. Now, podium positions earn you not just credits but stars, and these stars are needed to unlock further events in that specific racing class. Most importantly, you need a whole bunch of them to unlock the different license tests, which are needed to progress up to the next class.


The thing is, how you get those stars is up to you. You can focus on a few championships in that class and keep pushing for first place, or spread yourself around and just accept the positions as they come. You can focus on the cars you want to drive, and ignore the classes that don’t interest you at all. If you don’t like muscle cars, or can’t be bothered with electric compacts, nobody is forcing you to drive them.

Meanwhile, other new additions break up the grind of racing, with ‘coffee break’ events that see you knocking down cones against a time limit, or seeing how far you can make it around the Nurburgring on limited fuel.

Outside the career modes you’ll find new special events, which allow you to take part at Goodwood or retrace Buzz Aldrin’s drive across the surface of the moon. To see GT’s physics model applied to lunar driving is one of the great surprise pleasures of the game, even if the authentic lunar scenery isn’t much to write home about.


Like cars? GT6 has got them. In fact, with around 1200 of them it’s got more than any racer ever. As always, these span the range from old classics through family cars you might actually drive through to hot hatches, sports models and executive drives. It has 4x4s and SUVs, supercars, open-wheel racers and the new breed of hypercars covered.

Bar Porsche it’s hard to think of a major manufacturer that isn’t featured, and with golden oldies as well as recent models you’re spoilt for choice. Before long, you might have anything from a 2008 Fiat 500 to a Range Rover Evoque and a 2013 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in your garage, though if you want the Lamborghinis, the McLarens and the Ferraris, then you’re really going to have to put the hours in.

Of course, there is another way. As you might know GT6 is the first GT to have micro transactions, allowing you to buy in-game credits with real-world cash. The good news is that Sony has done this the right way, flogging packs of credits at mildly outrageous rates, but not making the rest of the game such a grind that you’re forced to get your wallet out.

Sure, GT6 can see you grinding for cash as you move up through the classes, but it’s no worse in this respect than GT5 or GT4. If you want to earn your credits the old-fashioned way, you can. If you’re willing to splash out on a shortcut, the choice is yours.


Almost predictably, those cars are great to drive. GT5 was already the benchmark for handling, but GT6 goes for a whole new system, using data from tyre manufacturers Yokohama and suspension specialists KW to transform how the cars move and shift weight on the track. At first, it seems like there’s a little less roll on the cars than in GT5, but watch the replays and it’s easy to see the bodywork shifting on the chassis as you accelerate, brake and corner. You can feel when the tail is about to slide out or the tyres are losing grip, and once you move up to the faster vehicles, each lap is both a challenge and a pleasure to drive.

Frankly, we have no idea how a 2011 Lotus Elise or 2009 Corvette ZR-1 feel on the track – and barring a lottery win that’s unlikely to change. What we can tell you is that they handle here like you imagine that they would. It’s utterly believable.


Graphically, GT6 is to the PS3 what God of War 2 was to the PS2: a late technical triumph that compares to what we’re seeing on Xbox One and PS4. It’s up against tough competition in the shape of Forza 5, itself a staggering bit of work, but while Forza 5 has the edge on the scenic detail and some aspects of the lighting, you can’t ignore the fact that GT6 is running at a mostly solid 60fps at a 1080p resolution, and looking pretty damn good while it’s doing it.

New tessellation techniques, new textures and a new lighting model breathe new life into much-loved tracks like Autumn Ring and Deep Forest, while the city tracks in Madrid, Rome and London look absolutely stunning. The cars, meanwhile, are spectacularly detailed. We don’t know whether they have as many polygons as the ones in Forza 5, but it’s still getting difficult to tell them apart from advertising renders – particularly in the replays. It turns out that you don’t need a next-gen console to play a next-gen racer.


So, GT6 has great graphics, great handling, a huge list of brilliant cars and stellar handling. It has a better structure, and it even comes packed with courses, with Silverstone, the Willow Springs desert raceway and the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst joining the list (and the last feeling just as crazy as it does in Forza 5). Why, then, are we not proclaiming from the rooftops that this is the single best realistic racer of all time?

Basically, GT6 isn’t consistently exciting. Partly it’s an old problem with the structure. While the early stages and the license tests are great for bringing new players in and building their skills, they don’t exactly make for a thrilling ride. Where Forza has you racing around in sports cars and supercars from the off, GT6 sends you to the track in a supercharged Honda Fit. Live the dream.


It’s also a question of intention. Over the last decade, Gran Turismo has become more of a driving game than an actual racer. The AI might have improved slightly since GT5, and there are more cars on the track, yet it all seems so polite, as if your rivals are intent on forming an orderly queue, prioritised in speed order, before they cross the finish line.

There’s little jostling for position, and few signs of anyone taking risks or skidding off the track. In our experience, you don’t even see much overtaking. Throw in the lack of any serious damage modelling - the old bumper cars cornering technique still works like a charm - and you end up with a lack of seat of the pants thrills.

GT6 is sublime to drive, but it just isn’t as gripping as Forza 4 or Forza 5, and we’re still not sure that we wouldn’t slope back to Microsoft’s rival given half a chance. Sure, once you’re messing around with the A and International class races the excitement picks up, just because there’s enough fun in driving such authentically modelled cars around the tracks, but the AI is still a let-down.

We want real thrills, real competition, real skin of the teeth wins. In GT6, it’s all a bit predictable. You don’t win, then you upgrade, then you win. All you need to do is brake later, accelerate sooner, have a faster car and keep it on the track. In fact, you can often fudge the last bit.

Some of this will be fixed by the multiplayer, but until the game launches we’re in no position to judge. Expect updates and amendments to this review once we've had the time to put in some hours.

FIFA 14 ....(Review)

FIFA 14 is a sports football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronics Arts. It was released in late September 2013 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS video game consoles and Microsoft Windows. It was also released as freeware for iOS and Android on 23 September 2013.The game is set for release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 201A new engine called the Ignite Engine will be used in FIFA 14 on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions only. This features both graphical and game-play changes such as human intelligence to make players react more like the real thing, True Player Motion to create more realistic movement from the players and more realism to the way environmental features like weather and stadium crowd dynamics develop during play.

A PC port of the version with Ignite Engine was in the works, but eventually it was cancelled.21 Brazilian clubs are licensed: all 20 from the 2013 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season as well as Palmeiras. FIFA 14 also includes Chile's Campeonato Nacional Petrobras,Colombia's Liga Postobónand the Argentine Primera División. The Brazil national football team has also been licensed after not being licensed since FIFA 10. Upon announcement that Robert Lewandowski was to appear on the Polish cover of FIFA 14, it was also announced that the Poland national football team was to be fully licensed, alongside the Ekstraklasa in FIFA 14, as they had not been in previous games of the FIFA series. The Wales national football team returns in FIFA 14 according to Football Association of Wales commercial director, Ian Davis, who confirmed that they’ve reached an agreement with EA that will see Wales represented in future versions of the gameThe FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) game mode will feature exclusive content on the Xbox One. On the Xbox One, there is a new feature for Ultimate team known as Legends, where players can acquire classic players from different eras of football such as Pelé and Dennis Bergkamp. EA has also announced that they will be reintroducing the "single online match", where players are allowed to play a single match that does not contribute to tournaments or seasons. You can now also search for players by name on the transfer market from the squad screen. Marcel Khun and Tyler Blair discuss the chemistry changes in the FUT 14 trailer along with many other changes, including being able to edit kit numbers and player role for free kicks or corners. FUT seasons have been extended from 5 divisions to 10. You will also be allowed to carry over coins and points from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, and from PS3 to PS4.In FIFA 14, experience the world of football with over 60 stadiums, including 32 real-world venues, with new additions including La Bombonera in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Goodison Park; England's first purpose-built football stadium and the Donbass Arena in the Ukraine, home of Shaktar Donetsk, in addition to the return of Barcelona's Camp Nou, which was removed from FIFA 13 due to licensing reasons.

A demo of the game was released worldwide on September 10, 2013, two weeks before the launch of the full game, on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. Teams included in the demo are PSG, FC Barcelona, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, New York Red Bulls and Boca Juniors.

The Wii, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita versions are branded as FIFA 14: Legacy Edition, and retain features and gameplay from previous respective releases in the FIFA series, only having their kits and team squads updated. The Wii, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable versions are only available in Europe and Latin America.

Lionel Messi returns as the main cover star for all regions on the global cover, having been on the cover for FIFA 13 and FIFA Street. It is the first time that the FIFA Soccer name is not used in North America. The United States has both the global cover, as well as the cover with Javier Hernández.

Gareth Bale originally featured in the UK and Irish cover in the colours of his former club Tottenham Hotspur, but EA Sports later updated the cover, this time featuring Bale in a Real Madrid kit due to his transfer to the Spanish club

CALL OF DUTY : GHOSTS (Review)

Call of Duty: Ghosts is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward, with assistance from Raven Software and Neversoft, and published by Activision. It is the tenth, primary installment in the Call of Duty series, and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. The video game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U on November 5, 2013, with Treyarch handling the port for the Wii U. The game's release date on next-generation consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is officially November 15, 2013, and November 22, 2013, respectively, to coincide with the console release dates. However, the game was released earlier for the PlayStation 4 from some retailers.

In Call of Duty: Ghosts, the story is mostly told through the eyes of one single character, Logan Walker. Players assume the role of Logan for most of the game, with several other playable characters, including an astronaut specialist named Baker, and Logan's father, Elias Walker.

The multiplayer in Call of Duty: Ghosts is not like the previous Call of Duty games as some new mechanics have been added to it. Maps now have areas that can be altered or destroyed. On certain maps there is a nuke-like kill streak reward, the ODIN Strike, that can be gained by killing the top player on the other team and then completing various challenges after picking up a briefcase that is dropped. The sniper rifle scopes also have new "dual render technology" allowing the player to see around the outside of the scope (although blurred) when zoomed in. On October 3, a new multiplayer type was revealed, called Squads. This features a squad that you build and you can face other squads around the world. Your squad can be leveled up and will act like a true individual. "Strikezone", "Octane", "Prison Break", "Tremor", "Freight", "Stormfront", "Siege", "Warhawk", "Sovereign", "Overlord", "Flooded", "Strikezone", "Whiteout", "Stonehaven" and "Chasm" are the maps that are in Call of Duty: Ghosts so far. The dynamic map, "Free Fall", was a pre-order bonus. The game now features playable female soldiers.

Call of Duty: Ghosts features several staple multiplayer game modes, while introducing seven new game types, including:

• Search and Rescue: A take on Search & Destroy, but rather than having a single life per round, in Search & Rescue a player's team can revive them. It combines that teamwork and communication from Kill Confirmed with the objective-based cooperation of Search & Destroy.
• Cranked: In this team-based game mode, the first team to earn 100 kills wins. Once a player kills an enemy, becoming "Cranked," the player who earned the kill has 30 seconds to earn a subsequent kill. If they do not earn a subsequent kill within 30 seconds they blow up. It does not appear that the detonation harms nearby teammates or enemies. If a player earns a subsequent kill within 30 seconds the timer resets to 30 seconds. Once a player is "Cranked" their movement speed is increased, they throw grenades more rapidly, and they aim down sight more quickly, among other effects.
• Free For All: The classic gamemode from previous installments in the franchise returns inCall of Duty: Ghosts, in which players must rack up a total of 30 kills to win the game against seven other opponents or rack up to most kills in a 10 minute time limit.
• Team Deathmatch: Team Deathmatch returns in Call of Duty: Ghosts: two teams, 10 minutes, 75 kill limit.
• Search and Destroy: A gamemode in which one side has five minutes to plant a bomb at a choice of two sites and the other team is tasked with defending the sites, the catch of this mode is there are no respawns and the game ends once one team wins four rounds.
• Domination: A gamemode where three flags are scattered throughout the map for players to take and control. Every two seconds a flag in controlled will gain a player's team a point, if a player's team controls two or three flags they gain two or three points. The first team to 200 points or the team with the highest amount of points after 10 minutes wins.
• Kill Confirmed: A gamemode in which two teams battle, similar to TDM, with the catch being that when a player kills an enemy they drop a dog tag, which is worth points when collected. If a player collects a fallen teammate's dog tag, no points are award to the enemy team; first team to 100 points wins the game.
• Infected: Same as Modern Warfare 3 infected.
• Blitz: This team-based game mode is similar to Capture the Flag in that the player needs to go to a portal located at the enemy's spawn point while preventing players from the enemy team from reaching theirs. These portals are temporarily closed when they are captured to prevent players from rushing.

Extinction is a new 4-player co-op mode, which pits the player(s) against various types of aliens in a base-defending survival style map. Players choose from four different class types, with unique traits and customizable loadouts. The player(s) can level up their classes, unlocking more weapons and equipment for their loadouts. This mode is unlocked by finishing the Campaign.

The game's main protagonists are the Ghosts, a force of U.S. Special Operations personnel trained to conduct clandestine missions behind enemy lines. The unit is led by retired U.S. Army Captain Elias Walker (Stephen Lang). He is joined by his sons Logan and David "Hesh" Walker, along with Booth and Neptune, a trained German Shepherd named Riley, and Cdr. Thomas A. Merrick of the Navy SEALs.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is set in an alternate timeline that follows the nuclear destruction of the Middle East. The oil-producing nations of South America form the Federation in response to the ensuing global economic crisis and quickly grow into a global superpower, swiftly invading and conquering Central America and the Caribbean. The game's main antagonist is Gabriel Rorke, a former Ghost who turned traitor after being captured and brainwashed using torture and hallucinogens who now works for the Federation.

The game begins with Elias telling his sons about the legend of how the Ghosts first appeared. Meanwhile in space, the Federation hijack the controlling space station of the Orbital Defense Initiative (ODIN),an orbital superweapon that utilizes kinetic bombardment, and use it to destroy several cities in the southwestern United States. The surviving American astronauts sacrifice themselves to self-destruct the space station and prevent the other ODIN satellites from launching their payloads further inland. Elias and the young Logan and David narrowly escape the destruction of San Diego.

Ten years later, the United States has fought the Federation to a stalemate along a front that comprises the destroyed cities, also known as "No Man's Land". Logan and Hesh are part of a US unit commanded by Elias and during a patrol, they spot an American working with the Federation who is called "Rorke". Soon after, the brothers are ambushed and rescued by members of the Ghosts who are seeking their companion Ajax, who was captured by Rorke. Logan and Hesh join the mission to rescue Ajax but arrive too late to rescue him and after he is killed by Rorke, they reunite with their father who reveals himself as the leader of Ghosts. Believing his sons are ready to join his unit, Elias welcomes them into the Ghosts and they learn from him that Rorke once were their leader. However, during a successful mission to assassinate General Almagro, then president of the Federation in the capital Caracas, Elias is forced to abandon Rorke, who was presumed dead, but instead turned traitor and is now hunting down his former companions.

The Ghosts manage to locate and capture Rorke, but while flying back home, Rorke's men attack their plane and rescue him. The team then is forced to land deep into the Amazon Jungle where they witness a rocket being launched with an unknown purpose. Once reunited and rescued, the Ghosts storm a Federation laboratory in the Andes and obtain data regarding a classified operation in a factory at Rio De Janeiro. To secure a path to the factory, the Ghosts destroy the Federation's Atlas oil platform located in Antartica to lure the enemy fleet away from their objective and sink their remaining destroyer guarding the Brazilian coast. Once inside the factory, the team discovers that the Federation had reverse engineered the ODIN's technology and developed their own orbital bombardment system. After destroying the factory, Elias and his sons regroup in Las Vegas but are captured by Rorke who kills Elias in front of Hesh and Logan who later find an opportunity to escape.

Realizing that once the Federation's ODIN become operational they will be defeated for good, the United States pool all their remaining forces in a synchronized attack to take down an enemy space center in Chile while a small team of soldiers boards a shuttle to take over the Federation satellites in space. Once both objectives are completed, Hesh and Logan pursue Rorke to avenge their father and are seemingly successful, only to find out during the aftermath that Rorke survived their battle. Logan attempts to defend his wounded brother, but has his arm broken and is kidnapped by Rorke, with the former Ghost announcing his plans to brainwash Logan into killing the rest of the team.

WATCHDOGS (REVIEW)

Watch Dogs (stylized as WATCH_DOGS) is an upcoming action-adventure stealth video game set in anopen world environment. It will be developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft forMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Watch Dogs centers on the player's ability to hack into various electronic systems, either to obtain and control information or to destroy those devices completely at specific times. First unveiled during Ubisoft's press conference at E3 2012, the game was expected to be released on November 19, 2013, but was pushed back into the second quarter of 2014.

Watch Dogs is an open world action-adventure stealth video game in which players control an Irish vigilante named Aiden Pearce (voiced by Noam Jenkins), who can hack into various electronic devices tied to the city's central operating system (ctOS), allowing various methods for the player to solve numerous objectives. Examples include hacking into people's phones to retrieve bank data and steal funds, triggering malfunctions in equipment to distract other characters and hacking into traffic lights to cause collisions. Players can also receive information on civilians via augmented reality feeds, providing the player with information on demographics, health and potential behaviour. Objectives showcased in presentations include finding specific targets to kill, evading the police and following potential victims in order to stop their would-be killers. Combat utilizes a combination of stealth components and parkour, along with the mechanics of a cover-based third-person shooter.

The game features an elusive online multiplayer element. The "multiplayer" experience is a one-on-one interaction between two human characters in which one player seamlessly and secretly joins the single player experience of another player. The first player (which entered the other player's world) is tasked with finding the second player (which is initially unaware that another human is in their game session - no notification is given to the second player). Once the first player finds the second player the objective is updated. The first player's new objective involves installing a back door virus into the second player's smartphone, then hiding while that virus siphons off a portion of the data the second player has collected. This stolen information increases the first player's power once they return to their own single player session. The second player must stay within a certain radius of the first player for the download to progress. Once the download is initiated by the first player the second player is alerted that they have been hacked and that data is being stolen from their smartphone. Once the second player has been alerted of the intrusion their objective is to 1) locate the first player who is stealing their data, and 2) either kill the first player or cause the first player to flee to such a distance that the download is halted (a certain minimum distance must be maintained for the download to progress). It is unclear how long the first player must remain within range of the second player for the download to be successful. In all gameplay released by Ubisoft so far the hacks have been unsuccessful. In one gameplay video there are two hacking attempts. In the first attempt the first player successfully flees once they are identified by the second player (causing the download to fail). In the second attempt the first player is again identified by the second player, but the first player lures the second player into an alley where a gunfight ensues, ultimately resulting in the first player (the hacker) killing the second player (the hackee). A successful hack will give the hacker "a portion of information that you will gather through the game"; it is unclear exactly what is gained.

The storyline of Watch Dogs game is built around the concept of information warfare, data being interconnected, and the world's increasing use of technology—questioning who exactly runs the computers they depend on. The game is set in an alternate reality version of Chicago, Illinois, which is one of many cities to feature a supercomputer known as a "CtOS" (Central Operating System). The system controls almost every piece of technology in the city, and contains information on all of the city's residents and activities which can be used for various purposes. In the game's universe, the Northeast blackout of 2003 was found to be caused by a hacker, prompting the development of CtOS. The game will follow a man named Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled hacker described as a person who uses both "fists and wits." The gameplay demo shown at E3 2012 depicted Aiden's attempt to assassinate a media mogul named Joseph DeMarco, who had been wrongly acquitted on charges of murder. In a demonstration shown at E3 2013, Pearce helps a fellow hacker named T-Bone escape after he is discovered attempting to steal a motherboard.

Ubisoft Montreal began development work on Watch Dogs in 2009. Ubisoft Montreal's creative director Jonathan Morin noted that Watch Dogs is designed to "go beyond the limits of today's open world games", referencing both its use of information as a plot point, and allowing players to control the entire city through its hacking mechanics.

The game was officially unveiled during Ubisoft's press conference at E3 2012. Although a copy of the trailer was accidentally posted early by Ubisoft's YouTube channel, it was quickly removed shortly before its official debut. Ubisoft has since confirmed that the game will be released for Microsoft Windows and that PC is the lead platform for the game, Nvidia's TXAA will also be supported. On February 15, 2013, an upcoming promotional image of the game was sent to Kotaku by a GameStopemployee, along with more story details. Photos of the flyer suggested that Watch Dogs would arrive in Christmas 2013 for "all home consoles". The "all home consoles" quote and potential launch window, alongside the press quotes which call the game a "truly next-gen adventure", created debate whether it was a hint at a PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Wii U release. On February 19, retailers including Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy listed a Wii U version for pre-order. During the Sony press conference on February 20, 2013, Watch Dogs was confirmed to be released on the PlayStation 4. Another demo of the game was also shown at the press conference. Following the evening, the Wii U version was officially confirmed in a Ubisoft press release.

Watch Dogs uses a new engine called Disrupt, built at Ubisoft Montreal specifically for Watch Dogs. Ubisoft prioritized development of the PC and next-gen versions of Watch Dogs. Senior producer Dominic Guay stated that the Wii U's GamePad is considered a "natural" fit for Watch Dogs. Ubisoft's executive director for EMEA territories Alain Coore stated that Ubisoft wants Watch Dogs to compete with "open-style" games such as the Saints Row & Grand Theft Auto series. The game's creators worked with Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab to make hacking more realistic. Originally planned for release on November 19, 2013 and as a launch title for Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs was delayed along with The Crew until after Ubisoft's next fiscal year, which begins April 1, 2014, with the developers addressing the delay via UbiBlog.

ASSASSIN'S CREED : BLACK FLAG (REVIEW)

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an upcoming historical action-adventure open world video game being developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft.^[ It is the sixth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, a sequel to 2012's Assassin's Creed III modern story and a prequel to its historical storyline.

It is scheduled to be released on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, worldwide, on October 29, 2013. PlayStation 4 and Xbox Oneversions are also in development, and the game has been announced as a launch title for both consoles. The Wii U version of the game was delayed until November 22, 2013 in Europe. A Microsoft Windows version was announced for release on October 29, 2013, but has since been delayed "a few weeks",and will now release on November 19, 2013 in North America and November 22, 2013 in Europe.

The game will feature three main cities; Havana, Kingston, andNassau, Bahamas, which reside under Spanish, British and pirateinfluence, respectively. The game will also feature 50 other 'unique' locations to explore, with a 60/40 balance between land and naval exploration. Assassin's Creed IV will have a more open world feel, with missions similar to those found in Assassin's Creed, as well as fewer restrictions for the player. The world opens up sooner in the game, as opposed to Assassin's Creed III, which had very scripted missions and did not give players freedom to explore until the game was well into its first act. The player will encounter jungles, forts, ruins and small villages and the world is being built to allow players much more freedom, such as allowing players to engage, board, and capture passing ships and swimming to nearby beaches in a seamless fashion. In addition, the hunting system has been retained from Assassin's Creed III, allowing the player to hunt on land, andharpoon in the water.

A new aspect in the game is the ship the player will captain, Jackdaw. The Jackdaw will be upgradeable throughout the game, as well as having easy access to the ship when needed. In addition, a new underwater component is being added. The player will also have access to a spyglass, allowing the examination of distant ships, along with their cargo and strength. It can also help determine if an island still has animals to hunt, treasures to find or high points to reach for synchronization. An updated form of the recruit system introduced in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will also return, allowing Edward to recruit crew members. While Kenway's crew will remain loyal to him, and can be promoted to captain acquired ships, they cannot assist you in combat or perform long-range assassinations, as in previous games. Ubisoft removed this aspect of the brotherhood system, believing it allowed players to bypass tense and challenging scenarios too easily.

In the present day, at the Abstergo Entertainment — a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries — offices in Montreal, Quebec, players will engage in modern day pirating through the exploring of Abstergo's offices, eavesdropping and hacking, all without combat. As well, various "hacking" games, similar to previous cluster and glyph puzzles, will be present, that will uncover secrets about Abstergo.

Multiplayer has been confirmed to return, with new settings and game modes, though it will only be land-based.

On the October 8, 2013, Ubisoft announced that a Season Pass will be available for purchase at the launch of the game on PlayStation 4, Playstation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, and will include theFreedom Cry single player missions, Kraken Ship pack featuring elements to personalize the Jackdaw, as well as additional single player and multiplayer elements.

The Freedom Cry story mission will see the player take on the role of Adéwalé who, born a slave, became second-in-command onboard Captain Edward Keyway's ship, the Jackdaw, and joined him as a member of the Assassin Order. According to marketing emails, sent to U Play members on the 9th of October 2013, the story mode is expected to add more than 3 hours of gameplay. The campaign takes place fifteen years after the events of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag where Adewale "has become a trained assassin and finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue with no weapon or crew, starting a new adventure of his own" . The marketing email states players will be able to "acquire a ship and gather [their] own crew to free the slaves and avenge them".