For many, Green Day can be considered a gateway band that opened up ears to the world of punk rock. Older fans with sight the pop-punk bible ‘Dookie’ whilst younger gamers might point to the rally-call of American Idiot, two pinnacles of Green Day’s career which Green Day: Rock Band is keen to highlight by giving both full lengths treatment.

Dookie can be relived in a unidentifiable tight knit location akin to the sort of venues the band were accustomed to playing prior to their breakout release whereas American Idiot can be played under the infamous lights of the Milton Keynes stage featured in the bands 2005 DVD Bullet in a Bible.

Perhaps the most interesting and more unfamiliar setting is the Fox Theatre in Oakland, the debut of Green Day’s latest album ‘21^st Century Breakdown’ which Green Day: Rock Band provides the filler whilst most of the killer tracks can only be obtained through previously released DLC.

Should you choose to plummet straight into the career mode then you’ll enjoy efforts of Green Day’s history starting with Dookie straight of the bat and working your way through to 21^st Century Breakdown. Other albums have been nitpicked for their singles overlooking some of the gems that older fans will be disappointed to see left out in favour of showing off what newly acquired fans might consider to be classics.

This scale of Green Day’s history also shows a rather interesting trend – the music starts out tough and gets easier. Dookie’s punchier songs pulsate with chunky riffs, winding bass lines and ‘catch up if you can’ drum beats whereas their previous efforts are more eclectic and overall much simpler riffs and patterns to play on every front even when faced with nine minute epics such as Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming.

The prize for your devotion, knocking each song out of the park comes in the form of a drip-feed of photos and video celebrating the bands decade spanning career. You’ll also unlock challenges asking you to perform an entire album in one performance or attain so many stars over a number of songs but when you’re tasked with unlocking challenges that simply recycle set lists it starts to feel a little cheap.

Should you want to hop straight into your favourite hits then the entire song list of Green Day: Rock Band is available in quickplay mode and all the features such as online play, no fail modes and a drum trainer expanded to feature some of Green Day drummer Tre Cool’s personalised fills and drum patterns is a nice touch.

However for all of these ‘nice touches’ there’s a strong absence of enthusiasm, the same enthusiasm that fuelled The Beatles: Rock Band before it. Aside from the 10 year gap between Dookie and American Idiot that has been skimmed over, the fact that only three venues made the final game which is a full priced release will have you feeling a little short changed.

Arguably considering the lack of content outside the set list, including a rather measly three venues, that price tag is hard to justify questioning why this couldn’t have been a DLC package with extra bells and whistles instead of an extra disc I have to fork out money to export into my existing Rock Band library.

Perhaps I’m just a Green Day veteran feeling a little jaded but Green Day: Rock Band is a game aimed at keeping those who came aboard during the American Idiot days happy. After all those who loved that album will no doubt be as enticed by the aspect of playing their latest album in its entirety as they are to play though Green Day’s rock opera. Meanwhile the rest of us are left a little in the dark. I’ll admit I enjoyed coursing through American Idiot and the chunk of 21^st Century Breakdown was certainly entertaining but I’d trade a number of their songs in favour of some variety in the form of Nimrod, Insomniac and Warning.

Green Day: Rock Band certainly packs a softer punch when compared to the red carpet treatment that The Beatles: Rock Band. When fans are so divided on the bands more recently choice in style, it’s clear that if you couldn’t stand the political angst of American Idiot, then this might be a tough sell. It’s an admirable attempt but gamers and Green Day fans could ask for a lot more.

Score :: 6.0/10

Don’t let that discourage you, Skate 3 definitely has some great, new additions for fans of franchise. However, with just 18 months between releases, I can’t say that it’s worthy of a full retail release. The first thing you’ll notice is that this looks a whole lot like Skate 2. There’s very little to differentiate the two, graphically. This isn’t a problem, Skate 2 still looks really good. If you’re expecting something mind-blowingly different, you’re going to be disappointed. The environment is completely different. San Vanelona is gone, replaced by Port Carverton. Whilst the two are reminiscent of one another, Port Carverton is definitely a lot less realistic. Rather than having a big city environment, with cool places to skate, Black Box have crafted a bunch of cool environments, that aren’t as true-to-life as I’d like. In fact, I found the differing environments a little mismatched and often wished I was back in San Vanelona. That’s not to say Black Box didn’t achieve their goal, Port Carverton’s environments are definitely fun, but the original sense of realism has gotten a little lost in the changeover.

If you’ve played a Skate game before, you’ll be immediately familiar with the controls. The ‘Flick It’ system is back and a little more nuanced than in previous games. I definitely felt like I had more control over my character and the tricks I wanted to pull off. It still has the little niggles that have plagued the two previous games. In short, if you didn’t like it before, you won’t like it now. It’s not all right stick flicking though, like last year there’s been some more button-based control added into the mix. Players now have the ability to ‘Darkslide’ when grinding by tapping R1. Nothing huge, but another little move skaters will enjoy having at their disposal.

Another thing fans will be familiar with is the campaign mode. The usual cast of characters are back alongside a few new ones. Those who were sick of Reda talking every five minutes in Skate 2 will be happy to know he’s been replaced with, the pretty silent, Shingo (yes, the very same). Reda still crops up every once in a while, but he’s a back office guy now. He’s the brains and the money behind your new company. That’s the premise for this year’s game. You are pretty damn successful now and have gone into business with Reda, creating a skateboarding label and putting together a crew.

You progress through the story and get people to join your new team by selling boards. The more you sell the more promotion you get and the more people you can add to the team. You sell boards by completing various challenges. The harder the challenge, the more boards you sell. Sounds easy, right? Well, actually, it is. You can reach the 1million board goal pretty quickly if you’re good and that isn’t helped by the fast travel system.

I know open world games need some kind of fast travel system, but when you’ve got the whole city of Port Carverton to skate in and the option to fast travel to your next challenge through the menus laziness will get the better of you. Well, it did me anyway. This meant burning through challenges was a doddle and I felt it took away from the experience. A fast travel system is necessary but, in order to not hinder the experience, it should’ve been a little more subtle.

With multiplayer being the big focus this time around, the online suite of Skate 3 has been much improved. Now players have the option to create a skate team with their online friends, compete in different events and, most importantly, complete any challenge in the main campaign cooperatively. This does work really well. Those that played last years game will notice a few differences, but on the whole it’s the same. Another big feature is the games other online implemented features. Whilst skating the streets of Port Carverton, you’ll recognise some familiar faces. Your Skate 3-playing friends’ characters will join you as AI characters in the game. Also, their specific team billboards, stickers and posters will be dotted around too. These don’t affect gameplay for the most part, but are definitely cool additions that make you feel like you’re skating in a populated city. However, with all of this integration, one can only think back to Criterion’s community features on Burnout: Paradise and how well a system like that would be.

This is especially telling when it comes to the park creator and Skate.Reel features. Like Burnout, upon entering the game players are greeted with a host of new content (stuff like photos, videos and skate parks) uploaded by their friends that you can rate and download. However, these features didn’t really feel that fleshed out. It’s been updated since last year, but not to the extent many fans will have wanted. As for the park creator, you can create some pretty complex stuff. However, there’s a bit of a learning curve to this and, like with any creation system, a lot of time and effort has to be put in to get something worth using. Simplicity is key with things like this. Simplicity is the one feature this appears to be missing.

Overall, Skate 3 is a game that will appease the audience that loved the previous two games. If you played Skate 2, don’t be expecting a massive change. However, it’s big enough to warrant a full price game. Those who haven’t played a Skate game before need not worry. The learning curve isn’t huge and this is definitely the best of the three. Even with all the added features, it shouldn’t be too hard to grasp.

8.3/10

I’ve been looking for a great western game for too long now. I was one of the few who really enjoyed Red Dead Revolver, and was absolutely drooling the first time I read about Neversoft’s Gun. (In case you weren’t aware, Red Dead Revolver was not Rockstar Games’ project. It was originally Capcom’s doing, so this is Rockstar’s first true attempt). As soon as Red Dead Redemption was announced, I knew something fantastic was in the making. If it were anywhere close in terms of quality to Rockstar North’s critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto IV, I would’ve been more than satisfied. Also, this is not a true sequel. What’s here is more a spiritual successor, so don’t expect much to be translated over from the “original”.

Red Dead Redemption is the tale of one John Marston, a former outlaw who was abandoned by his posse and left for dead. A life he tried to leave behind him, Marston is now in pursuit of revenge and redemption (see what they did there?). It’s a bit cliche as a whole, but so well executed that even the sometimes semi-obvious plot points comes as a shock. This is one of the most well developed stories in a video game that I’ve played in years. Rockstar Games creates an unbelievably engrossing and organic world with Red Dead Redemption, but this is what we’ve come to expect. It’s the western we’ve been anticipating and hoping for, and it’s damn near impossible to put down.

In standard Rockstar fare, the presentation is absolutely staggering in every respect. Never before has there been such a fully realized, well crafted depiction of the west. Red Dead Redemption is set at the turn of the century near the border of Texas and Mexico. You’ll see examples of technology that were developing and brand new at the time, like the railroad system and automobile. The story and how it develops is only slightly based around some of these at-the-time technological wonders, but it provides for the perfect introduction to these new contraptions without them seeming out of place.

Other than that, this is what you would expect out of a western. It’s a wonderful story, with plenty of moments that will leave you floored. The characters in Red Dead Redemption are some of the best in recent memory. John Marston himself has quickly become one of my favorite video game characters of all time. Yes, he’s that good. The rest of the gang is equally as interesting, all thanks to some of the best voice acting in video games. The cut scenes are directed superbly, and help keep the plot more than interesting.

From a technical standpoint, Red Dead Redemption is astonishing. The game looks incredible, and runs quite well for such an expansive world. The various environments ranging from snowy mountains and heavily wooded forests to the vacant desert and towns all look great. Some of the weather effects like thunder and lightning are jaw-dropping. There’s minimal pop-in and aliasing, and the frame rate hardly ever dropped. It’s a bit of a shame that the ball was dropped in terms of resolution when compared to it’s Xbox 360 counterpart, but it can be easily overlooked.

Sound design is also spot-on. It’s obvious that serious attention to detail was given whilst creating some of the games many sounds. The voice acting is just about as perfect as it gets in video games, and the aural feast of gun shots ringing out while horses gallop thunderously adjacent a train barreling along is something worth experiencing undoubtedly. The soundtrack was expertly put together, and the few audio cues in some of the major parts of the game will give you goosebumps. In fact, I gave the entire soundtrack another listen through whilst writing this review.

Red Dead Redemption, for the most part, is Grand Theft Auto in the west. I know this. You, the reader, knows this. This game controls very similarly to GTA IV. The running, jumping, and gun play feel largely the same, with a cover system that’s a bit more refined. Now this is not a bad thing at all. The controls translate extremely well here, and refinements were made to aspects of the game to make it more fitting. One of the major ones, of course, is the horse back riding. I’m yet to ever play the game where riding a horse translates perfectly to a video game, but this is about as close as it’s going to get.

There’s a near-endless amount of things you can do in this game. Aside from the story, you’re presented with enough side quests to last you weeks on end. Bounty hunting, errand quests (that don’t suck) and more will add numerous hours to the already lengthy experience. I found myself on the way to start a mission, and being sidetracked for an hour by various missions along the way.  If that’s not enough for you, check out the extremely impressive online component.

I remember playing GTA IV online for the first time and thinking it was the greatest multiplayer experience since Counter Strike. That was for about an hour, until the novelty wore off and I realized it wasn’t all I expected. Rockstar San Diego adds to the good, and fixes the bad with Red Dead Redemption’s online. There’s your standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, and objective based modes. All of that works well, but it doesn’t have much lasting appeal. Free roam, on the other hand, is awesome. Up to 16 players is allowed, and up to 8 per posse. Yes, both posses can meet up and kill each other. There’s missions to be done around the world in order to increase XP and acquire unlocks consisting of characters, guns, mounts, and titles. With the right group of friends, it can be very satisfying and eat up hours upon hours of your free time.

Overall, I can’t stress enough how important it is you play this game. Obviously, it’s the greatest western video game of all time. You’re also looking at one of the best open world games in recent memory, and potentially the best game you’ll play this year. Aside from a few bugs here and there, it’s a near-flawless experience. The amount that’s been put into this game is admirable to say the least, so go pick up a copy and see what all the fuss is about.

9.9/10

With Bad Company 2, DICE have refined a lot of what made the original so good and have smoothed out a lot of the kinks that stopped it being as good as it could’ve been. The first noticeable difference comes in the visuals. As is to be expected with any sequel, they have been improved. In fact, they’ve improved a lot. I know a lot of people had a problem with the lack of realism in the first game. Bad Company didn’t look as ‘gritty’ and realistic as it’s counterpart coming out of Infinity Ward was. It’s safe to say that the majority of those people will be disappointed again. That’s not to say that the game doesn’t look good though. I, for one, really like the visual style DICE have employed. It makes a change from seeing the same boring grey and brown colour palette used in the Call Of Duty’s and MAG’s of the world. Whilst I wouldn’t describe the visuals in Bad Company 2 breathtaking (I don’t think I could even say it looks better than Modern Warfare 2), but it certainly looks great and isn’t going to disappoint any graphics whores out there.

Some might say it’s lacking in the graphics department, but gameplay-wise it’s far superior to any other shooter available on the market today. DICE have managed to strike an almost perfect balance between the ‘point and shoot’ gameplay of Modern Warfare 2 and the more complex style used in a game like MAG. It certainly feels fast paced, but not overly so and it isn’t always a matter of painting a guy with your crosshair and pressing the trigger. I like this, but it’s definitely going to be another point of contention for shooter fans. One thing I particularly enjoy is the implementation of the Coriolis effect. Now this only really applies when it comes to using a sniper rifle, but the feeling you get when you hit a headshot whilst a guy is on the move is pretty damn good. This means sniping feels like it should – I’d assume it’s hard to master. This can be said for all the guns in the game, they all feel as they should. A definite improvement over the previous game.

For many, this game will be purely about the multiplayer and I can certainly see why. However, the campaign mode is one of the best I’ve played in any first person shooter. Sure, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, but that’s what I like about it. When a shooter tries to take on a serious, dramatic story it often doesn’t work. Here the story definitely isn’t to be taken seriously, but the characters are interesting and pretty damn funny at times. Just stopping and listening to the B-Company banter is something anyone playing this game needs to do. The story is incredibly campy and nonesensical at times, but the character’s motivations, however stereotypical they might be (seriously, I expected Sarge to say “I’m too old for this s*** on more than one occasion) were good and I was genuinely rooting for my squad of rejects.

Bad Company 2′s single player experience is great. I really enjoyed my time with it and I’d certainly say it’s one of the best campaign modes to be found in a shooter today. The gameplay is fantastic, the environments really varied and the characters funny and interesting. You wouldn’t be disapointed if you were just wanting to play a good single player first person shooter. That said, the multiplayer is certainly where it’ll be at for many.

9/10

In Freekscape: Escape From Hell, you play Freek. In short, he’s Satan’s eternal slave. As you would expect, he’s looking to escape hell and Satan’s indefinite servitude with the help of a holy trident he stumbles across in the beginning of his journey. There will be 40 levels to progress through in a Super Mario like manner, and each has a target time for those looking for more to do after it’s all over. It’s nothing outstanding, but it’s a fun, quirky way to progress the game and keep interest for it’s short duration.

Freekscape ultimately boils down to a puzzle-platformer, and a pretty good one in fact. Freek uses his trident to skewer various creatures through out hell that all have certain abilities. Some will help you jump up to higher platforms, and others break through walls. Clever puzzle design is what is what’s most important in a game like this, and that it has. It will begin easy, but end up requiring a good amount of thinking for those like myself. It’s a system that works well, and a light hearted platformer like this was needed in this sea of over done action games.

Graphically, Freekscape: Escape From Hell looks great for such an inexpensive title. For games this cheap, you wouldn’t expect to see it rendered in 3D. It’s not really technically impressive, but everything runs smoothly and looks pleasant.  There are obviously titles on the PSP that looks much better, but for what it’s worth I can’t complain at all. The sound, as well, is great. In its own way. There isn’t really much there, but there is a song that plays in the background of the game that will be embedded in you until you hum it out of your brain.

Overall, Freekscape: Escape From Hell is a game that you can only be happy for purchasing. It’s nothing worthy of mass recognition, but it’s definitely worth it’s asking price. It’s only $4.99. It’s surprising to see such well thought out gameplay and lovable presentation put into in such an inexpensive title, so my hat is off to Kidguru Games.

8.0/10

I’ll admit, although I was interested in the game, the idea that Yakuza was a mix of Grand Theft Auto and a JRPG was a little off putting. I didn’t really think a mix like that could work all that well. How surprised was I to find that, in fact, it did. After a bit of a slow start and having to adjust to the reading of subtitles I was on my way. I got completely engaged in the story: I found the characters interesting, Kazuma’s motivations refreshing and the location fantastic. It was great to be wandering the bright streets of Japan instead of the drab, New York City-influenced, locales seen in games like Grand Theft Auto 4.

At first glance, Yakuza 3 definitely feels like a GTA clone. However, after spending just a few minutes with it you come to realise that there’s a lot more to it and that, actually, the GTA-loving crowd might not like it that much. Yakuza 3 is like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, JRPG in the guise of a Western open world title. The gameplay is a mix of open world exploring and random arena battles. Combat is pretty simple, but satisfying. Bashing a goon’s head against a wall and then clobbering him with a mountain bike never got old. As well as the random battles on the street, as you progress, you’re funneled towards larger boss battles. Here, I thought the difficulty curve spiked a little too much. I’d gotten too used to the simple street punks and, for a while, the bosses were troubling me. However, I learnt to adapt. The bosses definitely pose a challenge, so don’t expect to dispatch them as easily as regular goons. Alongside the exploring and combat elements, Yakuza 3 also has a bunch of minigames. Now whilst these are pointless, a lot of these games do earn you collectibles. Those of you with OCD certainly won’t appreciate these. Especially the bloody crane machine!

Please bear in mind, this game is actually a year old. I wouldn’t have guessed it though. Yakuza 3 looks awesome. The environments are vibrant and the faux-Japanese streets are filled with pedestrians. This made random encounters even more random, because I couldn’t even see who was waiting to jump me. The only problem I had was, although the environments look pretty big, a lot of areas are cordoned off via things in the environment and even invisible walls. Seriously, in 2010 do we still need invisible walls? Come on SEGA.`

This being my first foray into the world of the JRPG, I enjoyed Yakuza 3. How it stacks up to the bigger name games in the genre, I have no idea. However, it’s an experience that many will enjoy, but one I fear few will experience. The story is great, it looks beautiful and it could certainly be a dark horse contender for TPSN’s game of the year. Yes, really. I think the big thing that will put people off is the lack of an English voice track. However, I grew to enjoy the Japanese voice acting and thought it definitely added to my experience. It certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes though.

Avoid this one at your peril.

8.7/10

Wakeboarding HD is a quirky, arcadey take on the sport of Wakeboarding. You’ll spend your time pulling off ridiculous stunts, dodging numerous shark attacks, and launching over obstacles. In order to complete a level, you will usually be presented with three tasks to complete throughout the level. After you beat a level, the game progresses through a ‘world’ map until you reach the end. It’s a fairly short experience, but what’s offered here is actually pretty fun.

The gameplay is good. Nothing more, nothing less. Racking up points and dodging sharks can be really fun when it works well, which is 80% of the time. Unfortunately, Wakeboarding HD becomes pretty repetitive as the experience moves on. There are problems that seem minor, but ultimately end up costing you big time in some objectives. When falling off the board, you’ll be respawned about 20 feet further than where you fell off. If you were trying to collect a certain number of stars for example and you end up falling off your board before a big group of stars, looks like you’ll be missing most to all of them.

The controls are somewhat hit or miss, but mostly hit. You’ll use the L stick to move, using L2 and R2 to make sharp turns. All of the face buttons are used to launch off the wake of the boat pulling you in order to pull off a stunt. For the most part, the controls are responsive and offer up quite an enjoyable experience. There will be instances where sharp turns end up just a bit too sharp, and can end up completely throwing off an objective on a level, which will result in you having to restart the level in order to complete it. Although frustrating, it doesn’t entirely harm the overall experience.

Graphically, Wakeboarding HD actually looks really good for a downloadable title. The frame rate stays constant at all times, and I’m yet to see any screen tearing or aliasing of any sort. The colors are extremely vibrant and go along with the tropical theme of the game well. Visually, my only complaint with the game is that the character models are pretty poor. The sound is suitable but forgettable, not much to be mentioned here.

As for multiplayer, just don’t bother. It just doesn’t work the way it should, and is pretty disappointing.

Despite all it’s problems, Wakeboarding HD is overall a fun game. There is enjoyment to be had here for the right audience, but I just can’t recommend it as a whole. Sadly, that’s mostly because of it’s hefty 15$ price tag. If it were an outstanding experience, sure. But it isn’t. If you really want a wakeboarding game, definitely wait until the price drops.

6.9/10

The biggest thing this pack brings is the increase in the level cap. Players can now rank to level 50, making them even more powerful than before. Alongside this 2K have added two brand new characters for players to take control of. Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca have both been added and bring their own little pieces of the back story with them. It’s also nice to have a couple of new personalities to play about with whilst you’re mowing down your opponents. Just to keep the experience fresh.

It’s not just a level cap bump and a couple of new skins, weapon upgrades are also present. That’s right, nothing new. Now each of your weapons have a third upgrade. This gives players a little more to play around with and a bit more loadout variety. This is further evidence that this pack is purely for hardcore players. Also added were a few new trials, most of which are fairly easy to complete. However, they do offer an extra reason to keep playing and it’s nice that they’re there. I just found them a little mediocre and easy to do. That might be just me, maybe I’m just that damn good.

The biggest problem I had is that this content was already on the disc. What you’re buying from the PlayStation Store is just an unlock code. It just seems like a rip off to keep content like this from players just to charge them an extra few quid. However if you’re heavily into BioShock 2′s multiplayer, the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack is pretty much a necessary download. If you’ve played for a while, it’s more than likely that this will give you a bit of extra incentive to keep fighting the good fight.

7/10

If you asked me to describe this game in one word (which would certainly make the review process easier. Seriously, pitch that to Anthony!) I’d say AVP is “boring”. It’s something I found a chore to play from start to finish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s mechanically sound but it’s missing that ‘X-Factor’ that makes you want to keep playing.

Of course, the game does have it’s qualities. You do get to play through three campaigns as the different factions and have somewhat different experiences, the problem is that both the Aliens and Predators have fairly steep learning curves if you want to play effectively. Not only did this make me want to play the game less, but it also left me with no choice but to start as the, super stereotypical, space marines first. Oh joy!

The marine campaign is pretty much a ‘paint by numbers’, straight forward campaign that you could take out of any first person shooter. The problem is, there’s too many great FPS’ out there and playing through this whilst pining for MAG certainly didn’t help motivation-wise. Like I said, the marine campaign does give a good introduction to a lot of the mechanics you’ll use throughout your time with the game, so it’s certainly a good place to start.

I know what you’re expecting (believe me, I was too), I’m going to tell you how cool the other two campaigns are in comparison. I wish I could. Both the Alien and Predator campaigns suffer for one reason: both factions are melee-based. Sure, Predators do have some ranged attacks but, more often than not, you’ll be wanting to stab things with those Wolverine-esque blades attached to your hands. First person melee isn’t easy to pull off, this makes the game a lot less fun than it should. A game that lacks fun is one I don’t want to play, thank you very much.

AVP is a game that could’ve been great. A game that, like Arkham Asylum before it, tore up the rulebook on what a licensed game could be. It really doesn’t deliver. I was left feeling underwhelmed by the whole experience. I’ll admit, at times, I felt immersed in the world and loved the idea of playing these big screen icons. By the time the credits rolled I couldn’t wait to play something else. Fans of the franchise will probably enjoy this a lot more than I did. By the end I felt underwhelmed and completely underpowered, whatever faction I was playing. Surely that’s not how it’s supposed to be?

6/10

Maybe referring to Dantes Inferno as your average house burglar is a bit unfair. It is more like a master forger who creates the basics of what he sees but it’s never going to be as good as the original. However when copied as well as Dantes Inferno you can almost forgive it.

For those who don’t know, Dante’s Inferno is based loosely on the 13th Century poem The Devine Comedy by, Italian poet, Dante Alighieri. You play Dante, a crusader who returns home to find his beloved wife dead and her corpse defiled. Her soul is then taken and the story follows Dante as he is lead through the nine circles of hell in pursuit of his love. The story is actually very well told and you do have some empathy for the lead, as he battles with his own sins and descends deeper into hell.

This is reflected in your choice to punish or absolve the enemies and sinners you meet as you go through the game. Along the way you meet different people from history such as Julius Caesar; you see their crimes and choose to absolve or punish them. In doing so, this increases your holy or unholy abilities and unlocks further upgrades. The choices you make do not influence the story in the way something Heavy Rain does, but instead is simply a mechanic to allow the unlocking of new magic, moves, increased health and the rest of the stuff you’re used to seeing. This is handled in the form of souls which you collect and these are the in game ‘currency’. It is a tiered ladder to unlock abilities, akin to that seen in Visceral’s other hit Dead Space.

Games of this nature live and die by their combat system, and I’m happy to report that this game has a good one. The combat is very satisfying with effortless transitions when moving from enemy to enemy. You start off by having an epic boss battle with Death and if successful you take his scythe. Death’s Scythe is your main weapon and it has a real weight and power to it. Dante always feels light on his feet and you use the right stick as an evade move to allow you get quickly dart in and out of the action, making it easy to pull off massive combos.

Visceral Games have done a fantastic job of creating a very dark, unsettling world for the player to explore. Each circle of hell feels fresh and different from the last. You can almost feel the heat of the flames and the smell of burning flesh. The visuals are of a good standard and the lighting effects when using the cross move are stunning.

The enemies change depending on which circle you are in and this game has some seriously twisted creatures to crave up. In limbo you get to meet the unbaptised babies with dead eyes and large razor sharp slicing claws. These little creatures work in packs and are truly nasty. You are introduced to the glutton about half way through and these huge fat creatures are horrid. They have saggy breasts that hang down and they are covered in dirt and vomit. They spew out acidic bile if you attack them from the front but that’s not the worst. Should you be unfortunate enough to end up behind one they spray liquid diarrhoea all over Dante, its enough to turn your stomach! A number of enemies allow the developers to play around with advanced light techniques, and the enemy best described as a flaming suicide bomber is a prime example. These guys are made of flames and if they get too close they explode causing massive damage and interrupting any combo you are trying to build. The effect is quite stunning as you see their form change in an instant.

The audio in this game is top draw. Your senses are bombarded with the screams and cries of tortured souls. You can hear the blood boiling and angry howls of creatures not yet encountered. Individual voices can be heard, as the damn beg for forgiveness and repent of their sins. The developers have done a superb job and the sound department should get a big pat on the back.

So we have established it is a well made game that does the basics well. Now for the not so good. Whilst the visuals seem pretty good, if you get up close to the tortured souls in the walls it quickly becomes apparent that they are a fairly basic 2D texture that is simply repeating. It really breaks the illusion that Visceral have crafted. There are some controls issues that plague the opening of fountains to get health and mana (Magic). You are expected to hold down R1 and then tap circle to unlock the fountain but as you start to hit circle Dante breaks away and fires his magic cross. This seemed to happen about 1 in 6 and over a ten hour game it really starts to aggravate.

These are not game breakers but they do rub off some of the polish. Oh course the biggest issue is that, with Kratos around the corner who’d want to pick the copy over the original.

7.8/10