This new content will add the final ‘corrupted’ piece to Ezio’s story. The 10 memory sequence will see Ezio aiding Machiaveli to free Florence from Savonorola. The DLC released last month wasn’t exactly lauded by critics, here’s hoping Ubisoft are bringing the big guns with this one. Some trophies would be nice too.

Sounds like a cracking idea to me.

When ZEN Studios released the Street Fighter themed table, it was quite a simple verdict. If you like ZEN Pinball and want another table to play it was well worth it. If you like Street Fighter, it was just an added bonus. It’s the same deal here. The new Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 themed table is another excellent addition to ZEN Pinball, with a Ninja Gaiden flair.

I wouldn’t even really consider this a review. This is more me just confirming that this is another great table for all ZEN Pinball lovers to enjoy, and that you should not hesitate to buy it. For those of you who don’t know about the Ninja Gaiden series, here’s the deal. It’s a difficult, yet ultimately satisfying series of gory hack-n-slash titles starring all around bad-ass Ryu Hayabusa. Now why is a dose of Ninja Gaiden really necessary in a game about pinball? I have no idea. But still, fans of both ZEN Pinball and Ninja Gaiden will appreciate the fan service. It’s a cheap, fun addition to the game and is a worthy download overall.

“We can confirm that the details on our website are correct and that this title will be released on the Playstation 3 in the near future. We have had to remove this title from sale for a short period. As soon as this title is available to pre-order we will email you with all the details so you can get your order placed as soon as possible.”

So there you have it folks, GTA fans can finally rest easy. I’ve played both of these, and these are some fine additions to the already fantastic Grand Theft Auto IV. We’ll keep you updated with official release dates, etc.

At first look, this just seems like a way to get people to buy the drink without giving anything away. However, each customer is guaranteed to win.  After redeeming the code on the Dr. Pepper website, customers will be asked which piece of content they want and the format of their choice. Content will be available for the following games:

• Mass Effect 2
• Battlefield Heroes
• Spore
• The Sims 3
• Battlefield Bad Company 2

There might only be one PS3 game on the list, but it sounds good to me. At this point, it’s unclear if this is going to be available outside of North America. I hope so, I drink a lot of that stuff. You’ve gotta love that medicine-like taste! Apparently the promotion is active now, so go and find some prize winning pop.

The main problem with Operation Anchorage is that it doesn’t offer any of the amazing role-playing that makes the game so fantastic. OA is strictly an opportunity to kick ass and chew gum, and you are indeed out of gum. Beyond the headshots and explosions, there really isn’t much here for, straight up, RPG fans. That being said, the combat is still a blast. VATS headshots never get old, and the new weapons are a great.

One of these new weapons is the Gauss Cannon. This is a one shot gun that has the potential to knock your target over as well as dish out massive damage. I won’t spoil any of the other cool gadgets you get, but I will say that there are some really useful items that you acquire after the completion of OA.

Speaking of Anchorage, what the hell are you doing in Alaska anyway? Well, you aren’t actually in Alaska. Turns out someone discovered an old training program that puts you in the middle of the battle for Anchorage against the Chinese. You go into this chamber, you do your business with the shooting and the blood, step out, grab some goodies, and leave. That’s it. It does add a little to the lore of Fallout, but honestly, I think they could have had a lot more fun with the story on this one, rather than just stick you in some virtual reality battle.

This Alaskan setting really isn’t that much of a departure from the Capital Wasteland. It’s essentially the Fallout environment you know and love, but with a pretty sheet of snow covering it. Granted, white is a great change from grey, but nothing really has drastically changed visually. The animations are still pretty terrible, but the explosions look amazing. The VATS camera sweeps are still a joy to watch, and the art design is top notch.

If you like the combat in Fallout, then OA is a godsend. But it really doesn’t capture the essence of what made this game so fantastic in the first place. Fallout fans should definitely check it out, but for those who love them some RPG elements, you might want to steer clear.

7.5 /10

Steel & Titanium Map Pack

Steel and Titanium, the first of the three packs released, brings a much needed extension to the online experience. Very rarely, on the original maps, find yourself toe-to-toe with a squad of enemies, battling it out for one small piece of ground. Those looking for close quarters combat in Killzone 2 should look no further.

For the first few games I was almost cursing myself for taking on this review. I would spawn and almost immediately die. It was just that frantic, however, once I got into the swing of things it was great. Walking into a room and facing off against two enemies, swiftly killing them and moving on was not something I had often felt playing online in Killzone 2. Usually I was staying as far away as possible and picking enemies off one by one. Here you have no choice but to run with a group of guys and shoot everything that moves. Thank god, friendly fire wasn’t turned on.

The two maps are plucked, almost directly, from the single player game. The first – Wasteland Bullet – is a recreation of the environment seen when you take the train to The Wastelands. Action on this map can get pretty intense and you might just find yourself needing to be scraped off the underside of a train carriage if you miss the jump between the two trains. This ‘escape route’ can come in handy if you’re under heavy fire. Mistime the jump though, and it’ll have all been for nothing. Snipers won’t find this map too enchanting though. Your view is pretty much obstructed throughout the map and if you do find a spot, prepare to have your head blown off by the enemy. The dust and the sparks add to the eerie atmosphere and, most importantly, impair your vision. If you think you saw something, you’d better be shooting it.

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The other map – Vekta Cruiser – is similar to the ISA Ship you leave at the beginning of the campaign. This is a completely different experience to that of Wastleland Bullet, you won’t find any mist here. Although sparks are sure to fly in the narrow corridors. If you’ve played the single player, you’ll know that Helgan isn’t the most pretty of places, so the change of scenery here is quite nice. Gone are the dull brown environments, replaced by shining chrome. Not that it matters when you’re getting blown to pieces by some angry Helgast.

The multi-tiered layout of the map also makes a change. This gives the game a lot more verticality and the height advantage can certainly help when you’re pushing for the win. However, it’s not all good. The environment might be different from the other maps in the game, but areas within this map can look identical. Something that doesn’t help someone like myself who has no sense of direction. That said, people have told me it’s easy to get lost here, something that doesn’t help (and will often get you killed) in an online shooter.

Overall, I think Steel & Titanium delivered something old and something new to Killzone fans. The Wasteland Bullet map is ok, but it’s just reminiscent of the rest of the maps. Vekta Cruiser not only changes up the environment, it also changes up the gameplay. A good experience with both maps, but for close to £5, I expected a little more. Two maps for a fiver seems a little stingy to me Guerrilla.

7.5/10

Flash & Thunder Map Pack

Guerrilla’s Herman Hulst said that this pack would have a bit of a “retro vibe” to it, and that it does. This pack will be great for those who played the original Killzone (not many of you then). Once again Guerrilla have made a map pack that changes up the environment a little more. Moving away from the drab locales of Helgan to…the drab locales of Vekta.

Unlike the previous pack, the maps here are a little on the large side. Something that will annoy some, but something I quite like. As I said, i’ll often take a ‘back seat’ role and prefer to pick off the enemy from afar. The first map – Southern Hills – allowed me to do just that. The action tends to occur towards the edges of the map and the mass solider corridor made it easy for me to take a few guys out unnoticed. I found that sitting back was the proffered option of most of my fellow players as those out in the open could easily be killed by the nuclear explosion that occurs on this map. That’s right, not only can the opposing side kill you. The map itself is a weapon. You are warned before the attack strikes, but there’s always a few that can’t get indoors quick enough. The addition of a ‘killer map’ is quite a cool one actually. It might seem cheap, but it definitely intensifies the experience and makes Southern Hills one of the more interesting maps to play.

The second map – Beach Head – is a much smaller, more vertical map. Due to it’s size the action here is pretty fast paced. Sure, you can sit and snipe, but don’t be setting up camp, even the snipers have to be on their toes. Like Wasteland Bullet, spawning on this map can be a kick in the balls. The number of times I spawned on a tacticians spawn grenade and died instantly became a running joke with me and the rest of my squad. That joke got old real fast. I started to hate the map and, unlike before, this hate never really wained. I found myself quitting out of games when playing this map and, had I not been on the review, I would’ve refused to play the map completely.

Flash & Thunder is a pretty good map. If you could buy these maps individually, i’d be recommending you stick with Southern Hills. The ‘killbox’ nature of Beach Head was reminiscent of Call Of Duty 4′s ‘Shipment’. This pack is a little like Marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it. I can’t stand Beach Head and playing that map ruined many a night’s games for me.

6/10

Napalm & Cordite Map Pack

The third and final pack in this review is Napalm & Cordite. Guerrilla have really surprised me with their constant content releases and patches. Doing what the community want and really supporting the game. It makes a welcome change from the lack of content released for some of Sony’s other exclusive shooters.

Napalm and Cordite is, by far, the best of the three packs. Steel & Titanium might offer a little more variety but this pack will appease both the Killzone hardcore and the more casual player. This pack is also the best value for money. Not only does the pack include two new maps, but there’s also two new weapons available for use exclusively in this pack.

These are probably two of the most powerful weapons in the game and I expected them to be pretty cheap. However, I was pleasantly surprised. That isn’t the case. I particularly expected the Boltgun to be a thorn in my side, alas I was only killed a few times with it in my time with the maps and, more often than not, those using it were doing so for the explosion and not directly hitting the enemy (although that could have just been the guys I was playing with). The flamethrower is only worth a brief mention. It rarely has an effect and is useless at close range. Once again, used tactically, it has it’s uses. However, as a full blown weapon, I wouldn’t recomend it.

The first map – Arctower Landing – is another of those small maps. However, rather than frustrating, I found this one quite fun. I enjoyed my time with it and, even though I died quite a bit, I never felt cheated like I did with Beach Head. This map is quite tight, so prepare to see a lot of shotgun shells flying, which can get frustrating. However, I think this map works best in short burts rather than longer games. I think in a typical Warzone situation some could find this annoying, stick with shorter games and you’ll have fun with this one.

The second map in Napalm & Cordite is Suljeva Cliffside. This is definitely the better of the two maps. Once again, it’s a larger map making it ideal for camping snipers and oportunistic riflemen (that’s me!).

The layout of this map is great, there’s loads of crevices to hide in and a good ammount of verticality for snipers. This seems like the most balanced of the downloadable maps and seems to have something for every class. The only ‘problem’ I found, is that there’s a distinct lack of cover here. The map is very open, which can lead to some frustration, but, like the first map, I never felt cheated if someone killed me.

Like I said, I think this is the best of the packs Guerrilla have released and can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store for us next. The maps are fun and well balanced and I can see a lot of people just buying this one. Based on my time with the game and the packs, I can assure you that this is the pack to get if you’ve only got a fiver to spare. It would be nice to see Guerilla create something completely original next time around, if there is one that is.

8.5/10

Sucker Punch’s hit title inFAMOUS is getting the Sackboy treatment. Next week, Media Molecule will be releasing Cole MacGrath (protagonist of inFAMOUS) costume set. You can be either good or bad, indicated by a light on Sackboy. I personally like how LittleBigPlanet has become a hub where all games come together in a more non-serious way. Well, lets hope they don’t charge for both a good and bad costume.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is getting the Banff Springs course as DLC today. It’s going to cost you $7.50, which seems a tad high. I guess it depends on how much you need a new course to play, which at this point seems a bit unreasonable seeing as how there are many courses to play already. But hey, any DLC is good DLC for the most part.