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Cover the latest and greatest Playstation 3 cheats and codes, reviews, news, themes, and previews as well as gamefaqs and walkthroughs all for the Sony Play Station 3.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice Interview
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice (PS3)
IGN delves into the random dungeons and random strangeness of Nippon Ichi’s extraordinary turn-based strategy series.
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BioShock Updated Hands-on
BioShock (PS3)
New impressions from the halls of Rapture.
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Bioshock Screens
BioShock (PS3)
Explore the darker side of Rapture.
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Quick Tune for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Complete all A Class events to unlock Quick Tune options. You can adjust the weight of your car, horsepower, aerodynamics, gearing and more. Read the rest of this entry »
Unlock Super Dante and Super Nero Costumes for Devil May Cry 4
Beat the game in Dante Must Die mode for these two costumes.
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Godfather II Preview
Thug life! EA promises mob hits, double crosses, strippers and millions of dollars. It look like an offer we can’t refuse. Read the rest of this entry »
NBA Live 09 Preview
A funny thing happened with NBA Live 08; we liked it. For years, Electronic Arts’ signature basketball series suffered from sluggish play, but the company slam-dunked its current edition with faster, more lifelike players and animations. It isn’t the greatest hoops game ever made, but it gave EA a solid foundation to build upon. Debuting October 7, NBA Live 08adds even more features, starting with Dynamic DNA.
Previous basketball games attempted to capture player tendencies, but most of this data is from last season and out of date. Dynamic DNA tracks NBA players day to day and incorporates their play styles into the game. If Chris Paul’s three-point shooting improves, for example, his video game alter ego will also start hitting more shots from downtown. If Shaq starts making free throws (unlikely but anything’s possible), you can expect NBA Live Shaq to drill those shots from the foul line. No matter what happens (injuries, trades), EA insists that it’ll show up in the game the day after, so in a sense, you’ll be able to experience the NBA 08/09 season both realistically and virtually, an exciting concept that’ll keep the game fresh throughout the year. In fact, you also have the option of replaying last night’s games (dubbed NBA Rewind), allowing you to recreate victories or perhaps rewrite history. Finally, the New York Knicks can win some games.
We’re also interested in Quickstrike AnkleBreakers, moves that let you leave your opponent flatfooted as you drive to the basket. To execute these moves, wait until the defender approaches you and press turbo in conjunction with the right analog stick to cross them over or do some other excellent maneuver. So long as EA pumped the game full of moves, there will be more than one way to shake someone.
In addition, the game has Pick and Roll Control that lets you work this signature play as both the ball carrier and the screener, and NBA Live will offer on screen prompts to help you execute; perhaps a basketball related quick time event. There’s also a new practice facility, 24 FIBA international teams, online leagues (with draft, trades and playoffs) and true five-on-five online play for up to ten players.
So long as NBA Live 09 plays like last year’s game but with subtle improvements, we’ll snag it faster than Paul Pierce grabbed the NBA championship trophy. Dynamic DNA seems like a great concept, and with new moves and continuously updated rosters, this might tomahawk 2K Sports’ NBA 2K9.
The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Preview
Frodo, Aragorn and the rest of The Lord of the Rings crew will once again battle Sauron and his minions in Electronic Arts’ upcoming action adventure game, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Developed by Pandemic, the creators of the successful Star Wars: Battlefront series, Conquest lets you experience all of the epic battles from the films and Tolkien’s novels, both as the good guys and through an alternate campaign where evil wins and wrecks havoc across Middle-earth. It’s a cool twist on some of our favorite literature and film trilogy, and playing as a murderous Nazgul sounds cool.
Conquest is similar to Battlefront in that you take part in these large skirmishes, except instead of killing enemies with blasters, you stab them with swords and arrows. All of the major heroes are present, including Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf, among others; each possesses unique abilities and brandishes specific weapons. In addition, you have the option of playing as a Warrior, Archer, Mage or Scout, and again, they all come with their own signature attacks and weapons, allowing players to experience the battles in several different ways.
Throughout the course of your hero’s journey, you’ll attack Sauron’s forces across numerous and historic moments, such as Helm’s Deep, Isengard and at the Black Gate. Hundreds of orcs and trolls will pour onto the battlefields, as well as Nazgul and the mighty Balrog. There’s no blood, and you won’t chop off heads and limbs, but the frantic button mashing should leave plenty of bodies in your wake. You’ll also get a chance to take down those humongous Oliphaunts from The Return of the King, climbing up their legs and completing a series of Quick Time Events that’ll eventually bring you to its head, where you’ll vanquish your foe by plunging a blade through its skull.
If the forces of good make you gag, don a black cloak and step into the evil campaign in which Frodo fails to destroy the ring and Sauron remains in power. In fact, your first mission (as the Witch King), is to kill Frodo before he drops it into the fires of Mount Doom. After completing that task, you’ll move on to play as the Nazgul, the sweet looking Balrog and Sauron, who takes it upon himself to visit the shire and kill those dirty hobbits.
Complementing the story campaign is a 16-person online multiplayer mode (eight on eight), where both good and evil will fight for control of Middle-earth. EA hasn’t shown it yet, but expect things to play out similar to the Battlefront video games. With Capture the Flag, Conquest and Deathmatch, there should be enough to keep you busy.
With access to both the films and the books, it appears that EA and Pandemic are onto something special, though during our playtime, it was clear that the hack and slashing needs tweaking. Although decent, Conquest doesn’t control nearly as well as EA’s previous The Lord of the Rings games, The Two Towers and Return of the King, respectively. It just lacks that visceral feel of connecting sharp steel with flesh, and we hope the development team continues to evolve the game so that it’s just as brutal as its game and the movie predecessors.
That issue notwithstanding, the concept of playing the bad guys intrigues us, and we can’t wait to raid the shire and slaughter elves, dwarves and hobbits. The battle for Middle-earth rages on when The Lord of the Rings: Conquest hits Xbox 360 and PS3 this fall.
Free Realms Preview
Paying $14.99 a month to play a massively multiplayer online game is cheaper than your average Xbox 360 release, but that doesn’t mean we like it. We’re always looking for deals, and SOE’s upcoming MMO, Free Realms, was designed to keep cash in our wallets. Available next year for both PC and PlayStation 3, this cute adventure game is free to start and packs tons of content. That doesn’t mean it’s as deep as EverQuest II and World of Warcraft, but it might offer a great way to kill some time without forking over a credit card.
Free Realms is one part MMO and one part Facebook. After creating a character, the game transports you to a profile page that provides new information about the game and lets you communicate with other players, a feature missing in most MMOs. We’re more impressed with the game in general, because unlike its competition, Free Realms offers a casual experience with little consequence. Whereas World of Warcraft encourages you to perform menial tasks to level up, SOE’s game lets you explore the world at your leisure and participate in a plethora of minigames. You don’t need to run around killing animals or worry that some level 70 Night Elf will kill your avatar. Instead, you can listen to a band, take a walk or play with your pet cat or dog, both of which poop all over the place.
That’s not to say the game doesn’t play like an MMO. You can still team up with a party and complete tasks, and there are multiple classes, though not the ones you might expect. Yes, you can be a wizard, a warrior, an archer and a treasure hunter, but you can also become a miner, a medic, a ninja and even a mailman. Each class has unique minigames (as the mailman, you must deliver letters within a time limit) and outfits. In addition, you can change classes on the fly and each one levels up independently, so your high-ranking ninja won’t bleed over into your medic. Of course, the fact that we don’t need to create multiple accounts for each class is sweet.
In between stuffing mailboxes and mining for precious resources, you can also take part in other activities, such as 10 player kart races (five people and five computer opponents) and soccer matches, and since SOE will constantly update Free Realms, it plans to create new classes; a soccer player, or perhaps a ninja mailman. However, if you miss good old fashioned combat, you can still become that ninja or warrior and go on raids, though you’ll probably vanquish snowmen and other cute enemies instead of giant spiders and other terrors; Free Realms was designed with families in mind, and as such, includes content available for all ages. You also don’t have to worry much about death, either, and you can teleport to any place you visited, which eliminates mindless backtracking.
As with other free online games, there’s a catch. You can play Free Realms for free, but to get the full experience, you’ll need to fork over some dough. SOE plans to roll out micro-transactions for clothing and $4.99 memberships to access new areas of the game world. This makes the title of the game misleading, but it’s not like we thought the company was actually developing a 100 percent free MMO anyway.
Keep in mind, though, that you don’t have to spend a cent. Free Realms will still have plenty of content for us cheapskates, and we’ll happily explore its world with tons of cash in our pockets. Well, at least until SOE releases a sought after item or perhaps a nice pair of shorts for our mailman. Then we’ll shell out cash like a busted ATM.
