Push Rewind

The week before a major gaming convention always feels like the calm before the storm, and the past seven days have lived up to that cliché. Indeed, it was an uncharacteristically slow week in the PlayStation Nation, with the announcement of PlayStation 3 spin-off Assassin’s Creed Rogue being the only real source of excitement. Fortunately, we’ve been creating our own hype courtesy of a series of Gamescom 2014 predictions articles.

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Reviews

Road Not Taken - 7/10

As this is an indie title closely aligned with Sony’s PlayStation Plus programme, Road Not Taken has its work cut out right from the very start of its arduous journey. Taken on its own merits, however, it offers an enjoyable ride for the five to ten hours that it lasts. Niggling performance issues aside, it’s hard not to enjoy being the star of your very own fairy tale world – even if that fictional realm has a particularly odd approach to infant safety.

Pure Pool - 7/10

VooFoo can chalk this down as another successful adaptation, as Pure Pool proves to be an enjoyable and astoundingly well presented interpretation of arguably the greatest pub pastime. The tutorials and help sections should get newcomers up to speed, while the ‘Pro’ difficulty will definitely test veterans. There are a few difficulty issues which prevent it from hitting a perfect break, but the stripped back interface and immersive atmosphere mean that it certainly won’t be snookering you tonight.

Other Reviews

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Features

10 PS4, PS3, and Vita Reveals That We Reckon Will Happen at Gamescom 2014

Despite being the biggest gaming convention on the planet, Gamescom has always been treated as E3’s younger, less important sibling. Historically, the big announcements are reserved for Los Angeles, with the German show serving as a gaming aperitif of sorts, offering new trailers and information, but nothing that’s ever going to blow your mind. While we predict that this trend will continue, Sony’s always been good at spreading its reveals throughout the year, so we’re expecting another reasonably eventful press conference from the company on 12th August. What will make up its 60 or so minute show, though? Here are ten things that we reckon you should anticipate.

Why You Should Try The Last of Us Remastered's Multiplayer Mode on PS4

Naughty Dog’s not half bad at multiplayer modes. When it was announced that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves would be entering the competitive arena, there was outrage among fans of the original outing – after all, this was a series that prided itself on its plot rather than its gunplay. However, the title’s acrobatic action actually impressed, with its vertical arenas building up a sizeable following of fledgling online adventurers. The Last of Us’ underpublicized Factions foray was host to similar scepticism prior to release, but managed to hook those that actually gave it a go. With such a strong single player campaign, however, it’s easy to forget that the feature’s even there – so here’s why you should try it out on the PlayStation 4.

Other Features

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News

Sony Sued $5 Million Over PS4 Shooter Killzone: Shadow Fall's Graphics

Killzone: Shadow Fall may not be the best game on the PlayStation 4, but it undoubtedly ranks among the best looking. It seems that not everyone’s quite so keen on the first-person shooter’s uber-clean depiction of the future, however, as Sony is being sued over the next-gen exclusive’s graphics. Only in America, huh?

You'll Need to Find Your Sea Legs for the Darkest Assassin's Creed to Date

It’s a good thing that the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed: Rogue doesn’t have a ship as leaky as Ubisoft, otherwise he’d be living it up in ol’ Davy Jones’ Locker right now. After months of speculation – and a morning of YouTube copyright claims – the French publisher has finally confirmed that its popular stealth series will be setting sail on the PlayStation 3 as well as the PlayStation 4 later this year.

Fancy a Jill Sandwich? The Original Resident Evil Spooks PS4 in 1080p

Resident Evil is set to return early next year on the PlayStation 4, as part of a re-mastered edition of the GameCube’s well regarded REmake. Rumoured earlier in the week, the title has now been officially confirmed by Capcom, and will launch early next year on both the PlayStation 3 and Sony’s next-gen machine. Unsurprisingly, the latter will run at full 1080p.

Sony Has Lots of Good Stuff Planned for GamesCom Next Week

Conventions are like clickers: they sneak up on you. We’ve only just washed our hands of E3 2014 a few months back, but already GamesCom 2014 is lurking – and as usual, Sony is planning to have a pretty big presence at the show. A recent leak revealed that announcements may include Journey, The Unfinished Swan, and Until Dawn for the PlayStation 4, with the curtain set to be raised during the platform holder’s press conference on 12th August.

What Does PlayStation Vita Firmware Update 3.18 Do?

There’ll be no danger of your PlayStation Vita ever tumbling off your coffee table again, as Sony has released a new stability update for the diminutive device. Available right now – and mandatory, we’re afraid – the patch doesn’t appear to change anything about the handheld’s user experience. Speculation suggests that it may have blocked some nefarious homebrew, however, though that’s purely the word on the grapevine.

Other Noteworthy News

Video of the Week

Sony's Gamescom 2014 Teaser Trailers Are Getting Worse

With the games industry getting ready to descend upon Germany ahead of next week’s Gamescom 2014 convention, Sony is starting to hype up its annual media briefing. A few days ago it deployed a teaser trailer for what appeared to be Until Dawn, but now it’s gone with something a little more vanilla to count down to the show.