PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

Hi everyone,

I’m sorry for the real lack of updates recently, we’re going through some changes at PlayStation Future and you might find a few changes over the next few weeks and months. Firstly, the site is being run from www.playstationfuture.co.uk rather than www.playstationfuture.com – all the links have been updated (I think) and everything redirects to the new domain, so you shouldn’t notice much difference here. The old .com site will eventually be pulled down completely, but only once Google has updated all its search results to show links to the new site.

Secondly, there probably won’t be any more posts as you know them. I’m not sure how our plans will work, or if they will work at all, but for now the site is on hold and may be for some time.

Thirdly, there may be some design changes to the site. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know in the comments and we’ll try to incorporate as many ideas as we can.

Finally, I’d just like to thank everyone who’s been involved with PlayStation Future, not just the writers and commentators but everyone who’s come along to read our stories. With any luck we’ll be back and better than ever in the New Year, but until then, thanks for reading.

It’s hard to know exactly how to review a game like Dark Souls. As you are probably aware, Dark Souls is a punishingly difficult game (even more difficult than its predecessor, Demon’s Souls), and the majority of gamers will probably find it too frustrating to play. On that level, Dark Souls is hard to recommend to many gamers, and presumably deserves only a modest review score. However, if you’re the kind of gamer who relishes the opportunity to push your gaming skills to the limit, then Dark Souls is heartily recommended, and is almost without peer in its own world of dark, fantasy RPG. Most other reviews have discussed the insane difficulty of Dark Souls ad nauseum, so for this review I’ll just say this much: it’s by far the hardest and most unforgiving PlayStation 3 game I have ever played. Read more

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is not a particularly difficult game if you know how to play it, even on the hardest difficulty setting. However, the boss fights are another matter altogether and if you don’t know what you’re doing you can expect to get your arse handed to you if you go in unprepared. However, if you know what you’re doing, they’re actually pretty straightforward. If you’re having problems with any of the bosses, have a look at our spoiler-free guide to help you out.

First things first, prepare. If possible, make sure you have a high powered weapon with plenty of ammo available, and that you’ve got the right augmentations in place. Then tailor your strategy according to each boss. At the very beginning of each boss fight, hit Select as quickly as you can, and equip/upgrade everything you’ll need. Then get back to the game and immediately save. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be ready for the fight (and any re-attempts you have to make). Read more

Let’s get this out the door right away to avoid any confusion: I am a big fan of the Deus Ex series. The original Deus Ex is one of my favourite games of all time and its sequel, Invisible War, is still a great game despite not being the follow-up that Deus Ex deserved. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the follow-up that the original Deus Ex deserves.

To put it bluntly, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is one of the best games released this year – so far… (lest we should forget about Skyrim/Dark Souls/Uncharted 3/Arkham City et al). What’s so good about Human Revolution that earns it this accolade? It’s difficult to pin down any one aspect of the game that stands out, but in broad terms it is the sheer depth of game that underpins its success. Let’s take a look at a scenario from the game: Read more

Bioshock: Rapture tells the story of the events leading up to the original Bioshock game. Have you ever wondered where everything came from and how Ryan’s personal utopia became an dystopian nightmare? Bioshock: Rapture will guide you through the events in detail, and hopefully answer many of the questions you may have.

Much of the backstory in Bioshock is told through audio clippings and notes, giving an patchwork overview without going into too much detail. It’s up to the player to piece everything together and work out what’s going on themselves, and it’s a technique that lends itself to creating an immersive atmosphere of confusion and intrigue. It’s also a technique that purposefully leaves gaps in the story, hoping the player will fill them in with their imagination. Like many good examples of storytelling (Half-Life 2, Lost, Star Wars before the prequels), it’s what you don’t know that makes something interesting. Explaining everything to the Nth degree often pulls down the shroud of mystery that made everything so exciting in the first place. Fortunately, Bioshock: Rapture gets the balance more or less right, padding out the story without demystifying it. Read more

PlayStation Home has always been a confusing place for gamers. It’s not a game, it’s not The Sims and it’s not a real social network. It’s a little of bit of each of those things, with a good measure of stuff thrown in to boot. But what exactly is it? If you’re confused you’re not the only one. Fortunately, Sony has woken up to the idea that Home needs redefining and has promised a massive overhaul, bringing a much needed emphasis on gaming, both within and outside of Home.

“This is a giant leap in the evolution of the platform,” said Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home. “We are going to ‘up level’ games as the heart of PlayStation Home. This means that Home itself is going to become a game. The first things you see when you get into Home are games.”

The new layout will be based around a central hub, and surrounding ‘themed’ areas that match your gaming mood, be it Action, Sports, Adventure or Puzzle. There will also be a re-write of the core Home client, which should streamline the user-interface and let you get into Home faster than ever.

The new update is currently scheduled for Fall 2011 in North America – there’s no date scheduled for Europe yet but it’s a good bet that we won’t be far behind.

For more information check out the Official US PlayStation blog.

This review is for Gran Turismo 5 running at version 1.10 (patch officially released on 7th June 2011). We wanted to wait for the first few major patches to be released before reviewing the game.

Gran Turismo 5 is a behemoth of a game. Upon first loading the game, you are strongly encouraged to sit through a 6.5GB installation that can take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour, depending on the volume and free space of your hard disk. You then need to patch it, which currently requires about 650MB of data to be downloaded and installed. Make no mistake, Gran Turismo 5 is a big beast. With all that data, surely Gran Turismo 5 is the most graphically detailed, content rich racing game ever made? In a word: mostly.

It is hard to escape just how much hype preceded the release of Gran Turismo 5. After being delayed for years longer than expected, Gran Turismo 5 was finally released back on November 24th 2010. For fans, the silver lining of the incredibly long development time was that the game would turn out perfect. It hasn’t. But it’s still one of the finest computer games of this generation. Read more

The Recommended Retail Price of the 160GB model PlayStation 3 has been slashed to £199 in the UK, down £50 from the previous RRP of £249. In addition, the 320GB model PlayStation 3 has been reduced from £299 to £249.

As these are only the recommended selling prices, retailers are free to cut into their own margins to bring the price down even further. Amazon are selling the 160GB model for just £192, whereas GAME are selling the same model for £189.99 and you can find even better deals than that if you’re willing to buy a bundle that includes one or more games. Remember though folks, it’s only a good deal if it’s a game that you’d buy anyway – you really don’t want to end up with a copy of Terminator: Salvation or PlayStation Move Heroes by mistake!

With Sony’s recent momentum slowed in part by the PlayStation Network hacking earlier on in the year, this new price cut could be the boost Sony needs just before the all-important Christmas season. With PS3 exclusives like Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3, as well as multiplatform must-haves like Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City and Battlefield 3, all lined up before Christmas, it could be a real sales bonanza for Sony this year.

Even today Oblivion is a stunning looking game. However, the graphics engine is over five years old now, and it’s really starting to show its age in places. With Skyrim due out at the end of the year, including a (kind of) brand new graphics engine, some of Oblivion’s limitations will be overhauled with the new game – including the levelling system which this time around will actually reward players for levelling up, rather than punishing them.

But what else could do with tuning up? Let’s take a look: Read more

There’s no point beating around the bush here; Braid is one of those rare games that make me want to actually thank the developers for creating it. It really is that good, and if you have any interest in puzzle games you really ought to stop reading this now and download the game from the PSN Store. That said, not everyone is fortunate enough to be in front of a PS3 24 hours a day (can you imagine that?), so if you’re one of those unlucky types stuck behind a desk at work, or reading this on a mobile phone while out and about, I’ll give you the lowdown on why Braid is so good.

Braid looks a bit scrappy in screenshots, and is visually reminiscent of old 16-bit games like Kid Chameleon or Magic Pockets. However, static screenshots belie the charm and grace of the graphics, and within seconds of starting the game it’s clear that Braid is no old-school platformer. The art direction of the game is absolutely beautiful, with a strong Impressionist vibe running through the designs and the animations, although simple, make you feel more like you’re watching a picture come to life  than you are playing a game. Each of the different worlds has a different graphical theme, but they are all cut from the same cloth and fit nicely together as part of an overall theme. Read more