This stunning Wild West epic raises the bar for open world action games, and stakes its claim as one of the most engaging games this year.

The Good

• Superb cast of memorable characters   
• Varied and always-fun story missions  
• Loads of optional activities and challenges   
• Story does a great job of building up to multiple climaxes   
• Good number of enjoyable multiplayer options.

The Bad

• Infrequent but noticeable bugs   
• Limited customization options for persistent multiplayer character.

As you ride the train west from the northern city of Blackwater, you have no idea what's waiting for you in the frontier town of Armadillo at the end of Red Dead Redemption's intro sequence. Conversations between other passengers clue you in to the state of the nation, and a quick look out of the window tells you that the territories are as untamed as they are beautiful. But it's not until you step off the train in the well-worn boots of protagonist John Marston and have to sidestep a drunk staggering out of the saloon that you realize how alive the world feels, and how much fun you're going to have exploring it. Similarities with recent Grand Theft Auto games are immediately apparent in the controls and the HUD, though both have been improved in subtle but important ways. Those basics, in conjunction with excellent gameplay, a great story, and a sizable multiplayer suite make Red Dead Redemption something very special.




When you arrive in Armadillo for the first time, you're a small fish in an extremely large pond. None of the townsfolk have ever heard of John Marston, and they're too busy believably going about their business to pay you much attention unless you bump into them. The gameworld stretches for miles in every direction beyond the confines of the modest town, and if it weren't for a number of mandatory missions that deftly familiarize you with the controls and gameplay mechanics early on, the prospect of venturing out into the wilderness could be daunting. Marston is a deeply flawed but very likable protagonist, and therefore it doesn't take long for him to start making friends in the New Austin territory. One of them, a ranch owner whom you meet early in the game, gives you both a place to stay (which doubles as a place to save your progress) and a horse to call your own, and it's at this point that you're more or less free to do as you please. Marston's lengthy and occasionally surprising story is linear for the most part, but it's told through missions that don't always need to be completed in a specific order, and you're free to ignore them for a time if you'd rather just explore the giant Wild West sandbox you're playing in.

Whether you're galloping between locations where there are missions available or just trotting around aimlessly, Red Dead Redemption's world is a far easier one to get sidetracked in than most. That's because in addition to the dozens of excellent and varied story missions, there are countless optional undertakings to enjoy--most of which offer some tangible reward in the form of money, weapons, or reputation. While you're in town, you might choose to gamble at card and dice tables or tear a wanted poster from the wall and do some bounty hunting, for example. And when you're in the middle of nowhere, opportunities for gunfights and the like have a habit of presenting themselves or even forcing themselves upon you. Random strangers in need of help can show up at any time, and while it's a little jarring to find two or three strangers in the same predicament back-to-back, most of their requests are varied and fun for the short time that they take to complete. You might be called upon to retrieve a stolen wagon, to collect herbs, or even to rescue someone being hanged from a tree. There's no penalty for ignoring strangers, but when you help them you collect a small reward and become a little more famous in the process.

This guy is about to get riddled with bullets, courtesy of the slow-motion dead eye mechanic.













Fame is interesting in Red Dead Redemption, because it's measured alongside but independently of your honor. Regardless of whether you're doing good deeds or bad, becoming increasingly famous is inevitable as you progress through the game. How people react when they recognize you is determined by your honor, though, which can be positive or negative. If you spend your time acting dishonorably, townsfolk might be terrified of you, but if you're considered a hero, they'll go out of their way to greet you and might even applaud as you ride into town. Either way, there are pros and cons to becoming something of a public figure. People won't bother to report you when you steal a horse if you're famous, and any bounty hunters or posses that come after you when there's a price on your head will take twice as long to try again after failing the first time, for example. On the flip side, as you make a name for yourself you become a target for gunslingers who are looking to make names for themselves, and so you're challenged to duels that play out entirely using the game's slow-motion "dead eye" mechanic.

In duels, even though speed is a factor, dead eye affords you an opportunity to place your shots precisely. The head is the most obvious target, but occasionally you might be required to (or wish to) win a duel without actually killing your opponent. With practice, you can shoot a gun out of an enemy's hand as he makes his move, which is especially satisfying and makes you more famous than killing someone outright. Dead eye can be used in much the same way during regular play, but a slowly replenishing meter limits how often you can trigger it, and given how effective the lock-on targeting system is, you're unlikely to need it much. With the exception of sniper rifles, you can lock on to enemies from a great distance with any weapon. Then, once you're locked on, you can tweak your aim to target a specific part of your enemy. Nudge your aim up just a touch, and there's a good chance you'll get a one-hit-kill headshot. (You do that so often that it's likely to become a reflex every time you raise your weapon). However, you don't always want to kill your enemies, because, for example, once you learn to use a lasso, you have the option to bring bounties in alive. It's more challenging, but it also doubles your reward, and it's extremely satisfying to shoot a criminal in the leg so that he falls to ground and can only try to crawl away, hog-tie and slump him over the back of your horse, and then deliver him to the local sheriff.

When accompanying other characters, you can easily match your speed to theirs.












You can also use your lasso to rope wild horses, which is a fun way to upgrade or just replace the mount that you spend so much time with. After catching a wild horse, you wait for just the right moment to mount it and then, via a simple minigame in which you maintain your balance as the horse tries to buck you, you break it. Initially, you might want to change your horse just to get a color that you like (there are lots to choose from), but it's also fun to keep a lookout for rare breeds, because they not only look a little more impressive but are also noticeably quicker. Regardless of what kind of horse you ride (including those that are pulling carts and wagons), the responsive controls work in the same way and make it easy to adjust your speed from a walk to a trot, canter, or gallop. You also have the option to match your speed with that of any character you're riding alongside, which is incredibly useful.

As you spend more time with the same horse, it rewards your loyalty by increasing the length of its energy bar, which determines how long it can sprint at full speed. You shouldn't become too attached to your mounts, though, because Red Dead Redemption's world is both a dangerous place and one in which horses occasionally behave unpredictably. There's nothing wrong with a horse walking around a little when you climb off it, but if you leave it close to a deep river, you run the risk of losing it if--as we witnessed on one occasion--it stupidly steps in, because, like you, horses can't swim. Horses also have a habit of not staying put when you tie them to a hitching post, so you then need to whistle for them to come to you from wherever they've ended up or run the risk of inadvertently stealing someone else's identical mount. Other, more avoidable ways to lose a horse include its getting shot by enemies or attacked by wild animals, though the controls for shooting from the saddle are good enough that you really have only yourself to blame if that happens.

elder Scrolls V Skyrim is the the massive RPG from Bethesda Game Studios, but is it big enough to steal headlines from Modern Warfare 3?


Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Dawnguard review

Love

• Brilliant control system
• Gargantuan environment
• Great use of level-ups

Hate

• A few bugs and glitches
• Dangerously addictive
• Demands a lot of time

There’s a moment that occurred in T3’s play-through of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that rammed home quite succinctly exactly how titanic the game is in size. In every instance where the player enters a new environment, they’re greeted with a loading screen displaying a picture of a new creature, or a new weapon, or a new artifact contained somewhere in the game.

At the 48-hour mark, T3 was still seeing content we’d yet to encounter. After two solid days of playing Skyrim, the game was still informing us we had so much more to discover.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: PlotAnyone interested in picking up a copy of Bethesda’s new RPG should probably book a week off work. Skyrim demands a tax in the form of time that few other video games can match.

Leaving aside the over-arching narrative, which involves a civil war ravaging the land of Skyrim and the return of the dragons against whom the protagonist is pitted, Elder Scrolls V offers players such a huge number of ways to interact with its world that it manages to capture their attention-span to a point, which could be almost considered dangerous.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim:  EnvironmentsSkyrim is easy to lose yourself in. Players can spend hours, weeks and months exploring its vast expanse, finishing up quests, fashioning armour and weapons, enchanting items, mixing potions, chopping wood and even engaging in the odd spot of reading at the Winterholm mage college library.

They can while away frightening amounts of time exploring the game’s huge environment, uncovering caverns, dungeons, treasures and cities. They can even, if the mood takes them, buy property, kit their house out with all the necessary features and get married. Skyrim works hard to both immerse the player in its gargantuan environment and make them feel a part of it.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Level upsIt also rewards the player’s character for this investment. Everything they do in the game earns XP and proficiency in whatever skills, magic and weapons the player uses the most.

When they hit a new level they’re offered a top up on their basic capabilities – health, stamina and magic – and a talent point to augment the their skills. Naturally, they’re able to better improve the ones they’ve been using most in the game.  

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: ControlsSkyrim has been touted as perhaps the most accessible RPG that Bethesda has created to date. What this means to anyone reading this who isn’t already interested in the game is that it’s available on consoles for the great unwashed.

For anyone who has played any of Bethesda’s other fantastic games – Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 leap to mind – it means that the control system is as easy to use as it is intuitive.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: MenusWll spend a lot of time in the game navigating menus, switching up weapons and magical attacks, looking at the in-game map and levelling up their character. It’s a testament to Bethesda’s brilliant standard of game design that the vast amount of items the player needs to easily access and the game’s combat system compliment each other superbly.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: BugsThe only drawbacks to the game are the bugs and glitches that step in the way the player’s progress. We can deal with the odd wonky animation or the rare occurrence where a misstep leaves us trapped in grotto in the game’s environment. The odd instance in which a quest in the game doesn’t function as its supposed to or a complete crash requiring a reboot is harder to forgive.
 
Skyrim Dawnguard is the first chunk of DLC to be added and brings with it plenty of new features including new weapons, locations and characters. It may have taken a while for the developers to come up with the goods, but it's certainly been worth the wait.

The add-on gives you the choice between joining the Dawnguard collective of vampire hunters, or becoming a vamp yourself. If you're on Team Vampire you'll be helping head bloodsucker Lord Harkon to destroy the sun. If you're part of the Dawnguard posse - your task is to stop them.

It may not be the most revolutionary DLC in the world, but more Skyrim gameplay can only be a good thing.

Check out more Skyrim Dawnguard coverage from our chums over at CVG

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: VerdictStill, in the light of Skyrim’s strengths, its weaknesses pale into near-insignificance. Bethesda are famous in the gaming industry for creating some of the best examples of the Western RPG, and their latest game can only further their reputation. Skyrim is a big beautiful beast of a game and anyone who can blag a week off work should certainly pick up a copy.

Yoeran

Modern Warfare 3 sticks to its competitive, cooperative, and single-player guns and reminds you why the series is one of the best in the business.

The Good

• Climactic campaign   
• Lots of varied and challenging Spec Ops action   
• Exciting and entertaining competitive multiplayer   
• Spec Ops profile spreads the satisfaction of leveling up.

The Bad

• Multiplayer sticks closely to familiar formula.

When the Modern Warfare scion of the venerable Call of Duty franchise branched out four years ago, the electrifying campaign and addictive multiplayer cast a new mold for first-person shooters. In the years since, this formula has been consistently refined, shamelessly imitated, and widely adored, making it one of the defining franchises of this generation. Modern Warfare 3 stays the course, delivering an explosive campaign, breakneck competitive action, and challenging cooperative play. This is an exciting and rewarding game, but the series' signature thrills have lost some of their luster. Modern Warfare 3 iterates rather than innovates, so the fun you have is familiar. Fortunately, it's also utterly engrossing and immensely satisfying, giving fans another reason to rejoice in this busy shooter season.

The campaign picks up where Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 left off. Our heroes, Soap and Price, are in bad shape, and the villain, Makarov, is still at large. It doesn't take the pair long to get back in the hunt, and soon you're hopping the globe in pursuit of your quarry. You make a few forays into backwater outposts, but the most striking situations are when you take up arms in conflicts that consume entire cities. From New York City to London to Paris, no bastion of Western civilization is safe, and the destruction that has been visited on these iconic locations is visually stunning. The impressive scenery makes the action more impactful, and the campaign shuffles you around to different fronts within each city to make sure you can experience the battle from many different angles. Remote air support control, on-foot firefights, and tense vehicle sequences keep the campaign moving at a great clip in these urban environments, capturing the expert pacing that has made past Call of Duty campaigns so exhilarating.

As with its predecessors, the Modern Warfare 3 campaign has a few tricks up its sleeve aimed to shake you up or make you cry out with excitement. The latter are more successful than the former. A jet flight gone wrong and a chase through Parisian streets are highlights, using environmental upheaval to make you feel like you are struggling for control in an out-of-control situation. These sections are definitely exciting, but because Call of Duty has trained you to expect the unexpected, they lack the extra spark of surprise that kicks exciting up to thrilling. Modern Warfare 3 also takes a startlingly out-of-place shot at wrenching your heartstrings, but the outcome is so obvious from the moment the scene starts that you're left to watch dispassionately as the characters set up and fall victim to tragedy (opting to not see disturbing content at the outset of the campaign will likely spare you this unpleasantness). The game is more resonant when you encounter scenes of tragedy in the natural course of the campaign, but this is not an emotionally fraught campaign. It is, however, an engaging and superbly paced roller-coaster ride that brings the Modern Warfare story to a very satisfying conclusion.

 the five-hour campaign doesn't satisfy your thirst for AI blood, then the Special Ops mode almost certainly will. Returning after its debut in Modern Warfare 2, Spec Ops offers 16 one-off missions that complement the events of the campaign, letting you experience new facets of the global conflict in which you are embroiled. From stealthily escorting resistance fighters to slugging through a large enemy force in a Juggernaut suit, there's a lot of variety here. Though even the longest missions can be completed in under 10 minutes, the variable difficulty levels help Spec Ops missions provide hours' worth of challenging combat. Furthermore, you can now tackle almost every mission solo and make a bid for leaderboard glory.

  Yoeran