Second week of the GamerHound giving you the information to Zavvi’s Mega Monday.

So here are the top 20 deals:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV : The Complete Edition – £17.95
2. World Rally Championship – £12.95
3. SBK X: Superbike World Championship – £9.95
4. PES 2011 – £17.95
5. Splinter Cell Conviction – £9.95 You can view our GamerHound Old Chewbone review of Splinter Cell Conviction here.
6. BlazBlue Continuum Shift LE – £17.95
7. Front Mission Evolved – £9.95
8. Prototype - £9.95
9. Enslaved – £17.95
10. Gears of War – £7.95
11. You’re In The Movies (Including Live Vision Camera) - £9.95
12. Kane & Lynch 2 LE – £9.95
13. Sonic: SEGA All Star Racing – £12.95
14. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare – £17.45
15. Truth or Lies – £4.95
16. Battlefield Bad Company 2 –£17.45
17. Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe – £9.95
18. Sonic Classic Collection – £12.95
19. Mafia II – £17.95
20. Dead Rising 2 – £17.95

Some great titles on offer. I would definitely recommend Splinter Cell Conviction & Gears of War. GTA IV CE is a very good game with the DLC adding more punch and according to some people. The DLC is better than the main story of GTA IV.

Source: Zavvi Mega Monday

Developer Zombie Studios has announced Blacklight Tango Down 2, free to play.

Instead of purchasing the game straight PSN, XBL, they will hope and gain money from premium content via in-game.

Lead Project Jared Gerritzen said:

“Zombie has decided to move the game to a F2P model to break in to a market that is huge in Asia and growing in the USA and Europe.

“With this model we can close the gap between community and player feedback and further development and of the game. With Blacklight 2 we plan to develop a strong and vibrant community where players will be instrumental in shaping the future development and direction of the title.”

Continues:

“It will have new maps, new weapons (as well as some old), new characters, and brand new systems based off of feedback from fans and press reviews,” he revealed.

“The game offers a far deeper level of customization than previously found in Blacklight: Tango Down through the character customization system. Character customisation will be treated the same as our weapon customisation, allowing players to develop their own unique look and combat experience.”

No word of release date yet or confirmation whether or not it will be PC only.

Drop a comment below to share us your thoughts.

Source: Eurogamer

£9.95 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.

Zavvi currently have a price crash deal for Capcom’s Lost Planet 2 for all platforms.

“Its the Friday Price Drop!! Today its Lost Planet on PC, PS3 or Xbox for just £9.95! WOW!!”

Xbox 360 – £9.95

Playstation – £9.95

PC – £9.95

Source: Zavvionline

Developer People Can Fly & Epic Games have announced, Bullestorm demo is to be released on Xbox 360 & Playstation 3.

The demo will hit XBL on 25th of January and the 26th for the PSN.

The demo will feature 45 skillshots and Echo mode. Players will be enable to unlock upgrades to use in Anarchy mode when purchased the full game.

Source: Videogamer

Didn’t no one tell you that gambling is a bad habit?

It come to no surprise when the Xbox claimed the DLC for Fallout New Vegas as a ‘timed’ exclusive. Fallout 3 proved very popular with the DLC which came to the already ‘full of box of treats’ to gorge yourself into. Dead Money is the first DLC for New Vegas and begins in Russian Roulette style.

Once again a radio signal via the Pip-boy 3000, drags you away from the addictive exploration around the Mojave Wasteland to a paradise of miss-fortunate events. Follow the marker on your map and you will come to abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker. Once entered, you will wake up in Sierra Madre Casino, which unfortunately never got to open its doors due to the nuclear war. Now cordoned off by cloud of red toxic fog, post-apocalyptic beaming out of the woodwork, mysteries to discover, and the Sierra Madre treasure to claim. Not everything seems so straight-forward.

Once you are awaken, you are strictly ordered to dig up the mysteries of the Sierra Madre Casino and getting into the casino itself. The matter of the Ghost People to attend to, which are people who are trapped by the toxic fog and slowly driven nuts. You can hear them via there groans and with there own melee weapons such as; gloves with bear-traps attach to them. To think your job isn’t easy as it is. Elijah has strapped a explosive collar around your neck and stripping you from your armour and weapons from your travels of the Mojave Wasteland which you have gained, cue the swearing.

Dead Money splits into three quarters, ensemble your team which involves going from one end of the map to the other several times, and encourage them to take part in Elijah’s plan, the other part is going to be very interesting. The three people you can recruit are; a Super Mutant called ‘God’ or ‘Dog’ depends how you want to interact with the Mutant. Christine, a mute who is definitely the most interesting character out of the three. Dean Domino, a suave Ghoul who was once a big star at the casino and has a impact to the plot.

Dead Money offers at least 6hrs up-to 8hrs worth of gameplay which entirely depends on how you play. When you are adventuring off around the Sierra Madre Casino, stimpaks will be far and between for you to obtain. You will notice a lot of Sierra Madre Casino chips lying around. Pick these up as these will definitely come handy, and are the in-game currency for the Sierra Madre Casino. There will be automated venders around the streets of Sierra Madre and inside the casino. Here you can buy doctor bags, stimpaks, super stimpaks and loads more content but that is when you have picked up the emergency staff audio logs for the stimpaks. You will find first aid packs around Sierra Madre but they will not offer much stimpaks. The Ghost People are formidable foes, which will make you think twice before engaging into a fight and using your stimpaks wisely.

Adding more suspense to the gameplay. You will have to deal with your collar interruptions via signal interference devices. If you stay in a certain area for too long your head will fly off your shoulders before you could turn. The signal interference devices will come in two forms. A speaker device mounted on a wall and a radio. You can easily shoot the speakers and will stop the interference, and just simply walk up to the radio and deactivate it depending if you can find it. Not only do you have signal interference for your collar but you will have to sneak around certain parts from the hologram guards. You can find terminals to change their guard pattern routes which will be a life saver or even better. Find the emitter device and you will neutralise the hologram guard completely. You can’t hurt the hologram guards, so once spotted, get out of sight and hide for little while before re-attempting.

Having the explosive collar strapped around your neck and just scraping it to survive when taking out the signal devices. It is fun for starters but towards the end, they come thick and fast and becomes more of a chore than anything else. You will be saving and reloading endless of times, as the red toxic fog is one hell of a annoying feature as it will take your health down quite rapidly. Probably all depends on your survival skill rate.

Overall, Dead Money is a decent DLC for New Vegas. The story is very good and not once does it drop. It flows at a nice pace and continues to build right at the climax of the DLC. The signal devices and the irritating red toxic fog somewhat spoil the atmos when they appear more common than Nolan North lending his voice. There is a huge backdrop in the mysteries to Sierra Madre Casino. If you are a keen hunter of info, there are plenty of hacked terminals to hack to learn about the characters and Sierra itself. The level cap has been raised to 35, and you will gain quite a lot of exp throughout the course of Sierra Madre Casino. Dead Money easily justifies its 800MSP price tag, and adds more hours to the already entertaining New Vegas plot. However, it does have its niggles which will no doubt frustrate you. As clearly stated up above with the signal devices and red toxic fog and the far and between stimpaks. Dead Money will test your wits about you and your knowledge of the game itself. Those who were waiting for the perfection to arrive in the DLC for New Vegas, you going to have to wait a little bit longer till the next DLC for New Vegas arrives.

7.5/10

He’s back, meaner, out for revenge and even Chuck Norris will be scared.

The last adventure with Sam Fisher absolutely threw the concept of Splinter Cell on its head. Being able to work as a Double-Agent was a exciting prospect to experience and see the transformation within Sam Fisher. Fisher returns to seek answers or revenge in other words. Double-Agent is the prequel to Conviction to what Sam Fisher has become. He’s more violent, aggressive in his actions and more in front of your face.

I feel that Ubisoft have brought a Jason Bourne (Bourne Identity) & Jack Bauer (24) feel to Fisher in Conviction. Definitely what Fisher wants after the events of Double Agent. Its clear that a modern adaptation of how agents work is crafted into Fisher. With his own personal feelings getting the better of him and thinking the whole world is against him. Fisher needs to get back into the game if he wants to seek the answers he needs. Sam giving himself orders of his own (Bourne influence), people are going to be scared and Third Echelon the organisation he used to work for are going to be very worried indeed.

The plot to Conviction is very good. The twists and turns are great and makes up for the short campaign. If the game was longer then perhaps it would lose all self-purpose and people will complain. I, for one was clued to the television from the disk in my Xbox to the day I finished Conviction. Not only is Sam on a personal mission of vengeance but also thwart a terrorist plot in the middle of it. Getting told by Irving Lambert his best friend, superior, about the death of his daughter, back in Double-Agent. Fisher lost everything and the world around trembled to the ground. Conviction picks it up from Double-Agent left’d it, and where our AWOL agent, Fisher seeks out the person who killed his daughter. Once Fisher get’s his hands on the one who is ‘suspected’ to have killed his daughter. You will embark on a journey full of deceit, betrayal through this web of conspiracy.

Now with Fisher being aggressive. The whole stealth part is somewhat non-existent to some degree. Its still there but with the use of gadgets and quick hand to hand takedowns. The use of the shadows won’t be needed as much as you think when looking at a Splinter Cell game. You have a new feature called ‘mark & execute’ which enables you to tag your enemies and once performed a takedown, you’re ‘execute’ will be filled and you can perform a quick succession of elimination. This feature brings a lot of satisfaction to me. I really like this gameplay mechanic and wished a similar mechanic was implemented into the previous Splinter Cell titles. There will be sections in the game where you will be able to perform this act. If it doesn’t bring some satisfaction then I simply do not know what is up with you. Fisher will indeed have his goggles but sonar goggles. This pair of sonar goggles will enable Fisher to see through walls by advanced AI controller that can penetrate through objects such as walls. You will be able to detect armed targets and civilians plus detect explosions. EMP is going to be a popular name throughout Conviction. Fisher will have a EMP device which will disrupt devices at short range to provide a quick path when outnumbered. You have EMP grenades which is going to help a lot when preparing for a heavy hostile area.

Weapons, lovely weapons. Comparing to the past Splinter Cell games, you are fixed to what weapons you could have in each level. Conviction on the other-hand brings a new total concept. You can pick up weapons from dead enemies and upgrade them. Improve there efficiency in damage, recoil and accuracy. You can add scopes, red dot laser’s for the precision aiming and of course suppressors. There are a wide range of weapons to choose from which will no doubt make each level exciting. At some points in the game you will come across some weapon stashes which will replenish ammo and your gadgets. The stashes will also enable you to buy upgrades for your weapons and change what weapons and gadgets you have. The way you play the game is totally in your hands.

Conviction offers co-op just like Chaos Theory and Double Agent. Now this is where I think which lets the game down. The game feels to me that it wants you to play like the old Splinter Cell games. Go in silent, shoot the lights out, take out the guards one by one and leave without a trace. Throughout the co-op you still have the features which feature in the singleplayer. The mark & execute for example is changed slightly. You can both perform the execute move at the same time if both players press Y or you can do it individually. The co-op side wants you to play both sides. New Splinter Cell gameplay with old Splinter Cell gameplay. It does work with this rather nice blend of gameplay but in areas you are forced to take the aggressive approach which somewhat makes it go out of place or the stealth option.

Overall, Splinter Cell Conviction is most definitely the best entry to the Splinter Cell franchise. The chemistry of the plot is Hollywood gold and the gameplay is far more superior. Don’t get me wrong. The stealth in the first Splinter Cell game is what made me fall in love with the game. Conviction just gives Splinter Cell a new life and a new direction to step in. The mark & execute is notably the highlight of this game as you will come to certain areas that you can smash through a window and take 3 guards out single-handedly without them knowing what hit them. Maybe the decisions what you made in Double-Agent could of changed the plot slightly to Conviction if Ubi went down that path such as RPG’s as in Mass Effect, but what Ubi have created. I wouldn’t want anything changing or any new additions. They have masterly polished this game off with style. The only downside will be the co-op. The frustration of connection ruining the majority of it, and the forced of different blends of gaming in areas you simply want to play in your own style. Co-op is most definitely fun but with these slight niggles. I’m afraid Ubi need to spend more time in that department and the online side of things of there games to really have a real package.

9/10

See what the Hound recommends this week.

Its January. The first month to not really give us anything really to be excited for, even though there is Dead Space 2 & Little Big Planet at the end of the tunnel to begin 2011 in full scale.

This week isn’t stellar set from one, though some of you might think otherwise.

DC Universe Online – PS3

Being able to create your own superhero and choose your own destiny is somewhat a boyhood dream to presume. Its the first MMO to be on the PS3 and I’m sure it will go down as a treat with the fans. To run around and assisting people with Batman, Superman and co or simply cause havoc with The Joker and more villains. This is certainly a game worth checking out.

Other recommendations:

• Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – DS
• Kingdom Hearts: Re-coded – DS
• BUZZ! Ultimate Music Quiz – PSP

More screens and would it not be best to have another Splinter Cell game than another Chaos Theory?

Sam Fisher’s 3rd adventure under Third Echelon, but even though there is already a Splinter Cell Chaos Theory game for the ‘DS’, but screens for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 3DS have been released.

It would seem that this screen here will no doubt be a scene from the game. If this is actual gameplay then well I shall eat my own words.

Looks like the use of sonar vision via the goggles. No doubt PSP and 3DS comparisons to be made in the future.

Going for the Conviction objective route of telling you’re next objective. Very nice implementation from Ubi in Conviction and this will definitely go down well for me personally.

Now this screen is somewhat questionable as to whether or not this is an actual 3DS screen. If so, then this on par with the PS2 & Xbox capabilities of the game back 2005 when Chaos Theory was released.

This will be the Korean level if my memory serves correctly. Looks like nice. Lightning contrasting of the walls with shadow aspects from objects comes through nicely.

Source: ONM & Andriasang

Super Street Fighter IV is now on games on demand for Xbox 360. Street Fighter IV re-vitalise the fighting genre back in 2009 and became of the best fighting games this current generation. Super Street Fighter IV excels from Street Fighter IV by adding more fighters to the roaster, the bonus stages return in arcade mode from past Street Fighter games and tonnes more content.

Super Street Fighter IV is priced at $39.99 around £25 for the UK.

Source: Xbox.com

Great games for £4.99

Following Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and DS games:

1. Borderlands (PS3) – £4.99
2. MAG (PS3) – £4.99
3. Alien Vs Predator (PS3 & 360) – £4.99
4. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – £14.99
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) – £4.99
6. Supercar Challenge (PS3) – £2.99
7. Little Big Planet (PS3) – £4.99
8. Brütal Legend (PS3) – £2.99
9. The Saboteur, (360) – £2.99
10. Blur (PS3) – £4.99
11. Left 4 Dead 2 (360) – £4.99
12. Assassin’s Creed (PS3) – £2.99
13. Far Cry 2 (PS3) – £2.99
14. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) – £4.99

Plus many more!

Note these are pre-owned titles at these prices.

Source: Argos