Posts By Mat Growcott

Bioware gave the first details on Mass Effect 4 today, and while there was a lot of flowery words used about moving the franchise forward, very little space was given to actually discussing the potential of the game itself. With that said, we got a nice look at some of the artwork for the title, and it looks like it's heading in the right direction.

Today Battlefield Hardline showed up at E3. I’ve not been a huge fan of the franchise, but this game immediately caught my attention. Hardline combines the gameplay of Battlefield with the well-known ‘catch me if you can’ game mode. The result seems to be a fast paced shooter with many decisions which can influence the outcome.

The third party pressers are never as interesting as the first party conferences, but this year we knew EA had a lot to show us. Did they manage to live up to the potential of Mass Effect 4, Star Wars: Battlefront and a brand new Mirror's Edge? Our staff pass their verdict.

If you thought Rise of the Tomb Raider would be the only Tomb Raider title announced tonight… you’d have probably been quite sensible. Still, Square Enix have bucked expectation and announced Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, a sequel to Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. It looks very similar to the original, with a few major changes. First of all, there’ll be four player co-op this time around. Fans of Guardian of Light will remember ...

Tomb Raider 2 was an inevitability. Rise of the Tomb Raider wasn't. Apparently they listened to fans worried about the confusion of going back through the numbers. The important thing is that the survival adventure reboot is getting a sequel, and that it looks to focus just as much on Lara's character as the original.

Microsoft seem to have listened to fans this year. For that reason and that reason alone, they've managed to start off E3 with a bang. Is it enough to impress our staff, who were rightly skeptical ahead of launch?

It was something that we'd all half expected, but since it came in the latter half of the show, and because it wasn't given much fanfare, you'd have been forgiven for not instantly recognizing Crackdown. There's not much information on what exactly "it" is yet - it seemed a little like a reboot/remake - but we can say this: it had a cracking trailer.

Perhaps the biggest news out of the Microsoft conference - and the piece of software that'll keep gamer's warm for Christmas and beyond - has to be the announcement of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. This fantastic set puts together all four of the main Halo titles into one large set, bringing together all of the story, all of the multiplayer and a few extra bonuses as well.

Square Enix have been fairly quiet on Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix. It was announced earlier this year that it'd be coming to the west, and it was forgotten about. Just before E3, the news gummi has taken to the skies and a new trailer has returned. We have to admit, it's looking pretty stunning.

Racing games can generally be played in a variety of ways. While those that love Gran Turismo the most might play it as a simulator, it's just as easy to experience it as some approximation of Mario Kart, crashing into other vehicles on long bends or swinging onto the grass when necessary. NASCAR '14 is all about tight lines and clever driving, a fact that makes it both very playable and undoubtedly niche.