Since there are countless number of post-apocalyptic video games being released these days, the wasteland is quickly becoming the most overused setting. But Rage can still feel fresh and fun which is a testament to its high productions values. In Rage, this particular apocalypse is kicked off with a huge asteroid strike. For guaranteeing the future of humanity, the best and brightest are put into stasis beneath the ground as part of the Ark program. The player takes control of one of these Ark survivors who wakes up many years after the impact. Blinking in the bright light of the sun, you take a moment or two to admire the scenery and are then immediately attacked. The wasteland is not a friendly place. Most of those you meet in Rage desperately want to kill you, and over the period of time you begin to find out why.

Rage is primarily a shooter, despite the presence of mini-games, upgrade systems, side quests and car racing challenges. It’s in a way a traditional shooter, favoring smaller zones of combat instead of the open spaces. Larger explorable areas do exist but they’re essentially playgrounds for the vehicles. The FPS action at the core of Rage is rock-solid and fun but it’s almost a pity id Software decided to bolt a driving game on top of it. Players navigate the game’s post-apocalyptic environment in an assortment of vehicles, starting with a quad-bike, and working their way up to some augmented muscle cars.

John Carmack and his team have put together an absolutely astounding world and engine. What it lacks in originality it makes up in fidelity and attention to detail. The organic look of the environments, whether abandoned refinery, frontier town, military base or ruined city, is unseen in games before. Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3 are the only games that come close, though neither of those has the on-rails gameplay that allows every vista and every hallway to be lavishly decorated, deconstructed, and otherwise visually enhanced.

It really is a feast for the eyes, and small details are everywhere to be seen. It’s clear, especially from the paucity of the gameplay, that the focus of this team was on the creation of fully-realized environments, however restrictive and unoriginal they may be. It’s occasionally breathtaking, and rarely anything less than competent.

The gunplay is amazingly entertaining, as you adventure through corridors and interiors lined as mutants erupt from unseen spaces and bandits fire pistols and shotguns. As the game progresses, you are able to buy schematics, allowing you to craft a whole host of items ranging from new ammo types to performance boosts to sentry bots to Wingsticks. It all adds up to an incredibly fun and addictive shooter, which can satisfy pretty much any style of play. If you fancy fast-paced run and gun action, augment your shotgun to take clips, build some Pop Rockets and keep the Wingsticks handy. Grab some armour piercing rounds, augment your machine gun to reduce kick-back and build some turrets, sentry bots and remote-controlled bomb-cars. It all depends on you what satisfies you the most.

Aside from the fact that some of the enemies are frustratingly difficult to kill, Rage brings the action in a big way. Combat sequences are very fast-paced and intense with enemies ranging from savagely aggressive to prudently tactical. As the game progresses, you encounter more vicious factions, each with their own unique weapons, strategies and environments. There’s a real sense of life in each fight, with opponents communicating to each other about their battle status and commenting on the player’s movements. Sometimes the smoke and mirrors of this combat dialog is exposed when enemies that can’t see you are still telling their friends what you’ve done, but the illusion of smart, observant opposition is generally maintained to an effective degree.

Outside the campaign, which takes around 10-12 hours to zoom through if players do the bare minimum, Rage offers two multiplayer modes. The first is co-op adventure, whose missions are based on some of the stories the player will hear from NPCs in the main campaign. The second, is a competitive racing mode in which up to six players can hurtle round tracks, blowing each other to pieces.

In co-operative play, you can mow down enemies with another player, in pursuit of a high score. You get bonuses for headshots and skilled play, and a multiplier climbs so long as you continue to get kills and avoid dying while point totals pop up all over the screen like you were playing a slot machine, increasing the sense of reward. Playing through these challenges can be a fun diversion, but don’t expect it to turn into any kind of lasting obsession. To be honest, multiplayer in Rage is amusing but shallow. It feels like a mixture of Twisted Metal and Mario Kart, cribbed from the various vehicular combat sections in the campaign.

Rage is a decidedly mixed affair. For the time that it lasts, Rage has a lot of amusing action on offer. However, one can’t help but feel that this is little more than a prologue, something id Software put together to show us the potential of a franchise. Rage isn’t perfect, some of it feels quite antiquated, and it is by no means the high-water moment in the FPS genre that Doom and Quake were in their day. But it is still a very eye-catching and incredibly fun shooter, and in its best moments, it’s still unmatched for pure entertainment value.

Editor’s Note: Average scores are based only on the scores of websites mentioned below.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

IGN – 100

From start to finish, single player to multiplayer, this game sings. The characters, the graphics, the sound, the story – they’re all top notch. If you’re willing to skip Uncharted 3, be prepared to miss one of gaming’s finest moments.

GameSpot – 90

This is a beautiful, cohesive, and, most importantly, fun adventure that cements the Uncharted franchise as one of the best around. More of a good thing is welcome here.

Eurogamer – 80

It is a majestic tribute to cinema, a movie game in the literal sense, and your enjoyment will be in precise step with your appreciation of that objective – and whether or not you believe it to be Drake’s great deception, or Drake’s great delight.

GiantBomb – 100

The only thing that might surprise you about Uncharted 3′s relentless roller coaster ride is that it doesn’t advance the standards for video game action like its groundbreaking, mind-blowing, superlative-generating predecessor did. But it certainly does match them. There’s a slight sense of “been there, done that” in the way this game hews so closely to Uncharted 2′s masterful blend of puzzle-solving, parkour, and dizzying action scenes.

GameTrailers – 95

Its near-perfect sequence of peaks and valleys demonstrates how restraint can imbue some moments with increased impact. It’s a short campaign, but the multiplayer makes it worth the asking price.. Drake’s Deception is one of those games that has something for just about everyone, and if you own a PlayStation 3 it shouldn’t be missed.

Average Score – 93

Gears of War 3

IGN – 90

Every third-person, cover-based shooter from here on out will likely be compared to Gears 3, and it provides a fitting and poignant– if sometimes cheesy — closing chapter to the trilogy…The noted hitches, design decisions and ‘been-there, done-that’ feel of much of the content colors the overall experience, but it certainly didn’t keep me from having one hell of a good time.

GameSpot – 95

From the taut Versus competition to the two great cooperative modes, Gears of War 3 delivers immensely entertaining experiences on both sides of The Locust War. But the real triumph is the campaign, a masterpiece of exciting gameplay and emotional storytelling that stands head and shoulders above its predecessors.

Eurogamer – 80

In its multiplayer, all you could have reasonably asked for; in its visuals, new heights reached, while cracks of old age are papered over; in its story, a fitting conclusion; and in its campaign, though short of the consistent brilliance of its predecessor, a mostly rousing and memorable spectacle.

GiantBomb – 100

It answers questions. It leaves things in a dramatically different place than they were at the start of the game. If this were to be the final game in the Gears franchise, it’d be a satisfying place to leave things.

GameTrailers – 94

A fantastic experience that’s sure to make new fans with innovative new multiplayer options that give players plenty of room to experiment and find their niche. There are moments in every act of the campaign that would serve as grand finales in most other games, and it’s done so well that it will make you want to play through the whole series all over again.

Average Score – 92

There you go, this is what critics had to say and by the looks of it, Uncharted 3 just narrowly outscored Gears of War 3. But what about you? Have you guys played Gears of War 3? Are you planning on getting Uncharted 3? Have your say in the comments section.

There is a chance many of those who’s anger could not be contained at the thought of a personally anticipated title resulting in a 8/10 verdict, simply skipped the finer details of the review and went straight to the final score. There is also a chance these obviously disatisfied fans read the review but still seemed set on justifying their patronisng bile on a game they have yet to fully experience nor will they until the beginning of November. Within the subject matter remains that 8/10, a verdict that is hardly detrimental nor insulting to the product, in fact it could be said with confidence it is a very positive score to any piece of work under examination.

The base from which this negativity is believed to have emerged from in the main according to various reports is the much renowed video game forum, NeoGAF, a place for gamers, journalists and even developers to share their passion in a structure that could be seen as more stringent than other forums. Granted access to share your own opinions can take months or even years in some cases, with such a large community already in place alongside the backlog of fellow gamers waiting for the door to open, it can be easy to frown upon NeoGAF for the set up in place and its members which could be the reason the ridiculous berating from certain people within that set up over an 8/10 score has been pointed towards NeoGAF’s direction more than other gaming communities.

The problem at the moment is that NeoGAF is being frowned upon like no other site for this Eurogamer farce, when it is clear the same type of illogical outburst is being stated not only on the reaction page of Simon Parkin’s review via Eurogamer but other various gaming communities and social applications such as Twitter and Facebook. Whenever there is a popular install base to communicate on any subject, there will always be those who use common sense, good humour and a general all round sense of goodwill and then there are those who will deliberately aggravate conversations for their own enjoyment (that’s a troll you see…) and those who’s sense of fanaticism grows outwards to abuse anyone who does not share their view – usually in a rant a paragraph long that says more about them than those on the receiving end.

NeoGAF, like many other avenues of communication in the gaming genre or any genre, has its good people, it’s irritating people and it’s downright sadistic people whose very logic in the gaming sense results in judging a game not only by the system it is available for but by the brand it stands alongside, a brand that is far more interested in the contents of your wallet rather than your well being. It is a sad state of affairs when these personalities whose logic is so obviously flawed yet loud and brash are being placed in the same line up as those who just want to enjoy a hobby they really enjoy without the insanity and are the real focal point of NeoGAF. Sadly, this insanity will continue long into the next generation of gaming and generations after that but one can at least hope it will stay where it currently resides if you take the time to look – in the minority.

Whatever the opinion, it is hoped Rockstar Games will once again step forward and bring out a product that is superior to the last, here are five key elements that we could see once it arrives next year.

1. Better Mission Design

In an attempt to keep the game fresh, it is imperative that you offer the player variety. Whilst gaming critics provided far more positives than negatives with Grand Theft Auto IV, there was a feeling that a lot of the missions provided were far too similar in structure and objective. Ordering the player to drive a character to a certain place or assassinate someone can be exciting in the early stages of the game, as it can be an excellent template to learn the how to play, how to control the player, the weapons and vehicles. Grand Theft Auto V should keep this template but only as an introduction to then proceed onto more deeper missions later on. This can also be tied to the subject of tone for the game, variety can go from serious to pure havoc depending on the situation and the characters involved. Give players who either like serious or the much more over the top take on things a choice, offer a mixture of both. With the pool of talent to writing and designers employed at Rockstar, it is more than achieveable.

2. Multiplayer

Grand Theft Auto IV Multiplayer was fun and for a long time was one of the most played modes on Xbox Live and Playstation Network. The offering of modes was impressive for an implementation that was in its infancy with regards to the series. Things can always be improved on however, more polish to the XP system, deeper/longer co-op missions and more customisation offerings would be most welcome, perhaps following the dog tag routine a lot of First Person Military Shooters take but this in this instance a player’s customised wallet or passport that the player himself has created that included pictures or items from other players that can offer XP rewards and bonuses with a nice little graphical blood splatter to boot. A replay theatre or local co-op would be welcome additions also.

3. Custom Soundtracks

One of many positives fans of the franchise like to put forward is the music Rockstar provides to help the atmosphere and story arc of each Grand Theft Auto game. However, it would be seen as a nice touch to offer the player a choice to listen to the set given or listen to tracks from the system’s hard drive. The Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV along with all Xbox 360 games, has the custom soundtrack option already set in stone, the problem was unlike the original Xbox versions of Vice City and San Andreas, custom soundtracks were not cut or faded out when either a character spoke or a cut scene was played which meant the player had to either pause or stop a custom track from the Xbox In Game Guide menu.

4. Hollywood or Not?

Despite the excellent voice acting in Grand Theft Auto IV, previous entries such as III, Vice City and San Andreas had a wealth of talented and popular actors providing the voices that was perhaps missed in IV. It could be seen as a difficult situation for Rockstar, considering the franchise is now more mainstream than ever and with that, actor salaries would rise alongside it. Without having to flood the game with names from the big screen, it could be an idea to narrow down the hiring to maybe one or two.

5. Refine the Mobile

The mobile phone template that was introduced in Grand Theft Auto IV was seen as a good idea at first, although for many gamers the idea soon began to become an irritant due to the constant request from characters in the game to meet up for a drink or go for a game of pool when you’re busy either attempting to complete a mission, throwing a petrol bomb through an internet cafe window or shooting a pigeon. The mobile phone could possibly remain for the fifth entry, it seems it is more suited to the multiplayer environment at the moment than single player although should the mobile template remain in single player, it should be at the players discretion to either turn it off or be the dominant one with regards to calls and text messaging.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception takes the treasure hunter to the desert, following in the footsteps of T.E. Lawrence, the British army officer whose life story was told in the very popular film Lawrence of Arabia. But Uncharted 3 isn’t as concerned with Lawrence’s participation with the Arab Revolt as it is with his archaeological interests. Lawrence was fascinated with a lost city called Iram – a place which he called The Atlantis of the Sands. He travelled the world looking for clues of a civilization that’s mentioned in the Quran. Iram was once a centre of trade before God struck it down and buried it under sand. Lawrence himself was never able to travel to the vast and deadly Rub’ al Khali desert to search for the city. So this is basically the whole background of Nathan’s epic journey.

The atmosphere in Uncharted 3 is extremely impressive. For Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, developers Naughty Dog didn’t rest on their laurels after creating one of the best-looking PS3 games around with Uncharted 2. So they have made huge changes in the game engine and created new effects via a new dynamic water system whose physics properties are worked out on the fly, and sand, which blows in the wind and covers protagonist Nathan Drake with dust. Now this has a great impact on both the way the game looks, and also how it plays. This is exactly the kind of attention to detail that has always given the Uncharted series an atmospheric and cinematic edge over the competition. From the amazing precision motion-capturing to the tightly designed environments, everything is set up to capture the mood and drive you onwards through the game’s epic story which is delightfully written and acted, and has undergone a major facial mapping improvement over Among Thieves - gone are the character’s somewhat lifeless eyes.

Both combat and exploration are as fluid as ever. The camera does have a habit of becoming slightly annoying at times but still, it does its best to be as dynamic as possible. Uncharted 3 is filled with all the dramatic explosions and collapsing buildings that are nothing short of spectacular. Whether you’re chasing an aircraft as it takes off, or desperately trying to escape from a burning building as it falls apart around you, it’s an absolute treat for the senses. The game’s 3-D graphical fidelity, especially in texture detail, is remarkable — to the point that there is no perceptible difference between 2-D and 3-D.

Naughty Dog has focused a lot on somewhat increasing the emphasis on melee combat in the game. They’ve made it deeper, richer, and more playable. The deeper melee complements the more brutish agents that you have to deal with. Uncharted 3 uses contextual melee system for diversifying hand-to-hand combat animations. Contextual melee means Drake won’t just punch enemies in the face or kick them in the shins. He’ll bash heads into tables and tackle bad guys down flights of stairs. The advanced melee combat system allows players to brawl. Players can take on many enemies at once and use the environment against their foes. Whether it’s grabbing a chair, slamming an enemy into a wall or removing their gun and dispatching them that way, players can imaginatively combat enemies. There’s also an expanded repertoire of stealth movement! For example, Drake can jump from above for a silent kill. This improved feature allows for enhanced backward climbing too.

Naughty Dog introduced multiplayer in Uncharted 2, and though it was a solid experience but it lacked the depth to compete against the juggernauts of the genre. For Uncharted 3, the developers are aiming to be the defining multiplayer experience on the PS3. The biggest addition to the multiplayer is character customization. As you rank up and earn more money for your performance in the matches, many clothing and accessory option become available. This allows players to give their character a personal touch having a feeling of individuality and also giving them incentive to unlock the hundreds of other customization accessories. You can also customize your weapons, but it’s more than cosmetic. Adding modifications to your weapons, increased clip size, improved rate of fire and faster reload speeds to name a few, will give you a more tangible performance boost as you unlock more mods.

Naughty Dog has gone to great lengths in making sure its multiplayer can live up to its unparalleled single player experience. And the new additions provide a deep, engaging and addictive feel to the multiplayer, something that was lacking in the previous game. The level of customization along with the booster and kickback systems give Uncharted 3 much more of a chance to take on the heavyweights of the industry.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is perhaps the greatest game of our generation. There’s simply no other game on the market that comes even close to this masterpiece. It’s simply once in lifetime gaming experience that no gamer should miss out on. If you don’t have a PS3, you need to buy one, NOW!

For the next major Playstation Network update, believed to be titled 4.0 with a currently unannounced timeframe for release, here are some suggestions Sony could take on board:

Revamp of ID Cards

The current template of PSN ID cards within the Playstation 3 itself are of the basic nature, information about a player’s status, avatar, game being played and trophies won are available aswell as the option of having one of a set of different colours to choose from to personalize the card. To improve on this, a more fully fleged biography on the second tab of the card could be available with the ability to not only give more information about the player but to pick favourite games that could be seen as a better way to meet gamers who share similar interests. The enabling of adding favourite games to the biography could be as simple as selecting the title from the trophies layout menu on the XMB via the Game tab.

As you can see, once a profile is selected there is a lot more information provided for gamers to feed off if they take an interest in you. Games you have played, the latest trophies earned (which is available on the current firmware), total trophies earned is now on the first tab (which is currently available on the second tab of the ID card) plus the standard set of options such as messaging, comparing trophies and inviting to a chat.

Playstation Museum

Playstation Museum can be a new hub for gamers offering an alternative to the current set up “Home”. Home offers gamers the chance via a created avatar figure to interact and play games together through a variety of different gaming orientated set ups similar to the popular internet phenomena “Second Life”. Museum can be seen as one, simple set up that does not require a avatar at all but can be browsed from a first person point of view to see the selected gamers achievements, in game photo captures (a painfully underused feature Sony implemented that seems to have vanished from most developers mindset) or even video uploads similar to what was offered in games such as Uncharted 2 and Just Cause 2. For the serious trophy hunter – The Platinum Hall can be used as a way to show off all that hard work put in to reach that sought after 100% game completion with the ability to personalise the hall to whatever way the gamer sees fit.

Whatever Sony are working on at the moment, it be can be assured many gamers are looking forward with excitement to any improvements given to them. As a free service, Playstation Network continues to offer a competent platform, however that is not to say things can always improve in the future, so let’s hope whatever they do offer is worthwhile and valid – after all competition is good for the consumer, free or not.

So without further ado, here are our Top 5 most anticipated games for the month of October.

Forza Motorsport 4

Forza Motorsport is the highest rated racing franchise of this generation, and is making its return to the race track in October with Forza Motorsport 4. Forza Motorsport 4 promises to bring together genre-defining, controller-based racing, the power and freedom of Kinect, and content from leading brands to create an automotive experience unlike anything before it. It promises to take innovative leaps forward in the racing genre, delivering stunningly beautiful graphics, a robust variety of cars, tracks and challenges with ground-breaking social interaction thanks to the power of Kinect. Players will also be able to import their Forza Motorsport 3 profiles into Forza Motorsport 4, giving them the ability to transfer a certain amount of in-game credits and gifted cars into their new garage. Forza Motorsport 4 is scheduled for release in North America on October 11, in Europe on October 14, and the rest of the world on October 20.

Batman: Arkham City

Developed by Rocksteady Studios, Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City, the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. A sequel to 2009′s Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City is set to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight with a combination of melee combat, stealth, investigative and speed-based challenge gameplay. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features. Arkham City is scheduled for a worldwide release, beginning in North America on October 18.

Dark Souls

Developed by FromSoftware, Dark Souls is a fantasy action RPG, and the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls. The game is very similar to Demon’s Souls, in terms of theme, mechanics and challenge, but it is set in a different universe. It takes place in an open world environment with intense action within the dungeons, encounters with terrifying enemies and innovative online features that combine for a unique gaming experience. There will be more weapons, spells, and new classes. It is also said to be ‘significantly harder’, with more enemies and more difficult encounters. Game will release in North America on October 4.

RAGE

Developed by id Software, RAGE features intense first-person shooting, vehicular action, and open world exploration to tell the story of Earth’s wasteland civilization after an asteroid impacts Earth. You emerge into this vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and the Authority (an oppressive government regime). Left with few alternatives, you are on your own to stay alive in a world filled with those who prefer you dead, RAGE combines powerful storytelling with heart-pounding action. RAGE is touted as a groundbreaking first-person shooter and by looking at its developer’s track record, we dare not disagree. RAGE is set for release on October 4.

Battlefield 3

After a great number of spin-offs on various platforms, Battlefield 3 is said to be the true successor to DICE’s award-winning Battlefield 2. Battlefield 3, a modern military first person shooter, will feature large scale vehicular military combat with land, sea and air vehicles. Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of the competition with the power of Frostbite 2, the next installment of game developer Dice’s cutting-edge game engine delivering superior visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations.  Battlefield 3 will include both singleplayer and co-operative campaigns and will feature multiplayer gameplay similar to the classic Battlefield 2. The PC version of the game will be able to support 64 players simultaneously in a multiplayer match and it will be released for Origin exclusively. Battlefield 3 is arguably the biggest title hitting the stores this October on the 25th.

10. Back to the Future: The Game

Based on the hugely popular movies released in the 1980′s, Back to the Future The Game is a episodic graphic adventure from Telltale Games with a gameplay template not too dissimilar from the cult classic Monkey Island franchise from LucasArts. With cute visuals, some excellent voice acting and a story that expands over five episodes playing as Marty McFly, Back to the Future: The Game is a must for any fan of the franchise

9. Dead Nation

The zombie phenomena has really took off this generation, games such as Dead Rising, the Left 4 Dead series and the recent hit Dead Island have gained respectful marketshare. Dead Nation follows suit presenting an over the top gameplay template through ten levels of high octane action with the ability to upgrade various weapons using cash gained from taking out the evil dead. Allowing you to play as either a male or female aswell as an impressive arrary of weapons, this old school style shooter presents a genuine challenge to players without feeling too repetitive or mundane. Throw in some excellent lighting and explosion effects and you have a game that comes recommended to any zombie fan.

8. Siren: Blood Curse

If ever a game knew how to create an unnerving atmosphere, it is Blood Curse. Set in Japan, a TV crew set upon a weary and strange village hoping to construct a documentary, as expected, things do not go as planned and the player is left to deal with the challenge of the undead whilst trying to solve various puzzles. With a very impressive atmosphere, solid visuals and engaging story, Siren: Blood Curse to some maybe what the Resident Evil franchise has been lacking this generation.

7. PixelJunk Eden

From the wonderful minds at Q-Games, PixelJunk Eden is part of the mythology of PixelJunk, which other entries include PixelJunk Monsters and PixelJunk Shooter. Similar to the Atari published title The UnderGarden, Eden puts the gamer in the position of playing as “The Grimp” a tiny little character that can swing and jump at big distances with the intention of growing gardens by collecting pollen and dispersing it in the air. Gorgeous visuals and addictive gameplay at a good price makes PixelJunk Eden a must for those who may want to step away from the action or racing genre with something more relaxing.

6. Riff: Everyday Shooter

Created by the very talented Jonathan Mak, Everyday Shooter is an excellent multidirectional shooter that was first brought to public light at the 2007 Independent Gaming Festival. So impressed by what they saw, SCEE published the game later that year and is regarded as a cult hit amongst Playstation Network fans. With each level so different with various enemies alongside gorgeous visuals, the game’s enemies are taken out with the basic intention of creating music riffs. Despite a stern challenge, the addictive gameplay is surrounded by one of the most pleasing soundtracks you will ever hear in a game.

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