The slightly barmy thing is that unlike the previous game, which held no shame in it’s 60s setting, it’s sequel has jumped several decades into the future and will be set against a cold war in the future.

I can’t help feeling this is a bit of a shame as there is plenty of ground to explore in the 70s and 80s. But then again, I guess the latest technology would make a more interesting multiplayer section.

You can view the trailer below.

Black Ops 2 is due out this November.

Developed by TellTale games, the very same developers that worked on The Back To The Future series and the Jurassic Park games, The Walking Dead follows the same template.

The first of five episodes, Episode 1 – A New Day effectively sets up the proceedings by introducing us to the lead character, Lee Everett. An escaped convict and the only character you control.

As the game progresses, we are introduced to various members of the group and a few familiar faces from the comic books.

Much like the TV and the comic books series , the game continues that trend of putting it’s characters in difficult circumstances and most of the time it is up to Lee to decide which coarse of action to take.

It’s an interesting device which affects the outcome of the story and offers the game plenty of replay-ability.

From basic conversations to deciding on which characters you should save, the most simple decisions have consequences that can often leave you doubting yourself – with several dilemmas giving you little time to decide.

The controls at first are a little tricky to get your head around. Acting like a cross between the likes of Heavy Rain and the classic point and clicks such as The Secret of Monkey Island, the analog stick controls the pointer and the X, O, square and triangle buttons control your actions.

In a strange way, this clunky set up actually works in the games favour during the more frantic moments, as quite often it will lead you to think on your feet and act quickly. Essentially it adds a whole sense of panic to the proceedings.

Visually, the game looks quite impressive. Making no secret of the fact that it is based on a graphic novel, The Walking Dead features a fine palette of colours (which is ironic considering the books are in black and white) and nice cell-shaded finish that is somewhat reminiscent of Borderland.

Audibly, The Walking Dead hits the mark too. Featuring consistent insect noises in the background and those old fashioned zombie moans, the audio certainly enhances the uneasiness of living amongst the living dead. The voice acting is also pretty impressive.

At £3.99 an episode, it’s hard not to recommend The Walking Dead series. It might not be to everyone’s taste and those looking for a more frantic gaming experience should probably be looking at the Left 4 Dead games, but fans of the books and the TV series should appreciate the amount of effort that has gone into this emotionally driven game.

Telltale are to be commended here for what is a essentially a gripping story which also has a good sense of pace and an appreciation of it’s subject’s source.

Looking back, it’s probably because I wasn’t up to speed with the whole plot. Apart from the fact that I was controlling some fella who was in a groovy techno suit that turned him into a double hard bastard, I had no idea what was going on.

So it was of great delight to me, that EA decided to bring the first Crysis game to XBLA marketplace.

Now, I know there will be a few PC purists out there, condemning this port and claiming that it won’t stand up to the PC version, but frankly I couldn’t care less. I’m not a PC gamer – I’m not going to fork out a load of cash just so I can play a game that came out several years ago. And if I want to play games, I’ve got my trusty Xbox 360.

It is due to this PC ignorance of mine that I have no basis of comparison for Crysis and that is probably for the best. As I can just sit there and enjoy the game for what it is.

I’m not worried how it looks, plays, feels etc compared to the earlier version. I just want to sit back, immerse myself in the world and toss chickens at Korean soldiers.

As far as the plot goes, you control a soldier known simply as Nomad. Sent into North Korea to extract some hostages, it soon becomes pretty clear that there is more at work than the Koreans.

Equipped with a “nanosuit” that features all sorts of wonderful gadgets, it’s an interesting mechanic that sets the game apart from most other first person shooters.

Enabling Nomad to become invisible, super strong and fast, it offers the gamer multiple options on how they may wish to complete their missions. You can go all stealth with the cloak mode or if you wish to go in all guns ablazing, you can take everyone out with “maximum strength” – pretty handy when you’re in a tight sport and surrounded by a bunch of Korean soldiers armed with shotguns.

Aside from the various functions of the nanosuit, you will find yourself equipped with a variety of weapons – all of which are very satisfying to use and each one complimenting the style of gameplay you may wish to adopt.

For a game that is four years old, it still looks quite remarkable. There are a few signs that highlight the games age (or if you’re a PC purist, the weaknesses of the Xbox 360). The odd bit of tearing and a few bugs, but generally the visuals are pretty solid.

The audio also adds an extra dimension to the game, with the unique sounds of the Nanosuit adding a certain sci-fi charm to the world. You can never hear the robotic words of “maximum strength on” enough in my opinion.

Sadly, the game does have a few short comings – namely the lack of multiplayer. But for £15.00, this isn’t really something to be grumbled at. The campaign itself offers enough gameplay to keep the average player entertained for quite a while and at that price, I’d sincerely recommend it.

All in all, Crysis still is an amazing game and as far as I’m concerned, this port stands up well against Crysis 2.

Maximum gameplay on.

Verdict: 9 out of 10

The good
Visually strong
Good price
Flows nicely

The bad
No multiplayer

Even though I’m a Deus Ex fanboy, even after I turned off that part of my brain and saw Deus Ex: Human Revolution as just a game – not the long-awaited sequel to my favourite game of all time – it still deserves this really, really high score.

This game is brilliant. It’s 20 hours of well-scripted, intense play, shot through with plenty of open-world gameplay, little nods to the fanbase and a wonderful re-playbility that made me want to restart the game as soon as I finished it.

It’s everything a sequel to Deus Ex should be.

Let’s start with the story: set in 2027, 25 years before the original Deus Ex, Human Revolution charts the globetrotting adventures of Adam Jenson, a security chief for a major corporation. It is a world filled with chaos and corruption as humanity stands on the fulcrum of evolution, and it’s all thanks to one thing – augmentation.

By replacing parts of your body, through injury or choice, a new genus of humans are emerging – augmented men and women who can jump higher, see further (and sometimes produce a chaingun from their arm).

With the world in a state of flux, and corporations and individuals alike seeking to exploit the brewing chaos, the player finds himself unceremoniously shoved into the midst of the action, chasing down leads from Canada to China to America, hunting in the shadows for the group who (early on) take away everything that matters to you in one fell swoop.

Finding himself augmented by fate, instead of choice, Adam has to hunt through the dark spaces of the world to discover the truth behind the chaos – and it’s up to the player as to how you do it.

While Adam has a whole suite of augmentations built into his cyborg body, the early game finds the player facing a wide choice as to how you customise the unlucky agent.

Do you give him the ability to fall from any height and not get hurt? Do you install dermal armour so you can take fire better? Do you implant a social analysing system in your eyes, allowing you to influence conversations your way? The choice is yours.

Upgrading Adam to your heart’s content is no easy thing. ‘Praxis’ points are unlocked through exploration, finishing objectives, moving the story forwards or kills – or you can buy them (at a very hefty 5,000 credits a chip). You quickly find yourself being forced to seriously consider how you use your points.

Naturally, me being the stealthy, silenced pistol-type player, I chose the stealth enhancement pack, and the ‘glass shield’ cloaking system –heavy on the batteries, but ideal for staying unnoticed.

Deciding how to tackle what’s put in front of you is the core aspect of HR, and every objective you’re tasked with can be solved in any number of ways.

Take, for example, getting into a nightclub on the Chinese island of Hengsha – a city built on top of a city.

You could chat up the bouncer and buy your way in, shoot the bouncer and blast your way in, distract the bouncer by causing an explosion nearby and sidle in – or , as I did, overhear a conversation about a guy who found an air vent round the back that leads to the gent’s loos.

It all depends on your style of play. I favoured the softly-softly approach, non-lethally incapacitating enemies for an XP boost, hacking doors and security cameras, turning roving robots and fixed turrets against the enemy and generally vanishing at the first sign of a fight.

Of course, if cornered, the weapon upgrade system would allow me to turn a revolver into an armour-piercing, explosive handcannon of death – provided I’d found or bought the weapon add-ons.

This freedom is exactly what Deus Ex is all about, and it is plain to see that the developers’ focus on the core tenets of gameplay – social, combat, hacking and stealth – allow for any number of approaches to a given situation.

The environments the game takes you to – ranging from the dirty streets of Detroit to the sterile laboratories of big corporations – allow this freedom a focus that keep you playing, and rewards exploration. Hacking computers and doors, reading stolen emails and books, rifling through filing cabinets – it all turns up loot – as well as adding more and more insight into the world of HR, and the men and women behind the events of the game.

While the story, which is brilliantly written – and wonderfully morally grey – can be followed by someone out to just shoot things, reading the information lying around, watching the Picus newsfeed and listening to conversations helps to flesh out the experience, and makes it all the more intense at the finale.

While some Deus Ex purists were annoyed by HR’s addition of a cover system – similar to Gears of War – and a regenerative health system (which you will need… trust me), I found them to be a worthy addition to the game, making combat all the more fun, as you roll from cover to cover, blind-firing and ducking bullets.

Though the gunplay is pretty solid, the close combat is a little bit of a bugbear. Unlike the previous game, taking down an opponent is less about hitting them on the back of the neck with a club, and all about the animation.

Every time you take someone out close up – be it lethally, with the blades built into Adam’s arms, or non-lethally – the game plays an animation. Granted, these are cool, but the fact that this is the only way to take someone out hand-to-hand – and that it takes one of your batteries to do it – got on my wick somewhat, especially as only one of the batteries ever recharges all the way – the rest you need to top up with special energy bars, which are often few and far between.

While this forces you to play conservatively, using your head rather than your fists, it does annoy you somewhat – especially given how eagle-eyed and clever the bad guys are this time around.

Aside from this minor bugbear, the game’s presentation is excellent. Set in a post-modern, renaissance world of big coats and long dresses, the game is shot in a film-noir style, but with a yellow/orange tint to the environments, giving everything a slightly washed-out hue.

While not as sharp as some of the new-release games out there, HR more than manages to present its world in clear, exciting designs.

The score is also excellent, mixing orchestral strings with techno beats perfectly, and underscores the dramatic moments with the kind of music that sticks in your mind for days afterwards.

In a word, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is excellent, and I mean really excellent. Despite the couple of minor bugbears that niggled me somewhat, I found this long-awaited prequel to be a fantastic return to the tortured world of Deus Ex’s murky shenanigans, as well as a damn good game in its own right. From the start, the game immerses you in the gritty action and endless grey morals of a world on the fulcrum of change, and tasks the player with figuring out what’s right, and what’s wrong. In the words of Adam Jensen: “If you want to make enemies, try to change something.”

Score: 9/10

Good Stuff:
Excellent plot, 20+ hours of play
Brilliantly realised moral and multiple-choice career path
Plenty to see and do, loads of side missions

Not so good stuff:
Animations for close combat get old
Long load times