The game puts you into the helmet of Sergeant Matt Baker as he not only commands his squads through Operation Market Garden but also deals with some mental issues of his own.To be honest the game seems to be a semi rip-off of the Band of Brothers TV series.... The beginning of the story plays out in a way that reminds me heavily of some of the elements used in the "Lost" TV show and then pulls you back a few days, so that you have to play back up to that point.... One of the cutscenes went on for quite a while and by the time I would usually start itching to skip, I found myself sitting back and watching as if it was a TV show. I was pleasantly surprised to also find that the game was significantly longer than I had originally though and actually had me thinking the game was about to end on a number of occasions, only to have the plot thicken and the next mission begin. The entire campaign should take you around 10 hours to complete, depending on how you approach the missions but a second play through is definitely not out of the question considering that you can approach missions differently.... When it comes to the gameplay visuals however, you will find that there will be times when the game looks fantastic and then 10 minutes later you will be running around in a really bland area.... Basically, it is a camera that zooms in and slows the action down to show off the games realistic gore system, which often has grenades blowing limbs off of soldiers, if not tearing them completely in half. This concerned me when I first saw the videos but was pleasantly surprised to see that it only happens rarely, keeping it fun and allowing you to appreciate it, rather than abusing it to give the game an unnecessary action feel.... This does change the game significantly and be warned, if you are one of those hardcore players that likes to run in and jump like a bunny while simultaneously getting three headshots on three noobs, then this game is not for you.... By pulling your left trigger down you are able to tell the selected squad (such as the MG team) to set up in a certain spot and then by using the left trigger again and pointing at a group of enemies, you can order them to use suppressing fire so that you can get up to some flanking mischief.... All of this is done from your characters perspective and while you can also check the lay of the land in your menu, the fact that it relies on your own field of view means that it gets you very involved in the process and ultimately adds to the experience.... Everytime I ordered them to go upstairs, instead of doing the logical thing and walking up the stairs, they decided to do an entire lap of the building the other way, which just happened to be the side that all the Germans were firing from.... When playing with your friends, be sure to not throw grenades at them As far as controls are concerned, they took quite a bit getting used to and are fairly different to the control schemes found in most other shooters.... You can sit back on your coach while your squads are in cover and take some time to scan the battlefield, look for places to flank or a piece of cover to setup your MG42 and then when you are ready, rain hell down upon your enemies.... Gameplay: 8/10 [A great mix of action and strategy] Presentation: 8/10 [ It has it's ups and downs but still good looking overall] Sound: 7.5/10 [ Corrian, lay down suppressing fire!]

That's right, they are all DLC that should have been free. Ever since Soul Calibur IV was released with it's exclusive Star Wars characters (Vader for PS3 and Yoda for Xbox 360) there have been rumours that they would become available on the other systems as DLC. Those rumours have finally been put to rest now that it has been announced that the characters will be made available, for a price, of course. You will be looking at 400 MS points on Live and around a R45 on PSN. Considering that most fans of the Soul Calibur franchise think that the Star Wars characters are abominations and an insult to the game, I can't say that I think that they will be pleased to be spending extra money to get one extra out-of-place character. As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of Star Wars. Not only that but SCIV is the first fighting game that I have enjoyed in ages, especially with it's online multiplayer. So I am a perfect gamer to target for this DLC and you know what? I can't be bothered.

This week we have been reporting on some of the new additions and features that are being added with the PS3 firmware version 2.50. The good news is that the Firmware update has officially gone live. That's right, you can go and get it right now, if you haven't done so already. Along with the ability to take screenshots in compatible games, we also know that support for Flash 9 has been added. So if you don't have it, go get it now!

Along with various other additions and improvements, Sony have announced that the new 2.50 Firmware for the Playstation 3 is going to add support for Flash 9. Welcome to a world of Youtube, Flash games and tons of annoying adverts! But seriously, this is going to be a fantastic addition, especially with the fact that Sony has now officially launched a YouTube channel specifically for the PS3. A list of additional improvements, after the jump. * Pads and the PS3 itself now have tweakable power-save settings for turning off after a period of inactivity. * You can tell the PS3 to power down once it's finished downloading or installing content. * In-game screenshots can be taken in compatible games. * It enables high-quality mode for the official PS3 Bluetooth headset. * The Trophy interface has been improved, so you can see you and your friends' progress more easily. * Friends now have their last login time listed. * Videos now have a scene search feature. * There's a button on the PlayStation Store frontpage for redeeming codes.

A post on the European Playstation Community forum announced that PSN will have downtime today (14 October 2008) until the early hours of tomorrow morning. All Playstation 3 owners, please be advised that the network will be down between the hours of 21:00 on the 14th until 02:00 on the 15th. Due to the post being translated using a browser translator, I am not entirely sure what they mean by this but it looks as though you will be able to stay connected to PSN but will not be able to connect to it if you were not already signed in. The translation states that: "During this maintenance you can not connect to PLAYSTATION network. If you are connected before you should be able to play online without problem." So if the translation is correct, it means that as long as you are already connected, then you shouldn't have any issues playing for the rest of the night. You had better just pray that Telkom doesn't let you down.

Now I don't know about you, but I don't really mind exclusive DLC for multi-platform titles, it makes perfect business sense.... They are actually going to be giving a considerable advantage to PS3 owners. When I read the news about the DLC and what it will offer, I quickly realised that not many people have actually figured out what the heck is actually going on here.... TalkPlaystation.com reports that: (check out the part that I put in bold) "You’ll be getting an Obsidian Rig which will be available from the Playstation store once you log in the game. The main character will get a suit that has Playstation 3 themed colours (Black, red, blue and a little bit of yellow), increased toughness and more inventory slots."... PS3 owners are going to have a tougher suit and more inventory slots? While you may not think that this is such a big deal, I really think that this is pushing things a little. It's saying, "Here consumers, buy this game on our platform, you will be stronger and better if you play it on our system instead of the oppositions". They have taken the fun factor out of their plan and just gone straight for the profit factor. TalkPlaystation then go on to say that: "You can get this item for free from October 24 till November 7.... This is an obvious attempt to get people to buy the game at launch, which I don't really mind but the fact that it will become a purchasable item after a while makes me think back to the horse armour in Oblivion. I love DLC, I think that it is a great step forward for gaming. However, it is supposed to add value to games, extra levels, more fun or an extended experience with a game that you love.... It makes it clear that the people pushing this idea are just in it to score some extra money from an already expensive piece of software. An exclusive suit or outfit sounds awesome, the fact that it is going to change the gaming experience for the two different console owners, does not.

Another shot to the groin for Guitar Hero fans in the ongoing DLC battle has just been announced. MTV and Harmonix have signed an exclusive collection of live AC/DC tracks for Rock Band. There’s 18 tracks to be exact, due for early December and totaling around 99 minutes of gameplay for each instrument. The only problem is the hefty asking …

Well here’s an interesting title entering the exclusivity wars, Zen studios announced earlier via the Playstaion blog that they were super excited to be able to bring the punisher to PSN. Here’s what they had to say. Last Updated: September 24, 2008