Wei Shen has been through so much since the “Sleeping Dogs” main story ended. Wei has battled the undead in order to save his girlfriend in the Nightmare in North Point downloadable content (DLC) and has been in a major martial arts tournament in the Zodiac Tournament DLC but the player has never really seen Wei Shen take responsibility for his undercover exploits, until now.

In the latest DLC, The Year of the Snake, Shen’s bosses are very upset at all the property damage and casualties that were caused during his time working undercover and demote him to a regular officer. Here, Shen must follow orders, help citizens and even give out traffic tickets. While amusing to see Shen’s aggravation at being demoted, is the DLC worth the money and more importantly the time?

The Year of the Snake is the first of the DLC packs to actually promise to follow Wei Shen after the initial story, unlike Nightmare in North Point which could have easily taken place in the middle of the main story. This story begins before the Chinese New Year and Shen has been called to investigate some strange happenings going on around Hong Kong. Several bombings have been taking place and it is up to Shen to find out who is behind it and why, before the New Year.

The Year of the Snake contains roughly six missions along with new collectibles, trophies/achievements and weapons. For each mission accomplished, the clothes, weapons or vehicles that are unlocked may be used within the main story. As Wei Shen must settle down as a regular cop, so too must the player. You cannot simply beat down assailants as an officer, but you can tase them or beat them with a baton before arresting them. Moreover, if a riot starts Wei Shen can tear gas the entire crowd to gain back control. These weapons provide a new experience to an already great game.

Despite becoming an officer in Hong Kong and having the ability to tase criminals, there really is not much else to this DLC. Seeing Wei Shen punished for his handling of his undercover work was satisfying but that is all there is to it. As a final ending for the “Sleeping Dogs” main story, it is lacking but then again the main story’s ending was very anticlimactic as well, so you get what you pay for. There aren’t any twist ending or surprises, just Wei Shen dealing with being demoted.

Rating – 4/5: The Year of the Snake is a short but sweet DLC which provides a realistic consequence for Shen’s actions during the main story and gives the player a new angle to play from after tormenting Hong Kong as a gangster. This DLC is worth the money for the liberties one can take as a cop, however in the end, you will want to go back to being undercover because being a member of the Triad is still much more fun. The Year of the Snake is available for the PlayStation 3 ($6.99 USD), Xbox 360 (560 Microsoft Points) and Steam ($6.99 USD).

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Naughty Dog, the studio that brought us popular franchises such as Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and more recently, Uncharted, promises to give gamers an innovative survival action horror title that will have gamers at the edge of their seats. “The Last of Us” revolves around black market smuggler Joel, who is asked by his partner to smuggle a girl, Ellie, from out of a city under military rule.  This proves to be no easy task, with the world infected with a fungus which renders humans to a zombie-like state.

From viewing the very first gameplay trailer in 2011, “The Last of Us” definitely brings tension and tough decisions to the forefront.  Joel is tasked with protecting Ellie, but this does not mean she is a useless non-player character. If the player takes cover, she will do so as well. If she hears enemies near, she will alert Joel. She picks up her own weapons and uses them to assist Joel.

The choice of how to dispatch of enemies is completely up to the player. Straight forward methods such as using a gun are an option… until the player runs out of ammo.  If the enemy hears your gun click it will know you are out of ammo and advance upon you. Other ways to kill include Molotov cocktails, stolen weapons, and performing choke holds on unsuspecting enemies.  A highlight of dealing with enemies is being able to use the environment as a weapon, and being able to create your own weapons with items scavenged from the environment. The player can bash a thug’s head into a table or wall if they so choose.  However, these choices will factor in later in the game for the player.

The environment in “The Last of Us” is surreal, as it is very clear that the earth is reclaiming the environment. The characters slug through stagnant water, as vegetation covers everything.  Throughout the first trailer the monsters are strategically absent, but this does not take away from the preview of the game.  The environment and human enemies give off more than enough tension and intrigue to keep the audience engaged.  For example, sounds from footsteps, floors creaking, and wind blowing through empty buildings give off a feeling of isolation as Joel and Ellie traverse the city, attempting to escape. However, one little noise can disrupt the silence and put the player immediately on high alert.

The second trailer is a “story trailer,” which gives more insight into the dilemma of smuggling Ellie out of the city.  The tension of the game is amplified by the reveal of the “zombie-esque” monster designs.  They appear extremely grotesque as well as formidable, and are seen lunging at Joel and Ellie in the trailer. The designs for the creatures are a welcome breath of fresh air, as they do not look or feel like your typical zombie-like creatures.  Their visage is obscured with oozing fungi that really do look infectious to the touch. The audience is also given more of a look at the military rule of the city, with constant soldier vigilance, and civilians being arrested.  In addition, the relationship between Joel and Ellie is also being put to the test, as the stress from trying to escape both infected and non-infected humans is evident.

“The Last of Us” is very much anticipated and as such, gamers were disconcerted to hear that Naughty Dog is planning for the game to have a multiplayer component.  As of now they are still very tight lipped about it, but believe it will not compromise the single player experience.

“The Last of Us” is a PlayStation exclusive set to be released on May 7, 2013.  For pre-ordering with Amazon.com, gamers will receive “a digital download of the game soundtrack, featuring original music by Academy Award winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla, a PS3 dynamic theme showing Joel and Ellie on their journey through a ravaged city and two exclusive PlayStation Network avatars featuring Joel and Ellie in winter survival gear.”  For gamers that pre-order with GameStop will receive the same bonuses as Amazon as well as a “survival pack” for the game’s multiplayer mode.

Two special editions were announced on January 22, 2013 on the PlayStation Blog.  The “Survival Edition” will cost $79.99 (USD) while the “Post-Pandemic Edition” will cost $159.99 (USD) and come with everything from the “Survival Edition” to a twelve-inch figurine of Joel and Ellie, but does not include the art book. The “Post-Pandemic Edition” will only be available from GameStop. Collectors will have a difficult choice to make between the art book and the figurine. On the bright side, the art book will be available for purchase in July.

Image Courtesy : Polygon

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A new rumor that sprung up late last week says that the new Playstation console, reportedly called “Orbis,” may include software preventing gamers from playing used titles or require them to pay a fee to do so by limiting the number of times the game can be installed on a console. Some PC games developers are already doing this in the form of activation limits. If the rumor turns out to be true, protests look to be on the horizon, but gamers will not be alone in these complaints.

GameStop, one of the leading video game store chains, generates 42% of its profit from selling used games. If the company does put a stop to this flow of cash and alienate gamers, Sony will likely be hurting only themselves.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, “It isn’t really in Sony’s or Microsoft’s best interests to block used games. It would benefit Activision and EA slightly, and would hurt GameStop a great deal. If Sony unilaterally did this, I could see GameStop refusing to carry their console, and sales of the PS4 would therefore suffer.”

Although the Orbis would still be readily available, the percentage of people who shop at GameStop is too high of a number to ignore. Many would likely switch to Microsoft or Nintendo consoles for the sake of convenience, especially considering the number of multi-platform games released in recent years.

David Cole of DFC Intelligence, a strategic market research and consulting firm focused on video games, remarked, “A system that tried to stop used game sales would probably turn off the core consumers that rush to trade in their old product to buy new product. In other words, I don’t think it would do so well in the core market.”

Many gamers are already showing disgust over game developers adding downloadable content (DLC) purchasable online for a fee as opposed to including the content in the game free of extra cost. Blocking used games would further enrage them. Even fans that have been with the company since Playstation’s original release could refuse to purchase the Orbis over the matter, regardless of the quality of games on the console.

“Customers would rebel. Until there’s the equivalent of a great ‘used’ digital console game trade-in program up and running, gamers will continue to like the ability to trade in discs and basically get discounts on other games,” Cole commented.

Pachter said he does not think Sony will actually go through with the plan. “If one does it and the others don’t, the one who does it will see a loss of market share,” he said. He also remarked that he thought none of the big three console makers “are stupid enough to do this unilaterally” and none of them “are evil enough to do it together.”

Although it is still too early to see if these rumors will amount to something, one thing is certain: if Sony actually does incorporate this feature into Orbis, they’ll be doing massive damage to themselves.

Image Courtesy of   nic0

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