New Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 developer diary unveils the game’s city and surrounds

Once a vampire sinks its fangs into you, it never lets go, so somewhat fittingly, ahead of its release in a short month’s time, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is once again greedily demanding our, and your, attention. For the third week in a row, the developers have released yet another piece of media making the case for its forthcoming game.

This time, it’s the latest developer diary, and the good news is that the latest peak into Dracula’s world doesn’t suck. We are given a look at the surrounds in which Dracula emerges, but rather than a medieval setting, this is a modern city that has built up around Dracula’s castle.

That being said, the developers point out that the locale won’t resemble Times Square in New York, but more fittingly, a Gothic city, and comparable to a current European city which blends the old with the new. The developers briefly teased that players will acquire an item in the game that allows them to alternate between exploring the castle and venturing into the Gothic-inspired city surrounds.

What should be interesting is how the player’s cross and whip fare against modern days guns and armaments, although we suspect the local populace have more to fear from Dracula than he does from them. That being said, Dracula will have his hands full with an array of formidable foes, and apparently this time around Satan is even more fearsome than before and has evolved in his own way. Hit the video below for the full scoop.

Injustice: Gods Among Us celebrates billionth play session

Want to know how popular the Injustice: Gods Among Us franchise is? Well, consider this, the mobile version of the game has had a billion play sessions since its launch nine months ago. Not bad for a freemium title.

In celebration, Warner Bros has announced that players who engage with the DC Comics superheroes and supervillians will receive 30 000 power credits if they play the title from today and during the course of the weekend. The game, which combines a trading card and swipe-to strike combat mechanism on the iOS and Android platforms, includes a healthy roster of DC heroes and villains to battle with.

In its favour, it’s free, and for those who haven’t downloaded and played it yet, and who eschew in app purchases like the plague, the power credits can certainly help unlock more in-game characters to fight with.

Skyrim’s 20 million sales bodes well for The Elder Scrolls Online

Also racking up the sales is another higher popular title, this time Bethesda’s sprawling RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This week, the company reported that its magnum opus has racked up an equally broad sales of 20 million copies since its launch in 2011.

This bodes particularly well for the company’s next ambitious project The Elder Scrolls Online, which will be set in Tamriel and allow players to explore their world solo, with friends or with large groups. It is slated for release a little later this year on the PS4, Xbox One, PC and Mac.

In case you needed a reason to ramp up your excitement for The Elder Scrolls Online, or perhaps revisit Skyrim this weekend, then steel yourself and cast your eyes on the glorious eight minute launch trailer of The Elder Scrolls Online below.

Microsoft declares all out War

Just when we were wondering what ace Microsoft planned to pull out of its sleeve with regards to Xbox exclusives, comes the announcement that the company has snapped up the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games.

This acquisition of the IP (for an undisclosed sum) includes the rights to “all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise.”

Apparently, the move is part of Microsoft’s desire to keep the lucrative Gears of War franchise alive on its own terms, and obviously exclusive to its own consoles. Not surprisingly, there apparently is another Gears of War title being planned (our bet is on it being for the Xbox One), but this has been tasked to the relatively unknown Black Tusk Studios. However, Epic Games confirmed that it will continue supporting Microsoft and the Xbox One by licensing their Unreal Engine 4 to the company.

Not surprisingly, we can expect more announcements with regards to the future of Gears of War later this year. Watch this space. In the meantime, you can reminisce about Gears of War 3 in the trailer below.

In Call of Duty, Ghosts will soon be even more haunted by aliens

What looks like quite possibly one of the most exciting additions to the Call of Duty: Ghosts title is Nightfall, the first in a four part narrative episodic arc in the Extinction game mode. Nightfall, which is part of the first piece of DLC for Ghosts, tasks players with retrieving intelligence from a remote facility in Alaska.

As the trailer below shows, the DLC looks like a bit of a mash-up between familiar COD gameplay, The Thing and some kind of alien that wouldn’t be out of place in Gears of War or Resistance.   

Since alien threats and remote military bases go together like peanut butter and chocolate, Nightfall will see players beset by an alien menace which seems to have both agility and speed on its side. Take a look at the trailer below and see if you will be adding this DLC, now available for R140 on the Xbox 360, to your must play list.

Nine minutes of Dark Souls 2 torment for your pleasure

Finally, for all those sadists, we mean hard core gamers amongst us, here is a good nine minutes of Dark Souls 2 gameplay to tease you with the question: are you brave enough to test your mettle (and your metal as well) come this March? As you will no doubt see in the trailer below, the game intends to hand you your rear end frequently, so best you be prepared to die. Often.