NOW CLOSED – You can’t get any more epic than Sony PlayStation’s exclusive Uncharted series.

Beginning with the adventures of Nathan Drake and his accomplices, enemies and more there is no denying that Naughty Dog’s cinema-like narrative within each and every chapter has compelled gamers to play on over two generations of consoles.

Now The Lost Legacy has recently released. Taking on the story arc of one of the characters that we met throughout the series; Chloe Frazer. Proving to be just as epic and challenging as the Drake series. We Uncharted gamers are opened up to a whole new story, a whole new chapter and of course a whole new adventure.

Thanks to our mates at Sony PlayStation NZ and to celebrate the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, STG has the ULTIMATE Uncharted Prize Pack up for grabs. The Uncharted Prize Pack includes everything you could ever imagine and ever want from the entire Uncharted series:

• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Standard Edition PS4 Game
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Chloe Frazer Sackboy Keyring
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Nadine Ross Sackboy Keyring
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Tote Bag
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Standard Edition PS4 Game
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Nathan Drake Sackboy Keyring
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Travel Journal
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Pin Badge, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Patches
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Standard Edition PS4 Game
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Travel Wallet
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Stickers
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Pin Badge
• Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Ring

* Winner(s) will be randomly selected from those that Comment below / Facebook Comment / Email in accordance to the above Question. Winner(s) will receive a Ultimate Uncharted Prize Pack consisting of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Standard Edition PS4 Game, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Chloe Frazer Sackboy Keyring, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Nadine Ross Sackboy Keyring, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy Tote Bag, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Standard Edition PS4 Game,   Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Nathan Drake Sackboy Keyring, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Travel Journal, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Pin Badge, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Patches, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Standard Edition PS4 Game, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Travel Wallet, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Stickers, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Pin Badge, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Ring. Competition ends on the 25th of September 2017. The Uncharted Games Series has a R13+ and R16+ Age Rating in New Zealand. You must be over 16 Years of Age to Enter this Giveaway. We may ask for Proof of Age. Only open to New Zealand entrants.

The post Enter to Win the ULTIMATE Uncharted Prize Pack! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy started out as a single-player DLC pack for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. During development, however, the DLC morphed into its own standalone game.

The decision to continue the Uncharted series focusing on the franchises supporting characters is an interesting idea, and one that could pay dividends. It’s a credit to the strength of the brand and the bold creativity of the developers that they could retire the former lead, Nathan Drake, and continue with a new protagonist in Drake’s ex, Chloe Frazer.

The prologue sequence, which introduces the partnership of Chloe and former mercenary boss, Nadine Ross, is straight out of the Uncharted playbook. With a fairly obvious route, you need to navigate through a war-torn city, stealthily taking out soldiers in your way. When you met up with Nadine, all hell breaks loose allowing players to experience some of those fabulous Uncharted set-pieces as they high-tail it to safety whilst pursued by angry gunmen.

Instead of globe-hopping like in previous Uncharted games, The Lost Legacy, for the most part, focuses on one location, in a similar fashion to the last two Tomb Raider games. The adventure takes the unlikely partners from the streets into the Indian mountains.

The pair are after the tusk of the elephant-headed Hindu god, Ganesh. The game reveals Chloe Frazer’s Indian heritage, which seems like a narratively convenient retcon, this not having been mentioned before this game. It does serve to explain Chloe’s intimate knowledge of Hindu mythology and give the tale a more personal angle.

Players concerned that the female duo may lack the wisecracks of Nathan Drake will be pleased to know that the banter between Chloe and Nadine is just as entertaining. The incidental dialogue is very well written. Chloe and Nadine’s very different relationships with the Drake brothers causes some friction. Nadine blames the Drakes for the loss of her military contracting business, Shoreline.

The gameplay is similar to Uncharted 4, but adapted to suit the new protagonist. Chloe’s fighting style is different to Drake’s being lest brute force and more athletic. Chloe also relies a lot more on stealth- even getting a silenced pistol. Enemy weapons caches are opened via a new lock-pick mechanic, adding a bit of suspense as you hurriedly try to unlock a container before being spotted by the enemy.

This being my fifth Uncharted game, and having played through the others (unusually for me) multiple times, I’m a little over-familiar with the series’ puzzle conceits to the point that they never really gave me much of a challenge. The puzzles are ingenious, though, some being huge feats of engineering.

The game’s pacing is spot on. The mix of exploration/climbing, puzzles and combat is balanced to perfection, keeping the gameplay fresh and flowing. Not once did I feel fatigued. I could have played the game none stop for its ten-odd hours.

The game features a large section set in a huge open area. Players are able to explore the various structures by driving around in a jeep. The area is absolutely spectacular and an interesting departure from the usual, tight, linier gameplay that is the series’ hallmark.

As well as the main objective, an optional task in the open area grants Chloe a bracelet that help you to location the many treasures scattered about the game. As in previous games, each treasure is meticulously modelled and beautiful to look at. The more treasures you collect the more credits you get to spend on the unlockable extras, such as news character skins, concept art, weapons and rendering effects.

Visually, The Lost Legacy is superb. The lighting, the textures and the Level design are just as you’d expect from an Uncharted game. The scale of the environments is breathtaking. There’s some huge structures to traverse, and they all look practically photo-real. If I had to pick holes, I don’t like Chloe’s stooped resting pose. I wish she stood up straight when standing still. It looks odd in my otherwise beautiful photo mode snaps.

The game comes complete with the multiplayer mode from Uncharted 4. This offers players both the traditional multiplayer modes and the wave-based co-op Survival mode, as well as the single-player practice Trials challenges.

Whilst Uncharted: The Lost Legacy may have started out as an expansion of Uncharted 4, it is so much more. In fact, were Naughty Dog to put a “5” in the title, I’d have been fine with it. The game doesn’t miss a beat in delivering everything that you’d expect from an Uncharted game.

The post Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PlayStation 4) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The first official day of E3 saw us spend the majority of our time at the main Expo Hall, situated at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, where most of the hands-on sessions, meetings and interviews with video game developers and publishers were being held.

We had the opportunity to get a one on one look as well as some hands-on time with upcoming games such as Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Strange Brigade, Rogue Trooper: Redux, Project Cars 2, Dragonball Z Fighter and Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom.

Our Uncharted: The Lost Legacy session was more of a guided hands-on or more of a private showing of the initial chapter of the game. We met the game’s writer, Josh Scherr, who walked us through the game and provided us with some little insights into the history of the title.

Uncharted – The Lost Legacy

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy follows Chloe Frazer, the secondary character in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Nadine Ross, as they travel through the south-west of India.

With such a setting, the game’s story stems from Hinduism and the old Indian culture, many aspects of which are still prevalent today. In order to ensure content was as accurate as possible and respectable to the culture and religion, Naughty Dog consulted with a religious expert at a University.

The graphics are certainly the standout aspect of the game, with crisp visuals and an entirely realistic character design. From what we were shown, the game appears to handle really well and is smooth, much like many of the other Uncharted games.

One of the best aspects of the game is currently the way in which Chloe is portrayed.  Her character does handle action superbly, is able to hold her own as well as Nathan Drake could, and it’s nice to see a strong, female character take the lead. Uncharted: The Lost  Legacy  is scheduled to release August the 22nd this year.

Strange Brigade – Rebellion Games

Our next hands on experience was with UK studio, Rebellion Games, who are known for the Sniper Elite games. The studio’s presence at E3 was to show off two very fun and addictive, yet very different titles, Strange Brigade, a third person, co-op multiplayer, adventure-shooter, and Rogue Trooper: Redux, a remastered version of the old school Rogue Trooper game, which is based off the 2000 AD comics of the same name.

Strange Brigade was very much like an Indiana Jones game with hordes of zombie enemies, which are made up mostly of Egyptian mummies. The 1940’s style narration is refreshing and adds character as well as unique personality to the game. The gameplay feels similar to the Zombie Mode in the Call of Duty Black Ops series, with waves of enemies attacking at every turn. With four characters to select from, there is variety in gameplay as each character possesses their own unique abilities and base load outs. The game plays well and appears to be one that could provide hours of endless fun, however the controls do take some getting used to if playing for the first time. Regardless, fans of shooters and adventure games will definitely enjoy Strange Brigade, which currently does not have a release date set.

Rogue Trooper: Redux

The second game, Rogue Trooper: Redux, was a rather interesting one. A remaster of the original 2006 single-player, third person shooter, the game follows the genetically engineered super soldier, Rogue, and his sentinel helmet, backpack and rifle. As one of the last of his squadron to remain alive, Rogue battles enemies with the help of his talking equipment. The concept is certainly intriguing and one which fans of the original game will enjoy. Rogue Trooper: Redux will be available across multiple platforms, including the Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PC, to allow for a broad range of gamers to enjoy the game.

After three very solid games, we were thrilled to have gotten a chance to take a look at the upcoming Bandai Namco titles, Project Cars 2, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and Dragonball Z Fighter.

Project Cars 2

Project Cars 2, the second iteration of the popular racing title, is set to release on 22 September. Project Cars boasts the largest track roster of any console racing game and was one of the first to include dynamic weather. Project Cars 2 includes cars from every iconic brand, which can be played right from the get go, without the need to grind for cash or to unlock cars. It also now includes seasonal changes as well as improved localised weather.

The overall highlight of Project Cars 2 is its focus on providing absolute realism, with extremely realistic tracks, multi-class racing, which allows both fast and slower cars to race at the same time, having a real driver’s career and providing an experience across the full spectrum of car racing.

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is an interesting title. Based on the similar art style of Studio Ghibli animation, the game tells the tale of a young King who doesn’t quite know how to be a leader. With a coup on the horizon, the King must work together with those around him to gain experience to crush the coup and lead his people. The major difference in this game compared to the previous iteration is that it now includes a new kingdom mode and includes real time combat as opposed to the traditional turn based style.

Dragonball Z Fighter was the big surprise of the year from Bandai Namco, and one that’s been extremely well received. The game illustrates the perfect fusion between the Dragoball universe and Arc System Works and proof of this is in the graphical quality of the game, with the extreme animation used. The game looks great and runs like a charm at 1080p and at a constant 60fps. One of the great aspects of this new fighting game, which includes 3 v 3 gameplay, is that each character is unique and has their own move and skills set.

With most of the titles we experienced releasing in 2017 and 2018 we are not only intrigued to see their development up until their respective release dates but also looking forward to playing them on our PlayStation 4’s, Xbox Ones and PC!

The post E3 Day One Experience appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Naughty Dog has been hard at work since revealing Uncharted: The Lost Legacy at PSX some months back, building a story and an experience that joins a new protagonist, fan favorite Chloe Frazer, with all of the hallmarks of an Uncharted adventure.

Today, PlayStation have officially announced to us at StG the release date for the PlayStation 4 exclusive title and also shared new footage and additional details about the game we are all eagerly waiting for. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy will launch from the 23rd August. Fans will be able to purchase Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for $69.95 RRP.

Initiall announced in December 2016 developers, Naughty Dog stated that they were approaching this project as a true Uncharted game – complete with its own deep narrative with complex character development, all-new destinations, refined gameplay, and blockbuster cinematic moments.

Naughty Dog have said “we’re especially excited to have Chloe as our new protagonist and explore more of her story as she and Nadine venture across India in search of the fabled Tusk of Ganesh. To that end, we wanted to share a new scene from early on in the game as Chloe and Nadine try to unravel the clues leading to the Tusk’s location”.

On another Naughty Dog note, rumours have been circling that all four of the original Jak and Daxter PS2 classics are coming to the PS4 via PS Store later this year. As beloved games in Naughty Dog history, the release of all four titles will coincide with the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

PlayStation gamers that pre-order Uncharted: The Lost Legacy at participating retailers will receive a free digital code to download Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy on The Lost Legacy’s release. For those who pre-order on PS Store, you’ll also get an Uncharted: The Lost Legacy PS4 theme designed by Truant Pixel.

If you picked up the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End Digital Deluxe Edition, Explorer’s Pack, or the Triple Pack, you’ll get Uncharted: The Lost Legacy as a free digital download at launch. Owners of these products are not eligible for any pre-order bonuses.

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