Multi-path, multi-solution; chances are if you’ve read, heard, or watched an interview with a member of the dev team these words appeared. This isn’t marketing speak, nor are we incessantly reciting this “password” to try and unlock some deep-seated mental programming placed by the illuminati (or are we?). This type of play is as integral to the Deus Ex experience as conspiracies or transhumanism, or even wearing sunglasses at night (kidding about that last one, kind of…).

In the spirit of this foundational element we’ve released a new gameplay trailer highlighting three different ways to tackle one scenario: aggressive, stealth, and adaptive.

When you can finally play on August 26th, what will you choose?

If you enjoy seeing this style of video, please check out a similar one we recently released where narrative designer Mary DeMarle takes viewers through a portion of the game, highlighting the multi-path, multi-solution gameplay that is so important to the series.

As always, if you’re an information hound like me, I invite you to follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and/or participate in the various discussions on our message board. Thank you for your support, and be sure to comment below. I’ll be responding to the chatter throughout the day.

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The top ten trending phrases on twitter are an unpredictable mix of useless celebrities, #memes and eyewitness reports of breaking news, usually before it has been reported by traditional press outlets. Last month, the phrase ‘Dead Island‘ appeared and a click revealed it to be a game, and not a newly announced game, but one revealed some years ago and largely forgotten about. One stylish trailer later and it was one of the phrases on the tip of everyone’s Twit-tongue.

“The trailer we released was mostly a blessing,” says Vincent Kummer, Dead Island’s brand manager at Deep Silver, “because when you put something out there you don’t expect to generate that much interest in the game, especially not for free. However, we are cautious that people might be expecting things from the game, based on that trailer, that simply aren’t there. We’re aiming to make it very clear, early on, what the game is actually about.”

…which is why they’ve invited me to a warehouse in East London to crawl through underground passages, check out the game and eat pizza in a deckchair. Dead Island is a first-person action RPG set on a tropical holiday island during the zombie apocalypse. There’s a heavy reliance on melee combat using items found lying around and you can combine and upgrade weapons at workbenches. We’re told that guns will feature later on in the game.

There’s also four-player ‘drop in and drop out’ co-op, with different character classes to choose from. One of these is ‘The Tank’, and this is the class demonstrated in our playthrough as we were introduced to Sam B, a rapper who wakes up after a night’s partying and discovers the undead epidemic first-hand.

“We have a mixture of gritty, emotional storytelling and over the top characters such as Sam B. He’s the one with the cheesy one-liners to the game but the others are far more serious,” explains Vincent. “You begin the game not knowing anything and you’re going to spend the first two hours figuring that out as people discover that you are immune to being turned into a zombie.”

Unlike other zombie games, and there have been many, what we have seen of Dead Island thus far has been set in bright sunlight. This makes me wonder what their approach to fear is.

“Our approach to fear is to have the player constantly worried for their life and that desperation that comes from having to survive using whatever you manage to pick up.”

“We’re saying that our environment is a paradise to die for and we’re building a full tropical island. It all starts at the beach hotel but you’re going to see jungle, city and some surprise locations that you won’t be expecting. There are also outdoor and indoor locations that are totally different and we manipulate the weather in certain ways to add a new level of fear.”

In the good old days, games used to take the time to explain how their zombies come into existence, like Resident Evil and the T-Virus; but, given that they are so ubiquitous these days, hardly anyone seems to bother. I finished by asking Victor how Dead Island’s neck-munchers came to be.

“Zombies are obviously a part of our story and there is of course going to be background to that – it’s not like they’re just going to fall from the heavens. There are so many zombies out there in different media and different ways to use zombies as a metaphor for some failing of human beings. I’ve always liked to think of them as humans reverted to their basic primal instincts, with no good left in there at all.”

I’ll be keeping an eye on Dead Island and will be inviting the developer, Techland, to come on the blog to talk about the four-player co-op, so look out for that.

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I’m Joey Payne, you may remember me from such blog post’s as “Everybody’s Tennis – The Helghast are coming!” and “WipEout HD Fury Coming to Blu-ray“.

Now I’m here to tell you about Q Music Unlimited and what it can do for you.

Firstly, I’m pretty sure nearly everyone reading this article has a PlayStation Network ID, right (what self respecting gamer doesn’t)?

Well, if you already have one then you are one step closer to discovering all the fantastic features Q Music Unlimited has to offer.

So lets get started, you want music? You got it! Over Seven million tracks are live on the service right now from Major Labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music group and EMI; plus, and this is the cool bit, you can access these from a whole host of Internet enabled Sony devices (including PS3) as well as any PC connected to the net, anytime, anywhere.

Awesome, right?

You can create your own playlists from the tracks available too, so personalising your listening experience is easy.

Also, using Sensme, Music Unlimited can select tracks based on your mood. Didn’t get that promotion at work? Rock out to some Thrash Metal! Spending an evening with that someone special? Mellow out with some smooth R&B.

Like Latin or Jazz? There’s a channel for that! Genre channels contain the best of a genre, selected to give you a great listening experience

Charts are also a feature of Q Music Unlimited with top 100 Global artists, Top Dance Artists and country specific charts to name but a few.

You can even sync your existing music library with Q Music Unlimited, so you can have access to your own tracks wherever you go on your Sony network connected device.

And another thing, Q Music Unlimited does not have interruptions or advertisements that can spoil your listening experience.

If you activate your Music Unlimited account now, you will get a Free, (yes free!) 30 day trial of the Premium service, and be able to experience everything Music Unlimited has to offer.

Plus, we are offering you the chance to attend an exclusive secret gig in London, featuring some top artists, cool DJ’s and a hands-on chance with all the available interfaces, just head to the competition page to be in with a chance, good luck !

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“The first time we saw him we thought, ‘Oh my God, what a great Mortal Kombat character he would make.’”

Ed Boon is very excited. The Mortal Kombat creative director and co-creator can finally spill his guts regarding one of the most anticipated video-game crossovers of all time: Kratos’ exclusive guest appearance in the PS3 version of Mortal Kombat. “We kind of felt it was meant to happen,” he says. “We think we’ve done Kratos justice.”

Ed Boon and God of War III director Stig Asmussen don’t remember who made the first phone call, but both recall the Kratos crossover talks starting early in Mortal Kombat’s development cycle. “I remember somebody saying, ”hey, there might be this possibility of Kratos appearing in Mortal Kombat,’” Stig remembers. “I said, ‘ You gotta be kidding me, we gotta make this happen! Let’s get on the phone.’” Describing himself as a “huge God of War fan,” Boon was all too eager to work out the details and spark a larger collaborative effort between both studios.

Capturing “the real Kratos” in Mortal Kombat was a prime goal for Boon and Netherrealm Studios, but it wasn’t always an easy one. “The God of War team set certain ground rules,” Boon says. “From the beginning, we were absolutely set on respecting the character.” Boon describes a “receptive” relationship with Sony Santa Monica Studios — creators of God of War — during development of Kratos’ Mortal Kombat incarnation, with Boon’s and Asmussen’s teams regularly trading feedback and ideas. Absolute authenticity being a key consideration, Boon’s team went so far as to use Kratos’ God of War III character model as a reference asset. “Once we started sending playable builds of Kratos, that’s when they got specific regarding things like animation,” Boon recalls. Particularly regarding Kratos’ fatality, which went through a number of edits and revisions due to feedback from Sony Santa Monica Studios. “It was mostly minor stuff, certain tweaks to the animation,” Boon remembers. “We went through a lot of iterations, but in the end, when you look at that screen, you see Kratos.”

Asked about his favorite aspect of this chaotic crossover, Boon answer comes easily. “Just seeing Kratos and Scorpion on the screen at the same time. You never thought you’d see that.” Boon loves God of War and, in particular, Kratos because he’s “unapologetically brutal.” The feeling is mutual — Stig is a longtime Mortal Kombat fan, too. “One of the strongest points of Mortal Kombat has always been the character design,” he tells Boon. “You’ll see a character and you’ll know it’s a Mortal Kombat character.”

Kratos’ guest turn in Mortal Kombat wasn’t without a few creative conundrums, of course. As a demigod, Kratos is not one to show vulnerability. So at first, seeing the all-powerful Kratos torn to pieces by the likes of Shang Tsung — in glistening HD detail thanks to Mortal Kombat’s gruesome character damage modeling — came as a bit of a shock to Sony Santa Monica Studios. “The things that were being done to Kratos were not things that we were used to seeing,” Stig confesses. “It’s taking it to an almost uncomfortable place at times because here Kratos can get his ass kicked.” On the other hand, Boon points out, “Kratos is in the mud like everybody else.” “I will say that I’ve never seen his skull before this game,” Stig counters with a laugh. “But man,” he adds, “you guys really pulled through. I’m proud of that game.”

Yes, Kratos has an ending. But there’s a catch. “From the start, we decided we wouldn’t put him into the Story and have him interacting with Scorpion or things like that,” Boon explained. But when you conquer the Arcade ladder, you’ll get your just desserts. “We do explain what happens when Kratos wins the tournament,” Boon hinted, describing the endings as “a lot more elaborate” than in prior games.

Yes, Kratos has a fatality. No, we’re not going to spoil it here. “We had 10 fatality ideas we wanted to do,” Boon teased. “But the final versions are in line with all the crazy deaths you’ve seen in God of War over the years.” Boon hinted that Netherrealm Studios is making creative use of Kratos’ weapons in designing his kills, adding, “It’s probably over the top, but we’ve always been over the top.”

Yes, Kratos has a stage. And yes, it has a stage fatality. “It has the best stage fatality we’ve put into any Mortal Kombat game ever,” Boon said excitedly without further elaboration. The stage itself was inspired by the end of God of War III, when Kratos battles Zeus in the Chamber of Flame. “That fight had an almost fighting-game mechanic,” Boon said, “so when we saw that we thought, “It’s writing itself!”

Yes, Kratos is being carefully balanced. How do you balance a character who is practically omnipotent? Not an easy question. “Kratos is interesting because his God of War fighting style is so long range — it’s designed for crowds,” Boon said. That approach won’t necessarily fly in a one-on-one fighting game, so Mortal Kombat emphasizes Kratos’ close-range brute strength and reserves the long-ranged attacks for special moves. “Anyone who loved MKII or MK3, which are particulatly combo-centric, are going to be happy with Kratos.”

Yes, Kratos uses X Weapon. “He has more weapons in this game than any of our other characters by a factor of two,” Boon confirmed. We spotted the Bow, Cestus, Blade of Olympus, Icarus Wings, Helios head and, of course, the Blade of Chaos.

No, Kratos won’t participate in Test Your Might. “We’re not too shy about putting our Mortal Kombat characters in silly situations,” Boon said. “There’s just no humorous side to Kratos” Boon said. “You’re not going to see Kratos do a Friendship… we kept him out of those situations out of respect.”

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In just a few short weeks you can finally get your hands on top quality Marine Corps action. With Red River coming out on the 21st April (EU & AU) we thought it’d be about time to reveal what glorious trophies that will be yours for the taking.

Whether you’re a casual FPS player, or an unstoppable M4 wielding killing machine, we all love those trophies. Let’s get some! Ooh-rah!

Bronze

• Welcome To Gissar – Complete Welcome To Tajikistan
• Protection Detail – Complete Meet The Neighbors
• Venomous Bite – Complete The Human Terrain
• Doing It The Hard Way – Complete Almost Too Easy
• Work Your Bolt – Complete The Wrong Way
• Devils At The Crossroad – Complete Careful What You Wish For…
• The Alamo, Vahdat – Complete Line In The Sand
• Keeping It Simple – Complete 1st & 10, Let’s Do It Again
• Freeing The Eagles – Complete Vantage Point
• Shock And Ore – Complete End Of The Beginning
• Sweeper – Complete one of the Combat Sweep FTE maps
• Defender – Complete one of the Last Stand FTE maps
• Rescuer – Complete one of the CSAR FTE maps
• Protector – Complete one of the Rolling Thunder FTE maps
• Peacekeeper – Complete and survive a Combat Sweep mission having killed all enemies and destroyed all caches
• Get To The Chopper! – Complete a Last Stand mission to stage 4, wave 4 and escape alive
• Package Delivered – Complete and survive a CSAR mission, rescuing both pilots
• Thunder Run – Complete and survive a Rolling Thunder mission with the entire convoy surviving
• Operation Enduring Shield – Complete Act 1 of the campaign
• Hardened – Max out one core soldier skill
• Outlaw 2′s Brave – Obtain the highest level for one character class
• With A Little Help – Play Red River with three other friends
• Catch This! – Destroy an enemy vehicle with the FGM-148 Anti Tank Weapon
• Buzz Kill – Destroy an enemy vehicle with the FIM-92 Anti Aircraft Weapon
• Driver’s Ed – Drive a humvee
• Danger Close – Call in Combat Support and be within 300m of it when it lands
• Pride Of Balletto – Complete a mission as the Auto Rifleman
• Pride Of Kirby – Complete a mission as the Rifleman
• Pride Of Soto – Complete a mission as the Scout
• Pride Of Taylor – Complete a mission as the Grenadier
• Weaponsmith – Customize a weapon
• Of The People, For The People – Pick up an enemy AK
• Old Enemies Die Hard – Kill your first PLA soldier in the Red River campaign
• Hidden Trophies (10)

Silver

• Operation Unbroken Resistance – Complete Act 2 of the campaign
• Veteran – Max out three core soldier skills
• Outlaw 2′s Finest – Obtain the highest level for two character classes

Gold

• Operation Dragon Slayer – Complete Act 3 of the campaign
• Lifer – Max out all core soldier skills
• Outlaw 2′s Hero – Obtain the highest level for all character classes

Platinum

• Obtain all Trophies in OF: Red River

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